Entanglement

“What’s going to happen to you? When they come for you?”

Azlynn dreaded the question as much as the answer. She watched rain fall in sheets past her window. Dante was sitting on the couch, nursing a mug of strong coffee and watching her with worry in his eyes.

“I’ll probably be exiled from Heaven,” Azlynn whispered. The words felt like razors cutting into her lips as the words fell from her mouth. Gabriel had found her earlier that day, after they left the hospital. He had warned her that the Archangels had been preoccupied intercepting Tedantrios’ attempted attack to worry about her trial, but that they would soon gather to discuss her fate.

The wary sadness in his blue eyes had tugged at her heart. She prayed that Gabe wasn’t disappointed in her. In spite of all her new powers, she trembled in fear at the thought of facing the Archangels tomorrow. She would go to meet Lawson and the others first; tell them that she would do what she could to help, but that she didn’t know how useful she would be.

Her Grace would be stripped away. It would not leave her mostly human because of her demon blood. But it might make her lose herself completely to her demonic nature. There would be no angel left in her to balance the darkness. Azlynn leaned her head against the cool glass. What she didn’t tell Dante, couldn’t tell him, was that the Archangels might decide to simply put her to death.

If they made her wholly demon, with her newly acquired abilities and rank, they would likely fear that she would become too much of a threat to them. She would be an even more dangerous enemy than Leviathan had been, because she had knowledge about Heaven, and angels, and any of their weaknesses.

She told herself they would just take her Grace away; and that’s definitely all she told anyone else. But in her heart of hearts Azlynn was growing more and more certain that the Archangels would condemn her to death.

“Az, is there something you’re not telling me?” She turned to face Dante, and he was watching her with a shrewd knowingness.

“I’m just worried about tomorrow,” she replied. He raised an eyebrow slightly. Azlynn went into the kitchen and pretended to study the contents in her refrigerator. Dante sighed, clearly sensing that he wasn’t going to be getting anything else from her. She was grateful when he let the matter drop and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the side of her head.

“You’ll be fine,” he murmured. “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

That’s exactly the problem. But aloud she said, “thank you for always believing in me.”

“I love you,” he said quietly after several moments of silence. The words brought a smile to her lips, but they also shattered her heart into thousands of jagged pieces.



“So, what have you two decided?” Lawson kept his voice professional, but Azlynn could see the eagerness in his eyes.

“Aren’t we going to wait for Charlotte?” Azlynn asked.

“She’s gone,” Lawson replied grimly.

“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Dante asked.

“He means, she packed up all her stuff, put her house up for sale, and disappeared,” Drew growled from his place at the window. His posture was rigid, and even though she couldn’t see his face, Azlynn sensed that his expression would be a stormy combination of bewilderment, agony, and rage. A misty forest and a flash of gray fur suddenly flashed in Azlynn’s mind, and she frowned, shaking it away. Leviathan had always had a talent for Far-Seeing; she must have picked it up from him and now it was manifesting itself at random times.

She’d have to work on learning to control it. She leaned back in her seat, crossing and uncrossing her legs nervously.

“Well, Will, the thing is, I’m in a bit of trouble with the rest of the angels. I want to help, but I don’t know how…available I’ll be to you until after I deal with the consequences of everything I’ve done.”

“Consequences?” Lawson looked stunned. “Everything you did helped us bring down the True Form Society. Why would the angels want to punish you for that?”

“One of the conditions of me being allowed to live in Heaven and train as an angel was that I had to swear a vow before all the Archangels that I would never tap into my demonic powers. I had to give myself completely to the angel blood in me. I went against that vow. I called upon my demon nature; I took on Leviathan in the context of being a demon, which therefore imbued me with his powers, and granted me his rank in Hell. The angels aren’t going to take any of that lightly.”

There was silence for several heartbeats.

“Ah, I see,” Lawson said. “Well, I wish you the best of luck, Azlynn. If…if everything works out, know that we’ll always welcome you back here.”

