by C. L. Coffey
“He’ll be fine,” Joshua responded, shortly.
“He looks like he needs a hospital,” I muttered.
“Good job we called an ambulance then,” Joshua said, as the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor outside the room. He stepped to the door, opening it as Nyle arrived, followed by two paramedics and Leon.
The paramedics went straight to the kid, while Leon walked over to me. “Are you all right?” he asked.
I gave him a half shrug, my attention focused on the paramedics as they began looking the kid over. A few minutes passed until one stood and walked over to us. “He looks like he’s going to be okay, but we’re going to take him to Tulane and get the doctors to check him out. We’re going to need to remove the cuffs.”
At that, Joshua scoffed. “The kid came in here armed with a damn sword,” he said, pointing at the bed behind me. The paramedic followed Joshua’s outstretched arm, her eyes growing wide. “He’s not going anywhere without handcuffs.”
“I’ll go to the hospital with him,” Leon told the paramedic, although he was focused on Joshua. “You should stay here and sort things out.”
“You should let me look at that,” the paramedic said, to me this time, looking down at my arm with a frown.
“I’m not going to the hospital,” I told her, bluntly.
“It’s a deep cut and it looks infected.”
She was only trying to help, but I glowered up at her. “That kid needs a hospital. I need a band aid.”
“I’m a detective,” Joshua chimed in.
I looked up at him in confusion: What the hell did that have to do with anything?
Apparently it meant something, because the paramedic, although she rolled her eyes, shrugged and turned her attention to the kid. After leaving Joshua with a handful of bandages, they took the kid out on a stretcher, Leon following right behind them.
I waited for Cupid, who had silently continued to pour holy water over my cut the whole time, to wrap my arm up. It wasn’t until he’d secured the bandage in place that it started to throb. Now I knew how Cupid felt. My eyes fell on the, now empty, large water bottle by my side. “Do we have a supply of holy water now?”
“Not anymore.” At my frown, he waved his arm. “Henry had advised I clean my bullet wound while it was healing. Nyle went out earlier to get some from Father Roberts.”
I slumped back, suddenly feeling exhausted. Wearily, I started to stand, but Joshua was there, helping me up before I could tumble back down. “I wonder why he was here,” I muttered, staring at the sword which was protruding from the center of my mattress.
“To kill you,” Joshua said. His arms tightened around my waist, like he was making sure I was really there.
“Are you okay?” I asked, stepping away from him so I could take him in. It was then I realized he was wearing only a pair of plaid boxer briefs. There was also a large red mark on his arm, and blood over his torso. “You’re bleeding!” I exclaimed in horror, my hands reaching out to find the source of the bleeding.
“I think it’s yours,” he said softly, his hands covering mine to still my frantic motions. “Short of what’s going to be an enormous bruise from where I hit the floor,” he nodded at the red mark on his arm. “I’m fine.”
I inhaled sharply, puffing my cheeks out and then exhaled slowly. I turned to Cupid. “We’re done with not locking things,” I told him.
Cupid nodded his head, his lips set in a thin line. “I think that’s a good idea.”
I yawned. My internal clock told me it was just before four, and my body told me I needed sleep. I glowered at the sword, hating the fact that I would now need to find somewhere else to sleep. The black blade, covered with fresh, sticky blood, seemed to mock me.
Black blade?
“The little…” I trailed off as I stormed over to my dresser. On top lay both my swords, both in dagger forms both in their sheaths. That wasn’t right….
Horror flooded me like I had been slammed by a tsunami.
“Angel?” Joshua queried in concern.
Unable to find words to vocalize my realization, I stumbled towards the door, pulling it open. Nyle, who had been lurking behind the door, moved out of the way in surprise. I ignored him and ran over to the door opposite. There was only one other person on this floor.
I yanked the door open and burst in, praying I was mistaken.
I wasn’t.
