Angel in Training (The Louisiangel Series, Book One)

by C. L. Coffey

  All trace of anger in me disappeared then, at about the same time the realization and implications of what had happened appeared. So I did the most embarrassing thing I could, and burst into tears.

  Joshua took a deep breath. “Wait here,” he muttered, hurrying back over to the swarm of police cars. He returned moments later, carrying a CSU jacket which he draped over my shoulders. He then walked me away from the crime scene, across a street and up some steps to an observation point over the Mississippi.

  I hadn’t realized how close to the river Greg had been murdered. It was quiet up here now. No one in their sober mind would be out and about at this time. I drew the jacket around me, more for comfort then for warmth, and watched one of the barges slowly travel along the river.

  “You gonna tell me what happened?” Joshua asked me, leaning his back against the railing.

  “I screwed up,” I muttered. “I well and truly pissed an archangel off and now,” I shrugged. “I think being forbidden from seeing my aunt is the least of my worries.”

  “How?” he asked.

  “I asked Greg the question,” I admitted. “The reason I disappeared was to take him up to Heaven. Or at least, I think its Heaven. It really could have been the Zephyr Field for all I know, but it turns out I’m not supposed to do that. Not that I knew that because Michael doesn’t like to tell me anything.”

  Joshua turned around to face the water. “So how do we fix it?”

  I gave him a small smile. “I don’t think you can do anything. I’m not even sure what I can do,” I sighed, turning around. My eyes fell on the clock tower on the St Louis Cathedral that stood opposite. “Except maybe pray and hope for forgiveness,” I muttered. “Although I’m not sure I know how to do that.”

  “What?” Joshua asked in amusement. “Pray?”

  I shrugged.

  “If you don’t want to go back to the convent tonight, you can crash at mine. I’ll even take the couch?” he offered, gently.

  “Thanks, but I shouldn’t,” I replied, shaking my head. “I’m already in enough trouble. I really don’t think I can push my luck any further.” My mouth fell open in horror as I realized what he had just said.

  “Relax,” Joshua sighed, misreading my expression. “I was not trying to pull any moves on you. I was simply offering you somewhere to sleep.”

  “You know I live at the convent?” I whispered, staring up at him, begging him with my eyes to tell me I was wrong. I could feel my hairline prickling. “How do you know I live at the convent?” I asked, slowly. My eyes narrowed. “Did you follow me?”

  Joshua shook his head. “I checked your number,” he replied, like it was no big deal.

  “I don’t have a phone,” I told him slowly.

  “No, but you called me on one when you got back safely the other night. It wasn’t hard for me to run a check on the number.”

  “Oh crap,” I muttered, feeling suddenly light-headed. Joshua grabbed my elbows and lowered me to the ground. Propping my elbows on my knees, I allowed my head to sink into my hands, squeezing my eyes shut in the process. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.”

  Beside me, Joshua crouched down to my level. “Angel?”

  I raised my head just high enough to pinch the top of my nose. This wasn’t going to end well. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone about the convent,” I mumbled.

  “You didn’t,” Joshua told me. “I worked it out for myself. I’m a detective – it’s kinda in my job description.”

  If it wasn’t for the fact there was now nothing in my stomach, I would have thrown up again.

  “Let me walk you home,” Joshua offered. “I can explain to Michael that it wasn’t your fault that I found out where you live. I just wanted to make sure you got home safely.” He reached over and took my shoes from me then helped me to my feet. “You know, you probably should put these back on,” he suggested as we walked down the steps back to the street.

  “They’re really not high on my list of priorities,” I told him.

  We walked the few blocks in silence. At some point, Joshua’s hand had found mine, and I hadn’t bothered to release his grip. “The offer still stands though,” he told me as we neared the convent. “You can crash at mine, if you need to.”

  I looked up at the building over the high, pale walls and nodded. “Thanks,” I sighed, turning to him. “Look, thanks for the offer, but I think it would be best if you didn’t come in with me.”

