Angelology(118)

said, “It is something you should have learned in my classes, my dear. The appearance of the Giants?

Their genetic makeup?”

I recalled his lectures and flushed, embarrassed. Of course, I thought. The Nephilim have luminous

blue eyes, blond hair, and above-average height. “Oh, yes,” I said. “I remember now.”

“You are quite tall,” he observed. “And thin. I thought I could get you by the guards easier if your

eyes were blue.”

I finished the rest of the champagne in one quick sip. I did not like to be wrong, especially in the

presence of Dr. Raphael.

“Tell me,” Dr. Raphael said, “do you understand why we sent you to the gorge?”

“Scientific purposes,” I replied. “To observe the angel and collect empirical evidence. To

preserve the body for our records. To find the treasure Clematis left behind.”

“Of course, the lyre was at the heart of the journey,” Dr. Raphael said. “But did you wonder why

an inexperienced angelologist such as yourself would be sent on a mission of this caliber? Why did

Seraphina, who is only forty, lead the party and not one of the older council members?”

I shook my head. I knew that Dr. Seraphina had her own professional ambitions, but I had found it

odd that Dr. Raphael had not gone to the mountain himself, especially after his early work on

Clematis. I understood that my inclusion had been a reward for uncovering the location of the gorge,

but perhaps there had been more to it.

“Seraphina and I wanted to send a young angelologist to the cave,” Dr. Raphael said, meeting my

eye. “You have not been overexposed to our professional practices. You would not color the

expedition with preconceptions.”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” I said, placing the empty crystal flute upon the table.

“If I had gone,” Dr. Raphael said, “I would have seen only what I expected to see. You, on the

other hand, saw what was there. Indeed, you discovered something the others did not. Tell me the

truth: How did you find it? What happened in the gorge?”

“I believe that Dr. Seraphina gave you our report,” I replied, suddenly anxious about Dr. Raphael’s

intentions in taking me here.

“She described the physical details, the number of photographic records you made, the time it took

to climb from top to bottom. Logistically, she was very thorough. But that isn’t all, is it? There was

something more, something that frightened you.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean.”

Dr. Raphael lit a cigarette and leaned back into his chair, amusement illuminating his features. I

was unsettled still more by how handsome I found him. He said, “Even now, safe in Paris, you are

frightened.”

Arranging the satin fabric of the bias-cut dress, I said, “I don’t know how to describe it, exactly.

There was something deeply horrifying about the cavern. As we descended into the gorge, everything

grew so very . . . dark.”

“That seems quite natural,” Dr. Raphael said. “The gorge is deep below the surface of the

mountain.”

“Not physical darkness,” I said, unsure of whether even in this I was giving too much away. “It was

another quality altogether. An elemental darkness, a pure darkness, the kind of darkness one feels in

the middle of the night after waking in a cold, empty room, the sound of bombs falling in the distance,

a nightmare in the back of one’s mind. It is the kind of darkness that proves the fallen nature of our

world.”

Dr. Raphael stared at me, waiting for me to continue.

“We were not alone in the Devil’s Throat,” I said. “The Watchers were there, waiting for us.”

Dr. Raphael continued to assess me, and I could not tell if it was an expression of amazement or

fear or—I secretly hoped—admiration. He said, “Surely the others would have mentioned this.”

“I was alone,” I said, breaking my promise to Dr. Seraphina. “I left the party and crossed the river.

I was disoriented and cannot recall the exact details of what transpired. What I do know for certain is

that I saw them. They stood in darkened cells, just as they had when Clematis encountered them.

There was an angel who looked upon me. I felt its desire to be free, to be in the company of humanity,

to be favored. The angel had been there for thousands of years, waiting for our arrival.”

Dr. Raphael Valko and I got to the emergency council meeting in the early-morning hours. The

location had been set hastily, and everyone had relocated from the previous meeting space to the

center of our buildings in Montparnasse, the Athenaeum. The imposing and noble Athenaeum had