Mercy for the Fallen (41 page)

I was Mom now, instead of Momma.  It made sense, she’d had precious little time to be a child.  My Grace was still there, but she couldn’t perceive it, that and the glow of her human aura told me Oriana’s spell had been successful. 

“Yes, you’re safe now, Bunny.  We’re both safe.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Inside, I was dying, but there were things to do.  Besides binding Eve’s Grace, Nelo didn’t resemble a demon anymore.  He looked like a stocky little human, still only coming up to my waist, with dark hair and slightly crooked teeth.  It was hard to gauge his age from his appearance, but his voice still sounded childlike to me.  The amber eyes were the only things that felt the same.  We dressed him in some of Eve’s clothes, jeans and a Lilo & Stitch t-shirt, even though he said he found the material scratchy. 

I couldn’t bring myself to take Oriana home.  Instead, I called Matty and told him where to come and pick her up.  Maybe it was a shitty thing for me to do, but I couldn’t be around her, not yet, the pain was still too fresh. 

It was all I could do to get Evie and Nelo out of there, opting to take a rental car instead of flying us out.  We drove south, without a real destination in mind.  I had a bag full of cash and a set of new identities in the front seat, Eve and Nelo asleep in the back with Bitey curled up between them.  Inside the bag was a letter from Adam. I hadn’t been able to open it yet without dissolving into tears. 

For the moment there were more pressing matters at hand.  In order to make this work, for Eve to have a shot at a real childhood, I had to call in some reinforcements.  Remiel came as soon as I called, working some of that angelic magic of his to fudge with Eve’s memory.  He offered to stay on for a while, to make sure we were okay, but it hurt me to have him around.  I could see too much of Adam’s charm in his lazy smile, and too much of Adam’s beauty in his flawed perfection.  As far as I was concerned, I never wanted to see another angel again as long as I lived. 

And as far as Eve knew, angels and demons were only vague notions from storybooks.  She remembered Parker dimly, and Adam as a distant uncle who dropped in every now and again, but that was it.  Nothing of her time in Githa or with Michael, nothing of the Grace she’d given up, and Nelo was under strict orders never to mention any of it ever again.  It was better that way.

We settled in Battleground, Washington.  Well, as settled as we could be, prepared to run at the slightest hint of danger.  I enrolled Eve – now Annabeth by her choice – in school and tried to go on with living.  My birthday came and went, and I looked no different than when Sam first touched me with his Grace.  I started to think I might truly live forever.  Swell.

Months went by and we saw no sign of demons, Corinne and her believers, or any other angels.  Until the call came.

I’d just watched Eve climb onto the school bus when I heard it, the call of Gabriel’s horn.  My insides froze as I wondered if she’d hear anything too, but she waved to me from her seat like nothing was wrong.  I forced a smile, waving back, ignoring the call until the bus faded from sight. 

Shit
.  Just when I’d started to put it all in the past.

It felt like a lifetime ago when I’d last heard the call, back in my bed with Parker by my side, but there was no mistaking it.  The horn could not be ignored, but I delayed going for as long as I could, taking a perverse pleasure in sauntering back to our apartment first to give Nelo a heads up.  If the skirts had to wait – so be it. 

But by the time I got there, the muscles between my shoulder blades were twitching, every part of me eager to answer the call.  I barely paused to tell Nelo where I was headed, trusting him to meet Bunny at the bus stop if I didn’t come back in time to make sure she got home safely.  And then I stepped out onto the tiny balcony, spreading my wings with an audible sigh of relief. 

It didn’t take long to get there, the tiny wooded island near Seattle where I’d first met Gabriel and Raziel.  Raziel… I hadn’t thought about him in a long time.  Another angel dead because of me.  I tamped those thoughts away, it was getting easier to avoid thinking about painful things the more I did it.

I landed in the center of the group of milling angels with a soft whump.  “This had better not go past noon.  Do you know how hard it is to find a sitter at the drop of a hat?” I growled to Gabriel, not at all amused at being summoned, great honor or not. 

