by Elicia Hyder
With her head still on my bare chest, she laughed. The water in the bathroom was still running, and we’d been in my bed for a glorious hour.
Considering it had been about seventy years (Eden time) since I’d been with a woman, I held on shockingly long. Of course, I’d laser focused my mind on everything but the magic of being inside her. My sex-starved brain leapfrogged from one subject to another:
Possible locations of the Nulterra Gate.
Alien vs. Predator.
Our battle plan to protect Echo 5.
Did I lock the Challenger?
All the work I was behind on in Eden.
World peace. Hell, we’d already tackled world hunger. Maybe it was time to aim a little higher.
“We need to get up,” she said, tracing her finger around the edges of the blood stone.
I tightened my arm around her. “Five more minutes.”
She laughed softly.
“You’ve never done that before, have you?” I asked.
“Of course I have,” she said, looking up at me.
I cocked an eyebrow.
“Well, I haven’t done it on Earth, but—”
I smiled.
“What? Did I do something wrong?”
“Not at all.”
“Then how could you tell?”
“You seemed very shocked by a lot of it.”
She settled back down and turned her face away from me. “Well, maybe I was. It’s different here.”
“How so?”
She was drawing circles around my bellybutton. “You know…”
“I really don’t. Please enlighten me.”
Her head jerked up. “You’ve never”—pink flushed in her cheeks—“had sex in Eden?”
I shook my head. “Never.”
“But you’ve been there so long.”
“Trying to give me a complex?” I asked with a grin.
“I don’t mean it like that.”
“It’s OK, Cassiel. I’m kidding.” I raked my fingertips up and down her back. “What’s it like?”
“Everything works the same, but…I don’t know. I guess we’re more uninhibited there. And here, getting past that inhibition is kinda fun. Like, the nervousness makes it even better.”
I smiled.
“I mean, Eden is ecstasy. How do you make that better?”
“Makes sense.” I rolled, taking her with me across the mattress. “Or maybe you’re not doing it with the right person.” My weight settled between her thighs.
She put her arms around my neck. “Or maybe it’s because I’ve never done it with a person at all.”
My eyes doubled, and I pushed back on my right arm. “Are you telling me I’m your first human?”
She bit down on the insides of her lips.
A low growl came from my chest, and I kissed her.
On my nightstand, my phone chimed. My head popped up. “Ahab.” I reached for the phone, then bent my arm on the bed to look at it. “The system’s back online.” My phone rang. “It’s Azrael.”
“Go ahead.”
I rolled off her and pressed the answer button. “Hello?”
“Ahab’s back online.”
“I know. I just got the message.” With one hand, I was mindlessly stroking Cassiel’s arm beside me.
“Chimera put Echo-5 on a private server that can’t receive inbound information, so we’ll still receive status updates, but we’ll no longer be able to disable it remotely. That will have to be done by one of us at the panel or from the inside.”
“Same passphrase?”
“No. She said the part of the system where the passwords are stored wasn’t compromised, but that it would be a good idea to change them anyway.”
“What’s mine?”
“Nathan picked it.”
I groaned.
“AREA 51 REJECT. All caps, with spaces.”
“Of course it is,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Cassiel sat up, drawing the bedsheet around her. “I’m turning off the water,” she whispered.
I held onto the sheet as she got up. Then she smiled over her shoulder and let it drop.
God, she was gorgeous.
“Thanks for letting me know, Az.”
“Where are you now?”
The water shut off in the bathroom.
“At the safehouse in Chicago. We found the last soul Moloch released from Nulterra.”
“Who was it?”
I sighed. “I’ll tell you about it later.” Nothing in me wanted to relive the memory. “We’re heading back to Eden soon. I’m still going to try to convince Metatron to help us.”
“Good luck, son.”
“Thanks. I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”
Cassiel walked back into the room carrying her clothes.
“Bye, Az.” I ended the call and put it on the nightstand. “It’s not time for clothes again already, is it?” I reached for her and she sat down beside me.
“We need to get back home, and unless you want to raise a lot of eyebrows at the gate, that requires clothes.”
I sat up and kissed her shoulder. “Nobody at the gate will notice.”
“Samael will notice.”
I pulled her over onto my lap. “And I will threaten him with Cira if he tells.”
She straddled my thighs and said…something. I couldn’t hear because her breasts were near my face.
“Warren?”
I looked up and met her eyes.
“We can’t tell anyone about this. If the Council finds out, they’ll send me back to the Onyx Tower, and I won’t be able to help you.”
“Help me?”
She pushed my hair behind my ears. “I’ll help you find Metatron.”
I blinked. “You will?”
“Yes.”
My brain was scrambling. “But why?”
She kissed me softly on the lips, then pulled away. “You know why.”
I wanted to ask “I do?” but she kissed me again.
She pulled away and started to get up. I held her still. “Cassiel, how?”
“I know where he is.”
Chapter Twenty
Back in Eden, we stopped at the safe room outside the gate to stash our stuff. Cassiel’s locker was much bigger than mine. The inside of its door had a couple of magnets. With a glance over, I could make them out: London, Sydney. Now she would have Venice. I’d expected there would be more given her fascination with them.
