The Guardians (2 page)

The mere mention of my “Gideon Test” caused my stomach to twist into knots. Gideon meant “warrior” in Hebrew, and after seventy-five years on earth, guardians were given a Gideon test to prove their emotional angelic strength. If you passed, you became a warrior Archangel like Sophie. If you didn’t, you weren’t promoted to an archangel until you worked the remaining twenty-five years of your century long service term. And it was rumored that those remaining twenty-five would be the worst you could ever imagine—maybe even worse than being stuck with a body full of raging teenage hormones and emotions.

When I noticed Sophie staring at me, I murmured, “Yeah, I guess so.”

She glanced left and right before drawing a deep breath. “Here, give me your hands.”

“Huh?”

She cocked her head at me. “Do you want to feel better or not?”

“Well, uh, yeah, of course I do.”

“This really isn’t in the rule book, Elijah, but it can’t hurt.”

I furrowed my brows. “What are you going to do?”

“When you become an archangel, you’ll no longer experience the fear like you are right now. To help you on your first day, I’m going to give you just a teeny weeny bit of that feeling.”

“But won’t we get in trouble?”

Sophie giggled. “Seriously, Elijah, in the whole vast scheme of things, don’t you think the Dominion has far too much on its plate to worry about than if I gave you a little archangel boost?”

I still didn’t feel convinced. But in spite of my doubt, I placed my hands in hers. Sophie closed her jet black eyes, and her lips began moving.

At first, the electricity felt like something nibbling at the palm of my hand. Then like a dam bursting, it surged through me. It was like climbing to the top of a mountain and looking over at breathtaking scenery.

“How’s that?” Sophie

“It’s…amazing,” I murmured, knowing I could never verbalize exactly how
amazing
it was.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Sophie grinned.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

“Well, let’s just keep this between the two of us, okay?”

I nodded.

She tugged at my sleeve. “Come on. Breakfast is getting cold.”

“Okay.”

When we got downstairs to the kitchen, I slid into a chair and glanced across the table at my other “siblings”. With her long auburn hair swept away from her face in a pony-tail, Cassiel, or Cassie, absentmindedly twirled the straw in her coke. She was a fresh-faced new guardian experiencing her first mission. She had joined us after we had gotten settled in Oakdale. She wasn’t assigned to anyone in the Thomas family, so she hadn’t been with us the day Victoria had been killed.

I turned to watch Rafael, or Rafe, inhale a stack of pancakes in front of him at record speed. He paused only to shovel in some scrambled eggs. When he caught my surprised expression, he grinned. His pearly white teeth contrasted against his caramel colored skin. “Hey, I gotta reason for packin’ it in, remember?”

“Football practice,” I murmured.

“You got it, bro,” Rafe replied, with a wink.

Even Sophie’s archangel boost hadn’t made me that hungry. I did snag a piece of manna toast and poured some honey. I guess you could call the manna and honey our “angel food”. It was what truly gave us nourishment, rather than normal food. We rarely ate a meal without at least having our honey, which was like liquid energy. It also helped to make human food taste better.

Gabriel, our other “brother” and Dominion assigned father figure, breezed into the kitchen. He was outfitted in dress pants and a tie, and his dark brown hair was slicked back. Gabriel’s youthful face masked the fact he’d spent a hundred and nine years on earth—nine years over our usual service term. I assumed it was his lengthy experience, along with his infinite wisdom, that led the Dominion to make him the leader of our group. Well, along with the fact his service had made him a member of the Principalities, the group just above archangels. It was the job of the Principalities to deliver the Dominion’s messages and wishes to the angels and archangels.

I surveyed the others around me and surmised my new “family” was going to be something of an oddity in Oakdale, an upper-class suburb of metro Atlanta. After all, you didn’t see a parentless family made up of three teenagers and two twenty something’s every day. But our latest missions certainly called for the unusual.

It wasn’t often the Dominion called together a group to pose as a family. But desperate times called for desperate measures. An entire family, the Thomas’s, was suffering after Victoria’s murder, and the easiest way to help them was to become a part of their lives. So we’d convened on a tree lined neighborhood that resembled something out of a 1950’s sitcom. For the next year, a two story colonial on a cul-de-sac that overlooked a pond would be our home.

The others were much more at ease with their assignments, so I secretly hoped that Cassie shared some of my apprehension—well at least the little bit still lurking beneath the surface after Sophie’s archangel power boost. I cleared my throat. “Are you nervous about today, too?”

Her ponytail swung back and forth as she shook her head emphatically. “No, I’m really excited.”

Great, so much for having an anxiety ridden ally. “Oh, I just thought you seemed upset.”

“Well, I’m not too thrilled with all this free agent business.”

Rafe and I exchanged a confused look.

“Huh?” Rafe asked.

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Um, I’m talking about how you guys are all assigned to someone in the Thomas family. And me?
Nothing
. Not even a file to alert of me what to expect!”

Sophie sat down beside me and gave Cassie a reassuring smile. “It’s not an insult or an oversight. This is just the way the Dominion does things for new angels. They feel it’s a necessary part of training for you to be able to seek out an assignment simply based on their pain.”

“Ugh, it just seems like a waste of time.”

At Cassie’s remark, Gabriel sucked in a sharp breath. Before he could say anything to her, I cleared my throat. “Now tell me again why we’ve got all these new emotions?”

Sophie exchanged a look with Gabriel before she spoke. “Well, your emotions are keener than ever before because to be convincing to teenagers, you have to experience the same emotions they do.”

Gabriel nodded. “And don’t forget this. As guardian angels, we’re always going to be more human than angelic. For you guys as teenagers, you’re going to be even more human than Sophie and me. But don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll fit in with the others before you know it.”

“Whatever,” Cassie mumbled.

A smile crept upon Gabriel’s lips. “Hey, you’ve certainly got the Drama Queen part down pat!”

“Now that’s not fair,” Cassie protested, but she laughed in spite of herself. I laughed along with the others although I still didn’t feel convinced. Gabriel stood up signaling it was time to leave, so I gathered up my books and followed the others out to the garage.

As we began buckling up, Gabriel turned back to us. “Michael said we should be getting another car. One for you guys to share and one for Sophie and me.”

Rafe snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s some boring old lady car, like a minivan.” When Gabriel shot him a look, Rafe held up his hands. “I’m just saying that I don’t know what it would hurt for us to get a cool car every once in awhile.”

“And what would you suggest?”

“Like a convertible or a souped up Mustang.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes and then turned back around. “Dream on, Rafe,” he muttered.

Rafe sighed. “It can’t hurt.”

We eased out of the driveway and then began the ten minute drive to school. I turned my head to gaze out the window, eying the trees as they became an emerald blur. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen so much green. Everything seemed to be alive and splashed with vibrant colors. There’d been a lot of desolate and grim places in my years, so this was a very welcome change.

As we pulled into the carline at the school, my stomach fluttered again. Oh no, don’t let me lose my cool. Not now. Closing my eyes, I took deep breaths to calm myself. Then I resorted to a pep talk in my mind.
You can do this, Elijah. You’re strong. You’ve been up against worse than this, and you survived
.

I don’t suppose it worked because when I got out of the car, an amused look twinkled in Rafe’s eyes. “What?”

He grinned. “Man, you gotta chill out.”

“Easy for you to say,” I said.

“Yeah, yeah, I know this ain’t my first time at the rodeo and all, but you’re gonna be fine. Listen, in my forty plus years on earth, I’ve been in and outta every high school imaginable. Schools with metal detectors, gun fights, stabbings in the bathrooms during class changes… You name it, and I’ve been there, done that. So, this,” he said, motioning to the immaculately landscaped campus, “is nothing!”

