The Creation: Chaos Rising (16 page)

Nina blinked. "
Cairo? In...Egypt?"

Gabriel studied her expression closely. "That's were I was born."

Nina blinked again. "That's amazing. I've always been fascinated by Egyptian culture. How did you end up with the Leyrs?"

"Nathaniel Leyr and my father met during an earlier excavation, and remained close friends thereafter. When he learned of my parents' death, he and his wife, Catherine, came to the
Cairo orphanage where I had been placed, and adopted me."

"You had no other family in
Egypt?"

Gabriel's voice turned bitter. "None that wan
ted me; my father was Egyptian, but my mother was British. Their respective families wouldn't accept their marriage, let alone me."

Nina shook her head from side to side. "I will never understand the ignorance of racism."

Gabriel released an indifferent snort. "The world is what it is."

Nina jumped on his statement, her hazel eyes flashing with anger. "That's why folks like us have to put in the effort to change it!"

Gabriel gave her hand a soothing pat. "As I've heard you say on numerous occasions."

His teasing comment brought an embarrassed flush to Nina's face. "Sorry. It's easy for me to fall into lecture mode."

"Don't apologize. The world needs people like you who are willing to care for those that can't take care of themselves."

Nina smiled. "I guess that's something you and I have in common.

Gabriel's eyes flared briefly. "Actually we don't."

Nina gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

Gabriel's eyes shifted back to his wife's painting. "You do what you do because you
want
to. My cooperation was forced."

Nina lightly touched his face, drawing his attention back to her. "Tell me. Please," she added when she sensed his hesitation.

"I'm afraid this is the part where the story gets…interesting."

A look of worry briefly touched Nina's face. "Interesting as in bad?"

The Celemor shrugged. "Interesting as in…
Interesting."

Nina searched his face for a moment then gave him a shrewd look. "I'm a heavenly
Harbinger who consorts with glowing Celestial beings. I think I can handle it."

Gabriel hoped she was right. "Suit your self," he said then continued his tale. "

"As I said earlier, I met Clarissa while in the States on vacation with the Leyrs. Nathaniel had always been fascinated by America's southwest region, and decided that the time had finally come to satisfy his curiosity.

Clarissa and I became very close during our six week expedition. When it finally came time for the Leyrs and I to return to
England, I chose to stay behind in the hopes that she and I could one day have a future together. The elders of her tribe accepted me and we were married 2 months later."

"It sounds like you made the right call. How did the Leyrs take you not returning home with them?"

Gabriel smiled at the memory of his adopted parents' reaction. "It was a mixed blessing. They were saddened by my decision to make a permanent home in America, but happy that I had found love."

A dreamy sigh escaped Nina's lips. "That's nice. I take it they approved of Clarissa as a mate for you?"

"Absolutely," Gabriel declared. "When I wrote to them about our plans to marry, they wired me a substantial dowry for us to get started in our new life. Clarissa and I used most of it to purchase this place." He waved his hands around the parlor. "Back in its heyday Clawson had been a popular resort. We had this grand idea to bring it back to its former glory." The Celemor gazed fondly at his wife's portrait. "I think she would've like what I've done with the place."

Nina nodded her head in stout agreement. "I think she would've been
very
pleased. Hell, I've only seen this one room and I'm blown away."

Gabriel grimaced at the compliment. "Thanks." He returned his gaze to his family's portrait.

Nina easily read the look of yearning on his face. She gently took hold of his hand. "How long have they been gone?"

Gabriel tensed. This was it. The moment he had been dreading. Hopefully his answer wouldn't push her away as it had done with the scant few he had shared his history with in the past.

Without taking his eyes from the portrait, he answered her question. "I lost them 106 years ago."

Nina stiffened, her eyes growing wide. "What?"

Gabriel sighed, and brought his eyes down to meet hers. "My wife and daughter were killed in the Great Quake that destroyed most of San Francisco back 1906."

It took the
Harbinger several seconds to digest this startling revelation, and several more to regain the use of her voice. "How is that possible?"

A humorless smile curved Gabriel's lips. "One of the
by-products of being a Celemor; when you join the Hierarchy, you're in it for the long haul."

Nina's left eyebrow arched upward. "Are you saying your immortal?"

"I'm afraid so."

Again, Nina paused as she tried to wrap her mind around such an amazing concept.  "Now
that's
deep," she finally uttered as she eased her body into the closest chair, retreating gratefully into its oversized embrace. "So...when exactly were you born?"

"1878; on August 9
th,,
to be exact."

Nina did the math. "You're a hundred and thirty-four years old?" He nodded, and Nina let out an appreciative whistle. "Well you must be doing something right. You don't look a day over 130."

Gabriel released the breath he'd been unconsciously holding. Once again, his charge had proven her self resilient to a disturbing revelation. Smiling at her quip, he sat down in the chair beside hers. "Why thank you ma'am. I'll take that as a compliment."

Nina noticed that the humor on his face didn't erase the sadness in his eyes. She leaned forward and laid a gentle hand atop his shoulder. "All jokes aside, Gabe, if this is something you'd rather not talk about I completely understand."

He covered her hand with his, and brought it to his lips where he gave her knuckles a light kiss. "I appreciate your concern but no. You've come to mean a lot to me these past several months. I would rather there not be any more secretes between us."

A pleased smile creased Nina's lips. "I'd like that, too."

"I'm just glad the revelation of my age didn't spook you."

Nina released an amused snort. "Like I said before; I'm a heavenly
Harbinger who regularly consorts with glowing beings. Finding out that you're a walking talking relic just isn't that big of a deal."

Her comment elicited another quick smile from the Celemor. "I suppose I should continue the story."

Nina gave his hand another squeeze. "Only if you're ready."

Gabriel met the compassion in her eyes, and some of the heaviness lifted from his heart. He took a deep breath, exhaled sharply then continued his tale.

"On our fifth wedding anniversary, Clarissa and I decided to take a family trip. She had never been away from her tribal lands, and wanted to know what a big city was like. I chose San Francisco because I had visited there many times with the Leyrs."

A shadow fell over the Celemor's face and his voice became robotic. "The morning of the quake, I woke before dawn. For some reason I couldn't fall back to sleep. I decided to go for a walk so I wouldn't wake Clarissa and Gaby. I'd gotten about two blocks away from the hotel when the tremors started." His words faltered, and Nina tightened her grip on his hand.

"When it was over half the city was in ruins, the other half on fire. I was pretty much unscathed, but the hotel..." He paused again, swallowing hard several times. "The hotel's ceiling had collapsed under the stress of the quake…while they were still in there…" A haunted look consumed his features. "Then the whole place caught fire."

Gabriel abruptly shut his eyes, trying to block the horrid memory that a century of living had done nothing to erode. "I heard Gaby crying out for me, but I couldn't…I couldn't reach them…couldn't save them…"

Tears formed in Nina's eyes at the pain in his voice. Not knowing what else to do she drew him closer, hugging him as tight as she could. "I'm sorry Gabe," she whispered in his ear. "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," he said, drawing comfort from their embrace. He remained in her arms until he regained his composure, at which point he sat up and resumed his tale. "Once the fire subsided I was able to dig through the rubble. I recovered their remains, and brought them back to
Arizona. Clarissa's family performed their customary rituals and wanted to bury them in their sacred ground, but I had them lain to rest here at the ranch."

He gestured to his left, and Nina caught a glimpse of the stone memorial through one of the parlor's windows. "It was probably selfish of me to deprive Clarissa's family of their traditional rites but I didn't want to have to share them with anyone else."

"I don't think it was selfish at all. I felt the same way when I lost my mother. In fact I still get peeved when there are other people at the cemetery when I visit her grave. Present company excluded, of course," she said with a quick grin. "So how is it that you became a Celemor?"

Gabriel's face turned somber. "About a week after I'd laid their bodies to rest, the Archangel Gabriel appeared during one of my daily vigils at their grave."

Nina's eyebrows arched upward. "I'll bet that was a shocker."

"It was; an extreme one. He was quite a site, too; all bathed in light with these enormous wings sticking out of his back. I asked him if he was there to take my family to Heaven. He promptly told me 'No' then revealed the truth about The Creation...and the spiritual
requirements
for entering the afterlife."

"Which are?" Nina prompted when he said nothing else.

A weary sigh escaped Gabriel's lips. "Contrary to what they teach you in church, the Mortal soul is not some ethereal apparition contained within our bodies. It's a collection of Celestial particles assigned to a specific consciousness. These particles disperse upon our deaths unless the deceased has a foundation of faith in The Almighty hard wired into their subconscious mind. This allows the particles to maintain their cohesive structure during the transition to the after life. The process begins at the time of baptism, and is reinforced through the practice of mono-deity, religious systems, such as Christianity, Judaism, or the Muslim faith."

"Weren't you and your family Christians?"

Gabriel's expression turned bleak. "The Leyrs indoctrinated me into the Lutheran faith when they first adopted me, and insisted that Gabrielle be baptized as well, but Clarissa was a Sioux Indian. Clarissa respected their wishes where our daughter was concerned out of gratitude for their support. But she didn't believe in the concept of a singular god, nor did she have any interest in becoming a Christian."

"Which meant there would be no afterlife for her," Nina said as the pieces fell into place. "So you became a Celemor so they would grant her a pass into Heaven."

"Actually it was more like an exchange of services."

Nina focused sharply on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Apparently I'm a direct descendant of Abraham, the original father of the Israelite nation, though don't ask me how considering that my father was Egyptian, and my mother British. Something in my blood connects me to Sublimia, allowing me to naturally draw forth and manipulate Celestial energy. It makes people like me a valuable commodity in the Hierarchy."

"So people like you, with this...special blood, are kind of an elite strain of humanity," Nina surmised.

Gabriel shrugged. "Or a cursed one depending on how you look at it."

"Hey, don't knock it, mister," Nina snapped. "Whatever's floating around in your blood let you secure you're wife's soul."

"Oh, I know. It's just that sometimes following the Hierarchy's Tenets can be a bit…difficult."

A look of compassion appeared on Nina's face. "Like what happened at the IMAX?"

Gabriel released a disgusted snort. "The IMAX was minor compared to some of the other atrocities I, and others like me, have been forced to endure. I could've kept the Towers from collapsing during the Nine-Eleven tragedy, saved hundreds of lives, yet was forbidden by the Archangels to act. And don't even get me started on the positive role I could've played during the Jewish Holocaust and the American Civil Rights movement. So much death," he ground out through clenched teeth. "So much…waste!"

The anguish in his voice pierced Nina's heart. She laid a gentle hand against his cheek. "I'm sorry for calling you a monster."

The Celemor heaved a massive sigh. "That's okay. Considering the circumstances you're reaction was completely understandable."

Nina flashed him a shrewd look. "Magnanimous type, aren't you?"

Gabriel shrugged. "It comes with age, I guess."

Nina flashed him a teasing grin. "Yeah, you are getting up there, old timer."

Gabriel gave her a roguish look. "I'm still young enough to attract
you're
attention."