Gabriel (23 page)

“
It’s nice to meet you. It appears I missed a lot while I was
knocked out.”

“
It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“
From what Robert has told me, you’ve had quite a busy two days in
this, um, time,” Calla said.

“
Yes, there has been a lot to take in, but Maree, Robert, and
Gabriel have been great.”

“
Good.”

They continued to eat and
talk. Robert filled the ladies in about the hunt and subsequent mishap.

“
Once we find out if those demons are humans, I can work on the
formula. I think five minutes may be too long to wait for them to go
unconscious,” Maree said.

“
Five minutes feels like an eternity when you’re being chased.”
Robert leaned over and gave Maree a kiss. “If anyone can make the formula
better it’s you.”

“
I’ll do my best. I’m also wondering if I should look at something
airborne. What do you guys think?” Maree asked.

“
Will an airborne formula affect humans?” Calla asked.

“
No, it affects the mutant gene.”

“
Would it work faster?” Tre asked.

“
That’s the first thing I’m going to try to fix, but I think the
airborne would work smarter. I listened to Robert explain what happened. If you
could have walked into the warehouse, dispersed the aerosol and shut the door,
everyone would have been safer.”

“
That is true. What is the time frame to try an aerosol formula?”
Gabriel asked.

“
Give me a day to make some adjustments,” Maree said.

“
Good,” Gabriel said.

“
Maree and I are going down to the lab,” Robert said.

“
Can I go with you?” Tre asked.

“
Of course,” Maree said.

“
Well it looks like it’s just us,” Calla said as she stood up.
“Let’s go into the living room.”

Calla and Gabriel entered the
room and sat down on the couch.

“
This is a nice change. You’re not dying. I’m not dying. Just a
nice normal conversation,” Calla said.

“
I am not sure what to say.”

“
That’s okay. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and there are some
questions I want to ask you.”

“
Yeah. Is that the correct phrase?”

“
Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Gabriel, but, yes, that’s the correct
response.”

“
What would you like to know?”

“
How were you stabbed to the point of near death?”

“
Have you been thinking about that for a while?”

“
I’m not letting you evade the question. Yes, I have. I want to
understand how fragile you really are.”

“
Fragile?”

“
Answer the question.”

“
When the Kematians escaped they had a weapon that can kill us. It
is called ‘Nex Addo’. There are only five in existence, and they have all five
of them.”

“Nex, who?” Calla asked.

“Nex Addo, and it means death-bringer.
It is a sword with one purpose … killing angels.”

“Why don’t they just call it
an angel killing sword?”

Gabriel laughed and shook his
head.

“
How did they get them?” Calla folded her legs, facing Gabriel.

 
“They had them when we trapped them. When they
escaped they took them with them. I was unfortunate enough to find a group that
had one. And thanks to you I lived.”

Calla’s cheeks warmed. She
glanced down before asking, “Can anything else kill you?”

“
Here on Earth?” Gabriel asked as Calla nodded her head. “No.”

“
What does it look like?”

“
It is long, with a pointed end,” Gabriel said as Calla hit his
shoulder in a playful manner. “Okay, okay.” Gabriel laughed. “It is made from a
material not of this world. That is what makes it different. The color is
green, but it looks more like copper after it has been exposed to the weather.”

“
Okay. I know you can read minds. Do you read mine?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“You know I have.”

“
Yes, I know when I was all blood-crazed, but do you read minds
whenever you want?”

“
No.”

“
Good, and let’s keep it that way. It bothers me to think you know
what I’m thinking.”

“
It would make things easier for me if I read your mind, but for
some reason I cannot bring myself to do it to you.”

“
It’s called self-preservation,” Calla said with a laugh.

 
“
It’s called
love,” he said as he lowered his head to hers.

Their lips met. Gabriel moved
closer to her, and the kiss became more intense. Calla pulled back, and Gabriel
was stunned. He wondered if he had done something wrong.

“
Wow. That was amazing, and as much as I don’t want to stop I’m not
going to miss this opportunity to grill you.”

Gabriel leaned back against
the couch. “Wow, indeed.”

“
Have you ever … well, you know….”

“
I do not understand. Explain.”

“
Have you ever been, ah, intimate with a woman before?”

“
No.”

Gabriel’s stomach filled with
butterflies. His blood felt a little warmer now than it had a few moments ago.
If kissing Calla caused this kind of reaction what would it be like to make
love to her? As the thoughts entered his mind, his jeans became snugger. He
adjusted himself.

“
Well, just so you know I’m not a virgin. If I would’ve known you
would be in my future I would’ve waited. I don’t want you to be disappointed,”
Calla said as she lowered her head.

“
Calla, look at me,” Gabriel said as he lifted her chin. “I could
never be disappointed in you. When we make love it will be something special
for me and I hope for you, too.”

“
Of course it will be.”

Gabriel lowered his mouth to
hers and closed his eyes. Her lips were like feathers as they brushed across
his lips. He pulled back slowly.

