Transgression

by Brandy C. Ange

Achaia sat next to Emile’s bed. He was sitting up against the pillows with a cup of hot Russian tea in his hand. “How’re you feeling?” Achaia asked, looking at the dark circles that lined his eyes, she could tell he hadn’t slept much the night before.

  “Pretty good, considering,” he said taking a slow sip from his cup.

  Soft morning light flooded the room through the windows. It was still cloudy and cold as ever outside, but the sun was fighting to make an appearance. It was just bright enough to almost make Achaia forget how dark the day before had been. Almost, but not quite. “I thought you were having a heart attack.”

  “Felt like one.” Emile readjusted himself on the pillows. The room smelled like tea and lemons. The fire burning at the foot of the bed, made the room warm and cozy, to help Emile relax.

  “I can’t imagine.” Achaia looked at the pale skin of Emile’s neck, she could see his pulse. “It all happened so fast. I thought you were gasping at the argument, but then those bombs went off—”

  “How many were there?” Emile asked, setting his teacup on the night stand.

  “Four.”

  “Four?” Emile gasped, looking heartbroken.

  “They were placed up and down the entire street,” Achaia stood, and perched on the side of Emile’s bed. Amelia had gone to take a shower, and a nap, leaving Achaia on “duty”.

  “Only this street?” Emile asked. “Not exactly a political move then. Was it?”

  “Depends on which political system you’re after,” Achaia hinted. Emile looked at her with piqued interest. “Bale thinks they were trying to hit the safe house. They just didn’t know exactly which building it was. Guess they thought an old Cathedral would be too obvious.”

  “Always the mental chess game. Do you go for the unexpected? Or the obvious? Since it’s assumed they’re smart enough to go for the unexpected… but then—”

  “Yeah. I guess,” Achaia said with a weak smile. “They got part of the building. There’s damage, just not that much.”

  Emile nodded. “They say you jumped out the window.”

  Achaia sighed. “Who told you that?”

  “Who do you think?” Emile smiled.

  “Olivier.”

  Emile nodded.

  “There were just so many cries,” Achaia thought back, involuntarily, still hearing the echo in her ears, “people needed help. Then I looked at you and thought, if that’s what they were all feeling—how could I do nothing?”

  “You might just be Nephilim after all.” Emile smiled at her.

  “Hey,” A voice said from the doorway, behind Achaia. She turned to see Noland walking gingerly into the room.

  “You shouldn’t be up yet!” Achaia said standing. “The healer told you to stay in bed.”

  Noland waved for her to sit back down, and sat on the other side of Emile’s bed, leaning against the other set of pillows. “Had to make sure Emile was holding up.” He winced a little as he adjusted his legs.

  “I’m well,” Emile said looking at Noland as if he needed the bedrest more. “Dude, you got blown up…”

  “Well if someone was going to, might as well be me.” Noland shrugged, and winced again.

  Achaia winced internally at the memory of Noland’s body lying motionless where the bomb had been. “Tea?” she asked.

  “I hate that stuff.” Noland shook his head, looking over at the samovar on the bureau. “Don’t tell Yellaina that, though.” He gave each of them a warning glance.

  Achaia smiled. “I thought I was the only one.”

  Noland’s eyes grew wide in sarcastic surprise as he shook his head, again. “I’m more of a black coffee sort of guy.”

  “Me too,” Achaia said. “I mean… black coffee, not that I’m a guy.”

  Noland and Emile both laughed silently. “Thanks for clarifying,” Noland nodded. “I was confused there for a bit, but it’s nice to know for sure you’re female. I mean, I didn’t want to assume your gender.”

  “Shut up!” Achaia slapped his leg.

  Noland winced.

  “Oh I’m sorry!”

  “Gotcha,” Noland laughed again.

  Achaia rolled her eyes. Emile was shaking his head at them. “Okay, so I wanted to check on Emile, but I also wanted to talk to you.” Noland said, looking to Achaia; his expression more serious.

  “Am I in trouble?” Achaia frowned. “Dumb question. Of course I am.”

  “Why did you do it?” Noland asked.

