31. Theo

31

L ast night feels like a dream.

Zeke was on his best behavior, and so was Raph. The two of them got along far better than I expected for our first official hang out as a group. I know they’re only doing it for Hayliel’s benefit, but it’s nice to see that we can all put aside our differences.

All morning I’ve thought about how we can keep this momentum going and push forward. Not that I want to rush anything, but seeing how happy Hayliel was to have us all together really put things into perspective.

I consider our options while I wait for Castiel in the cave.

Raphael and Hayliel left earlier and have likely already arrived at his family’s home by now. Part of me wishes I could be there to witness what she thinks of his family. At least I know he has her there as backup if his mom goes off the deep end with her shit. I don’t imagine our girl will put up with much disrespect, not when it comes to our charming Raph.

The entire purpose of the visit is to ask Raduriel for something, which will cost Raphael a lot more than he’s let on to the others. I just hope his brother doesn’t let him down. We need as much protection and strength as we can get, and having runes stitched into our clothing is exactly the benefit we need.

We never fully discussed it, but they’ll likely wind up stuck there until tomorrow, so it’ll at least be another day before we can test out our newfound group dynamic again.

Castiel arrives, looking stressed out and holding a small duffel bag that immediately captures my interest. “What’s in the bag?”

Instead of answering, he brushes me off. “I’ll explain once we’re there. Unfortunately, I just learned our time to sleuth through his things has been cut in half. Let’s go.”

Shit. Half the time? No wonder Castiel’s acting different. Our carefully laid plan is disintegrating around us. Let’s hope Uriel left enough breadcrumbs for us to discover his secrets quickly then.

We exit the cave, our strides long as we make the trek toward the main hall. Besides a few students still mingling about, the campus is pretty empty, which is what we were hoping for. The fewer witnesses who see us creeping about, the better.

As we walk down an empty hallway, Castiel raises his fisted hand to stop me. Footsteps sound from up ahead, causing my heart to beat faster. I look around, trying to find a place we can sneak into and hide until they pass, but just as quickly as they came, the footsteps recede. Perhaps whoever it was forgot something and had to turn around?

Finally, we make it to Uriel’s classroom with no further surprises. The door is locked, but Castiel must have expected it because he somehow has a key. It’s impressive to me how he always seems prepared, though that might just be a product of his old age.

Once we’re inside, Castiel shuts and locks the door while I look around. Nothing looks out of place. The bookshelf on the far wall appears the same as it did when we helped clean up the books that had fallen during the attack. The student desks are lined up neatly, and no garbage or other paraphernalia line the floor. A typical classroom.

Uriel’s desk is fairly empty. On top is a planner that’s almost half the size of the entire flat surface, a cup filled with pens and pencils, and nothing else.

Castiel looks through his bag of tricks, pulling out a weird-looking flashlight. When he catches me watching, he says, “This will detect traces of someone’s power, so if Uriel is hiding things in his desk like I do, then we’ll follow the trail and find them.”

I stare at the object quizzically, unable to look away when he turns it on. I want to ask him how he protects himself from anyone finding his own hidden items, but I don’t. As curious as I am, it’s none of my business, so instead I ask a different question. “And what exactly are we looking for?”

“Illegal objects. Names. Dates. Anything that looks suspicious or even hints at his motives.” He purses his lips, meeting my gaze. “I’m hoping we’ll also discover if he knows about Hayliel’s true heritage or not.”

“You think he doesn’t know she’s a Seraphim?” I give the idea some thought, but every point leads to him knowing. He’s the Wingology professor, after all.

“Honestly? If he’s working with the same angels Roderick answered to, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he’s been kept in the dark. For now, though, it’s all speculation.”

Nodding, I turn back to Uriel’s desk and pick a starting point while my mind wanders. Castiel isn’t wrong. From what we heard in the barn, the angel who gave Roderick that blade regretted it and had planned to be more selective about who received such a boon in the future. Perhaps they would do the same with knowledge.

It’s possible that whatever he’s been tasked with doing is what will prove his loyalty to whoever he answers to. If that’s the case, we can’t underestimate him. Not with Hayliel on the line.

I empty the cup of pens, hoping to find something hiding at the bottom. For a moment, I get excited, until I realize it’s only an oddly shaped eraser. I sigh. As if the answer to “What’s Uriel’s end game” would be found among a pile of writing utensils.

Putting everything back in the cup, I glance at Castiel from the corner of my eye. He doesn’t seem to be faring any better than I am right now, either.

I move on, flipping through the planner. Not that I think he’s dumb enough to put anything incriminating right there on his desk for anyone to gaze upon, but he is a cocky asshole. Who knows what he’ll do? With every page I flip, the only thing I’m closer to understanding is that this guy has terrible handwriting. Some of his words look more like something a five taloned griffin would have made, and those creatures haven’t existed in over a century.

There’s nothing incriminating in here, and the appointments I find only have initials which make it impossible to glean if these are regular school meetings or something more nefarious.

I huff out a breath, dropping the pages, and am about to move on when something catches my eye. Peeking out from beneath the planner is a strange-looking contraption. It almost looks like a ruler, except it’s not quite the right shape and there are sections missing from it.

“Do you know what this is?”

Castiel looks up, his eyes widening. “I’m guessing that’s a decoder for this.” From within a hidden drawer, he pulls out a folded piece of paper. When he opens it, we both stare. In the center is a plainly drawn map of Silver City, along with a string of gibberish next to several marked points.

“You think you can figure it out before we have to leave?” I ask him. He doesn’t respond, snapping a photo of the map with his slate as he checks the time. “Likely not, but I’ll try.”

Leaving him to that is harder than I care to admit, because I’m intrigued. Decoded messages, marked up maps. If this wasn’t real life with actual danger involved, I might even enjoy myself.

Shit. I’m fucked up.

Shaking my head, I make my way toward the bookshelf. When we were last in here, I didn’t pay much attention to the things I’d been putting away. Even now, the books I pull out don’t seem important at all, and besides, Uriel asked us to clean up the books himself. If he’d been hiding something, he wouldn’t have wanted us so close.

Castiel’s slate beeps a few times, and I know it’s bad when I watch his lips turn down, brows drawing together as he reads.

“Shit. We have to go,” he says, folding up the paper and placing it back in the drawer. “Find the book on flight tactics and push it in as far as it’ll go.”

I waste a precious second just staring at him; the request more than a little odd, before jumping into action. When I find the book, I realize it’s one I’d already pulled out and put back in, but I follow Castiel’s instructions and push it in further. Behind me, stone grates against stone, creating an unpleasant sound and revealing a hidden door opening in the wall.

What the hell?

Jovial voices reach us from the hallway. The first voice I recognize clearly as Uriel, sounding far too happy for my liking, but the second is too soft for me to make out any distinct features.

We need to leave. Now!

I spare one more glance at the shelf and the top of the desk, wanting to make sure I didn’t leave a single thing out of place.

Castiel ushers me through the door we just revealed, but I don’t get a chance to take in my surroundings or enjoy the fact that I’m in a secret fucking passageway.

He pushes on a stone, and the door slides closed. Just as it finally slots into place, I swear I can hear Uriel’s key turning in the lock just outside the classroom.

We don’t stick around for him to enter.