Broken Wings: Genesis (13 page)

Where was he? Maybe it was my
thoughts that conjured him. Maybe he was just ready to make his move. I don’t
know, but the feeling was there, a tickle at the edges of my awareness, and I
just
knew
. I spun around, bringing up a right cross sucker punch. It
didn’t connect with his face the way I had intended. He caught it in his left
hand, bringing his own right cross in to connect with my jaw.

He let go of my fist so my weight
would carry me backwards. I dropped like a rock, my back connecting to the web.
I held still, very still, knowing from before that the more I struggled, the
more ensnared I would become. It didn’t matter. Either way, I was trapped.

Black Wolf stood at the edge of
the chasm, at the edge of the webbing, his dark eyes triumphant with
satisfaction. He stood with gloating pride over my spread-eagled body, caught
in a state of immobility. But I wasn’t done yet. My body started to warm and I
could feel the tingling of building energy. The only thing I saw wrong, was
that I wasn’t the one calling it.

The dream stalker’s look passed
from gloating to surprise and then onto determination. He didn’t want to let me
get away. He went to take a step toward me, but the light flared into intense
heat, pushing him back from the edge of the chasm. It also burned away the
webbing that held me.

For obvious reasons, that was both
good and bad. It also set free the web to fall with me into the chasm below.
The women were no longer in the dreamscape. I was grateful for that, at least.
On the other hand,
I
was plunging rapidly into the empty darkness.

A trumpet sounded across the
space, echoing off the chasm walls. With its sound, the webbing burst into
flame, and the heat of the violet intensified even more. I could see the ground
beneath me now, coming up fast from the black emptiness. The webbing to my
right, looking like a fireball hurtling toward the earth, connected first, and
then the one to my left. Both left huge, gaping holes in the ground. Smoke
curled up from those holes, spreading out to cover the ground and air. It
burned my eyes and nose, but it also made me sleepy. Just before I hit the
ground, the unconscious darkness of sleep settled over me and I knew no more.

My fingers were entwined with
those of someone else when I opened my eyes to the more familiar darkness of my
bedroom. It was just starting to get light outside, and a darker gray, not
quite black, filtered past the edges of my blinds. Ke was sitting next to me on
the bed, his eyes closed in concentration, his grip on my hands gentle, but
firm. He must have sensed my awakening, because his eyes opened to stare down
into mine.

I lost myself in his eyes for the
space of time that it took me to come to full awareness. Without forcing it, I
pulled back on my hands and I could tell that he was reluctant to let go, but
he did. Pushing myself up into a sitting position to face him, I finally looked
away. He looked a lot better cleaned up than I had expected he would. I wasn’t
going to deny the attraction, but I also wasn’t giving into it. Right now, I
had to admit that I was way out of my depth and I certainly didn’t need any
added complications.

“Thanks.” It was all that I could
say. I knew he had just saved my ass
again
.

He nodded without speaking.

I was on uncertain footing here.
For most of the day, I had spent my time riding around, thinking through
everything that was happening, everything that had been said. The problem was
that I couldn’t find any real holes in the laid out scenario.

Oh, there were some pieces
missing, I’m sure of it. And I was just as sure they were big pieces. With the
surrealism and danger of the world that had become my life, I was used to not
always getting the answers I needed, no matter how much frustration it caused.
The one thing I had learned to rely on above all else was my gut instinct. My
gut might be doing handsprings and cartwheels, but it was also telling me that
what Ke was saying had a strong sense of truth at its base.

But
my
truth stood out
above his. If I had to buy into the possibility that I was some angel
incarnate, I was still going to hold on to my selfishness. After all, how many
times could a person be expected to sacrifice themselves for the greater good?
Maybe as an angel I hadn’t had a choice, but as a human I did. That had to
count for something, right? Was my wanting to live such a bad thing? I didn’t
think so. So why did I feel so crappy about it?

