The Archangel Agenda (Evangeline Heart Book 1) (3 page)

Chapter F
our

I eyed him warily, but again, there wasn’t anything that made me doubt my initial assessment. Bottom line, he wasn’t a threat, at least not a deadly one. I didn’t step any closer, but I did tip my chin up to glare at the Jumbotron behind him. The image of a wafer-thin model advertising handbags shifted and transformed into a scene I’d watched a million times before. Usually right after I’d fallen into bed and the dream state overtook me, thrusting me into a paralyzing nightmare I couldn’t escape.

Fires burned throughout the image of a tiny village in Jordan where my mom and dad had been stationed. Mom, for what promised to be a doctrine-shattering find that religious groups around the world had praised and awaited her conclusive evidence. Dad, for a much-needed new hospital that would change the way all of Jordan regarded health care. He’d already received glowing accolades and even a party that he hadn’t been able to leave his patients to attend.

Images played across the screen, but I needed no help visualizing what had happened that night. We’d all been tucked in our medical tent on the outskirts of the village by Mom’s dig. I awoke to shouts and screaming and Mom huddled beside Dad in the open flap of the tent. His concerned eyes met mine and he’d forced a smile but I’d seen right through it. Even at fourteen, I’d been able to tell when he was lying—mostly because he was terrible at it, not because I was any good at reading people back then.

Beyond the flap the village burned. Towers of flames shot into the black midnight and I crawled to the end of my cot and asked what was going on, trying my best to be brave. Dad had seen through my lie too and had come over and wrapped his arms around me. “Mom and I are going to go help. I need you to go with one of my medics.” His youngest intern burst through the flaps then, a wild-eyed black man with thick glasses. “Sorry it took so long, Dr. Heart.”

Dad helped me stand, grabbed handfuls of money, clothes, and food off the nearby table, and shoved it in a rucksack. “Put some pants on, Lina. You can’t wear shorts.”

Mom helped me dress quickly and she pulled me into a tight embrace. Worries and fears flooded my mouth and I couldn’t say anything, so I clung tightly to her, but I felt her slipping away. She kissed my forehead. “It will be fine, honey. We’ll come get you as soon as it’s safe, okay?”

I nodded and squeezed tighter. Dad enfolded both of us against his chest. “Go now, honey.”

The intern grabbed my hand and together we ran out of the tent and along the shadows. A few times he pulled me against buildings as wild mobs raced past. “What’s going on?”

He shook his head, his eyes wilder than normal and huge behind his glasses. “We do not know. The mob came out of the night brandishing their weapons and screaming. I believe it may have to do with your mother’s work.”

Before I could ask any more questions, he grabbed my hand and pulled me further away from the village. We ran and ran and ran. Tears streaked my face, and my heart knew I would never see my parents again.

Their images flashed on the screen and I held my breath. I desperately wanted Metatron’s ability to freeze time so I could just stare at them for a moment. My father held my mother tight and whispered over and over that everything would be fine. My memories had forgotten that scar in my father’s left eyebrow and the thick white streak of hair at my mother’s temple. God, I missed them so much.

Mom shook her head as she watched the horrors beyond the tent, the people we loved being slaughtered and the raging fires racing through the village we loved. “I have to go hide it, Tim.”

“No!” He gripped her shoulders and drew their faces close together. “Look out there, Maddie.” They both turned, but their bodies stuck together like one. The fires burned out of control now, joining to form impenetrable walls. I didn’t know what she needed to hide, but Dad couldn’t let her go.

“Tell me where it is.”

“It’ll take too long.” She hugged him, and yanked on pants and her work boots. “I can slip in and out without anyone noticing me.”

“NO!” I screamed at the Jumbotron. My fists clenched tight and I was gasping for breath. Don’t let her, Daddy, don’t let her stubbornness run you over like it always did.

He shook his head. “I’m going with you, then.”

They raced hand in hand out of the tent, their silhouettes swallowed whole by the orange glow that filled the entire screen. I pulled my weapon, swung around, and pressed it into Metatron’s chest. “STOP THE MOVIE!”

“Not yet, Evangelina.”

My hand trembled and tears of rage and fury clogged my throat. “DO IT!” I shoved the barrel of my gun into his chest hard enough to push him backward a step.

He stared at me and the compassion in his eyes nearly broke me. Above me, the fire raged on, but the movie didn’t advance to a new frame. A frame that I knew would show their bloody deaths.

“Do you truly think me so horrible that I would show you something like the moment your parents returned to heaven?”

“From what I remember, archangels are bastards.”

He laughed loudly. Threw his head back and laughed loud enough that it echoed off the tops of the high-rises. “Oh, Lina. I do adore your humor.”

I hadn’t been trying to be funny. I just wanted him to turn the movie off.

“If I promise that you will not see your parents’ end, will you finish watching?”

I didn’t want to. I wanted to wake up right now with empty bottles of wine lying next to me and the hangover of all hangovers. “Why?”

“I need you to trust me for forty-three more seconds. Then I’ll tell you.”

I closed my eyes and breathed in the sticky-sweet incense: a cocktail of sweaty bodies, dirty subway, and fresh-baked pretzels. Frozen bodies stared beyond me, waiting for me to make up my mind. Would he make them keep waiting if I refused?

“Fine.”

He pointed up and I squeezed my eyes shut as the screams and shouts resumed. After a shaky breath, I looked up and saw my mother. She crouched at the bottom of her dig, in a corner where I’d helped her unearth pottery and jewels. With frantic movements, she dug through the stack of items on the table, both ones that still needed to be catalogued, and ones packaged and ready to ship.

“Where is it?” She glanced quickly over her shoulder and continued digging. I leaned closer to the screen, begging her to find whatever it was and get the hell out of there. A man appeared on the screen, on the ledge above and behind Mom. He screamed and waved a machete but she was too engrossed to see him. My nails dug into my palm and tightened on the butt of my pistol.

Her hand stilled and she held up a small piece of jewelry. I couldn’t tell if it was a ring, or a necklace or pendant of some kind. It glowed in the firelight and she quickly shoved it down the front of her shirt and took off in the other direction of the screaming madman. I watched her scramble up the rickety ladder and out of the dig.

The screen went black.

“MOM!” I screamed, falling to my knees.

Metatron rushed toward me and gently set his hand on the crown of my head.

Chapter Five

“I hate you!” I spat the words at him.

“I know.”

I looked up at him and shook my head. “But you have my attention.”

He laughed and bent, slipping his hands beneath my elbow and helping me up. “Most would have let me have it back there with all the frozen people. Then again, I’ll warn you that it’s nearly impossible for a human to do any harm to an archangel.”

I holstered my weapon and eyed him, trying to match this good-looking guy with what mom had told me about archangels, specifically Metatron.

“Yeah, well, I’m not most people.”

“Very true, my dear. Very true.” His gaze roamed over me but it was a prideful one. For some reason, his opinion of me mattered. I’d convinced myself long ago that I didn’t need approval from anyone, but there were people in my life who I’d wanted to make proud: my parents, Griffin, Malcolm, and now, this stranger. My shoulders inched backward and I stood up straighter.

“And for that reason, I need your help.”

My laugh was strained, but it eased the tension and heartache from his impromptu horror movie. “That’s a lie, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“It’s true.” He motioned me over to a set of armchairs that had appeared from nowhere. I glanced around quickly, but our audience was still frozen. Shrugging, I sat. There would be no explaining this guy, so I might as well listen to what he had to say.

“You prayed and asked about Griffin’s soul.”

I tensed and gripped the arms of the chair. “Doesn’t everyone want to know their loved ones have gone on to something better?”

He crossed one foot over his knee. “Indeed, but there’s a tangle where Griffin is concerned.”