  “Which part?” Achaia shrugged. “The jumping out a window, the going into collapsing buildings, or laying on top of a bomb?”

  “All of the above,” Noland said, sitting up a little straighter.

  “Well from all the history Emile has been teaching me, I guess I could sum it all up by saying, I am my father’s daughter.”

  “I don’t want your father’s reasons. I want yours.” Noland’s mouth was a thin line. He had gone quite serious.

  Achaia took a deep breath and looked down at her hands, twiddling her fingers. “Over the last two months I have lost everything.” She looked up into Noland’s face. “I lost my dad. I lost the pride I had in my name. I lost my home. I lost my sense of security. I lost all sense of normalcy. I lost hope that the Nephilim are ever going to help me find my dad… I lost Naphtali.” Noland just listened. “I couldn’t stand by and hear the cries of those people, when I’m screaming like that inside, and do nothing. The only thing I haven’t lost, is my purpose. And I’m not going to let you take that from me. It’s all I have left.”

  Noland looked as if he’d been smacked in the face. “The only thing?”

  “Achaia…” Emile whispered at the same time.

  “Not the only thing,” A voice said in the doorway behind them.

  Achaia felt a rock of guilt drop in her stomach, looking at Noland and Emile’s faces, before she turned and saw Naphtali standing in the doorway. “Naph!” She squealed leaping off the foot of the bed, and plunging herself into his chest. He hugged her tightly.

  “You’re alright?” he asked, looking to her busted chin, bandaged leg, and all her scrapes and bruises.

  “I’ll live,” Achaia smiled.

  “What’s going on here?” Naphtali demanded from Noland. “The council won’t tell me anything. They wouldn’t even tell me where Achaia had been sent, as if I couldn’t find out other ways…” he rolled his eyes.

  “Shut the door,” Noland said.

  Achaia shut it and re-took her seat on the foot of the bed. Naphtali stood next to her.

  “I’m really glad you’re here. Something isn’t right,” Noland started. “The council isn’t exactly forthcoming with information. Even after taking my place as an Elder, I am not privy to their decisions. They basically exiled us. I thought, in sending us to Bale, they were attempting to force our trust and keep us blind… but I’m not so sure anymore. Bale seems to be exiled himself. Something is happening. I can feel it. For whatever reason, they want us out of the way. I really don’t think it’s for our safety.”

  Naphtali listened patiently, and nodded when Noland finished. “I would say you’re right. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that all of these attacks started happening after Shael’s abduction. And Achaia’s exile,” he agreed.

  “What are you thinking?” Noland sat up to his full height.

  “Shael was a powerful force, even as a human he had more knowledge than anyone on…certain matters.” Naphtali appeared to be choosing his words carefully. “He was, after all the angel who reaped the souls of Egypt, the one who conquered armies… when it comes to mass destruction, he can see it coming or implement it better than anyone.”

  Achaia was somewhat aware of her mouth hanging slightly open, but she remained silent.

  “With Shael out of the way, and his daughter ignorant and contained, as they hope, not necessarily the case I presume…” Naphtali looked between Noland and Achaia, Noland nodded the affirmative. “This opens the door wide for other players to step in and take up their a
ims.”

  “What do you mean?” Achaia asked.

  “Achaia, in a way this opened up the battle field for all-out war between angels and demons. Humanity is getting caught in the crossfire. This is a war for territory. You haven’t declared a side. You’re a liability to both sides, until you pledge allegiance to one or the other. Your father was the one who negotiated the Nephilim’s release from Hell, and sought out a covenant with God. He was the one keeping them in check, making sure humanity was protected. When he defected— The Nephilim don’t know how you fit into this picture. They don’t like your ties to humanity, but your father isn’t trusted either.”

  “On that note,” Achaia swallowed hard. “There’s something I have to tell you.” Achaia glanced guiltily at Noland and Emile, but turned her attention back to Naphtali. “On our way here I was contacted by Lucifer.”

  “WHAT?” Noland shouted.

  “I’m sorry,” Achaia said, feeling truly saddened that she had never told him. “The entire train was full of demons. I’m pretty sure that every passenger on the train was possessed. But they didn’t want to show themselves, so they didn’t make a move. They were there for insurance. A demon in the body of a businessman came to me while I was in the shower.”

