Airs & Graces: The Angel's Grace Trilogy Book I

by A. J. Downey

  There was more than stone flooring this time; a large stone table stood there. It was horrible, the stone drenched in blood and heavier, wetter, things… I fell to the floor and scrambled backwards in a crab walk away from the scene. The man chained to the table at ankles and wrists shouldn’t have been alive, but he was, straining at the chains screaming silently, his eyes wide and angry, his black hair longer than it had been a moment ago, matted with his own fluids to the side of his face as he whipped his head around and stared me straight in the eyes with his own liquid gray ones. I knew him, sort of. It was Tab, and that’s when I started screaming again… only this time I didn’t stop.

  I screamed loud and long until the world went black, and I didn’t have to see it anymore.

  Chapter Two

  Tabbris

  “Oh shut up! Did she just pop? She just popped, didn’t she?”

  I looked down at Adelaide and made sure her soul was still attached. “Gabriel, this is serious.” More serious than I’d realized. There was something about that scream… and in looking again, I realized that this wasn’t such a good place to take her after all. I had hoped to be quicker, to not let it reach this point. How had it happened so rapidly? I couldn’t understand it, but decades of pain should have kept me mindful of how little I understood Iaoel. After inwardly cursing myself, I schooled my expression and focused on the situation at hand.

  “Yeah, ‘cause if she horks, you’re cleaning it up.” Gabriel turned back around and un-paused the game and continued speaking in an annoyed mutter. “I am not cleaning that up.”

  Michael looked at her crumpled form, then back to me.

  I sighed. “Obviously, things have gone wildly wrong in a very short amount of time. I know we’re not friends…” I let the thought trail off. “However, this goes beyond that.” There was a millennia in that pause. Michael was faithful to the hosts of Heaven, faithful to a fault. Lucifer would have to kill him a dozen times over just to get his attention now; he was so steeped in the power of Heaven. Michael was also expressive of his disdain for all but the most pious of Angels.

  “I’m not clear on what part you’re playing in this, Tabbris, except that your presence here is not an omen of good fortune. Worse, it appears you’re once again leaning toward the darkness.”

  My presence here wasn’t going to help her or the situation. My wings were a dead giveaway. The feathers had gone black-tipped some time ago, and after that, the entire things had taken on a deep crimson hue. It wasn’t a good sign.

  I shrugged. “They’ve been darker,” I looked from my wings to Adelaide on the floor. I preferred her unconscious at this point. It made things less difficult. Especially now that I saw my hopes were in vain, and I had to further hope they hadn’t realized it yet. I readdressed Michael. “I’m fulfilling my responsibility. A mortal vessel has been imposed upon. I’m sure you’ll want the resource of the Grace within her. So you simply extract it,” which I was sure was no longer possible, but I was at a loss for the moment.

  Michael peered at me from the third step, still insisting on maintaining a height advantage, just in case. My hand never got near my blade. This wasn’t a place to fight. It was a place for subtlety, so much so that I had to distract Uriel and Michael simultaneously. “Uriel can confirm that what I am saying is true, if you still don’t believe me.”

  At the mention of his name, Uriel hopped the couch and walked over to stare down at Adelaide. The glances between him and Michael spoke volumes. I’d had a sliver of hope, even realizing that efficiency and her safety could no longer be combined, that maybe they’d be willing to wait, to do it the hard way. Sometimes, however, individual mortal lives didn’t mean a lot to those who only see the big picture. They were definitely looking at her like a puzzle, not a person. I’d saved the young woman’s life only to endanger it by my misjudgment of both Iaoel and the Archangels.

  As soon as they were thoroughly enough distracted in parsing Adelaide’s soul from Iaoel’s Grace, I took the opportunity it presented and appeared on the couch next to Gabriel. I picked up Uriel’s controller and started playing. He immediately recognized what I was doing; only the television, the console, and we were moving; it was everything else on Earth that had stopped. He didn’t look at me; he just kept playing for a couple of minutes.

