by Kate Hall
Desireé is alive.
And I’m going to see her again, no matter what it takes.
Chapter Five
The new note on the ceiling of the cubby keeps me going, my heart soaring every time I read it. It had been hastily scrawled, unlike the copies of my name that had been meticulously traced and burned in over and over and over again whilst she hid here. My fingers know the exact feeling of each letter within a few days of the demon attack, and I spend even more time out flying than usual. My energy is boundless, and this is the only way for me to find a release for all the feelings building up inside me.
Over the third weekend of the term, I even follow Huỳnh and Gabe back to the golden city I’ve been to once before.
We land right at the edge, a golden boardwalk which overlooks a sea of clouds. I have to squint to see the faint shape of the gleaming white Theaa Academy, and I smile. This place is absolutely incredible.
And we have all day to explore.
After the other two decide to catch a play at a palace-like theatre, I wander on my own. I’m far too restless to sit in a chair for a few hours, so I might as well attempt to enjoy myself. My eyes keep climbing up and up through the towering skyscrapers, and I have to ball my hands into fists in an attempt to quell my excitement. I shouldn’t be having fun if Desireé can’t be here.
Eventually, I wander into an electronics store. It looks almost exactly like one from Earth, except of course how clean and new everything looks from the glistening floors to the sparkling lights above.
It confuses me for a moment. I haven’t seen anyone carrying electronics since I entered Heaven, although I can play movies that just show up on my white bedroom wall just by thinking about it. The concept of electronics mustn’t be unfamiliar, but the actual existence of this store draws me in. What’s the point of it, exactly?
Like most of the shops here, there are no employees. Why would there need to be when thinking about something can get you anything you want?
There are a few others browsing the aisles, and it’s an odd sight to see angels with glowing white wings and hair in varying levels of paleness strolling through an otherwise normal electronics department store, their clothes ranging from elegant white renaissance robes to skin-tight yoga pants.
I pass a man with light brown hair, and I purse my lips when he can’t see me. He must have been here quite a while to have hair that dark. Gabriel and Azrael both have plain brown hair, and they’re some of the original Archangels, making them thousands upon thousands of years old. How old is this man, exactly?
I don’t ask about it, though. It’s probably considered rude. Still, I can’t help but ponder. Will my hair ever become dark? I’d had dark blonde hair on Earth, so it seems unlikely, but still.
I eventually wander into an aisle that looks like it’s carrying some sort of cell phones, except they’re made of clear crystal in varying pastel colors. I experimentally tap across the screen of a pale pink device, but nothing happens. I must not understand them. Or maybe I can only use one when I graduate from Theaa?
I shrug and move on, exiting the store. There’s no point wondering. I have eternity to figure it out.
Hopefully, it will be an eternity with Desireé. Except I have no idea how I could possibly pull that off.
I’ve only killed an hour by the time I’m standing out in the sun, so I find a cafe and get ice cream from the angel working at the front counter, a grin on her face.
“Enjoy!” she says, handing me the chocolate cone that’s far more than I could logically eat.
I smile back. “Thanks!” Before I walk away, though, I pause. There are no customers behind me, so I ask, “Why do you work here? I mean, everything is automated, right?”
She glances at my clothes for an instant, then says, “Still a student? Yeah, most things are automated, but some of us like having jobs. Would you believe that some people even sit in offices all day working on spreadsheets?” She looks a little grossed out by the concept, but she shrugs. “To each their own. I guess some people really enjoy that sort of thing.”
I laugh. “There’s no way I could.”
She smiles. “Me, either. But I do enjoy serving ice cream. It’s all automated when I don’t feel like doing it, and it’s not like on Earth where customers would be mean. Everyone is so friendly up here. I mean, what is there to be angry about when you’re in Heaven?” She laughs a musical laugh, and her own ice cream cone appears in her hand. She lifts it to me. “Cheers.”
I smile and do the same, then find a seat to enjoy my ice cream. Somehow, I manage to eat the whole thing. It must be some sort of Heavenly magic that the absurd amount of rich chocolate doesn’t make me horribly ill. Or that the dairy doesn’t destroy my body.
I hadn’t considered until now that I wouldn’t be lactose intolerant here. I guess it makes sense, since eating isn’t strictly necessary.
I spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around, and, just as I’m beginning to wonder what time Huỳnh and Gabe’s play will be over, I see them turning the corner on the street ahead of me.
“Hey, guys!” I call, waving. I walk faster to catch up with them. “How was the show?”
Gabe shrugs. “Not terrible. I’ve seen better, though.”
Huỳnh rolls her eyes. “Don’t be a snob. It was good.”
He smiles down at her, his eyes lingering long after she looks back at me. It feels like a private moment, so I turn my attention back to Huỳnh.
“What should we do now?”
The whole day, despite the pleasant company of my friends, I can’t help but think about how much better all this would be if Desireé were here. Would she have stolen a bite of my ice cream? Would we have seen the play together, our fingers intertwined? I rub my thumb against my forefinger as though doing so means I can feel the letters from her note if I press hard enough.
