Fallen Angel

Chapter 32.2

After properly introducing Tepes to the Resia Nephilim (Thomas still objected, but thanked Tepes for his help eventually), Gabriël visited the rooms where they kept the bodies of the fallen Nephilim. Forty-four had died. Forty-four that he wasn't able to save.
He took in their faces, recognising some of them from their time as angels. The loss became heavier with each body he passed. He halted near Adeline. She was no Nephilim, but she had fought as fiercely as one. Her parents trained her well. If only she had never encountered the Borgia Bastard.

"Gabriël, there you are." Raphael came up behind him. "I — oh, are you all right?"

"Fine, just..." Gabriël sighed. "I wish I could've done more."

"Like making a deal with Death is so common. You've gone above and beyond, and everybody here knows it."

"So you don't think this is all my fault?" Gabriël hesitated before he glanced up. "If I hadn't been so weak to let Lucifer control me —"

"He would have found another way to get what he wants. You know how crafty he is. What Lucifer wants, he gets. Though I'd hoped there were still some lines he wouldn't cross."

Gabriël understood Raphael's meaning. Attacking the Nephilim in their homes, and now at the Castel... Lucifer never did anything so direct. And certainly never so rash. It had all happened after Gabriël lied to him about Michael. Lucifer undoubtedly confronted the other Archangel about it, and Michael had played along with the ruse. He'd put his trust entirely in an unknown plan simply because it was Gabriël's, which once again proved his love for him.
Gabriël feared what else Lucifer had in store for them. And particularly for his hostages, though he believed Joan and the baby wouldn't be harmed. Michael, on the other hand... 

Not wanting to linger on that thought, he turned to the physician and asked, "Was there something you needed?"

"Hm? Oh yes! I can't find Isabelle. I was wondering if you've seen her anywhere?"

"No, I haven't. Have you checked down with the wounded?"

"Twice. No one has seen Isabelle since the attack began."

Gabriël grew anxious. He was certain Isabelle wasn't dead; her body would've been discovered if she was. There were only so many places she could've hidden during the attack, but he knew Isabelle wouldn't have done that. Mother and daughter were alike. Joan did not run from a fight, and Isabelle never abandoned her patients.

"Check with Peter if she returned to the Vale," said Gabriël. "I'll do another sweep of the Castel."

"Gabriël, you don't think..." Raphael hesitated. "I mean, if she isn't here, nor home in the Vale... Could they have...?"

He didn't voice his concern aloud. But Gabriël feared the same thing. If Isabelle wasn't in the Castel or the Vale, it meant the demons took her. It meant they lost another angel.

***

They stepped through the portal into the ruins of the once-mighty city built on a mountainside. Despite the mortals' best intentions to preserve the historic site, it was a desolate and wild landscape. Some dared to visit the ruins, but most didn't draw near. Not only because of the dangers the land itself held, but because of the unholy atmosphere that reigned.
Samael felt at home there. Not that he would know what a home was like. He had none. The room his father had given him in the Circles since their alliance was simply a room. Azrael always told him the Vale was his home, but she hadn't gone there much herself. And Samael refused to make his home with those insufferable angels.
This was where he belonged. Where the presence of the dark and the pull of evil were so strong. The cradle of all that was rotten and ill in the world. This was where he would gain control over the baby — and by extension, the mother, the father, and all others who dared stand against him.