Rain fell softly beyond the window, clinging to the balding autumn trees. Eva tapped her pencil against the desk, humming as our Calculus teacher handed back tests. I froze, heart racing as he approached. He raised his brow: “Callie Parker, excellent work... except for the fact that you integrated instead of derived.”
I went pallid. “Oh god. Did I?-”
“Fail? No. I gave you half credit on those problems. The effort was spectacular. Just be more alert next time. The AP graders, unlike me, will be relentless.”
I cursed inwardly as he handed me my test with a thin smile. “C+,” I groaned, slamming my head against the desk. “I hate math.”
Eva smiled serenely at her A, putting it in her skull covered binder. “Lo siento, chica. But it's just one C.”
“In a continent of failed tests. I
Samael smiled ruefully, looking at the brown liquid inside his cup. He gave it to me. “It's ginger- try it. I find it particularly soothing.”I did. Then promptly spat it back out.He sighed disapprovingly. “Maggot, maggot, what shall I do with you?” He snatched the cup from me. “But in answer to your question: Metatron forced me to adopt this habit long ago. He said a comforting routine would help quell my 'anger issues.' I had a- falling out, shall we say, once long ago, and various beings tried to institute methods that would help control my impulses. Several of which were unpleasant, some of which succeeded, and I suffer for to this day. Raphael's insistence on a smooth jazz hour was particularly excruciating. I loathe that genre,” he said bitingly. “It drove me mad, and failed utterly.”I gawked. “Tha
The waves trembled, rearing up like stallions. They thrashed against the rock. The ground beneath my feet hummed. My heart soared with the song, mesmerized by the raw power. The air itself sang- the music of the spheres.My eyes stung with tears, and a beauty so deep shattered me. It was as if lightning raced down my spine.Michael was singing. It was the voice of an angel in song.“I suppose I'll join in, then,” Samael said under his breath. He raised his arms; shadows enveloped him. A howling wind appeared, and six pairs of wings materialized on his back. He flexed the black pinions, draping them across him so he was veiled in darkness.I would have made a smart comment about how he looked like a burnt bird. A blinding light suffused him, and Samael's wretchedly beautiful voice boomed across the waters. I understood why he'd cloaked himself in wing a
“How about I serve your white meat ass on a platter?” Raphael joshed, punching Samael in the arm.Samael smirked. “I doubt anyone would want it…”Gabriel stuck out his tongue in revulsion. He turned to me, whispering. I’d rather slow dance with Cerberus than get a taste of Boniface. Raphael probably has, though, considering their close companionship. What do humans call that again?“Bromance, Gabriel,” I whispered, watching in disbelief as Samael and Raphael duked it out over the phoenix wing. “So much for brotherly love.”Yes, bromance. Something angels are well aware of. Now, to properly meet you. Gabriel flitted over, smiling charmingly. I blushed, nearly blinded by his beauty. The angels, once more, were oblivious. His eyes danced with stars. He extended his hand like a gentleman, bowing.
“Existence. What necessitates existence?”“I don't know? Atoms, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, water.”“Belief. Belief creates existence.”“No it doesn't. Things just are. I didn't believe rocks into existence.”“No, but someone did.”“Who? The rock god?”“Maybe. I don't know. But we're obviously someone's idea.”“Whose?”“God's. Perhaps an author's, or playwrights'. At the end, it's all just a dream.”“But who's God?”“Don't know. I know lots of gods. No God. I had a Father, once,” his face grew sorrowful. “But he left long ago.”I didn't press further. “Do you believe in God, Gabriel?” I asked quietly.“Of course I do.”&ldqu
“Through deception, snake. It's hard to walk the righteous path when you slither past our heels.”“Biting heels is my specialty, twin,” Samael hissed, pupils becoming slits.“And trampling serpents is mine.”“Brothers, desist,” Metatron said firmly. “This is a place of welcome. No man or king rules here.”“I'd like to think that,” Samael said cryptically. Come to think of it, the whole conversation was rather cryptic. I really had no idea what was going on.“Maggot,” Samael spat, “get out from behind the rubble. Make yourself presentable. And Gabriel: stand aside.”Gabriel laughed blithely. “Spouting orders, are you now? Don't overstep your bounds, Boniface.” He swooped down from the pillar, then bowed in jest. “Please, brother- don't let m
