Uriel read his mind. “You’re upset.”
“Yes, I’m upset!” Vero snapped, holding back tears. “I’m upset about Kane! I’m upset about Pax living in an institution! And I’m upset that you didn’t want me in the Trials!”
“There are a few things I think you should see,” Uriel said, opening his wings.
Vero looked at Uriel. Though he was still full of emotion, he stepped toward Uriel, and in the blink of an eye, they were standing inside a nursing home back on earth. Elderly people sat at tables in a small dining room. Some were feeding themselves. Others had nurses feeding them. One elderly man banged his hand repeatedly on the tabletop. An elderly woman slumped over in her wheelchair, while another old woman sang a Broadway song to herself.
“This is the Alzheimer’s wing at Mercy Medical,” Uriel said to Vero.
Vero looked upon the seniors with great sadness in his eyes.
“I know when you look at them, you feel bad for them. You think their suffering is humiliating and dreadful. Don’t you?” Uriel asked, as he observed Vero looking at the patients. “Well, the truth of the matter is, you shouldn’t. They are the blessed ones, Vero.”
Vero gave Uriel a disbelieving look. “Blessed?”
“For the patient, Alzheimer’s is a blessing from God. You see, Vero, God wants these people to be with Him in heaven one day. So He makes them childlike again, removing all their worldly concerns, one by one, in preparation for their transition. So that when these people meet their maker, they will accept Him with the faith of a small child.”
Vero’s brow furrowed. Uriel was proposing a very unconventional way of thinking about a horrible disease. He’d never thought of Alzheimer’s that way. The elderly woman stopped singing and looked directly at Vero.
“Are you two here to take me? Because I’m ready. But can I just finish my song?” she politely asked Vero.
Vero did a double take, startled that she could see him.
“The veil between earth and the Ether is very thin when humans are quite young, and again as people become elderly,” Uriel said in a low voice to Vero. “It makes the transition to and from the spiritual world less jarring.”
“Well?” the woman asked Vero.
“No, Estelle, we’re not here to take you just yet,” Uriel answered.
“Then I suppose I can finish my song,” the woman said, and she continued singing.
Uriel wrapped Vero in his wings, and before he knew what was happening, Vero found himself standing with Uriel in a hospital room. A little girl, maybe seven or eight years old, lay in a bed sleeping. Bright balloons and colorful school drawings hung on the walls. Stuffed animals sat on a window bench.
“This is Leah. She has a congenital heart condition. She will endure many painful surgeries, but eventually the doctors will fix her heart. Her ailment is also a blessing. Through all of her suffering, Leah will emerge with great compassion and empathy for the suffering of other people. She’ll take this experience and become a powerful woman dedicated to the comfort and well-being of others during her lifetime.”
Vero didn’t say a word as he looked upon Leah, his mind trying to make sense of Uriel’s words. Uriel’s wings blanketed Vero again, and in an instant they were standing in the aisle of a small bus. The seats were filled with middle school-aged kids, all of whom had Down syndrome. One boy blew his breath onto a bus window, creating a fog on the glass. Vero watched as he drew in the fog with his index finger. Another boy clapped his hands together, laughing, but Vero couldn’t figure out what was so funny. A girl braided another girl’s hair sitting in front of her.
“These people, Vero, are not who you think they are. They are not unfortunate people to be pitied. Rather, they are the greatest of God’s teachers. Those lives fortunate enough to be touched by these youngsters will see in them the true face of God.”
Vero considered what Uriel was showing him. “But how?”
“Vero, these children love unconditionally, and see only beauty in everything around them. They trust easily and forgive just as easily. There’s no malice in these precious beings. Their souls are the most spiritually evolved of all humans. They are born with Down’s because God does not want their souls corrupted, and they are here to guide humans back to God.”
Vero was silent as he took in Uriel’s words. The steamed bus window caught his attention. The boy had written the name “Vero” on the glass. Uriel’s wings hugged Vero once more, and they stood in a small fenced playground. A boy kicked himself high up in the air on a swing. A girl crawled through a tunnel as another little girl slid down a slide. A boy sat on the bottom step of a jungle gym. He wore a protective brown foam helmet as he leaned his head against a woman’s chest. She held him close.
“It’s Pax and his mom . . .” Vero said, tears flooding his eyes.
Uriel nodded. “Now tell me, does that look like someone who doesn’t love her son?”
Pax’s Mom gently rubbed his arm.
“Then why did she put him here?”
“What Pax does not see is that he needed to go to an institution because his parents do love him so much. When it is his time to die on earth, it would be too painful for them, especially his mother. But this way, God is starting the separation to spare his mother some of the agony she will endure.”
Vero watched Pax with his mother, thinking of the agony his own mother will also one day suffer. Uriel’s wings wrapped around Vero, and they returned to the auditorium in the Ether. Uriel sat down on the edge of the stage, and Vero joined him.
“Do you know why I showed you these people?” Uriel asked Vero.