The angels gathered gasped at my tone, and I was willing to bet none of them had ever heard anyone speak to him like that.  For his part, Gabriel didn’t seem too upset by my outburst.  I took it he knew my circumstances well enough to know the source of my irritation. 

“We have much to discuss,” he said evenly.  “It has been too long since we last gathered.” 

“Not long enough for me.  Can’t you hold these things without me?  Give me a pass or something?” 

“You are still the Clarion, you are still my voice.”

“Yeah, whatever.”  I let out a long breath.  Might as well get it over with.  “Alright then, guys.  Hear ye, hear ye, the meeting is about to begin.”  I clapped my hands together, wishing I had a gavel to bang or something to get them to stop yakking.  “First order of business?”  I looked to Gabriel.

“We must speak of the Portland witches.”

“Is there an update on the witches in Portland?” I called out. 

One of the angels gave a report, I think his name was Davael.  Mostly it had to do with watching their activities, pretty boring stuff actually. 

“Why are we even watching these witches?  They’re the good guys,” I asked, remembering my brief contact with Annaliese in Portland.  “Don’t we have bigger fish to fry?” 

Davael drew back as if offended, but didn’t say anything as he looked to Gabriel, who waved me on.  “Move on to the demon activity in San Francisco.”

“Okay, enough about witches, he wants to know about the demons in San Francisco.”  Considering the large population of demons in other big cities, I could imagine a place like that would be a regular Mecca for the shadow creatures.   

Gagiel stepped forward.  “It’s being handled,” he said succinctly.

“By who?”

“Humans.”

“There are humans that know about demons?  That can’t be good,” I frowned, but Gabriel merely shrugged. 

“Some of them do.”

“So… it’s under control then?”

“For the moment.  I will keep them ever under my watchful eye,” Gagiel promised. 

“If you say so,” I murmured.  “Okay, moving on.”  If we kept things short and sweet, I might get home in time to eat lunch with Nelo before Bunny got home from school.   

“One of the Fallen has been redeemed.”

“Say what?” I blinked, sure I’d heard Gabriel wrong.  “Did you say one of the Fallen has been redeemed?”  A collective gasp went through the crowd – they were just as shocked as I was.

“Yes, he has been welcomed back into the fold.” 

“I thought that never happened.”

“This is a first,” he agreed, the hint of a smile behind his eyes.  A ripple of understanding seemed to go through the gathered angels, though I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why.  Something was up, and I felt like my brain was too sluggish to follow. 

“What’s…”

A blur of dark wings streaked through the sky, aiming for the island going impossibly fast.  I barely had time to take two steps backwards when it landed, and Adam stood there, his wings fanned around him for dramatic effect, the dopiest grin I’d ever seen perched on his lips. 

“Adam?” I breathed, too afraid I’d slipped into a dream to say more.  It hurt to look at him, he was so stunning, his Grace shining bright against the gray day. 

“That’s my name, babydoll,” he smirked.  “Did you miss me?”

The angels assembled parted, opening a path for me as I approached him, still too scared to believe my eyes.  “I don’t understand… you died.”

“Yep.”  He didn’t seem all that broken up about it.

“
Did you know this was going to happen?  Did you know you were going to come back?” 
I reached up to touch his face hesitantly, afraid he’d have no form, but he caught up my hand and pressed a kiss to the center of my palm. 

“
Actually, no, I had no idea,” he admitted.  Which meant only one thing… he’d seriously thought he was a goner that day.  Rage bubbled inside at him for taking that decision away from me and my hand cocked back, almost of its own volition.  I punched him hard enough to send him reeling backwards, off balance. 

“That’s for being a dumbass and leaving me like that,” I shouted, overcome with emotion.  I leapt at him again, and Adam tensed, but this time I delivered a powerful kiss, throwing my arms around his neck.  He was there, and he was real.  He tasted the same, and the way he held me… it was like we’d never been apart. 

Only after we were gasping for breath did it occur to me to ask, “Are you allowed to do that, now that you’re a full angel again?”

“Who cares?” he breathed, kissing me again.  I let him distract me like that for long minutes, until I pulled back again. 