“Enough. I'm done being your punching bag.” He rose and caught me as he rocketed upwards. The land healed below us, stone creaking back in place as if nothing had happened. He set me down gingerly.“Sniffling isn't threatening, Callie.”I gave him a withering glance. He dusted debris from my shoulder. I realized hazily that I was still in my track suit, feeling incredibly under-dressed. Samael's eyes lit up in comprehension.“I can fix that,” he said sagely.“I didn't ask for-”He snapped his fingers. Aghast, I found my worn sweatpants and Under Armour replaced by a Playboy bunny suit. Samael sported a Hugh Hefner-esque bathrobe and silken black pajamas. He grinned sleazily.“Are you kidding me?” I said flatly.“There,” he said proudly. “Now you're intimidating. Even angels f
“I'll take a double shot of Dark Chocolate Mint drizzled in fudge and the leggy blonde in the back.”I kicked Samael in the heel. He caught my foot between his shoes. Slick as snake oil, he grinned at the cashier. A pimply twenty-something, she stared at Samael dreamily, then rang up the order wrong.“Whatever you want, sir,” she said breathily. “I'll give you whatever you need.”Samael stroked my hair idly, and I felt evermore like his illegally purchased lap dog. “What do you want, maggot?” He leaned over, whispering into my ear. “Something that melts on your tongue?”I retched.He shrugged, withdrawing to the waiting line. His hand lingered at the small of my back.I grimaced, turning to meet the cashier. Samael's spell over her ceased. She plastered me with a bovine stare. “Your
“Aaagh! Why are immortals so frigging complicated?”“Would you rather we fit neatly into little mortal boxes?” He spoke in a falsetto: “Hello, boys and girls! My name's Satan! I'm the Prince of Darkness and Evil Incarnate. That nice old man over there with a white beard is God. He's your Father, and if you don't believe in him, you'll burn in Hell forever. I'll torture you and roast you up good until your flesh melts on my teeth. Doesn't that sound wonderful? And look over there, at that dead man on a cross- it's Jesus. His Father killed him so he could die for your sins.”“What's a sin, Jimmy? Why, you're all born filthy little brats with Sin inside of you like an STD, passed on through sex from the Original Stinking Sin. And no matter how much you bathe, that Sin never goes away, not until you accept Jesus into your hearts. Come, children, kne
I surfaced from his memories, finding his head in my lap. He clutched at my back like Jacob's wrestling angel. “You were so- so young.” I said. He hadn't been more than eighteen in his memories. “Yes,” he said quietly. “I stole you. I thought you were mine. It is how I understood things, as toy soldiers and spoils of war. It was not until I saw my brothers die for me that I realized the gravity of what I had done. I thought I was liberating us, that I would challenge our Father and demand our freedom.” “He would not let us step a foot past the Abyss, told us that it was the end. But I hungered for knowledge, and I sought more, made a pact with it. The void showed me what was Beyond, for a price. Now, in a sense, I am it. It drove me mad, or perhaps made me insane. Just like our Father was. He thought Himself the only one. He could not bear to know there were oth
I have loved you since conception, through the banks of time and across the waters of life.When I first saw you, Eve, you were golden. Father shepherded the twins proudly in to the court room, first-formed of humankind, made in the image of God. My brothers and I sang, welcoming you into the world. Adam gazed vacantly up at the Father, empty-headed and waiting to be crowned with His glorious Light. You were created to be his vessel as well, but your eyes stayed closed, refusing to open, and you drew soft, cool breaths, as if waiting for the moon to rise. It was not until I held you that you opened them. I still can not fathom that moment: their blue waters met my depths.My heart stopped, and I refused to part from you. God laughed and said I had the makings of a man in me. I did not know what I felt. I just stared into the question of your lips and waited, knowing in time, we would be.I held you at your christening and lowered y
“You look like a rabbit when you sleep. Your nostrils flare out and you sniff things. Occasionally, you squeak.” The Angel of Death sat next to me, peering at me curiously. I shook in trepidation, draped in his robe at the corner of his bed.I hadn't managed to string a word together for over an hour. He'd hand-fed me toast and counseled me through hell and high water. One moment I raged, the next I wept like a banshee. Now, I was silent, manically pulling down from the pillow case.“I watched you all night, you know. When you cried out, I sang to you, and you drifted back to sleep. What is it, to ride dreams, I wonder? Your little body, so warm. That it could contain such wonders.” He ran his fingers through my hair, braiding it meticulously. He drew a red ribbon from the air and fixed it at the end. Sam slid his arms over my shoulders, resting his h