“Thank you, chief,” Azlynn murmured. She caught the flash of grim sympathy in his gaze; he was no fool. He knew as well as she did that her chances of ever coming back were slim to none.

“I’ll help when I can,” Dante offered. He and Azlynn stood, and shook hands with Drew and Lawson. They were on the front steps of the newly rebuilt police station when they descended.

The sky became brighter, and everyone stopped to look up. There were gasps of awe as the Archangels drifted down from the clouds. They used no glamour, and their beauty and power was nearly overwhelming. There were seven of them, their wings shifting from pure whites to dusky midnight blues. Michael, the oldest, led the way. His wings were purer than new fallen snow, and his eyes were the almost colorless shade of rain. Azlynn immediately bowed her head before him, respecting his power. The people gathered on the street behind her were trembling; Azlynn could feel them.

Michael was the Angel of Justice, and the one who would ultimately decide Azlynn’s fate.

“Go stand inside the station,” Azlynn whispered to Dante. He opened his mouth to argue, but she shook her head. “Please, Dante. Go.”

Sighing, and throwing the approaching angels a wary look, he walked back inside the police station.

“Azlynn, Daughter of Jilasia and Leviathan,” Michael intoned, his voice rumbling like a thunderstorm. “Shed your human glamour.”

Azlynn did as she was instructed, murmurs rippling through the crowd as her wings unfurled and her tattoos revealed themselves. The angels shared glances.

“Do you know why we’re here?” Michael asked her.

“Yes, I do.” Azlynn raised her eyes to meet the gazes of the Archangels. She would be humble, but not cowed. The angels fanned out, placing her in the center of a circle of gleaming wings.

“You broke your vow,” Imogen hissed, clearly unable to hold herself back any longer. “I warned them that you would betray us one day.” She ruffled her silver and gray wings restlessly. Azlynn bristled.

“I didn’t betray anyone,” she said, fighting to keep the snap out of her tone. “I simply used unconventional methods to do what any of you would have done.”

“Unconventional methods?” Imogen scoffed. “You took Leviathan’s place as a leader of the legions of Hell!”

“I needed to stop him,” Azlynn protested. “Tedantrios was on his way to try and instigate a massacre in Heaven; I knew you would need all the help there that you could get. But Leviathan would have used that diversion as a chance to strike. He would have reduced Earth to rubble before he came to help Tedantrios wipe you out. I was able to intercept and fight him in a way that he wouldn’t have expected. It was a risk I had to take.”

“Allowing you to continue your training as an angel is a risk we can’t afford to make, unfortunately,” Imogen said, eyes gleaming with triumph.

“So you believe we should take the child’s Grace?” Alyda, the Angel of Mercy, asked in her delicate voice.

“No. I believe we should tear free her very soul and wipe it out of existence.”

Azlynn’s knees went weak and her mother drew a sharp gasp.

“Imogen!” she said, outraged. “How dare you suggest such a thing?”

“She broke her vow, Jilasia,” Imogen replied mildly. “We cannot let such a deed go unpunished.”

“Destroying her soul is far too harsh a punishment!” Jilasia snapped. “Even Lucifer’s corrupted soul wasn’t destroyed.”

“And look what a mistake that turned out to be.”

The world seemed to hold its breath.

Then, dangerously, Jilasia whispered, “are you likening my daughter to the Dark Prince? I suggest you choose your words carefully, Imogen. I will challenge you to a Blood Burning if you dare insult my legacy again.”

“I’m not the one on trial here!” Imogen said, copper-colored eyes flashing.

“If you destroy Azlynn, you must destroy me as well.” Another stunned silence settled over the assembled angels at Gabe’s calm words.

“You defend her?” Imogen said, narrowing her eyes. She was the Angel of the Gates; the one who decided who entered the angelic kingdom and who fell into Lucifer’s clutches. She was the one who determined reward and punishment for the souls of Earth.

