Death Angel (Death Angel Series Book 1) (17 page)

Chapter Twenty Two

Gabrielle had been summoned to the Head General's office, and she was wandering around trying to find it as her mind scrambled for a reason why. Perhaps it had to do with her petition. Or maybe it was the encounter with the Darkling in the mortal world. Either way she had a terrible sense of foreboding about this meeting. She gently touched at the necklace that hung around her neck, the thoughts of Matthew and the night they had shared giving her some comfort. It was the Death Angel equivalent of an engagement ring and she proudly brandished it to the world. She had picked out a low cut black top to wear today just so that she could be sure that everyone saw it. She wanted to show it off.

She turned the corner that she instinctively knew would lead to the Head General's office and she was relieved to see the door with a plaque on it that read simply 'Head General'. It was painted a dull gray, and all the people that bustled around in the desks and cubicles outside his office were wearing gray. She remembered the awful gray uniform she was dressed in when she first arrived. It seemed like so long ago, even though it hadn’t really been.

When Gabrielle knocked on the door she heard no answer, and the people working in the office seemed to completely ignore her, so she tentatively pushed the door open and poked her head in. An old man sat behind a large oak desk, reading something and shaking his head as he grumbled to himself. He had a stubbly white beard that she thought should have been fuller for his age and was peppered with spots of dark brown. He had a pile of wispy white hair on the top of his head and his eyes had creases that showed his age. He looked up sharply at her. His eyes were a crisp green and made him look so much younger than the rest of them. He had a hardened expression when he had looked up, which she assumed was due to whatever he was reading, but when his eyes landed on her they softened.

"Come in, come in," he said, leaning back a little in his chair and motioning his hand for her to enter. As she stepped inside and walked the short distance toward him, she could feel him appraising her. His expression softened a bit more and his lips parted into a wide smile that felt genuine.

"Ms. Gabrielle?" he said as he gestured for her to have a seat across from him.

"Yes," she said, her voice meek as she took a seat. She fiddled nervously with the hem of her skirt as his eyes continued to study her. The moment became a little awkward but she didn't know what to say. She tried to keep her eyes from resting in one spot for too long.

"Remarkable," he said almost breathlessly. A sudden flash of understanding crossed his face but before Gabrielle could comment or ask what he meant, his face suddenly shifted.

"I suppose you are wondering why your here," he said, looking back at her with a kind but knowing smirk. Gabrielle simply smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Don't worry, you're not in any trouble," he said, holding his hands up with a smirk that made his skin creased around his eyes.

"Okay, good," Gabrielle breathed a little sigh of relief and she hadn't realized how nervous she actually was until that very moment. Her shoulders relaxed a bit.

"Although," he said, his shoulders shrugging as his expression suddenly changed to something noncommittal that made her shoulders tense again. "I'm not sure how pleasant this is going to be for you."

"Okay," she said slowly, gulping down a lump that suddenly lodged itself in her throat. She waited for him to continue. He leaned forward, crossing his fingers together on his desk as he studied her carefully again. His eyebrows suddenly shifted up.

"How are you enjoying your position?" he asked. "With Sebastian?"

"Mr. Black?" she said instinctively. She wasn't used to hearing people call him by his first name. After she saw what had happened with Ms. Blankenship she had etched a mental note in her brain to always call him by a proper title. The Head General nodded once, still looking curiously at her.

"I...it's good, I guess," she said with a shrug. Her eyes avoided his.

"Hmm," he intoned. "Is Sebastian working you too hard, dear?"

Something in the tone of his voice told her that his question was more of a sarcastic one. He was testing her for something, trying to get some kind of information that she just couldn't give.

"He's been very good to me," she said, being as honest as she could be. "I know he has a terrible reputation, but honestly, I haven't seen it."

"I bet not," he said, smiling widely at her. It made her a little uncomfortable and she shifted in her seat. Suddenly he clapped his hands together. "Down to business then."

He shot up from his seat and with surprising speed for what his age appeared to be, he came around the desk and made his way towards the door. Gabrielle was stunned by his sudden movement and sat dumbfounded in the chair, gawking back at him. He turned around as he got to the door and looked at her with an expression that said she should have known what he wanted.

"Well, come on girl," he said with his eyebrows raised. "I haven't got all day to wait for you."

Gabrielle shot up from her chair and followed after him. He led her through a series of hallways before they came to a door without a label. She didn't know why, but looking at it made her stomach twist up in knots. Before they went in, the Head General turned to look at her.

"I don't want them to intimidate you now," he said very kindly with a soft voice. "Many people get very nervous around the Council of the Generals. But you needn't worry."

He winked at her which she was sure was meant to quell her fears, but his words only served to raise her level of anxiety. When they walked in, she immediately saw him. His eyes met hers and she felt the electricity passing through her.

Mr. Black sat in one of six chairs that flanked either side of a long table. The moment she saw him, the way that his eyes connected with hers, sent a bolt of electric heat through her. When he had appeared the night before to save her and Matthew from the Darkling, there hadn’t been enough time for her to have a second thought. With everything that had gone on between now and then, she simply hadn’t thought about him. But now that she was standing there looking at him, the memory stabbed her straight in the chest. That night he walked her home, he had kissed her. She still had no idea why, but she just knew that he had done it. The memory of that kiss, the heat that it had sent through her, and the intensity with which he stared at her now, all worked to stain her cheeks a deep rosy hue. She had to force herself to look away from him.

The chair at the head of the table, and the one at the bottom were empty. A spot for the Head General, and a spot for her. There were people sitting in all but one of the chairs that were on the sides of the table. These were all the Generals of the Death Angel Society. Some looked at her with a mixture of sympathy and pity, others glared at her with what she could swear was anger. Two of them were wearing all white, and three of them were dressed in all black. The Head General took his seat and motioned for Gabrielle to take hers.

