“This is Jai’s favorite breakfast place,” Noel said as he handed me a menu.
“Technically, any breakfast place is my favorite.” Jai chuckled when Noel rolled his eyes.
“Must you always be contrary?”
“No.” Jai waggled his pierced tongue, and Noel grunted in annoyance.
“Play nice, children. We’re in public.” Gideon peered down at me from the corner of his eye, and I smothered my laugh in my shoulder.
Studying the menu card, I was instantly overwhelmed by all the choices. How did anyone ever choose? I’d spent the last several years eating oatmeal for breakfast because it was what Ms. Janet made for me. My nerves increased as I read through the long list of options.
“You boys ready to order?” Doris asked as she stopped in front of our table once again, and I nodded when three pairs of eyes landed on my face with the same question in their eyes.
“I’ll take the Greek omelet with wheat toast and hash browns, please.” Gideon handed over his menu with a smile.
Noel held his card out as well as he ordered the stuffed french toast with whipped cream, and Jai chose the Mexican omelet. Instead of a pancake, he asked for a raspberry crepe. Doris’s eyes landed on me last, and I sank lower in my seat.
“Um, I’ll just have oatmeal.”
“Baked oatmeal with fresh fruit, or steel cut oats with brown sugar or honey?” she asked, pen poised over her notepad.
“I’m sorry, what?” I didn’t know what steel cut oats were, and I’d never had baked oatmeal. Wasn’t there just plain oatmeal back there? A packet of Quaker instant?
Once again, Gideon intervened. “Could we have a cup of the steel cut oats with honey and an extra plate so he can share our entrees?” His charming smile dazzled poor Doris, and she blinked several times before nodding.
“Of course.” She jotted it down on her notepad before giving Gideon a dazed smile. Poor Doris. If I was on the receiving end of Gideon’s handsome grin, I would be having a panic attack in the kitchen.
If Jai or Noel found Gideon ordering for me strange, neither mentioned it. They acted like it was the most sensible thing to happen since the invention of toilet paper. I felt bad they would need to share their entrees because of my indecision, but no one seemed upset by the arrangement.
I kept quiet and sipped my delicious hot chocolate. Gideon remembered I liked hot chocolate. I hid my giddy smile in my mug.
When our food arrived, each angel portioned off a section of their food and added it to my plate. I voiced a protest, but they ignored me like I knew they would. Instead of fighting them, I thanked them for sharing and dug in. It was the best breakfast I’d ever eaten, and the cup of steel cut oats sat forgotten in the center of the table.
Halfway through the meal, Jai and Noel started to bicker. The argument heated, and a stealthy food fight ensued between them when they thought Gideon wasn’t paying attention. I ducked down and ate my food, refusing to choose sides.
It didn’t take long before their battle sucked me in, and I cried out in dismay when a dollop of whipped cream meant for Noel plopped into my lap. “Guys!”
“Saints and sinners!” Gideon tossed a stack of napkins at Noel, who apologized profusely. “Can you two at least pretend that you’re competent Guardians? If I hadn’t been there at your creation, I wouldn’t believe you’re centuries old by how childlike you two act!”
Jai laughed into his own napkin as Noel dabbed at my jeans. I shoved his hands away, mortified that he’d so easily wiped the front of my pants clean, but Gideon’s words shocked me out of my embarrassment.
“How old are you?” I cleaned my jeans the best I could as Jai and Noel exchanged a weighty look.
“Um.” Noel sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, and Jai scratched the back of his head, his face scrunching.
“A few centuries, give or take a decade,” Jai finally said.
“Centuries?” Thank goodness I was sitting down. This revelation threatened to bowl me over.
“Yeah, something like that.” Noel dismissed the excessive age difference between us like it didn’t matter in the slightest. “Time doesn’t really matter as much when you’re immortal.”
“Hashtag angel problems.” Jai snorted into his coffee, and Noel laughed.