“Yes, I defend her,” Gabe replied. “As I always have. I have always been able to see the light in her, Imogen; the light you blind yourself to. You have always distrusted Azlynn because your existence is centered around black and white. Yours is a particular and categorized nature, and because you can’t classify her, you fear her. But Azlynn has served the angels well. She has been trained as a Guardian; to do any and everything in her power to defend the innocent and light the darkness. That is what she did here. She just happens to have different powers at her disposal. But she did her duty, Imogen, just as faithfully as you’ve done yours. To call for her annihilation is blasphemous of you. She saved millions of lives with her actions, and she defeated one of out greatest foes. I stand by her as I have from the beginning. And if you destroy her, or cast her from Heaven in banishment, then I will fall to the same fate.”

“As will I,” Jilasia spoke, her emerald eyes boring angrily into Imogen. “She is my daughter, and I will not abandon her. If she Falls, I Fall too.”

“This is madness!” Imogen said. “Alyda, Jophiel; surely you see reason.” Imogen turned to the Angel of Mercy and the Angel of Destruction for support.

“I think we cannot afford to lose our Warrior and our Guardian,” Jophiel said dryly, his deep voice resounding around the circle. Everything about him was dark; from his midnight blue wings to his inky black hair and deep black eyes flecked with pinpoints of fiery greens and blues. Alyda was slender and slight, with hair like moonlight that fell to her knees and wings of soft blue.

“She is but a child,” she said in her flute-like voice. “I think it would be unfair to rip her life away from her.”

“Raphael?” Imogen said, almost desperately. The last of the original Three raised his head. Raphael was the Angel of Freedom; the guardian of free will and choice.

“I think you’re outnumbered on this one, Imogen.”

“She swore a vow!” Imogen practically shrieked. “She swore a vow before the entire Archangel assembly-”

“Enough, Imogen.” Michael gave her a chastising look, and the enraged angel immediately quieted.

“Gabriel, my brother. Would you truly cast away your own Grace in honor of this girl? Do you truly, in the depths of your heart, believe in her that much?”

“Yes,” Gabe said without hesitation, and Azlynn’s spirit lifted. Michael folded his hands in front of himself, looking thoughtful for long, agonizing minutes.

“She did warn us of the attack from Tedantrios, which allowed us to thwart his plans. And she did defeat Leviathan, one of our oldest and fiercest enemies. The girl may have broken her vow, but she did so in the best interests of the angels, and of those whom we protect and guard. I will not kill the child, nor will I take her Grace from her. She proved herself a worthy angel. And Tedantrios will not stop in his attempts to destroy us until he is well and truly dead. We will need all the help we can get. Azlynn is an asset to us. I’m declaring her a full-fledged Guardian, and our liaison with Earth. If she proves herself again,” Michael gave Azlynn a look that clearly conveyed that she had no choice in that matter, “then I will grant her an Ascension to join the ranks of the Archangels.”

Azlynn’s breath hitched in her throat.

“Now we must return to Heaven,” Michael said. “Tedantrios will return soon, no doubt with aid from Lucifer’s dark magic. We have a war to prepare for.”

Gabe and Jilasia beamed proudly at Azlynn as the Archangels began their rise to the skies.

“Thank you,” Azlynn mouthed to them. The world seemed to come back to itself as the angels disappeared. Azlynn ignored the stares of all the slack-jawed bystanders and hurried into the building, where Dante, Lawson, and Drew were all waiting for her.

“That was…intense,” Dante remarked.

“I hope you boys are ready to rally the troops again,” Azlynn said. “Because Lucifer and Tedantrios won‘t just destroy Heaven; they‘ll level Earth as well. We need to find Tedantrios. Before he finds a way to breach the Gates.” She looked each man in the eye in turn.

“The battle’s over, gentlemen. The war is just beginning.”