Ke cupped his hand to my jaw,
tilting my head up to look at him. I flinched at his touch, but this time it
was because of pain. I reached up with my own hand to check out my jaw, pushing
it, moving it. The good news was that it wasn’t broken. The bad news was that
I’m pretty sure there was going to be a sweet little bruise there after a bit.

“I want to help you with this
guy.” Ke’s voice was harsh with anger, but his offer was sincere.

I shook my head, moving to get up
from the bed.

“I have another way I’m going to
try next. Besides, you have already been a big help.” I turned back to look at
him after I crawled off the bed. “What are you doing in here, anyway?”

Ke moved to the edge of the bed.
“There is someone here I wanted you to meet.”

There it went, the emotionless
mask slipping back into place. “Who?”

He wouldn’t look at me. “Another
of the Grigori.”

I threw my arms up in the air.
“Why not? Bring him on. It’s looking like old home week.”

“She.”

“What?”

“It’s a
she
, not a
he
.”

I shrugged. “Fine. Whatever. Lead
the way.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t like
people or being around them. I was just more of the loner type. Okay, maybe
that meant I really
wasn’t
fond of people or being around them. But I
think it takes it to another level when an unwanted houseguest starts inviting
all of his friends over for a party. It may not be to that extreme yet, but if
you let one in––

Ke led the way out into the living
room. The smell of cooking bacon and eggs filled the air. Chaz was in the
kitchen making breakfast for everyone. The corner of my mouth twitched, an
ironic thought slipping into my mind. I wondered what Father David would say to
my presenting him with a grocery bill to feed a host of Grigori. After all,
they were angels, right? That made them part of his group.

An older woman, I’d guess mid to
late fifties watched Chaz do his thing. There was a lot of gray to her hair,
but I would’ve guessed she was once a brunette. Some of the darker color still
showed in her short, curly, stylishly cut hair. She was dressed in long beige
shorts, and over-sized t-shirt with a Native American theme printed on the
front, and bright green flip-flops. My overall impression was far from angelic.

Chaz noticed me and smiled. The
Grigori woman looked up, examining me with her gray-green eyes. She had that
eccentric aunt feel to her. The kind that looks you over, smiles and then moves
in to pinch your cheeks. I must have passed her scrutiny, because she smiled
and started to come around the counter. If she pinched my cheeks, I was going
to deck her, angel or not.

“Ke, you were correct.” Her eyes
danced with excitement. “You
have
found her.” She stopped short of
actually touching me, but I still felt tense.

“Sariel, this is Yeshua Star.” Ke
stepped up with a nod of his head. “Yeshua, this is Sariel of the Grigori.”

She gave him a look of mock
exasperation, batting her hand to swat at him. “Pshaw––there’s no need for
formalities. You’ve been on your own for too long, Ke. It’ll probably do you
some good to be locked in that body for a bit. Maybe it will help you to
remember a little about humanity and how to not take yourself so seriously.”

Ke frowned. “But this is serious.”

“Yes, it is, dear.” She patted him
absently. “But if the Grigori had always had your kind of defeatist attitude,
there wouldn’t be much left of anything any more, would there?”

I tried to keep my mouth from
twitching. This woman made me want to smile. I was prepared to be irritated
with her based on the effect Ke seemed to have on me. It hadn’t dawned on me I
might actually like her. I was obviously going to withhold judgment, but if
nothing else, she irritated Ke, which made her an amusing distraction at the very
least. I guess angels came in as many diverse personalities as humans and
immortals did.

When Sariel turned back to look at
me, I noticed the same type of raised markings on her neck that Ke had on his.
She saw where my attention was focused and put a hand up to her neck to touch
the mark.

“I tilted my head. “What are
those?”

Sarah looked at Ke. “It’s our
signature––all angels have them. When we inhabit a human form, it is the part
of us that is still connected, yet not, to the web.”

“Sort of like an energy
signature?” I frowned, trying to understand.

“Yes.” Sariel nodded. “It’s as
though our energy reaches outside of the human body to maintain connection. The
longer we remain in human form the less pronounced it becomes, but it never
goes away completely. It can also help us to identify others of our kind in a
human host.”

