Remembering her unhappiness, she sighed. There were three angelic castes. The Elite Seven, like Lysander, worked directly with the One True Deity. They had been selected at the beginning of time and never wavered in their duties to train other angels and monitor evil happenings. Next were the warriors. They destroyed the demons who managed to escape their fiery prisons. Last were the joy-bringers, as Olivia had once been.
Many of her brethren had experienced instant wing envy at the arrival of the golden downnothing malicious, of coursebut for the first time in her existence, shed been uncertain of her path. Why had she been chosen for such a duty?
Shed loved the job she had. Shed loved whispering beautiful affirmations in human ears, bringing them confidence and pleasure. The thought of hurting another living being, even a deserving one She shuddered.
Thats when she encountered those first thoughts about falling, about starting a new life. Theyd been innocent thoughts, really. What if and maybeAnd when she spied Aeron, those thoughts had intensified. What if they could be together? Maybe they could live happily ever after.
What would it be like to be human?
So by the time the Heavenly High Council, a daunting body composed of angels from each of the three factions, had called her into their tribunal chamber, she had expected to be chastised for her failure to destroy Aeron. Instead, shed received an ultimatum.
Shed stood in the center of a spacious, white room, the ceiling domed, the walls forming a perfect circle. Columns had stretched all around, even the ivy climbing them a stark, pristine white. A throne sat between each of those columns, a regal form perched in every one.
Do you know why you are here, Olivia? a resonant voice had asked.
Yes. Though she trembled, her wings never ceased their graceful glide. They were long and majestic, the feathers a glorious white threaded with moonlit gold. To discuss Aeron of the Underworld.
Weve been patient for weeks, Olivia. The emotionless voice had echoed like a war drum inside her head. Weve given you countless opportunities to prove yourself. You failed each time.
Im not meant to do this, shed replied shakily.
You were. You are. There is no better way to spread joy than to save humans from evil. And that is what you will be doing with the completion of this task. This is your last chance. You will end Aerons life or we will end yours.
The councilors threat hadnt been meant as a cruelty, she knew. That was simply the way of the heavens. A single drop of poison could ruin an ocean, and so every corrosive drop had to be wiped out before hitting the waves. Yet shed protested anyway.
You cannot kill me without the True Deitys blessing. And He would not give it. He was all that was tender and kind. He cared for his people, all of his people. Even wayward angels. Quite simply, He was love.
But we can send you away, ending life as you know it. The speaker had been female, but her voice was no less flat.
For a moment Olivia had had trouble catching her breath, and bright sparks of light had danced around her eyes. Lose her place? Shed just purchased a newer, bigger cloud. Shed promised to take over one of her friends joy-bringing shifts so that he could go on vacationand shed never before broken a promise. Still shed persisted. Aeron isnt evil. He doesnt deserve to die.
That is not for you to decide. He ignored an ancient law and must be punished for it before others think that they can do the same without consequence.
I doubt he even knows what hes done. Shed spread her arms, beseeching. If you would just allow him to see me and hear my voice, I could talk to him and explain
Then we would be ignoring an ancient law.
True. Faith was built on the principle that you believed in what you could not see. Only the Elite Seven were allowed to reveal themselves in the mortal plane, as they were sometimes tasked with rewarding people for that faith.
Im sorry, shed said, head bowed. I should not have asked such a thing of you.
You are forgiven, child, theyd replied in unison.
Forgiveness was always granted so easily here. Well, except when commandments were ignored. Poor Aeron, shed thought, even as shed said, Thank you.
It was justAeron drew her. He looked every inch the demon with his tattooed flesh, yet seeing him for the first time had roused desires inside her that had been too strong to ignore. What would it be like to touch him? What would it be like to be touched by him? Would she finally know the joy she brought to others?
At first, those thoughts had shamed her. And the better shed come to know Aeron, the stronger the desires had becomeuntil falling and being with him had been all she could think about.
