Fallen Angel (6 page)

As he checked on her cot
again, he realised he had no right to criticize Devlin, not after
the way he’d been moping about and feeling sorry for himself. That
sort of behaviour certainly wasn’t helping Eloise. He sighed. He’d
just have to find something else to concentrate on in the middle of
the night and guard the child like he was assigned to. Bowing his
head, he prayed to get his patience back.

Chapter Four

Just after Eloise turned
eighteen, Nathaniel wandered outside for his usual dawn ritual of
checking around the house and observing wildlife. He’d come to
believe that some of the native animals could actually see him;
either that or he was losing his mind. As he watched a mob of
kangaroos, grazing on the rich green grass, a tiny joey hopped out
of its mother’s pouch and bounced around the flower beds. Its ears
twitched and it stared up at him, then it bolted back to its
mother. Nathaniel smiled. At least he had the animals to keep him
company. Guiding Eloise for eighteen years with no angels to talk
to was taking its toll on his psyche and he was beginning to think
no one knew he existed.

As the sun began to rise
above the horizon, Butcher Birds, and magpies swooped down from
their branches to hunt for food. A baby bandicoot scurried across
the lawn and disappeared under a dense grevillea bush. Nathaniel
smiled. He was happy to see the tiny night-critter escape the birds
of prey. Now it could be with its mother and sleep in a nest of
leaves until dusk.

With so many nocturnal
animals coming from the forest to forage around the house, they had
to expect strange noises in the middle of the night, but Nathaniel
didn’t mind. It kept him alert in case Devlin turned up. Though he
hadn’t seen him for eighteen years, he still didn’t trust him. Then
a horrible thought crossed his mind. What if Devlin had weakened
and sold his soul to Lucifer? If he
had
lost his wings and
been banished to Earth, he’d most likely come looking for Eloise,
especially now she’d grown into a beautiful young woman.

Deciding to do a thorough
security check in case Devlin was lurking nearby, Nathaniel raised
his arms above his head and shot up to the sky. Instantly relaxing
at the thrill of flying, he circled the area, spreading his wings
and catching the wind beneath them as he glided over the rooftops
and surrounding forest. He couldn’t see anything suspicious, but he
knew if he ever did see Devlin without his wings, he’d crush him
with his bare hands. No way was he letting him anywhere near
Eloise, especially if he’d become one of Lucifer’s demons. Even if
Devlin turned up as an angel, he wouldn’t forgive him, not unless
he apologised for his bad behaviour when Eloise was
born.

Nathaniel looked up
longingly at the clear morning sky. He was so tempted to go on a
joy flight, but instead he flew back to the house and landed softly
on the roof. As he gazed across at the river, it shimmered through
the gaps in the trees that grew along the riverbank. He was pleased
it was a sunny day as he needed something to cheer him up. Not
being able to go on night flights for so many years had made him
extremely restless—though guiding Eloise now that she was a young
woman certainly kept him busy, especially when she stayed out later
than her deadline. She was stubborn and sometimes took no notice of
his psychic warnings, which forced him to step in and help when she
came across dangerous situations—and there’d certainly been plenty
of them over the years.

Spotting some little
black calves being born in the neighbouring property, his mood
brightened. Some were already on their feet and pop-corning around
the cows that were grazing in the fields. He knew he was lucky to
be in such beautiful surroundings and he began to feel guilty for
grumbling about not being able to go on night flights anymore. At
least he wasn’t stuck in some dismal desolate place like he had
been many times in the past. Besides, Eloise was such a sweet and
endearing girl, he knew he should appreciate having her as a ward
instead of feeling sorry for himself.

He swooped back into the
house to make sure no one had sneaked in while he was flying around
the woods. It was a Saturday and Eloise wasn’t up yet, but Madeline
was in the laundry doing the washing. With Matthew away on a work
trip again, at least it was peaceful and quiet. Whenever he was
home, he’d either be hammering something in his workshop or mowing
the lawns.

After checking Eloise was
in her room, Nathaniel wandered over to the window and peered out.
All he could see was animals and birds, but when a movement at the
edge of the forest caught his eye, he shot outside. With his hand
on his sword, he looked towards the trees, then he saw what he
dreaded, but also what he missed.

Devlin was leaning against a tree and
grinning at him.

Nathaniel reached for the
crucifix around his neck and crossed himself, then he flew to the
bottom of the garden to stop him from entering the
property.

Flashing his pearly
whites, Devlin strode towards him. “What’s the matter, Nathaniel?
Did you think I’d given up?”

Nathaniel stretched to
his full height. “Oh, I knew you’d be back. In fact I expected you
sooner.”

Devlin raise a brow. “Ah,
so you missed me, then?”

“
Not
particularly.” Nathaniel glanced at Devlin’s wings, relieved he
hadn’t lost them, then before he could stop him, he flew over the
fence and stood right next to him.

Pretending to punch
Nathaniel in the belly, he laughed. “Oh, you missed me all right,
Nate. Your face is a dead giveaway.”

“
In your
dreams.” Nathaniel looked him up and down. Devlin was even more
flamboyant than ever. His hair was slicked back and he was dressed
in tight-fitting black trousers and a black silk shirt. He
obviously hadn’t been to rehab. He looked more like a movie star
than an angel.

Opening his arms, Devlin
gazed down at his clothes. “
What
, you don’t like my
outfit?”

“
Oh, it’s a
great outfit—for a human.” Nathaniel smirked. He wanted nothing
more than to pull Devlin into a bear hug and wrestle him
good-humouredly to the ground, but he wasn’t about to encourage him
to hang around. He was pretty sure he was only after one thing, and
it wasn’t for friendship.

