Angel's Curse (38 page)

“Saint Peter,” Danny interrupted. “I wish we had time for idle chatter, but you must make your decision, and make it soon.”

“Yes, I digress. Perhaps if I was tardy they might be quicker in finding me an assistant.”

“Saint Peter,” Danny said, “concentrate, please. What happened with Amrael was a big misunderstanding. Even Michael saw the truth in it, but he says he no longer has the control over the other archangels he once had. I fear they will target Helena next and her soul is
pure
. If they kill her it makes us no better than the demons we hunt.”

“Quite, quite,” Saint Peter said. “You see that one there,” he pointed to a multicoloured koi with lovely yellow-gold markings and a long tail, “whenever I sit down, he — at least I think it’s a he — swims to this side of the pond. Sometimes I think he’s trying to listen in on my conversations,” he chuckled.

Danny rolled his eyes, “Saint Peter,
please.
”

“You were saying, Danizriel?” Saint Peter asked.

“I fear not only for Helena, but for Michael and those who would still follow him. Raphael —”

“I’m sorry to cut you off, Danizriel, but those tourists have just arrived and they’re asking a
lot
of questions. If you’ll excuse me.”

“What of me, Saint Peter, and the others?”

“Why Danizriel, you have always been deemed worthy. You do not need me to tell you that. Enter and be content. Oh, I almost forgot.” He dug around in his robes until he found what he was looking for, a small scroll bound with a golden ribbon. “This is for you. You won’t be able to read it until you ascend. It’s from Him. I cannot help you with the others … perhaps when you ascend?”

Danny took the scroll from Saint Peter.

“Thank you, Saint Peter. Peace be with you.”

“And also with you, Danizriel.”

The old man stood up and walked slowly back to where he’d come from. He held up his hands to try and get the tourists to calm down and shut up for a few minutes — to listen to his explanation of where they were and why.

The image faded.

I twisted around to look at Danny. “How
did
you ascend? What did the scroll say?”

“I ascended the way all angels travel. It was no different. I must admit that I was very curious about the scroll — curiosity is something I learned from you and carried with me into the afterlife — and tried to read it, but the ribbon held fast until I ascended.”

He chuckled as he remembered the struggle he’d had with a simple ribbon. Nothing could remove it.

“I had no choice, but to ascend if I wanted to read it.”

I whacked his arm. “What did it
say?
Don’t keep me waiting!”

“It said I had been granted an audience and that my presence was required at the throne room of God as soon as the scroll had been read.”

“You met
God?
” I asked, awestruck.

“Yes.”

“Huh!” I snorted. “That figures. You get to meet the good guy and I meet the bad guy. It’s just my luck, isn’t it?”

“You met
Satan?
” he asked in disbelief.

I waved it aside as if it were no big deal. “Long story. I’ll tell you about it when it’s
my
turn. What happened next? Show me.”

“I can’t,” Danny said, surprised.

“Yes you can, just wave your hand,” I waved my hand in the air to demonstrate what he usually did, “or whatever it is you do.”

“You don’t understand,” he said, frustrated. “I’m trying to, but nothing’s happening. It’s like I’m being blocked.”

“Maybe if we shared a bond …”

“No, I don’t think so. I guess some things you have to see for yourself, otherwise we’d all know what He looked like.”

“But you can still tell me about it, can’t you?” I asked.

“Yes, the block doesn’t seem to extend to talking about it. If it’s to be censored I’ll find out soon enough.

“Once I’d read the scroll I was taken directly to the doors of the throne room, where no less than eight heralds announced my arrival.” He shook his head. “Such fanfare for a lowly angel.”

“You’re not a lowly angel,” I muttered. His assessment of himself, of his own worth, hurt me.

“He sat on a throne upon a dais. Ah, the throne! If only I could show you. It was magnificent! A golden throne with enormous wings and such intricate detail carved on every surface, even the wings. Each feather was unique and He told me that those who are granted an audience all see Him differently, depending on what is in their mind and heart. He told me the wings I saw represented the angels and there was one feather for every angel He had ever created, even those who had fallen.”

“Wow, they must have been some
big
wings. Did it include those like me, earth-bound angels?” I asked.

Danny’s face dropped. “I didn’t think to ask.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “If I saw Him he’d probably have no wings at all. I can’t even begin to imagine what I’d picture Him to look like. I never gave it any thought before.”

“He was much younger than I expected — very humble and unpretentious. It appears my heart and mind differed on what He would look like and the heart won out.

“He wore a short, sleeveless robe and golden sandals on His feet. His hair was the colour of summer wheat and His eyes a deep green, as that of the ocean depths. His arms and legs were very muscular for someone who sits on a throne most of the time, but I expect that as an omnipotent being — the one
true God
— He can look any way He wants to. I imagine that if a number of people attend Him at the one time He assumes a form of His choosing.”

“Get onto the good part will you?” I laughed. “You can fill me in on that sort of stuff later.”

“I knelt before Him and He came down from His throne. He knelt before
me,
and embraced me as if we were old friends that had not seen each other for a time, then helped me to stand. I stood in
God’s
presence, Helena. Can you imagine what that was like?”

I shook my head. How could I know, but I had a pretty good idea it had to be the exact opposite of standing in front of Satan.

“Is the throne room where He conducts His business, or does He have offices for that?” I asked.

“Offices, what would He need offices for? The seraphim have offices, but not
God
.”

