Mercy for the Wicked (26 page)

“I understand.  I won’t trouble you any longer,” Raziel nodded, bowing slightly he turned away.  Ugh, I felt like crap and I had to mash my lips together to keep from calling him back.  But I owed it to both Adam and Sam not to associate with the guy, didn’t I?  Still… he’d been nothing but nice to me in a pretty tense environment, taking on Nathanael like that.

“Wait…”  I turned around and chased after him.  “I’m sorry, you caught me by surprise, okay?”  Raziel stopped walking but didn’t turn to face me, and I had to jog around him.  His shoulders slumped miserably and I felt awful for making him feel like that.  “How come you didn’t tell me who you were from the start?”

“Because I feared a reaction just as this one.  You have judged me, and there is little I can say now to change your opinion.”

“When you put it like that…” I frowned, squirming on the inside because he was right.  I had totally judged him without letting him give his side of the story.  The trouble was, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear his side of the story.  What if I decided he was an okay guy despite what he’d done?  How could I justify that to Adam? 

Maybe he wasn’t a bad person, but I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea, the two of us being friends.  “Listen, I do appreciate you sticking up for me, but you have to understand where I’m coming from.  But for a couple thousand years, that could have been me you killed when you came after Adam’s lady.”

“Adam has broken no covenant, you are no longer a mortal woman.”

“Yeah, but my entire being here is an abomination, depending on who you talk to.”  My eyes flicked over to where Nathanael stood.  “What happens if the news comes down the pipeline some day that it’s my turn?  Will you kill me as easily?”

“Killing is never easily done,” he replied with a pained look.  “And I pray that day will never come.”

“But if it does…?” 

Chapter Seventeen

The question hung heavily in the air between us, and from his silence I had my answer.  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.  I’m sorry if I find it a little hard to become best buddies with a guy who might eventually be my executioner.”

“I understand,” he nodded sadly, and once more I felt like I’d stepped on a puppy’s ears. 

“But… that doesn’t mean I hate you or anything,” I added, gratified to see him perk up at that.  “I understand you did what you did for a reason, and it wasn’t out of malice, but it hurt two people who are very important to me.”  I felt the need to add that too, not letting him off the hook entirely.  “How about we start fresh here?  Leave the past where it is and worry about the future when it comes?”  There might be hell to pay when Adam found out, but I couldn’t help but like Raziel.  Hey, I would take all the help I could get, between Azazael and Raum both being after me, another friend couldn’t hurt.   

Raziel’s noble face broke into a broad smile.  “I would like that very much.”

“Okay, good.”  I instantly felt better about the situation and broke into a smile to match his.  “But I should be going now, I think Nathanael has more orders to give and you should get back.”

“I don’t take my orders from Nathanael,” he scoffed.

“Oh?  Then why are you here?”

“Because I wanted to meet you.”

I wasn’t sure how to take that, and I really did have to go, so I decided to ignore it for the time being.  “Well, it was nice to meet you, Raziel, but my friend is waiting for me so… I’ll see you around.”  I turned around to leave and nearly ran right into Gabriel who stood behind me.  “Oh, excuse me,” I said automatically even though really, it was his fault for standing so close. 

Would I get the riot act read to me for breaking up the meeting?  Would he have a personal message for me from the guy upstairs?  Would he even say anything at all?  I seriously contemplated a mumbled apology and darting around him as he did none of those things, standing there staring at me with that inscrutable look on his face.  He reached for my hand and I was so surprised, I didn’t object when he lifted it straight up into the air, high over my head.  My mouth dropped open as a rumble of thunder sounded overhead and with a crackle of lightning, a shining sword appeared in my hand.   

“Holy cow…” slipped out, as I pulled the sword down to check it out.  “Is this mine?  For reals?”  A faint smile was all I got from him in response and I took that to mean yes.  “This is the coolest thing ever!”  I quashed the urge to give him a hug in thanks, but my smile was a mile wide as I held the sword comfortably in my hand.  Wait ‘til the demons tried to mess with me again!  I’d be prepared next time.  Gabriel’s smile broadened and he actually winked at me ,so quickly I almost thought I imagined it, before launching himself into the air in a flurry of snow white wings. 

