Demons Run

Demons Run (8) Gabriel: The First Angel

     As I walked further and turned the corner, I felt a cold chill sweep up my spine. Standing in front of me was Gabriel the Archangel.

     Gabriel looked like the stereotypical angel. The difference, however, was that he had a halo of dark hair, rather than blond, and an innocent smile. His eyes were a vivid electric blue, just like Eve's, and he stood with a straight posture. He was dressed to look normal among normal people; he wore dark jeans and a button up shirt.

     When Gabriel saw me, his polite smile grew, "Hello, Roman. It is nice to see you again." His dialect was always so formal.

     "Hi, Gabriel." I said familiarly, eyeing him. I had no problems with him in particular, but he's an angel, I'm a demon, and I'm sure you get the idea. "You aren't supposed to be here."

     Gabriel frowned a bit, "I'm well aware. I needed to know how she was doing, though. Her soul is attached to yours now, so I can no longer see her."

     I let out a sigh and continued walking, "Everything is going fine. We had a run-in with Azela, but that's it. Smooth sailing, Gabe."

     I walked past him and he stood there for a moment, but then he turned and began following. After a few seconds he caught up and stayed in stride with me as I walked to the store.

     "So you're protecting her very well?"

     "Yes." I said, glancing over at him, "Of course I am."

     "I hear you have two faeries with you. Is this true?"

     "Yes, it is." I said. Gabriel stiffened and his face became stern but I shook my head, "They're of the Seelie Court. Pain and Panic. The faeries of Fall and Summer."

     Gabriel relaxed at this, and I watched as he released a relieved breath. Not all faeries were good, and I knew that must have worried him to death.

     "Thank you for doing this, Roman. For saving her." He said. I glanced over at the baby-faced angel who was giving me an appreciative look. I gave him a small smile and nod.

     "No need to thank me. She's not so bad." I laughed, thinking back to the sleeping girl in the hotel room. "We're gonna make it. To Babylon and back."

     Gabriel's blue eyes flickered with curiosity and something else I couldn't quite place. He smiled slightly, "Do you have feelings for my Evangelina?"

     I choked a little on my own spit and coughed, giving Gabriel an incredulous look. Why would he ask me something like that? I mean, sure, Eve made me happy, but... that couldn't happen. Those sort of things just don't happen. Do they? The way she looks at me, her eyes, the way she smells, her voice, her hair, everything... what she did to me.

     "No." I said sternly, despite my racing thoughts, "I'm a demon, Gabriel. We don't have feelings."

     Gabriel's face dropped in shock and he balked at my statement. We continued walking. I could see the drug store now, but we still had a little ways to walk.

     "Do you know how wrong you are?" Gabriel was probably one of the sassiest angels I'd ever met, "You only say it's impossible because of what you've been told. But how do you feel?"

     I hadn't been expecting him to ask me what I felt. Nobody ever did.

     "Like I..." I trailed off, unable to say for sure.

     "Love her?" He finished, smiling broadly at me.

     I gritted my teeth at the word and threw him a nasty look, "Need to protect her."

     Gabriel smiled knowingly at me. Smug little winged bastard. "Roman, do you know what a Fortis Cor is?"

     "No." I said. I could tell the phrase was Latin, because I had once spoke Latin. In English it roughly translated to 'strong heart'.

     "A Fortis Cor is a once human who was forced into being a demon. In human life, they were very strong in mind and body, had a high morality, and sense of what was right and wrong." Gabriel said. Through his explanation, I could feel a small anxiousness build within me. "Although the demon blood corrupted the rest of their bloodwork, they were all able to hang on to just enough humanity that would allow them to be saved. Even as a demon, a Fortis Cor can separate right from wrong, and in special cases with the right circumstances, can have human feelings."

     I was quiet for a minute, and stopped walking. Gabriel stopped too and I turned so I could face him. "What are you saying?"

     "To take a good long look at your situation, and what's happening, the things you're feeling." He gave me a soulful look, "This is not random coincidence, Roman."

     "Are you saying I'm a... what is it, Fortis Cor?" I repeated.

    

     "I'm giving you facts." said Gabriel, "Why else do you think you want to be saved so badly? The small piece of your humanity is suffering greatly and wants to resurface in all its glory."

     I nodded at him and looked down, trailing back to my earlier train of thought; I wondered if Eve had awoken yet. "And the feelings, that's only in special cases?"

     "What more special a case than a woman like Eve being completely enamoured by you? I've watched her. She is very kind, and she speaks to the once-human side of you. She evokes that raw emotion from the little strip of your humanity."

     "They're real?" I asked. My voice was quiet, and to my surprise, even a bit hoarse. "My feelings, are they real?"

     "Of course they are. Eve has a very forgiving spirit. She doesn't see any evil in you, she only sees the good, the part of you that protects her and dotes on her. It's why she likes you so much. And the fact that she sees you as Roman the person and not Roman the Demon is specifically what evokes feeling in you. You know that every time she looks at you, she's seeing you, not your curse."

     He'd confirmed my suspicions by this point. It wasn't my connection to Eve that made me feel the way I did, I was just genuinely starting to care about her more and more. Babylon was only a small piece of what I had on my mind by this point.

     "Gabriel..." The question was stuck painfully to the end of my tongue with a thumbtack. He cocked his head to the side, waiting. "If I actually do this, and I mean do it right, and become a human... do you think I could actually be with her?"

     "Yes." Gabriel said, without hesitation. "You are a good man, Roman."

     "Are we going to be kept apart?"

     "It won't come without difficulty, but in the end, the only final say-so that counts is mine." He said, giving me a fleeting grin, "You have my blessing."

     Before I could respond, huge white wings unfurled from his back, and with a flapping sound and a rush of wind, Gabriel had disappeared.