Annihilation, p.3
Annihilation, page 3
Hel they went."
Raguel and Saraquael returned. "Wherever they've got him, he's Guarded. I can't get a good feel of where he might be."
Raphael flashed to the clover field, and Michael fol owed. "This is where it happened."
"The second signature feels like Mephistopheles'." Michael looked back at Saraquael. "Hunt out a Guard set up by Beelzebub. They're bound to be working together."
Saraquael vanished again.
Raguel squared his shoulders, flared his broad wings, and looked down at Michael. "Do we want to invade? I'l summon the army."
The Throne Uriel, who up to now hadn't spoken, said, "Why did they want Gabriel?"
Michael inadvertently projected that he didn't frankly care why they'd abducted Gabriel, but immediately he paused.
With a typical precision and concern on Uriel's heart-shaped face, the Throne added, "Their motive should have a direct impact on how much force we bring to bear."
Michael pointed from Raguel to Camael, who stil struggled against Raphael's binding. "Secure and question him."
Raguel took hold of Remiel's twin and flashed him to Heaven. Israfel fol owed.
Michael returned his attention to Raphael, the color of whose eyes and wings had intensified as his emotions started frothing. His whole form
vibrated with tension.
"Any luck reading him?"
Raphael shook his head.
"Try to keep calm." Michael laid a hand on Raphael's arm. The Seraphic heat had begun to escape control, and the resonance of his soul emitted a high-pitched whine. Without a bonded Cherub to absorb his fear, he was discharging power unchanneled.
"You need another Cherub."
Uriel had reached the same conclusion as Michael at the same moment and cal ed into the air, "Ophaniel?"
"No!" Raphael took a step backward. "I'l need al my energy when Gabriel wakes up—"
"And until then," Michael said, "we can't have you rattling a hole in the Earth's mantle."
Ophaniel, the head of the order of Cherubim, had already appeared.
Michael turned to him, saying, "Raphael needs—"
Ophaniel locked his steely eyes with Raphael's, and Raphael's brightness subsided even as Ophaniel began to glow.
"You must realize Israfel's suffering too," Ophaniel said. "She's Gabriel's other primary bond."
"Stick close to Raphael for now," Michael said. "Has Raguel figured out what they want with Gabriel?"
Ophaniel folded his arms and focused on the ground. "Camael said it's annihilation."
~~~
For a minute, Michael heard nothing.
When he managed to break free of the shock, he realized he was standing alongside an emotional volcanic eruption: Raphael's terror and urgency
to act. Uriel and Zadkiel were right up next to Ophaniel questioning and questioning.
Israfel and Raguel had returned. Israfel was white as ash, her black hair limp. Saraquael appeared, and additional y two human souls arrived in the park, standing invisible in the clover while children played and parents chatted and insects darted and early rainbow-painted leaves let go their
branches.
The two human souls were Peter, Jesus's first apostle, and Mary, Jesus's mother. Uriel caught them up on the facts while Ophaniel led Israfel and
Raphael away from the rest of the group.
"Listen," Michael said, and because he was the head of Heaven's army, everyone turned to him. In ordinary times Gabriel out-ranked him, and Raphael too—Uriel would if Uriel ever cared to exert any authority. But for now, they'd yield to him. Michael lowered his eyes, clenched his fists, and tightened his wings to his back.
"Raphael and Israfel can't contact Gabriel, so we have to assume he's out cold, and therefore unreachable to the enemy as wel ." Michael looked at the other archangels and the two humans. "That at least gives us some time." He turned to Saraquael. "What else do you have to report?"
"There are three of Remiel's sigils surrounding what seems to be a Guarded storage closet. I couldn't slip through."
Israfel drew close. "Is annihilation even possible? What makes them think they can do it?"
Raguel said, "Camael was convinced."
"But didn't God tel us we were eternal, that he would never end our existence?"
Uriel took a step forward and tried to touch her, but Israfel stepped backward, intoning, "Just clarify it for me. I don't remember if he told us we were eternal, or if eternity in his glory was a grand assumption on our part."
Michael waved her down. "If they think they can do it, we have to assume they can. I'd rather react as if it were possible only to find out it's not than assume Gabriel can't be destroyed and find out later he was." He looked at Raguel and Saraquael. "Suggestions?"
Raguel said, "While we're breaking down one door, they might be smuggling him out the back into another place. We need to pul him out of there, and I hate to say it, but a large-scale attack won't facilitate that."
Israfel shook her head as if to knock the panic to the sides and let her think clearly in the center. She glanced at Ophaniel, and he must have drawn off some of the fire because suddenly she regained her focus. "They must have chosen Gabriel because if they get one shot, they want to make it worthwhile. Can we turn the tables and abduct one of theirs?"
"Unless we grabbed Satan, I can't imagine it would help," Michael said. "And even if we did, it might not."
