8. Departure

It had been an eventful weekend. Saturday had gone by fast. Amanda had picked up her SUV and was asking all these questions about the Levi. Although, she couldn’t remember his name. Which had been good because Michael would have figured it out.

Despite his questions, which followed after Amanda had left, Elise was still able to keep Levi Athan and what he told her to herself. The day was long; Elise and Michael went and served the community. Sunday, they went for a fly and spent most of the day just hanging out. Elise was still giving Michael the cold shoulder and her could not figure out why. So, on Monday he decided that he would visit Margret while Elise was working.

Marget had known Michael and had seen him every time he visited with his niece. So, it was no surprise she was happy to see him when he came to call. “Hi Margret.”

“Oh Michael. How good it is to see you.”

“You too Margret. Now tell me, is everything going good with you?”

“Oh yes. Elise has been taking good care of me. Did she tell you she baked me a cake Friday for my birthday?”

“No, she didn’t. “

“Well, it was wonderful. She is too good to me.”

Michael smiled at the old lady. “I'm afraid my niece is upset, maybe you could figure out why and let me know.”

“Oh no, I am not going to be stuck in the middle. If you want to know, ask her not me.” Margret never thought it would be a good idea to get in between to arguing angels. It was no place for a mere mortal; even a nun.

The two sat together and visited for a long time. Before lunch was served, he said goodbye to Marget and went to look for Elise. He found her being cornered by a man. It was Sean. And yet again she was not giving him the time of day.

Now Michael knew she could handle herself he had trained her well in combat. In fact, she exceled at it. She was better than some of her uncles. Even though he knew this had happened before, he had never witnessed it. It vexed him greatly. So instead of letting Elise handle it he walked right up to Sean and tapped on his shoulder.

He turned around and the man stepped away from his niece and then said. “And who are you, her boyfriend.”

“No, her uncle now you leave alone or there will be consequences.” the unkept Sean scurried off. He at this point had been thwarted but he was relentless and would try to find a way to get what he wanted from Elise.

“Well, aren't you a damsel in distresses.” Michael said jokingly.

“I am perfectly fine, thank you.”

“I was just helping you know. You don’t have to get all rude.”

“You didn’t have to intervene at all. I had it taken care of.”

“Is that so? Then why was he cornering you. Maybe you like it and your just like your father.”

That was a low blow. All her uncles thought it was despicable that Elise’s father, Azrael, had fallen in love with a human. It was downright abominable that he had slept with her. Therefore, creating Elise.

“How dare you say that to me. Did you ever think that maybe if he kept his nasty depraved intentions on me, someone who could handle him, he wouldn’t be doing it to someone else who would be way more vulnerable.”

Michael was silent. He could see he had gone too far. He was upset about Elise’s distance all weekend and then her getting mad when he tried to defend her.

“Look I am sorry. I didn’t know. I just came to say goodbye I am going home.”

“Alright.” Elise said with her arms crossed.

Michael couldn’t understand what he had done to make her so upset. “If you need to talk to me about anything you can always send a message through Gabriel.”

He hoped giving his niece some space would help her tell him what was wrong. He was hopeful he would here from her soon.” He gave her a hug and then left.

A few days following Michael's departure, Baylor and Saxon where summoned. “Ah my dear sons. What do you have to report?” Levi asked.

“Well Michael left.”

“that’s good news. Anything else?”

“Yeah, she lives on 6th and works at magnolia house. That home for old people. She has an old nun for a friend. Her life is pretty boring. She works, comes home, reads. On Saturday she left the house to do charitable deeds. So mundane. But she did go for a long fly Sunday with Michael.” Saxon reported.

“It was kind of cool seeing her fly.” Baylor said

Saxon looked over at his brother. “Yeah, I know right? She has those enormous black wings. I knew archangels had wings that were larger than the average angels we see every day, but these were huge.”

“I always thought that there wouldn’t be much of a difference in size but when Michael let them out, I was shocked. Then seeing her black ones emerge it was like whoa. I didn’t even know that their wings could be black like that”

“Neither did I.”

It was true. Elise did have black wings, just like here father. They were the only two angels that had wings like that. It was something that would go unseen amongst most humans. Only a select few had the capability to see wings of an angel or the poofs of the princes of hell. But to the divine and dammed it was just part of their life. However, for Saxon and Baylor this was their first opportunity to see black wings.

They had seen Azreal, the Archangel of death, a handful of times, but only for a few seconds before their father pulled them away.

Levi cut off his sons. “Is that all you have for me?”

They both nodded. “Now get.” He said in a fatherly tone.

He had come to the decision that it was time to see Elise again. Being one of the nine princes of hell, he was able to poof anywhere in a cloud of black smoke. Unlike other demons who had to take various modes of transportation. Nevertheless, Levi Athen loved fancy cars, motorcycles, yachts, and to show just how much money he had he had a private jet.

Levi strode out to the garage. He kept most of his vehicles in a storage facility and would trade out his everyday vehicles every now and again. He had decided it would be a good day to ride his Indian. It was and impressive motorcycle with its dark matte black coloring. The seat was black smooth leather, and the chrome on the engine had a clean finish. He mounted the bike and drove off.

He knew exactly where Magnolia House was. Before he had come to stay in New Orleans, he had studied maps learning how the city had changed over the years. When he finally arrived at the home he got out and went in. He started to look around.

“Excuse me can I help you?’ A young woman had said. She was sitting behind a desk. Levi approached.

The woman stared at Levi. She thought to herself ‘How did a man actually look like that. His body is ripped. He looks like some kind of God.”

“Yes,” Levi said “I am looking for Elise. She is a nurse working here.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Elise had a boyfriend?” the woman was in fact trying to find out if Levi was single.

“Perhaps or perhaps not.” Levi said. He loved being evasive. He took immense pleasure in toying with humans, and he loved seeing the look of confusion on the poor girl's face.

“So, Elise?”

“Umm yeah, she is on the third floor. Just go down the hall to the right and you will be at the elevators.”

Without even saying thank you he walked away. He got in the elevator. Just before the door shut a hand came flying in. It was the lady from the front desk. She reached out and handed him a paper. It had her number on it.

“Look I don’t know what is going on between you and Elise and it doesn’t really matter to me. So, call me. Let's set something up.”

This was something Levi had grown accustomed to. Women always seemed to throw themselves at him. He would indulge in it frequently but lately just one person filled his fantasizes. None of the women in the last few days had even piqued his interest.

The women left and the doors closed. When the doors opened again, his hunt resumed. He went down one hallway to find a small sitting area. There were a few people there, but none of them were Elise. He continued down the hall and there was another sitting area with tables set up. It was much bigger than the previous one he had seen. He glanced over the room until he spotted her long black hair. It was done up in a braid, she was wearing pink scrubs and smelt of flowers. She was playing cards with a much older lady. He walked up to the sitting women and tapped Elise’s shoulder.

She turned around.to look Levi in the face.

“Hello my little Angel.”