Color of Angels' Souls by Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian Page A

enraged Angel: He looked very familiar.
    No, Jeremy couldn’t be mistaken.
    It was … his father!
    Jeremy was so shocked he couldn’t even move, and could only look on helplessly at the incredible scene taking place in front of him. After having heroically chased away the pack of red Angels, Paul Galveaux, with a crazed look in his eyes, hollered with rage and threw himself at Frank Tachini, hitting him in the face again and again with all his strength.
    â€œBastard, asshole, son of a bitch! I forbid you to touch her, you hear me? I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! SHE IS MINE!!”
    Tachini didn’t budge. He was completely insensitive to Paul’s fury, and his fists went right through him. Paul suddenly left off, raised his eyes to the heavens and began howling like a wounded hound. He wrapped himself around Claire, like ivy around a stone pillar, and eventually ended up in a sobbing heap at her feet, covering his former wife with useless, unfelt caresses.
    â€œOh my God,” Jeremy uttered in a horrified whisper. “Dad?”
    He hurried over and tried his best to wrap his arms around his father, but Paul ignored his desperate cries.
    â€œHe won’t listen to you,” grumbled a gravelly voice, decimated by long years of cigars and good whisky. “He’s completely lost his mind.”
    Startled by the familiar voice, Jeremy quickly turned around.
    Before him stood James Stuyvesant, his … grandfather! He had loathed Paul Galveaux, the French student who had stolen his daughter from him when she was studying in Paris, but now he seemed to be looking after him. The famous descendant of the Stuyvesants of Boston had taught Jeremy everything he knew about business. He had found a way to bring Jeremy to the States and even had him naturalized before finally shuffling off this mortal coil in style; his heart gave out on him while he was in bed with two beautiful women at the age of seventy-five. His grandfather, the banker who had made entire nations tremble when he attacked their currencies, was absolutely fuming as he contemplated the funeral, a blue cigar clenched between his teeth.
    Before James had a chance to say anything else, Jeremy threw his arms around the old man. A bit taken aback, James almost fell over backward before awkwardly returning the relieved boy’s affection. His grandfather was there. James would realize that his grandson was only twenty-three years old, barely a man. Jeremy suddenly felt tremendously relieved.
    â€œGrandfather! Oh, thank God you’re here … I was so lonely! So scared!”
    â€œGod had nothing to do with it,” James grumbled wryly, tilting his head sideways as he pulled away from his grandson. “Not a day goes by that I don’t have to chase down your father and stop him from going to see your mother … which is exactly why we weren’t there when you died. If not, you can be sure we would have been there to help you! I’m furious with him. You were my best investment, Jeremy. Ever since I died I’ve been giving you all the advice I can. I think you can thank me for at least half of your best business deals!”
    The old man was absolutely glowing as Jeremy tried to come to his senses. Now he understood where that annoying ringing sound he’d suffered from had come from. Undoubtedly it had been his grandfather, meddling in his affairs. Again.
    â€œSweet Jesus!” growled James. “You had so much going for you. What a waste! How did you manage to get yourself killed, my boy? We only learned about it this morning when we stopped by the house, and then we hurried over here to find you. Did you have an accident? The damned drivers in this town! When the guy who ran you over dies, we’ll have a nice little welcoming party waiting for him, believe you me.”
    Of course! In the afterlife, murderers were undoubtedly eagerly awaited by their victims. Jeremy was finally able to