by Elicia Hyder
“I was wrong, Warren.”
“Really? How many other angels have you had to chaperone since the beginning of time?”
She smiled. “Your father. On a few occasions.”
I laughed. “Touché.”
“You’re just different. I realize now that’s not a bad thing.”
One stone was very tall, so I stepped down ahead of her and offered a hand.
She laughed as she took it. “This. This right here is a perfect example of another good way you’re different.”
“Huh?”
“I have wings. No one in Eden helps me on the stairs.” She held onto my hand after she was standing beside me.
“You’re wearing a long dress. I don’t want you to fall.”
With a genuine smile, she nodded. “I know. It’s sweet and refreshing. Thoughtfulness in Eden is rare because no one needs help.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“You guess? I’m an Angel of Knowledge. Warren, you know I’m right.”
Laughing, I squeezed her fingers before she released my hand. We reached the bottom of the steps and turned toward the sound of trickling water.
“You know, we could leave from the cliffs if you’d like to stop by and see your mother.”
I smiled. “Yeah. I’d like that. Might drop by my house first and check on Alice and Skittles.”
“Skittles?”
“My dog.”
She laughed softly, shaking her head. “Pets are for humans. Angels don’t have dogs.”
“This one does.”
Music and laughter echoed through my house when Cassiel and I walked through the front door. Skittles barked and ran through the open living room, slipping and sliding happily across the dark hardwood floor toward us.
I knelt down to greet her. “There’s my girl. Who’s a good dog?” I leaned down to let her lick my face.
“You’re home!” Alice cheered, running in from the back patio through the open door in the living room. She wore a pink bikini with some kind of skirt wrapped around her waist.
I stood and caught her around the middle. “Not for long,” I said, kissing the side of her head. “Who all is here?”
There were lots of people and angels in our infinity pool overlooking the bright-blue ocean.
“Just some friends.” She draped her arms around my neck. “You know I get lonely when you’re not here.”
I laughed. “No, you don’t.”
Her blonde hair whipped around her face as she shook her head. “No, I don’t.” Her eyes landed on Cassiel behind me. “Oh. Hello, Cassiel.”
Cassiel waved.
I pulled Alice close and inhaled. “Had a little bit to drink, have we?”
Alice held her index finger and her thumb millimeters apart. “Just a little.”
“Is that my grandson?” Yaya called, waving from the pool through the sliding-glass wall of the house. She held a wineglass in her other hand.
I looked at Alice. “You’re hanging out with my grandmother?”
“George and your mom are here too.” Alice counted on her fingers. “And Sagen, Lachlan, and Forfax.”
“Lachlan, really? Good for him.”
Outside, Lachlan and Sagen, Forfax’s male partner in the auranos, were playing a pool version of a game I liked to call hoverball. It was like volleyball, except often telekinetic.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Alice said, pulling me toward the kitchen.
“Of course I don’t mind.” I looked back at Cassiel. She was lingering near the front door. “Come on in. You can meet the rest of my family.”
The kitchen was full of food. Thanks to my mother, I was sure. Alice stopped at the kitchen freezer and pulled out a pitcher made from an Eden blend of dry ice. It was filled with something pink and fruity. She poured two tall glasses full and handed one to me and one to Cassiel.
I tried to refuse it. “We can’t stay.”
“You can have one drink. It’s delicious. Gazenberry and crystal water.”
Uh oh. Crystal water was like the white lighting of the afterlife. “Be careful with that stuff,” I said to Cassiel as she took a sip.
She shuddered. “Whoa.”
“It’s good, right?” Alice turned up the volume on the house speakers.
“It’s something,” Cassiel said, still grimacing as she carefully set the glass on the countertop.
Alice took my hand and twirled under my arm. Then she danced out the patio door over to Forfax on the pool steps. We followed her outside, both of us leaving our drinks behind.
Sagen caught the ball in his large hands. A guardian, much like Reuel, Sagen towered over everyone else in the pool. “Great, you brought the Council to the party.”
“Be nice,” I said.
“I’m just curious. Is she here to hang out, or has she come to tell us we require approval to be here now?”
Lachlan and Forfax both laughed.
I shot them all a warning glare.
My mother got out of her lounge chair to greet us. She wore a black sundress, a wide-brim hat, and giant sunglasses. Mom looked like a Kennedy.
I greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, son.” She took off her glasses and smiled at Cassiel. “Hello again. Nice to see you, Cassiel. You look lovely as always.”
“Thank you, Nadine. So do you.” Cassiel glanced around the party. “Looks like everyone is having a wonderful time.”
“Yes. This is what Eden is all about, isn’t it?” Mom asked.
Cassiel nodded and smiled, sort of. She looked more confused than anything.
Yaya waved her hands over her head in the pool. “Warren, introduce Yaya to your friend!”
I looked at Mom. “Is Yaya drunk?”
Mom chuckled. “What do you think?”
“Where’s George?” I asked.
Mom stretched on her toes, looking out toward the water. “Down by the dock. They sailed over on their boat. I think he’s washing it.”
