Angel Warriors

by Stephani Hecht

Gabi followed the sound of their voices to the kitchen. She found Cam sitting at the table with a wet cloth to his face while Abdiel leaned against the counter laughing at something the empath had said. She let out a very unladylike snort of frustration.

  “You two should be upstairs laying down. Instead, I find you both bleeding all over my kitchen. Now I am going to have to heal you both just so you can clean up your own mess.”

  “Sorry Gabi, I’ll try to bleed less,” Cam said, grinning.

  “Do I dare even ask what was so funny?” She raised an eyebrow at him. Her question made him and Abdiel laugh again.

  “I just told Abdiel not to feel bad for me. When that she-demon attacked me, it was the closest I ever got to scoring.” Cam winced in pain.

  “That thing nearly ripped you into a million pieces and you think it’s funny?” She could not believe them.

  “I thought she was really beginning to like me. She wanted me to be her baby’s daddy.”

  “Yeah, I could tell she was warming up to you by the way she was beating your face. For your next date, maybe she’ll use a whip,” Abdiel shot back and both of them erupted into laughter again.

  “I’m going to have to disinfect him after that she-demon manhandled him,” she sputtered.

  “It wasn’t really that bad, honestly Gabi,” Cam said with false sincerity. Both males hooted in laughter again. She just stood there and shook her head in confusion.

  “When you two children are ready to be healed, let me know.” She stalked out of the kitchen.

  She went up to Cam’s room and paced the floor waiting for them. She really should have been as angry as she had acted, but, she could not help but be impressed with the way Abdiel had put Cam to ease after the fight.

  She turned as she heard them coming up the stairs. Abdiel helped Cam into the room before he playfully pushed the empath onto his bed.

  “Let Gabi heal you. Tomorrow we start your training. Next time it might be a male demon who gets frisky.” He pulled off Cam’s grubby tennis shoes and threw them in the corner.

  Gabi reached over and touched Cam, compelling him to sleep. It was always much easier to heal him when he was sleeping. Otherwise he never stopped talking.

  “Thank you, Abdiel,” Cam mumbled before he fell asleep.

  “No problem, kid,” he responded even though the empath could no longer hear him. “Michael was right, I do like you.”

  “How are you doing?” Gabi asked. She had noticed his back was still bleeding.

  “Take care of Cam first,” he replied. “I’ve had worse.”

  He walked out of the room. Gabi watched him, a small frown on her face. Yes, he had suffered a lot worse. She had seen it herself.

  Later that night, Abdiel lay on his bed and reviewed that night’s battle in his head. It had felt good to finally get back into action, although, the appearance of the demons had been unsettling. It was the first time he had battled a true demon and damn the things were ugly.

  Before the fall of Lucifer, all the archangels had to battle were lone outlaw angels that had broken the laws and needed to be brought to justice. He had been more of a cop than a warrior. The angels were not much more than mere petty criminals. Even the rogue angels he had rounded up later, after the fall, had been nothing like the things he had met tonight. The rogues had either not gone through the transformation yet or were so early in the transition that they had shown few physical changes.

  These things that he had fought tonight had been different. Not only had their evil deeds transformed them into hideous beings, but the evil had poured off them like a fetid stench. He was no empath, but he had still felt the hate that had rolled off them.

  I wonder what my family looks like now. What if Rachael and Appolion have turned into monsters too? If that is the case, then I don’t know if I can handle seeing them again. Especially since I should have been able to keep them safe. I am their big brother after all. God, I’ll never be able to forgive Dad for taking the twins from Heaven and me.

  A soft knock interrupted his troubled thoughts. Gabi opened the door and came in. She had changed out of her fighting clothes and was now wearing a pair of jeans and a white tee shirt. Her hair was free from the braid and hung loose. The ends of the slightly curly, dark locks just reached the top of her delicious looking backside. Not that he was checking out her ass or anything. Who are you kidding? You are checking out her ass. Every single chance you can.

