The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon (13 page)

“When will he stop thinking with his pants?” Elise muttered.

“He’s a guy, all guys think with their pants,” Gabriel shrugged, not realizing that he had said it until it was too late.

“Even you?” Elise asked, arching an eyebrow.

“No,” Gabriel blushed.

“You haven’t told us much about yourself,” Marissa said. “Aside from the fact that Ethan let you get attacked by a demon…”

“We didn’t let him get attacked by anyone,” Ethan snapped, from the other table. How he could have heard that with all the noise in the club, Gabriel had no idea. “If you had all listened to me and let me bring Everett and some RPGs the situation would have been handled.”

“And by handled, you mean blown sky high,” Marissa prodded.

“What a surprise, Ethan not taking responsibility for something,” Elise grumbled. She shot Ethan a look of annoyance; Ethan didn’t respond but instead went back to conversing with those at his table.

“So, spill it, what’s the deal with you?” Marissa asked.

“Not much to tell really,” Gabriel shrugged.

“He stood up to David and his goons for me,” Cody tossed in. “Pretty ballsy move considering the fact that David could have beat his face in.”

“I doubt that you would have let him,” Gabriel admitted. “I mean you being a highly skilled commando and all.”

“Maintaining my cover is essential,” Cody smiled. “So, who knows what I would have done.”

“Ok so you like rescuing the damsel in distress…”

“Hey!” Cody snapped. “I’m no damsel!”

“Oh shut up,” Elise said, with a wave of her hand. “What do you like to do for fun?”

“Fun?” Gabriel asked.

“Fun, wait you do know how to have fun right?” Elise asked. “Ryan did you recruit a stick in the mud?”

“I like to read,” Gabriel blurted out. “And I dunno…go to movies.”

“What do you like to read?”

Gabriel thought for a moment, he wasn’t sure how honest he should be in this particular sense, mainly because he was trying to make a good impression on these people. He had already admitted to reading for pleasure so he was pretty sure that he couldn’t really cause any more harm to his image.

“Stephen King, Hemmingway, Shakespeare…I actually just finished the Art Of War,” Gabriel admitted. “Wow, that seems really ironic now that I think about it.”

“He’s going to be more cultured than you,” Elise said with a grin. “Oh, I love this song come on.”

Ryan didn’t budge. “You know that I don’t dance.”

“Right,” Elise snorted. “You’re ok with killing demons and putting on some
interesting public displays of affection but you won’t dance. What is it with you guys anyways? Look, there are plenty of people out on dance floor…including Tony.”

Gabriel turned to look at where Elise was pointing, taking note that Tony had started dancing with a different girl, although just as cute as the first one that he was with. Gabriel shook his head; he had a feeling that Tony enjoyed the company of girls no matter where he went or what he was doing. Gabriel also took note that Everett and Ethan had appeared on the dance floor as well, Gabriel had to make sure that his eyes stayed away from lingering on Ethan’s seductively moving frame.

“That’s his business,” Ryan spoke.

“Come on,” Cody said, sliding out of the booth and offering his hand. “Let’s go have some fun.”

“That only works because he has an accent,” Ryan called after Cody. Cody turned around and winked as he, Marissa, and Elise made it onto the dance floor.

“Interesting public display of affection?” Gabriel asked.

“So not worth talking about.”

Had Gabriel known Ryan better he would have pressed him for more information. As it was he decided not to, he wanted to keep on Ryan’s good side. Gabriel took note of how Ryan seemed to look at Elise; his eyes seemed to linger on her much like Gabriel did with Ethan. A thought started forming in the back of his mind regarding Ryan and Elise, one that he shoved away. Clearly, there was something going on there but Gabriel didn’t feel like he knew Ryan well enough to ask about it.

“So…um…Elise seemed pretty short with Ethan,” Gabriel said, in an attempt to start a conversation. He was curious to see what direction Ryan would take the conversation or if he would simply shut him down right away.

“They have a complicated past,” Ryan shrugged. “They dated a while ago. Ethan won’t really talk much about why they broke up though.”

“She seems really nice,” Gabriel went on.

