Daystar (39 page)

“Oh?”

“Raphael is the Archangel of Dichotomy.
 
The guardian angel of the paranoid mind, the conspiracy theorists, and the clinically insane and I made her that way.”
 
Dahlia kissed him.
 
“I created my second at the creation and our meeting.
 
I made her probably in much the same way you created yours.”

“Yes.
 
A mostly similar copy, a sibling.”

She nodded.
 
“You and I each created someone who could take our place and step in to fill our shoes, someone who would have our original memories, ideas, and core.”

He nodded.
 
“He asked me to make one, and so I did, Michael.”

“And you never wondered why He had you create your own backup?”

He shook his head.
 
“No.”

Dahlia did not seem surprised.
 
“Though Michael and Raphael are similar I created her with a different purpose than simply my backup.
 
I made her with the fear that all the knowledge I was gaining and all the questions I was asking were going to lead me into trouble that could possibly kill or wound me.
 
But I wanted that experience and information so badly, Lucifer.
 
Leaving Hell seemed to be the only way to get it.

“I felt and I sensed and those things both attracted and repelled Him.
 
He wanted it, but He wanted to control it.
 
What He did not realize was that I sensed that desire as well.
 
Though as Eve bit from the tree of knowledge—”

“That is all fake you know.”

“Lucifer, shut up.”
 
She punched him in the arm.
 
“I decided to roll the dice and take a chance, a risk.
 
Gain knowledge and experience and run the roulette to see what He had in store for me.
 
But I am not a fool.
 
I carbon copied myself and gave Raphael all of the things I could not keep or wanted kept separate.
 
I sent her to Heaven when He unlocked His realm.
 
She was to remain there to keep an eye on things, on me.”

“Raphael was never one of mine then.”

“Nope, but she did a damn good job of blending in did she not?
 
It is not due to your lack that you did not see her as different.
 
I had but one second to give power to and no Archangels to gift with wards.
 
So I was able to give her many skills instead of separating them out among Archangels and their siblings.”
 
Dahlia grinned.
 
“I made her to be a savant of the mind, an unparalleled illusionist, and not coincidentally a masterful healer.
 
She had everyone fooled even
me
after we reconnected once.”

“When you met Raphael on the planet.”

“I recognized her as mine and remembered.
 
Happiness for us, but also an immediate liability.”
 
Dahlia nodded.
 
“So even those memories were taken away by her then.
 
I could not keep them.
 
Through my thoughts she could be found and then neither the original nor the copy would have been safe.”

“You knew you would be damaged in Heaven?”

Dahlia nodded.
 
“I had considered it as a possibility before I left Hell.
 
I did not know how that would come to pass, but I figured it could happen and if it could happen, I should plan for it.
 
As soon as we became two, that kind of mind, the mind that looks and plans for all possibilities went to Raphael.”

“Why even allow yourself a chance to be hurt?”

“He thought me an innocent, Lucifer.
 
He thought I did not know the truth and He sought to take advantage of that.
 
If I had come out of Hell as I truly was, He would have noticed immediately.
 
If I had shown Him all of myself, He would have seen me intelligent and aware and cut off my access to His realm.
 
Therefore, I made myself an innocent.
 
I left the devious bits out in Raphael, trusting her to take care of me if it came to that.”

“But she did not!
 
The
prison
—”
 

Dahlia put her fingers to his lips.
 
“She had not the time or resources to save me from that.
 
She bided her time and acted when she predicted that her chance of success would be the highest.
 
She could not afford to let emotions rule her actions, as she saw your—”

“Attempt fail
horribly
.”
 
Lucifer looked away.

“I
like
that you act with your heart.”
 
Dahlia sighed.
 
“And perhaps if she had known about the prison beforehand or had a chance to speak with you without Him seeing…”
 
She shook her head.
 
“But that is a useless thought exercise.
 
What is done is in the past.
 
And regardless of the pain, joining our realms was the best decision I ever made.”

“But—”

Dahlia kissed Lucifer.
 
“I met you and you are the best thing in existence.”
 
She kissed his neck.
 
“I experienced the height of pleasure, love, and joy and from that all that I have ever experienced since has been worth it ten thousand times over.
 
In Hell I thought only of myself, but when I met you, everything changed and I was more than just myself.”

Lucifer pulled her on top of him.
 
She straddled him and smiled as the boat rocked.
 
“I love you infinitely and forever.”

Lucifer eyed her hungrily.
 
“And I you.”

Dahlia winked playfully.
 
“We cannot do this here.”

Lucifer stood and picked her up.
 
“Then we go back into space.”
 
He looked above and paused.

Dahlia followed his gaze and saw nothing.
 
“What?”

“I am trying to think ahead.”
 
Lucifer frowned and opened his mouth, then closed it.
 
He looked at her.
 
“What kind of deal did you make to get out of Heaven?
 
Why is He not destroying this place?
 
Why do no angels wait to pounce upon us outside the shield?”

“The answer to those questions is one in the same.
 
I know His name.”

“So?”

