The Falling (Book I)

God

William

I watched her go through the portal, my heart pounding. The weight of what I just did pressed down on me. The kiss should not have happened! I had her right where I wanted her and I still could not fucking kill her! When she stared at me with those large eyes I broke. I never wanted to kill her, my feelings were just too jumbled for me to make sense of them. Only with my open admittance to her did I finally realize.

I ran a hand through my hair, struggling not to burn the forest down. "Fuck, I chose the wrong girl to..."

I paused. To what? Have feelings for? I did not dare think of it as love yet. I never thought it was even possible for angels and demons to get along with each other, let alone have feelings for one another. We were like cats and dogs.

Melanie (God, when did I start thinking of her as "Melanie?") and I should have been repelled by the other. It started out that way, at least for me. Only by my idiotic plan to trap her did I make the mistake of getting to know her.

She was unlike any I had ever met, demon or not.

It was so easy to please her, and she was too trusting, despite all her skepticism. She fell asleep one time, her head not quite on my arm, and did not stir for an hour. It would have been so easy to get rid of her. Every time I was near her I thought of a hundred different ways to kill her.

Yet, I could not bring myself to do it.

Shaking my head, I spread my wings, the muscles in them stretching as I did so. They had been retracted for a while; I preferred to walk when I was in the Human World. With a couple of powerful beats, I was in the air.

I loved to fly. The feel of the wind under my wings, the speed I could achieve. The beauty of the setting sun or the morning dawn as I traveled back and forth to Heaven and the Human World. When I learned demons possessed no wings I was horrified as well as repulsed. I almost felt sorry for them for they would never experience the joy of flight.

It was cold, flying through the atmosphere, but my inner flame kept the chill out. A flock of geese flew under me, honking loudly at each other. They disappeared into the clouds as I sailed higher. I dragged my fingers down in the sign of a cross. With a pop, a blinding portal tore open in front of me. I flew into it.

The large, gold gates appeared, and beyond them, I could see the palace. I landed in front of the gate and folded my wings, but did not retract them back into my body. The guards waiting at the gate bowed their heads when I neared and opened the gate for me.

"Life," they greeted.

Most angels, like humans, had brown or black hair. The Thioren and Taylor families were some of the exceptions to the rule. The Thioren's possessed platinum blonde to white hair and white or yellow eyes. They were the descendants of the original Angel of Death before he Fell with Lucifer, Abaddon. The Taylor family, my family, all had red hair and eyes of varying shades of red and gold. We were the Angel of Life and, because I had no siblings, I inherited the title after my father decided to step down.

Luke and I had our own rooms, separate from our families' houses. Though we did not regularly interact with each other, we were quite close, like our fathers before us. We had been closer when I was growing up; cooperation between Life and Death was crucial for balance to be maintained. There should never be more deaths than births and vice versa. I spent most of my earlier days traveling with him, getting to know the humans, and what his line of work entailed. Pater taught me my duties the moment I heard the whispers of births.

Usually, I could find Luke in the gardens with God. The two were good friends. I was not that fond of the gardens—I made the Angels of Nature apprehensive—but I needed to ask God's permission to have my own house in the Human World.

I entered the palace, my boots thudding heavily on the tiled floors as I walked. I always found it funny Melanie rarely wore shoes. Even when she came to the Human World during autumn, she would wear socks. She did not care if they got dirty. Today was the exception of her wearing boots.

"Hell is always warm. There is no point in wearing socks there. I just got them for the sole purpose of going to the Human World when it is colder." She had said when I asked.

Sometimes, I wondered if it was because she could not afford shoes. I would question if she lied to me about her standing since there was no proof of her being an Optima other than her word. I just knew that she had never been a human. Then again, the way she spoke in her odd accent hinted to an education I doubt a poorer family could afford. She carried herself like a highborn lady, though on occasion her manners slipped.

After ambling through the large corridors, I turned left to where the gardens began. There was a large white tree in the center that Luke liked to sit under and read on the left side. God loved that tree, too. He would read to anyone who cared to listen on a regular basis.

I walked on the gravel path, the flowers lining it blowing in the wind. The tree loomed over everything in the garden, and I could just barely make out two white heads blending in with its trunk.

God's birth name was Joel. He preferred to be called that than "God." When not in his presence, we all called him by his label. I did not know how he came to be God, but he had been it since I was born. Some of the older angels often talked about how he seemed to "fall from the sky," which was ridiculous because nothing was higher than Heaven. There were even some angels who feared him, though Joel never gave them a reason to. He was very gentle.

"Will." Luke looked over at me as I neared.

I grinned at him, dropping to a knee when I was in front of him and Joel. "Your Grace."

Joel smiled and said, "Rise, William. You know you need not bow to me."

"You are my Lord; it is my honor to bow my head before you," I answered, straightening back up.

"Are you joining us for one of our conversations?" Joel gestured to the empty patch of grass beside him, inviting me to sit at his side.

"Yes, perhaps you might learn something," Luke teased.

I hated to learn useless things; sitting in one spot was boring to me. I sometimes wondered how I could sit for hours at the same place on a weekly basis to speak with Melanie. And Joel and Luke were not exactly the liveliest of angels; they were so soft-spoken I was amazed when I discovered their discussions occasionally got heated.

"Sadly, no. I have come to ask a favor, Joel." I redirected my attention back to Joel.

He blinked his eyes in slight surprise. "Oh? It is not often you come for a favor. What is it I can do for you, William?"

"I would like a house built as my sanctuary in the Human World," I requested.

Luke raised a colorless eyebrow. "What would you do with a house there? Your home is here."

"Now, now, Lucas. Some angels like to...get away. Tobias has his garden in the Human World, and Shay has her aquarium. William clearly wishes to have his own space." Joel replied.

Though Joel had defended me, I answered Luke, if not a little defensively, "Sometimes my work takes days at a time and it is a pain in the neck to fly back and forth. If I had a place in the Human World, I could just stay there until my workload decreases."

I could feel Joel's eyes on me, and I looked back at him. He scrutinized me, his eyes trailing up and down my frame. His eyes flashed with realization and I feared what it was he saw. My heart dropped. He hummed and played with the page of his book.

"I will grant your wish, William. In return, it is expected of you to maintain it once it has been built. If you do not take care of it, I will take it away and give it to another who can." He finally said. His face remained blank.

I swallowed and bowed my head. "Thank you, Your Grace. I will not waste your gift. I will let the two of you get back to your reading."

I lifted my head and turned on my heel to leave the garden. I could feel Joel's eyes on me, and all I could wonder was: if he does know, why is he humoring me?