  “Good shot. Hey, Tabby, have you been practicing?” He still didn’t look at me, and neither did I at him.

  “I’ve had some down time.”

  “I heard about that. How’d that turn out?” His concern was genuine, or so it seemed. I’ve known Gabriel to be many things, but never disingenuous.

  “Not as bad as it looked. Still not in any hurry to go back to Hell.” That got a chuckle out of him.

  He paused the game and turned to face me. “I’m sure they’d love to get you back downstairs.” He shook his head, smiled and then looked back to me. “So, here we are. What’s on your mind?”

  “I was hoping you’d help me out with something.” I looked earnestly at him.

  He maintained a slight wince as he made a hissing noise. “Oh, I don’t know, does it mean pissing off Michael?”

  “Absolutely.”

  His expression lit up with an almost maniacal glee. “Let it never be said that an opportunity passed this Angel by.” He pointed to himself with a thumb. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

  “In a few seconds, they’re going to discover what I just figured out before she ‘popped,’ as you put it. When that happens, they’re going to try to destroy her to get it out of her. I just need a distraction. She did not choose this…”

  He looked pensive, stroking his chin with his hand and staring off into the ether before saying, “Distracting huh? I think I can handle being distracting. How creative am I allowed to be?”

  “Just… keep them occupied. No plagues. Don’t look hurt. You know exactly what I mean.” He let the fake offense fade from his expression and nodded.

  “Okay, most of the building will be standing. What?” His eyes widened in mock innocence. “I promise this time.” He drew an invisible ‘x’ across the left side of his chest, and I narrowed my own gaze in suspicion. “I mean, I promise that I’m not secretly planning to break this promise like the last one. Come on, you’re asking me for the favor here.” I had a secret appreciation for Gabriel; he was always one of the less reverent Angels. I nodded my consent.

  As quickly as I had gone, I returned, hopeful that they had not seen through my deception just yet. I was, of course, disappointed. Michael turned to Uriel as soon as my effect ended and time moved forward. By the time he’d started telling Uriel to grab me, I was already moving.

  Gabriel leapt up and smashed the television with his righteous might, taking out a good section of the wall; Michael was distracted for just an instant, and it was all I needed. I grabbed Adelaide, and we were gone.

  ***

  At its best, London was never one of my favorite places. The middle of a rainy evening was hardly London at its finest, which was part of the point, really. The setting sun was visible through a break in the clouds, but it didn’t matter much. Everything was still cloaked in its dull grays, and all the sounds were muted against the soft patter of rain. There was the occasional bit of half-alive green, but that was it. The trees didn’t help much, barely showing signs of life.

  Adelaide was still unconscious when we arrived. For the best, I figured. Within a couple of seconds, I turned her over on her stomach and counted down. I didn’t have to wait long. By the count of four, she was purging the contents of her stomach. Once the unpleasant business of a human body reacting to instant travel was handled, I worked on rousing her.

  “Adelaide, wake up.”

  “Where?” Adelaide struggled to speak as her eyes opened, and she held her hands up to fend off the soft, misty rain.

  “We’re outside of London.”

  “Where?” She asked again, waving me off as if I answered the wrong question.

  “Not here, which
is what matters.”

  Still not satisfied, she asked again. “Where… the hell is my car?”

  It didn’t seem important at the time, but I answered her anyway. “At the frat house. We’ll go back for it later. Can you stand?” I offered a hand to assist her up, careful to avoid the section of grass where she’d been throwing up.

  “Oh, someone was sick,” she said, her voice soft and a little dazed, but she was getting to her feet unassisted.

  “We need to keep moving.” I urged her toward the abbey, down the road from where we arrived.

  “Where, wait! Wait! I’m not going anywhere with you until you…” She stopped cold. “Did you say outside London?” She scrubbed at her face with her hands. “What is going on? Why are we anywhere but where we were? How long was I out? How did we get here, and what the hell was that I just saw?”