I sighed. “Fine, you win. Let’s go before I lose my nerve.”

We ambled across the parking lot. Gabriel and Sophie led the way with Rafe sandwiched between Cassie and me. Cassie seemed to have a momentary crack in her veneer when actually faced with school. We pressed so closely against Rafe we looked like Siamese triplets. When we got to the main door, I thought we might all squeeze through at one time, but another angelic power boost gave me the strength to take a deep breath and walk in first.

I kept my gaze on the floor as I followed Gabriel into the main office. A secretary glanced up at us from a mound of paperwork. I raised my eyes long enough to read her nametag. “Yes?” Mrs. Hopkins asked.

Gabriel cleared his throat and motioned towards Sophie. “We’re here to register our brothers and sister for school.”

“Oh, I see. I’ll get the paperwork for you.” When she came back with a stack of forms, she peered at us. I watched as her curious gaze fell upon Rafe. I sucked in an anxious breath when I saw him fighting the urge to mess with her a little. Silently, I raised my eyes to the heavens.
Please don’t let him say anything!

Finally, Rafe sighed dramatically. “I guess there’s no use getting around it. I suppose you noticed I’m black.”

“Well, uh, yes,” Mrs. Hopkins stammered.

He nodded. “They,” he began, gesturing towards us, “don’t like to say anything, but I’m my father’s love child!”

Another secretary in the office gasped, her shock causing her to fumble with an armload of permanent records. I shot Rafe a murderous look while Gabriel apologized to the ladies. “You’ll have to excuse my brother. He has a very vivid imagination.”

“I see,” Mrs. Hopkins replied, throwing Rafe a disapproving look. Her gaze flickered over Sophie and Rafe and then back at us. “And you’re
all
brothers and sisters?” Mrs. Hopkins questioned.

“Yes ma’am,” Gabriel replied.

“Oh, so you’re one of
those
families,” she said, disdainfully.

Her tone made it sound like our fictitious parents were the original Brad and Angelina, adopting kids from different countries and continents. I bit my lip to keep from grinning at the look on Gabriel’s face since nothing got him riled faster than someone being intolerant.

“Regardless of color or creed, we’re all
God’s
children,” Gabriel said.

It amused me when Mrs. Hopkins got flustered at Gabriel’s statement. One of the other secretaries, Mrs. Poletti, was a little friendlier. As she surveyed our paperwork, she smiled. “Your parents sure had a thing for angels.”

Five pairs of eyes snapped in her direction. “What?” Gabriel questioned.

“Sophiel, Cassiel, Gabriel, Rafael, and Elijah. Those are all angel names, are they not?”

I couldn’t breathe. My throat constricted, and I felt my lungs deflate. I swiveled my head towards Gabriel, anticipating his response. When Gabriel smiled, I exhaled in relief and leaned against the counter for support. “Yes ma’am, you’re right. Mom and Dad did have a soft spot for the Angelic Host. I’m impressed you recognized that.”

“Oh, I have a thing for angels, too. You should see my house. It’s wall to wall angels,” she said.

“So is ours!” Rafe snorted. I elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow!”

Mrs. Poletti smiled. “Well, here are your schedules. If you have any problems, just come let me know.”

Sophie turned to us. “I’ll be here if you need me,” she said, with a reassuring smile before heading out the door to her classroom. The Dominion had assigned her to take over the teaching position vacated by Victoria Thomas. It was so reassuring knowing she would be in the building if anything went wrong.

We all stared expectantly at Gabriel. “I’ll drop off the car for you guys in the parking lot, so you can drive home this afternoon.”

“Okay,” Rafe said.

“Good luck,” Gabriel said. He patted me on the back for good measure

I took a deep breath and nodded. The bell rang shrilly over my head, causing me to jump. “Let’s get going,” Rafe suggested.

Cassie and I grabbed up our schedules and followed Rafe out the door.