“I know every healer,” Gabi said sympathetically. “Which one are you stuck with?”
“Tiffany.”
Now it was Gabi’s turn to laugh. She quickly recovered and patted Barakiel’s head. “I am so, so, so sorry.”
“Tiffany is not even an angel’s name,” Barakiel groused. “She refuses to tell us her real one. She’s the biggest airhead. Her only concerns are shopping and what color to paint her nails. I feel like I’ve moved in with Paris Hilton.”
“You’ve got to tell them what you did to her cat.” Cam slapped him on the back.
“She brought this pure white, longhaired, Persian cat with her. The other night she made me mad, so I shaved it bald.”
“That’s cold, man,” Abdiel could barely get the words out he was laughing so hard.
“The bad thing is for some reason it made that stupid cat like me even more.” Barakiel shook his head, clearly dumbfounded. “Hairball won’t leave me alone.”
“Where’s Ana?’ Gabi asked as soon as they had all stopped laughing.
“She’s at her new job,” Cam replied. “She said that she would be here as soon as she could.”
“Ana got a new job?” Abdiel asked with a raised brow.
“Yup, she’s a cop now.” Cam jumped when Ana flashed in.
“The proper term is enforcer, fang-head,” she snapped at him with her hand on her hip.
She wore an enforcer’s uniform, black leather pants and a short, cropped black leather jacket with blue trim. On her hips she had something on that Abdiel had never seen any enforcer wear before, guns.
When she saw Abdiel looking at them, she patted them. “Mael picked them up for me the other night. Don’t worry. We got some for you guys too. It wouldn’t be fair not to share.”
“Since when do you use black market weapons?” Abdiel asked, more than a little shocked. Ana was the last angel that he would have ever suspected of illegal activity.
“I am not about ready to let those demons get a hold of one of us again. If that means that we use weapons that the council doesn’t approve of so be it.”
“But, you’re walking around with them in the open,” Gabi pointed out. “You are kind of rubbing it in everybody’s face.”
“What are they going to do, fire me? Besides my new boss, Ahadiel, has ordered a whole bunch himself. When he found out that there was something that we could use against demons and that the council had been hiding it all this time he was pissed.”
“What else did you find out, old, wise one?” Abdiel crossed his arms.
Ana opened her mouth and then closed it. She seemed to be trying to find the right words. “I found out a lot and most of it is not good. Nobody knows about my telepathy, so I was able to get inside them and find out things.”
“That’s just rude, Ana,” Cam teased as he wagged a finger at her. “It’s not nice to snoop in other’s minds. It’s just a gross abuse of your powers.”
“Give it a rest.” She batted his finger away. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ve found out some pretty scary stuff. The council, in particular Jehel, wants to break up the Order. He knows that if you guys are as powerful as predicated that you will have more control up in Heaven than he does.”
“Is he really that power hungry?” Gabi asked.
“He deliberately set Dina up to be captured in order to get Cam. Is that hungry enough for you?”
“You mean to tell me he risked his own son in order to get me?” Cam had a disgusted look on his face.
“Yes, and that is not even the worse part of it. He was working directly with Forcas and Douma in order to put you guys out of commission. They struck a deal the demons get you guys and Jehel doesn’t have to worry about the Order unseating him.”
“How low is Jehel willing to go?” Rachael asked. She had come into the kitchen along with the rest of the males. They all stood around silent as they listened to their sister speak.
“Oh believe me, he has gone much lower before,” Ana breathed heavy before she went on. “You four are not the original Order. There were four other angels before you. The first two were your parent’s Abdiel and Rachael. In fact, your dad was the original Destroyer.”
“Appolion is just going to love hearing that one,” Rachael muttered.
“Who was the third one?” Cam asked as he stared to pull at his hair.
“It was Mom.” Ana reached out and pulled his hand down. “But as soon as I mentioned the original Order, you knew that. We have always known that Mom was a strong telepath. That’s why you and I have developed such strong skills. In time I think Barakiel will gain them too.”
