Ardeur

by Gavan, Danielle

  Celine took in the protective posture and the obvious concern for her friend and patient. “Get comfortable, Brody, I have a story to tell you and then you can decide if you want to go find Ardeur or leave and go on with your life.”

  Nine

  The few days following my arrival at Mount Angel were what most people would call uneventful but, to me, they were sheer and utter bliss. No need to watch my back, wonder where my next meal was coming from or cringe when I stepped in the shower. Rae had explained the next morning, over a breakfast of the fluffiest pancakes ever, that our portion of the abbey was shielded from the rest of the world and that unless you had something supernatural about you; you weren't going to find it. I'd asked about the other residents and received nothing more than the instruction to be patient and that I'd meet them when it was time.

  I was in the kitchen devouring a chicken salad sandwich on the afternoon of my fourth day at the abbey when the sound of someone entering the room had me turning around. I found what my mind refused to acknowledge as anything but a fairy, dressed in nothing but a pair of jeans and the most beautiful set of black, blue and gray wings. His short hair was like blue flames that surrounded his charming features in wild disarray. Wide black eyes blinked in surprise as he took me in, chicken sandwich and all.

  We danced around the kitchen, warily observing each other as he moved toward the fridge and I moved away from it. He reached behind him, pulled open the large, stainless steel door and turned to bend and look inside. A sexy Irish lilt drifted out from the depths of the fridge while a variety of berries, grapes and cheeses piled up on the counter. “Ye must be the new lass.” He closed the door and turned to face me with a wink and a smile on his sensuous mouth. “Rae failed to mention how cute ye are when he told me of ye yesterday. I'm Chris, by the way.”

  My reply was cut off by Rae's appearance in the kitchen. I gave a low whistle of appreciation at the obviously tailored for him suit, gleaming shoes and combed hair. Startled blue eyes searched the room and finally, rested on me. “Wow, Rae, you look awesome. Got a meeting?” Chris snickered behind me and I turned to glare at him but not before catching the half-smile on the angel's face. “What are you laughing at?”

  “That, Lovie, is not Rae.” The Fae popped a grape in his mouth and tilted his head toward the other man in the kitchen. “I'd tell ye what he is if I didn't think it would scorch the innocence off yer ears though, Sweetie.”

  The man I had assumed was Rae chuckled and drew my attention back toward him with a small tap on the counter next to me. “Honey, don't mind Christian. Fairy is Angel-drunk and doesn't know his head from his ass right now.” He smiled when I looked up at him and introduced himself as Metatron, Rae's twin brother. “You can call me Tate, though. It’s easier than my full name.”

  Christian loaded his fridge finds onto a platter and rounded the counter with a saucy wink at me before he dropped a kiss on Tate's cheek. “Not too drunk to know how much your head likes me arse just fine, hm lover?”

  Lover? Head? Arse? My eyes widened as I looked at the two men, one angel, the other Fae and realized what I was seeing with their interplay. “You're gay? But you're an angel.”

  “Aye, he is.” Christian laughed on his way out of the kitchen and left me to gape at Tate who had taken to adjusting the collar of his lavender shirt and white tie in order to avoid my confused sputtering.

  “But - how?”

  Rae came in just then, took a bite of the uneaten half of my sandwich and quipped through the food in his mouth, “Bad experience with a woman. We're talking horrific. Turned him into a Molly with a penchant for designers, silk trunks and shares in several lube companies.” He held up the remaining piece of sandwich and asked if I planned to finish it. I waved my hand to say that he could have it but the gesture was cut short when Tate's arm swung out and clocked his twin smack in the left side of the jaw with a right hook that would have made a professional boxer jealous.

  “I might prefer boys but I can still kick your ass any day of the week. Watch your mouth little brother before someone else watches it for you.”

  Rae was off his chair and the two men were rolling around the kitchen before either of them could fling a who's-your-bitch-now at the other. Tate threw Rae off his back and the small table in the middle of the room split in half when the big angel landed squarely on it.

