Archangel of the Fallen

by Devin Lee Carlson

  Laughter squeaked out again. I couldn’t help it.

  Sabree’s eyes turned dark lavender. “Witnessing those memories from your viewpoint will take a getting used to. How strangely odd I feel. But I do understand more of what we shared as friends. I appreciate what drives you, Brian.”

  Okay, this heart-to-heart was starting to enter the wee bit too mushy zone. Sabree might never shut up. Time to lighten the mood. “If this is where you come over to give me another hug and plant a wet kiss on my lips, well forget about it.”

  We both chuckled over the levity, but I sensed the frustration troubling him. Seemed he had already forgotten about the cord and shear attacks. At the very least, I should offer an explanation of sorts. “Too much of me all at once can be a bad thing. Don’t worry Sabree, it’ll settle. Maybe another Margarita?”

  “If you weren’t such a high-and-mighty immortal, I’d swear you were a lush.” Sabree tapped the glass when a shark scared off a school of groupers. “Bully.”

  First lush then bully? “What’d I do now?”

  “Not you, the shark.” Sabree walked his fingers along the glass to attract a school of angels.

  The fish distracted him as easily as the Colton tabs whipped me into shape. “Liquor relaxes me, never really goes to my head. My metabolism burns off the sugars as fast as I zip around.”

  “Lush,” Sabree whispered and then tapped the glass again. The shark darted away as if it had seen its own shadow. “Something scared off the bully. Not good.”

  “Your ugly face, maybe.” I sucked in a wheezing breath and almost choked on my own spit. “Bloody hell…”

  “What?” Sabree asked, glancing around. He spun when my bulging eyes stared behind him. “Merde—” He grabbed my shoulders and whipped behind me. “Is that thing real?”

  “Most likely. This is automation damnation island.” My gaze focused on the thirty-foot Great White. Why put such a monstrosity in the same tank with calmer fish and whales? Something was off. I grabbed Sabree by the arm and pulled him away from the tank, worried the glass might not hold a fish its size. Didn’t care to test it out.

  We held our breaths to listen for machine noises. Whirring clicks swam by. Its eyes flickered like a digitized screen. “It’s not real,” I said when he whispered an aha.

  The damned thing was a robotic shark. I cocked my head, ignored the icy chill flowing in my veins when it swam by again. “Must be the main attraction, which is why they put it in the same tank. It’s a robot. It has to mind its programming. I wonder if it serves drinks?” Lush indeed.

  Nervous, the ring on his finger twirling, Sabree said, “Let’s go back.” He wiggled the ringed finger, his lip turned up in question. “I remember this being one of future Sabree’s way of dealing with stress. Now it’s my bad habit too.”

  “Suggestive programming,” I said with a chuckle. “Aware it exists, you latched on to it for stability or peace of mind. Damn it, Sabree, I may sound like one, but I’m no shrink.”

  “Good enough answer for me.” Sabree glanced my way, wiggled his brows, and pointed behind my shoulder. “It’s following us.”

  Figures, but then I expected nothing less from this bloody island and its robotics. Sabree was right. The shark paced itself with every step we took. On purpose and with deadly intent. “Keep moving. Pretend we don’t care. Beat feet for the entrance.”

  An alarm rang overhead. No longer a dim glow, the strip lighting along each side of the tunnel floor flashed red. “Now what?” I asked myself. Sabree asked the same question in a voice a few octaves higher.

  We exchanged glances and jumped together when Spitfire flipped out of my pocket and landed in my left hand. The Laser-like blade shot out, ready to do battle, matching our alarmed nerves. The behind the scene guys might think me a nerd who brought my own lightsaber. We turned our backs together to face opposite sides, worried I might cut him. Instead, the blade sliced into the glass barrier like a tender piece of meat. Water dribbled at first then gushed. Another alarm louder than the first rang out. The sectional doors slid shut to seal us off from the mainland.

  The glass might’ve held had it not been for robo-shark’s nose pushing it apart, cracking it further to sniff us out. Sabree swore as he ran for the door, demanding that it open. As I feared, the automation ignored his pleas. Of all times.

