Rachel shrugged. “I’m ready.”
“May we accompany her?” Lorelei asked.
“We considered that this might be your intent,” Hannah explained. “It is highly unusual for an angel to show herself to a mortal this way, but Alex has seen so much already. Yet to bring him inside for such a congress might perhaps be too much. And as you have already no doubt sensed, the cathedral is not exactly welcoming to one such as yourself…though be assured that no angel here will do you harm, Lorelei. You have more than proven yourself to be an exception among your kind.”
Alex bristled at that, but Lorelei merely tilted her head in something of a bow. “I am honored,” the succubus said.
“Rachel shouldn’t have to face this alone,” said Alex.
“She will not be harmed, and the matter will be resolved swiftly,” Hannah assured him. “This is neither a trial nor an inquest. There is no need for a lengthy and dramatic debate. Those who sit in judgment are ready to announce their decisions as soon as Rachel enters.”
“She doesn’t even get to say anything in her own defense?” Alex blinked.
“They already know everything,” Rachel shrugged. “I did what I did.”
“Indeed,” Hannah agreed. “There is not much to discuss, merely for Rachel to face the judgment of her actions by her peers and superiors.”
“All the more reason for those who love her to stand beside her,” Lorelei said.
Hannah blinked. She did not lose her composure, but the statement clearly caught her attention. She looked from one face before her to the next. “You love her, Lorelei?”
“I do,” Lorelei replied. “Just as I love Alex.”
Again, Hannah looked to each of them thoughtfully. “For Alex, this would merely be inappropriate. For you, this could be acutely painful. Are you sure?”
“It is less than what Rachel and Alex both faced on my behalf last night.”
“Nor is her situation as grave as yours was. Again, I expect the cathedral will prove to be a place of great pain for you.”
“I will endure.”
“You don’t have to do this, Lorelei,” Rachel whispered.
“I do.”
The angel looked to Alex. “Tell her not to go in there. Please.”
“I can’t do that,” Alex shook his head.
“You can totally do that. She gets hot when you boss her around. She’ll obey you.”
He shook his head. “It’s not like that. We’re in this together.”
Rachel looked pleadingly at each of them again, then back up at Hannah with a helpless expression. The older angel nodded.
“Very well,” Hannah said. “Please come with me.”
“You can’t seriously think you won’t catch shit for this,” Rachel warned.
“I’ll attribute it to your terrible influence,” Hannah replied. She led the three to the cathedral. “Alex, what happens here will likely seem disjointed and confusing. You lack a great deal of context. Much of what you see will not stay in your memory long. This is natural. Don’t be alarmed when your recollection of this day becomes cloudy.”
Alex frowned a bit. “Awesome. I’m confused already.”
“That’s the spirit,” Rachel snorted. She squeezed his hand before letting go.
As they came close to the cathedral’s doors, Alex saw hazy shapes fade into his vision. The closer he got, the more they looked like people, until finally he realized he stood among angels. He saw every ethnicity and a range of ages, from young adults like Rachel to those who looked much older than Hannah. The only unifying factors were that they were all healthy, vibrant, dressed all in white, and seemed rather surprised as Alex, Lorelei and Rachel approached. Some even looked a bit awed.
Hannah faded right through the doorway. Rachel half-frowned and half-smirked as she opened the door for her companions.
As she came to the steps of the cathedral, Lorelei took in a sharp, audible breath. Alex took her hand. Rachel reached out to do so as well, but Lorelei waved it off. “I will be fine,” Lorelei said in a strained, quiet voice. “We are with you.”
The angel frowned. She didn’t like it, but she continued on a few steps ahead. As much as she wanted to reach out to Lorelei, neither woman wanted there to be any ambiguity as to who held whose hand for support in front of the other angels. Rachel glanced at Alex, who nodded and stuck close to Lorelei. Then she turned and moved into the cathedral.
As Alex followed, he felt Lorelei tremble and tense. She walked with much the same stiffness as she had the night before. He saw no boils upon her, nor burns on her skin as Rob Gorge had suffered, but she clearly endured significant pain.
They passed through the foyer. Alex saw that it was full of angels, most of them talking amongst themselves until Rachel walked through. Conversation ceased as she passed. When Alex and Lorelei followed, however, there were open gasps of disbelief.
The main chamber of the cathedral took Alex’s breath away. As he followed Rachel inside, he found the entire space awash in the bright white light of several hundred angels. There were so many of them on the floor that dozens more hovered above in the space offered by the vaulted ceiling. Part of him wanted to run away and hide. Part of him felt small and insignificant. Part of him wanted to sink to his knees and beg forgiveness for every misdeed in this life and anything he could remember from the scattered pieces of his former lives.
The part of him that would not let down Rachel or Lorelei kept him walking.
As in the lobby, conversations hushed in a ripple of silence with Rachel’s entrance. Angels in the aisle parted for her. Rachel walked slowly toward the altar, where half a dozen angels stood like some sort of committee. They all looked up at her gravely.
Then they saw the mortal and the demon at his side.
“Blasphemy!” shouted one of them. Vincent’s face twisted in rage. He immediately drew his sword. It was larger than Rachel’s, burning with greater intensity. An orb of light glowed brightly in the pommel. “That wretched thing does not belong here!”
“She comes in peace,” Hannah replied as Vincent strode forward, “and in love. She is also under my protection here. You will not harm her, Vincent. Put away your sword.”
“You go too far, Hannah,” Vincent growled.
“Hello, Vincent,” Lorelei said coolly. It cut off the retort that Rachel was about to throw out. She turned to the succubus with her eyes wide. Alex felt a bit surprised, too, but he didn’t exactly know why this seemed any stranger than anything else that was happening.
“You know him?” Rachel blinked.
“Yes. Not in a Biblical sense,” Lorelei added with a small grin made all the more enigmatic by her sunglasses. “But we have met.” She looked calmly at Vincent, whose face remained gripped with anger. “I am unsurprised he never mentioned this to anyone. His advances were rather oafish.”
Vincent shook with even greater indignation and rage. “One more word from your foul mouth in this space and I will-!”
“Stop this!” shouted Lawrence. He stood at the altar, looking on with disapproval. “Hannah,” he said calmly, “why have you brought us to the sight of this mortal? Why have you brought this demon among us?”
Hannah did not answer until Vincent lowered his blade. She walked with him to the altar. Rachel followed, standing before the steps. Alex and Lorelei followed Rachel in turn, but stopped between the first pews.
Once she stood among the rest of the council of angels, Hannah answered Lawrence’s question. “You might ask them that yourself, Lawrence.”
The bald angel’s eyes narrowed. He looked to the pair standing in the aisle and asked, “Why have you come?”
“We love her,” Alex answered. Once more, he heard assorted gasps and murmurs of disbelief. “She’s apparently in trouble with you guys. We wanted to be here for her.”
“Your love for Rachel and for the succubus is as plain as day to us, Alexander,” Lawrence replied. “It is also much of the reason why Rachel stands here today. You should not know Rachel at all, but that was beyond her control. To be loved is not a crime; your feelings toward her are not at issue. Yet her feelings for you are inappropriate to a guardian angel, and her actions in following those emotions are a transgression of the practices of Heaven.”