“She is really nice,” Ryan smiled. The way that he looked at her after he said it made it even clearer that she was something more to him than a friend, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it. Gabriel wondered if she felt the same way.

“I was sort of torn when they broke up,” Ryan said, quickly taking his eyes off the dance floor. “I mean I’ve known Ethan pretty much all my life and Elise a long time too. Everyone was thrilled when they got together, mainly because we never thought that Ethan could be reined in by anyone.”

“Seems like they would be a good match,” Gabriel smiled. “Somehow I don’t see her taking anything from anyone.”

“She doesn’t,” Ryan responded, shaking his head. “And then they broke up and everything got miserable for a while. Neither one of them are the type that likes to lose.”

“And breaking up counts as losing?” Gabriel asked. True, he had never really had a relationship but he was pretty sure that wasn’t exactly the healthy way to look at it.

“I have no idea,” Ryan shrugged. “I think that they are both to prideful to admit that they actually got hurt by someone.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Come on,” Ryan said, sliding out of the booth. “Let’s get something to drink.”

Gabriel nodded and followed after him.

CHAPTER 6

Gabriel groaned as soon as the alarm went off. All he wanted was one Saturday to sleep past seven in the morning. Of course given recent changes to his life, he found it hard to believe that was ever going to happen again. He rolled over and not so gently slapped the alarm off. Grumbling to himself he threw off the covers and got out of bed, stretching as he stood.

There had been certain advantages to joining the Guardians; most evident was the physical change that he had been through the past few months. His frame was now packed with muscle, giving him an athletic and defined physique.

He knew that everyone else would be sleeping in; no doubt he would be out the door and on his way to Aegis before anyone else actually got out of bed.

That wouldn’t be a surprise to his parents, both of whom had vastly approved of his early morning workouts. He took a look at himself in the mirror, still surprised by what he saw. He had also changed his hair style, mostly due to the prodding of Elise and Marissa. Although he was surprised to find that Ryan agreed with them both; then again Ryan did a lot of agreeing with Elise, no matter what she said.

Now, his longish hair had been cut short and he wore it spiked up, something that had brought him more than a few looks from the ladies at school. In fact, he was noticing that he months of hard training had gotten him a lot of attention from people at school, although that might have to do with the fact that he was hanging out with Ryan and Tony.

The constant training was having other effects a well. Most notably his confidence, which had gone through the roof and it wasn’t just because he had spent all that time working out. He knew he looked better but more importantly, he felt better. He walked taller, spoke his mind more and felt more confident in everything that he did.

He finished showering and headed out the door. His, car a 1998 red mustang sat in the driveway. He managed to save up enough money and with the help of his parents, purchase the vehicle a few weeks ago. It wasn’t as new or as flashy as Ryan’s truck, Tony’s motorcycle, or Ethan’s Charger but it did the job of getting him from point A to point B just fine. He unlocked it and tossed his bag into the passenger seat. Seconds later, he pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street.

Ever since getting the car he had been driving to school early, mostly so that he could get a run in with Ryan and Cody before classes started. He actually looked forward to all the physical activity that he now partook in on a daily bases. He slid the Mustang into a parking space near the track and got out greeting Ryan and Cody as he did so.

“Ready?” Cody asked.

“Yup,” Gabriel nodded.

The trio took off around the track. Most days Ryan and Cody would quiz him on all things relating to the Guardians, other days they used the time to just talk amongst themselves. Gabriel enjoyed those days most because he got to know his teammates on a more personal level.

“Aside from the guns and whatnot, are there any other advantages to being a Guardian?”

“Girls,” Ryan shrugged. “Or in your case, boys.”

“You get girls?” Gabriel asked, arching an eyebrow. “I can’t fathom why anyone at all would want to kiss you.”

Well that wasn’t entirely untrue, Ryan was good looking and had he not become a close friend, Gabriel could easily see him finding him pretty damn hot. But again, the thought of even looking at Ryan in that light made him gag slightly.

“Shut up you git,” Ryan snapped.

“Good word usage,” Cody smiled.

“I’ve been looking at all the Guardian lore,” Gabriel said. “Or actually, Cody has been making me look at all the Guardian lore and I have a question. Where did we come from?”

