Hey guys! So, I've got exams next week too lol. But, because I didn't think you all would forgive me if I went two weeks without a chapter, I typed this monster up today! This one took a good amount of effort to write...whoo-wee!

Chapter Thirty-Three

Patch's POV

Past- 2007

I sat at the poker table in Bo's sensing the emotions of the other players. It was trick of mine; poker face or not, people can't help their feelings about a hand they're going to play, and at the moment there was a wholesome sense of dread. Good, because I had an excellent hand, and there was plenty of money to be made. I was going to make a lot of money tonight.

As soon as I was about to place all my chips in, the cashier approached me loudly. People did that a lot; unconsciously announcing their presence before they approached me. I might hurt someone who tried to sneak up on me.

"Someone upstairs wants a word with you." He said. I rose my eyebrows. Who are they, and what the hell do they want while I'm in such an important game? He answered my silent question.

"She wouldn't give her name. I asked a couple of times. I told her you were in a private game, but she wouldn't leave. I can throw her out if you want."

I thought about it. Maybe it was a fallen angel issue; I couldn't imagine someone standing up to the cashier just to see me, without being they hadn't mindtricked him. Slightly curious, I shook my head.

"No. Send her down." Looking back at the table, I decided to take what was left. I collected all of the money, and left the table. I could have made so much more. No matter; if the business wasn't worth it, I'd beat it out of this person and their boss. I walked over to the pool table near the stairs and put my hands in my pockets, thinking. I could always just take the money from the winner…but that would be beneath me, wouldn't it...

I heard light footsteps, and faced the sound. When I locked eyes with the person on the stairs, I could have jumped out of my skin.

Dabria. Dabria!?

She wore a pink tanktop, some jeans, and her hair was straightened. Maybe the attempt to suck on a lollipop was to make her look…innocent? I fixed my face.

While the word that came to mind was "bitch!" I maintained my civility.

"Dabria?" I asked warily. She smiled, and threw the lollipop away.

"How have you been?" she asked. Her voice grated on my ears. This…this was the woman who spitefully had me thrown from Heaven, and I was supposed to believe she was here to see how I was doing? Bullshit. She wasn't fallen; she was here on a mission.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"I sneaked out. I had to see you again. I've been trying for a long time—" Yeah, for centuries right? "but security—well, you know. It's not exactly lax. Your kind and my kind—we aren't supposed to mix. But you know that." She said, smiling.

"Coming here was a bad idea." I was already tempted to hurt her. Among other things. Pushing my patience was always a bad thing, but her mere presence was an insult.

"I know it's been awhile, but I was hoping for a slightly more friendly reaction." She said, pouting.

Did I once like to kiss those lips? Those lips, that turned on me? That were my sentence? I couldn't believe I'd once liked this person. Not to mention, "friendly"? No one had ever approached me with such audacity. "Friendly"! Ha! She was still an angel. She still had it all. And she was practically throwing it in my face, while acting like nothing had ever occurred between us. I was seething. Seeing that I wouldn't respond to her garbage, she kept talking.

"I haven't stopped thinking about you." She lowered her voice, trying to sound seductive. She stepped forward, and I didn't move. "It wasn't easy getting down here. Lucianna is making excuses for why I'm absent. I'm risking her future as well as my own. Don't you want to at least hear what I have to say?"

Lucianna. Her bitchy best friend that had never trusted me, now helping her. Shit was really off. Still, she had a point.

"Talk." I commanded. Her eyes widened, and she looked delighted.

"I haven't given up on you. This whole time—"she paused to wipe tears away. Why was she being so…false? "I know how you can get your wings back."

She smiled at me, but I didn't return it. I'd love the information, but I'd rather burn before I let her see it.

"As soon as you get wings back, you can come home. Everything will be like it was before. Nothing has changed, not really."

"What's the catch?" I was dealing with the powers that be, meaning the Archangels. Nothing was so easy.

