Raven's Breath (The Women of Purgatory) (13 page)

Opening them I found a large male angel standing in the middle of my living room. I pushed back from Garrett and spun him around.

"Whoa. Who are you?" Garrett asked.

The angel smiled. "Michael." I melted at the sound of his voice. His sultry eyes rendered me speechless when he turned in my direction, his gaze locking to mine. "As you've just discovered, Raven, you've been marked by Heaven as one of our own."

Mmmm...maybe being marked by Heaven isn't so bad after all.

I stood, silent, hoping he'd continue just so I could listen to him talk.
Thankfully, Garrett interrupted with a barrage of questions that needed to be answered, pulling me back on task.

"Why has she been marked? And what exactly does it mean? Will she have to leave Purgatory?"

Michael raised his hand in what I thought was a gesture to silence Garrett, but instead continued the motion, creating patterns in the air before us.

"This space is now warded; we can speak freely and no one will know I'm here."

"Okay, so why are you here? Exactly," Garrett demanded flatly.

"The gift we bestowed on Raven has finally manifested which will be a huge help in our fight against Death," Michael replied.

Garrett and I looked at one another, our eyes wide.

"Why would you be fighting against Death?" Garrett asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

Michael squinted briefly before a look of realization settled across his features. "Forgive me. I forgot I'd removed that part of your memory." He placed his sword point down on the floor and grasped the hilt. After lowering his head and muttering a few words, another bright light shone and suddenly Garrett and I were flooded with the recollection of our previous encounter with the archangel.

When his head snapped up I blushed. The feel of his lips on mine and the memory of his hands holding me against his muscular body filled my mind.

"Okay, that helps," Garrett quipped. "But again, why has Raven been marked and what gift are you talking about?"

"The gift of life, of course. Raven is now able to save someone's soul in addition to retrieving it."

"The white mist I breathed into that boy and older man. That was a gift from you?" I asked the obvious question.

"Yes, as are the dreams. They are a way for you to see the potential lives you'll be able to save."

I shook my head. "Wait, I'm confused. I've only been able to save two people, though in my dreams I've seen many more."

"That's because the human soul is still bound by free will. They can only be saved if they think of others during their last memories instead of themselves," Michael explained.

That was it; the connecting thread. Both of them
had
thought of others instead of reflecting on their own lives when their time had come. A very rare feat.

"Why does that make a difference?" I asked.

"You can be their S
aving Grace
, Raven, instead of their Grim Reaper, but it's still up to them to have a heart pure enough to make it happen, that is what allows our involvement to remain concealed."

"Doesn't that go against the covenant? Heaven interfering with Death's rule," Garrett interjected.

"Death broke the covenant when he started experimenting with the phenoms. By Raven saving a soul, it keeps it out of Death's reach and lowers the number of phenoms available to him."

Yes!
This was what we'd been waiting for. It was about time we got some answers as to what Death had been up to.

"What is he doing with them?" I asked.

"That, I can't tell you, I'm sorry," Michael replied.

Dammit
. "Why? Technically, I'm working for you now, so why can't you tell me the truth?"

Michael stepped in my direction and I quivered. I couldn't stop my body from reacting to this man.

"Because, Raven. We don't know."

"Then how are we supposed to know what to do? How can we help if we don't know what's going on?" Garrett asked.

"Continue to do as you always have. Perform your jobs."

Michael reached for my hands. "Raven, utilize your dreams and save as many souls as possible. That alone will benefit our cause."

"What am I supposed to tell him about her mark?" Garrett interrupted. "He sent me here to find out more the instant he saw it on her tonight."

"Tell him, you have no idea why she received our mark and if he wants to question it, he can come ask us himself." Michael's tone indicated that that wouldn't be a very pleasant meeting.

"Will you leave us with our memories, this time?" I asked.

"Yes. Your gift is fully developed and an understanding of your dreams is important to the task." Michael pulled me towards him. "And, there's something else I'd like you to remember."

Michael lifted me off the ground and I closed my eyes. His thick arms surrounded me as his lips fell on mine. He seemed ravenous, as if starving, and I was his first meal in days. I wound my hands through his hair, just as before, and pressed myself against his hard chest. Too soon he pulled away but kept me pinned to his body.

"Once this is over, you truly will belong to me."

I stood silent, tongue tied. The girl buried deep inside me declared,
"I was hoping you'd say that,"
but the woman and Reaper I was, forced herself to stop and think. Emotions I hadn't felt since being human flowed through me. It was like I was made to be this man's mate, but how could that be? Death created me, not Heaven, but with words like
destiny
and
cosmic intervention
steamrolling through my head while the mark throbbed behind my ear, I decided to just go with it.

