Page 12 of Far From Center
“No, but you were thinking lots of bad things about me.”
He had been. He’d been thinking what a horrible, filthy, disorganized, messy person she must be, that her vibration patterns were far below acceptable levels, that she her FICO score was most likely substandard.
Once again this human woman was making him feel ashamed. “I’m sorry. Can I please see the scroll?”
“Why?”
“Because I asked nicely?” By the creator what did this woman want him to do now, get on his knees and beg?
“No, I mean why do you want it? Are you trying to retrieve the same item that I am here to get? Because Sam sent me here for it. I think she’s going to give it to your brother for a born-day gift.”
Gabe blinked in surprise. “Micha has a born-day? I mean, he knows his born-day? None of us knows the exact moment in time that we were created.”
She shrugged. “Honestly I think Sam just picked a day. Don’t tell him. She’s planning on a surprise party.”
A surprise party? No one had invited him.
“No, I’m not looking for the artifact, I’m looking for the angel that brokered it to the Gormand. If I can get my hands on the Gormand, I can convince him to lead me to the angel.”
“Are you going to kill him for stealing the artifact?”
“As much as I would like to summarily deliver justice, this angel needs to answer to the Ruling Council for his crimes. And those crimes are far more serious than the theft of an artifact.”
Hewantedto kill Tura. He was hoping for an excuse to do so. But if the rebel submitted, then he’d have no choice but to follow angelic law and bring him before the council for judgement.
“What were his crimes?”
That wasn’t her business to know. “I won’t discuss that with you. Suffice it to say that he is more than a rebel, he is a traitor, and her personally betrayed me. But how he violated my trust isn’t the issue, it’s his traitorous actions toward Aaru, the Ruling Council, and my siblings.” He couldn’t help a snarl at the last bit. His family. He didn’t like to admit it, but they meant everything to him. Everything.
“Okay.” Nyalla took another drink of her beer, licking a few spilled drops off her lower lip. The beverage did look tasty and refreshing, the perfect accompaniment to the sound and smell of the ocean filtering in through the window. But he was an angel, and that meant holding strong against the temptations of sensory experience. And that included the urge to reach out and touch her lips. They looked so soft, so beautiful with their pink, curved shape.
“What?” Gabe asked, realizing that Nyalla had been speaking and he’d been too busy thinking about digging his toes in the sand, drinking an alcoholic beverage, and the fascinating way his physical body reacted to watching her tongue sweep across her lip.
“And now you’ll have to wait, because you’re human and you’re no match for an angel right now.”
How humiliating. But even if he couldn’t confront Tura right now, he could at least discover where he was hiding, and who his contacts and accomplices were. And, oddly enough, being human was most likely the best disguise for this kind of undercover work. He’d be just like those police-show detectives that Rafi kept talking about. He’d gather information in this stealth-mode, then once he’d regained his angelic powers, he’d strike.
“Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d like to accompany you when you meet with the Gormand,” he said.
Gabe thought he’d need to persuade her, and wasn’t sure how effective his efforts would be without his angelic abilities, but he was surprised to see a lovely pink color come up in her cheeks. Her lips curled up at the edges and her eyes sparkled.
“Would you? I’d really appreciate it. I mean, I know a lot about demons, but not that much about angels, and I don’t have any experience with these artifact things. I’m relying on Terrelle, she’s an information demon, to let me know if the Gormand is trying to pass off a fake or not, but I’d love to be able to rely on your expertise.”
Her words caused a rush of warmth through his body that was rather pleasant. He was quite knowledgeable about the artifacts as well as the angelic host, but it was nice to have a human recognize that. It was nice to havethishuman recognize that. And beyond his knowledge, he felt a responsibility to protect her. He’d broken her wand. Besides, what idiot would send a helpless human accompanied only by an information demon and a Low to conduct a potentially dangerous exchange? He’d always thought the Iblis a fool, but it seemed she was a reckless fool who took unacceptable risks with the lives of lesser beings, too. Judging from the amount of four-nine-five reports the imp needed to fill out for having caused the death of humans, he shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Splendid.” He sat down at the table, moving the bottle of beer aside. “So fill me in on the details of the meeting.”
“We’re meeting the Gormand tomorrow night at Charlie’s. In the scroll he provided authentication of the artifact from an angel. Tonight Terrelle and Snip and I will get together to work out the details of the exchange over dinner. Then hopefully it will take place tomorrow night or the next morning. Sometimes demons like to drag things out a bit. Sam said to expect a few meetings over the next three days before we had the item in our hands and could head back.”
Gabe nodded. “What are you providing him in exchange for the artifact?”
She suddenly looked sad. “The collar — the one I used on you. We think it’s the only one left. It was a product of angel, demon, elven, and human sorcerer collaboration, and the makers are dead, so it’s not likely there will be more of them.” She sighed. “I hate to give it up. I’ve used it several times and as useful as the wand is, or was, it’s obviously susceptible to breakage.”
He winced. “I’m so very sorry.”
Nyalla shrugged. “It happened. It’s done. But losing the wand makes me even more reluctant to hand over the collar, especially since we’ve no idea what this item, or artifact, is.”
The collar. If it had been so very effective on him, then it was most likely just as effective on demons. But Gabriel had the idea that angels would be the real target of that unusual weapon. And just like Nyalla, he was also reluctant for her to hand it over.
