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We stayed on the bench for a good hour, sharing tender kisses and looking out over the river. The more time I spent with Ronin, the more rested my soul felt and the more hope filled my heart that maybe my life was going in a great direction at last.
The trials and tribulations that lay ahead of us were nothing but a speck in the back of my mind at this point. If Ronin insisted on coming through Lucifer’s realms with me, which I had no doubt he would, then we would need to be as bonded as possible to stand any chance of surviving.
Some bad weather and heavy weights were a real lightened version of what I knew in my heart of hearts lay waiting for us.
“Come on,” I said, standing up. “We’re not seeing much of the city sat here. Time isn’t our friend at the moment.” I looked around me, wondering which way to head, when I caught sight of a building. My heart stopped dead. “Oh my goodness.”
“What?” Ronin said, jumping to his feet. He whirled around, following my line of sight. “What’s wrong?”
“That building...the cathedral...we have to go there, now.”
“Ok, sure. Is there something I should know?”
Twenty feet or so from our bench was a set of steps leading to a rail road crossing. I ran towards it, dragging Ronin with me. As I reached the steps, the view of the cathedral opened up, the trees that partially blocked it before no longer in my line of sight.
“That’s Gabriel’s,” I said, rushing down the steps.
We hurried across the wooden planks of the rail road crossing and across the car park. A tall white wall stood at the end of the car park, steps to the left and right taking us back up to what I thought was street level. I headed up the left-hand set, taking two at a time. We reached the top, enabling me to see the cathedral once again.
My heart hammered inside my chest. “It’s an exact replica of the castle, my castle, in Heaven.”
Various benches and potted plants were around me, everything neat and well cared for. A monument of an old cannon sat to our right, the words ‘Washington Artillery Park’ scribed into the front of it.
Ronin looked at it with interest, but he didn’t understand my urgency. “We can come back later,” I said. “I have to get inside that cathedral.”
“Ok,” he replied, turning his attention from the old piece of artillery. “But at least tell me why.”
“Remember I said that the unicorn daggers were kept inside our castles?”
Ronin nodded.
“I don’t think they were. At least not in Gabriel’s case. I think he built this cathedral on Earth and hid it in there.”
“So...”
“That means that the dagger we took from Lord Melrose is Gabriel’s—Lucia said he was sent to New Orleans, remember? I didn’t even think to look at each dagger to see which one belonged to who. If I get inside that cathedral, I can communicate with Gabriel.”
“What exactly are you going to say to him?”
“I need to tell him what’s going on. He won’t have a clue. If he knows, then he can send help.”
“You mean come down to Earth, him and all the other archangels, which is exactly where Lucifer wants them?”
“Earth, Heaven, it makes no difference to Lucifer. He’ll get them one way or another.”
He fell silent and allowed me to lead him away from the artillery park. We found another set of steps, leading back down to the street. Two lanes of busy traffic were in front of us, and on the other side of the street, dozens of horses and carts were lined up along the roadside, eagerly awaiting their next tourists to take around the city. I was almost tempted to indulge the romantic notion of going for a ride in one, but my focus on Gabriel’s building was too great.
We waited for what felt like an eternity for a gap in the traffic. When one finally came, we dashed across the road, squeezing in between two waiting carriages, and power walked into the scenic park beyond.
Beautiful black wrought iron railings lined the park’s boundary, complete with four intricately decorated lamp posts that also served as gate posts. A sign to the right read, ‘Jackson Square’. In the centre of this neatly landscaped park stood a huge metal statue of a man on a rearing horse.
“That’s gorgeous,” I said, looking at the impressive feature with the cathedral as its background. “It’s beyond words.”
“It is quite something,” Ronin said, gazing up at it as we neared its towering height. “But then again, so was that man.”
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. If it wasn’t for him, the British wouldn’t have retreated from New Orleans. In thirty minutes alone, the British lost two thousand men. Jackson lost barely a hundred. That deserves recognition for sure.”
“Are you completely forgetting what he did to the Natives? You do know about the Trail of Tears, right?”
“Of course I do, I’m not an idiot. His conduct in one area of politics shouldn’t belittle what he achieved in other areas. If he hadn’t forced the British to retreat, could you imagine how different this place would be today?”
“Yes. And if he hadn’t forcibly removed thousands of American Indians from their land, land that they’d lived on and cultivated for generations, could you imagine how different the country would be today?”
“That’s a fair point, but the man still deserves to be honoured for what he did here.”
I snorted. “Ok, so if I murder someone, but then rescue a homeless dog, does that make my murder any less of a crime?”
He chuckled. “No, not at all. But they’re completely unrelated incidents that say different things about you as a person. Besides, it’s not like Jackson did it all on his own. White Americans all had the same attitude towards the Natives. They all wanted their land.”
