by C. L. Coffey
“What did Cupid want?” Joshua asked, slowly.
“Darell is here,” I replied. “I should head back to the convent.”
Joshua pulled out his phone, checking the time. “Do you need me there? I should be returning to the precinct.”
I pursed my lips. “I don’t, but what are you going to be doing when you get back there?” I asked, suspiciously.
“Don’t you be worrying about me, darlin’,” Joshua smiled, wrapping his arms around me.
“Unless you’ve suddenly stopped being either my charge, my boyfriend, or all of the Fallen have suddenly disappeared, that’s not going to be happening any time soon,” I pointed out.
Joshua tugged me closer, resting his chin against my head. “I’m going to go back and sit behind my desk, until I get a call out to a case.”
I pulled back to look him in the eyes. “Joshua, don’t you even think about investigating your colleagues unless I’m there,” I instructed him.
“Angel,” he sighed.
I took a step back, out of his arms, and folded my own. “You promised Cupid.”
“I promised you as well,” Joshua corrected me. “I’m going to keep that promise to the both of you. I’m not in a hurry to go confronting any fallen angel without my own guardian angel there.”
Feeling better, I sank back into his embrace.
* * *
The coroner’s office wasn’t far from the convent so I opted to walk back. Despite it being lunchtime, the streets were quieter than usual. The few people that were out and about were keeping to themselves, and all of them looked like they were wilting in the heat. I didn’t react to extreme temperatures like I used to, but even I was aware that it was not comfortable to be out in. The other noticeable difference was that the usual level of friendliness and hospitality New Orleans was famous for was drying up as fast as a spilt drink. I had no idea if it was just the heat causing that.
I arrived back at the convent to find three black Hummers in the parking lot. Darell hadn’t come alone. I hurried around the corner to the main door and found two men, dressed in khaki, armed with what looked like assault rifles. “Stop right there,” one of them ordered. I froze. “Name and business?”
“Angel Connors. I live here,” I told him. The shock of seeing armed men at the door had quickly worn off, but given that my past experience with Darell had taught me that his bullets were platinum, and there was a chance that these guys had the same ammunition. I was hesitant to push them. Sure, platinum didn’t affect me like it did the Fallen, but there was something out there that could hurt me, and I wasn’t in a hurry to find out the hard way if Darell had worked out what that was.
As I shifted my weight, the second guy muttered something. I realized he had an earpiece on just as he nodded at me. “You can enter.”
I pursed my lips, but said nothing, instead, slipping past him into the convent, only to be greeted with a nervous looking Pascal and several men who all shared the same ‘military’ air. They were also all in possession of assault rifles. I gave everyone a warm smile. “Welcome. Has anyone offered you something to drink?” When one of the men shook his head, I turned to Pascal. “Would you be so kind as to run to the kitchen and grab some bottles of water for these gentlemen?” Looking relieved to have an excuse to leave, Pascal darted back into the House. “He’ll be right back,” I informed them. When I was met with nothing but stony silence, I gave them another friendly smile. “I, on the other hand, had better find Darell.”
I didn’t wait to get an answer – I was sure I wasn’t going to get one anyway – and hurried towards our office. When I heard the raised voices, I sped up, bursting into the room. The discussion stopped as three pairs of eyes turned their attention on me. “Sorry,” I apologized.
“You’re just in time,” Cupid informed me, his tone dry. “Darell was just about to explain why he thinks it takes ten of them to protect thirty-two of us.”
I glanced at the third person in the room, Gabriel, who just shrugged, before looking to Darell. Darell was enormous. He was the tallest person in the room by several inches, and packed enough muscles that he could probably bench-press one of the Hummers outside. Okay, that was a slight exaggeration, and the truth was, I was probably stronger than he was, but he looked it. His arms, all muscle, looked about as big as my thighs, and they weren’t small. “Three shifts,” he announced.
I drew my attention away from the military tattoo I had spotted on his bicep, and concentrated on what he was saying. “Three shifts?”
“Three teams of three on an eight-hour rotation. One man on the front, one on the rear, and one patrolling,” Darell continued. “We will perform security checks on everyone who enters the premises.”
“It’s too much!” Cupid exclaimed. “You’re here because a bunch of teenagers broke into the convent, not because New Orleans was ground zero for a zombie apocalypse. Innocent children,” he emphasized, “Who do not need to be greeted with automatic weapons on holy ground.”
I bit back my snort. Watching the news was not something Cupid did, nor was interacting with high schoolers. Sure, the majority weren’t out getting up to no good, and he was right – they certainly didn’t need to be greeted with a gun. But these weren’t the same kids who were likely to try their hand at theft and arson. “Cupid has a point,” I told Darell. “This is a convent, not a prison. The kids that broke in were unarmed.”
“Unarmed until they took your weapons,” Darell returned. “Weapons that could hurt you. Kids that also tried to burn your convent down while you were all still in it.”
“The fire would not have killed us,” Cupid argued. “It was also a fire which they set under Lucifer’s influence.”
Darell did a double take, and hastily whirled around to face me. “You didn’t tell me that.”
