“He’s a good guy,” Angelique agreed. “It just astounds me sometimes how good a guy he is. Liam’s a sweetheart, and he and Baxter are like two peas in a pod, and I’m damn relieved about that, because Bax was right on the verge of losing his mind. But Liam pulled him back to sanity and happiness, and… shit. It’s been so long since I’ve seen all of my damn pack happy that I feel like it’s a cause for a celebration.”
“Aye, it is in a way. A lot’s happened to your pack, more’n to most of the others. You seemed to gather together the pack that has the most members with serious issues regarding PTSD or similar than any other of Michael’s current Venatores. That’s on you, though, Trouble. There’s something in you that makes these people want to be better, want to do good, want to fight on the side of Heaven under your command. Don’t take that for granted. Declan’s doing things you can’t, just ’cause that’s what he does. Likewise, you do things he can’t, for the same reason. But these people in your pack, they adore you. They’re completely loyal to you. And they’ll follow you into Hell and back without question. Okay, so maybe there’ll be a lot of teasing and sarcasm, but there won’t be questions, except for maybe, ‘right or left?’”
Angelique looked a little embarrassed. “I guess. Anyway. I just wanted to mention it, is all.”
“Understood.” Gabriel was amused by her discomfort. Angelique seemed not to want to dwell on her own goodness or her talents and he found that very sweet. The brusque, commanding Venatores alpha exterior hid a very complex woman with a backbone of iron, but a heart as large as a continent. He was so proud of her at that moment; Gabriel thought his own heart would burst with it.
“So,” Gabriel said, after a moment’s silence, “let’s have that wee chat. Why don’t we get a coffee too, eh?”
Angelique wrinkled her nose at him, a smile tugging the corner of her lips. “Is this going to be one of those emotion-filled heart-to-heart conversations?”
“It might be, aye.”
“Oh, I love those,” she said with heavy sarcasm. “Okay, well, you’re buying,” she added, tossing back the wealth of her long, chestnut hair. “If I have to talk about things that are serious and emotional and crap like that, I want the most expensive coffee you can get in this town.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Right.” He offered her his arm with a courtly bow. “My lady?”
“You old charmer,” Angelique said, laughing. She took his arm and Gabriel grinned at her.
“Hold on,” he said. “I’m ’porting us now.” And then he moved them, straight from the boardroom hall of Ondrass’s building to a café in Portland’s center, a small, dimly lit affair that was housed in a building with exposed brick walls, the floors a dark red wood and the tables and chairs mismatched and in every shade of bright color imaginable. Gabriel smiled as he looked around, and he led Angelique to a table by the window, the top of it painted teal, the chairs painted red and gray.
“Here we are,” Gabriel said, holding a chair for Angelique.
“Thanks.” Angelique sat and Gabriel moved to the other chair and did the same. “This is a nifty little place, Gabe, how did you find it?”
“I asked Markus,” Gabriel said. He shook his head. “That demon knows everything there is to know about high fashion, fine food and wine, and interesting cafés that make amazing coffee and tea. Plus, they do an incredible waffle here. It’s melted brie on basil leaves with bacon, and a dollop of peach jam on the side.”
“Oh my God,” Angelique said. “I want that. That sounds amazing.”
“Aye, it’s pretty damn good.” At that moment, a server came up to take their order, and Gabriel ordered two of the aforementioned waffles, a Turkish coffee and a glass of water for himself, and a cappuccino on Angelique’s request. Once the server left earshot, Gabriel leaned forward and took Angelique’s hands in his.
“Before we get started with the chat, I want to ask you: are you all right? Do you need anything? Is there anything I can help you with? I know what command is like, and a lot of people tend to forget that command comes with a price. So, I ask. Are you okay?”
Angelique smiled at him, a small, guileless smile, and squeezed his hands. “I love you for asking, Gabe. Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just tired mostly, and that’s because I’m so pissed off about this lot of asshats who want to take away my people, my life, and my friends. I’m so angry, sometimes I think I’ll spit nails. But other than that, yeah, I’m good. Worried for my pack, damn grateful to Dec and Liam, and damn proud of being Venatores.”