I don’t want to ruin Huỳnh and Gabe’s day, though, so I don’t bring it up. I keep catching their hands brushing together as we wander the streets, and I feel like a third wheel. A third wheel whose fourth wheel is missing.
And on fire.
And in Hell.
I frown, but they don’t seem to notice my slowly souring mood. They’re far too focused on each other, which I don’t mind. I hate when people notice me too much. Although these two had helped me come up with a plan to free Desireé, I still don’t feel comfortable talking to them about her. No matter what they did to help, they won’t understand the relationship we have. And I will never forget the looks of confusion and near disgust they’d given me after I’d initially been found with her in my dorm.
“I think I’m gonna head back,” I say when they make plans to watch the sunset from the top of one of the glass buildings. I might as well give them some privacy. There’s clearly something going on between them, something new and exciting.
Something I can’t have.
Yet.
“You sure?” Huỳnh asks, concern lining her face.
I nod. “Yeah. I was gonna help Nicolai with his flying again. He’s getting better. If I work with him every day, he should be able to come out with us in a few weeks. He’s learning a lot faster than I was since he’s got the class every day.”
Because I learned to fly from Azrael last term, I have a free hour while everyone else in my term is in flying classes. I usually use it to work on my assignments, not because I’m particularly inclined toward academics, but mostly because that gives me more time at night to lie in bed and think about Desireé.
When will I see her again?
The note says soon, but that’s not exactly precise. A week? A month? A year?
A century?
It’s all meaningless here, and I can’t help but spend every moment of every day wondering if it will actually happen.
Chapter Six
It’s only the third week of term when the school is attacked once again.
This time, though, they make it in through the mess hall windows befor
e anybody notices.
There are guards posted at strategic points all around the mountain, so this shouldn’t be able to happen. Demons shouldn’t be able to sneak onto school grounds right under our noses. And yet, here they are. Their leathery wings and horns and clawed, ink-dipped hands are a dead giveaway, and the sulfur scent is just the cherry on top.
Huỳnh and I take up our positions at the windows just like before. Lashawna and Hayes dive down with their weapons at the ready, but there are just so many of them.
And what if Desireé is here again? What if someone kills her? Azrael and Gabriel dive out the window with a flock of fourth and fifth terms. If there are any in the room, there will be more dotting the mountain.
I’m so distracted by the imaginary image of Desireé being slain by Gabriel that I don’t sense the demon before it grabs me from behind. I cry out as its claws dig into the muscles at the base of my wings, pinning me into the wall as my sword clatters to the ground.
“Don’t say a word,” it says, its voice hoarse. “I am only doing this as a favor.”
It slams me against the wall again, and something heavy drops in the pocket of my blazer. I don’t take too long to consider the implications, though, as the demon is ripped away from me, its claws tearing at my skin. Something hot and wet drips through my feathers. It must be my blood, and, when I glance at the ground, there are dots of liquid gold that have fallen down, staining the marble. It’s beautiful and terrifying all at once. Angels aren’t supposed to bleed. My head spins from hitting the wall so many times, but I have to focus.
I pick up my sword from the ground, the cool, leather-wrapped handle reassuring against my palm. Huỳnh has the demon in her grasp, and she’s holding one of her daggers to its throat. The demon’s skin hisses and bubbles where the blade touches it, and Huỳnh glances up at me.
I give the tiniest shake of my head, nearly imperceptible, and she relaxes her grasp just enough that only I notice. The demon slips away, kicking Huỳnh’s feet out from under her, and dives back out the window. Behind Huỳnh, Hayes and Lashawna turn the last demon to dust.
The attack is over.
They got what they came for.
But what exactly was it? I don’t reach into my pocket to find out, lest someone be watching. If it’s discovered that we released the demon on purpose, there will be consequences.
There’s something going on with the demons, and I don’t think I like it.
Not one bit.
Chapter Seven
The object in my pocket is some sort of stone tablet. I lay in my hidden cubby, turning the thin slab over and over in my hands. It doesn’t make sense. The surface is slick and pitch-black. Tourmaline crystal, or at least something similar. But why do I have it? Why did the demon give it to me? And why did that action seem to end the attack?
There are no new notes scratched into the ceiling, and I run my fingers over the last note once again. Had she been killed in the attack? Had she even come? Is this object a sign from Desireé? If so, I’m not sure what it means. The demon had said that it was a favor, but I have no idea what the favor could have been.
I hold the small piece of stone in front of me, rubbing my thumb over it. It’s no bigger than a cell phone.
My mind returns to the trip I’d taken to the city with Huỳnh and Gabe. I think of the clear crystal devices I’d found in the electronics store, but I hadn’t been able to figure out how to use them. Is this one of those devices? Just a more…Hellish version?
I sigh with frustration and press the stone into the ceiling, right where Desireé had carved her note.
Immediately, the crystal goes hot, burning hot, and I gasp with pain. Yet, I can’t get my fingers to release it. It’s like I’m stuck here, my hand pressed into the stone which is, in turn, pressed into the ceiling. Tears prick at my eyes, and the pain radiates up my arm.
Just as quickly as it had arrived, though, the pain is gone. I release the device, and it falls and lands on my chest.
