by A. Catherine
“He didn’t give an indication that he has them.”
Gabriel spoke, “Alright, but he said our Scribe records might tell us what to look for?”
I dipped my chin. Duma looked through the collection of scrolls and papers that Jophiel and Jade had brought back.
“None of these have the Eternal sigils on them, so they may be just informative to the primordials, but not to the relics,” he said.
“And these relics are supposed to be really powerful?” Seere asked.
Iaoel’s eyes were distant, using their gift. Only after they blinked did they chime in.
“Original pieces of the Balance, belongings of the Eternals. If they got into the right hands, or maybe the wrong ones, they could do a lot of things,” they said.
“Like murder a Guardian angel?” I hinted.
Jade turned to Iaoel. “Can you see these relics?” she asked.
Iaoel shook their head.
“I can see some of the effects their power left behind, but the relics themselves are beyond my abilities. They’re age may be a contributor.”
Iaoel locked eyes with Gabriel. “Why don’t we ask the almighty? He is an Eternal after all, it’ll be faster than scouting the globe for a written record of them.”
Gabriel looked to Jophiel. “We’ll take a visit to heaven and see if he can shed more light on them.”
“Lucifer said only a powerful being could wield them properly, so who could be opening the supernatural prisons and killing immortals?” Lillith asked the right question.
All of us exchanged looks, some lingering on the archangels in the room.
“Archangels are the most powerful beings currently in existence, aside from the almighty himself,” I tapped.
Gabriel glared at me. “As are you.”
I met his gaze. “It’s not me, feather-brain.”
“Well then if we’re going to start accusing archangels, maybe we should first point fingers at the only one who’s rebelled in the past,” he replied.
I shrugged. “Lucifer is many things, and he may be behind it yes. But when I spoke with him, I didn’t see any reason why he would be. Given that the almighty spoke with him and saw no deceit, I think we can rule him out for now. What about Michael or Raphael? I haven’t seen them through all of this,” I replied.
Jophiel stood up, her anger rising. “Michael would never. He defines what it is to be loyal. His very duty is to maintain the Balance, he’d be the last person to disrupt it. And Raphael is too rational to do this. Archangels aren’t the only beings that could wield the relics, there are other powerful beings out there capable,” she defended.
“The Fallen?” Seere asked, she locked eyes with me. “We may want to put a few of them at the top of our suspect list.”
For a moment, no one said anything, considering.
“A lot of well-trained angels could. The Ophanim or the Watchers are the strongest in our ranks,” Duma explained.
“More than half the first-generation demons have abilities as strong as mine, any of them might be strong enough to commit the act,” Daevas added quietly from the corner.
A few sighed, this was getting us nowhere.
“It seems we have a lot to do then, a lot of possible culprits that we need to narrow down. But more importantly, whoever killed Mason and is releasing the primordials, they may have a relic assisting them. What can we do about that?” I asked.
Jade said, “I think the first thing we should do is find out which relic it is. That will tell us a lot about what we can do to cease or prevent further damage.”
“How do we do that, if our Guardian killer possesses it?” Lillith asked harshly.
Jade shrunk a little but didn’t let it show in her voice as she clarified, “We could find the rest of them.”
Nobody liked that idea, judging by the snickers, pairs of rolling eyes and groans.
“That could take years, especially when we have no actual idea what they are, or how many there are,” Seere complained.
But it’s more time away from the pit. I challenged internally. She only gave me a brief glance before lowering her head.
Gabriel looked at me, and while we locked eyes, I realized that he was waiting for my idea of what our next steps should be.
Perhaps my earlier show of force had gained me some footing between us. A leader willing to collaborate rather than argue. To save time, or to avoid any more conflict?
I cleared my throat, and everyone looked to me.
“So, here’s what we do. Gabriel and Jophiel go to heaven and ask the almighty about the relics, find out as much about them as you can. If he knows what they all are, then we go from there.”
Gabriel nodded, Jophiel only curled her lips in a small snarl.
“We’re going to have to cover a lot of ground, so pair up if you can’t winnow far, and go alone if you can. We’ll need to check every Scribe compound, every division and even some of the other realms, like hell. We need to find what we can on these relics, and if possible, get them in our possession. Once we know which one is missing, we’ll start figuring out how to stop whatever work is being done with it. It’s a lot, but we have to work with it.”
I locked eyes with Seere and Daevas.
“Looks like our little alliance is going to last a while longer. To save time try to report back mentally, only come back here to dump off records or to take a turn watching the mortal. Got it?”
I looked at each one of them, and each one nodded in response.