They were hundreds of years older than me, and they didn’t think it mattered? No wonder they treated me like a baby; to them, I was a baby!
Gaping like a fish out of water, I vacillated between freaking out and pretending they were playing a practical joke. Since we were in public, a mental meltdown would not bode well for any of us. I swallowed my shock and turned back to my plate, finishing my food with robotic, jerky movements.
“He’s taking it rather well,” Jai whispered in Noel’s ear, and the fair angel nodded.
“He didn’t pass out.”
“You two don’t give him enough credit.” Gideon emptied his coffee cup and flagged down a passing waitress for a refill.
When my plate was empty, I cleared my throat and took a sip of my water. “You guys are really old.”
They laughed, Noel’s wind chimes clashing with Jai’s raspy chuckles as Gideon rumbled his own mirth.
“Tell that to Gideon. He was there during the War.” Jai waggled his eyebrows, and my curiosity piqued.
“Which one?” I imagined Gideon dressed in rebel garb fighting against the British, but I didn’t think Jai meant the Revolutionary War.
“The Heavenly War,” Noel said, his humor dissipating. “When Earth was young.”
“Why was there a war?” I lowered my voice so we wouldn’t be overheard.
Gideon pursed his lips, stirring his coffee slowly. “Why are there ever wars? There were those who thought they knew better than the Maker, who wanted things to change. Because of their jealousy and pride, they tried to overthrow the Maker and those who sided with the light.”
Memories of Ms. Janet reading the Bible at the dinner table filtered through my mind. “You mean, like Satan?”
“Not really,” Jai said. “Satan is kind of an all-encompassing entity painted as the horned, red-tailed devil. It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
When Jai and Noel turned their focus to Gideon, I followed suit, and the large angel grimaced. “This isn’t the best place for such conversation.”
“No one’s listening,” Jai said.
“Yeah, Riley wants to know,” Noel added.
In truth, I really did want to know. History had always been my favorite subject, and it was fascinating to learn about theirs. But I read his reluctance and stayed silent.
After holding my enraptured, slightly begging gaze, Gideon sighed in defeat. “Fine.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Lucifer was one of the original seven betrayers,” Gideon began, his rumbling voice quiet so as not to be heard above the buzz of the busy diner. “But he was the leader, the instigator. He, along with two others—Leviathan and Beelzebub—brought in four more, Berith, Mammon, Asmodeus, and Belphegor. The Seven worked to deceive the other angels into turning against the Maker.
“They worked in secret, in hushed whispers behind closed doors, and for many years, they waited. They grew in numbers and bided their time. Had they not been betrayed by some of their own recruits, they may have won enough angels to their side for their coup to have been successful.”
Jai and Noel shuddered, both taking a drink of their coffees as if to warm themselves. I sipped at my water, hanging on to his every word as Gideon continued the story.
“As it was, a select few were invited to their side, but instead of falling for their seductive words and false promises, they worked as double agents to keep the loyal informed and strong.” Gideon paused, the skin around his eyes tightening painfully. “When the betrayers were revealed, the war began, and such a war the heavenly realm had never experienced. It pitted brother against brother, Committed against Committed; it tore families apart. Many lives were lost. It was costly, indeed.”
&
nbsp; A heavy hush fell over the table, and for once, neither Jai nor Noel cracked a joke to lighten the atmosphere. Gideon’s sorrow reached through the space between us, and my eyes stung.
“We won, but the price we paid for victory was steep. Many of us lost everything. The Seven, along with the angels who had turned on their brethren, were punished, stripped of their status and banished from Utopia. Cursed by ancient power, their wings were ripped from their bodies, and they fell, never to see the beauty of the Maker’s face or the heavenly realm again.
“Fallen reside in the underworld now. Or the mortal realm, if they so choose. And the Seven spend their time torturing the damned and ravaging the earth with their hatred.”
I licked my lips, clearing my throat twice so my voice wouldn’t break. “They were cast out of Heaven? All of them?”
“Few were spared. The Council held trials, and those found guilty were cast out.”