“But they were pushed and led by Jackson.”
“So you think it wouldn’t have happened if Jackson hadn’t led them?”
“Perhaps not as violently as it did, no. And maybe not even on the same scale. Jackson viewed himself as above the law—that much is clear from his response to the Supreme Court’s ruling. When you have someone as ignorant and arrogant as that trying to lead a movement, why would you oppose him when even the law can’t control him?”
Ronin nodded. “Ok. You may have a point, I’ll give you that.”
I smirked. “I think we just had our first disagreement.”
He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “No...we shared a difference of opinion in a calm, intellectual discussion.”
I burst out laughing as I tugged him towards the cathedral. “Smooth.”
Wearing a goofy grin, he followed me past Jackson’s aged monument and towards the cathedral. Beautiful white stone, black pointed roof turrets, and a demanding presence to it, St Louis Cathedral was a building that commanded attention.
“So how are you going to contact Gabriel exactly?” he said in a hushed voice.
“I just need to find the harp, then I can call him.”
“The harp?”
“Yes,” I said, dragging us towards the open door. “Each archangel has their own instrument that they excel at playing. Within each castle in Heaven, there is one of these instruments in the communal hall which when played, calls the archangel straight back to their castle. It’s kind of like an emergency call. It must only be used in the direst of circumstances.”
“What makes you think there will be one of those in here?”
“I just know there will be. Gabriel is a fantastic logician. He’d have put a fail safe in, just in case.”
“But what if he hasn’t?”
“I know he has.”
“But—”
“Don’t even say it,” I said, pushing through a crowd of people milling around the outside of the door. “Stop being such a pessimist.”
“Can I say I told you so when we don’t find it?”
I turned to look at him and grinned. “Only if I can say the same when we do find it.”
We stepped inside and both in unison we said, “Wow.”
This cathedral was amazing. A vast open space lay before us, a perfectly polished black and white marble floor gleaming under the bright lights. Rows and rows of wooden pews, interspersed with fantastic white columns that supported an upper level balcony area either side of the cathedral. Stone ornamental angels stood at the back of the seating, almost like a gateway to the wooden seats beyond.
The ceiling was painted with intricate artwork detailing angels and God, its bright colours a stark contrast against the white background. At the very far end of the church was a centrepiece of an altar, almost to the point of being a shrine. I looked around me, my mouth open in admiration. This stunning piece of architecture was nothing short of Gabriel’s work. Above the doors behind us, on the balcony level, sat an organ, its pipes promising nothing but sweet music.
“This is incredible,” Ronin said. “Is it anything like the one in Heaven?”
“Very nearly as good,” I replied, wondering where he would have hidden the harp. “I dare say he came here himself and painted this. He’s quite the painter.”
I scanned the space around me, looking for something, anything, that screamed out to me. Next to the large, solid pulpit, stood a table dressed in a white tablecloth. A donation bowl sat in front of an angel statue—an angel playing a harp.
“There,” I said, rushing towards it like my life depended on it.
Ronin mumbled something under his breath as he followed me. I was going to wait until Gabriel appeared before I gave him my ‘told you so’ speech.
An old couple stood in front of the table, picking loose change out of their purses and putting it in the donation bowl. I needed them to move away so I could touch the harp in my own space. Once Gabriel answered my call, an invisible shield would fall around us, keeping anyone on the inside of it from the eyes of the human world.
We stood behind them, and as patient as I am, even I couldn’t stop myself from foot tapping as they fussed over giving their money. After what felt like an age, they moved away, shuffling together as they discussed what to have to eat.
“Finally,” I said, eyeing up the harp.
Ronin smirked at me but said nothing.
I reached out and with my right hand, wrapped it around the harp. I stroked my index finger along each of its fake strings. My body started vibrating, my angel powers humming through my veins. The harp warmed in my hand. A blinding beam of light shone straight down on us. Excitement coursed through my veins.
Glancing behind me, I saw a shimmering wall, invisible to anyone but supreme beings, surrounding the table and us. This was it—Gabriel had heard my call. I looked back up at the light and gasped as a shadow came into view at the very top of the light.
“He’s coming!” I said, squeezing Ronin’s hand. “I can’t believe this has been here all this time. I could have contacted him so many times before now.”
“Better late than never,” he said, squeezing my hand back.
As the shadow took the form of an angel, falling closer and closer to us, I felt like screaming with joy. Tears welled up in my eyes. I hadn’t realised quite how much I’d missed Gabriel until now.
The shadow became a body. The distinct white angel clothes came into view, glowing golden eyes, strong sinewy forearms, a broad muscled upper body, and then the handsome face...
I gasped.
The archangel landed before me, but this was not Gabriel.
“Makeysha,” he said, his deep voice booming through my head. “It’s been a long time.”
My mouth dropped open. “Apnastin...”