Angel's Messiah (19 page)

“Well,” I said, “when
were
you going to tell me?”

“When you asked.”

“Hah!” Drake said, and grinned. “She’s got you there.”

“
Shut up,
” I said through gritted teeth. I thought he’d be on my side. “What exactly does
sell them me
mean, Gina?”

“I don’t know exactly. I’ll know what to do when I walk amongst them, as one of them.”

“You can’t go into the mortal world with wings,” I said smugly.

“I know, Little Mother. I’ll lose my wings when it’s time to leave.”

She had an answer to everything. I couldn’t win.

The conversation turned to art. I thought Drake’s underground chambers held an impressive amount of art, but what was here, at Gorema, surpassed it entirely. It wasn’t only paintings. There were sculptures and sketches as well, and what he told us was a collection of original Ming Dynasty vases and jars.

Drake was able to recount how he came into possession of each individual piece, some via not too savoury means, and provided a history lesson on the artist or sculptor.

“Is Gorema the other residence you mentioned to me once?” I asked.

“Yes,” Drake said, “though I never thought you’d actually come here one day. This is not where I originally intended to bring you when I came to rescue you.”

“Why did you bring me here then?”

“Truthfully I thought you were carrying Satan’s child and that Danizriel would kill you both.”

“You brought me here to protect me?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“He loves you, Little Mother, just as you love him,” Gina said happily. “Just as I love both of you.”

Gina sure did have a big mouth.

Drake laughed. “We’re one big happy extended family then, aren’t we?”

“I guess we are,” I sighed.

“Will you come back to visit me tomorrow night?” Drake asked.

I didn’t know if he was talking to Gina, me, or both of us.

“She does need sleep you know,” I said. “Maybe a daytime visit next time.”

“Tomorrow?” Gina asked.

“What about the day after. You should spend some time with your
father,
” I reminded her.

Gina looked at Drake. “Is that okay with you, Uncle Drake?”

He laughed again. “I guess I’ll just have to get used to sharing. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to share something of Danizriel’s.”

I glared at Drake and he grinned back at me.

“Come along, Gina,” I said, “time to go home.”

I held out my hand and she skipped over to me. As soon as she slipped her hand in mine she started swinging our hands back and forth.

“Goodbye, Drake,” I said.

“Ladies.”

“Bye,” Gina called out, waving her free hand. “See you soon.”

I transported us into the living area of the cottage. Danny was in the library at the back, though he heard us return.

“You were gone for quite a while,” he called out.

“Gina had a lot of questions,” I said.

Gina skipped up the hall to the library and promptly sat in Danny’s lap.

“Little Mother says I should spend some time with you, Father. What would you like to do?”

“Would you like me to read to you?” he asked.

“Why?”

“Sometimes it’s nice to sit or lie down and listen to someone read aloud. Before you were born I would often read to you.”

“Can I lay on the garden swing, Father? I can watch the clouds, and the birds, and the butterflies, all while you read.”

“Of course you can,” Danny said.

They walked to the garden together and I headed to the ballroom. I felt the need to work off some anger and frustration, sparring with some old friends — a vampire, werewolf, varakiana and zombie. I wouldn’t let them savage me as I’d once done, although I
was
curious if the protection I’d been afforded during my pregnancy was permanent or not.

The werewolf bit me on the side and shook its head savagely from side to side.

“
Ouch,
that hurts,” I complained.

Clearly the protection was only a temporary thing and I’d have to wait until I fell pregnant again. It had been handy and would’ve made a good addition to my natural defences.

When I’d had enough I headed downstairs for a shower. Danny and Gina were just coming inside to fetch me for a walk.

“What have you been up to?” Danny asked. “There’s blood on your clothes.”

“I was hoping to be cleaned up before I saw you,” I said sheepishly. “I was just working out with some old friends.”

“You must be out of practice if you let them draw blood,” he chuckled.

“Actually I was just checking if that turning-creatures-to-stone defensive thingy worked now I’m not pregnant. Apart from the one little bite that I allowed, they never even came close to drawing blood,” I said proudly.

“Little Mother, you should have asked me about it,” Gina scolded me. “It was I who protected us.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes, Little Mother. I knew I was making you sick, or fall asleep, at the most inconvenient times, so someone had to look after us.”

“Your mother fell asleep a lot, didn’t she,” Danny chuckled.

“She means the blackouts, Danny. They happened at inconvenient times. I was blacked out when I was taken to hell.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Danny asked angrily. “I would never have left you on your own. You have to learn not to be so stubborn and pig-headed.”

“Father is right, Little Mother. There is no shame in seeking help from others.”

I threw my hands in the air exasperated. I was being attacked on all sides. “Fine, I’ll try to remember
next
time.”

“But Little Mother, there will be no next time,” Gina said.

“What do you mean?”

“You cannot have any more children, Little Mother. None are destined to follow in my footsteps.”

“Oh,” I said, and bursting into tears ran into the bathroom.

Danny followed and closed the door behind him. Gina knew not to try and come in — that her parents needed a few moments alone. I was already sitting on the floor hugging my knees. Danny sat beside me and pulled me into his arms,

“Now I’m not even good enough to be an
incubator
,” I cried, and he laughed at me, making me cry even more.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just your choice of words. First you didn’t want to be an incubator and now you feel you’ve been robbed of being one.”