“No, seriously.  Is it a problem for us to be together?  Loving a woman is what got you Fallen in the first place.”

Adam gave a careless shrug.  “I don’t see any thunder or lightening, so I think we’re good.  I wouldn’t care anyway.  Fallen or not, I’m still going to be with you.”  He held me tight, and I felt a knot ease inside of me, deep beneath my heart where I’d felt lost and alone since he’d died. 

“Have you been up there in Heaven this whole time?”

Adam pulled back to look at me again.  “How long have I been gone?” he frowned.

“A few months.”

“Ah shit, I’m sorry about that, Mercy.  You know time…”

“Moves differently,” I finished for him.  “Yes, I remember.  It’s okay, as long as you’re back now.”

Gabriel cleared his throat, and I remembered we had an audience.  All the angels were watching us closely, curious over the open display of affection. 

“Oh, right.  The meeting’s adjourned,” I announced, shaking out my wings.  More than anything I wanted to get Adam home.  No… needed to, to prove to myself it was real. 

“We still have business to discuss,” Gabriel said mildly.

“Then act it out with charades, I’m on sabbatical as of now.  Come on, Adam, let’s go.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he smirked, taking hold of my hand as we took off.  We didn’t talk on the way.  It didn’t take all that long to get back to Battleground and back to my apartment.  Nelo was predictably excited to see him and Adam hugged him back, even if I could tell he was understandably weirded out to see the human version of the little guy.  I was still getting used to him in people form too, only Eve seemed to accept him as normal.  He chattered on in excitement until we convinced him we needed some grown-up time of our own, and he excused himself to go make a welcome home banner. 

“You’re really here,” I sighed, catching myself staring at Adam for the umpteenth time since he’d walked through the door.

“I am,” he grinned, reaching over to rub my shoulder.

“I can’t believe this is happening.  Bunny’s going to flip out, and Sam, Remy… Everybody.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.”

“What?” 

“I don’t think you should tell her I’m her father yet.”

I could see what it cost him to say that, and my brows knit together in puzzlement.  “Why not?”

“It’s like you said.  It’s okay for Uncle Adam to drop in and out of her life, it’s not okay for a father.”

Quick like a rabbit, the knot of dread jumped back into my stomach.  “But… you’re back to stay, right?”

His hand flopped back and forth.  “Yes, and no.  I’m here, but I have responsibilities now.”

“What kind of responsibilities?”

“Whatever He decides.”  His eyes turned skyward.  “But for the moment I’m all yours.”

“I guess that’s all I can ask for.”  I leaned close to meet his kiss, the knot easing at his touch.  “Evie doesn’t remember any of it, you know.  Angels, demons, what she is… Remiel wiped it clean.  So you can’t do anything angelic whenever you’re around.”

“I can manage that,” he agreed without hesitation.

I let out a long breath, settling deeper into the couch as I turned it over in my head.  “So we go back to you being Uncle Adam?  At least while we’re in public and in front of Eve?”  It wasn’t the worst plan ever.  It would make things simpler, so long as we could keep our hands to ourselves. 

“As much as I’d like things to be otherwise, I think that’s probably for the best.  No sense in confusing her.  Unless you think she’ll accept that we’re unusually close siblings.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, leaning in to kiss my neck.

“You’re sick, you know that?” I laughed, even as I tilted my head to give him better access.  We probably wouldn’t last a week before she figured it out.  “Do you really want to do this?  To live as a normal human being, washing dishes, taking out the garbage, get a real job, become a productive member of society?”

Adam drew back, his face pinched as if he’d smelled something rank.  “Who says we have to do all that?  Why can’t we be independently wealthy?”

“Because the whole point is to be under the radar.  Just because Eve’s Grace is hidden doesn’t mean there aren’t people still out there looking for her.  The less attention we attract, the better.”

“You can get a job then, I’ll be your freeloading brother,” he grinned.  My smile faltered. I still missed Matty and I felt bad about how I’d left things with Oriana, but we’d completely cut off all ties to the past.  Adam mistook my reaction.  “Don’t worry, I’ll still contribute to the household, it’ll just be with my ill gotten gains.”