"You better drink up the tea faster. At this pace, we'll miss the bus," my annoying shadow calls at me, as he sips the tea that he took the liberty to pour himself.

I don't bother to check my watch, for I know he is right. I gulp down the rest in my cup, rinse the cup quickly and place it in the dishwasher. I grab at the second cup in front of Penuel, empty its contents into the sink and do the same before I make my way to the bathroom.

"Very rude," he says shaking his head.

So bite me! I silently retort.

It is a little unsettling to bike to the main bus station with a guy running beside me, out in the open. Now people will think we are friends. Just great!

"On time today, wow!" Magnus mocks when I get on the bus with time to spare.

"And h.e.l.lo to you too," I say planting a kiss on his forehead before sitting beside him.

"Is this your boyfriend?" The angel asks in fluent Danish, as he slips into the seat in front of ours and turns around to face us over the seats. I guess he has decided to live among the humans. Just great!

"Ignore him," I say to Magnus, who looks back at me confused.

"Hi, I am Penuel," he says to Magnus, giving him his hand to shake.

"Magnus," he answers puzzled as he shake the angel's hand, sending me a quizzical look, to which I shake my head at, letting him know that I do not want to talk about it. Luckily Penuel doesn't insist on talking to us, as he had done with me all morning, and instead turns to face the front.

"So, you missed school yesterday?"

"Yes I did. I just did not feel myself a hundred percent," I answer him with a smile.

"Are you ok now?"

"Perfect!" I exclaim with exaggerated cheer. "Did I miss anything important?"

"No, not really, we just kept planning Mikkel's party. Are you coming by the way? You haven't RSVP'd on Facebook."

"Oh, I don't know. When is it again," I ask absently.

"Two Sat.u.r.days after the next, and you better come. We are all friends, you know." He says smiling, and I b.u.mp my shoulder lightly into his in response.

I am surprised when we get to school and Penuel follows us into the building. Is he going to be attending school too? Good luck in trying to convince the princ.i.p.al that he is a student here, I think.

Part of me is very curious to follow him and find out how he'll do it, but the other part of me that has decided to swear off angels wins, and I walk briskly into cla.s.s with my fellow sons of man.

My irritation with Penuel only gets worse throughout the day. He joins me in all my cla.s.ses, his schedule mirrors mine perfectly. The teachers introduce him as a new student having moved into the area. He even joins my friends and I at the cafeteria, and they all are all over him as he talks about places he's travelled to around the world. I can see the girls quickly falling for him, both Charlotte and Rikke, the small brunette, are crushing badly!

He, like all the other angels I have met, is a picture of perfection and exquisite beauty. His face is clear, warmly toned and magnificently chiseled, with his facial features balancing in an unequaled perfect symmetry. He has a smooth jaw and rich dark hair. I catch the sight of his eyes, dark as night, filled with compelling mystique. I also note how his mouth quirks charmingly at the corner as he speaks or smiles.

Can you blame the girls? Or the boys? For I can see Christian's blue eyes twinkling as he stares at the angel speak. Christian is gay, a muscular, sporty, drop-dead gorgeous gay. I have had moments in cla.s.s, especially in history, where I stare at his profile and play scenarios of how I seduce him, and turn him straight again. I know it doesn't work like that, but a girl can dream!

After school, Penuel is still hot at my heels, walking me to the other bus stop opposite the road.

"Hey Penuel, aren't you going home now?" Magnus calls as we begin crossing the deserted road.

"No, I thought to help Caroline and her family with the house," He calls back, waving at Magnus.

I itch to yell at him, and tell him that he may not come, but I'd planned not to talk to angels ever again. I therefore remain quiet and wait for the bus, with the infuriating angel standing beside me. Luckily, he doesn't say anything, as the two of us and a handful of other chirpy students wait.

"Hi dad," I call as I walk up to the house. "Hi grandpa and grandma"

"Hi, hi!" They all call back at me.

"I see you brought another friend again," dad says, stretching his hand to the angel. "Torben."

"Penuel, I am Caroline's cla.s.smate. I thought to come help," Dad smiles happily, grateful for any free help he can get.

"It is good of you to," dad says as he leads us into the house.

"Today we'll work on the walls," he starts to explain. "We'll first tape the damp-proofing membrane against all walls, even the interior ones because they have moisture seeping up through them from the old foundation construction. We'll then place this rock-wool insulation cut out in strips of 200mm against the interior of all the external walls, and this thinner strips of 50 mm along the faces of all the interiors walls, and thereafter we shall fix the first layer of fiber board to hold them in place."

"Dad, that sounds like a lot," I complain, cringing my forehead.

"That is why I am happy you brought a strong looking friend with you," he says pinching my cheek lightly as he heads off for his set of tools.

The five of us fall into silence, the radio playing some pop hits, as we embark on the works. It really isn't as bad as he'd made it sound. It just requires lots of coordination, and we all soon get the hang of it.

I hate having to acknowledge Penuel's presence, but I am glad for his help. He is very strong, much stronger than he lets off, and combined with his critical thinking and quick reflexes, the work goes quite smoothly.

I can tell that dad admires him a lot and his wide knowledge on all things construction, travels, society or politics. The two of them immediately pick up discussing pa.s.sionately about their views and takes on all matters political, social and economical in the world.

In the beginning, it had been hard to pinpoint what it was that made Penuel stick out a lot from the other angels like Ariel and Uriel. They are warriors, with Camael, Ambriel and Ca.s.siel. Penuel is... Penuel is an intellect. Raphael is a leader, a warrior and a healer. Azrael is of course the angel of death, but also a warrior. They must all have their roles to play.

