Descent

Chapter 4

Jonah

"What's up with you?"

I turned to find Giacomo staring at me with concern practically written on his furrowed brow. My best friend had a deep, grey gaze that could force the darkest secret out of you, although that was rarely needed. He had the longest lashes I had ever seen on a guy too, although this keen eye for detail was something I had never bragged about. My keen eye for detail meant I couldn't get Miriam out of my mind.

Of course, my eye for detail excluded the scenes that I found myself in. Giacomo had dragged me into another one of these infernal coffee shops that were springing up near our apartment "up in the clouds”. I barely even registered the golden gate that shone like our halos when I got home from wandering the streets of various cities. Although gazing around, the cafe reminded me of a chain of coffee shops on Earth, with a logo depicting a certain green, double-tailed siren. The gingerbread flavoured, "hot chocolate" tasted like it too.

"Nothing. I met a girl today." I tried, and failed, to keep my voice uninterested and neutral, luckily Giacomo was far too trusting to notice. My mind was flooded with memories and thoughts as impure as her.

I imagined what her breath would feel like if it tickled my neck. How her fingertips would stroke my chest and arms, how they would be soft yet steady. How lightening would strike wherever she touched, leaving a blazing path until my whole body would be a quivering, trembling mess. She’d be cheeky. She’d grin as her hand grazed my stomach, past my snail trail and past my trouser line. I’d kiss her gently on the collarbone and more roughly on her petite neck. I wanted to make her shiver with desire, the desire she gave me in those first few seconds we’d met. I’d make her pant. I’d make her moan. I’d make her be the demon she is, but she would make love to me. I’d make love to her. The thought sent blood pump through my veins, sending a flush to my cheeks and turned me on.

"Oh. Is that all? You meet girls all the time”, he grinned, bringing my attention back to the coffee shop I was currently sat in. Justifiably, I waited a while before replying as I didn’t trust myself to speak. Focussing on what he said, I understood what he meant. Girls who caught my eye on the Earth's surface fell over themselves to flirt with me, Heaven knows why. Giacomo didn't mind, as long as none were too hurt by my casual interest. I never met someone I stayed long with, yet I was almost addicted to strolling by myself down there, meeting new girls almost daily. That is until I met someone who wasn't exactly human.

"I don't understand the appeal though. Surely there's a girl up here that is worth your time. They seem pretty nice to me." Of course he was going to say that. He's been going steady with his girlfriend Lia for a few years now, and they were ridiculously happy. It was almost sickening.

Moreover, the majority of Angels I'd encountered were dull and perfect. They didn't understand my need to walk with mortals, people with faults and interesting qualities. I couldn't think of anything worse than tying myself down to a girl with wings. I'd only seen a few exceptions to this "stick-in-the-mud" rule: primarily Giacomo, the Archangel and myself. They happened to be the only people I could trust as well.

"The thing is...she isn't mortal." I bit my lip, willing myself to shut up.

"Oh. So you finally settled down! That's awesome! Hey you and your girl can double with Lia and me; I found this cafe in-"

"She isn't an Angel either, Giacomo." His look of concern had been replaced by a bewildered look. He couldn't comprehend what was so plain to see. Many Angels had a look when they heard of crimes that were committed down on Earth, as if they couldn't believe the evil being shown.

Suddenly, his face snapped into a new expression, as if I puppeteer had sharply pulled threads attached to his face, lifting it into a state of shock. Horrified was an understatement. His mouth was unwillingly making an "O" shape, whilst his eyeballs practically rolled out of their sockets.

"You're dating a Demon...?" he breathed.

"SHUT UP!" I clamped my hands over his mouth and slyly looked around the square to check nobody was listening to us. I glared at him. Didn't he know the risks we were taking, talking about this kind of thing up here? The archangels believed in free-will and all that, turning a blind eye if we dropped our halos to run off with some human, but saying words like "Demon" was something they considered quite serious. 

Giacomo looked quite frightened now, and a little bit blue in the face, so I let go of him. He gasped and stared at me as if I was nuts.

"You're nuts Jonah. Completely crazy! Why would you even think that this would be OK?" He bit his lip in frustration, sometimes I thought we were brothers separated at birth, with our small, quaint mannerisms that we shared.

I growled in annoyance. 

"I'm not dating her. I just met her. It's not as if I'm ever going to see her again, we barely said two sentences to each other OK? It was nothing" Crossing my arms, I leaned back in my chair and took a swig of my lukewarm gingerbread solution. Grimacing. Catching sight of Giacomo, I saw that he'd visibly relaxed. Good, I hated lying to him.

Because the truth was, it wasn't nothing. Cliché or not, I'd never met anyone like her in my life. I couldn't forget her eyes, or her wit or anything else about her. My mind refused to ignore the way she stepped across the snow, the wind whipping her hair in a way that made her seem sexy yet fragile. I couldn't destroy my feelings for her.

So I wouldn't even try.

Giacomo

Our meeting tumbled into awkwardness after that revelation. I'd only wanted to hang out like we used to, before Lia and I started to spend every waking moment with each other. Then he had to go batshit crazy and fall in love with a Demoness. He said that she was nothing, but I could see in his eyes the disappointment when I'd nagged him to stay away. Jonah was my closest friend; the least I could do was save him from the biggest mistake of his life.

At least, that was what I had told myself when I walked into the Archangel's quarters to inform him of my worries.

I’d hauled myself up the golden steps, and through massive arch that seemed to shiny to be real. The first time I’d tread through it, I’d debated whether it was made of solid gold or some sort of angelic material. Now I still didn’t have a clue. Nor did I care. The only thing I had cared about was the man who I was to face on the other side.

Taking a deep breath, I had treaded softly through the arch. I’d spoken to him in a hushed voice. Strangely, the Archangel didn’t appear too surprised, yet still concerned. In fact, his reply struck a chord in my mind as I replayed it repeatedly in my head:

“I hope he follows his heart, and not his nature. Only then must we begin to worry.”

After requesting that I report any more peculiar actions, I was dismissed. What did he mean by Jonah’s nature? Surely the nature of an angel was always to protect humanity? How was he supposed to go against that? I’d thought that going to the Archangel would clear my worries, not confuse me further.