Chapter 1

Maddie's POV

Hello, my name is Madeline but everyone just calls me Maddie. I'm 16 and I'm an orphan, though I didn't start out that way. My parents died in a car crash earlier this year and I went to go live with my uncle in Atwater, Ohio. But that's not where my story started, my story started when I was just a toddler, my story started when I met Gabriel.

The first thing you should know is that my family was never very religious. We celebrated Christmas and other holidays like Easter, but that was as far as religion went in my family. I guess that's why I was skeptical when Gabriel showed up and told me he was my guardian angel. He explained to me that everything was real, God, the angels, Gods and Goddesses, and even monsters (I must add that part traumatized little me for life). I was a fairly normal girl for my age; I had a pink room, tons of stuffed animals, a tea set, and a tiara and princess dress that I hardly ever took off. The first time I saw Gabe, I was only three years old. It was late at night and I had been having a tea party with my stuffed animals (give me a break I was 3) when he appeared. He was about 5'8, with honey colored hair that was slicked back to the nape of his neck, and eyes the color of sunshine going through a glass of whiskey. He had a bit of stubble on his face, a goofy smile, and he was wearing a button down red shirt with a beige leather jacket and a pair of old blue jeans. At first I hadn't been sure what to do, of course my parents had warned me about "stranger danger" but this man didn't seem to be much of a threat. In fact he seemed nice, so I went up to Gabriel and introduced myself.

"Hello, I'm Maddie."

"Hello Maddie, my name is Gabriel."

"What are you doing in my palace?" I demanded. Honestly, Gabe seemed a little surprised by this.

"What do you mean?"

"My palace." I said gesturing around the room. "This is my palace and I'm the princess so I demand to know what you're doing here." At this Gabriel started laughing.

"Aren't you a weird little thing?" He said in between firs of laughter. I was highly offended by this.

"I am not a thing!" I exclaimed, "I'm a girl, and I'm prettier than you are!" At this, Gabriel stopped laughing. He looked at me very carefully until his face broke into an expression that could only mean "I approve of this small child."

"Okay Maddie" he said smiling, "You're right." He looked over at my small table where all my stuffed animals were arranged. "Do you mind if I join you and your stuffed animals at your tea party?"

"They are my subjects and it is a royal dinner." I said in a stuck up voice with my nose turned up into the air. At this Gabriel knelled down as if he was bowing and exclaimed,

"Forgive me your majesty, may I dine with you and your subjects for I am very weary from my travels!" It was my turn to study Gabriel; he looked up at me and gave me his goofy grin that had been infuriating even then. However, being a young child and easily forgiving I returned his smile with my own toothy grin and rushed him over to the small table where I immediately began pouring him some imaginary tea. This is where our story began.

Gabriel's POV

The second Maddie was born I knew that she was the one. Now calm down, I don't mean that in the weird purvey way. Every angel has one soul that they are given charge of and are sworn to protect. She was mine, I was her guardian angel and I would protect her at all costs. The second she was brought into the world I knew that I already had a stronger relationship with her than most angels had with their human. Once I was sure it was her I wanted to fly down to Earth and introduce myself, let her know I was there to protect her and that I would never let anything bad ever happen to her. Sadly Michael wouldn't allow it. The old kill joy had some dumb rule in place that guardian angels were to "watch from a distance" and "not get too involved." I however have an extraordinary lack of respect for the rules, so one night when Michael was out doing who knows what (most likely kicking puppies or taking candy from children) I flopped on down to Earth to introduce myself. I was honestly a bit surprised when I met her. There should not be that much snark and sarcasm in a child that small, but I liked her. She was sweet and funny and had an overbearing curiosity that was… well adorable. She demanded to know everything once she sat me down and gave me my "tea." I started to explain to her about dad and the rest of the family. I also explained that there were others, like pagan and Greek gods and goddesses. She demanded to know if angels had special powers and I demonstrated by making a feast, a real one, appear on her tiny table. She squealed in delight and I couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm. She then continued to ramble about how cool it was to have an angel as a best friend, and how much fun we were going to have, and how jealous everyone was going to be. I looked at the little girl sitting in front of me and I couldn't help but smile. In this moment I promised myself that I would protect her at all costs, and that I would always be here for her. It was funny, sitting in this too small chair in this horrifyingly pink room was where I found the one place I was happy and felt I belonged. This is where I found home.