Gabriel (3 page)

This
is going to be a long day if she doesn’t wake up soon.

Gabriel stood up and moved to
the window. The sun began to rise.
This
time is so strange. I have spent the last couple of weeks learning the ways of
this generation. I’ve been told this is the age of electronics. This seems to
be true. Everything has a brain, but nothing thinks for itself.
Gabriel
watched as
a few cars passed in front
of the building.
You humans are
so different yet the same.

Gabriel turned back towards
the room and approached the bed with caution, not wanting to startle the woman
in case she woke up. He knelt down and reached for her hand. His hand was twice
as large. He was careful not to crush hers, as it seemed so small and frail.
Short, nails crested the tips of her fingers, free of color. The young woman
that died in the alley had shiny red nails. Gabriel lifted her hand to his
face.
Plain is much nicer.

“
Who are you? Are you the one who healed me?” Gabriel rested his
forehead against her hand and hoped she would wake soon. “I should be dead.
That sword was designed to kill angels, but here I am alive and well. You were
the only one there when I awoke, so I believe you have something to do with my
recovery.”

There was a loud thud that
only lasted a moment. Gabriel raised his head and inspected the woman, but it
didn’t appear as though she’d moved a muscle.

Am
I seeing things? Is this a trick? I could have sworn her foot moved.

Gabriel went to the end of
the bed and lifted her leg. It hung limp in his hands. He gave it a little tug,
but nothing happened. He wandered back to the window.

A slight shuffling sound came
from the bed. As he turned around he saw both legs jerking back and forth. He
approached the bed again.

“
You are starting to come around, aren’t you?”

Gabriel reached down and
placed his palm on her forehead. Her skin was warm but not quite hot. She
appeared to be fighting something, or someone.

“
You are safe. Wake up.”

Her feet continued their
struggle, moving quicker now. Gabriel was worried she was going to hurt
herself, so he laid his arm across her legs.

The woman’s legs kicked and
thrashed. Gabriel was lying across them now. He was twice as big and outweighed
her by at least one hundred and seventy pounds, but still he struggled to keep
her still.

“
Wake up. You are okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

****

The most vivid dream clutched
Calla. She had the sensation of flying, being free. A voice with a foreign
sexy, accent taunted her. This was one dream she was in no hurry to wake from.
But someone pulled on her, trying to take her away from this happy place.

Calla started to panic.
Someone was holding her down, and she couldn’t get away. The foreign voice that
was so beautiful a second ago turned raspy. Long, disfigured hands grabbed her
legs. Screams of the pain that was sure to come, echoed through her mind.
Open your eyes. You can do it. Wake up.

Nothing happened; she was
still caught with no way to escape. She kicked harder.
 
They held tighter.

Calla heard the voice again.
The thick accent oozing from every syllable he muttered.
My dream wants me to wake up?

 
Come on, wake up, wake up, wake up.

She went still, and her eyes
snapped open. Calla tried to move, but she was pinned from the waist down. She
inhaled a deep breath and used her elbows to rise. Her gaze drifted to the end
of the bed. Emerald eyes stared at her.

Calla resisted the urge to
scream. “Who are you?”

****

Gabriel scooted off the bed.
Careful not to make any sudden movements, he retreated to the corner of the
room. The woman’s eyes filled with fear, but he had to give her some credit. She
wasn’t screaming, yet.

In a soft, soothing tone
Gabriel asked, “Do you remember what happened last night?”

She sat up clutching her
jacket and nodded. “There was a man with a knife in his chest. That is the last
thing I remember.”

Gabriel raised his eyebrows
and lifted the corners of his mouth, trying not to laugh. This woman was the
worst liar he had ever seen.
She must not
know I woke with her covering me.
 
Now is not the best time to tell her I could
read her mind and get the information I need.

“
You still haven’t answered my questions. Who are you, and why were
you lying across my legs?”

“
I am Gabriel.”

He watched as the woman
stared at him with a blank expression.

“
All right then, Gabriel. I guess you’re done talking.”

Gabriel watched her movements
as she glanced around the room. There was wallpaper peeling from the few places
it still clung to the walls, which were riddled with holes, and the ceiling
appeared to be close to collapsing. A brown dresser on one wall had three
drawers missing handles and three holes where drawers used to be. He could only
guess what her reaction would be at the state of this place.

“
Nice place. Did you decorate yourself?”

Gabriel shifted his weigh and
crossed his arms. “No.”

She
has a quick tongue. I will keep that in mind.

She reached into her pocket
and pulled out her cell phone. She opened it up. “Shit, my battery’s dead,” she
mumbled to herself. “Do you have a cell phone or a watch?”

“
No. Why?”

“
The sun is up, and that means I’m late for work. I need to call
the hospital and let them know I won’t be in today.”

She stood, while Gabriel took
a few steps closing the distance between them. She wrapped her arms around
herself, lifting her chin. Blue eyes sparkled with defiance.

“
Where do you think you’re going?”

“
Do you understand English?” She didn’t blink, keeping her gaze
steady.

“
I understand every language. Why?”

“
Let me try this again,” She spoke each word slowly, “My … phone …
is … dead.”

Gabriel’s expression remained
blank.

“
I need to call work. As nice as your place is, I need to go home.”