We kissed again, lost in each other––completely ignoring Garrett.
Damn
.
Who knew angels could be this hot?

23

It had been two weeks since Michael disappeared from my apartment. I was left wanting and frustrated, which was seriously messing with my head. I wasn't the type of girl who fell madly in love with the first guy to show interest, but Michael had a way of making me feel as if I did, in fact, already belong to him. The feel of his hands on me was seared into my brain, making it hard to focus on my daily activities.

Garrett and I did follow his directions and continued doing our jobs. Holli and I were st
ill sent on gathering missions even though I'd saved the lives of nineteen more people. Apparently it was going to take a lot more than that to make a difference in our battle. My normal retrievals were becoming interesting, though. I continued to visit Heaven more frequently than Hell, but I couldn't determine whether it was Michael's doing or not, since I hadn't seen nor heard from him since that oh-so-wonderful day. What was really interesting though, was when Garrett had returned to Death's castle to deliver Michael's message, he reached his chamber and found a note left on his desk, stating that Death would be gone until further notice.

"This is bullshit! All this...
'stay quiet, you're important, all will be revealed'
crap. Why can't he just tell us what's going on for Christ's sake."

Garrett eyeballed me with a raised brow. "Maybe that's exactly why they can't tell us. Perhaps what Death has been up to is affecting Heaven far more than we realize."

I popped the tops off the two beers I'd grabbed from my fridge. I'd been spending a lot more money at the liquor store lately, since we couldn't exactly talk about this stuff at the bar. Too many ears.

"Maybe. But honestly, Garrett. What do you think he's been doing that has Heaven in such an uproar?"

"I'm not sure. I just know that I wish you weren't a part of it. I hate that you are now destined to play some big role in the upcoming apocalypse."

"Excuse me? Who said anything about an apocalypse?"

"Well, what do you think will happen when Death goes up against the angels of Heaven. I'm pretty sure Hell will become involved and then BAM...apocalypse."

I laughed at his delivery, then crumbled at the validity of his statement
. Things certainly were shaping up to become some sort of epic showdown.

"Have you seen or talked to Death recently?" I asked.

"No. How about you? Have you gotten any more info from Holli?"

"I asked her what they had been up to, but she said she hadn't seen much of him lately either. Which is really weird, considering how into each other they were."

"Everything about this is weird."

"I agree." The room went silent as I internally debated what Holli suggested in her fit of anger. Maybe if we simply stopped gathering the phenoms all together, we could solve the problem at its source. I'd just have to figure out a way to do that and keep both our heads in the process. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

"Garrett, has a Reaper ever chosen
not
to return to Purgatory after a retrieval?"

"I don't think so, why?"

"Just curious." I shrugged my shoulders.

Garrett's intense stare had me concerned; I worried he'd pressure me for answers––answers I didn't have. Thankfully he didn't. Probably because down deep, he really didn't want to know.

I hovered above the Sears Tower in Chicago, looking at the cloud of phenoms swarming below me. "What are you waiting for, Raven?" Holli called, her sword poised and ready. I, however, wasn't in such a hurry. I'd spent the past week thinking about my plan. If Holli and I refused to gather the phenoms, we'd most likely have to hide topside to avoid Death's wrath. I wasn't sure it would work, but if it did, I needed to make sure our hiding place would be somewhere we'd both enjoy spending our time...possibly eternity.

A chill shimmied up my spine at the thought. I wasn't ready to leave my home.

"Sorry, just thinking." I flung my ribbons in the direction of the phenoms.

Holli raised an eyebrow and lifted her sword. "Whatcha thinking about?"

I wasn't sure I could trust her with my entire plan, but I could test the waters. "Just about the overwhelming amount of phenoms and what would happen if we stopped gathering them, like you suggested before."

She shook her head. "Oh. Well, I was mad at the time; anyway, I don't think it would be good if we stopped. Wouldn't the phenoms turn into ghosts and terrorize the living?"

Dammit.
She had a point.

It was why Death had given us these perks to begin with, so we could keep Earth ghost free. And, as much as I wanted to stop him from whatever he was doing, I couldn't willingly cause a problem for others. It wasn't in my nature.

"Yes, you're right. Just forget it."

Holli smiled, innocently as usual, and moved onto the next cloud a few buildings away. I headed back to the portal after snagging my fill and stepped through without waiting.

As the phenoms were sucked from my ribbons and into the blackened sky, tears spilled down my cheeks. Angry tears. Tears born of frustration. I hated trudging along, doing nothing more than going through the motions. I needed answers.

I prepared to take flight just when Holli stepped through the portal behind me.