“Cast into Hell? That’s a real place?”
“Yes. There’s the heavenly realm and the cursed realm, and in between, rests the mortal realm.” Gideon stacked his hands, one above the other, before moving one hand to add a middle layer. “Earth is neutral ground, the place where Angel, Fallen, and demons are allowed to roam freely. The underworld goes by many names: Hell, Hades, Sheol. Opposite of Heaven, it is the physical representation of death and decay. It’s where doomed souls are sent to live out their eternity after their human death, while blessed souls are sent to Elysium to be with the Maker.”
“The Maker? Like God?”
Noel took another sip of coffee. “They go by many names, too.”
Ms. Janet was extremely religious, and I’d learned numerous Bible stories. “So, like Jehovah? From the Bible?”
Gideon pondered a moment, gathering his thoughts as both Jai and Noel picked off bites from my plate. “The world has many sacred texts, all of which were written by man. These texts may have been inspired by Holiness, but mankind has always had a knack for misinterpretation. Jehovah? Adonai? God? They are ‘I Am.’ They are The Maker.”
“But which one’s right?”
“Is there only one absolute truth?” he answered my question with one of his.
“Shouldn’t there be?” I chewed on my cheek as I studied my hands in my lap.
Gideon didn’t answer right away, and when the silence stretched, I lifted my gaze to his. As if this was what he was waiting for, he smiled gently, the slightest tilt of his mouth.
“That seems rather narrow-minded." It wasn’t an insult or a reprimand, but I flinched all the same. “What one person views as absolute truth, another might see as advice or suggestion.”
“But there is right and wrong!” My hands fisted in the material of my shirt, my heart tripping in my chest. “There is truth and lies. Good and evil. Saying that neither exists—”
“You’re correct.” Gideon rested a hand on my shoulder to calm me. “There is black and white, but what mankind fails to understand is that there are many shades of gray in between. You think in absolutes, blanket statements, and anything that doesn’t fit into your pre-made boxes are tossed aside.
“The Maker is about life, creation, and love. There are things that go against those principles, like destruction, hate, and murder. But because man has free will, they are available.”
I had always been taught to believe in absolutes, to believe what I was told and obey without question. Yet here was an angel claiming we had choice, free will. But with that free will came the responsibility to choose wisely or else face the consequences. It was both exhilarating and terrifying.
“It’s why your choices carry consequences,” Gideon said. “And why, in the end, there is judgement.”
“J-judgement? Like Hell or Sheol or whatever?”
“Yes, damnation.” His face darkened. “It is punishment.”
“Punishment?” Flashes of Ms. Janet’s punishments flickered through my mind, and my skin broke out in goose bumps.
“Without punishment for wrong, there can be no justice; without justice, there can be no trust. Without trust, there is no love, and without love, how can there be life?” My brain hurt, threatening to explode from the plethora of new thoughts and philosophies. But Gideon wasn’t finished. “Punishment and reward, life and death, good and evil. Balance. It’s why angels exist—to keep balance.”
“So, good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that, sweetie.” Noel stroked my hair soothingly. “Man’s choices, good and bad, are weighed on the scales of eternity, and the Maker passes judgement. The Maker is not cruel, but They are just. With the evils we commit against each other, there must be justice served one way or another, don’t you think?”
I thought of the numerous genocides inflicted on those for something as simple as name or skin color, the horrific things done to children who couldn’t protect themselves. I nodded. “Yes, there should be justice.”
A long stretch of silence fell over the table until Jai could hold back no longer. “Well, that’s one way to ruin breakfast.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ask about something so painful.” I lifted my hand, intending to place it on Gideon’s arm in an attempt at comfort, but I hesitated.
He shifted away, adding distance as he gathered our empty plates and stacked them. “It’s our history. And it’s important we not forget it, or else we doom ourselves to repeat our mistakes.”
