Halo

“Okay, so angels exist,” he conceded eventually, speaking slowly as though trying to explain things to himself. “But what are you doing here on earth?”

“Right now there are thousands of us in human guise spread right across the globe,” I answered. “We’re part of a mission.”

“A mission to achieve what?”

“It’s hard to explain. We’re here to help people reconnect with one another, to love one another.” Xavier looked confused so I tried to elaborate. “There’s too much anger in the world, too much hatred. It’s stirring the dark forces and raising them up. Once they’re unleashed, it’s near impossible to tame them. It’s our job to try and counteract that negativity, to prevent any more disaster from happening. This place has been pretty badly affected.”

“So you’re saying the bad things that have happened here are because of dark forces?”

“Pretty much.”

“And by dark forces I take it you mean the devil?”

“Well, his representatives at least.”

Xavier looked like he was about to laugh, but then stopped himself.

“This is crazy. Who’s supposed to have sent you on this mission?”

“I thought that part might be obvious.”

Xavier gazed at me in disbelief.

“You don’t mean…”

“Yes.”

Xavier looked shaken, like he’d been tossed around by a hurricane and thrown back down to earth. His fingers scraped the hair back from his forehead.

“Are you telling me that God really exists?”

“I’m not allowed to talk about it,” I said, thinking it best to cut this conversation off before it went any further. “Some things are beyond human understanding. I’d get into a lot of trouble for trying to explain it. We shouldn’t even speak his name.”

Xavier nodded.

“But there is an afterlife?” he said. “A heaven?”

“Without a doubt.”

“So…” He rubbed his chin pensively. “If there’s a Heaven, it stands to reason that… there must also be…”

I finished his thought. “Yes, there’s that too. But please, no more questions for now.”

Xavier massaged his temples as though trying to figure out the best way to process all this information.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know it must be overwhelming.”

He dismissed my concern, more focused on getting a cogent picture in his head. “Just let me get this straight,” he said. “You’re angels on a mission to help mankind and you’ve been assigned to Venus Cove?”

“Actually Gabriel’s an archangel,” I corrected. “But otherwise, yes.”

“Well, that explains why he’s so hard to impress,” said Xavier flippantly.

“You’re the only person that knows this,” I said. “You can’t breathe a word of it to anyone.”

“Who am I going to tell?” he asked. “Who would believe me anyway?”

“Good point.”

He laughed suddenly.

“My girlfriend is an angel,” he said and then repeated it more loudly, changing the emphasis, testing out how the words sounded. “My girlfriend is an angel.”

“Xavier, keep your voice down,” I warned.

Spoken aloud it sounded so outrageous and yet so simple at the same time that I couldn’t help but giggle as well. To anyone else, Xavier’s use of the word angel would have sounded like nothing more than a lovesick teenager professing his admiration. Only the two of us knew differently and now we both shared a secret — a dangerous secret that brought us closer than ever. It was as if we had just sealed the bond between us, closed the gap, and made it final.

“I was so worried that you wouldn’t want to know me once you found out.” I sighed, relief flooding through me.

“Are you kidding?” Xavier reached out and curled a lock of my hair around his finger. “Surely I’ve got to be the luckiest guy in the world.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’ve got my own little piece of Heaven right here.”

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. I nuzzled against his chest, breathing in his scent.

“Can you promise not to ask too many questions?”

“If you answer just one,” Xavier replied. “I suppose this makes you and me a big no-no?” He clicked his tongue and wagged his finger to emphasize the point. I was happy to see that the shock had passed and that he was behaving a little more like his old self.

“Not just big,” I said. “The biggest.”

“Don’t worry, Beth; there’s nothing I love more than a challenge.”

15 The Covenant

“So what happens now?” Xavier asked.

“How do you mean?”

“Now that I know about you?”

“I honestly can’t tell you. We’ve never had a situation like this before,” I admitted.

“So you being an angel doesn’t mean…” He hesitated.

“Doesn’t mean I have an answer for everything,” I concluded for him.

“I just assumed it would be one of the perks.”

“Sadly, no.”

“Well, it seems to me that so long as no one else knows, you should be safe. And when it comes to secrets, I’m a vault. Ask my friends.”

“I know I can trust you. But there is one more thing you should know.” I paused. This was going to be the hardest part — more difficult even than what I’d just done.

“Okay…” Xavier seemed to be steeling himself this time.

“You have to understand that sooner or later this mission is going to end, and we’ll be going home,” I said.

“Home as in…” He turned his eyes upward to the sky.

“Exactly.”

Even though he must have been expecting the answer, signs of strain suddenly materialized on his face. His ocean eyes darkened, and his mouth turned into an angry scowl.

“If you leave, will you ever come back?” he asked in a tight voice.

“I don’t think so,” I said quietly. “But if I do, it’s not likely to be anytime soon or even to the same place.”

Xavier’s body stiffened beside me. “So you don’t get a say?” he said with a note of disbelief in his voice. “Whatever happened to free will?”

“That gift was given to humankind, remember? It doesn’t apply to us. Look, if there’s a way for me to stay I haven’t figured it out yet,” I continued. “I knew when I came here that it wasn’t going to be permanent, that eventually we’d have to leave. But I didn’t expect to find you, and now that I have…”

“Well, you can’t go,” Xavier said simply. By his tone he might have been giving a weather report: