Asmodeus(85)

At least she would not be suffering in the Abyss. Two millennia in the Abyss. By the time he served his sentence Brianna would be a forgotten memory in her realm, having passed so many years before.



When he opened his eyes he was faced with a white office. Michael sat behind a desk and pulled a hand over his face. Odd after all of his years of planning Michael's demise he contained none of that hatred now. The angel looked as drained as he felt.



"Sit."



Asmodeus sank into the chair to the side of the desk. He felt like closing his eyes and never waking.



"You have a request. State it."



Yes, he did have a request, didn't he? "Two requests, actually." He waited for Michael's acknowledgment, which he did with a nod. "I request Brianna will be taken care of."



Michael pulled a tan file from his dresser. "In what way? You know I require specifics."



He was drained of emotion. What he was doing now proved how tired he was. He lacked the emotion to make any of this real. He had to make sure Brianna was safe, and then he would proceed to his fate. "Monetarily. I also want her protected."



"From?"



Asmodeus pushed the pain down. "From the child she carries."



Michael set the file on the desk and flipped it open. "So you admit the child she carries is yours."



He had been guessing, but the validity of Michael's statement only brought on more of the numbness he was experiencing. "I do not deny it."



"You request I destroy it?"



It. Such a callous description for a child. "I…"



Michael leaned back in his chair. "Do you recall Gabriel's fall?"



"No."



"That's right. You were in the Abyss. Well, long story short, he fell from grace when he took a human woman. No child was born of the union  , though he had clearly disgraced the Holy Watchers with his conduct. Fact of the matter is he was reinstated."



Reinstated into the Holy Watchers? Christ, he had never heard of that happening. How did one go from being a demon to being an archangel once again? "How?"



Michael shrugged. "He wanted to come back. Begged to come back. So he was tested."



Asmodeus's heart felt like lead in his chest. "And?"



"He passed the test."



Understanding dawned on him. Energy seemed to seep back into his core. He sat forward in his chair. "This was a test?"



"You were given a second chance through Brianna. We chose her specifically. Gabriel headed the assignment, making sure Leviathan got his greedy hands on the book. Gabriel used his powers to mentally convince Brianna to say the spell which summoned you from the Abyss. You didn't really think a human could effectively summon you from the Abyss before your time was up, did you?" Hell yeah he had. "But my time wasn't up."

"To us it was."



Asmodeus pushed himself from the chair, pacing the confines of the office. "You knew damn well I was going to come after you."



"You didn't."



"Because of Brianna. She's the only reason—"



"That's why we chose her. If we had chosen someone like Kelly, she wouldn't have fought you, and she would have summoned me. Brianna is a good person, and she has shown you the light."



And he had shown her the darkness. Himself. "And now? She's to suffer because of her contact with me?"



"Absolutely not. She was never to face such a sentence. In offering yourself you have shown the one thing that connects us to the humans. The very thing you fell for."



"Unconditional love." He stopped pacing and faced Michael. Anger built inside of him. "I have already felt unconditional love. For my sons I would have done anything."



"It's easy to love those of your own flesh and blood. Just as it's easy to pray for a friend. How many souls pray for their enemies? Is it not taught in the scriptures you should pray for those who persecute you? And forgiveness? Do you carry it in your heart?"



He stood staring at Michael. Duty. He had only been doing his duty when he sent out the order demanding death of the Nephilim. He'd only been protecting the humans. He had never once considered what that had done to Michael. He had never forgiven him of his actions that night, but he had never thought about Michael's pain.



True, he had been forced to end the lives of his children, one who was a Neph, the other soon to change. But he was not the only one forced to carry out an order that night. Michael had been doing his duty, not carrying out his wishes.



The depth of sorrow reflected in Michael's eyes spoke of pain. "It was not my finest hour, my fallen brother."