Seven Archangels: Annihilation (32 page)

Gabriel deflated. "We don't need an insane Satan to contend with. He's tough enough when you can Guard him out and fight him."

"He might just be weakened," Michael said. "Remiel dances at the edge of sanity during normal times."

Uriel said, "And I would bet she thought about you constantly. That nurtured whatever of your substance remained on her."

"And Mephistopheles?" Gabriel steeled himself for the worst. "What progress has he made?"

"As far as Remiel knew," Michael said, "none. He'd actually accepted Camael's offer to help him, which is how she found out in the first place."

"That's odd." Gabriel glanced at Raphael. "Can you imagine my not diving into an assignment under the same circumstances?"

Raphael shook his head.

Gabriel's eyes brightened, and his wings raised.

"No, don't think it," Michael said.

"Too late," Raphael murmured.

"But if they could return—" Gabriel said. "If he's struggling with guilt or horror due to what he achieved—if this could shock him into realizing what kind of evil he's become, and then let him repent—"

"We don't know if they can," Raphael said. "You yourself said that. Until one of them tries to return, we won't know if they
can't
repent, or they
won't
. It's the question even our Cherubim can't answer, and you're not going to resolve it now."

A huff. "When you're right, you're right." Gabriel reached for more of the cookies. "What steps have we taken to protect others?"

Michael said, "A buddy system for traveling."

Mid-reach, Gabriel raised his eyebrows.

Michael looked down. "We couldn't come up with a safeguard, and the Angels on Earth buddied up naturally, so we said to keep doing it."

Gabriel said, "And you didn't mention an invasion, so I assume that didn't happen either."

Michael said, "Zadkiel convinced us not to."

Gabriel glanced out the window. "It wouldn't have helped, no."

"She actually convinced Raguel," Michael said. "Israfel was the hardest sell, but eventually even she consented."

Gabriel looked at Uriel. "Is there any way to secure a soul so it can't be undone?"

Uriel's eyes dropped.

"There's got to be a way." Gabriel took a deep breath. "Can you get me Ophaniel and Sidriel? This may be a race between our Cherubim and theirs."

"Not yet." Uriel looked at Michael. "You still need to rest. I dislike that the vertigo isn't gone at this point. You're not exhausted right now, but you're only running a little above empty."

Gabriel sighed. "It's not that taxing to
think
, Uriel."

"I'd debate that," Uriel said, "but against a Cherub I'd never win, so this is an order: rest."

Raphael touched Gabriel's shoulders, rubbing the tension loose. "I saw how much work just went into you. I'm serious about not wanting to do that again, ever."

Gabriel knew Michael would be no help, so he folded his arms. "Do I have to sleep, or is reading legal?"

Uriel said, "Reading is okay."

Raphael gave him a push. "Think of it this way: the sooner you get stronger, the sooner we'll get the bond running again."

"Oh," Uriel said, "I forgot to tell you that—you'd already bonded again when I went in to patch things up."

Both Raphael and Gabriel pivoted, and Raphael surged with Seraph fire.

"It's instinct." Uriel chuckled. "I thought you'd realized, the way you two were reading each other earlier."

Gabriel glanced at Raphael. "Sure, just move right on in."

Raphael vibrated, sending streamers of fire into the air.

"Hey!" Gabriel averted his gaze. "None of that, remember?"

"Actually," and both of them looked up when Uriel started to speak, "maybe you should try it now, under controlled circumstances, with help right here."

Raphael's fire flared; Gabriel still didn't relax.

"Just a little bit," Uriel said. "You don't want him to burn you out."

Gabriel looked at Raphael. "That means less power than an atomic bomb."

Raphael nodded. "Just a warm-up dose."

Gabriel closed his eyes and felt the fire in the air, but more than that, he felt it through his soul's connection to Raphael, like a private phone line between them. Raphael's excitement churned on the other side of the door, and taking just a little would be like standing under Niagara Falls attempting to fill a teacup.

Gabriel relaxed his heart and drew off a bit of the fire.

At first, nothing. Next, the sensation as if he'd bitten into a jalapeno, heat in his mouth and stomach, sparks in front of his eyes.

