Page 43 of Hunted by the Fallen
I look up from the skin just below his left rib. No mark reveals the injury he’d received. “Yes,” Iconfirm.
Gabe shakes his head in disbelief. “How could none of us have sensedit?”
Joseph, standing behind me where I sit on the couch, speaks up, “I knew Messenger was hidingsomething.”
Gabe scoffs. “Yeah. Right. And you just decided not to say anything to the rest ofus?”
“I didn’t know the matter dealt with her ward,” Joseph states, “but I did notice the signs of a pause in time that afternoon in thebackyard.”
I look over my shoulder, eyebrows raised. “Really?”
From the seat by the windowsill, Lukas asks at the same time, “How?”
Joseph looks at his fellow Fallen, avoiding eye contact with me. “I checked my watch before your arrival. When Veronica returned, I happened another glance and noted nearly an hour had passed in what seemed to only beseconds.”
“Indeed?” Lukas leans against the window and murmurs, “I’ll need to be more careful nexttime.”
Meanwhile, I’m stunned Joseph never broached the subject. Gabe shares my thought. “Yet, you chose to keep this information to yourself? Stars, Joseph, what if it hadn’t been Lukas warping Veronica’stime?”
“I was reasonably confident Veronica came to no harm during the losttime.”
Gabe shoves off the chair. “That’s not your call tomake!”
I want to curl into a ball. The last thing I want is to cause an argument between them. “Don’t fight,please.”
I’mignored.
Joseph moves to stand next to the couch. I see him cross his arms from the corner of my eye. “I made sure to enact mental barriers, making us immune to futurepauses.”
My neck whips to Lukas. Did he knowthat?
The angel shakes his head. He’d had noidea.
“Rest assured, brother, I did nothing to endanger Veronica’s safety beyond the foolishness she was already taking partin.”
Cringing, I look down and fold my hands in my lap. I don’t think Joseph has ever criticized me, not even when he was my teacher and I made a mistake during a lab which damaged an expensive horizontal projectile gun. He’d been nothing but patient and kind while I stammered through my explanation of what happened. I guess the difference is the incident in the lab had been anaccident.
“Veronica has been helping Fallen who would have otherwise lost their wings or even died.” Lukas comes to my defense. His figure blurs until he is standing directly across from Joseph. “One such Fallen being yourbrother.”
Gabe nods, and I see gratitude overriding his suspicion. The same cannot be said for hisbrother.
“Veronica has no business being involved with any of your kind,” Joseph growlsback.
“What do you mean?” What does he mean by “your kind”? I look between the Fallen, but none meet mygaze.
With impeccable timing, Charles strolls into the study. He must have heard my question because he gives me the answer none of the others will, “Your friend is talking about the army Lukas has gathered to fight theDarkness.”
“Army,” Joseph snorts. “A band of Fallen more interested in their own riches than the life ofmortals.”
“Joseph,” Gabe says warningly. “Don’t.”
“And you,” my ex-teacher throws his frustration at his brother. “You actually offered to help them? Tell me, how did thatgo?”
How could I have not put the two together? Of course Gabe was injured fighting with Lukas’ other allies. It was how all of my patients got hurt. But why would he ever have agreed to join in fighting the Darkness. Wouldn’t he have told Joseph atleast?
Gabe doesn’t cower. “I did what needed to be done. Now, I know what the Darkness looks like. The demons under its command are formidable foes, Joseph. One we should not takelightly.”
“You were supposed to gain information without becoming directly involved,” Joseph states. “Besides, we have other matters to occupy our time.” He gestures towardme.