  “You still have my card?” At my nod, he frowned. “Call me if you need to,” he told me.

  I gave him a smile and left him, stepping onto the grounds and closing the gate behind me. I stared up at the building in front of me. The lights were on in the attic, but other than the reception area, the rest of the building was in darkness.

  I changed my mind and decided to head to the church. It was unlocked, like I suspected it would be, and I flicked a few of the wall lights on. In the soft glow, I took a seat in the pews and stared up at the painting on the ceiling above the alter which I’d noticed the last time I had been in there.

  I puffed out my cheeks and blew, feeling incredibly stupid. I had never prayed for anything in my life and I had no idea where to start, much less who to pray to. If it was St Mary’s Church, did it have to be Mary? And when did she become a saint? Was it God, or Jesus? Would anybody actually want to listen to me?

  I rested my arms on the pew in front of me, allowing them to dangle over. Back in England, I knew the ‘norm’ was to clasp one’s hands together, but I had seen on television that standing with your hands in the air also seemed acceptable.

  Maybe the Lord’s Prayer was the right place to start. Deciding that standing would just feel weird, I brought my hands back to me and clasped them together, interlocking my fingers. I focused my attention on the small cross just underneath the painting of what I was guessing Jesus.

  “Um, Father who art in heaven, hello to your name,” I frowned. I really didn’t have a clue how this went. “Thy kingdom come, they will be done... Well that can’t be right,” I sighed, sinking back into the chair. “What will be done?” I asked the painting of Jesus. “But you’re doing it on Earth and in Heaven.” I closed my eyes and delved in the recesses of my mind. “Bread,” I realized, opening my eyes again. “You’re baking us bread. Or are you, because surely you don’t need bread in Heaven, and surely we would be much better off with peace on earth and goodwill to men... and women...”

  My hands fell to my sides. “I have got to be the worst angel in the history of time.”

  “I wouldn’t say the worst, but you’re definitely the first one not to know the Lord’s Prayer,” Michael told me.

  I gave a yelp, twisting and falling off the pew. From the floor, I looked up and found him staring down at me from the row behind. ”Oh, don’t tell me when I pray, I’m actually praying to you,” I groaned, rubbing my elbow.

  Michael stood and walked around to me, helping me up from the floor. Quietly, he waited until I sat back down, then seated himself next to me. “Only if that prayer is directed to me. I’m assuming, by attempting the Lord’s Prayer, you were praying to our Lord?”

  I shrugged and pointed up to the painting on the ceiling. “I was praying to Jesus.” Michael looked up, a smile spreading across his face. “What?” I asked, not sure if I wanted the answer.

  “That is a painting of the Virgin Mary ascending into Heaven,” he told me.

  I was right: I didn’t want to know the answer. “Yup, the worst angel,” I muttered, highly embarrassed.

  “You are not the most conventional angel, but you are not the worst,” Michael assured me. “And for the record, it’s hallowed be thy name.”

  Of course it was. “I’m guessing Jesus wasn’t baking bread either?”

  The smile was back on Michael’s face. “The prayer is to God, not Jesus. And no, He was not baking bread.”

  That was it. I drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’ll get my things.”

  “To what p
urpose?” Michael asked, turning in his seat.

  “To clear out,” I replied, unable to look at him. “I didn’t bring much, so it shouldn’t take me long. If you’ll let me call my aunt, I can be gone before the sun comes up.”

  “Why?” Michael asked. The surprise in his voice made me turn to look at him.

  “Because I’ve failed every test you’ve thrown at me,” I told him, amazed he could even question that. “I don’t have super speed, Sarah and Joshua both know about the convent, hell, I don’t even know how to pray, and I can’t quit with the blasphemy.” I winced. “Oh, and yeah, I attacked an archangel. I attacked you.”

  “I never pegged you for a quitter,” Michael mused. “I thought you were far too stubborn.”

