Broken Wings: Genesis (12 page)

Ke glared at me without speaking.
Chaz kept silent alongside of him.

“So what is it then?” I leaned
back in my seat. “Is it that you can’t feel without being in physical form?”
From the look on his face, I was getting warm. I paused to think about what I’d
heard about angels. A thought tickled the edges of my awareness. “The Grigori.”

Ke’s look was wary.

“That’s it, isn’t it? The only
angels that really had any direct contact with humans and lived among them were
the Grigori––the Watchers sent to keep tabs on humans and protect them. But who
was there to protect them from
you
?” Another light bulb turned on inside
my head. “Oh, it’s even worse, isn’t it? You couldn’t protect yourselves from
the mortals––they made you
feel
.”

He looked away. There was more to
it, but I had sort of snored my way through the Old Testament scriptures, much
to Father David’s dismay. But there was something about––

“The Nephilim.”

“What about them, Yesh?” Chaz was
trying to work this through his head, too.

How did that go?

“What was it––the sons of God
seduced the daughters of man and from their union was born the Nephilim, an
abomination to the heavens.” I shook my head in disbelief. “This isn’t all
about sex, is it?”

Ke laughed, but it was bitter.
“Don’t be so crass. Mortals have a tendency to focus so hard on the physical
that they lose sight of the bigger picture.”

“Oh yeah?” I gave him a pointed
look. “We’ll just see how your perspective changes the longer you are stuck in
your new,
mortal
body.”

“One way or another, I won’t be in
it for long.” His voice softened. But it was a softening based on sadness, not
on anger.

“What? Planning on leaving us so
soon?” I wasn’t done being irritated. “How? Suicide?”

“Destruction of any of physical
creation is against the laws of existence itself.”

“Why should
you
care?” I
snapped. “Weren’t the Grigori set aside from the heavens and the rest of the
angels for their sins against humanity? It’s not like suicide would prevent you
access from heaven, or whatever else it might be. You’re already banned from
there.”

“The Watchers didn’t sin against
humanity.” Ke’s voice has regained its condescending irritability again. “We
taught humanity how to save itself. We
saved
both humanity and the
heavens from destruction. And to put things in perspective, not all of the
Grigori ran around mixing their energies with the humans. Some of us abstained
and worked at a higher level to stop what was happening.”

“And just what was it that was
happening?”

“There was only one entity, above
all the rest, who could create physical matter from the web. The rest of us
could affect changes on the physical level, but we couldn’t create physical
form from nothing but energy.”

My look dropped into guarded mode
again. “You’re talking about God.”

“God, the Creator, or whatever
else you humans use to manifest it as an entity you can wrap your minds
around.”

“Okay.”

“When something is made physical,
it becomes disconnected to the web. If it stays connected to the web, it loses
physical form and reverts to being part of the web again. But there are those
of us, not in physical form, which are connected to the web. You call us
angels. We are a part of the overall pattern of energy, and as with any
pattern, we have to follow the flows where they lead us, or else everything
begins to come unraveled.”

My brain was starting to hurt.
“How about a simple translation?”

“Angels are connected to the web.
We have to follow the flows of energy. We have no choice. Humans, as physical
creations, are disconnected from the web. They can tap into it, but if they
stay that way for too long, they lose the part of themselves holding them to
the physical.”

I thought about some of the people
I had met who
connected
to the metaphysical energy for whatever
reason––psychics, witches, healers, and so on. If they didn’t disconnect from
time to time to participate in the world around them, they started getting that
“airy-fairy” quality to them––as though they were out of synch with reality.
They weren’t losing touch of reality. They were actually
more
in touch
with reality, just not at a physical level. But it did mean letting go of that
part of them that made them human––the physical part.

“Okay, I think I’m beginning to
get it. But why is this important?”

“There was one other non-physical
entity that was able to create matter from energy, but he couldn’t replicate
what he had done. He didn’t create a mortal creature, he created an immortal
creature of physical substance, one still connected to the web.”

