The Daughter of Zion

by Elicia Hyder

Stars speckled the daytime sky, brightening until they each shone like the sun. One, directly above me, was pink.

  Alice’s star.

  It was the auranos.

  The light beam between Earth and Eden slowly transformed into a massive white moonstone staircase. At its top was the towering Eden Gate with its three arched doorways.

  The outer arches were dim. The one on the left, which once led to Nulterra, now led to nowhere. The arch on the right was the door to my chamber in Reclusion. I doubted anyone had opened it in my absence.

  But the ornate doors in the center, made of moonstone and pearl, were standing open. In their center was a silhouetted man, slowly descending the steps.

  Honeysuckle and sea salt filled my nose as my eyes adjusted to the Eden sun. Every angel around me was kneeling, including every single member of the fallen, except the Morning Star. He was suspended in the air, frozen except for his eyes.

  His eyes were on the figure coming toward us.

  Iliana’s feet settled on the ground. I grabbed her and pressed a kiss against her hair. Nathan threw his arms around both of us.

  The rest of our family and friends crawled out of the bunker stairwell. Sloan stumbled as she ran across the rubble. Luca caught her around the waist, and Dr. Jordan was right behind them.

  Adrianne was using her son as a crutch across the ruins. Her hair was matted with blood down the side of her face. Taiya walked with them, holding the hand of little Sloan.

  “Azrael, go to your wife,” a voice said from above.

  Azrael stood and ran to the building.

  “Daddy!” Little Sloan squealed, running to meet him.

  He caught her in his arms and picked her up. Then he kissed his wife and hugged his son. Phillip’s mouth was hanging open. “Whoa,” he said, looking at the staircase.

  Fury slipped under my arm. I smiled and kissed her forehead.

  Then everyone gathered at the bottom of the stairs.

  The man’s face came into focus as he neared. It was the Father. No longer a withered old man, he’d been transformed to a younger version of Father John. The same small stature. The same unassuming frame. The same birthmark on his forehead, half of which was now covered with soft brown hair.

  His eyes, too, were still his. Kind, compassionate, understanding.

  He was smiling when he reached the bottom step. “Well done, kiddo,” he said to Iliana with a wink.

  Tears were glistening on her cheeks, but she covered her mouth as a rogue giggle slipped out. “How did you know I could do it?”

  He leaned toward her. “Because I made you.”

  Iliana’s head pulled back.

  “I know the Morning Star likes to take credit for maneuvering your mom and dad together, but nothing happens under my nose that I’m oblivious to.”

  Sloan and I exchanged a glance. “You brought me and Sloan together?” I asked him.

  “You were never a mistake, Warren.” He looked at her. “And you were never created for evil, Sloan.”

  She nodded as tears spilled down her dirty cheeks.

  Other spirits started down the stairs behind the Father. Angels and humans.

  My mother, Nadine.

  Ariel, the Archangel of Life.

  Alice, my very best friend.

  My wrinkled bulldog, Skittles, in Alice’s arms.

  And finally…

  Sloan’s mother, Audrey.

  Sloan gasped and covered her mouth. “Mom?”

  Audrey Jordan walked down to the bottom step, next to the Father, and reached for Sloan’s hand. Crying, Sloan took it. “Sweetheart, I’m so proud of you,” Audrey said.

  Dr. Jordan put his hands on Sloan’s shoulders, and she flinched. Then she looked back at his face and cried even harder. Both her parents embraced her.

  Audrey looked over their heads and stretched her hands toward Iliana and Luca. “Hi, kids. I’m your Gran.”

  Iliana grabbed her fingers and squeezed them.

  Then Audrey looked at me. “Thank you.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” I said.

  “Everything was because of you.”

  My eyes burned, which made me the last human in the group to tear up. Nope, Luca wasn’t crying either. But how many teenage boys would?

  And neither was Audrey—because there are no tears in Eden. She looked at her husband. “Robert, are you ready to come home?”

  Emotion choked him, and he nodded. Then he turned to Sloan and cupped her face in his hands. “Will you be okay?”