  “Kaya.” Noland looked stunned and nauseous.

  “I was done showering, and dressed,” she clarified. “He wanted to deliver a message. Luc was sending me an invitation. I could get to my father.” Her throat contracted as she mentioned the opportunity to be reunited with her dad, and she had to swallow hard feeling the lump in her throat.

  “Did this demon have a name?” Naphtali asked.

  “It was something long and weird, I can’t remember. But he told me to call him John.”

  “Did he say he’d be in touch? Have you heard from him since?”

  “I haven’t. But I haven’t been alone since, except briefly during the explosions. He gave me this,” Achaia pulled the razor sharp tooth from her pocket, and held it out in her palm, “said if I cut myself with it, he would be able to speak to me.”

  “If the demons were responsible, it’s possible they were using the bombs to draw you out and get you alone. They just never had long enough to make contact. Olivier went right out after you,” Noland said.

  “Two birds with one stone,” Emile said in agreement.

  “What do you mean ‘if it was the demons’?” Achaia cocked her head in interest. “You think human terrorists would have picked this street randomly?”

  “I don’t think the humans were responsible either.” Noland said diplomatically.

  “You think the council orchestrated the attack?” Emile only looked a little shocked. Achaia, on the other hand, stared at Noland as if he’d grown a second head.

  “I’m just saying, we need to consider all the possibilities,” Noland shrugged.

  “I mean, don’t get me wrong, the council sucks. But you really think they would attack their own safe house?” Achaia asked.

  “If they are looking for an excuse to start a war and go on offense instead of just playing defense with their Charges? Yeah, I could see it happening,” Noland said bluntly.

  Emile nodded as he listened.

  “It’s possible,” Naphtali granted, “But back to the matter at hand, Achaia,” Naphtali said, gathering her attention back to himself. “I want you to do something very brave.”

  “Anything.”

  “I want you to go with John.”

  “What?” Noland asked outraged. “No. Out of the question. What if that thing is poisoned? Are you insane?”

  “No,” Naphtali said annoyed. “But, I was the partner of one of the greatest battle strategists, and one of the most messed-up angels you’ve ever heard of, for millennia. I picked up a thing or two. We are to use what we’ve got. What we’ve got is an angel who has no allegiance. She can go where we cannot. We are forbidden to enter Hell. Shael has been removed to its depths. I cannot enter its inner circles. Achaia can. If she goes on her own. Then you, as her Guardian, are able to go in after her to save her. As a younger generation, you will not be denied reinforcements.” Naphtali said this all very calmly as if it were obvious. “Achaia will go down first. We will follow with a rescue party. We will go in after Achaia, but we will save Shael in the process.”

  “You think that will work?” Achaia asked, closing her hand tightly around the fang.

  Emile was shaking his head. “This is madness. You’re talking about going into Hell. This isn’t like breaking into a prison, this is Hell we are talking about. Do you even know what the circles look like?” Emile asked.

  “I do not,” Naphtali confessed. “Only the fallen know.”

  “What if they don’t help?” Noland asked. “We can’t do this alone.”

  “There is only one who has ever gone through Hell to see Heaven again.”

  Emile and Noland’s faces lit with recognition. “You think He will come?” Noland asked in awe.

  “Achaia is half human.” Naphtali said. “He will come.”

  “But how will you find me, once I’m there? None of you know your way around.” Achaia pointed out.

  “You remember how you found Noland in the woods, when that hunter was possessed?” Emile asked.

  “Is that something Nephilim can always do?” Achaia asked.

  “Not all Nephilim,” Emile said delicately. He was looking at Noland to take over explanation.

  “Is it like a Guardian, and Charge connection?” Achaia asked confused.

  “No. Every other Charge has been only human,” Noland said, his voice tight and quiet. He was giving Emile a look that Achaia couldn’t read.

  “It is the connection fostered between mates, Achaia,” Naphtali said bluntly.

  “Mates?” Achaia said laughing, and looking to Noland, whose face had gone sickly white. “Mates?” She asked again, looking at him more seriously.

