Kushiel chuckled, the unease slipping off him like it had never been there. The smiling, flirty angel who had first walked into his shop was back. Somehow Cass thought the unsure, hesitant persona was more accurate, but he would let Kushiel have his mask. After all, Cass wasn’t everything he seemed, either.
“Yes, I do know how Gabriel’s messages can go. I apologize for misinterpreting our first meeting. I am Kushiel, Rigid One of God, Angel of Punishment, and I need your help,” Kushiel stated.
Well fuck, an angel of punishment. Cass couldn’t help his frown, although he tried not to jump to conclusions. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if Kushiel was somehow responsible for the state of the soul in his house.
“What can I help an Angel of Punishment with?” Cass asked, and he knew his voice held a level of coldness.
Kushiel didn’t seem surprised. In fact, he seemed to have been expecting Cass’s disdain, which didn’t sit well either.
This whole thing was already sideways and upside down and fucked up, and Cass knew he wasn’t helping.
“Souls have been taken from hell. They are missing. I have been tasked with finding them. A seer told me to look here and that someone would assist me. I am sorry you have been tasked with that assistance,” Kushiel replied, his face neutral.
“Taken from hell?” Cass asked. “That shouldn’t be possible. Souls cannot leave hell.”
Kushiel hummed in response, raising his hand and making a see-saw motion with it. “Technically, they can. If they are redeemed enough, if the light inside them grows bright enough, they can find redemption and be reborn to try again. It is rare, but it does happen. However, I am the only being who can help such souls. They reside on the Mountain of Erebus in hell. A week ago, when I went to the mountain, it was empty.Thatshould not be possible. Souls cannot leave hell of their own accord, and there is no one else who should have the capability to move them from that place.”
Cass sensed a depth of sadness in Kushiel when he talked of the empty mountain. Still, he had to ask.
“What do you do with the souls in Mount Erebus?” he asked.
“They are fragments of what they once were—most do not even remember why they are in hell—but there is light within them. I try to grow that light. I help them pay the price necessary for redemption. It is a different process for every soul, but I have seen souls redeemed over the eons, and there is nothing greater than knowing that a soul who suffered in hell will have a new chance.” Kushiel smiled at the thought. “I often go to see the babies those souls reincarnated into. It is beautiful to see that second chance.”
Cass stared at him. Kushiel was radiant when he smiled, but it was quickly replaced by a frown.
“Someone took them. Someone took them, and now they cannot be redeemed. I must find them,” Kushiel insisted, looking at Cass in desperation. “Will you help me?”
“Of course I will,” Cass replied. “Come with me.”
Chapter 6
Kushiel
Of course it wasn’t quite that easy. Cass needed to call someone in to watch the shop, and there was a bit of a wait. Cass occupied himself by tidying up and apparently getting the shop ready for the after work rush. Kushiel offered to help, but Cass shooed him over to sit down, and so Kushiel could only pass the time by watching the man bustle about.
He didn’t quite know what to make of Cass. The mortal hadn’t even flinched or widened his eyes when Kushiel revealed his true form. Cass had obviously seen angels before, since Gabriel had given him a message, but there were still usually questions when anyone saw Kushiel.
Most angels did not have gray skin, black hair, and black wings, after all. Kushiel knew he defied expectations.
But Cass hadn’t seem surprised. Perhaps he was a seer who had seen a vision of Kushiel, which he supposed would explain things. It was only when Kushiel gave his title that he felt disappointment from the mortal, and then the questions followed. Still, Kushiel had the sense that it was more out of a sense of protection for souls than it was because of Kushiel’s appearance.
He wasn’t used to anyone caring about souls in hell; certainly most of those in heaven looked on his job with a level of disdain—they did not think souls in hell were capable or worthy of redemption. Most demons didn’t care one way or the other, and they often didn’t see the goodness in the souls in their care.
Cass was different, though. He seemed almost protective over souls he knew nothing about. It was puzzling.
A purple haired woman finally arrived, and Cass thanked her profusely, to which she simply rolled her eyes and winked at him before telling the two of them to be on their way. It occurred to Kushiel that perhaps she thought they were undertaking some sort of romantic liaison. Kushiel blushed as Cass ushered him out the shop door, which only made the woman laugh and caused Cass to smirk.
Cass grew serious as they walked, however, simply commenting that their destination wasn’t far. Indeed, it wasn’t, and when they arrived at a pretty and well-kept Victorian home, Cass opened the door and ushered Kushiel through it.
Once inside the foyer, Cass stopped to stare at Kushiel, almost as if expecting some type of response, but Kushiel had no idea what he was looking for. There was a hallway ahead with doorways leading off of it and stairs to the right, but Kushiel neither saw nor felt anything of note.
Cass started to walk down the hall and then paused abruptly, but Kushiel saw no reason for the pause. After a moment, Cass resumed walking, and they turned into a nicely decorated living room. The furniture looked older, but in a pleasant, lived-in sort of way, and pictures decorated a fireplace and the walls.
Cass was staring at Kushiel expectantly again, but Kushiel had no idea why. He looked around again, but he saw nothing.
“Fuck,” Cass mumbled. “I forgot about that.”
Kushiel had no idea what he had forgotten about, but clearly Kushiel was missing something. “What is it?” he asked, looking at Cass.