  She covered his hands with hers. “I will be now.”

  When she released him, he stepped onto the bottom step, and the light of Eden washed over him. He inhaled like it was the first time in years, and he put his arms around his wife.

  Behind them, Alice waved Skittles’s paw. Alice’s hair was a shade somewhere between flamingo and fruit punch. She squeezed past Dr. Jordan onto the bottom step.

  I hugged her. “Sorry it’s been a minute.”

  “A minute?” She held onto the back of my neck. “It’s been a bazillion years.”

  I laughed. “I know. I’m sorry.” I scratched Skittles behind the ears and leaned over to let her lick my face. “Hey, girl. I missed you too.”

  Alice cleared her throat. When I looked up at her, she jerked her head toward Fury. “You gonna introduce me, or what?”

  With a smile, I touched the small of Fury’s back. “Alice, this is Fury. Fury, this is Alice.”

  The two shook hands. “It’s nice to meet you, finally,” Alice told her.

  Fury looked up at me. “You talk about me?”

  Alice pulled her hand closer. “All the time.”

  “What?” Nathan held up his hands. “You don’t talk about me?”

  Alice straightened. “Oh, he does. I’m pretty sure I know who everyone is.”

  She did a roll call, pointing around the group and successfully naming off all my closest friends. She guessed Nathan’s parents because Nathan and his dad look so much alike, and she called out SF-12, even though she didn’t know their names. The children, of course, she didn’t know at all because they didn’t exist the last time I saw her.

  “Everyone,” I said, “this is Alice and my dog—”

  “Our dog,” she corrected me.

  “Yes. Our dog, Skittles.”

  “Hi, Skittles,” Taiya said, waving.

  Little Sloan tugged on Azrael sleeve. “Daddy, can I get down and play with the puppy?”

  Azrael carried her forward. “You can pet the puppy, but the puppy can’t come down and play.”

  She patted Skittles on the head. “Why not?”

  “Because these friends don’t live here anymore. See that step? That’s as far as they can come.”

  Her little blonde head tilted to the side. “Like the hall-monitor line at recess?”

  Azrael chuckled. “Something like that.”

  My mother was watching from the back of the group. “You have a beautiful family, Azrael.”

  “Thank you.” He put his arm around Adrianne.

  Had this been the real world, it might have been an awkward moment. But there was no sadness. No jealousy. No regrets.

  At least not for my mother. Adrianne, however, looked a little wary. But, in her defense, she had just lived through a mortar strike.

  “Nadine, this is my wife, Adrianne, and our kids, Sloan and Phillip.”

  “Hello, Adrianne,” Mom said warmly.

  Adrianne offered a small wave. “Hello.”

  “Who is that?” little Sloan asked.

  “That’s Warren’s mommy,” Azrael explained.

  I heard Adrianne lean toward Sloan and whisper, “I had no idea she was so pretty.”

  Sloan laughed softly and rolled her eyes.

  Ariel, the Archangel of Life, stepped down beside the Father and offered me a shimmering clear round bottle. “From the fountain of Zion.”

  I held it up against the light. “Crystal water.”

  “Almost
a gallon of it. There should be plenty to heal the Earth for a time.”

  “Heal everyone on Earth?” Nathan blew out a sigh that puffed out his cheeks. “That’s going to take a while.”

  Ariel shook her head. “No, it won’t. Deposit it in four equal shares in the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic Oceans. Nature will do the rest.”

  I smiled sincerely. “Thank you.”

  This was twice Ariel had volunteered help after so adamantly refusing my pleas in Eden. She and I had almost come to blows after a heated argument in Zion over her passivity.

  “You returned Fury’s cuffs from the sea before we went to Nulterra. Now this. What’s changed?” I asked, noting the guilt in her golden eyes.

  She linked her fingers in front of her. “In Zion, you said that the chronicles of history would show that I chose to take a knee when the Angels of Life had the choice to fight. After I researched what take a knee meant, and learned more than I ever wanted to about American football”—we all laughed—“I decided we would not hide from this war.”