“
No.”

Gabriel watched her as she
kept her gaze on his face and didn’t blink. She took a step backwards, so her
legs were now touching the bed. Pink rushed to her cheeks, and her hands
clenched into fists.

“
Excuse me? I wasn’t asking if you if I could call work. I’m
telling you I need to call. If I lose my job then I don’t have an income, and
if I don’t have money then I don’t have a place to live. As much as I like it
here, I prefer my home to yours.”

Gabriel didn’t understand why
her heart raced and her eyes were glossy. He took one step back. She didn’t
appear scared anymore. This was something different, something more.

“
I don’t understand.” He took another step back.

Gabriel looked into her eyes.
She blinked, and the first tear rolled down her cheek. Her arms remained at her
sides, but her fingers were now open. She sat down on the bed and put her face
in her hands and started crying.

She didn’t move when he sat
down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder, not at first. Gabriel
reached down to comfort her, even though he didn’t understand what was going
on. Humans cried for different reasons, but he had never seen this many
emotions in such a rapid sequence.

His arm rested across her
shoulders. She leaned forward then jabbed her elbow into his stomach. Gabriel
wrapped his arms around his midsection with a startled grunt as she bolted for
the door. Gabriel stood in front of her before she made it. White with golden
tipped wings stretched out behind him.

Gabriel’s frame blocked the
door. With wings extended he covered most of the wall. The sunlight amplified
the golden tips, almost blinding her. Gabriel watched as
she started to extend her hand reaching towards his wings, but
pulled it back with a quick snap. She then put her hands in her pockets and
remained silent for a moment.

“
What the hell are you?” she whispered.

“
I am Gabriel.”

“
You’re an angel? Archangel Gabriel?” She asked, and then glanced
down at her feet.

“
You
have heard of me, good.”

She hit the floor with a loud
thud.

Gabriel picked her up and
laid her on the bed. He looked around the room.

“
Maybe we should try this again somewhere else.”

He reached into her pocket
and pulled out her wallet, “It looks like you are going home after all, Calla
Stevens.”

Chapter Two

Gabriel landed in Calla’s
backyard. He opened the door, and a sweet smell welcomed him. He followed the
scent to where it was the strongest, her bedroom. He laid her down and gazed
upon her face. He wanted to caress the porcelain skin, long eyelashes, and
kissable lips.
You are the angel.

 
She lay on
top of the bed, her shirt riding up, exposing pale, smooth skin. Gabriel
reached out.
I wonder if it’s as soft as
it looks.
His fingers brushed her abdomen.
No… softer.
Her jacket bunched beneath her back, and her pants
twisted.
That can’t be comfortable.

Gabriel pulled at the jacket,
and Calla stirred.
Well, that’s not going
to work.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. With a thought her jacket and
pants were gone. Gabriel glanced down at the exposed skin.
Holy hell.

His stomach tightened, and a
wave of nausea engulfed him, followed by a sensation of butterflies swirling in
his stomach. These strange new emotions consumed him. What was it about this
woman that twisted him into knots? He had seen human flesh before and never
experienced this kind of reaction. He reached down and adjusted himself. He was
hard, and his jeans pulled against his erection.
How is this woman able to make me feel so … alive?

He grabbed the sheet and
pulled it up, first covering legs smooth as satin, then up over her pink lace
panties. He resisted the urge to reach down and see if her skin was as smooth
as he thought. Sweat beaded his forehead as he limped to the door. The pain in
his groin was almost overwhelming.
I have
never known torture such as this.

****

Calla opened her eyes and
stared at the ceiling. There weren’t any holes. She was in her room lying in
her bed. “Shit! That was the weirdest dream I ever had.” She lay there for a
moment as thoughts of a man—no, he was no man. He was an angel. She sat up
slowly, trying to sort out the mass of jumbled images in her mind.

It wasn’t a dream. Gabriel
leaned against the door frame, while his emerald eyes watched her. He was
shirtless, had a sculpted abdomen and broad shoulders. His short dark hair
looked messy, but for some reason she still wanted to run her fingers through
it.

 
“
What are you
doing in my house?” she asked, confused and still a little disoriented.

“
You fainted. I thought you might be more comfortable here.” Gabriel
ran a hand through his dark brown hair.

“
You had wings.” She mumbled, still trying to sort out everything
that happened.

“
I
have
wings.” Gabriel
turned. His wings hugged his back. They were folded in and unnoticeable from
the front.

“
But you look like a human, um, when your wings are tucked away.”

“
Yes.”

“
I can’t believe there’s an angel standing in my house. This isn’t
normal, and it would help if you answered my questions with more than one
word.” Calla was having a conversation with an angel. This would be strange if
she herself wasn’t a walking anomaly.

“
You did not ask me a question. You made a statement, and I
answered you. I will answer three questions for you. Consider that your reward
for saving me.”

“
Lucky me.”

Calla mused on the questions she
really wanted to ask, but there were so many she didn’t know where to begin.
Why are angels on earth, or are they always here?
 
How did they get here? If they are always
here, why can I see one now, and why couldn’t I see them before? Are there
other angels here or is he alone? Those questions would have to wait.

“
Okay, first question, and it has two parts, but it only counts as
one.” Calla watched his every action and reaction.