Seraphim’s right hand was over her lips as she shook her head. “No—you don’t have to do that. I don’t want your pity.”
Alan’s brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of her words. “Seraphim, what are you talking about? That’s not pity.”
“You don’t have to lie to me, Alan,” Seraphim said as strength returned to her voice. “I know what I look like after Gabriel scarred my face and wing. I knew it was pity from guilt after I saved you that forced you to create this wing for me but this—this is too much.”
Alan’s heart went from soaring a mile above the earth to plummeting into the abyss in the matter of seconds. “No, no. That’s not it at all,” Alan said shaking his head and taking a step closer to Seraphim.
She recoiled.
“I kissed you because I care for you. I like you, Sera, with or without any kind of scar or wing.”
Alan’s words fell on deaf ears. Seraphim was past being vulnerable. The same look of determination she wore around everyone else was on her face again. “I should be going. Artemis and those at the Temple need to be aware of the change in how we can be wounded as well as another Horseman being found. I’m sure Esther will want to send a battalion of angels to guard Kassidy until she recovers.”
Alan opened his mouth to speak again but Seraphim was already gone, leaving a string of confusion in her wake.
---
That night Alan fell into a dead sleep. He chose a place on Raphael’s sandy floor near the window that brought in a never-ending supply of crisp sea air. To his delight, Alan wasn’t haunted by any dreams or nightmares. Instead, he fell asleep wondering how he could prove to Seraphim that it was affections and not pity that drew him towards her.
When Alan woke he was no closer to an answer than when he fell asleep. The smell of cooking fish and fresh bread pulled Alan from his slumber. Alan remained in his lying position for a moment longer trying to fit the pieces of what he was hearing together. It sounded like Raphael was whistling.
Alan pushed himself up to a seated position convinced he was going crazy. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head free from the sand as he witnessed the impossible. Raphael was hunched over the fireplace stirring a pot of broth while fish cooked and bread rose beside him.
Raphael was in fact whistling a slow tune under his breath. The melody wasn’t exactly upbeat however seeing the Archangel doing anything except be haunted by the past was a change for Alan.
Alan rose to his feet and made his way over to Raphael. Alan was shocked to see purpose in the Archangel’s grey eyes. His clothes were still grimy and his hair and beard were disasters on their own but he was moving with a sense of resolve. “Shhhhh …” Raphael said over the noise of his cooking. “She’s resting. She needs to get something to eat. I forget sometimes you Horseman still need sleep and food.”
Alan nodded dumbly trying to figure out if this was the same Archangel who was trembling and crying the day before. Alan took a deep breath and walked over to check on Kassidy. She was awake. Starring into the ceiling as if she was reading a book.
“Hey,” Alan said searching for the right words to broach the first conversation with someone after their failed suicide attempt. “So …”
“So…” Kassidy said still gazing at the ceiling. “I couldn’t even kill myself, right? I mean how much of a loser do you have to be to not even be able to kill yourself?”
“Maybe you’re not a loser at all,” Alan said. Kassidy finally broke her vigil of the wooden planked roof and fixed Alan with a stare. “Maybe it wasn’t up to you. It’s not your time to go.”
Kassidy rolled her eyes. “What, can you tell the future or something? Is that another trick along with those blue wings of yours?”
“No, just a feeling. For what it’s worth, and it may not mean anything to you, I’m glad you’re alive.”
Kassidy slowly nodded, “Well, that makes one of us. Two I guess,” Kassidy said motioning to Raphael’s back, “That old guys seems to be pretty happy I’m alive, too. This is really going to suck.”
“What is?”
Kassidy licked her lips and swallowed hard. “Coming down from all the drugs in my system. I’ve only been clean a handful of times I can remember and it’s harder every time.”
“I won’t pretend to know what that feels like, but you’re not alone. You have a lot of people that care for you now.”
Kassidy’s eyes shimmered in the light of the morning sun. She looked away before Alan could read her expression. “So, what am I again?” she asked. “A Horseman of the Apocalypse?”
