Camael stood in the middle of the mountaintop temple confounded. No one was around. Despite the many times he called out for Michael, his leader didn’t answer. Running a hand over his face, he stomped over to the seer’s basin and looked into the crystal-clear water. It revealed nothing, simply reflecting his own worried face back at him. He smacked the liquid mirror with his hand and screamed.
“Michael!”
The interior of the cavern glowed brightly, blinding Cam briefly. As suddenly as the light appeared, it dimmed, and Cassiel stood before him.
“He won’t come.”
Cam glared at the somber angel. “Why not? What’s going on, Cassiel? I need Michael’s help.”
Cassiel walked calmly over to stand next to the basin. “He cannot help you, Camael.”
“Cannot or will not?”
Sad brown eyes ringed in thick black lashes stared into Cam’s blue ones. Cam had always thought the combination of Cassiel’s dark eyes and darker eyebrows were unusually striking against his platinum hair. That hair flowed long and straight down the angel’s back like a river of mercury. There weren’t many men who could meet Cam’s eyes straight on nor many angels either, but Cassiel, and even Michael, could.
“He is forbidden to intervene.”
Cam’s eyebrows lowered in confusion. “Forbidden? By who?”
“By Him.” Cassiel cast a look skyward.
“But why? Why can’t he help me? I need to find Hannah. She’s disappeared. She’s pregnant you know! She needs me.”
Cassiel understood the pain and frustration in Cam’s words. He’d felt it from the moment Camael discovered his woman missing. “You’ve been given a gift that is rare, brother. He has allowed you to experience the love of a human woman and all that it entailed without consequence.”
Cam knew what Cassiel said was true. It did not escape his thoughts over the past eight months that he’d been engaging in very physical expressions of love with Hannah, fraternizing as it were with her, and yet he maintained his status as one of the most high. He hadn’t questioned it. Had just enjoyed with a full heart all that he and Hannah shared. Now, he realized, the consequences had arrived.
“What’s happened to her, Cassiel? What am I supposed to do?”
The raw emotional plea was so strong, the platinum-haired angel felt it like a punch to his gut. His job was to absorb such pain, but the sheer volume rolling off Camael in waves the size of a tsunami was more than he could take on all at once. He reached out and put his hand on Cam’s shoulder.
“You must complete a task,” he said. “It won’t be easy.”
“But Hannah–”
“Is no longer your mission.” Cassiel sent a calming thought to Cam, but even his power to soothe was no match for the feelings that exploded upon hearing these words.
“Not my mission! Not my mission? She is everything! I cannot abandon her, Cassiel.” Cam reached out suddenly and grabbed two fistfuls of the angel’s black shirt.
Cassiel stood stalwart and calm. “You can and you will, Camael.” The force behind his softly spoken words shook Cam.
“I won’t! I cannot let her go. She carries my child!”
“You would disobey Him?” A raised eyebrow indicated the surprise behind the question.
“I will do anything He asks, but I cannot abandon my Hannah. Anything, Cassiel, just not this. Anything but this!” Tears welled in the big angel’s eyes giving them the appearance of deep, storm-tossed seas.
Cassiel put his hands over Cam’s and gently eased them off his person. Outwardly, he maintained his stoicism, but inside, his heart broke for his brother. “You must retrieve the Blade of the Morning Star. Tonight, its location will be revealed to you by our Father. You are to await His messenger at Hannah’s home.”
“What is the significance of this blade? Why must I wait?”
“You know better than to ask why, Camael. But this one time, I will offer you the only answer I am able.”
Cam waited, hands on hips. “Well? Why must I get this blade?”
“It is the only way to stop Astarte.” Cassiel began to glow indicating he was once again leaving.
“Wait! How did she get involved? Does she have Hannah? Cassiel! Has she harmed my child?”
As the bright light peaked, Cam heard “your child still lives.” The light burned out and the cavern was once again dim and silent. Cam felt more tears threaten to fall, and quickly wiped them away. He was angry, and for the first time he could remember, that anger was directed at the Almighty. He flexed his powerful shoulders and spread his wings, then ran toward the opening at the side of the mountain and jumped, taking flight. He glided with purpose to the home he shared with the woman he loved. He knew that waiting there for further instruction would be an exercise in patience, but he also knew he would seek help from another because doing nothing felt like the absolute wrong thing to do. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. It still amused him that the help he sought insisted on using the tech, but he never failed to answer. He hit number two on his speed dial. It rang as Cam flew over the skyscrapers that dotted the inner city. He was almost there, almost to the suburb outside the city limits.
On the fourth ring, a deep, melodious voice answered. “Gabe here.”
“Gabriel, I need your help.”
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