  The tunnel filled with water already over our heads. I swam after him. No biggie, we could breathe underwater. But definitely a biggie because a thirty-foot curious shark was hell bent on harassing us. Why? Did the geeks behind the scenes tire of our snide remarks? Neither Sabree nor I had asked it to do anything except serve drinks.

  Before I couldn’t speak aloud, especially underwater, I yelled, “Leave us alone.”

  The shark ignored the command and swam onward, its five-foot jaws opened wide. The metallic teeth gleamed with razor sharpness. We tread water in front of the door. As a last resort, I could JLS with Sabree in tow, but it might expose our true nature. Instead, I kept JLS on the back burner.

  Sabree tugged on my sleeve when the sealed door refused to budge. “Do you think it will eat us?” he asked. “We’re guests. We pay the bills.”

  “Damned if I know.” The shark hovered in my peripheral vision, its advance slower. My fists hammered the door. Maybe the noise would alert the staff. Sure enough, a flash of red caught the corner of my eye. A camera screen attached to the upper-left-side of the door displayed a few men jumping up and down. If we could see them, then they could certainly see us. In fact, one guy held up a sign up with the word SWIM! scrawled in black sharpie.

  “Hang on to the door, Sabree, and don’t look back.” Right behind his kicking feet, the shark almost clamped down. The next bite would hit the mark—Sabree’s legs.

  Its mouth opened again, wider, so I dove lengthwise into the rows of metallic teeth. Eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched, I braced myself for the metallic crunch down. The shark bit through me as my body changed from flesh and bone into ethereal energy. The shark wiggled its head in a death throe. No pain, no torn flesh.

  Still in spiritual flux, the electrical version of my body slipped through its clamped jaws. As I swam to Sabree, I imagined the men in the screen scratching their heads. Our true natures exposed, the last resort had come into play. I grabbed Sabree and we JLS sped to the shore in front of the cabanas.

  At first, Sabree swayed until he gained his footing. He glanced at the beach, spun around, and stumbled back. Our gape fell on the lineup of cabanas. Ten in a row, each one groaned as its gears ground metal upon metal. They sank underground and rose above the sand out of sync. All I could think of were hobby horses bobbing up and down in a merry-go-round.

  Then his gaze landed on my shirt. A finger lifted up the hem. “Mon dieu.”

  Holes marred my shirt where the shark’s titanium teeth had chewed, leaving my skin untouched. “Happened before when Euriel tried to decapitate me. My body automatically converts to ethereal energy when endangered of losing an extremity, head, or a munch down on its guts.” Most of what I said sailed over Sabree’s head, his eyes glazed over.

  “You saved my life again. Or at least saved me from the slow process of regenerating my legs and God knows what else. That was close.” Sabree squeezed his skull. “Damnit, Brian, you dove into its mouth.”

  “I told you not to look. Anyway, what are friends for. That shark bite would definitely put a damper on your honeymoon.” Laughter crept up my throat and I managed to swallow all but one chuckle. This was not the time to worry about whether I changed to energy as I did so many times. What a mess if I hadn’t. What a pain in the gut.

  The gears whined when metal folded in on itself. Some of the cabanas crunched into their storage holds while a few toppled from their cement support columns. My eyes met Sabree’s. I spoke in his mind instead of giving the island any new ideas how to harass us next. “Doesn’t look good. Do you think the cabanas will attack next?”

  The grinding gears continued to screech. If not f
or telepathy, we’d never hear each other speak.

  “They threw a bottle at you. A pillow at me. This is nuts.” Sabree backed away from the ruckus, pulling me along with him. “What’s different? The island was perfect yesterday. I hope Ariane’s okay.”

  “She’s fine or she would’ve contacted me by now. I’m pretty sure the automation’s out for my blood only. You’re within target range because you’re with me.”

  “Perhaps it senses the archangel-wannabe in you?”

  I slapped Sabree’s shoulders, squeezed tight, and lifted him off the sand. We twirled in place. “Eureka. You’re a genius, Sabree,” I yelled both telepathically and aloud. My grasp let go when a few pillows landed at our feet. “Is that all you got, you effing bots?” My fists balled, punching the lot from a safe distance of at least thirty feet, I dropped both arms and took a step back. “Bugger, should’ve taken my own advice about opening my yap.” Watch what you say, lad.