“Well when a mommy Guardian and a daddy Guard
ian love each other very much,” Ryan started to say.

“
Oh shut up,” Cody interrupted. “Depends on what myth you read up on. There are two pretty popular ones; most say that we were gifted with the rituals that we use by the fallen ones.”

“Demons?” Gabriel asked.

“No,” Cody shook his head. “Fallen angels, ones that were cast out of heaven with Lucifer when he rebelled; they didn’t want to spend eternity in hell so they came back to earth as mortals and helped devise ways of fighting against evil and in the process they created the first Guardians.”

“And the other one?”

“Michael the Archangel offered a group of warriors the chance to serve a higher purpose, to protect the world around them. He gave them an artifact, something called the Seraphim’s Heart and they used that to create the first Guardians.”

“Which one is true?”

“Depends on who you ask,” Ryan shrugged. “The Rite creates a sort of amnesia around what happens so no one is for sure what goes on. Why all the questions?”

“Just curious, that’s all.”

They finished their run fifteen minutes later and headed inside to the locker room to change. Again, he was happy that his school had popped for the individual shower stalls as well, making changing for PE a much less horrifying experience. He changed and headed out of the locker-room toward his first class, which happened to be history.

“Where you going in such a hurry?”

Gabriel sighed heavily; he knew who it was as soon as he opened his mouth. David had been ignoring him the past few months, apparently not taking notice of the changes that had taken place with Gabriel.

“Class,” Gabriel grunted. “You should try going sometime.”

David stalked toward him and instantly Gabriel’s mind calculated about two dozen ways to stun him before he could even lay a hand on him.

“Well, look who got a backbone.”

Gabriel crossed his arms, staring David down. “Do you have a problem with something?”

“I got a problem with you Gay-breil.”

David hooted and hollered, clearly impressed with himself for the witty pun involving Gabriel’s name and sexual orientation.

“Want me to get him out of here?” Ryan asked. He had taken a few steps forward, ready to intercede between the two of them.

“I got this.”

“Are you sure...”

Gabriel looked at Ryan and gave him a smile. As much as Ryan wanted to protect him, there were certain things the he had to do on his own.

By now a small crowd had gathered. Gabriel took note that Cody had once again slipped back into his incognito persona. Truthfully, looking at him it was almost impossible to burst out in laughter considering what Gabriel knew that he was capable of. David had a wild look in his eye, a sign that he was about to something rather rash.

“I’m not afraid of you anymore,” Gabriel said. He let a tone of boredom creep into his voice. This prompted an intake of breath from pretty much everyone that had gathered around them. Even Ryan and Tony were playing their parts. “So let’s just get this over with, go ahead and try and hit me.”

“Oh there’s no trying about it.”

David threw a punch. It had poor form, poor speed, and poor accuracy. Gabriel side stepped the attack easily, arching an eyebrow at David as he reeved up for another hit. Gabriel easily dodged the blow. That set David off, sending him into a flurry of poorly aimed punches, all of which Gabriel managed to evade.

“
Done yet?” Gabriel asked, staring at his nail beds.

David was irate now, muttering and cursing under his breath. He came at Gabriel again, swinging wildly away like he was some sort of crazed monkey. All and all, Gabriel found the display rather amusing. He avoided each strike easily; finally grabbing one of David’s failing limbs and shoving him hard into a locker. At the same time he kept a hold of the arm, twisting it up and toward David. He struggled against the grip that Gabriel now had on him.

“Let’s get one thing straight, friend,” Gabriel said, making sure his voice was loud enough that everyone gathered could hear him. “You don’t have nearly as much power as you think you do and I’m not going to let you bully me or Cody or anyone else, you got that.”

David yelped in pain as Gabriel applied more pressure to the joints locked behind his back.

“I have had enough of you thinking that you are better than everyone here, stay clear of me and my friends from now on, you understand me?”

David nodded. Gabriel spun him around and let go of his arm but not before giving him a good swift kick in the rear. David yelped again and took off down the hallway at near breakneck speed. When his goons turned to look at Gabriel all he had to do was smile and beckon them forward with one hand. They took after their fearless leader down the hall.

