Angel's Honor (3 page)

His mother shrugged uneasily. “It’s
his right to go where he pleases. You know that.”

Ariel pushed past Gabriel and stood
on the edge of the porch, scanning the skies. “Not for much longer.” Her voice
was hard. When she didn’t see anything, she stalked over to the rocking chair
and snatched up her blouse.

“That may be true, but it is unwise
to press him without due cause. Though, now that you are marked as Alpha, I
don’t think you’re going to be able to get him to listen to reason.” Anahita
looked at her son, eyes luminous. “Do you know who your mate is?”

Gabriel went still. He knew. He
could feel the heat inside, building slowly. He thought about the angel he’d
met a few months ago, the man with the sky-blue eyes and ebony hair,
then
pushed the image down. The last thing he wanted to do
was get an erection in front of his mother, and the mating urge was already
nearing the point where he might not be able to control it. “I do know.” He
rolled his shoulders and shifted his wings back into his body, hoping that
would help.

His mother waited. When she
realized he wasn’t going to say anything more, she frowned. “Who is she?”

Gabriel steeled himself. “Raphael.”
The stunned silence from his mother and sister was palpable. He could barely
believe he’d just said it like that, aloud, like it was nothing.
Like he hadn’t just rewritten his entire life.
But I owe my mate that. I owe him respect,
and it would be cowardly to deny him simply because he is male and I am
frightened of what that might mean.

“What?” Ariel was back at his
shoulder, her blouse hanging open over her halter. “Raphael?
The
cute guy who came here to study our history?”

Gabriel pressed his lips together,
then
nodded curtly. He had no idea how his sister and mother
were going to react to the news that his mate was a man. The situation was
unprecedented.

His sister’s eyes went wide.
“Holy hell.
Samael is going to shit a brick!” Her lips
stretched into a delighted smile. “This is awesome.”

Gabriel’s eyebrows lifted. “You don’t
seem bothered that your brother’s mate will be male.”

“Are you kidding me? I could care
less who you sleep with as long as he or she isn’t an asshole and they treat
you right. And Raphael is nice. I introduced you way back in February,
remember?” When he nodded, she continued. “We had coffee together just last
week,” she said, surprising him. Catching his confused look, she explained, “He
wanted to know about Dad’s death.”

“Oh,” Gabriel said, not sure how he
felt about that.

Ariel didn’t notice his
consternation and went right on talking. “It’s the look on Samael’s face I’m
looking forward to.” She rubbed her hands together. “This is going to be
fantastic. You are the best big brother, ever.”

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his
nose, avoiding her shining eyes. His sister hated Samael, but wouldn’t tell him
why, no matter how many times he’d asked. Seeing her so delighted was both a
curse and a relief.
At least she doesn’t seem to mind that her brother is,
apparently, gay.
He wasn’t certain himself how he could’ve been so mistaken
all these years. He’d dated women, but had never been able to open up his
heart, not really. Now he knew why.

“Oh Gabriel,” his mother said
softly. She touched his arm, fingers tracing his marks. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I’m sure.”

“Raphael’s a nice boy,” she said,
stepping back. “But I didn’t even know you’d met him.”

Gabriel lifted a shoulder. “I said,
‘Hello,’ once.
When he first arrived.”

Ariel chuckled.
“Oh
boy.”

Gabriel gave her a disgusted look
and she backed away from him to lean against the porch wall, still grinning.
When his mother’s face abruptly shifted from pleased into the neutral
expression he hated so much, he knew Samael had arrived. Tension ran down his
spine as she looked past him, saying nothing. Gabriel turned around, the hair
on the nape of his neck ruffling. He made sure to put his body between his
mother and sister and their leader.

“Aren’t you going to greet your
leader properly, Anahita?” Samael asked, ignoring Gabriel.
“Ariel?”

