The Wrong Enemy by Jane Lebak

Author:Jane Lebak [Lebak, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Philangelus Press
Published: 2016-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

Rachmiel sat away from Tabris, still tingling with God’s touch. Tabris lay asleep on the bed.

Leaning against the wall, Rachmiel shuddered as the vestiges of the Guard faded off the room, its creator unconscious. God had gotten him through the Guard. He’d never have made it in otherwise, at least not until Elizabeth had entered.

He sent a question to God.

She’s fine, God replied. One of the angels on-site had offered to spot him while he went after Tabris. He didn’t know how much the others had picked up when that projection ruptured out, but enough to know Tabris needed him more.

Ten minutes later, he heard Elizabeth in the hall, then in the bathroom with her mother. Rachmiel imagined the routine: the wash cloth, the antiseptic, the Band-Aids. Then Elizabeth’s steps neared her room, and Connie brought her in holding an ice pack, told her to stay still with the ice on her ear. Bandages decorated her elbow and hands, and there was a rip in her new jeans.

The other angel returned her care to Rachmiel, and Hadriel stared at Tabris. Rachmiel waved them away. Connie left the room, shutting the door at her back.

Naturally unaware of Tabris, Elizabeth laid down on the bed, curled sideways with the ice pack balanced on the side of her head, and picked up a book.

The wind breathed over the outside of the house, and Rachmiel watched the clouds. Elizabeth was reading a sad story, one of those small gifts you were never quite sure God had given you. If she picked up Rachmiel’s emotions, she’d attribute them to the book. As images came to him from her reading, they mingled with those horrifying projections from Tabris: Sebastian, the bicycle, the angel curled over the boy as they flipped over, and the snap of a life extinguished.

Rachmiel reached with his heart for God. I should have trusted his judgment. When he’d gone off in pursuit, he’d expected to find Tabris at the pond, but instead he’d run here. Run for home.

Five minutes later, with Rachmiel still numb, Raguel appeared in the room. Rachmiel regarded him, dull. Raguel crouched alongside the bed and touched Tabris’s hair. “What exactly happened?”

Elizabeth stopped reading and stared out the window.

Rachmiel couldn’t meet his eyes. “You didn’t tell me Sebastian died on his bicycle.”

“I thought Tabris would tell you everything you needed to know.”

“He didn’t. I told him to watch Elizabeth biking, and she fell.” He looked up. “She’s hurt, but not because he hurt her. He didn’t touch her at all. That’s why she got hurt. I was angry at him.” Rachmiel swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know what else to say.”

The clouds drifted past, and Elizabeth watched them. Rachmiel watched too, letting them drift over the memory of a fallen bicycle. Two fallen bicycles.

Raguel sighed. “I’m sorry this happened. Call me as soon as he’s awake. I’ll talk to him.”

“Actually—” Rachmiel shook his head, but he didn’t look away from the clouds. “Let me do it. I was the one he talked to.

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