“Well done,” Michael said.
Chapter Eight
A mortal soul had never touched mine before, and I spent a great deal of our running time thinking of why hers had. It was difficult to accept such a young soul would be my soul’s mate. But Father had gifted me with the wisdom to recognize our strange, fragile bond.
And if Julia were to mate with me, she would have powerful enemies, so she needed to be able to defend herself with me present or without. For now, I couldn’t let her join the regiment and would train her myself. How could I make a soldier out of this girl? This mortal belonged in the house of one of the human nobles who saved their daughters for breeding, not for battle.
Mortals who believed in my world were mine.
Those who remembered the Before belonged to Lucifer.
He and I were at war. Had been for a long time.
And I had to know where Julia fit.
For the past fourteen days, I’d awakened my mortal at three in the morning so she could finish her exercise by seven. Other mortals took notice and started waking earlier than their normal five o’clock. During our runs, I didn’t particularly care for more company, and I hadn’t allowed her any female companions apart from Georgia, and only allowed Georgia because she seemed immune to references to the past. The majority of mortals believed this world was how they’d always lived, though with a few exceptions.
Given Julia’s keen memories and inquisitiveness, allowing her contact with more people was a risk I was unwilling to take. I’d warned her about sharing memories, and Julia agreed to exercise care.
Mortals believed in this world, believed they’d never known any other, and while I wanted to learn what it would mean to expose them to someone who could trigger their memories, this carried a greater risk both to Julia and “her people.” However, and more importantly, I wanted to witness the presence of my brother in my Court. I had felt his arrival. Therefore, today, and away from my mortal soldiers, I devised a controlled environment where I would allow her more freedom so that I might witness how one particular civilian would respond to her and her memories. Once the civilian started remembering, my brother would move in rather swiftly.
Today was Friday, and on Fridays, I descended into town. Connecting with mortals and Guardians living among mortals proved a fruitful way to gather news and check for rifts in the city’s defense systems, but more than anything, I needed to surround myself with everyday people living in my Court.
Before I’d descended, I hadn’t conversed with mortals in ages. While greed, envy, and jealousy had existed among them since the beginning of their time, they’d grown more complex, evolving into monsters in their own right. But they were also capable of love, passion, and sacrifice. My detachment from them would not serve me on Earth as it had served me in Heaven.
We, the angels, rarely existed in peace. Rather, we warred with each other over souls and dominion of one or another of the Heavenly realms. I’d hardened and detached myself from emotions and embraced the logical responses necessary for warfare. Now, I aimed to fix that, if only for this mortal who happened to dislike me for wanting to strengthen her physical defenses.
“Move it!” I threw over my shoulder, then pretended I didn’t catch the lift of her middle finger. Dislike, I could handle. Laziness, I wouldn’t tolerate. At seven in the morning, four hours into her daily exercise, my mortal was barely managing to breathe. However, if she was capable of lifting her arm and showing me the universal fuck-you sign, then she was capable of a brisk walk to town. No?
Half a mile behind me, the mortal trudged through the snow like a giant wooden log, heaving breaths, mumbling curses. I listened, my hearing far superior to hers. She swore she’d stab me in the eye with a pen. I would have picked a better weapon, but maybe a pen was all she knew how to wield. As a show of how I felt about her, I would gift her a knife today.
I waited until she caught up, and when she did, she put a small hand on my chest and bent at the waist, short breaths coming out of her, warming the cold air. Head down, she said, “No more.”
“You ran less than five miles.”
She looked up, big brown eyes shining. “Really? Five miles? I’m impressed.” Her red cheeks made her look even younger. I wished to stroke them, but restrained myself.
“If you manage to walk with me another mile, I will give you a special treat in the town.”
“Really?” Her eyes lit up.
“Really.”
“Like what?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Am I gonna like it?”
That depends on whether you can evoke someone’s memory, and if my brother moves into his mind, promptly taking over the man’s free will. “Certainly.”
Her gaze drifted down, toward the town, eyes twinkling. “I like surprises.”
“Excellent.” I exited the House’s gates.
Groaning sounded behind me. I kept walking. “In addition to a surprise, I will buy you ice cream. Move along, soldier.”
“Dude,” she addressed me, “I can have ice cream without doing all the walking.”
“How?”
To keep the conversation going, she caught up. Interesting. I would need to converse with her more often. She performed best while talking.
“Well, I go into the kitchen and ask for it.”
“There’s no ice cream in the kitchen.” I walked faster. “And the staff won’t give it to you.”
Next to me, she jogged. “Why wouldn’t they?”
“Because I said so.” If I ran now, I bet she’d run too. Alleluia.
“Do people always do what you say?”
“Often. When they don’t, I take great pleasure in correcting them.”
She paused for a moment, and I nudged her back. If she stopped now, she’d whine again. Luckily for me, she moved her legs. I realized the two weeks’ worth of exercises were difficult for someone