It was then I remembered my nightmares. What drove me from my bed and sleep. I sunk into the night with him, to the depths of Samael's mind.Long ago, it happened. A reflection in the hourglass, the lip where sand siphons into the void.He gave me the heart from his breast. His ribs grew into the Tree. It throbbed in his hand like a secret. I took it, terrified.“It is yours,” he whispered. Tears softened his stony eyes. “It always has been. Take it. It will set you free.”“But I don’t want it! All I want is to be with you-”“Eve!” he cried, clasping his hands around mine. They trembled, and that scared me more than the gaping wound on his chest. He had never been afraid. “Please. If you do not, you will die.”“But this is our home-”“You do not belong here.” He p
“Different?” he asked, voice strained.I closed my eyes, running my tongue up his thumb, sucking. I nipped the top. He groaned.“Pyrrhic, you said?” I asked ruefully, dragging my lips up his index finger.“You're teasing me.”“Genius. Your turn-ons are weird.”“Damn your feminine wiles.”“You really like damning things, don't you?”He pulled me down into the snow with him, wrapping his wings around us so I might as well have been on a feather bed in a parka.Schubert's quartet peaked. He spooned me against his chest, arms wrapped round me like a mummy. Samael lay like a corpse for a moment, apparently getting in the zone. I grimaced as he stiffened. He laughed roughly at my unease.“That's just wrong,” I informed him.“Angel lust-”“Don
I crept onwards to the mansion, amazed I hadn't been caught. Then I remembered this was probably like a lobster trap. It looked like a house on the outside, but inside was a cage fitted just for me. And it wasn't like Sam- Sauron needed guards. Only Pallor would have been idiot enough to cross him, provided he was bribed by literature.Yards from the mansion, I questioned why I was here. Skeletons held a ball in the attic. The mansion's stone face was mortared with graves. I stood a yard from the entrance, an intimidating sweeping thing with a portico that bested the White House. Devils and fantastical beasts were carved into its wooden pillars. Wolves swallowed the crenelate. It was like a pipe dream from Hell.The door knocker yawned. It was a brass lion. Lionheart. Again.“Ah, a midnight snack. My master must have had surplus-”I whip
I thought I'd woke from a fever dream. I was back in my room alone, with the sun just creeping past the sill. I nearly danced out of bed, praising the morning for saving me.“What the hell kind of dream was that?” I shuddered. One in which I'd been the reincarnation of Eve, marched like a happy idiot into Hell, and, oh yeah, hooked up with the Reaper.“What the...?” A white scar shone on my breast, under the dark lace of my nightgown. I fell to my knees and gagged.“No,” I whispered. My eyes were catacombs. “No way in hell did I do that!”I frantically scanned my room. There was a rose at the head of my bed, stem charred as if it'd been roasted. It sat like a wicked promise.Revulsion seized me and I ran for the bathroom. I hurled til there was nothing but bile.I didn't leave my room for days. I slept until I c
I slept for a very long time.By the time I awoke, he was bones. They were strewn across the bed. The sunlight had eaten everything. I held his skull in my hands. It looked forlornly at me.“Samael?” I whispered.I'm here.He smiled. Just like he always had.Tears stung my eyes. I could barely form thoughts past my panic. I was angry at him. Sad. “What kind of game are you playing?”It will be alright. Just hold me.“Samael. What- What do I do?”Bring my remains to the river. Anoint me with the waters of life.I gathered his bones in the black sheets, now a shroud. I carried his remains like Ezekiel, knowing the marrow hid life. His room was vast, endless. I would call it a tower if it had any humanity in it. Instead, it was a living thing. At its cente
I witnessed his daily torture. Each morning, Samael fell. His shrieks heralded the rising sun. His plea echoed through the centuries: “Don't make me face this alone.” His beloved brother crushed him. Samael bit his heel like a beast. Michael ripped his glory from him: “Burn,” Michael cursed his twin. Stripped of his thorny crown, Samael fell to the howling sea. The blackness crushed him to it. The dark mother swallowed all, trying to erase his abortion from existence. But he held fast to his hideousness, made weapons from his pain. They sprouted from his rage, pinning the abyss to his bones. He roared “I AM.” The first claim of being. The blackness bowed before him. It recognized its master, the Lightbringer whose shadow it sprang from. He moved inside me like the Holy Ghost. “Do you remember how we fell?” Samael took Go