Ketch Me if You Can

Chapter 22

"Gabe, stop!" I followed after the archangel as he quickly walked down the hall.

"No. Nope! Not happening!" He muttered, adjusting the collar of the jacket he wore. He'd borrowed it, along with some of the rest of his clothing, from Sam.

"Just, listen for a second." I said, reaching out for his shoulder, "We need you."

The angel stopped and let out a heavy sigh, "Why? I beat the big bad demon prince for you! What more do you want from me?"

"We still need your grace." I had been trying to reason with the bullheaded being for a few days now, but he'd been as stubborn and arrogant as ever. "You can still help us."

"Well, toots. I'm a tad low on grace at the moment, and that seems to be pretty important for your little project." Gabe turned to face me, arms crossed over his chest.

The archangel stood eye level with me, those piercing amber eyes bore through me with their newfound free will. He looked better than he had in weeks. His short brown hair and ivory skin were clean and free of scratches or scars left from his time in Hell. There were no scars left from the stitches that held his lips together for so long. He looked strong again, but anyone who had been tortured in Hell could recognize the mask of another tortured soul. I knew he wanted to leave to reconnect with himself and do what he wanted, but we didn't have time to waste trying to track down another archangel if he did leave. We finally had all the pieces to the puzzle.

"That doesn't matter. Even with little to no grace, you're still a fighter." He opened his mouth to argue but I continued before he could, "You're an archangel, Gabe. You were made for war. We need that more than anything right now, we can wait on the grace."

It was a lie, of course we couldn't risk waiting, but I was hoping it was convincing enough for now.

"You know I can't stay here. Because, believe it or not, I do have a life outside being in danger." He sighed.

I knew he was right. I knew we had no right to ask him to stay here and work with us after being a slave for who knows how long. But I wasn't about to just let him turn his back on us either. We needed him if we ever wanted to see Mary and Jack again. At least there didn't seem to be another option.

"At least stay another night. You're safe here, we can at least give you that for one more night." A compromise would be better than nothing.

"I don't need your protection." Gabe scoffed.

"Then stay for Sam." Using the angel's crush against him was a low blow, but it was the last straw I had.

His cognac-colored eyes stared into mine, challenging whether I knew or not. They studied me again, blinking slowly as he thought about what I had said.

"You wouldn't be the first supernatural being to fall for..."

"Don't...say it." Gabe interrupted me, letting out a heavy sigh. "Fine. One night. Then I'm leaving!"

I smiled, a little more proud of myself for using my trump card than I should have been. It had been a bit mean to use the angel's heart against him. It seemed like they fell for humans so easily sometimes.

I walked down the hall and into the server room before heading for the garage. I was hoping to pack up for a good hunt. I needed some time away from this bunker, and now that we were rid of Asmodeus, there wasn't a better time for it. I'd already found what sounded like a shifter in Michigan City, Indiana. There hadn't been much to go on, but it was at least weird enough to check out. And even if it ended up not being something supernatural, the two or three days away from here would be exactly what I needed. I'd already checked in with everyone else to make sure I could go alone on this one, and I was excited to be out again. Like things were finally going my way.