Death Angel (Death Angel Series Book 1) (5 page)

Chapter Eight

Kaia was stunned. She sat across from Nettie who was mirroring her blank stare, at the lounge they frequented after work. It was late into the night, they only had a few hours before they were expected to be back at work, but neither one of them could go home and sleep. In the century or so that they both had been working, Ms. Blankenship was always there. She had hired them both. She had been their boss. Only Mr. Black was above her, of course. She had been his first seat assistant for nearly three centuries, his right hand. They knew General Black was a stickler for the rules. He was the hardest General to work for, but he was also the most powerful, and with that came the most respect throughout the Death Angel Society. But even still, they would have never imagined him firing her like he did. Sure, it was entirely inappropriate for her to call him by his first name, but it wasn’t like she said it to him directly. It certainly wasn’t the first time they had heard her say it. They all knew what her true feelings for him were. In truth, most of the women in the Death Angel Society felt much the same way. They would all jump at the chance to be his girlfriend, or wife. Hell, even a fling with him would be a fantasy for most women. Even though he was a hard ass he was powerful, noble, rich and handsome.

“It was all her fault,” Kaia said, her eyes suddenly hardening. “That stupid new girl.”

“She shouldn’t have said his name like that,” Nettie said softly. “We all know better. She knew better.”

“No,” Kaia said, shaking her head as her eyes focused on Nettie. “Ms. Blankenship was only trying to help Mr. Black. She was defending him. If people found out what an imbecile that girl is, and that she is working for Mr. Black, it would tarnish his reputation.”

“Kaia,” Nettie said, “I don’t think—“

“It’s not fair, Nettie” Kaia snapped. “That girl should have been fired, not Ms. Blankenship. She’s the one that screwed up, almost got him killed because she couldn’t do her job.”

“It’s best if we just let it go, Kaia,” Nettie said. She took a sip of her drink. She knew Kaia well, and knew that she was unlikely to just let it go, but she hoped for her own sake that she would just let this situation go. It was just as disconcerting to her, but she knew better than to dwell on it.

Kaia sat up a little straighter in her chair. Nettie could see the gears working behind her eyes and she grew a bit more worried. Kaia was going to get herself into trouble.

“Let it go,” Nettie repeated, hoping her friend would listen. She took another sip of her drink. “Drink. Forget about it. We’ll have a new boss in a couple days and then it will be life back to normal.”

“No,” Kaia said, her voice rising as she shook her head. “You and I both know that we run that office. If it wasn’t for us, Mr. Black wouldn’t be able to function. What was he thinking? It’s just not right.”

“It doesn’t really matter and you know it,” Nettie said. “Mr. Black made the decision and whether we or any one else agrees with him is irrelevant. He’s a General.”

“I just don’t know if I can let it go,” Kaia said. She picked up her glass and sipped angrily through her little cocktail straw. “She just doesn’t belong here.”

“What can you really do about it?” Nettie said. “If you file a complaint, all it’s going to do is make Mr. Black angry. He’s not going to be released, and he’ll end up firing you too.”

“No, I’m not going to file a complaint,” Kaia said. Her voice softened a bit and her eyes focused on a spot on the table.

“Don’t do something stupid,” Nettie said. She reached across the table, trying to wrap her hand around Kaia’s, but Kaia yanked her hand away.

“I’m not going to,” Kaia said, raising her voice. “I’m not going to do something stupid, I’m going to get my revenge. I’m going to show that stupid little girl, that newbie bitch, that she doesn’t belong here.”

“You heard Mr. Black, Kaia,” Nettie said. She shrugged. “He seems to have a soft spot for her.”

“Yeah,” Kaia said, narrowing her eyes. “How weird is that? I’m not buying it. There’s something more going on there.”

“It's
unusual, but—“

“It’s more than unusual, Nettie,” Kaia said. “And I’m going to find out why.”

“I think you’re just letting this get to you too much,” Nettie said, sighing and leaning back in her chair.

“No,” Kaia said. Her voice rose sharply. “It isn’t right. She should never have been hired.”

“Let it go, Kaia,” Nettie said, still trying in vain to talk some sense into her friend and coworker. “It doesn’t really matter.”

“Maybe it doesn’t matter,” Kaia said. “But it’s the principle that matters. She needs to go back to the orientation, and go through the academy just like all the rest of us. She can spend a century working in the pits just like we did, and when she’s learned how to handle the office of a General, she can work her butt off another several decades until a spot becomes available and fight for the position, just like all the rest of us.”

By the time she had finished speaking, her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. Nettie could see that Kaia was in self-destruct mode and there wasn’t much she could do about it.

