In The Arms of an Angel - 44. Chapter 44 - Oh My God

Gabri’el had to hold Pasha back. He wrapped his arms around the feisty, impulsive angel and dropped his cheek to Pasha’s hair.

“Easy,” Gabri’el murmured. “If we want answers we have to tread carefully.”

“Well said,” the boy said, clapping again.

“Don’t get complacent, boy,” Gabriel snarled. “I want answers and if I don’t get them, I’ll be the one going for your throat and this time I won’t stop until I choke the life out of you.”

“Good luck with that,” the boy said, with a musical laugh. “You have to catch me first.”

Between one blink and another, the boy vanished.

“What the…?”

“Looking for me?”

The voice behind them was smug and amused. By the time they turned, the boy was gone.

“Not fast enough,” the boy said and they turned back to where they first started.

“Who the hell are you?” Pasha cried. “What’s going on here? What do you want from us? What have you done with Uzzy?”

“So many questions,” the boy said. “I’ll answer them, in due course, but why not go somewhere more comfortable to discuss this?” He clapped his hands and the walls melted away. They found themselves in a plush room that looked like some kind of gentlemen’s club from nineteenth century London. The boy indicated three leather armchairs in front of a roaring fire. “Shall we?”

Pasha and Gabri’el exchanged glances. Gabri’el shrugged. “We may as well go along with it, for now.”

The boy laughed. “Just for now,” he said.

It was so odd, seeing a boy wearing nothing but a top hat, reclining in an enormous armchair, his white hair spread out over the dark leather.

Gabri’el sat down and pulled Pasha onto his lap. Pasha found, with some surprise, he felt safe there. Why hadn’t he realized it before?

“Because you were fighting it. Because you felt you were being unfaithful to Uzzi’el when, if you had only spoken to him you’d have found him more than open to the idea.”

“How do you know what I was thinking?”

“It wasn’t too difficult. I believe you were told, once, that you and Gabri’el were meant to be together as you and Uzzi’el are. If only you’d listened or at least explored the possibility.” He looked sad. “This whole charade has been exhausting for me. I wish none of it had been necessary although we knew from the start it would be.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I do,” Gabriel said. “It all comes from what that man said when he took Uzzy. He said we were mates but I didn’t believe him. You did more that disbelieve. You actively fought against it. Even when we both had the same visions of the cave, the same connection with Uzzy we fought it. Even when I realized you were sensing me and not Uzzy, I couldn’t…”

“You knew?”

“Not knew, suspected.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“What would you have done if I had?”

“Let me make this easy for you,” the boy said. “If Uzzi’el had been with you, you might never have recognized what you have. You would both have fought it; maybe for years; maybe forever. Even when Uzzi’el was removed you still wouldn’t turn to each other. You were still fighting it. And so, I was forced to create this whole elaborate charade to force you to see what was always there.”

“All of this? All this…was just to push us together?”

“In a manner of speaking. You were already together, you just didn’t recognise it. Don’t you remember what I said right at the beginning? You saw only what you thought was there, Pasha, or rather was determined to deny what was there. Nothing was as it seemed, especially not the way you feel for Gabri’el. I think Gabri’el was quicker to embrace what he feels for you.”

Pasha looked up into Gabri’el’s face and could immediately see from the softness in his eyes that the boy was right.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The boy smiled. “You might say, I’m God.”

“Yeah, right. Who are you really and what do you want with us?”

“I’ve already told you.”

“Stop talking in riddles and give us a straight answer.”

“I’m trying to. I believe that if I simply lay the facts on the table you will not accept them.”

“Tell me one thing. Is Uzzy alive?”

The boy scanned his face for a moment, causing his heart to stop. “Yes,” he said simply.

“Where is he?” Pasha would have leaped from Gabri’el’s lap if Gabri’el hadn’t held him back. “Take me to him,” he yelled, struggling.

“You see?” the boy said mildly. “If I give you what you want you don’t listen.”

“Easy, Pasha. Let’s listen to what he has to say.”

“Gabri’el, at least has some sense, it seems.”

“I won’t listen to anything until I know Uzzy’s alright. Why did Fierro say he was dead? Is he a spy for you?”

“Fierro is nothing but a true and loyal friend. It was unfortunate he had to be drawn into the charade. No one was supposed to have been there when he died.”

“But you said….”

“Nothing is as it seems, Passa’el. The Uzzy that remained with you was nothing but a shell, a copy if you will. It was never really Uzzi’el at all.”

“I don’t believe you. I want to see him. I need to see him.”

The boy sighed. “He said this would happen. He knows you very well.” He turned toward a door they hadn’t previously noticed. “You’d better come in.”

The door opened and a figure stepped into the room. Nothing could have held Pasha back from throwing himself into his mate’s arms. Fireworks exploded in his head as Uzzy’s arms closed around him and the fizzing, sparking rainbow energy surrounded him.

After a few moments, Uzzy moved away slightly and held out his hand. For a moment, Pasha was confused, then his heart soared as Gabri’el joined them and the energy flared brighter than ever.