An Archangel's Promise (6 page)

Hunter hid his grin when his Gabriella cocked an eyebrow at
him, before lifting her top lip up in a sneer. His bonded was not a woman that
was so easily charmed. Ash appeared taken aback by her hostile response, which
he covered quickly with a cocky grin, but not before Hunter saw it. Apparently
the Fallen wasn’t used to being turned down.

Too bad, so sad, arsewipe.

“Sorry, but pretty boys holding swords at innocent people
don’t really do much for me.” Gabriella shrugged. “The city is a big place
though, I’m sure you’ll find someone. If not, might I suggest internet dating?”

Hunter gaped at her. What the fuck was she doing?

Ash growled. “You think you’re a clever little thing, don’t
you? Doesn’t seem real smart to piss off the guy holding the sword though, does
it?”

For once Hunter agreed with the bastard. He scowled at her,
thinking she had lost her mind, when Hunter suddenly realized she had a plan.
Her eyes kept flicking to the floor on her left, to an abandoned handbag that
was lying there. Hunter could see a can of something barely sticking out of the
top. When her gaze moved back to Hunter, then trailed down his arm to his
sword, Hunter finally understood what she was doing and his eyes widened
slightly.

He shook his head minutely, there was no way in hell he
would risk exploding the can with her so close. The glint in Gabriella’s eyes
did nothing to reassure him.

Oh, shit. He knew that look.

“It’s hard to find you intimidating when you look like an
overgrown owl,” she snickered.

Ah, fuck!

Having no other choice, Hunter shot a flame from his weapon,
hitting the can directly when Ash lunged for his bonded. As expected, the blast
ricocheted, sending an unsuspecting Ash flying.

The Fallen landed with a thud on the other side of the
ruined restaurant, but it didn’t take Ash long to recover, picking himself up
off the ground and turning his attention to Hunter.

“You may have transitioned, but you’ve also bonded. You’re
weaker now than you ever were before.”

“You forget he’s not alone, Ash,” a deep resonating voice
sounded from above, the pounding of wings in the air.

Hunter’s head shot up, relief coursing through him as he
spotted not just Sebastian, but the four other members of his team. Sebastian’s
shimmering gold wings drew in slightly, allowing the son of Michael to land.
The others followed suit, their swords drawn, battle stances taken. Hunter
willed his own sword to life in his outstretched hand, the flame licking up the
blade as he waited for Ash to strike or retreat. With the Fallen, you never
knew which way he would go.

Ash showed no fear as they surrounded him. Hunter was
grateful when Dominic, the son of Raguel, moved to place himself between the
Fallen and Gabriella. Dominic spread his phoenix-like wings wide, blocking
Ash’s view of Hunter’s bonded.

“What’s wrong, Hunter? Afraid you can’t take me without your
friends?” Ash sneered, spreading his arms out wide.

Hunter growled. “You’re the one who came here with your men.
I’m not the coward.”

“Watch it, little boy. We wouldn’t want to harm all these
nice, innocent people, now would we? I really would like to see how you’re
going to contain this. All these people, all those cameras. Good luck with
that.” Ash turned to the men he had brought with him. “Let’s leave them to this
mess.”

Hunter peered around to see Ash had a point. Even with their
lives in danger, people in the crowd had still managed to pull out their phones
and start taking pictures and recordings. Unfucking believable!

“Leaving so soon?” Sebastian smirked, stepping in front of
Ash. “I just got here. I think my feelings are hurt.”

Not to be outdone, Ash simply grinned before flicking out a
flame toward some bystanders nearby. Hunter’s breath caught in his throat as he
watched the flame fly through the air. Letting out a curse, Sebastian barely
managed to block the shot that would have surely killed those people, giving
Ash enough time to lift off and hover above them.

Hunter saw Sebastian tense, as if he meant to take flight
and follow, but thankfully Dominic moved forward, calming their friend who was
always so quick to anger. As the son of the archangel Michael, Sebastian’s
first instinct was always to fight.

Witnessing the scene below, Ash threw back his head,
laughter spilling from his lips. Hunter fought the urge to roll his eyes at the
blatant “bad guy” impersonation Ash attempted to pull off. The Fallen always
did have a dramatic flair about everything. And that made him dangerous and
unpredictable.

“We’ll leave you all to it.” Ash winked at Hunter. “After
all…time is but a window. I’ll be back.”

With a burst of strength through his wings that shook the
walls, Ash took off into the night sky, his men following.

The room was silent, until Brock, son of Remiel, spoke.
“Dude. Did he just misquote
Ghostbusters
?”