Finally, shed told herself it was acceptable to feel so strongly about him because, despite his appearance, despite what the Council said, he was honest and good. And if he was honest and good, she could do the things that he did, and be honest and good, as well. More than that, it would be okay because he, protector that he was, would keep her safe. From others, from herself.
If he were killed, however, she would live the rest of eternity never knowing howexquisite experiencing him in every way could have been. She would regret. She would mourn.
But to save him, from her own hand, at least, meant giving up everything she knew, as the Council had proclaimed. More than losing her home and her wings, however, she would also be stuck in a world where forgiveness was not always granted, patience was rarely rewarded and rudeness was a way of life.
He is your first assassination, so we do understand your reluctance, Olivia. But you cannot allow that reluctance to ruin you. You must rise above it or you will pay the price forevermore. Which will you choose?
That had been the Councils last-ditch effort to save her. Yet she had raised her head and uttered the words that had been churning inside her for all those weeksthe words that led her here. Before fear could change her mind.
I choose Aeron.
Woman?
The hard voice shook Olivia from the past; it was deeper, richer than anyone elses andnecessary. She blinked, her surroundings slowly coming into focus. A bedroom she knew by heart. Spacious, with silver stone walls plastered with portraits of flowers and stars. The floor was composed of dark, polished wood, and draped by a soft pink rug. There was a dresser, a vanity and a young girls lounge.
Many would have scoffed at the fact that this strong, proud warrior possessed such a feminine room, but not Olivia. The furnishings merely proved the depths of Aerons love for his Legion.
Did he have room in his heart for one more?
Her gaze landed on him. Still he stood beside the bed she was sprawled upon, gazing down at her withno emotion, she realized, disappointed. And who could blame him? What a sight she must be. The tears had dried on her cheeks, making her skin feel tight and hot. Her hair hung in tangles, and dirt streaked her exposed skin.
Meanwhile, he looked gorgeous. He was tall and mouthwateringly muscled, with the most amazing violet eyes fringed by long black lashes. His dark hair was cropped nearly to his scalp, and she wondered if the choppy strands would prickle her palm when she caressed them.
Not that he would allow her to caress him.
He was heavily tattooed, even on the perfectly sculpted planes of his face. Each of those tattoos depicted something gruesome. Stabbings, stranglings, burnings, bloodso much bloodeach skeletal face etched in torment. Yet amid all the violence were two sapphire butterflies, one riding his ribs and one outlining the wings on his back.
The other Lords, she had noticed, only had one butterfly tattoo, each a mark of their demon-possession, and shed often wondered why Aeron had the extra. Wasnt as if his body contained two demons or anything.
More than that, he despised weakness. Didnt the butterflies remind him of his folly? For that matter, didnt the other tattoos, the violent ones, remind him of the terrible things his demon had forced him to do?
As for Olivia, why didnt this man repulse her as he would have repulsed any other angel? Why did he continue to fascinate her?
Woman, he repeated, impatient now.
Yes? she managed to croak.
You werent listening to me.
Im sorry.
Who wanted me dead? And why?
Rather than answer, she begged, Sit down, please. Looking up at you like this is straining my neck.
At first, she didnt think he would comply. Then he surprised her by easing to his haunches, his expression gentling. Finally, their gazes were level and she could see that his pupils were dilating. Odd. That usually happened when humans were happy. Or angry. He was neither.
Better? he asked.
Yes. Thank you.
Good. Now answer me.
Such a commander. She didnt mind, though. The reward was too great. Now she could drink in the wonderfully wicked sight of him without effort, while talking to him as shed dreamed of doing all these weeks. The Heavenly High Council wants you dead because you helped a demon escape from hell.
He frowned. My Legion?
His Legion? Olivia nodded, winced. Pain wasnt something shed ever experienced beforementally or physicallyand she wasnt sure how she was withstanding it. Lucidly, at least.
