center of the space, leaped up on it, and made sure his voice carried—again, all it took was a thought.
“Hey! Fellow angels.” Yeah, so not protocol, and Darnella, a snooty ginger-haired angel who took extreme pride in wings that matched her hair color perfectly, called him on it.
“Reaver. Have you no shame?”
“I’m standing here in jeans and a T-shirt, with a split lip, broken nose, and black eyes. Do I look like I have shame?” He could have dressed appropriately formal—or at least business casual—for this, but screw it. He was feeling rebellious today. He looked out at the twodozen annoyed angels. “I don’t suppose anyone has seen Gethel?”
Blank stares were his only answer.
“Okay, let’s try this. Does anyone know what she’s done?”
Modran, a dark-haired male wearing a ridiculous jeweled silver robe, stepped forward. “She’s no longer part of our department. Why would we have seen her or know of her activities?”
Reaver had no idea where she’d been reassigned after Reaver had taken over for her as the Horsemen’s Heavenly Watcher, and he didn’t care. He also didn’t have access to high-ranking angels who might know, but some of these idiots did.
“I just thought you’d like to know that she’s gone bad. Really bad. She colluded with Pestilence to kill Thanatos’s child and start the Apocalypse.”
There was much scoffing. And skeptical expressions. And flat-out calls of “liar.” Fools. Problem was, he didn’t have a lot of credibility. It didn’t matter that as a fallen angel he’d helped save the freaking world a few years ago; the only thing these morons focused on was the fact that he’d been fallen in the first place. They were going to flip their halos when they learned about his newest stunt. Tossing Reseph into the human realm wasn’t going to go over well.
Especially since Gethel knew Reseph was out there and was trying to find him.
Darnella arched an eyebrow. “And you have proof of this?”
“I have witnesses. Thanatos among them.” He explained what had happened, and gradually, shock, sadness, and fury replaced the skepticism.
“More than three months have passed in the human realm,” Darnella said. “Why did you wait so long to bring this to us?”
“I was stuck in Sheoul.” Reaver braced himself for the rest of the confession, but before he could speak, a blond male Reaver didn’t recognize moved forward, dressed from head to toe in white.
“I’ll speak with the Archangels to determine if an investigation is needed and if Gethel will be required to hand over her
sheoulghul
.”
“
If
?” Reaver snorted in disgust. And Gethel was in possession of an artifact that allowed for recharging angelic powers in Sheoul? Most
battle
angels didn’t have access to
sheoulghuls
, and battle angels were the ones who needed them most. “I’m telling you that she’s gone bad. She’s sided with the bad guys—you remember them—the demons? Even now she’s plotting to bring Pestilence back.”
“And how, exactly, does she plan to do that?” Modran asked, skepticism dripping from his deep voice. “Pestilence is dead.”
Reaver winced. “Not… exactly. Thanatos used the wrong dagger. Reseph was sent to Sheoul-gra with Pestilence locked away inside him.”
Murmurs resonated through the crowd, and Darnella spoke up. “That’s unexpected, but good news. We stand a better chance of winning the future biblical Apocalypse with an extra Horseman on our side. We calculated the odds of success without him, and they were, sad to say, not encouraging.”
“Not encouraging?” Reaver was always amazed at his brethrens’ capacity for understatement. “You are aware of the theory that Reseph’s death could unravel history?Overnight, every reference to four Horsemen would be erased, including those from the Bible, and everything Reseph ever affected in any way would take a new course. If he’d died, we could all have woken up to a very different
“Hey! Fellow angels.” Yeah, so not protocol, and Darnella, a snooty ginger-haired angel who took extreme pride in wings that matched her hair color perfectly, called him on it.
“Reaver. Have you no shame?”
“I’m standing here in jeans and a T-shirt, with a split lip, broken nose, and black eyes. Do I look like I have shame?” He could have dressed appropriately formal—or at least business casual—for this, but screw it. He was feeling rebellious today. He looked out at the twodozen annoyed angels. “I don’t suppose anyone has seen Gethel?”
Blank stares were his only answer.
“Okay, let’s try this. Does anyone know what she’s done?”
Modran, a dark-haired male wearing a ridiculous jeweled silver robe, stepped forward. “She’s no longer part of our department. Why would we have seen her or know of her activities?”
Reaver had no idea where she’d been reassigned after Reaver had taken over for her as the Horsemen’s Heavenly Watcher, and he didn’t care. He also didn’t have access to high-ranking angels who might know, but some of these idiots did.
“I just thought you’d like to know that she’s gone bad. Really bad. She colluded with Pestilence to kill Thanatos’s child and start the Apocalypse.”
There was much scoffing. And skeptical expressions. And flat-out calls of “liar.” Fools. Problem was, he didn’t have a lot of credibility. It didn’t matter that as a fallen angel he’d helped save the freaking world a few years ago; the only thing these morons focused on was the fact that he’d been fallen in the first place. They were going to flip their halos when they learned about his newest stunt. Tossing Reseph into the human realm wasn’t going to go over well.
Especially since Gethel knew Reseph was out there and was trying to find him.
Darnella arched an eyebrow. “And you have proof of this?”
“I have witnesses. Thanatos among them.” He explained what had happened, and gradually, shock, sadness, and fury replaced the skepticism.
“More than three months have passed in the human realm,” Darnella said. “Why did you wait so long to bring this to us?”
“I was stuck in Sheoul.” Reaver braced himself for the rest of the confession, but before he could speak, a blond male Reaver didn’t recognize moved forward, dressed from head to toe in white.
“I’ll speak with the Archangels to determine if an investigation is needed and if Gethel will be required to hand over her
sheoulghul
.”
“
If
?” Reaver snorted in disgust. And Gethel was in possession of an artifact that allowed for recharging angelic powers in Sheoul? Most
battle
angels didn’t have access to
sheoulghuls
, and battle angels were the ones who needed them most. “I’m telling you that she’s gone bad. She’s sided with the bad guys—you remember them—the demons? Even now she’s plotting to bring Pestilence back.”
“And how, exactly, does she plan to do that?” Modran asked, skepticism dripping from his deep voice. “Pestilence is dead.”
Reaver winced. “Not… exactly. Thanatos used the wrong dagger. Reseph was sent to Sheoul-gra with Pestilence locked away inside him.”
Murmurs resonated through the crowd, and Darnella spoke up. “That’s unexpected, but good news. We stand a better chance of winning the future biblical Apocalypse with an extra Horseman on our side. We calculated the odds of success without him, and they were, sad to say, not encouraging.”
“Not encouraging?” Reaver was always amazed at his brethrens’ capacity for understatement. “You are aware of the theory that Reseph’s death could unravel history?Overnight, every reference to four Horsemen would be erased, including those from the Bible, and everything Reseph ever affected in any way would take a new course. If he’d died, we could all have woken up to a very different
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