Broken Angel

Chapter 5: Grounded

AZRAEL

I had her.

She was right there in my arms and I let her slip away. Again. Then I went after her, and I still couldn’t find her.

The real question was what the f**k was Gabi thinking. They were on the ground rolling around like children. Not even the twins fought like that, and they were actual children.

I was frustrated and god damn upset. There were already two five-year olds I had to watch and now I had to add Gabi and her f*****g tantrums.

“Please explain to me what your thought process was?” I asked with a sigh. Being Death was never this much of a hassle. I simply went out and fulfilled my duties. There were no attachments. No questions. No feelings. I was a servant to my creation.

Then Penelope came along. She gave me all of that. And now she wasn’t here to deal with the fallout.

Gabi stood up from her seat on the couch, her hands flailing in the air. “I don’t need to do anything! Certainly not explain myself to the likes of you.”

“Gabi what the f**k?!”

She plopped back down onto the couch, Lex only a few feet away from her on the opposite side. He was silent as he watched her, like she may fall apart at any moment. “Watch yourself. You kiss Rory goodnight with that mouth?” She shot back.

“Gabrielle.”

“It got out of hand. I wasn’t going to hurt her. You know that,” she explained with a sigh. Gabi was infuriating sometimes. As much as I cared for my sister, she was a pain in the ass when she wanted to be.

That still didn’t mean what she did was okay. I should have been there. Maybe I could have stopped the situation from escalating. Maybe Penelope would be home right now. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t owe you anything. Besides, there wasn’t much to tell.” Gabi shrugged nonchalantly as if she wasn’t about to pummel Penelope into the ground when we found them. I was lucky Alexi sensed her.

“You found her Gabi!! How is that not important,” I shouted. Then I remembered the twins were in their room and lowered my voice and attempted to control my temper. It would do no one any use if I lost my s**t right now, especially not my kids.

“She lured me there. Spewing threats she couldn’t keep,” she spat. Gabi looked furious, and I couldn’t decipher whether it was because she and Penelope fought or because we stopped them.

Penelope was still new and refused help from anyone. She wouldn’t know how to beat Gabi, all she had was raw strength. As much as I hated to admit it, but Gabi taught me everything. When Michael was too busy for us, she made sure we knew our place in the universe.

“How the Hell did you two end up on the ground?” I could only imagine how it escalated so quickly. The entire field was torn apart, there wasn’t a petal left unscathed. I’m sure they would have found a way to take down that single tree if we hadn’t stopped them. Penelope alone blew a crater into the earth. Our Father would be so disappointed.

“Go b***h at her! She broke my wing! Which is still healing by the way,” she yelled with a dismissing sway of her hand. I hadn’t even realized Gabi damaged her wing until I got back home. I was too focused on going after my soulmate to worry about my sister. And maybe that was the problem. We had tunnel vision when it came to our other half.

“She doesn’t remember who you are,” I tried reasoning with her.

She let out a loud huff of aggravation. “When are we going to stop excusing her actions and admit she’s volatile. Raz she isn’t helping the humans. She’s causing them more harm and she doesn’t seem to care. I’m supposed to make her see her error and help her do better by them. I can’t do that if she won’t listen. I can’t do that if she won’t follow a basic command. I love Penelope, but I’m done coddling her.”

“You can’t just go around beating each other into the ground.”

“Would you expect me to act differently with any of our siblings?” She questioned as she stood up from her seat. Gabi looked towards me, then towards Lex waiting for an answer she knew wouldn’t be coming. “I thought so. I’m going to go do anything except what I was created for because I’m grounded. Thanks to your soulmate by the way.”

My sister began stomping towards the stairs towards what I was assuming was Alexi’s room. Their relationship may be questionable at the moment, but he would never stop her from seeking comfort in his home.

“I won’t allow you to hurt her.”

She stopped in her tracks not even bothering to turn around. “Good thing I don’t take orders from you.” Then proceeded to stomp up the stairs. All I could think of was that the twins would probably hear her outburst.