Hunter blinked at the man. Only he would think of something
like that at a time like this.

“Nah, man. I think it was
Terminator
,” Elijah, son of
Zerachiel, responded.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t the only one.

Brock shook his head in disgust. “Mixing the classics? Now I
know the man is evil.”

Hunter groaned. He loved these men like brothers, but
sometimes they were just fucking nuts.

“If we’re done with the commentary, perhaps we should start
fixing this mess, hmm?” suggested Julian, son of Uriel. He always was the
logical one.

Hunter knew that he should focus on the crowd around them,
should be helping his friends, but all his thoughts were on Gabriella.

Shoving past people and ignoring Sebastian’s call, Hunter
went to Gabriella’s side. Her eyes were wide, and she trembled, but there was a
look of determination in her hypnotizing emerald eyes that he knew well. Only,
this time he had no idea whether it meant something positive for him, or
something that was going to tear apart his world. Drawing in a deep breath,
Hunter couldn’t wait any longer to find out.

“Gabby?”

“Gabby?” Hunter whispered.

Gabriella took in the mess before her, the sight of men with
extraordinary wings like Hunter, and knew things were about to get seriously
complicated. Good thing she was used to complicated.

Meeting Hunter’s quizzical gaze, she raised an eyebrow.
“Looks like you have some more explaining to do.”

She watched relief, fear, and uncertainty play on his
handsome features.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, I swear. We just
need to fix this first,” he said, waving his hand to encompass the room.
“Please, just give me a chance to explain.”

Gabriella nodded. “Okay, Hunter.”

She gasped in surprise when he swooped forward, claiming her
lips as his own, branding them. His tongue pushed through, forcing her lips
apart, and she couldn’t help the moan that slipped free. This man was like a
drug, so addictive and dangerous, yet she couldn’t seem to make herself stop.
Their lips continued to dance, tease, and taste, and Gabriella found her arms
slipping up and around his neck. Hunter’s large hands clamped down on her hips,
their bodies melding together. It was pure ecstasy.

“Gabriella!”

Her brother’s shout had her snapping back, panting as she
stared into Hunter’s eyes.

“We’ll continue this later.” Hunter grinned, dropping his
mouth one more time to hers before he moved back and joined the other men.

The other men with wings. And swords. That were on fire.
Damn.

She stood back as Hunter and the other men took control of
the small crowd. Thankfully there weren’t many people left in the room, most
having the sense to flee when Ash and his men had arrived. Gabriella couldn’t
hear what the angels were saying to the people, but she watched as each person handed
over their phone or camera, nodded to the angel, and then left the room without
saying a word, a smile on their face.

That was creepy.

She was impressed at the speed in which the men moved,
clearing the mess and debris, straightening everything they could. It certainly
didn’t hide the fact that something had happened, but it looked a hell of a lot
better.

“Just how am I going to explain this mess?” she muttered as
she looked around in dismay.

Nolan rolled his eyes at her. “I’m pretty sure we have
bigger things to worry about, don’t you think?”

She shrugged. It was a matter of priorities, and hers was to
focus on something other than the freaking angels walking around the destroyed
restaurant right in front of her. A girl had to keep her sanity somehow.

When they finally finished, Gabriella realized she hadn’t
moved the entire time the men had been cleaning. She’d feel guilty for leaving
them to clean the mess, but she kind of figured it had been their fault anyhow.
What she needed right now were some answers. Snapping out of her trance, she
became determined to get them.

“Hunter?” she called out. When he turned to her, a smile on
his face, she forgot how to breathe.
My God, he’s gorgeous when he smiles.

“Yes, Gabby?” Hunter cautiously walked to her, almost like
he was afraid of her. Which she found hilarious given the enormous wings coming
out of his back and the sword he had conjured out of nowhere earlier.

Gabriella shook herself out of her thoughts. “W-who are
they?”

Hunter gestured for the other angels to join them. Crap, she
really hadn’t wanted them any closer just yet. She tensed the closer they came,
until Hunter stood beside her, placing an arm possessively around her waist.

“For lack of a better term, these are my brothers,” he told
her.

She frowned up at him. “You have brothers?”

“No.” He chuckled awkwardly. “Not really. They are more like
cousins. Our fathers are brothers…sort of.”

“Well, that wasn’t vague or anything,” she mumbled.

“Seriously? Out of all of this, that is what you’re focused
on?” Nolan asked incredulously. He held his hand up and began ticking things
off as he went. “They have wings, their shiny swords are on frigging fire, and
they just tore the place apart. Yet you’re more concerned with whether he has
brothers or not?”