"I stil don't think it's possible," Zadkiel said.
For the first time, Mary spoke. "Are you guys aware of what it sounds like you're saying?"
"Annihilation." Michael faced her squarely. "Destroying his soul as if it were never created by God so that the only thing to remain would be our memories. If that. No chances at an afterlife."
"Ezekiel 28," Uriel murmured.
As she wrapped her hands in the hem of her sweater, Mary's olive-toned skin lost color. "Oh."
"Camael meant it," Michael said. "So we mean it too."
Raphael and Ophaniel rejoined them. "I stil can't reach him." Raphael's voice quavered. "Working together, we can't reach him."
"That's a good thing." Michael laid a hand on Raphael's arm. "Keep that in mind—if you can't reach him, they can't either."
With a matter-of-fact lack of inflection unique to Cherubim, Ophaniel added, "Either that or he's already destroyed."
Raphael and Israfel both ignited.
"Thank you," Raguel muttered. "It always helps to have a Cherub cover al the bases."
Ophaniel shifted his feet and looked down.
Mary stepped nearer. "Michael, are you al right?"
"I don't have the time not to be al right." He huffed. "If anyone needs the help, it's Raphael. He and Gabriel are like one person."
Israfel glared at Michael. He noticed her look but only said, "Can you sense him?"
"Stil nothing."
Michael turned to Ophaniel. "Ideas?"
"Remiel gave us a location," Ophaniel said. "Israfel and Raphael give us a connection. You and Raguel have the power. Once Gabriel is awake, we have enough going for us to slip him out of there. And Remiel, if possible, can send us a signal."
Michael turned to Saraquael. "Can you make contact with Remiel?"
"Not without potential y exposing her."
"Good point." He frowned. "You and Zadkiel question Camael again and see if you can get any other useful information from him: the procedure, who wil be involved, how long it takes, and whether they've tested it on anyone."
The two Dominions vanished.
Michael took a deep breath and realized he didn't have a clear path at the moment. He looked up at Raphael, who had flames around his eyes and
his wings. Ophaniel himself was trembling with the energy he'd drawn off Raphael and Israfel, so Michael summoned Raphael's bonded Cherub
Sidriel, and also Zophiel, another Cherub bonded to Israfel. Then he looked at Uriel, who stood beside Mary, an arm over her shoulders.
Mary looked careworn, strands of grey in her black hair. "What's next?"
"We pray," said Uriel. "We wait for Raphael to make contact, and we pray."
Chapter 3
Gabriel became aware that he was becoming aware. For an angel, that liminality was a new experience, so he made note of the heaviness of his
eyes, the weight of his chest, and the dul sound of his body.
The spiritual body he inhabited was held fast, and Gabriel extended his consciousness to probe the world around him. That he'd been taken
prisoner he could remember. It was unconscionably stupid not to have realized a six-year-old didn't typical y have that kind of vocabulary or
scientific perception of the world. They'd clearly singled him out for capture. But where he was and what they intended, that he didn't know, and like an empty basin plunged against the surface of a pool, he trembled for knowledge to fil the emptiness.
Gabriel's form remained limp, but his mind had already shifted into the highest gear with an urgency. Where was he? Chains suspended him
upright, arms spread, legs together, wings pressed against a stone wal . One outcropping of rock jutted into the smal of his back, but he didn't shift to get it into a more comfortable place. For now he wanted to appear unconscious. He could detect another presence entombed with him.
Next his senses spread to the corners of the room, rol ing up against the edge and fil ing it without overspil ing. If he'd spread his six wings to their ful est, Gabriel would have brushed the opposite wal s with his primary feathers, and the ceiling he could have touched with his wingtips while
standing. He stopped breathing, then stopped his heart in order to hear better. The room sounded empty, but he stil could feel someone on guard
—distracted, but waiting. Coffee and sugary fake chocolate scented the air. Gabriel opened his eyes the barest amount to see nothing.
The lab area.
Gabriel trembled at the intransigent darkness as thick as tar, then stil ed himself, re-closing his eyes because he'd rather not see the hungry dark.
His highest output of light would emerge grainy here, like light six fathoms deep. The damned couldn't achieve even that much.
God, how am I doing?
The answer came only faintly. He was, after al , in Hel .
What do they want with me? Why am I here? Where are they? Gabriel took a deep breath as slowly and silently as he could. Stay calm. If Gabriel wanted more of God in here—and he did—he'd have to find a way to let in more of God.
He reached for Raphael through their bond but couldn't get a sense of the Seraph.
First things first. Gabriel sent his mind into the chains on his wrists and ankles, then asked the metal to lengthen. It started to, but pul ed tight around the centers. This much he had expected: the chains were laced through the core with the disembodied wil of a minor demon, and it had been told
to hold tight.
