Celestial Beginnings (Nephilim Series) (4 page)

Malachi rolled his eyes.
“Can’t you give it a rest for one day? Wasn’t it just two days ago, you hooked up with that redhead at the library? He looked up at Gemariah with a confused look. “What were you doing at a library anyway? Did you get lost?”

That brought on a smile from his friend before he said, “No, a little birdie told me that there was something worth checking out there.”
Laughing at his own joke, he added, “Plus, that was two days ago. Live in the now, Malachi.”

Malachi shut his eyes and shook his head in exasperation.
He probably would have to admit soon that there was no help for the rake. If he hadn’t changed in the last three centuries, he probably wasn’t going to now.

“What is taking so long, shouldn’t the line be moving?”
Gemariah eyed the counter suspiciously.

It wasn’t his fault that he was on edge.
Nephilims don’t blend in that well, and therefore get a little on edge when trapped in crowded spaces.

“Just relax and flirt with your model of the day.” Malachi soothed.
“It’s just a busy morning.”

Gemariah scowled at Malachi, which brought a chuckle out of him.

Ignoring his laugh, Gemariah did eventually draw his attention back to the ebony haired woman.
From the looks of things, it seemed that she hadn’t given up on him either.

Gemariah always had that effect on women.
It seemed that all he had to do was smile and crook his finger, and then they all come running, sometimes literally. He’s the tall, well built, blond shaggy haired golden boy.

Malachi didn’t mind that his friend got the majority of the attention.
He knew he put out a “back off” vibe, but that’s how he liked it. People took one look at his height plus build, and became wary. Then add the trimmed black hair, goatee, and the grim look he always wore. It’s no wonder his social life was nonexistent, unless you count his dreams.

Don’t go there!

Don’t go where?
Gemariah projected back telepathically.

Stop!
That was my own thought again, not for you!!

Don’t get bent out of shape.
Keep your thoughts to yourself better and stop projecting them. Not my fault, dude!

Looking contrite, Malachi answered back.

Sorry, I’ve just been a litt..

The conversation was cut off when they both got jarred while standing in line.

“What the fuck…” Gemariah yelled a little too loudly for the comfort of the people in the coffee shop.

Looking over, Malachi spotted the culprit.
He looked around fifteen years old, brown hair that covered his face, and pants two sizes too big that looked like they were held up by the forces that be.

“Watch where you’re going kid!” Gemariah shouted, finally figuring out what happened.

The kid then turned around and threw his middle finger in the air.
“Make me Goliath!”

Malachi couldn’t help but be amused by that statement considering Goliath was one of the original nephilims.
Gemariah on the other hand, broke out of line and started walking toward the kid.

Obviously, by the shocked look on his face, the boy did not expect this and turned to run away.
The only problem was that all the people in front of the exit were hindering his escape.

In no time at all, Gemariah had the kid by his arm and was all but dragging him out the doors.

Malachi watched and knew he should intervene, but then looked back at the counter, then backwards to see how many people were behind him.
He was in a dilemma. He knew he needed to get golden boy under control, but he would lose his spot in line, and he really
needed
his coffee.

With a resounding groan, he left the line, and turned back to see his spot immediately fill.
His irritation was building as he walked outside. At least it had stopped raining for a few minutes. He didn’t need that irritant as well right now. Then he saw Gemariah leaning down so he was right in the kids face, still holding onto his arm. “Come on man, let him go. This is bullshit; he’s just a punk kid.” He tried to talk Gemariah down.

“Not until this kid learns some manners” Gemariah said between clenched teeth, not breaking his stare on the boy.

The looks he was sending the boy had been known to bring grown men to their knees. Malachi could feel Gemariah’s anger coming in droves. In turn, he tried to send over more calming emotions, but his friend had the frequency blocked.

“Now what was that you said in there?
I hope you’re not fond of that finger you flashed.” He gave the boy a little shake for good measure.

“What in the
hell
do you think you’re doing?” They all heard the screech close by.

Malachi looked over and saw a little slip of a woman running over to them from inside the shop.
Man, but she was a tiny thing, 5’4” maybe? There was nothing else extraordinary about her though. She had the classic blue eyes and blond hair, but what couldn’t be missed was the murderous look she was sending them. He then notice what she was holding…a to-go coffee cup…damn the woman.

When she got to them, she put her hand on Gemariah’s shoulder and pushed.
He didn’t move an inch and continued to state at her as if she were an annoying pest. “Let go of him!!” she yelled as she gave a little bit harder push this time.

Gemariah eventually let go, probably more out of shock than anything.
It had been a long time since a human went toe to toe with him, probably never someone so small. He stood up to his full height while scowling down at her.

Undaunted, she immediately stepped in front of the boy like a mother hen and pointed her finger at Gemariah’s chest.
“Don’t try to intimidate me with your size! It won’t work buddy. What do you think you were doing with him?”

Obviously ignoring her own question for a minute, she turned her back to Gemariah to face the boy.
Looking him up and down, probably for damages, she started sprouting off questions. “Are you okay, Jeremy? What happened? Why aren’t you in school?” Obviously she knew him, but before he could give her a single answer, she rounded back around to face Gemariah.

Malachi was watching everything in amused silence.
He didn’t think he had ever met anyone like her before. She was going at a mile a minute and reminded him of a small elf. It was probably all that damn caffeine someone would get by drinking coffee, he thought bitterly.

