Taking this as encouragement, Molly edged her way into the room and perched on the bed, pretending to examine her fingernails. Gabriel leaned against the doorway opposite her. If he’d been human he would have looked awkward or uncomfortable, but he was composed in every way. No matter what environment he found himself in, my brother always gave off an air of self-possession, as if he’d been there all his life. He stood with his hands folded behind his back and his head tilted slightly to one side as if he were listening to a silent internal melody. His attention seemed far from Molly, although I knew he was waiting for her to speak. He could probably hear her heart thumping in her chest, smell the sweat on the palms of her hands — even read her mind if he wanted to.
Molly raised her eyes nervously. “You were amazing today,” she said. Gabriel looked at her, perplexed by the compliment.
“I was doing my job,” he replied in his low, compelling voice.
I could tell by the expression on Molly’s face that his voice affected her in ways I couldn’t understand. It seemed like each word he spoke entered her body on a physical level. Molly shivered slightly and wrapped her arms around herself.
“Are you cold?” my brother asked. Without waiting for her answer he chivalrously lifted his jacket from the back of the chair and draped it around her shoulders. The thoughtful gesture seemed to move Molly to such an extent that she struggled to keep her eyes from misting up.
“No, really,” she insisted. “I always knew you were amazing, but today was different. You were like something out of this world.”
“That’s because I’m not from this world, Molly,” Gabriel replied evenly.
“But you’re still connected to it, right?” Molly pressed. “To people, I mean. Like Xavier and me?”
“My job is to protect people like you and Xavier. I wish you only health and happiness …”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Molly cut in.
“What
“It’s just that I think you could want more. These last few days I’ve been sensing that like … maybe … you might have felt …”
I sprang onto the bed and knelt beside Molly. I tried to send out a message of caution, but she was too absorbed in Gabriel’s presence to notice I was there with her.
Gabriel turned his head slowly to look at her. The movement was almost robotic. His face was cast in shadow from the dim motel light, but his hair still glowed as it fell gently around his cheekbones like strands of gold and his eyes were a forever-shifting haze of silver and ice blue.
“Maybe I felt what?” he asked curiously.
Molly sighed in exasperation and I knew she’d had enough of dropping hints. She stood up so she was standing directly in front of him. With her mermaid tumble of curls, wide blue eyes, and dewy skin she looked as enticing as ever. Most men would not have had the willpower to resist her.
“You act like you don’t have feelings, but I know you do!” she said confidently. “I think you feel a lot more than you let on. I think you could love someone, even fall in love with someone if you chose to.”
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, Molly. I value human life,” Gabriel said. “I wish to defend and protect My Father’s children. But the love you speak of … I know nothing of that.”
“Stop lying to yourself. I can see through you.”
“And what exactly do you think you see?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow and I realized he had an inkling of where the conversation was headed.
“Someone’s who’s just like me,” Molly cried. “Someone who wants to be in love but is too scared to let it happen. You care about me, Gabriel — admit it!”
“I’ve never denied caring for you,” Gabriel said gently. “Your well-being is important to me.”
“It’s more than that,” Molly insisted. “It has to be! I feel something incredible between us and I know you must feel it too.”
Gabriel leaned forward. “Listen to me carefully,” he said. “You have somehow gotten the wrong idea about me. I’m not here to …”
Before Gabriel could finish, Molly leapt forward and closed the distance between them. I saw her arms reach around his waist and her fingers close over his T-shirt. I saw her stand on the tips of her toes and strain up toward him. I saw her eyes close in a moment of pure ecstasy as their lips met. She kissed him fervently, longingly, intoxicated by him. Her body ached for his touch and she pressed herself against him. She trembled with the intensity of it, her whole body straining to get closer to him. The room became charged with a strange energy, and for a moment I thought something would ignite between them that would blast through the walls of the motel room. Then I saw Gabriel’s face.
While he hadn’t moved away from Molly, he wasn’t returning her kiss. His arms remained rigidly by his sides, his mouth unresponsive, refusing to meld with hers. Molly might have been kissing a waxwork for all the response she drew from him. Gabriel let her continue for a moment before gently disengaging himself from her grasp. She fought him for a second then staggered back and sank down on the bed.
“No, Molly. This can’t happen.”
Gabriel only looked saddened by her display of affection. He wore a thoughtful frown, looking at Molly the same way he looked at all mortal dilemmas he needed to solve. He’d worn the same expression when they’d stopped to talk to Earl at the gas station and again when he’d inspected the grooves on the front porch of the Abbey. His clear eyes were serious as he grappled for a solution to a problem he had not before encountered. A strange look crossed Molly’s face as his indifference finally dawned on her. Her forehead creased as she tried to make sense of the overpowering attraction she felt that seemed to be strictly one-way. I could tell she couldn’t quite believe it and I noted the exact moment when humiliation replaced her passion. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she squirmed under Gabriel’s inquisitive gaze.
“I can’t believe I got it so wrong,” she murmured. “I never do that.”
“I’m sorry, Molly,” Gabriel said. “I apologize if I’ve said or done anything to mislead you.”
“Don’t you feel anything?” she asked more angrily. “You must feel something!”
“I do not possess human sentiment,” Gabriel said and then thought to add, “nor does Ivy.” Maybe he hoped it’d make Molly feel better to know that her advances would be lost on my sister as well. If so, it didn’t have the desired effect.
“Quit acting like you’re a robot or something,” she snapped.
“If that’s how you’d prefer to think of me …” Gabriel trailed off.
“It’s not!” Molly burst out. “I’d prefer to think of you as real, not some tin man who doesn’t have a heart.”
“My heart is nothing but a vital organ pumping blood around this body,” Gabriel explained. “I lack the capacity to give the love you speak of.”
“What about Beth?” Molly asked. “She loves Xavier and she’s one of you.”
“Bethany is an exception,” Gabriel conceded. “A rare exception.”
“Why can’t you be an exception too?” Molly insisted.
“Because I am not like Bethany,” Gabriel said in a matter-of-fact voice. “I am not young and inexperienced. There is something in Bethany’s makeup, a flaw or a strength, that allows her to feel what humans feel. I do not have that in my programming.” I was too caught up in the mounting tension to wonder whether or not I ought to be offended.
“But I’m in love with you,” Molly whimpered.
“If you think you love me, then you don’t know what love is,” Gabriel said. “Love has to be reciprocated for it to be real.”
“I don’t understand,” Molly said. “Am I not hot enough for you or something?”
“Now you’re just proving my point,” Gabriel sighed. “A body is merely a vehicle. The deepest emotions are experienced through the soul.”
“So it’s my soul that isn’t up to your standards then?”
