Angel of Fire - the Breath of Immortality - Book One #Wattys2014

Design of an Angel

Chapter 6 - Design of an Angel

I laughed out loud for the second time that day. A record for me. At first, I thought Thomas was going to join in on the fun.

He didn't.

In fact, the look on his face was even more dead serious than before. I had to wipe the tears out of my eyes from laughing so hard before I could speak. Even then, I still had difficulty.

“You've gotta be kidding me.” When he didn't respond, I asked the impossible. “You don't actually expect me to believe you're an angel, do you?” I had a hard time saying that with a straight face.

He nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“You're even more delusional than I thought!” I broke out laughing again until my sides started to hurt. Three times in one day...a new record.

After finally catching my breath, I had one more thing I needed to do.

Get rid of him. But how?

I suddenly realized two reasons why I liked the song I'd just played so much. First, because I was really good at it. Second, because it seemed to irritate the crap out of him, which made me very, very happy.

Lifting the violin to my chin again with the bow poised determinedly over the strings, I pointed it at him like a loaded weapon. “If you don't leave me the hell alone, I'm going to play you an extended re-mix of your favorite song. And, this time, I'm only going to play the Devil's portion.” When he didn't move, I dragged the bow across the strings with reckless abandon. “This is your last chance to get out, or so help me...”

It only took playing the first few notes before Thomas raised both hands to surrender without saying a word. He didn't have to. The furious look on his face said it all.

I grinned to myself. “I knew you'd see it my way.”

Violin aimed with my target in the cross hairs, fingers ready in case he decided to make any sudden movements I pressed forward, forcing him to retreat.

When his back reached the door he exhaled deeply, “Fine, I'll go.”

Point for me. I smiled in victory.

Ever so slowly he turned around, never taking his eyes off me. Just when I thought he was going to thrust open the barn doors, he stopped. “If I leave now you'll never understand why Andrew tried to kill you. Or the reason why your life was spared.”

I sucked in my breath. Point for him. My victory was short lived.

“Can I put my hands down now?” Thomas asked gingerly.

Nodding, I clutched my instrument to my chest like a safety blanket.

“Chaos, I really am an angel.”

“Yeah, I got that part. What do you mean my life was spared?”

“It might help you understand better if I start from the beginning.”

“Ya think?”

Choosing to ignore my snide comment, he said, “Why don't we sit down.”

He motioned to one corner of a stall with two opened bales of hay that I lounged on like giant bean bag chairs whenever I wanted to decompress. I placed the violin and bow carefully back in their case and shuffled over to the haystacks, allowing myself to simply fall backwards. It was the best, if not only way, because you don't actually sit on hay so much as you lie in it. That's my preference anyway.