Gabriel’s mother didn’t respond.
She hadn’t spoken to Samael since Gabriel’s dad had died. Ariel cleared her
throat and spat to the side. Gabriel didn’t even flinch. He knew she’d do
something offensive. She always did, but for the first time he wasn’t bothered
by fear for her safety. He could protect her now, even from Samael.

“Ah. The insubordination I’ve grown
to expect. You really ought to do something about your women, Gabriel. This
disrespect towards the leader is unbecoming.” Samael’s fake smile moved
smoothly into a frown. “And I see you’ve managed to do something to your
markings.” His eyes went cold. “It is against our laws to tattoo over your
genetic legacy.” He stared at Gabriel’s arms.

Gabriel didn’t speak. If Samael
wanted to come all the way to his family’s house and make a nuisance of
himself, he wasn’t going to bother being polite.

“Have you nothing to say for
yourself?” Samael asked. “What you’ve done is illegal, punishable by lashing.
Or worse.”

Gabriel scoffed. “You have no
authority over me, Samael.”

Samael clenched his fists. The
tracery of his markings glittered rust-red along his arms, the color of blood.
Of death.
“I am your leader. My authority is absolute.”

“Not any more,” Gabriel said
calmly. “And your authority was never meant to be absolute. The People are not
slaves.”

Samael’s wings burst forth
abruptly, rustling in the air like wounded sparrows. “You dare challenge me?”

Gabriel ignored his mother’s sharp
inhalation and replied calmly, “I do.” He’d hoped, absurdly, that Samael would
step down peacefully, but now he realized that such optimism had been
misplaced. The man was power-mad, as always.

Samael’s eyes glittered. “You have
no mate. You have no power. If you expect to live through this, you are sadly
mistaken. We will battle Saturday night, ten o’clock of the evening. And you
will submit, or die.”

Gabriel took a single step forward,
arms loose at his side. He had nothing to hide. “My mate will stand with me
when we meet in the traditional circle. Yours will likely be drowning her
sorrows in liquor, as she has for years in the safety of her boudoir, to your
shame. Tell me, who do
you
think God will favor?” As his words echoed in
the bright morning sunlight, he released his control and let his newly ebon
wings unfurl slowly, shifting so smoothly he didn’t even have to change his
stance. Power filled him and he welcomed it. It was time for the People to
throw off the yoke of their disintegration.

Samael’s face went purple with
rage. “You dare color your wings? Blasphemy! For this, you
should
die. God has turned his face from you, as you have turned
from him,” he spouted senselessly.

Gabriel looked at his leader and
felt only sadness. How had their People fallen into such dishonor?

When Samael rose from the wilting
grass under his feet, he looked at Anahita. “Prepare to mourn your son. He has
not long to live.” With that, he soared up and away.

Gabriel watched him until he was a
speck in the distance and then he watched a little longer, until the skies were
clear.

“Of course he couldn’t even figure
out that your wings are truly ebon.
That you are Alpha.
What, did he think you’d dipped them in hair dye?” his sister scoffed, touching
in between his shoulder blades so lightly that for once, he felt soothed
instead of annoyed.

“I suppose he thinks I dunked them
in the bathtub or something,” he said, amused by the image. “I can just see us
with those flimsy plastic gloves, rubbing chemicals into my feathers, trying to
go punk.” He smiled at her.

Ariel laughed. “He’s such an idiot.”

“He’s an idiot with power,” their
mother said tensely. “Meeting in the challenge circle isn’t a joke.”

Gabriel turned to his mother,
cupping her cheeks. He kissed her forehead, willing his confidence to seep into
her. “Change comes, especially when it’s least expected. Samael has forgotten
that lesson, if he ever knew it. He inherited everything from his father and
has never had to work for what he wants. He simply took, whenever the whim
struck. He needs to be stopped before our People are destroyed forever.”

“You can’t do it without your mate,”
she said, twining her fingers with his. “You must claim him.
Soon
as you can.”

“Mother is right. You must go talk
to him, at least,” Ariel said, her laughter fading. “Are you sure Raphael is
the one? You haven’t even had a real conversation with him.”

