Page 6 of Unshakable

Henri dropped thisrevelation on her as gently as possible, considering the developing relationship between them. She paled, and leaned against her laminate counter, clutching the edge as if to hold herself upright.

“How you know him is not my concern,” he started. “I’m not here about him, he is only the reason I knew your name and the reason you knew me to be Grigori. I’m here in relation to something else.”

Her sharp gaze latched onto his, her aura darkening as his meaning sunk in. “Are we in danger? The girls, are they in harm’s way?”

“Sit and listen.” He led her to a stool at the kitchen island and began in earnest, his hand warm around hers. “Maybe we can figure this out together. I was in this deli, feeling sorry for myself because my son would rather not be who he is, and when I looked around, I saw two beings. They looked like regular men to most, but I recognized two Fallen Angels huddled in conversation at the counter. I see auras, one of my few parlor tricks, and theirs tend to be particularly nasty. I kept to myself because they don’t care much for beings like me. We can’t affect them, mind you, we’re just an annoyance.”

“And they spoke my name? These Fallen Angels?” she asked with a shaking voice. She did not ask whether Fallen Angels existed or how they came to move in the human world.

She knew more than she let on.

“They wrote your name, actually,” he said. “Long story short, they were trying to find you and you did an admirable job of hiding, if you meant to hide.”

Her color faded. “Do they know where I am?”

Henri nodded. “They finally got to the bottom of things, yes. When I saw your name, I wanted to warn you.”

A long pause, then she finished his thought, “Because you knew Michael loved me, once upon a time.”

He smiled, seeing how she referenced her romance with Michael, like a fairy tale. Had Michael loved her? She didn’t know the real Michael if she still thought so. “Yes, and because no one typically needs the Fallen in their lives. I don’t know about signals or summoning. I do know the right thing to do.”

A long pause bounced between them. “Did you tell Michael about this conversation you overheard? About coming to see me?”

“I haven’t spoken to him at all.” He didn’t tell her why or how his friendship with Michael had faded in recent years over deep philosophical differences. “May I call you Toula?”

“What? Yes,” she responded, her focus elsewhere.

He squeezed her hand. “Do you have any idea why these dark angels would be interested in your whereabouts?”

Her gaze snapped to his, urgency in her tone. “No, they’re not after me, not this time. I’m too old. They’re after my granddaughters. They’ll be wanting them, eventually.”

Henri didn’t know what she meant by ‘wanting them’ although he freely assumed all kinds of nefarious purposes, from A to Z, without limitations.

Instead, he asked, “What do you mean, not this time?”

“What I mean, Mr. Gregory, is my family, genetically, has something these beings, one in particular, want or need. Since they know of the girls’ existence, we’ll have to do what we’ve always done.”

Henri frowned. “And what’s that?”

“Keep them safe, of course.”

Her emotional rebuke pushed him back. This kind of situation fell far outside his purview and experience. He struggled to keep up. “What makes you targets?”

She shook her head and tears flashed in her eyes, though quickly blinked away. “What I’m trying to do, while my daughter scientifically tries to undo it, is protect the girls and teach them how to resist what’s to come.”

What’s to come?

Her words made nothing clearer, except her contempt for her daughter, and through her daughter, science. All of which sat well with him. “What is it? What do they want with your girls? Your family?”

“That’s the thing.” She knotted her hands on the countertop before looking up at him, fear unmistakable in her voice. “I have no idea. A single being has been woven into our history for generations, before anyone could even guess what he was. This ageless, stunning, beguiling figure none of us seem able to fully resist comes after our women.”

Henri knew exactly which of the two beings he’d seen in the diner Toula referenced. “Then you’re not surprised to learn he’s looking for you?”

Toula shook her head, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “I hoped these girls might be spared. Even though he’s been involved with our family, no one truly knows what his purpose is in finding and luring one of us to do his bidding. I certainly have no idea and anyone who might is already dead.”

“All right.” He pressed his hands atop her cold fingers, forcing her to look into his eyes. He’d bitten off more than he usually chewed, no doubt, and wanted to fend off her despair. “He came after you, then? At some point?”

She nodded and looked anywhere but at him. “As I grew up, I heard vague warnings about him. They called him a devil, or a demon, or whatever fit the mood. In the end, their warnings were enough, even if it took months to unmask him. I have done and will do everything I can to protect the girls, and my own stubborn daughter can be damned.”

Henri kept his silence while Toula regrouped and calmed herself. He sipped whiskey and wondered no longer at the depth of darkness in the being’s eyes inside the deli.

He’d never heard of anything like this, a Fallen Angel persistently inserting himself into the lives of one family across generations. Consider the patience, the failures and frustrations across time. If he never got what he wanted, he would try again and again.

When Toula took a shaky breath and sipped her drink, he pressed for more, “Why you? Why your family? You said your family was interesting. Interesting how?”

She shifted her gaze to his. “I can tell you’re a good, decent man. You’re curious about my relationship with Michael. Your curiosity is nearly overwhelming, to be honest. You’re physically attracted to me, and you’re afraid your son will never get his head out of his ass.”

“Are you psychic?” Nothing fell outside the realm of possibility, and she’d spoken the truth of how he felt.

A rare and beautiful full smile bloomed on her lips as she shook her head. “I’m empathic.”

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