“Was it dirty?” I asked, confused, knowing that wasn’t really a thing in Eden.
“No,” she said, smiling.
Yaya, refusing to be ignored anymore, clapped over her head.
I laughed. “Yaya, this is my friend Cassiel. Cassiel, this is my grandmother. You can call her Helen.”
Yaya waved her hand. “Hogwash! She can call me Yaya.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Yaya,” Cassiel said.
“Heads up!” Lachlan shouted from the pool as an inflatable ball sailed toward our heads.
I caught the ball in a shower of pool water, which had to be intentional given either one of the angels could have stopped the ball before it reached us. Using my power, I smacked the water in front of both of them, splashing their faces before I hurled the ball back at Lachlan’s face. It bounced off his forehead.
We all laughed. Except Cassiel. She took a small step back.
Mom smiled warmly and touched her arm.“It really is wonderful to see you. Please help yourself to something to eat if you’re hungry. There’s plenty of food.”
“Ah yes. Thank you.” She sidestepped back toward the door. “I’ll do that now actually.”
Mom and I watched her go. “Think it was Sagen’s greeting? Should I have a word with him?” I asked her.
Mom linked her arm with mine, watching Cassiel float around the kitchen. “That probably didn’t help, but I think she’d feel like a fish out of water in a situation like this anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, they’re not like us. It’s harder for them to relax and have fun when their whole lives have been about service and duty.”
Perhaps Mom was right. As much as I bitched about my job in Reclusion, at least it wasn’t all I’d ever known. Cassiel and the others had been created for their destinies. There had been no childhood. No decisions. No options.
Was it really any wonder that a backyard pool party had her mildly freaked out?
Mom l
eaned on my arm. “It took a long while to soften your dad up too. Give her time. She’ll come around.”
I slid my eyes over at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mom.”
She laughed.
My mother didn’t have to be an angel to know when I was lying.
“How long can you stay?”
“Not long. We’re on our way to find Metatron.”
“I hate it when you leave.”
I smiled and kissed her forehead. “I know.”
She squeezed my bicep. “We have all of eternity to celebrate your success.”
My mind drifted to Iliana. “I really have to go. Wish me luck.”
She looked at me seriously. “You don’t need luck. You are your father’s son. You can do anything.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I hugged her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I waved to Yaya in the pool. “Bye, Yaya. Give my best to George. Tell him I’m sorry I missed him.”
“Your grandad and that stupid boat,” she said, shaking her head. “Well, at least Yaya loves you.” She blew me a drunken kiss.
I laughed and knelt down to pet Skittles. “To be fair, George doesn’t know I’m here. Maybe you should eat some manna.”
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Alice called from the pool. “You just got here!”
I stood and walked toward her with Skittles trotting beside me. “I know, but the universe won’t save itself.”
“Warren, hold up!” Lachlan hoisted himself out of the pool and jogged over.
I patted his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too. What happened in Chicago?”
I sighed. “It was a mess, but I handled it. There will probably be lots of media attention for a while.”
“That bad?”
“Yeah.”
He lowered his voice. “What was that thing?”
“It was a soul that should have been destroyed a very long time ago.” My eyes drifted behind him. Alice was laughing at something…at everything. I smiled. “It’s done now. Forever.”
Lachlan nodded. “Whatever else you need, just let me know.”
“Thank you.”
“Warren, wait!” Alice called, sloshing her way out of the pool. “Please stay!”
I put my arms around her. “I wish I could, but Cassiel and I are on our way to Lunaris.”
“Lunaris?” Her eyes widened. “Can I come?”
“You’d better stay here and take care of Skittles and Forfax. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, and I’ll probably have to go straight to Earth when we’re finished there.”
Her shoulders drooped.
I put my finger under her chin and raised her eyes to meet mine. “I promise, I’ll take you to Lunaris soon.”
She smiled. “Hurry back.”
“I do try.”
Alice clung to my waist until we got inside. Cassiel had finished almost half the potent drink. Alice pointed at her. “It’s good, isn’t it?”
“It’s an acquired taste,” Cassiel said, lowering the glass from her lips.
Smiling, I cupped her jaw and used my thumb to swipe away a drizzle of pink gazenberry juice from the corner of her mouth. My thumb lingered a second too long.
Alice gasped and wagged her finger between me and Cassiel. “Ooo, what’s going on here?”
I dropped my hand. “Nothing. Go play in the pool with Forfax.” Laughing, I playfully pushed her away.
“I saw that. I know what you guys are up to.”
“And you’ll keep it to yourself, right?” There was no point in lying. Alice knew me even better than my mother.
As she walked backward toward the door, she pretended to zip her lips shut. Then she blew me a kiss.
When she was gone, I looked at Cassiel. “Sorry about that. She won’t say anything.”
She nodded, still staring past me. Outside, Alice squealed as Forfax pulled her into the pool.
“What’s the matter?”
“You’re changing Eden, Warren.”
My brow crumpled with confusion. “What? Alice was here long before I came.”
