Brethren Beginnings ~ Gabriel Seeker Read Online Free Page B

closer to the edge of his bed. He
looked about ready to pounce. And he did.
    Gabriel grabbed de LaGuardia in mid-air
with one hand and slammed him to the floor. He swung the
sword around, allowing the hilt to connect with the side of
Marco's face. Stepping back, Gabriel waited to see if he was
going to get up. He heard a bit of moaning, so he knelt down and
whispered in his ear.
    “ We’ve only just begun to
come to an understanding, jerk-off. I’ve got so much more teaching
to do. Are you ready for your lessons, shit-for-brains?”
    A moan escaped de LaGuardia’s
mouth.
    “ I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.
Now, when I’m through with my lessons, you will have learned that
what you have done is all sorts of bad and wrong. The consequence
for your actions is that I will strip you of your sex drive, in a
very unpleasant sort of way. Your penchant for violence will be
stripped from you, in a very unpleasant sort of way. And you will
always remember that an angel, a Protector, came to you
and taught you these valuable lessons. Finally, you will be left
with a constant, crazy urge to tell every person you come in
contact with that you’ve been visited by an angel.”
    Gabriel heard a soft yelp and he
smirked. Protecting innocent humans from scum like this would be
his pleasure.
    “ Let us begin…”

Chapter Four
     
          Storm clouds gathered in the early morning sky.
Unusual for Arizona since they usually gathered towards evening.
Perhaps they were reflecting Gabriel's thunderous mood as he
finished his “business” with Marco de LaGuardia. He had completed
that task successfully, but he felt no sense of joy. Satisfaction,
yes. Joy, no. If there weren't scum like Marco on this earth, then
there'd be joy.
    No, these clouds portended something
truly evil brewing. Gabriel had pissed off Satan by plucking at the
sanity of one his minions. And Manny, Satan's tool, was next on the
list. Once Gabriel identified all of the kids being exploited and
sold by him for lurid, depraved acts with sick, twisted adults,
Manny's time would come. There would be a showdown, of this Gabriel
was sure. And he was just as sure that he would claim yet another
victory against Evil. Over many millennia, Gabriel's record had
been stellar.
    Gabriel returned to find Caleb
staring out the window at the roiling clouds. “Caleb,” he said
quietly.
    “ Yeah,” he muttered,
distracted.
    “ Caleb, I took care of
Phoebe's... problem.”
    Turning away from the window, his
furrowed brow eased. “I...I don't know what to say. Thank you
doesn't seem close to adequate.” He extended his hand. Gabriel took
it and shook it heartily.
    “ You are very welcome.”
Gabriel eased himself onto the couch.  ”How's Phoebe doing? Is
she awake? And how's the search going for my house?”
    “ Phoebe's still sleeping,
thank goodness. She was up a lot, tossing and turning. And
I've actually found a place for you. I couldn't sleep
either, so I scoured the internet in the wee small hours of the
morning. Wait right there.” Caleb walked into his suite and came
back a few moments later with a paper in his hand. “Here, check
this out. It's 3,500 square feet of prime real estate in the
foothills.”
    “ Sounds perfect. Buy it.” He
barely looked at the paper, scratched his head, and continued,
“Listen Caleb, about Manny, I need to get this thug off the streets
for good, and I need to do it fast before any more
situations like Phoebe's occurs. But before I do, I gotta know
how many others are out there like you in order
to assess the damage and make a plan for their
remediation.”
    “ Geez, Gabriel. You'd really
do that for all of them, too? Who the hell are you and where have
you come from?” Caleb marveled, his words laced with
incredulity.
    “ I'm just a man who has the
resources to protect innocents from other people looking to exploit
them. Now, tell me who your friends are so we can help
them.”
    Caleb, Phoebe, and Gabriel