“I think so. To demonstrate how not everything is as it appears,” Vero said recalling Raphael’s words to him.
“Vero, very often the judgments you make are based primarily on your very limited earthly knowledge and experience. You still view things through your human eyes, and it shows a lack of faith. All of you do it.” Uriel looked Vero squarely in the face. “I did not want you in the Trials, but not for the reason you think. Rather the opposite.”
Vero gave him a curious look.
“I did not want you to win.”
“But why?”
“I wanted to hide your identity for as long as possible. Now Lucifer knows for sure you’re the one. I guess he may have suspected for a while, but now he knows. And that means you will not be safe. I was trying to protect you, as were the others.”
“Then why crown me a winner?”
“The Thrones disagreed with our strategy, and they are in commune with God’s will. And as much as we sought to protect you, it’s obvious He feels that it’s time for you to do what you must.”
Vero looked at Uriel, unflinching. “Find the Book of Raziel.”
“Yes. God has entrusted you with the task.”
Vero put his head in hands, totally overwhelmed. Ada had first told him about the book, then Michael had. It was the book that God gave Adam to comfort him after he was expelled from the Garden of Eden. It listed all the secrets to the laws of the universe, the names of all the angels, and how to interpret dreams, but, most importantly, it listed all the souls yet to be born into the world.
“Lilith wants it,” Vero said.
“Yes, Lucifer sent her after you. And as you’ve seen, she tried to get to you through Clover. But Vero,” Uriel tilted Vero’s chin to him. “Now, he will come after you himself. He will declare war on you and everyone you love.”
Fear washed over Vero’s face. “But I have no idea where the book is.”
“Nor did you know where the unicorn, jawbone, or portal were when you began those challenges. But He has given you the gifts you need to overcome obstacles and find it. There was a reason you were the only one who could read the parchments in the golems’ mouths.”
Vero remembered that no matter how hard Ada or Pax studied the parchments, they appeared blank to them. Yet, he saw the words clearly.
“And you possess a strength . . . no one has severed Lilith
’s hair in more than a millennium. It is confirmed for all to see. Even before Gabriel placed that laurel on your head, Lucifer knew you were the one.”
Vero looked up at Uriel. “Will Lilith come after me again? You said she’s not dead.”
“Lucifer will use whatever and whomever to stop you. Lilith is no exception,” Uriel said in a warning tone.
“Why do they want the book so badly?”
Uriel appeared surprised by the question. “What would the lord of darkness possibly want with all the secrets of the universe? You could just imagine how he’d use a book like that to lead even more people farther from God.”
Vero’s brow furrowed as he thought about that.
“But the gifts you possess aren’t the only weapons you will have to find the book. Your fellow fledglings at C.A.N.D.L.E., even Clover and Tack . . .”
“Tack?” Vero interrupted.
“Yes, Tack. They have also been given gifts to help you succeed.”
“Tack? You sure?”
Uriel chuckled. “Especially Tack.” Uriel’s eyes filled with emotion as he looked upon Vero. “I’m proud of you, Vero. I’m sorry I had to let you think otherwise.”
Vero looked out across the empty amphitheater. “I know. Everything in its own time.”
“And always remember . . . you don’t find out who you are when the going is good. It’s under adversity that we find our strength.”
Uriel wrapped his wings around himself and disappeared. In his wake, something round and shiny caught Vero’s attention. As he looked closer, he recognized it as his crown, the crown waiting for him in heaven. The last time he had seen it, it had been adorned with a single jewel. But to his surprise, several simple gemstones were inlaid into the circular base, nearly completing it. He should have been thrilled at the sight of it, but he wasn’t . . . because he knew once the crown was completed, so would his time on earth.
29
THE BURNING HATRED
Vero walked through the front door of his home. He saw his mom and dad hugging a sobbing Clover. Vero walked over to the sofa. “Is she okay . . .?”
“It’s all right now,” Dad told Vero.
“What happened?”
“That horrible Kira talked Clover into sneaking away with her to that stupid concert tonight, the one we forbade her to go to. But your sister only got as far as the Attleboro metro stop before she had the good sense to call Mom to come get her.”
“I don’t ever want to see Kira again,” Clover said sniffling. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a brat.”
“We’ve got our old Clover back now, and that’s all that matters,” Mom said.
Vero looked at Clover. She held his gaze.
Mom patted Clover’s hair and stood up. “Come on, I’ve got to get dinner on the table.”
“I’ll help you,” Dad said, and together they walked into the kitchen.
Vero sat next to Clover.
“Please don’t say you told me so,” Clover said.
“I won’t. It’s my fault,” Vero said. “Unfortunately, I brought Kira into your life.”
Clover looked to Vero in confusion.
“Kira isn’t just a bad kid, she’s a very powerful demoness.”
Clover gasped as a terrified look came over her.
“She was trying to get at me through you,” Vero explained. “She had you under her influence.”