“Thank you!” I called after him, noting that the other angels followed suit, taking to the skies.  “I guess the meeting’s over,” I murmured to myself as I stood alone in the clearing.   

“Hey, Sam!  Check out what I got!”  Feeling almost giddy, I ran towards where I hoped Sam waited at the edge of the trees.  I know I broke a rule, running with a sharp object in my hand, but damn it was cool!  Not that I knew a thing about how to use it, but it felt good in my hand.  I felt safer and more powerful, even though I was more likely to hurt myself on the thing than anyone else.  Sam stepped out of the trees, amusement curving his lips.

“I see you made some new friends.”

I wasn’t sure if he meant that innocently, or if it was a dig because he saw me talking to Raziel.  A month ago I would have taken him at his word, but his forays into sarcasm left me wondering.  “Yeah, Gabriel gave me this.”  I held the sword up and he side stepped it.

“Be careful with that until you learn how to use it.”

“Would you teach me?”  It stood to reason he’d be pretty good with a sword.  Adam too, but I had a feeling any sword lessons Adam gave me would pretty rapidly devolve into something else. 

“If you like.”

“Cool.  ‘Cause I don’t think it’d look so badass if I accidentally cut my own leg off with this thing the first time I tried to use it,” I grinned, giving it another experimental swing.

“Have a care.” His hands came up, his brow furrowing in an almost pained expression.  “It will be very sharp indeed, and while I can heal your minor cuts, it will be very difficult to reattach limbs.”

That was a sobering thought, and I brought the point down to the ground.  “You got it Obi-Wan.  You lead and I’ll follow.  I’ll even call you Master if you like,” I winked at him.  Sam stared at me blankly and I was reminded that no matter how much progress he was making with his assimilation into the present, there were still gaping holes in his pop culture internal reference.  “Remind me when we get home to watch the entire Star Wars saga from start to finish.”  Daphne might like that, a movie-a-thon with popcorn and junk food…  “Oh crap, Daphne!  She must be freaking out!” 

“Daphne is here?” Sam blinked in astonishment.  Apparently he’d been too distracted by the call to notice her back at the shore.

“Yes, she’s waiting in the park.  At least, I hope she’s still waiting for me.” 

“We should definitely go to her, allay her fears.”

So adorable.
  “Okay,” I agreed readily.  “How about a lift?”  I wasn’t sure the walking on water bit would work again and it would be a bitch to try and swim with a sword clenched in my teeth.  Sam hesitated for a moment before giving a brisk nod and I felt a little jolt of exhilaration at the prospect of not only seeing his wings but flying.  “Oh, what about the sword?”  I didn’t want to accidentally cut him.

“Here, let me take it from you.”  Sam held out his hand and the moment I passed it over to him it disappeared.

“Hey!  What did you do to it?” I demanded, hoping that was done on purpose and I hadn’t lost my new toy already. 

“I did nothing, but you can relax, it’s no biggie.  You can retrieve it anytime you like, though I don’t recommend it while we’re in the air.”

“Sweet!  The same way you can?”  That would definitely come in handy, otherwise I’d have to figure out how to bring it with me to work and I wasn’t sure Parker would go for that.

“Yes, exactly.  Hold tight now.”  I wrapped my arms around Sam’s neck and he held me close.  I was aware of the flutter of wings and then we were in the air.  “Make yourself dim now, we mustn’t be seen like this.”  With a nod I focused on removing myself from human eyes as we flew across the water.  All too soon it was over and we stood on the rocky bank of the lake.  For the first time I got a real look at his wings fully extended, and they were truly beautiful.  A different kind of beauty from Adam’s dark wings, Sam’s were pristine white, like a dove’s, and they flexed before he noticed I was looking at them and he willed them away in a rush of air.

“Aw… I don’t see what the big deal is, they’re beautiful.”

“Mercy…” He looked acutely uncomfortable with the praise, but then his eyes lit upon Daphne who bound out of the car.

“Hey!” she called out, waving from the parking lot.  With a start, she realized there was nothing keeping her from joining us on the rocky beach anymore and she ran down to join us.  “What happened to you?  I was about to call the cops and report you missing, but then I figured that might be a bad idea.  Hi, Sam,” she smiled brightly.

