Fallen Angel

Chapter 9: Brannon

I felt her presence before she'd even entered the room. A gust of wind howled from behind her as she pushed through the door, a hand was up and the receptionist was frozen. My father would be out here any second now, he was far more attuned to heavenly creatures than I was.

As I looked at Emily, something stirred within me. She wasn't like other girls and it wasn't just because she was an angel. There was something about her that made her different to them, even from the other angels. Maybe it was because she had a fiery soul and it was something that did not sit well in angels. Serene and quiet, not angry and noisy.

I stood and squared off my shoulders, readying to battle what looked like one rather pissed off angel.

"Stop tempting."

Uh, okay that's not what I expected her to say.

"Pardon?"

"I said, stop tempting. You, stop, no more, end it all."

"Temptation is a demon thing Emily, my thing is to finish my education and nothing more."

My eyes darted to the door, feeling the rise in anger fill my father. I wasn't sure if it was the conversation with Emery or what was going on out here, either way it wasn't good.

"You need to go now Emily, you can't be here. My father is in with Emery, if he finds you then it's not going to be good."

She wouldn't budge, looking at me with a lot of hurt filled anger.

"Are you crazy? Did you not hear me? I said my father is in there. You know, the devil. You are an angel, big battle, you will end up in hell as his prisoner."

"I will be fine." She said defiantly.

"Get real Em." I scoffed. "You're an infra and he's the devil. Please tell me you're not that stupid that you think you'd be successful going against him."

Emily stood firm, looking at me as tears welled in her eyes. Now that she wasn't hiding her angel eyes, I saw their true colour, not the dull blue that I'd seen previously. I'd never seen such an amazing colour of purple, the palest colouring that was almost like a lilac shade. It was a striking contrast against her fair skin and red hair.

I moved closer, trying to remain calm so that my father wouldn't feel my rising anxiety.

"You are being crazy and I told you to stay away from me. You will be a pile of ashes on the floor if my father walks out of that office and finds you this close to me."

She didn't move. I huffed and grabbed her elbow, turning her to the door.

"What are you doing?" Emily hissed.

"Moving you myself."

Opening the door, I found the corridor was quiet and void of life. I wanted to find a locker to stuff her into as punishment for being so ridiculous. There was no way that she'd survive a meeting with my father in such circumstances. Her defiance would piss him off and I didn't want to watch him destroy her.

The first level stairwell on the eastern side of the building was always a great hiding spot, the teachers rarely used this set of stairs. Around the wall of the stair structure was a hidden alcove, one that was owned by me. Well, owned was being a little untruthful. Maybe claimed was better.

There was no surprises that Luca was here, sitting on a claimed milk crate. His eyes widened as he looked at Emily but he said nothing.

"Sit and don't do anything stupid. Don't leave, I'll be back."

With a rather hasty walk, I made it back to the office and sat down. As I heard the soft murmurs of a conversation and the door opening, I looked at the frozen receptionist.

"Crap." I hissed under my breath.

There was no time, she'd make a lot of noise with her confusion and then Emery would start asking questions. It was best to ignore it and hope that she didn't notice.

My father walked out, not looking overly impressed.

"Thank you Mrs Emery. I'm sure Brannon and Luca appreciate all that you do for them."

"I'm sure they do. Maybe they need to spend the rest of the school year apart, maybe then there would be less trouble."

He gave her a pleasant smile and I felt the room shift, including Emery's stance on the situation.

"But I would imagine that would be difficult considering that Mister Delacroix's parents are employees of yours."

"That it would be. Good day Mrs Emery."

My father turned away from the door as he closed it. He looked at the frozen receptionist, turning to me with a frown.

"The angel?" He asked quietly.

I nodded warily as I stood.

"Is she still around?"

I shook my head and his eyes narrowed at me.

"We have an issue, don't we Brannon?"

He waited as I shrugged, offering a hushed maybe.

"I expect you to be home within an hour after your last class Brannon and I expect you to tell me everything. Did I or your mother raise you to keep secrets or tell lies?"

"I'm not lying about anything."

"But you're keeping a secret and it's one that involves our entire world. This is not just about you or her, not even me or the rest of our family. I have to protect the demons Brannon, I have to care for the damned and the many layers of our world. How can I do that when my own son is keeping secrets from me, ones that could be detrimental to the very fabric of hell? Tread carefully, the path that you walk from now on could destroy everything if you are not cautious."

He sighed and wrapped me into his arms.

"What I do, I do to protect you. You have no idea how hard it was to keep your mother safe when she was pregnant with you. Not even she knows. They will do anything to destroy us, do not forget that."

With a kiss on my head that reminded me that I was still a kid, he said goodbye and left me more conflicted than ever before.

How could I tell my father, the devil, that I liked an angel? I couldn't. No matter how much he said to not keep secrets from him or my mother, I knew that I couldn't tell either of them that I wanted to be with an angel.