“Oh hell no.” Barakiel gave a vigorous shake of his head. “I’m just a simple empath.”
“That’s what I said at first too,” Cam told him grimly. He then looked at Ana. “Jehel set up Mom and Dad too, didn’t he? He wanted mom destroyed so that she wouldn’t be a threat to him anymore.”
When Ana nodded her head, all eight brothers started to curse. “That doesn’t make sense,” Mael snarled out. “Mom was destroyed after Abdiel’s parents had already defected to Hell. The Order had already been broken up.”
“He still felt that mom was a threat. He didn’t want to risk losing any of his precious power,” Ana said bitterly. “The worst part is I can’t even prove any of this. All I have is wild accusations that no one is going to believe.”
Ana turned to look at Abdiel. “I’ve got even worse news I’m afraid. They have declared Appolion a rogue and have put out a search on him. The archangels that are working for the justice angels have already come here to Earth to start hunting.”
“Good luck,” Rachael scoffed. “My brother is very good at shielding himself. They’ll never find him.”
“Yes they will, Rachael,” Ana said firmly. “The justice angels have the best trackers in Heaven looking for him. They will find him, and they have orders to bring him in, willing or not. There is some good news, however.”
“My brother is being hunted down like a dog. How could anything be good about that?” Abdiel growled.
“Well as you all already know, Ahadiel is the chief of the enforcers. He has suspected that Jehel has been dirty for years but he could never prove it. When I came to him with our problem he was more than happy to help. Appolion is now wanted by the enforcers too.”
“How is that supposed to help?” Rachael wailed.
“Because now I can go hunt for him.” Ana could not have shocked her brothers more than if she had run down the streets of Heaven buck-naked. “I will go and convince him to come in peacefully.”
All at once, the kitchen was in an uproar. Abdiel, Rachael, and every single brother were arguing that they should be the ones to go fetch Appolion. Everyone agreed that it was much too dangerous for Ana to go out there alone.
“Enough,” Ana finally yelled. “I’m going and that’s final. Abdiel, if you or Rachael go, Appolion will view it as a betrayal and he will never trust you again.”
Abdiel hated to admit it but she was right. If Appolion thought that his own family had deceived him again, he might do something stupid.
Ana turned and looked at Cam. “I need you to stay in contact with Appolion. You and Rachael are the only connection we have to him now. If he cuts you off because the senses that you are after him we lose one of the best advantages we have against the justice angles.”
Ana pinned each of her brothers with a steely look. “As for you lunk-heads, back off! This is my assignment, not yours.”
“Look, Ana, it’s going to be dangerous out there,” Ramiel started. He was the oldest brother and because of that had obviously decided to be their spokesman. “Not only do you have demons coming after this guy but now some over-zealous angels too.”
“I know you boys want to protect me,” Ana said softly. “But, this is something I have to do. For years I sat on that council and tried to live up to its expectations. Now, after all this time, I find out that it’s all been a lie. T
hat they were the ones that made Mom and Dad the way they are today. Don’t you see I have to do something so some good comes out of all this? Abdiel brought Cam home to us. The least I can do is bring Appolion back to him.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Ana.” Abdiel didn’t not want to see her get hurt either.
“I know I don’t. If you want to know the truth, I’m looking forward to getting out there and mixing it up a bit.”
“Little Miss Uptight Ana getting down and dirty with some demons?” Barakiel smiled, breaking the tension in the room. “I would pay money to see that.”
Ana ignored her youngest brother and turned to address Cam. “I need you to contact Appolion right now and let him know about the justice angels. We can’t afford for them to get to him first.”
Cam nodded before he closed his eyes. After a minute, he winced. “Damn, he is pissed. He’s yelling all kinds of nice things in my head.”
“Tell him not to worry that I’m coming for him.”
