Chapter 17 #2
The oath does not feel like anything in particular.
Perhaps I should have drawn blood to solidify it?
I wouldn’t know; I have never sworn to Kesbeel, and I don’t keep up with the Elohim rabble’s near-heretical practices.
I’d be surprised if the Second Sphere angel was even still active in this solar system after being manipulated into serving the angels of Earth twice already.
To this day, I do not know how they found and convinced him to create the pocket dimensions.
“Good. So now that’s settled, we can…”
I stop hearing his words when the doors to the dining hall open.
I do not typically like when events surprise me, but being graced with Kae’s sudden presence is more pleasant than I could have expected. Strange, that I did not sense her coming. It’s not like me to be so distracted.
Unlike her usual attire, she is dressed in one of the many black dresses I had crafted for her.
Chiffon, with two small straps slipping over her shoulders and a plunging V-neckline that showcases her feminine features nicely.
There’s a second layer of fabric on the inside, visible between the jagged edges of the bottom of the dress, that sways distractingly around her thighs as she walks towards us.
For a brief moment, my body reacts in an unbecoming, animalistic way that I have to force out of existence.
I should not have given her such an inviting wardrobe.
Her eyebrows raise as she pauses midway, looking back and forth between the Messenger and me. “I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?”
“No, not at all,” the Messenger replies immediately, and quite convincingly.
KAE
“Good evening, Kae,” Abaddon says as I sit down next to him.
I pause, glancing at him with one eyebrow raised, before skipping straight to filling my plate. Was that a faint trace of pleasantness I just heard in his low-rolling voice? The world truly is coming to an end. “What did I miss?”
“We can talk about it after dinner,” Dusk mutters, uncharacteristically sour. Even if he was acting strange this morning, I’m even more concerned now.
I put my fork down before I’ve taken my first bite. My stomach growls in protest, having missed lunch in favor of more training. Relentless, endless training. Alone.
“Why not now?” I ask.
“There’s no need to keep her in suspense,” Abaddon, with his attention still fully devoted to me, wedges himself back in. “The Messenger has accepted a new assignment from the Council.”
My eyes shoot to Dusk, hoping he’ll deny it, but his crestfallen expression only causes a knot to tie around my heart. “You’re leaving? For how long?”
“I…” His shoulders sag. “I’ll come visit every chance I can get, but it’s an indefinite appointment. I’m sorry, Kae. I don’t have much of a choice.”
Abaddon scoffs, making me think for a moment he might know something I don’t, but he otherwise keeps his mouth shut.
I ignore him. “Where will you be going?”
“A bit of everywhere,” Dusk answers, pulling the knot on my heart even tighter. “All over the planet.”
“Then take me with you.”
His eyes briefly flick to Abaddon, strangely enough, before returning to his plate. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?” I slip my hands to my sides to hide my balled fists. “Or won’t?”
Maybe it’s not fair of me to be hard on him when he’s just been traumatized, but I’m angry, sad, disappointed—all the above and more. I have so many emotions going through me, it takes everything I possess to keep from crying.
Most of all, I’m just tired of being so lost and alone.
“Even if I were willing to risk your safety, the Council would never allow it. You’re not cleared for the areas I’m going, Kae.
You’re not even a citizen of Elohim, let alone a qualified field agent.
” His tone is so matter-of-fact that it comes across as callous.
“And you have to focus on your job here. All this, even if it’s indefinite, is only temporary.
I have faith you’ll eventually succeed—”
“Maybe it seems temporary to an immortal who’s older than dirt!
” I fail to keep my voice steady as I throw my hands in the air.
I’m tired, so tired, of being lost and alone.
“Nobody has the slightest fucking clue how I’m supposed to get the magical padlock off this place.
I train all day long, six days a week, and I don’t feel a bit different.
Certainly not any closer to controlling my biblical parasite.
I could be trying for years. Years, Malak.
That’s a lot for a human with a limited lifespan—”
“I know, I know. That’s why I’ve asked Abaddon to take over your training.”
“Him?” I point towards the King. My temper is a wild, loose thing. “He’s even more inhuman than the locusts are! I’m going to go insane down here!”
Dusk presses his fingers to the bridge of his nose, and Abaddon frowns. Faintly, but definitely still a frown. I suppose I offended him. Unfortunately, I can’t bring myself to care right now.
