Hades (25 page)

I wanted to feel my body again, resume the form of flesh,

and curl up under the covers; but I forced myself to stick

around until Mol y woke up. I wanted to see how she would

cope with what she’d just witnessed. Would Ivy and Gabriel

be forced to tel her the truth? Would she even remember

the visit from the glorious stranger or would they get away

with tel ing her she’d slipped and hit her head?

My siblings had disappeared to hastily gather a few

belongings for the trip and Xavier was left to watch over

Mol y. He sat opposite her on one of the deep sofas, lost in

his own thoughts, occasional y glancing across to check on

her. I watched him sigh wearily and get up to drape a throw

across her shoulders. His display of care and attention,

even after their recent altercation, was touching and made

me long for him even more. Xavier wasn’t one to hold a

grudge. To protect those more vulnerable was ingrained in

him. It was one of the things I loved most about him.

Mol y moaned and raised a hand to her head. Now that

she was waking up, Xavier was ful y alert. He stood up

careful y, keeping his distance, not wanting to alarm her.

Mol y’s eyelids fluttered open and she rubbed her eyes with

the back of her hand.

“What the hel ?” she murmured softly, pushing herself up

and blinking groggily. Her face drained of color when her

eyes fel on the spot where Michael had been standing. I

could almost see the moment when the memory replayed in

her mind. Her shock reflected clearly on her face and her

jaw dropped again.

“How are you feeling?” Xavier asked tentatively.

“Okay, I guess. What just happened?”

“You passed out,” he answered truthful y. “Must be from

the stress. I’m sorry for losing it before, I don’t want to fight

with you.”

Mol y stared at him. “You have to tel me what happened,”

she said. “Even with my eyes shut, I could stil see the light

… .”

Xavier’s eyes didn’t betray the slightest hint of his

emotions. He surveyed Mol y cool y. “Maybe you need to

see a doctor. Sounds like you might have a concussion.”

Mol y sat bolt upright then and glared at him. “Don’t play

dumb with me,” she snapped. “I know what I saw.”

“Real y?” Xavier said calmly. “And what might that be?”

“A man,” Mol y began tentatively and then reconsidered.

“At least I think that’s what he was; a real y big, real y bright

man. He was al wet with light and his voice sounded like a

hundred voices and he had wings—huge wings like an

eagle!”

The look Xavier gave Mol y would have made even the

surest witness doubt their sanity. He pressed his lips

together, raised his eyebrows slightly, and drew back a

fraction as if Mol y were certifiably insane. He was a better

actor than I’d given him credit for. But Mol y was not taken

in.

“Don’t look at me like that!” she cried. “You saw him too, I

know you did.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Xavier said

bluntly.

“There was an angel standing right there,” Mol y gestured

wildly at the place where Michael had stood. “I saw him!

You can’t trick me into thinking I’m going crazy.”

Xavier gave up. He’d been standing with his arms folded

across his chest, wearing an expression of disbelief.

Suddenly he just looked exasperated.

“Gabriel,” he cal ed out. “You better get in here.”

A moment later, my brother was standing in the doorway.

“Mol y, welcome back. How do you feel?”

“Why don’t you tel Gabriel what you saw?” Xavier cut in.

Mol y looked doubtful for a moment. She mightn’t care what

Xavier thought of her, but she certainly cared about

Gabriel’s opinion and didn’t want to risk him thinking she

was unstable. But her doubt was momentary and vanished

as quickly as it had appeared.

“I saw an angel,” she said with conviction. “I don’t know

why he came or what he said, but I know he was here.”

Gabriel maintained a thoughtful silence. He neither

chal enged nor acknowledged her story. Instead, he

watched Mol y with a slight crinkling of his marble brow.

Although it would have been hard to tel by looking at his

composed face I knew Gabe was thinking about damage

control. Mol y’s discovery spel ed disaster for my family.

They had been loath to let one human in on the secret and

only relented because they had no choice. I’d revealed my

true self to Xavier without consulting them. Now two people

knowing the truth in a town as smal as Venus Cove could

pose real problems. But what could they do? Mol y had

seen Michael with her own two eyes.

I wished I could have been there at that moment to

comfort my brother who was facing his own internal

struggle. I circled Gabriel in my wraithlike form and tried to

transmit my support. I wanted him to know I was behind him

whatever decision he made. It wasn’t his fault, although I

knew he would assume responsibility. Michael had

appeared without any forewarning and there had been no

time to shield Mol y. When the archangels were on a

mission, they did not make al owances for human frailty.

They served God single-mindedly, delivering His word and

His wil to those on earth. When Lot’s wife had disobeyed

their command several thousand years ago, they’d reduced

her to a pil ar of salt without hesitation. They carried out

their mission with fierce determination, obliterating al that

stood in their path. Mol y had posed no threat to Michael

and he had overlooked her, leaving Gabriel to deal with the

fal out. I wondered if like me, my brother was changing.

Living among human beings made it difficult to maintain

divine neutrality. Gabriel was loyal to the Kingdom, but he

had seen proof of Xavier’s commitment to me and he knew

the depth of our attachment. I knew he would never break

his al egiance to the Holy Seven, to his rank of archangels,

but he seemed different than when we’d first arrived in

Venus Cove. Then he had been a representative of the

Lord, watching the world go by with a detached, measured

outlook. Now he seemed to truly want to understand its

workings.