  “I can’t tell you much except that the situation just got a lot more complicated. I’d hoped this was going to be simple. They’d pull the Grace out of you, and I’d whisk you away, back to normal. I’d let them sort out whatever caused the whole mess last time, and we’d all go our own ways.” I was pacing.

  “The what?” Visibly shaken, Adelaide just stood there watching me, her dark eyes following me as I paced. In this rapidly worsening situation, however, I had bigger problems at the moment than the girl’s mental well-being. Michael wasn’t an idiot; he was a trained professional who’d had a very long time to perfect his trade. It would only be a matter of moments before they figured out what had happened and what my next step was. They’d know that I’d seek help from anyone that had sheltered me in the past, worked with me, or whose purposes had ever aligned with mine, and that would lead them to my next logical stop…which meant I had to be a little illogical. I began to move in the direction of the abbey.

  “Where are you going?” Adelaide was holding tight to her word and the concept of not following me as I walked off. I didn’t have time to explain it to her: she would follow or die, and that was her choice. It would be mere moments before Michael and Uriel arrived at a dear friend of mine’s doorstep looking for me. This is why I had moved us someplace else.

  “To see an old enemy,” I called over my shoulder.

  “What? That makes no sense!” She made an exasperated sound in her throat. “You’re just going to leave me here, aren’t you?” I could almost see the progression of the thoughts through her head play out when she realized that I no longer cared whether she was following. Regardless of all the steps, it always ends in self-preservation, all except for the most extreme cases. This wasn’t one of those, and by the time I was twenty paces ahead of her, she was following, if a little hesitantly. We both arrived at the abbey, which is all that mattered.

  “What is this place?” she called softly, still a ways behind me but gaining.

  “An old abbey.” I said it loud enough for her to hear.

  “Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I heard her mutter in a sardonic tone.

  The abbey was a magnificent structure in its day, thriving with those who sought only to do Heaven’s bidding. That was then. Now it was overrun with Demons, led by an ancient power that was not on speaking terms with Heaven. Still, there were many glory years prior. If it were still firmly in the hands of Heaven, it would be the last place I could go. As it was, the likelihood this stop would be the death of both of us was extremely high, but a chance in hell is still a chance.

  Adelaide caught up with me inside the front gates. Her questions stopped when she caught a real glimpse of the structure that lay ahead of us, along with the sight of the figures in the yard around it, staring into us with their burning yellow eyes from the deeper shadows. I felt her latch on to my right arm as they began slowly drifting toward us. I wasn’t sure if any of these specifically knew me or not. If not, they might actually be thinking they had a chance. After standing against Archangels and Fallen, I wasn’t worried about them. What did concern me was that Adelaide would spook and run, or that if they did get bold, they’d try to separate us. If they got to her, she’d be lost, and this would all be a loss. All I could do was keep moving, show no fear, and hope she’d stay behind me this time.

  The doors slowly swung open as we approached. Not my doing, but I wasn’t about to tell Adelaide that. She’d seen me turn a Fallen to smoke, though I privately had my suspicions as to how long that would last. She also knew I’d jumped us halfway around the world, and the whole pack of Demons was keeping a little out of sword’s reach. Why shouldn’t doors just open for me? Better that assumption than letting her know someone knew we were coming and was prepared. On the other hand, I took the invitation as a good sign. We’d at least get to say hello.

  Once inside the entrance, we were faced with Hadad immediately. I appreciated that about him: he was direct. I would have liked to think that he felt respect for my directness, but he probably just wanted me dead because I wouldn’t go along with his wishes.

  I told Adelaide, “Don’t look directly at him if you can avoid it.” She was already wounded, and if it got any worse, there wasn’t much I could do for her. Healing was one of those things I’d been hoping we’d manage back at the frat house. I was always more of a fighter. At least she listened and averted her gaze without any more questions.

