All four angels suddenly paled, as knowledge filled them.
An angel named Onafiel gasped and managed to choke out, “You want us to live among the mortals?”
At the same time, another angel named Zakum asked, “You want us to be mortal?” He looked sick at the possibility.
Germael dropped his sword and fell to his knees, an expression of awe on his face.
Arch crossed his arms and remained silent, his eyebrows drawing together, his expression revealing nothing of his thoughts.
“Just as I created Adam and Eve to be stewards over animals, you're to become stewards of men. Your duties are changing.” He paused long enough to give his words time to sink in, then continued, “They're changing, but not as you think. I'm dividing this world into four sections, and each one of you will be responsible for protecting the humans under your guardianship. For now, that will be easy. But someday, it will be impossible for you to maintain your regions by yourselves. There will be too many people, and there will be too much evil. With time, though, I'm going to gift you with helpmates.”
Onafiel inhaled sharply, an expression of horror on his preternatural face when he interrupted to ask, “You want us to marry? You want us to take on one like Eve?”
“No,” He replied, in a dry tone of voice. “Having mates is not meant for your kind.”
While they were talking, Germael had stood. He picked up his sword and returned it to his scabbard and asked, “If not that, then what, Father? More angels?”
“As I said before, you'll be stewards of men. This will include immortal men that you will guide and watch over, while they help you to protect the human race. They won't come to you all at once, though. Instead, they will come to you when the time is right. When they are needed the most.”
The ball of light began to recede. “We'll talk again once I have made my plans. For now, though, I've got two mortals to attend to.”
He disappeared into the sky.
As the four watched, the sun darkened. The mountains shifted, as the landscape rearranged itself, and the heart of paradise—the garden—disappeared from sight. The trees began to wither—what was once lush turned brown and brittle. The animals ran away.
The beauty they'd once been surrounded with was gone, replaced by a barren landscape.
Second Prologue
A REMOTE CABIN IN ALASKA...
Present day
The door slammed with a resounding thud after Anna walked into the log cabin she had lived in with her mother, Iris. She turned and locked the four locks on the heavy wooden door before throwing her purse down and entering the small, but comfortable, living room. The house felt lonely and empty without Iris. It was impossible to believe she was truly gone.
Anna had left a lamp on before the funeral so she wouldn’t have to return to a dark, empty place. Ever since the nightmare of events five years before, she'd made sure to never be alone in the dark. The illumination gave the room a gentle glow as she sank down on the worn couch, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
Only four days before, her mother had sat on the same couch, watching a Christmas show as she waved goodbye to her only daughter. Anna was taking one of her rare excursions into town to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. After giving her mom a hug, she'd left, having been caught up in the spirit of picking out the perfect Christmas gift. Returning, her life had gone straight to hell. She'd found Iris dead on the couch, the Christmas movie still playing in front of her.
The police called it a natural death, convinced Iris had died from a heart attack. The coroner smugly assured Anna that it would have been quick, that she wouldn’t have suffered for long. Anna knew better. She had seen the look of horror frozen on her mother's face, and there wasn't anything peaceful about it.
Anna didn’t bother trying to correct them as they took her body away. The police continued to give her cold glances as if they expected her to give them some kind of outlandish story. It wouldn't do any good to tell them the truth. They hadn’t believed her five years before, and what could they do anyhow? They were only human, without the knowledge and resources to fight the monsters that went bump in the night. She'd learned five years ago not to waste her time.
Snow and ice surrounded the cabin, but the blizzard couldn’t match the chill inside her body. She wrapped her hands around her middle and rocked, as the pain hit deep. Iris meant everything to her. She had been both mother and father, best friend and confidant. Without her, Anna didn’t know how to go on.
The never-ending ache inside of her grew stronger. Was Iris trapped somewhere, far beyond human understanding, experiencing the same agonizing despair? The preacher had said she wouldn’t know any pain where she was at, and Anna prayed he was right.
A lifetime of pain and regret would be hard enough, but an eternity of suffering would be unbearable. A hoarse sob tore out of her throat, the sound harsh in the silent room. Maybe what they said about death was really true. It was only the people left behind that had to suffer, and oh, how she suffered. The thought of Iris in peace and happy was the only thing that gave Anna comfort.
Gazing around the small log cabin, Anna remembered how happy Iris had been to finally have a home. From the moment of Anna's birth, their lives had been unstable. It wasn’t until Anna was ten that they'd finally found a permanent