“Excuse me?” The gaping hole in my chest widened and I couldn’t catch my breath. I didn’t need any more guilt about Griffin. I leaned forward. “What do you mean? What kind of
tangle
?”

He sighed heavily. “First, what do you remember about me, about what your mother told you?”

I shook my head, still reeling from his comment about Griffin. I needed to know he’d gone to somewhere better, not go off on a doctrine lesson. “I’ve forgotten a lot of it. I remember her fascination with archangels, mostly with you and Sandaphalon, but she was always intrigued by the different castes and the roles you played with mankind.”

“Archangels have been warring since the beginning. Azazel is the angel of death. In many ways, he is nothing more than a demon. But a strong one, one to be reckoned with. He’s never agreed with my position and he’s done everything in his power to undermine me. This is nothing new for him.”

“How does all that affect Griffin?”

“Azazel stole his soul,” he said simply, bluntly, without emotion.

I burst from the chair and paced between the clusters of frozen bodies. “Stole it how? What does that mean?” I stopped and stared at him. “Where is his soul? This is crazy!”

He shifted. “In Hell, and you must get it back, Evangelina. You’re the only one who can.”

“What? What do you mean that Griffin is in Hell? That his soul was stolen? Why? Why am I the only one? I’m just a woman. I mean, you … you and your cronies are supposedly the ones with the superpowers. You’re an archangel and you know other archangels. Why me? Crazy talk!”

“Well, you’re wrong about just being an average woman. You’re far more than that. You’re a trained killer, and this isn’t simply a spirit world you’ll be dealing with. There are reasons Griffin’s soul was stolen, and yes, I am afraid that he has been taken to the dungeons of Hell. But, for you to get to him, you’re going to have to make headway in the human realm first. That part will be far easier for you than for me. There are places on your realm that I’m forbidden to travel, and I’ve got a lot of other areas to take care of.”

I threw up my hands. “Are you serious? A spirit world? I’m going to deal with the human realm and some spirit realm? Are you actually serious right now? Oh, and like I’m not busy? And how do I know his soul is in Hell? How do I believe you?”

He nodded again at the screen. The images of my mother and father and the village were gone. The scene on the screen was replaced with an image of Griffin—my Griffin. As I watched, Metatron said, “This was sent to me courtesy of Azazel. He brags when he steals a soul.”

I turned away, tears stinging my eyes as I saw lifeless eyes staring dully, flames intertwining around him, coils of snakes at his feet, shackles and chains locking him into a darkness that I could no longer look at as I averted my eyes.

“Stop! Please stop!” I screamed.

“I am sorry, Evangelina. You are the one chosen for this. Griffin’s soul is decent and good and it needs to be freed. You were Griffin’s soul mate, and there are other mysteries around you that I can’t reveal yet, but trust me, your powers are deeper than you think.”

“What powers?” I heard the heaviness in my voice and felt it in my heart. “I have no special powers. How can I possibly do this? Sure, I can kill a man with my bare hands … but I don’t have any deep magical powers.” I shook my head.

“That’s where you might be wrong.” He winked at me. “You’re the one. As I’ve already said, you’ve been chosen for this task. It’s your journey to take.”

I threw my hands in the air. “Great. No pressure there.” What I’d seen with Griffin on the screen was sinking in. I was used to pressure, but this … this was horrific.

What I considered impossible and what Metatron catalogued in that group were most likely worlds apart. I wasn’t sure I was up to an archangel’s idea of impossible
,
but I knew I had to make the attempt. I could never go on, knowing that what I’d just seen would likely be an eternal existence for Griffin.

I walked slowly back to the ornate armchair and lowered myself to the cushion. I pushed aside all my feelings about Griffin and approached this like any other job, because something was telling me that the archangel and his friends weren’t going to give me any other options. Hell, I knew that I wasn’t going to give myself any other options. I inhaled and let the breath slowly release through my nose.

“Tell me what I need to do.”