“What happened back there?” Naomi asked.
I kept my eyes ahead, tensed. “Don’s followers were synced to giant war machines, just like the one from my training.” I told her about the control tower and the bunker in Tehran, about Don and the Mahdi. “The city, the people, everything—they’re gone, blown away. I couldn’t stop it, couldn’t even help.”
“Why not?”
“It was like before. A demon shared the controls.”
“I knew this was a bad idea.”
“I’m still not sure.” It felt like the right decision. I’d failed to save the city. I hadn’t been able to fight Don because of Azazel. But now I knew about Azazel. And I had resisted him … with help. “I may have saved Aisha.”
“She was there?”
I nodded. “With the Mahdi in the bunker. She got into my machine. Not just hacking—but with her body. She helped me resist Azazel, and—”
“Wait. Azazel?”
“Yeah. Don told me the demon’s name was Azazel. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but he had some control over me when I was synced with the machine.”
“This way,” Laoth called out. She had stopped up ahead, waiting for us. As we approached, I gazed past her and out the windows to the Dead Sea sparkling in the distance.
“Elijah is right,” Laoth said, turning down another hallway. “Many of our fallen brethren have been twisted so deeply that they can never again walk on earth. Azazel is one of these. For many years Lucifer was limited in how he could use them. But through this technology, he found a new purpose for them.”
“Why technology?” Naomi asked.
“There’s no way around the natural laws of this planet,” Laoth said. “When beings from another dimension enter here, they are bound by God’s creation. Lucifer knows this. He also rebels only when he thinks he can win. He was wrong the first time, but he has learned much since then. His power is greater now than it has ever been.”
“Why did he think he could win the first time?”
“Why does anyone attempt to be his own god?” Laoth sighed as she continued gliding ahead. “There is only one true cause: the pride of the created can blind them to their creator. Even after God hurled Lucifer out of heaven, the fallen angel thought he could reign secure in hell. He preferred that to serving God.”
“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n,” Naomi recited.
I looked at her with a question in my eyes.
She shrugged. “Milton. Paradise Lost.”
My faint memory of the epic poem summoned thoughts of my Adam-and-Eve dream … and the snake. “I’d prefer Paradise Regained.”
“You’ve read it?” she asked.
“I started it once.”
“You should finish.”
I smiled. “Just waiting for the right time.” I turned back to Laoth. “So Lucifer rebelled and lost. How could he be so powerful now?”
“The enemy was right in one respect,” Laoth said. “He enjoyed some freedom here, and he found a way to grow in power, by feeding on men’s souls. Never have so many been enslaved to him.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Controlling spirits requires immense force. Lucifer reigns over the fallen angels, but he cannot always control them in this realm. Now they have all been unleashed. We will fight them, but we would lose without the Lord.”
“Jesus is coming again,” Naomi said. “Doesn’t Don know that, and that he’ll lose in the end?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Laoth said. “We believe in the Word, in His promise. Lucifer does not. He’s probably thinking it is uncertain whether the Lord will return. Lucifer tests God, as always.” Laoth stopped before a massive door halfway down a long hallway in the palace. The other two angels were still with us, silent. “We must fight until His return. Many more will fall.” She tapped the door, and it opened.
A man stood there, dressed in pure white, with long hair pulled back and a face unlike any I’d ever seen. His eyes pulsed like lightning, his lips formed a straight expressionless line.
Fear swept over me. I fell to one knee.
“Stand up,” the man demanded. “I’m no better than you, Elijah.”
I staggered to my feet, brushing the dust off my black pants.
“It’s good to see you both again.” He glanced down at the baby. “And your child, Naomi. Have you given him the name?”
She shook her head, eyes wide. “Whenever the Lord shows me, I will.”
“Do we know you?” I asked.
“This is Gabriel,” Laoth said in reverence. Even she sounded awestruck. “He will take us to your brothers and sisters.”
Gabriel’s face was serene and flawless. “We are called to a place where Lucifer would not expect us, because we go closer to him.” He studied me. “You know this. I have shown you.”
The dream. The expressionless face, the blazing eyes. My Mom had carried me past him, to the dragon, in Jerusalem. Doubt and fear washed over me. I remembered Don’s haunting words: He would make you a slave to his law. I will make you free. I met the angel’s gaze. “Do I have a choice?”
“Yes. Either you are faithful, or you are not.” Gabriel paused. “The Lord will not force you.”
I glanced at Naomi and her baby. Darkness awaited in Jerusalem. Maybe death.
She put her hand to my cheek. “What’s wrong? We don’t have to be afraid.”
I smiled. She was right. No matter what awaited in Jerusalem, the greater risk was not obeying God, not being ready to stand before his throne. I turned to Gabriel again. “To Jerusalem?”
He nodded. “It is the magnet that tugs the hearts of your kind.”
“What about the bomb?” The missile had been streaming toward the city. It should have hit just before the flare.
Gabriel motioned to Naomi.
“What happened?” I asked her.
“I followed along with your training for the war machines, remember?”
“Yeah, so?”
“I managed to hack into one, just to keep an eye out. We didn’t know what Don was up to. When I saw the missile coming, I stopped it.”
