“Gabrielle,” Sheridan said in an icy tone.
“Do you have the orders from Yahuwah ready for me?” Gabrielle asked with indifference.
Phalen was quick to escape while she could by picking up Gabrielle’s iPod. Gabrielle didn’t need exceptional hearing to notice the volume going as high as it could. She smiled as Phalen made her way toward the library—dancing and singing.
“Of course,” Sheridan responded after Phalen was out of sight and handed Gabrielle one simple piece of blank paper. As soon as Gabrielle’s energy was recognized, names and instructions began to appear, as well as notable past actions that should be taken into account. It was as if the words were just shy at someone’s touch who wasn’t its master. Only The Angel of Karma was allowed to see the details before giving the orders to her troops—a way of making sure that no one could be warned or protected by those in Darkness and Shadows, should the document fall into the wrong hands.
The punishments or rewards were meant to encourage humans to want to do—to be—good. Darkness, of course, would love to stop them from being carried out which was the reason for the secrecy and the reason decisions were made, and instructions given, quickly.
As soon as Gabrielle gave orders for the first page of names, the writing disappeared in ghostly wisps as more names and details replaced them. Gabrielle went through all the names and gave her orders, then dismissed Sheridan.
Before Sheridan left, though, she turned and faced her superior with a defiant posture.
“Gabrielle.”
“Yes.”
“You say you don’t care what is said about your decision to be here. But I feel you should know that there are rumors being spread that concern your … activities here,” Contempt edged into Sheridan’s icy tone.
“Do you?” Gabrielle maintained indifference.
“Yes, I do.”
Gabrielle rematerialized closer to Sheridan. Sheridan tensed, but it didn’t stop her from continuing to speak her mind.
“I don’t want to see you do something that might jeopardize your position. And—”
“Oh—” Gabrielle couldn’t help but laugh, “on the contrary, Sheridan, I believe you would love to see that happen.”
Sheridan’s hands almost smacked together as she clasped them, resting them against her body, then bowed her head slightly.
The reaction was surely from the change in Gabrielle’s color that she allowed to come through her human form. Anger showed quickly on her if she let it, and she was in no mood for Sheridan tonight.
“Sheridan, I have far more important things to do than deal with an angel who has been waiting for her chance to step into my position for as long as she’s been the second in command to that position. And, don’t lie to me. You and I both know that you would be the first to offer my wings up to Council. You would probably volunteer to strip them from my back.”
Sheridan’s energy trembled. Gabrielle’s color was almost aflame in red now, matching her words and tone. In all the years they’d worked together, Gabrielle had never talked to Sheridan that way or shown an indication of the power she was capable of around her. Sheridan was clearly not anticipating the show of supremacy she’d just witnessed. There were few angels with the power and energy to create the amount of color Gabrielle just showed, far fewer with the courage to turn it on their brethren.
“Are you finished?” Gabrielle asked, adopting a tone of indifference. Though, she knew her hue completely contradicted it.
“Yes,” Sheridan responded in a much quieter, more subordinate manner.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Gabrielle watched as Sheridan vanished, taking a deep breath and sighing loudly when she was gone. She shouldn’t have trouble from her again anytime soon, at least not directly. Now, there was a bigger problem that could result from their confrontation.
The trouble Sheridan may want to cause indirectly.
“Are you ready, Phalen?” Gabrielle asked as she entered the library. Phalen sat on the sofa reading a book, her foot keeping time with the beat of the song she was listening to.
“Sure.” Phalen stood and turned, stopping as her gaze landed on Gabrielle. “Wow … what got that color all pumped up?”
Gabrielle hadn’t given herself time to calm down. She was still mad as hell. “Just some long overdue words for Sheridan.”
“Oh, Gabrielle! Couldn’t you have let me know so I could see her crumble?” she asked with a huge grin. “I agree with Grayson; she’s shifty.”
Gabrielle felt her mood lighten although she didn’t think her normal color would be returning for a while. “Sorry, but that wasn’t something I would have wanted you to see.”
“That intense, huh?”
“Yeah, at least I think Sheridan would say so. But let’s change the subject, okay?”
“No problem.”
“Let’s go, then. I’m ready to lighten my mood.”
Gabrielle and Phalen manifested at the top of the eastern edge of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Grayson and Rissie immediately greeted them.
“Grayson!” Phalen yelled in happy surprise as she flung her arms around him.
Gabrielle laughed happily that she’d gotten the reaction out of Phalen she’d hoped for.
“Hello, Lady Phalen! What a nice greeting ye gave me.” He smiled at her as he put her down, then made his way to Gabrielle. “M’lady … what a pleasure to see ye again so soon. I’m so glad I was able to give ye somethin’ toward yer search.” Grayson paused, studying her. His smile grew. “But I’m even happier that whatever made yer heart heavy seems to have taken its leave of ye in just a few short weeks.” He gave her a massive hug.
If I could pick a true brother, Grayson, it would be you.
“Aw,” Phalen said from where Grayson had put her down. “That was so sweet, sister.”
“What was, Lady Phalen?” Grayson asked as he released Gabrielle.