“Where is General Kasen?” the Head General asked, seeing the empty chair. There was a hint of disapproval in his tone, but it was still kind.

“Recovering,” one of the men wearing white spoke up. He looked awfully familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite place him. She knew she must have seen him at some point, but she couldn’t recall where. Mr. Black was still staring at her and it made her mind foggy as she struggled not to look at him. Actually, they were all looking at her, but his gaze seemed to be the only one affecting her.

“Ah, the sickness again?” the Head General said with understanding. His words were posed as a question but it was obvious that it didn’t need to be answered. “It’s been quite a while since the last bout, I suppose it is time. Though I was hoping that perhaps he had finally beaten it. Ah well…”

He looked up at Gabrielle with a little shrug. His eyes once more appraised her with kindness and then he glanced quickly over to Mr. Black. The whole situation was becoming rather uncomfortable and Gabrielle didn’t know how much longer she would be able to stand this.

“The reason we are all here,” the Head General began to speak again, “is to do nothing short of decide the rest of Miss Gabrielle’s fate here at the Death Angel Society.”

Gabrielle was shocked by his words. The tone of his voice was light and casual, but what he had just said was anything but casual. Even with his seeming indifference to the situation, the words carried so much weight that Gabrielle felt like she was just punched in the gut. A million questions ran through her head. Had she done something terribly wrong? Was she to be cast out of the Death Angel Society? Her fingers lifted up to her neck and felt at the necklace she wore. It was an unconscious movement that gave her a measure of comfort. It brought all the memories of Matthew with it and suddenly she wasn’t so frazzled anymore. Then she looked at Mr. Black and all her relief crumbled to the floor. He was staring at her so much more intently now as he watched her absently fiddle with the necklace that rested at her collarbone.

“You shouldn’t be here, silly girl,” the only female General spoke, drawing for the first time since Gabrielle had entered the room, Mr. Black’s eyes off her. The words were clipped and her tone was bordering on venomous. But even as icy as her cold dark eyes were, framed by her pale skin and long black hair, she was remarkably beautiful. Enough so that it actually made Gabrielle feel uncomfortable.

“Now, now,” the man that she had recognized spoke again, raising a hand toward the woman, “there’s no need to make her feel uncomfortable Cassandra.”

“There’s no need to make her feel comfortable either,” she snapped, her eyes not moving from Gabrielle as she spoke. 

“We have a lot of other business today, so we’ll get right down to it,” the Head General spoke again. “It has been brought to this Council’s attention,” his eyes darted quickly to Mr. Black, an odd emotion shining behind them, “that you have not been properly assessed.”

“It is my prerogative to hire whomever I wish. The assessment is a mere formality,” Mr. Black spoke up suddenly and Gabrielle couldn’t stop her eyes from snapping over to him. He sounded less than pleased. “Her level of qualification is of consequence only to myself.”

“Perhaps,” the Head General said holding a hand up to placate him. “However, it is only so with the Dark Fighters, and you know that.”

“She doesn’t belong in the Dark ranks,” Cassandra spat. “She’s too weak.”

“That will be determined by the assessment,” the Head General said. He looked directly at Gabrielle. “You will have a formal assessment, at which point it will be determined whether you belong to the Dark Ranks or the Light.”

They were all looking at Gabrielle expectantly, and she knew they were waiting for her to say something. To accept her lot. But how could she say anything? She had no clue what they were talking about. So she said the only thing that made any sense to her.

“Don’t I have a say in where I work?” she said, her voice coming out weaker than she wanted it to be. “I like working for Mr. Black.”

Cassandra scoffed at the words and Gabrielle couldn’t understand why it would upset her so much. She had never even met the woman. Mr. Black was looking at her with a peculiar look in his eyes and she could feel her cheeks blushing.

“I’m pleased that you feel that way,” the Head General said with his kind smile. “If you are determined to be a Dark Fighter, then you will remain in your position for as long as Sebastian is happy to have you there. If however, it is determined that you belong to the Light Ranks, I’m afraid you’ll have to be remanded
to the Academy for proper training.”

“Head General,” the familiar Light General spoke up, his eyes shifting momentarily onto Gabrielle. “I’d like to request now that she be transferred to my office. I have a position opening up soon and I’d like to offer it to her.”

Cassandra scoffed at the statement and crossed her hands over her chest. She continued to glower at Gabrielle with pure hatred.

“There must be something about this girl that I don’t know about,” one of the other Generals in white spoke up. His hair was blonde and shortly cropped, his green eyes dancing mischievously as they looked her over. Until then, the only Generals that had seemed to have a single care about her were Cassandra, Mr. Black, and the familiar man. Now they all seemed to sit up straighter and look her over more carefully. “She’s rather plain.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” the other black General sitting directly beside Mr. Black spoke up in her defense. Gabrielle recognized him from the Death Festival. He was the man who was with Aracella.

“They can also be very telling,” Cassandra said, giving her a pointed look.

“Enough,” the Head General said almost wearily. “Unfortunately, Markus, if she is assessed to belong in the Light Ranks, I’m afraid there is no other course of action but to send her through the Academy. If she makes it through, you are more than welcome to claim her then.”

“And why does she get to stay with Sebastian?” Cassandra asked, her eyes narrowing on Sebastian. “Why not send her back to the Academy regardless?”

“The situation there is what it is,” the Head General said with a small shrug. “She has been trained in the job already, and with the First Seat Rank in his office now vacant, I would not want to create more disruption in his office unnecessarily.”