  Her eyes drifted toward Azrael. “Someone once asked for my help, and I denied them. I’ve regretted it every day since.”

  Ariel had been among the angels who refused to help Azrael protect me as a baby.

  “Forgive me?” she asked.

  My father’s head tilted forward.

  Movement up the staircase drew my eye. Someone else was coming down. I strained my eyes, but their face was silhouetted against the bright light behind them, and I couldn’t make out their identity. Whoever it was had a petite frame, and they walked with a chipper bounce to their step.

  I didn’t know many people like that.

  “Who is that?” Sloan asked, creating a visor with her hand to shield her eyes.

  Reuel pushed through the center of the group. He lingered in front of me for a second, before pushing up through the center of the stairs. The woman’s face came into view.

  Nathan leaned against my arm. “Is that the chick from the bakery?”

  I laughed as Reuel lifted her like a rag doll and hugged her. “Yeah, I think it is.”

  The Father turned back toward us. “It looks like Reuel is coming home. Anyone else?” He looked at me first.

  “With your blessing, I’d like to stay.” I smiled at my daughter. “I don’t want to miss anything else if I can help it.”

  She laid her head in the crook of my neck.

  The Father smiled. “I had a feeling you might say that.”

  “I’m going,” Gabriel said. He looked across the lawn. “And I’m bringing Ionis home with me.”

  A hush fell over our group. “We’re bringing all of our dead with us,” the Father said.

  “Is there any way to bring them back?” Nathan asked.

  “I’m afraid there is not. The sacrifice they made here was great,” the Father answered. Without another word, the bodies of the angels and demons who’d been struck down rose into the air and floated to the top of the moonstone steps.

  “What do we do about the dead humans?” I asked.

  The Father looked at the sun’s placement in the sky, then looked at Iliana. “I think someone here has the ability to help them.”

  “You want me to bring them back?” she asked.

  “I think all Azrael’s men deserve a second chance.”

  I lifted a hand. “Not that Thacker guy though. I can’t wait to inflict the final death on him.” I looked all the way around me but didn’t see his soul anywhere.

  Fury chuckled beside me.

  The Father turned to Jett and Rogan. “You both have done exactly what I asked you to do. Now that your job is finished, will you be returning home?”

  Jett’s eyes darted around the group. “Umm…”

  “Sure, he’s going home,” I said, crossing my arms.

  Nathan held up his thumb. “Yeah, Jett. Nice work. Time to go.”

  Iliana gave us both dirty looks. “I’d like to stay,” Jett said.

  But instead of Iliana, it was Fury he was looking at.

  Wow. This kid is good.

  The Father bowed his head. “I think that will be—”

  “What in the Sam Hill is that?” Shannon shouted from the top of the bunker stairs.

  She and Reese had stayed down below, but now she was staggering across what was left of the building. Her mouth was gaping, and her eyes were looking everywhere but her feet. She tripped over every rock and cranny she passed over.

  All eyes turned toward Rogan.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but Shannon beat him to it. “Nico, baby, are you okay?” She ran across the lawn toward us.

  Again, we all looked at Rogan for his answer.

  Annoyance was etched all over his face, but he sighed heavily as his earthly mother approached. “I’ll stay,” he said, shocking the shit out of us all. He pointed at Jett. “But you owe me, big time.”

  Jett laughed and slapped his best friend on the back.

  “I believe that just leaves Cassiel,” the father stretched on his toes to search the battlefield. “Where is she?”

  “I’m here,” Cassiel answered, behind me. She was on the ground, on her hands and knees, weeping. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why are you sorry?” The Father didn’t have to ask; he would have already known.

  “Because it was my fault the spirit line was destroyed.”

  I could have argued, but the Father beat me to it.

  “We already discussed this,” he said gently. “Cassiel, look at me.”

  She sat back on her heels, and Kathy handed her a tissue.

  The Father looked at her kindly. “You did exactly as you were meant to. In the end, love always conquers evil.”

  She sniffed and dabbed her eyes.