I shrugged my shoulders. Apparently there were big differences between heaven and hell, aside from the obvious.

“Go on,” I said.

“The formal audience was over, but we retreated to a smaller, more comfortable room and sat as
equals
.” He sounded in awe of the whole experience. “From time to time He left to attend other business. Always He came back to sit and talk. Sometimes He talked and I listened, sometimes I talked and He listened, and other times we debated. He is truly
magnificent
.

“He told me that in the beginning He contemplated life, and after many aeons decided He no longer wished to be alone. He created the angels, and after an aeon the first earth. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“What else did you talk about?”

“Mortals and immortals, my part in His plans … and your part.”

“
My
part?”

“I always believed He had a plan for you, but He admitted it was not all of His own doing. If you had been taken to hell and changed, He would not have been presented with the opportunity to set in motion the chain of events that have led us here. He knew of the corruption that was eating away at His creations — the angels — once again. Thus He seized you the night you were changed, knowing you were an earth-bound angel. You should have been corrupted, but He protected you. He knew you were capable of great love and compassion.”

I let out a short, contradictory laugh. “Hah!
Me,
capable of
compassion?
”

“It was your love and compassion that saved me. He had no doubt that you would do what was needed — nor did I. He also knew you were capable of great rage, having suffered so at the hands of mortals, and that my death would send you into a rage-filled madness.”

“Then you know of the things I’ve done?” I whispered.

“Only what He chose to tell me. He knew how difficult it would be for me to hear what you were doing — what you had done.”

“Was it
that
bad?” I mumbled, afraid to tell him my side of the story.

“He knew I would feel responsible for what was happening to you, and I did.”

“How strange,” I muttered, “that you should feel responsible for something you had no control over.”

“If I had not asked you to take my life you would not have done the things that He told me of. How much more responsible for your actions do I need to be?”

“And if I hadn’t taken your life I’d have been condemning you to life as a demon, as you pointed out so often before I finally did take your life. I’ve
seen
what they do to those they dislike in hell. While I hate to admit it, you were right and I was wrong.”

“It saddened Him, you know, to have caused us such grief and pain when we were so happy. He has promised we will be happy again. But He needed you, in your grief, to cleanse the angels of the corruption that was festering within. He needed someone from the outside, who had no ties to those involved, to do it. He needed someone who would feel no remorse.”

“You make it sound like I’m a cold, heartless bitch,” I said bitterly.

“For a time you
were,
and you needed to be, in order to do what had to be done. When Raphael was gone and He saw what you would try to do — futile by the way, angels cannot take their own lives — He sent me back, to bring you from the brink of madness. His final words to me before He sent me to you were that we would be given a gift. I believe that gift is to be together again.”

“And so, here we are,” I said.

“Yes.”

“I guess it’s my turn now,” I sighed.

Danny rubbed my arms and kissed the top of my head, letting me know it was okay.

“You already know that I found your other safe haven, and for a time it was a haven, while I mourned. I met an old acquaintance, by chance, and a varakiana — some varakianas want to live peaceably among mortals, by the way. It was the one I met who gave me the idea of using the solstice, when she mentioned something about a zombie nest. I remembered what you told me about the solstice.

“And so I went to see Drake and convinced him I had a plan. I told him what it was and provided him with weapons to kill the angels — ordinary angels like you. He was able to rally close to ten thousand vampires, and very few of them were lost. Even the zombies helped out. It was an amazing piece of teamwork.”

I started to get excited as I remembered the throng of vamps all working together, about how coordinated they had been.

“Of course, you should have seen me in my catsuit. I must have scared a few angels or given them coronaries.”

“You dressed up like a cat?” Danny asked.

“No. I’ll show you later if you’re still interested. Anyway, Drake was never far away and we travelled together from nest to nest. He coordinated his troops and I concentrated on slaying the archangels, with three daggers provided by Drake. When we reached Raphael’s army Raphael had gone, leaving his angels to their fate. Phanuel was the only other archangel who was still fighting, with his own army. At least
he
wasn’t a coward. I was absolutely livid that Raphael had run away, and took it out on Phanuel … and Drake.”

“You killed Drake?”

“Oh, um,”
crunch time,
“no. I had a lot of pent-up rage, anger and energy to burn, and he was so elated by our victory, and …”

“Go on.”

“I slept with him,” I mumbled very quickly and softly, the words hardly recognisable.

“I can’t believe I couldn’t understand a word you said then,” he chuckled. “Say it in English or angel, but say it clearly.”

I sighed. “I slept with him.”

Danny nodded his head thoughtfully.

“It wasn’t just once,” I whispered, “and we did things I don’t really want to talk about.”

Danny didn’t say anything, but I could feel the muscles in his arms tense. This was the beginning of the end. He would walk away from me and not look back.

“When someone called out nine-one-one I asked what it meant. That brought me back to reality and I fled. I knew there was only one weapon I could use to kill Raphael.”

“Why didn’t you target Michael and the others?” Danny asked.

“Because you loved Michael, and he would not join Raphael in the slaughter. I only sought out those who’d come to kill us.”

“What was the weapon you needed to kill Raphael?”

“The same weapon I needed to kill the other archangels — Satan’s blood. You see, the archangels are much harder to defeat, though you probably already know that. Demons’ blood just won’t do it, but Satan’s blood did … so I wished myself to the mouth of hell.”