Chapter 5
Righteous
Istood in the Flight Hall, watching as Gavriel spread his wings, leaped out into the void, and vanished.
I knew where he’d gone, that the veil separating Sanctuary and the sky above the South Pole of Earth was so thin that even the weight of one feather on it opened a space large enough to fall through.
Before, I’d only been allowed into this Hall when I had missions, but as temporary leader of Sanctuary, I was in control of who came and went from here.
The only other way out of the realm was the small portal in the Maker Hall that no Protector would fit through, the one for new Novices on their first trip to Earth.
Not that there would be any more Novices. Mikhail’s state had shaken me to my core. I had no idea losing a mate could wreak such havoc on a High Angelus. It was as if his very soul had been torn out of him.
But of course, it had already been torn hundreds of times, and he had done it to himself.
The memory of my one encounter with the soul knife was enough to make me shudder now.
The scars that littered his body, gouges in his physical form that were evidence of just how much he had sacrificed to keep Sanctuary going over the centuries—they had sickened me.
They hadn’t sickened Sunny, though. She’d seen the soul smut he’d taken on for Feather’s sake, and the cuts all over him, and instead of reacting, just nodded once.
Then she’d demanded a Novice send her cloth, purifying oils, and as much food as the Dining Hall could spare, and begun wiping him down, cajoling him when he woke into taking small sips of the energy-laced water.
Only a day before, we’d all wondered if we would have food or water for long in Sanctuary.
With the gate failing, draining our realm of its power, everyone had known what lay ahead: a dwindling death for us all, ending with the Abyss taking over, rampaging through our halls, and moving on to the Celestial Realm itself.
But Feather’s act of sacrifice had halted the leaking of energy, and already I could feel myself growing stronger.
Maybe Mikhail would as well, though with Sanctuary drawing on him to sustain it, I wasn’t sure how quickly he might rebound.
And I had a feeling losing Feather would be a wound that might never heal.
For him, or for me.
A knock sounded at the door to the Hall, and I took a deep breath, smoothing my features to face whoever was in the corridor.
Gavriel had only just taught me the angelic word to open this Hall, and my jaws still hurt from saying it once.
I needed to ascend to do my job, and that meant I had to get purified, even with Feather gone.
I had put off using the soul knife. But I had no choice; Sanctuary would need a new High Angelus with Gavriel on Earth, and Mikhail fading by the minute.
I wasn’t worthy, but I needed to be ready.
“Coming,” I called out when the knock sounded again, and I spoke the word aloud, fighting to control the headache that resulted.
“Feeling unwell, Protector Righteous?” The Protector at the door was the last one I wanted to see. For centuries, he’d insisted on seeing our standing as a competition, and he would not like answering to me instead of Gavriel.
I wiped my expression clean. “Valor, how kind of you to be concerned. What do you need?”
His lips twisted into a half-smile. “I had heard you were unwell. That you had lost your mind, somehow. When I learned High Angelus Gavriel had given you the keys to our kingdom, as it were—the angelic words to this Hall, no less—without examining you for soul damage, I thought I’d come check on you myself. And alert Gavriel to your condition.”
“Gavriel is gone,” I said calmly, ignoring the veiled threat. “You can tell him about your concerns when he returns.”
“And when will that be?” Valor pushed his dark hair away from his face, his gaze trailing down my muddied robes.
I hadn’t had time to change, and to my surprise, found that I didn’t care what my robes looked like when there were far more important concerns, like saving all the realms. Though the vague hint of odor that seemed to waft around me as I stood before Valor was enough to make me want to change before my meeting with the Head Guide.
Valor was immaculately clothed as always, even his wings shining—wait, was that… I bit the inside of my lip to keep from smiling as I realized a small fleck of glitter had found its way onto his wing. He narrowed his eyes slightly, so I may not have succeeded entirely.
“I’m afraid he’ll be gone for an extended mission,” I said. “And I’m perfectly capable of doing as he asked.”
Valor sneered. “You were seen trying to cut off your own wings, Righteous. You are patently not capable of caring for the whole of Sanctuary. You’ve lost your mind, probably around the same time you started panting after that disgusting little Novice—”
I didn’t even remember pulling my fist back. I blinked, and Valor was lying on the floor in front of me, one hand cupped over his face. His voice was muffled as he protested, his nose already swelling and bleeding onto his formerly clean robe, “You punched me!”
“You disrespected your superior, Protector.” I closed the door and stepped past him.
Extending my wings, I chuckled as a dozen specks of glitter that seemed to come from nowhere plastered themselves to his blood-spattered clothing.
“Before you leave this hallway, sweep it. There’s trash lying everywhere. ”
I launched myself into the air and flew to the purification chambers near my room.
Valor hadn’t been wrong; I was a wreck, and if I wanted the Guides to take me seriously, I would need to look the part.
