Page 15 of Fated Angel

She settles in, content despite everything that hangs in the balance. Somehow, everything seems possible when she’s in Colt’s arms. It’s together that they’ve achieved the impossible, over and over again.

It was your power that did that.

Gabby stiffens as the words hiss through her mind. She goes to turn toward Colt, somehow hoping he’s the one who said them, but a gentle snore tickles her ear. Colt’s asleep.

It was your power that did it all.

Gabby squeezes her eyes shut, already knowing who’s talking to her. What’s invading the peace and light that she was reconnecting with.

The obsidian.

Against her will, blackness fills her mind, dragging her under even as it simultaneously surges through her veins like electricity.

You have unlimited potential, angel, it whispers seductively. Imagine the great power you could wield. The power to reshape the world. You could be a ruler, a beacon of justice in a world plagued by chaos.

An image of herself rises from the billowing black, vibrant and ethereal. Transformed. She stands tall, her wings gleaming with an otherworldly light, her eyes ablaze with celestial fire. Hovering above the shadows and whispers, she radiates a commanding presence, an angel of unparalleled power.

Visions dance behind her eyelids, showing her a world where she reigns supreme, where she brings order and harmony to both the supernatural and humans alike.

You’ll right every wrong. Protect the innocent.

Punish the wicked with unwavering justice.

In every scene, she’s a beacon of hope, a force of righteousness. Her heart swells with the belief that she can bring about a better world.

Gabby’s eyes shoot open, yanking herself out of the vision. She holds still, focusing on the sensation of Colt’s arms around her as she steadies her breathing. The obsidian’s trying to tempt her.

She can’t give into the promise of being the one to bring peace.

Can she?

6

Colt

When Colt wakes not long after they’ve fallen asleep, he notices the distinct absence of warmth. Gabby isn’t by his side. Startled, he jolts up, wings extending so he can grasp every drop of his power to defend her.

“Uh…” Gabby says, looking up at him from the floor with a tome in her lap. “I couldn’t sleep?” she offers.

Colt breathes a ragged sigh of relief. Slowly, he tucks his wings away and swings his legs over several cushions. He cribs his face with his palms and groans at just how tired he still seems to be.

“What are you reading?” he asks, trying to lighten the intensity of his waking.

“The Qur’an,” she whispers, reverently flipping the pages as she glances at each and every one. “After what happened in the tomb, I decided maybe I should be learning a bit more about Allah and his teachings. You know, so I don’t try and go swimming in boiling Hell water anytime soon?” She gives a soft, self-deprecating laugh.

Colt drops his hands in his lap, watching her. Something is different, or more different, than when they first got here. There are bags under Gabby’s eyes, and she looks like she’s straining to sit still. Her knee is bouncing up and down, her toes tapping anxiously. The angel Colt knows is calm under pressure—this is not that angel.

“Do you think maybe we should call Gabriel?” he asks. “Have him hold on to the stones for a while, or maybe give you a little bit of information on what might be happening with yo?—”

“Absolutely not!” Gabby shouts, jumping to her feet. Colt swears he sees a spark of celestial fire in her eyes before she stops and blinks in confusion. “I—I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from,” she says as she walks over to Colt and sits beside him. “I don’t want to call my father, I don’t want him to think we need help. You and me, Colt, we’re unstoppable. We don’t need anyone else. Besides, when in Heaven or in Hell have you ever thought about calling an archangel before now?” she laughs.

Colt strokes her face with the back of his hand as his eyes search her oceanic ones. “Since I fell in love with the daughter of that archangel, and my love is struggling with something I can’t quite understand,” he says quietly.

Gabby frowns slightly, nibbling her bottom lip as she lowers her eyes. “I’m alright, Colt. You have nothing to worry about. I’m just anxious, we can’t let the cult win. Not for anything.”

“I know, angel, I know…” Colt says, taking her hands in his and stroking his thumb over her palms. “I just want to make sure we’re doing everything in our power to?—”

“Umm, hi, excuse me?”

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