“Should I tell him, or do you want to?”
Gabrielle laughed. “I was thinking that if I could pick a brother, the kind a human has, it would be you, and Phalen heard me.”
“Oh, m’lady, ye should just consider me picked, then.” He hugged her again even tighter.
As he did, her color returned to normal. Her heart was so full that her eyes began to tear up. “Okay,” she said as she pulled back from Grayson and popped him playfully on his arm. “Enough of that. I have a reputation to keep up.” Gabrielle walked over to Rissie and hugged her, too. “Rissie, it’s so nice to see you again. How have you been?”
“Lovely, m’lady. And ye? Have ye been well?”
“Yes. I am well,” Gabrielle responded warmly. She motioned to Phalen, “Rissie, this is Phalen.”
Phalen greeted her with a handshake, but just as Grayson had done when she first met him, she ended up with a hug although it was not the lift someone up off the ground kind that he liked to give.
“Nice to meet ye, Lady Phalen,” Rissie said, then stepped back. “And, if ye haven’t noticed yet, Shifters are a huggin’ lot. As long as we like ye, anyway.”
Gabrielle had always been fond of Rissie. She was slightly younger than Grayson and also his cousin. Rissie acted as his third in command. His second in command was Rissie’s brother, Trygg. She was almost a foot shorter than Grayson with chocolate, shoulder length hair and smoldering, brown eyes. Although she wouldn’t stand out in a crowd, she had a definite effect on men.
“So,” Gabrielle addressed Phalen, “are you ready to go treasure hunting?”
“Absolutely. Where?”
“A cave just over the lip of Horsetail Fall. You and I are going to look for the Book while Grayson and Rissie keep an eye out up here.”
“That’s right,” Grayson said. “We’ll let ye know if anyone dec
ides to do a little huntin’ of their own.”
“Let’s go, then,” Gabrielle said to Phalen. “If you see anything troublesome, Grayson, you know what to do.”
“Yes, m’lady.”
Gabrielle disappeared and Phalen followed. They manifested behind the falls in a narrow opening to a cave. Gabrielle said a few words in Enochian, and a ball of light appeared in each of her hands. She said a few more and the lights began to float—one in front of Gabrielle and the other in front of Phalen. When they moved, the orbs of light moved; when they stopped, the lights obeyed.
“Cool, sister. I’m going to have to remember that trick.”
“My trick is now yours, Phalen. I just taught you the words.”
Gabrielle moved deeper into the cave, which became wider and higher.
“Okay … well,” Gabrielle began, “Grayson said his informant heard the Book may have been hidden here.”
“Who’s the informant?”
“One of the Fallen. The one he called Lek.”
“Grayson really thinks he can trust him, huh?”
“Apparently. And Grayson isn’t someone who gives his trust easily to those outside of us angels and his own fellows. If he trusts this demon, I have to at least give him the demon the benefit of the doubt because I trust Grayson.”
“Yeah, I have to say, I’ve only known him a few weeks, and I’d pretty much trust him with my life.”
“That trust is well placed, Phalen,” Gabrielle replied.
She and Phalen continued to search the cave for any signs of something out of the ordinary.
“So what is it that Grayson and Rissie are looking out for?” Phalen asked.
“The Fallen, of course.”
“Why? Do you think there might be trouble?”
Gabrielle said a few more words in the language of angels, and the cave trembled in a rolling wave from one side of the floor to the other, then did the same over the sides and ceiling until every inch had been covered. All the while, the rocks that made up the floor and sides of the cave behaved as if they were pliable instead of rigid. They could hear the rolling move deeper into the cave, and as it moved further away from them, the trembling lessened.
“Because if Lek knew about this, then there are others who do, too. If any show up, I’d rather we were up there instead of down here when they come, if they come.”
“Smart.”
“Yeah. I guess I have my moments,”
“Unless you’re around Lucas or thinking about him. Then … you don’t seem to have those moments.” Phalen bent over laughing at her own joke.
She just received a raised brow and smirk from Gabrielle.
“What?” she asked, full of innocence. “You know it’s true.”
Gabrielle didn’t have a retort. Phalen had a point, even if it was meant in fun.
Gabrielle closed her eyes and said her last words in Enochian once again, only in reverse order, calling the rolling motion back toward them. The energy she’d sent out continued seeking what she was looking for. When it finished the second sweep, Gabrielle opened her eyes.
“Nothing.” Gabrielle sighed from frustration. “Well … I guess it was worth a try. Let’s get out of here.”
“Okay. Hey … what was that you just did? And why can’t we just do it everywhere and find the Book that way? If it actually exists, anyway.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was just something I wanted to try. And we could do it everywhere if there was enough magic at our disposal.”
“Magic?” Phalen stopped, putting a hand on Gabrielle’s arm to stop her. When Gabrielle looked at her, disapproval was in her eyes. “Sister … did you get that from one of the Gentry?”
“I did.”
“But we aren’t supposed to deal with them or their magic!”
“You and the rest of our brethren aren’t, but I can if I feel it’s necessary.”
