Archangel Evolution (29 page)

“But how?”

“We may never know, Taylor. I’m not sure it
matters.”

“David?” Taylor asked.

“His body is still there, but he might be
dead.”

“But why didn’t he vaporize like the rest of
them?”

“Look for yourself,” he said.

Taylor rolled over, allowing her head to face
the direction where she had last seen David. His body was flush
with the earth, pinned flat, as if some invisible force was pushing
on his back. A bubble surrounded him, bursting with light from the
edges, cradling him, protecting him.

“But how?” Taylor asked.

Before Gabriel could reply, the lifeless form
within the force field reanimated, pushing slowly to his feet. The
bubble changed its shape to allow him to stand while remaining
within its borders. David’s back was to them.

He turned.

When he saw them looking at him he spoke.
“Death lives,” he said simply.

Gabriel’s voice cut through the still of the
night. “It’s over, David. No more.”

He laughed, loud and shrill. “Not over. Never
over,” he said.

“No, David. The angels and demons are at
peace. The War is over.”

David’s eyes were like steel, cold and hard.
He was speaking to Gabriel, but staring at Taylor. Penetrating.

She felt him in her head.

The War has just begun
, Taylor heard
him say. Gabriel couldn’t hear him. Not from wherever David was
speaking. As if through some evolved channel of communication,
David’s message filled Taylor’s mind. She shivered.

David didn’t respond verbally to his brother.
Instead, he crouched, and then pushed off from the ground, his
wings extending within the confines of the glimmering circle of
light, which followed him through the sky like a starburst.

Gabriel started to pull away from Taylor, to
follow his brother, presumably. “No, Gabriel!” Taylor yelled.

Gabriel stopped, looked back. Looked forward
and up again, watching his brother grow smaller and smaller until
he disappeared like a firefly in the night. Made a decision. Turned
and walked back to Taylor.

“Why did you stop me?” he said.

“He would have killed you,” Taylor replied
bluntly.

“I could have talked to him, reasoned with
him, convinced him.”

Taylor wanted to agree with him, to lie to
him, to tell him his brother was still somewhere inside the evolved
angel. But she couldn’t lie. Not anymore. There had been too many
lies already. In their relationship, in their lives. “He’s too far
gone,” she said instead.

Gabriel winced, like she had slapped him in
the face, but then nodded. “I know,” he said.

“He spoke to me.”

Gabriel’s head tilted to the side, his
eyebrows narrowing. Her words probably seemed senseless, like she
had been injured worse than he thought.

Taylor said, “When you told him the War was
over, he didn’t respond to you, not verbally, but I heard him in my
head. Telepathically …or something.”

In another life, in another time, perhaps he
wouldn’t have believed her. But he did without question. He said,
“What did he say?”

“
The War has just begun
,” she
quoted.

Gabriel’s frown remained. “He’ll never stop,
will he?”

Taylor shook her head. Then she remembered.
“What happened to Clifford?”

Gabriel’s head jerked up as if he had
forgotten about the fallen demon leader too. Without a word, they
scrambled to their feet, meeting Chris and Kiren as they ran to
where Clifford was last seen. He was still on his back, still on
the ground, still bleeding from the wound administered by David.
Eyes closed, mouth dusty, beard crusted with crumbs of dirt and
sand.

The fastest of the four, Taylor reached his
side first. Touching his arm, she said, “Clifford?”

There was so much blood, more than she had
ever seen. The wound was wicked and deep. She didn’t expect a
response.

“Uhhhh,” he croaked, his lips parting
slightly. His eyes slitted open. “My dear,” he whispered.

“Clifford, we’re gonna save you,” Taylor said
as the others approached, kneeling in a circle around their dying
leader.

Clifford’s eyes never left Taylor’s. “No you
won’t,” Clifford said. Taylor was about to argue, but Clifford
said, “Shhh. You have done well, young angel. You have done much,
much more than we could ever have asked of you. I am so thankful to
have lived long enough to meet you. It has been a privilege,
Taylor, but now I must go to meet my father in the land of the
dead.”

Tears flowed freely from Taylor’s eyes; they
felt hot and fierce on her cheeks. She tried to speak but couldn’t.
Instead, she gripped the old demon’s hands with both of hers,
hoping that some of her life would leak into him.