She was unloading the bag she’d brought along. No phone. Nothing personal. Just hand sanitizer, a toothbrush, and a small collection of travel-sized supplies.
Cassiel had only ever been a traveler.
She caught me staring.
I smiled and turned back to my own stuff. I flipped through my Iliana book until she closed her locker door. “Ready?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I stuffed the book back inside and shut the door.
We kept our distance as we neared the Eden steps. It was a little exciting carrying such a secret into the purest place in the universe. I smiled over at her. She smiled back.
My smile faded as I caught sight of my chamber up ahead. Sooner or later I’d have to do some work—or the bodies (figuratively speaking) would start piling up again.
Just looking at my door, my shoulders sagged. Nothing in me wanted to go in there. I wasn’t sure how Azrael had done the job for so many millennia. I was starting to understand why he spent so much time on Earth.
“You all right?” she asked as we neared the Eden Gate.
“Can I confess something?”
She looked surprised. “Sure.”
“I hate my job.”
“What?”
“The final death. Making people cease existing. I hate it almost as much as I hate sentencing souls to Nulterra.”
She was smiling. “Tell me how you really feel.”
“OK, I will. The Angels of Death got screwed.”
“What?” she asked with a laugh.
“Think ab
out it. The messengers have the Avronesh.” I pointed back at her. “You guys have the Onyx Tower. The guardians have the Keep in the auranos. The prophets have Celestine. And the Angels of Life have the Throne Room.
“The Angels of Death are supposed to be the most powerful in all of Eden, and we got stuck with Reclusion. Undoubtedly, the most miserable place in all of Eden.”
“The Angels of Death are the most powerful in Eden?” She scoffed. “You sound just like your father.”
“Are we not? It says so in the Canon.”
“You are the first choir in Eden. Nowhere in the Canon does it say you’re the most powerful.”
“Same thing.”
She laughed. “It’s really not.”
“Still,” I said, shaking my head.
“What’s wrong with Reclusion? It’s gorgeous. All polished obsidian and domed ceilings. You even have an oculus.”
I made a circle with my fingers. “That looks this big from the floor.”
“But you can go to the landing above the oculus. It has some of the best views of the auranos.”
I stopped walking and crossed my arms. “Oh really? How do the stars look from the Onyx Tower?”
She pressed her lips together to fight a smile.
“See?” With a huff, I walked on and she followed. “Reclusion is depressing. It’s always dark. And cold. And…do you hear that?” I pointed above our heads.
She looked up. “The music?”
“Yes. There is absolutely no music in that place. It is dead silent all the time.”
She smiled. “Pun intended?”
“No, because this is not a laughing matter.” I pointed toward the giant black door. “Would you like to step inside and see for yourself?”
Her nose scrunched.
“Exactly. Because it’s awful. I wish I could take all the souls locked up in there and destroy them on Earth.”
She grabbed my sleeve. “Hold on. You’re perfectly fine.”
“Why thank you,” I said awkwardly.
“No. I mean, you delivered the final death three times on Earth without it affecting you.”
I considered flexing to show how powerful I was, but Cassiel was serious. Per usual. “And this is such a big deal because…?”
“It’s forbidden to perform the deed outside of Reclusion because it’s supposed to be physically harmful.”
“Maybe it was true for Azrael, but not for me. We might look similar, but we are very different.”
She shook her head, her face still puzzled. “That can’t be it.”
“Maybe I’m tougher than what you give me credit for.” That time, I flexed.
She laughed. “What’s the matter with you?”
“I don’t know.” I dropped my arms. “Sex does weird things to the male brain.”
“Shh.” She looked around for anyone who might have heard.
“Relax. Nobody cares.” We started up the steps. “Stop trying to change the subject. What are we going to do about my job?”
“We?”
“Yeah. You make the rules, right?”
She rolled her eyes.
“If that’s not it, then what do you do?” I bent toward her. “Besides make decisions that ruin people’s lives?”
Her face whipped toward me.
I put my hands up in defense. “It’s a joke. Ha. Ha. Funny, funny.”
“Not funny.”
“No, I guess it’s not. I’m sorry.”
After a moment, she exhaled, the sound heavy with regret. “You’re actually right. We do make a lot of decisions that ruin people’s lives for the sake of the greater good. We allow things to happen on Earth without intervening. We set things into motion that can really damage certain individuals.”
“That’s why you don’t like spending time on Earth. At least here, you don’t have to see the ripple effect your decisions have.”
She didn’t answer.
I wanted to hold her hand, but I didn’t.
She was looking down at the moonstone steps. “This trip has been eye-opening for me in ways I didn’t expect.”
“Is that why you’re willing to help me now?”
“That’s why I’m willing to try.”
“Thank you, Cassiel.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We still don’t know that he can actually help.”
“Where are we going?” We were nearing the Eden Gate.
“You were right about Metatron being in Lunaris. He’s in a place called the Fiery.”
