Page 36 of The Morning Star
So I better watch my back. Even though the sword was a disobedient mofo, it had been a tad more reliable in the last few weeks. Did it finally feel I was being Iblis-like in my behavior enough to grace me with its presence? Or was I getting better at commanding it? I didn’t really know, but I got the idea that if Samael had thrown the sword away and wanted it back, I could do nothing to stop him from taking it. And I was pretty sure the sword could do nothing to stop him from reclaiming it. So either the sword left him as unworthy, or he’d tossed it into the keeping of the vampires and truly didn’t want it back.
Doriel went to the fridge and pulled out two more beers, handing me one as she twisted the cap off the other and took a swig. “Samael spared his eldest brother in battle and showed mercy, only to have him rise up, deliver what probably should have been a mortal wound, then banished half of the angelic host into a living hell from which there was no coming back. Do you doubt that he’d want his revenge?”
Damn Gregory and his sins of pride and anger. He’d fucked everything up beyond belief, and the only thing keeping me from delivering a good ass-kicking was that I knew he blamed himself far more than I ever could. I don’t think he would ever forgive himself for what he’d done. Not just that, but I don’t think he could ever forgive himself for not realizing what he’d done and moving to rectify it. Building the angel gateways hadn’t been enough of an apology. He’d needed to do more. And he hadn’t. That was the cross he’d need to bear for the rest of his immortal life.
“So he’s going to kill the archangels, take the humans and their world, then kill all of the other angels or push them out into a Hel of their own where they can rot as we did.”
“Yes.” Her voice was soft and reverential, as though this revenge had been her fondest wish for millions of years of banishment.
“Will you join him?”
Hurt flashed across her dark eyes. “He clearly doesn’t want me or he would have called me to his side.”
I felt her pain. Felt it. That weird sensation came over me again, and suddenly it wasn’t just Doriel that seemed a part of me, but every Low in the guest house, every demon scattered across the human world, every being in Hel. It was overwhelming and painful. Just as I felt like I was about to come apart, the feeling faded and vanished, and I was standing in my kitchen once more, holding a beer, talking to an Ancient.
But something lingered—an odd awareness.
“Maybe he hasn’t called you and the others because he blames himself for the banishment,” I said softly. “He had Michael on his knees, and turned his back on him. He put his family relationship, his love for his brother, above the safety and welfare of every Angel of Chaos in Aaru. He failed you, and he’s too ashamed to ask you to stand by his side now.”
What was I doing? Was I really convincing a breathtakingly powerful Ancient to join forces with the former Iblis?
Tears glistened in Doriel’s eyes. “Well then he is a fool. I would never abandon him. I would never forsake him. Never.”
“I need you,” I told her. “I need you to support me as the Iblis, especially if this is truly Samael and he’s set on destroying everything here. Can’t you see that this isn’t good for any of us? Not the humans, or the future of angels and demons. We need to be coming together, to be putting aside old grudges and working for a future of unity, of new creation like Lux.”
She hesitated. “If this isn’t Samael, then you have my support in exchange for a portion of the human world to rule.”
“And if it is Samael?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. If it is Samael, I will try to convince him to see things your way, to give up on his revenge. But you have to know that if he demands my loyalty, if this is truly Samael and he calls me to his side, then it is him I will follow.”
“Then seek him out,” I told her, trusting fate to see things right. “Seek him out, and try to change his mind. If you can’t, then ask him to wait. Let him know I’m trying to negotiate some sort of compromise. You were close once. Use that relationship to help him see that this path he’s taking isn’t going to help any of us. He once showed his brother mercy. Now it’s time for him to extend that mercy to all the angels. Our future depends on it.”
She laughed. “If his heart is set on revenge, your compromise might not be enough for him.”
It would have to be. “Will you do it? Will you find him? Go to him and counsel him to change his mind?”
Doriel nodded. “Yes, although part of me is afraid to see if this is truly him or not. I’m not sure whether I want the Ancient I meet with to be Samael or some demon who has assumed his name. What if the reason I never sensed Samael in Hel was that he’d degraded beyond what I would recognize as the angel I…”
That she loved? I’d wondered about their relationship.
“But I’m being foolish. Wounds that are not healed fester and grow,” Doriel continued. “After all this time, I do not expect to find Samael as he was. His energy signature I would recognize, but the angel I doubt I will. What has become of him in all this time? What remains of the Iblis after this long a banishment, especially given how personal the betrayal was to him?”
That was something she’d only discover by meeting him face-to-face. Would something remain deep down inside of the old Samael, the mischievous Angel of Chaos he’d been before the responsibilities of the war, before the fall? Or would nothing remain but hate and anger, a powerful Ancient determined to destroy the angels, and their pet project, to lay waste to this world and the people in it?
Chapter 11
Doriel settled in by my pool after using my mirror to send her minions scouring both sides of the gate for the Ancient calling himself Samael to demand an audience. Nyalla was out there with her, playing the hostess and keeping an eye on Lux. Last time I’d poked my head out, my girl had been gushing to Doriel about her vacation swimming with the dolphins. The Ancient had a somewhat stunned expression on her face, no doubt struggling to reconcile the Gabriel of Nyalla’s story with the archangel she’d known millions of years ago.
I smirked and headed back into the kitchen, leaving the pair alone. It was part of my evil plan. Doriel might be loyal to Samael, but Lux’s presence and Nyalla’s stories of Gabe would be a weighty influence on the Ancient’s decision if it came to a choice between me and the former Iblis.
An archangel in love with a human. A newly created angel. This was an intriguing, tempting new world that I wanted Doriel to long for and not throw away to take up with old alliances.
I was just thinking what I might want for lunch when Snip came through my door, Mestal at his heels. I thanked my Low and asked him to help Nyalla keep an eye on Lux while I spoke with the other demon. With any luck, he’d tell Doriel about his romance with the gate guardian and get her even more on my side.
“That was fast,” I told the greed demon as I led him into the kitchen. He looked much the same as he had the last time I saw him, tall and bone-thin with his hair in a man-bun and aviator shades hiding his beady eyes.
“I got resources.” He waved the laptop at me, then set it on the counter to root around in my fridge. Yanking out a soda, he poured it into a glass, then went back to the fridge to take out a bottle of chocolate syrup. “Between the handy-dandy internet, and my network of demons, all of whom owe me some pretty significant favors for the gains in their portfolios this last month, I pretty much know everything there is to know about everybody.”