Calla raised her arm. The
hairs were all standing up. “Look what you do to me.”

Gabriel readjusted himself.
Look what you do to me.

“
I can almost think clearly. Time for another question. Why does
Tre speak English like he was born in this time, and
you
talk like an old man?” Calla laughed.

“
Old man? I guess that is accurate.”

“
Why?”

“
Learning this time is a journey for me. Tre was brought into this
era without the passage of time, so I gave him all the current information,
because I thought it would help with the adjustment he already has to make. I
have seen all the changes in humanity with the passage of time. Tre has not.”

“
That was very thoughtful.”

Calla leaned in and placed a
kiss on Gabriel’s lips. She sat back down.

“
I really like kissing you.”

Her eyes sparkled when she
looked at him. Gabriel’s chest grew heavy, and his heart began to race. He knew
in that instant he wouldn’t let anyone tear them apart.

“
I love you, Calla.”

Calla leaned in again. Her
mouth was a hair’s-breadth away from his when she said, “I love you, too.”

Their lips met. Gabriel
pulled Calla onto his lap. His mouth parted, and her tongue flicked his lips
and then deeper. After the initial shock, Gabriel decided it was nice and tried
the same thing, unsure what “it” was he was doing. Calla let out a soft moan,
and he figured he must be doing it right.

A loud bang came from the
basement. Gabriel jumped to an upright position, holding Calla close.

“
I better go see what that was,” Gabriel said.

“
Put me down first, please.”

Gabriel set Calla on the
ground, and he saw fire in her eyes. It sent shivers up his spine. He leaned in
for a quick kiss.

“
We better go before I change your mind,” Calla said.

Gabriel smiled.

On their way down the stairs
they heard shouting. It was in Tre’s native tongue.

“
What is going on down there?” Calla asked.

“
I believe the Kematians have turned into humans. It appears they
are as happy to see Tre as he is to see them.”

They stood on the last step
watching the exchange.

“
What are they saying?”

“
The equivalent to ‘Your Mother Jokes’ only not as a joke,” Gabriel
said.

Calla looked up at Gabriel
with a grin.

“
Have you been spending time on the internet?” Calla asked.

“
Yes.”

“
Maybe you should go do the language thing to them.”

“
Why?”

“
So I can understand what they’re saying.”

“
I do not think those words are fit for a lady’s ear.”

“
I work in the ER. I don’t think anything they could say would
shock me.”

“
Okay.”

Gabriel approached the cell
and spoke to the four men. They all knelt before him. He continued talking, and
they stood up, still averting their gaze. Gabriel raised a hand and placed it
on each of them. He explained to the men what he was doing.

When he finished the men
glanced at one another, and Gabriel could see their confusion. He started
explaining to them the era they awoke in. Gabriel waited a moment, but none of
them asked questions so Gabriel continued. He told them of the tests that would
be performed and why it needed to be done. They weren’t familiar with needles,
but they were former warriors, so the explanation was rough, but suited his
purpose.

Gabriel called to Maree and
asked her to bring the syringes.

Maree approached with four
syringes with needles on the end. Gabriel explained what she needed to do and
what was going to happen. He thought they still appeared confused. So he asked
Maree to bring another one. He let her demonstrate on him. They watched every
move Maree made, and when she was done they agreed to let her proceed drawing a
sample from each of them.

All four men could have been
Tre’s brothers. They had tan skin, stood at least six feet tall, and had jet
black hair past their shoulders. Gabriel introduced Ajeet, Chander, Devdan, and
Rama to Maree. Gabriel then called Robert, Calla, and Tre to meet the men. When
the introductions were finished they all sat down except for Ajeet. As Tre
approached the cell, Ajeet spat on the ground near his feet.

“
I will kill you,” Ajeet said.

“
I look forward to the challenge,” Tre said.

Maree and Calla edged toward
the stairs.

“
Where are you going?” Robert asked.

“
Um, we’re going to try to find them some clothes,” Maree said.

“
We’ll be upstairs,” Calla said.

Gabriel and Robert watched
the confrontation between Tre and Ajeet. Gabriel wanted to intervene, but free
will trumped all good intentions; so he continued to monitor the situation. The
other men were behind bars, so for now there wouldn’t be anything more than
hurtful words and the occasional spit that flew back and forth.

Gabriel noticed that the women
had been gone for some time. He turned to Robert. “I will go see if Calla and
Maree need help.”

“
I’ll go, too,” Robert said.

They walked into kitchen, and
the sliding glass door was open. Black feathers floated into the kitchen
through the opening.

“
Calla! Maree!” Gabriel called out as he ran through the house.

Chapter Sixteen

The house had been abandoned
for some time. The exterior was dilapidated, and the interior was worse. The
two-story farm house sat on the edge of a southern Michigan town. Windows
boarded, front porch steps missing, and the ones that remained couldn’t hold
the weight of a small child, let alone a two-hundred and fifty pound Kematian.