Chapter 25

I was sat on the chair with a frown plastered firmly on my face. I had been unconscious for no more than five minutes but those five minutes meant that I now had to be babied by every single male within the immediate vicinity which might I add, was a lot. Lucius had been worse than the rest and I knew it was only because he cared for me but in the end I sent him off to find me some food because his coddling was suffocating me.

Glancing down at my hands I gagged. They were still coated in her blood. I shuddered at the memory of her body lying there all limp and bloody. Apparently the magic protecting her chamber had broken but when they arrived at her chambers, everything was gone, the only sign I had been in there at all was the blood droplets on the floor. The only thing I could hope for was that she finally got the peace she so longed for. I don’t think He would mind her sacrifice, it will help her and Him anyways, and her death will prevent the enemy from controlling the arch angels and hence will give earth a fighting chance.

Gabriel sat beside me with some clothes in his arms. They looked like the ones that Evangeline had been wearing and in an instant, tears formed in my eyes. I barely knew her but I felt responsible and saddened at her departure from the world even if it was what she wished for.

“Hey, don’t look so sad, you need to enjoy the peace while it lasts.” He glanced over to the other side of the large ballroom they were in where Lucius was deep in conversation with Ezekiel and Lucius. “You don’t want them to see you like this or they’ll both be coddling you.”

Following his eyes I shuddered at the idea of more coddling it was getting on my nerves. With a wave of his hand, someone appeared before Gabriel with a bowl of water that he set down on the floor beside me. Taking the cloth from the water, he wrung out the excess and then dabbed lightly at my bloodied hand, wiping away the traces of death though I felt like they would forever be stained with blood. I think I understand Lady Macbeth’s madness.

“You know, I’ve known you for five years.” Gabriel murmured, his eyes focused on my hands while I just stared at him in confusion. “When they took your memories I was sworn to secrecy but with everything that is happening-” He cut off and let out a sigh.

My mouth opened and closed a few times as I dipped my head to try and catch his gaze. His eyes flickered to me for a moment before a smile curved his lips.

“Do you know, you were the most beautiful bride I have ever seen?” Lifting my left hand, he kissed where a wedding back would sit, his lips tenderly brushing my skin before he stared deeply into my eyes. My gaze however, was focused on the marking that began appearing on my skin, intricate wording and symbols wrapping around my finger like some weird tribal tattoo. I was so entranced with them that could barely take in a breath as the writing flashed gold and disappeared once more.

“What the-? What do you mean bride? What am I missing Gabe?” I questioned frantically, I’m sure my eyebrows had disappeared into my hairline completely as I stared at him longing for answers but my heart beating wildly in fear at the same time.

“I was there, two years ago when you walked down the aisle. I will never forget the look on your face. You were glowing, a smile so big that it left you with a sore jaw for the rest of the night.” Gabriel shook his head back and forth. “Zeke walked you down the aisle, he was you best friend. He was even closer to you than Marianna, if you can believe that? We weren’t meant to fall in love. When we were sent here, we were told that we had to protect you and that was it. Zeke was like a brother to you but us we had something, something that was forbidden.” I felt my heart race as I shifted uncomfortably on the seat.

“What happened?” I asked though I wasn’t quite sure if I really wanted to know the answer to that question.

“We had been married for about a year, none of us had heard from Him in sometime and the fact that he had allowed us to get married let us believe that we were okay to be together.” Running a hand through his hair, Gabriel lifted his head to the ceiling; it was then that I noticed that his eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. Taking his hand in mine I held on to it tightly, momentarily forgetting about the dried blood clinging to my skin.  “We had just found out you were pregnant,” he grinned stupidly at me for a moment before shaking his head back and forth. “That was when we got a message from Him. He told me that you weren’t meant for me, that your destiny was much bigger than the two of us. He ordered Zeke to alter your memories. He couldn’t completely erase everything so you still remembered my face, or at least my old face but you only remembered me as some one night stand, not as your husband.”

My heart panged for him. He had truly lost everything. He lost his wife and his child in one blow and all because of some fate that was apparently bigger than the two of us. I shook my head in disgust. How could someone dictate my life like that? My life should be my own to do with as I please.

“I stayed close in the following months, making sure you were okay, I was even there for Danny’s birth. I didn’t want to miss a thing. Though you didn’t see me I have always been there. But lately I’ve come to realise the truth of his words.” He glanced over to Lucius with an expression that was a mixture of pain and something else. “I love you, I always will but there is someone that needs you more. He needs the both of you. I will always be here if you need me but my brother needs you more and probably loves you more than anyone I know. Not that he will tell you that of course.”  Gabriel reached up with his hand and brushed his fingers down my cheek while staring deeply into my eyes.

My voice cracked as I tried to articulate my thoughts. “How can you say all that and then expect me to say nothing in return?” I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as my eyes fluttered at his touch. I could feel something with his caress. It was a ghost of an emotion, like it should make my heart swell and my skin tingle but something was physically blocking the emotions from me.