Cam silently relayed the message before he opened his eyes. “Dude, if I tell her that she will kick my ass,” he said this both out-loud and mentally so everybody knew what his end of the conversation was.
Ana narrowed her eyes. “What did he say?”
Cam took a deep, steadying breath. “He said, ‘He yippi, diddly, diddly, doo! Some female empath is coming to save me. Now I have nothing to worry about.”
Ana’s mouth opened and closed several times, her light blue eyes wide with disbelief. “That arrogant jerk,” she finally managed to strangle out. “Tell him to come into my mind and say that to my face.”
“He said, ‘No way Jose’.’” It was obvious that Cam was enjoying relaying these messages a little too much.
“Well isn’t that real mature.”
Abdiel ducked his head trying to choke back his laughter. The coughs that surrounded him told him that the brothers were doing the same thing. It was kind of funny seeing someone stand up to Ana for once.
“Great,” Cam groaned. “Now he’s singing in my head and its Blondie’s ‘One Way or Another’.”
“Oh,” Rachael gasped. “I like that song.”
“No dude,” Cam argued with the unseen Appolion. “I will not tell you what she’s wearing. That’s my sister.”
Ana went over to Cam and stalked him, completely forgetting that he was just the messenger. “You tell that no good, pig of a male that I am coming for him.” Cam got up a quickly backpedaled until Ana had him pinned up against the counter.
“He wants to know if you’re going to able to drop the bon-bons long enough to do that.” Cam had already put his arms up in anticipation.
“Stupid jerk.” Ana hit her brother several times in the chest and stomach.
“Ouch, Ana, stop. He’s gone.”
Ana gave him one last slug for good measure before she walked over and pulled some files out of her bag. “Fine, let him be arrogant; it’ll be easier that way. Appolion just thinks he’s smarter than me. But, little does he know I’ve figured out his little secret.”
Abdiel was actually starting to feel a little sorry for his brother. He had never seen Ana this riled up, not even the time that Barakiel had snuck and got his nose pierced. Her cheeks were flushed and her pink lips were pressed tight together with anger. A thick lock of her blonde hair had escaped the usual immaculate bun. She did not even bother to brush it out of her way. She finally gathered up several newspapers and slammed them down on the table. Some of them were so old that they were cracked and yellowed.
“What’s your big plan, Ana?” Cam asked still rubbing the spot in his chest where she had hit him. “Are you going to keep signing him up for newspaper and magazine subscriptions until he finally turns himself in?”
“Don’t worry,” Abdiel drawled. “She’ll still remember to renew Cosmo for you.”
“Mr. Dark Angel made a funny,” Barakiel said with a smile. Abdiel went up to him and ruffled his hair.
“This is how I’m going to get Macho Pants,” Ana declared proudly.
Gabi and Abdiel started sorting through the newspapers. He could see that they were old articles on several different serial killers. Was Ana trying to say that his brother was a murderer? He instantly dismissed the thought. If she had really thought that Appolion had done these killings, she would have just let the justice angels have him.
“I’m sorry, Ana.” Gabi had a small frown on her lips. “I just don’t get it.”
“Maybe this will help.” Ana pulled out a paper from one of the files. “I compiled a list of places Appolion has lived in the past using both the information he gave Cam and reports of unauthorized angel activity. When I compared the dates and locations, I found a pattern. I think he has been hunting down serial killers.”
“Are you sure?” Rachael looked through the paperwork.
“It would make sense. We all know that most serial killings are either the work of demons or humans that are under strong demon persuasion.”
“That little booger.” Gabi turned to smile at Abdiel. “What was all that talk he was shooting off about keeping his head down and hiding in his rabbit hole?”
“Don’t forget, he claimed that he was no hero too.” Abdiel knew that he had a stupid grin on his face, but he couldn’t help it. He was proud of his baby brother. Appolion was out there helping his mortal brothers even though he had to do it all alone.
