Page 75 of The Morning Star
“No. You need to fucking learn to compromise and do it in the next five minutes,” I argued. “We need a clean slate, and we need a show of faith on the part of the archangels.”
“There are some things we cannot compromise on,” he told me. “Let’s table this and in a few thousand—”
“Now. There was a time when you refused to compromise and you still carry the scars from that decision—you’ll forever carry the scars and the guilt for that decision. Don’t let history repeat itself.”
His gaze softened and I felt his spirit-self caress mine. Lux made a gagging noise and I shushed the little angel.
“I want to see us come together, Cockroach. I want demons and angels to live together and love together and create those who may return to Aaru and reclaim the legacy we lost through pride and anger. I want that with all my heart. But I cannot sacrifice the future of humankind in the process of pursuing that future. We’ve done them grievous wrongs. We must correct that and ensure their positive evolution. If that means the reconciliation of our kind is delayed a million years, so be it.”
“We will rebuild, gain their trust. Besides, demons won’t do any worse to humans than the angels have already done,” I countered.
“I vote yes,” Raphael said. “The Iblis has clearly demonstrated that she has all of Hel under her control. Because of her we were facing five thousand demons instead of thirty thousand. We would never have won that battle without her, or the war without help from her allies.”
“I agree,” Uriel said. “Human losses and damage were minimal compared to what they could have been, and losses on our side could have been far worse.”
Nyalla elbowed Gabe in the side and he grudgingly spoke up. “The human leaders of state were very impressed with how quickly this was resolved. Someone told them of the key role the Iblis played, and they are incredibly grateful for her intervention and support.”
I was willing to bet that the “someone” wasn’t Gabriel.
“All in favor?” Raphael asked, raising his hand.
It ended up being me, Uri, Rafi, Nyalla, and Ahia. Gabe, Asta, and Gregory dissented. And too fucking bad for them because I had the majority on my side.
“Okay,” Gregory sighed, shooting me an apologetic smile. “Let’s all come to an agreement regarding basic standards of conduct—angels, demons, and humans, and proceed from there.”
“The humans should have a say in that as well,” Nyalla chimed in. Uri nodded in agreement.
“Speaking of the humans,” Uriel added. “They should be free to leave if they don’t want to live under demon rule. Humans have a complex system in place for permission to change country of residence similar to how we handle requests to change choirs. I suggest we do the same for humans wanting to go from demon areas to the angel ones.”
“Or from the angel areas to the demon ones,” I told her.
“I also want a group of human spokespeople who gets the final say on common rule of law,” Uriel said.
Ahia’s hand went up. “Human spokespeople to include a minimum of one werewolf and one Nephilim.”
Rafi’s hand went up. “The Nephilim in the group of human spokespeople has the power of binding arbitration.”
My heart pounded and I felt lightheaded with the realization that I’d won this battle. Me, an imp, had won.
No, me, the Iblis, had won.
“Agreed,” Gregory said. “Ahia, I want you to head the formation of the human council. Work with Candy to pick a werewolf representative or two, as well as the Nephilim. Work with Gabe to identify human heads of state to contact and allow each independent country one representative. We’ll weigh their votes based on their population size.” The archangel turned to Asta. “You work with Uriel and put together a proposed list of common rules of law as well as behavioral standards. Use the ones the humans already have in place as guidance, and add to that rules that would make sense from an angel and demon perspective. I will continue to monitor gates and head the Grigori, while Raphael is now in charge of the rifts and any who come through them.” He turned to me and what I saw in his dark eyes took my breath away. “The Iblis will be ultimately responsible for the demon-owned areas and their compliance with the rule of law, regardless of who she puts in charge of administration. She is also in charge of policing and disciplining any demons who choose to live in the angel-controlled areas. These are your demons, Cockroach. It’s your responsibility to ensure they behave.”
My eyebrows shot up. Lux snickered.
“Well, your definition of behave anyway.”
That was better.
One by one the angels left. Gabe and Nyalla headed upstairs to possibly undress and discuss the day’s events. I turned to Gregory, Lux still strapped to my chest his little hands firmly affixed to my boobs.
“Moon?” Gregory asked, his voice husky, his eyes dark as he looked at me. “Maybe some private time first, then moon?”
“Can you give me a couple of days?” I unstrapped Lux and handed him to Gregory. “I want to take care of a few things in Hel first before I spend a day relaxing on the moon with my family.”
He cuddled Lux against his chest and nodded. “Understood. After that show of power you just performed, I could imagine you would need to head back there and reinforce your leadership ability.”
Yeah. I wanted to have a serious chat with Remiel about where we stood going forward, as well as present him with the profiles of some angels I thought he might like to take on a date. Hopefully he’d swipe right on one or two. Then I needed to talk to Doriel, make sure my Lows had enough bitey fish and that the demons in my dungeon hadn’t died. I also needed to fly around Hel and basically glower at the residents, ensuring they remembered who exactly was in charge now.
