by Raquel Dove
Chapter Nine
Gabrielle looked at the little piece of paper in her hands. It was Aracella’s number. Mr. Black had said she was ok, and she certainly believed him. But she wanted to make a house call. It just felt like the right thing to do. She didn’t know if Aracella was sick, injured, or none of the above, but she knew that she had at the very least had a brush with death. In Gabrielle’s book, that meant it was only polite for her to come by and see her. Besides, she didn’t have much else to do. She had spent an entire day sleeping, after the epic first workday. Now, she had an entire evening to fill and she had no clue what there was to do in this place. She had asked around, the few people she could find on her walk home, and was able to get the numbers of Aracella’s home, as well as a general vicinity of the location. She was surprised at how many people knew who she was. It was obvious when she spoke her name to others that her entire family was well known. They must be sort of like celebrities, Gabrielle thought. She was beginning to see how lucky, or perhaps even unlucky, she was to get the job that she had. And even though she had apparently screwed everything up so far, and had no idea of what exactly she did, she was determined to make it work. She would learn this job and show everyone that didn’t believe in her that she could handle it. That was another reason she wanted to see Aracella. She knew everything there was to know about this place. And even though answers had to sort of be pulled out of her, Gabrielle knew they were there, and she would get them.
Gabrielle felt like she was getting the hang of all the hallways that this place was made up of. The one thing she found that she missed the most was sunlight. She had nothing but artificial light for the last few days since she had arrived. She hadn’t seen a single window in this entire place and she assumed that there was no outside. It was a bit of a bummer, Gabrielle could remember what sunlight felt like, she could remember the wind, the way it blew softly against her skin and lifted her hair around her. She wished she could feel that again.
As Gabrielle made a turn the hallway opened up much larger and wider than any other she had been down. The doors were much taller too and rather than a single door, they were all double doors. They were also more spread out. She knew that she was getting close to Aracella’s home. The plaques on the door weren’t all black or all white. They were mixed, and the numbers were all single or double-digit numbers. It had occurred to her, through the couple days she had spent walking around this place, that the smaller the number, the more desirable the dwelling. It also meant that those living in the smaller number homes had a higher position in the Death Angel Society. Gabrielle already knew Aracella was a prominent member, she was Mr. Black’s sister, so it made since that her number would be thirty-five. Though the numbers were out of order on the homes, they were grouped together so that people of the same general status were housed together. So, all she had to do was walk down this hallway until she found the number she was looking for. It couldn’t possibly be that long, because there simply weren’t that many double-digit numbers.
As Gabrielle suspected, she didn’t have to walk very far down this hallway before she came to the door labeled thirty-five. She couldn’t explain why, but she felt suddenly nervous. She wasn’t invited to come over. Aracella had been friendly to her before, but that didn’t mean they were close enough for her to come over unannounced and uninvited. Perhaps she hadn’t thought this over as well as she should have. Gabrielle thought on it and she decided to get out of here as quickly as possible before anyone saw her. She would ask Mr. Black in the morning if it would be alright for her to visit Aracella. He would certainly steer her in the right direction.
Just as she was turning to leave, the door popped open, and the man she had been thinking of was standing suddenly in front of her. Her face instantly grew hot and she felt her knees turn to jelly as he looked at her with that characteristic blankness in his striking gray eyes.
“Gabrielle,” he said, her name rolling off his tongue in a deep, seductive baritone. Though his face didn’t show it, she could hear a hint of surprise in his voice. Just a hint.
“Mr. Black, sir…I…” Gabrielle found it oddly hard for her to speak. She tried to think of words to explain what she was doing, suddenly turning up on what was apparently his doorstep and not Aracella’s but instead, something else came out. “How…how do you know my name, sir? I mean…I don’t think I ever…did I tell you my name?”
“No,” he said, simply, “but it is part of my responsibility to know those who serve under me.”
“Oh,” was all she could manage to utter. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t even remember why she was here.
