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“I’ve been waiting for this day since you were six, and I’ve been hoping you wouldn’t set me on fire when it finally happened.” Gabriel smiled at me. “You didn’t think it was strange that all your uncles treat you and Helia different than the other cousins?”
“Yes,” I admitted. I’d always assumed it was because I had a temper and an independent streak as wide as the Amazon River was long. I didn’t say this, I just frowned at him.
“Even the demons knew you were more than just a nephilim a long time ago,” Azrael said.
“Fine, I’m an archangel, what do I do?” I asked.
“You learn to use your powers,” Remiel replied promptly. “Despite your determination not to learn them as a kid and teen, surely you’ve grown past that. You can do it now and you can do it while adjusting to your wings.”
“We really should have had them checked,” Gabriel sighed. “We were remiss on that.”
“There’s no rule that says archangels have to have wings,” Azrael said.
“All of us have wings,” Gabriel said thoughtfully. “Sure, not all angels get them, but Helia and Soleil weren’t just angels or nephilim, they are archangels. We should have known there was something wrong there.”
“In 40 years, I never felt them,” I told him. “I would think they would hurt or be stiff once in a while, seeing has how they were folded up in my body.”
“You did complain once about your back bothering you when you were a kid,” Raphael said, pushing open the door. “We’re having this conversation and you didn’t call me??”
“I guess we should have invited the gang down,” Gabriel said. “Jerome call you too?”
“Yes, he said Soleil was missing and distressed.”
“I feel like I need to tell Jerome I’m okay,” I told everyone, digging out my phone. I dialed and he answered on the first ring.
“Soleil, oh my God, are you okay??” he practically screeched into the phone.
“Mostly, yes,” I answered. “Did you know I have archangel powers?”
“Everyone but you knows that,” he responded. “Or I guess everyone, but you knew. But you know now.”
“Did you know I tied your soul to mine so you wouldn’t die of old age?”
“Yes.”
“You know more about me than I do.”
“I know,” he answered, and I could see him shrugging despite it being a telephone call. “So, where are you? I mean, I know you’re in the hotel, but where in the hotel?”
“I’m getting the ‘you’re an adult and an archangel’ lecture from Azrael, Remiel, Gabriel, and Raphael in one of the conference rooms, and then I think we are going to discuss these murders.”
“So, the distress I’m feeling is you fighting your desire to argue with them that you aren’t an archangel.”
“Sometimes I’m convinced you can read my mind,” I told him.
“I can’t.” He hung up.
“Why does Jerome know this stuff and I don’t?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
“Willful ignorance,” Remiel said, repeating the phrase from earlier. “Jerome tries to learn everything; you try to ignore everything.”
“Great. Let’s work on the case. I think we learned some valuable information today.” I changed the subject, ready to go back to being willfully ignorant. Raphael sat down and I blinked at him.
“When you’re done, your mother wants to see you and Jerome. We have to get you a car to accommodate your wings. We already cleaned all your stuff out of the Tiguan,” my father told me. I sighed. Perhaps there was a reason I was willfully ignorant. My parents had lots of personality, more than me, and it wasn’t just because they were old.
“What did we learn?” Azrael asked.
“That a demon is involved,” I said. “If our killer has made a deal with a demon, I might be able to track him down. I can see Stygian magic when it’s in a person—and we know they’re a wizard. How many wizards could have been there today, in the audience? If I ever need a new career, I’m going to go into performance and hold demon conjurings for money.” My uncles all stared at me. My dad laughed.
“It’s unlikely his coworkers know he’s a wizard,” Azrael said. “But how does he keep it a secret when we’re marked by our eyes?”
“Colored contacts,” Gabriel offered. That wasn’t a bad idea as far as ideas went.
“A magic spell might also do it. Jerome is always whipping up concoctions that change things, sometimes permanently.”
“Are you guys really sure he’s a he?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes,” Remiel said. “I can’t imagine a woman, even a supernatural, taking on and killing a whole family.”
“But they were weakened,” Raphael said.
“They were, but Lucifer referred to it as a he, too. He said he felt the bargain change.”
“So, the news wasn’t lying, you summoned Lucifer?” Raphael asked.
“It was an accident,” Remiel said. “We were summoning lessor demons when our killer began to meddle. That meddling ended up summoning Leviathan, and Lucifer followed on his heels. Although, I admit, it was nice to see him. He gave Soleil gifts and his real name.”
“What?!” My father stood so fast his chair tipped over. I blinked at him and he righted his chair and sat back down. “What sort of gift?”
“His old gift,” Azrael said. “She can read people’s pasts. Apparently, it works on demons as well.” I now turned to stare at my uncle. I hadn’t told him that I had seen Leviathan as a living being.
“I thought she had enough special gifts with her connection to the Stygian,” my dad said and sighed.
“They were getting all buddy-buddy; Soleil’s going to bring him over once in a while for a visit,” Azrael said.
“Oh, that will be nice, as long as she doesn’t have to go there.”
“She doesn’t,” Azrael said. “Only if it’s for a very long time would she have to go there to keep it together.”
“I thought we all agreed she was never to summon Lucifer?” Gabriel said suddenly.
“You were in Chicago with her; I think that ship sailed,” Remiel said. “But she can do it, so I imagine it will happen once in a while. She doesn’t always have full control of her magic, probably because she’s ignored it for so long and, because sometimes, I think the Stygian supercharges it, like it did when she was a kid.”
“I know I’m in the room and I’m hearing what you’re all saying, but it doesn’t make sense to me,” I said.