“Technically it was Ash and his badly dressed bandits that
caused the mess,” the angel with stunning azure wings pointed out. When they
all gave him a pointed look, he shrugged. “I’m just saying…”

“Not helpful, Brock.” Hunter shook his head at his friend,
then introduced the men. “This big mouth is Brock. Next to him with the pale
blue wings is Elijah, Julian has the silver wings, and then Dominic with the
wings that look like they belong on a phoenix.”

Gabriella stared in awe at the fascinating wings the angel
had. So different from the others. “They’re really beautiful.”

“Um, thanks,” Dominic said uncomfortably. If she wasn’t
mistaken, the powerful angel was blushing.

“Yeah, he’s the pretty one,” the angel she remembered was
Brock joked.

Dominic’s response was to flip Brock the bird and mutter
something, no doubt unpleasant, under his breath. When Brock stuck his tongue
out, Gabriella couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of her chest. They
really were like brothers.

“And this here,” Hunter said, indicating the tall blond with
pure golden wings, “is Sebastian. Our leader, for all intents and purposes, not
that he’ll admit that. But he is the oldest and the son of Michael, the archangel.”

Sebastian gave her a nod. “It’s nice to finally meet you in
person, Gabriella.”

“In person?” she asked, but then remembered Hunter’s
memories, and that it was usually Sebastian who had come to find him when he
had gone in search of her. “Oh, right.”

Sebastian quirked an eyebrow at Hunter in silent question.

“Yes. I showed her. She knows most of it,” Hunter informed
him.

Wait! Most of it? Oh, Christ, there’s more?

“Don’t worry,” Hunter whispered in her ear.

She turned her head to argue and he once again claimed her
lips. The guy certainly liked to kiss, and he was bloody amazing at it too. Had
he always been that good? She couldn’t remember in that moment.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Nolan shouted. “Are you not the
least bit fazed by the fact that the guy you’re making out with has frigging
wings?”

Gabriella pulled back and grinned at her brother. “Not
really, but then…I think I’m still dealing with all of this.”

“Why don’t we put away our wings, gentlemen? We don’t want
more humans coming in and finding us like this,” Sebastian suggested, though it
sounded more like an order.

Elijah snorted. “Yeah, let’s not continue to freak out the humans.
This one looks like he’s ready to pass out or have a stroke,” he said, pointing
at Nolan.

Gabriella grimaced, silently agreeing with the angel. Her
brother appeared more pale than usual.

“Seriously? I think I’ve been handling things pretty well up
until this point,” Nolan muttered.

Surprisingly, all the men did as instructed, even Hunter,
without batting an eyelid. She found herself agreeing with Hunter, whether
Sebastian wanted to admit it or not, he led these men.

“We should probably grab our gear and put on some shirts
too,” Hunter said as his wings disappeared.

“He’s right.” Brock grinned. “The humans probably can’t
handle our sexiness.”

Gabriella rolled her eyes, noticing that the other men in
the room did the same thing. Tilting her head in Brock’s direction, she asked
Hunter, “Is he always like that?”

Hunter scrunched up his nose. “Believe it or not, he’s
actually behaving himself.”

Gabriella blinked up at him. “But you’re angels. Aren’t you
supposed to be more, I dunno, angelic?”

Hunter laughed, sliding an arm around her waist. “We’re
still us, Gabby. I’m still Hunter. I’m not some omnipotent being.”

“Oh.” Because really, what else was there to say?

Dominic walked back into the room with a duffle bag, which
surprised her because she hadn’t even seen him leave. The bag was opened and
shirts were handed out. There seemed to be one for each of them, plus extras.
Clearly, losing their shirts was a common occurrence.

“We really need to get out of here,” Sebastian announced.
“It won’t be long until Ash and the others come back.”

Gabriella looked up at Hunter, anger and hurt filling her.
“You’re leaving? Again.”

Nolan snorted. “Of course he is.”

The man was not helping.

“We have to leave, Gabby. It’s not safe here anymore. But I
won’t let anything happen to you,” he soothed.

“You’re leaving?” she repeated. She tried not to show the
hurt she felt. The man had been back in her life for no more than an hour, they
had made no actual promises, but dammit, he had claimed her. Didn’t that mean
anything?

As if reading her mind, Hunter chuckled. “Yes. And you’re
coming with me.”

She blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, like hell,” Nolan said. “You aren’t taking my sister
anywhere, mate.”

