by Linda Foster
Her eyes had been wide as she spoke, and the girl had looked frightened. Kali had no doubt that she believed what she told them to be true, even if Kali herself had reservations. Adrian, planning a revolution? She just couldn’t believe it. In fact, she thought, she’d need to see hard evidence to even consider it. Which was exactly what Michael was asking her to get.
If it’s true … if what Seraphine is saying has actually happened, we need to know about it, Michael told her, his eyes disturbed. We need to know what he’s planning. Where, and when. I need you to take Seraphine and find out what he’s doing. He trusts you. That makes you the obvious choice. Since Seraphine has already been to a meeting, it will be easy to convince him that she brought you.
Kali hadn’t wanted to, of course. Adrian had been one of her best friends – her mentor, even – and she’d absolutely hated the thought of spying on him. But if there was even a chance that this angel was telling the truth, Kali needed to know. And as she’d already admitted to herself, Adrian was certainly up to something. Based on the number of angels Seraphine had seen, it seemed he’d been planning it for quite some time. Everything Seraphine told them had sounded … well, like something Adrian might do. Disturbingly so.
Rumors had already been spreading through Heaven like wildfire. Seraphine stepping forward only confirmed that there might be some truth to them. And they were indeed dangerous. Adrian’s displeasure with the Creator was well known – he’d made no secret of the fact that he disagreed with Him when He created humans. When He then gave those humans free will, Adrian had become even more outspoken. He believed angels to be superior to humans, yet humans were allowed the power to make their own choices and live as they pleased. Even if it meant turning their backs on the Creator. The angels, on the other hand, were expected to obey orders, their fates already set in stone. Then their lord told the angels to watch over His creations and protect them. At that point, Adrian had flat out accused the Creator of choosing mankind over the angelic host.
It had been the end of his relationship with their master. And, as if questioning Him hadn’t been bad enough, it now looked like he’d gone even further. There was more at play here than a simple disagreement in views.
Seraphine told them that Adrian was holding secret meetings, known only to those he’d invited, their locations closely held. And he was choosing specific angels. When he sought Seraphine out, she’d been upset, and had told him as much. She’d been watching the humans for quite awhile, as part of her position in Heaven, and had begun to feel – to her shock and dismay – a jealousy for their position. She envied their free will, and wished to live a life where she could be whatever she wanted … a painter or a musician, perhaps. Something that she chose. She’d told Adrian that she didn’t understand why the angels weren’t granted such a gift.
And as such, she’d become one of his first recruits. Someone who didn’t believe in the hierarchy anymore. Someone who didn’t understand why the Creator had chosen mankind over angels. She was the living, breathing example of what Adrian said he was fighting for.
Seraphine had thought at the first meeting that it was just going to be a place to air their feelings. Perhaps they would even be able to have a civilized discussion with the higher-ups. It hadn’t taken her long to realize that the meetings were something different entirely, however. Instead, there were discussions about what Adrian called ‘progress,’ and by the way he spoke – his voice full of loathing and disgust for the humans and the Creator – and the promises he made for ‘when he was in charge,’ it was obvious that he didn’t want to just talk. He meant to act.
She hadn’t wanted any part of what he was planning, and had come to Michael with her report as soon as she felt she had enough information.
He’s planning to overthrow our Creator, Michael, she’d said desperately. We must stop him!
How exactly Adrian planned to accomplish his goal was a mystery, though, as was his projected timeline. And that was exactly what Kali needed to find out.
The Archangel Michael had come to her, knowing that she was closer to Adrian than any of the other angels, and given her one mission: Find out what Adrian was doing. It had made her sick to think about turning against her friend. She didn’t have any experience in being deceitful, and wasn’t even sure she could pull such a thing off, but if Michael was right and Seraphine was telling the truth … if Adrian was trying to start an uproar in Heaven and overthrow the Creator … it would mean the end of their existence as they knew it.
Heaven had always been a place where betrayal was non-existent. Or at least she thought it had been. But if Adrian was capable of turning against his own kind – and others followed him on that mission – then their world would be changed forever. She had seen how betrayal poisoned humans on Earth, and how it made them wary. Untrustworthy. Dangerous. She’d watched them fight one another over that distrust. Now she envisioned the angels turning against their own, fighting and even killing, just like those humans. All for what?
Adrian dethroning their lord – and allowing strife between the angels – could create a rift in Heaven that would be impossible to fix. How much did he believe in this revolution of his? How far would he go to give his followers what he promised? And what would happen to those that opposed him?
Could he actually overthrow the Creator? Would he? And why? She let the thoughts trail off, unwilling to follow them to their conclusion. What could he possibly accomplish that would be worth tearing apart their home?
The thought of Heaven in chaos was almost more than she could fathom. It would mean the end. Of everything. If Seraphine was right, they didn’t have much time to stop it. And Kali would be damned if she was going to stand by and watch it happen.
We fear he plans to dethrone the Creator by any means necessary, Michael said. You must find out how he plans to do it, and when. But be careful that he doesn’t suspect you. From what Seraphine has told us … I do not believe he’ll be generous, if he finds that you’re spying on him. You and Seraphine report back to me as soon as possible. I’m afraid the situation is worse than any of us could have imagined.
