Page 20 of Destined for Eternity
Chapter 8
Bartol
It was a long night with Cori crying and Bartol doing his best to console her, but in the end, he’d managed to calm her. While they weren’t happy with the decision to meet Jeriel’s demands, they knew it was best to accept them.
They stood together in his kitchen, hands clasped in solidarity, when the archangel arrived. He was dressed much the same except in a black, button-up shirt this time with a cowboy hat to match. The satisfied expression on his face told them he already knew their answer.
“Glad to see you two aren’t gonna fight this,” he drawled.
Bartol wanted to punch the fake accent right out of the archangel.
Cori stiffened. “How do you know what we’re gonna say?”
“Did I forget to mention spying has been my primary mission for millennia?”
Bartol had guessed Jeriel might know. Archangels could look in on nephilim from afar if they had a reason to do it. That didn’t happen often unless one was under their radar, though. “Then you are aware we wish to negotiate.”
Jeriel nodded. “You can forget changing the one-hundred-year term.”
“But…” Cori began.
“That is as low as it goes, and whether you choose to believe or not, I argued for it only to be a century. They wanted five hundred years.” He tipped his hat. “I’m not without any sympathy.”
Cori’s hand trembled in his, but she said nothing.
“And my father?” Bartol asked, holding his breath. He dearly hoped he could see his sire again and get the assistance he needed against the demons. It tore him up to know Raguel was imprisoned and incapacitated once more, despite the assistance he’d provided several months ago.
“That request I can grant.”
“Truly?” Bartol had thought he’d have to fight harder for it.
“I watched you kill those demons, and you were moving like pond water. Innocent humans die when you take too long, and we need you faster.” Jeriel took a seat on the couch, cocking his leg over the arm. “And there’s that tracking problem.”
“So you’ll allow my father to come here and assist me?”
“They began the waking process last night,” he said, smiling smugly.
Wasn’t he proud of himself for acting ahead of their request? Raguel was in a deep sleep since Heaven couldn’t afford to banish him to Hell the same as they did with all the other fallen angels. He was the only one left created specifically to fight demons. The sleep was so deep, though, that it took time for him to become fully alert and begin regenerating his powers, which were drained as part of the process.
“How thoughtful of you.”
Jeriel gave a careless shrug. “That’s me alright.”
“Wow, you guys don’t waste time,” Cori said, giving him a resentful look. She might have realized they had to accept the terms of the deal, but she still wasn’t going to pretend to be happy about it.
“This is a matter of some urgency. We aren’t fools.”
Cori snorted. “Could have fooled me.”
The archangel arched a brow.
“What are my father’s release terms?” Bartol asked before the archangel could reply to her.
Jeriel dropped his leg and leaned forward. “Raguel has been given one year to assist and train you, as well as help the nerou learn how to control demons when you can’t be there right away.”
From what Bartol understood, the lesser angels weren’t as good or powerful as Raguel, but they’d had similar abilities. They’d been altered for other duties after the Demon War was over and couldn’t do the job anymore.
“What else?”
