Seraphim Page 20

  The doors opened and they left the hospital, passing the concerned looking receptionist as they went. Once at the car, Wyatt struggled with the car seat as Gabriel put the bags in the trunk on top of her brother’s suitcases. She saw the file sticking out from underneath everything else and picked it up before closing the trunk and walking around to where Wyatt stood, finally having secured the baby in the back seat.

  “I can’t see him,” she admitted.

  “What do you mean?” Wyatt asked. “He’s right there.”

  “I can see him, with my eyes. But, I can’t see him, inside. I can’t hear his thoughts or see his memories. I don’t know what he’s feeling. It’s like he’s not there.”

  “What are you taking about?” he questioned, suddenly feeling defensive and intensely protective of his new son. “What are you saying to me right now?”

  “You know--”

  “What?!”

  “Barachiel,” she said sternly. “He’s Nephilim.”

  “No,” he said firmly, closing the car door and standing between it and his sister. “Gabriel, don’t even think it.”

  “I should kill him,” she told him. “Now, before things get ugly.”

  Wyatt formed a ball of lightning and stared at her fiercely.

  “If I was gonna do it, you wouldn’t be able to stop me,” she said. “But, I’m not going to, against my better judgement. But, Lucifer will. If he finds out there’s a Nephilim on Earth, he will take him out.”

  Wyatt extinguished the lightning, but didn’t yet relax.

  “I won’t tell him,” she promised. “Or Valerie. But, you have to go.” She thrust the file with his uncle’s property listings in it into his hand. “Take him somewhere far. Way away from people. He’s gonna grow stupid fast and when he’s done, he’ll get his powers. He won’t be able to handle them.”

  “I’ll teach him.”

  “You’ll try,” she said. “You’ll do everything you can to turn him into a decent person, but--”

  “He’ll be fine,” Wyatt insisted.

  “He’ll be fucked the fuck up,” she warned. “He’ll get crazier and more violent and, eventually, he’ll go completely off the rails.”

  “I can deal with it.”

  “If you can’t,” she urged. “If and when he gets too dangerous and you need help, you call me.” She pointed to her temple.

  He nodded.

  She sighed, unsure of her decision.

  She threw her arms around Wyatt’s neck and hugged him tightly, worried about what raising this monstrosity would do to him, but knowing that if she did what her instincts were telling her to, he’d never forgive her.

  “I love you, you big, stupid crybaby,” she told him.

  He chuckled. “Love you, too.”

  “All right,” she said, backing away. “I’ll take care of your place, have your stuff shipped to wherever. Now, get out of here before I change my mind.”

  She didn’t have to tell him twice. He hurried around the car to the driver’s side door, opened it and got in.

  “Thank you!” he called before slamming it shut.

  “Don’t make me regret it!” she called back as he sped away. “I already do,” she said to herself. She sighed again, watching them drive off, her brother having no real idea of what he was getting himself into. She cracked her neck and groaned, “Fuck my life.”

  Wyatt made his way to I-276 and glanced up in the mirror at his new son who sat calmly in the backseat, the sweetest baby he’d ever seen.

  “Don’t worry, Will,” he said. “We’re gonna be fine.”

  He checked the map on his phone to make sure he was going the right way. “Looks like we’re moving to Indiana.”

  Chapter 26

  Michelle tossed her diploma and cap on the sofa before collapsing onto it herself. She flopped her feet up on the ottoman and picked up the remote. While her classmates were off at their respective receptions and open houses, gathering gifts and ‘congratulations’, she was alone, watching tv and trying not to dwell on the fact that she had no family to celebrate her; no one to be proud of her.

  The last four months since her uncle died had been tough. She barely made it through school and her social life was basically non existent. She had isolated herself, for the most part, in the apartment Tae had left her, her only consolation being that, since he’d left her everything in his will, she didn’t have to fret about college, work or money. She was taken care of, and no matter what she decided to do with her life, she’d be okay, financially speaking. Emotionally, however, she was barely holding it together. Everyone she’d ever cared about or counted on was gone. She was sullen and resentful, jealous of the kids in her class that looked so happy after the commencement, posing for pictures and hugging their parents. It had taken everything she had to hold back the tears until she was safely in a cab and on her way home, away from the judgemental eyes of her classmates and the feigned sympathy of the parents and school staff. No one in that place had ever actually cared about her. She was friendly with a few of the kids, but there was no one there she’d really consider a true friend and no boys had ever taken any interest in her. The teachers were fine, but the administration was blatantly racist, whispering slurs when they thought she couldn’t hear while parading her around during fundraisers and tours to show how ‘diverse’ the campus was. When her uncle died, Michelle almost dropped out, partly due to grief, but also out of spite. She knew they’d need her to be present at their mid year open house and she so badly wanted to show up there with a bullhorn, give a brutal speech about how bigoted the Headmaster and her cronies were and burn the whole place to the ground. She didn’t, of course, because no matter how awful the people in that school were, a diploma from there was basically a guaranteed ticket to any college she wanted to attend, and more importantly, she knew how important it had been to Tae that she get a good education. So, she sucked it up, did what she had to, and graduated third in her class.

  She glanced over at the dining table on the other side of the room, the pile of thick envelopes from all six universities she applied to sitting in the middle of it like a demanding centerpiece, mocking her indecision. She knew she had very little time to choose one, but the thought of going to college in the fall was overwhelming. Just the idea of opening the acceptance letters was stressful to the point of panic, and the longer she procrastinated, the worse her anxiety got. She looked back at the television and decided to put it off for another day. After all, she just graduated from high school. She’d earned a little relaxation time.

  There was a knock at the door, which was odd since no one had been to visit in months. She turned off the TV, got up and opened the door.

  “Cute outfit,” the woman in the hall said, referencing the gown Michelle had been too lazy to take off.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “You can let me in,” the woman told her. “Your uncle never gave my ‘Sixteen Stone’ CD back. I let him borrow it like, twenty years ago, thinking it’d open him up to different kinds of music than what he was used to. Classical and opera. I mean, I like a good Renaissance piece as much as the next girl, but come on. All the time? Snooze. I let him keep it because he kind of had a thing for the singer, but I mean, who didn’t, right? Anyways, if I could get that back, that’d be awesome.”

  “I’m sorry,” Michelle said suspiciously. “Who are you?”

  The woman smiled.

  “Gabriel,” she said. “Tae told you about me. He wasn’t supposed to, but what are you gonna do?”

  “You’re,” the girl breathed. “The Messenger of--”

  “That’s me. Now, can you let me in? We need to talk.”

  “Of course!” Michelle agreed, stepping out of the way to let the angel through. She stepped inside.

  “I’m serious about that CD,” Gabriel told her as the door closed behind her.

  The End

  The Seventh Day Series Book Two

  NEPHILIM

  Ava
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