Phalen dropped her hand from Gabrielle’s arm. “I don’t care, Gabrielle. They are way too sneaky. You wouldn’t know which of them too trust any more than I.”
“I needed to try. I don’t think it will be that effective of a tool, anyway. It’s new magic that I asked one of my allies in the Shadow World to conjure, and I think it’s too weak.”
“Maybe they liked your idea and made it too weak on purpose so they could use it to find the Book themselves.”
“Oh, Phalen … stop being so dramatic!” Gabrielle snapped. Calming herself, she continued. “I had to try. I need to find that book before it gets into the wrong hands.”
Phalen studied Gabrielle for a long time before speaking, then took a deep breath and sighed. “If you say so.”
“I say so … now, let’s get out of here. I don’t like caves. They make me think about Hell, and that’s something I think about enough as it is.”
As they were about to dematerialize, they both heard a sound that made them stop. It was the long melodic call of a wolf joined in mid-chorus by a second one. It was Grayson and Rissie.
“Trouble’s here,” Gabrielle said. With that, she and Phalen were back above ground.
Grayson and Rissie were nowhere to be seen, but eight of the Fallen were only a quarter mile away.
“Gabrielle … where are Grayson and Rissie? Are they okay?”
Gabrielle smiled to reassure Phalen. “They’re near, and they’re quite well … as you’ll soon see.”
She could see Phalen scan their surroundings for the two Shifters, but all she would have seen were a couple hawks perched in one of the scraggly pines scattered around the rocky mountaintop. Gabrielle could tell Phalen was concerned that she couldn’t see them and that she should have been able to on the top of the mountain; there wasn’t much up there to take cover behind.
“If you say so.”
“I say so,” Gabrielle responded absently. The Fallen drew near.
As usual, her stomach began to protest. They were approaching aggressively, and Gabrielle suspected there wouldn’t be much talk when they arrived. As they drew closer, a female in front began to speak.
“If you found what you came here to get, you might as well know I’m about to take it from you.”
Gabrielle took all of the demons’ energies into account—three weren’t particularly powerful, three seemed moderately so, and two had Gabrielle concerned. Those two, the female speaking and a male to her right, were clearly going to be a problem. Gabrielle wondered how Phalen, Grayson, and Rissie would do with the other six if she concentrated her efforts on the strongest.
‘Phalen, I’m going to try to keep the female that spoke and the male to her right engaged with me. I need you, Grayson, and Rissie to handle the others until I put an end to the ones I’ll be dealing with.’ She glanced at Phalen. ‘Can you handle it?’
Phalen smiled and nodded. ‘I think we can keep them busy.’
The demons continued to advance, and so did the stench that accompanied them. Gabrielle’s insides lurched again as her opponents came within striking range. She hated waiting for them to make the first move and fought back her resentment of the law she had to abide by. If she could attack first, she could almost guarantee that she could keep the more powerful demons attention directed at her. Just before they advanced on her and Phalen, a vision flashed.
Her breath stopped, and it felt as though a vice had clamped down on her heart.
“NO!” Gabrielle yelled as she felt the impact of emotions the vision brought with it. “Phalen, Grayson, Rissie! Go! Leave!”
“What?”
“LEAVE!”
“Why would I—” Phalen’s question was cut short as the demons attacked her.
The evening was instantly brighter from Dither Swords clashing. Grayson’s form didn’t allow him to answer, but the call of two hawks
approaching told her that he and Rissie weren’t heeding her warning, either.
Gabrielle raised her hands as her bow appeared in one and several arrows with Holy Fire burning on their tips manifested in the other. She released them as soon as they appeared. In the fraction of a second it took for more arrows to become solid in her hand, she watched the others hit their targets. Two hit the male; one hit the female. The demons simply pulled them out of their bodies and gave her mocking smiles.
How can they not be affected?
Gabrielle released the next three arrows, and again, they hit their targets. This time, they seemed to do some damage. Both staggered but began to advance on her again.
They should be ash!
As Gabrielle continued to feel the dread from the vision, from what it showed the outcome of this fight being, she let the demons get closer so she could take time to assess how her friends were faring. She was relieved to see that Phalen was holding her own with three of the demons.
A quick glance toward the other fight showed the remaining three against two of the largest mountain lions Gabrielle had ever seen. That was the confrontation she was most concerned with. Only one minor demon stood against her friends. The other two would not be easy for Grayson and Rissie to handle.
Gabrielle focused her attention back on her targets. I have to finish these two.
She let the bow vanish to make way for Sundering Whips. The Fallen froze, knowing the fatal damage they could do—regardless of whatever was protecting them. Gabrielle began to crack the whips. All she had to do was allow them to feel they were out of range, then she’d strike with a third, twelve feet longer than the ones she was currently wielding and the only one of its kind.
“Grayson!” Phalen called out.
Gabrielle heard the fear in Phalen’s voice, and a split second later, she heard the cry of a mountain lion—of Grayson. Then, the sound of another and Gabrielle guessed Rissie had also been struck.
Inception (The Reaping Chronicles, 1) Page 18