Even Angels Fall (Book 3)

When I think of an Erelim Elder dying, I imagine half the world decaying and rotting away. They are that powerful, they have that much influence over my sense of worth that for an Erelim Elder to die, I envision a title wave consuming everything in its path and leaving only broken homes and lives behind. I picture thousands of grief-stricken Souls, clinging to material items, looking up to God for some reassurance that they have not been abandoned. I see children standing alone, motherless, fatherless, sobbing, bleeding and aching for arms to hold them.

Dion and Tymician, they aren’t like normal people. Death doesn’t come easy or swiftly. So how can I accept that these two incredible beings who’s Light outshined every being on this planet, are gone, like a switch flipped, as if anyone in the world could reach up and do it?

Tessa doesn’t know who Dion is and I don’t think she cares. It’s the fact that it affects me so much that it breaks her heart. She wraps her arms around me and tears are already down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”

I blink, unmoving. Angels are such odd creatures. Their hearts are chaste and unsullied. How can anyone blame them for running off to Heaven? They aren’t meant for war. Tessa isn’t meant for anything but God’s unyielding love and care.

It’s something I could never give her.

In a rush of jumbled anxiety, I abandon the King of Prussia mall and hurry home. Fear makes me rash. Dion’s death may have implications and I need to speak with Ema and Misha to figure it out. Dion was the strongest Fallen in the realm. Without him, Jorel and Abida are next in line for such a position. They will have supreme reign over every Fallen clan on this Earth.

The question isn’t ‘if’ they will come after me. The question is ‘when’.

I stalk into the house, “Where is Ema?”

The atmosphere breaks my stride. Morose and uneasy, they point to the garage door. Liddy stands in the laundry room right before the entrance, holding her blanket. She makes no move to go further. I slowly come up behind her and she quickly darts out of my way returning to the dining table.

The garage has six cars side by side and there is much space left over for the workstation and the car lift. Ema’s a small girl, she can find hundreds of places to tuck herself into. Why has she estranged herself from her family?

She lies in the bed of my black F150. Her little feet dangle over the edge, black dust dirties the bottom of her small toes. She stares at the ceiling, humming a distant tune I’ve never heard.

“Ema?”

I sit on the trunk’s bed and let my legs sway.

“It’s sucks.” She murmurs. As I watch, her face contorts into the saddest expression I’ve ever witnessed. “Being unable to cry.”

I don’t understand her sadness. She’s told me that Dion’s hunted the Peris for thousands of years. Shouldn’t she be happy?

I lie down beside her, rising my hands behind my head, analyzing the ceiling. In all the years I’ve lived here, I must say this is the first time I’ve ever looked at it. There are big glass panels smothered in dust distorting the sunlight. Even though it’s mid-afternoon, inside here it feels more like dusk. I remember now when Tymician and I built this huge workspace.

“You know,” I begin, “This was supposed to be a hanger for an airplane. Ty and I wanted to grow corn. We owned Bear Valley in the beginning. Twenty-five miles of lush lands. But a buyer came within a month, wanting to build a town and Ty thought it was a great idea. I hated it at the time. The reason we moved out here was to get away from the human populace. Now we were surrounding ourselves with it. But it turned out alright.”

Ema sits up, holding her knees close to her chest. I sit up too, waiting patiently for her to talk to me. I know the game well, the push and pull of communication. I raised over sixty Newborns and though I failed with Kyla, I refuse to be defeated again.

Ema picks at the skin about her knee. “I know what you’re thinking. Why aren’t I happy? Dion’s dead.” She shrugs, forcing a fake smile, “I’m a stupid kid, I guess.”

Her defense is a sign and I shoot it down, “You’re not a stupid kid, Ema.” Her green eyes flicker over to me and I smile, “You’re an Erelim. You must have known him for a long, long time.” I brush a short bang out of her eye. “Was he your friend once?”

She giggles, her lips trembling as she looks away, “No. Even in Heaven, he hated me. I think I reminded him of someone.”

“You were in Heaven with him? Were you in Heaven with Tymician too?”

“Oh yeah. I uhh.” She sighs, “I watched him Fall. Lucius, Gerald, Ty, Turel, Melek; I watched them all Fall.”

“God…” I wrap her in my arms suddenly and hold tight. “You’ve been like this for so long. It’s unfair.”

Her resistance ends abruptly and she buries her head in my arm. How many in this world can continue as a little child for nine thousand years? What kind of life is that? Yet she’s happy and she’s smart and she’s funny. If she can conquer as much as she has, what excuse is there for anyone else? What excuse is there for me?

The garage door opens and I release her, combing her hair back in place. She laughs at my fatherly actions, batting my hand away. Tristan tells us Misha arrived.

Sitting on the couch, she greets me with a grave expression. “We are in big trouble.”

“Yeah I figured.”