“I just don’t want to see you get fired too,” Nettie said. “I don’t want to see you go back to the lower sector.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Kaia snapped, her eyes turning fiercely on Nettie. They burned with rage and Nettie knew she shouldn’t have said that. “I will never go back to the lower sector.”

Chapter Nine

Gabrielle looked at the little piece of paper in her hands. It was Aracella’s number. Mr. Black had said she was ok, and she certainly believed him. But she wanted to make a house call. It just felt like the right thing to do. She didn’t know if Aracella was sick, injured, or none of the above, but she knew that she had at the very least had a brush with death. In Gabrielle’s book, that meant it was only polite for her to come by and see her. Besides, she didn’t have much else to do. She had spent an entire day sleeping, after the epic first workday. Now, she had an entire evening to fill and she had no clue what there was to do in this place. She had asked around, the few people she could find on her walk home, and was able to get the numbers of Aracella’s home, as well as a general vicinity of the location. She was surprised at how many people knew who she was. It was obvious when she spoke her name to others that her entire family was well known. They must be sort of like celebrities, Gabrielle thought. She was beginning to see how lucky, or perhaps even unlucky, she was to get the job that she had. And even though she had apparently screwed everything up so far, and had no idea of what exactly she did, she was determined to make it work. She would learn this job and show everyone that didn’t believe in her that she could handle it. That was another reason she wanted to see Aracella. She knew everything there was to know about this place. And even though answers had to sort of be pulled out of her, Gabrielle knew they were there, and she would get them.

Gabrielle felt like she was getting the hang of all the hallways that this place was made up of. The one thing she found that she missed the most was sunlight. She had nothing but artificial light for the last few days since she had arrived. She hadn’t seen a single window in this entire place and she assumed that there was no outside. It was a bit of a bummer, Gabrielle could remember what sunlight felt like, she could remember the wind, the way it blew softly against her skin and lifted her hair around her. She wished she could feel that again.

As Gabrielle made a turn the hallway opened up much larger and wider than any other she had been down. The doors were much taller too and rather than a single door, they were all double doors. They were also more spread out. She knew that she was getting close to Aracella’s home. The plaques on the door weren’t all black or all white. They were mixed, and the numbers were all single or double-digit numbers. It had occurred to her, through the couple days she had spent walking around this place, that the smaller the number, the more desirable the dwelling. It also meant that those living in the smaller number homes had a higher position in the Death Angel Society. Gabrielle already knew Aracella was a prominent member, she was Mr. Black’s sister, so it made since that her number would be thirty-five. Though the numbers were out of order on the homes, they were grouped together so that people of the same general status were housed together. So, all she had to do was walk down this hallway until she found the number she was looking for. It couldn’t possibly be that long, because there simply weren’t that many double-digit numbers.

As Gabrielle suspected, she didn’t have to walk very far down this hallway before she came to the door labeled thirty-five. She couldn’t explain why, but she felt suddenly nervous. She wasn’t invited to come over. Aracella had been friendly to her before, but that didn’t mean they were close enough for her to come over unannounced and uninvited. Perhaps she hadn’t thought this over as well as she should have. Gabrielle thought on it and she decided to get out of here as quickly as possible before anyone saw her. She would ask Mr. Black in the morning if it would be alright for her to visit Aracella. He would certainly steer her in the right direction.

Just as she was turning to leave, the door popped open, and the man she had been thinking of was standing suddenly in front of her. Her face instantly grew hot and she felt her knees turn to jelly as he looked at her with that characteristic blankness in his striking gray eyes.

“Gabrielle,” he said, her name rolling off his tongue in a deep, seductive baritone. Though his face didn’t show it, she could hear a hint of surprise in his voice. Just a hint.

“Mr. Black, sir…I…” Gabrielle found it oddly hard for her to speak. She tried to think of words to explain what she was doing, suddenly turning up on what was apparently his doorstep and not Aracella’s but instead, something else came out. “How…how do you know my name, sir? I mean…I don’t think I ever…did I tell you my name?”

“No,” he said, simply, “but it is part of my responsibility to know those who serve under me.”

“Oh,” was all she could manage to utter. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t even remember why she was here.

“Is there a reason you are at my door, Gabrielle?” he asked. He took a step toward her and her insides turned to mush. He was utterly intimidating, even when he was asking the most mundane of questions.

“I…um, yes sir,” Gabrielle said, forcing herself to snap out of the daze he had put her in and focus on the reason she was here. “I just wanted to…well, I know you said Aracella was alright, but I just wanted to see her and tell her that I….well, I guess I’m glad she is alright…and…" Gabrielle shook her head as she fumbled for an explanation. "I’m sorry, I guess I got the wrong number for her home.”