  The noise from the fight must have carried down the hall and caught the attention of Christian, who came back to the kitchen in a full out run. He looped an arm around Tate's waist, hauled him off his brother with what looked like minimal effort and dragged the mass of flailing arms and legs toward the door. “Take care of that one while I see to Prissy Pants?”

  Christian left me alone with Rae in the kitchen that was now fit to be called a disaster zone. I was tempted to call in FEMA to help clean up the mess, but opted for checking on Rae to see if he was able to get up under his own power or would need my help to move his carcass up off the floor. A quick trip to the sink saw a damp cloth in my hand as I made my way back to where Rae lay groaning amidst the table debris.

  The beginnings of a curse died on Rae's lips. Blood welled from the split in his lower lip and he dropped his head back down to the tiles. I knelt by his head and pressed the cloth to his busted kisser. “Are you okay?” He blinked up at me and mouthed a thank you, which earned him a smile as I slid an arm under his neck and grabbed hold of his opposing hand. “No problem. Need a hand up?”

  “Yeah, and maybe some ice too?” I nodded and helped him stand, noticing along the way up that he winced as my arm circled around the back of his ribcage. He leaned on me like I was a man of his own size and strength and, for once, I was glad of the added strength that I thought Shade provided. Rae sat on one of the unbroken stools by the counter while I fetched him some ice cubes in a freezer bag.

  I handed him the bag of cubes and watched for a moment as he debated where to put it and finally settled it on his jaw. “You guys fight like that a lot or was it just for my benefit?” He laughed and winced as the intake of breath caused his injured ribs to pain him. “How are the ribs? I don't imagine landing on the table did them much good.”

  Rae looked at me and I saw his eyes narrow slightly as I felt a subtle push at my shields. He tried to read me and I clamped down tighter to keep him out. No one, not even Celine, knew what I really was and I planned to keep it that way, haven or not. I felt another stronger push against my shielding and smiled at Rae while I moved away to begin putting the kitchen to rights.

  “How about you make us some sandwiches to replace the one that got destroyed while I clean this up?”

  “How about you tell me what you're hiding behind those shields of yours and I'll clean up the mess?” A wave of his hand had the room cleaned up and left me standing there with nothing to use as a distraction from the conversation he clearly wanted to have. My eyes met his and we faced off for long minutes while I decided whether I really wanted to show this man my true self, the true extent of what I could do.

  “No. Trust me, you won't like what you see, Rae.” I sighed, walked around the counter and started making fresh sandwiches for the two of us. Shade was back to yammering at me non-stop and my teeth ground together in frustration while I tried to block him out by focusing on the sandwiches.

  The combined efforts of Shade and Rae pushing at my shields finally succeeded in snapping my control and my eyes flashed black as I turned to face the angel in the room. “You want to see that badly? Fine, here you go then.”

  I heard his sharp intake of breath when my aura began to fill the room, sucking out the light as the darkness of it took over. The scent of death rolled through, sickly sweet and pungent, with the smells of the grave. I let him feel everything that I was capable of, every last bit of the power I held tightly in check, until I was sure he'd never press me to do it again.

  My shields slammed back into place and I cast a glance at Rae who sat wide-eyed and silent in the cheery afternoon sunlight that h
ad once again filled the kitchen. “Satisfied?”

  Rae nodded as he rose from the chair and backed toward the door. “ You control the dead?” Nearly to the door, he looked back to see how much farther until he was out in the hall. He must have figured that once he was out he would be able to turn his back on me safely. He was so wrong on that one.

  I put the knife I'd been using down on the counter and laughed when I saw the big bad angel backing away in fear of little old me. “Yep. I control the dead. All of them, in any shape they come in.” The flash of fear in Rae's eyes made me laugh again as I advanced toward him. “Are you afraid? You asked to see what I am, tried to force yourself under my shields - and when I show you what's under them you have the nerve to be afraid? You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.” I jabbed a finger into the center of his chest with each word, forcing him backward into the hall. My eyes raked over him and my lips turned up in a disgusted sneer as he turned and walked away. “You of all people should know better, Rae. I believe the saying goes ‘Ask and Ye Shall Receive?’ You asked.”