  “If you’re ready, I can heal you now,” she quietly walked to the side of the bed. As soon as she got close enough, the scent of roses invaded him.

  “How’s Cam?” he asked, wincing as he sat up. He had the ridiculous urge to bury his nose in her neck so he could drink in that rose scent. Down boy, remember she’s a princess and you’re nothing but an archangel, he told himself.

  “He’ll be fine. He’s been hurt a lot worse than that before.”

  “How many times?” He tried to keep the anger out of his voice.

  “More times than I can count.” Her green eyes filled with tears. “I have always healed his external wounds, but I know it hurt him inside even more.”

  “It is totally unacceptable that no one has trained him yet. Every archangel knows how exposed and vulnerable empaths are. It’s a miracle he has not been damaged like his parents.”

  “You know about Cam’s parents?” she asked, looking surprised.

  “Yes, Ana is a good friend of mine.”

  “Oh,” was all she said. Her full lips pressed tightly together.

  If he did not know any better, he could have sworn she was acting jealous. A part of him wanted to tell her that there was nothing going on between him and Ana, but he stopped himself. Running his hands over his face he cleared his thoughts and chastised himself for being an idiot. There was no way that someone as wonderful as her would be jealous over some moron that came from a family of demons.

  “Thank you for being so kind to Cam.” She smiled at him.

  When she gave him her first real smile, he felt like a giddy schoolboy. It was like she had given him a precious gift. He must be losing his mind, maybe one of the demons had knocked something loose.

  “Cam’s a good kid. He just needs some training,” he replied, trying hard to keep his face neutral.

  “You’re the first archangel who has thought that. The rest could not tolerate poor Cam.”

  “Cam’s just honest to a fault, I happen to like that.”

  “It’s been so hard, Abdiel. Every time he goes out there, he gets hurt.”

  “Not anymore, I’ll make sure he never goes out there unprepared again.”

  “I tried to train him myself,” she said, looking down at her hands in shame. “I am a healer, however, and he needed training from an archangel.”

  “I know you tried, Gabi. It was the first thing Cam told me when we got back.” He cupped her chin in his hand and forced her to look him in the eye. “I don’t blame you.”

  He knew he should not be touching her like this, but he couldn’t help himself. He was drawn to her like a bee to honey. Abdiel had never been this enamored with a female ever before, not even Persephone.

  “Cam’s like a baby brother to me. It has been so hard to see him get hurt all the time.” She was whispering, almost like she was afraid of ruining the intimate moment.

  Using the pad of his thumb he gently stroked her bottom lip with light, feather touches. At first she went stiff, but she eventually relaxed and closed her eyes. Her beautiful pink lips slightly parted as she let out a small gasp of surprise. Reveling both in the petal softness of her lips and the heat of her breath against his hand, he almost lost it and groaned with desire.

  “I’m sorry about the way I treated you earlier.” She still had not opened her eyes.

  “That’s okay, I’m used to it.” He licked his lips as he thought about what her luscious mouth would taste like.

  “No, it’s not okay. You are my archangel, and we are a team. I should show you respect.”<
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  “Somehow I don’t see Miss Beautiful Princess bowing down to any archangel,” he replied as he reached over to brush her hair from her face.

  “You think I’m beautiful?” Her green eyes snapped open, and she gave him a shocked look.

  “I’ve always thought you were beautiful, even when you kicked me in the shins.”

  Her jaw dropped at that comment. Unable to hold himself back anymore he pulled her into his arms. He expected her to push him away, but instead, she threw her arms around him. As soon as her hands touched his back, he let out a hiss of pain. She released him and jumped back.

  He felt an emptiness when she pulled away. Part of him wanted to pull her back, pain or no pain. Hell, part of him wanted to throw her down on the bed, rip off her clothes and bury himself deep inside her. It would only take one time, and she would be his forever. Angels mate for life.

