Chapter 20

Abby

W hen the guys come out of the door that they disappeared behind a half hour later, all of their faces are bright, smiles from ear to ear.

"I take it everything went okay?" I ask as they stop before me.

"Better than okay," Luke says. "The old man isn't so bad." He glances at Isaac and Noah, the three of them sharing a look I won't press them on.

"That's good, right?" I peer behind them at the door. The angel from before stands there, most likely waiting for me.

"We got to see our moms," Noah says. My eyes snap back over to his and widen.

"Really?" I say in excitement and he nods, a soft smile on his lips. "That's amazing."

"We'll tell you about it later. But they did want us to tell you that they're happy we found you and to please take care of their babies." Isaac rolls his eyes but there's a smile on his face I don't think I've ever seen before.

Seeing the guys like this, like they've just experienced everything they could ever dream of, has my nerves about my meeting with God disappear.

"God didn't talk too much about my dad. He said he wanted to talk to you and you could tell us." The smile on Isaac's face falls slightly. "Just wanted to give you a heads up." He leans in and kisses my forehead. "Go talk to the old man, and we can head home."

He winks and I laugh. I join the angel at the door, letting him open it. We both step through to this stunning garden filled with trees and flowers.

"Abigail." A deep soothing voice sounds and my eyes drift over to see a middle aged man with shoulder length hair dressed in a white robe.

"I take it you're God?" I ask, quirking a brow.

He chuckles. "You would be right about that. It's lovely to finally meet you."

"Not to be disrespectful, but I don't believe I've thought much about meeting you." Abby, shut up.

He laughs. "I'm not surprised. No harm though. Tell me, how is your father?" he asks the question like a concerned parent.

I'm not sure how to answer. My dad does not like this man, for many reasons he's never disclosed to me. So I tell him what I know I can. Information I'm sure God could get if he wanted to.

"He's good. Mated. Happy." It's not a lie.

God's brows rise. "Veronica has found her way back to him?"

"No. Yes. It's complicated." I sigh. "He's mated to Zed's mother, Megan."

"Ah." He smiles. "She's a very wonderful woman. Hard worker and great mother."

"She is." I agree easily.

"I'm sure you don't want to stand around here and chat with me." He grins, lacing his fingers together before him.

"Are you going to punish me for what I did to Michael?" I ask, just needing to know the answer.

His face falls. "Of course not. What Michael did was beyond wrong. Killing another living being is the greatest offence."

"But I killed him. Wouldn't what I did be just as wrong?"

"Yes." He sighs. "But it's as you say, complicated. Michael has done a lot to betray me and the trust I put in him, Gabriel, and Raphael. He's been spreading nothing but misguided lies, lies that go against everything I stand for. Everything they should have been teaching people. Ethereal has been gravely swayed by a man with his own personal vendetta. The Light Angels have been led to treat people with hate in their hearts and to judge people in my name. It hurts to think they all believe I would stand for people mistreating others, being homophobic, and bullying others for not being the same as they are."

"So, you're okay with the guys being mated to each other. You don't think it's a sin?" I question.

"No." He smiles softly.

"And you're okay with someone being with more than one person romantically, fated mates or not?"

"You wouldn't have been allowed multiple mates if I wasn't." He winks.

"Good." I nod, not sure what else to say. While the guys grew up believing a variety of different things about God that their fathers instilled into them, I know little to nothing about the man. Only what I've learned from attending Angelic Academy. And from just this small amount of time with him, I can already tell a lot of what they believe down there is a lie.

"The reason why I've asked you here is because I would like to ask you a favor."

"Okay..." I say slowly. "Like what."

"I would like for you, and your mates, to take over Angelic Academy. To undo all the negativity and lies that my men have caused. I want that school to be welcoming to not just Angels, but all of my creations."

My eyes widen. "You want us to run the school?"

"I do." He nods. "I believe you and your mates are the right people to turn not only that school around, but the island itself."

"Your saying the island is... ours?"

"In a way." He nods. "That does not mean you take advantage of the power that is given to you. I will give you all the resources to do what you need to make it a better place for everyone. And I will be more involved myself to ensure something like this does not happen again."

"Wow." This is crazy. "You sure you want me? I'm a demon. I'm the daughter of the man you hate the most."

He sighs sadly. "My relationship with your father is far too complicated to get into. But I can assure you, your parentage does not take away from who you are and your capabilities. You are your own person. You make your own choices, live your own life. Not for them, but yourself."

My brows knit together as I try to process this information. "Can I take time to talk to my mates about it? It's not a decision to make on my own. It will have to be something we all agree on."

"Of course. Take some time, let me know. But if you turn my offer down, someone else will be sent down to do the job. This is your chance to make some big changes. Your mates have been wronged the most by their father's choices. Maybe this will help them heal, to undo as much as they can."

He's right. This is big. Really fucking big. But I need to talk to everyone.