“All archangels have an innate power, something special that they can do. Michael heals, I see new life and can make it happen, Raphael reads intentions, you get the picture. Helia’s is the ability to make others happy, beyond just being an angel happy. It’s why she never, ever gets yelled at by anyone. Not even her husband when they were fighting all the time. You can control the Stygian. When you were born, Lucifer came to all of us in dreams and told us about it. As an infant, you could and did conjure demons in your sleep. You could also exorcise them, which was useful. You’d summon them to play with you or sing to you and they would, because they couldn’t disobey. All of your magic has a tinge of Stygian magic mixed in. I think that’s why you make Duke frown all the time. He may be human, but he has some magic of his own, like ESP magic. We think he can feel the Stygian in your magic. He doesn’t know what it is, he just knows it’s there and he doesn’t trust it, but he trusts you and you make him happy, causing him to be in a constant flux of emotions around you.” Gabriel said. “Which is why you were able to burn the yard when you were a kid. You used hellfire to set the earth on fire.”
“Could the magic Janet talked about be Helia’s or like Helia’s?” I asked, remembering Janet using the term the magic felt happy.
“What do you mean?” Gabriel asked.
“The witch, Janet, said she didn’t understand the magic, because the magic felt happy. She said it’s the only time she’s ever been around magic that felt happy,” Azrael said.
“She’s met Helia though,” Raphael countered.
“Not while Helia was doing magic beyond her normal baseline angels make people happy magic,” I commented.
“Do you feel her magic? Does it feel like happy magic?” Gabriel asked me.
“I can’t feel her magic. I’m mostly immune. I don’t feel the magic of angels unless I’m also doing magic with them-even then I have to concentrate on it really hard.”
“You should feel it,” Raphael said.
“Perhaps, but I don’t. Like sitting in this room now, I don’t feel any different than I do any other time. I feel none of your innate magic.”
“I feel yours,” Azrael said.
“Me too,” Gabriel agreed.
“Do you feel each other’s?” I asked, now curious.
“Yes,” Gabriel said.
“But it feels like background noise,” Azrael added. “I mean I feel it, and I know whose it is, but it isn’t distracting or anything and it isn’t strong. It’s just there like a low hum. But I can’t feel Gabriel’s with you sitting next to him.”
“Me either,” Remiel said. “Your magic isn’t stronger, but it’s louder. It feels like Lucifer’s.”
“It feels like a hell prince,” Azrael added. “Every time I do magic with you, I have to check and make sure you aren’t possessed. The more magic you’re using, the stronger that feeling becomes. It wasn’t until Lucifer showed up in Chicago that I truly understood what it was I was feeling when I performed magic with you.”
“Me either,” Gabriel said. “We’ve always known you’re connected to the Stygian and some of your magic comes from it. But it wasn’t until I remembered what it was like to be standing near Lucifer that I realized exactly what I was feeling. You and Lucifer have very similar magic. I expect to feel Lucifer’s magic when I’m around demons; I don’t expect it when I’m around you. It isn’t exactly like Lucifer’s, but it is similar enough that if someone didn’t know both of you, they wouldn’t be able to tell the magic apart.”
“Lucifer’s magic is more energetic and stronger, but they are incredibly similar,” Azrael said.
“He has more control and wider uses, but that could be your lack of interest or practice,” Remiel said.
“Which is why demons fear you,” Raphael said. “They feel Lucifer’s magic in you.”
“It’s not the hellfire in my brand?” I asked.
“No,” Raphael said. “It was there long before you were branded an exorcist. We could talk this in circles, but we won’t get anywhere. We’ve been discussing it for 40 years and haven’t come to any conclusions about why your magic is touched by the Stygian.”
“Did Mom become possessed while pregnant with me?” I offered.
“No,” Dad sighed. “Your mother is like most people; she’s gone her entire life without ever being possessed.”
“Okay then, back to the murders. What could hide a magical signature and make the magic feel happy? How does magic feel happy? Are we misunderstanding her meaning, leading to us not being able to identify it?” There was a knock on the door. Remiel got up and walked to it. It opened to reveal a waiter, Tabitha, Duke, Walter, and Jerome.
“You’re discussing the case now,” Jerome said. “These guys want to join in.”
“Fine, but you’re 14. You don’t get to participate in conversations about murder.” I told him.
“But you could participate in this part,” Gabriel said, standing and overruling my decision. When he sat back down, I was going to kick him. Food was brought in. It was almost eight in the morning, and I was famished from the summoning and exorcisms. And the thing with Lucifer.
Gabriel sat down and I kicked him hard in the shin.
“Ouch,” he said, glaring at me.
“I can’t believe you!” I hissed at him.
“He’s 14 and he’s the most powerful wizard ever; he can participate in the conversation about magic. Plus, he was raised with a mortal-he might have ideas we don’t.”
“Yeah, he’s 14!” I hissed at him again.
“Two hundred years ago, he’d be considered a fully grown adult and sent to the fields to labor or worse,” Azrael said. I stuck out my tongue at him.
“That’s because 200 years ago, kids were basically slave labor, born only because birth control was sketchy, and people needed kids to earn money.”
“True,” Raphael said. “But I vote he stays too, at least for this part. He has a vested interest and he’s smart about magic in ways none of us are.”
“The kid understands your magic better than you do, and he knew you had wings, even though you didn’t,” Tabitha added.
“I’m completely outvoted, aren’t I?” I asked, looking at the group. They all nodded, even Duke. Fan-fucking-tastic. “Fine.” I snarled and decided to shove a whole egg into my mouth because if I chewed, I wouldn’t say something I couldn’t take back that might hurt Jerome’s feelings.