Like she’d been waiting for some cue, Doris returned to the table to collect our dishes. I noticed her makeup had been touched up and her hair smoothed into a fresh bun. She beamed at Gideon, oblivious to the tense atmosphere.
“How was everything?”
“The food was excellent.” Gideon offered her a stack of twenties from his wallet along with a polite smile. “Keep the change, and have a blessed day, Doris.”
“Th-thank you.” She gaped at the bills in her hand. “Have a good day.”
With a nod, Gideon rose from the booth and strode purposefully for the exit, like there was nothing more important than leaving the diner as fast as possible. I had a feeling it was the conversation—not the diner—that had spooked him.
After using the diner’s one-toilet restroom, I left Noel and Jai to fight over who peed next and crossed the parking lot. Gideon stood by the sedan, hands on his hips, gaze locked on some far-off place. Speaking of the Heavenly War had pained him—he must have lost a great deal—and I wanted to ease him somehow. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the first thing about comforting someone, especially someone as standoffish as Gideon.
Gathering my pitiful courage, I sidled up next to him and cautiously wrapped my fingers around his wrist. He startled at the touch, his eyes blinking back to the present. I licked my lips in preparation to apologize or offer some words of comfort. But before I could utter a single syllable, he pulled away from my touch.
With a tug on his ear, he cleared his throat and sidestepped, adding space between us. The rejection burned. I backed away, curling in on myself as my face splotched with embarrassed heat. Of course, I just made it worse. It was what I was best at.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back.” Gideon looked over my head as Jai and Noel came to a stop behind me. “Call if you need me.”
“Sure thing,” Jai said.
Without a word or a glance my way, Gideon’s body lit up like a neon sign. And then he blinked out of existence, like he’d never been there to begin with.
“Holy cats!” I stumbled back into someone—Noel, guessing from the non-calloused hands on my arms. “What the heck was that?”
Chuckling, Noel squeezed my arms and directed me to the passenger side of the car. “Teleportation. It’s how we get between realms.”
“You all do that?”
“Mhm. We can pop back and forth whenever we want.” Noel opened the door for me, and I collapsed inside.
“So you can go to Paris in the afternoon and then have dinner in Australia?” I cra
ned my neck to search our surroundings, half-expecting Gideon to reappear and explain it away as a practical joke.
Jai settled behind the wheel, adjusting the seat to accommodate his shorter—compared to Gideon’s—stature. “No, jumping within this realm is different. It takes a lot more energy to transport ourselves here or in, say, the underworld. But Utopia is our home, and the energy there charges us.”
“Jumping back and forth to Utopia doesn’t cost us energy, but doing that here is just wasteful. I mean—” Noel leaned between the front seats, pointing at my seatbelt. “Buckle up—emergencies don’t count, of course. We jump if we have to, but if it isn’t necessary, we use normal transportation.”
“Example: Gideon’s rusted P.O.S.” Jai waved his hand around the interior of the used car.
“But if you can just teleport to Utopia, then what does it matter if you waste energy?”
“Yeah, but you can’t teleport to Utopia. If we’re too drained, then we can’t protect you.” Jai navigated the light Sunday morning traffic as Noel spun the radio dial. “And seeing as protecting you is kind of the whole point of our existence, not being able to do that would put us all in quite the pickle.”
“Can you take me to Heaven with you?” I asked.
After finding the station he was looking for, Noel rested his arms on his knees, head still tucked between the front seats. “We can jump with passengers at the expense of double the energy, but mortal souls need special permission to enter the heavenly realm. Unless you’re dead and headed to Elysium, of course.”
“We could take you, but they’d kick you out straightaway. And then we’d get our asses handed to us by the Archangel council. Then they’d probably take you away and give you to another Guardian team.” Jai scowled as he finished the thought, and I mirrored the grimace.
“Well, we won’t tempt fate, then,” I said. “I don’t want them to take me away.”
Noel beamed, lunging forward to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Good. We don’t want to lose you, either.”
Revelations: Fire & Brimstone Scroll 1 Page 18