Alan swallowed as he realized how hard it was to convince someone of the supernatural. “That’s right.”
“So, which one am I?”
“I don’t know. I’m War, so that leaves Death, Disease or Famine.”
“Great.”
Alan opened his mouth to speak again but was saved by a knock on the door. Before he could react, Raphael hurried to the door with a vexed expression. He opened the door and even before welcoming the person in, he greeted them with a command, “Shhhhh … Kassidy needs her rest. Please, if you must come inside just open the door on your own.”
Alan craned his neck to the side to get a glimpse of who was on the other side of the door. He caught site of the two women as Danielle answered, “Geez, we’re sorry. We didn’t know. You must be Raphael. Is that fish I smell?”
Chapter 8
Michael walked beside Ardat in the bright tunnel. Once they jumped through the hole, a dirt floor met their feet. A long path like hall opened up in front of them. The light that came from everywhere was brighter than the sun on a clear day. Michael found himself squinting as they traveled down the shining path. “This seems as unlikely a place for a demon to hide as any,” Ardat said under her breath.
“It certainly is a strange place for a creature of the darkness to call their home,” Michael said.
“What?” Ardat teased as she pushed an elbow into Michael’s ribs, “We can’t like shiny places?”
Michael grinned and moved to speak but an end to the tunnel they traveled through stilled his tongue. A steel door set in the wall of the dirt tunnel held a plaque that read, “Visits By Appointment Only.” Michael exchanged a curious look with Ardat who shook her own head in disbelief.
Michael pressed his hand against the cold steel door. It was locked. Ardat reached beside him and knocked. The sound of her fist striking the door echoed down the tunnel behind them.
Immediately the door swung open to reveal a circular room with a dirt floor, ceiling and walls. The man who opened the door wore a wide grin. He was ancient, with dark skin and a twinkle in his eye that spoke of secrecy. Michael unclenched his fists and took a deep breath. The man was no one he recognized. Having spent an eternity with his supernatural counterparts, Michael either knew or knew of everyone. This man held no recollection. “May I help you, Michael?” he asked in a respectful tone.
“I—We were following two people: a demon and a Nephilim.”
The man nodded with a sly grin, “Yes,” the man tuned his back to them and walked deeper into the room. He waived a gnarled hand instructing them to follow. “They were here only minutes ago. However they are gone now.”
“Gone?” Ardat asked shocked. “Gone where? The tunnel ends here.”
The man made his way past vials and bottles of different shapes and sizes and sat on a stool made of an anceint tree stump. “Yes, Ardat but still they are gone. We cannot change that. You are free to look around if you would like.”
Michael studied the room with pursed lips. With all the shelves holding scrolls and antique remnants of cultures long gone, there was hardly enough room for the three of them. Whatever did happen to Triana and Kyle, they were not there. “Who are you?” Michael asked.
The man gave them a crooked smile through missing teeth. The most menacing thing about his grin was the genuineness of the expression. “You may call me Shaman. And do not vex yourself too much in searching for a memory
of me. You will find none.”
Michael tilted his head to the side unwilling to take the Shaman’s advice and still searching for some old recollection of the man. Michael only drew a blank. “Where did they go?” Ardat said, her voice cutting the silence like a sharp knife.
The Shaman looked at her with a gleam in his eyes. “I used a spell to transport them to Gabriel.”
Michael stood stunned at the ease of their interrogation. “Where is Gabriel now? Where did you send them?”
“I can show you if you’d like,” the Shaman said with a cock of his head. He reached down to the floor in front of him and picked up an old gnarled stick that nearly matched his own skin tone. “I can even send you there. Of course, there would be a fee involved for such a task.”
Michael heard Ardat let out a pent up sigh of frustration. He already knew what was coming. “Or,” Ardat said taking a menacing step towards their host. “We could always force you to tell us.”