  Fury put her hand on my chest. “Go to her.”

  I lifted my eyebrows.

  “I’m sure,” she said.

  I walked over and offered Cassiel my hand. She stared at it for a second before taking it. I pulled her off the ground and into my arms. “Thank you,” I whispered against her hair.

  The Father smiled at her. “So will you stay? I believe this planet suits you more than you believed.”

  She turned toward him, holding onto my waist. “My home is still in Eden, and I’m so ready to be back there, but I wish to not return until I’ve found Sandalphon.”

  “Oh yes…Sandalphon.” The Father looked around like Sandalphon might wander out of the parking lot. He raised his hands, sending another shock wave of energy all around us that blew me and Cassiel back a step.

  “What the hell was that?” Nathan asked, readjusting the ball cap on his head.

  Cassiel looked toward the sky. “The spirit line.”

  With a thunderous crack! Sandalphon appeared between us and the building. He looked thinner and older, if it was possible. His clothes were the same as the day we’d been arrested, and he wasn’t wearing any shoes.

  Cassiel released me and ran to him, nearly toppling the old angel over.

  “Iliana, do you have any strength left?” the Father asked.

  “I’m tired, but I’m OK.”

  “Can you step up here with me?”

  “Sure.” Her foot was shaky as she stepped up beside him. Inside the light, she wobbled a bit. My mother steadied her with a hug.

  “Now, how do you feel?” he asked.

  Iliana’s eyes were bright. “Amazing.”

  “Sandalphon.” The Father gestured him forward.

  It took a minute, but Sandalphon finally reached the stairs with Cassiel’s help.

  The Father extended a hand and pulled him into the light. Then he looked at Iliana. “You are the light of Eden. You have abilities beyond even what you know.” His eyes slid toward Sandalphon.

  Iliana’s healing power glowed in her palms as she offered her hands to Sandalphon. When he took them, the light swelled and engulfed them both.

  The light sparkled, twisting and swirling around them with every color of the rain
bow. When the light show stopped, Iliana was holding the hands of a man I didn’t even recognize.

  Sandalphon had been transformed. The clock had been rewound, and this angel, who’d spent countless eons frozen as a decrepit senior citizen, was young again.

  “Holy shit,” Nathan said, echoing all my thoughts.

  I started clapping, and everyone else joined in.

  Sandalphon seemed unsure of what to think. He picked up his knees, one at a time, quite obviously amazed that the joints no longer ached. His white hair had turned black, and he must have grown three inches.

  Cassiel stepped up beside him. She trailed her fingertips down his face. “Is it really you?”

  He looked down at his foreign body. “To be honest, I’m not quite sure.”

  We all laughed, and she threw her arms around his neck.

  Iliana came and stood beside me. “I think they look kinda cute together.”

  I chuckled and put my arm around her. “They certainly do.”

  Cassiel split a glance between me and the Father. “Wait till Metatron hears about this.”

  Metatron was another angel like Sandalphon, but the body he was trapped in was much, much older. When I’d met him in Eden, he’d been hoping that Iliana would have the power to put him out of his misery. Thankfully, now it wouldn’t have to be by angel-assisted suicide.

  “So what will you do now?” Sloan asked the Father.

  “For now, I will leave this world in capable hands.” He smiled at me. “We’ll always be close by if we’re needed, but something tells me, you’ll all be just fine.”

  “What about my sister?” Fury asked.

  The Father seemed surprised he hadn’t thought of Anya. “That’s a very good question. Anya, what will it be?”

  Anya looked like a deer in the headlights. “Um, I really don’t know.”

  “Well, I think I can speak for everyone when I say you sure as hell don’t need the mantle of the Archangel. You were a total badass today,” I said.

  Anya blushed as everyone cheered.

  Nathan looked over at me. “It’s a damn good thing you went to Nulterra to find her. I heard she saved your ass out there.”

  I nodded. “A few times. There was no way we could have survived that battle without you, Anya. You saved all of us.”

  The group cheered again.

  The Father turned his palms up. “The choice is yours. It’s completely up to you.”