Heaven and Hell

NINE

[A/N]:

Dedicated to @glittergold_17 for this beautiful cover. Thank you so much!

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

xx aurora

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D A R K F A Ç A D E

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CASSIEL LAID WITH Lucius about a week later, both males drenched in the warmth of the sun as they inhaled the sweetness of the floral around them. They had been waiting for Gabriel – their friend, not the archangel – and while the latter took his own sweet time before appearing, the other two had decided to take a break from their daily duties to bask in the sweet delight of daytime.

"How are things going with that mysterious angel of yours?" Cassiel asked, eyes closed shut with a serene expression as he sighed loudly.

Lucius turned to face his best friend, eyebrows scrunched in confusion for a split second before registering that Cassiel had been talking about Adelia. Immediately at the thought of her, he unknowingly broke into a brilliant smile, one that rivaled that of the bright sunlight.

"I think she is finally opening up to me, dear friend. She is definitely much more compassionate than when we first met."

"Well, lucky you." Cassiel amused with a grin that stretched over his pink lips, delighted green eyes dazzling when it caught the rays of the sun. He flinched when they did, wincing slightly at the sun's radiance. "I for one presume that you are the only angel in all of Heaven that has the time to commit to his own luxuries."

"Oh, come on now, Cassiel," a new voice stated, followed by the thundering of wings. Lucius could feel the wind pick up with rhythm, the strong beating of Gabriel's wings causing the nearby plants to bend just the slightest until he finally landed on the ground. "You make it seem like the archangels are working us to the bone when in truth, they aren't."

"Yes, I've quite gathered." Lucius smiled in amusement, straightening up his posture all while slinging his arm lazily over his knee while seated. "I figured long ago that Cassiel had the tendency to over-exaggerate simple facts."

"I do not!" Cassiel cried out in protest, jolting up from his laid back position. "I speak of the golden truth!"

"We never said that you were lying, old friend." Gabriel had a chuckle tainting his voice and a light that sparkled in his electric blue irises. "Simply stretching the truth a little too thinly. Be careful! The higher-ups might think that you have been sinning."

This time, it was Cassiel's turn to smile. Slowly, he sank back into the grass, toying with the evergreen strands lazily.

"Oh, now, dear Gabriel, I am not the one who sins. But rather, it is our dear friend, the angel of light that is attempting to bend the will of the almighty one."

"What have you done this time, Lucius?" Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows, taking Cassiel's words into deep consideration as the latter smirked under his breath. Lucius's eyes narrowed at the green-eyed angel's nonchalant backstabbing for he could not believe that his best friend had reduced him to the status of a scapegoat.

"He is in love, my friend!" Cassiel sang, picking a random white-petal daisy from the fields in which they laid upon. "Absolutely smitten by an angel who shall not be named."