Page 29 of Under His Wings
“What?!” Gabriel exclaimed, his eyes wide. “Why... why would he?”
“As interesting as seeing angels being two-faced liars is, this seems like a squabble among your kind. Why am I here?” Abaddon asked gruffly, his foot tapping a staccato rhythm against the floor.
I looked at Zach and he gave a go ahead with a tilt of his head.
“Because Tirael erased Zachariel’s memories when he started falling,” I said.
“Bullshit, Hellion.” Abaddon scoffed. “I know he has white wings and your boy-toy radiates angelic power.”
“I know it’s hard to believe but erasing my memories somehow stopped the process,” Zachariel explained, his expression set in stone. “I have a patch of feathers that burned and grew back black.”
“Well, show them to us,” the Archdemon requested. Zach winced, so I hurried to explain.
“He plucked them out, but there really is...” I started to say.
“Hm, I may have a resolution for this. My healing powers are not as good as Raphael’s but they should be enough to grow the feathers back,” Gabriel offered, staring at Zach as if a million theories were going through his head and he didn’t like even one of them.
Zach nodded and the Archangel laid a hand on a presented wing, the rough path visible among the feathers if you knew what you were looking for. The light of angelic grace shone bright and it took a few minutes of tense silence as we all waited for the feathers to go through all the stages of forming. But once a hint of black peaked from behind the hand Gabriel took a step back with a gasp.
“How is this possible?” the Archangel asked. “Zach... why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about my supposedly horrifying life as a human when you knew I was desperate to know anything? No, it was a rhetorical question, I know you think you were protecting me. I didn’t tell you about this because I thought it was just another detail that made me a freak, like my amnesia and my nightmares, and I didn’t want to deal with it on top of everything else. After all, you were always going on about how I had to be a perfect angel, and fretting about me if I even as much as gave someone a side eye.”
“It seems my approach may have done more harm than good,” Gabriel said despondently. “I’m sorry if you felt as if you couldn’t trust me because I would judge you.”
“Do you really think becoming a demon is the worst thing that could happen?” Zach’s quiet voice inquired. “Will you stop being my friend if I become one? Because, Gabriel, there is a chance that I might. I want my memories back. I want this atrocity committed against me to be dealt with.”
“I...” the Archangel was at loss for words once more.
“My, my, it always surprises me how many things we demons can learn from you angels. Usurping an angel’s free will, interfering in the natural order, using angelic powers for evil... and then pretending nothing happened,” Abaddon turned to Zachariel. “By my reckoning you will be safer among demons. Don’t worry, we take care of our Ascended. Hellion can tell you Auriolus has everything he wants under my care.”
Oh, hell no, I could see where this was going. I wasn’t going to let Abaddon collect another Ascended like picking up a dirty puppy he found in an alley. Zachariel was mine.
“We should deal with the angel and demon present for Zachariel’s Ascendance and return his memories before we do anything else and make any plans,” I deflected.
“You are right,” Gabriel said, anger palpable in his words. “I will be back.”
He vanished suddenly, no doubt teleporting to Heaven to hunt down Tirael. After learning the demon we needed was already in custody Abaddon took the time to talk to Kreshadon about how it would be a good idea to have a place where angels and demons could discuss business. If this whole ordeal resulted in diplomatic quarters next to a kink club I was going to laugh myself sick. With a flutter of beautiful, rose-gold tipped wings Gabriel was back, his hand firmly fisted in the collar of a man he dragged behind him.
Tirael protested the treatment loudly until he saw Kreshadon pushing Leonius into the room and his eyes jumped around, settling on Zachariel. He went deadly still and stopped speaking.
Leonius on the other hand started running his mouth when he spotted Abaddon.
“My Lord! Those savage angels committed a taboo offence against our kind! Brainwashed that one into going to Heaven!” He gestured at Zach with his whole body as his hands were tied behind his back.
“Why didn’t you inform me about this earlier then?”
“They blackmailed me! Said an Archangel would kill me if I don’t cooperate. It’s in my nature as a demon to save myself.”
I seethed quietly thinking to myself: Yeah, and it is in our demonic nature to lie as well.
But I didn’t need to intervene. Abaddon had everything in hand.
He placed a heavy palm on the demon’s shoulder and said,
“I can understand that.” But before the smirk on Leonius’ face could spread the Archdemon continued. “I could forgive you for harming one of our kind, it’s not unheard of after all. But, Leonius... you gave Heaven an advantage over Hell by letting them snatch a promising Ascended from us and that I cannot forgive.”
Abaddon’s palm flared with power. Just like Archangels could burn the wings of the angels they judged so could Archdemons cast their judgement over demons. But while the angels fell... there was nowhere to go for the demons. Leonius screamed as his demonic power was taken away and his body slowly fell apart, disintegrating into dust.