“Speaking of mortal…care to share what you learned from the earlier memory-walking exercise?” I asked Daevas.
Daevas uncrossed his legs and stood straighter. “We went back as far as her early childhood, unfortunately we didn’t make it to her adult years.”
Shooting a suggestive look to Gabriel, who only glared back.
“She’s been seeing Enochian and other ancient languages and symbols since she herself was able to speak. It’s safe to say that wraith or whatever it was that you banished from her mind before wasn’t the cause of her visions.”
Jade lifted a piece of paper. “She was doing her own studying while we were reading these records and she recognized what these symbols meant. When she showed us her journal, it made us wonder how much and how long she’s seen these things. We asked Daevas to search her memories, we would’ve asked Kale, but he wasn’t here,” she explained to Gabriel.
He nodded, his only sign of understanding.
“So, she can read immortal languages, what does that tell us?” Lillith asked, she was fully laying across the couch, utterly bored.
Truly, it was a weird discovery, and if it wasn’t because of another creature festering inside her mind, then what else could cause it?
Unless…
“Is there a chance she might be a Nephilim?” I asked quietly.
All the pairs of eyes in the room shot to me—shock written on all the angels faces.
Seere giggled, “No way.”
Nephilim were the offspring of angels and humans. For the most part, they lived normal human lives, but depending on their angel parents, some of them could do remarkable things. It’s the only real possibility.
The problem was, after The Fall, inter-relations with humans was forbidden by heaven, and though it happened every once in a while, over time the population of Nephilim dwindled to nothing but a myth.
“It can’t be, we haven’t seen a Nephilim in hundreds of years. The Cherubim’s keep close monitor of them, usually they were destined to be prophets or major history shifters,” Gabriel stated.
“Why did your flying butts stop making them?” Lillith asked. “You can’t say it wasn’t a fun tumbling.”
Iaoel answered this time, ignoring her initial seductive tone. “They disrupt the Balance, immensely. Some of the biggest disasters in human history—a Nephilim was right in the middle of it. When mortals discovered their existence, they would sacrifice them or try to tap into their angel grace for power. Restrictio
ns had to be put in place to stop it.”
As an Angel of Sight, they would’ve seen a lot of this destruction.
“Her being a Nephilim would definitely explain why she understands the languages, not to mention it could’ve been why she saw Mason’s death. Her genealogy and grain of grace would have made the Guardian bond stronger, intensified it,” Jade said to Gabriel.
A bond she now has with him. Already it was intensified because he was an archangel, adding in a Nephilim grace…I shook my head, clearing away the strange sense of envy that followed that thought.
“It could also be why she was hunted by the vetala; it was attracted to her like a moth to a flame,” Gabriel stated, locking eyes with me. “The angel grace of a Nephilim is rare and sticks out.”
“It’s a wonder none of you noticed it before,” Lillith taunted.
The archangel purposefully ignored her.
“Who was her angel parent?” Duma asked.
Jade picked up her journal and flipped through it before saying, “Judging by her affinity for religion and symbology, I would venture to guess a Scribe or a Principality, they’re the ones who directly deal with religion and record keeping.”
Duma added, “Then again, it could’ve been a Nymph, they’re far more solitary and fewer in numbers. Most of them off the grid entirely. They could’ve easily hidden a forbidden offspring from our knowledge.”
Daevas and I both perked up at that.
“She did say her parents were introverted, both dedicated and ingrained in their work,” Gabriel agreed.
“Her mother gardens. Nymphs are connected to the earth, right?” I said, Daevas nodding alongside me.
Gabriel pointed in no particular direction, recalling something. “She’s a botanist, Heather mentioned it,” he said. “A Nymph hiding right under our noses, raising children. They never cease to amaze.”
“What does that mean?” Seere questioned.
“Nymphs are technically a part of Michael’s division. They’re supposed to care for plant and animal life on earth to maintain that part of the Balance. But they’re secretive and often don’t like working with others. A long while back nearly all of them went into hiding, refusing to report back, eventually we stopped considering them in our structure. We don’t even assign angels as Nymphs anymore. You can still find a few serving as eco-spirits, protecting the wildlife around them,” Gabriel explained.
“Wait, you uptight drones really let an entire sect of angels disappear from their job? I’m confused, I thought you were super uptight about that stuff.” Seere scrunched her nose.
Jade leveled a wary gaze at her. “We don’t exactly have the manpower to go searching for all of them. We’re all stretched thin as it is.”