  The broad back covered in a light blue polo disappeared into another room down the hall and I returned to the kitchen when the slamming of the door told me he'd gone inside, and he wasn't happy.

  I glanced at the two partially put together sandwiches on the counter and made a disgusted face at them before going over to finish them up and put them in the fridge. Someone was bound to be hungry later and I had never been one to let good food go to waste or leave a mess behind for others to clean up.

  When I was satisfied that things were as I'd found them, I took myself out to the garden. I'd found a quiet place under the canopies of a few Sycamore trees and made my way over to spend a few quiet hours meditating to quiet the inner turmoil that releasing my powers created.

  Ten

  Rae slammed the door behind him as he stormed into the sitting room in search of something to let loose on. His gaze landed on the bottles lining the back of the bar and he lunged for them, uncaring what it was he picked up; he twisted off the cap and poured the contents of the bottle down his throat.

  My Archeia. How can she be mine? She’s…oh fuck me…my mate.

  A discreet cough behind him made Rae choke on the whisky burning its way down his throat and he turned to see his sister reading a book in one of the wingback chairs by the French doors. Not bothering to put the bottle down, Rae crossed over and flung himself into the chair opposite hers.

  “Everything alright? You don't normally drink at, what time is it?” Remiele looked at the watch on her wrist and shot her brother a reproachful look. “Two thirty in the afternoon? Azrael, what in the world?”

  Another slug of whisky found itself poured down his throat before he responded to his sister. “Did you know Ardeur is a Nephilim?”

  Remiele put her book down and gave her brother a surprised look. “No. Why? Is the Angel of Death afraid of a tiny woman?” The tightness around his mouth and the way the muscle twitched in the side of his jaw told Remiele just how on edge her brother truly was and she relented on the teasing. “She really disturbed you that much, Rae?”

  “Yeah, she did. I've never seen anything like the power she let loose in the kitchen a few minutes ago. It calls to me.” His eyes caught a flicker of movement outside and he twitched the curtains aside to see the subject of their discussion making her way across the lawn toward the stand of Sycamore trees. “That woman could give me a serious run for my money if it came to a battle of wills, Remi.”

  She followed his gaze and watched the woman who sat under a tree and closed her eyes. Remi smiled as she recognized the lotus position and turned back to contemplate the foul mood her brother was letting fester. “She seems harmless enough, Rae. Look at her.”

  Azrael turned his gaze back out to look at Ardeur who was meditating under the trees with a ring of tiny birds calmly watching the curious creature in their midst. He couldn't resist a small smile at the ridiculousness of the image made even more hilarious by the appearance of a fuzzy brown bunny at the edge of the circle. It sat and watched Ardeur, both ears flopped down on either side of its head, completely at ease and unaware of the wicked power Rae knew hid beneath the pretty blond package that Ardeur presented. “Run you fools. Run.”

  The peaceful scene in the garden was interrupted by a shrill shriek followed shortly by a football that landed squarely where the bunny had been seconds before. Christian and Valencia, one of the other residents of the abbey, bolted across the lawn to retrieve the football and Rae watched his brother's lover make introductions. He turned back to face his sister and rolled his eyes at the smirk on her face.

  “Seems to me, you're the only one bothered by Ardeur.” Remiele cocked an eyebrow at her brother and gave him an appraising once over. “One would think that an Angel and a Necromancer would get along famously. No?”

  Rae downed another inch of liquid courage before handing the bottle to Remiele and rising from his chair. “You would think so. If only it were as simple as her being a necro – but she isn’t. She’s Nephilim…and a dark one at that.” And my Archeia. My mate.

  Remiele watched him leave and when she didn't see Rae's tall form crossing the lawn, she made the decision to go out and join the small group laughing in the shade.

  Rae sat down in the heavy wooden chair behind his desk and dropped his head into his hands. He hadn't dared tell his sister that what had truly bothered him was that his power recognized what Ardeur had let loose in the kitchen.

