by Riley London
“I believe it.” Trinity smiled. “You’re such a good person, Charlie. How on Earth do you not have wings?”
“Hi. Hey. Hello.” I awkwardly waved, as I stepped into the conversation. “So, the cafeteria is officially out of lemonade?”
“For now, yeah.” Charlie grinned over at me. “Looks like Micah got to it before the rest of us did. They should really cap the drink limit.”
“You want them to cap the drink limit in the cafeteria?” I asked. “What’s next? Capping the amount of sandwiches that Zachary can put on his plate?”
“Oh, no. You’re right. He’d kill someone if they tried to tell him he couldn’t have at least three.” Charlie laughed. “Never mind.”
“I should get back to the library,” Trinity said. “I have a few test questions I’d like to study up on. I’ll speak with you both later.”
Trinity nodded towards me, before smiling up at Charlie and hastily leaving the cafeteria.
“What’s that about?” I asked Charlie.
“What’s what about? Trinity studying for the test?” Charlie replied. “We should probably be studying for it, too. I heard Mr. Toorin always gives his hardest tests near the beginning of the semester. Like he’s trying to weed out the weak.”
“No. You and Trinity.” I took a step closer to Charlie. “Since when did you two get so close?”
“I dunno. She seems like a cool girl.” Charlie shrugged. “She did save my life, after all.”
Charlie then gave me a suspicious look. “What’s wrong with us being friends, Celeste? Do you not like her or something?”
“No. It’s not that. It’s just—” I shook my head. “Don’t you think it’s kind of weird? How she’s basically falling all over you?”
“Falling all over me?”
“Please, Charlie. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.” I sighed. “She’s got a huge crush on you. I can tell by the way she grabbed onto your arm, at the first opportunity.”
“So, you do have a problem with us being friends,” Charlie replied. “And even if she has a crush on me now, it’s not going anywhere. You already know how I feel about you, Celeste. But that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be allowed to make friends.”
“You can make friends. Just be careful.”
“Careful? Are we still talking about Trinity? The nicest girl in the world?” Charlie scoffed. “If I have to be careful when it comes to her, then I’m completely screwed.”
“There’s just something about her, Charlie.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t say.” I kept my voice low, as I folded my arms against my chest. I didn’t know how to tell Charlie that Trinity was my sister, and I wasn’t sure that he would’ve taken it in a calm manner. I didn’t like keeping secrets from him, but I didn’t have any other choice. I wasn’t willing to put anyone else in danger, not for my own sake.
“You can’t say because you actually have a reason? Or you can’t say because you’re jealous?” Charlie tossed an annoyed look my way. “I thought we weren’t going to be that kind of couple, Celeste.”
“We’re not. Charlie, I’m not jealous. I’m just looking out for you—”
“It doesn’t feel that way, though. It kinda feels like you just don’t trust me enough—”
“Oh, so you’re allowed to have your secrets, but I’m not allowed to have mine?” My voice rose a little. “You’ve been doing God knows what with Benjie for months now, but I’m the one who has to be completely transparent?”
“Yes! Because you’re the one in the most danger!” Charlie snapped. “Do you think I’ve forgotten about who you are, Celeste? Or what’s at stake for us here? And fuck, if the Princes of Hell are back on Earth—”
Charlie stopped himself, taking in a deep breath. “I just care about you, okay? So, if something’s going on, please just let me know.”
“I will. I’ll let you know,” I lied, as I stared into Charlie’s eyes. “Sorry for being so weird about Trinity.”
“Eh. It’s all right.” Charlie shrugged, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close. “We all have our off days.”
Chapter 8
“The council has arrived,” Mr. Toorin announced to the class. “As you all know, it is a blessing just to be in their presence, and they’ve deemed the academy worthy of a visit at this point in time.”
The council.
Shit.
They were finally here. Mrs. Deveraux had alerted them months ago, when we’d come into contact with Belphegor. I’d guessed with all the angelic bureaucracy and red tape, that they hadn’t been able to visit the campus until now. Of course, if we’d actually been in any immediate danger, we would’ve been completely screwed by the council’s skewed sense of time.
But whatever. At least they’d shown up.
“Will we be able to speak with them?” One of the students shot their hand up as they asked the question. “Will they be holding any one-on-ones?”
“Your eagerness is admired, angel, but the council will only speak to those they need to speak to. They have many important matters to attend to,” Mr. Toorin continued. “And now, let’s get on with our lesson. I hope that you’ve all been brushing up on your Mandaic.”
Mr. Toorin hummed, as he turned back toward the blackboard. “It’s a rather lovely language, and it’s written all over your bibles, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to understand in the following passages—”
Ms. Venoix, please come to the office at once.
I looked around the room, even gazing up at the ceiling above.
What the hell?
It sounded like there’d been a private announcement, just for me, that’d gone off in my head.
Ms. Venoix, please come to the office, immediately.
The announcement came again, and I looked around the room, once more. No one else seemed to be reacting to the words that I clearly heard.
Weird.