"You're doing well." Uriel's voice: steady, calm. "Try it again."

Again?

This time he opened the gates as wide as he could, pulling in all the energy he could take at once. It didn't flood him only because Raphael applied the brakes—but the heat, the bubbling, the nearly boiling-over state of Raphael's soul filled him with an urgency to act and a heightened awareness of his surroundings. A compulsive grin spread across his face.

"Don't overdo it." Despite his words, Raphael was sparkling. "You're not completely healed yet, so you're trying to make up substance by pulling in mine."

"Would it work?" Gabriel said, a bit breathless.

Raphael tilted his head. "Not efficiently."

Gabriel shielded his eyes from the colors in the room, and his own breathing sounded loud. Raphael cut off the fire, and he felt his heart make a clumsy grab for it as it diminished and faded.

"He's looking good." Checking into his heart, Uriel had gone misty. "But let that be it for now. See how it settles."

Gabriel leaned toward Michael, charged to work until they devised a safeguard for souls as well as a protection system for the forces in Creation. "Send me Ophaniel and Sidriel."

Michael winced. "You can't tell them how annihilation is performed."

Gabriel stared. "But—"

"God wants that knowledge reserved to himself."

"Half of Hell could have it by now!"

Uriel's gaze dropped.

"So what you're saying," Gabriel said, and Michael finished, "is that it's you against half of Hell." He nodded. "You have to out-think them."

"They've got a head-start." Gabriel folded his arms. "And I only know the procedure from the inside. We're going to lose souls if I can't get our Cherubim to help."

Raphael clapped him on the shoulder. "You'll do fine. You've got God as your lab partner."

Uriel stood. "But later, when you've had time to rest." Uriel and Michael said goodbye, then vanished.

The only one remaining, Raphael moved across the room. "I know you have to rest." His soul's melodic vibrations distorted into a fermata. "But I need to talk to you."

Gabriel reached through the bond, but Raphael distanced himself.

Then a burst of realization. "I forgot—a girl gave me this for you."

Raphael flashed a palm-sized white bear onto Gabriel's lap. "I saw her at the park, and she said she'd pray for you."

Gabriel held up the bear by the key ring. "I'll pray for her too. What's her name?"

"Elizabeth something."

"Oh, the girl with two guardians?"

Raphael looked over his shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with you."

Gabriel shrugged. "It was thoughtful of her to do that."

Raphael lapsed into uncomfortable silence, getting more energized as the moments passed. Gabriel tried to keep his attention on Raphael and not on the Seraph's fire. "Tell me. You wanted to tell me before, but you were too upset."

Raphael folded his arms and looked out the window. "I owe you the biggest apology of my life."

"If we're apologizing," Gabriel said, "I owe you one for being so distracted during hide-and-seek."

Raphael turned. "I'd totally forgotten."

Gabriel cocked his head. "You mean I wasted a good apology?"

Raphael chuckled as he glanced back out the window, but then he sobered. "The reason you were in such bad shape was that when I pulled you out, I held on too hard. I'd buried your heartstring inside my own soul, wrapped around mine, and it couldn't get free so Uriel could return it to the rest of you."

Gabriel nodded. "Go on. There's clearly more."

"Then God made me— He made me let you die." Raphael's head dropped. "And I did it."

Gabriel drew a sharp breath.

"After I told you it was okay to leave me...that was when Uriel found I had your heartstring." Raphael bit his lip. "But I told you to let go. I told you to die."

Gabriel frowned. "I'm unclear whether you're apologizing for saving my life or for obeying God."

"None of that should have happened!" Raphael shook. "I'd gotten a strangle-hold on your heartstring, and that would have killed you!"

"And if you hadn't grabbed so tight to begin with," Gabriel said, "Satan would have kept hold of me in that chamber, and that would have killed me."

Raphael's mouth twisted. "You just won't let a guy apologize."

Gabriel shrugged. "There's no sin in you. The only thing requiring an apology is sin."

"That's not true. Sometimes someone gets hurt by accident or neglect, and that requires an apology too."

Gabriel's brow furrowed. "I'm going to have to take your word for that." He tilted his head and reached through the bond to send his calming influence into Raphael's heart, trying as he did not to draw the fire back into himself. It had gotten easier to resist now that he was on a more even keel, although even brushing past it gave him something of a head rush.

