“Hold up.” Molly rose to her feet. “You’re not leaving without me.”
“Oh, yes, we are,” Xavier said and I could see the animosity between them flare up again.
“It would be safer for you to stay behind,” Gabriel said emphatically.
“No,” Molly insisted. “You can’t drop a bombshell like that and then leave me behind to stress over it.”
“We can’t wait,” Gabriel said. “You would need to talk to your parents, notify the school ….”
“Who gives a stuff about school?” Molly said. “Hello? I ditch all the time.” She pulled her cell phone from the back pocket of her jeans. “I’ll tell Mom I’m staying at Tara’s for a few days.”
Before anyone could stop her, Molly was punching in numbers and ducking into the kitchen. I heard her spouting a familiar story about Tara having broken up with her boyfriend, being a mess, and needing her friends around her.
“This is a really bad idea,” Xavier said. “I mean it’s Molly we’re talking about. She’s the biggest gossip in town. How is she going to keep this to herself?”
But I trusted my brother’s judgment completely. While I was worried about Molly being involved I knew that she could be levelheaded when she needed to be.
Ivy didn’t appear to share my opinion and for the first time I witnessed real dissent between her and Gabriel. A door slammed somewhere in the hall and suddenly she was in the room with us wearing an expression like thunder. She threw down the two duffel bags she’d packed. Her ice blue eyes kept flickering toward the kitchen and back to Gabriel. The stress of the situation seemed to have brought out a new side of Ivy. My gentle, patient sister was fading fast and in her place was a soldier of the Kingdom, a seraphim preparing for battle. I knew that seraphim rarely got angry, it took a lot to invoke their wrath. Ivy’s behavior told me that perhaps my capture meant more than I realized.
“This is a serious breach of the rules,” Ivy said darkly, turning to Gabriel. “We can’t afford any more setbacks.”
“What rules?” Xavier asked. “There don’t seem to be any.”
“Demons have never targeted us before,” my sister replied. “They go after humans in order to spite Heaven. But this time they’ve taken one of our own knowing we must retaliate. Unless that’s exactly what they want us to do … in which case they’re trying to start a war.” Her gaze fell on Molly. “It’s not safe for her.”
“Like I said,” Gabriel replied. “I don’t think we have a choice anymore.”
“Just because Molly and Bethany are school friends does not mean we can simply abandon normal procedure.”
“There is nothing normal about this situation,” Gabriel snapped. “The Covenant is clearly not concerned about another human knowing our identity. If they were, Michael would have timed his arrival more carefully. You may be right in thinking something much bigger is going on here.”
Ivy remained skeptical. “If I’m right, think of what we’ll be facing. She’s a liability.”
“She’s very insistent. I can’t reason with her.”
“She is an adolescent girl and you are an arch,” Ivy said bitterly. “You’ve had to deal with much worse in your time.”
My brother simply shrugged his shoulders. “We need all the allies we can get.” Ivy scowled and pointed a finger at him.
“Fine, but I assume no responsibility for her. She is yours.”
“Why are you wasting time arguing about Molly?” Xavier burst out. “Don’t we have bigger things to worry about? Like getting on the road and finding this nun?”
“Xavier’s right,” Gabriel said. “We must put our differences aside and deal with the present. I only hope we get there before it’s too late.”
As soon as he’d spoken the words, Gabriel seemed to regret them. A pained expression crossed his face while Xavier’s flushed with emotion.
“You sound like you’ve given up already.”
“I didn’t say that,” Gabriel replied. “This is a unique situation. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. The only angels that ever see the inside of Hell are those that go there of their own volition, the foolish ones that are blinded by pride and turn against Our Father, choosing to follow Lucifer.”
“What are you saying?” Xavier said. There was indignation in his tone. “You think Beth did this on purpose? She didn’t choose this, Gabriel! Have you forgotten that I was there?”
I could have kicked my brother at that moment. Did he really believe I had chosen a path of darkness?
Ivy crossed the room in a flash and placed a hand on Gabriel’s back. “What we’re trying to say is that Jake shouldn’t have been able to drag an angel into Hell. Either Bethany went willingly or we are on the verge of Armageddon.”
16
One Heart
IT was getting harder to hold on. My spirit form seemed to be blurring around the edges, anxious to return to my body. But Ivy’s words had me reeling. Could my capture really be a sign that something terrible was brewing?
Unlike Xavier, I didn’t blame Gabriel for saying what he did. He was merely calling it as he saw it. It was true, I had accepted Jake’s offer. I had done so unwittingly, but that didn’t seem to matter. I knew Gabriel hoped for the best, but it was his job to consider all possibilities. I just wished he would soften things a little for Xavier’s sake. But my brother could never shy away from the truth. His very creation was intended to embody and protect the truth. Xavier didn’t understand that and I could see he was frustrated. He was used to Ivy and Gabriel always having an answer for everything. But this time things were different and their indecision scared him.
Xavier was growing restless. He sat down and then immediately stood up again. His entire body was as taut as a bow and his pent-up energy was almost tangible.
“I saw her,” he said after a long pause. He spoke with a quiet intensity. “You weren’t there, you didn’t see the expression on her face when she realized who she was with. She was terrified once she realized what was happening. I wanted to help her, but I was too late. I tried to save her …,” he trailed off, staring uselessly at his hands.
“Of course, you did,” Ivy said. She was always more attuned to Xavier than Gabriel was. “We know Bethany; we trust in her. We know that Jake employed the dirtiest tactic of all to win her trust. But it doesn’t matter now. Jake won — she’s on his turf now. The situation is delicate and the truth is there is no easy way to get her back now.”
Gabriel was less inclined to sugarcoat the facts. “If there is a way for us to access the dimension known as Hell, I’ve never heard of it. No angel has returned to that place since we sealed Lucifer beneath the ground.”
“I thought you said we needed to find a portal.” Xavier’s mouth was a tight line and he was fighting hard to control his emotions. Seeing him like this made my own eyes sting. I wanted so badly to wrap my arms around him, stroke his face and comfort him, whisper that I was alive and even below the earth I’d never stopped thinking about him.
“I did say that,” Gabriel conceded. “But that task is easier said than done.” He wore his faraway look now and I knew he was no longer present. He was locked in his own private world of contemplation. Despite the doubts I’d just heard him express, I trusted Gabriel. If there was any way to rescue me, I knew he was the one who would find it.
“I don’t understand. If Jake broke the rules, why can’t we?” Xavier persisted.
“If Jake tricked Bethany into trusting him, then no rules were broken,” Ivy said. “Demons have been manipulating souls and damning them to Hell for centuries.”
“So we need to play dirty,” Xavier said.