  “And I never pegged me for an angel, so I guess it balances out,” I retorted.

  “Angelina, I’m sorry for losing my temper with you earlier.” My mouth fell open. I was the one who attacked him, and he was apologizing to me? “I was angry with myself and I mistakenly took it out on you. That should never have happened.”

  My mouth just hung open. I was far too baffled to begin to work out why he was apologizing to me, much less to say something back.

  “My behavior towards you today has been unacceptable and I can only ask for your forgiveness.”

  “You want me to forgive you?” I asked, finally finding my voice. “I punched you. I was all set for doing a lot worse as well.”

  Michael shook his head. “I have been behaving inappropriately towards you since we met. Had I been behaving correctly, then that would never have happened, so it is I that is at fault. Although, I will admit, the blasphemy does fall out of my control.”

  “How has your behavior been inappropriate?” I asked him. Aside from that kiss, I figured it couldn’t have been that bad.

  “The winter before your eighteenth birthday, you and your aunt were in Dallas, shopping for a dress,” Michael sighed. “On your way there, you stopped for a break on the Louisiana – Texas border. By complete chance, I also happened to be there, and I saw you for the first time. Even back then, I could tell you were destined for great things.”

  “You’ve been following me for that long?” I asked, only just refraining from using the word stalking. I thought back to the time he was referring to. It had been just after Christmas and we were trying to find a dress in the sales for my graduation later in the year – but I couldn’t remember seeing him there.

  Michael looked down at his hands. “For the first time in my lifetime, I was drawn to a human, and not just because the potential you might have held. I have kept an eye on you since then, checking in to see how you were doing. When the chance came to investigate the large numbers of Potentials dying in this area, I relocated straight away. I wanted to make sure that nothing was to happen to you. When I found your predecessor, Lilah, I thought I would have someone to help me get to the bottom of these deaths. I failed her, just as I failed you.”

  “I thought she moved away to her own House,” I muttered. Nothing concrete had ever been told to me, other than the fact she had left. I had assumed it was because she had succeeded in earning her wings.

  “She earned her wings, and then she fell,” Michael confessed. “I was unable to stop that from happening, and then I was back to looking out for you by myself. It wasn’t long after she left that I saw the light from your aura.” He sighed, his head bowing further forward. “You were right when you accused me of misleading you with the questioning. I could have been clearer with you, and I should have been. I just couldn’t face the thought of losing you.”

  I was speechless. I had no idea what to say to him.

  “You were also right when you spoke to me in my dream, accusing me of being hard on you, although I think your words were Nazi slave driver.”

  I flushed, feeling horribly uncomfortable. “Michael-”

  He shook his head. “You were right, I was being unreasonable. As you lay there in those months, changing from human into a potential angel, I monitored you constantly. During that time I came to the conclusion I had feelings for you, and I blamed you for that. That blame grew to resentment.”

  “You resented me?” I repeated. “Then why did you kiss me?”

  “Because there was still an attraction to you,” he said, finally facing me, his face full of shame.

  “Wow,” I exhaled, slumping back in my seat. “So where does that leave us?”

  “With me hoping you can forgive me for my unfair behavior?” Michael requested, earnestly.

  “Only if you can forgive me for punching you,” I told him, hopefully.

  “It is already forgiven,” he nodded.

  “Right back at you,” I told him. I chewed at my lip. “Does this mean I still have a room here?” I asked in a small voice.

  Michael looked surprised. “You never didn’t.” He took a deep breath, looking to the stained glass windows. “It will not be long before the sun rises. Perhaps you should get some sleep?”

  It wasn’t until he mentioned it that I realized just how exhausted I was. “I think you’re right,” I agreed wearily. “Are you coming?” I asked him as I got to my feet.

  Michael shook his head. “I think I may remain here for a time.”

  I nodded, then paused. “Michael, can I ask you something?”

  He looked at me, somewhat warily, but nodded. “Of course.”

  “How did Lilah fall?”

