Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

Kael grabbed him by the front of his
    jacket and dragged him back onto the tower. “Take off the harness.” Humiliated but
    relieved, Denbigh removed the harness.
    “Angel, put this on.”
    Grinning with excitement, Angel put on the harness. Kael checked it carefully
    to ensure it was secure. Within minutes the boy was descending the tower,
    screaming, “Sir, I‟m doing it. I‟m doing it. This is so totally, deeply amazing.” Kael
    leaned on the edge of the tower, looking down at him, a smile splitting his face, love
    and pride fighting for precedence.
    When Angel was at the bottom of the tower, safe on solid ground, Kael looked
    at the remaining eight people. “Don‟t you feel ashamed?” he screamed like a drill
    sergeant. “An eighteen-year-old, inexperienced boy just went down that tower on a
    moment‟s notice. Now who the fuck is next?”
    Every hand went up. Angel had shamed them into doing their job. Mattie
    followed Angel, and Denbigh was the last to go. Kael assessed Denbigh, who had
    begun to sweat profusely again. He put his hand on Denbigh‟s shoulder, but the
    young man‟s eyes darted everywhere, unable to meet Kael‟s. Perhaps no one had
    ever encouraged him to act like a man before, and Kael decided he would give him a
    chance. “I‟ll help you, Denbigh. I‟ll talk you through it,” he said firmly but kindly. “If
    you do this, you‟ll feel great about yourself and the others will respect you for
    working your way through your fear.” It was what he would say to Angel.
    Denbigh shook him off. “I don‟t need your fucking help…sir. I‟m not going
    down that wall.”
    That did it.
    The man was disrespectful, and he refused help and advice. He would not be
    recommended for further training with SIS. “You‟ve got two choices. Number one,
    you put the harness on and abseil down the tower like everyone else, or—”
    But Denbigh interrupted him. “Number two, I walk down the steps and look
    like a coward. It‟s a good job I don‟t care what anyone thinks.”
    Infuriated at the shoddy attitude, Kael got in his face. “No. Number two is I
    throw you off the fucking tower, and you had better pray you have a soft landing in
    the moat.”
    Denbigh turned his back and took a step toward the tower steps. “Go to hell,
    you fucking turd burglar.”
    The lack of respect for authority angered Kael far more than the gay slurs. He
    grabbed Denbigh‟s wrist, twisting his arm up his back and at the same moment
    wrapped his other arm around his neck, pressing his forearm against Denbigh‟s

    Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

    9

    throat, immobilizing him. “It‟s not because of your disparaging remarks about my
    sexuality that I am doing this,” Kael said into his ear. “It‟s because you‟re a fucking
    coward, and I can‟t stand cowards.” With the wind gusting in their faces and
    carrying Denbigh‟s screams away with it, Kael dragged him to the edge of the
    tower, picked him up bodily, and threw him over.
    Without bothering to look where Denbigh had fallen, Kael pulled on the
    harness and abseiled down the tower. The rest of the group was standing in silent
    horror at what they had just witnessed. As if nothing had happened, Kael said,
    “Right. You lot, march double-quick back over to the woods and pack up the camp.”
    Denbigh never followed them back to camp, and Kael found him soaking wet in
    the car park waiting for the van to pick them up a couple of hours later. He didn‟t
    look at Kael or anyone else before climbing into the van. The others gathered
    around Kael and Angel. Mattie was the first to shake his hand. “You are one mean
    bastard, sir, but I‟d trust you with my life. I hope I get to work with you at some
    point.”
    “You‟ll go far,” Kael said to her.
    He shook hands with them all in turn, telling each of them at least one good
    thing they had done over the weekend. “Thank you, sir,” they said, as happy as
    children at the praise. He watched as they got into the van and briefly waved them
    off. Satisfied with the way the maneuvers had gone, he pulled Angel into his arms.
    “My brave boy. You put them all to shame.”
    “I‟m still in shock that I did all that stuff.” Angel grinned up at him. “I feel like
    I could do anything in the world.”
    You probably could, but I won’t let you. I’m keeping you safe.

    * * *
    Angel was exhausted after the strenuous weekend, and Kael ordered him into

    bed immediately after they had showered.