“Well, what are you waiting for?”
Now she looked exasperated. “What do you think you were doing?”

Finally snapping out of his stupor, he pointed to the kid.
“You need to put that boy on a leash! He pushes complete strangers and throws around lewd gestures as a way of apologizing.”

The scowl was back on the woman’s face, but this time she turned it in the direction of the boy.
“Is this true?”

All the boy did was shrug and look at his shoes.

“Apologize!” The word was said with such conviction, Malachi had to bite his tongue as not to say he was sorry himself.

The boy grimaced in Gemariah’s direction.
“I’m sorry you are freakishly big and can’t go in public without people running into you.”

Does this kid have a death wish
?

Apparently, Gemariah wasn’t going to answer him back.
Instead, he took a step toward the boy.

He didn’t get very far before a resounding thud sounded when a dainty hand was slammed on his chest.
A stare down was now initiated between the two.

Without looking away, she spoke to the boy.
“Jeremy, try again. This time say you’re sorry…and do it right.”

“But Ms. Summers…” was as far as he got before she snapped back at him.

“Now, Jeremy!!”

“I’m sorry.
I should have been watching where I was going.” He said quicker than Malachi thought anyone could speak.

Still in a locked stare with Gemariah she told the boy to leave and wait by the corner for her.
He was smart and immediately complied.

Malachi started to wonder if he should leave because he was starting to feel like he was intruding on something personal.
In the end he decided to stay. This was getting far too interesting, and he found that he was starting to like the little, strong-willed, slip of a woman.

“And as for you…”
Speaking in a low tone to Gemariah, she finally removed her hand. “What gives you the right to grab him the way you did? Or shake him for that matter?”

Smiling a little, Gemariah looked the woman from head to toe and back up again.
“Listen Tinker Bell, that kid is a menace to society. I was just trying to teach him some manners.” He then shrugged and added, “May I suggest a belt too?”

Malachi saw the lady visibly flinch when he mentioned manners and cringed at how his friend had said something incredibly stupid.
It even sounded dickish to him.

Before anyone could blink, the woman threw the entire contents of her to-go cup in Gemariah’s face.
Luckily it looked like it was an iced coffee, but it appeared he didn’t care. At first, there was the look of shock, but then came the anger. Gemariah opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, she was unleashing her fury.

“Well, the next time you wanna “teach some manners”, remember that.
And know this, the next time you lay a finger on a child out of anger or stupidity, I will find you. Then I will call the cops and have you put in jail. The world would be a better place without a man that gets his kicks from manhandling children, walking around the streets.” She paused to take a breath and Malachi saw the fists clinch at her sides. “I’m shocked at the audacity you have to suggest taking a belt to a child!”

Those comments took all the humor away from the situation for Malachi. He immediately looked to his friend to gauge his reaction, but his friend was frozen in place with a look that could shatter stone.

Malachi finally stepped forward and spoke up.
“Hey, let’s all calm down, okay?”

“Don’t even get me started on you!
You’re no better. You stood here and did nothing!” She looked at him and pointed.

Finally Gemariah spoke up, but in a whisper.
“You don’t know me.” Looking pissed off, he continued a little louder. “You don’t know anything about me! So get back on your high horse and back off!!”

“With pleasure.”

Malachi watched as she started walking to the corner where the boy was still waiting for her.

“Ms. Summers?”
Gemariah hollered out, using the name she was addressed before.

She quickly spun around and placed her hands on her hips.
“What?”

“The belt I mentioned was to hold his pants up.
Maybe he might act more respectable if he dressed the part.”

She pursed her lips and turned back around.
Without saying a word, she started to walk away.

Malachi looked over at his friend that looked as if he were going through an internal struggle.
“She didn’t know.” He reassured Gemariah.

“Of course she didn’t know; no human does.”
Gemariah shrugged like her words didn’t hit a little too close to home, but he knew they did. He also knew that his friend and closest team member was now thinking about his own demons, or better yet, his own fallen ancestor.

Gemariah got the pleasure of having Ramiel as the fallen angel that was his ancestor.
Ramiel is known to have the personality of a tornado; care free one minute then horrifically angry the next. This is very similar to Gemariah’s personality, and therefore he is always concentrating on the differences between the two of them. One of Gemariah’s worst fears is that he will turn into someone as evil as Ramiel.

It’s always a fine line that nephilims walk.
They’re all preprogrammed to be evil because of their lineage. Most can’t fight the urge, and it is forever a balancing act for the ones that chose the path of light. This was God’s gift to all, no matter who you were, free will. Therefore, even though it is told that all nephilims are evil, in reality, some chose to fight the good fight on the side of the Lord. It gets easier for nephilims the more generations that pass because of the increase in humanity to the bloodlines.

Anyway, ever since he fell from heaven, Ramiel has caused havoc and destruction wherever he went.
He has been known to quote the saying “misery loves company”. One of his favorite pastimes is to corrupt families, often with the moral guilt that leads to domestic violence, including children.

This is why Gemariah is so shell shocked.
Malachi knew, at that moment, his friend was comparing himself to the elusive fallen one.

While they were standing there, Malachi wondered if they should leave or try again at the coffee house.
Out of courtesy, they should probably go, but he was starting to get a little on edge without his caffeine.