However, I still decided to do as I was told, shifting away from my seat in Mr. Toorin’s class, and soon heading down the hall.
Chapter 9
“Mrs. Deveraux?” I knocked on the office door, confusion showing through my voice. “I think that you wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Please come in.” Mrs. Deveraux replied. “The council would like to speak with you.”
The council.
Fear vibrated along my skin, as I stepped inside of Mrs. Deveraux’s office. I looked around the room, before I spotted a woman dressed all in white, standing beside Mrs. Deveraux. The woman’s face seemed to be changing every second, going from an older man’s, to a younger woman’s, to a small child. Her clothing seemed to be impermanent too, shifting slightly with each change of her identity, but still retaining the same bright color.
She was gorgeous. She was terrifying. I didn’t want to look her directly in the eye, so I kept my attention on Mrs. Deveraux. “What’s this about?”
“Gabrielle?” Mrs. Deveraux directed her question to the strange woman beside her. “What was your question?”
Who are you?
The question wasn’t voiced out loud, and that’s when I realized that the council must’ve been able to communicate telepathically. I still chose to respond with my words, unsure if they could also read my mind, as well as speak into it. “Celeste Venoix.”
Where do you come from?
“The city,” I replied.
Who are your parents?
“I don’t know. I never met them.” I told half the truth, but the room felt ten times hotter. I didn’t know what would happen to me if the council discovered that my parents were the rulers of Hell, but I figured it wouldn’t be pretty.
Why are you here?
“Because you...called for me to come here?” I suggested. “I was just sitting in Mr. Toorin’s class, getting my studying on.”
No. Why are you here?
The council’s voice took on a different inflection, and I suddenly understood their question. “Oh. Becau
se I’m studying to be an angel, a protector of men and the Earth.”
It is strange that you do not know your parentage, is it not?
“Well, I don’t think that’s really my fault.” I grimaced. “It’s not like I had a choice about it, you know?”
And so, you were abandoned? As a child?
“Yes.”
That does not seem to be angelic behavior.
“I mean, sure, but it happened to me, so...” I shrugged. “Maybe my parents were possessed or something? Or maybe I’m just half?”
You were present when Belphegor, Prince of Hell, was seen in this city.
“Yes?” I wasn’t sure if the council was even asking me a question, or just voicing a true statement.
And yet, you lived to tell the tale.
“I wasn’t the only one who lived,” I replied. “There were a few of us who made it out of there, thankfully.”
You are a new student, are you not?
“Yes.”
And yet, you had enough wherewithal to withstand an attack by Belphegor?
“No. I almost died.”
But you did not die.
“What are you implying?” I asked, looking the councilwoman right into her ever-changing face. “Are you suggesting that I’m working with the Princes of Hell?”
No. We are implying that you know more than you say you know. We are implying that you are a liar, and the truth is not in you.
“That’s a bold accusation. Got any evidence to back it up?” I was annoyed at the council’s assumption that I was working with demons.
What the hell? I’d been nothing but loyal to the academy so far, and this was how the council decided to approach me about something like this?
“Ms. Venoix is right,” Mrs. Deveraux joined the conversation. “It is not like the council to accuse an angel without any evidence.”
Bring us your sword.
“No,” Mrs. Deveraux answered for me, as she turned toward the councilwoman. “Gabrielle, no. You are not allowed to take a weapon away from an angel. The girl has done nothing wrong.”
A decision will be made soon enough.
“If you’re going to bring charges against Celeste, then you might as well do it now. Or else, I’ll advise you to come back when you have something more substantial. If we go around accusing people without any proof, this whole thing turns into a witch hunt,” Mrs. Deveraux continued. “And once we have the angels fighting amongst themselves, then the princes have already won. If you want to hold a trial, hold a trial. But you’re not going to take this girl in, not without due process.”
You would go against the council’s wishes? To protect this one?
“It’s not about what the council wants. It’s about right and wrong,” Mrs. Deveraux explained, her voice full of passion. “No evidence. No trial. That’s the way it has to be, or else we’re headed down a dangerous path.”
All right. We will return, once we have gathered evidence.
Gabrielle walked past me, with her long white gown trailing behind her every step.
I was left alone in the room with Mrs. Deveraux. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Celeste.” Mrs. Deveraux sighed. “And I apologize for the way the council is behaving. They’re just as terrified as the rest of us, and they seem to think if they can make an example out of someone, then maybe that’ll scare off the princes.”
“I don’t know why they’d zero in on me, though. I haven’t done anything wrong.” I didn’t want to admit that I was hurt by the council’s accusations, yet the sting of rejection made its way behind my eyes. “All I wanted to do was be a good angel.”
“And you are a good angel, Celeste. You are.” Mrs. Deveraux offered me a small, sad smile. “And it looks like we’re going to need all the good angels that we can get.”
My mind was stuck on my experience with the council, even as I made my way back to my dorm room. It was an awful feeling to be accused of something that I had no part in, especially when it came to bringing on what sounded like it’d be the end of the world.
Why would I have even wanted something like that?
