by Raquel Dove
“This…this can’t be,” she said, looking back at Gabrielle. Her eyebrows pulled together and her eyes grew suddenly harsh. “Are you trying to pull one over on me?”
“What? No,” Gabrielle shook her head and leaned forward as if she could see the computer screen.
“Well, I don’t know why you would come back in here,” the woman said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. She glared at Gabrielle.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gabrielle said, shaking her head again. “I’ve never been in here before. I’ve never even been to the Central Bureau before now.”
“Haha, that is so funny,” the woman said, her eyes still glaring. “Right, like you’ve never been to the Central Bureau. Every graduate comes to the Central Bureau for assignments. I’m not stupid, and I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but I really don’t have time for it.”
“Right, cause you were so busy before I came in,” Gabrielle said, snapping at the woman. She could feel her irritation rising. She was tired of explaining to people that she was new and she didn’t know how things worked here. The woman probably wouldn’t believe her if she told her the truth about how she had gotten the job with Mr. Black.
“Actually, I was,” the woman said, tilting her chin upward a little, trying in vain to hide her obvious lie. “I don’t care if you are the first person to be granted your petition. I don’t have time for you to come in here and play games with me.”
“Wait,” Gabrielle’s head spun as her mind processed the woman’s words. “Are you saying I was approved? They’re gonna tell me about my life?”
The woman looked at Gabrielle like she had suddenly sprouted another head. Her eyes narrowed at her and she cocked her head to the side.
“Yeah,” she said, “and you already knew that.” She pointed at the computer screen. “You were here two weeks ago and picked up your packet. You know, if you weren’t so rude, I’d actually congratulate you. I’ve worked in this office for two hundred years and I’ve never seen a single petition approved.”
“But I wasn’t in here,” Gabrielle said, her voice rising sharply. She huffed at the woman, who in turn leaned forward and slid the little glass window closed with a pointed look.
Gabrielle’s head was spinning but it was obvious that she wasn’t going to get anymore answers out of this woman. All she could do was leave the Central Bureau and go back to find Matthew.
###
Kasen stood nervously outside the Central Bureau as he waited for Gabrielle to come out. He nodded at a Bureau employee that passed by and recognized him. He hadn’t wanted to let Gabrielle go inside alone, but he knew that his cover would be blown the moment he stepped foot inside that building. He wanted to tell Gabrielle who he really was, but he wanted to do it at the right time. He knew that she would be denied, and he was certain that, even though she had been warned of it, she would still be disappointed.
Finally, he saw her emerge from the building. He could even see from a distance that she wore a scowl on her pretty face. He waited for her to make her way through the crowd toward him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching out for her as she came up to him. “I know you really wanted this.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head and looking up at him. It was then that he noticed her face wasn’t marred with disappointment but rather with confusion.
“What’s wrong?” Kasen asked, his hands resting comfortingly on her shoulders. “What happened?”
“She said I was approved,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. Her soft brown eyes were searching everywhere, refusing to focus on anything.
“You were approved?” Kasen said, his shock clearly demonstrated on his face as she finally looked back up at him. “That’s…that’s amazing. That’s good, right?”
“I…but,” she shook her head and looked away from him again. “I didn’t petition them. I mean I wanted to but I didn’t get to.”
“What?” Kasen asked. He rubbed his hands down her arms wanting more than anything to ease the confusion on her face. “What do you mean?”
“She said that I was in there two weeks ago,” Gabrielle said. “She said I was approved and that I picked up my packet already.”
“But…” Kasen finally understood her confusion. “That’s really strange.”
“Maybe it was a clerical error,” she said, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. Kasen hated to disappoint her. He knew that the chances of the Central Bureau making a mistake like that was beyond infinitesimal, and even if they had, they would never cop to it.
“Maybe,” he said, only managing to sound half convincing. He decided it was best to change the subject and try to get Gabrielle’s attention off the petition and her previous life. “Come on, let’s go. I have a few more things planned for today.”
###
Gabrielle was happy to let Matthew lead her away from the Central Bureau. Her mind was foggy with confusion and she just wanted to clear it. Matthew had planned out an entire day, which worked wonders to get her mind off the oddity at the Central Bureau. By the time evening rolled around and he was walking her back to her quarters, she had managed to push the entire incident to the back of her mind. She had known it was a long shot when she went to apply, so not getting to find out wasn’t that big of a disappointment for her. It was just the confusion of what had happened that really ate at her. She had managed to mostly convince herself that it must have just been some silly clerical error. The woman at the petition office had probably committed the mistake herself out of a lazy boredom induced sort of syndrome. Either way, Gabrielle decided it was best to put the entire incident behind her.
