21 Chapter 21

**Gabriel**

I sat at the table looking at my mother and father. I wasn't going to abandon her to deal with this new part of her life. I sat at the table with my hands folded together.

"You don't seem to understand how training will change you?" I looked between them and tried my best to keep my calm. Yelling would get me nowhere.

"No. You don't seem to understand...it's more than just a silly school fling," Mom stood and looked from me to the couch.

"There's no way...Michael..." She turned to my father with a look of fear in her eyes. He looked at me closer and I didn't understand what the problem was.

"We can discuss it more once she speaks to her parents. She has a lot to ask, and no use in worrying ourselves for something that may not come to pass."

"Is anyone going to explain?"

"Later." He winced slightly and I felt a deep sense of pride come through me.

"She's struggling isn't she." He looked to me with his eyes narrowed.

"She is stronger than I expected, you have been training her?" I raised my chin a little.

"It's not a bad thing for everyone to know how to protect their minds." And he nodded.

"You're right, it's not. Come. Let's wake her carefully."

(Harper)

It felt like waking up after a storm, everything was quiet and I wasn't really sure if I had been picked up and carried away by the storm. It felt like there was a film over my eyes.

"Easy." Michael's voice sounded over my shoulder and I went from confused to just straight pissed. I came up off the couch and stumbled a little on my landing, but I stayed on my feet.

"Stubborn girl." He brought a rough hand to my shoulder and pulled me back against the couch.

"Where is Gabriel?"

"Upstairs with his mom, talking. So it's you and me, buttercup. I'm going to help you face your father." I felt my mind sputter for a moment. My father? My human father? But was he really human, that had been the question on my mind.

"I don't even know if I could ask him...how do you ask someone without making them angry."

"I will ask him if you want, tell him that you have been displaying other abilities that don't fit properly with an angel...and to get you the best kind of education and instructors we need to know." I gripped my cell phone tightly, and Michael's face turned soft.

"It won't change who you have become, Harper. Just because you are part angel, part demon. Doesn't make you a bad person." I frowned.

"I know that, but it does change my life. I don't think badly about demons. They are good people, or they can be. But it would change every memory I have, and all the trust I have with my father. Why wouldn't he tell me?" Michael put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"He's your father, not your best friend. Everything he does or doesn't do is to protect you." As much as it hurt to think about it like that, I knew he was right.

My father was always trying to protect me, assigning bodyguards and security details, giving me a hard time about getting my driver's license. It had taken a lot of persuasions to get him to allow me to have it. And to think that maybe he had been the target of the kidnapping was even harder for me to process. How strong must he be that it was easier to kidnap a woman with eleven-foot wings? Then someone with none?

"I know a lot of the demons in the high rings, your father isn't that bad." He looked at me.

"I can't. I don't want to face this yet." Michael nodded and patted my shoulder.

"I will call and speak to him. Get the information I need to make sure you are taken care of when school starts back up next year." He stood and I pulled my knees up to my chest on the couch.

Would being half-demon be that bad? Demons aren't bad people, they are just like angels. I think the fear and hurt came from the fact that I had thought my father trusted me. Why would he lie to me for my entire life? What did he do that he made enemies that would kidnap his daughter? I was chasing myself in my mind, and the beast started to become restless. Rising back up from the sleep that Gabe had put it in.

"I'm here," Gabe sat down next to me on the couch, and for a moment I wanted to fall into his arms and hide from the world. I wanted to pretend that all I wanted to do was go on summer vacation with him and be at the beach. But it would do no good to hide from this.

"Taking time to process something isn't hiding from it, it will do you good to take a moment. Let your mind and heart think about it, I don't want anything to happen to your or your relationship with your father." Gabe gave me a soft smile and took my hand.

"You don't have to seek comfort if you don't want to, I am just saying you're not alone if you need me." I squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Gabe," He leaned back on the couch and I stayed tucked into my little ball.

"I'm open for cuddles..." He mumbled and I dived onto his chest. His arms wrapped around me and I hid my face in his chest. Cuddles were good, they were healthy for you. Got the serotonin moving in your brain, reduced depression, and I just really needed it. He ran his hand down over my hair, and I felt my emotions unfreeze, and tears welled up in my eyes. He continued to stroke my hair, and I cried myself into a sleepy state. Callie came into the room and she knelt next to me.

"We will get it all figure out sweetie." I nodded and Gabe didn't let go. We laid there long after his father had left and his mom went to her room.

"Are you ready for bed?" Gabe asked, and I really didn't know.

"I will be here for you if you need me, but we need rest. Come on." He waited for me to get up and it took me longer than I wanted to admit. After tucking me into bed and giving me plenty of forehead kisses he left the door cracked as he walked across the hall to his own bedroom. I cuddled down into the blankets and for a moment struggled to turn off my mind.

Gabriel's mind melted into mine softly and pulled me slowly into sleep.