Free Conduit by Maria Rachel Hooley Page A

he’d lammed it into Griffin’s
cranium, knocking him off balance.  The unbridled fury on Lev’s face spoke
volumes.
    “Enough!” Evan shouted. He moved to
intercede, but Lev was already following through, and all that stopped him was Celia,
who’d suddenly blindsided him, yanking the upright free before it could do any more
damage.
    Even so, Lev advanced, committed.
    “Stop!” Celia demanded, shoving him
back. “Get a grip!”
    Lev stopped, dazed. 
    “What was that?” Griffin moaned,
struggling to sit up.  Celia knelt beside, trying to get a look.
    Lev blinked, as though coming out of
a trance.  He glanced at Evan and tried to move toward Griffin, but Celia had
inserted herself between them.  Even so, he’d managed to get enough of a look to
realize he’d drawn blood.
    “What happened?” Lev muttered weakly. 
“Griffin is bleeding.”
    “You happened!” Griffin jerked from
Celia’s aid.
    “I don’t get it,” Lev replied,
uncertain.
    “You hit him with this,” Evan
replied, indicating the upright. 
    Lev went pale.  “Why would I do
that?”
    “Your humanness got the better of
you,” Evan replied. 
    Feeling very much ashamed, Lev had no
idea what to say, so all that came out was, “I’m sorry.  You okay?” It was
lame, he knew, but what else was there?
    Sensing Celia wasn’t about to give up
her efforts to clean his wound—he hadn’t even realized she had medical supplies
until he saw them in her hand—Griffin finally just let her do her thing.
    “I don’t know.  Why don’t you ask
your sister?”  Yes, Griffin had been angry before, but now he was furious,
which made Evan all the more concerned about how well the two of them might
manage the upcoming ordeal, especially since he was going to have to leave the
two of them in Celia’s care while he went and checked the progress on getting
backup angels.
    "While there’s a bit of
bruising, I don't think the gash is going to need stitches, at least, which is
one thing in our favor, however small."  Celia offered her input without
waiting for anyone to ask, figuring she might use the opportunity to diffuse
some of the tension.  From her peripheral vision, she watched Lev, wondering
what his next move would be.  Once human, he'd gotten so unpredictable Celia
was really nervous about his future.  It had been bad enough when there’d been no
pressure resting on him.  Now, amid all this chaos, his behavior was only
getting worse.
    Lev glared at Evan.  "This never
would have happened had you done what I asked."
    Evan took a deep breath and forced a
stoic calm to his demeanor.  "Perhaps. But since that discussion, I’ve not
had a chance to revisit the Upper Realm."
    "Of course you haven't," Lev
muttered, his fingers curling into fists. 
    "Well, something damned well
better change before you kill someone," Griffin seethed, glaring
dangerously at Lev.
    Evan stared first at Griffin and then
at Lev before grabbing his son's arm.  "A few words, Lev."  While
Evan failed to raise his voice, his eyes told the real story, and while Lev
wanted to jerk away, the anger boiling in Evan's blue eyes kept him from it, at
least until Evan led him through the back door and into the house.
    "What?"
    "It's you!" Evan snarled. 
    "Fine. Yeah, okay, so it’s me.
What else is new?” Lev growled, fuming.  Still, despite the anger, he was
worried about the damage he’d done—about having wigged out like that, something
he hadn't meant to do, even though Griffin had goaded him into it and had had
it coming.
    "You can't keep letting your emotions
lead you down the path of recklessness like this.  It will get people killed. 
Is that what you want?"
    "What I want is to go back to
being an angel so I can do something—anything—to help.  I’m no good like
this.”  He folded his arms across his chest.  “Maybe I did get angry at Griffin
for copping an attitude, but he was right about the fact that if I’d still been
immortal, Elizabeth never