Fallen: Celeste (13 page)

"That's right, Tomas. If we had realized that before we
rebelled, we wouldn't be here now." William stepped from the shadows.

Tomas turned to challenge him. That was the opening Celeste was
looking for. She leapt forward, slamming her body into Tomas'. Their strength
was equal. She would need every advantage she had. Her hands grabbed Tomas'
wrist. She tried forcing the fallen to drop the gun. He held too tightly. His
lips pulled back in a snarl. Letting go with one hand, he slammed his fist into
her face. She felt her lip split. Stars flashed in her eyes. The pain
pinwheeled through her head.

She squeezed her hands tighter around his wrist. She felt William
and Adam circling, looking for an opening. Tomas slammed his elbow into her
face again. She felt her nose break. She certainly wasn't going to look pretty
when this fight was over.

She was trying to refocus when Adam shouted. She felt the shock of
the blade as it slid into her stomach. She gasped. Letting go of Tomas' wrist,
she wrapped her arms around the wound. Tomas leveled the gun at her. William
and Adam were converging, but she knew they wouldn't get there in time. She
couldn't stop Tomas. It was taking all of her power to keep from bleeding to
death.

The first bullet hit her in the right side of the chest. The
second shot hit her in the left side. As she fell, she tossed her power to
William. With her power, William wrapped Tomas in a net, capturing him. Tomas
cringed. He knew what was coming.

Adam ran to Celeste. Pulling her into his arms, he whispered to
her, "Don't die on me, angel. I need you here."

She touched his cheek. "It's too hard. I miss home."

Tears welled up in his eyes. Shaking his head, he said, "I'll
be your home, angel. I'll be your Heaven if you just stay with me."

Celeste turned her head to see William touch Tomas on the
forehead. The fallen angel wailed. He fell to his knees sobbing. His face went
slack as he became trapped in the hellish loop the Enforcer created in his
mind. William nodded to her. There might have been sadness in his eyes, Celeste
couldn't tell.

The pain swelled. She moaned. She felt Adam's tears wash her
cheeks. Looking up, she stared into his green eyes. She saw how much he loved
her shining in his eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if his love would be
enough to block out all her thoughts of Heaven. Was it right for her to force him
to become her world?

As she slid into
darkness, she heard him whispering over and over, "I love you. Don't leave
me."

* * * *

Adam looked up as William walked into the waiting room. The
Enforcer's eyes were tired. He had done all the talking when the police arrived
so Adam could go to the hospital with Celeste.

"Anything yet?" William sank onto one of the couches,
scrubbing his face roughly.

Adam shook his head. "It's been two hours. They should know
something, don't you think?" Adam held out his hand to William.
"Thanks for taking care of things for us. I wouldn't have been able to
deal with it. Not with Celeste in surgery."

William shook his hand. "Don't mention it. I know Celeste
would do the same for me." He waved Adam to the spot next to him. "It
may seem bad, but Celeste is tough. She's far tougher than you and I have ever
given her credit for. She'll make it out of this just fine."

Adam groaned. "I might not. I don't think I'll ever be able
to forget all that blood. It was ten times worse than when my mother
died."

"You had already lost your mother. You knew it was inevitable
that your father would kill her. In a way, you were just marking time until he
did. This time, you don't want to lose her. You weren't expecting she would get
injured." William sighed. "I wish I could tell you this was all a
dream. You'll wake up in bed and Celeste will be curled up next to you. For all
the power I have, I can't turn back time or change the outcome."

"I know, William. To be honest, maybe dying would be better
for her. At least she's not stuck here going crazy."

"Don't ever think that. If she dies, she's in hell. On earth,
she has someone to love her. Celeste is the most powerful Enforcer on earth and
the strongest." William's eyes darkened with love for his friend.

"Aren't those the same thing?"

Shaking his head, William focused on him. "No. She is the
strongest amongst us because she's always been willing to risk her heart."

"You aren't?"

"Oh no. I have never been fond of caring for your kind. You
mortals are frail and fragile creatures. You can die so easily. It's better to
use you for power and then walk away. I run away from love every chance I get.
It's easier to run than to take the chance on losing a part of myself."
William stared out into the waiting room, watching people as they talked
quietly.

Adam thought about Celeste's hesitation when he told her he loved
her. "I don't know. Maybe she doesn't want to take the chance anymore. She
never said she loved me out loud."

"It was a forgone conclusion that Celeste would fall in love
with you. Unlike most of the Enforcers, she has never been able to shut herself
off. I know she acts cold and distant at times, but inside she's trying to find
a way to keep her heart from breaking. It's more than sex for her. She can't
help but fall in love."

"I certainly wasn't looking to fall in love, but here I am in
love with a fallen angel who can't even say she loves me." Adam didn't
want to think about love right then. "So what's going to happen to
Tomas?"

"He'll spend the rest of his mortal life in a mental
hospital."

"Mortal life?"

William looked uncomfortable for a moment. "The difference
between Celeste and me isn't just that she can love someone. In addition to
being an Enforcer, I'm an Avenger. I'm the one who deals out the punishment to
the fallen we capture."

Adam noticed the faraway look that came into William's eyes. He
realized William had depths to his soul he would never show to anyone except
Celeste. Those depths had been wounded by William's fall from grace and from
his chosen repentance. "What does an Avenger do?"

"Tomas is mortal now. I took away his powers. He has become
the one thing he hates the most. I created a loop in his mind showing him what
he once was and what he now is. Most of the fallen can't deal with it. They
tend to go catatonic and thus suffer in silence. Even if they did talk, no one
is going to believe they're fallen angels. Most mortals aren't that
imaginative." William gave Adam a smirk.