“I’m not talking about Alice. There are angels playing in your backyard.” She shook her head. “That’s not normal.”
“Maybe it’s time for normal to change.”
She smirked. “I guess we should start giving everyone time off.”
“Maybe you should. I think that’s the only thing I’ve done right since I got here. That’s part of the reason you hear happiness right now.”
“We have about a million years of experience on you—”
“Sure you do. But the Earth was created to evolve. Wasn’t Eden?” I picked up an arenapple and bit into it.
She stopped and stared at me. Something in her eyes told me her mind was spinning for a rebuttal. “Eden’s perfection is held together by an intricate tapestry of laws and tradition—”
I burst out laughing. “Bullshit.”
Her eyes doubled.
“Laws and tradition? Would that be the Father’s answer if I asked him about the tapestry of Eden?”
Her jaw went rigid. But she didn’t argue.
“I’m pretty sure the rules were created out of necessity to keep Earth in order. Otherwise, what the hell did you all do before you had us as a welfare project? Was this place just a shitshow until the Father decided to test out humanity?”
She was scowling, but I knew she was trying to keep a straight face. “Eden has never been a shitshow.”
It was funny to hear her swear. “So what was it like before us humans? Was it all choir meetings and Council hearings?”
She finally cracked a smile. “No.”
“So maybe it’s held together by something else. The Father told me in Africa, the Council was appointed to make the hard calls. He’s not a god of laws and tradition. He’s a god who’d rather fish with the locals than rule the world.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “Maybe you’re right about some things.”
With a gasp, I grabbed my chest. “What did you say?”
“I won’t repeat myself.” She smiled again.
I took her hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
After putting Skittles back outside with the others, I led Cassiel to my bedroom and closed the door behind us. “Have a seat,” I said, gesturing to the bed.
She raised an eyebrow.
I laughed as I opened the nightstand drawer. “Trust me.”
She sat down.
From the drawer, I pulled a small, smooth stone. I handed it to her.
“A memory stone?”
I nodded. “The Father gave it to me when I first came to Eden.”
Similar to a blood stone, it could hold one memory from Earth at a time, preserving it in perfect clarity to be recalled by the holder whenever they desired.
Sitting down beside her, I clasped my hand around hers with the stone between our palms.
A memory surged to life in our minds. The day I took Azrael back to Earth. I had just dropped him in the front yard of Sloan’s house, and against my better judgment, I’d stopped in Iliana’s nursery. It was the first time I’d ever seen her face-to-face, except the moment she was born.
I was standing over her crib, and she was reaching her tiny arms up toward me. I didn’t dare hold her, but I did let her grasp my finger.
“I love you so much, Iliana,” I’d said, but not out loud.
Her spirit must have heard my voice because she started smiling and kicking her legs. She sputtered back a lot of baby babble. Nothing in existence could have meant more to me than the look on her face.
The memory faded.
When I looked at Cassiel, tears had streaked her cheeks.
“You really love her, don’t you?”
Cassiel would’ve been able to do more than simply see Iliana in the memory. She’d feel exactly what I felt in that moment. Because that’s really what memories are—everlasting sn
apshots of the way we felt.
“Of course. She’s my daughter.” I closed her hand around the stone. “And she’s the future for all of us. Imagine not fearing the Morning Star anymore because she is on our side.”
Another tear slid down her face. I brushed it away. “Why are you crying?”
“Because I’ve never loved anyone or anything with such intense affection. And I’m sure no one has ever cared for me.” She was still clutching the memory stone, letting all my most vulnerable—most pure—emotions mingle with her own.
My hand slipped beneath her hair and curled around the back of her neck. “You’re wrong.” I pulled her lips to meet mine and kissed her slow and deep.
The sound of singing outside broke our kiss. It was Yaya belting out “Dancing Queen” by ABBA. We both laughed.
I stood and offered Cassiel my hand. “Shall we do this?”
“Let’s fly.”
Chapter Twenty-One
By the time we reached the Lunaris shore, I could’ve almost been convinced that flying was the only way to travel. The wind in my hair. The sea spray on my face. The rush of adrenaline thumping through my veins.
I felt like Superman.
And the view. Holy shit, the view. The first sun had just begun its descent beneath the watery horizon, splashing pinks and purples across the crests of the waves. Dolphins jumped to greet us. And every once in a while, Cassiel would glance over and smile.
The second sun was setting by the time land came into view. Beach shops and restaurants alive with music, colorful lights, and laughter lined the shore.
We landed a few minutes later at the top of a waterfall in a lush green gully far away from the beach. We were the only beings in sight.
“Well?” Cassiel asked over the noise of the water. She was running her fingers through her hair to straighten it.
“That was…” Smiling wide, I let out a loud sigh, then grabbed her and kissed her. She was stunned at first, but then she relaxed in my arms and kissed me back. “Exhilarating,” I said when I pulled away.
“Exhilarating.” She was breathless. “That’s a good word.”
“I mean it.” Still smiling, I rested my hands on my hips and looked back over the path we’d flown. “I’ve flown plenty before, but that was spectacular.”