  Noland met her eyes and nodded.

  “You knew?” Achaia asked, turning and looking at Emile.

  Emile and Noland both nodded again.

  “You’ve known, for… for over a month?” Achaia felt her stomach tie itself into knots. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, sounding angrier than she intended, looking back to Noland.

  “Because you would have known when your time was right.”

  “If you thought I was pissed about the wings, you—”

  “You’re half human. You might have more say in it than I do,” Noland said looking away from her. “And you might not have—”

  “Chosen him,” Emile finished.

  Achaia glanced at a million thoughts as they each flew through her mind. Was Noland insecure? Did she have a choice? “When do I leave?” She said, finally, looking back at Naphtali.

  Noland and Emile looked taken aback by her sudden change of subject.

  Naphtali, who knew Achaia since she was born, was not shocked. “It is only right to discuss all of this with Bale. You are under his watch. As soon as we’ve talked with him, you’ll need to get in contact with John,” he said practically.

  Noland was pale, and his jaw was clinched. “I don’t like this at all.”

  “Well, I’m going to need you to get on board with this really quickly Noland. Without you, we have no chance of success.”

  “What if I say no?” Noland asked.

  Achaia looked at him, feeling betrayed. This was the first glance at hope she’d had when it came to finding and saving her father.

  “I don’t know much about Hell. I imagine it’s awful, and I hate asking you to do this, but please, Noland. Even if all I get is the chance to say goodbye. Help me see my father again. I can’t look at an opportunity to save him and do nothing.”

  “This was his choice Achaia. He chose this. No matter what we do now, this is how it will end.” Noland’s voice was growing louder, out of his control.

  “I’m going with or without you.” Achaia felt like fire was flowing through her veins. She felt the heat rising in he
r face. “I don’t need you to save me,” she said icily. “I don’t need anything from you.” She stood, and left the room leading Naphtali to Bale’s quarters.

  “I’ll work on him,” Naphtali promised her quietly as they walked. Achaia felt pathetic for fighting back tears. She cursed herself for being stupid enough to trust Noland. He was Nephilim after-all. Maybe they really were all the same. She limped on her leg that had been sliced in the back by the glass.

  “Have you seen the healer for that?” Naphtali asked.

  “Yes,” Achaia answered. “What if you can’t find me?” Achaia asked, stopping in the hall outside of Bale’s door.

  “If we don’t show up, and you get into danger, Noland will have no choice but to act. He won’t be able to feel your need and do nothing.”

  “That’s pretty manipulative,” Achaia said disdainfully.

  “He’ll chose to follow you before it comes to that, I assure you. He cares too much for you to wait for that.”

  “Could have fooled me,” Achaia said in a grumble.

  “Achaia, he does not fear Hell for himself,” Naphtali said as if it were obvious. “I’ve never known Noland to fear anything for himself. He fears what it will mean for you. You’ll come back different from this.”

  “I don’t need him to fear for me,” Achaia said bitterly, shaking away the image of Noland pushing her off the bomb.

  “Somebody has to,” Naphtali said, simply. “A little fear and a sense of self-preservation is not cowardly, Achaia. It is healthy.”

  “That is a terrible idea,” Bale said as Naphtali finished speaking. “And what do you plan to do if the demons attack you before the rest of them arrive?” Bale asked looking to Achaia.

  Achaia shrugged. “Use those fine defense tactics Noland has been teaching me and run away?” She answered sarcastically.

  “And what do you plan to do if Noland is less than compliant?” Bale asked looking to Naphtali.

  “Improvise?” Naphtali answered. “We don’t need a plan that’s laid in stone. We can plan all we want, as soon as we enter Hell that all goes out the window, anyway. None of us know what we’re facing, only that we need to face it.”

  Bale looked down. “If you had come to me yesterday, I would have promptly refused. But in light of all the terror that has unleashed upon Shael’s disappearance, I am inclined to believe it is no coincidence. This will continue getting worse before it gets better.” Bale stood in silence for a moment. “And you know what she is?” He asked looking to Naphtali for confirmation.