“Really?”
Her humble smile said yes. “It was a small thing. The other missiles would have hit, but I believe God stopped them all with the flare. He’s giving people one more chance to repent.”
“Pray it will be enough.” Gabriel turned away. “We must go now.”
We followed him out of the palace. I held up my hand, shielding my eyes from the bright morning sun. We were heading east.
“I thought we were going to Jerusalem?” It was the opposite direction.
He paused and stared at me. “We are, but this is the way. We go by foot to the Dead Sea first. You know why. Your dream showed you.”
I remembered my Mom’s words. I remembered my friend clutched in onyx claws. Save Aisha from the dragon. “We’re going to find Aisha.”
Gabriel nodded and continued toward the sun.
NAOMI AND I trekked with the four angels away from the palace and down a rocky path toward the Dead Sea. The land was a dry and empty desert. Hours passed without any sign of life outside our small group.
I found my gaze continually drifting back to the angels. Their bodies were human, but not. They wore light brown pants and hooded coats, with packs of supplies on their backs and gloves hiding their hands. But with each step their sleeves lifted, revealing a sliver of flesh and much more. Ribbons of light flowed out of their skin whenever I saw it, connecting in waves around them, and in wings behind them. Then the sleeve would fall, and it would be a large human in front of me again.
“You still can’t see the wings?” I asked Naomi.
She shook her head. “They look like normal people to me. Strong, but normal.”
“They are, that’s what makes it so strange. Their wings aren’t like feathers.”
“Are they light, like you said Michael’s are?”
“Exactly. It’s the same as it is wit
h the dragon, but bright instead of dark. The way they shimmer at their backs, lacing around their bodies—it’s like part of them flows from another place.”
“Maybe another dimension. They’re spirit, not flesh.” She paused and sipped from a canteen. “It sure would be nice to fly again, but I’m sure their reasons are good.”
Gabriel stopped up ahead and turned to us. “Where exactly did the machine go down?”
“It should have crashed into the water about there.” I pointed to a spot in the turquoise sea. “It was just barely past the shore, and already low, when I was ejected.”
Gabriel led us to the shore, then turned north along an empty, dusty road. The angels’ gazes swiveled from side to side, scouting the path ahead. Nothing else moved within sight.
“You really think Aisha could have survived the crash?” Naomi asked.
“The machine was built to withstand anything.” I eyed the calm water, trying to summon hope. “I don’t know what it would’ve been like inside, but Aisha saw the crash coming. She would’ve braced for it, put on a harness, or something.”
“A harness? Why would the machine have one if it was controlled by syncing?”
“She had to survive.” I spoke with more confidence than I felt.
“Even if she lived through the landing, how would she get out after the machine sank?”
“I don’t know, I guess—”
“Stay close,” Gabriel called out in front of us.
Laoth and the other two angels pressed more tightly around Naomi and me, boxing us in. Far past Gabriel, where a river met the sea, I glimpsed a small group of people.
“Stay inside our circle,” Gabriel said. “Many are lost and desperate. They might kill for food.”
“The truck could be useful,” one of the angels said. Laoth had introduced him as Cassiel. He was like an angel prototype—precise features, long blond hair, and bright blue eyes. All he lacked was a harp.
“What truck?” I strained to see.
The angel pointed to the group far ahead. Squinting, I realized there was a large shape beside the group. No way I would have known it was a truck from this distance.
“I bet they crashed it into the Jordan,” Cassiel said. “It might have been working after the flare. Dumah and I can pull it out, maybe fix it.” I glanced to the other angel, Dumah. He hadn’t made a sound since he’d joined us. He looked nothing like the others—more like a nightclub bouncer, with a round face, flat nose, and thick neck.
“These people seem stranded,” Laoth said. “We’re a day’s journey from Jerusalem, and the flare hit just hours ago. They must have been out here already.”
“How many are there?” Naomi asked.
“Nine, that I can see now.” Laoth put her hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Maybe we can save them.”
“Aisha could be with them,” I added.
“I do not see her, but she could be in their vehicle.” Gabriel’s eyes stayed on the group. “God has put them in our path. And Cassiel is right. Anything without circuitry should be fixable. I believe it will be the old military truck, the one prepared for us.”
“If you can fix the truck,” Laoth said, “then Lucifer will be able to restore Babylon.”
“Yes.”
“How long do we have?” she asked.
Gabriel turned to her. “We can’t know that.”
“I know, but—”
“Nothing is going to survive long. We’ll fight for Aisha and move on. We should be in Jerusalem by tomorrow.”
“There are so many in trouble,” Naomi said. “Why so much focus on Aisha?”
“The Lord has his reasons. Stay inside our circle.” Gabriel marched ahead. I rushed to keep up with him, with Naomi close by my side. The baby slept.
“He’s just focused on the mission,” Laoth whispered beside us. “There’s a reason God made him the messenger.”
“I can hear you.” Gabriel spoke without turning back.
Laoth smiled at us. “He’s always listening …. You couldn’t pray for a better angel to guide us.”
