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“Didn’t…Lucifer get kicked out of Heaven by God?” She was starting to get frustrated with them. “Can we not play a quiz game? Can you just tell me what’s going on? I hate riddles.” Bad enough Gideon is playing this game with me. I don’t think I can take it from the rest of you. She decided to keep that bit to herself.
There was no point in explaining to them her weird little agreement with Gideon. It made no sense, and they wouldn’t understand. She didn’t really understand, herself, but…hey. It might get her some answers. Eventually.
Rinaldo’s jaw twitched. “They don’t know either. And no, he wasn’t kicked out. They left. Seven of ’em, and all their little spawnlings—”
“Watch it,” Ally interjected.
That put the first hint of a smile on Rinaldo’s face since the conversation had started. “They left. Lucifer and Michael got into a row. Or at least, that’s how Michael describes it. Not sure if I believe him.”
“You’ve met?” She blinked, astonished.
“Hm? Oh. No.” Rinaldo laughed. “I’m not important enough. But the man in charge of the Order—Gabriel—they’ve met.” He paused. “He’s not the Gabriel. He’s human. Whatever.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. They don’t know if there’s a God. Neither do we. One half has faith in the Almighty, and the other half…doesn’t. It wasn’t a Fall so much as it was a schism, apparently.”
“Huh.” Maggie looked off thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense. They were just here first?”
“Exactly.” Ally smiled. “Angels can still fall. Demons can ascend. It’s more a matter of faith than it is purity. Trust me, you’re likely far safer running into one of my breed than one of theirs.” She gestured up at a painting of a white-winged angel with a golden, shining halo as they went past. “There is nothing more dangerous than the righteous with power.”
Maggie nodded. She knew that was true from experience. Even if she couldn’t remember the details—something in her rang in tune with Ally’s words like a bell. “Noted. Angels are like dolphins in the wild. They might look friendly, but they might murder you.”
Rinaldo snickered. “And do other things.”
Maggie tried not to laugh. “The dolphin or the angel?”
“You pick.” He flashed a playful grin at her and reached out to push her shoulder. “You’re taking this all very well.”
Thinking it over for a second, she shrugged. “I guess so? I mean, I don’t really have a life for all this to upend. Nothing ever made sense to me. I didn’t lose anything. It’s not like I was some normal person who got torn away from their normal world.” She paused as a cold reality began to settle over her. “I wasn’t living. I was just alive. And now I’ve learned I’m…not even that, either.”
Rinaldo placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her in to his side for a hug. She let him. “This isn’t your fault.”
“I just want to know why. Why I’m like this—why me.” She sighed. She felt on the verge of tears again, and it made her furious. She was sick of crying.
“Hopefully, we can help you find those answers.” Ally’s tone was gentle. She must see the emotions written clearly over her face. “That’s why we’re here.”
“Not to lock me up in a cage and study the freak?” She figured it was still a possibility. She smirked. “Do weird medical experiments and poke me with sticks? I’m pretty sure I’ve been lobotomized once before.” She cringed at the memory as it played back in her head once more. “Anything but that.”
The sensation flashed over her of a fabric-wrapped piece of wood shoved into her mouth as a metal headset-looking device was fitted over her head, the pads touching her temples. Her wrists were strapped to the arms of a chair.
Her steps hitched and she stopped before she placed her hand to her temple. She could almost feel the scratchy fabric around the edges of the metal disk.
“Maggie?” Rinaldo stopped to look at her, brow furrowed.
She couldn’t respond. Shaking her head, she struggled hard not to get lost into the memory. She had to stay present. She was surrounded by people in the fucking back hallways of the Vatican, for fuck’s sake! Now wasn’t the time to—
She screamed. She screamed, and screamed, and screamed. She cried. She begged. She pleaded with them. It was all useless through the gag in her mouth.
It was all useless.
Everything she did was useless.
Nobody would listen to her. Nobody believed her. Nobody wanted to believe her. Including her. If what she knew was real…
She was better off dead.
They turned the machine on with a heavy click.
And then there was only pain.
Someone shookher by the shoulders. She jarred back to herself and pushed the person away from her. It was Rinaldo. She was breathing shallow and fast, and she could feel cold sweat on her back under her hoodie. “I’m—I’m okay.”