“Abida and Jorel are the strongest Fallen on this planet. Do you know what will happen to this clan now? They will divide. Abida’s sixty percent and Jorel’s thirty-five will splinter off. They have every right to come here and snatch the throne right from you. We have to get you out of town.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not running.”

“Felix, you don’t understand. They will kill you. Jorel will destroy this entire house. It will be a massacre. You think he cares about the Ruling? He is an Oracle. He can take them down before they even decide to come here.”

“This is my family.”

Ema leans over the couch. “He’s okay here, Elder Misha.”

Misha snaps to her feet, her dress swaying in the jerk of her movement. She holds her frumpy purse close to her chest, her long fingernails digging into the fabric in a terrible grip. A few strands of long brown hair fall from the twisted bun and land in her face but she leaves them where they fall, gapping wide-eyed and fearful. “Lady Ema.” The tension in her throat and muscles pulse. Misha glances toward the windows, “I take it your friends are with you?”

“Yeah.” She awkwardly replies, “They kind of don’t leave me alone.”

Misha looks down at me, “Is there a place we can talk in private?”

“Ema’s been helping me a lot. She tells me things Elders never want to share. You can talk here, Misha.”

Trepidation stiffens her jaw. She takes her seat but she keeps a vigilant hold on her bag, as if it contains a vital weapon to keep her safe. “When you said Peris invaded your home, I never would have thought…” She clears her throat, finally tucking the stray strands of hair behind her ear.

“Felix won’t need to give up anything. I’ll keep him safe.”

Despite not understanding her power, if Ema says I’m safe, I believe her. “We’re turning Kio into an army. Talk to me about that.”

She is hesitant to begin with Ema’s green eyes staring at her with intrigue but eventually she begins to inform me of the outside world. “The Elders are following your command, for the moment. How long that will continue is in question. But as far as I know, they are gathering their house leaders to begin operations for their own territories. Each of them is imposing a central house for training, another is being used as a Safe House. Kio has five hundred Newborns. They’re safety is rather important.”

“That’s a great idea. Who implemented that?”

“Reynolds suggested this and many found it appropriate.”

“We’ll follow the same thing. Let’s use Morgantown as the training center and Baltimore will be the Safe House.”

Ema rests a bored hand against her cheek, “Baltimore doesn’t have a great defense.”

Misha uneasily agrees, “None of my houses do either. Among our houses,” She looks at me skeptically, “This is the only house appropriate.”

“Can’t we balk up any of the others?”

“It would take time.”

“And an Iyana.” Ema sarcastically inputs, “You got any of those lying around?”

I scratch my scalp. Reaching in my back pocket, I grab my wallet. “Tristan! Tessa!” It takes a moment for them to come bouncing down the steps but they arrive and I throw a debit card in their direction. “Get the twins from Meryl’s house. You’re going to buy a dozen tents, the largest that they have, blankets, pillows, towels, bathroom supplies and food that can support twenty people for a week.”

“Something bad happen?”

I fall back against the couch, “No but it’s about too.”

Misha watches Tessa leave with Tristan before returning her gaze upon me, “What is she doing here? You were supposed to return her and get Veronica back?”

“Matthias never showed up. I got the call about Dion and was worried so I came home.”

She pulls out her IPad and speedily tabs on the screen. She seems to forget I exist.

Ema pats me on the shoulder. “I think we’re going to move into the garage. It’s a big space and the less people that know about us the better. We’ll hide out there for a while.”

“You can’t hide out in the garage.”

“Felix, we’re Peris. We’re great at hiding.” She journeys to the pool deck where all of her family plays in the water.

Even as Misha types on the screen, she bites, “Do you have any idea what she is? Or what she brings with her? Chaos follows her. You are not safe. To bring in Newborns is foolish and detrimental. I beg you, whatever she tells you, she plays you a fool.”

“She’s a sweet kid. How much damage can she do?”

“That is her game, Felix.” She looks at me as if I’m new to the world. My stupidity must astound her at times like this. “She is a nine thousand year old Erelim, driven from Heaven and denied Hell. Do not think for one moment she is innocent. She has blood on her hands worth thousands of Souls.” The IPad sounds and Misha glances at it. Her brows crease. “This is interesting.”

“What?”

“Matthias is the new leader of the NYC. He claimed his seat in France an hour ago.”

“That’s great. Now I won’t have to deal with Isis at all.”

“You’re naive, Felix. He has your Elder and four of your members. Now he is president of the NYC. Before he was taking action to please the populace, to gain favor, but there is a reason he was Isis’ Second. Felix.” She snatches my hand, forcing my attention, “You must see people as the duplicity they stand for. Everyone has two sides. Everyone plays two crusades. There is no honesty. There is no truth. There is what you want and what you need to do to get it. To defeat your enemy, discover what they require and destroy it.”