“I had a really great time today,” she said, smiling up at him as they stopped by her door. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear that had fallen out of place as she glanced down at her feet. Gabrielle looked up at him and saw that his eyes had glazed over. He was looking at her lips as he leaned slowly into her. She could feel her stomach fluttering nervously as she anticipated the kiss. She felt his hand wrap around her hip and pull her body into his. He was firm and his muscles shifted as his hand moved to her lower back. He deepened the kiss, his other hand digging into her hair. She felt his groin harden against her hips and she moved seductively into it. His mouth moaned into hers, the sound of it sending hot tingles rushing through her. His tongue continued to play with hers as he backed her up so that her back was pressing into the door of her quarters. The hand that was on her back dipped lower and he cupped her butt, pulling her hips further into his as he ground his erection against her. This time it was her that moaned. He broke away from the kiss, his hand still holding her hips in place against his.
“I really don’t want to leave,” he said softly, almost out of breath as he leaned his forehead against hers. Gabrielle bit at her lower lip.
“Maybe you don’t have to,” she said, her voice soft and playful as she tried to keep the nervousness from it. She didn’t want him to leave either.
“Damnit," he said with a groan as he pulled his hand away from her backside. "I wish I could stay."
“Do you really have to go?” Gabrielle asked, feeling a sting of disappointment.
“I have some work I have to get done,” he said. She could hear the regret in his voice and knew that he didn’t want to leave anymore than she wanted him to.
“When will I see you again?” she asked, her eyes searching his.
“Soon,” he said, before he captured her lips with his. The kiss was soft and tender, and lingered on her lips long after he had left her.
Chapter Sixteen
Gabrielle felt like she had a new lease on life. Ironic, because she was dead. But after an evening with a man that she was quickly falling in love with, she felt revived. And that kiss. Oh god, that kiss. It made her knees weak just thinking about it. She had barely been able to force herself to sleep after Matthew left. All she wanted was to call him back to her place and let him come inside, and stay the nig
ht with her. But she was thankful that he had the iron will and gentlemanly nature that she was finding so hard to have herself. She had a much better understanding now of the things that went on in the Death Angel Society. And now she felt like this was a place she could actually fit into one day, she could actually be happy. She had already known that they fought Darklings, but knowing what they actually were and knowing that she was helping people with her job made her feel so much better about what she did.
When she got into the office that morning, Kaia and Nettie were curiously absent. It was odd, so far she had never beaten them to the office in the morning. Maybe it would get her some brownie points with her boss. Not that she needed them, he seemed to like her just fine. She busied herself with some filing that they were all behind on. She hadn't realized it until Matthew had explained it to her, but there had been an unusually high number of Darklings cropping up in the Death Angel Society. According to him, it happened from time to time, but they were generally always lower level Darklings that were easily disposed of. She had realized that the Darkling that had attacked her on her first day here was anything but low level. In fact, if Mr. Black hadn't been there to kill it, she probably would have been gobbled right up. She thought back to that day. It had only been a couple weeks, but it felt like a lifetime. She could still see the vision of her boss, drawing his sword with so much confidence that she could tell even then he had done so many times. There was something about him that always stuck in her head. He was an enigmatic figure, to be sure, but that wasn't it. The way his eyes looked at her, so dark and brooding with some strange emotion behind them that she couldn't for the life of her explain. He made her nervous but comfortable at the same time. She thought back to the way Matthew had spoken about him. She knew that Mr. Black was deeply respected in the Society. She could see that in the way everyone around her spoke and reacted to him. But she hadn't actually realized they thought he was a hard ass or unkind. To her, he was kind, with the exception of the one time he had shown up at her door in the middle of the night. Though she had since attributed that to genuine concern for her and her safety. Matthew had also been kind enough to explain to her the reason that Death Angels did not interact with those that were not chosen, labeled undesirables.
Every soul that came here was given a chance and a choice. Some simply chose not to become a Death Angel. It wasn't a life that was for everyone. It was a lot of work, especially for the newest recruits who hardly ever had any time off and were housed in communal quarters. It was yet another reminder to Gabrielle how fortunate she had been to meet Mr. Black when she had and how kind he had been to hire her on the spot like he did.
For those individuals who did want to become a Death Angel, there was a rigorous training process. The many years of schooling and training alone weeded out many would-be Death Angels. Then there was the final test. Only the top few individuals of each class were selected to join the ranks of the Death Angels. The Generals themselves hand picked the individuals they wanted to join their ranks. The rest were simply released, sent back to the lower districts with crushed dreams and hurt feelings. It was a hard system, but Gabrielle could understand the need for it. This life truly wasn't for everyone.
She had also learned that for the past five years, Mr. Black hadn't chosen a single person to join his ranks. In fact, she was the first new recruit in all that time. She couldn't deny that it made her feel special, but she also couldn't help but wonder why. If he was as much of a hard ass as everyone thought him to be, why should he show her any special treatment? She secretly knew it wasn't because he didn't want to go through the interview process to find another assistant. She had learned that in the two weeks she had worked under him that he wasn't afraid of work, and he would do whatever was required to keep his ranks in perfect working order. So it just didn't make a lot of sense to her why he would hire her like he did, with no training, no schooling, no testing. She could also now understand the jealousy that emanated from the women she worked with.
"What are you doing here?" a deep voice that she instantly recognized spoke up behind her and made her skin break out in goose bumps as her body temperature suddenly began to rise uncontrollably. She whipped around with the files in her hand, her eyes catching the perpetually puzzling eyes of Mr. Black as the load she was carrying tumbled to the ground and made a mess at their feet.