Or maybe she did know. Humans produced adrenaline and other hormones, which numbed them somewhat. Maybe she was producing those things, too, human that she now was. More and more, she began to feel pleasantly distanced from her new body and its unfamiliar aches and emotions.
I dont understand. Legion had already crawled free by the time we met. I did nothing to earn anyoneswrath. His mouth tightened on that last word.
Actually, you did. Without you, she wouldnt have been able to reach the surface because she was bound to the underground.
I still dont understand.
Olivias eyelids, suddenly heavy and seemingly laced with sandpaper, closedoh, to discuss something elsebut she forced them to reopen. For the most part, demons are able to leave hell only when theyre summoned to earth. Its a little loophole we didnt catch until too late. Anyway, when theyre summoned, their bond with hell breaks and in its place they become bound to the summoner.
But again, I didnt summon Legion. She came to me.
Maybe you didnt consciously summon her, but the moment you accepted her as yours, it was as if youd done so.
He flexed and unflexed his hands, a gesture she knew he made while trying to get himself under control. Perhaps he was angry. She has every right to walk this earth. I am demon, and I have done so for thousands of years without punishment.
True. But your demon is trapped inside you. Therefore you are its hell. Legion is now unfettered, able to come and go as she pleases. Which means she has no hell, and that defies all heavenly rules.
She could see he was preparing to argue. Perhaps it would help to explain the origins of hell.
The more powerful demons were once angels. Only, they fell. They were the first to fall, actually, and their hearts were blackened, all goodness wiped from them. So, rather than lose their wings and powers, they were punished to suffer forevermore. A tradition that has continued with their offspring. There can be no exceptions. Demons must be bound to some sort of hell. Those who break that bond are killed.
Red seeped into his irises, glowing brightly. Youre saying Legion has no hell, and because of this, she must die?
Yes.
Youre also saying she was once an angel?
No. Once in hell, the demons learned how to procreate. Legion is one of those creations.
And you think to punish her, even though she has caused no harm?
Not me, but yes. Even though.
Understand me now. I will allow no harm to befall her. Calmly stated, but no less violent.
Olivia remained silent. She wouldnt lie to him and tell him what he wanted to hear. That he and Legion were safe now, their crimes forgotten by those in the heavens. Eventually, someone would come to do what Olivia had been unable to.
She didnt deserve to be there, he growled.
That wasnt for you to decide. The rebuke emerged softly, as gently as she was able. That the words were an echo of what the Council had said to her left a bad taste in her mouth.
Aeron drew in a rough breath, his nostrils flaring. You fell. Why arent you being thrown into hell?
The first angels to fall turned their backs on the One True Deity, hence their blackened hearts. I did not turn my back. I merely chose a different path.
But why were you sent to me now? Not as one of the fallen, but as an executioner? Thousands of years ago, I did far more terrible things than break a little demons bond to hell. All of us here did.
The Council agreed with the gods that you and your brethren were the only ones capable of housing, and perhaps one day controlling, the escaped demons. As I said, you are their hell, and you have been punished for those early crimes sufficiently.
Victory claimed his features, as if hed caught her in an untruth. Wrath will be freed the moment of my death, escaping his so-called hell. What of that? You still think to kill me?
If only that loophole had not been closed Once, we were forbidden to kill demon High Lords, and that is what your Wrath is. Then they escaped the depths, forcing us to change our rules accordingly. SoI was to kill Wrath, as well.
The admission caused his victorious expression to fade. You fell. That means you didnt agree with the edict. With killing me, my demon and Legion.
Not true, she said. I think you should be spared, yes. And Wrath, too, since the demon is a part of you. Do I think Legion should be permitted to live in this world? No. She is a menace in ways you havent yet learned, and shell most likely cause untold harm. I fell because
You wanted freedom and love and fun, he said, parroting her earlier words. Only, his were sneered. Why were you chosen for this task? Have you killed before?