Rage and Redemption (Rebel Angels) (12 page)

“Show yourself or be gone. I have no time for games.”

Naomi wanted to laugh at that statement but tension gripped her muscles and made her pulse leap. Something was here, unseen yet present.

“Who are you?” Gideon stepped away from her.

Had he determined she wasn’t in danger or just forgotten she was there? She remained against the wall, crossing her arms to hide their shaking.

Gideon turned in a slow circle, arms spread, eyes closed. “There,” he said, striding toward the space between a palm and the castle wall. “If you have no purpose here, be gone.”

Naomi heard a distant, eerie laugh. It could have been a trick of the wind but suddenly the tension knotting her belly released.

They were alone.

“What was that?” she whispered as his posture began to relax. Her heart still pounded and every nerve in her body hummed with an awareness so acute it hurt.

“I’m not certain.”

Gideon took a step toward her. Naomi held out her arm to ward him off. Angels and unseen spirits. It was suddenly just too much. She needed to be away from him, far, far away.

“No more,” she whispered. “Just leave me alone!”

Naomi snatched up her sandals, hobbled past him and hurried along the path as quickly as her ankle would allow.

Naomi folded her arms and rested them atop the thick battlement. From her vantage point high on the southeastern tower above the scriptorium, she could see the immensity of the castle compound. As one wandered through its numerous passageways and wards, it was easy to forget the imposing grandeur of the Krak des Chevaliers. But standing here now with the wind kissing her face, Naomi was awed again by its majesty.

This was her home, her fortress, her sanctuary and never before had she felt so besieged.

The very foundation on which she had built her life had been shaken—was quaking still. How could she make rational decisions when the world no longer made sense?

“You are being needlessly dramatic,” she spoke to the wind. “Surely other women have learned that their fathers are really angels and the only man they have ever been attracted to is not a man at all.”

She laughed, needing the release but feeling only desperation.

“You are not a stupid person. It is within your power to determine what is best for you. Gabriel is an angel, so how does that change your life?”

Warmth caressed her back, though she faced the sun. She dragged in a deep breath, ignored the fist squeezing her heart, and slowly turned around.

Gabriel stood there as she knew he would. His beautiful features expressed uncertainty and his hope that somehow she could still accept him.

“What brings you here?” She did her best to sound casual.

“A heavy heart.” He laced his fingers together, his gaze earnest and sad. “Naomi, I cannot bear it if you despise me.”

Her skin prickled and the fist around her heart loosened just a bit. She searched his face, looking for the angel, seeing only her friend, her mentor and confidant.

“Tell me truthfully, are you an angel?”

His warm gaze met hers directly. “I am.”

“Why did you keep this from me?” Tears burned the back of her throat.

“There was no reason for you to know. It does not change who I am or how I feel about you.”

The deception still stung yet it could not be changed so Naomi left it alone. “What is Gideon? He said he was once an angel but he is being punished. How is he being punished? What did he mean?” She whispered the questions, needing the answers and fearing she might receive them.

He fiddled with the cross around his neck. “What do you know of angels? How do you perceive us?”

Naomi hesitated. Was this simply another way for him to avoid the issue? “I know what is recorded in the Scriptures. Heavenly host proclaiming the birth of Christ and delivering messages from God.”

“And how much do you know about Lucifer?”

The wind carried a strand of hair across her face. Naomi tucked it behind her ear and said, “He coordinates all things evil.”

“Aye. But he began as an angel,” Gabriel reminded her.

Goose bumps broke out on her arms. “I have never understood why God created his own enemy,” Naomi confessed. “If God created Lucifer, then did not God create evil?”

Gabriel smiled patiently. “There must be balance in all creation. Good and evil, light and darkness, right and wrong, life and death. Lucifer knew it and I suppose he felt it more powerfully than anyone else.”

Fascination and revulsion washed over Naomi in alternating waves. She was speaking with an angel about the devil. Her heart did a little flip within her chest. “Gideon knew Lucifer?”

“We all knew Lucifer,” Gabriel said. “When he began his campaign, we were forced to choose sides. We either joined the rebellion or defended Almighty God.”

“And those who joined the rebellion were cast out of Heaven with Lucifer.” Naomi thought of the passages she had read and the stories she had heard, but until now none of it seemed real. How could such conflict exist in Heaven, the wellspring of ultimate peace?

“Gideon chose to remain loyal to God but he was bitterly torn. He knew that Lucifer was wrong—that he was paying the price for his pride and arrogance—but they had been friends, Naomi, close friends.”

“What did Gideon do?” His image came to her, the angry press of his lips, the tension in his expression and the flash of rage so often in his eyes.

“Gideon took his place in Michael’s army and systematically destroyed the ones he loved. He obeyed but he resented what he was commanded to do.”

