Page 4 of The Devil You Know

“—fer, Lucifer, are you alright? Here, let me...”

I felt a soothing warmth spread through my body as Michael placed both of his hands on my skin and started circulating his power through me, filling me to the brim with light. And, for once, that grace touching me didn’t hurt. I had to stifle a sob when I felt like an angel for the first time in eons. I gave myself a minute to gather my strength and then stood up shakily. Michael tried to help, but I pushed his hands away.

“Ah, we should stay in contact—” the angel fretted, and I immediately felt the truth of his words as the previous vertigo threatened to return.

Michael tangled his fingers with mine, and I let him.

Handholding with my archnemesis...

This was definitely a nightmare.

As I looked around, I gave a sigh of relief at the small mercy of not being seen by others while I was in this embarrassing and ridiculous predicament. It looked like Michael teleported us straight into the inner chambers of the Palace, where only a select number of individuals had access.

I walked the once-familiar paths and only after a while I realized I was clutching Michael’s hand so hard his bones would break if he was a human.

“Do you have any idea... why?” I asked, and hated how my voice echoed in the empty halls.

Michael shook his head but spoke haltingly. “I don’t know for sure... but I may have an idea. Do you know... Did you notice...”

“HERE YOU ARE,” a voice boomed from a nearby doorway. By the unearthly quality, the resonance moving the air itself around us, I knew it could only be Metatron. After God confined all angels to a more tangible form, Metatron was the only one who kept his original form. He was a bridge between the angels and God, the only one who could speak straight to the Almighty and, as such, looked closer to a ball of energy with a multitude of eyes and flashing wings than a human. Looking at him, I yearned to have such a form once more and be free to dance among the stars... but, at the same time, I couldn’t fathom how lonely his existence had to be as the only one of his kind left.

“Metatron,” I nodded at him. My beef with Michael was personal, but Metatron always seemed... above the whole war even thought he was God’s messenger. I considered him more of a tool, like a telephone, than a real participant in that past conflict, so staying civil wasn’t as hard as it would be with some of the other angels that had been around in those times of change.

“There’s no time to waste,” Metatron’s voice echoed. “COME.”

The angel led us into the inner sanctum, the very heart of Heaven. Here the power that was God resided, tendrils stretching into a web of connections no one but him could make sense of, the invisible touch of his power stretching far and wide.

My heart clenched at the sight, something like panic settling deep in my chest.

Because God looked diminished. I was able to stand in his presence, and it wasn’t completely overwhelming. I could look at him and my eyes didn’t threaten to burn. I could look at God.

I couldn’t look away.

In the back of my mind I was aware Metatron started the ritual of communion, but it was still a shock when I was suddenly pulled into a never-ending expanse of white, the illusion God used for special audiences.

“My children,” his voice came from every corner around us, everywhere at once. “The time has come for you to forge your own destiny. My reign is coming to an end.”

“No!” Michael denied vehemently, his hand trembling against mine. “No, it cannot be. Don’t leave us!”

“Everything comes to an end. And every end can be a beginning of something else.” The white expanse around us flickered as if it was taking all of God’s power to keep us here. This... this was really happening. “Farewell, my children. I wish you luck. And I have a last gift for you two. I hope you can...”

The voice grew too quiet to hear as the white faded around us.

In that moment I was sure God was dead. The sobs from Michael at my side only confirmed that. I couldn’t feel an ounce of the godly presence.

But wait... I couldn’t feel Michael either.

Only then did my eyes take in my surroundings. We weren’t in the Palace anymore. In fact, I had a suspicion we weren’t in Heaven at all. All around me I could see sandy beaches and the waves of the sea, lines of trees in the distance, a peak of a mountain reaching towards the clouds.

Oh, so that was God’s gift to me. I laughed so loudly Michael looked at me as if I was crazy.

“Don’t you realize?” I asked, still cackling. I could barely breathe. “Our gift? God stranded us in the middle of nowhere without our powers.”

Michael’s hand went slack with shock and his fingers finally slipped from mine.

“And he made us human.”

Chapter 3