Gabriel nodded and squeezed her hands in return. “Good. If that ever changes or you need anything, you let me know, yeah? Anything, any time. And I’m proud of you, Trouble. Not just for your skills as an alpha or a pilot, but for your compassion and caring for your pack, and the world, and your mental flexibility at being able to work so closely with Archdemons or Nephilim, as well as angelkind and shifters.”
The server brought their order over then and they paused for a moment to thank her and take a sip of coffee. Angelique almost purred as an expression of pure bliss crossed her face.
“This is amazing, Gabe.”
“Try the waffle,” he encouraged.
She did so, her brown eyes opening wide as the flavors hit her tongue. She let out a long hum of appreciation as she chewed and swallowed and then she pointed her fork at him. “Right, ’fess up. How long have you known about this place of awesomeness? I have to bring the pack here.”
Gabriel laughed. “Not long. I asked Markus for tips two days ago, and then I took Michael here for a coffee and a quiet hour. He needed to get away from everything for a bit and just breathe. It’s called Joy’s. Joy’s the owner and head barista.”
“Well, Joy is a fucking legend,” Angelique said. She dug into her waffle. “This is incredible.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Gabriel began his own, savoring the flavor and the delicacy of the peach jam that accompanied the cheese and bacon’s saltiness. Food was, he thought, one of the most wonderful things that humans had developed. He was very glad that he could eat—he didn’t have to, after all—but the sheer pleasure that one could derive from the simple act of eating, not to mention from the deliciousness of food, was something that Gabriel was very fond of.
It didn’t take them long to finish their food, and then they both leaned back in their chairs with their coffees and sat quietly for several long, contented moments.
Finally, Gabriel set down the small cup that had held his Turkish coffee and reached for the glass of water. He toyed with it, his index finger drawing random patterns into the condensation on the glass. “How do you feel about Danny and what he did?” he asked Angelique, looking at her closely.
Angelique let out a heavy sigh, slumping a little in her chair. “Honestly, Gabe, I’m pissed. And I’m sad, too, and that makes me even more pissed, because I don’t want to be sad about him. I’m sad for Lily, for what he did to her and how he made her feel, and I want to punch him in the mouth a few times for that, but I’m so angry, I’m not sure that I’d actually stop hitting him.”
Gabriel nodded. “I figured you might be a bit annoyed.”
“Annoyed? Annoyed doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s been part of my pack for years, and then I find out he’s been talking about quitting for ages? It feels like a betrayal. He should have been honest with us from the start. If he was having second thoughts, we could’ve gotten him some counselling to figure out where his head was really at before going out on active duty and taking on assignments. I had this ticking away like a fucking bomb, waiting to explode, and he chooses to do exactly that at the worst possible moment. He almost killed my best friend and my beta, he rejects everything he was taught and everything he said he loved doing, he ripped a wound into my pack that’ll take ages to fix, and he left us one Venatores down. Even if we get a replacement, it’s going to take ages to get them working in synch with us and getting a trust going. So yeah, I’m pissed. I’m pissed as alpha and I’m pissed a
s Lily’s best friend. I’m pissed as Danny’s friend, because of exactly that: I thought we were friends, not just pack mates. God, Gabe, I’m so fucking angry at him, and I can’t do a damn thing, because he’s disappeared off to where he came from and we’ll never see him again.”
Gabriel listened to her attentively, noting not just her words but the way she said them. He could see the hurt in her brown eyes, the anger in her body language, and Gabriel wondered if this was the first time she’d been honest with anyone—including herself—since Danny’s departure.
“I think….” Angelique paused to swallow. “I think I hate him a little bit, Gabe.”
Gabriel reached over and took her hand in his. “You’re allowed to, Trouble.”
She bit her lip. “I won’t get into the shit with Mike?”
“No, why should you? Hate’s a valid emotion. Just don’t let it own you is all. You have every right to be angry, hurt, frustrated, annoyed, and yeah, to hate him. I was stunned when I heard what happened. And I was stunned again when I saw how Lily was dealing with it all. She’s like a fucking machine of discipline, ain’t she? And that’s a compliment, by the way.”