“The point is I don’t have a choice.” The golden angel finally breaks, a flash of frustration corrupting his perfect face. “The Council gives instructions; I obey them. That’s how it’s been for over two thousand years, and that’s how it’ll be for thousands more.”
I know I’m projecting. I’m not Dusk’s responsibility. I know that. But damn if it doesn’t feel like I’m being thrown to the wolves.
I’ve given up so much to be here! My home, my family, my future.
I’ll never know if I could have gotten into med school.
I left my dad in an empty house, and my best friend is worried sick about me.
I kill my body every single day to prepare for their battles.
To give them an army. All for them to just snap their fingers and take my one companion away?
“Well,” I sneer, “good to know you’re such an obedient lapdog for them, Malak. The Council will be thrilled with your performance. At my expense, of course, but who gives a fuck about one lowly human? As long as she’s functional for her little prophecy piece, it doesn’t matter if she’s miserable—”
“You will not suffer, Kae.” Abaddon’s steady, calm voice interrupts my furious rant with intense polarity. “I have sworn a sacred oath to protect you from harm. I intend to keep that oath by whatever means necessary, starting with ensuring your training is successful and expeditious.”
My gaze locks on him. My eyebrows are scrunched completely together, my mouth gaping open slightly. “What?”
“Yes, I swore an oath.” He nods, his eyes shifting to the table. “That is what you interrupted moments ago.”
Before I can even process the words, he picks up his knife and—
He slices it across his palm.
Dusk swears; I swear.
Abaddon ignores us, uttering a short phrase in Latin. The only words I can make out are ‘Kesbeel’ and ‘sanguis’—which I’m pretty sure has something to do with blood. As soon as he’s done, he squeezes his palm, forcing blood to gush from the deep cut.
The falling droplets turn to black smoke before ever reaching the table.
After some arbitrary amount that he deems satisfactory, he unfists his hand, allowing the remaining blood to reabsorb into his body and his skin to heal over. It happens in a way that defies physics, like a video being played in reverse.
“What the fuck,” I whisper, staring at his hand with wide eyes.
He casually picks the bloody knife back up, cleans it off with his napkin, and continues to use it to cut his food. Simply, he states, “I do believe it’s a properly bound oath now.”
I glance at Dusk, trying to gauge his reaction to this occult madness.
And, yep, he looks just as appalled.
“None of that was necessary, you know?” He mutters. “Nobody does that anymore.”
Abaddon merely shrugs at him. Shrugs! I’m already beyond baffled, but then he goes on to look at me and say, “Why does that bother you?”
Because, apparently, it’s not obvious enough.
The dry laugh that escapes me is anything but humored. Hysterical, more like. “Why does that bother me? You just ripped open your palm and offered your blood to some celestial entity like a lunatic cultist.”
“They must have learned it from us,” he offers, like that’s fucking helpful.
I shove my face into my hands. “Yeah, this is gonna go swimmingly.”
“You’ll have your books and your letters,” Dusk adds in some poor attempt to console me. I can hear the concern in his voice, but I can’t believe he truly cares for my well-being anymore. Not if he thinks it’s acceptable to put me in this situation and leave me with no other option.
“Okay. Fine,” I concede, mainly because it’s starting to sink in that this is happening whether I like it or not.
I’m just going to have to fend for myself and get the fuck out of here as soon as I can.
I have to focus on my goals, on acquiring information from these brick walls of angels.
“Can you at least explain how the Elohim, Earth, and the Abyss all work together? If the Council can tell you what to do, why can’t they tell me what to do? ”
“The four executive Council seats of Elohim are filled by the four Principalities of Earth,” Abaddon answers. “The Abyss is outside of their jurisdiction. You are currently a resident of the Abyss; therefore, you are under my governance. Not theirs.”
Huh. Okay. Well… “It would have been nice if I had known that sooner. Actually, a lot of things would have made more sense if I had a tiny bit more contextual knowledge for your worlds.” I shoot Dusk a glare.
He had all this time to clear that up, yet he let me be confused.
Maybe depending on him to be my guide through this hasn’t been my best decision.
Not that Abaddon is much better, but at least he’s making an effort to be transparent.
“Abaddon, what other basic facts am I missing?”
“I do not know what you don’t know.”
Figures. “How much of the Bible is real, for starters?”
“All of it, depending on your interpretation.”