In an hour, I had cleansed myself thoroughly, changed, and flown to the Dining Hall.
I was shocked at how easily the small flecks of smut I’d worn had come away.
Punching Valor had given me the most stubborn freckle, mostly because I didn’t regret doing it at all.
But I was cleansed completely now… except for Tili’s stain.
As I landed outside the Dining Hall entrance, I heard a loud ruckus inside. I had my fingers pressing the handle, and the door no more than an inch ajar, when words filtered through.
“He must be removed! He attacked me!” Valor.
Hope answered, “I did see him cutting himself. But High Angelus Gavriel left him in charge. He wouldn’t have done that if—”
“Gavriel may be every bit as compromised as Righteous.”
What was Valor saying? Even questioning Gavriel was insubordination. He could be stripped of his rank as one of the Head Protectors. I waited, though. I needed to hear exactly what sort of rumor he was spreading.
“Everyone knows Gavriel spends all his time mourning for Arabella when he’s not on a mission.
When was the last time he ate here with us?
Or gave a lecture, or even visited the upper floors to observe the seminars?
Not all of you are old enough to remember, but the High Angeli used to teach our classes, not just our overworked, vastly underappreciated Guides. ”
Holy shit. Was Valor setting himself against the High Angeli?
Someone in the crowd shouted, “Are you speaking against the High Angeli? They’re our leaders!”
“Should they be? They had no plan to truly fix the problem with the gate. My Guide didn’t even know the gate wasn’t repairable.”
Someone else called out, “You think the Guides should lead Sanctuary?”
“The Guides are already working together to do just that. But I didn’t say that.”
His implication was clear, and I shivered.
Individually, the Guides had less power than High Angeli.
But if all of them banded together, their force could equal both Gavriel and Mikhail’s…
and that worried me deeply, since some of the Guides seemed to have forgotten their role as teachers and servants here.
Valor’s voice was softer, but still audible as he went on. “I’m not sure the Guides know enough to lead us out of this situation. I’m not sure what they’re teaching us is sufficient to help any of us survive what’s coming.”
Hope’s voice rose over the shocked babble. “Are you saying the Guides are not teaching us what they should?”
“Mikhail is the one who said that,” Valor replied, and I noted again that he had not been using the honorifics that went with the High Angeli’s names.
“That we didn’t know how the gate even worked.
But did he, as one of our only High Angeli, instruct us?
Could he be bothered to come out of his Hall and help us understand?
No. Had Gavriel taken even a few days to make certain we all understood what was at stake, someone among us would have gone into the gate long before now, gladly, courageously!
But now, thanks to that dirty Novice, it’s sealed up, and there’s no way for us to get to the Celestial Realm.
We’re stuck here, taking care of Earth for eternity, for nothing. ”
Hope’s voice was cold. “What reward did you expect, Valor?”
“The same one every High Angelus has received until Mikhail failed us all. A soulmate, and a ticket out of this realm.”
My pulse thudded in my throat. I was beyond enraged. Valor believed he was owed a soulmate. And worse, that the most important thing about being matched was being allowed to move on. I was about to punch through the door and finish the job I’d started on his face when Hope’s laughter rang out.
“Valor, you’re forgetting we are all capable of being soulmates to one another.
Just because every Protector here has turned you down, doesn’t mean you’re first in line for one if the Well of Souls somehow opened up.
With your attitude, your mate might not accept your feather—” I stopped listening to her when a slight tremor traveled through the floor beneath my feet, dying off almost immediately.
It was odd. This hadn’t come from the direction of the gate.
What else inside Sanctuary would be so unstable, though?
Valor’s laughter rang out in the sudden silence. “I can’t wait to let Gavriel know what you just said. That his poor mate’s condition is his fault. Maybe his attitude was the problem.”
“I didn’t mean… I wasn’t talking about Arabella!”
“Sure you weren’t.” I heard running footsteps and stepped back from the door just in time. Hope flung it wide, racing out into the corridor and leaping into flight. Her shoulders were rigid as she fled.
I half wanted to storm into the Dining Hall and confront Valor, but a part of me knew that wouldn’t be wise.
Not yet. I leaned close instead and listened as he stirred the other Protectors’ fears, hinting broadly that Mikhail, Gavriel and I were all insane, and—to my shock—that Arabella might be the key to escaping a locked Sanctuary.
That she could be unmade, and her energy used to reopen the Great Gate somehow.
He was speaking blasphemy, and espousing murder.
I would need to set a guard on her chamber. But who could I trust?
When I finally left, it was with a heavy heart and a mind buzzing with confusion.
When had Valor become so angry? And why would the others listen in silence?
Only Hope had stood up to him. I lifted my arm and stared at the stain I’d carried for centuries, wondering if Sanctuary hadn’t been marked back then as well.
And if the taint of Azazel’s betrayal when he sealed the Well of Souls wasn’t still scarring our realm, and festering somehow.