Angelique laughed, a watery sound. Using his power, Gabriel pulled in a box of tissues from Raphael’s office space in Ondrass’s tower and handed them to her. She took them with a nod of thanks, pulling one out and wiping her eyes then blowing her nose.
“Angelique, sweetheart, you got every right to feel like you do. I promise you. Right here and now, though, you and me? You don’t have to be the strong alpha for everyone. I’m pretty strong myself and my shoulders are pretty broad. Lean on me for a bit, yeah?”
“Gabe,” Angelique said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, “thank you.”
“Naught to thank me for. I promise.” He squeezed her hand gently. “Now, then. Seeing as Danny’s gone, and you mentioned a replacement, I’m gonna be blunt. Do you want one?”
Angelique bit her lip. “No,” she said. “At least, not yet, anyway. Not for a while. We’ve got Declan and Liam helping us out and they help beef up the numbers as well as the muscle and skill set. We’re all right for now. I think that, maybe later, a while after this job’s done, we might talk about it as a pack, but for right now, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Everyone would resent the newbie, including me. It wouldn’t work.”
“I figured as much, but I wanted to be sure.” Gabriel let go of her hand and patted her fingers. “And there ain’t no shame in admitting what you did, either. So don’t go thinking there is. It’s sound tactics, too—a squad that’s as tight as yours wouldn’t do well with a newcomer so soon. Especially not during a war scenario. So it’s all good and it’s a healthy, natural response.”
“Will Michael mind?”
“Not even a little. He loves you all, y’know. He just wants the best for you.”
Angelique sighed softly. “He’s hurt by what Danny did too, isn’t he.” It wasn’t really a question, but Gabriel answered it anyway.
“Aye, he is. Remember, he thinks of you all as his surrogate children. Any time one of you leave, whether it’s because you’ve died or you go like Danny has, he mourns.”
“He’s such a sweetheart,” Angelique said. “A stern sweetheart.”
Gabriel burst out laughing. “Sometimes, aye. I ain’t telling him that bit, though.”
“Yeah, that’s probably wise.” She smiled back at him, and this one seemed a little stronger than the one that came before.
“Good lass.”
“Did you want to talk about anything else?”
“Aye, maybe.” Gabriel took a sip of his water and when he set the glass back down on the table, he regarded her thoughtfully. “How’re you feeling ’bout everything else? Declan being your lover, the war we just had, Transom—all of it.”
Angelique shrugged. “Okay. Well, no, I really want to kick all of Transom in the ass, even if they do keep changing their name so they think we won’t find them. I really hate those witches, too. And… I’m a bit scared of them, Gabe. Synthetic magic? What the hell is that? I don’t like the sound of it. What if someone gets their hands on this stuff and decides to wipe out a city or something? There’s so much that could go so wrong if it fell into the wrong hands.”
“Aye.” Gabriel sighed. “That synthetic magic business worries me, too. Right now, I’m trusting in Raz and that he and his mate over at CERN can come up with a way to fix it. Though honestly, if anyone’s gonna do that, it’ll be Raz. He’s our genius, after all.”
“Do you think he’ll destroy it and all the ways to make it that Transom might have?”
“Not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised. He might take all their notes up into Heaven and lock ’em away so he can study them later.” Gabriel shook his head. “I’m sure he’s got a plan, but we need to deal with Transom once and for all.”
“What did he do with the Holy Grail?” Angelique asked suddenly.
Gabriel took another sip of his water and regarded her for a long moment. “I can’t tell you that,” he said finally.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both. Some stuff ain’t for sharing. It ain’t that I don’t trust you, ’cause I do. It’s just that the Grail ain’t meant to be touched or anything. It’s meant to be left alone and forgotten to the mists of time and legend.”
Angelique nodded. “Okay, I can accept that.”
“That was easy.” Gabriel grinned at her.
“Yeah, well, I’ve been Venatores for a long time now. I know that there’s some shit that’s way above my pay grade. It’s not so different from the Air Force, really.”
