Marked by Kim Richardson Page B

threw a newspaper at David, barely missing his face. “YOU FOOL!” he roared. “You were SEEN!”
    Kara picked up the paper from the floor. It was today’s Montreal Gazette. She and David were seen on the front cover holding hands—falling into the Saint-Laurence River. The heading read:
     
     
    Couple’s suicide!
    A young couple in love plunge to their deaths,
    off the Old Port in Montreal .
     
     
    “Oh, oh,” said Kara, “this can’t be good.”
    David grabbed the newspaper from Kara. “Hey—I look good .”
    Ramiel slammed his fist on the desk, echoing a loud boom throughout the chamber. “What were you thinking! You know our laws! You were not to be seen going into water!” If Ramiel was warm blooded, Kara was sure his face would be red hot with large veins pulsing on his forehead. Instead, there was a terrifying white coldness. It wasn’t natural.
    “You’ve been warned before, David McGowan ! Your days as a guardian angel are numbered!” He growled and pointed a long finger at David. Kara was almost certain laser beams were about to shoot out of Ramiel’s eyes and strike David—melting him on the spot. The archangel’s face twisted in fury.
    “David, we’re so screwed,” whispered Kara.
    “Don’t worry—I got this,” he whispered back.
    David smiled and puffed out his chest. “Relax, your holiness…see here? My rookie saved the soul.” He gestured towards Kara’s chest, where she kept the soul protected inside the fish net.
    With Ramiel’s attention suddenly on her, Kara cringed and backed up. “David! What are you doing?” she said through the corner of her mouth.
    She felt her nerves starting to act up. The archangel’s flaring blue eyes made her nervous, but she found she couldn’t look away—some sort of freakish hypnosis. She was suddenly made aware of his power, as though he made it known to her somehow through his mind—some sort of freakish telepathy. She tried to speak, but the words would not come.
    The archangel cut the silence. “It doesn’t excuse what you did. You broke the law!”
    This time, David’s smile disappeared. He looked at Kara, then back to Ramiel. “Listen—there were three higher demons. They attacked us. There was no other way—we had to jump.”
    Ramiel backed up, as though getting a blow from an invisible force. He narrowed his eyes. “W—what? Higher demons? That’s impossible!”
    “Yup. Three of them. It was like they knew we were coming. You know anything about that?”
    “What? Of course not!” Ramiel shouted, his face twitching.
    Kara watched in silence as the big archangel seemed to battle something from the inside. He paced up and down. He rubbed his head, his eyes and brow narrowed. If it were even possible, he seemed angrier than before. Kara took another step back.
    Finally, after some time, Ramiel spoke. “I need to speak to Michael about this. Here, give the soul to the Cherub,” he said, as he gestured to one of the spiked blue haired persons, who came at once with a glass jar. The Cherub placed the jar in front of Kara. It waited.
    “Huh?” Kara said. She thinned her lips and glared at the Cherub. “Why should I give it to him? I saved the soul—and I nearly died saving it. No…I’m not giving it to him. What if he drops it? What then?” She reached into the fish net and grasped the soul into her hand, letting the light shine though her fingers. She looked at David for help.
    He tapped her shoulder. “It’s ok, Kiddo. You did good . Now, give the shiny white ball to the Cherub.” The Cherub tapped its foot on the ground. It cocked an eyebrow, clearly annoyed by Kara’s reluctance to give up the soul.
    She dropped her shoulders and looked down at the soul. The glowing ball emanated light on her frowning face. Kara pulled her hands away from her chest slowly and gently dropped the soul into the glass jar. Immediately the Cherub turned on its heel, strolled away, jumped into a tiny vehicle and drove off, leaving