“And when you leave the body?”

“The mark fades away.” She
shrugged. “Some of your ancient texts call it
angelic script
. It is the
unique identifier for each angel. Even the Fallen Ones have them.”

That was good to know.

“Sarah came here to see if she
could help you to remember how to use the energy. “Ke interjected.

I could feel my irritation level
start to rise.

“She is the best teacher to the
humans of all the Grigori,” he added hastily, hoping it would make a
difference.

It didn’t. “I never said I wanted
to
remember
. In fact, I could’ve sworn I specifically mentioned
not
wanting to remember.”

Ke and Sariel exchanged looks.
There was some
serious
concern being swapped back and forth between
them.

“What?” I demanded, crossing my
arms.

“Yeshua––” Ke tried to start, but
couldn’t seem to find the words.

“If you choose not to help in our
struggle, that is your choice.” Sariel held up a hand to stop Ke from
interrupting. “No. It is her right. She has the choice available to her.”

“Thank you.” I tipped my head up
with a bit of attitude. This was a Grigori I could get to like. She made me
feel vindicated.

“However––”

Why was there always a catch?

“––What you have done in binding
Ke to his human host needs to be undone.”

Oh yeah.
That
.

The sound of Chaz setting out
dishes on the table made me feel guilty. The kid might be there to help me out,
but he didn’t need to act like my personal servant. He had been picking up a
lot of domestic slack this week. I’d have to do something special to show my
appreciation.

“That,” Sariel smiled, “is why I
am here. I’m pretty certain Ke doesn’t possess the social skills to get across
to you the seriousness of our predicament.”

“Now there’s an understatement.” I
muttered under my breath. It gave me a small amount of satisfaction to see his
face turn red with angry embarrassment.

Sariel ignored me. “And from what
your friend has been telling me of your temperament, you’d be too pig-headed to
listen to him.”

I raised a questioning eyebrow to
Chaz. So much for doing something special for the little rat.

“
Stubborn
.” He insisted
with a trace of panic in his voice. “I said you were
stubborn
.”

“He did.” Sariel acknowledged. “I
figured out the pig-headed part on my own.”

I shrugged, stepping around her to
grab a cup of coffee. “And just what is it I need to understand?”

My tone was flippant, but I was
beyond irritated. Pig-headed. Chaz didn’t meet my eyes while he finished
setting the rest of the table. It was probably a good thing. I was saving a
special look meant for him alone.

“We have another battle coming
with the Fallen Ones.”

“Which would be my problem, hmm,
let’s see––wait,
why
was that again?” I gave her a mocking look and went
back to fixing my coffee.

Sariel sighed and shook her head
at Ke. “You really didn’t start this out in a good way, did you?”

Ke scowled and looked away. I
smirked.

“Because you, my dear, are human.”

“Yeah, which means that I have the
right to choose not to get involved.”

“Which means,” Sariel sighed, that
if the fabric of the web starts to unravel, you will be one of the first things
to go. All physical matter will. The angels will survive it. Humanity and the
world you live in will not.”

I frowned and took a sip of
coffee. Okay. That had my attention. But I was also sensing a dwindling number
of options on my part, and I wasn’t like that at all.

Chaz announced breakfast was
ready. It gave me a few minutes to organize my thoughts while everyone shuffled
around the table. I took my time filling my plate and took a bite of scrambled
eggs. They were a little overdone, but I wasn’t much of a breakfast person
anyway. I was using it primarily as a distraction for the moment.

Neither Sariel nor Ke spoke. I
would have rather that they did. The first one to break the silence in a
situation like this usually lost the upper hand. Until a few minutes ago, I had
thought that position was mine. Now I wasn’t certain. Sariel was good. I’ll
give her that. She was waiting for me to jump in.

The sigh I had been holding was
released. Fine. I’d let her have top dog position until I could figure out how
to regain control.

“Okay, I’ll bite. Is it because I
bound Ke to the human host that this whole unraveling business is going to
start?”