Gabriel began to pace, and before I knew it, he’d walked

right through me. He stopped abruptly and I knew by the

look in his eyes he’d picked up a vibration in the air. I

longed for him to tel the others he could sense my

presence, but I knew my brother and how his mind worked.

There was no point in tel ing Xavier and Mol y I was there.

They couldn’t see or touch or speak to me in any way. It

would only make things harder for them. Gabriel’s face

returned to normal and he crossed to where Mol y was

sitting and settled on the arm of the sofa beside her. She

instinctively gravitated toward him, but Gabriel made no

move to touch her.

“Are you sure you can handle the truth?” he asked.

“Please keep in mind that it may affect you for the rest of

your life.” Mol y nodded mutely and kept her eyes fixed on

his. “Very wel then—what you saw was indeed an angel. In

fact, it was the Archangel Michael. He came to offer help so

you have nothing to fear.”

“You mean he was real?” she whispered, seeming

hypnotized by the idea. “Angels are real?”

“As real as you are.”

Mol y frowned as she considered the astounding

information Gabriel was offering her. “Why am I the only one

who’s freaking out?”

Gabriel drew a deep breath and I could see vacil ation in

his eyes, but he’d gone too far to back out now. “Michael is

my brother,” he said softly. “We are one and the same.”

“But you … ,” Mol y began. “You aren’t … how can that …

I don’t understand.” Her own lack of comprehension was

flustering her.

“Listen, Mol y. Do you remember when you were young

and your parents told you the story of Christmas?”

“Of course,” Mol y stumbled. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“Do you remember the story of the Annunciation? Can

you tel me about it?”

“I … I think so,” Mol y stuttered. “An angel appeared to the

Virgin Mary in Nazareth bringing news that she was going

to have a child and name him Jesus and he would be the

Son of God.”

“Very good,” said my brother approvingly. He leaned in

closer to her. “Now, Mol y, can you also remember that

angel’s name?”

“His name?” Mol y looked confused. “He didn’t have one.

Oh, wait, yes he did. It was … he was … the angel”—she

drew a sharp intake of breath and looked like she might be

on the brink of passing out again—”the Angel Gabriel.”

“That would be me,” my brother said almost

unassumingly.

“Don’t worry, it took me a while to get my head around it,”

Xavier added. Mol y barely heard him. She was stil gaping

wordlessly at Gabriel. “Gabriel, Ivy, and Beth are al angels,”

Xavier added. “A whole other world exists around us that

most of us are never aware of.”

“I need to know that you understand,” Gabriel pressed

Mol y. “If this is too much for you, I can ask Ivy to wipe your

memory. If you are going to be a part of this you need to be

clearheaded. We are not the only supernatural creatures

here. There are beings out there darker than you can

imagine and they’ve taken Beth. If we’re going to get her

back, we need to be united.”

“It’s okay, Mol y,” said Xavier, reading the fear in her

face. “Gabriel and Ivy won’t let anything happen to you.

Besides, it’s not us the demons are interested in.” That got

Mol y’s attention.

“What do you mean demons!” she shrieked, leaping off

the sofa. “Nobody said anything about demons!”

Gabriel looked across at Xavier and shook his head in

disapproval. “This isn’t working,” he decided. “I think we

need Ivy.”

“No, wait,” Mol y jumped in. “I’m sorry, I just need a

minute. I want to help you. Who did you say has taken

Beth?”

“She was abducted on Hal oween by a demon who has

been here before,” Gabriel said. “We think he was invited

back by your seance. You may remember him as Jake

Thorn. He attended Bryce Hamilton briefly last year.”

“The Australian guy?” Mol y asked, scrunching up her

face as she tried to tap into the memories that Ivy had

deleted from her mind like files from a computer.

“British,” Xavier corrected.

“Believe me, he’s someone you never want to cross

paths with,” Gabriel said.

“Oh my God,” Mol y groaned. “Beth was right about the

seance. Why didn’t I listen to her? This is al my fault.”

“There is no point in blaming yourself,” Gabriel said. “It

won’t help us get her back. We need to focus now.”

“Okay, what do I need to do?” Mol y asked bravely.

“We’re leaving for Tennessee in a few hours,” Gabriel

said.

“You just need to stay here and not breathe a word of this

to anyone.”

“Hold up.” Mol y rose to her feet. “You’re not leaving

without me.”

“Oh, yes, we are,” Xavier said and I could see the

animosity between them flare up again.

“It would be safer for you to stay behind,” Gabriel said

emphatical y.

“No,” Mol y insisted. “You can’t drop a bombshel like that

and then leave me behind to stress over it.”

“We can’t wait,” Gabriel said. “You would need to talk to

your parents, notify the school … .”

“Who gives a stuff about school?” Mol y said. “Hel o? I

ditch al the time.” She pul ed her cel phone from the back

pocket of her jeans. “I’l tel Mom I’m staying at Tara’s for a

few days.”

Before anyone could stop her, Mol y was punching in

numbers and ducking into the kitchen. I heard her spouting

a familiar story about Tara having broken up with her

boyfriend, being a mess, and needing her friends around

her.

“This is a real y bad idea,” Xavier said. “I mean it’s
Molly

we’re talking about. She’s the biggest gossip in town. How

is she going to keep this to herself?”

But I trusted my brother’s judgment completely. While I

was worried about Mol y being involved I knew that she

could be levelheaded when she needed to be.

Ivy didn’t appear to share my opinion and for the first time

I witnessed real dissent between her and Gabriel. A door

slammed somewhere in the hal and suddenly she was in

the room with us wearing an expression like thunder. She