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Gadriel shrugged. “I’m trying it on for size. That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Trying new things?”
“This… what? I don’t understand.”
“Ever since you got here, you’ve had to do things you never would’ve done before. You’ve had to learn to adapt, to survive… you’ve even hurt people. Mortals.”
“How do you… how can you possibly know that?”
She turned around to face me fully, letting her elbows rest on the building’s ledge, her dark wings unfurling behind her back. “Because I’m in your heart. I can feel you. Iknowyou, and believe it or not… I love you. More than anything.”
I took a step back, fear suddenly taking hold of my body and moving it without my permission. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t be scared of me, please. Don’t make this weird.”
Please.
Another step. “You’re not Gadriel.”
Her smile was soft, gentle, and warm. “No,” she said. “I’m not.”
“Who are you?” I barked. “Answer me.”
“You know who I am.”
I shook my head. “No. That’s impossible.”
“Is it?Really?”
“You’re not him. You can’t be here.”
“I’ve always been here, Sarakiel. I’m part of you. You were made from me.”
Lucifer.
My body seized up, chest tightening, heart pounding at a frantic rhythm. I tried to focus my mind on the chirping of the birds, or the cars below, but it didn’t help. The angel standing in front of me was Gadriel—her voice, her mannerisms, her memories—but it wasn’t really her, she was just a puppet.
“I’m not like you,” I hissed.
“So you’ve said, three times.”
“What do you want?”
He shook Gadriel’s head. “Nothing. I want nothing. I only came here to give you information. What you do with it is up to you.”
“What information could you possibly have when you’ve been down in the Pit this whole time?”
“I know what Medrion told you right before he got away, something about Heaven’s Gates remaining closed without me? Ring any bells?”
It did. The revelation had stayed my blade just long enough for the Wretched to begin their assault, and for Medrion to worm his way out of my grasp.
Gadriel smiled once more. “I’ve had front row seats to everything that’s happened in Heaven and Earth since I was imprisoned. Watching it all go by and being entirely unable to do anything about it, unable to help, unable to stop the Burn?—”
“—stop it? I bet you caused it,” I interrupted.
Gadriel’s head cocked to the side, considering my words. “The Fall of Heaven was not a mistake. It was planned, and in fact necessary. In a way, yes, I was responsible… but not in the way you think.”
I had barely opened my mouth to respond when he continued speaking, clearly no longer willing to hear my protests. “It’s no secret that God was not forthcoming with her angels. How could she have been? She could only send us visions, or missives via interpreters; a grand game of ‘brokentelephone’. But I know what happened to Her, I’m the only one of God’s angels who knows. I also designed and built the Sacred Machinery for Her, to every one of her specifications. Which means I’m the only one who knows how to start it again and reopen Heaven.”
“How convenient for you.” I responded, my voice flat and sharp like the edge of a blade. “I’m just supposed to trust the word of creation’s most infamous liar?”