Danny lifted my chin and I looked anywhere but at him.

“Helena, look at me.”

I looked at him and the tears started afresh.

“We’ve been blessed with a beautiful child we thought we could never have. We’ll have memories of our time together. Please don’t spoil it by being sad. Be happy for us and for Gina. She will need our love to see us through, I think.”

“I
hate you
, Danny,” I mumbled, and poked him in the ribs. “I hate you for always being right and oh so practical. Why can’t we be selfish for a change? Don’t we deserve happiness?”

“You deserve happiness more so than I,” he said, “but so does Gina.”

I sighed. “I don’t really hate you, you know that don’t you?”

“Of course I do. You often say things you don’t mean. I’ve learned that already.”

I wiped the tears from my face and took a couple of deep breaths.

“I’m going to have a shower now. I’ll be out in a while, then we can all go for a walk.”

“Would you like me to wash your back?” Danny asked.

“What about Gina?”

“I’m sure she’ll happily wash your back for you,” he chuckled.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

He kissed my neck. “We can be a little selfish. It will do her good to know the world doesn’t revolve entirely around her.”

I dried and dressed quicker than Danny. I felt guilty about leaving Gina alone. I heard music upstairs and found her dancing naked in the ballroom.

“Gina, put some clothes on,” I said. “You can’t dance like that.”

“You do,” she said.

“That’s
different.
”

“Why?”

“I only dance like that for your father, and only when I know no one else is around.”

“Well I’m dancing for Father as well,” she pouted.

I was glad Danny was
not
here to see this.

“Grown women do not dance naked for their parents, Gina. It’s not right. If you were to dance like that in the mortal world there’d be some expectation that you’ll do more than just dance.”

Gina summoned a short robe and put it on, tying it up at the front. We headed outside to sit on the garden swing, a favourite pastime of Gina’s.

“I don’t understand, Little Mother.”

“They’ll want sex,” I replied bluntly.

“But that’s not a bad thing, is it?”

“In this case, yes. It’s not like what your father and I share. That’s special.”

“Oh,” Gina said, sounding disappointed.

“Don’t be in too much of a hurry to grow up, Gina.”

“But I want to experience everything mortals do,” she said.

“There are some things you shouldn’t experience.”

“Like what?”

“Well, like pain and suffering, both physical and emotional.”

“But don’t I need to experience those things to grow as a person?” she asked.

“No, Gina, as an
angel,
I don’t think you do. And don’t give me the
if I am to walk among them
crap. I won’t hear it anymore.”

“Even though it’s true?” she whispered.

“If you want to break my heart,” I said angrily, “say it all you like.”

“What’s going on here? Why all the shouting?”

I turned to see Danny heading towards us, ready for a walk. I pressed my lips tightly together and folded my arms across my chest.

“Little Mother is angry with me, Father.”

“She’s always angry with someone or something,” he laughed.

“Little Mother is still upset I’ll leave one day.”

“As am I, Gina, but I know it must be done, as does your mother.”

“Oh Father, not you too. I couldn’t bear to have you both upset when I leave,” she said sadly.

“Gina, your mother and I will get over it. We’ll still have each other for comfort and support. Do not be sad for us. Be happy that we were granted the time to know you.”

“Stop it, both of you,” I said. “I don’t want to hear any more about leaving, not for a few days at least.”

Gina looked to Danny and he nodded. It was agreed they would not raise the subject again. I only hoped I could do the same. I didn’t even want to think about it.

We walked for hours through Eden, stopping to pick flowers or paddle our feet in one of the many cool and clear streams.

The months passed by and Gina’s questioning remained relentless. She was eager to learn as much as she could and, while there was very little mention of her leaving, it gnawed at me constantly. I managed to remain happy more often than not though.

We talked, walked, debated, sang and danced. I taught her to play cards and how to make a house of cards. We even set up hundreds of dominoes throughout the cottage and Gina squealed in delight when she pushed over the leading one and watched them all fall down, to form her name. During all this time I didn’t feel the need to feed once. I wondered if this was a direct result of where we were — Eden — or if it had something to do with the amount of food I’d consumed when I was pregnant.

“Why aren’t all families as happy as ours?” Gina asked. She was lying on the garden swing with her head in Danny’s lap, as he gently rocked them. “I know Little Mother gets angry at me sometimes, yet she still loves me and we’re happy.”

“I can’t answer that question, Gina. I don’t know enough of the mortal world. You’d need to ask your mother.”

“Ask me what?” I said.

I hadn’t been paying attention to anything they were saying. I was lost in thoughts of my own, of how happy I was, and busying my hands by making four daisy chains. One for each of us and one for Gina to give to Uncle Drake, whom we’d taken to visiting for a couple of hours each day. He’d been teaching her to defend herself. He told her not all mortals were nice and some may seek to harm her. I was glad he and I agreed on that. It felt good to have someone back me up for a change.

“I wanted to know why all families are not as happy as we are.”

“Families are complex things. We can’t choose our brothers, sisters, children or parents, and therefore we don’t always end up with what we’d like. Our little family … well, we’ve been very fortunate.”