Page 80 of Saints & Sinners

Eden observed me, then placed a hand on my shoulder that did nothing to soothe me. “Are you okay?” A soft glow leaked from her hand, and I shoved her away, knowing she was trying to healwhatever emotional damage I had going on right now. I didn’t want to be tricked into a false sense of security. Despite it all, I wanted tofeelevery bit of emotion I had in me. “Do you want to go and see him?” She asked after a moment, and I froze, so she prompted. “Joe, that is.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Was this some sort of test? “I thought the Council chambers were off-limits to us?”

Her glossed lips curved into a faint smile before her gaze drifted toward a nearby painting of a Celestial battlefield. Without saying a word, she extended her hand toward it, her fingers brushing the edges of the frame as the painting shimmered and rippled like a river.

“Before I came to Celestia, Joe and I had grown up together.”

“Really?”

“We were raised in the same orphanage, and funny enough, we were both Ascendants. You can imagine we were close.”

“What happened?”

“He ascended. And then he had his duties to do, and I had mine.” She sighed, closing her eyes and putting on her cheerful smile. “Whatever he is trying to do, Grace, by having you here, it is only because he cares. You’ll see.”

I still felt unsure as I glanced at the painting. “Won’t you get in trouble for this?”

Eden released a breathless chuckle as she leaned forward. “Oh, I hope so. I would love a bit of thrill, wouldn’t you?”

I’d lived enough thrill so far to last me a lifetime, but Eden didn’t need to know that.

I smiled at her and murmured, “Thank you.” As I took a step toward the painting.

“Grace?”

I turned.

“Try not to get caught.”

I nodded, though my heart was already pounding like a wardrum by the time I stepped into the painting. The world rippled around me, bending and reshaping until my boots landed silently on polished marble. I glanced around me, the air humming with energy so dense it pressed against my skin.

The Council headquarters looked otherworldly; a place designed to intimidate. That much I knew. Massive pillars stretched toward the impossibly high ceiling; each one wrapped in glowing runes that pulsed faintly. Enormous stained-glass windows lined the hall, their colors muted in the silvery light that bathed the place. They looked like the ones inside Celestia, but these felt older, more sacred.

I soon heard voices and ducked behind a column. The headquarters was never-ending yet wide, with nowhere to hide but the slender shadows cast by the pillars. Ahead in the center of the room, I caught sight of the dais. It was circular, carved with Enochian symbols. Farther in, at the end of the hall, there were spiked thrones cloaked in radiance, and I assumed even from a distance that they belonged to the lead Council members.

I leaned against the pillar, forcing my breathing to slow. I had no idea where Joe was, but if anyone caught me here, it wouldn’t matter. I’d be in trouble; so, would Eden.

Keeping low, I slipped from one column to the next, scanning the room for any sign of movement. There were smaller doors lining the far walls, and my best guess was that they led to private chambers or worse cells where they kept prisoners before judgment.

A shudder wracked through me, and I thought about the demon that killed Lucas. My palms were slick with sweat, and I was so tempted, so, so tempted, to head in a different direction until I caught a glimpse of movement to the right, near one of the smaller doors.

Air snagged in my lungs, forcing me to be still.

It was Joe.

He was standing in the shadow of one of the doorways, his head tilted slightly as he listened to someone else speak. He looked tired, his shoulders slumped in a way I wasn’t used to seeing. I couldn’t help but blame myself for that.

Just then, the Celestial he was speaking with turned her head and I dipped back against the pillar, pressing myself as flat as I possibly could against it.

“Something... feels strange,” the Celestial said, and I held my breath.

“Everything feels strange, lately, Mikael,” Joe said. There was a brief pause before Mikael chuckled.

“I suppose you are right.”

They both slipped into a new conversation, one I couldn’t fully hear—though it didn’t matter. I was focused on their footsteps, waiting. After a few minutes, I heard the familiar cadence of a goodbye and soon enough, Mikael strolled off in the opposite direction.

I could no longer wait. As soon as Mikael was far gone, I slipped through the shadows, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely hear my own footsteps.

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