Chapter Two<\/p>\n
\u201cMadeline!\u201d Nathaniel cried.<\/p>\n
I slammed the foyer door behind me and unlocked the door to my apartment. Beezle and Samiel hadn\u2019t followed me in. I wondered what they were doing.<\/p>\n
I wondered what Lucifer had planned now.<\/p>\n
I hung up my coat, took off my boots and realized I\u2019d left the groceries out in the snow. A second later Samiel and Beezle came in. Samiel carried the grocery bags into the kitchen, patting me on the shoulder as he went by.<\/p>\n
I looked at Beezle. \u201cWhat\u2019s Lucifer up to?\u201d<\/p>\n
Beezle shrugged. \u201cIt is not for me to comprehend the ways of the Morningstar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had to know that I wouldn\u2019t accept Nathaniel,\u201d I said. \u201cWhy send him here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLucifer has to be thinking of the child,\u201d Beezle said. \u201cHe wants the baby protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Beezle incredulously. \u201cAnd you think that Lucifer thought Nathaniel was the best choice to protect a child he will no doubt despise because of its parentage?\u201d<\/p>\n
Beezle shook his head slowly as the smells of something cooking came from the kitchen. Samiel was getting pretty good at turning a small amount of ingredients into something delicious.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I think that Lucifer presented an unappealing option that he knows you\u2019ll refuse out of hand so that he can then send you the person that he really wants here.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. It made sense. It was exactly the way Lucifer operated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd his leniency toward Nathaniel is no doubt dependent on Nathaniel\u2019s ability to get me to cooperate,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is why Nathaniel is still on the porch,\u201d Beezle said. \u201cHe said he\u2019ll sleep there if he has to.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about calling the cops to remove him, but Nathaniel would just return over and over again until he got what he wanted. I didn\u2019t believe that he cared about me one whit. I knew for sure that he cared about keeping all his body parts in their proper places, and that meant that he would go to any lengths to please Lucifer.<\/p>\n
Fine. He could stay on the porch if he wanted. I hoped he froze to death.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe you should think about accepting Nathaniel,\u201d Beezle said thoughtfully.<\/p>\n
I stared at him. \u201cThat\u2019s the second insane thing you\u2019ve told me to do tonight. First I\u2019m to make a pact with Lucifer; now I\u2019m supposed to accept Nathaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about it,\u201d Beezle said urgently. \u201cYou\u2019d have leverage with Nathaniel. You could use him to find out what Lucifer is up to. Plus, you\u2019d definitely throw the Morningstar a loop if you accept a bodyguard he was certain you\u2019d reject.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNathaniel is a killer,\u201d I said heatedly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo are you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t kill innocents. And I don\u2019t try to justify anything I did saying I was under orders from someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNathaniel can\u2019t help that,\u201d Beezle said, shaking his head. \u201cIt\u2019s something you never understood about Gabriel either. You\u2019ve never submitted to anyone\u2019s authority in your life\u2014not your mother, not me, not your Agency supervisors, not your teachers at school. You were born contrary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou say that like it\u2019s a bad thing. I\u2019m an independent thinker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr, depending on one\u2019s perspective, you\u2019re a stubborn mule, but that\u2019s not the point. The point is that you\u2019ve never understood why angels don\u2019t contradict their master, why they follow orders that would seem unreasonable to you. It\u2019s because they\u2019ve had respect for the hierarchy drilled into them from birth. They\u2019ve been taught to be unquestioning, to do what they\u2019re told even if it\u2019s something a human would consider morally wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they\u2019ve been brainwashed?\u201d I said skeptically.<\/p>\n
Beezle sighed. \u201cNo. Think of them as soldiers in an army. A soldier might doubt the validity of a commander\u2019s order, but that soldier would still do as his commander said. Because that\u2019s the way he\u2019s made. That\u2019s the way he\u2019s been taught to behave, because an army is not made up of one person. Its strength comes from the sum of its parts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo all the angels are taught to do as they\u2019re told because it\u2019s so important for each court to preserve its base of power.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Beezle replied. \u201cIt\u2019s also why rebellion is never initiated from the bottom. Most of the lower hierarchy could never conceive of going against Lucifer. But Azazel and Focalor are both Grigori. They have their own courts. They are used to answering only to Lucifer, and in recent years it seems he has given them more leeway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut why?\u201d I asked. \u201cYou told me once that Lucifer would do anything to maintain his base of power. And Gabriel once said that he thought Lucifer had enough power to have dominion over all things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure he does,\u201d Beezle replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why loosen his grip?\u201d I wondered.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see what would happen,\u201d Beezle said. \u201cTo see who is truly loyal to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I scowled. I really disliked the idea that Lucifer would allow a rebellion to fester just so he could watch the game play out. I was also disturbed by the idea that Nathaniel might not be entirely at fault for his part in the memory-selling enterprise. He wasn\u2019t completely blameless, not by a long shot, but it seemed it would have been difficult for Nathaniel to refuse Azazel.<\/p>\n