  “Huh?” Sabree asked.

  Beer and wine bottles shot from all ten nightstands at once. Reacting a thousand times faster than an astounded Sabree, I body slammed him flat onto the sand and landed on top of him. The bottles sailed overhead and splattered into the ocean.

  Plop, plop, plop, plop…

  Losing count after twenty splashes, I peeked from between splayed fingers and groaned.

  Sabree nudged me aside to sit on his haunches. A hand squeezed my arm, cutting off my circulation, “Merde,” Sabree whispered.

  One cabana broke away from its cement columns. Instead of collapsing in a heap, its four warped legs dug through the sand to push the main structure towards us. The bed slipped out of one side. The curtains writhed in the wind like Medusa’s headful of snakes. I grabbed Sabree’s arm and together, we flashed down shore toward the bar. The whirlwind sprint dusted us from head to toe in a layer of sand. “Sorry, I got carried away. Overshot us a bit.

  “More like you carried me away.” Sabree squeezed my bicep. “Not quite buff enough. Must be pumped up on tablets.”

  The oversized metallic crab turned in our direction. “Unbelievable, the focker is coming after us. The stones. It has to be the bloody celestial stones.”

  Sabree waved the monstrosity off as if to force me to ignore it. “But I have one of my own.”

  “Nothing went wrong until I showed up. Right?” My eyes darted from the crab to him. Another crawling cabana joined the first. “I have a shitload more than you, some from the portal. Might be White Ghost himself.” My fingers fondled the carry-all in my pocket. The moonstone that housed WG and Zoeree zapped me. Nothing new, it always did. A few stones jumped about as if agitated. aMichael’s cerulean gem in particular. “The combined celestial energy might be alien enough to hack the island’s mainframe. Wait here.”

  Before Sabree could blink, I leapt into JLS mode and appeared inside my office to deposit the stones in the secret desk drawer and ordered them to stay put. Again via JLS, I reappeared behind Sabree. “Well?”

  A whispered curse slipped from his lips when he jumped. “You did it! Look.” He pointed at the metal skeletons waving white flags along the shore. The battle lost, the cabanas collapsed in defeat. “They’ve surrendered.”

  “What are you two doing?” Ariane’s eyes formed slits as she studied my shirt. “Did a shark attack you or something?”

  “You could say.” Sabree and I leaned over in laughter. Just like my sister to show up after everything returned to normal, making us look the pair of fools.

  Hands on her hips, she stared at the wrecked cabanas, especially the two collapsed in a heap alongside the shore. “What happened to them? A hurricane?” She turned toward us, our laughter already on her nerves. “The island is on shutdown. Someone hacked into the automation mainframe. They asked me to catch the next flight out. No charges placed on our bill. Refunding us instead.” She huffed. “Some dummy’s idea of an island paradise. Can we leave now?”

  Hacked indeed. The stones were the culprit no less. On our return home, I better contact Jesse and let him, and the HFA know about this disaster. They might want to erase the video along with the two technicians’ minds. Ready more than ever, I exchanged glances with Sabree.

  “I’m sorry, it didn’t turn out the way you had hoped,” he said to Ariane. “Forgive me?”

  My sister leapt into his arms. “How about we get to know each other in the comfort of our own home. Order takeout.” She kissed him and then waved me over. “We’re ready.”

  Takeout at home suited me just fine. Maybe after dinner, I’d show them the stone recording of Earth’s end, of the sorrowful good-byes I had shared with the future Ariane and Sabree. Maybe they’d sober up a bit after that, especially my sister. “Hop aboard the Brian Express.”

  39

  Sweet Good-Byes

  O nce is enough as the saying goes. Depending on the outcome of the battle, I refused to say sweet goodbyes or forever hellos from the Crags. From now on ground-zero launchpad belonged only to me. The forever good-bye I had endured with the future Sabree and Ariane and then the do-over with my son, would be too hard to bear. Again.

  For once, optimism prevailed, this farewell meant as a see you later, or better yet, as an I’ll be back instead of a final good-bye. I held out a hand to Azrian, hoping he’d pull me into a hug. Let him choose.