Gabriel focused his attention on the chain, then commanded, Lengthen! After a pause, he thought, Aha! even though nothing had happened.
Disheartened to think it had failed, the wil -lacing let go of the chain.
Yeah, give him a chal enge next time. Gabriel then pointed out the lengthened one to the others, and they gave up too, dropping him
unceremoniously to the floor.
The chain links clanked against one another, and Gabriel tensed. He tried to pul his hands from the cuffs, but a higher order demon must have
made those: they held fast no matter how Gabriel tried to change their shape or his own.
"Oh, you're awake," said a deep voice that Gabriel realized was Beelzebub's.
Being obviously awake made reconnoitering more difficult. In retrospect, he ought to have put up with the chains until he'd studied everything else.
The scrape of a chair as Beelzebub stood. Gabriel rushed his mind through the chamber to figure out where in the lab area he was. He felt along
the wal s, which natural y were Guarded so no one could enter.
Although angels seldom Guarded anything, demons set Guards as a matter of course to prevent their enemies (or their al ies) from searching their
private chambers. Guards permitted entry only to those on good terms with those who had set them, being created directly by the wil of the owner,
and they were capable of containing a conscious, sane angel. This Guard resonated with a prickliness Gabriel found unusual. He pushed on the
Guard to learn more.
"You're wondering why you're here." Beelzebub drew closer. "You haven't got much time, so listen to me."
Gabriel tried to recoil into the stone. The demon Seraph stood so close Gabriel could feel his body heat.
Gabriel pushed again on the Guard. Ah. This made more sense. The prickliness was due to the apparently single Guard being composed of
several different ones—the one at his back having been set first, then the one on his right. Those felt ancient. The one before him and the one to his left were approximately the same age, with the ones on top and bottom set last of al , only this week, finished off by someone weaving them
together.
Beelzebub said, "Why don't you shine a bit so we can have this talk face-to-face?"
Turning his head, Gabriel projected that darkness was just fine for now.
Gabriel knew how to set Guards, and this wasn't the way to do it. Having it set piecemeal could leave chinks for an enemy to exploit. It could be
squeezed until one buckled because they were al of different strengths. It makes no sense. If Mephistopheles had arranged this—a good
assumption, considering which demon stood here now—he knew better. Gabriel would have expected such shoddy work only from a minor demon,
not from one who pre-winnowing had been among the smartest Cherubim.
Beelzebub shook Gabriel. "Don't take your brain away. Stop thinking. If you have questions, ask me. I'm standing right here."
The way the room was Guarded made sense, Gabriel thought, if this room wasn't real y a room, just an unused space carved from the rock by
omission rather than intention. Yes, this theory worked, with the wal to one side reeking of Beelzebub and the one on the other tingling of
Mephistopheles. At his back it felt like Satan's own offices, his secrets so tantalizingly close but unable to be broken open. Personal notes, plans, perhaps even a private conference taking place, and no other options remained for Gabriel other than reconnaissance.
This theory meant they'd been preparing for his capture as long ago as the age of the youngest Guard: about a week.
"Pay attention!" Beelzebub sounded frustrated. "Mephistopheles is going to annihilate you!"
Gabriel focused abruptly.
"That's what it takes to get you to look?" Beelzebub folded his arms and shifted his stance so he leaned back on one leg. Like most Seraphim, he was tal . "Mephistopheles figured out how to annihilate an angel. We're starting with you. I can let you free. Are you wil ing to listen?"
The sudden glow from Gabriel's spirit il uminated Beelzebub's dark eyes and square jaw. "I knew there was something to Ezekiel 28:18! How is he going to annihilate an angel?"
An infinite exasperation passed over Beelzebub's face. "Who cares? We have to do this fast if you want to escape."
Gabriel said, "Do what?"
Beelzebub erupted in flames, and his Seraphic power surrounded Gabriel like a cloud of swarming bees. He rested the heels of his hands against
the wal on either side of Gabriel's head, and he smirked.
Gabriel's heart recoiled from the energy. "I'm not going to bond with you!"
Beelzebub was looking right into his eyes, and Gabriel extinguished his light, but the demon was so close he could feel eddies from his eyelashes
as he blinked. The heat crawled over him.
"Even if I agreed to, I'm not sure we'd be able to cross-bond. Al the pre-existing bonds between angels and demons were broken by the
winnowing."
"Give it a try," the Seraph murmured.
"I think—" Gabriel swal owed. "I think I'd rather die."
Beelzebub hit him. Gabriel gave a relieved sigh as the Seraphic energy let off.
The demon said into the air, "Mephistopheles, he's awake."
Was it true? Was it even possible? Certainly it fit with his suspicions about the demons, that they'd devised something tremendous. This
information helped it make more sense that they'd keep their discovery quiet, just in case the attempt failed. But to make the attempt at al , their theory must be sound. Mephistopheles was general y sober.