Gabriel didn’t give me an answer. Staring at me for a moment longer, he cupped his hand around my cheek and brought my face forward at the same time that he moved closer towards me. My eyes widened before on instinct they fluttered closed a moment before I felt his breath on my lips followed by his soft tender lips that kissed me lightly but portrayed so much emotion. I could almost replay a million other moments where we had kissed like this, the images coming unbidden to my mind as I relaxed against him and kissed him back. In these memories I could feel it, every emotion that we had shared the love, the passion, the comfort, and the friendship. It felt like he was my other half and we were meant to be together. The last kiss that flashed through my mind was the one that stuck with me though; it was his face as I told him that I was pregnant. There was the most brilliant smile upon his face before his wings unfurled from his back and curled around the pair of us as he kissed me deeply before sweeping me off my feet and twirling me around, so much excitement and love echoing as he laughed happily against my lips.

Gabriel pulled away and like a connection was cut, the images stopped and I was left there panting. I rubbed my hand over my heart that felt like it was suddenly missing something.

“We were happy,” I whispered watching the pain form on Gabriel’s face before he reverted back to his mask and nodded stiffly. “-Really happy. What fate could be so important that He had to break us apart?”

“The one that is set for you. You don’t understand and if we fail in this you might never understand, but know that if you pass through everything like He has ordained, you will be in something so unbelievable that you won’t know what hit you. It breaks my heart to let you go but even I can see that your heart isn’t truly with me anymore, you need something…someone else.” Gabriel smiled and patted my hand before glancing away and stiffening. I followed his gaze and noticed that Lucius was staring rather intently at us. For some reason I felt the intense urge to move away from Gabriel just to show that nothing was going on but the look in his eyes was enough to know that he had been watching the two of us for some time.

Lucius turned his head away from us and I let out a sigh. I didn’t have time for this drama right now. I would just have to think about it later…later is always the better option.

“Go on, you can get changed in there,” Gabriel pointed to a door about ten feet away from me. “We had some of the guys go through it and make sure it was safe to get changed in.” Nodding in gratitude, I shakily got to my feet taking the bundle of cloth from his hands and ambled towards the doorway, glad for a bit of privacy so that I could mull over these new facts without everyone’s eyes upon me.  

I spent about an hour in the little room that was little more than a store room. There had been banging on the door a few times but after assuring them that I was okay they had eventually backed off.  Now I just sat on the floor in the corner of the cupboard sized room and stared at the blood that was still stuck underneath my fingernails. No matter how much I scrubbed it wouldn’t come off but still I picked until my own fingers started to bleed causing me to hiss in pain.

It was while I was there alone wallowing and trying to sort through my muddled thoughts that it happened. A pop sounded throughout the room and a piece of paper wafted down from the ceiling before coming to land before me.  Eyeing it warily for a moment, I waited for it to spontaneously combust but when it did neither, I hesitantly took it between my thumb and forefinger and brought it closer to my face. What was most remarkable was that the paper looked official; there was even a wax seal on the back which I broke when there was no name on the front of the paper to identify the addressee.

The contents though, baffled me beyond anything because there were phrases and words that I had never heard before. I was so absorbed the parchment between my fingers that I didn’t even notice the door being opened and someone entering the room until the creamy paper was pulled from my fingers. Lifting my head, I glared at Ezekiel and held my hand out for the paper but the teasing grin that had been on his face was slowly turning into an angry from as his eyes read over the words. He cussed when he got to the end of the paper and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“This is not good, not good all.” He murmured before reaching down and wrapping a hand firmly around my arm and pulling me to my feet and out of the room.

I stumbled along behind him while tugging my arm trying to get it out of his grip. My eyes wide and frantic as I tried to remember what the letter had said that could cause such a reaction to this whole shebang.

As soon as we were back in the main ballroom everyone gathered around, somehow sensing that something was amiss with the two of us. In answer to their questioning looks, Ezekiel held out the paper to the others.

Snatching the paper from Zeke’s grasp, Donalbain rolled his eyes and read over the parchment before his flaming hair effectively went out and his face turned pale. Turning the paper over he glanced at the seal on the back before muttering some strange words that I was sure were cusses.

Glancing up at us with a look that if I didn’t know better, would have had me thinking someone had died.

“We have been summoned to confero bellum,” he murmured morosely. While I was confused there were several sharp intakes of breath while every face looked like they had just stared death in the face.

“what-?” I began to question only be cut off by Donalbain.

“war discussion.” He murmured before turning on his heel and striding over to the bags.

Turning to the three who would at least give me an answer I could understand, I raised my brows and put my hands on my hips as I waited for them to say something, anything.

“Think of it as the meeting lieutenants used to have before battle. It’s supposed to be a chance to try and obtain peace before battle but this is just their attempt to draw us out in the open.”  Lucius offered stonily before turning his back and walking away to help the others pack up the supplies.

I folded my arms across my chest and tapped my foot at them. “Well then it’s obvious, we refuse the summons.” I told them as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The men all looked at me pityingly.

“Do you feel a niggling in the back of your head?” Zeke asked laying a brotherly hand on my shoulder. Now that he pointed it out there was something there but I couldn’t quite grasp what it was. “That’s the summons. You cannot refuse them. You refuse, you die.”

Okay, so what did you guys think? As per usual this is unedited but hopefully not too many mistakes. the translation of war discussion is a bit sketchy as it's from the online translators and they're not exactly reliable but hey what can you do.