The Morning Star

by Debra Dunbar

  That left the archangels.

  “Sweetie?” At the word, Gabriel blinked, jolted out of his shock by the only voice he ever seemed to listen to. He looked up at Nyalla, then with a mixed expression of terror and fatalistic doom, he raised his hand.

  Uriel’s eyebrows lifted and she choked back a laugh before turning to her other two brothers.

  Ahia jabbed Raphael hard in the side with an elbow and he slowly raised his hand. “I’m not thrilled about the tie breaker idea, but I do think it’s beneficial having a human here at Council meetings.”

  That left one. I stared at Gregory. He stared back.

  “No. As much as I love Nyalla, I think this sets a bad precedent. There are other ways to integrate human opinions and viewpoints into our decisions without having one actually attending Council meetings.”

  Figures that I was the only one here with a non-pussy-whipped partner.

  “Where were you?” Ahia asked Uriel. “Rafi said you were off on some pilgrimage.”

  “Let me just say there is a point where grief and regret become self-indulgent wallowing, and that’s where I was. There were some things I needed to work through, and I’ve done so.”

  Uriel had been an occasional ally, and I’d gotten glimpses of a strong, independent-minded angel, who spoke frankly during Ruling Council meetings and wasn’t afraid to vote against her eldest brother. I’d never seen any hint of self-indulgent wallowing, but who knew what burdens she might have carried deep inside? I was just glad she was back and apparently ready to kick ass and take names.

  “So I’m in? I’m in, right? Majority rules?” Nyalla dragged a chair over and wedged it next to Gabriel’s, resting her hand on his arm and giving him an adoring glance as she sat down. Uriel watched the pair, her lips clamped tight on a smile. Then she turned her attention back to Ahia.

  “So you and Rafi?” Her eyes warmed as she looked at the two angels. “I’m glad he found you.”

  “Me too.” Ahia bestowed a loving smile on Raphael who was staring at her, equally besotted.

  “Shall we move on to the agenda?” Gabriel thundered. “Or are we going to sit here all day and discuss Raphael and Ahia’s relationship?”

  “I’m glad to see you too, brother,” Uriel drawled. “But you’re right. We’ll all catch up later. There are important matters to discuss! For example, why am I not able to get into Aaru? When I returned from my penance, that was where I first went, only to be thrown quite violently down to this world when I attempted to cross the gates.”

  Everyone turned to look at me.

  I squirmed. “Uh, I accidently banished everyone.”

  She blinked. “Everyone?”

  “Everyone. But there was some weird shit that happened with a loophole in the previous banishment and now the former Angels of Chaos can get in to Aaru. Not me. Probably not Ahia either, although I don’t know.”

  “She’s not going in there,” Raphael declared hotly. “Not alone when the place is crawling with the Fallen.”

  “Don’t think I want to go there anyway.” Ahia wrinkled her nose. “Doesn’t sound appealing, to be honest.”

  “You banished everyone?” Uriel looked stunned. “And now the Fallen have taken our homeland? Although, to be honest, it is still their homeland as well.”

  “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I’ve been trying, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do to reverse it. If it makes you feel any better, the Ancients are so devolved that they can’t exist as beings of spirit up there. They’re constantly having to redo their corporeal forms so they don’t die.”

  “No, that doesn’t make me feel any better.” Uriel sat back in her chair with a thump, staring blankly at the wall. I didn’t blame her. The others had a few months to come to terms with this, where she’d just found out.

  “I guess this is what the humans would call poetic justice.” Her voice was soft and full of sorrow. “Although there was no justice in what we did to the Angels of Chaos. I’m sorry they can’t experience Aaru the way they used to. I’m sorry they can never go home again. And as for us…well, I guess it serves us right, doesn’t it?”

  “No, it most certainly does not.” Gabriel glared at her. “They were rebels. There was a war. This recent banishment includes many innocents, who can most likely never see their homeland again.”

  Uriel’s eyes met his with a steely gaze. “There were innocents then as well.”

