Sophie's Wish
Angelic Hosts Series, Book 3, Episode 5, Part 2
Shape-shifting demons and demon-hunting cats…
The sun rose, shining through the part in the curtains, and casting a warm glow on two sleeping little girls. Rafael stood in the corner leaning up against the wall gazing upon the red-haired girl whose curls spread across her pillow. Gabriel sat on the floor, legs crossed Indian-style. The two angels had been thus for a few hours, remaining quiet. Sophie stirred first, stretching and yawning. She rubbed the sleep out of her brown eyes and sat up. Seeing her Uncle Gabe sitting on the floor, she slid off the bed and ran over, falling onto his lap as he enveloped her in his arms.
“Good morning, sunshine.” He tucked a curl behind her ear.
“Why are you here?” she asked, still sleepy. Sophie was used to her uncles being around at bedtime, but they weren’t usually in her room when she woke.
“What? I can’t see my favorite person in the whole wide world in the morning?”
She giggled. “But who is that?” She pointed.
“That is my friend. His name is Rafael.”
“Are you an angel, too?”
Rafael smiled. He stood up and popped out his wings. “If I’m not, then I have no idea where these came from,” he said. He went down on bended knee and took her little hand in his. “I am your servant, ma’am.” He bowed low, reverently.
Sophie got up and went over to inspect his feathers. Her curiosity led her to touching his face, and then she placed her arms around his neck and hugged him. A tear appeared in Rafael’s eye as he slowly closed his arms around her tiny frame and hugged her back.
“You’re here for Cecilia.” She said it like it was a statement of fact, one she could not have possibly known, yet she did.
“I am.” Rafael looked at the small child in awe.
“Good. She needs her family.” With that, Sophie ambled off down the hall to the bathroom.
Gabe tried not to let the smirk on his face be seen, but it was hard to hide when his friend’s mouth was hanging open. “Remarkable, isn’t she?”
“Yes. I don’t think she even realizes it.”
“She doesn’t, but she will soon enough.” Gabe stretched his arms back behind himself leaning on his hands.
Cecilia rolled over and then opened her eyes, looking around. She noticed the bed was empty, but relaxed when she heard the toilet flush. She glanced over the footboard and saw Gabriel, and then her eyes skipped up and caught sight of Rafael.
“Who are you?”
Seeing her big, blue eyes, Rafael’s heart melted into a puddle. “That seems to be the question today.” He stood, stowing his wings.
Sophie entered the room. “That’s Rafael. He’s your angel.” She climbed back up onto the bed and sat.
Cecilia gasped. “My very own?” She looked at Sophie. “Like your uncles?”
“Yes. He will be your guardian.” She made the proclamation out of the blue, completely unaware as to where her knowledge originated or how much weight her words carried.
“And so I shall.” Rafael offered Cecilia a formal and courtly bow. “It’s my honor to meet you.” He looked up in time to see the child scrambling off the bed and then approaching cautiously.
Her curious gaze looked beyond and behind him, and then finally back up to his face. “You have pretty colors.” She reached out her hand and seemed to be feeling the air around him.
Surprised, Rafael kneeled once again. “Yours are lovely as well.” He realized then she could see auras, a trait shared only by those with angelic blood. The discovery was overwhelming.
“I can’t believe how much you resemble her…” He stared at her eyes, her hair, and the freckles sprinkled across her nose.
“Who?”
“Your grandmother.”
Cecilia’s eyes grew wide. “You know my grandmamma?”
“I did. It was a long time ago. Her name was Genevieve Robillard, and you look almost exactly like her.”
“I never knew her. We were supposed to go to her house, but mama…” She trailed off, and then shut down.
“What happened to your mother, Cecilia?” Rafael took on a gentle but firm tone.
The girl stared at her toes.
“Cecilia, it’s okay. You can trust me. I am here to protect you. No one will ever hurt you as long as I’m around, and I’m not going anywhere now that I’ve found you.” He took her hands in his, offering comfort. “But it is very important that you tell me as much as you know.”
She shuffled her feet, clearly struggling with speaking up. “But he’ll find me,” she whispered.
Gabriel tensed but remained still. Rafael pushed.
“Who will? Whoever it is, he won’t get anywhere near you. I won’t let him!”
“He’s not what you think. He’s not what people think. He has lots of yucky colors around him. He smiles, but he’s very mean.” Tears pricked her eyes.
Rafael pulled her closer, holding her at his side, trying to help her feel safe. He smoothed her hair out of her eyes, and pressed on, knowing the answer was important. “Who is this mean man? Did you know him?”
Cecilia nodded.
“Did he hurt your mother?”
More tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “Yes.”
Rafael’s voice lowered almost to a whisper. “Did he kill her?”
Cecilia began to cry in earnest. Rafael wrapped his arms around her, cradling her head against his shoulder. Gabe watched, afraid to speak until the final piece of the puzzle was revealed.
