Angelology(133)

This seemingly frivolous experimentation becomes particularly interesting when looked at

in the light of Angela’s work on angelic biology. Your father was unnaturally reticent about

Angela’s experiments, refusing to tell me more than I saw in the notebook. But from that small

exposure, I could see that your mother had been testing the effects of some celestial

instruments in our possession on Nephilistic genetic samples, primarily feathers taken from

the creatures’ wings. She discovered that some of these alleged celestial instruments had the

power to alter the very genetic building blocks of Nephilistic tissue. Moreover, certain

harmonic successions played by these instruments had the power not only to alter cell

structure but to corrupt the integrity of the Nephilim genome. I am certain Angela gave her life

for this discovery. The invasion of my quarters convinced your father you were not safe in

Paris. It was clear that the Nephilim knew too much.

But the story that occasions this letter revolves around a hypothesis buried deep within

Angela’s many proven theories. It is a hypothesis regarding the lyre of Orpheus, which she

knew had been hidden in the United States by Abigail Rockefeller in 1943. Angela had

proposed a theory connecting her scientific discoveries about the celestial instruments to the

lyre of Orpheus, which was believed to be more powerful than all the other instruments

combined. Whereas before the Nephilim had acquired the notebooks they had only vague

notions of the lyre’s importance, they learned from Angela’s work that it was the primary

instrument, the one that could return the Nephilim to a state of angelic purity unseen upon earth

since the time of the Watchers. Angela may well have found the very solution to Nephilistic

diminishment in the music of the Watchers’ lyre, known in modern times as the lyre of

Orpheus.

Be forewarned, dear Evangeline: Understanding the significance of Orpheus’s lyre has

proved to be a trial. Legend surrounds Orpheus so heavily that we cannot discern the precise

outline of his mortal life. We do not know the year of his birth, his true lineage, or the real

measure of his talents with the lyre. He was reputed to have been born of the muse Calliope

and the river god Oeagrus, but this, of course, is mythology, and it is our work to separate the

mythological from the historical, disentangle legend from fact, magic from truth. Nor is the

real measure of his talents with the lyre known. Did he give humanity poetry? Did he discover

the lyre on his legendary journey to the underworld? Was he as influential in his own lifetime

as history claims? By the sixth century B.C., he was known through the Greek world as the

master of songs and music, but how he came upon the instrument of the angels has been widely

debated among historians. Your mother’s work only gave confirmation to long-held theories

of the lyre’s importance. Her hypothesis, so essential to our progress against the Nephilim,

led to her death. This you now know. What you may not know is that her work is not finished.

I have spent my life striving to complete it. And you, Evangeline, will one day continue where

I have left off.

Your father may or may not have told you of Angela’s advances and contributions to our

cause. It is beyond my power to know. He closed himself to me many years ago, and I cannot

hope that he will welcome me into his confidence again. You, however, are different. If you

demand to know the details of your mother’s work, he will tell you everything. It is your place

to continue the tradition of your family. It is your heritage and your destiny. Luca will guide

you where I cannot, I’m certain of it. You must only ask him directly. And, my dear, you must

persevere. With my heartfelt blessing, I urge you on. But you must be well aware of your role

in the future of our sacred discipline and the grave dangers that await you. There are many

who would see our work eliminated and who will kill indiscriminately to reach that end.

Your mother died at the hands of the Grigori family, whose efforts have kept the battle

between Nephilim and angelologists alive. I daresay you must be warned of the dangers you

face and beware of those who wish you harm.

Evangeline nearly cried out with frustration at the missive’s abrupt ending. The amputated letter left

no further explanation of what she must do. She searched through the cards and reread her

grandmother’s words once again, desperate to discover something she had overlooked.

The account of her mother’s murder caused Evangeline such pain that she had to force herself to

continue reading Gabriella’s words. The details were gruesome, and there seemed something cruel,

almost heartless, in Gabriella’s retelling of the horror of Angela’s death. Evangeline tried to imagine