"There is no catch. You have to save a human life. Very judicious, considering the crime that banished you here in the first place." I heard the edge in her voice when she said this, and I immediately determined that I couldn't trust her. She was a snake in the grass, set by someone else. She had her own ulterior motive. What was it?

"What rank will I be?" I was an Archangel by birthright; I would accept nothing less than my original place. Her face fell, and she answered me condescendingly.

"I just told you how to get your wings back! I think I deserve a thank you—"

"Answer the question." Get on with it. She rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Fine. You'll be a guardian, all right?"

I began to laugh. So, my angelic status would be completely based on some random human. I wasn't Robert; I wasn't so gracious. I had no intention of being so tied down, not when I could have all the freedom I wanted as a human.

"What's wrong with being a guardian? Why isn't it good enough?" Dabria demanded.

"I have something better in the works." Much better. Stupid girl. Thinking I'd pounce on her offer.

"Listen to me, Patch." She knew my nickname. Probably to feel 'closer'. "There's nothing better. You're kidding yourself. Any other fallen angel would jump at the chance to get their wings back and become a guardian. Why can't you?" Dabria practically choked out the words. She was so used to getting her way, and my rejection even after being fallen was really stinging her. It made my next words evilly joyous.

"It was good seeing you again, Dabria. Have a nice trip back."

Suddenly, she pulled me towards her and kissed me. I almost pushed her away, disgusted. Then I realized that I could use her emotion to my advantage. Something was going on behind the scenes, and I wanted to know what it was. I had a feeling that I was onto something big. I softened my stance, and let her melt into me.

"I should go, I've already stayed too long. I promised Lucianna I'd hurry." She sounded so content; it was morbidly adorable when I was playing her. "I miss you. Save one human life, and you'll have your wings again. Come back to me," she said intensely. "Come home." I looked into her eyes, and in that moment I realized that while she may have still had feelings for me, it was also about control. She wanted it over me. It was a game. It was all a game, and she honestly thought she could out-bluff me. I was insulted; they'd sent a rookie. She pulled away.

"I have to go. None of the others can find out I've been down here. I love you." She turned away, and before she could hide it I saw the look of confidence and relief on her expression. I caught her by the wrist, throwing her off guard.

My turn. "Now tell me why you're really here." I warned. I pushed her towards the bar and sat her on a stool. Taking what would look like a casual stance to outsiders, I looked her in her surprised eyes.

"What do you mean, what am I here for?" she stammered, thrown off her script. "I told you—"

"You're lying."

"I can't believe, you think—"She had the nerve to look insulted. Please.

"Tell me the truth, right now." I threatened softly. She hesitated, trying to see if she could try to pull another scene over me. Seeing that she couldn't, she glared.

"Fine. I know what you're planning to do." She said. I smiled. She sounded so sure, so successful, as if she were going to tattle on me. And what exactly did she think she knew?

"I know you've heard rumors about The Book of Enoch. I also know you think you can do the same thing, but you can't."

Aha! This was the Archangels. They must feel nervous, which means that whatever I was doing, or wherever I was, I was doing something right. "They sent you here to persuade me to choose a different course, didn't they?" They'd miscalculated. They knew I was proud, and then they sent my ex to convince me. Thought that I'd be nostalgic. Sad. "If I'm a threat, the rumors must be true."

"No, they're not. They're rumors!" Spoken like a child.

"If it happened once, it can happen again." She looked at me like I was crazy.

"It never happened. Did you even bother to read The Book of Enoch before you fell? Do you know exactly what it says, word for holy word?"

Not completely. "Maybe you could loan me your copy," I teased. Dabria gasped.

"That's blasphemous! You're forbidden to read it! You betrayed every angel in heaven when you fell." She screeched, sounding like a matron.

"How many of them know what I'm after? How big of a threat am I?" If I was a large threat, it meant other angels would be sniffing around for my information, and that meant I needed to move faster.

