Exodus (Imp Series Book 8) (2 page)

Angels had no sense of urgency. It was one of the things that drove me nuts about them. The world could be burning to a crispy around them and they’d still be debating how many of them fit on the head of a pin.

“I think instead of three months, we need to state a decision will be returned within three Ruling Council meetings.” Gregory exchanged a quick look with Gabriel. “That way if circumstances are such that it isn’t possible to have a meeting, we’re not held to an unreasonable schedule.”

Except for the time when I’d been pond scum in Hel we’d always had regular meetings. Angels needed to discuss everything. They needed to weigh in on every single angelic thought. Of course, before there had been an Iblis on the Council, there had been more infrequent meetings. I remember Gregory telling me it had once been a century between them. Something about having an Angel of Chaos, an Adversary, on the Board made things happen faster. And not just meetings. It seems my very presence had spurred some kind of hyperspeed in all the issues in Aaru.

Which no doubt made me more than partially to blame for their rebel problems.

New Guy looked at the conspicuously empty seat, his face unreadable. “The third choir feels unrepresented as their archangel is on pilgrimage. They have asked the Ruling Council to consider having her seat temporarily filled by popular vote.”

“No.”

I flinched at Gregory’s harsh tone. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.

Gabriel shook his head. “It’s customary to hold seats during a sabbatical. We’ve done it for other choirs, and we can’t break with tradition now. Uriel has been gone for less than two years. We held the seat for Prziel for three centuries while he went to solitude. A few years is hardly long enough time for us to be having this discussion.”

“You held my seat for over two million years,” I chimed in. “Hope she’s not gone that long. That would really suck.”

I could tell by Gabriel’s expression that my contribution wasn’t helping the situation any. Or was that tight look on his face in response to something else? What was he up to? Why had he and Gregory been late?

“We can continue to hold the seat for her. Her choir is only requesting that we allow a temporary member,” New Guy said. “With the situation in Aaru such as it is, Uriel’s choir needs representation. Their voices need to be heard.”

What they needed was for their whiny-ass angel to quit her pity party and get back to work. I always like Uriel. She was pretty fair when it came to her votes on matters concerning me. But her absence was not timely. I don’t care how wonky her vibration pattern was, or that she needed to deal with grief and betrayal that happened millions of years ago. Aaru was in turmoil. Her choir needed her. Her brothers needed her. I needed her, especially if we were going to vote on the continued operation of Infernal Mates. Three against three wasn’t a majority, let alone a quorum, which meant there wouldn’t be a ruling in my favor. If Gregory abstained as he often did when it came to matters concerning me, then Rafi and I would be out of business.

Which would suck. And I doubted a temporary council member was going to tip things in my favor.

“Nope. I vote against it.” To emphasize my firm stance on the matter I waved a piece of bacon in the air. “She practically just left. It’s really bad form to even temporarily replace someone who did the angel equivalent of stepping out for a smoke. If it’s that urgent that she be here, go find her and tell her. She seems like the responsible sort. She’d probably come right back and schedule her pouty-sulky moment for some time next decade.”

“We can’t go find her,” Gabriel snapped. “An angel on pilgrimage alters her vibration pattern in such a way that we can’t sense her.”

Oh for fuck sake. Uriel may have hung out the do-not-disturb sign, but she was still an Ancient angel wandering around among a bunch of humans. How hard could it be to locate her? Dar should be done chasing mermaids in Lake Michigan any time now, and Leethu would soon be available. With all the elves leaving Hel, her assignment in Klee would be coming to an end. I’d give her and Dar a few Lows, and send them to scour mountain tops and ashrams for Uriel. With any luck we’d have the angel back before next month.

“Have the choir present their choice at the next meeting,” Gabriel said, looking far from pleased at the prospect. “We’ll consider it then.”

I’d need to have Dar and Leethu hurry. We were meeting monthly, and there was always a chance that I could stall, but not for long.

“And now on to the next topic,” Gabriel continued. “The enterprise called ‘Infernal Mates’ headed by two Ruling Council members. The program promotes the fraternization of demons and angels with the end goal of breeding contracts between a pair.”

