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Of course, they probably didn’t realize they were responding to her angelic glamour. So she could be useless without having any idea.
A human male entered the auditorium and shifted into the light. The telling whisper of power told her he was a guardian.
She mentally braced for another unpleasant conversation with Chris Fellows. He had arrived earlier that day with a contingent of guardians and been incensed that they had missed the gathering.
“Sophia.” He made his way down the central aisle to where she sat and took the seat next to her. “About earlier.” He cleared his throat. “I apologize for my anger.”
It took a moment for her brain to decode the words. She had never thought she would hear Chris Fellows apologize, and to a supernatural. And in fairness to the treaty, she had to admit, “We should have waited for you.”
“Yes.” Chris shrugged. “But after recent events, I suppose I can understand why you didn’t.”
She turned and examined his face. Some of her angels could detect human lies, but she didn’t have that ability. “Does that mean you’re going to reinstate Dee?”
Chris chuckled. “Like we could ever get rid of Dee.” He indicated the auditorium. “As much as it galls, her family name is on the deed to this place.”
“Right.” Sophia had trouble understanding the human desire to own bits of land and call it their own, when all life was so interconnected that every place belonged to every life. “But Daniel seems to be a competent guardian.”
“He is.” Chris nodded. “He has a tendency to make up his own rules, but he does the job.”
He stared at the silent theatre. “I’m keeping Daniel here to assist her. With the action this hell gate is seeing, we have no way of anticipating what nasty surprises might come through it.”
“Then why not simply tell Dee that?” Sophia studied his face, trying to discern the truth.
Chris threw her a speaking glance. “Would you tell Dee that you left a guardian here to help her?”
Sophia had to smile. He had a point there. Dee with her fierce independence would not take kindly to being told she was being assisted.
They sat in an awkward silence. She had nowhere to go, so she waited him out.
Chris shifted in his seat. “I saw you earlier.” He cleared his throat. “Acting.”
Ah, here it came. The lecture about how she should not be engaging in human pastimes.
“You’re very good,” Chris said. “Very talented.”
Her mouth dropped open and she snapped it shut. Pride kindled a happy glow in her middle. “Do you really think so?” It was probably the surprise that kept her confession going. “I do love it, and all the others tell me I’m good, but they would have to.”
“The angelic glamour.” He hummed and nodded. “But I am not affected by it, and I am saying you are good.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The silence felt a bit easier now, so she asked, “Do you like the theatre?”
“I do.” He smiled. “My late wife and myself used to make a point of seeing live theatre.”
Her heart went out to him. Humans had to endure so much loss in their lives. “Is your wife…”
“Four years ago.” His face bore the lines of grief carved around his eyes and mouth. “Cancer.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He gave a humorless chuckle. “Yeah. Me too.” He clapped his palms on his thighs and stood. “Anyway, I didn’t come to speak to you to share my life story.” He dug in his jacket pocket and drew out a pale blue box tied with a sparkly silver ribbon. “I came more by way of apology and to smooth the way to future cooperation.” Color stained his cheeks, and he kept his gaze on the box. “It’s silly really.” He looked pained. “But we do need to work together, all of us, to contain this threat. And I thought…” He cleared his throat. “Well, I mean, we humans often use this as a gesture of apology.”
Sophia eyed the pretty box. “What is it?”
“A gift.” Chris held it out to her as if he didn’t quite want to hand it over. “A peace offering if you will. Chocolate.”