“Is there a reason you are at my door, Gabrielle?” he asked. He took a step toward her and her insides turned to mush. He was utterly intimidating, even when he was asking the most mundane of questions.
“I…um, yes sir,” Gabrielle said, forcing herself to snap out of the daze he had put her in and focus on the reason she was here. “I just wanted to…well, I know you said Aracella was alright, but I just wanted to see her and tell her that I….well, I guess I’m glad she is alright…and…" Gabrielle shook her head as she fumbled for an explanation. "I’m sorry, I guess I got the wrong number for her home.”
“No,” he said. He took another step closer and suddenly he was standing so close to her that she could smell him. The scent of him filled her head. It was woodsy, musky, manly and with an ever so soft floral hint. It reminded her of being outside. He had on the same type of black suit that he had on every time she had seen him. Her eyes traveled from the obviously chiseled chest hidden by that suit up to his eyes as they looked back at her with a startling intensity.
“Come in,” he said, after they had spent a moment staring into each other’s eyes. It took Gabrielle a moment for the words to register.
“I…oh, she lives with you?” Gabrielle said, suddenly understanding what he was saying without using too many words. She was quickly learning that he used as few as possible.
“Yes,” he said, stepping aside just slightly so that she could see inside the open door behind him. “She will be pleased to see you, I think.”
Gabrielle smiled at him and to her great surprise, he smiled back. It wasn’t a big smile, and it only lasted a moment, but she had seen it. His lips had curled ever so slightly upward at the corners and she felt her gut growing even hotter than it already was. He was absolutely gorgeous when he smiled.
“Come in,” he said, motioning for her to enter his home, “I'll show you to her quarters.”
Gabrielle didn’t know how, but she found the will to move her shaky legs in the direction of the door. As she walked through, she was stunned at what she found. She had thought that her quarters were nice, she couldn’t have imagined anything being much nicer. But what she saw just inside his home was incredible. There was green everywhere she looked, interspersed with blooms of flowers that scented the air delicately. She had smelled the hint of the flowers in Mr. Black's scent and she knew this is where it must have come from. There was a small fountain that occupied the middle of the large space that was scattered with plants and shrubs and what looked like grass covering the ground. She couldn’t understand how such a thing could exist without direct sunlight, but here it was. It was a very large space, and to one side she even saw what looked like a little pond fed by a small waterfall.
“How…,” Gabrielle managed to gasp, though she thought she had voiced the thought only to herself.
“It is customary for nobles to have an indoor garden. I am proud to say my family has been cultivating this one for many centuries,” he said, coming up just behind Gabrielle. She could feel him there, just behind her, hovering so close that she thought he would reach out and touch her. Somehow, his presence had completely erased the awe that she had at seeing this indoor garden and had her focusing entirely on him. She was so focused on him, his presence, his scent, his voice as it rumbled just behind her, that she didn’t even noti
ce the other person that had entered the area until he spoke.
“Sir, did you forget something?” the man said, with a little bow of his head towards Mr. Black. He was a short man with a nearly bald head, save for a few wisps of white hair. His body was mostly scrawny, but he had a belly that stuck out like he had a basketball under his shirt. He wore a very simple outfit, resembling scrubs, in all black. He had no discernible expression on his face, but Gabrielle felt a peacefulness in him that she immediately liked.
“No,” he said. Gabrielle could hear a change in his voice when he talked to the man. It wasn’t as deep. It didn’t hold that strange emotion that Gabrielle hadn’t yet been able to place. It was empty, authoritarian. Though Gabrielle liked to hear the way he spoke to her even better, she still found this way made her knees want to buckle.
“Miss Gabrielle is here to see Aracella,” he said. “Get her some refreshments and show her to my sister's room.”
With those words, Gabrielle felt him step away from where he had been standing, so terribly close to her. She turned around to look at him before she even had time to think about what she was doing.