Clifford turned to Chris. “Young demon, long
shall your name be remembered amongst your people. Seek honor in
all that you do.”

“I will,” Chris said, his eyes misty.

To Kiren, Clifford said, “You are quite a
woman, my dear.” Kiren’s eyes were already overflowing, her sobs
choking her.

Lastly, he gazed at Gabriel. “You have
fulfilled your destiny, my angel friend. I knew you would.”

Gabriel’s tears dripped from his lips as he
said, “It was your destiny too, my king.”

Clifford smiled and then died, his last
breath taken while he was in a moment of true happiness. The
foursome—two angels, two demons—huddled over their fallen leader
reverently for ten minutes, arms around each other in comfort.

Gabriel finally said, “Let us make a pact
now—that we will honor Clifford’s memory by always fighting to
maintain the peace that has been made between angels and demons
today.”

“Peace?” Taylor said hollowly. The word
sounded foreign to her.

Gabriel said, “We did it, Taylor. There will
be no more fighting.”

Taylor didn’t comprehend how it was possible,
how it could be over—the Great War. But she knew his words were
true, despite what David had said to her. “I will help however I
can,” she said solemnly.

Chris said, “As will I.”

Kiren nodded, still unable to speak.

Gabriel said, “Let’s get Clifford home.”

T
hey teleported all
together, arriving seconds later in Clifford’s empty office. Chris
and Kiren left with Clifford’s body, which was already turning to
ash. They wanted to ensure the ashes could be collected and
preserved for the funeral.

Taylor and Gabriel were alone.

Gabriel sighed forcefully.

“What?” Taylor asked.

“I dunno, I’m just tired I guess. Emotionally
more than physically.”

“I know what you mean. I can’t believe
Clifford’s gone.”

“Yeah, and David, too.”

Taylor put her arms around Gabriel’s neck,
rested her head on his chest. His heart was thumping loud and
quick, like he had just sprinted. “Gabriel…David is messed up
inside. It is no one’s fault.”

Gabriel sighed again. He didn’t answer.
Instead, he said, “Taylor, you were amazing today. I don’t know how
you did it, defeating the Archangels while protecting us.”

Taylor laughed. “I don’t know either. My body
just does things—I’m glad it does—although sometimes I wish I could
control it.”

Gabriel smiled. “Maybe you’re just meant to
be that way.”

“Maybe.”

He squeezed her tightly. She felt warm,
safe—partly because of him, but mostly because of herself. Her mom
would have been proud. She was herself. Strong, independent,
capable. Not pretending to be someone else like so many others. She
heard a voice in her head, not David this time—her mom:
When you
find true love, the love that you can’t live without, the love that
fills you with joy, you hold onto that love until the day you
die.

Taylor squeezed Gabriel back. She promised
herself never to let him go.

Gabriel looked down at her, kissed her
forehead. Normally Taylor would find such a kiss to be
condescending, but this time it felt loving, tender.

“I should address the troops,” Gabriel
said.

“What happened, anyway?” Taylor asked.

“We stopped fighting,” Gabriel said. “There
was no more killing, no more war. I told them all to stop, and they
stopped. I don’t really know how it happened.”

“Clifford was right,” Taylor said.

“Oh don’t you start,” Gabriel said, pushing
her away. “I’m just an angel, nothing more.”

“Maybe so,” Taylor said, “but you’re
special.”

“You mean short-bus special?” Gabriel said,
using the same joke Taylor had when he had referred to her as
special
. It seemed like a long, long time ago.

“That’s
exactly
what I meant,” Taylor
joked.

“Let’s go, angel-girl.”

Taylor put her arm around him and he did the
same. They followed the long hallway out of the Elders’ Chambers
and boarded the waiting transporter. They switched transporters
twice as they made their way to the large cavern where Gabriel had
first assembled the troops. The Lair was like a ghost town,
deserted and quiet.

A final passageway and a heavy wooden door
lay ahead of them. Behind it they could hear the drone of voices.
Gabriel hauled the door open, spilling torchlight into the
tunnel.