“I don’t get it––”

“Yesh, think about it for a
minute.” Chaz’s eyes were wide with understanding. “What one angel thought that
he was powerful enough to challenge God, himself?”

“Lucifer.” This was a new twist to
the story I’d been taught.

“The Morning Star.” Ke nodded. “He
created a creature of energy in a physical form. The creature in turn, tried to
replicate his “father’s” experiment. But you can only have one or the other. If
you have form, you cannot be connected to the web. If you are connected to the
web, you cannot have form.”

“But why?” I was still missing
something.

“
Free will
, Yesh.” Chaz was
bouncing in his seat. “If you are in the physical, you have free will. If you aren’t
physical, you don’t have free will––you have to follow the flows of the
pattern. But if that physical form were to be connected directly to the web,
and
didn’t
follow the energy flows, it would most likely tear the web
apart, having the free will to mess with the flows in whatever way it wanted.”

Ke closed his eyes. “Exactly. And
that’s what happened. Abaddon began to tear the pattern apart at the very
source. The first thing to go in a disruption of the flows is the physical. So
he was beginning to tear apart everything that had ever been created, and there
was a lot of chaotic energy floating around, causing even further destruction.”

A thought occurred to me. “But
that’s what the Grigori did too, isn’t it? That’s why the Nephilim were
considered to be such an abomination. The essence of the physical attributes of
a human combined with the power attributes of the angels.”

“Abaddon messed with the natural
order of things and used the Grigori’s natural affinity with the physical to
create those children. It wasn’t intentional on the part of the Grigori. They
were unwitting pawns in Abaddon’s plan. He used them without their knowledge.
There should have been no possibility of children.”

“So it wasn’t just Lucifer and his
creation that mucked things up. The Grigori had a big part in it. And it
started to unravel the fabric of existence.”

“And so the war began between the
angels and the Fallen Ones.” Chaz added with a frown. “But why? Why didn’t they
just band together to put a stop to the whole thing?”

“Because there was only one safe,
intermediate place between the physical realm and the ethereal access to the
web. And the angels blocked the Fallen Ones, and the Grigori, from entering.”

“The Crystal City.”
I knew it without question. Did that mean I was beginning to believe this guy?
I wasn’t entirely sure yet. But what he was saying rang true. And it certainly
wasn’t any more bizarre than immortal Greek gods running opium dream dens, or
even dream stalkers. He was leaving some things out. I knew that for certain,
too.

Ke nodded, looking back up at me
again. “In the final days, just before the physical world would have been torn
apart, Abaddon tried to break through one of the gateways that accessed the Crystal City.”

“The Thirteenth Gate.”

And Yeshua was the Guardian for
that gate.” Chaz slapped his hand down on the arm of the couch.

“In her past form, Ithane.” Ke’s
eyes held mine. There was something else I wasn’t getting, and it had to do
with the intensity of the look he was giving me.

“So Yeshua was an angel?”

“She was one of the Grigori.”

“Okay. This is the part I don’t
understand. How can a spirit with no mortality, die? And what’s more––how does
it then
reincarnate
into a physical form? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Ithane didn’t die.” Ke shook his
head slowly. “She gave herself to the web. She
fixed
the breach that no
one else could, by using her own essence. Everything stopped, right then and
there. Together, she and I locked Abaddon into the web, but disconnected him
from it.”

“And the beast was locked into the
pit for a thousand years–” Chaz mumbled.

“There was fallout on the physical
realm.” Ke continued as though the kid hadn’t spoken. “An energy wave, of both
physical and metaphysical energy blanketed the earth, restoring everything to
where it should be. It removed the things that didn’t belong.”

“The Great Flood.” Chaz said with
awe.

“And it destroyed the Nephilim.”
The pieces fit with what I knew from biblical texts, for the most part.

“The pattern was restored. But as
with any pattern, it eventually repeats itself. The entire angelic realm has
been watching for the pattern to repeat. Some would try to stop it. Others feel
we need to let it flow naturally to its conclusion.”

