by Riley London
“That’s quite generous for some of you.” Mr. Toorin chuckled.
“I promise to be available for any and all of your school-related questions and needs. Just let me know what I can do for you, and I’ll try my best to get it done.”
“God. This is so trippy. He sounds so much like Benjamin.” I shook my head. “I know he’s his dad and everything, but still.”
“You should see them side by side during a dinner conversation.” Zachary smirked. “They’re literally the same person, just like thirty years apart in age.”
“I should go visit my dad during his office hours today,” Benjamin mused. “I really cannot for the life of me imagine that something this monumental would’ve ever slipped his min—”
Benjamin’s words came to a sudden halt as the tip of a black blade appeared to be protruding from Mr. Nash’s chest.
No.
No. No. No.
This couldn’t be happening right now. I had to still be asleep, having some kind of bad dream.
I saw Benjamin already leaping into action, running towards his father in the quad. His face, an image that I’ll never forget, was a mask of horror. But before he was able to reach him, the blade shifted downwards towards his father’s abdomen before it went all the way up again, not stopping until it reached Mr. Nash’s chin.
The man quietly let out a soft groan, before he fell down dead, his blood soon spilling out on the grass.
Once his body fell towards the ground, I was able to see Charlie. His black blade was in hand, his eyes glowing red.
I spotted Ashmedai who appeared at Charlie’s side.
“Angels, please. May I have your attention?” Ashmedai spoke to the crowd as he waved his hand back and forth. “Do not let your panic rule you. I have come to you with a message.”
“And what’s the message?” Mr. Toorin’s question came out low. “Besides the fact that you are a monster in the flesh?”
“Me? A monster?” Ashmedai chuckled, taking a few steps towards Mr. Nash’s corpse.
“No. I was not the one who suggested we burn suspected witches at the stake. That was the Nash family, not too long ago if I recall.”
Ashmedai gently poked at Mr. Nash’s torso with his scepter. “Now I understand that this man may not have been involved in such a cause, but as they say, the sins of the father and all that.”
“Mr. Nash was a good man. And you killed him!” Mr. Toorin’s voice rose in anger, carrying a dark threat. “You will pay for what you did here today!”
“Close, but still so very wrong.” Ashmedai shook his head. “It is not I who is meant to pay a price. Not after all the years I endured in your beloved Michael’s chains. It is you. It is all of you angels, who will now learn what it means to feel pain. To feel punishment.”
Ashmedai chuckled again. “This…this is what will become of all you angels, one by one. And there is nothing you can do to stop us.”
“There’s one thing,” I murmured, before I sprinted towards Ashmedai’s frame.
But once again, he and Charlie were already gone by the time my footsteps reached where he once stood.
I turned back towards Benjamin, who cradled his father’s head in his hands. He looked like he was in shock, his eyes wide with horror and a deep sadness. My heart broke at the waves of pain radiating from him.
“Benjamin…” I started to speak, even though I knew that there was nothing I could say in the moment to make things any better. I’d have given anything to make this right for Benjamin though.
“Can you fix it?” Benjamin whispered.
“Fix it?”
“Can you bring him back?” Benjamin turned his face up towards me, tears now streaming down his skin. “Can you bring my father back to life?”
My chest tightened as his words tore at my heart.
“Benjamin, when I bring people back to life…they…they lose their soul,” I explained. “If I brought your dad back to life, he wouldn’t be able to get into Heaven or Hell. He’d be stuck in-between, just like Charlie. Do you think that’s something that your father would be okay with?”
“Being separated from God for the rest of time?” Benjamin asked, making a choking sound in his throat. Several long seconds passed as he seemed to consider my words. As he give a small, tight nod, his voice broke with pain.
“He wouldn’t be okay with that after all.” His eyes slowly closed as he continued to gently hold his father.
“Benjamin, we need to pray over your father.” Mr. Toorin stood beside us both. His voice was gentle but firm. “We need to at least try—”
For just a moment, the mask of Benjamin’s controlled slipped and the naked grief on his face made my throat constrict. But he composed himself, breathing deeply and then responded. His voice had a cold sound to it, like the need to take action was warring with shock.
“With all due respect, my father is dead, Mr. Toorin,” Benjamin said gravely. “We need to get him to my family’s burial grounds, before the sun is supposed to set.”
“…Yes. Of course.” Mr. Toorin nodded. “I’ll send word right away.”
As Mr. Toorin walked away from us, the rest of the angels poured back inside the academy, their fear almost tangible in the air. I stayed next to Benjamin. I didn’t say another word. I watched him quietly hold his father, tears falling from his eyes and onto the ground below, seemingly mixing with his father’s own blood. For just a second, I reached out a hand to touch his arm, my fingers offering only the lightest tender pressure. His eyes raise up to mine, and the raw grief there was like a stab to the chest anew.
I’d never been to this place before.
It was the largest mausoleum that I’d ever seen with the ceilings so high it appeared as if they were in the heavens themselves, and statue after marble statue of people I didn’t recognize, with their names and histories described on their plaques below.
