Then she said it.
“Lucifer, I think something will go wrong with these humans.”
A strange, defensive instinct bloomed in me. I took her hand quickly, as if to anchor her—or maybe myself.
“Nothing can go wrong,” I said. “They seem like us. And nothing has ever happened to us.”
But the crease in her brow didn’t vanish.
Instead, she reached up and cupped my cheek. Her voice was full of emotion I didn’t understand. “You are beautiful, brother. The most beautiful of us all.”
I turned my face away, brushing her hand aside gently. It wasn’t the first time she had said such things. Beauty was a language we all spoke. We recognized it in one another, in our home, in the golden harmony of our world.
And yet, as she looked back toward the well again, her expression only grew more severe.
“Come quick!” Michael’s voice rang out. He waved us forward with both hands.
Faye and I exchanged a last glance before moving toward the gathering. The crowd of angels parted just enough, and I stepped up beside my brother.
I looked into the water.
And gasped.
“Look,” Haniel said, pointing. “There’s a darkened part of the forest. The male doesn’t want her going near it.”
It was exactly as she described. To the left of the couple, a spiraling maze of trees stretched outward, but unlike the vibrant floor elsewhere, the trees were coated in shadows. The colors dulled into a state that mimicked night—constant, deep, and unnerving.
The female gestured toward the fruit nestled within that darkness, her hand mimicking the motion of eating. The male shook his head quickly and tugged her gently away. I looked towards the dark trees again. So much fruit…and yet, unlike the others, it remained untouched.
The male always allowed her to place things in her mouth. What made those different?
Beside me, Faye sucked in a sharp breath and clutched the lip of the well. “That’s it.”
“What is it?” Michael asked. “Why can’t she go in?”
“It almost looks like our garden,” Haniel offered, voice hushed. “But something about it makes me uneasy.”
“It’s forbidden,” Faye said, placing her hand over her chest. “I feel…something wrong there. It’s not guarded. But it’s a test. A choice. And if it’s disturbed, it will unravel something far beyond what we understand.”
Her words stirred an ache in my chest. I could see others growing uneasy as well.
“I don’t understand,” I muttered. “Why does your voice make me feel strange? Uncomfortable. Like that garden.”
Haniel rubbed her chest the same way as Faye. “I feel it too. Something about that place hurts.”
“Adam knows,” Faye said with sudden certainty. “He feels it. He will protect her—he has to.”
Michael blinked. “They have names? How do you know their names?”
“I…” Faye swayed, reaching for her head. Before she could fall, I caught her in my arms. Gasps echoed from the others, who rushed to her side.
She insisted she was fine, but no angel had collapsed before. No one had ever trembled. No one had ever—felt like this.
Except…maybe I had.
The day I first saw the foot. The petals. That burn in my chest.
And Haniel’s sudden reaction to Faye’s words.