“And who was this man, Cecilia? Tell me so I can make him pay for hurting your mother.”
She sniffed, and then hiccoughed. Her tearful voice whispered, “Monsieur Morel.”
Rafael looked at Gabe, confused.
Gabriel’s brow furrowed. “The landlord. Cam said he’s the one who evicted them from their home.”
The dark-haired angel leaned back and looked at Cecilia. He wiped the tears from her face. “You said he had yucky colors. Can you describe them to me?”
She nodded and spoke. “Blacks and browns. Sometimes reds, like fire. Mama couldn’t see them, and I tried to tell her. She didn’t believe me, but she said she knew he wasn’t nice. She said,” Cecilia looked around as if trying to recall the exact words. “She said he had bad vibations.”
“You mean vibrations?” Rafael asked.
“Yes. Bad vibrations.”
“Why did she say that, do you know?”
“No. She didn’t say, just told me never to go around him alone. But he came around a lot, and mama told him off. I heard her yelling at him. After that, she said we had to leave our home. And then Girard left us, said he didn’t want any problems.”
Gabe’s eyebrow rose. “What did he mean?”
Cecilia shrugged her small shoulders. “I don’t know. But mama was really upset.”
Rafael sighed. “When did this Morel hurt your mother? Was it after you left your home?”
The tears fell again. “She said we were going to grandmamma Robillard’s house. We left, and sometimes we spent the night in a church, and sometimes we were outside all night, but every day, we walked. One night, she said we were going to sleep at a new church that had beds and stuff for people. We were going there.” She stopped and looked down at her hands. Biting her lip, she bravely continued.
“We were cutting through an alley. Mama said it was a shortcut, and then Monsieur Morel was there, only he looked different. I could tell it was him, but mama didn’t recognize him. She thought it was Girard.” She looked up. “I tried to tell her. I don’t know why she thought it was Girard, but she did. I kept pulling her hand, but she went right up to him. She was even happy. I said ‘Mama, that’s not Girard. That’s the bad man! That’s Monsieur Morel!’, but she said I was crazy, a liar. She said “Cecilia, what’s wrong with you? It’s Girard. He’s come back.”
Gabriel hung his head. It was obvious to both him and Rafael that Monsieur Morel was a demon, a shape-shifting variety. Catherine never stood a chance.
“How did you get away?” Rafael decided to skip over the details of the woman’s death knowing it was upsetting Cecilia too much.
“I pulled and pulled until mama let go of my hand, and then when he…when I saw…I ran! I ran and ran and ran.”
She buried her face in Rafael’s neck. He quietly rocked her until her tears subsided.
After a few moments passed, he peeked at her. “Better?”
She sniffed, nodding. Sophie bounced off the bed. “Come on, Cece, let’s go eat breakfast.” She came and took her hand, leading her out of the room.
The two angels stood, hands on their hips. “Demons,” Rafael spat. “This is why I stayed out of Erik’s life, but it looks like my effort was in vain, and it has put Cecilia in danger.” He paced. “I strongly suspect this is what happened to my son.”
Gabe agreed. “You know how much demons are attracted to Nephilim. Your son was already grown, but he wasn’t fully aware of what he was, and Cecilia,” he paused. “You know how much they like children. Add ‘Nephilim’ to the list and they positively froth at the mouth to get hold of them.”
“If only I’d stuck around!” Rafael blamed himself. “If I had, Genevieve, Erik, and the girl’s mother would all still be alive and well instead of dead or comatose.”
Gabe patted him on the back. “You can’t protect everyone, Rafael. But I’ll tell you what we can do…”
“What’s that?”
“We can seek out this Monsieur Morel and send him back to Hades.” Gabe punched a fist into his hand and looked ready to engage in some good, old-fashioned demon smiting.
Rafael nodded. “Yes, my friend, we can. But what about Camael?”
“We’ll fill him in later.”
“And what about protecting the girls?” Rafael was torn. He really wanted to end this demon, but he was also committed to guarding Cecilia.
Gabe eased his worry. “The messiah and her aura-reading, one-quarter angel sidekick will be fine. Can’t you hear?”
Rafael cocked his head. “What am I listening for?”
“Downstairs. Sophie’s mother, father, and family friend, Charmaine, are all present. And then there’s Toulouse.” Gabe grinned.
“Toulouse?” Rafael’s face reflected confusion.
“Sophie’s cat. He’s been her guardian since we placed her here five years ago. You know how much demons hate cats. Remember?”
Rafael’s face relaxed. “I love cats. Still makes me laugh every time I see a demon run from a cat.”
“See? She’s on vacation from school, and she’ll be home today. Between the adults and the demon-hunting cat, the girls will be fine. Now let’s go kick some demon butt!”
Dear Readers, welcome to Book 3 in the Angelic Hosts series, Sophie’s Wish.
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