  Gregory sighed. “This is not the time to rehash the past and cast blame. We have more pressing matters to discuss right now. Serious matters. As I’m sure you all have noticed, angels have been dying since our expulsion from Aaru. In the last month alone we have lost nearly four thousand.”

  “Three thousand, six hundred forty-two,” Gabriel corrected.

  Gregory nodded. “And plotted on a chart by date, the deaths are clearly increasing. I’d expect, if these were natural occurrences, the number would decrease as angels become used to being in corporeal form and acclimated to the human world.”

  “Maybe they realized we’re not going back to Aaru anytime soon,” Rafi shot me an apologetic glance, “if ever? Maybe they…you know?”

  “Or maybe they were assholes and the humans killed them,” Ahia chimed in. “They’re still getting used to being in a physical form. Maybe they walked down the wrong street one night, or tried to pull a vigilante move and got a knife in the chest?”

  “The trend warrants study,” Gabriel commented.

  “It warrants more than study,” Gregory snapped. “Aside from Ahia and a few newly created, there haven’t been new angels in two-and-a-half-million years. Nearly a third of our population died in the wars. We’ve lost a few here and there since then, but nothing like this. Almost four thousand in a month. That cannot continue or we will be watching our own extinction.”

  Gabriel threw up his hands. “Then how do you want us to proceed, brother? If we don’t know the cause of these deaths, we can hardly take steps to prevent further ones.”

  Uriel silenced him with a hard look. “We need to find that out, but we don’t have time for studies and focus groups and our usual glacial pace of investigation. We need to know now. It won’t do us any good to be mired in paperwork and presentations. If we cannot stop this within the next six months, we could lose another twenty-four to fifty thousand angels. In a few years, there might be none of us left.”

  “Or sooner,” Gregory paused until he had everyone’s attention. “Seven Grigori enforcers were murdered yesterday.”

  The room was so silent all I could hear was the air coming from the vents near the ceiling.

  “Seven?” Asta bit her lip. “Who? How did this happen? Enforcers are the strongest of the Grigori, the most skilled at taking down demons. Who could kill seven of them?”

  Gregory shot me a quick look. “That’s what we need to find out. Someone used mid-level demons to lure enforcers away from the gates into some sort of trap to kill them. One at each gate. Each time, the demon used as the lure was different, but they had the same actions—come through the gateway, kill nearby humans and attack the gate guardian. The gates are on lockdown. Only confirmed household members of the Iblis are allowed through. All others are turned back, or…”

  Yeah. Killed. Everyone understood that. Completely unnecessary for him to even say the word. I sat in my chair and fumed, unhappy that this whole thing was derailing the progress to unite us.

  “I found the demon who acted as a lure in Seattle, and had been in the middle of interrogating him when he suddenly died,” I announced. Suddenly. Yeah, that. “Apparently there was an Ancient behind that enforcer’s murder, and I’m assuming the others as well. I’m working to find who that is and bring him or her to justice.”

  Raphael nodded. “A vengeful Ancient emboldened now that they have Aaru. I’m not surprised. And I have faith in the Iblis’s ability to handle this problem.”

  I smiled at the angel, grateful for his support.

  “As for the other angel deaths
…” Gabriel scowled at me.

  “I’m investigating it Hel-side, but honestly we’re not even positive that it’s a demon doing this.” Yeah, there was an alleged bounty on angel wings, but I’d yet to confirm that and I hated the thought of all this shit being laid at our door, so I repeated my tired old theories about accidents, or that the killer might possibly being one of the renegade angels, or even a human with a grudge, but I think I was beginning to sound like a tin-foil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorist unwilling to accept the truth that was right in front of his face.

  The killers were demons. And whoever was organizing this it was the same Ancient who was killing Grigori enforcers. It might be Remiel. It might even be Samael. Fuck, I hoped it wasn’t Samael, although the idea of Remiel being behind it all wasn’t much better.

  Everyone had those uncomfortably sad expressions on their faces as I finished my eloquent arguments.

