Solace (Asteria Trilogy Book 1)

by Alaina Katherine

  Jealous.

  Gabriel had acted jealous that I had been kissing Michael and that Michael apparently wanted me. Well, I certainly could go around kissing whomever I wanted since Gabriel sure didn’t seem to want to kiss me.

  “Sage,” Gabriel's soft voice pulled me out of my reverie. He had finished removing all of the glass from my feet and I had apparently stopped bleeding. Strange, I didn’t even feel a sting when he put the peroxide on my wounds. “Did you fall asleep?”

  “No, I don’t think so. But I didn’t feel any pain while you did all of that.” I gestured towards the bloody shards of glass that were lying on a napkin.

  “I would never cause you pain.” Gabriel smiled at me, kissing me on the forehead as he loomed above me. It was a sweet gesture, though it made me feel like a child who was being kissed goodnight by her father. This gesture actually made me want to ask Gabriel what was with his jealousy act but, just as I opened my mouth to speak, there was a knock at the door. Gabriel opened the door where Arafiel waited outside, holding a few slabs of glass that looked similar to the ones that my bay window used to be comprised of.

  “I’m here to fix your window,” he stated, bowing before walking over to my window frame and placed the slabs of glass beside it.

  “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. Gabriel can fix it, right Gabriel? I mean, after all, you did break it.” I sat up as I smiled innocently at Gabriel.

  “I suppose I should be the one to fix it.” Gabriel bowed his head sheepishly.

  “You may go now Arafiel; Gabriel can fix it all by himself. I’ll be here to supervise of course, so no worries.” I continued on smiling.

  Chapter Ten

  Once Arafiel left, Gabriel got to work on replacing my window, while I enjoyed the view from my couch.

  “Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you throw someone through my window,” I scolded. I watched as Gabriel gracefully picked up a slab of glass, he seemed to have no trouble doing so either. I saw his muscles ripple through his shirt at every movement. Needless to say, I was going to enjoy my supervising position though I knew nothing about fixing anything.

  After a few minutes of hard work Gabriel began to sweat, which caused him to peel off his shirt before continuing his work. And let me tell you, there is nothing like seeing the naked torso of an angel. Humans have got nothing on angels.

  “Metatron will want us all in our traditional robes for the meeting,” Gabriel said as he finished up his work on my window.

  “Um,” I hesitated. “Azrael normally wraps my robe around me properly since I still haven't really figure out how to.”

  “I can stand in her place,” Gabriel answered without hesitating. Uh, no way was he about to see me naked.

  “Gabriel, no offense or anything, but I don’t really feel comfortable with you doing that since it involves me starting off wearing nothing.” I tried not to blush as I said this.

  “Don’t worry Sage,” Gabriel chuckled. “I’m sure you can figure out how to start the wrap so that it covers the necessities then I will come in and do the rest.”

  “Alright, I suppose.” I got off my couch and limped to my room. “What color would be proper for this meeting?” I called out to Gabriel.

  “A pastel, maybe blue or green,” he called back.

  I selected a soft blue wrap made of silk before wrapping the middle of it around my chest and butt, leaving plenty of material on both ends so that Gabriel could wrap the rest properly.

  “You can come in now,” I informed Gabriel.

  Gabriel waltzed in and expertly began wrapping the rest of the silk around my body. His fingers would gently brush various parts of my skin, periodically sending shivers down my spine. When Gabriel had finished, I walked over to look at his work in my full length mirror. The wrap covered the top of my shoulders and wound its way down to my ankles. Gabriel had made it so that there was a diamond of bare flesh showing on my stomach.

  Gabriel came up behind me, standing so closely that I could feel the heat that came off of his body.

  “You look gorgeous, as always Sage,” He said, placing a warm hand on my bare stomach and pushing me gently so that my back was resting on his (still naked) chest. With his other hand he removed the scrunchie that was holding my hair up so that it cascaded in loose dark waves all around my shoulders and down my back.