I sputtered, “No! There was no intention to promote breeding contracts between demons and angels! Infernal Mates is all about friendship and healing the wounds between us. We’re crossing the divide, encouraging a cross-cultural understanding, and building bridges for better communication.”

And sex. Okay, it was all about demons getting some angel nookie. But Gabe didn’t need to know about that.

“This shouldn’t be happening.” Sleazy glared at me. “Demons not in your household aren’t allowed here under the terms of the treaty, and angels beyond the Grigori are not allowed contact with demons.”

“And Grigori should be killing them, not taking them out for movie and a dinner,” New Guy drawled. He’d always disliked me, but that dislike had become a white-hot flame of hatred after the durf incident. It was okay. I hated him too.

“Projects of this nature need to be presented to the Ruling Council for approval
before
they are implemented.” Gabriel was addressing this comment to Raphael. It was nice to have the heat off of me for a change.

Rafi bit back a smile. “It was a pilot program, brother. We thought to gather data on effectiveness and present it to the Ruling Council to support the large-scale project proposal. I know how much you love data.”

He was so bad. I think I loved him almost as much as I loved Gregory.

Gabe glared at his brother. “Halt your pilot program
now
. We’ll hear your project proposal along with any data you’ve collected so far at the fifth Ruling Council meeting from today. Until then, Infernal Mates is closed. Understand?”

Yikes. I’d never heard Gabe be so stern with his younger brother, especially in an official meeting where they were supposed to be equal peers. And where the heck was the vote? I wanted a vote.

I didn’t get a vote, because Gabe was plowing ahead to the next agenda item with uncharacteristic speed. “The third topic is a rather charged one, so we’ll need to allow time for ample discussion.”

The angels shuffled their papers, every one of them staring intently at the documents. I got the feeling this next topic was about me. Perhaps I would have known for sure if I ever read the agenda.

“On the matter of the Iblis…”

Yep. About me. What now? Rafi and I had already lost Infernal Mates, and I doubted the presentation in five meetings would change that ruling. Gregory wouldn’t continue to support my venture with the noise in Aaru about purity and all that crap. Rafi and my business were going to have to wait a few centuries for a more favorable climate to continue. Seems Uriel wasn’t the only one whose personal endeavors were being inconvenienced by the rebellion above.

“A well-signed petition has come to us addressing the seat on the Ruling Council that is held by the Iblis.”

Huh? A petition? What the fuck? “What, you all are a democracy now?” I interrupted. “Everyone votes and out I go? That’s a crock of shit.”

“Let us hold our debate until the Ancient Revered Archangel Gabriel has finished reading the agenda item,” New Guy scolded.

“She has a point,” Gregory added. I noticed no one scolded him for not following the Angelic Rules of Order, or whatever the fuck they were. “We have never entertained petitions in the past. If this choir wants to introduce an agenda item, they need to follow protocol and have their representative on the Council do it for them.”

“It’s not just from one choir,” Sleazy jumped in. “See for yourself. The petition has significant representation from across all of our groups. We cannot ignore an issue that the majority of our angelic host feels strongly about.”

That muscle was back to working in Gregory’s jaw, even though he otherwise seemed composed. “In the interest of time, then, let’s proceed. I just don’t want to set a precedent for this sort of thing.”

Everyone nodded and Gabe continued. “There is concern that her presence is disruptive and not in keeping with positive evolution of the humans, as well as lowering the vibration patterns of the angelic host as a whole.”

I glared at Gabe. “So all the sins of the heavens are laid at my feet? You all fucked up the humans just fine without my, or any other demon’s, help. You guys were bickering over shit long before I picked up that sword. You’re the ones who keep giving me work to do, putting me in charge of Fallen Angels and deadbeat humans.”

“But you must admit that the situation in Aaru and among the humans has become more chaotic and unruly since your presence on the Council,” New Guy noted calmly.

I
was
an Angel of Chaos. What the fuck did he expect?

“The position for an Iblis on the Council was part of the treaty signed after the war,” Gregory said. “We do away with that position and we will be breaking the treaty. That will have consequences that I can assure you we don’t want to face, especially at this time.”