  “So what if the killer tries to trap and attack Grigori again?” Rafi asked Gregory. “They’re using the gateways and demons as lures. Maybe we should set up a trap of our own?”

  “I have two enforcers at each gate with the guardian. I’ve questioned each gate guardian, but beyond a description of the demons used as lures, I have no other leads.” He turned to me.

  I sighed. “So it’s my job to track down these demons and trace them back to whoever hired them.” I purposefully didn’t elaborate further about what I’d discovered so far. No sense in getting everyone agitated until I was sure who was behind this.

  “Yes, Cockroach, I’ll need you to do that. And it’s a priority.” Gregory pointed at me for emphasis, and I winced.

  Everything was a priority lately, but I understood. “I’ve already got my household checking out rumors and tracking information. I also met with two Ancients last night who might be able to dig up additional information. Get me those descriptions of the demons from the gate guardians, and I’ll add that to the intel. And I’ll prioritize it,” I vowed.

  “Good. Anything further?” Gregory looked around the room. This might just be the briefest Ruling Council in the history of angeldom.

  “Yes.” Uriel stood. “I’ve been working with some local branches of human law enforcement, and I think there’s an area where we could truly be of service. I’d like to offer myself and my extended choir as liaisons.”

  Gabriel frowned. “Extended choir?”

  The angel blushed. “I’ve…uh, I’ve added some members to my choir who aren’t angels.”

  We waited for her to expound on that, but she remained silent. Surprisingly, no one challenged her.

  “I’ve been working with various heads of state to bring them on board with the idea of angelic supervision,” Gabriel told her. “We’re drafting a set of rules and basic standards of behavior that will be enforced all across the world. If you’re to be the liaison for enforcement of this and additional human legislation, perhaps you’d like to work with me on the documents?”

  She nodded. “Your place or mine? Now that we’re no longer able to be in Aaru, I’m assuming you have secured a domicile?”

  Gabriel squirmed. “Right now I’m staying with the Iblis.”

  Uriel’s eyes nearly left her head, then she laughed. “Well, then how about my place? I’ll take you there. I doubt the Iblis wants to have us hogging up her dining room, papers spread all over the tables.”

  “Anything further?” Gregory asked.

  No one else had anything on the agenda, so the meeting was dismissed. I transported Nyalla back home as Gabriel was heading off to Uriel’s. We came back to find six Lows busy throwing grilled shrimp across the room for Lux and Austin to snatch out of the air with their mouths, like performing seals, as Harper laughed. There were shrimp scattered all across the floor from missed catches. I didn’t care. Lux was in one piece, and was happy, with Hunan sauce all over his lips and cheeks. A shrimp flew through the air, and Austin shoved the angel out of the way to catch it in his mouth. I held my breath, waiting for Lux to lose his temper at the clear case of cheating, but the angel just laughed and rolled, picking one of the missed shrimp off the floor and popping it in his mouth.

  “Thanks for watching him,” I told Harper as I picked Lux up, relieved that he seemed to be in the same physical form he’d been in when I left. Good. That meant he hadn’t killed himself during the meeting.

  The woman dug in her purse for some wet wipes, handing me one and bending down to clean her child’s face. “Austin loves to visit his half-brother,” she told me with a smile. “And your Lows were so kind to help out after Jaq and Kelly had to leave.”

  “How are things working out at the rafting place?” I asked casually, as if Nyalla hadn’t told me all about it last week when we were out getting mani-pedis.

  “They cut my hours.” She wrinkled her nose. “The season’s almost over and I didn’t make nearly enough to tide me over this winter. Kelly said she can get me a waitressing job at the casino, but I really wanted something with more flexible hours.”

  “Perfect.” Oops. “I mean, I’m so sorry about that. You know, odd coincidence here, but I have a sort-of friend in Hel that’s looking for someone this side of the gates to set up a website and distribute product to the humans. He asked if I could recommend someone…”

  Harper picked up Austin and shot me a worried frown. “A demon? I’m not sure how I’d feel about working with a demon. And distribute what exactly?”