  Why did he have to act like this sometimes? This was how it always was with us; he would say sweet things to me one second then be miles away from me the next. I turned in his embrace so that I was facing him. I wanted so badly to draw my face closer to his, to put my lips on his lips, but I was so afraid that he would freak out and pull away, and all I wanted was to remain in his arms, where I always felt safe.

  I felt a slight buzz at the back of my head.

  “Gabriel,” I whispered as I gazed into his eyes. When I looked into his eyes I could practically see him struggling with his thoughts. Do it, I wanted to whisper to him, kiss me. But instead of kissing me he dropped his arms away from my body and took a step backwards.

  “We have to go, we can’t be late for the meeting and I still need to stop by my house to change,” he said formally, not meeting my gaze.

  “Of course,” I choked, trying my best not to sound hurt. What would he want to kiss me for anyways? I was like a child who needed constant supervision. I quickly put on my sandals (the cute ones that have ribbons that wrap up the length of my calf) and began to limp out of the room. I didn’t have to limp for long though because I was suddenly up in Gabriel's arms and he was carrying me down the street.

  “Did you think I was going to allow you to walk such distance with the state your feet are currently in?” Gabriel smiled down at me and I smiled in return. At least he wasn’t going to act awkward because of what had almost just happened.

  We made a quick stop at Gabriel’s house so that he could change into his traditional robe. He wore a similarly colored robe to the one that I was wearing. If I wasn’t so angry at him over the bedroom scene I would have thought we looked cute together in our matching robes.

  “Your room is very boring,” I noted as I took in his plain white walls that held no decorations. Everything was extremely orderly and there was barely any color anywhere in the room.

  “I don’t really spend much time in here,” he shrugged. “Especially now that you’re around.”

  “Where did you learn to wrap robes so nicely? I thought guys didn’t really take part in that,” I asked, realizing that Gabriel had done an amazing job wrapping mine.

  “When Azrael started becoming obsessed with robes she used to make me help her practice. Michael would never do it and her brother was bad at following her directions so I got stuck with the job.”

  “What about Sera?”

  “She was always the mannequin.”

  “Well, at least it came in handy.”

  “I suppose, but enough talk. We have to go.” And with that Gabriel picked me back up again .

  We arrived at the conference hall just as Michael and Azrael did. Gabriel placed me down in front of them and I winced when my feet touched the ground.

  “What’s wrong, Sage?” Michael asked, placing a hand on my arm.

  “I got some glass in my feet due to the whole window thing so my feet are a little sore now, though Gabriel removed all of the glass,” I answered.

  “I’m so sorry,” Michael apologized.

  “Don’t be, it’s not your fault,” I said, glaring at Gabriel.

  “How many times am I going to have to apologize?” Gabriel pleaded.

  “Until I get tired of hearing those words coming out of your mouth.”

  “Let’s just get inside, shall we?” Gabriel gestured towards the door.

  Inside the conference hall, I sat between Gabriel and Azrael, with Metatron sitting at the head of the table. I noticed that everyone dressed in pastel colors, just as Gabriel had said. Also, all the angels had their wings out. I was beginning to notice that this seeme
d to be a requirement for them at formal events.

  “Listen, try to behave yourself alright? Be respectful of Metatron, in the conference hall we have rules that need to be followed,” Gabriel warned.

  “Alright,” Metatron’s voice boomed over the murmuring crowd. “Uriel, why don’t you go first?”

  Metatron sat down as Uriel rose, an assortment of papers laid out on the table in from of him. I couldn’t help but notice how he couldn’t seem to look any of the other angels in the eye. He also kept straightening out the papers that were in front of him. He was nervous about addressing all these angels, it was utterly adorable. Uriel ended up just gazing at me the entire time he spoke.

