There But For The Grace (35 page)

Sitting here wasn’t likely to net me anything, but going into the wood with nothing in the way of weapons seemed kind of dicey. Still, what other choice did I have? I took a hesitant step in the direction of the trail and paused.

Quiet. Silence. These weren’t things you encountered in the woods. I scanned the tree line, looked up into the sky, and let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Nothing. No birds, no squirrels or other furry little woodland creatures. It was as still as…well…the grave out here.

Come to think of it, it was as still as it’d ever been inside my head too. I frowned and poked around some, but Iaoel remained stubbornly absent. Hmm.

I set off between the two flickering torches and down the trail, deeper into the woods. The only sounds were the crunching of my boots in the freshly fallen snow and my breath as I breathed in and out. There were no footprints. There were no animal tracks. Just a perfect, pristine carpet of white stretching as far as the eye could see under the weighted canopy of naked trees. Wherever I was, it looked like old-growth oak, the lack of leaf or evergreen canopy at least letting plenty of light beneath the branches, which was reassuring. I still held myself at the ready for anything to jump out, grateful that my grappling skills had served me well at least once so far.

I followed the trail until it spilled out into another clearing at its end. This clearing butted up against a mountainside, the almost sheer gray rock reaching up high into the sky, up into the misty clouds, until you couldn’t see it anymore. The clearing was ringed in more of those guttering wrought-iron torches, and I stopped just inside their ring.

Directly across from me was a cave opening, set with a heavy oaken door bound with more iron. The door was cut and shaped to fit the natural opening. It was still an unnatural door, but like everything else I’d seen so far out here, it was beautiful in its own way. Of course, Satan was beautiful too, at least on the outside. So were a lot of the Fallen and some of the Demons I’d met so far. If it was one thing I’d learn since this adventure began? Looks didn’t mean anything on the outside because a lot of the pretty motherfuckers I’d encountered were nothing but pure ugly where it’d counted.

I stepped cautiously a bit further into the clearing and changed my stance to a guarded one when the catch on the door sounded. It opened inward, firelight flickering just beyond. I swallowed hard, mouth gone dry as a bone as first one bare foot then the other landed on the snow.

I’d seen the face a thousand times and more in visions of mirrors, smiling pleasantly, smiling unpleasantly, weeping, you name it. Now it was schooled into elegant tranquility, even though I knew the mood beneath was probably anything but. Her wings rose white and pure behind her, and I wasn’t exactly sure how that was possible. Hell, I wasn’t exactly sure how
any
of this was possible.

She tossed her long, golden hair over one shoulder and looked me up and down with her pretty crystalline blue eyes.

“Iaoel…” I intoned, and she smiled sweetly.

“Adelaide,” she said, inclining her head. “I thought it was time we talked.”

Angel
: a spiritual being and servant of God, from the word for ‘messenger’

Archangel
: a higher-ranking Angel

Asbeel
: Fallen Angel
of the Grigori whose
name means ‘God has forsaken.’

Azael:
Evil fallen angel who cohabitated with women. For the purpose of this story, he runs brothels in the Second circle of Hell and uses them to punish the lustful souls. See also,
Sobel.

Azrael:
The Archangel of Death who doubles as the horseman of Death for the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Cahethel:
Once the angel of agriculture, Cahethel is now fallen, and the horseman known as Famine. He prefers to keep to himself.

Chayyliel:
The horseman of War, Chayyliel prefers to take the form of a child, and also prefers to be called ‘Miri.’ She is an angel.

Demon
: a lesser supernatural being and denizens of Hell, from a different word for ‘messenger.’

Dis
: A city consisting of the lowest four layers of Hell, with vast walls that separate the Fifth and Sixth layers - symbolically separating sins of passion (lust, anger, etc.) from sins requiring premeditation and intent.

Fallen
Angel
: a spiritual being who rebelled against the Grace of God

Gadreel
: Fallen Angel of the Grigori.

Gabriel
: Archangel whose name means ‘hero of God.’ Primary divine messenger.

Grace
: a gift bestowed by God. Also the essence of an Angel.

Grigori
: ‘The Watchers,’ a group of Fallen Angels, fathers of the Nephilim.

Hadad
: an ancient Middle Eastern storm god, worshipped under the title Ba’al.

Iaoel
: Angel of Visions

Kasdaye
: a Fallen Angel of the Grigori

Lamia:
A demon woman who’s beloved is Sobel.

Lot
: the Biblical patriarch Abraham’s nephew, who immigrated to the city of Sodom.

Malebolge
: The eighth circle of Hell. Translated from Italian roughly as “evil ditches”, the layer consists of many bolgia, or trenches, where different types of fraud are punished.

Malebranche
: An order of devils.

Michael
: Archangel whose name means ‘who is as God.’ General of the heavenly host.

Merihim:
Demon and the horseman of pestilence, Merihim’s focus is less on physical disease and rests more on moral decay. She can be found in the circle of Hell reserved for gluttons and doesn’t like her name. She prefers to be called Alex.

Nephilim (singular Nephil)
: Biblical giants, offspring of the Grigori with human women.

Penemue
: Fallen Angel of the Grigori

Phlegethon
: River of fire and blood in the Seventh layer of Hell.

Rahab
: Fallen Angel whose name means ‘violence.’

Raphael
: Archangel whose name means ‘the shining one who heals.’

Samyaza
: a General of the Fallen Angels

Sobel:
See
Azael.

Sodom
and
Gomorrah
: City-states in ancient Canaan infamous for their callous wickedness.

Tabbris
: Angel of Free Will

Uriel
: Archangel whose name means ‘God is my light.’

Yequon
: Fallen Angel of the Grigori

A.J. Downey is a born and raised Seattle, WA native. She finds inspiration from her surroundings, through the people she meets and likely as a byproduct of way too much caffeine. She has lived many places and done many things, though mostly through her own imagination. An avid reader all of her life, it’s now her turn to try and give back, entertaining as she has been entertained. She blogs regularly at
http://authorajdowney.blogspot.com

If you want the easy button digest, as well as a bunch of exclusive content you can’t get anywhere else, sign up for her mailing list right here:
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Jeffrey Cook lives in Maple Valley, Washington, with his wife and three large dogs. He was born in Boulder, Colorado, but has lived all over the United States. He’s the author of the
Dawn of Steam
trilogy of alternate-history/emergent Steampunk epistolary novels, the YA Sci-fi thriller
Mina Cortez: From Bouquets to Bullets
, and the YA Fantasy novel
Foul is Fair
. He’s a founding contributing author of Writerpunk Press and has also contributed to a number of role-playing game books for Deep7 Press out of Seattle. When not reading, researching, or writing, Jeffrey enjoys role-playing games and watching football.

www.facebook.com/authorajdowney

www.facebook.com/dawnofsteamtrilogy
(Jeffrey Cook)

Published 2016 by Jeffrey Cook and A.J. Downey

Formatting by Lia Rees at Free Your Words

(
www.freeyourwords.com
)

Cover art by Cover Your Dreams

(
www.coveryourdreams.net
)

Text copyright © 2016 Jeffrey Cook, A.J. Downey

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved

Airs & Graces

There But For The Grace

A Coup De Grace