I feel eyes on me and pull myself out of the memories. The archangel Michael is looking at me with undisgu
ised curiosity, cocking his head to the right, and for a moment I expect his eyes to twitch back and forth like his Strange Men. “You must be Benjamin Edward Green,” he says to me. His voice is kind, and that makes his smile all the more terrible. “It’s nice to meet you, Benji. You’ve certainly made quite the impression, from what I understand.”
“Don’t you talk to him,” Cal snaps, pulling me behind him. I press my forehead against his back, smelling earth, the charge in the air increasing. “This does not concern him.”
“Doesn’t it?” Michael asks. “It seems to me it most certainly does involve him. You made that perfectly obvious once you made the decision to come here.”
“I… I don’t….” Cal sounds upset. Uncertain. I move around him again and stand by his side. This time he doesn’t stop me. I take his hand in mine.
Michael laughs in disbelief. “You don’t remember?” He shakes his head. “Father certainly does enjoy his games, doesn’t he?” And before I can shout out a warning, Michael flashes out his hand, pressing his palm against Cal’s chest, right above his heart. Cal stiffens as if electrocuted, his hand gripping mine so tightly I think my bones will break. There’s a dull flash in Michael’s eyes, a light that is only there for a moment before falling away. He pulls his hand back and Cal shudders, bowing his head. “Father does enjoy his games,” Michael repeats quietly, the laughter gone from his voice. “The parts are there, I see, but they’ve been shattered. The shapes aren’t making sense. It’s jumbled. Like a knot.”
“Can you return them to me?” Cal asks, his head still bowed. “The memories?”
“No,” Michael says. “I was not the one who took them from you. This is a test, Calliel. He is testing your faith, it would seem.” Michael snorts derisively. “He’s been silent on the matter. To me. To the others. No one really seems to know what he’s up to.”
“Benji?” my mother asks shrilly. “Who is this?”
Michael peers over Cal’s head. “I am a friend,” he says. “I have not seen Calliel in quite some time, and I decided to check in on him.”
“Are you one of them?” Abe asks, his voice hard.
“He is,” Nina whispers. “So many lights. White. So much white around him. He’s so bright.”
“He’s a… an angel?” my mother says lowly.
“Someone’s been talking.” Michael sounds amused.
“What do you want?” I ask, trying to sound stronger then I feel.
Michael looks at me, and I feel like quaking where I stand, but I don’t break the gaze. It is startling to realize that he isn’t blinking. My skin crawls. “What I want,” he says slowly, “is to make sure everything is in order. That all things are in their natural place.”
“What do you mean?”
“He means me,” Cal whispers.
Michael nods. “This whole… thing you’ve got here. This is disorder. This is chaos. I don’t know what Father has planned for you, but he hasn’t stopped me from being here. There are rules, Calliel, as you well know. You are not allowed on the earthly plane. You watch. You protect. You guard. You do not reveal yourself. It is within us all to do so, of course, but we are not meant to have free will. Father placed the ability to become corporeal to test us. To give the illusion of free will so that we may be tested.”
“It’s not his fault,” I snap. “It was mine. I prayed for him and he came. I pulled him down. I did this, not him. You leave him alone.”
“Oh, Benjamin,” Michael says. “While I am sure it’s a perfectly lovely thought, it’s not a correct one. A human cannot just pull down an angel from the sky. Not by praying for it. Prayer doesn’t work like that.” He frowns. “No, this appears to be all on Calliel. I can see the how of it, but I can’t yet figure out why. What does Father hope to achieve?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Abe said, stepping forward. “He’s not going anywhere with you. He stays here. Where he belongs.”
Michael blinks. “Hasn’t he told you?” he asks, scanning each of our faces. He looks at me last, and I know his words even before he speaks them. “If he stays here, it will kill him.” Nina gasps and covers her face. “He is not human. He is an angel. Angels are not meant to stay on this plane of existence. If he dies here, his soul will become nothing.”
“I’m fine,” Cal growls. “I don’t feel any different.”
Michael looks at him sympathetically. “Now that’s not even remotely truthful, Calliel. You and I both know that. I think Benjamin does too, by the look of it.” I look away before Cal can see in me whatever Michael did.
“I’m fine,” Cal says again, more forcefully.
“Be that as it may, I would prefer if you returned to On High with me now,” Michael says, taking a step back. “It would allow us to avoid any further… unpleasantries down the line. We’ll return, speak to Father, and get this whole mess sorted out, and then maybe, just maybe, you can return to your job. How this town hasn’t burned to the ground without a guardian is beyond me.”
“I can still see the threads,” Cal says hoarsely, which causes Michael’s cool façade to slip, for just a moment, surprise seeping in. “I am still able to see them.”
“That’s… not possible,” Michael says, visibly trying to compose himself. “You aren’t even….”
“It’s true,” I say. “He saw my thread after your Strange Men came and attacked me. He saved me from them. They wanted to hurt me.”