Taylor let Gabriel enter first. The spectacle
in the cavern was like nothing she had ever seen. From behind him,
she could see thousands of shapes, some light, some dark, all
smiling. When Taylor and Gabriel entered, every man and woman
raised an arm. The demon hands held flames, the angel hands held
light. Taylor’s breath caught as the room was filled with fiery,
flickering, glowing,
sparkling
beauty.

A cheer rose up, starting mild and
professional and then raucous and filled with whistles and
catcalls. Taylor laughed.
Probably par for the course for a
merry gathering of angels and demons
, she thought. The crowd
parted in front of them and they passed through like celebrities.
For a final time, Taylor squeezed a flap of arm skin between her
thumb and forefinger. Her nerve ending fired, sending the pain to
her brain. She didn’t cry out, loving the reality-confirming pain
more than anything.
It was no dream—never was
. This was her
life.

A stage had been erected. Sampson met them on
the platform and gave Gabriel, and then Taylor a hug. “Well done,”
he said.

“You, too,” Taylor said.

Kiren appeared at Sampson’s side, clutching
his hand. She wiped a tear from her cheek.

“It’s done?” Taylor asked.

Kiren nodded. Clifford’s ashes had been
collected.

Suddenly, Chris appeared with Samantha, who
rushed to Taylor, hugging her fiercely. “Thank God,” she said. “I
was so worried, even after Chris said you were fine.”

“A piece of cake,” Taylor said.

Sam released her, a shocked look crossing her
face. “Here I am, all worried about you, and you’re thinking about
your stomach.”

Taylor laughed. “You should be an actress,”
she said. “I actually thought you were worried.”

“You should have seen me an hour ago, I was a
mess. Marla and Jennings found me wandering the campus like a blind
mouse trapped in a maze. You should have seen their faces when
Chris teleported into their dorm room while we were watching a
movie. I’m not sure how we’re going to explain that one!”

The reunited group of friends laughed
effortlessly. Taylor stopped laughing first and took a moment to
just watch their faces. No hint of stress or strain clouded any of
them. Taylor hated to break up the party, but she had to tell Sam
the news.

“Sam, there’s something I have to tell
you.”

Her friend’s smile faded. She nodded.
“Taylor—Chris told me about Clifford. I’m overcompensating with the
jokes. I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with it, but I really
don’t want to right now. I’m really gonna miss—” She choked on the
last word and brushed a tear from each eye.

“I will, too,” Taylor said. “We all will.”
She put her arm around her friend.

Gabriel said, “Everyone’s waiting. We’d
better get the party started. Taylor, will you say a few
words?”

Taylor looked at her boyfriend’s dark eyes.
She hated public speaking and was afraid that her words wouldn’t
come out the way she wanted. She had to trust Gabriel. Finally, he
had earned her trust back. She shook her head. “No, you are our
leader. Clifford would want you to speak. I want you to speak. Say
what’s in my heart.”

Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Taylor, I don’t
know…”

“Yes, Gabriel. Yes, you do. Speak for me,
speak for your family, speak for Clifford, speak for yourself,
speak for all of us.” Taylor’s words felt right even as she spoke
them. Her gut confirmed it.

Gabriel’s lips tightened, but he moved to the
podium at the center of the stage. Taylor followed him, as did Sam,
Chris, Sampson, and Kiren. Six friends, three races, a plethora of
relationships—all united.

At the microphone, Gabriel paused, scanning
the crowd, which had grown uncannily quiet. He spoke, his voice
starting as a low rumble, but growing bolder with each word, each
syllable.

“Angels…demons…and humans,” he started.
“Friends, former enemies, brothers, sisters, patriots, and
traitors…We…have….WON!” he roared. The crowd erupted in frenzied
applause. He raised his arms in the air, silencing the masses. “The
Great War, which we now know was started under false pretenses, is
over. There will be no more bloodshed. Not today, and if we stick
together, not ever again!” More cheers.

Taylor grinned. Gabriel was magnetic, like
her mother had been. She was proud of him.

“We must stick together, for we have learned
that it only takes one to start a war. We lost a great man today.
He was a demon, but I would not hesitate to call him my friend, my
brother. We should honor Clifford by keeping the peace that he
fought and died to bring about.” Gabriel paused. The audience
leaned forward, anticipating his powerful words.