“I must leave,” he said, looking over his shoulder at her. “An urgent matter I must attend to. Wilfred will show you to Aracella’s room. Anything you desire while you are in my residence, Wilfred will procure it for you.”
“Thank you,” Gabrielle said, the words rolling out of her mouth in a breathless mumble. He acknowledged her with a nod over the side of his shoulder before he walked out the door.
Once he was gone, and the door was shut, Gabrielle could feel the air returning to her lungs in large gasps. She hadn’t even realized how much she had been suppressing it. Her heart began to thump and she felt the rush of adrenaline flowing through her that his presence had brought and his now absence was pushing to the forefront of her mind.
“Right this way, Miss,” Wilfred said. Before he could turn away and walk into the direction of what Gabrielle assumed was the rest of the house, Gabrielle saw it. The same peculiar look that invaded Sebastian Black’s eyes every time he looked at her was in this man’s eyes. It was gone as fast as it had come, and Gabrielle had to wonder if she was simply imagining it.He led her quietly through the rest of Mr. Black's home, which was incredibly lavish, and left her at the door to Aracella's room so the two could visit privately.
Chapter Ten
It had been a couple days since Ms. Blankenship had been dismissed, and in that time, Kaia’s emotions had settled some. She still hated the fact that Gabrielle worked with her, had the same ranked status as she did. The girl didn’t deserve it, as far as Kaia was concerned. It just wasn’t fair at all. Kaia had clawed her way up from the worst of the lower sectors to become what she was today. Her parents had both been rejected for the Death Angel Academy, forced to eek out a miserable living in the lower sectors. Kaia had been brought into that world, and though her parents had given her plenty of love and anything else they could, they were still the poorest of the poor. Many nights Kaia had to go to bed on the dirt floor of their quarters with her stomach grumbling of hunger. Those were what Kaia considered the good times of her childhood. It wasn’t long before her parents were both taken by the Sickness. No one wanted an orphan in the Death Angel Society, much less one from the poorest corners of the lower sector. She had been slated for death, and left by everyone to her fate. But Kaia refused to accept that. She had made a vow to herself the day that her parents died. She would make it out of the lower sectors. She would become a Death Angel, and she wouldn’t stop until she was as high as she could possibly reach. Her assessment had claimed her for the Dark Forces, but she wasn’t a fighter. The highest she could ever hope to achieve was the first seat assistant to a Dark General. She was already but one step away from that, and now that Ms. Blankenship was gone, the path was clear for her. She supposed she owed Gabrielle a measure of gratitude for that, but she refused to allow her such a thing. She hadn’t worked for her position like Kaia had, like everyone else in a ranked position had. It just wasn’t fair.
Kaia’s first priority was to secure the promotion to first seat assistant. Then, from that position, she would have the ability to quietly turn Mr. Black against Gabrielle. She couldn’t understand why he had taken such an intense and clear liking towards her. She didn’t seem to be anything special. Mr. Black wasn’t particularly known for playing the field, but he certainly wasn’t short on options. He’d had his fair share of women in the Death Angel Society, and Gabrielle wasn’t anywhere near the league of some of the women Kaia had seen Mr. Black keeping company with. She was cute, at best, but in Kaia’s opinion she was rather mousy and homely. She couldn’t imagine Mr. Black being so terribly enthralled with her at just one look.
Kaia sighed heavily and pushed those troubled thoughts from her mind. For now, she would have to tread carefully in order to get the promotion that she so badly wanted. And that meant being nice to the girl. So, when Gabrielle came into the office that morning, Kaia put on her best face and smiled at her.
“We got you a desk set up,” she said, biting down her tongue at how badly she just wanted to rip the girl’s hair out. She pointed at the desk area that her and Nettie had set up the day before. She could see the blank and suspicious stare on Gabrielle’s face. Understandable, Kaia thought.
“Look,” Kaia said, taking a deep breath and looking over at Nettie who was giving her a strange look, “I think we all got off to a rough start. Let’s put everything behind us and just…let’s just get along and do our job.”