If I’d had any questions about whether or not it was the gloom of Earth that drove me to Cassiel, those questions vanished when we crossed into Eden. As we walked into the buzzing Idalia marketplace and my knuckles graced her hand, I felt thirteen again. Downright giddy.
Still, aside from a private smile, I kept my affections to myself. The marketplace was busy, and it was no place to unveil an angel affair.
“How far is Lunaris?” I asked.
“Several hours in the air. We can take a ship, but it’s much slower.”
“I don’t mind flying. It just makes me feel weird to do it around other humans who can’t.”
“I wish I could say I understand that, but I don’t.”
“I don’t expect you to.”
She looked up ahead. “Let’s walk through the village, and we’ll fly from the beach. We should be able to make the Fiery before dark.”
“What is the Fiery?”
“It’s a light garden.”
“A what?”
She smiled. “You’ll see.”
My nose caught a whiff of something delectable nearby. I looked around and saw the Heavenly Delights manna cart was open for business near the end of the lane. A sparkling black-and-white stardust sign out front said “Fresh and Hot: Death by Chocolate Manna!” I stopped walking. How could I not?
Holly and Heather—Reuel’s favorite bakers in all of Eden—were both working the stand. Holly was all smiles as we approached. “Hello, Warren. Death by Chocolate manna?” She offered us her basket and pulled back the checkered blue cloth that covered it.
My eyes nearly rolled back in my head. “That smells sinful.”
She laughed. “Help yourself.”
I pulled out a piece and offered it to Cassiel. “Ladies first?”
Holly and I both watched as she lifted it to her mouth and took a small bite. Closing her eyes, she licked her pink lips. “It’s positively delectable, Holly. Bravo.”
“Thank you.” Holly held the basket toward me again. “Your turn.”
I took a piece for myself and slowly bit into it, savoring its warmth, flakiness, and molten chocolate. My body quivered with sweet happiness. “Holly, Heather, I’m nominating you for sainthood.”
The ladies giggled.
“Warren?” A woman’s voice across the lane made us all turn. Audrey Jordan, Sloan’s mother, was walking toward us with a basket full of food. Audrey had died when Sloan and I were still together.
“Audrey,” I said, meeting her halfway. I greeted her with a tight one-armed hug, carefully holding the manna away from her white dress. Chocolate, no matter on what plane, was messy. “It’s so good to see you.”
She stretched onto her tiptoes as she hugged me back. “And you, my sweet Warren. How are you? Have you been to Earth lately?”
“I just got back.”
“Did you see Sloan?” she asked, her eyes full of hope.
I shook my head. “Not this trip, but I saw Nathan, and he brought me new photos of Iliana. She still doesn’t have hardly any hair.”
“Sloan didn’t either until she was almost two.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“She’s really cute, though, and so smart. She’s talking now and crawling a lot. Nathan says she and Sloan both are doing really well.”
She put a hand on her chest and smiled. “I know. I feel her.”
That was the thing about humans in Eden. Their souls were still connected to those they love
d on Earth. Turns out, love is a bond so strong even death can’t sever it.
Audrey looked past me at Cassiel. She offered her hand. “Hello. I’m Audrey Jordan. I don’t believe we’ve met.”
I stepped to the side. “Audrey, this is Cassiel. Cassiel, this is Sloan’s mom.”
They shook hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Audrey. I’m very familiar with your daughter.”
“Most angels are. It’s very nice to meet you too.” Audrey touched my arm. “It’s good to see a smile on this guy’s face. It doesn’t happen nearly enough. Even in a place as happy as this.”
She was right, but was I really smiling that much? Maybe we weren’t being inconspicuous enough.
Audrey pulled her basket around in front of her. “I’d better be off. I’m having dinner with my family tonight. It’s so wonderful to see you, Warren. I hope you come visit soon.”
I smiled. “I’d really like to.”
She waved, and I watched her walk away. Cassiel was watching me. “You didn’t mean that.”
I sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“We have a long walk unless you want to fly,” she said as we started down the street again. “And I know you’d rather walk.”
I took another bite of manna and chewed slowly. “It’s not that I don’t want to see her. I’m just not a fan of visiting her at home. It’s exactly like her place back on Earth.”
“And that makes you sad? Even in Eden?”
“Maybe not sad exactly, but I don’t like the way it makes me feel.”
Her head tilted. “That’s curious.”
I thought of Audrey putting her hand over her heart. “I’m a little more connected to Earth than most angels.”
“Understatement,” she said with a chuckle.
When the street ended at the main road, we turned right and started down a stone staircase. At the bottom was the trail that would lead us to the Eternal Sea. “Is it such a bad thing I was born part human?”
“Do you want the truth?”
“Isn’t that what we do now?”
“I used to think it was a bad thing. That you were an inferior angel.”
I clutched my chest. “Ouch.”
“But I’m starting to think you might have an advantage on all of us. You understand things about the world we never will, and you certainly have more incentive to fight for Earth than any other angel in Eden.”
“That’s true. And I don’t hold it against you that you thought I was inferior. Sometimes I feel the same way.”