Xavier, still on the bed where I had left him, looked almost like he had when I had checked on him previously. Almost. There was blood everywhere, soaking through the bedsheets and dripping onto the floor.
I felt hands on my shoulders, but I shrugged them off me. Ignoring Joshua’s concerned cries, I continued running through the bedroom and into the small bathroom. I fell to my knees in front of the toilet, only just making it as the bile escaped from me.
Eventually the vomit turned to dry heaves, and then, in turn, they became uncontrollable sobs. Joshua’s warm hands pried my cold ones from the porcelain and tugged me backwards. In the back of my mind I was aware that my crying was verging on hysterics, but I couldn’t calm myself down. Joshua tried to lead me back to my new room, but when we stepped out into Xavier’s room, I couldn’t do it.
I felt my knees buckle underneath me, but rather than allow Joshua to pick me up, I pulled him down beside me. He didn’t fight me. He merely crossed his legs and pulled me into his lap, and when I refused to be turned away, maneuvered his body into a position so that I was facing Xavier.
“You should give us a few minutes,” he told Cupid and Nyle. Wordlessly, they left the room, closing the door behind them.
And then I bawled my eyes out into Joshua’s chest.
* * *
The sun had risen before my crying stopped. Even then, it hadn’t stopped completely as the stray tear occasionally managed to free itself from the corner of my eye. The only movement from either Joshua or I had been him rubbing my back, even when the sobs had died down. Aside from the cut on my arm, which continued to throb, the rest of me felt numb.
A soft rap on the door caused me to pull my gaze away from Xavier for the first time, as Cupid put his head around. “Henry’s here.”
“Okay,” I mumbled. My mouth was dry, and I could still taste the lingering remains of the vomit.
I didn’t move as Henry entered. He gave me a cursory glance, quickly turning his attention to Xavier. He was gentle and respectful as he removed something from Xavier’s hand and set it on the bedside table. He then returned his concentration so he could start carefully wrapping Xavier using the bedding he was lying on.
“Why didn’t he…” my voice cracked and I had to clear my throat. I lifted my head, my skin peeling away from Joshua’s, leaving a tingling feeling in my cheek. “Why didn’t he explode?” I asked.
Although Henry seemed a little surprised at my question, he answered it steadily. “He had only just started the change,” he said, glancing down at him. “I would guess he was a couple of days into it at most?” When I nodded, he tilted his head. “His body was more human than angel.”
“What’s going to happen to him?” I asked as Henry resumed wrapping him up.
“I shall take him to the morgue.”
“I told his mother,” I blurted out. Joshua’s grip tightened, the feeling reassuring. “I told her I would look after him.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Joshua muttered above my ear.
“Joshua is right,” Cupid agreed.
“I know… I mean…” I closed my eyes, not sure how to put it in words.
“Xavier is gone,” Henry answered for me. “His mother does not need to be told otherwise. I will take care of his body so that his mother need not know anything different.”
I felt numb again. His mother didn’t need any more pain and suffering than what she was already going through. “Okay,” I conceded.
I continued to watch Henry as he finished encasing Xavier’s body. Once completed, he laid his hand on Xavier, and then
they were gone.
“You should get some rest,” Cupid suggested, quietly. “You can take one of the guest rooms until we-”
“No,” I said, firmly, earning me an arched eyebrow in response. I extracted myself from Joshua’s embrace, feeling stiff and sore as I did so. “No,” I repeated, once I was standing.
Joshua rose to his feet beside me. “Darlin’, you should get some sleep.”
“I couldn’t, even if I wanted to,” I told them both. “I’m going to take a shower and brush my teeth and then I want to talk to everyone. All the angels need to know what happened.”
Cupid pursed his lips and then nodded. “I’ll have them in the dining hall in an hour.” I sensed his reluctance was not from us needing to address them, but more at the fact he wanted me to sleep first.
He stepped out of the room, leaving me and Joshua alone. “Are you sure I can’t get you to reconsider that nap?”