“That sounds good to me,” Gabrielle said, shrugging her shoulders. Kaia could hear the suspicion still in her voice. She closed the office door behind her and made her way over to the empty desk that Kaia had gestured to.
“Ok then,” Kaia said. She smiled again at Gabrielle as she got up from her seat and walked over to Gabrielle’s desk. “The first thing you should know is Mr. Black doesn’t put up with any slacking. I’m sure you probably realized this already, but it’s good to tell you that anyway.”
“Yeah,” Gabrielle said. Again, her voice was full of skepticism. “I just really don’t know what exactly I’m supposed to do.”
“Well you got here on time today,” Kaia said, chuckling a little bit to try and encourage the mood to shift from being uncomfortable. “So you’re heading in the right direction. We’ll teach you the rest of what you need to know.”
“Good morning ladies,” the deep voice of Sebastian Black interrupted them and they all turned to look at him. Kaia always hated the way he seemed to sneak up on them. She never even heard the door opening.
“Good morning, Mr. Black,” Kaia said, shifting her attention from Gabrielle to him. “I have your morning papers waiting on your desk. Would you like me to get your coffee?”
“Yes, thank you Kaia,” Sebastian said. His voice was, as always devoid of any emotion. He walked through the office and towards the door with his name on it as Kaia went to get his coffee. Before he went in he turned around and gave Gabrielle a very pointed look. A moment of odd intensity went through the two.
“I am pleased that you are treating my newest employee well,” he said, his eyes remaining on Gabrielle even as he spoke to Kaia. She smiled at him as she handed him a mug of black coffee, the way he liked it. “I expect her to be completely up to speed by the end of the week.”
“Yes, sir,” Kaia said. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”
As Mr. Black turned to go in his office, Kaia had to fight to hold back her smile. She would have that promotion in no time.
“Down to business,” she said, turning to Gabrielle. “I hope you catch on fast, cause we’ve got a lot to teach you.”
“I think I’ll be alright,” Gabrielle said. Kaia could hear her beginning to drop the suspicion from her voice.
“Good,” Kaia said. “So, basically, what we do here is provide the behind the scenes support for Mr. Black and his subordinates to fight the Darklings. I know you’re very new here, so
if you have any questions along the way, don’t hesitate to speak up and ask.”
“What exactly are Darklings?” Gabrielle asked. Kaia felt the last vestiges of her suspicion slip away with that question.
“Simply put,” Kaia said, “restless spirits. But all you need to know about them is Mr. Black and the fighters that serve under him kill them. And we make sure they come back alive.”
Chapter Eleven
It was officially the end of the working week, and Gabrielle was ready for some time off. She had no idea what she would do to fill her weekend, but she knew she was looking forward to sleeping in and not having to cram her brain with new stuff. Over the last few days, Kaia had been teaching her everything there was to know about working under Mr. Black. Although she had a lot of answers to a lot of things, and she had become very confident in her abilities in this job, she had even more questions about Mr. Black. She had only seen him a handful of times inside the office. He came into the office in the morning, gave them all a few directives for the day, then he would be out of the office, away on missions for the remainder of the day. While Gabrielle’s awe of him had grown, seeing how he fought off Darklings, her confusion at why he treated her the way he did became even more intense. His stoic behavior bordered on rude to everyone else. And though he was much more standoffish towards her in the office than he had been at his home, he was still decidedly more kind than he was to everyone else.
“Did you finish filing those mission reports yet, Gabrielle?” Kaia asked as she leaned over from the side of her desk to look at her.
“Just about,” Gabrielle said, proud of herself for knowing exactly what she was talking about. Mission reports were the bulk of what they did in the office. Every time a Darkling was fought a mission report was filed. Every single scrap of information about the fight was recorded and filed away for future research. “I’m just trying to verify the coordinates of this last one.”