Page 11 of Vanish Into Light

To Lance’s dismay, Rose blinked first. “Yeah,” she said, turning her head – her whole body. She pointed her shoulder at Becket, and put her attention on Shubert. She did get a dig in, though, when she added, “If he can breathe well enough to answer them.”

Becket’s tail slid neatly away, and he retreated a step – so that he stood at Lance’s side.

It took more than a little effort not to lean away from him.

Rose stepped around to stand beside Shubert, capturing his attention with a quick snap of her fingers, just as Lance had done. He turned toward her sluggishly, eyes rolling. The light gleamed on a fresh bead of blood at the corner of his mouth.

Rose said, “Shubert, Baraqiel, I don’t care what your name is. Why are you playing at mob boss? What’s your angle?”

A slow, crooked grin bloomed on Shubert’s face – one that disappeared when Becket’s tail flexed and lifted into the air, rippling like a cat’s. “Fine, fine,” he muttered. Then: “You know, I could be of help to you. You clearly are working toward some sort of angelic goal.” His gaze flicked over his shoulder, toward Morgan.

Rose folded her arms, implacable. “You’re dealing drugs, asshole. Pretty sure that’s not part of God’s plan, or whatever. This is a you thing. So, I ask again, why are you doing this? And if you want to keep playing cute, Beck can–”

“Alright.” His gaze rolled, wild and white-rimmed, toward Becket, and then back to Rose. “Ask away.”

“Same question. Why are you a mob boss? How does dealing heavensent benefit you – other than monetarily?”

He produced a sad attempt at a smug grin. “Well, the monetary benefits aren’t insubstantial.” Behind him, Morgan didn’t move, but his eyes rolled up toward her anyway, brightened, and he gasped.

In the voice of the angel inside his skin – of Baraqiel, Lance supposed – he said, “Stop this, you fool.”

Shubert gasped again, breathless, and his eyes dimmed. “Okay, okay. Angels sell drugs for the same reason humans do: to make money, and to gain control. The fastest, easiest, most effective way to own a person is to get them addicted to something only you can provide. It makes them dependent. It makes themsubmissive.” To Rose: “Do you understand?”

Rose said, “So, what, the bible’s out, and opioids are in?”

He scoffed. “The bible hasn’t beeninfor centuries. Vice controls humanity. Heaven was losing the war.”

Lance startled when a hard, warm shoulder pressed against his, and a warmer breath filled his ear. Becket whispered, “I’ve always thought it rather sweet the way humans have this view of a benevolent heaven.”

Lance took a measured breath and managed not to flinch again, not to shudder again – though he felt goosebumps prickling beneath his clothes. He turned his head a fraction, until he could see the striations in Becket’s golden eyes, much too close, far too amused for the situation. “Are you saying you’re not a human?”

Becket drew back a fraction, a small, oddly pleased smile tweaking his lips. “I don’t think I ever really was. Depends on your definition of human, I suppose.” He returned his attention to the interrogation, and Lance stared stupidly at his profile a long moment – the sharp nose and the sharper tips of his horns – before he dragged himself back to the task at hand.

“…think of it this way,” Shubert was saying. “The rifts opened the doors in a way they’d never been opened before. Things were free to flow in and out, from either side. It became imperative that heaven take the initiative in getting humanity under control.”

“Wait,” Lance said.

Becket cut him off. “The portals weren’t one way, were they?” He sounded eager, voice crackling with excitement. “Angels came down, but humans could have gone up, couldn’t they? Straight into heaven, no gateway.”

Shubert gulped a little, when his gaze shifted to him. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Becket chuckled, low and dark; it sounded like the scrape of a knife on a whetstone. “The angels came down to suppress and winnow the population before they figured out how to go through. That’s brilliant.”

“It’s sinister,” Lance said, finding his voice again. “Why did the rifts open in the first place. Was it something heaven did on purpose?”

“No. It wasn’t opened on our end. The rupture was initiated on earth.”

“How is that even possible?” Bedlam asked. Then, tone hardening, “Morgan, why the hell didn’t you tell us any of this?”

She turned toward the captain, as guileless and blank-faced as ever. “Because I didn’t know. It isn’t my place to know. My purpose is only to avenge.”

“Heh,” Shubert coughed. “’Cause you’re too stupid to be trusted with anything else.”

In Baraqiel’s voice, he added, “None of you know who he is, do you?” His eyes, blazing bright blue again, shifted from face to face.

“Ido,” Becket said, smugly.

For the first time in Lance’s memory, Morgan’s voice took on a faint quaver when she said, “My name is Morgan. I am a friend to humanity, and not in league with my rogue brethren.”

---