He had tried to kill me in Azazel\u2019s court. But he had also helped us save Wade\u2019s cubs.<\/p>\n
I shook my head. I didn\u2019t know what to do about Nathaniel right now. It seemed too complicated to sort out what was right and what was wrong, and that worried me. Those shades of gray were Lucifer\u2019s provenance.<\/p>\n
Samiel came into the dining room carrying a tray full of food. He set three bowls on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cYum, chili!\u201d Beezle said, diving toward his portion.<\/p>\n
\u201cUse a spoon,\u201d I said before he went headfirst into the bowl. \u201cYou\u2019re not a pig at the trough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beezle muttered crossly to himself, but he perched on the edge of the bowl with a spoon held in his fist. He scooped chili into his beak with the rapidity and care of a toddler just beginning to use utensils. Food dribbled from his mouth to his stomach.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t look at him,<\/em> Samiel signed. You\u2019ll lose your appetite<\/em>.<\/p>\n I try not to look at him generally<\/em>, I replied.<\/p>\n Samiel went back into the kitchen and returned with a plate of corn bread\u00a0 and three glasses of milk. He indicated I should sit down across from him, looking inordinately pleased with himself.<\/p>\n \u201cThis looks great,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n I wondered where he had found all the ingredients in my very bare kitchen. I was pretty certain I hadn\u2019t bought all of this stuff with Beezle, so I asked Samiel.<\/p>\n I had most of the stuff downstairs,<\/em> he signed, pausing between bites.<\/p>\n His bowl was almost empty already, and I\u2019d had only a small taste. Samiel eats like a teenage boy who\u2019s not sure where his next meal is going to come from.<\/p>\n \u201cBut where did you get the money for the groceries?\u201d I wondered aloud.<\/p>\n Lucifer gave it to me.<\/em><\/p>\n I raised my eyebrow at that.<\/p>\n He knows that I don\u2019t work, and he was worried about you because he knows you depend on the rent from the apartment<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll just bet he was worried,\u201d I muttered into my chili so that Samiel couldn\u2019t read my lips.<\/p>\n Everywhere I looked Lucifer was there, entangling me in his spider\u2019s web. I knew Samiel was loyal to me, but I also knew that Lucifer was very good at making simple things look confusing.<\/p>\n If Samiel continued to accept an allowance from Lucifer, then one day in the future the Morningstar might come to Samiel asking for a favor. And Samiel might think that one little favor was small repayment to the angel who had given him so much. Then Lucifer would ask for one more thing, and another, and another, until Samiel was well and truly trapped.<\/p>\n \u201cAren\u2019t you eating?\u201d Beezle asked, breaking my reverie.<\/p>\n I glanced over at him and wished I hadn\u2019t. He was covered in chili from horn to claw and was presently stuffing corn bread in his beak. The bread crumbs sprayed everywhere as he chewed. I covered my eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know why, but I seem to have lost my appetite,\u201d I said loudly.<\/p>\n \u201cMore for me,\u201d Beezle said gleefully.<\/p>\n Samiel pried my hands from my face so I could look at him.<\/p>\n You have to eat<\/em>, he signed.<\/p>\n Do you know about the baby, too?<\/em><\/p>\n He nodded, looking rueful. Beezle told me.<\/em><\/p>\n Listen, Samie<\/em>l,<\/em> I signed. Do you want to work?<\/em><\/p>\n He looked uncertain. Yes, but Lucifer said I wouldn\u2019t be able to get a regular job, because I can\u2019t hide my wings like you can<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice that he\u2019s thought of everything,\u201d I mumbled to myself, then looked at Samiel and spoke. \u201cYou could work at the Agency. There are a lot of supernatural creatures working for us that aren\u2019t Agents.\u201d<\/p>\n But I thought you didn\u2019t get paid?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t. Agents don\u2019t because collecting souls is a \u2018sacred duty,\u2019\u201d I said, making air quotes with my fingers. \u201cBut the support staff and the management collect regular paychecks. Don\u2019t ask me where the Agency gets its funding from, though. That\u2019s apparently need-to-know only.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you really think I could work there<\/em>? Samiel looked doubtful.<\/p>\n \u201cSure. I\u2019ll talk to J.B. about it.\u201d As I said this, it occurred to me that I hadn\u2019t picked up any souls for a couple of days, and I wondered if I had been neglecting my sacred duty while wandering around in a depressed fog.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore you start panicking,\u201d Beezle said, reading my thoughts, \u201cyou should know that J.B. called a few days ago and said he was reassigning all of your pickups for the next week.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think you could actually deliver my messages in a timely manner?\u201d I said. \u201cOr, better yet, don\u2019t pick up the phone at all<\/em> and let the answering machine fulfill the purpose for which it was created.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d Beezle said. \u201cYou\u2019re getting the message now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not the point,\u201d I began, and trailed off. The snake tattoo on my right palm tingled. I stood up. I\u2019d learned not to ignore Lucifer\u2019s mark.<\/p>\n What\u2019s wrong?<\/em> Samiel signed.<\/p>\n \u201cDanger approaching. Stay in the house,\u201d I said to Beezle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chapter Two \u201cMadeline!\u201d Nathaniel cried. I slammed the foyer door behind me and unlocked the door to my apartment. Beezle and Samiel hadn\u2019t followed me in. I wondered what they were doing. I wondered what Lucifer had planned now. I … Continue reading
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