Gabriel shifted back to human,
then
sat down on the porch steps. “I’m certain.” He looked
out over the rolling hills and down into the forest at the foot of their
property. “I knew the moment I watched him walk into Archangel Castle. He
glanced at me and I knew he was important. I didn’t know how or exactly what he
would mean to me at the time, but I felt something.” He put his fist to his
heart.

“That was months ago,”
his mother said, wary.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”

He gave his mother a look. “Tell
you that I’d just seen the man destined to be my mate?
Right.
You would have thought me insane.”

“Only the ebon-winged leader of the
People has a destined mate. Our Alpha and his Omega,” Ariel murmured, sitting
beside him. “Your wings didn’t manifest the color until this morning.”

Gabriel nodded.
“Precisely.”

“That means that Raphael’s wings
manifested white today, too.” Ariel slipped her hand into his. “He is a
historian. He knows what is happening,” she reassured him, sensing his worry.

“That doesn’t mean he will choose
me in return,” Gabriel said quietly. “He could refuse.”

Ariel and his mother were silent
for a long time, and then Anahita sat on his other side and put her hand on his
shoulder. “He will.
If not for you, than for our People.
The Angels of God need him to heal our souls.”

Chapter Four

Raphael smiled at the small crowd
of people gathered near the tree where he’d decided to sit. This happened
often. He’d come here with two of the People’s more curious students, talking
about their history and listening to their family stories. Loriel and Jeremiel
were intelligent and polite, and he really enjoyed spending time with them. So
much of their culture was preserved in the stories grandparents told the
children that he always began with those. The two young angels had told him
most of the stories they knew, and now it was time for Raphael to return the
favor. When some humans wandered close, overhearing his explanations of the
People’s origins, they sat down too, listening respectfully. Raphael was only
too happy to welcome them. The more that humans and People mingled, the more
understanding was fostered between the two species.

The fact that he doubted his mate
would claim him in front of a crowd of mixed humans and
angels
was
a bonus. He’d be safe here. He wasn’t afraid, exactly, just a little
uncertain.
It’s okay to feel a tiny amount of apprehension,
he told
himself, smiling at one of the older women who’d sat down at the bench with her
granddaughter.
I’m not scared. I’m
cautious, that’s all.

“So, you’re saying that the People
have been here all along? Throughout human history?” the woman asked him. “I
suppose that’s where our beliefs about angels came from.”

He nodded.
“Exactly.
Obviously we have some abilities that humans don’t.” He gestured to the
markings on his arms. “We can fly. And in the past, that was a huge deal. Now,
of course, there are airplanes so the ability to fly isn’t as shocking as it
used to be, but humans have gifts we don’t, too. Our people have been
intermingling cultures for longer than you realize.”

“We have gifts?” The old woman
shook her head. “Like what? You can fly.” She pointed to his arms. “We can’t.
You can do everything we can, but we can’t do everything you can.”

“Technically, you can,” he said,
grinning. “Airplanes, helicopters—” He glanced at a few teen boys sitting in
the grass.
“Skateboards.”

The girl with the old woman laughed.
“You’re avoiding my Gram’s point. You said that humans have gifts you don’t.
Like what?”

He smiled at her.
“Your creativity.
You have the ability to invent things. We
would still be languishing in caves if you hadn’t figured out how to build
houses. We use all of your technology.”

The girl looked at him skeptically.
“You’re saying you couldn’t invent anything? Not even a simple machine?”

He shrugged. “We can, sort of. We
have artists and mechanics and healers, but we are much closer to our original
nature than you humans. We get distracted by the sun and the winds.” He looked
up into the clear blue sky. “It’s hard to concentrate for longer than an hour.
Our minds wander.” He glanced back down at her. “We’re intelligent, but it’s
like we all suffer from ADD. It’s difficult to build a machine when you can
only work on it for a couple hours a day.”