  “It’s a human. He’s looking for someone to market and distribute defensive magical items. Home security stuff. Things that could help humans protect themselves and their families from harpies, or trolls, or…angels.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Count me in. Give him my number.”

  I knew it. “I’ll put him in touch with you. His name is Kirby. Oh, and this doesn’t involve me at all. I had nothing to do with it. Absolutely nothing.”

  She grinned. “Understood. Playdate next week? Lux can visit us this time.”

  I loved people who were willing to watch my kid for me. “Give me a time and a date and I’ll have him there.”

  She shouted something to Nyalla about Friday happy-hour, then headed toward the door, Austin and Lux both waving goodbye.

  I waited for her to leave, then I quickly took stock of the half-dozen Lows eating shrimp off the carpet.

  “Snip! Gimlet!” The two looked up at me guiltily, the others backing away from them. “If you’re here and scarfing down shrimp, I take it to mean you completed the assignments I gave you?”

  Snip stood. “Everything is arranged for Doriel’s visit, Mistress. And I helped Barf find Mestal. He’ll be here tomorrow afternoon to meet with you. I told him what sort of information you were looking for and he said he would get right on it.”

  Excellent. I turned to Gimlet.

  “Caramort isn’t in Hel. He’s this side of the gates somewhere.”

  “Did you speak to his household? Do they have any angel wings hanging over their fireplace mantel? Did any of them know where to reach him?” I pressed.

  He gave me a blank stare. “No.”

  “No, what?”

  “No, I didn’t speak to his household, and I don’t know the other stuff.”

  For fuck’s sake. “How about the other two? Basilisk and Popiel?”

  “Popiel wouldn’t see me. His household wouldn’t let me past the gate because I’m a Low. I invoked your name and they told me they’d pull my limbs off if I wasn’t gone in five seconds.”

  Figures. I couldn’t really blame him for that one. “How about Basilisk?”

  “You never told me to look for anyone named Basilisk.”

  “Yes I did.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Yes, I did.” Damn it all. Normally I was lucky if a Low could follow one task to completion. Gimlet was clearly different but maybe three tasks was one too many. Or maybe he was just being a passive-aggressive asshole.

  “Find Caramort,” I told him, figuring I should concentrate on the
demon most likely to have been involved. “Find him and tell me where he is, and do it in the next two days. Is that clear?”

  “It’s clear.” Gimlet shuffled off, bitching about how salmon and cookies were so not worth this.

  “Rutter!”

  “Yes, Mistress!” The Low came forward, his long nose wiggling. Rutter had taken on human form when he’d crossed the gates, but he still looked like a demon. Poor guy.

  “Did you find Leethu?” I was assuming he had or he wouldn’t be back. Gimlet was an asshole, but Rutter was very loyal and as long as he had one task to focus on, he’d be there until its completion.

  Although I didn’t see Leethu hanging out in my house, which meant she was probably under the summoning of that dick she’d told me about. Guess I’d need to prioritize getting her out of there.

  “I found the human who had summoned her. He wasn’t very hard to track down because he was dead and there were a lot of dead people and a human slavery operation, and it made the news if you Googled sex and demon and illegal all together like Nyalla showed me how to do.”

  Huh. I was thinking Rutter needed a promotion. “She killed the summoner? Where is she now?” Hopefully some other asshole didn’t yank her into a circle. That was the problem with being summoned. Once your sigil and names got written down in some fuckhead’s spell book, it was public knowledge. It was even more public knowledge now that people’s spell books tended to be stored on Dropbox and shit like that.

  “Someone took Leethu away after the summoner was killed. I tracked her down to a big house in some mountains, but it was warded and I couldn’t get in.”

  Shit. It did sound like another sorcerer had her. “Find out who has her—who owns that house, who lives there, and all that. This is priority stuff, Rutter. If I’m going in there to rescue her, I need to know what kind of sorcerer I’m going up against.”

  “On it!” He trotted off with far more enthusiasm than Gimlet.

  “Now the rest of you scram.” I shifted Lux into one arm and waved at the other Lows. “Out. Back to the guest house.”