Divinity (30 page)

-
That’s not what we are here for. Continue
.-

Julia shot a disappointed look at Michael. The woman examined her face in a mirror, gently touching the tender, swollen purple flesh around her eye. Julia felt the woman’s resolve as she made the decision to leave the man who’d left her looking the way she did after a spat about whose turn it was to do the dishes. The realization broke through Julia that, without proof of how badly she’d been wronged, she would not have made the decision to go.

-
It’s hard to let people learn for themselves, but they need the lessons and reminders,
- Michael said. -
You’ll get better at it
.-

Julia wondered if he was making a point about Charlie, but she let it drop and continued forward.

-
I can see the black smoke leads right to the door upstairs
.-Julia’s inner voice ramped up. -
I can see the whole apartment. And everything in between the floors, the walls. There are thousands of cockroaches! This whole building is infested
.-

She shuddered. She could hear the sound of the armored legs clicking and clacking as they skittered through the walls. In an effort to lessen the sound—and the feeling—of the roaches, Julia hummed a tune inside her head.

They finally reached the top of the stairs and turned into the hall on the third floor, stopping at the second door on the left. A crime scene tape crossed the door. Julia turned to Michael, nodding toward the tape.

-
How are we going to get past that without taking it down?
-

Before she had finished her sentence, they stood in the living room of the apartment. Michael stood in the center, his wings almost fully extended. He was solid, and Julia could feel the rage radiating from him. She wondered if he was angry with her.

-
I don’t like being in the presence of evil, girl
.- Michael opened the curtains, peering out into the alley below. -
Even if it has been gone for a while, it is still so…
-

-
Offensive
.- Julia understood. The energy that accompanied the odor made her adrenaline surge, and everything within her yearned to put an end to the evil that surrounded her. Despite that, she moved around the apartment. When she had gone through the entire place and found nothing out of the ordinary, she returned to the middle of the living room, where Michael waited.

As she looked at him, she realized that he had an echo. An image of his energy stood just behind him. Once she focused on that, she realized it was a trail, and it wasn’t the only image of energy she saw.

-
You’ve been here before, Michael
.- Julia thought this might have been the test—to see if she would know that the angels had visited this place before. -
I see it, like a residue. Or maybe a set of prints—made of light. And Gabriel, too. You were here first, though. Your “prints” are layered. Like one on top of the other
.-

Michael cocked his head, eyeing Julia. She couldn’t tell if that look meant he was impressed with her abilities or worried about what they were. She continued anyway. -
Someone else was here. The same angel who was watching me this morning. Odd…
-

-
What’s odd?
-

-
I don’t see the light-prints of any humans. Only the angels
.-Julia reached her hand into the air in front of her, trying to touch what she was seeing, but felt nothing. -
This was Clyde’s apartment, wasn’t it?
-

Saying that name made her cringe.

-
It was
,- Michael answered, -but
he had no light for you to see. I believe his soul had long since vacated his shell
.-

Julia grimaced. How could she not have noticed a being without a soul? Of course, she knew she hadn’t figured it out yet, but still wished she’d been able to function more fully. She might have saved Alex’s life.

-
When was the other angel here?
- Michael interrupted her thoughts. -
Before or after your father and I?
-

Julia spun to face Michael. He met her eyes and goose bumps spread over her limbs. She knew Gabriel was her father, but she wasn’t used to hearing it. She rubbed her arms.

-
Well?
- Michael asked.

-
Before. And after
.-

Her eyes glazed as a few pieces came together for her, and she did not like what she concluded. -
Michael?
-

-
Yes?
-

-
He is an angel. Are you telling me there are bad angels?
-

Michael rested a hand on Julia’s shoulder. He smiled, but his eyes were razor sharp.

-
Girl, the Devil is an angel, too
.-

“She is learning too quickly for me to keep up with her.” Raphael’s smooth voice broke the silence. “Some of the things she is doing, even
I
do not know how to do.”

“Nor I.” Gabriel stood, shoulders and wings back, head tilted forward, listening intently to the scene below. “But they are not things for us to know, are they?”

“No, I suppose they are not.” Raphael turned when she heard the ruffling of another set of wings.

“Raphael,” Zachariah greeted her with a nod.

“Zachariah.” She peered at him, uncertainty in her eyes. “Is there news?”

“I was summoned,” Zachariah said. He came to a halt in front of Gabriel and greeted him with a curt nod.

They both shifted their gaze to Raphael. She smiled. “I see. I will take my leave, then, Brothers. There is much work for me down there. As always.”

Once she disappeared, Gabriel spoke without words, so that only the angel to whom he was speaking could hear him. -
Zachariah, Michael needs you
.-

-
Needs me how?
- Zachariah’s normal casual demeanor slipped away. His gaze betrayed his alarm, his wings stiffened on his back.

-
Someone has to become close with Uriel. Find out what he is up to
.-

Zachariah frowned. -
I will. But my girl will be unguarded
.-

-
She will be protected,
- Gabriel said.