“But why?”
“Because I have to do something very important, and she wants to stop me. I can’t tell you anything about it yet, but I can tell you that you and Tack are meant to help me.”
“Tack?”
Vero chuckled. “I know. I had the same reaction. Both of you have gifts to help me succeed.”
“You mean my visions? The dreams?”
“Probably.”
“I think they’ve returned because I had another dream the other night. I saw you with the other guardian angels in my dream. You were there, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, we were there,” Vero answered.
“That’s freaky.” Clover looked down. “I’m scared, Vero. What if this happens again?” When she looked up again, her eyes were full of fear.
“I won’t lie to you. They’re going to keep coming after us. But you’ve got a great guardian angel looking out for you.” Vero put a hand on Clover’s. “She’s a close friend of mine.”
Clover smiled.
Vero noticed that things at Attleboro Middle seemed to have settled down. A sense of normalcy returned to the school. Tack could once again walk down the hallway without the girls giving him spontaneous hugs. Teachers went back to chiding Tack for his lousy grades, and the jocks ignored him. But Davina and Danny were still on the outs, so when Vero saw Davina sitting on a bench in front of the school, he realized it was time to make things right.
“What are you reading?” Vero asked Davina.
Davina looked up from her book. “Hey, Vero. Studying for today’s science test.”
“I’m glad I caught you because I wanted to tell you something,” Vero said as he sat down next to her. “That day in the library when you saw Danny kiss Kira, well, I was also there. It didn’t happen the way you think.”
“What do you mean?”
“Danny was on his computer, minding his own business, when Kira, just out of the blue, leaned over and kissed him. She did it right when you were coming, for you to see. She wanted you to think she and Danny were romantic. Danny was freaked out by it.”
Davina’s eyes softened. “Really?”
“I swear. Kira kissed him before he knew what was going on. He’s crazy about you. He’d never do that to you. And when he chased after you, I saw Kira sit down at his computer. She sent out the threatening email, not Danny.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Kira is not a nice person. She’s just full of hate. Unfortunately, that’s what motivates her. The inspectors said the whole ceiling collapse was caused by years of faulty plumbing from back when the sprinkler system was installed. Danny could never have masterminded that. Everybody now knows that.”
“I know.”
“But it would be nice if he heard it from you . . .” Vero nodded to Danny who was walking up the stairs to the main doors.
Davina followed his gaze and saw Danny.
“Thanks,” she said to Vero.
Davina walked over to Danny. As Vero watched Davina talk warmly to Danny, he realized he must have been becoming more angel than human because, here he was, encouraging his crush to be with someone else. It was a bittersweet feeling.
A hand slapped the back of Vero’s head. He spun around to see Tack standing there.
“Hey!” Vero yelled.
“That’s for ditching me at the arcade,” Tack said. “You could have let me know you left. Luckily, I found my backpack on the floor in front of that photo booth.”
“Oh, sorry,” Vero said. “I was pretty upset about Clover, so I left in a hurry. I’m really sorry.”
“Your mom called mine and said Clover was okay. She tried to sneak out with Kira.”
“That won’t happen again—”
“Yeah, I heard Kira left school,” Tack interrupted.
Vero nodded.
“She was hot, but there was definitely something weird about her.”
“Trust me, she would never be your type,” Vero said, as he stared at Tack, recalling Uriel’s prediction, “Tack has been given gifts to help you succeed.”
Tack squirmed under Vero’s gaze. “What? Do I have a booger hanging or something?” he said, quickly wiping his nose with his sleeve.
“No,” Vero laughed. “I was just thinking that God works in mysterious ways.”
Tack gave Vero a look then put him in a headlock, and the two walked up the stairs and into the school.
A fire burned brightly deep in the forest. Lilith kneeled before the flames, her face old and hideous and her head now bald. Only a few sparse hairs grew from it.
“You are pathetic, m
y bride,” the blaze spoke. “You have disappointed me.”
Lilith spat on the fire. It roared. The flames intensified then formed into the shape of an arm. The burning arm shot out of the fire and grabbed Lilith around her neck, lifting her off the ground. She choked as the hand tightened.
“I should feed you to Abaddon,” the fire said.
“Except even you, Lucifer, are afraid of him,” Lilith gurgled.
The hand squeezed hard. Then it let go. Lilith fell to the ground, gasping for air.
“You will get what I need to know or else!”
“Or else what?” Lilith interrupted. “We chose hate a long time ago, you and I. We care for no one or no thing. We even despise ourselves. So your threats mean nothing to me. Yet, I will do what you ask, but only because that same hate that destroyed us, is all we have.”
Lilith turned and walked into the blackness of the woods as the fire extinguished itself, smoldered, and turned to ash. She stepped over a fallen branch then came to an abrupt stop. Two eyes willingly met hers. They belonged to a boy, a dark-haired angel with angry eyes . . . they belonged to Kane. Lilith smiled eagerly.
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