“How’s all this going to help you find my brother?” Rachael wrinkled her nose in confusion as she talked.
“I just need to figure out where there is a killer active and wait for him to show up.”
“Ana.” Abdiel rubbed his head. “Do you have any idea how many serial killers there are active at any given time?”
She held her head up. “I didn’t say that it would be easy, but it’s all I got. It just may take a little time.”
“Thank you for going to save my little brother.”
Ana ducked her head, embarrassed by the gratitude.
“I just have one last question,” Rachael said. “Who was the Control over the original Order?”
“I was,” a voice called out from the doorway of the kitchen.
Michael stood there tossing a baseball from hand to hand. Barakiel gave out a small yelp, shocked by the chief’s sudden appearance. Abdiel saw Mael and Cam exchange a look before Cam fixed the chief with a hard stare.
“You were the Control?” Gabi asked her lips forming an O. “Why didn’t you tell us about the other Order?”
“There’s a lot they’re not telling us, isn’t there Michael,” Cam snapped out. “But then that’s nothing new is it?”
Abdiel knew that finding out that Michael had been his uncle after all these years had been a big blow to Cam, but he still shocked at his behavior. The young archangel would hardly even look at the chief before, and now he was snarling at him. In fact it looked like Cam was thoroughly pissed at Michael and was two steps from attacking him.
“Back down, boy,” Michael’s voice was low but full of menace. There was a reason why he was the biggest, baddest archangel. “If you have a question, why don’t you just ask it?”
“Fine,” Cam snapped back. “Did you know about the holy water or the angel’s blood?”
“I just thought the holy water was a myth. As for the angel’s blood, yes I did know about that.”
“So you knew all along and you never said anything?” Cam’s teeth ground together but Abdiel was proud to that he managed to keep his cool. “How could you keep something like that from us?”
“It was a matter of security. If a bad angel were to use it to hide that they are going rouge, they would be able to spy on us, or worse. Do you honestly think that I like the idea of those demons draining captured angels dry? Those are my warriors that they are doing that to.”
“What were you doing at the neutral bar the other night?”
“I was doing a couple of things.” Michael walked over so that he could stand toe-to-toe with Cam. “One was h
aving to scare a certain succubus away from one of my nephews.”
“Look, Michael—” Cam began only to have the chief angrily cut him off.
“No you listen, that female demon has an obsession with you.”
“That’s ridiculous. She does not.”
Michael grabbed Cam’s cell phone out of his pocket and started to scroll through the history. “Yeah right, that’s why she called you fifteen times today and it’s not even evening. She sucked you dry of blood the other night, knowing full well that you were going to pick a fight with those demons. She wants you to be captured again.”
“Now you’re beginning to sound like Mael. She wouldn’t do that. She’s a succubus. I’m just another lay to her. She just understands me better than anyone else right now.”
“Surprise, she’s a demon.” Michael smacked Cam on the forehead as if he were trying to beat some sense into him. “She would love nothing more than to have you become her own personal pet down in Hell and believe me, it would not be as fun as it sounds. Stay away from her. She’s one dangerous chick.”
“Since when do you give a flip about what happens to any of us, Uncle Mike?” Cam asked with heavy sarcasm. “I think I liked it better when you ignored us.”
“If Mael had not been there last night, you would have been in big trouble. You’re losing control, and you’re going to drag your entire family down with you. I’m not asking you to stay away from that female demon, I’m ordering you to do so. You are still an archangel and I am still your leader, no matter how you feel about me otherwise.”
“Fine, I’ll stay away from that particular succubus,” Cam finally conceded angrily. “But you have to tell me one thing first. What the hell were you doing talking to an illegal arms dealer?”
“Let’s just say that I am no longer following the council’s dictates. Everything that Ana just told you is true. Jehel and several others have betrayed us all.” Michael ran his hands through his mane of dark blond hair and started to pace. “The powers of Heaven are now divided.”
Angel Warriors Page 35