"What about Michael? Where is he, what's his fate? What about Gabriel and Raphael?"

"Gabriel and Raphael have been stripped of their titles and powers taken away. They have been demoted to Light Angels."

"And Michael?" I urge, needing to know what happened to him. Is he someone we will need to worry about in the future? Will he come back for revenge? Will he try to take Isaac next? I know it was my father's heart he was going for, but that doesn't mean he didn't want Zed dead any less. If God is going to let him get off as easy as Gabriel and Raphael, I will lose my fucking shit.

God looks off into the distance and sighs. "He too has been stripped of his title." He looks back at me. "This wasn't easy for me to do. He was my son, someone I love dearly and trusted beyond compare. But the crimes he's done, can't go unpunished. If I believed he could be a changed man, maybe my decision would have been different."

"And that would be." I swear he better not say he let him stay dead and live all happy and free in heaven.

"I've stripped him not only of his title, but of his wings."

"So, he's alive?"

God nods. "Yes. He is on earth, now living as a human. He has no powers, no wings, no money, nothing. To survive he must do it on his own, live the life my creations do. See how they suffer, how they survive. He lives as a forty year old man. His life expectancy depends on him and how he chooses to live his life. I've refused to see for myself when and how he will die."

"And what happens if he chooses to continue with his sins? When he dies, will he come to heaven?"

He shakes his head slowly. "If Michael chooses to continue to be a cruel man, to sin and do sinful things, when he passes, his soul will go to your father. And he will be free to do with it as he pleases."

Holy mother of God. Did he just say what I think he said? For someone like Michael, this fate is worse than death. Good, he fucking deserves it. I hope he continues to be a shitty person and gets some kind of deadly disease and dies. Or maybe I'll convince my dad to snatch him off earth and lock him up in the torture chamber, let Zed go a few rounds with him.

"Wait, you said Earth? He's not going to be on the island is he?"

"No. He is no longer an angel of any kind. While I don't disagree with allowing humans to live on the island, having a place for Dark and Light angels to be free to be themselves is what the island is meant for. Humans don't know about angels and other beings outside of their own species." Unless you count aliens. Part of me wants to ask him about that.

"You keep saying Light Angels. Do you mean Pure Bloods?"

His brows furrow. "Is that what they've been calling them?" I nod. "Oh, heavens." He sighs. "No. Angels with white wings are Light Angels. Angels with dark wings, are Dark. No one is better than the other. I love all my children the same."

"Holy shit," I whisper. "They really did spread a crazy amount of lies."

"I know." He sighs sadly. "And that's why it all needs to be undone."

"And you believe we are the best people to do that?" I question him.

"I do." He says like he's so sure of himself.

"Alright then. I'll talk to my mates and let you know."

"Thank you." He smiles. I turn to leave, but he calls out my name. "Abigail." I stop and turn to face him. "As a show of good faith, I have a surprise waiting for you back on Earth." He waves his hand in the air. I stare at it confused before meeting his eyes again. "Unfortunately, the damage to his soul is something I can not fix, but his mind." God grins. "That I can help with."

Who is he talking about? What is going on?

One second I'm standing in front of God, the next I'm back on Earth, in front of my house standing next to Luke, Noah, and Isaac.

"Shit, that's trippy," Luke shudders.

The front door to the house opens. "You're back." Leo says, Frankie next to him as they rush over.

"So." Frankie asks eagerly. "What did he want? Are you in trouble?"

"No." I shake my head. "The complete opposite, really."

"You're killing me, Smalls." Leo groans then looks at the guys. "What about you three?"

Isaac looks at Luke and Noah, the same look they had before. "He wanted to apologize about our fathers and the part he played in any pain they caused. He also let us see our moms." The grin on his face makes me so damn happy.

"That's amazing." Leo smiles. "I'm glad it wasn't a bad visit."

"So, back to you. What did he want?" Frankie asks.

"It's some big stuff." I admit. "Stuff I think everyone should hear. Where's Zed?"

Leo and Frankie look at each other then back to me. "Ah, he was here. We left him in the back. I went to the washroom while Frankie grabbed something to eat. We just went to check on him like less than a minute ago, but he was gone."

"That's why we were coming outside." Frankie gives me a guilty look. "We were about to go look for him."

"I'm sure he's fine." Leo says.

"Fine?" Isaac cocks a brow. "Dude has no survival skills. He takes everything literally. He might be fine over on our side of the island, but if he drifts back over to Dark Night, he's going to get his ass kicked with one wrong word."

"Dammit, Isaac." I glare at him. "Shut up."

"Sorry." He gives me a guilty look.

"Let's split up and go look for him. He couldn't have gone far. His wings don't work." Frankie says. The reminder is a kick to the gut. I don't agree with Isaac, I think Zed would be fine on his own. It's not him getting hurt I'm worried about. It's him hurting others.

We split up and I decide to head to the one place I know he would be if he was his old self. The graveyard gazebo.