  “As most of us are aware, the Anakim can only be created through the mating of a human woman and a fallen angel and that the woman involved rarely survives the birth of the Anakim. They enjoy devouring people and usually torture their victim before tearing them to shreds with their teeth and claws. It’s a game for them,” Uriel explained. Most of the angels in the room looked disgusted as Uriel described the Anakims’ idea of fun.

  Azrael stood up, tossing her glossy black hair gracefully over her shoulder in the process.

  “And they aren’t above killing angels, even fallen ones,” she contributed.

  “Correct, there have been cases of them turning on the fallen. Which is why I don’t understand why the fallen would have created them again. We had an agreement with them that after the last time an Anakim race was created it would never happen again because of the destruction they caused for both sides,” Uriel continued.

  “We need to figure out how many of them are out there. Maybe one of the fallen went against the rest of them like last time and this can all be easily solved,” Metatron said.

  “I don’t think so,” I interrupted and noticed Gabriel glaring at me as I did so. “Why would they have bothered to plant that vision in Raphael’s charge then? How did they do that anyways?”

  “The Anakim can get into a humans head, make that person see things that aren’t there, think thoughts that are not their own though all the while the human is unaware of what is going on,” Uriel answered.

  “Can they get into angels mind’s?” I asked.

  “No, only human’s. Which means that they can probably get into yours. I will teach you how to block your mind off from them in our next training session,” Uriel responded.

  “So what is their plan?” questioned an angel who I didn’t recognize.

  “I’m guessing they want a battle with us and they will probably kill many humans in order to provoke us into attacking them. They would want to get all of us down on earth for a fight so that they can wipe us out and take control of Aether. We cannot allow this to happen though; the world will turn into chaos,” Uriel answered.

  “We need to know as much about these Anakim as possible. Uriel, is there any way to increase the chances of our charges having visions?” Gabriel asked.

  “I can make a batch of Jasmine and Marigold tea to enhance their visions. The other option would be for them to be around their Goddess,” Uriel answered and all eyes turned to me.

  Except for one pair.

  “No way, we cannot risk having her on earth until we know more about the Anakim and how to protect ourselves from them. As her guardian I will not allow it,” Gabriel protested his voice strong. I loved when Gabriel acted all defensive over me, I will admit that I found it a little attractive. And by a little, I mean extremely. Playing the damsel in distress role every now and then could be fun. Since I no longer needed babysitting every night I felt like less of a burden and could enjoy being fussed over once in a while.

  “Then the tea will be enough,” Uriel agreed.

  “So what is our plan?” Raphael asked.

  Now everyone’s gaze (finally) turned away from me and turned instead towards Metatron, looking at him for guidance.

  “For now, we wait and see what visions the prophets have and we will take it from there. If the Anakim begin to take things too far and kill numerous humans, then we will act.”

  “So we are just going to let people die while we wait?” I miffed.

  “Sage, there is nothing that can be done right now. We don’t know enough about them to plan an attack. We could be severely outnumbered and they would kill us all and gain control of everything. Right now our best bet it to learn as much about them as possible so that we can properly defend ourselves when we do plan on attacking,” Metatron stressed.

  As much as I hated the idea of people dying, I knew that what Metatron said made sense. Things would only be worse if we attacked at the wrong time.

  “So Uriel, make that tea and protectors hand it out to your charges and make sure they drink it. When anyone goes on earth make sure to be careful and guard your selves. Also, for now I will not allow more than three angels to be on earth at the same time. Everyone is free to leave now,” Metatron dismissed.

  Everyone emptied the room fairly quickly; a few angels loitered on the steps of the conference hall in small groups, discussing the Anakim even further. Outside Gabriel and I met up with Michael, Azrael, Seraphiel, and Raphael.

  “This is insane, even for fallen angels.” Sera’s soft voice sounded stunned and her face was turned toward the ground almost as if she was ashamed for the fallen. Goddess knows the fallen weren’t ashamed for themselves so I guess someone had to be. I personally was angry. Angry at the fallen for having turned away from Asteria all those years ago. Angry that they wanted to destroy my people in the first place. Angry that they created the Anakim race to harm my people. And angry that they had gone against the pact we had made with them to never create any Anakim again.