“There was a whole group of angels on the island, that’s what the sound was. Gabriel called them for a meeting.  I sorta crashed it.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Daphne nodded. “What happened?  Did they toss you out?”

“Mercy was given a great honor.  Gabriel himself bestowed her with a sword.”

“Let’s see it,” she prompted, looking curiously between the pair of us.

“Yeah, Sam, how do we get it back from wherever it disappeared to?”

“The sword will come when you call,” Sam replied as if that made perfect sense, but I had no idea how to do it. 

“Okay, how do I call it?”

Sam’s mouth opened and then closed again without actually saying anything as he considered how to answer my question.  “I don’t know, I have never put much thought into it, you simply do.”

“Super,” I muttered, wondering if my spiffy new sword was lost forever.  “So I just call for it, huh?”  Stretching out my arm, I tried to envision the sword in my hand.  Nothing.  “Shazam!” I tried again with a flick of the wrist.  “Sword on!”  Still nothing.

“Here watch me, it’s like this,” Sam held out his hand and the glowing sword materialized in it almost immediately, drawing a gasp of wonder from Daphne. 

“Yeah, like that helps,” I muttered, trying to mimic his hand movement, but nothing worked.  While I watched, Sam made the sword appear and disappear several times.  “Okay, now you’re just mocking me.” I held my hand up, enough was enough.  “They should have sent this thing with instructions.”

“I have an idea,” Sam said suddenly and that was the only warning I got before he drew his sword and brought it down towards my head.  My arm came up as a reflex and the sword appeared in my hand, coming to my defense even though Sam’s blow stopped about six inches from my head.

“Christ!” I gasped, heart pounding from the rush of adrenaline.  “Warn me the next time before you do that.”

“That would have defeated the purpose, don’t you think?” he chuckled and Daphne joined him in laughter. 

“I hardly think you giving me a heart attack is funny,” I grumbled, but I was pleased to feel the heft of the sword back in my hand. 

“Oh come on, Mercy.  It worked, didn’t it?”  Daphne pointed out and I had to admit she was right.

“Yeah, quick thinking there, Sam,” I grinned.  “So, you’ll train me on the secrets of the ninja now?” I waved the sword in front of me but Sam shook his head.   

“Perhaps you should focus first on trying to produce the sword without a sword coming at you.”

“Are you kidding?  I’m never letting this baby out of my sight again.  No fair putting it back into limbo or whatever you did with it before.”

“It wasn’t I that put the sword out of play, it will disappear whenever you let go of it.”

“Really?”  That might prove inconvenient if I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on and off in a hurry.  “That seems like a strange feature.”

“In this way, no one but you may wield it.  The moment it passes from your hand to another, or you drop it, or it’s taken from you, it ceases to exist on this plane.  Then you may simply recall it again.  It’s quite handy actually.”  He sounded like he had personal experience with it and I could see where that would be useful in a real battle.  I wanted to test it out by letting go of it, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get it back.  Still, I’d never get anywhere if I never tried, right?  I opened my hand, letting the sword fall, and it disappeared instantly.  Unfortunately getting it back proved to be tricky and I wasn’t able to recall it.

“I’ll have to practice with it a bit I guess.  Ah well, everyone needs a hobby, right?”  As long as it appeared in a pinch, I was happy.  Dimly, I recalled that Matty used to have some wooden Kendo swords from when he decided to take up martial arts for about five minutes.  Maybe I could borrow one of them to practice in a less lethal way?

“What kind of meeting were they having with the angels?”  Daphne asked, probably bored with watching me open and close my hand over and over again.

“Oh, it was kind of like a briefing, pretty boring actually.  That reminds me though, I was gonna ask.  Why did they send an angel to go check out a prophet?” I asked Sam, who absently twirled his sword in an impressive way.

“They want to know if he’s a true prophet or merely insane.”

“What will happen to him if he’s a real prophet?”

“His words will be taken down to form the new scriptures.”

“There are new scriptures?”  Somehow I tended to think of the bible as a moldy old book.  Finished.  I never thought of it as an evolving document. 

“Oh yes, I have copies of most of them if you want to see them sometime.  Either of you,” Sam looked to Daphne.  Poor guy.  Bible study wasn’t the hottest lure to get a girl to come back with him to his apartment.  But Daphne actually looked interested.