Tess watched Silas walk away. She noticed he was limping. How long has he been doing that? She thought. Gabriel walking toward her brought her attention back.

  "Where is Silas-"

  "Going?" Gabriel cut her off and she frowned,"It doesn't matter. What matters now is your training."

  "Okay." Tess said. She backed away and took out her usual sword that she used. She looked at Gabriel, he didn't have a sword. She wondered if he had a dagger hidden somewhere. Gabriel didn't look like he would make the first move so Tess lunged at him. She immediately collapsed to her knees as a loud screeching rang through her ears and head. As soon as it came, it was gone.

  "Why did you do that?!" Tess looked at Gabriel.

  "I never said what type of training we were doing." Tess slowly stood up, feeling a little dizzy. Gabriel sure is making a jackass of himself.

  "I heard that." Gabriel said, glaring at her. She put her sword in its sheath.

  "It's obvious you are lacking in mental powers so that is what you and I shall be practicing." Tess sighed. She didn't like the sound of this.

  "Now I want you to experience attacking of memories. It is one of the harshest methods demons will use to attack your mind and rend you useless."

  "So I get to practice the hardest method to fight demons?"

  "War is approaching Tess, you have no choice." Gabriel said, his gaze more serious than she had seen before. Gabriel narrowed his gaze in concentration. Tess slowly felt a prickling pain at the base of her skull. Words of conversation between her and Levi became warped; it rang in her ears until blurred sounds repeated themselves, driving her crazy.

  "Stop!" Tess growled, slamming her hands over her ears. Gabriel didn't stop though as the ringing intensified.

  "Stop it yourself!" He shouted. Tess concentrated all the energy she had at the base of her skull. The ringing vanished and Tess looked at Gabriel.

  "That was easy." Gabriel laughed, making Tess frown.

  "That's not even close to the strength a demon can use." Tess's face fell. It could be worse than that?

  "Demons can manipulate memories to the point of making you want to hurl yourself off a cliff. What I did was just child's play." Tess refused to be deterred by Gabriel's doom talking.

  "I'm no child."

  "No indeed." Gabriel smirked a little. He attacked a different memory. Tess tried to force him out like earlier, but the attack didn't subside. She gritted her teeth and pushed against his seemingly dark forces. It took almost a minute before she had the upper hand and by the time she had gotten him completely out of her mind she and Gabriel were drenched in sweat. Tess didn't realize the mental combat would exhaust her body. Gabriel didn't give her much time to catch her breath though, as he attacked again, only this time he attacked her memories of Silas. Tess froze up before attacking with force. Gabriel could not see those memories or Silas would be in a lot of trouble. The pain of her attack registered on Gabriel's face, replaced by determination. He knows I'm hiding something! Tess quickly composed herself while Gabriel pressed harder into the memories. Tess's limbs began to ache, her energy was sapped. She wouldn't be able to hold on much longer and Gabriel had no intentions of stopping his attack. Tess felt her knees give up, but they didn't hit the cold floor. Warms arms lifted her up and Gabriel's attack stopped. The angel was panting, his wings drooping a little.

"What are you doing?!" Silas growled at Gabriel. Gabriel stood up straight.

  "Practice is over." The angel stalked out of throneroom, clearly unhappy. Tess buried her head in Silas's shoulder, the angel had appeared just in time.

  "What was that?" Silas asked quietly.

  "I was defending my memories."

  "So?.."

  "He was attacking the ones about you." Tess said softly. She felt Silas tense.

  "He didn't see anything." A long sigh came from Silas. Tess gingerly stepped out of Silas's gentle embrace. Her whole body ached from the fight.

  "He suspects something though." Silas shrugged as if this wasn't news to him.

  "He has for awhile." Tess nodded, not entirely surprised. Gabriel had a way of just knowing about things. She wondered if he knew more then he seemed to be letting on. Tess looked at Silas and remembered how he had disappeared for awhile.

  "Where did you go earlier?" Tess asked Silas. Silas looked down at her.

  "Gabriel gave me an errand to run." Silas said. Tess pushed him against a pillar, a little of her frustration and exhaustion showing. She grabbed the lump out of his pocket that she had felt when he had embraced her moments before.

  "Is that so?" Silas looked at her in shock and she crossed her arms, gesturing with her hand for an explanation.