Adam didn't get a chance to say anything else. The surgeon arrived
with news about Celeste. Later as he sat, holding her hand, he thought about
William's words.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Adam stood staring down at Celeste. She looked so cold and pale
lying in that hospital bed. The machines beeped quietly in the background. The
doctors had told him there was no reason why she was still alive. Celeste had
taken two bullets at point-blank range in the chest. Tomas had also stabbed her
in the stomach. By all laws, she should be dead.

"You can't kill an angel," William's voice came out of
the darkness that clung to her room.

"Not even a fallen?" Adam didn't turn from his
inspection of her face.

"Not unless they want to die, which might be the reason why
she hasn't regained consciousness." William moved closer. His eyes glowed
in the shadows. "Of course, if she had a reason to stay, she might come
back."

"If she didn't come back, where would she go?"

William shrugged. "To whatever version of hell she has
waiting for her." His voice compelled Adam to look at him. "You might
be able to reach her, if you chose to." With those words, he disappeared
from the room.

"If I chose to? Why wouldn't I want you to come back to
me?" Adam sat down next to her bed. He took her cool hand in his. Tracing
her long fingers, he remembered each touch from them. "But is coming back
to me the best thing for you?" he whispered. He had seen how the darkness
had been stealing into her eyes even in the short time he had known her. As
much as she might have loved him, she had a longing for home. He kissed her
hand and leaned his head against her arm.

He was so tired. He hadn't slept in two days. He had paced the
waiting room while she was in surgery. He had stayed by her side until the
doctors had moved her to a private room. His eyes were dry and gritty. His
clothes were rumpled. At least Jakar had brought him some new ones so he didn't
have her blood on his shirt. He closed his eyes, softly whispering a prayer
that she would still be alive when he woke up.

* * * *

"Do you really want her to come back to you?" The voice
was deep and resonant.

Adam jerked upright. He was standing in a strange room. The walls
gleamed a brilliant white. It looked like a waiting room except there were no
chairs. There was only a large desk at one end of the room.

"Are you selfish enough to wish she would return to you? Even
though living on earth could drive her mad?" The voice sounded from behind
Adam.

Adam whirled around to find an extremely tall man standing behind
him. The man was leaning casually against the wall between two windows. His
hands were shoved into his pants pockets, but just by the way he held himself,
Adam knew the man was ready for anything. The charcoal gray three-piece Armani
suit was tailored to fit the man's build. The burgundy silk tie and linen dark
blue shirt spoke of taste and comfort. The man's radiant gray eyes stared at
Adam with searing familiarity. Adam felt like the man knew all of his secrets,
especially those held deep in Adam's soul that he never acknowledged, not even
to himself.

"Of course, I know all your secrets, Adam. That's my job."
The man grinned. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"Who are you?"

"You may call me Mika'il."

Adam wanted to ignore the man, but his presence filled Adam's mind
until there was no thought of anything else. "No, I don't want Celeste to
come back if it means she will suffer. She's had enough pain in her life."
He felt his heart clench. He didn't know what he would do without her, but he
wouldn't ask for her to return because of his pain.

"That is a good answer. Come." Mika'il gestured to the
window at his right. "Look out and tell me what you see."

Adam didn't argue. He looked out the window onto a gorgeous
English garden with roses and flowers blooming. There was a fountain in the
middle of it. He heard a bird singing. Laughter flowed on the gentle breeze. He
watched with hungry eyes as Celeste came into view, holding a bouquet of
daisies in her hands. He saw the life and vitality shining in her eyes. She sat
on a bench, holding out one of her hands for a blue and yellow butterfly to sit
on.

"Where is she?" He placed his hand on the windowpane.

"In her own view of Heaven, I suppose."

Adam watched with Mika'il as Celeste leaned her head back and
basked in the sunlight.

"Where would she go if she went to Hell?" He asked.

Mika'il frowned. "That is not something you will ever find
out. There can be no other choice. She has given up her place in Heaven. It is
either hell or going back to earth."

Adam remembered the pain and fear welling in Celeste's eyes as he
held her while she bled. He could hear her voice telling him how painful living
on earth was for her. "I'll let her have my place."

Mika'il laughed. "Your place? And how do you know there is a
place in Heaven for you? You are an unrepentant sinner and have never asked the
Father for anything."

"There is always a place in Heaven for those who believe. I
have always believed in God. I just didn't think He wanted anything to do with
me. I'm asking Him for something now. I'm asking Him to allow Celeste to take
my place in Heaven. Let her go there now. She'll never have to endure hell or
earth again."

"You will never hold her in your arms again. You will never
feel her lips on yours or her body surrounding you." He gestured to the
second window. "Look out and tell me what you see."

Adam looked out the second window and saw his father. His father
was standing there, yelling and hitting just like the night he killed Adam's
mother. His father's eyes were wild with anger and hate. Adam couldn't look
away. "What is this?"

"This is what you will condemn yourself to if you give up
your soul to allow Celeste into Heaven. You will see your father every second
of every day for eternity. There will be no turning away. You can't close your
eyes. You will watch your father kill your mother over and over. You will watch
your mother betray you with her love for your father." The archangel's
eyes held a certain amount of sympathy. "Are you sure your love is strong
enough to be willing to face that? It is your own private hell."

Adam shrugged. "I live with it every day. What makes it any
different from my life on earth?" He turned to Mika'il. "I'm willing
to do it."

He nodded. "Can you change your life to be a living testament
to what Celeste believes in?"