“Which is what?”

“We don’t know.”

“And Ithane?”

Ke looked away again. “Ithane’s
signature never fully dissipated into the pattern. It steadily reformed, taking
time to regroup for all these years. Those of us who reached out and felt for
her knew she was still there. Then one day, she just vanished from the web.”

“How do you know she didn’t just
let go? Or maybe it was too strong for her?”

“Because I searched outside the
web and found her anyway.” He looked at me, the intensity back in his
expression. “Besides, the pattern repeats. This time it is the Fallen Ones who
traffic with humans and breed their own version of the Nephilim. They are demon
spawn who could ultimately learn to twist the web to their own purpose.”

It took everything I had not to
turn and look at Chaz. I knew mama’d had bigger plans in store.

“The Morning Star is active again,
and we suspect he is trying to make way for Abaddon’s return. There are only
two beings who could set him free. And only one of those cold stop him if he
gets free on his own.”

I stared at him, my eyes about
popping out of my head. This couldn’t be happening. Then I started to laugh. It
started out slow, but built to near-hysteric proportions within seconds. It was
a while before I could get it back under control.

“Look, Ke.” I took a sip of coffee
and almost spat it out as another burst of laughter threatened to erupt. “You
had better start looking for another solution. Even if I were this Ithane, and
your story were all truth––” I tipped my head up and held out my wrists to
display the bruises. “I just got my ass kicked by a dream stalker––a
human
being
. How can you expect I’d be able to handle something as big as
Lucifer? It’s ridiculous.”

Ke was shaking his head again. I
definitely liked him better unconscious. “You only need to remember––”

“Remember what?” I slammed the cup
down on the table, sloshing coffee over my hand. I shook it off with anger.
“Remember how to use my energy in a way I’m not sure is possible in the first
place? Remember how to be a protector for a bunch of arrogant fools you
admitted to kicking the Grigori out from the higher realms? Wasn’t this Ithane
supposed to have been Grigori? And she was the one who saved their asses? I’m
sensing a theme with the whole angelic gratitude thing going on here. Or maybe
you mean for me to remember how to be a self-sacrificing fool?”

I started to get up from my chair.
I’d had enough.

“I’m selfish. Remember me telling
you that? You may not want to believe it, but I am. I selfishly want to
not
die in some fight that’s not even mine.”

“But––”

I held up my hand. “No
buts
.
Even if you are correct in everything you’re telling me, let me remind you of
one of the principles of reincarnation. People reincarnate, not angels. They
were not
incarnate
to begin with, but that’s another story. Even if I
am, somehow, Ithane reincarnated into flesh, then I’m thinking I didn’t learn
my lesson the first time. So here’s me, choosing not to make the same mistake.
Look elsewhere for your savior. Ithane has left the building.”

My words were punctuated by my
leaving the two of them sitting in silent amazement while I went into my
bedroom and slammed the door. I got dressed and headed out, slamming the
apartment door for good measure. I needed space and time to think.

The chasm was right in front of
me. I moved to the edge and stopped. The women of the coven were there, just as
they had been the first time I had been drawn into this dreamscape. Black Wolf
was absent. It didn’t make any sense. I had been stalking the dream stalker for
what felt like hours.

You could never be certain about
the passage of time in the world of dreams. It was a true non-linear framework,
which is why people could seldom remember their dreams come morning. They
couldn’t wrap their minds around non-linear time. I reveled in it. To me, it
saved in-between, wasted time. You could jump from point A to point B and cut
the non-essentials out from the middle.

This time it didn’t seem to be
working. Black Wolf was playing a game of Hide and Seek. He kept leading me
back to this place––his
lair
, for the lack of a better word. I knew that
this was where he wanted me to be. Each time he circled back to this place,
another member of the coven was wrapped in the web. The last time only Pietra
had been absent. Not any more. She was tied into the webbing that stretched
across the chasm with the rest of them.