  Gabi stood on the opposite side of the room gasping for breath as she gaped at Abdiel. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she chastised herself. She had promised herself that she was not going to fall for him again, and in less than twelve hours, she was literally throwing herself at him.

  “Take your shirt off so I can see the damage,” she said, trying to keep the emotions she felt out of her voice.

  When he peeled his shirt off, she let out a gasp of displeasure. His back was a crisscross of deep cuts, some going all the way to the bone. If he had been a mortal, he would be dead right now.

  He had to be in horrible pain. Yet, he had made sure Cam was healed first. Then he had taken the time to talk to her to make her feel better. She sure as heck didn’t help matters either when she had practically tackled him.

  “Lay down on your stomach,” she commanded as she knelt by the bed.

  When he complied, she placed her hands on his back. Closing her eyes, she began to recite the healing chants that were as old as time. Using her powers, she knitted the flesh back together again, leaving no wound unattended. She pushed out the infection that the dirty demon weapons had left behind.

  When she finally sensed it was done, she came out of her trance. Before she did, she urged him to sleep. He needed his rest after such grave injuries. She could not resist looking at his naked, muscular back. She had the insane urge to run her tongue up it to see if he tasted like he smelled, earthy and spicy. A heat flushed her face. She could just imagine what Michael would say if he caught one of his healers licking an archangel they were supposed to be treating.

  “Why are you here on Earth, Gabi?” Abdiel mumbled, fighting to stay awake.

  “Like you, I have a job to do.”

  “You’re a seraphim like your parents. You could be living in the highest order of Heaven with them. Instead, you stay here and take care of everybody else.” Without opening his eyes, he grabbed her hand and rubbed his thumb softly against it.

  “You’re not the only one who feels that they have to make up for past mistakes, Abdiel.”

  “What horrible mistakes could you have possibly made, princess?”

  “That is my business, not yours.” She jerked back her hand and walked out of the room.

  She probably should tell him of her past sins, but she was afraid. She could not bear for him to know the horrible things she’d done. Not even Cam knew. They were her sins, and she would bear it alone.

  It wasn’t until the next evening that Abdiel woke up. He went downstairs and found Cam in front of the TV. The empath lay sprawled on the couch, his body slumped like he had no bones in his body. Abdiel sat down next to him.

  “What’s this?” he asked after a few minutes.

  “Hockey. The best thing about being assigned to Detroit is the Red Wings.” Cam never took his eyes off the game as he answered.

  “What are Red Wings?” Abdiel was even more confused.

  “The red guys are the Red Wings. They’re the good guys. The other guys are the Avalanche. They are the bad guys.”

  “You watch these humans all the time?”

  “My whole family’s hockey junkies.” Cam laughed at his confusion. “Besides, Chris Chelios is not just any human. He is a super hero. He’s the good guy with the big, red twenty-four on his jersey.”

  After a few minutes of watching and with Cam explaining the rules, Abdiel found that he was actually enjoying the game. Pretty soon, Gabi came in and threw herself onto the couch too. Like the empath, she lay limp on the couch.

  He found himself smiling at the way she cheered and yelled at the TV. When two of the players got into a fight and the Red Wings won, she actually got onto her feet and clapped her hands together. He loved the way her hips moved when she did the victory dance.

  Then the two of them introduced him to something called pizza. It tasted so good that before he knew it, he had eaten more than Cam. In Heaven all that angels ate was manna. Cam was right. It was nice to try new flavors.

  “Do you two do this every night?” he asked her right after Cam ran to the kitchen for another Coke.

  “Every night we are not out saving the world from evil nasties.”

  “It must be nice,” he mumbled. He could not remember the last time he had just sat and relaxed around others as he had tonight.

  “See, it’s not so bad living around others.” She propped up her feet and opened up the top button of her jeans.

  He got a glimpse of her flat belly. He had to smile at the sight of a princess sitting there with her gut hanging out. It was absolutely adorable.

  “Not everyone is as nice as you and Cam,” he gently reminded her.