The floor of the mausoleum was made of marble as well and I was able to hear the footsteps of the many visitors before I had a chance to see their faces. I assumed that everyone at the ceremony was either an angel or angel-associated, at least having something to do with the afterlife.
There was one woman, dressed in all black, including a dark veil on her face, who seemed to be staying near one of the far walls. She wasn’t interacting with any of the other guests, even though some of them stopped in front of her to offer their condolences or even pull her in for an embrace.
“That’s his wife,” Zachary whispered to me, taking a sip out of an engraved chalice.
“You mean that’s Benjie’s mom?” I asked.
“Yeah. That too.” Zachary sighed. “You’ve never been to one of these before, have you?”
“Not for an angel, no,” I answered.
“Well, it’s not much different than a funeral for a human, I guess,” Zachary replied. “Except there are some angelic traditions that I’m not sure cross-over into the human world. For example, the widow has the right to refuse any and all communication. She doesn’t have to speak with any of us.”
“Throughout the whole ceremony?”
“Possibly never again, if she didn’t want to.” Zachary continued. “Angels understand the place that grief has in our lives, and we respect it. We know that not everyone we love will get to join us in Heaven, and for all Mrs. Nash knows, this was the last time that she will ever see her husband face-to-face.”
“God, I hope that’s not true.” I took in a heavy breath. “I hope that Mr. and Mrs. Nash will get to be together again, in the afterlife.”
“I hope so, too.” Zachary nodded, before peering behind his shoulder. “Have you spoken with Benjie yet? Since what happened at the quad?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t even know where I’d start with that conversation. I just don’t think that there’s anything that I can say that’s worth anything, you know?”
“You just have to say that you’re sorry something like this had to happen to him,” Zachary answered. “
Because Benjie didn’t deserve this. Not to say that anyone ever deserves to lose their parent, but Benjie…”
Zachary’s eyes seemed to water for a moment, before he lightly sniffed and regained his composure. “I know what it’s like to lose a parent. It’s the worst feeling in the fucking world.”
“Is that why you’re drinking wine at a funeral?” I asked. “Just trying to dull the pain a little bit?”
“Everyone drinks wine at these things.” Zachary smiled, but I could tell that he didn’t mean it. “Maybe that’s a small difference from human funerals, too.”
Chapter 14
Zachary and I sat side by side in one of the mausoleum’s main chambers as the rest of the funeral guests filed in around us. We were seated near the back of the ceremony, and I struggled to see past the heads of some of the taller guests. Although I knew that today wouldn’t be the time to complain about something as trivial as that, so instead, I turned my attention towards the other side of the room.
More angels.
But no weapons.
Or at least, no weapons that I was able to see. I wondered if the older angels, the ones that seemed to mainly be in attendance, were all able to conceal their swords as easily as I concealed my own. As I looked through the faces of the guests, my heart stopped right in my chest when I realized that Gabrielle was in attendance also.
She stared right at me, with the ever-changing faces of the Council seemingly judging me, one by one. As if I was the reason Mr. Nash was dead. As if I was the reason for everything wrong in the world.
Too bad she couldn’t prove it.
The ceremony itself was over faster than I ever could’ve imagined. Mrs. Nash didn’t speak a word about her husband’s passing, although I did catch her weeping onto Benjamin’s shoulder, from time to time.
In fact, no one actually spoke, at all. The ceremony seemed to be more about gathering up Mr. Nash’s friends and family and giving them a chance to say a silent goodbye.
When Benjamin and a few other angels reached for his father’s casket, and began to pull it down the aisle, the other angels, row by row, started to follow behind it. Towards the end, Zachary and I joined in with the procession, somberly following the others down one of the mausoleum’s longer hallways.
When we finally reached our destination, Mr. Nash’s casket was simply slid into one of the open burial slots against the wall. I caught Benjamin, his eyes red with tears, briefly kissing the end of the casket, before he took a few steps away from it. His mother repeated the same motion, kissing the end of the casket, and then stepping away.
She also wordlessly made the sign of the cross against her chest, before she whispered what sounded a lot like a prayer.
A few more moments passed in absolute quiet before the angels started to leave the room. Zachary and I stayed behind, waiting on Benjamin to leave with his mother in tow, but the two didn’t appear to be leaving Mr. Nash’s casket anytime soon.
I need to speak with you.
Gabrielle was in my head again.
“No,” I whispered the phrase under my breath, not interested in dealing with the Council’s bullshit right now. I wanted to wait until Benjamin had left his father’s side, so I could have a chance to tell him how much I was sorry, how much I blamed myself for everything that happened today.
I just really needed him to know that I was so, so sorry.
It’s an urgent matter.
“…Fine,” I acquiesced, turning to leave the room. I noticed that Zachary was walking out of the room with me too.
“The Council talking to you too, huh?” Zachary put on a fake smirk.
“I guess she wants to talk to everybody that was there?” I suggested. “We are pretty reliable eyewitnesses, unfortunately.”
“Unfortunately.” Zachary took another swig from his chalice. “Fuck. Let’s just get this shit over with then.”
Thank you for meeting with me. I understand that the situation is not desirable for any of us today, but unfortunately, Council business never gets a day to rest.