Now, Kali stepped onto the crust of the earth, her heart pounding in her chest as her white angel glow faded, along with that of her companion. The moment their luminosity disappeared, they were plunged into the darkness of the night, with only the light of the full moon to guide their path. And even that was being slowly swallowed by the clouds, which grew thick across the sky.
Kali’s angel eyes adjusted to the darkness when the last of the moonlight disappeared, and she took a deep, gasping breath, inhaling the sharp, crisp scent of the brewing storm. There was lightning in the distance, illuminating the night sky, and loud claps of thunder made the hair on her arms stand up, the electric chill in the air sending goose bumps rippling across her flesh. She rubbed her arms, trying to warm up and stop the tingling sensation. The storm wasn’t far away, and somehow it made the hollow place in her stomach grow, a bad omen of what was about to happen. Or rather, what was already happening.
All around her, as if mimicking the lightning, the glow of hundreds of angels lit up the night. She hadn’t seen so many arriving, but the clouds had obscured her vision on the journey. Now she realized that there were more angels than they had anticipated. Many more. The realization made the darkness in her stomach grow even larger. This was worse than she’d expected.
“There weren’t this many the last time I was here,” Seraphine whispered, and Kali turned away from the scene in front of her for a moment. Seraphine’s voice was shaky, her brows drawn together. “This is bad.”
“Why, Adrian?” Kali breathed to herself. She felt sick with dread just standing there, watching, as more angels showed up by the second. It appeared that everything Seraphine had told them was true. Even worse, she and Seraphine were outnumbered by hundreds, and if it came down to a fight, the odds were not in their favor.
That meant they were in real danger if they were caught, and Mic
hael’s words about Adrian showing no mercy echoed in her mind. Adrian was her friend, she reminded herself warily. He wouldn’t really do anything to harm her, would he? The Adrian she knew wouldn’t, but as her eyes scanned the field in front of her, she began to wonder if the Adrian she used to know even existed anymore. What had happened to change her old friend so drastically?
In the first place, it had never been his style to hide, and they were certainly in a hidden – or at least remote – location. Before her lay a large field, covered in lush green grass that dropped off in the distance. She could hear the sound of waves crashing against the nearby cliff, and smell the salty ocean breeze blowing through the field. Twenty yards from them, the large group of angels was gathered near the cliffs, and from the look of it, they were waiting for someone, all standing in a circle and speaking in hushed tones. Thankfully, they hadn’t seemed to notice her or Seraphine yet, and she wanted to keep it that way.
Even if part of her did want to run down there and ask them what the hell they thought they were going to accomplish.
She needed to get out of there as quickly as possible, before she did anything stupid. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, or wrap her mind around what Adrian was doing. How could he? She wasn’t good at hiding her emotions, so pretending to be fine with all of this – let alone wanting to join – was going to be nearly impossible. Resisting the urge to punch him in the face for his behavior would be even more difficult.
She watched the new angels arriving and gripped her bow more tightly, glad that she’d filled her quiver with arrows before she left. Then she forced herself to let her weapons disappear. She didn’t need them right now, and if anyone saw her with the bow and arrow, they’d realize she was a spy rather than a friend. She didn’t need Adrian – or anyone else – thinking she was here to fight. And with any luck, she wouldn’t have to.
Besides, she could easily call them back if conflict broke out.
She so was busy assessing the situation in front of her that she failed to notice when someone snuck up on them. Then she heard Seraphine gasp next to her.
Kali turned, and froze in place.
The angel in question was standing right in front of her, smirking. She curled her hands into fists at her sides and fought the impulse to call her weapons back. Adrian, the Creator’s right hand, and the most beautiful angel ever created, stepped forward to block her path, looking her up and down. His eyes were pure gold and sparkled like the sun – a stark contrast to his jet black hair – and his perfectly sculptured features were set in a pale complexion, shifting only when he smiled at her. She forced herself to smile back, though her stomach turned sour at the expression. This was the angel betraying the Creator. Betraying them all.
Betraying her.
It was hard to even look at him. If the rumors were true – and from what little she saw, they appeared to be – then the fate of Heaven truly did rest in Adrian’s hands. He was gathering angels – thousands of them – and trying to start a revolution. Against the Creator. A revolution that no one knew about.
No one except Michael. And her. Which meant that it was her job to save the Heavens. It was a danger to be here, and it could mean her life, but it was also the only way to protect her world.
Before Adrian could say anything, she heard Michael’s voice echoing through her head. Don’t fall for his tricks, Kali. Adrian is cunning and charming. He will do anything to convince you that he’s doing something for the good of the angels, but you must not be fooled. You are our only hope. She straightened her shoulders and narrowed her eyes, preparing herself. Michael was right – Adrian was a smooth talker. And she wasn’t going to fall for it.
“This isn’t at all what I expected,” Adrian said in his musical voice, breaking her from her thoughts. She repeated Michael’s words to herself, and tried to smile in a somewhat normal manner. Normal, that would be the trick. Adrian knew her well, and she was going to have to keep it together so that she didn’t tip him off.