When I’d contacted Darell and requested his services, I’d had a short conversation with him that covered everything that had happened – everything apart from that – and to be honest, I wasn’t sure why I had omitted that detail. I just shrugged my shoulders. “Does it change anything?”
“Only that I should have brought double the men.”
“For thirty-two angels!” Cupid exclaimed, raking his hands through his already disheveled hair. “And where are they going to sleep?”
“Darell, eighteen men is too many. Nine men is too many. Let’s cap it at six: one on the front, one on the back, and three shifts,” I told him. “This is a convent, and any more than that will draw too much attention when we’ve barely gotten rid of the crowd from the front doors. On top of that, there’s half a building that needs rebuilding and the place is going to be swarming with construction workers.”
Darell folded his arms. He took a deep breath which had his arms bulging. “As the client, I will respect your wishes, however, I would like it on record that I think this is an ill-advised plan and more men would be better.”
“No,” Cupid cut in, shaking his head. “I’ve changed my mind: we don’t need you.”
“Cupid?” I silently shot at him. “I thought we agreed we needed protection.”
“We were attacked by teenagers. If we can’t protect ourselves from teenagers, we have no right running this house. Michael would never go for this.” He turned to Darell. “I will see to it that you are paid for your troubles, but we do not require your services.”
Darell shrugged. “As you wish.”
“We, uh, could do with your help getting a reliable contractor in for rebuilding and restoring the convent and St. Mary’s,” I requested. I felt awkward asking given the fact we had just refused his services.
“I know some people,” Darell assured me. “I will make some calls for you.”
“It’s nothing personal,” Cupid added. “I just don’t think this is the right move.”
“There are no hard feelings,” Darell informed him. “Business is business,” he added, holding out his hand to Cupid. “Just keep me in mind if you change your mind.”
Gabriel, who had been leaning back against the wall on one leg, pushed himself away and strode over to us. “I couldn’t tell you, brother,” he said, clamping his hand on Cupid’s shoulder. “My House has never been in this situation, and highly unlikely to be. Armed men outside the convent may look odd here, but I have the Swiss Guard.”
I pulled a face. “They don’t exactly have subtle uniforms.”
That earned me a grin. “Anything but,” he agreed.
“Why are the Swiss Guard…?” I trailed off. “When you say your House is in Rome, do you mean your House is St. Peter’s Basilica” I exclaimed. “You live with the Pope in the Vatican City?”
The grin widened. There was someone with an interesting sense of humor putting someone that handsome in the same building as the Pope. “Usually, they reside in a different wing, though the current Pope favors another building entirely.” He grew serious and turned his attention back to Cupid. “You two have to do what you think is right for your House – not what I think, and not what you think Michael would have done.”
Cupid looked at me and I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said in answer to his unasked question. “I understand not wanting them on the grounds, I mean, they are pretty scary and completely not suitable for a convent, but, there’s only you and me here who have been trained to protect everyone, and let’s be honest, I’m no expert. Plus, they would be better suited to stop humans – not that I’m saying they should be using a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ mentality…” I trailed off when I realized that I had barely paused for a breath and Cupid and Gabriel were just staring at me. “Let’s take this one step at a time?” I suggested.
Gabriel, whose eyebrows had almost disappeared into his hairline at some point during my monologue, glanced at Cupid. “I see what you mean.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
“You talk a lot,” Cupid shrugged.
Interesting, considering Joshua seemed to think I didn’t talk enough.
“At the moment, you need to focus on rebuilding the convent,” Gabriel pointed out to the both of us. “They took Lucifer’s sword and Michael is gone. I doubt they’re going to be coming back here any time soon. Angel is right: you should focus on one thing at a time, and I think the most pressing is this city’s atmosphere. This is not the first time New Orleans has been subjected to some atrocity caused by one of the Fallen, and it’s not fair that the fallout is resting on its citizens once again.”
“That’s fair,” I agreed, as Cupid nodded.
“You also need to find some time to train,” Cupid added. “And I don’t just mean archery with me.”
“I have no objections to that. Is Paddy coming back?”
“I can help out,” Gabriel offered.
I gave him a dubious look. I couldn’t help it. Sure, out of all the archangels, he dressed like he was ready for battle, but he was also the archangel who was described as a messenger and not a warrior. Hadn’t he also said he was only here to oversee the rebuilding too? I mean, that and looking after the Vatican was probably enough to keep anyone busy even when they didn’t require sleep.
“That’s a great idea,” Cupid chimed in, beaming at Gabriel.
I had a feeling I was going to have my ass kicked worse than Raphael or Paddy had ever managed.
CHAPTER SIX
Dual Wielding
The week seemed to pass by in something of a time paradox. On the one hand, I was so busy with cleaning, training, and overseeing the contractors that the days seemed to fly by. On the other hand, exactly a week later, when I finally sat back with Nyle and Jordan and realized that the convent was clean, (or at least, the part that wasn’t destroyed...) it felt like the longest week I’d ever had.
Construction was starting on St Mary’s church after Christmas, the contractors having been finally agreed (and vetted by Darell). Although rain had yet to fall, they had managed to find the time to get scaffolding up and wrapped around half of the building to secure the hole in the roof of the convent.