I shook my head. I felt like crap. I felt like someone had managed to get into my skull and was using a jackhammer on the bone. I felt like something had crawled into my mouth, died, and started decaying. My arm was pulsing so hard, I felt like the blood was punching the surrounding flesh while wearing sharp knuckle rings. My body felt like it wanted to collapse into a ball and curl up in the fetal position, but my brain was never going to let that happen.
I needed something to occupy my thoughts before I drove myself insane, and I knew exactly where to start. I marched back into my new bedroom with purpose, Joshua right behind me. “You can take the shower first,” I told him, knowing he’d want to wash the blood and the dried slobber-vomit residue from his chest. “I need to make some calls.” I could see him mull it over, but he conceded, disappearing into the bathroom.
I waited for the shower to start before I fished his phone out. Mine was still out of order, and the only reason I waited for him to start showering was because I needed to make sure I wasn’t going to start crying again. I had no reason to hide who I was calling – it would be obvious pretty soon anyway – but I knew if I started crying again, I wouldn’t stop. I needed to focus.
I located the number in Joshua’s contacts and hit dial. Although it was early, the phone was answered in two rings. “Detective Walsh?”
“Hi Darell, it’s Angel. I want to procure your services.”
There was a moment’s pause. “I can be there within the hour.”
I didn’t question why he was still in the area. “That’s perfect.”
He didn’t ask any further questions. He didn’t even say goodbye. He just hung up.
I set the phone down on the bed, when something occurred to me. Maybe Xavier wasn’t the target. Maybe I was. I’d only swapped rooms today – I doubted any of the angels had known that, much less an outsider. But why would someone attack now. I stood up on the bed, reaching up for the curtain pole and pulling the ornate end off. The list was still there. Could this have been what the kid was after? If Ty had let slip to someone I knew who all the nephilim were, then that would be a good enough reason to send someone in to get it back – at any cost.
I almost took the list out its hidey-hole, but reconsidered and left it there, wedging the end back on. If something were to happen to me and it was here, that list would probably never be found again. If something happened to me and it was with me, then anyone could end up with that list: death would probably result in me destroying it, but if I was injured, like Cupid was, then any of the angels could get it and we had polarizing views when it came to the nephilim.
I got down from the bed and reached for Joshua’s phone once more. I pulled my own phone out to copy one of the three numbers into Joshua’s phone. This one went to voicemail three times before an annoyed voice finally answered, telling me, amongst a stream of expletives that it was too early in the morning. “Ty, it’s Angel,” I said before he could hang up on me.
“Angel?”
“You and I need to meet,” I told him. He went quiet. “I’m not asking,” I added.
“When?”
“Today.”
“Midday,” he agreed. “At the coffee shop we went to that time,” he added.
“I’ll see you then,” I told him, before hanging up. I set both phones onto the side and then went back into Xavier’s room. I kept my eyes fixed on the bedside table, intentionally not looking at the bed. From the table top, I picked up the item Henry had set down: Xavier’s father’s wedding ring. Before I could change my mind, I pulled my necklace off – a long silver chain, the pendant on the end a blue fleur de lis, surrounded by a pair of platinum wings, a present from Joshua. I added the ring to it, watching how it slid down the chain and settled next to the pendant. I put the necklace back on and then returned to my bedroom, to wait for Joshua to finish up.
When I had stepped out of the bathroom a while later, I found Joshua waiting patiently, but staring out of the window. He turned to face me when I opened the door and gave me a soft smile. “How are you doing?”
I raised a shoulder before collecting my swords and making sure they were both securely attached. There was no way in hell I was going anywhere without these now. “I’ll feel better when that’s gone from there,” I told him.
He didn’t need me to look at the sword - the murder weapon - I was referring to. “There’s going to be a forensics team in here shortly to remove it. I was tempted to take it myself, but if we can’t get that kid on a murder charge, I’m going to make damn sure we get him on attempted murder.”
