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I was wrong.
Monday morning, Joriel showed up at my door at four thirty to walk with me to the café… without Nate.
I’d tried to fight it but was given only two options—go to work with Joriel or call out and stay home with Nate.
I stopped fighting when I realized how miserable it made Nate. I saw the guilt in his eyes when he gave me the ultimatum.
I knew it bothered him to be separated from me. He texted every fifteen minutes while I was away and even called the café whenever it took me too long to respond to him. Every afternoon when I got home, he wrapped me in a hug and buried his face in my hair like he’d been afraid he’d never see me again.
No one would tell me exactly why Nate seemed to be on house arrest. When I asked, I got half-assed answers about his personal feud with Dantalion and an abundance of caution. I didn’t believe them. It had taken Nate’s brothers four weeks to show up after Dantalion came for me. There was more that the angels weren’t telling me.
Now it was Friday. I’d made it an entire workweek with Joriel as my bodyguard, and I hadn’t even seen Samuel since the weekend.
I hung up my apron, sent Nate a text to tell him I was leaving work, and rushed out to where Joriel was waiting for me.
“Ready to go?” I asked, shoving my arms into the sleeves of my jacket.
He nodded, and we walked out together. When we were past the parking lot, he spoke. “Maybe this is none of my business, but you and Nate seem awfully… close.”
“And you see that as a bad thing?” There was no point in denying what was obvious to everyone around us. But unlike everyone else, Joriel was an angel. He knew more about whatever rules Nate had mentioned but never fully explained. I didn’t honestly think Joriel would hurt either of us—Nate wouldn’t have left me alone with him if he didn’t trust him—but I was still wary.
“I think you should understand what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“You mean the rules about angels being forbidden from touching humans?”
“He’s told you then.” The relief on Joriel’s face was obvious and instantaneous.
“He never touched me against my will. It’s not fair that he can’t be with me simply because I’m human.”
“Fair or not, it is the law. Nathaniel is a guardian angel, and you are a human. No amount of consent can change that fact.”
“What are you saying?” I’d always believed God loved me, loved all His children. I truly couldn’t imagine Him refusing to accept Nate’s and my relationship. Being with him didn’t feel wrong at all. But was there a possibility I was incorrect? Would God put a law above the feelings of His angels?
Joriel ran a hand through his long hair. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”
Ice spread through my veins as dread settled in my heart. “Tell me what?”
Over the past week, I’d come to like Joriel. He was kind and easy to talk to. I’d learned that he used to belong to the seventh order and was a messenger to the human world. It explained his ability to talk like a civilized person while Nate and Samuel both seemed to have zero tact whatsoever. I knew Joriel’s heart was in a good place, and I knew he cared about what happened to Nate. And that was what scared me the most. Because if he was worried, I probably should be too.
“Joriel, please.”
“I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this…”
“But Nate won’t, and you think I should know,” I finished for him.
He nodded with reluctance. “Nathaniel is trying to protect you from reality, but he can’t. He can try, but it is a losing game.”
“Whatreality is he trying to protect me from?” My impatience was starting to show in my voice. A part of me recognized that I wasn’t mad at Joriel. I was upset at the insinuation that Nate was keeping secrets from me… and afraid that it was true.
Joriel let out a long breath. “When the world was still new and humanity in its early days, the Father sent many angels to Earth. He was pleased with His creation and wanted to share it with all His children. What the Father didn’t foresee was how the humans would tempt His angels with their beauty. The angels took wives from the humans and sired children called the Nephilim. These children of both worlds became some of the most famous heroes and warriors of the day. They were amazingly powerful.”
Joriel paused at the edge of the parking lot of my apartment building, and I stopped too. If we got any closer, Nate would be able to overhear our conversation.
“Now fast-forward a bit. The wicked side of humankind is getting more apparent. The Father can’t ignore the way the human heart continuously chooses evil. He grieves for His children, and for a minute He even regrets ever creating them. I’m assuming you know of the great flood and the story of Noah’s ark?”
I nodded, starting to wonder if there was a point Joriel was going to get to.
“Most people focus on Noah’s righteousness and how the Lord allowed him and his family to live.” Joriel rubbed at the back of his neck. “But the great flood wasn’t just a punishment on the human race. It was to punish the Nephilim as well. The children of angels and humans had become too dangerous. They had the same attraction to wickedness as their human parents and incredible powers from their angelic parents. The combination was deadly. They were too powerful and too volatile. The flood wiped out every single Nephilim from the face of the Earth. And the Father forbade the creation of them going forward.”
