Fallen Angel

Chapter 7: Brannon

Emily was pinned to the lounge, unable to move and protesting about it a lot. Well, she was yelling at Luca to get out of her drawers. Her eyes darted to me when he yelled back to her, asking if she had any diseases because he'd just accidentally touched this long rubbery thing in her drawer.

"I don't have anything like that." she said quietly, her cheeks flushing.

"That's rather sad." I said dryly

She looked at me curiously, saying nothing.

Luca walked back out with a rectangle box and Emily began to protest again.

"Got something to hide Em?" Luca asked.

He passed the box to me, warily I opened it and saw a lot of photos. They were of various demons, taken in different places around the world. Notes made on the back of the large images, where they were, common places to find them, known associates.

Anger built in me when I found a photo of my mother then another photo of her and my youngest sister.

"What are these for Emily?"

"Standard issue to all angels, know your enemy."

"My mother would never hurt an angel."

Emily looked at me as an eyebrow raised. "That's not what I've been told. I was told that she skewered one with a fire poker."

Luca snorted with laughter, not believing it for a second. When he saw my plain face he stopped, staring at me with shock.

"Really? Your quiet as a mouse mother skewered an angel?"

"Not just any angel." Emily huffed with derision. "It was Michael."

"Holy shit man, how come you kept that one to yourself?"

How could I answer them? My mother was almost an angel herself, quiet and caring, she gave to others first before herself. She adored my father and he returned the adoration tenfold. I looked at them and wished for such a love for myself.

Even though I was a newborn child, I remembered that day as if it had only just happened. I couldn't see out of my crib yet I could hear what was being said, I could feel the fear that my parents held.

"He threatened her." I said simply.

I looked at Emily who had a lot of disbelief on her face.

"You think that your world is so perfect well I have news for you, it's not. Perfection is a lie and you are living the biggest lie of them all. Even after eighteen years of peace your world cannot step back and accept that there isn't an issue. Instead they send you here to spy on me at a time in my life when being disrupted like this is not helpful."

Standing with a lot of restrained anger, I dumped the box onto the lounge beside her.

"Stop spying on me. Stop interfering in my life. Go back to your world and accept that like Michael, you failed."

Walking away was the best thing for me to do, if I stayed there it wouldn't be pretty. I found myself in the kitchen, the bottle of wine sitting on the bench. As I poured another glass I watched Luca lean in, saying something to Emily quietly. Her eyes widened as she turned to him, the delicate mouth opening in shock. As I stared at Emily I wondered if I was crazy to tell her to leave me alone, as far as angels went she was very easy on the eye. How was it that she could trap me like this? Was it something about the virtuous woman that attracted me to her and my father to my mother? Was it possible that they were more interesting to us because of some unknown need to keep a little goodness in our souls?

I had to escape otherwise I'd be doing something stupid like admitting there was at the very least, visual attraction. As for personality, I wasn't so sure that we'd click. She was too righteous, too stuck in the angelic way of life. I couldn't take her to hell, I couldn't even take her to meet my parents. My father would have her locked in a room somewhere, interrogating her for any little bit of information that he could store for later use. What would happen to her after that I do not know. My father had caught angels before but he always let them go.

"Luca, time."

He looked out to the dark sky that was shimmering with first light.

"Far out, time flies when you're having fun."

We walked to the door, Luca looked at me as the sounds of Emily's rising panic filled the tiny room.

"Come on Bran." He said softly. "Let the poor thing go."

"What, so she can destroy us with a waggle of her fingers?"

With a shrug he opened the door, I turned back to Emily and offered her the only warning I was prepared to give.

"Stay away from me, my family, Luca and his family. If your little world continues to interfere then I will let you deal with my father and I can assure you that you will learn that there is a vast difference between the two of us. Your bonds will release in half an hour. I would suggest that you go home after that."

I turned out and shut the door, following Luca down the stairs.

We didn't speak until we got to the car, Luca looked through the windscreen with a frown.

"Thought it was time."

"It was, for me."

"Man." He groaned. "Just admit that you like her and be done with it."

I said nothing as I turned over the ignition, pulling out to the street.

"There's nothing wrong with liking an angel you know."

"Unless you're the son of the devil."

"Yeah, guess you can't exactly bring her home to meet the parents. Your father would have a meltdown."

"Demons would swarm the castle." I muttered.

He sniggered, leaning forward to turn the music on.

"Cerberus would start growling and flaming."

"My sisters would be searching for fire pokers."

I grinned as we took a slow cruise through the streets, I wondered what Emily would think when she realised that the bonds held more than just her restraint.

"What did you do?" Luca said, almost sounding like a groan.

"Every time she struggles, music plays. The more she struggles the louder it gets. You can pick the song, put it on repeat. Make sure it's something heavy."

Luca grinned madly, flicking through the play list and finding something incredibly apt.