Mercy for the Wicked (25 page)

“The one with the horn, duh, standing over there by Nathanael.”

Sometimes I liked Sam better before he picked up on modern qualities like sarcasm.  “Oh,” I whispered back shortly.  The pair of them stood next to each other but didn’t appear to be talking, Nathanael looking stern as ever, Gabriel serious, but not quite as intimidating as his brother.  As we watched, Gabriel lifted the horn to his lips and blew out another impossibly long note without taking a breath, and the pull towards the clearing grew impossible to ignore.  “I’m gonna go check things out.”

Sam immediately caught hold of my arm, stepping into my path.  “Mercy, you can’t go out there, it’s forbidden.”

“Then why are they calling me?”  Maybe the horn didn’t discriminate against the Fallen or weird hybrids like I was.  All I knew was, I
had
to get into that meadow and find out what all the fuss was about.  Side stepping around him, I tugged my arm free.

“They’ll see you,” Sam hissed after me but I was undeterred. 

“I know but… don’t you feel it?  I
have
to go.”  For a moment I thought he might try to tackle me to the ground, but instead he retreated back into the shelter of the trees as I approached the clearing.  As soon as I was spotted, all eyes were on me with varying degrees of shock and surprise.  Most of them appeared curious, but more than a few were openly disapproving of my arrival and I started to rethink the wisdom of venturing into their midst unannounced.  The gathering parted, giving me a wide berth as if I’d brought contagion with me. 

Not that I got far, as Nathanael stepped up to block my path.  “Leave this place,” he ordered imperiously, but I wasn’t about to let him intimidate me.

“Hey, you’re the ones that called. I came to see what was going on.”

“You were not summoned, the call was for the heavenly host only.”

“Then what am I doing here?  Obviously I
was
summoned or how would I even know you’re having a jamboree in the first place?” I pointed out, and I could see the effect my words had on the crowd. 

“She speaks the truth,” one of the angels nodded, but Nathanael wasn’t having any of it.

“The call is sometimes heard by the Fallen, it does not mean they are among the chosen.”

Another stepped forward.  His long dark hair and close cropped beard reminded me a little of the big JC, but he had quite a bit more muscle on his frame.  Dressed in a cashmere turtleneck and dress slacks all in earth tones, he was the epitome of refined grace and his voice was cultured and well spoken.  “She is not of the Fallen, and she shares the Grace of God.  Should she not be privy to his words?”  I liked the guy on sight and I was glad to have him in my corner. 

“This is not to be borne! Will we allow our ranks to be polluted by this abomination?” Nathanael demanded, and I was afraid he might physically toss me out of the clearing in another moment.  But at Gabriel’s light touch he quieted, his face dark and glowering.  I had unconsciously taken a step backwards in the face of Nate’s anger but forced myself to hold my ground as Gabriel approached. 

“I haven’t done anything wrong.  But if you want me to leave… I will,” I said respectfully, all of the sarcasm falling out of my tone.  Unlike Nathanael, who rubbed me the wrong way from day one with his pompous attitude, Gabriel radiated authority but also a gentleness.  It soothed my prickly temper, and I found I really craved his approval.  All looked to Gabriel who studied me with those big blue eyes, a touch of melancholy to his expression.  It made me wonder; was he bummed because I interrupted his party, or because of something else? 

He approached slowly, coming to stop a couple of feet away from me.  I expected him to say something, but he just stood there looking at me.  Could Gabriel read minds?  Was he trying to judge the quality of my soul based on the Grace?  Was he wondering if he was going to miss Monday Night Football by the time all of it was over?  I couldn’t tell what was going on in that head of his, but he seemed to come to a decision, his head bowing the slightest of nods before he turned and strode away. 

Apparently I’d passed some kind of test, because the other angels clustered around me then, and I was reminded that I really was like a shiny new toy to them.  Most kept a respectful distance as though they were afraid to commit to actually choosing a side, but a few came closer to introduce themselves, their voices full of varying degrees of reverence and amusement.  I felt a little like the belle of the ball; if the ball was full of glowing sexy angels.  I’d never seen so much perfection in one place.  Ever.  Of course I hadn’t heard of any of them in particular, until one approached, the one with long dark hair who had stood up to Nathanael in my defense. 

