XVII. Oath
While Jacob and Paul fussed over the tree, Edvardiel stared at her, wonder shooting through their bond.
"And she did that?" Jacob's eyes were bright as he stared at Issa and took another puff of his joint.
"It grew when she touched it," Paul swore. "I saw it with my own two eyes."
"I knew it," Jacob said. "I knew it."
Edvardiel shifted so that he was standing between her and Jacob. As though she needed protection from Jacob. "What do you know?"
"I knew you were our ticket to Tropojë!" Jacob crowed. "See, Paul? If you're good, God rewards you."
"It's a fucking miracle," Paul said, walking around the tree over and over again, looking ecstatic as he picked up several fallen cherries, handing them around. "A fucking miracle!"
Edvardiel relaxed visibly.
"I can't remember the last time I saw a living tree this big," Paul said, munching happily.
Jacob smirked, popping a cherry into his mouth while simultaneously taking a puff of his joint. "You're up for a surprise. Tropojë is full of them."
"No way." Paul's eyes grew wide.
"You'll see for yourself. They've got demon wards and everything too."
Edvardiel bit into the cherries. "They're so sweet," he said softly.
"Heavenly," Paul agreed, his lips stained with cherry juice. "I could die happy right now."
"Don't die now, we're just getting started!" Jacob seemed to have done a one-eighty from yesterday as he hopped into the truck with a newfound spring in his step. "Onwards to Tropojë. Life is good, man."
"Life is great," Paul said. "Doesn't mean I'm letting you drive while you're high. Get your ass off my seat."
"This is my truck," Jacob protested.
"Off." Paul's tone left no room for compromise and Jacob climbed into the passenger seat, grumbling.
"Wait," Issa said. "We need to... I need a minute." She was about to reach for Edvardiel for help when she realised that her energy was back. She could stand. She could walk. The power humming in her core unfolded, melding with Edvardiel's glory so seamlessly that she wondered if it were truly hers. She leapt off the truck and Edvardiel followed close behind, looking worried.
"Issa?"
She kept walking until she was sure they were out of earshot. "Time for us to abandon ship, don't you think?"
Edvardiel looked at her in surprise. "Now? "
"They said Tropojë has demon wards," she hissed. She didn't know if such a thing was possible but she didn't want to risk it. If there really were demon wards and food in Tropojë, then Alice was safe. There was no need for an Acolyte like her to taint the place.
"You're not a demon," Edvardiel said.
Issa rolled her eyes. "And you're not an angel."
"That's right," Edvardiel said decisively. "I'm not an angel. I'm human."
"You can't just decide to be human," Issa said.
Edvardiel gave her a wry smile. "Am I being rejected by Earth as well?"
Issa glared at him. "That's not what I meant. You're still an angel. And I'm still tainted by Lilith. If they find out…"
Edvardiel was already shaking his head. "You're not a demon, Issa." His eyes shone and she felt unexpected excitement thrum through the bond. "Not even close. Do you realise what you just did?"
"I amplified your glory?" Issa said. But she was no longer sure.
"That's not mine," he said.
Issa folded her arms. Why did this power come out now, of all times? Why had it stayed dormant in the last hundred years? It was most likely his. "You said that the last time. When I was floating around hitting cathedral ceilings…"
"I don't have the power of Life," Edvardiel said. "Life is not the domain of Heaven." He was looking at her as though she were his ray of hope. This was wrong. This was all wrong. He was the angel. He was the one with glory.
"Then whose domain is it—Hell?"
"Earth," Edvardiel said it as though it were obvious. "The only person I know who could do this is Eve."
"Eve as in Adam and Eve?"
"Exactly her." Edvardiel looked at her with a reverence that made her want to hide. "You're her daughter. You have to be."
Of course she was. "All humans are her children."
"Eve didn't birth the children of Earth," Edvardiel said. "She created them."
Issa frowned. "I thought God did that? If Eve created Life, what did God do? Is Eve a goddess?"
"I don't know," Edvardiel admitted. "I didn't see much beyond the Room of Light. Eve is not exactly human. She's… there are different names for what she is. Some cultures would call her a spirit, others would say she's a demigod… She's a force of nature. But unlike angels and demons, she's an earthly being." He turned his gaze back to her. "What I'm trying to say is, I think Eve birthed you. And Eve's power is the opposite of Lilith's. Given enough time, I think you could overpower Lilith." Hope, frightening hope, blossomed through their bond.
Issa couldn't help herself—she stepped back.
Edvardiel was too carried away to notice her mood. "I think I was meant to find you," he said. "To aid you. We could stop the Apocalypse together."
"Stop right there," Issa said. She had to stop this madness before it went any further. "You're the angel. Not me. I'm the one helping you."
Edvardiel shook his head again. "No. You saw what happened. I'm no one."
"I repeat, you're a fucking angel. That is a fact. I'm the no one. For all we know, that tree sprouted on its own."
Edvardiel exhaled. "Issa."
"I didn't do it. I couldn't have. If Eve were my mother, why didn't Lilith notice?"
Oh, she noticed you, an unbidden voice whispered within her. How many times have you been thrown in the dungeons?
You're stronger than the others. That's how you're still alive.
She sent you to fetch the angel.
Issa frowned. "Wait, if I am Eve's daughter, why would Lilith send me to fetch you? You're an angel. Why would she pair us up?" That didn't add up.
"Because I'm not an angel," Edvardiel said.
Not that again.