  The darkness in her soul matched the piece of himself that Rae had lost twenty-five years ago. He had given it to her so she could live, unaware of the damnation his gift would rain down upon the unsuspecting baby. Without meaning to, he’d turned her into a lesser form of himself and the power inherent in the child had transformed Ardeur into something beyond rare in the realm of all things angelic.

  Everything Celine had told him about the miserable life Ardeur had led came back to Azrael. “I should have known, should have sensed the power in the infant when I held her soul. How could I have missed a natural born necromancer with that much power?”

  He dropped his head down to the thick blotter on the desktop with a heavy thud as the guilt took over. “Stupid dumbass move.”

  The animals scattering and the subtle quake of the earth under me were my first indications that something or someone was approaching, and damn fast too. A female screech was the second signal and my senses kicked into gear seconds before the football hit the ground and bounced up to land squarely in the palm of my hand.

  I opened my eyes calmly and smiled at Christian and a woman I hadn't met yet when they approached. They were laughing and pushing at each other, clearly having fun. “Hey, Chris. Who's your friend?”

  The dark-haired beauty in designer everything dropped down to the grass, not seeming to care whether she got grass stains on her clothes or not, and held her hand out to me. “Valencia. You must be Ardeur. Chris has been telling me about you.”

  Christian flopped down on the grass next to Valencia and propped his head on his hand. He reached out and plucked the football from my grasp. “Nice catch. I told ye nothing beyond her name and that she is a cute package of yumminess.” He flicked the football up into the air and caught it neatly. “Where did ye learn to catch a ball like that? I don't think even Val here could have caught that with her super skills.”

  I closed my eyes to open myself a bit and catch the flavor of Valencia's energy. My eyes popped open in surprise and went to the darkly beautiful creature that was part vampire and part human. She met my gaze and flashed her fangs at me while making a goofy face that had me, and Christian, laughing.

  “Nice to meet you, Val. Don't believe anything the Fairy told you about me. Lies - all lies.”

  A shadow that ended at a pair of blood red stilettos fell over our trio and we all looked up to see Remiele smiling down at us. “Can I join the party or is it by invitation only?”

  Chris scooted to sit down and patted the
grass between himself and Val invitingly. “Free for all. Sit, Lovie, and join the fun.” Remiele kicked her shoes off causing Christian to shriek like a banshee at her treatment of them. “Ye can't treat Louboutin's like that, Remi. Have ye no respect woman?”

  I couldn't help but laugh at the eye rolls from both Remiele and Valencia at Christian who had retrieved the precious designer shoes and was cuddling them like small, red leather children to his broad chest. Remiele retrieved her shoes and gave Christian a nudge with the tip of one. “Weren't you two going to play football in the orchard?”

  Valencia took the hint for what it was and rose, hand held out to Chris. “Come on, Rainbow Brite. I think the headmistress wants to talk to the new girl.” Christian hopped up, agile as a cat, and the two of them ran off toward what I assumed was the orchard.

  Remiele turned back and I could tell by the way her eyes narrowed slightly that she was assessing me while formulating her strategy. I sat calmly, and smiled back at her under the undulating shadows of the sycamore leaves.

  “I hear you gave Rae a bit of a show in the kitchen earlier.” Ah, so there it was. It hadn't taken long for that newsflash to make the rounds. “Can I ask why you did it?”

  The second question was unexpected and it took me a second to reply. “He refused to take no for an answer and kept pushing at my shields. My demon was pushing at them as well from the inside and, when I lost control of them, my shields dropped.” Our eyes met and searched each other; her slate blue to my darker periwinkle. “I gave him fair warning and he refused to listen.” My lips quirked into a half smile while my mind recalled the horror on Rae's face. “He pushed, and got what he wanted. It's not my fault he didn't like what he saw.”

  Blue-black curls bounced with her nod of understanding. Her lips parted, as if to speak, and I watched for a moment, waiting to see what she would ask next. “Does the meditation you do help?”