“No,” he said. He took another step closer and suddenly he was standing so close to her that she could smell him. The scent of him filled her head. It was woodsy, musky, manly and with an ever so soft floral hint. It reminded her of being outside. He had on the same type of black suit that he had on every time she had seen him. Her eyes traveled from the obviously chiseled chest hidden by that suit up to his eyes as they looked back at her with a startling intensity.

“Come in,” he said, after they had spent a moment staring into each other’s eyes. It took Gabrielle a moment for the words to register.

“I…oh, she lives with you?” Gabrielle said, suddenly understanding what he was saying without using too many words. She was quickly learning that he used as few as possible.

“Yes,” he said, stepping aside just slightly so that she could see inside the open door behind him. “She will be pleased to see you, I think.”

Gabrielle smiled at him and to her great surprise, he smiled back. It wasn’t a big smile, and it only lasted a moment, but she had seen it. His lips had curled ever so slightly upward at the corners and she felt her gut growing even hotter than it already was. He was absolutely gorgeous when he smiled.

“Come in,” he said, motioning for her to enter his home, “I'll show you to her quarters.”

Gabrielle didn’t know how, but she found the will to move her shaky legs in the direction of the door. As she walked through, she was stunned at what she found. She had thought that her quarters were nice, she couldn’t have imagined anything being much nicer. But what she saw just inside his home was incredible. There was green everywhere she looked, interspersed with blooms of flowers that scented the air delicately. She had smelled the hint of the flowers in Mr. Black's scent and she knew this is where it must have come from. There was a small fountain that occupied the middle of the large space that was scattered with plants and shrubs and what looked like grass covering the ground. She couldn’t understand how such a thing could exist without direct sunlight, but here it was. It was a very large space, and to one side she even saw what looked like a little pond fed by a small waterfall.

“How…,” Gabrielle managed to gasp, though she thought she had voiced the thought only to herself.

“It is customary for nobles to have an indoor garden. I am proud to say my family has been cultivating this one for many centuries,” he said, coming up just behind Gabrielle. She could feel him there, just behind her, hovering so close that she thought he would reach out and touch her. Somehow, his presence had completely erased the awe that she had at seeing this indoor garden and had her focusing entirely on him. She was so focused on him, his presence, his scent, his voice as it rumbled just behind her, that she didn’t even notice the other person that had entered the area until he spoke.

“Sir, did you forget something?” the man said, with a little bow of his head towards Mr. Black. He was a short man with a nearly bald head, save for a few wisps of white hair. His body was mostly scrawny, but he had a belly that stuck out like he had a basketball under his shirt. He wore a very simple outfit, resembling scrubs, in all black. He had no discernible expression on his face, but Gabrielle felt a peacefulness in him that she immediately liked.

“No,” he said. Gabrielle could hear a change in his voice when he talked to the man. It wasn’t as deep. It didn’t hold that strange emotion that Gabrielle hadn’t yet been able to place. It was empty, authoritarian. Though Gabrielle liked to hear the way he spoke to her even better, she still found this way made her knees want to buckle.

“Miss Gabrielle is here to see Aracella,” he said. “Get her some refreshments and show her to my sister's room.”

With those words, Gabrielle felt him step away from where he had been standing, so terribly close to her. She turned around to look at him before she even had time to think about what she was doing.

“I must leave,” he said, looking over his shoulder at her. “An urgent matter I must attend to. Wilfred will show you to Aracella’s room. Anything you desire while you are in my residence, Wilfred will procure it for you.”

“Thank you,” Gabrielle said, the words rolling out of her mouth in a breathless mumble. He acknowledged her with a nod over the side of his shoulder before he walked out the door.

Once he was gone, and the door was shut, Gabrielle could feel the air returning to her lungs in large gasps. She hadn’t even realized how much she had been suppressing it. Her heart began to thump and she felt the rush of adrenaline flowing through her that his presence had brought and his now absence was pushing to the forefront of her mind.

“Right this way, Miss,” Wilfred said. Before he could turn away and walk into the direction of what Gabrielle assumed was the rest of the house, Gabrielle saw it. The same peculiar look that invaded Sebastian Black’s eyes every time he looked at her was in this man’s eyes. It was gone as fast as it had come, and Gabrielle had to wonder if she was simply imagining it
.
He led her quietly through the rest of Mr. Black's home, which was incredibly lavish, and left her at the door to Aracella's room so the two could visit privately.