They both ignored her brother as she tried to comprehend
what she was hearing.

“You’re my bonded. I’ve claimed you. I cannot live without
you. I barely managed to before,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.

“Hunter. I-I can’t just walk away and leave everyone
behind,” she whispered, wanting nothing more than to leave with him, but
knowing she couldn’t do that to her brother. When she saw Hunter wince, she
realized her words. “Hey, no. I understand now why you left. It still hurts,
but I get it. What I said wasn’t a dig at you.”

“Ash will be back. He knows who you are to me now, and he
won’t hesitate to use you to get to me,” he whispered, cupping her head between
his two large palms. “Please.”

“Why?” she asked desperately. “Why does he want to hurt you
all so badly?”

She couldn’t understand why Ash and his men seemed so hell-bent
on wiping Hunter and the others out. If what Hunter said was right, Ash was
Fallen. Why would he even care?

“I think I can answer that,” a deep baritone voice replied
from behind them.

Gabriella gave a startled yelp as Hunter quickly drew her
behind him. Her brows shot up when suddenly the other angels in the room knelt
down on one knee.
Huh?
Looking up at Hunter, she saw that he too was
confused.

“Oh Christ. Another one?” Nolan quipped.

“Who is that?” Gabriella asked softly, though she had no
doubt the angel could hear her. The angel was powerful, that much was obvious,
but what she recognized most was the little things. The way he stood in the
perfectly tailored suit he wore, the natural quirk of his dark brow, and those
eyes that stood out against the crisp white of his silk shirt. She knew those
eyes. “Is he your father?”

The angel looked so much like Hunter, with his dark brown
hair and sapphire blue eyes. They even shared the same stark white wings with
tips of midnight. The angel was handsome, rather young looking given he was
Hunter’s father. The men could have been mistaken for brothers.

“Are you?” Hunter asked. While most wouldn’t have heard it,
Gabriella could hear the disguised longing in his voice.

The angel smiled at Hunter, his eyes softening as he spoke.
“Yes, my son. I have missed you.”

Gabriella tugged at Hunter’s hand, she had an uneasy feeling
about this. “You were serious when you said your father was powerful, weren’t
you?”

“Yes, honey, I was.”

“Hunter,” she whispered. She could hear the strain in her
own voice. “Who the hell is your father?”

Hunter took a deep breath, then brought her hand to his
lips, kissing it lightly. “Gabriella, I would like you to meet my father, the archangel
Gabriel.”

Gabriella knew then that she had finally reached the breaking
point. As her eyes rolled up and everything went black, the only thing she
could think was she hoped someone caught her.

* * * *

Hunter, not expecting Gabriella’s reaction, barely caught her
in time as she slumped in his arms. Checking her over, he sighed in relief when
he realized she had only passed out. Honestly, he was surprised she had lasted
this long.

Beside him, Nolan growled. “You idiot. Look what you’ve done
now.”

Hunter glared at the human. He understood Nolan was most
likely freaking out, and therefore acting out, but he was really starting to
get on Hunter’s nerves.

“Smooth, son.” Gabriel chuckled, shaking his head. “Do you
think you could have delivered that a little more gently?”

“She handled everything else so well, I thought she would be
fine.” He shrugged. “Besides, if you’re so wise then pray tell, Father, how
should one tell his bonded something like that?”

At Gabriel’s intake of breath, Hunter glanced over at him.

“Are you okay?”

Blinking his eyes rapidly, the archangel cleared his throat.
“Yes, sorry. It’s just been so long since I have seen you… I started to lose
hope that I would ever hear you call me father.”

Hunter hadn’t even realized he had called him father. At a
loss for words, Hunter just stood there with Gabriella in his arms. He was
extremely thankful when she began to stir, because he didn’t know what to do
with his father. He held no animosity toward him, not anymore at least, but he
still didn’t know the guy. Hell, he had just met him. No amount of stories can
compare to the real thing, and right now he was torn between awe and fear.
After all, his father was an archangel for crying out loud.

“Hey there, honey. You back with us?” Hunter crooned, trying
to wake Gabriella up slowly. The last thing he wanted was for her to go into
shock again. Striding over to the nearest seat, Hunter cradled her in his arms.
“Come on, Gabby.”

When all she did was moan, he sighed.

“Give her time, son. She has had one hell of a night.
Besides, I should explain some things to you.”

“So I finally get to know all the secrets, huh?” he asked,
not hiding the sarcasm in his voice. Okay, so maybe he still held a little
resentment toward the guy.