“We understand,” Zachary answered for the both of us. “What did you need to talk to us about?”
We were standing outside the mausoleum, and there was a chill in the night air. I briskly rubbed my hands over my arms, desperately trying to warm my skin.
Zachary, I was informed by Mrs. Deveraux that you were once given a very important task.
“I think we’re all given very important tasks, Councilwoman Gabrielle,” Zachary replied. “Isn’t that why we get to be angels?”
Yes, but this one was special. This one gave you the power to determine if Celeste was a threat to our kind or not.
All the color went out of Zachary’s face as he looked back at Gabrielle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Yes, you do.
“No, I don’t.” Zachary’s tone was firm.
There is no need to lie to us, when we already know all.
Gabrielle then took a step closer to us both, leaning towards Zachary’s gaze.
Celeste Venoix has been charged.
“Charged?” My mouth almost fell open in surprise. “What the hell could you have charged me with? Conspiracy?”
No. Conspiracy is a mild sentence.
Gabrielle responded to my question, without even looking over at me.
You, Celeste Venoix, have been charged with sedition.
“Sedition?” I asked.
Yes. Just like Lucifer. Just like your father.
It was my turn for my face to turn pale. I didn’t realize that the Council had discovered my parentage.
What else did they already know about me?
“But I’m nothing like my father,” I explained. “I have no hatred of the angels. I would never want to turn anyone against them—”
And yet, Charlie Collins has become a murderer of our kind. Your friend. Your conspirator.
“He’s my friend, but he’s not my conspirator. We’re not working together—”
Zachary Lancaster, it is now your time to prove your loyalty to the Council.
“And how did you want me to prove that?” Zachary’s question came out calm.
You now have permission to eliminate Celeste Venoix, using whichever method you prefer. However, if you fail to deliver on this by tomorrow morning, you will be brought in on conspiracy charges of your own.
“Yeah. I’m not going to do that,” Zachary replied.
Excuse me?
“I’m not going to kill Celeste.” Zachary shrugged. “So you might as well arrest me or whatever.”
Are you certain this is the choice that you want to make? Once a charge is on your record, it’s nearly impossible to remove it.
“I don’t care. I’m not going to kill Celeste,” Zachary repeated. “Do whatever the fuck you have to do.”
Very well, then.
Gabrielle didn’t move a muscle as a pair of silver chains soon appeared around Zachary’s wrists, sending his wine chalice tumbling towards the ground below.
“Zach!” I screamed, but soon enough, there was a pair of silver chains around my own wrists too.
They burned like nothing had ever burned me before.
I shouted in pain, my instincts immediately kicking in. “Sana eam!”
“Save your prayers, Celeste,” Zachary instructed. “They’re not going to work so long as we’re prisoners of the Council.”
“Please…it burns…please…” I pleaded with Gabrielle.
Your punishment fits the crime.
“But I didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t do anything—Benjie!” I called out as I saw him stepping outside of the mausoleum with his mother at his side. “Benjie, please help me!”
Benjie appeared to whisper something to his mother, before he walked up to Zachary and I. “What’s going on, Councilwoman Gabrielle?”
Zachary Lancaster has been charged with conspiracy, and Celeste Venoix has been charged with sedition. Was there anything you would like to add
to these charges, Councilman Nash?
Benjamin paused for a moment, looking between both Zachary and I. He took in a breath, before he responded. “No. I trust the Council’s judgment. If they are to be charged, then they are to be charged.”
“Benjie! No!” I screamed again. “How could you ever say something like that?”
“Because I was wrong about you, Celeste.” He continued. “Everything is your fault. Everything. You have no idea how badly I wish that I could go back in time and leave you in the street where I met you. You…have brought nothing but destruction into my world. And I am sorry that I ever invited you into it.”
“Benjie. You don’t mean that.” I sobbed.
“Take them away. They’re being disruptive to the other guests.” Benjamin gave Gabrielle a nod, before he walked back towards his mother.
Another sob broke free from my chest as the chains on my wrists seemed to burn even brighter.
Chapter 15
“He said he loved me.” It was all I could say as I stared at a cobblestone wall. “He said he loved me.”
“He does love you,” Zachary replied. “But right now, he’s in a lot of pain. He just watched his dad get killed, Celeste. Give the guy a break.”
Zachary and I were seated in a cramped cell with barely enough room for the two of us. There were no windows and the room was poorly insulated, making it feel like I was sitting outside in the middle of winter.
“But what he said was so…cruel.” I turned towards Zachary. “I don’t know. He’s never been that way with me before.”
“Again, he’s never had to watch his dad get killed before, either, and especially not by someone he thought was his friend.” Zachary continued. “You have to give him a little time to figure it out.”
“But he threw you under the bus too, right along with me. How are you so calm about this?”
“He didn’t throw me under the bus. He just understands that conspiracy is not as big a charge as sedition.” Zachary shrugged. “The Council will accuse someone of conspiracy just because one of their pens went missing or something. The charge doesn’t always stick. It’s mostly just a way for them to rattle you up a bit, see if anything shakes out. If you break, you’re guilty. If you don’t, you’re back at your workstation in a few weeks.”