We do not necessarily work fast, but I can see just how effective our team is. My grandparents are busy with measurements, and grandpa is also often by the panel saw in the middle of the room, where he cuts the boards into the necessary sizes. I help dad with the taping of the damp proof membrane, ensuring adequate overlapping every instance the membrane runs out. We also fix the insulation in place, and I hold on to the strips as dad and Penuel nail the boards into place with nail guns. We keep at this for the next six hours, only interrupted by the half hour dinner break.

The drive home is quiet, and once again it is very cramped in the car.

Dad drops us off at the train station because he a.s.sumes Penuel too arrived there by bike like I did. As I bike the rest of the way home, I feel him flying right beside me. I am so glad that he says nothing all the way home.

After a quick shower, I grab a snack before going to bed.

I find my new angel escort perched on the foot of my bed, flipping through a book. I ignore him, change into pyjamas, turn off the lights and slip into bed.

I fall asleep almost immediately.

Chapter 24.

"Archangel?"

"Mmh..."

"Shh... Go back to sleep, Caroline," a calm voice says, before a gentle kiss lands on my lips, pulling me back into slumber.

"Archangel?" The voice calls again in a whisper, and I feel a part of me stir awake.

"Archangel? I miss you."

"Soon, my angel," my lips move to say, as though puppeted by another.

I then surprise myself by leaning in closer and pressing my lips to his pa.s.sionately, only to pull away again before another dizzying spell hits me.

"Whatever did make us anchor my multiple consciousness to your kisses," I whisper with a chuckle.

"It's secure, plus you love to torture me, my love," the handsome angel responds, looking back at me adoringly, his eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"Oh yeah, that's most definitely it," I say, and seem satisfied about the prospect, for I feel myself smile smugly.

My dream disturbs me, the events occurring in it puzzling me. Why would I be happily kissing an angel, terming him my love? I dislike angels. They are heartless, cruel and unsympathetic.

"She's fighting me?" I say cryptically. The angel smiles, and I reach out and caress his silky soft skin tenderly.

"You forget that she is you," he tells me, his voice clearer now, and he sounds like the handsome dark-eyed angel with the olive toned skin. Penuel, is his name. The first angel I ever met, the one I drew as I sketched my grandfather's profile on his fishing boat.

"Yeah well, we shouldn't have given her my grace of resilience, she's fighting me hard right now. I don't know how long I can stay tonight."

This is one odd dream, I'm thinking to myself as I try shake out of it.

"She is you. You are fighting you," Penuel says with a chuckle. "You can't complain about yourself, love."

I join his laughter quietly, the worn bed shaking under us.

"Fine, but while I still have control over this body..." My eyes widen with surprise when I brazenly stroke him as he leans in and kisses my neck, sending shudders through my body.

What am I doing? I've never even really kissed a boy, apart from the chaste kiss I received from Ariel that Friday night long past...

A gasp escapes me to interrupt my thoughts as the stronger angel flips me over and pins me to my bed, his dark eyes gleaming with a hunger that stuns me beyond all thoughts.

"Stop it! She's yet chaste, and human, and..." The angel seems to have difficulty speaking because of my wandering hands that find their way inside his shirt to stroke his rock hard body.

"Archangel..!" Penuel exclaims with frustration, before he pins my hands down and presses his lips to my neck. He then pulls away, and I pout playfully in protest, to which he chuckles.

"I need to talk to you about something important..."

"Boring..."

"Archangel, listen," he starts, which lets me know that he has something grave to discuss. "The brotherhood- something is wrong."

"That's a good start," I say with a playful smile, but his frown only deepens instead.

"Not in this case," he responds.

"Why do you say that?"

"I can't feel them. Can you," I take a moment to concentrate, then nod to confirm his fears.

"That's good," I repeat.

"No, it's not," he refutes. "Not with angels like Samael and Azazel out there..."

"Don't be too judgmental..."

"They weren't part of the plan," he argues harshly, "Archangel," he quickly adds apologetically.

I choose to let it slide.

"No, they aren't part of this, but if they come with the package, then we compromise..."

"No!" He says firmly, his audacity now shocking me, as well infuriating me. "I haven't worked on this plan for tens of thousands of years to compromise..."

"You overstep yourself, angel," I caution gravely.

"Only to keep you in check, Archangel," is his response. "It was only meant to be Abaddon- and even that was a compromise on its own, as you needed another Archangel," he states firmly.

Smoldering black eyes then meet harsh copper beams in a battle of will.

"Watch yourself, angel..."

"You watch yourself, Archangel. Remember, I hold the keys to your existence," he threatens, though I clearly see how it pains him to do this.

"We do it right, or we don't do it at all," Penuel proceeds when he notices my softened expression, misinterpreting it. "A ruling pair, that's all we need. You and Abaddon to challenge Michael and Gabriel's rule. All other fallen angels deserve to be in Tartaros..."

"You forget that my brothers declared me fallen too," I now say calmly but indomitably. "If something has happened to the brotherhood, if they were silly enough to get captured by the fallen, that is their own problem..."

"Blasphemy!" Penuel cries out, distraught at my stance. "They are divine..."

"Divine, fallen- mere terms used by my delusional brothers to divide us..."

"They killed humans!" Penuel argues.

"You take your guardianship job a little too seriously, my love," I reach out endearingly, attempting to kiss him again, but he slaps my human hand away.

"Don't be like that..." I start.