The Shaman raised a hand motioning her to stop. For the first time since they met him, a look of something other than merriment in his eyes. A cool anger washed over his face. “I would not recommend that, Ardat. I’m offering to make a deal. One that if you choose to hear, will benefit both our sides.”
“Sides?” Michael asked scratching the underside of his chin, “What side are you on?”
The anger in his eyes disappeared as the Shaman turned his attention back to Michael. “Well, my own side of course. I would like to propose a deal. I will transport you to the same location I sent those who you are following. It will lead you directly to Gabriel.”
“And in return?” Ardat asked like a growl coming from some mythic beast.
Unphased the Shaman continued, “In return, you will promise not to fight Gabriel.”
Michael couldn’t believe his ears. That was the whole point. What good would it be to find his Archangel counterpart and be unable to bring him to justice?
The Shaman continued before either Michael or Ardat could express their opinions. “Listen to me. Gabriel now possesses the strength of two Archangels. He is far beyond any warrior’s ability to defeat him, including your own. I propose you go to him, scout out the territory and regroup.”
Michael was running through the many reasons he didn’t trust the Shaman. Following those thoughts was another large crowd of ideas as to why he couldn’t let Gabriel go. If he failed, then Kyle’s life would be in the balance. He wouldn’t allow someone who knowingly put himself in harm’s way for the Light to be abandoned to Gabriel. “Why do you care about what happens to us?” Michael asked. Of all the questions raging for attention in his mind this one shouted the loudest.
The Shaman smiled his toothy grin, “Oh, I don’t care so much as to what happens to you two. However, I do care that Gabriel is one day overthrown. If you fight him and he kills you now, the odds of someone ever defeating him grow ever smaller in the strands of time.” The Shaman paused as if he were looking into the events of the future. He pursed his lips and continued to speak in a soft whisper, “There is one other that may be able to defeat him but the future is too uncertain.”
“He’s right, Michael,” Ardat said turning to the man she loved. “You saw how powerful Gabriel was when we fought him last. The wisest course of action is to go, scout for weaknesses then hit him in force with Esther and Seraphim’s warriors. Then we may have a chance.”
“No,” Michael shook any idea of waiting from his mind. Even now, they were taking too much time. Kyle could already have been found out as a spy. Every second they wasted put Kyle in the middle of a growing danger. “We go now, no matter the cost.”
Ardat’s eyes lowered to the ground as she struggled to form nonexistent words that would change Michael’s mind. “And if we—if you fight him and die?”
Michael shook his head and reached for Ardat. A single cupped finger from his right hand touched her chin and gently lifted her eyes to his own. “If I die, then I died fighting for the Light and to protect a friend.”
Ardat nodded grabbing Michael’s hand in her own and kissing his palm. “That’s why I love you. Always ready to do the right thing despite the cost.”
Michael pulled Ardat in for an embrace. He wished he could have stayed in that moment for an eternity. However he needed to act. One way or another he was going to get the Shaman to send him to the same location he had transported Kyle and Triana. Michael broke his embrace with Ardat and took a step towards the Shaman. “I cannot tell you that I won’t fight Gabriel. You need to send me to—”
Michael heard Ardat whisper something behind him before he felt the blow to the back of his head. “Please understand. I can’t lose you again.”
The last thing Michael remembered was falling to the dirt ground in front of the Shaman. Then the void of unconsciousness came for him.
Chapter 9
Alan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the outside of Raphael’s hut. Every day he spent at the beachside dwelling, his understanding as to why Raphael chose this place as a home grew. The fresh air, the soothing crash of waves on the shore, it all spoke of a calm serenity. Looking across the beach for the tenth time Alan was still amazed to see the angels that set up their base overnight.
After receiving word from Seraphim, Esther ordered her soldiers not currently searching for Gabriel or assigned to other tasks to converge at Raphael’s home on the beach. Now an army of white tents dotted the sand and hundreds of angels all wearing silver and white ran across the beach carrying out orders.