Like he knew what I was thinking, Alec came bounding down the steps a few seconds later. “Dad?”

As soon as he got within reach he threw himself at me knowing I’d catch him every time. Knowing that he trusted me completely I knew that there was something we were doing right, even if their mom wasn’t here.

“Why is aunt Gabi upset? She said you’re a moron what is that?” He asked. Lex burst out in laughter that then had Alec giggling.

Now wasn’t a good time to explain what Gabi really thought of me so Lex answered for me “Aunt Gabi was just making a funny joke.” This was only a worse response than I could give. Now my kid would be thinking calling others morons was funny. I just hoped he could feel the situation before he blurted it out.

“Can Finn visit?” Alec asked.

He’d been asking about the wolves ever since Aurora was gifted the hellhound. I think in his mind he connected the two beasts and thought they were one in the same. I doubted Finn would appreciate being compared to a hellhound.

“I don’t think Finn will be coming back anytime soon,” I told him. Especially after Alec trapped him in his bubble, and now that Aurora had the hellhound I wasn’t sure how that would go over. Their wolves had a mind of their own and I wasn’t too sure it would be a good idea to have them near the hound.

Alec looked down for a second, his eyes glistening with I shed tears. “I want to say sorry.” Holding my son in my arms I realized he genuinely felt bad for what he had put Finn through. We could all feel his anger and frustration, and it was only amplified for Alec.

He laid his head across my shoulder as his arms held onto me. “Lex?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Where is your sister?” I asked Alec in hopes of changing the subject.

He immediately perked up at the mention of Aurora and jumped out of my arms. “She’s taking a nap with Poochie. I needed water,” he explained as if he was just remembering his trip down here had a purpose. Running into the kitchen, I heard the refrigerator door open and close with Alec running back upstairs with two bottles of water in hand a few seconds later.

Alec was fast for a five-year-old. And it only had me questioning if he had other gifts he didn’t know about yet.

“I still can’t believe you let her name the Hellhound Poochie,” Alexi chuckled.

“What was I supposed to do, say no?”

“Maybe offer up a different name, one less I don’t know soft. It’s a hellhound after all.” He was right. Seeing that beast dark and imposing only to respond to the name Poochie didn’t incite fear. Now that Aurora decided to keep him in his original form, we would see a large fiery dog wagging its tail for a little girl.

I slumped down in the seat across from him feeling a headache coming on. Or at least I thought that’s what this was. Running a hand through my hair I could only imagine what else I opened myself up to by allowing Penelope into my life. “I won’t deny her. Father knows I’m already doing enough of that.”

“You aren’t doing it on purpose. It has to be done.” Even with his explanation, it didn’t make me feel better. She wanted everything I couldn’t give her. Even supernatural parents were afraid of what she could do. They wouldn’t dare entrust their children to the Reaper or anywhere near his Death spawn.

“You didn’t offer much to what Gabi had to say.”

He leaned back in his seat and looked longingly towards the stairs. I knew that look. He wanted to go to her. I had that same stupid face every time Penelope was in the room. “We’re already in a bad place, I thought it was best to stay out of it.”

“Even if it meant Penelope got hurt?”

“She’ll heal. Gabi wouldn’t do anything unless she thought it was necessary,” he defended my sister.

“You seem to be taking her side,” I responded with a smile. It was about damn time he was choosing Gabi. I would ignore that it came at the cost of Penelope getting hurt at the moment because my sister deserved to be happy. Or at least that was what I would tell myself every time I thought of their fight.

“I’m not taking sides. I’m simply realizing I’m tired of being angry. Penelope isn’t gone, just out of reach. She’ll come home when she’s ready. She was never good at taking orders from anyone, the decision has to be hers. I already lost my best friend; I’m not losing Gabi too.”

He was right. I’d have to wait for Penelope to come home to me or force her to do it on my terms. I hadn’t decided which option I preferred yet. But she was coming home one way or another.