The gym had been turned into a giant dormitory filled with bunk beds and the angels moved in while the cleaning and damage assessment was carried out. Currently, the three of us were in the last bedroom, stretched out on the floor. For Nyle and Jordan, it was more from relief of finishing the job. For me, it was because my muscles ached. “I could lie here all day,” I groaned, stretching out my back.
“Have you and Cupid worked out what is going to happen to us?” Nyle asked as he maneuvered himself into a more upright position against the wall.
“We’ve cleaned these rooms the best we can, but that smell of smoke is still lingering,” I informed them. “Seeing as half the convent is being rebuilt, we’re going to make sure that the remaining rooms are up to the same standard as the rest of the building: new furniture, new soft furnishings.”
“We don’t need that,” Jordan said.
I gave him a smile. “We know.” I let out another groan as I forced myself to sit up. “You guys should take the rest of the day off.”
“What about you?” Nyle asked. “You’ve worked just as hard as we have.”
It wasn’t that long ago that Nyle had been voicing his objections at me being Cupid’s second, so that warmed my heart a little. “Too many things to do,” I told him. That was true. It was mid-morning. I had my first training session with Gabriel shortly, and after that, I wanted to convince Cupid to do some shopping with me: I still needed to get Joshua a birthday present.
I was also seeing Joshua later, though this was for business and not for pleasure. He and Leon had some suspicions about one of their colleagues and wanted to test them in the evening when there were less people likely to be in the precinct.
With great reluctance, I dragged myself off the floor and left the two angels in the bedroom. I hurried to my own room to change into my uniform. I’d given up on the training outfit months ago. There was no point in training in a soft Lycra outfit when I was highly unlikely to encounter any of the Fallen while wearing it. My weapons no longer lived in the armory – they stayed in my bedroom… well, the bow and arrows stayed in the bedroom. The sword, normally in its dagger form, went wherever I did. The only time it came off was in the shower. I had gone so far as to keep it permanently strapped around my thigh and made a convenient cut in the jeans so I could access it easily through my pocket.
I met Gabriel in the office, and then followed him to the entrance. “We’re going to have to find somewhere else soon,” I realized. With the gym now a dormitory, we had taken to training outside. If the builders were starting work in the next few weeks, we wouldn’t be able to continue the training outside. Not when anyone could see what we were up to in the garden.
Gabriel gave me a sideways glance, and then grinned. “I’ve already got somewhere lined up for you. I did some research.” He reached down and grabbed a duffle bag, the contents giving a metallic jangle as he slung it over his back. Before I could question where we were going, he took ahold of my hand.
In the blink of an eye, we weren’t in the convent anymore. Transporting like that, before I had earned my wings, used to make me throw up. The action didn’t have the same effect anymore, but as I looked around, I could feel my stomach churning. “Why are we here?” I asked in a whisper so hoarse I didn’t recognize my own voice.
Gabriel was studying my reaction, before he folded his arms and surveyed the area in front of us. “We’re not perfect,” he stated, grimly. “Angels: we’re not perfect. Humans think we are, but we were created, just like they were. We’re not the same as humans, but we were also given free will.” He slowly shook his head. “We had free will until we took it away from ourselves.”
“The covenant?” I asked, quietly.
Gabriel looked over at me, surprised, but he nodded. “An oat
h to God is binding. I didn’t mind taking it. I don’t think any of us did, not after the others followed Lucifer.”
I took a couple of steps towards him, the rocks and stones crunching under my boots. “That doesn’t explain why you brought me back here.” I gestured to the train tracks in front of us. The location had been burned into my memory and even now I still had nightmares about this place. This was where Michael had been killed.
Gabriel stared down at a spot in front of us, but I wasn’t sure if he was seeing what he was looking at. “Michael’s biggest fault was that he only saw things in black and white.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “That still doesn’t explain why you brought me here.”
“Good and evil,” Gabriel continued, as though he hadn’t heard me. “There is no in between.”
“Except for the nephilim,” I muttered.
They seemed to be the magic words as Gabriel’s head whipped around and his green eyes focused on me. “Do not make the mistake of believing the nephilim are anything but evil. They are half Fallen.”
“They’re also half human,” I pointed out.
“Half Fallen, raised by the Fallen,” Gabriel corrected me.
“And by a human,” I argued back. “A crappy parent doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to be a crappy individual. Michael isn’t the only one who only sees things in black and white.”
Gabriel tilted his head, looking eerily like Michael as he did so. “Maybe you are right,” he said, eventually. He straightened and nodded at the warehouses behind me. “For the time being, this area is closed. Short of the odd train, there will be no one on these premises, which makes it a perfect location to practice.”
“I don’t want to be here,” I told him, bluntly.
“Another reason why this location is perfect,” Gabriel said. He reached into the bag and pulled out a dagger – the white blade gleaming in the bright sunlight. “You need to be able to focus on the fight, while anything else is happening around you.” He wrapped his hand carefully around the blade, just below the hilt, and offered it to me.