  "What was that for?" He asked,

  "Silas, honestly, I'm not stupid. Now what is this?" Tess asked, looking at the bottle. It had no inscription to give away what it was. Silas ran a hand over his hair, obviously still upset that she had shoved him.

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  "It's nothing." His voice was quiet.

  "Is it?" Tess held it away from her like she was going to drop it. Silas scrambled to grab it. The expression on his face gave away the importance. Tess brought it back towards her body and looked at him, her expression blank. Silas sighed.

  "It's a tonic," Tess frowned.

  "What do you need a tonic for?" Silas's eyes dropped down, "Your leg..." Tess whispered, she felt anger bubble up inside of her.

  "You said it was healed." She growled. Silas glanced at her nervously, he had obviously not intended on letting her know about the injury.

  "Silas, how bad is it?" Tess asked, trying to keep an even tone.

  "Not good, but it should be fine with the help of the tonic." He said, taking it out of her hands gingerly. Tess was still angry with him for lieing to her.

  "Silas, you can't keep secrets from me like that." Silas shook his head, determined.

  "I didn't need you worrying about me, not with the battle coming up who knows when." Silas looked at her, a sadness glimmered in her reflected images. Tess rubbed her forehead.

  "Silas, you not going to prevent me worrying about you by lying, okay?" Silas grabbed her hand.

  "I'm sorry." He apologized. Tess stared at his hand for moment.

  "Just don't do it again." She said quietly.

  "I won't." He promised. The unsure thought came to Tess's head even though she didn't want it to. Would he?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Tess scrambled around the kitchen. She swore she had put that spell book somewhere in here. She had been studying it the past week.

  "Need this?" Her fathers low voice came from the doorway. Tess jumped and turned around. Christian stood there, holding the book out to her. Tess look it gingerly. The worn leather soft in her hands. Christian looked around the kitchen, raising an eyebrow.

  "So where's your pet?" He asked. Tess set the book on the table.

  "Silas is not my pet and you know that." Silas and Tess had been spending a majority of their time together, but it was where people couldn't watch them. What good did it do to like each other, if other people would try to separate you constantly? Christian sat down at the table.

  "Excuse me, the the golden eyed puffball." Tess laughed. Things between her father and her had smoothed out a bit over the last few weeks.

  "He had somewhere to go, he should be back soon though." Tess sat down across from her father.

  "Oh joy." Her father said quietly. Tess looked at him.

  "Couldn't you two just get along for like five seconds? It drives me crazy when you two are together. I'm afraid the whole house is going to go up in flames with the hate you two have for each other." Christian smirked.

  "Silas and I have as much a chance at getting along as you do marrying Caspian." As if on cue, the cat walked into the kitchen with an inquisitive meow. Tess picked him up, setting him in her lap. Caspian squirmed out and scampered over her father, purring. Traitor... She glared at him.

  "But why? You're a fallen angel, he's an angel. Good we all know and lets move on." Christian shook his head.

  "I'm afraid it's not that easy Tess. Angels are instilled with a certain pride for their work. Fallen angels are almost as repulsive as demons."

  "So much pride..." Tess said, looking around the room.

  "It is our greatest ally and our biggest downfall." Her father said. Tess glanced back at him.

  "Silas also doesn't like me because he knows that he is meddling with the angelic laws and I can see it." Christian said.

  "How?" Tess asked, although she knew of more then one way he had broken it.

  "Do you not see the way he looks at you?" Christian said. Tess looked down at her palms.

  "There are some glances..." Christian laughed.

  "Tess, you have become the center of his world," Tess froze, the statement hitting deep within her, "Tess, he loves you more than any heavenly or earthly thing." Christian looked her in the eyes. Tess slammed her hands over her ears, not wanting to hear anymore. She pushed back from the table, her chair making an awful shrieking noise.

  "Tessie-" Tess didn't stick around for him to finish his statement. She fled to her bedroom, slamming the door. It's not possible...he can't. Tess raked her fingers through her hair.

  "What have I done..."

  "Tess?" She looked up, noticing Silas standing there.

  "Yes?" She asked, standing up straighter. She wondered how long he had been waiting there.

  "You okay?" Silas asked. His golden eyes reflected the concern that was in his tone. Tess walked over to him, giving him a hug so he could not see her eyes.

"I'm fine." She whispered.