He sucked in air, about to spin on his heel and dart toward the main building when the stormy-eyed stranger appeared in front of him out of nowhere, as if he’d crossed half the kitchen within a single heartbeat. A large hand closed on Gabriel’s throat, slammed him at the wall, and then, breathing was no longer an option when his feet left the floor.
The edges of Gabriel’s vision blurred as he grabbed the thick wrist in an attempt to save himself, but he was growing weak fast. And yet, he wasn’t sorry about leaving this life. The only regret he could think of was that he’d dropped the rhubarb, and with the cook dead, there would be no one to make the kids’ dessert.
2
ABADDON
There could be no witnesses if Abaddon was to fulfil his sacred duty and snuff out the six blasphemers before Saturn once again aligned with the demon star, inciting a new cycle of evil.
And this poor boy? His sacrifice would not be in vain.
Abaddon turned his eyes away from the terror reflecting in the big eyes, but as his own heartbeat became a dull thud, the slim fingers digging into his flesh came into focus. Two of the fingers on the left hand were shorter than they ought to, both missing nails. When Abaddon inhaled next, his lungs were full of hellfire.
It was as if God were speaking straight to his soul, amplifying his pulsing headache.
This same boy, only much younger, a child still, surrounded by hooded figures in the dark. Naked. With bleeding skin and tears rolling down his face before old ones could have dried up. Brutalised by the six.
Cut.
Drowned.
Burned.
Lashed.
Raped.
The fifth of six innocent sacrifices.
Six, three times over.
Abaddon loosened his grip on the slender neck and held the shivering body up as color returned to the gaunt features. Life came back to the dark gaze, yet Abaddon couldn’t shake off the feeling that this boy was a walking corpse. He shouldn’t have survived his ordeal, yet here he was, all those years later, a snag in the plans of the evil-worshippers. His lips trembled, and his nostrils flared when he sucked in a gasp of air.
Abaddon couldn’t look away from this beautiful spark of life that had almost been snuffed out, yet had thrived. Grown, with skin like pale silk and twin onyxes for eyes.
“Do not be afraid,” he whispered to calm the human.
An elbow to his chest pulled him out of the stupor caused by God’s message, but the hit had barely any strength behind it and only made Abaddon let go of the boy, without causing any damage. But the sudden change of position made Abaddon’s aching head spin.
Freed, the young man staggered onto the nearest wall, offering Abaddon just enough time to twist back the trembling arms and press his body to that of the frail mortal.
The boy froze with the back of his head pressed to Abaddon’s solar plexus.
“Don’t kill me,” he uttered, on the verge of a sob.
Abaddon shook his head at the fear this skinny creature must have lived with since his ordeal, surrounded by predators who thought they could influence God’s will with a blasphemous ritual.
In a surge of tenderness, he lowered his chin and kissed the top of the boy’s head, shivering when the Higher Power had communicated the human’s name to him.
“You are safe now, Gabriel. I’m here to make sure those demons in human skin never hurt you again.” He kept his voice low and steady, just above a whisper to not frighten this lamb further.
Gabriel trembled between Abaddon’s chest and the wall, so very small and frail despite no longer being the brutalised child Abaddon had seen in his vision. His wrists were so slender Abaddon could have held them both with one hand, and the cold in his limbs indicated that his thin form was the result of not eating enough.
“Wh-what?” Gabriel uttered and Abaddon couldn’t help but inhale a long drag of the feathery hair that smelled vaguely of vanilla and cigarettes.
“I shall keep you safe. You’re alive because the Almighty has other plans for you, and I am here to carry out his will. So help me God, I will make sure you’re no longer plagued by the shadows who stole your innocence,” Abaddon said and stepped back when the boy stopped struggling.
Gabriel turned to face him, eyes wide as saucers. Like any other human, he needed to overcome the natural fear of facing one of the Lord’s angels. God was on their side, no matter what his tools did with bloodied hands.
“I d-don’t understand. Who are you?” Gabriel slipped his fingers into his hair, drawing Abaddon’s attention to the amputated parts of his two fingers. A long time ago, in a dark chapel lit with torches, a woman had thrown a rock that broke them. The vision from God was clear as if it had happened yesterday.