LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

are brilliant, Lucifer. Do not let your gift lead you astray. Stay humble before God. Sometimes faith is all we need when reason sends us down a different path.”

      Lucifer stomped on a pink flower. A tiny bit of powder flew up from it and struck Lucifer in the face. It smelled terrible. “Where did God come from? How do you know He doesn’t have all of us fooled?”

      She looked down at the mangled flower and back up at Lucifer. It started regrowing. “God has always been and always will be.”

      As the flower grew perfectly back into its original form, Lucifer stepped on it again and this time left his foot there. He looked at Thyaterra as he twisted his foot into the ground. “I could tell you I am the same. I was here before you. Would you believe that I am a god also? Tell me why God has no answers for any of my questions as of late. I’ll tell you why—He doesn’t know.”

      “God knows everything. We both know that.”

      “No, only one of us thinks that now. I’ll show you I am right. I want you to join me in finding the answers God hides from us.” He lifted his foot and waited as the mangled flower once again grew to perfection.

      “Lucifer, I can’t join you in whatever you are doing.”

      Lucifer hesitated, watching the flower. When it was done reforming, he picked it and handed it to her. “Please.”

      She took the flower and a new one sprouted up in its place. “I love God. Don’t ask that of me. He is not lying about anything.”

      “I need you.”

      She winced.

      “Whose side are you on?”

      “Stop this, Lucifer. You know I will not betray our Father.”

      “He is not my Father anymore.”

      “Please don’t say that.”

      Lucifer clenched his fists and felt his fingernails digging deep into his palms. “I am leaving. Do not follow me.”

      Two tears fell from her green eyes, but she didn’t.

      He crashed down from the platform to the deep blue of the water below. The once-beautiful world under water meant nothing this time. Fish darted out of his way to avoid being pummeled as he sank through like a boulder. The deeper he went the darker it became, but the glow he gave off from the remnants of God’s glory allowed him to barely see until the last moment of blackness. This was where he remembered cutting through a black hole to the cosmos.

      He came out on the other side and shook the water from his wings. He took in the beauty of the cosmos again, of the other worlds suspended there in the deep black. The nearest planet was lovely, covered in blue and green, and he felt immediate ownership of it. A new home. Thyaterra no longer mattered. More importantly, God no longer mattered. He had to keep telling himself that.

      He flew toward it through the emptiness of the cosmos, and at length he passed through a layer of cloud and landed on the surface. He didn’t know what to do, so he roamed the stretches of unkempt fields of grass. There were forests too, but the trees weren’t uniform in height or layout and there was no structure to anything. Everything grew wild, and there were apparently no rules. It was perfectly imperfect. He roamed mountaintops, vast distances of nothing but windswept oceans, and deserts void of life. He liked the sandy deserts with their towering dunes, but the heat reminded him of the warmth of God’s throne. He flew away and came down upon a jungle with plush green trees and long waterfalls.

      He thought of Thyaterra. God had warped her mind. He controlled her just like He used to control Lucifer. Just like He would control His new Son. He felt rage welling up in him again, only this time he did not try to hold it in.

      Lucifer grabbed the nearest tree by its base and ripped it from the earth, roots and all. Bark fell all around from where his grip crushed into the base of the tree. Dirt dropped as the dangling roots snapped off where they fed into the ground. He tore up many, flipping them over, running forward a few steps, and hurling each of them over a mile into a large body of water. They descended deep, branches first. It felt good. He ripped off branches because he liked the snap they made as they broke. He hurled these as far as he could.

      He tore up more trees, his anger unabated, and he began to realize that he could feel the life drain from the trees as the roots separated from the ground. It was incredible. By severing the base of the tree from its life source, it actually died and did not grow back. The realization struck him with equal parts wonder and horror.

      He could control life in his new world.

      Gabriel knew the best place to cool down and get his mind off the accident. In fact it was a part of his daily routine to visit the Canyon Reef. Here, a towering, U-shaped mountainside held estates carved out for hierarch angels; they directly overlooked the shore of a private sea. The bright-neon coral reef below was easily visible through the crystal-clear water. The solid rock of the mountainside almost melted directly into the sandy beach, like they were one and the same. It was beautiful and a popular spot among angels, though today he hoped to be alone.

      Gabriel peeked around a stone corner at the bottom of a wall bordering the estates. He looked around the carved columns, across the sandy beach, and out over the water. No one was in sight. He stepped out and ran his feet into the white sand. A cool breeze came in off the water as he approached the gentle surf. As he leaned over to wet his face, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

      “Gabriel.”

      He accidentally threw water up his nose. He coughed it all up, but it took way too long. Arrayah laughed quietly. She must have come around from the back side of the mountain.

      “What are you doing here?”

      “I came to find you. I asked around and heard you like to come here.”

      “Raphael was wrong back there.”

      “Gabriel, listen.” Her gaze, previously so direct, was averted, and she clutched her necklace—her thumb rubbing a slow circle over the word Humilitas. “I know you weren’t trying to hurt me.”

      There was something about her that made it difficult to breathe, and it wasn’t just the water in his throat. “Yes. I mean, no.” He let out something like a laugh and nodded. “Right. You’re right. That’s what I’ve been saying.”

      Her hands dropped to her sides, and for a moment she looked lost, with her wings gently fluttering and her eyes skipping everywhere before finally landing on him. The water around them gave off a misty cloud that smelled like sweet soap.

      “No, I mean, I’ve never thought it. I just have this feeling that you would never do anything to hurt me.” She took two steps, and the space between them disappeared. When he said nothing and only stared at her, she pressed on, her words tumbling out. “Not because I’m so wonderful. Just because of you, who I sense you are.”

      His hand raised between them, one finger brushing her necklace. “You’re always so humble, but you have so little reason to be.” From there, it seemed natural for his hand to drift up and rest against her face—a simple, automatic gesture, but when her eyes closed and a smile claimed her face, he felt like something in his world had shifted.

      “Gabriel!”

      Arrayah seemed as startled as he was, and she stumbled back from him as his hand fell away. A moment after Michael’s voice tore through the air, they were buffeted by the downdraft of his massive wings as he descended beside them. Michael pushed Gabriel back with one hand. “It’s bad enough you’re turning your back on the job God has set aside for you in the future. Now you’re leaving your post, destroying buildings, endangering other angels—what were you thinking?”

      Anger surged up in Gabriel, and he shoved Michael away from him, hard. “Back off and calm down, Michael.”

      “Oh, I’m calm.

Скачать книгу