Devlin glanced at the
house, then back at Nathaniel. “Is Eloise indoors?”

“
You’re
unbelievable, Devlin. You haven’t asked about her for eighteen
years, so why now? Anyway, you should be guarding your own wards,
not spying on mine.”

“
Your
ward?
” Devlin stroked his chin. “Now that’s funny because we
both know that you stole Eloise from me.”

Nathaniel rolled his
eyes. “Oh, we’re going through that again, are we? You know very
well that I was called upon by Michael. It wasn’t my fault Eloise
was born early, or that she had a difficult birth. I told you at
the hospital that Lucifer turned up and I had to fight him to get
him out of there, so how dare you accuse me of stealing her from
you? You’re the one who put her life in danger by leaving her
vulnerable without a guardian, and all because you were too busy
ogling pretty girls at a surfing competition.”

“
Ah.” Devlin,
wagged a finger at him. “So you
did
know where I
was.”

Nathaniel sighed. “No, I
didn’t. I found out later. You didn’t tell anyone where you were
going. Look, Devlin, it was eighteen years ago, so why are you
still harping on about it?”

Devlin clasped his
fingers together. “Because Eloise should have been mine. I’ve
always felt that, I still do. Please, Nate, I’m begging you, hand
her back to me?”

“
Don’t be
absurd. Angels don’t own people. Anyway, I can’t give her back to
you.”

Devlin spun away from him
and held his head. “Why not? You betrayed me, Nathaniel, and you
were supposed to be my best friend.”

“
Don’t try
that one on me. You know I have to put Eloise’s wellbeing first.”
He wrapped his arm around Devlin’s shoulder. “Listen, try and
understand. I had no choice in the matter. I was ordered to take
over as her guardian. I didn’t ask for it. It hurt me as much as it
did you. Ask Ramiel if you don’t believe me.”

Devlin shrugged him away.
“That’s rubbish. If you were a genuine friend to me, you would’ve
flat out refused, or at least tried to find me, but you didn’t. And
if you are a true friend like you claim to be, prove it.” He
flipped a hand in the air. “Hand her over to me now or at least
share her with me. You owe me that much at least.”

Confused, Nathaniel
stared at him. “What is it with you? Why do you want Eloise so
desperately?”

“
The same
reason you do, you hypocrite.”

Nathaniel raked his hands
through his hair and sighed. “Look, we’re just going around in
circles and I don’t have time to stand here and argue with you all
morning. I’m not sharing her with you, Devlin, and I never will.
Anyway, I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than annoy me. You
must have wards to attend to, so why aren’t you with
them?”

Devlin smiled. “Nate, I’m
here now because I couldn’t stand us fighting any longer. Though
you don’t admit it, I know you missed me—and I miss you. I couldn’t
stay away any longer. Anyway, I left my ward with his mother’s
guardian. Okay, I’ll admit I want to see what a descendant of a
fallen angel turns out like, but I also want back what was taken
from me. It was my destiny to guard Eloise.” He gripped Nathaniel’s
shoulders. “Come on
,
Nate, you were my best friend for
thousands of years and we never fought before Eloise was born. You
know you can trust me, so please, just share her with
me?”

Nathaniel looked deep
into Devlin’s eyes and though he tried to see into his soul,
something was stopping him. Believing he had an ulterior motive,
there was no way he could trust him with Eloise, so he pushed him
away. “No, and that’s my final answer.”

“
Why
not?”

Nathaniel blew out a
frustrated breath. “Because I don’t trust you.”

“
What’s that
supposed to mean?”

Nathaniel looked at him
for a long moment. “Listen, Devlin. I know you won’t believe this,
but I would love nothing better than for us to be friends again,
but you have to move on and forget about guarding Eloise. Please,
say that you will and we can ...”

Before Nathaniel could
finish his sentence, the back door flew open and Madeline walked
out with her laundry basket. Devlin’s jaw dropped and as she walked
down the garden to the washing line, he stared at her bare legs and
whistled. “Wow, she’s still as stunning as ever.”

Grabbing Devlin’s arm,
Nathaniel frowned. “Okay, it’s time you left.”

But Devlin wasn’t
listening to a word he said. He was too busy gawking at Madeline in
her skimpy nightdress. And from the hungry look in his eyes, it was
going to be hard to get him to leave. At that moment, Devlin’s
weird behaviour suddenly made sense. He wasn’t just obsessed with
Eloise because she was a descendant of a fallen angel, he had a
crush on her beautiful mother
.

Nathaniel gritted his
teeth. No way did he want Devlin hanging around and gawking at
Madeline like that, especially knowing Eloise had grown up to look
like her, except for the colour of her hair. He shoved him hard.
“Did you hear me?” he yelled.

Devlin blinked.
“Huh?”

“
Okay, I
don’t know if you’re doing this just to annoy me or if you’ve lost
the plot, but you, my friend, need to go to Angel Rehab to recover
from your addictions. And until you do, I don’t want you hanging
around here. So it’s up to you.”

Devlin’s eyes flashed.
“Jesus Christ, Nathaniel, don’t start with that again. I’m not
going to no angel frigging rehab again. Michael got me there once
and that was enough. ”

Nathaniel rolled his
eyes. “I see you’re still blaspheming and using your potty
mouth?”

Running his hand through
his hair, Devlin glared at him. “Why are you always so
self-righteous? You’re not bloody perfect, you know.”

“
I never said
I was, but.....” Ah, he was wasting his breath. Devlin wasn’t even
listening to him. He was more interested in gawping at Madeline as
she bent over to gather stray pegs from the grass. Nathaniel shook
his head. Devlin hadn’t changed. He was just using their friendship
to get what he wanted.