Raphael's wings flared. "None of that. The idea is to keep your energy inside you. Think addition, not subtraction."

"And here I was thinking exponents and calculus."

Raphael smiled. "So?"

"If you insist, I completely forgive you for whatever harm you think you committed against me."

Raphael pursed his lips. "That sounds rather vague."

"What do you want?" He thought for a moment. "Ask God to settle it. If you're right, I'll forgive you, and if I'm right, you'll owe me one."

"One what?"

Gabriel studied the ceiling as he thought, then refocused on Raphael with enthusiasm. "You'll take me trick-or-treating in two weeks."

Head raised, Raphael said, "You could win a thousand bets, but I am not taking you trick-or-treating."

"Oh, come on—you know I need an adult to come with me." Gabriel sat forward. "No one else will do it."

"Then you're out of luck."

"I'm out of candy too." Gabriel stared out the window. "Everyone wants to stop by the library and get some, but no one wants to help me get any of it."

"We can hit seventeen grocery stores on November 1st and pick it up for half price," Raphael said, "but I will not ever, for the rest of eternity, take you trick-or-treating again."

Gabriel sighed. "Well, then I guess if you win, I want a root beer float."

Raphael looked relieved. "I can do that. But what if I'm right? What do I get?"

Gabriel said, a little uncertain, "You get to apologize?"

"I want to see you blow up something big, not just shatter windows."

Gabriel bubbled with Raphael's enthusiasm. "Is there a volcano on Io that you wanted to see blow?"

"I was thinking," and Raphael arched his eyebrows, "supernova."

Gabriel's heart raced with overflow fire. "Deal." Then he paused. "What if we bring this to Jesus and he tells us we're both nuts?"

Raphael said, "You blow up a root beer float while trick-or-treating?"

They were shaking hands to close the deal when Jesus arrived with Remiel.

Raphael shot her a look of disgust before seeing how she stood: wings limp, head bowed, hands clasped behind her. Gabriel had sat up, ready to calm Raphael, when the Seraph averted his gaze and vanished.

When Jesus put his hand on Remiel's shoulder, the Virtue shivered.

"Gabriel," she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's done now." Gabriel shifted to sit at the edge of the bed. "You weren't in your right mind."

"I was," she murmured.

Gabriel looked toward Jesus, very startled, but Jesus sent him the impression that he needed to wait her out.

She looked up. "How are you?"

"Repaired, apparently." He raised a hand to her. "I heard you were under the weather, though."

Remiel met his eyes with eyes grown cloudy. Taking his hand, she moved to sit beside him. "Don't make me sad." She rested her head on his shoulder so he could finger her short hair. "Do you know—did they tell you I betrayed you?"

Gabriel looked at Jesus, who again indicated that he should wait.

"Camael—" and here she paused a moment, "said he'd sent me suggestions to get you down to Earth where you could be captured. They said I was too valuable to kill. That's how they captured you." She turned her face toward him. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

Raising his wings, Gabriel cupped her in the hollow. "You did nothing wrong." He took his hand from her grasp and clasped hers instead. "You went in after me to save me."

She shuddered.

"You're so brave."

She shook her head. "It had to be done. I couldn't let you die." She looked at her lap. "But I had to lie when I was there."

He nodded.

"You hate lies."

"If God sees nothing inappropriate with your conduct, I won't condemn you."

She half-closed her eyes.

"It must have been painful, pretending to be him."

She shuddered. "Looking like him, thinking like him, coming an inch short of cursing God but sounding as if I had—I wanted to run to you and set you free, but then I'd be caught too, and we'd both die."

Gabriel squeezed her hand. "We're both safe now."

She pulled her hands free of his grasp. "I told them you screamed."

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. "I did scream."

"I nearly screamed, too. But I told them you renounced God to save yourself. They wanted to hear something, so I made it sound good. I lied, Gabriel." She bit her lip. "I wasn't even doing it to save you at that point. I was doing it to save myself."

Gabriel gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm glad you saved yourself."

She looked up, her eyes like sunrise. "Do you forgive me?"