Zachariah stood face to face with Gabriel, his lips pressed tightly together. After a few moments, he stepped back and smiled softly. -
Shall you pick the fight, or shall I?
-

Gabriel’s eyes shone with purpose. He pulled on every bit of anger he’d ever felt to build his sincerity. When he recalled the scene he’d interrupted with the very young Maria in the closet, his rage came to a full boil and he unfurled his wings fully. All the Archangels knew the moment one of the others had extended out their full span. It was their battle cry. “Heed me, Zachariah, Sixth among us! You will ask no further questions. I will not stand for disloyalty!”

Zachariah’s wings flashed open within a moment of Gabriel’s. He was surprised at the force of Gabriel’s anger, and reflexively flared with his own anger. He threw his head back and bellowed, “You have not heard the last of me, Gabriel. You are Second, yet you act the First and you both behave as though you answer to no one! My questions will be answered!”

Gabriel’s face flickered with ire. “You go too far, Zachariah. Be gone! Tend to your business. We will tend to ours.”

The Archangels stood, toe to toe, wings extended, eyes locked. Zachariah lowered his head a fraction of an inch, keeping his eyes glued to Gabriel’s, and then he vanished.

-
Well done,
- Gabriel heard Michael’s distant voice in his mind. -
You have silenced them all
.-

-
As long as it was believable
.- Gabriel slowly lowered his wings and resettled them onto his back.

-
It was,
- Michael answered. -
But you have wreaked havoc on the weather. Raphael will not be pleased. These tsunamis are difficult for humans to recover from
.-

-
Everything has a price, Brother. We have always known that
.- Despite his words, Gabriel slumped his shoulders and furrowed his brow. All he could do now was hope that the price of the human suffering would be worth it.

XXXI

T
HE
dark figure entered the bungalow and heard shattering glass. All around him was chaos. Splintered picture frames lay strewn about, family photos mangled behind broken glass. Overturned furniture decorated the living room, and there was a trophy lodged in the center of the huge television screen. The rising wisps of smoke warned of an impending electrical fire.

The dark figure grimaced, picking his path through the aftermath with care. The rank smell of alcohol invaded his nostrils. He moved into the next room.

The Child lay on the floor face-down, her arm splayed out to the side, the elbow folded backwards. Her head was split open, a dark, red stain slowly spreading beneath her. She covered what she could of her head with her good arm as her body convulsed with her sobs.

“Get up, bitch!” The man drove the toe of his work boot into her side and the sound of cracking ribs echoed through the house.

She coughed, blood bubbling out from between her lips.

Her lung is punctured now
, the dark figure thought.
It won’t be long
.

The man moved around to her other side, more of her favorite knick-knacks crunching under his boots. He wedged his foot in under her shoulder, lifted it, and rolled her over onto her back. She sputtered and choked. “Tell me where you put my money, Charlie. And don’t give me none of that bullshit about saving for the baby.”

The man added a sharp blow from the heel of his boot, coming down directly in the center of her slightly swollen belly. She managed one last earsplitting scream as blood gushed from her throat, then trickled slowly down her chin and neck.

“That’ll take care of that,” he sneered. He took a long swig from the whiskey bottle gripped in his hand and then turned away to start his search.

Charlie’s eyes narrowed and focused through her tears. She looked directly at the dark figure, who was startled enough to take a step back. Her mouth worked as she tried to speak.

Well, this is interesting
, the figure thought.
It would appear that I won’t have to be your new babysitter after all
.

Her eyes pleaded for help, but the dark figure stood silent, arms at his sides, wings flat on his back. He smiled as the light left her eyes.

Julia drove in silence, headed back to her house in the country. She called the restaurant and all was well. Just as she hung up, she was overwhelmed with a horrible feeling. Like someone had torn out one of her organs. She cranked the wheel to the right, the car swerved hard to the side of the road, and she slammed on the brakes.

-
Michael! Did you feel that?
-

Michael sat in the passenger seat, head turned toward Julia, eyes locked on hers. -
I feel many things. To what are you referring, girl? Describe what you felt
.-

-
I don’t know if I can
.- She rolled down her window, hoping she would be able to catch her breath. -
I feel like a piece of me was torn out. Extinguished
.-

-
I see
.- Michael instantly became transparent, his voice hollow. -
One of the Twelve died. You will recognize the feeling next time
.-

Julia’s mind flashed to the baby from the shopping district in downtown Dallas, and felt certain it wasn’t him. She felt relief, yet her heart ached as though she had suffered a personal loss. -
Who was it, Michael? Do you know?
-

Michael stared at Julia, and as his mouth opened to speak, the truth sank in.

-
Charlie? Charlie was one of the Twelve? What happened to her? He killed her, didn’t he? Her husband
.-

-
Yes, he did
.- Michael’s eyes flicked to her phone, but Julia spoke out loud before he could.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Michael? You knew she was…” Julia’s voice crackled with grief, “…like me.”

-
Right now, you must continue to speak with me silently
.-Michael’s voice was grave, a storm brewing in his eyes.

-
Fine
.- Julia swiped the back of her hand over her eyes, purging the tears. She heard the angels talking again, and saw that Michael had faded even more.