Secrets And Sins Part 3: Happy ever after

Chapter 54

~Ava~

"Because Lilith is the enemy."

"She's not my enemy." Ava said petulantly.

"She's a demon and you're an angel." Gabriel's face hardened, "so yes, she is."

"That's what this is all about? Angels versus demons?" She could have laughed if her brain didn't feel like it was clawing at the sides of her skull. "How cliche."

"Ava, this is serious." Halo said, walking around the couch to stand beside Gabriel.

Ava scowled at the both of them but stayed quiet. She leaned forward, hiding the wince at the throb the movement caused in her head and prepared to listen.

"Yes, that is what this is all about." Gabriel started, "For millennia there has been an uneasy truce between us but recently that changed."

"Let me guess, because of me." Ava sighed, running a hand through her hair. She noticed Halo looking like they might argue. "What? It's always somehow my fault."

Halo opened their mouth, but Gabriel cut in before they could start bickering. "It would appear that the demons retaliated after your completion with the Halo. They created Lilith as the perfect rival."

"I take it Michael got wind of that and lost his shit. He seems like the paranoid type."

"You're not wrong." Gabriel's face took on a haunted expression. "Michael took the discovery poorly. Especially because he found out about you after they did."

Ava's eyes widened, that was surprising. "Oh, poor baby." She said sarcastically, leaning back again and putting her palms over her eyes, shielding them from the light in the room. "I can't believe that after everything, Adriel, Reya, there's still another fucking war." She cupped her hands above her eyebrows so she could peer out underneath them. "Why can't you guys just walk away from this? I've met Bael, he's not a bad dude, I could put in a good word for you?"

Gabriel's jaw nearly hit the floor; his face was priceless. "You met Bael?! How? When?"

"When you guys put a fucking price on my head." Ava furrowed her eyebrows. "Not cool by the way."

"The wanted poster was only meant for angels..."

She snorted. "Well, someone made sure the demons got it."

Her father leaned back in his seat, downing the rest of his drink before placing his glass down on the marble coffee table. Ava watched the cogs turning, wondering what he was thinking. He seemed to be lost in his own head, and angry.

"As much as I disagree with it," Gabriel said after a long moment of silence, "and I know some of my brothers are with me on that, we can't back down right now. It's a quagmire of convoluted politics as to why." He looked up at her, his expression smoothed back to calmness. "I won't get into it now for your concussion's sake, but the decision has been made to test your loyalty to your angelic heritage."

"So what, I'm expected to fight Lilith just to prove a point?"

"You're expected to kill Lilith and quell the demon resistance."

"WHAT?" Ava shot to her feet, her shock masking the pain she was in. "I'm not doing that. Lilith is my friend!" She hesitated. "I mean she's kind of my friend... Doesn't matter, I'm not doing it."

"If we can't figure out a way out of this there will be no choice. It'll be you, or her."

They looked at each other, Gabriel unwavering while Ava desperately searched his eyes for any hint of a clever plan. She couldn't do this. Surely, there had to be another way. By her father's expression there wasn't any.