“I thought they weren’t born anymore… What does that have to do with Jackie?”
“No. Gabriel and Michael slaughtered all the existing nephilim, but they never stopped being born. The Elohim simply built laws for their management, and a prison city to isolate them in while they produce value.” He looks at me with a touch of pity. “There are plenty of humans in Elohim, Kaelene.Involuntarilyin Elohim.”
“Are you saying…” I can hardly breathe. “That Jackie… is literally… aslavethere?”
“It’s more of a gray area between slave, indentured servant, and prisoner, but unfortunately, yes. My sources inside Elohim have confirmed she’s being held in Arcadia.”
“Oh, God.Jackie.” I clutch my chest, feeling my heart breaking. Jackie, my poor friend who’s already been through such hell, thrown into slavery. Because of me. She was trying to rescue me. “This is my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Azael’s voice hardens. “Would you like to know who has temporarily filled Michael’s place on the Council?”
Horror fills my face as I stare at him. Just when I thought this couldn’t get worse... “Please tell me they did not give it to Abaddon.”
“They did. Would you care to tell me why your beloved fiancé would allow such a thing to happen to your friend? Or why you don’t want him on the Council?” He tilts his chin up, looking down at me with a frighteningly serious expression. “How about the intense fear and rage you project every time I bring him up?”
“That’s… that’s none of your business.”
“When I’m holding you in my protection and your would-be husband would like to throw me into the lake of fire for it, I’d say itismy business.”
“Then let me fucking go,” I snap. “I never asked for your ‘protection.’”
“Did you miss my entire point about how they could hold a gun to Jacklynn’s head and coerce you into opening the Abyss?” Azael rolls his head back, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m sure your friend will find a way to protect herself, with or without you. If anything, holding you hostage in Adonai is safer for her. If you were to show up in Elohim, she’d immediately become nothing more than a bargaining chip for them to use against you.”
He turns, stalking towards the door.
“So whatever hold Abaddon has over you, you’re going to quarantine from it, and then we’ll see if you feel like talking.”
“No, no, no,” I jump up, storming over to him. “I can’t stay here.”
Azael looks at me over his shoulder, his expression hardened and unreadable. “You can, and you will.”
“Azael, please. This is solitary confinement. It’s cruel. I’m going to go insane!”
“Then I suggest you work quickly on figuring out your issues.”
“Wait!” I try to grab him, but he’s too quick.
Shadows and smoke consume him, and a second later, he’s gone.
41
The only way I can tell time is by the three meals they give me.
After the first night, dinner started coming with a change of clothes and a book. The clothes I take with reluctant appreciation, though nothing can convince me to remove my cloak. And I can’t tell if the book is meant to be a small mercy or the devil’s twisted sense of humor. Because, apparently, the best time for someone to readCrime and Punishmentis when they’re locked away in a prison cell during the apocalypse.
Other than reading, I spend a lot of time sleeping, meditating, or planning my escape. I haven’t made much progress on that last one, thanks to all the levels of fuckery I’m in. First, I have to get out of this cell, then out of Adonai, then I have to get Jackie out, andthenwe have to hide from all the angels, including my ex, who may or may not have… well, he… he…
I can’t.
I just can’t.
I’m losing track of how many days have passed, and I’m starting to regret that I didn’t try marking them down somewhere.
No amount of meditation will reveal a single soul around me. Whatever veil they’ve slipped over me, its chokehold is absolute. All I have are phantom limbs, cut off from people across realms.
Some of that is a blessing. The frayed lines I have to Abaddon are healing, no longer subject to his control. But it is also lonely.
So very lonely.
