“Gabe!” the angel called. “Show the healer your hand.”
The other massive angel walked over and unwound the bandage.
“That’s a bad burn,” Mia said. “Fortunately, we have a lot of heart left.”
Gabe sighed as if he was annoyed by having to be administered to. Mia ignored the lug and worked on his hand until it was on the way to being healed. “I take it this is a dragon burn. I’m amazed that you guys took down three dragons, and only one of you got burned.”
“It’s not that we don’t have skills,” her helper said.
Mia picked up the dagger she was using. “Um, I think this belongs to one of you. It’s a bit bloody,” she said, wiping it and then holding it out by the blade.
Gabe took it.
“Thank you for your help. If you would excuse me, gentlemen, I have to release the mages, and then I’m going to pass out,” she warned and did so.
Raphael motioned to his helpers. The women picked Mia up and laid her gently on the banquet table. “Time for me to see what I can do. Azrael, you may find this pet of our brother’s quite interesting. She originally was engineered to kill Abigor. But fate has intervened, and she’s evolved into something amazing.”
“I’m well aware of this one,” Mia’s helper said, walking over. “If she’s not calling for the light, she’s traveling towards it. How many times has she been on your butchery table?”
“A few times. The Gray Ladies and Michael patch her up on a regular basis. The human body is so fragile. This one is a fighter.”
“She’s bossy,” Gabriel said, cleaning his knife, “and dangerous. Let her die.”
“No can do,” Raphael said. “You saw what she can do. She saved them.”
“Only after releasing a demon who almost killed them,” Gabriel argued. “Kill her.”
“I don’t think that’s wise. Lucifer likes her. Abigor is bound to her. She is a brilliant healer, and I like her. I only wish I found her first,” Raphael said.
“How did Michael find her?” Azrael asked, taking off his helmet and shaking out his hair.
“Evidently, the chit had the nerve to demand Altair be forgiven and given his wings back. It was a deathbed request from a loyal servant.”
“She’s that one,” Gabriel said. “That took some nerve.”
“I think she felt she had nothing to lose. She was already heading for the light. She used her eternal soul as a bargaining chip. It worked,” Raphael said.
“So Michael owns her?” Gabriel confirmed.
“Not really, she just thinks he does. You can’t own these hybrids. Her body has served us well. She has been an incubator for the chosen one. She calls him Brian. He’s a handful. And she’s given birth to Varden.”
“He’s come back?” Gabriel said. “I like him. Hate his brother, but Varden, he was a good chap.”
“Tell us more,” Azrael asked.
“She killed Ruax in minutes in Lucy’s little comic arena. Altair was there and witnessed it.”
“What was our newly restored archangel doing in Hell?” Gabriel asked.
“Ask him, I don’t pay attention to politics,” Raphael said. “All I know is that the blood that flows through this body is superhuman. The demon is gone. I replaced it with crone genes which Mia stubbornly refuses to acknowledge. She has angel DNA – I’m not sure how, but her grandmother on her mother’s side has our wings - and birdman. I know, I know, that’s a disappointment, but remember their healing mages can work through Mia. And as you’re very aware, they won’t work through us anymore. I mean, we can help the humans but not our own.”
“Tell me about the flaws. There are always flaws in hybrids,” Gabriel stated.
“Tendency to develop aneurisms and heart failure. This one had been existing on the energy from a ghost for years. He turned sour on her and that caused some problems. I fixed it on Michael’s request, but it still acts up from time to time.”
“If the demon was gone, how did it return?”
“Ask Michael. There is a report that someone sent Mia back in time into her body that had the demon still in it. She hitched a ride back in Mia’s mind and hid out in her spine. They were operating on Mia when they were surprised by it.”
“Why were they operating on her?” Gabriel asked.
“Michael asked me to kill her,” Sariel said, approaching the others. “I crushed her with my boot holding her down.”
“But she’s not dead. How interesting,” Azrael said.
“It was her choice to die. Michael told her she was a threat to Heaven and Earth because of her thirst for vengeance – which now we can attribute to the hidden demon. She asked to be killed, and I started to do just that when he stopped me.”
“I wonder why he stopped?” Gabriel asked, looking closer at the hybrid as if he could see the reason on her sleeping face.
“I wonder why he even started?” Azrael asked. “She is so valuable. She can heal us, and her loyalty is with Michael. Lucifer likes her. Abigor loves her. And then there is Roumain. She keeps him busy with all his little plots.”
“He was testing me,” Sariel realized. “How is he doing?” he asked, turning the focus away from Mia to Michael.
“He’s healing. I put him in a crystal chamber so the evil from the elemental hearts can leech out. Sariel, you may want to wear a crystal for a while.”
“Misfit did me a solid. Give her a good set of wings. Michael ripped out Victor’s.”
“I’m connecting the dots now,” Gabriel realized and lowered his voice. “She was part of the