“Greetings,” he nodded formally.

“Hi,” I nodded back.

“You are well?”

“Yes, I’m… well.  I guess.”  It seemed an odd question after my outburst but then I remembered they weren’t all that big on small talk.  At least that one didn’t look like he was afraid to talk to me.  “Hey, I’m a little rusty on my angel mind reading, is it actually okay for me to be here?  ‘Cause I could leave if it’s gonna cause a problem.”  I wasn’t sure how much leeway I was given from that slight nod out of Gabriel.

“No, you were given leave to attend.  Though as I understand it, it pertains to this gathering only.”

“Wow, I must have missed that part of the message.  You got all that from a single nod?”

He chuckled at that, a deep rich sound that made my stomach flutter.  “We are all familiar with Gabriel’s ways, he is not one for words.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that.  I looked over to where Gabriel watched over the crowd with that same impassive expression on his face.  Was there supposed to be a formal announcement or were they waiting for me to leave to get back to angelic business?  Deciding not to worry about it, I turned my attention back to my tall, new friend.  “Listen, thanks for your help back there with Nathanael, that guy’s got it in for me big time, I appreciate the support.”

“Of course, I could do nothing else, Merceline,” he sketched a half bow.

“It’s Mercy,” I corrected him automatically.  “Does everyone here know who I am?”

“Oh yes, word of your… evolution has been spoken of in the highest of places.”

“And the lowest,” I muttered, not at all happy with my lack of privacy those days.

“You speak of your capture by Raum.  I was both pleased and impressed to learn of your escape.”

There he went again, knowing all about my business.  It was a little flattering, but mostly it was kinda creepy, the idea that there were a bunch of people out there knowing the ins and outs of my daily life.  “Seriously, how do you know all of this?”  Sam had spoken of the angels watching over me, was he one of them?

“I made it my business to know.  You don’t seem to understand the impact you’ve had on our world, my dear lady.”

“Oh?”

“Oh yes, in all the years of our existence, there has never been one such as you.  You are…”

“Yeah, I know, I’m new.  I get that a lot,” I sighed and he chuckled again. 

“Do not take it to heart that many of my kind have not accepted you, as a whole we resist change.”

“That’s okay, I never set out to be Miss Popular.  Actually I’m a little more worried about the ones that like me a little too much.”

“Could anyone ever care too much, dear lady?”

Uh oh.
  I recognized the look of infatuation that started to gather on his face and I wanted to nip that in the bud.  “Yeah well, I’m taken, I mean
really
taken,” I added quickly, gratified when he got the message and stopped giving me those puppy dog eyes.  “I don’t appreciate being kidnapped by demons who are attracted to my Grace or fallen angels who want to use me to escape eternal damnation either.  By the way, shouldn’t it be your guys’ job to make sure that doesn’t happen?  He’s your prisoner, right?”

“You speak of Azazael.”

“Yep, that’s the one.  What kind of a prison is it if he can escape into the Ether whenever he wants or jump into someone’s body?”  It seemed like a flawed system to me.  Sure his body was chained to a rock, but it obviously wasn’t doing any good if his mind could escape so easily. 

“He has come to you in the Ether?”

Maybe it was petty of me, but I couldn’t help but feel a little jolt of happiness for having caught an all knowing angel by surprise.  “Oh, so you don’t know every little thing about me after all, do you?” I gloated.

“My apologies, the Ether is difficult for us to monitor.”

“That’s okay.”  It was better for me if they didn’t keep too close of an eye on the Ether anyway.  It left me feeling less like I was being watched at every turn when I got to spend time with Adam.

“You should not have to bear the brunt of Azazael’s avarice or schemes.  Nathanael!” he called out, and I almost wished I’d kept my mouth shut.  But if they could help me with my Azazael problem, that would simple my life up big time.  “Were you aware that Azazael is stalking this child in the Ether?”

“I am not her keeper, I leave that to you,” he replied with disdain. 

My brows came up at that one.  The guy was my keeper?  Did I have
another
guardian angel?  Not that I was complaining, but how exactly did I rate that?  Did he get an assignment to watch over me, or was it his idea all on his own?  With an advocate in my corner, I spoke up again.  “Yeah, but you don’t want him to escape right?  Isn’t there something you can do to keep him from coming after me?”