“We should head down.” I refused to look at the bed. I didn’t look anywhere other than Joshua’s eyes, thankful that I found more than just pity there. Joshua nodded, allowing me to take the lead.
The canteen was full. Although I knew Cupid had waited for me and not said anything, there were hushed whispers blanketed by an uneasy atmosphere. It was like the room was coated in gasoline and the slightest thing would cause a spark and have everything catastrophically exploding. I joined Cupid at the front of the room, hoping that between us, we had enough fire-fighting skills to pull us all though this.
It wasn’t until I stood beside Cupid that I noticed he looked different. When he had been Michael’s second, manning the front desk, his clothing had been stylish but comfortable. Soon after Michael’s death, his clothing, although remaining stylish, had become more business-like – shirts and pinstripes replacing polo shirts and tennis shoes. Now, he was wearing combat pants not too dissimilar to Gabriel’s, and exchanged the shirt for a long sleeve, form fitting top. Even the fashionable shoes had been replaced with heavy duty boots.
Standing beside him, it looked like we were about to lead our House into battle.
In a way, we were.
At least, we were if I had anything to do with it.
I looked to Cupid, who nodded. I took a deep breath. “Yesterday, I offered a potential the choice.” The room fell silent and I knew that thirty pairs of eyes were focused on me. “Xavier accepted and I brought him here. Last night, someone broke into this convent and killed him.”
There was a collective gasp, and the uneasy atmosphere transformed into one so thick with tension and fear, that it felt I could reach out and touch it. “In here?” one of the angels called from the back of the room.
Cupid nodded. “He made his way up to the second floor and killed the potential, Xavier, before trying to kill Angel.”
There were more murmurs and then Callum stood. “Was he in here to target you?”
I blinked. His words had managed to surprise me in more ways than one. The words themselves could have been accusatory, but the tone was far from that. He sounded worried…. No, he sounded concerned. With the way he was looking at me, I could only assume he was concerned about me. It wasn’t long ago that the angels had collectively been protesting at the idea of me being Cupid’s Second. The other thing that surprised me was how Callum could consider that. No one knew about the list. had I been targeted for another reason? I’d dismissed that idea easily – as soon as I had seen Xa
vier I had assumed he had been the target and Joshua and I had been the afterthought – but the kid had gone to my former room first. How had he even known which room it was? I looked helplessly at Cupid, who looked as thrown by that question as I felt.
It was Joshua who provided an answer. He cleared his throat and stepped forward. “May I?” he asked Cupid and I. Cupid gestured to the room and Joshua turned so he was addressing the other angels as well as us. “We’ve arrested the kid who did this, and we will be interviewing him as soon as he is well enough from the injuries he sustained when we were stopping him. For now, and I don’t want to alarm you, but I think that it would be wise for you to assume it wasn't opportunistic.”
The volume in the room increased as the angels started panicking. “Hey!” I yelled over the din. The chatter dropped off. I planted my hands on my hips. I was ready to make a speech, but the door to the dining room opened and Darell walked in, flanked by three equally burly, equally armed men.
“Sorry to just walk in, but your entrances were unmanned,” Darell said, giving me a pointed look.
“Actually, you’re just in time for me to make an important announcement.” I glanced at the men behind him. “How much do they know?”
“Enough to all be wearing platinum dog tags and why they need to,” Darell informed me.
“And you trust them?” I asked. “Can I trust them?”
“Yes.” He didn’t even look behind him to check.
I turned back to Cupid. “Do you trust me?”
“Completely,” Cupid told me, aloud. He took a step back, folding his arms.
“Okay, here goes,” I muttered under my breath.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Fire in Your Eyes Again
I took a long breath in, exhaling slowly, unable to stop myself from sending a silent prayer that I was doing the right thing. I turned to Darell’s men. “Hi,” I started brightly. “My name is Angel, who is somewhat ironically, an angel… as is everyone in this room; bar Joshua, who is a human, and Cupid, who is an archangel.”