“You’re a good lass, Angelique,” Gabriel said. “And a good Venatores.”
“Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself.”
“I try. So, how’s life with Declan?”
Angelique laughed. “Are you fishing for stories of wild sex?”
“Oh hell no, I ain’t the voyeur of my choir, that’s… actually, none of us are voyeurs, now I think about it.”
“That’s a relief. It’d be damn weird to think of angelic peeping toms.” Angelique grinned back at him. “Okay, well, things with Declan and me are good. For years, I thought I’d never meet anyone who was worth more than a quick fling. One night stands, all of that. I didn’t really think I’d have a relationship, because none of the men or women I met who interested me sexually ever interested me beyond the bedroom. Declan, though, he’s like no one I’ve ever met in my life, and that’s great. He’s smart—he’s got a smart mouth, too, to go with it, and I like that. He isn’t afraid of me and he’s happy to argue with me, which none of my past partners ever were. He’s kind, gentle, considerate, and a crack shot with his guns, and his shifter shape makes me laugh every time I think about it. A Yorkshire terrier! Here I am, a big, bad wolf, and my partner’s a damn Yorkie.”
Gabriel laughed. “Aye, I can see the funny there. He’s bloody touchy about it, though.”
“Oh, I know. I get why. He’s not exactly a small man. He’s covered in scars, though I bet you know that already, and he’s tall, muscly, and smart. And he’s got quite a bit of magic too, which is interesting. Hey, that reminds me. Do you know if there were ever any Voodoo magicians in Venatores? Or Santeria?”
“Aye to both,” Gabriel said. “I asked Michael the other night. He said that back in the early twentieth century, there were three mated pairs who were all Voodoo practitioners, and two Santeros who were mated—one to a Catholic and the other to a Hoodoo practitioner. So aye, Venatores has had members from all over the world and every creed and religion you could imagine.”
Angelique nodded. “I’m glad. I mean, I knew we were pretty universal, but I’d never heard of any Voodoo, Hoodoo, or Santeria members of Venatores, so that’s awesome that there were.”
“Michael doesn’t discriminate,” Gabriel said. “I reckon if he ever thought that he had—even if he really hadn’t—he’d wear a hair shirt and flagellate himself every night for a century.
”
“You’re probably right. He’s such a martyr about things. Oh, I don’t mean that in a bad way,” Angelique said as Gabriel quirked an eyebrow at her. “He just… he feels things really, really deeply, doesn’t he? He takes personal offense when something happens to someone he loves, and he loves a lot of folk. Not just Venatores or angelkind, but he loves all the humans here on Earth, with the exception of Transom. He loves some of the demons, too, I think, in that sort of begrudging way you feel for relatives who generally piss you off.”
“Aye. He cares very deeply for every living being. And I don’t know that he hates Transom, ’cause he’s still wondering if they ain’t deserving of a second chance. That’s the thing—Michael wants to see nothing but the good or the potential for good in all life. The rest of my Brotherhood… we ain’t so much with the rose colored glasses.”
“Makes dealing with you guys much easier. I love Mike, I do, but sometimes I want to shake him and yell that the world is full of assholes.”
Gabriel barked a laugh at that. “Aye, I get that way too, sometimes.”
“As for the rest, well, I hope we can track Transom’s people down and destroy their little operation, because this is my definition of evil. Destroying people who are desperate for help, grasping for any straws or slivers of possible hope—that’s fucking evil. People like that and serial killers, pedophiles, and rapists… all on my shit list.”
“Same.” Gabriel gazed at Angelique, feeling a new respect for this fiery young woman. She was intelligent and utterly committed and devoted to the Venatores and her pack, and he felt that she and Declan were very well matched. Despite what had happened with Danny, Gabriel had the feeling that this young woman would go on to do great things, not just on her own, but with her pack and her lover and his brother.
Angelique looked down at the watch on her wrist then and wrinkled her nose. “Dammit. Time flies when you’re having fun. We’ll have to head back soon. I’m supposed to do a briefing with the Archdemons and then we’re heading out on this trip down to Russia then Colorado.”
A Candle in the Sun Page 4