“Even if I deigned to concern myself with your plight, we are bound by God’s instructions, unable to take action without direction.  There is little that can be done against Azazael unless and until he actually escapes his bonds.”

The sonofabitch actually looked happy about the loophole that allowed Azazael to keep tormenting me with no retribution.  I had to wonder, was he always like that?  Or was it just me who got his knickers in a knot?  While I pretty much expected a response like that from good ol’ Nate, my new champion clearly was not.

“Still, you cannot believe it is His will for Azazael to escape,” he pressed, but Nathanael wasn’t interested.

“I have learned not to try and anticipate God’s will and I would caution you to do the same,” Nathanael replied stiffly.  “If you feel that strongly about it, take up a petition, you know the proper channels.”

“I shall.”

“Fine, may we get back to business now?”  The air fairly crackled with enmity as the two angels squared off, but my friend was the first one to back down.

“I humbly await your pronouncement,” he gave a low bow before stalking off.

“That guy is a total asshat,” I muttered under my breath and the angel standing next to me gave a nervous titter of laughter.  He soon quieted under Nathanael’s disapproving glare though and we all sobered, waiting for whatever angel business was on the docket. 

“There is a report of a prophet near San Salvador, Gagiel, you are chosen to respond.”

“As my Lord commands,” Gagiel nodded.

“Zethar, have you a report on the situation in Portland?”

My interest peaked by the proximity of the location, I paid particular attention to Zethar’s report about witch activity in the Portland Metro Area.  The short and skinny of it was, there was no proof anyone was trafficking with the devil, so they moved on.   That’s how it went, assignments and reports on various activities going on all over the world. 

Overall it was a lot more boring than I would have thought.  Most reports were disproven as anything supernatural and even when something interesting was mentioned, they didn’t talk about taking steps to correct it, they were just cataloged for the report.  Or maybe they were leery of talking about the good stuff in front of me?

Before you go thinking I’m being big headed about the effect of my being there, I can totally prove it.  All along I got the feeling Nathanael couched his terms in the most general sense possible, keeping details vague, but it was never more noticeable than when he began his final report. 

After a pointed look in my direction, he addressed the group.  “There is a report that you know who has made his presence known at a certain club in Los Angeles…”

I couldn’t keep quiet any longer.  “Oh, come on,
you know who
?  Seriously?  What are we chasing after evil wizards now?  Like I can’t figure out who you’re talking about.”  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.  “I may not be an angel but I’m not a moron.  Either tell it like it is or ask me to leave.”

“I did ask you to leave,” he replied, his teeth grinding together.  “And yet you remain.”

“Fine, I’ll go.  This was
so
not what I expected when I heard the call of the horn.  No offense.” I turned to offer that to Gabriel who watched me closely.  “I thought you guys helped people?  All I’m hearing is a lot of surveillance.  You guys are the biggest peeping Tom’s…” With that I turned on my heel and stalked away.  I hadn’t gone more than a dozen feet when my new friend fell into step beside me.

“Have no fear, I will petition on your behalf.  Azazael will not be allowed to torment you so.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.  I’d try talking to the Big Guy myself, but it’s a little out of my way.” I gave him a grateful smile.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“A thousand apologies, my dear lady.  I am Raziel.”

I felt as though I’d been socked in the stomach, and it took long seconds before I could suck in a breath to form coherent words.  “You’re Raziel?”

“I can see my reputation precedes me.”

“No shit,” slipped out before I could stop myself from swearing in front of an angel.  Raziel.  The Angel of Death who had brought so much heartache to Adam and Sam both.  Why the hell was he so keen on keeping tabs on me?  Was he waiting for the time when he’d have to put me down too?  If it wasn’t something like that, then why hadn’t he introduced himself to me in the first place? 

The profound look of sadness in his eyes gave me pause.  He was nothing like I’d imagined him.  I suppose I’d pictured someone more like Nathanael, full of righteous anger.  Or maybe a goose-stepping soldier with more brawn than brains, carrying out the Lord’s orders without regard for the destruction it would cause.  But he wasn’t like that at all.  In fact, I’d been well on the way to considering him a friend and ally.  “Look, I have to go.  I shouldn’t be talking to you.”