‘There always is, Michael. There always is.’
My angel maker, the commander of all armies, the greatest of all the Sole angels and according to some, one and the same as Jesus, gave me a small and knowing smile, raising his chin slightly, as if basking in his name. And I watched, stunned, as a solitary tear crept down his cheek.
‘I never asked for you to fight him,’ he said with a touch of defiance.
‘With my blood on his sword, would you have won?’ I asked.
‘It is likely.’
The angel, identical to Michael, standing at his side, chuckled lightly.
I almost did a double-take. It was such a strange thing to see an angel so animated.
‘But not certain?’ I pushed Michael.
‘Not certain,’ he conceded.
I shrugged. ‘Well, that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. Not when it seems you’re kind of important to the end game.’
‘You are of great importance, too.’
‘Yeah, well, we’re about to find out exactly what I can do.’
He bowed his head. ‘You will not have much time to act once you return.’
I understood. For now time was halted but once we returned, the city of New Orleans would still be crumbling around us.
I turned slightly to the angel standing beside Michael. He was garishly dressed in snug black pants, a silver shirt and lightly tinted sunglasses, and when I looked straight at him, he was striking in a way Michael was not. I couldn’t take my eyes off him and yet, when I hadn’t been looking at him, I wasn’t drawn to him at all. As if he were somehow hidden in plain sight.
‘If you stand at the side of the Prince of the Elect, am I right in assuming you are the Prince of the Malign?’
He nodded, his eyes brimming with mischief.
I watched curiously. ‘But you’re an angel? All about function and all that?’
‘To an end,’ he said, his voice unnervingly similar to Michael’s.
I raised an eyebrow. ‘Do I even want to know your name?’
‘Oh, everyone knows my name, at least, one or two of them. But I prefer that you simply think of me as the one who shines brightest.’ He smiled.
Michael cleared his throat, cutting him off. But when they looked at each other, their eyes shared a brotherhood and fondness that was distant yet true.
Light and dark. Elect and Malign. United, as has always been.
I marvelled at the complexities of life as I moved my hand into Lincoln’s. He sighed with relief that it seemed I was ready to get moving. I started to turn but then looked back at the angels, feeling an overwhelming sadness in the knowledge that one day some of them might choose through pride and ego to exile in an attempt to take charge of my world.
‘Now that we have created this space, can you return here any time you wish?’ I asked.
Michael nodded. ‘If we were to wish.’
I squeezed Lincoln’s hand as I absorbed Michael’s words, a seed of an idea already blooming in my mind. I smirked at Lincoln and he smiled back, shaking his head as if he already knew what I had in mind.
He probably does.
‘Can we please go now?’ he asked.
I nodded, knowing that my plan could wait.
I started to concentrate on crossing us back over when the angel beside Michael spoke up.
‘Aren’t you going to ask?’ he called out.
‘Ask what?’ I replied.
‘About God!’
‘Oh. No. I don’t need to,’ I threw back.
‘Why?’ he asked, genuinely intrigued. ‘Everyone asks.’
I looked up at Lincoln, whose expression suggested he was about to take on the Prince of Malign angels himself if he didn’t let us get going soon so he could heal me.
‘Nah,’ I said, keeping my eyes on Lincoln. ‘I know where heaven is and I’m going there now. I’m not stupid enough to waste my time sweating the small stuff.’
And then the oddest thing happened.
As Lincoln and I crossed the realms I was sure the last thing I saw was thousands of angels laughing. And the sound … soul churning, like a choir of harps, a sole trumpet rising above, heralding a new era.
CHaPteR tHIRty-SIX
‘What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.’
Ralph Waldo Emerson
the winds assaulted us the instant we returned to the rooftop. Lincoln put his arm around my waist and half carried me to the elevator.
The hurricane was in full force, the battle below at its height and all around us the city was crumbling. The riverbank was overflowing and far out I could see the waters moving in, taking the land bit by bit, and I knew that the angels would not stop this until they had their reason.
‘I need to get closer!’ I yelled as I stumbled.
Lincoln put me down on the ground, helping me all the way when my legs gave out. ‘Concentrate,’ he ordered.
I nodded, drawing into my weakened power and opening myself up to our connection. I felt his power, strong and ready, surge into me, charging me like a battery so that together, we could heal my wounds.