She shook her head. "I can't tell you that. I've already told you more than I should have."

I was persistent. "Are they going to try to stop me?"

"The avenging angels will."

I felt a moment of irony as I pictured Ezra among those sent to stop me. It pained me. I looked at Dabria, contemplating.

"Unless they think you talked me out of it."

Her eyes widened, and she subconsciously shook her head. "Don't look at me like that." She was already wavering. "I won't lie to protect you. What you're trying to do is wrong. It's not natural."

"Dabria." I spoke her name softly in warning. If she wouldn't do what I wanted, I'd make sure she wouldn't return to Heaven.

"I can't help you. Not that way." She was almost begging me. "Put it out of your mind. Become a guardian angel…" I zoned her out, thinking of a plan.

"Tell them we talked, and I showed interest in becoming a guardian." Yes, that ought to give me more time…

"Interest?" she asked me, shocked.

"Interest." It was all coming together… "Tell them I asked for a name. If I'm going to save a life, I need to know who's at the top of your departing list. I know you're privy to that information as an angel of death." I knew just what Dabria could and couldn't do. It was a perfect information link to Heaven.

She began to debate me, but I interrupted her.

"One name, Dabria."

"Promise me you'll forget about The Book of Enoch first. Give me your word."

As if. "You'd trust my word?"

"No, I wouldn't."

Oookay. I got up, picking up a toothpick, and began walking away.

Five, four, three…

"Patch, wait! Patch, please wait!"

Two, one. Yes? I looked over my shoulder, expectant.

"Nora Grey!" she spouted, then placed her hands over her mouth.

What? Her? I pictured the beautiful girl I'd seen a few months ago. I'd followed her a few times afterwards, watching. I could never approach her, as I'd never had a reason. I couldn't help but feel kind of irritated; I guess saving her when she was little really didn't count. Damn… Her beauty still struck me every time I saw her. I coveted Nora Grey, and refused for anything to happen to her. She was mine.

"How is she going to die?"

"Someone wants to kill her." Obviously.

"Who?"

"I don't know. There's so much noise and commotion down here. All the images blur together, they come to fast, I can't see clearly. I need to go home. I need peace and calm."

Nehemiah always made a better Angel of Death than her; his inner peace and talent always irritated Dabria and she'd talk about him enviously when we were together. I placed a piece of her hair behind her ear, looking at her sweetly. Cut the bullshit and tell me what I want to know.

"I can't see…I don't see anything…it's useless." She whimpered.

"Who wants to kill Nora Grey?" I urged.

"Wait, I see her…there's a shadow behind her…" Dabria kept babbling, and I was getting annoyed until she inhaled sharply.

"Who?" I demanded. She placed her hands around her mouth.

"You." She whimpered.

I was shocked. Why would I kill Nora Grey? It…it had to do with her being a descendant of Chauncey's. Something wasn't adding up. She was just a fifteen year old girl. Was she the way that…that I could become human? But that would mean…

Suddenly it all made sense. Who knew I was so close? The Archangels, apparently! I needed to contemplate my newly laid options. I rushed up the stairs and out of the bar, vaguely noticing Dabria running behind me.

"What are you going to do?! You can't go kill her! If you do I'll...I'll tell them what you're up to!" she whined. I turned to her.

"I have no intention of doing so! If I did, you'd be in a lot more danger. Remember what I told you. I displayed interest in being a guardian."

"But, Patch!" I jumped into my car, ignoring her cries.

"Thank you, Dabria! You've always been my special girl, and know that I love and appreciate this!" I called, smiling as I knew she'd take the compliment. She stopped, and blushed.

"Rea—"

I pulled off into the night. I had so many things to plan.

So? I was trying to portray Patch's bitterness. I think I did okay. Although, to be honest, after typing this one out, I'm not sure if I'm capable of typing the entire Hus-nope, I've gone and said too much. Anyway, read and review!