Our group grew quiet after that, keeping up a steady pace along the road by the sea’s edge. The angels seemed more tense with each mile. It made the hairs stand on the back of my neck.
After a while my legs began feeling the weight of the march. And I hadn’t been the one carrying a baby. I leaned close to Naomi and asked, “Need a break?”
“No.” She wiped her brow, leaving a streak through the dust.
“You sure?”
She nodded. “I’m a little tired, that’s all.”
I looked down at the infant’s body. “Want me to hold him?”
She stopped walking and stared at me. The angels stopped, too. Even Gabriel. A long moment passed. The sun was falling over her left shoulder, nearing the horizon. “Maybe. It’s worth a try.” She looked to the angels. “He’ll be hungry soon anyway. It might be a good idea to rest here a few minutes.”
Gabriel had come to her side, and he was nodding. “We should still reach the group before sundown.”
She began undoing the long cloth wound around her body. The baby burrowed his face into her chest.
I turned to face the sea as she nursed him. Nothing stirred the bright, serene surface. Dead Sea. It was hard to imagine so much water without any life in it. Even the sky seemed dead here, without birds around to dive in after fish.
“Elijah,” Naomi said after a while. “Come here.”
I went to her side and sat on the dusty ground. The boy was looking up at me. His big, curious eyes made me smile.
“Ready to hold him?” Naomi asked.
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“Be very gentle, very quiet. Make your arms into a cradle, like mine.” I did it, feeling awkward as the angels watched with their half-stoic, half-amused faces. “Here, I will wrap him up.”
I reached out my arms and Naomi gently handed him to me.
He began to whimper.
“What am I supposed to do?” I felt helpless as Naomi began coiling her cloth around the baby and me.
“Slide your arm through here,” she instructed. The baby cried again. “Good,” she said, “now through here.” I put my arm through a gap in the fabric, and then Naomi tied something behind my back, synching the baby close to my chest. My arms were free, and he was staring up at me, wailing.
“Let’s walk,” Naomi said over his cries. “It might help.”
“Waaa! Waaa!”
I rose to my feet.
He screamed at me. “Waaaaa!”
I took a step, then another.
“Waaa.” Softer this time.
I hit my stride and the angels caught up and encircled us.
The boy whimpered, as if to show he still wasn’t happy about this, but he was willing to tolerate me. He yawned wide and fell quiet.
“He likes you!” Naomi said, looking down at him, then up at me. She was smiling, for the first time I’d seen in hours. There was a bounce to her step. It probably helped to shed the extra weight. My back already felt the difference.
“He’s putting up with me,” I said. “Are all babies so young this big?”
Naomi shrugged. “Not sure.”
Laoth joined us. “This is better, with Elijah carrying him.”
“I agree,” Cassiel said. “If we’re attacked, they can split up. That will divide any demons. Some might go for Naomi, while others go for the baby.”
“Why would they go for me instead of him?” Naomi asked.
“Remember, there’s no perfect unison between Lucifer and them,” Laoth said. “They obey him out of fear, maybe adoration, but they can disobey, too. Some might not like that he’s picked a daughter of man to be the mother of his child.”
“Who else could he pick?” I asked.
“Another demon,” said Cassiel.
“Or one of us.” Laoth’s voice was tense. “Not since the ancient days has spirit joined with flesh.”
“The nephilim.” Disgust f
illed Cassiel’s perfect angel face. “They were the progeny of such unions. I hoped to never fight their kind again.”
“You might be disappointed,” Gabriel said. “I sense darkness ahead.”
WE APPROACHED THE river at a steady pace. The figures standing by its shore were not yet close enough for me to make out their faces. None of them seemed anything but human. Their stillness and raised guns told me what I needed to know. Apparently they couldn’t see the angels for what they really were. I felt sure they’d be running if they saw four winged creatures approaching.
One of them shouted something at us. It sounded like Arabic. For the first time in a while, I missed my precept. Gabriel didn’t slow, and we followed close.
The man shouted again and motioned a command. The group fanned out around him. I counted eleven of them—all black-robed men, no sign of Aisha. Just behind the men, a truck looked like it had crashed into the river. The back half of it was out of the water, covered in a desert-colored canopy. The men seemed to be guarding whatever was inside.
Gabriel continued ahead, despite the guns aimed at us. We were now within a stone’s throw. The man in the center raised his gun and fired a shot into the sky. He shouted at us again. His long beard and dark eyes looked fierce. That was almost comforting, because it was human.
Gabriel turned his palms forward, lifted his arms, and said something. It must have been Arabic, too, because the group’s apparent leader laughed. It was a laugh of disbelief, not humor.
The leader said something back, calmer this time, and all the others started laughing. The leader shook his head and glanced back at the truck. When he turned to us again, he leveled his gun at Gabriel and said a word. I felt sure it meant stop.
Gabriel stood still and straight as a fencepost, shaking his head as if sad. He pointed to the truck and said something, but it wasn’t words. It was a deep groan, like stone grinding against stone, like the dragon’s voice. The men cowered back, fear and confusion in their eyes. A few looked back at the truck, where Gabriel was pointing.
The back flap of canvas slid to the side, and a dark woman stepped out. Jezebel.
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