“That’s a disappointment. I expected my visit to yield more… tangible results.” The angel looked at the demon with a smirk. “Perhaps you know where I could find some Nephilim?”
“No. And this is a deplorable mission, Armaros. Do you not see that?” The demon shifted in his chair, eyes red and teeth elongated. It should have frightened me. Instead, that odd tightness I’d experienced when I first saw him through the apothecary window squeezed along my ribs. It was Armaros that had my jaw clenched and a shiver running along my spine.
He sighed. “I shouldn’t have expected afallento understand or support any sort of plan to expand the population of Heaven.” Armaros chuckled darkly as he gathered his belongings and stood. “Send word immediately if you get any other visitors I should know about or if they return. It’s important I find them.”
“Of course.” Father scrambled to his feet.
“Tap.”
“Armaros.” The demon had his arms crossed, eyes blazing red as he stood.
The angel laughed as Father Morton escorted him back through the church. “See you around, Tap. Always a pleasure.”
The demon only looked my direction once Armaros was out of sight. “Are you alright?”
I exhaled and breathed fully for the first time since he stepped into the church. “Yes.”
Odd that, how an angel leaving and a demon staring at me brought nothing but ease.
“Areyou sure you’re not hungry, Phin? There’s plenty left,” Father offered for the third time. I shook my head, stomach still too knotted up to even consider food.
Once Armaros was gone, I’d slumped into a seat at the table and removed my hood, thoughts spinning wildly as I recounted what I’d heard.
“I don’t mean to rush you, but I should be getting back soon,” Tap said, eyes back to silver behind his spectacles.
“Back to where?” Father asked.
“Shall we make a gentleman’s agreement to be honest with one another, Father? Or do I need to keep secrets for my safety? I’ve seen the company you keep.” The demon held his hand out, his elegant fingers capped with nails coated in a slick black lacquer.
The words bristled against my skin as his eyes skimmed over my face, too close to my own burden, too familiar.
“A truth for a truth?” Father prompted. “No deception?”
“I have no reason or desire to lie.”
“No blood required?”
“Of course not. We’re not signing contracts or making deals. Just having a friendly conversation.”
Father wiped his hand on his robe, measuring the demon with his eyes but reaching out to shake his hand, nonetheless. Then Tap offered his hand to me.
“Oh, I …”
“I do not wish there to be mistrust between us, Phin.” He bent his head slightly, earnestness in his stoic expression.
“Alright.” I put my hand out tentatively, and his much larger one engulfed it, his grip warm and firm as he gently pumped my arm up and down a few times. A hot shock passed between us, and when his eyebrow raised the same time my eyes widened, I knew he felt it too.
Father eyed our hands suspiciously as they separated. “Friendly conversation, indeed,” he muttered. “Let’s start again. Where are you so anxious to return to?”
“The crossroads.”
Father blustered and pushed his dish aside. “That’s no answer at all.”
“And yet, it is the truth.” Tap turned his hands palm up on the table. “And you? What are you doing with them, here in this remote village? They’re clearly being sought out by the angel you just hosted at your table.” His gaze pierced into me, but it was not threatening. It was as though he were looking past all the cosmetics, all the layers, and studying what was underneath. I fidgeted under the weight of such a stare.
“What do you know of Heaven, in recent times?” Father asked. He waved a hand to signal I should stay seated as he rose to fetch the bottle of spirits he kept in the drawer of his small desk. He poured himself a healthy measure and consumed it in one swallow before offering the bottle to us. At our mutual refusal, he buried it back in the drawer and returned to the little table.
Tap’s head tilted, and he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his aquiline nose. “Not much. I’ve not walked there in centuries.”