What consequences? The only part of the treaty that the demons chafed under was the section that said we weren’t allowed to be in the human realm. Trespass was punishable by death. Not that we cared. The reward was by far worth the risk. Would breaking the treaty give us free rein here? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I’d gotten used to me and my household being the only demons with immunity. A sudden influx of demons among the humans wasn’t really something I wanted to contemplate. That was too much chaos, even for me.

New Guy scowled. “The demons have devolved to the point where they are all cockroaches. They can’t create their own gateways, present company and possibly a few Ancients excluded. They are ridiculously easy to kill. They’re not very intelligent. It’s not like they abide by the treaty anyway. Why should we be the only ones following the letter of the law while they break it with impunity?”

He had a point. Although I wasn’t going to admit it.

Gabriel looked over at Gregory, exchanging some wordless communication that I wasn’t able to interpret.

“The gateways, the seat on the Ruling Council…they were put in place for a very specific reason,” Gabriel intoned slowly. “It’s been almost three million years. That reason…it’s not going to happen. I agree that it’s past time for us—both parties—to consider the lopsided nature of the treaty.”

Oh that fucking traitor. If there had been a pastry handy, I would have been shoving it in Gabriel’s face right now.

“You mean the elves?” Sleazy asked. “I do think we need to keep the gateways open for the elves, but I honestly don’t see any reason for there to be an Angel of Chaos on the Ruling Council. Our angelic brethren are gone. They’ve been gone for over two million years. They’re not allowed back in Aaru, and they’re all demons now. We should cut the ties, and close down all but one gate. That should be easy enough to monitor.”

“The gates weren’t created for the elves,” Rafi told him, his voice strained. “Everyone said that, but they were actually meant as a welcome mat for Samael. So was holding the seat for the Iblis on the Council. Those provisions were written into the treaty in case Samael ever returned.”

His words were met with silence. No one had ever spoken Samael’s name in Council. I’d rarely known Gregory to refer to him. It was a horrible, painful hole in all three brothers’ hearts—four including Uriel. Samael the rebel. The angel who’d led the opposing side in the war. All of Aaru may have written him off, but his brothers hadn’t.

“Is this true?” New Guy asked.

Gregory’s expression had hardened with Raphael’s words, his black eyes like onyx. “There is no need to mince words, brother. I’m well aware that Samael is most likely dead.” He turned to New Guy. “Yes, the gateways, the seat on the Council were all worded into the treaty with the hope of a future reconciliation, but now they serve a different purpose. We need the Angels of Chaos to come back. They give us balance. We lost that after the war, but our course has begun to right now that we have an Iblis. This change is painful, but the end result will be worth the work.”

“We
had
balance,” New Guy argued hotly. “Had. We were working through blockages and stagnation. This violent upheaval that her presence causes is tearing us apart. You must see that. Send her off to take care of issues in Hel. It’s where she belongs. We’ll be able to bring the rebels around to our side once she’s gone. We’ll have peace once again in Aaru.”

I suddenly couldn’t breathe as I realized the implications of his words. Aaru was beyond civil unrest at this point, they were in outright war. And I was the flashpoint. Gregory would need to choose between his beloved homeland and me. The other angels could vote how they may, but in this, his was the only vote that would count.

And he needed to talk to me after the meeting. Suddenly I was dreading that talk.

“Maybe she can go on pilgrimage,” Sleazy added. “Just for a few millennia. We can close the gates so none of the demons can come through. It will give us time to regain equilibrium. After that, we can vote on a possible reinstatement of her seat on the Council.”

I’d hated this fucking job when I first got it. I still hated it, but in a good sort of way. I wasn’t about to be kicked out and sent to Hel like a naughty child. No fucking way. Over my dead body. I wasn’t leaving my job, and I wasn’t leaving Gregory. There had to be another way.

“That’s an excellent idea,” New Guy chimed in. “I vote for a five thousand year pilgrimage where she takes care of matters in Hel. We can discuss matters at that time and extend the pilgrimage further if necessary.”