  There was a long sigh. It was a question which I didn’t think he would answer, but he did. “She had a relationship with her charge.”

  I frowned. “A relationship?”

  “She slept with him,” Michael clarified.

  It took every single ounce of willpower I had not to react to that. “Oh,” I mumbled.

  Michael nodded, glancing back to the altar. “I think her humanity was too strong, that maybe it was too soon to have assigned her to a charge when I did.”

  “So why did you partner me with Joshua?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

  Michael sighed and bowed his head. “I thought you would be capable.” He then looked up at me and gave me a sad smile. “As you may have gathered, my judgment is somewhat clouded when it comes to you, but despite your doubts in yourself, you have yet to prove me wrong in my belief of you.”

  I gave him a half smile, exceedingly grateful he had no idea how close to failing him I had been. “I think I’m going to bed,” I muttered. As soon as I stepped outside, I couldn’t stop yawning. The sky was already turning that inky blue it does before the sun comes up.

  I made my way upstairs, thankful to reach the safety of my bedroom. I slipped in, and using only the light coming in from the around the curtains, leaned back against the door with an exhausted sigh. Mentally, I didn’t think I could take another day like that again.

  If the kiss had come from nowhere, it didn’t even begin to explain where Michael’s admission about his apparent feelings for me had come from.

  I didn’t even bother to get changed as I collapsed on my bed. Sleep was all I wanted right now – a few blissful hours where I didn’t have to use my brain.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Safety versus Duty

  I managed to get eight whole hours of supremely wonderful uninterrupted sleep – from either dream walking, or being awoken. When I checked the time, I nearly freaked. It was midday. I needed to get to the precinct. Something told me that if I didn’t, if I didn’t let Joshua know I was alright, that he would be knocking on the door.

  I hurriedly showered, washing last night’s makeup away, and dressed myself in a fresh uniform. Next on the list was the reception desk to collect some keys. Thankfully, Cupid, who was manning the desk as usual, didn’t seem to know anything about what had transpired yesterday. I was fairly confident that if he did, he wouldn’t have been commenting on the shirt I was wearing matching my eyes.

  I was hurrying over to the SUV when I heard Joshua calling me. I turned, finding him walking through the gates.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.

  He looked at me like I had asked a stupid question. “When I left you last night, you thought you were getting kicked out. When I didn’t see you this morning, I thought something had happened. I wanted to make sure you were alright,” he told me.

  “I was just on my way to the precinct,” I told him. He was still wearing the same clothes from the night before, and judging from the dark circles under his eyes, had yet to get some sleep.

  “I’m heading back there now,” he said.

  “So you were here for a ride?” I asked him, hitting the unlock button to the car. At the smirk that appeared on Joshua’s face, I gave him my best unimpressed look. “Really? In a convent?”

  Joshua looked around, examining his surroundings. “Yeah, alright. Maybe that is a little inappropriate. But actually, I drove. The car’s out front.”

  I locked the SUV back up and slipped the keys into my pocket. Wordlessly, I followed Joshua out onto the street where his car sat waiting, the driver’s side pulled up onto the sidewalk. “Nice parking,” I muttered, walking around to the other side and slipping into the car. “Did you find anything?” I asked him.

  He yawned and shook his head. “They took him to the hospital, but he was DOA,” he shot me a look. “Dead on arrival,” he explained. “But then, I guess you would know that.”

  “Yeah,” I muttered, distracted by the traffic.

  “I did manage to track his buddies down,” Joshua continued. “He was one of the guys that got thrown out of Bee’s.”

  My head whipped around so quickly, it flung my hair in my face. “When we were in there?” I asked, pushing my hair back behind my ear.

  Joshua nodded. “Could well have been the same guy that hit you.”

  “So, does that mean we’re going to search Bee’s?” I asked him.

  “Firstly, you won’t be searching anything,” Joshua informed me. “Secondly, we need a warrant, and we need probable cause. We have neither.”