Edge of Thorns 3 - Pt 26

Part 26
Sweet Jesus, what have I done to him?

Nathan was quiet, his forehead throbbing from how tightly his brows were knotted. He waited a moment while Scott cried, then leaned forward between the front seats so he could look at him directly. "Hey." He waited for his coworker to look up. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I... didn't realize just how bad it was for you..."

But Scott shook his head. "No," he said, calming some, wiping his eyes again on his sleeve. "No, it's alright. It probably would've been worse if kept in in." He still shook. "Just... if Enya asks, can you explain? I don't want to have try and tell it to her. I don't think I can."

Nathan nodded solemnly. "Okay." He drew a deep breath. "Why don't we go inside? Maybe we can get something for your wrists, at least."

There was another moment of silence between them, but they soon left the car and walked inside the bookshop. Scott stayed behind Nathan, looking at the ground, and the writer had to slow his pace to make sure he was still following him. He could see him shaking as they went up the steps, and he hoped the angels wouldn't be too much as he opened the door to the apartment.

"We're here," he called into the room, trying to smile despite his remaining unease. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen, but Alton and Micah were still there. The latter was standing next to Enya while she sat in a chair with Lidia in her lap. Judging by the way the little girl was curled up next to her and the oddly concerned look on the angel's face, and the dampness on Enya's cheeks and thin frown on her lips, she'd already talked to them some about what had happened. Alton, at first, seemed to be the only one not somber in the room, but there was a hint of sadness in his smile as he walked over to the two men.

"We were all starting to get worried," he said softly to them, looking at Nathan directly since Scott averted his gaze. He glanced briefly at the reporter. "I heard you were injured."

"A little," Scott conceded, still trying not to look at him when Alton moved next to him. He flinched when the angel touched his shoulder, and Alton pulled back with a small frown.

"It's alright," he assured him, again reaching for him, gently lifting his arm and touching his wrist. "I promise you, I only wish to heal your wounds."

"Which ones?" Scott asked bitterly, finally looking up and meeting Alton's gaze. Alton smiled calmly at him, even as the reporter's glare turned to worry.

"Trust me," the angel said, a faint light glowing from beneath his hands. "I mean you no harm."

"I made a few calls not long after you left," Micah said to Nathan when he left Scott's side and approached. "We know what seemed to have happened with the break-in, at least from a mortal perspective. As far as the police are concerned, this is a closed incident and a clean example of a robbery gone wrong." His golden stare landed on the writer with a skeptical frown. "I was told that the culprits killed each other in a fight at the scene. Gabriel was very distressed when he heard this; he had not sensed them die."

"It more or less confirms what we suspected before." Gabriel appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, his silver hair pulled back in a low tail, a weak smile on his face. "Only the presence of another death angel would prevent me from sensing someone's demise. Combine that with what you and Alton dealt with earlier, and I think we can say with a fair amount of certainty that Raphael really is here in Virtue."

"How many of you are there?" Scott's shaking had finally started to ease, though he was still clearly uncomfortable near Alton. He did mutter a quiet thanks when the angel finished healing his wrists, but still looked at Gabriel curiously. "And, forgive me if I sound stupid, but didn't you have black hair before?"

Gabriel giggled and shook his head, his silver hair fading to black. "You mean like this?"

Scott stared, eyebrow raised. "Okay, this is going to take a lot of getting used to."

"I kind of wished you'd freaked out more," Enya said with a halfhearted laugh. "You're making me feel bad for not telling you sooner about these guys. I didn't because I thought you'd panic." She managed a smirk. "I'm not liking that you're proving me wrong, twin."

He finally laughed, if lightly. "I guess that makes us even: I should have told you I knew there was something not human about your friends. I thought you'd freak if I told you I could sense the supernatural."

Enya frowned in surprise, but then her smile widened and she laughed too. "Well damn. Whoever said twins could read each others' minds never met us, huh?"

"Apparently not."

"Well, now that we're all on relatively the same page," Gabriel said, shaking his head until his hair returned to its usual color. "Why don't we take a break from the unpleasantness and enjoy Thanksgiving, like Alton has been trying to get us to do all day? Dinner's ready."

"I'd love to hear more about this sense of yours, Scott," Alton said as he walked over towards the kitchen to help Gabriel bring out the food. "It is not often I meet mortals who can detect us, and I can tell you weren't just making that up. If you're comfortable talking about it, of course. I know you don't like me."

"I think I said before this is going to take a lot of getting used to," Scott said, following Nathan and his sister as they made their way to the dining table. "But I'll do my best to be, well, less reticent. It's still kind of hard to explain."

"Maybe you could try to describe how you see specific things," Enya suggested. "I'm guessing angels probably read differently than, I don't know, ghosts or something."

"They do."

"Well," his twin prompted, helping Lidia up into the seat next to her. "Why don't you start there?"

"Okay." Scott took a deep breath, turning to Nathan for reassurance. "Where should I start?"

I'd love to know how he sees the angels, and maybe talking about his ability will make him more comfortable with it. But... didn't he say that my aura was off? I wonder what he meant by that... and he tagged Gula for something unnatural. Maybe he'll be able to spot the Sins with his sense, if we can peg what they look like to him. What should I ask him to describe first?