Fallen Angel

Chapter 28.1

Whatever Morpheus had done to expedite time worked a little too well. Joan's belly grew at an alarming speed. Even pregnant of a supernatural baby, she was supposed to have months left, but every time she woke up from a nap (because there was no such thing as a good night's sleep in the godforsaken place), it seemed another week had been taken from her.
While Joan lost all sense of time, she noticed the others in the palace seemed unaffected by the sudden time lapse. When she asked Leonora about it, the maidservant explained that the rest of Morpheus's involuntary staff knew what was happening, but simply didn't care anymore. How time passed didn't matter to those trapped for all eternity.

Though Leonora was Joan's ally in the Dream Realm, she was still under Morpheus's control, so there was only so much Joan could truly entrust her with. Her conversation with Michael, for instance, or that she'd actually seen and spoken with her own daughter were things she kept this hidden not only for her own safety, but for Leonora's. And Ragazzino's too.
The boy was always around. Either stalking them from pillar to pillar or hidden behind a tree or bush in the garden. Only rarely did he come up to the girls to speak with them. And when he did, he spoke in riddles. At least, Leonora thought they were riddles. Joan believed Ragazzino to be much cleverer than he appeared. There was something about him she recognised, though she couldn't put her finger on it. But despite the boy's shrewdness, neither he nor Leonora could help Joan get back inside the room where Michael was held.

Joan hoped the little girl growing inside her let the Archangel know she was giving up, but there was no way she could know for sure. She hadn't seen him, nor her daughter, in her dreams again. Were it not for the fluttering in her belly, Joan would have been concerned something had happened. But those faint strokes, soft and warm like the wings of an angel, reassured her all was... as well as they could be.
Though Joan still detested Michael, she couldn't let Lucifer and Morpheus torment him like that. There was good in him, too. She'd witnessed it firsthand during her life and later in the Vale. Yet despite Michael's appeal to atone for his sins, Joan wasn't ready to forgive him for all he had done, not only to her, but Margaret, too. And she doubted Gabriël would, either. He could be damn stubborn if he wanted to be, especially in something like this.

Gabriël... He still hadn't come for her. Morpheus sent her note to the Nephilim at Resia, and Joan was sure Anne had given it to Gabriël by now. She wondered if she perhaps made her message too complex. Gabriël wasn't a military man like Michael, who had taught her how to send secret messages in a seemingly ordinary letter, but he was no dunce either. Joan had seen him rebuild some of Da Vinci's most intricate machines out of boredom, even improving them. She was certain Gabriël knew a thing or two about coding, so why wasn't he here yet?
Then Joan recalled there was someone she's failed to take into consideration. The Blood Countess still guarded the Dream Realm. She lurked in the dark, watching Joan's every move and casting spells to ensure no one could enter Morpheus' world. Gabriël could be at the very door she'd stepped through, hindered by that witch's magic. 
Joan hoped — prayed, really — that he would find her in time. Lucifer told her things were beings prepared for the delivery, but he had failed to say where that was. This was their only chance. Gabriël had to come. He just had to.

***

An entire week had gone by. An infernal week. Gabriël was tired. So very tired. The Nephilim had received Peter's warning, and — as expected — most elected to stay in their Sanctum and stand their ground. Only those with little children immediately evacuated to the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. They closed off the fortress to mortals and put up defensive wards in the surrounding area, but all were well aware casualties were bound to fall when the battle began. 
Gabriël had ordered the Resia Nephilim to evacuate as well, but they refused. He had hoped they would listen to reason, considering the enemy they were to face. But even the mortal family members stayed and trained. They were all prepared to fight. They were all prepared to die.