  “I will not allow this,” I said, meeting the gaze of each angel around me. “They cannot think that I would just overlook the fact that they went against our agreement and want to hurt my people. It is one thing to attack us and another thing entirely to bring humans into the mixture.”

  “Sage, they are fallen angels, are you really surprised that they betrayed you yet again? They are the fallen, it is practically in their name that they will defy whatever you stand for.” Gabriel voice was cold as he said this. “Do not let your anger over this control you, you must control it in order to defeat the fallen. Sage, they want you to be angry, they will harness that and use it to their advantage.”

  “Gabriel is right, Sage,” Azrael agreed as she placed a hand on my shoulder. I nodded my head slightly. I knew they were right. I wasn’t about to dismiss my anger though, I was just going to use to in the most productive manor and use it to empower me to protect my people.

  “I think I need to rest. I am going to head back to my house for the rest of the evening. I will see you all tomorrow.” I gave a weak smile as I headed down the steps of the conference hall.

  I heard footsteps approaching me from behind and felt the familiar sense of calm and warmth wash through me. I looked up and smiled at my protector as he walked beside me.

  “I figured I should walk you home.” Gabriel grinned down at me, placing my small hand within his we walked back to my house in silence.

  Chapter Eleven

  “This is ridiculous!” I threw up my hands in exasperation. I was in the middle of yet another training session with Gabriel and so far all he had taught me to do this session was how to hide myself in various situations. And now he had the nerve to tell me that he was going to teach me how to be quiet!

  I stormed over to him from behind my last hiding place, which was a tree by the way. Gabriel had literally made me stand pencil straight with my arms pinned impossibly close to my body. I stood on my tip toes in order to bring my face as close to his as possible. I know I’m small but I’d like to imagine that I looked pretty intimidating in that particular moment.

  “You need to be teaching me how to fight!” I said through gritted teeth.

  Gabriel didn’t find me very intimidating though. In fact, he seemed to be suppressing laughter. That just made me even angrier.<
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  “This is not a joke to me Gabriel!” I gave him a little shove and began to stomp off away from him. I didn’t make it very far before he grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him. I twisted my wrist around in order to escape his grasp to continue my stomping, but he expertly grabbed at my waist and secured me against him. I tried shoving away from him but my hands could barely move in the small space between us.

  “Sage, relax.” He still had the same look on his face and his voice showed signs of amusement as well.

  I knew fighting him off was slightly unnecessary but I was seriously upset. “If you won’t teach me how to fight I will find someone who will! I know Michael is willing.”

  “I promise you next session we will start the fighting techniques. But what I am teaching you now is just as important, Sage. And besides, I already know you have plenty of fight in you.” We stared off at one another for a few moments before I finally gave in.

  “Fine,” I sighed, my shoulders sagging. They were tired anyways from being so rigid. “Just don’t make me go back to that tree. That tree and I have gotten way too close for comfort.”

  “Not a problem, we were about to work on your ability to be quiet remember?”

  Apparently being quiet did not just include my mouth. It included the shuffle my feet made when I walked, the whoosh my hair made when I turned my head and even the swishing of my thighs against each other. The last comment earned Gabriel a punch in the arm of course.

  The final part of the session was about blocking. This, I felt, was at least a step closer to fighting since it at least included one member of the party attacking. I learned how quick Gabriel truly is during this part of the training. It was almost impossible to block anything and I often found myself on the floor in an attempt to avoid him. Those attempts were failed of course because they put me in an even more vulnerable position than if I had just tried running away. Eventually I caught on to how to maneuver my torso ever so slightly to evade a hit without falling over. I learned how to sway on my heels and balls of my feet and use my forearm to cover my face.