Silver

Chapter 18

The entire flight to Pennsylvania, no one spoke. A deadly silence had settled amongst the Angels. Even Allison, who always had something to say, went silent. Siena appeared to search the skies with more vigor, and Grey lingered back quite a ways from the group to make sure we weren't being followed. He would catch up every hour or so just so we knew he was alive. 

As we approached the church, a gothic cathedral seated quietly on a hill surrounded by forest, the feeling of inevitable doom settling on my chest only worsened. The ambience wasn't helping. A thick layer of clouds blanketed the forest, so we couldn't see what, if anything, was underneath. Bryn Athyn sat alone above this blanket of clouds, looming and foreboding. The sky was just beginning to darken when we landed in the church's courtyard. The air was still, and very silent. 

"Isn't there supposed to be an Angel meeting us here?" Allison looked to Grey, who scowled and nodded, peering his eyes around the courtyard. 

"He knew what day we would be here. The only reason he wouldn't be here is-"

"Azrael! Is that you?" A voice resounded from an open walkway leading from the church and we all whipped around to find the source. Clambering out of one of the arches that made up the walls of the walkway, was a man slightly shorter than Grey, with dark skin and eyes that glowed golden. His hair was cut close to his scalp, and he wore the same black bodysuit as the rest of us. He walked kind of like how Grey did, full of confidence and a little arrogance, but the friendly smile on his face made him quite different. 

"It's Grey, now. Good to see you, Suriel," Grey offered a tight lipped smile, outstretching his hand to shake Suriel's firmly. Suriel's golden eyes drifted from Siena, lingered on Allison, and fell on me. 

"You must be Jordan. I can feel your soul from here. Pleasure to finally meet you," Suriel outstretched his hand and I pressed my lips together, shaking it. 

"You're the Heavensent?" I raised an eyebrow. Suriel glanced back at Grey, who smirked slightly. 

"Already taught her the Fallen slang, huh?" He rolled his eyes at Grey, who shrugged and chuckled to himself. "Yes. I'm here to assist you in Paris, and be your liaison with the Archangels, if need be," he replied to me, dimples creasing his cheeks. 

"Are you an Archangel yourself?" Allison asked next to me. The way her eyes appeared slightly glazed over, I realized she didn't really care if he was an Archangel or not. But did this mean she was truly over Jack? 

"No, I'm a Guardian. Working my way up to Archangel, hopefully. You must be the other Angel, Allison, right?" Suriel smiled warmly at her, outstretching his hand politely. 

"You must've studied your prep work very well. Any relation to Uriel, the Archangel?" Allison asked, shaking his hand. 

"He's my older brother, actually," Suriel replied coolly, giving her a subtle wink before turning to Siena. 

"Are you trained in combat?" Siena asked, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes at him. 

"My whole life. You must be Sha-"

"It doesn't matter what my name was. My name is Siena," she replied sternly. 

"I don't know why you Fallen insist on changing your names, but alright. I was told you would be the difficult one," Suriel eyed her, but outstretched his hand politely. She eyed his hand and clenched her jaw slightly. Suriel coughed awkwardly and pulled his hand back in, brushing it off on the side of his pants. 

"Alright, well, now that introductions are settled, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping for the night. Our flight to Paris leaves at 9:00 tomorrow morning. I'd advise you all get some rest. We won't be getting some for a while. Public airlines are the stuff of nightmares," Suriel called over his shoulder as he beckoned for us to follow with a wave of his hand. He lead us back through the archways he had hopped through, walking down the cobblestone path until we reached a set of massive wooden doors. He unlocked them with a giant stone key and swung one wide open, holding it for us all to enter. As I approached the doors, I felt Grey's hand slide into mine, entangling in my fingers and squeezing slightly. What was he doing?