  “Come on, Pop, you can do better than that.” Azrian hugged me and slapped my back to ease the intimacy. Then he squeezed tight and buried his face in my sash. His entire body racked once with emotions he fought to hold back.

  Oh, no. That was all it took. Tears slipped down my cheeks. The lump in my throat squeezed the breath from my lungs. I thanked the Scottish warrior gods that he didn’t see them, his head buried in my shoulder. To lighten the mood, I spoke telepathically while we hugged.

  “Azrian? Are you staying on Earth as my emissary? The Lighted Ones need representatives on the physical worlds that harbor intelligent lifeforms. You’d be working with Jesse and Bellamy.” I pulled away to wait for the expected response: brightened gaze, sly smile, or the typical eyeroll. Whoa. My son imparted all three at once.

  “Yes.” Azrian squared his shoulders as he met my gaze. “I’d be honored, Pop.” His cheeks flushed. “Bellamy gave his approval. Jesse too, of course.”

  Unable to speak aloud, I nodded. If he spotted my tears, he purposely ignored them as I did his own. One of those unspoken rules between dudes: don’t make a big deal of my weepiness and I will do the same. I almost chuckled when I finally spoke, my voice husky. “You’ll be stuck on Earth most of the time. Gray Wolf said you’d be worthy of the task. I trust his wisdom. I trust you.”

  Azrian swallowed hard. “Won’t let you down. Pop.” He used a sleeve to wipe the few stray tears away. “Will you include me when you summon your Malakhim? I don’t want to miss out.”

  “Aye, wouldn’t dream of excluding you, lad. Remember, according to the legends of Tim E. Traveler, I should be able to visit you in my physical body.” My son’s eyes lit up.

  “Good luck, Pop. Knock aThorsis on his ass.” Azrian wiped his eyes again and mustered a crooked smiled.

  “Love you, son,” I whispered inside his mind. Without taking my gaze off Azrian, I zipped from the office to meet Ariane and Sabree in the great room.

  3 3 3

  A mist evaporated around Sabree as his gaze scanned the room until he locked eyes with Ariane. Dressed in maternity jeans and a loose yellow top, she brightened the room. To match her, Sabree wore a goldenrod-colored shirt to support Brian on the big sendoff. The twins meant the universe to him. Ariane and Brian, the zygotes he agreed to protect, were his destiny.

  One of his hearts leapt against his chest in anticipation of Brian’s victory. The other shriveled, prepared to be crushed should aThorsis triumph. Brian faced impossible odds compared to the corrupt Lighted One who had cast him out as one of the Fallen. By first impression alone, his friend paled in comparison. Too human. Yet Sabree had witnessed Brian in action inside the portal. No
longer flesh and blood, his energy shone bright. Oui, hope exists. Brian is hope.

  A rushing breeze of honeysuckle blasted Sabree in the face. Hope had just entered the great room and Sabree flaunted his infamous Cheshire cat smile in salute. Commonplace to see someone dressed in a kilt in Scotland, seeing Brian dressed in full regalia threw Sabree off kilter every time: the first time back in France and the last time for his and Ariane’s wedding.

  Armor and leather covered Brian’s torso and arms. The tartan favored the Royal Stewart red and black pattern. His hair windblown from speeding here from wherever, whipped about as if already in flight. The black powder smudged across his eyes underscored the intensity that drove him into battle readiness.

  The three converged under the starburst chandelier.

  “This is it. After our farewells, I’m taking off from Ground Zero, where the world ended, where my do-over began. You two stay here within the protection of the thistle.” He removed it from his carry-all stone and handed it to Sabree. “I will come back for it after I whoop aThorsis’s ass. Consider it a fair trade for Zoe.”

  Brian hugged his sister. “Love you, Sis.”

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked.

  “This is my destiny. Our destiny.”

  The hug they shared made Ariane squeak a giggle. She reached for his hand and placed it on her baby bump. “Your nephew wishes you luck. I think he’s saying kick some ass.”

  The love of his life always had a way of making light of a dire situation. Sabree couldn’t help but laugh when he smacked Brian on the shoulder. His hand smarted from the tough leather armor. The war-painted eyes focused on him. I will not tear up.