"Mr. Black...I...," she looked down at the jumble of papers on the ground, the very important papers that were now completely out of order, and then looked back up at him.
"I'm so sorry," she scrambled to pick all the papers up, groaning when she realized how long it would take her to put them back in order and in the appropriate files. "You scared me...I didn't mean to drop the files. I'll pick them up--"
"It's alright, Gabrielle," he said, his voice soft. He knelt down next to her and began to help her.
"No, please, really I've got it," she said, feeling her stomach fill up with knots as he got closer to her. He handed her a stack of papers and her eyes again met his. She was transfixed by the look in them. His hand gently grazed hers and electricity shot up her arm and into her chest. Her mouth was suddenly dry. She realized that she had never before touched him. His fingers lingered against her skin and she was left to wonder exactly what his intentions were.
"Gabrielle," he spoke her name softly and the way it rolled of his plump handsome lips sounded more like he was pondering the word rather than speaking it to her.
"I'm...I'm sorry," was all Gabrielle managed to get out. She swallowed the lump that had developed in her throat.
"Do not apologize to me," he said, his words coming out with a bit more authority. "It does not please me to hear it."
Gabrielle's mind was hardly working at the moment. Mr. Black had formed a heavy cloud of confusion and nerves that clung to her and tightened with every hard won breath that she managed to suck in.
"I'm..." she caught herself before she apologized again. Her mind simply couldn't think of anything else to say at the moment.
"You shouldn't be here," he said. His eyes shifted back into the emotionless orbs that she was more used to seeing. He stood up, his eyes remaining on her as she mimicked his action.
""I...What?" was all she managed to utter.
"The offices are closed for the next three days," he said. He took the pile of files from her hands and plopped them on Kaia's desk. "I'm assuming no one told you about the Death Festival?"
"No," Gabrielle said, shaking her head. Now that he had turned away from her, his eyes no longer locked with hers, she could feel her senses returning to her. "Death Festival? What is it?"
"I'm sure you'll come to learn, as hard as we like to work, we also enjoy playing here at the Death Angel Society" he said, looking at her over his shoulder for a moment. There was a smirk on his lips that was somewhat playful and just looked strange on him. But it made Gabrielle feel a little less anxious. "We use festivals and holidays as excuses to not work. In truth I think we made most of them up just to get out of work for a few days every now and then."
Gabrielle couldn't remember hearing him talk more words than he seemed to be right now. He turned fully around to her, held his hand out to her for just a moment as if he was asking her to take it with hers, but quickly dropped it back to his side.
"Let's get out of here," he said with a small nod toward the door. "I'll walk you back to your quarters and explain the festival to you."
He turned around without another word and began walking out of the office, expecting her to follow. She caught up to him and chanced a quick glance up at him. He was such an enigma to her, and she found herself wanting to figure him out.
“The Death Festival,” he said, without looking back at her, “is as the name suggests, a festival celebrating death.”
“Wait, you celebrate death?” Gabrielle asked, not understanding why anyone would want to celebrate such a thing.
“It is our biggest and most favored holiday,” he said.
&n
bsp; “I don’t see why anyone would want to celebrate such a thing,” she said, her voice low as she spoke mostly to herself.
“In time you’ll learn things about this place,” he said, his voice taking on an oddly comforting tone. “You’ll understand more and more, and it will not seem like such a strange place anymore.”
He was looking down at her as they continued to walk. She could see that same look in his eyes again. She thought for a moment that he was going to say something more, but he didn’t. He became quiet and simply continued to lead her back to her quarters.
“The Death Festival celebrates something that affects us all, in many different ways,” he said, speaking up suddenly as they turned down the hallway of her quarters. “Dying and loss is part of that, yes. However, that is not the part of death that we celebrate.”
They stopped at her doorway and she looked up at him, still not understanding the point of this festival. He must have seen the confusion in her face because he continued to explain.
“Death is the force that brought every one of us here,” he said. “Death is the one thing that ties us all together and allows us to be what we are. Death is what we serve and the very thing that we are. That is why we call ourselves Death Angels and that is why we celebrate the Death Festival with such vigor.”
“But death didn’t bring us all here,” she said. Gabrielle could understand what he was saying and she could see the wisdom and unique point of view behind it. But it wasn’t a complete explanation.
“What do you mean?” he asked, and for once she thought she could see him confused. The look disappeared as quickly as it came and she was left with his same stoic mask.
“You weren’t brought here because you died. You were born here,” she said. “So death didn’t bring you here.”
He smiled, and Gabrielle couldn’t help but stare at the sight of it. Even if she hadn’t known him, she would have somehow known that it was a rare sight to see, just by the way it felt to watch as the smile parted his lips. She realized how terribly handsome he was when he smiled. Well, he was handsome even when he didn’t smile, but when he did, he was down right sexy. She quickly shook the thought from her mind and felt guilty and rather stupid for thinking such a thing.