“Aw,” Tony said, wiping away a fake tear. “Our little boy is all grown up.”

Gabriel didn’t notice the applause that he got after that. He simply picked up his book bag and continued toward history, Tony and Ryan falling into step beside him.

“And how long have you wanted to do that?” Ryan asked.

“Oh, a while.”

“Hey Gabriel.”

Gabriel turned around at the mention of his name, searching the faces of those in the crowded hallway. He finally realized that it was Teddy that had called out his name, his former friend. The same Teddy that had pretty much ignored him since he came out.

“That was pretty cool man,” Teddy said, as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“He had it coming for a while I just couldn’t stand watching him push people around anymore.”

“Yeah,” Teddy said.

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments.

“So...um...maybe we could hang out again sometime.”

“Sure,” Gabriel shrugged. “Need my number again?”

“Nah,” Teddy shook his head. “I still have it in my phone. I need to get going, see you around man.”

“Sure thing,” Gabriel
nodded.

“You could do better,” Tony said, watching Teddy walk away.

“It’s not like that,” Gabriel frowned, shaking his head. “We used to be friends. After I came out he sort of started ignoring me. I haven’t really talked to him since last summer.”

“They do know that you can’t get gay, right?” Ryan asked, as they continued their walk toward history. “I mean it’s not like a foot fungus or something.”

“Personally, I’d rather you just punched David’s face in,” Tony shrugged. “It would have served him right.”

“Yeah but I don’t think I want to explain to my mom why I got suspended,” Gabriel shrugged. “Plus his dad has a ton of lawyers I’m sure he would sue the hell out of me and my family.”

“You could always use Aegis’s legal services,” Tony offered.

“I could?”

“No, you can’t,” Ryan said.

“Besides, I think that he’ll keep his mouth shut.”

“Why do you say that?”

“What self-respecting straight guy, especially in high school, is going to admit that he got beat up by a gay guy?”

“Dude, has a point,” Tony nodded, sliding into his desk.

The final bell rang and soon Gabriel found himself on his way to his car, ready to spend another afternoon at Aegis. He climbed in, started it up and took off toward Aegis.

Along the way his thoughts started to wander. He marveled at how much his attitude has changed over the past few months. And he knew that a lot of it had everything to do with Ryan, Tony, Cody, and Everett. All of them had taken to training him a few days a week.

But aside from the constant training with them; Gabriel found himself really liking most of his teammates. Ryan and Elise always managed to exude a calming influence, no matter the situation. Tony and Cody were great at pushing him to his limits and knowing how to get him to go past those limits. And Everett was ever patient with him, encouraging him to always think outside the box and learn new things.

And then there was Ethan. He had remained pretty distant from Gabriel, although not as condescending as he once was. He watched him practice more than once, although he never made any sort of comment about how he was doing. He just stood off to the side and looked on, almost as if he was studying him. At school he was nice enough but still managed to keep his distance.

Which made the fact that Gabriel still found him so attractive all the more annoying. He couldn’t figure it out either; yes he was insanely good looking, yes he was smart, and yes he was a badass in pretty much every sense of the word. But he was also arrogant, condescending, and downright rude on more than one occasion. There were times when he found himself asking Ryan, Tony, Everett, and Cody how in earth they could be friends with someone like him.

And they all just said that you had to get to get to know him. And therein was his problem. He really wanted to get to know him, not just as a friend either. Oh, Gabriel was well aware of how unobtainable Ethan was, mostly due to the fact that he had zero romantic interest in guys. Another thought occurred to him…was he one of those guys that liked bad boys?

Great
, he thought.
You’re only attracted to unobtainable jerks, what a winner you’re turning out to be! Get a grip already!

He shook the thoughts away as he parked his car and grabbed his smart phone, courtesy of Aegis of course, his gym bag, and his project notes from the back seat. One of the other huge advantages of working at Aegis was the scope and breadth of their research facilities and resources. He took checked in with the front desk and headed right up to the lab level where he was working closely with Aadesh on a few projects.