"We went over this," she reminded him. "Just because Heaven rejected you, doesn't mean you're not an angel."
Edvardiel looked like he was gathering his nerves. "I have a confession to make."
"I'm not your priest," she said but Edvardiel ignored her.
"I should've told you this from the very beginning," he said.
"If you don't want to tell me, then maybe you shouldn't," she said. She felt his fear. He was so afraid of telling her that she was beginning to feel nervous herself. Did she want to know? "I'm not a fan of horrible truths. Enough of them from the void, you know? At this point, I'd much rather lie to myself."
"Issa, please," Edvardiel said. "I'm trying to tell you something important."
"And I'm trying to tell you that maybe I don't want to know." She twisted her fingers together. "Let me guess, you killed humans?" She should've been the last to judge but she was still afraid that he might have.
Edvardiel jerked back. "No!"
Thank Heavens.
No, scratch that. Thank the living earth.
"You've been helping Lilith?" she tried.
"What? No!"
"You caused the Apocalypse by killing Lucifer?" she dreaded.
Edvardiel looked at her with incredulity. "Seriously? No. At least, not that I know of..." He looked worried now.
"Then what is it?" she asked. "You're making me nervous and I hate feeling nervous."
"It's… I've been lying to you. Or rather—"
They'd been going at this forever—her nerves were fried.
"Just spit it out, seraph!"
"Don't call me that," Edvardiel looked embarrassed. "I'm… The truth is, I'm not really an angel."
"So what, you're a demon?" Issa raised a brow sceptically, looking at his neck for hidden scales.
"No." Edvardiel exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm… don't you see it? Didn't you see the differences between me and the archangels? I get tired, I get cold. I even sleep."
Issa did a mental comparison. He was less arrogant. More beautiful. And his body was—
She dragged her mind out of the gutter.
"Obviously you get tired," she said impatiently. "You're running out of glory."
"It's not just that." Edvardiel pressed his lips together. "I'm not an angel. Not fully. Half of me is... human." There was so much shame in that one word. He lifted his gaze to meet hers. "I'm half-human, Issa."
Half-human.
Issa let that sink in. "Okay," she said. A lot of things made sense now, including his fluffy, fireless wings. "So this is what you've been hiding all along? What you've been torturing yourself with every night? Being half-human?"
It was ridiculous.
"I... I made you think I was a full angel. That I was going to save the world or something." He winced.
"And you can't do that now because?"
He frowned. "I just told you. I'm not really an angel. I'm half-human. I don't belong in Heaven. I—"
"Seraph, wake up," Issa pulled at her hair in frustration. "How blind are you? You fucking killed Lucifer. Lucifer, the mightiest angel known to mankind. You still have glory. How does being half-human change any of that? If anything, I trust you more because you're one of us."
Edvardiel looked at her as though he didn't understand what she was saying. No, it was more that he didn't dare believe what he was hearing.
The powerful seraph before her—because that's what he was, human blood or not—was all raw nerves and bleeding wounds. For all his talk of faith, he'd been flayed of any in himself. This was not something she could change with a few words. Still, she would try.
"Edvardiel, it doesn't matter," she said. "You hear me? It doesn't fucking matter. I don't fucking care if you're half-human, half-demon, half-whatever. Fuck, I don't care if you're Lilith's fucking spawn if you stop the Apocalypse." She shot him a look. "So stop making excuses and help me out."
That pissed him off. Issa was satisfied by the flare of anger in their bond. Anything was better than defeat.
"I'm not making excuses," he said. "I have been helping you. I will keep helping you. You have my word." He took her hands, his eyes burning with golden glory. "I give you my loyalty and my life. I—"
Issa scowled. "I don't want your life."
"I give you my oath that I will be your soldier."
"Hold on a second—"
"I will stop when the Apocalypse ends or when I draw my last breath."
"I told you I don't want your fucking life!"
Edvardiel pressed his lips to each of her hands, the steel in his eyes at odds with the softness of his kiss. "My life is mine to do with as I please."
She yanked her hands away. "Mine is unfortunately not, so stop imposing your stupid oaths on me."
His fiery eyes glinted. "They're not stupid. I may be Fallen but I always keep my oaths, Issa. Always. No matter what it takes."
He was relentless. This was the kind of iron it had taken to find and kill an angel like Lucifer. With a different personality, he'd have been someone the archangels wouldn't have dared to fuck with. She wondered if they'd seen it in him and if that was why they'd tried to break him.
"We're not sure I'm Eve's daughter. So fucking stop with the oaths. Better yet, take it back."
"It doesn't matter." Edvardiel's eyes danced with amusement and Issa found that she hated having her own words thrown back at her. "You have the power of Life, you're good, and you want to stop the Apocalypse. What more can a Fallen half-human ask for?"
"You can fuck right off." Issa flipped him the bird and began walking back to the truck. Maybe going to Tropojë was a good idea after all. She could test out the power of Life some more and figure out if it were hers. Maybe they could help out the humans. If Tropojë was so full of life, maybe Eve herself was there. And Alice… she did want to see Alice.
"I take it you're going to risk the demon wards?" Edvardiel said, catching up to her. Their bond felt a thousand times lighter after his confession.
"If the wards go off, I'm throwing you under the bus. Since you're an abomination and everything." She paused, worried that her words hit a nerve, but Edvardiel seemed unperturbed.
He grinned at her. "You just said you didn't care even if I were Lilith's spawn."
"Yuck. Don't touch me if you are."
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