“It’s pretty, right?”
Alan was so deep in his thoughts that he failed to see Danielle walk up beside him. “Yeah,” he said smiling at his friend, “Yeah, it is. How is everyone back at the Temple?”
“Probably exactly as you’d expect. After the human and supernatural planes were split, Gideon started working on a solution. Artemis is being herself looking after her—I guess your Dogs of War. Angelica is in charge now guarding the prisoners and waiting for orders.”
Alan was doing his best to listen to the answers to the question he asked but Seraphim’s face and memories of their interaction the night before wouldn’t let him. “And Seraphim?”
“Don’t know. After she gave us the news, she said she was going to find Michael. She needed to warn him of supernaturals being able to die now without the need for a Celestial Blade. Why?”
Danielle’s question was innocent enough yet Alan still felt his face redden. “Oh, no reason. I just thought—I didn’t see her here so…”
The two stood in awkward silence as Danielle decided whether she was going to let him off easy. She did. “Well, I guess we’re as safe here as we would be at the Temple. I can’t imagine anyone getting by Esther and her army.”
“I agree,” Alan said shooting Danielle a relieved look. “I think eventually the safest place for Kassidy will be back at the Temple but for now, at least until she learns to trust us and accepts who she is, this is best.”
“And how have you been?”
It had been so long since anyone had asked him that simple question, Alan paused for a moment. “Surviving. Thanks for asking.”
“Of course,” Danielle said, “Any new abilities popping out of nowhere? You can’t shoot lasers with your eyes or turn invisible now or anything can you?”
Alan chuckled as he realized how much he missed Danielle’s company. “No, nothing like that.” Memories of the fight with the two demons who chased Kassidy haunted his thoughts. The way he lost control and how he wanted to kill them were things Alan still hadn’t fully dealt with.
“I know that look,” Danielle said with a soft voice. “You can tell me.”
Alan let an eyebrow rise and flashed a grin. “Oh really? You know me so well, do you?”
“Please, I knew you back when you thought speed was your only ability. Remember that bar we met in. You were being all fancy reading your book and ordering bottles of the most expensive whisky they had.”
Alan allowe
d himself to think back to his life before he realized he was a Nephilim and then a Horseman. A laugh escaped his lips. “Yes, I remember I thought you worked for the CIA or something when you came and found me.”
Danielle laughed in turn, “Yeah, well, the FBI or CIA might have been after you soon if you had kept robbing those banks.”
Alan laughed again then sighed. How far had his life changed in such a short time? And Danielle had been there through all of it with him. “I guess I’m still having trouble harnessing the fury being the Horseman of War brings. When I’m in a fight, it’s intoxicating like a drug. I just want more of it. I don’t want to stop. It’s like a piece of me I never knew I had comes alive.” Alan paused to look at Danielle with an apologetic glance. “Sorry, does any of that make sense?”
Danielle slowly nodded, “It does. And whatever this is I know you’ll figure it out. You’re not alone, Alan. I’m here for you if you ever feel like you need to talk. You’ll figure this out just like you did everything else.”
Before Alan knew what was happening Danielle was pulling him into a hug. Her embrace was warm and full of peace. She pulled away the slightest bit to whisper in his ear, “I’ll always be here for you as a friend—or whatever you need.”
If life wasn’t already complicated enough, Danielle kissed him on the cheek and walked away down the beach.
---
“No, again,” Esther said picking up Kassidy’s sword and throwing it to her. Alan watched as the two women circled each other in the sand. Esther had wasted no time in beginning to train their new Horseman. Esther, Alan, and Raphael were to be Kassidy’s mentors.
The first lesson of the day was basic fighting skills. Raphael had objected under her needing more rest but Esther denied the request. Alan could guess why. As a Horseman, Kassidy could heal faster than anyone else, and the heat from the sun’s rays would sweat out any drugs still in her system.
Alan Price and the Statue of Zeus (The Nephilim Chronicles Book 3) Page 6