“Whatever…”
“They also had a habit of getting in trouble, their powers are almost exclusively refined to magic and spells. They liked to share some of their magic with humans. Giving way for human witches to emerge,” Duma mused—he was grinning like he found it amorous that they did such things. “It was highly frowned-upon.”
Seere turned to me. “Why didn’t we learn about them?” she asked me. I shrugged.
“They never interact with demons, and they’re so deep in the wilderness that their existence didn’t matter to our missions. Don’t be upset though, I only know of them from a story or two.”
Jophiel let out a loud, exasperated sigh. “It doesn’t matter. We should get back to the important things.” Her tone was cold and annoyed.
As much as I’d love to contradict her. “She’s right. All that tells us is that whoever is using a relic to wreak havoc may be seeking Heather out for her rare grace. Which makes her vulnerable to attacks, so she can’t be left alone. But it also means she can help us rifle through the records, saving us time as the rest of us seek them out.”
I locked eyes with Seere. Not so helpless after-all.
“We better get started,” Jade conceded.
Gabriel straightened. “I’ll stay and take the first shift with Heather.”
I barked a laugh. “Ha! Right, yeah, that’s not happening.”
“I’m her Guardian,” he protested darkly.
I held up a hand to stop him. “Not anymore, you’re not. Not until I say so. Besides, you have a trip to heaven to make, feather-boy. I’ll stay with her for now. We’ll all start taking turns, and then maybe when it circles back to you, I’ll allow it. Got it, featherass?”
The other three angels tensed behind us. My demons, beside Lillith, did their best to hide their approval. The room felt stuffy very quickly, some of the concrete on the walls beginning to peel away in pebbles and steel arches and columns groaned under immense pressure.
“You’d be smart, hellborn, to watch what you say to us,” Jophiel barked.
I tilted my head, letting my signature smirk form across my mouth. Challenging.
“This is my home, and you are my guests. You’d be smart about the shit coming out of your mouth before I make you choke on it,” I threatened back, my tone completely calm but laced with death.
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “We can have her moved to one of our own safe places,” he countered.
I grinned wider.
“Go right ahead. And when you do, you can tell your almighty papa that it was your arrogance that cost him our alliance, and you’ll find hell’s doors closed to you and all help from demons halted. You may even find us helping your opponent.”
I let my eyes dance with fire to counter the growing gold ore that swirled in his.
I never tore my gaze from his, smirking wildly while he fought the urge to slash my throat. Oh, this game we played, it had my blood buzzing. If only the arch-asshole rode into it with the same ferocity.
“Okay…I think we can all agree that Kaleus is perfectly capable of protecting Heather for now. There’s no need for any more disputes to get in the way of our main goal. So everybody calm down, back up and let’s get going.” Iaoel broke us all out of our defensive positions.
I relaxed, stepping back first, my demons relaxing behind me. The angels behind Gabriel did the same, still looking towards him—who hesitated.
“Fine,” he said.
He backed up and turned to Jophiel.
“We should go.”
Jophiel nodded and left out the archway to winnow out.
Gabriel looked at each of us one at a time, landing on me last, lingering there with some remaining fury burning.
“Report back, don’t mess things up.”
And to me, “Be careful.”
More of a threat than a gesture of caring.
I waved at him sweetly as he ducked out. “Hope the rest of your day is as pleasant as you are.”
Seere laughed quietly behind me. I turned to her.
“You should go with—”
“I got her,” Iaoel stated, gesturing for her to follow them out to winnow.
Seere blushed slightly, earning a raised brow from me.
But Seere only shrugged. We bonded a little. she said mentally.
My brow raised higher, and a suggestive smile grew on my lips.
She rolled her eyes. Not like that, stupid…not yet anyway. and with a wink she departed from the room.
Lillith rose from the couch, “Let’s go find God’s sex toys.”
Duma began coughing, choking on air. Daevas only rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh.
Lillith and Jade went with Daevas and Duma. All of them off to various Scribe locations, and other places in the world where records might be on the Eternal relics.
Leaving me alone, Heather still asleep in the other room, I sent a tether of power to her room to monitor her while she slept, not wanting to watch her sleep.
Instead, I snapped my fingers, changing my clothes to shorts and a t-shirt and went downstairs to the fighting ring.
While wrapping my fingers in tape, staring down the five-inch steel wall I erected next to the other equipment, I cataloged and cleared my head.
Padded punching bags were like punching through paper for me, and even the concrete walls would be littered in holes if I went at them.
Getting out some of the lingering rage would pacify my inner flame. But it would also pass time while Heather slept. Perhaps when she woke I could teach her some defensive moves, might come in handy if we’re attacked again.