Seraphine dropped to her knees and bowed, though, and Kali couldn’t hide the shocked look on her face. Her mouth popped open, her eyes going wide, and she almost grabbed the girl, but managed to hold back. Seraphine was just playing the part of an angel who saw Adrian as her new savior and leader, she realized abruptly. In fact, if Kali were smart, she’d probably do the same. Despite that, however, she couldn’t force herself to bow to him. Instead, she closed her mouth and turned back to him with a smile, hoping that he wouldn’t expect that kind of behavior from her. She needed to convince him that she was here to join his followers in destroying Heaven. But surely there were ways that didn’t require her to grovel in the dirt.
“Seraphine told me about your last meeting,” she explained, looking down at the girl and knowing that she was going to have to do something big to sell this. She crossed her arms and glared at him. “I was surprised when she informed me of your plans, and shocked that you hadn’t told me yourself.”
“I didn’t think you held the same views as myself and the others,” he told her, his eyes widening in shock. He reached down to put a hand on Seraphine’s shoulder without breaking eye contact. Seraphine flinched, but if Adrian noticed, he didn’t react to it as he helped her up. “Angels like us believe the Creator to be an unfit leader. These are the angels who believe in their hearts that I should be above Him, and that I deserve to rule. I wasn’t aware that you might be part of that group.”
“He made the humans and told us to love them as much as He did,” Seraphine cut in convincingly, playing the loyal follower. “He created a flawed race and gifted them with free will. That free will makes them evil to one another, and then He charged angels with protecting them from themselves. Angels have died protecting them from their own sinful race. Which means the Creator put them above us.”
It was true, and Kali herself was one of the angels Seraphine spoke of. She’d been sent to Earth, entrusted with protecting humanity from the demons. When the Creator first made the human race, He’d also made Hell, where He sent the souls of those humans unworthy of Heaven. Those souls whose actions during their lives on Earth were too dangerous, or sinful. And these souls rotted away in Hell, slowly losing their humanity – and their minds – and eventually becoming what the angels had started calling “demons.” Deranged beasts with no human emotions, only hatred in their hearts.
And an appetite for violence.
It hadn’t taken those beings long to discover a way out of Hell. Once on Earth, they’d found humanity and taken to killing them and dragging their souls back down to the depths of the underworld, never to be seen again. Kali’s job was simple: Protect humans by hunting down and killing those demons. Sending them back to where they came from, before they could do any further damage. The humans called her an avenging angel – not someone to be messed with or pushed, and someone the other angels wouldn’t be happy to see here, lurking around. Friends with Adrian or not.
Of course, Adrian and his followers would never believe that an avenging angel who’d never swayed from her job would want to join them.
She was an angel who watched over humans, in a circle full of angels whose friends had died protecting those very same beings … She would be instantly distrusted, and her presence might put many on edge. Luckily, Seraphine’s speech had given her the perfect story for explaining why she wanted to join Adrian. She just hoped it worked.
“Which is exactly why Seraphine brought me here,” she told him, lifting her chin up and casting him an annoyed glance. Adrian raised an eyebrow, seeming unconvinced. “I’ve been stuck on Earth protecting the humans and putting my life on the line for their safety. Something has to change. I don’t want to die protecting them, but I can’t stand up to the Creator the way you’re about to. Not by myself.”
She grinned at him, trying to play the part of one of his admirers. It was difficult even looking at him, however, and a gnawing feeling prickled in her stomach. She hoped he’d buy her story, and tried to keep t
he smile on her face, though the longer he took to answer, the more difficult it was becoming.
“Is that so?” he finally asked. He looked hopeful, she thought. She could still see the affection he held for her in those eyes, and as cruel as it seemed, she planned to use those feelings to her advantage. That was, after all, why Michael had chosen her.
“Adrian.” She tried to keep her face calm, though she felt sick. “I came here to follow you. My place is in Heaven, not on Earth protecting the pathetic humans. I’m tired of pretending to care about His creations.”
He seemed to scrutinize her, searching for any sign of the lie that stung her tongue, and she held her breath, trying to keep from fidgeting. If he didn’t believe her …
Finally he nodded, and she felt the tension in her shoulders ease. Not much. But a bit. “Very well,” he said, and relief coursed through her as he smiled, looking pleased. “I should warn you that once you come in, however, there is no getting out.” He extended his hand out to her. Something in his eyes hardened and darkened, and she wondered once again what he was up to. And what she was getting herself into.
But she took his hand without hesitation, letting him pull her toward him and then onward to the field, Seraphine following behind them. Kali gulped. What had he meant when he said that there was no getting out? She would have to get out, if she was to survive. She and Seraphine were to stay just a little longer, to find out exactly what he was doing, and then she needed to report back to Michael. Apparently it wasn’t going to be as easy as she had thought.
She had hoped to sneak in and watch from a distance, but that plan seemed less likely by the second. There were simply too many angels here, and now Adrian was leading her right into the middle of them, his hand firm around hers. She tried to pull away, but his grip only tightened. They were walking into the center of the group, and that was the last thing she wanted, but how was she going to get out of it?