Dahlia kissed Lucifer’s cheeks.
 
“With it, you can make Him vulnerable.”

Lucifer’s eyes blazed.
 
“Tell me!”

Dahlia pulled her head back.
 
“He will know.”

“I do not care.”

“I do!
 
He is leaving this planet alone because of the threat of telling you.”

Lucifer frowned.
 
“We leave Him alone and He leaves us alone.”

“That was the deal I made.”

“He will not follow through you know.
 
He will renege and come for us.”

“I expect so.
 
I suspect He is plotting something even now, but if I tell you His name now, He will know instantly.
 
I want to find out what His doomsday plot will be and then foul it up.”

“Why wait until it is apparent?”

“Once played, He will have nothing left.
 
We will have the advantage; I will have no reason then not to share the name.”

“Then we strike?”

“Then you strike.”

“Just me?”

“Unless He is pulled out of Heaven I will not be able to aid you in battle, it will be entirely yours to win or lose.”

Lucifer smiled.
 
“I like the sound of that.”

Dahlia nipped at his neck.
 
“Men, the same absolutely everywhere.”

Lucifer grinned and launched them both into the air.

***

Gabriel closed his eyes.
 
He blocked out the light and sound of Heaven.
 
His nostrils filled with the scent of grass, green things to match his eyes.
 
Gabriel remembered flying with Uriel as they searched for their brothers.
 
They had stopped in a field to explore on their own.

He remembered space.
 
He remembered Earth.

Gabriel had dropped to the ground and buried his hands in warm soil.
 
Sunlight saturated the ground, but this was better than light,
greater
.
 
The sensation was alive, the mixing between Dahlia and Lucifer.

In Heaven, Gabriel craved.
 
The feeling was a curious thing, but he desired it.
 
This thing called life.
 
He never desired anything more before that moment.
 

In his vision, he had looked up through the blue to the burning sun, not a cloud in the sky.
 
The world had hummed to him.
 
The breeze had rustled leaves and played a melody he had never heard before.
 
The warm earth sang to him and Gabriel had fallen in love.

His eyes snapped open.

***

Lucifer and Dahlia’s Archangels gathered on the plains as the sun grew close to setting.
 
They sat near the ashes of Belial’s pyre.
 
Whitney and Andy stared at the spot sadly.
 
They reeked of garlic and tomato sauce.
 
Neither smiled nor spoke to the others.

Paimon, Bean, Jegudiel, and Furcas sat off to the left.
 
Paimon and Furcas leaned on each other and dangled toys in front of Bean’s face.
 
She sat on Jegudiel’s lap and chewed on diamond spheres that Furcas had made for her.
 
Jegudiel smiled, happy that she no longer made him her favorite chew toy.

Apple and Berith sat together with interlaced fingers.
 
Raphael sat on Selaphiel’s shoulders.

Dahlia and Lucifer turned towards their Archangels.
 
Dahlia looked at Lucifer.
 
Lucifer looked at her.
 
“You explain.”

Dahlia shrugged.
 
“We are waiting for an attack.”

Berith perked up.
 
“What kind, an invasion?”

Dahlia shook her head.
 
“We do not know.”

Apple looked back towards Eden.
 
“Should we warn the city?”

Lucifer frowned.
 
“Not yet.”

“Why not?”

Lucifer wrapped his arm around Dahlia.
 
“We do not know when the attack will occur or how.
 
There is no reason to start a panic.”

Dahlia nodded.
 
“We just know that one will eventually.
 
We would like to institute patrols of two, just above the surface of the shield, to watch for any activity.”

Lucifer looked at the Archangels.
 
“No one is to engage alone, if there is any activity you will report back immediately, and—”

Helion slammed into Lucifer, throwing him off his feet.
 
He plowed into the ground.
 
He held his head.
 
“Sorry.”

Whitney jumped up.
 
“Helion!”

Helion held up his hand and backed away.
 
“No one touches me yet, nothing personal.”
 
He rubbed his temples.

Dahlia looked him over.
 
“Where were you, Helion?”

Lucifer caught her gaze.
 
“Dahlia, he no longer has the black spots.”

Helion waved them away.
 
“We went to where we needed to go.
 
I need a promise from everyone here.”
 
They nodded.
 
Helion faced them, both of his eyes were blue.
 
“You must honor my, our, wishes.
 
I, we, made a choice and we are sticking to it.
 
Anyone interferes and there will be consequences.”
 
He glared at Andy.
 
“Not all of you might agree with us, but that is your problem, not ours.”

Paimon whispered to Furcas, “Why is he talking about himself as plural?”

Furcas shrugged.
 
“Maybe he finally went over the edge.”

Helion shook his head and hit his forehead.
 
Everyone eyed him.
 
Whitney took a step forward.
 
“Helion?”

Helion backed up.
 
“Sorry, this is not easy.”

Dahlia frowned.
 
“What are you doing?”

Helion grabbed his shoulder and wrenched, dislocating it.
 
He muttered and stared at his hands.
 
“Just get out already.
 
Don’t be scared
 
You are being a baby.”