I liked my world enough, as is. Sure, it’d gotten a lot more complicated, ever since I found out I had wings and all that, but I also didn’t think there’d ever been a time when I’d been any happier.
I pushed open the door to my room, my mind still reeling from the meeting with Gabrielle and Mrs. Deveraux. I was so distracted that I hadn’t even noticed that Trinity stood in the middle of the room, not until she tried to make a mad dash for the door.
I blocked off the room’s exit, as I shut the door behind my frame. “Trinity? What the hell?”
“It’s not what you think,” she tried to assure me.
“What do you assume that I think this is?” I asked, leaning even further against the door, keeping it shut with all of my weight. “And again, what the hell are you doing in my room in the first place?”
“Nothing. I was just—” Trinity scoffed. “Can’t you just let me go? I just got lost. That’s it.”
“You got lost?” I pretended to believe her story. “What were you looking for?”
“Charlie’s room,” Trinity admitted. “I guessed that he was staying with you, but it doesn’t look like it, so never mind.”
“Why were you looking for Charlie’s room?” I asked. “And why didn’t you just ask him? It seems like you two are close enough.”
“I just never found the right time—”
As Trinity replied, I noticed that she was grasping onto something in her palm. My eyes went wide, as I spotted the familiar chain of the limestone, memory amulet, jutting out between her fingers.
“What the fuck are you doing with my necklace?” I interrupted whatever she’d been saying to me. “Put it back. Right now.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Trinity casually lied, as she kept her focus on mine.
“Are you serious right now? You’re holding onto it, right in your hand,” I scoffed. “Why am I even doing this with you? Just give it back!”
I reached out for the necklace, my fingers brushing against its chain.
And that’s when my whole world went black.
Chapter 10
Hot.
It was so, so hot.
It was so hot that I couldn’t think, as my eyes whirled around the room.
The room.
I wasn’t in a room. I was in some kind of dark, open space. There wasn’t a sky, only dark, dark ground that appeared below my feet. I heard a piercing cry, and began to move toward it, unsure of where I was going.
The piercing cry was soon followed by the sound of what sounded like bodies, falling toward the ground. The awful sound continued, as I kept my pace, continuing onward in the darkness. I could tell that I didn’t have my blade at my side, invisible or not, since there wasn’t any added weight toward my abdomen. Although, I couldn’t imagine why I’d show up to a place like this without my weapon.
Maybe the council had taken my sword. Maybe they’d gotten their way, after all.
But if I wasn’t here on behalf of the academy, why was I here? The question plagued me, as I followed the sound of cries and bodies, only getting louder as I approached what I assumed to be the end of where I’d been going.
I turned a corner, and that’s when I saw them.
My mother. My father. Lilith and Lucifer.
They were lying, side by side, with broken crowns atop their heads. Their corpses were twisted and broken, but even in their lifeless state, they appeared to still be holding hands. Standing beside their bodies was Abaddon, his sword wet with their blood and his grin so wide that I could see all of his teeth.
Without thinking, I sprung into action. I knew that I didn’t have a chance against him, but something inside of me didn’t care. He’d killed my parents. He’d killed what was left of me. He had to die.
I saw a flash of fear in Abaddon’s eyes as I approached.
Stra
nge.
He must not have known how weak I was, how I couldn’t even defeat Belphegor. Still, I continued on, not stopping until I reached Abaddon, not stopping until my hands were on his chest, my fists buried inside of his chest.
As Abaddon fell to the ground, I felt his heart beating inside of my palm. I dropped the organ out of my grip, when a sword punctured my spine and hastily sliced upward, destroying every bone in its wake.
Oh.
I was going to die here. I was going to die beside my mother and father, beside the prince who’d killed them both.
The last thing I saw was Abaddon’s expression, his grin replaced by something more complex, something that seemed like he’d found something amusing, even in his death.
And if I’d had any breath left in my own lungs, I would’ve asked him for the punchline.
Chapter 11
That wasn’t a memory.
As I came to, the world came back into color, my breaths coming quick and short.
That wasn’t a fucking memory.
My thoughts buzzed through my head, one after another, as I struggled to bring myself back to my feet. Before, whenever I used the memory amulet, I felt like I was always going back in time, like someone wanted to show me things that I hadn’t gotten a chance to see for myself.
This time felt different. I didn’t feel like I was a passenger being taken for a ride through my mind. This time, I felt like I had agency, with enough free will to make some choices on my own. The decision to kill Abaddon had been a knee-jerk one, and it’d ended with me dead on the floor of Hell.
Message received.
I guess it wasn’t up to me to kill Abaddon, not without being killed myself. I still could picture the amused expression on his face too, and I wondered what was so funny to him in his final moments. Maybe I’d been killed by Belphegor? Which I guess to Abaddon would’ve been hilarious, since I’d been able to kill him, but I wasn’t able to protect myself from the weakest prince.
As my thoughts settled down, I noticed that Trinity was just coming to her senses, too. She stumbled, as she held onto a nearby wall, a small groan emitting from her throat.