1
Judas
I once met a woman so perfect, that loving her had melted me down to atoms and rebuilt me into a man that was made to love her and her alone.
I once lost a woman so perfect, that her death shattered me into gore and matter, nothing but a storm of guilt and regret.
I once met a woman so imperfect, that wanting her had gathered all my pieces and rebuilt them back up again.
I refused to lose her too.
“Do something!” I yelled, uncaring that I was screaming at the Devil and a fucking Archangel. Goliath was roaring her name, shaking her shoulders like it would somehow wake her up.
Then the Devil snapped his fingers.
I froze, my mouth open in a roar of outrage. My body was paralyzed, like I'd been pinned by invisible chains.
All the sound had been sucked from the room, and if it wasn’t for the fact that my mind was still racing, I would have thought we’d been frozen in time.
Lucifer sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
The Archangel Raphael moved forward, stroking his hand over Serendipity’s stomach, tutting softly beneath his breath. Then he ran a hand over her heart, his face a mask of sadness.
No.
I refused to believe it.
He turned back to Lucifer. “You know I can’t do this, Luc. The very idea that I would save either of these creatures would be to spit in the face of the Father himself.”
The golden angel, Gusion from what I remembered, was still standing frozen, drained of color, horror leeching his features.
“It can’t be,” he repeated.
The Archangel turned his head to the golden angel, his sadness morphing into anguish. “Yet it is.”
Lucifer looked annoyed. “I’m meant to be near-omnipotent, so I abhor being the last person to know things. What cannot be?”
Gusion grabbed Lucifer’s face in a grip that few would dare consider and turned it toward Dippy. “Look at her Luc. Really look.” His face was panicked, the raw animalistic panic of a person who’s whole world order was beginning to crumble.
Lucifer frowned, staring at Dippy. “She looks unwell, I can see that Gus. Actually, she does look a little familiar…” Seeing the Devil look gobsmacked was a sight I was never going to forget. “It cannot be,” he gasped out. His eyes flew to Raphael, whose features held nothing but anguish.
“You see why I cannot help her, Luc. I have already defied the Father once, over another child who should not be.”
“She’s Gusion’s-” he stalled, as if the idea was too terrible to contemplate.
“She’s my daughter,” Gusion said, whirling toward the Archangel, drawing a sword I hadn’t even seen up until that point.
“You will save her, Raphael, or I vow that I will slaughter you where you stand. You have stolen her from me once, I refuse to let you do so again. Save her now. Save them.”
If he hadn’t been vacillating about saving the woman who had stolen my heart, I would have felt sorry for the Archangel Raphael, who was obviously tormented. “You can’t kill me, Gusion, otherwise I’d happily let you run me through.”
Great. Dippy’s only hope was a depressed fucking Archangel.
Lucifer’s eyes shot toward Goliath. He pointed in G’s direction. “That one says that the Archangel Michael already knows of her existence, and that of the child, so you can be sure the Father knows. They did nothing wrong, have not slighted the Father in any way. There have been no orders about the girl or the child from above. You are free to do what is right this time, Old Friend.”
Raphael tilted his head. “And how could you know about the orders of heaven, Lucifer Morningstar?”
Luc gave the Archangel a smug grin and winked. Fucking winked. Like my heart wasn’t dying on the bed in front of them. Luc looked at me and rolled his eyes. “It does not matter how I know, Raph. Just save the girl. You know in your heart that it's the right decision, that sentencing an innocent woman and child to death due to Uriel's abhorrent actions is wrong. It is the Legions of Heaven who have put her in this situation. Right the wrongs of your Brother, Raphael. It is the only righteous choice.” He frowned disapprovingly. “Let us not pretend that we all don’t know what you do in the Middle East. You are constantly defying the Father’s plan, even if you aren’t using your gifts to do so.”
Fuck, he was compelling. Now I know why you weren’t meant to make deals with the Devil.
I could see Raphael wrestle with the decision, but then he sighed. He placed a hand on Gusion’s shoulder. “Okay. I shall do this for you, my Fallen Brother.”
I wanted to scream for him to fucking hurry as I wracked my brain for what I knew about the Archangel Raphael. Shit, I should have spent less time holding my dick and more time researching the fucking Legions of Heaven. They seemed pretty positive that this guy could help Dippy where the Devil could not, and I had to have faith that they were right.
It was a pity I’d fucking lost all my faith a long time ago.
Raphael stood over Dippy, his delicate hands spread wide, like he was trying to use the goddamn Force to deliver the baby. After a moment, the pressure in the room increased so brutally that I was positive my remaining eye would explode inside my skull.
Then Serendipity’s stomach unfurled back like a freaking flower, a warm golden light surrounding her. Raphael reached inside her like she was Mary Poppins’ carpet bag, and levitated out a baby.
Fuck.
It was beautiful. He was beautiful. Beautiful golden skin like his mama, a tuft of unnaturally red hair on top of his head.
And wings. Beautiful, slightly damp, white wings, threaded with blue and gold. I wanted to cry. The Archangel looked down at the baby, his smile growing sadder still. “Hello little one,” he crooned, turning to hand the baby to the Angels behind him.
Angels I didn’t know. I didn’t trust.
“No!” I roared, drawing up the power of the Horseman inside me, not freeing it from the confines of my body, but letting it infuse my limbs all the same. I shook off the remains for Lucifer’s power, and I gently snatched the baby from the arms of the Archangel. He stared at me dumbly, as did the rest of the Angels in the room.
“He is not yours. He belongs to Serendipity, and we will guard him until she’s better,” I growled, clutching the baby gently to my chest, daring any of them to defy me.
The Archangel Raphael didn’t fight me, moving back to heal Serendipity. Lucifer looked oddly proud, and the golden angel looked as if he wanted to rip off my head and jam it somewhere uncomfortable.
Fuck him. I made a vow. I didn’t know him, and I didn’t owe him a fucking thing.
Luc snapped his fingers, and the rest of my Brothers, and Marco, sprang back into motion. Goliath whipped his shirt off, and I handed the baby to him quickly and gently, watching from the corner of my eye as he wrapped the infant in his huge shirt, the babe still quiet but alert. I wanted to study Goliath as he held this fragile life in his huge hands, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off the Angels in front of me for too long.
Gusion stepped forward. “You must heal her now, Raphael. If you ever loved me at all, you will fix her.” An edge of desperation colored his voice, and it was the same desperation I felt in my soul.