Excerpt: But With a Whimper

“Could you,” she drawled, pulling close to him, “reconsider your position on teaching more than just the oldest?”

Gabriel could read the intention in her movements from the moment she softly shut the door. The woman wasn’t unattractive. A slim figure and soft curves were hard to find nowadays especially when the woman was beautiful, let alone someone willing. She was a gorgeous woman.

She was also a powerful woman, and she knew that. Fei was offering him something without words, and Gabriel was tempted. Any man would be tempted.

He lifted a hand to brush back some loose hair and watched as she came closer, nearly a hairs breath away. “If we have a larger army, we can do more. We can win this battle faster and all of this can be over,” she murmured.

She placed her hands on his hips and whispered in the hollow of his ear, “Why don’t you just compromise your morals, just this once?”

Gabriel let his right hand fall to her shoulder and gripped her tightly. Fei winced just before he threw her body against the wall. He crossed the distance between them and trapped her body with his, making sure to hold her limp form up.

His left arm dug into her throat, cutting off her oxygen supply, and the other still gripped her shoulder hard enough to leave bruises the next day. He wanted her to remember what he was about to tell her.

“I will not compromise my morals,” he hissed. Dark eyes widened as Fei figured out just how large of a hole she had dug for herself. She had attempted to manipulate a very powerful, very angry Reaper, and Gabriel was going to let her know that.

His arm dug into her throat a little more, and she let out a choking noise. “I owed your brother a life debt, and when he died, that transferred to you. I’m fulfilling that by not killing you. You will not bring this up again, and you will never ask me to do that again. Understand?”

All color bleed from Fei’s face as her mouth formed the words ‘okay’. He backed off, and watched as the woman crumpled to the floor, gasping for air. Disgusted by her, Gabriel turned to the bathroom.

“You have no idea what you have done,” Fei croaked as she rubbed her throat. Gabriel threw her a disinterested look. “You have no idea how many lives you have condemned with this moral conflict of yours!”

“Do I?” he asked, his voice dangerously low. “You forget yourself, newborn.”

His voice echoed hollowly in the room, making him seem sinister. Gabriel liked it.

She winced at the insult being thrown in her direction because she was a young soul, and Gabriel was old. One of the oldest left, most likely.

“I have lived in a battle zone for years. Long before the war finally started here, it was leaking onto the Earth. You forget who you speak to, and you have no idea what you ask,” he growled before turning from the whimpering woman on the floor.

“Get out,” he threw over his shoulder as he entered the bathroom, taking care to lock it before he began stripping.

For all his anger, Gabriel folded his borrowed clothing precisely. Some things never left you; he supposed as he stepped into the shower and turned the water on.

The girl had no idea what she was asking of him, what she had meant when she wanted him to compromise his morals. Gabriel had probably overreacted in retrospect, but she had no idea. No idea what memories her words tugged at.

She had no idea, and Gabriel wasn't willing to fill her in.