  “I know some archangels look down on you, Abdiel,” she said as if she read his mind. “But, not all of us think like that. I was one of the ones that found you that day. I saw what your family had done to you.”

  “I did not even know you were there.”

  “I was just beginning in my healing duties. I tagged along with my brother Raphael whenever he got sent on a mission.” She shrugged.

  “It was you, wasn’t it?” he asked, shocked. “You were the one crying. Why?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried to get up. He grabbed her and pulled her back onto the couch.

  “Tell me the truth, Gabi.” He reached down and brushed her hair away from her face.

  “What do you want me to say?” she asked with tears in her eyes. “That I was a stupid, naïve child who was infatuated with someone who didn’t even know I existed?”

  “You were infatuated with me?” He couldn’t keep the amused smile off his face.

  “Like you didn’t already know that.”

  “Honestly, I had no idea.”

  “Liar.”

  “Come on, Gabi.” He chuckled. “It’s not every day that a princess falls for some common archangel.”

  “You did not see me as a princess.” Her green eyes snapped fire. “You called me a mouse, remember?”

  “That was a compliment. I thought you were so cute and little.”

  “You thought I was a rodent.”

  “You, a rodent? Never. You’re anything but, princess.”

  He lowered his head to kiss her. She started to reach up to meet him and then stopped herself. He felt her stiffen underneath him before she put up her hand to stop him. When he looked into her eyes again, he almost let out a curse of frustration because they were cold and distant.

  “Don’t worry, bud, I am so over you,” she snapped.

  Figuring he had nothing to lose, he leaned down and kissed her softly on the cheek. She gave out a shocked gasp before she jumped to her feet and almost ran out of the room. Her face was flushed and her eyes wide. He found himself enjoying getting a rise out of her. This game was fun. He let out a laugh when he heard her growl of frustration drift back to the living room.

  Hours later Gabi was still hiding out in her room. Even though she knew that she was being a coward she couldn’t bring herself to face Abdiel. She could not believe she had just admitted to him that she had a childhood crush on him. She had spent hundreds of ye
ars telling herself that she was over him, and in less than one night, she was acting like the same lovesick puppy all over again.

  “Get a grip, Gabi,” she told herself.

  She picked up a juicy romance novel. She just needed to take a time out and get lost in a good book. However, she could not concentrate on reading, her mind kept going back to Abdiel.

  “We’re going down to the gym to train,” Cam called from the other side of the door. “Ya coming?”

  Knowing that Cam would be disappointed if she didn’t go, she left her room and followed him down to the gym. Abdiel was already there waiting for them. Cam hesitated at the doorway nervously, tugging at his hair.

  “Don’t worry. Remember, you like Mr. Dark Angel,” she whispered to him as she nudged him forward.

  “Come on in, Cam. I promise not to bite,” Abdiel teased.

  “That’s not what has me worried. I just don’t want you to see how much of a dork I am when I try to spar.”

  “I promise not to laugh at your dorkiness. Why don’t you show me your weapon? I never got to see it last night.”

  All angels had one weapon that they specialized in that was custom made for them at the armory. Cam opened up his backpack and pulled out a pair of tonfa. The wooden weapons resembled a police baton, but they were twenty inches long and they were meant to be held one in each hand.

  “I remember when your sister ordered these from the armory,” Abdiel said.

  “She totally wigged out when Michael gave me an assignment and said that she was going to have the best weapon maker she knew make these. I guess that was you, Abdiel, huh?”

  “Yes, it was me. First rule, whenever you are on the street tracking demons I want you to have these in your hands ready to go. When your new girlfriend attacked you last night, she caught you totally unprepared. Until you learn to use your fists, these tonfa are your best friends.”

  “Charoum told me that I shouldn’t carry a weapon, that it was my duty to be a good little empath and focus on my job,” Cam said defensively.

  “Second rule, forget everything Charoum ever told you. He is a complete idiot.