Accordant

Chapter Seven

A crowd of mortals had not been part of what Jael had imagined when she had envisioned the archangels' plans for the rendezvous with Mercy the Naphil. Yet that was exactly what it turned out to be. Jael was less than pleased about it. She had nothing against mortals, but when they were all packed together in sportsmanlike frenzies, they were not very welcome company.

Gabriel, however, hardly seemed bothered by it. Jael found that odd. He had always been the far more choosy of the two of them. He had nothing against mortals either, but he had always preferred to choose his company carefully, and kept to himself whenever possible. Crowds just never seemed to be his thing. But here, he moved through the masses of mortals as though he happened to be one of them.

The supposed meeting had taken them to Dallas, Texas, which was something of a detour for Jael, who had become accustomed to living in New Orleans. Then again, she supposed, at least she had not spent the past few years living in the Hellhole. Anything must have been preferable to that, she figured. Even groups of overexcited parents and overambitious students packed into one standard-size stadium.

This was the first Jael had learned of marching band experiences extending beyond high school and college. Apparently it was like a sport. Drum and bugle corps like this one were littered all over the country, and even the world, Gabriel had explained, and it was considered both an honor and a challenge for a marching band student to be accepted into one. Jael still thought everyone there was nuts.

Dallas' corps, the Sabertooths, did not do public auditions. The actual auditions were taking place on a practice field and in a soundproofed room nearby. But parents of a certain age liked to be near their offspring in any major life event, it seemed. Below them, on the stadium field, many of the corps' hopefuls were warming up and practicing, playing and marching in any space they could find. A cacophony of brass and percussion assailed Jael's ears, but Gabriel seemed utterly unaffected as he leaned against a railing near the top of the viewing area, the place, as Jael had requested, with the fewest people.

At one point, he pointed. "There."

It was impossible for Jael to tell where he was pointing. "Gabriel, seriously."

"In the black and pink," Gabriel explained. That did narrow it down. Jael adjusted her sight to focus on the young woman who was, at the moment, wearing a black tank top and black jogging pants with pink lines running along them. "Are you sure? The archangels didn't even give us a photo of her."

"I'm sure." Gabriel barely looked at her. Jael just shrugged.

"Mercy. What a hell of a name. It's like Azarel knew he was gonna get dropped for consorting with whomever her mom is."

"It's a very Azarel thing to do." Gabriel's gaze still seemed to be focused on the girl on the field. Jael preferred to have his attention. Especially since she was standing right next to him.

"What are we supposed to do, then? Wait until she does her thing and leaves?"

"Yes."

Jael growled. "I'm gonna get a soda. Later."

When she returned to the roof, Gabriel was still waiting for her. The pink and black girl, however, had vanished. "She's auditioning," Gabriel explained. "It shouldn't be long now."

Some minutes later, Gabriel stood, adjusted his coat, and headed down the stairs. Jael got up and followed him. "Hey. Are you withholding information? I thought this was supposed to be a partnership thing."

He glanced back at her but did not stop moving along the staircase until they reached the ground floor. From there, he took a right, toward an empty lot that broke the space between the stadium and where those parents had parked their cars. The black and pink girl was proceeding toward those cars, surrounded by some other boys and girls around her age. Her apparent age, at least. They were high-fiving and wishing each other well, but where the others split up to find their parents, Mercy sighed, leaned against the stadium, and took out a pack of cigarettes.