  Hadad expressed himself physically according to his perception of his place in the universe: exactly six feet tall, slimly built, and dressed properly in an ivory suit, which went well with his copious amounts of bleached blond hair. I could see cameras set up and workers scurrying about performing menial tasks. He had tissue paper tucked into his collar and makeup layered over his fake tan, and thin lips split wide in a rictus grin over unnaturally white teeth. Hadad played the part of a popular televangelist well, his followers easily led astray, parted with their worldly riches to Hadad’s gain. Not only in earthly riches, but in power as well. How easily some humans worshipped false gods and prophets, and that is exactly what Hadad claimed to be to his many followers: a new prophet, preaching false words of a sham of a god.

  His power flooded the room, and I stopped short, making certain to keep myself between him and Adelaide. I’d hoped to not have to shield her from him, but he was unpredictable. I had no idea how he’d react to me, much less me with an uninvited guest in tow. His power seeped outward from him in a rush, and all the mortal workers scurrying about dropped dead mid-task. A peal of thunder followed a moment later, and with it, equipment fell over and searing bright light erupted from where he stood. Adelaide’s arms wound tight around mine, and she cried out, burying her face against my shoulder. I exerted my will to keep her shielded from the onslaught and kept a watch on Hadad.

  When I withstood the onslaught without backing away, and didn’t hesitate to protect her, he withdrew his energy, leaving four total people standing in the room. Apparently we weren’t exclusively dealing with mortal servants. He held a hand up, signaling his assistant to stay where he was.

  “No,” he said calmly as the bodies smoldered around him and the light died down. “He’s not here for violence. He’s here… to ask for a favor? Well, this is surprising indeed.”

  “Only thing to do, under the circumstances. My brothers weren’t any help, so I had to go to someone who wants to see me dead.” I felt the grip on my arm tighten even further.

  “He wants you dead?” Adelaide whispered, “I mean…he does know that I don’t actually know you, right?”

  I answered at normal volume and kept my eyes on Hadad. “It’s his way to know things.” A central quality for someone who reads the tapestry of life and being to see all things past and present. “In his day, some think he rivaled even God as a power over Earth.”

  “Jesus! Couldn’t you have picked a slightly weaker enemy to drop in on unannounced?”

  I paused for a moment, looked back at Adelaide and raised a brow. “No. Not for what needs doing.”

  Hadad feigned sheepishness. “Oh, you can look at me,” he called to Adelaide. Then, to me, he said, “
Tabbris, you can stop protecting her. Now that I know why you’re here, the last thing I’d want to do is destroy her.”

  I dropped the invisible barrier that was keeping Adelaide safe. It was a risk, but the entire gamble hinged on diplomacy. We couldn’t afford to fight Hadad, and he knew it.

  “Tabbris? Really? That’s your full name?” she asked.

  She had found a spot on the floor and developed a rather powerful interest in it, which encouraged me in the thought that she could learn her way around all of this after all. She huffed out a breath but still kept her gaze steadfastly averted. It became apparent that I wasn’t the only victim of her mistrust. Her voice was stronger, less hesitant when she said “Is he messing with me, or can I really look?”

  I kept my expression neutral and told her, “You can look. Plenty of Demons are born liars. He’s not one of them.” I paused, looking back at him, before adding, “If he wanted you dead, he would just slay you outright.” It wasn’t entirely correct, but I wanted Hadad to know that I was there because I respected his power. Besides, I knew him well enough to know he’d like being described as an honest Demon.

  “True.” He sounded a bit rueful as he went on, “It’s good of you to recognize that about me. We have definitely had our problems getting along Tabbris, and really there’s no reason not to burn you both to cinders right now out of spite.” He spread his hands, eyes wide with mock sincerity. “Honestly though, where has that gotten me for the last three thousand years? The crown is in their hands now, though it seems they’ve both managed to get themselves locked in their own palaces.” Hadad walked forward as Adelaide, still huddled at my side, looked him over.

  “You know why we’re here. I am not sorry for the part that I played in our last encounter–”

  He interrupted me. “Three, actually… You foiled three of my plans to retake Heaven. Though as the mortals say, ‘who’s counting?’”