Devils and Angels

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

As soon as he said it, my mind drew a blank, I had no questions that I could think of. I held his hands and tried to think, but nothing came to me.

I looked up above his head where his halo shimmered. I pointed at it, "What does it do?" I blurted it out before I lost my nerve.

I could see Angelo holding in his amusement. "My halo? Not much, it's really just a symbol that I'm a full fledged Guardian Angel." He removed one of his hands and touched the circle of light floating over his head, his fingers passed right through it.

Tentatively, I reached up and passed my own fingers through the halo. I felt nothing but a little jolt of energy when my skin touched it.

"Does it just hang up there all the time?" I asked, my curiosity flowing now.

Angelo shrugged. "I guess you could say that, I usually have a glamour up that hides it and my wings. But that only works in the mortal world, here my glamour is useless. I can turn the halo off, but Angels usually don't because it's an achievement, we like to show it off." He smiled and snapped his fingers and the circle of light vanished.

"What about the wings?" I asked. "Can you turn those off?"

Angelo chuckled. "No, no. I was born with these." He made his wings flutter a bit before settling back into their tightly folded position, wincing as he did so.

"Is something wrong?" I suddenly realized how uncomfortable he must be in the cell.

He shook it off. "It's nothing really, my wings are just a little cramped, there isn't enough room to stretch out." He caught my look and smiled. "Don't worry about me, a little discomfort before death isn't that bad."

His words only caused me more distress. I stared at his hands, entwined with mine.

I still loved him, I couldn't help it. The more time I spent near him, the more I remembered all of the time we'd spent together those seven wonderful days. He may be an angel, but he risked his life to save me. The only thing in his eyes when he looked at me was love and compassion.

I bit my lip, dithering over the decision I was about to make. It wasn't the best idea, but...I trusted him.

In the end, trust won out over logic.

I stood up, pulling my hands from his.

He face grew a little worried. "What are you doing? Are you leaving?" He stood and gripped the iron bars of the cell.

"Hush," I said. "Stand back." And I put my hand on the square panel of iron where a key hole would be. I pushed my power into the iron and the door glowed red.

There was a small click and I pulled my hand away, opening the door as Angelo stood very still, his eyes wide as he watched me.

"Only for a minute," I said sternly. "You should be able to stretch your wings."

Angelo met my eyes for a moment, doubt swam there for a moment, but then cleared and was replaced by total trust.

He walked without hesitation out of the cell and gave a sigh of relief as his wings opened.

I had been taught to fear angels above all things, their wings and halo's being symbols of their danger.

Now I tried to look at them from another perspective, and found them quite beautiful. Pure white feathers that shimmered and glowed with soft, pearly light. As Angelo stretched and relaxed, their light grew brighter, and filled me with a calm, warm feeling of hope and joy.

I found myself smiling and I before I knew what I was doing I had my arms wrapped around Angelo, breathing in his scent. Fresh mountain air and the smell of trees after it rains.