I stare at my hand, but it’s not even pink. There is no burn, nothing to indicate that the device had harmed me in any way. What the hell?
Whispers float into my ears, hissing over each other in horrible, tempting patterns. I look around, but there’s nobody here. Yet it feels like somebody is speaking directly into my ear in a language I can’t understand.
Shakily, I pick up the tablet.
Dimly, as if through murky water, Desireé’s demonic face stares back at me.
I gasp and drop the phone. Slowly, the whispers solidify and form real words, changing from several voices over top of each other into one voice that I know very well.
I grab the tablet and stare at it, squinting to make out her monstrous features that I know so well. “Desireé?” I ask, whispering as if someone else might hear me in my empty room.
A slow smile creeps across her face, and she looks wicked. With her fangs and blood-red lips and black eyes, though, she always looks wicked. It’s just a side-effect of being a demon.
“Avery,” she says. The sound is quiet as a breath yet full, almost like she’s in another room. There doesn’t seem to be a volume control on this thing, and I have to strain my ears to hear her. “It worked!”
I smile, and the tears that had pricked my eyes from pain fall freely down my cheeks. She’s here. Well, sort of. At the very least, I’m talking to her. I can see her face, no matter how dim it may be.
“Are you okay?” I demand. “What did they do to you?”
Her face darkens, and she avoids making eye contact with me. “I’m fine now.” She doesn’t answer the second part of the question, but I don’t press. If she’s uncomfortable talking about the awful things that happen in Hell, I won’t force her to speak. “I don’t have much time. And I wasn’t even sure this worked. But I had to speak with you.” Her eyes are alight with excitement the more she speaks. I can just barely make out her blue irises through all the darkness. “I love you, Avery.”
I want to ask her so many questions, but she looks away from me, her eyebrows contorting in fear. “I love you,” I say with a rush, and she disappears.
I stare at the screen, but she doesn’t return. I try pressing the device back against the demonic runes she’d carved in, but nothing happens this time.
I suck in a breath, and let it out with a long, slow shudder. Then, I close my eyes, running over the short conversation over and over again until I fall asleep.
Chapter Eight
Gabriel does not look pleased with me when I walk into my weapons class the next morning, and my heart leaps into my throat. Did he find out about the phone? Does he know that Desireé has found a way to contact me all the way from Hell?
He doesn’t look completely furious, though, so I try my best to keep eye contact with him. Don’t be suspicious. Don’t be suspicious. How am I supposed to make it through today knowing that someone could find out about my secret at any moment?
He ignores me for most of the class, but the class draws to a close, he stares me down once again.
“Avery, Huỳnh, I’d like to speak with you,” he says, an eyebrow raised. I flush and walk up to the front of the room, and Huỳnh joins me. My hands are shaking, so I clench them into fists. He knows he knows he—
“I heard about what happened in the mess hall during the demon attack yesterday,” he says disdainfully. I open my mouth to explain, but he keeps going before I can speak. “I thought that both of you should know better than to take on a demon single-handedly, but you let it escape by not working together.”
It’s almost painful to force myself not to sigh with relief. He’s mad that we didn’t do a good enough job trying to kill the demon, not that we let it escape on purpose after it delivered a gift from my demonic girlfriend. I look to the ground in false shame.
“I’m sorry,” Huỳnh says, taking a step forward. “I thought I could handle it myself when I got it off of Avery, but I was wrong. It got the best of me, and it escaped.”
&nbs
p; Gabriel nods, but his jaw is still tight. “Well, I’d like the two of you to come in after class for remedial training every day for the next two weeks. This type of mistake is unacceptable. What if, because of your mistake, that demon goes to Earth and harms some humans? Did you even think of the consequences of your actions?”
My heart races. “I’m sorry,” I say as earnestly as I can muster, although I don’t actually believe what I’m saying. It had helped me speak with Desireé. There was no way I could’ve let Huỳnh kill it.
“Me, too,” Huỳnh says, her voice subdued.
After watching us for a long moment, Gabriel nods. “Take your places. Let’s get started.”
I sigh with relief and go back to my normal sparring area, and Huỳnh joins me. I can’t believe we’re going to have to spend extra time with Gabriel every day. What if he figures it out? An extra couple hours in the afternoons is a lot of one-on-one time with an ancient Archangel that’s fought thousands of demons in his lifetime. Maybe even millions.
After classes end for the day, Huỳnh and I meet at Gabriel’s usual classroom. He makes us run through drill after drill, and I’m mentally exhausted by the end of it. Trying to do each stance perfectly and memorize several new ones is tiring in itself, but I also had to keep from panicking too much about what would happen if Gabriel were to find out that Desireé is still alive. At least he didn’t ask us any questions or try to make small-talk.
Huỳnh and I walk to dinner together, although we’re silent through the meal while Nicolai and Gabe discuss the flying lesson that we’d missed from having detention.
Detention.
In Heaven.
I sigh. This place is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Chapter Nine
When I’m lying in bed later that night, my demonic crystal phone heats up once again. When it’s done and the whispers slow, I stare at Desireé’s face and smile, although she doesn’t seem as overjoyed as I feel.