“It made him bitter,” she said softly.

“It filled him with resentment and fury. It stirred something dark, something violent within his nature.” Gabriel paused, glancing away. “Once the rebellion was over, he no longer had an outlet for his frustration so he looked for someone to blame.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He couldn’t blame Lucifer for he loved the angel Lucifer had been before the Fall. So Gideon focused his resentment on the most important of all God’s creation.”

“Man?”

“Aye. He began to crave violent assignments, to revel in them. He saw the love and devotion God poured out on mankind as a sort of betrayal, another injustice.”

She fought against the compassion unfurling within her. Gideon ruthlessly manipulated anyone and anything to get what he wanted. She would not feel sorry for him!

“God cast him down to Earth as He did Lucifer?”

“Nay, Gideon was not cast out.” Gabriel took Naomi’s hands between his own. “Michael, the archangel, told Gideon he must reform.”

She sighed as the warmth of his touch soothed her. “Michael has authority over the other angels?”

Gabriel nodded. “Michael directs the angels at God’s command.”

“But Gideon did not reform. He told me that he has a bad attitude.”

Again he nodded. Releasing her hands, Gabriel walked about the walled enclosure. Each movement revealed his anxiety.

“Michael was ready to let him Fall. He felt that Gideon had already chosen, that his lust for blood and his resentment of humans had corrupted his angelic nature.” He paused, hands clenched tightly at his sides. “I couldn’t spare Gideon completely. His rebellion had to be punished—even I understood that—but I was able to convince Michael to make the punishment temporary.”

“What is his punishment?”

Gabriel took a long time to answer. “Angels are creatures of Light. Gideon is now a creature of darkness.”

Naomi shifted against the rough stones at her back. How could she be attracted to a creature of darkness? How could his touch melt her inhibitions and make her senses burn? “He is…evil?”

“It’s not that simple. There is evil in Gideon but there is goodness as well. I meant the phrase literally. He cannot be in the light. The rays of the sun burn his skin and drain his strength. He must avoid the light of day.”

Anxiously searching her memory, she verified that each time she had seen Gideon it had been near sunset or fully night. “How does he travel if he cannot tolerate sunlight? How has he survived as a mercenary? Not many battles are fought during the night.”

“Gideon must explain it to you. It is really not my place to reveal his secrets.”

Naomi wasn’t about to argue. He’d explained far more already than she’d hoped to hear. “You said his punishment is temporary. How much longer must he remain in darkness?”

“Again there is no easy answer. It isn’t a matter of time. Michael didn’t create in Gideon anything that wasn’t there already, he simply offered him freedom.”

“Are you speaking of free will? The ability to choose good over evil?” Naomi shifted her weight, finding a more comfortable position. Gabriel continued to pace.

“Angels are not created with the same freedom of spirit that God has given to man. We are designed to be obedient and faithful. Michael released the constraints on Gideon’s spirit, allowing him to experience fully the extremes of his own nature, much as mankind does.”

“And how is this supposed to lead him to redemption?” Naomi wasn’t at all sure she liked Michael’s idea of rehabilitation.

“It isn’t meant as a cure for his rebellion. It’s a trial, a final time of testing that will determine the level of Gideon’s corruption and decide his eternity.”

Naomi shivered and crossed her arms over her chest. An anxious fluttering like the wings of a butterfly tumbled about in her stomach. “What must he do to end the trial?”

“He must work through his anger. He must learn to love and understand humans, or at least desire the understanding then—”

“His only hope lies with the creatures he hates most?” she cried. “That is so unfair.”

His warm brown gaze came to rest upon her face. She saw a subtle pleading there and suddenly wanted to run.

“He doesn’t hate you, Naomi. You’re the first human with whom he has made any sort of a connection. I don’t fully understand why he wanted you to know what we are, but it was important to him.”

Unable to stand still any longer, Naomi reached for the end of her braid and pulled loose the ribbon. “He knew I would feel betrayed by your omission.”

“That was part of it. Still I can’t help hoping that something within him longs for the light.”

She didn’t know what to say. Turning to face the bright sunshine, she raked the thickness of her hair with her fingers and let the wind play through it.

He stepped up beside her. “I know you’re afraid of him and you should continue to be wary, but if you could…” He shook his head and looked away. “I can’t ask this of you. It is just that he is my brother and I love him.”

She had so many questions. But the more she learned, the more frightened she became. “If I could do what?”

“If you could point him back to the light. He needs to see the goodness in mankind, the tenderness, the loyalty and bravery. You are all of these and more. I know what Michael expects of Gideon, but I don’t know how to change him. He will not listen to me.”

“You cannot change him. No one can. He must want to change himself.”

Gabriel nodded, his expression suddenly sad. “That’s what frightens me most. Whether he realizes it or not, he’s reaching out to you.”