My annoyance distracted me from the more pressing issue. Why was Michael here in Alexandria, Virginia? He rarely left Milan anymore.
So much for being left alone.
There was no point avoiding the meeting. If it was important enough for Michael to pay me a visit, we were going to talk no matter what I wanted.
The door was still locked and the alarm still active when I entered my building. I dreamed of having that kind of skill one day.
“Right. Keep living that fantasy,”I told myself.
I entered my office and expected Michael would be behind my desk, snooping through my files. Instead, he was seated on my leather couch, drinking coffee from a paper cup. Of course he wouldn’t snoop himself. He had others to do the grunt work.
He hadn’t changed since I’d last seen him. Tall, lean, with his black hair pulled back in a ponytail, he was one of the most beautiful beings I’d ever seen. Michael radiated power, and commanded respect just by coming into your presence.
“Michael.” I tried to sound friendly, but I was too nervous to pull it off. “If I’d known you were coming, I wouldn’t have made you wait.”
“If I wanted you to know I was coming, I’d have told you.” He said it with a hint of mirth, but it came off condescending.
I’d only met him once, for all of five minutes, when I finally gained my full powers. He and the other archangels summoned me to assess my power. In the hundred years since, Michael had mostly left me alone, and I’d enjoyed my freedom.
“Can I get you something?” I didn’t have a lot in the office, but I could get Uber Eats to deliver.
“No, but thank you for your good manners.” This time, he sounded sincere.
Michael didn’t have the reputation of being warm and fuzzy. None of the archangels were, but everyone liked Gabriel. The word was the best you could do was stay on Michael’s good side and avoid being the subject of his temper.
“I know you didn’t come to sit in my class B office, but I don’t want to be out of line. Should I ask why you’re here or would that be rude?”
His lips twitched for a half second. It was the closest I’d ever seen to a smile from him.
“You’re not out of line.” He stood and pointed toward my monitor. “Can you log in for me? I want to show you something.”
The computer my clients saw was for show. Angel tech was far superior to humans, but I couldn’t show them without giving away our secret. I placed my hand on the desktop and the image of a computer screen hovered above my desk.
Michael touched a spot, which set off a swirl of colors and movement until a map appeared. “Three months ago, we detected an energy surge near Austin, Minnesota. What drew our attention to this surge is we haven’t seen that signature since we fled our world for earth.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. There was only one race that could’ve produced that energy, and they destroyed our home world nearly five thousand years ago. “Drevlin.”
“We weren’t sure at first. The signal was brief and weak. Although we assumed it was Drevlin in nature, it could have been a random convergence of human made energy.” Michael’s fingers moved across the interactive light. “The next three surges confirmed it was their technology.”
The Drevlin were millions of light years away. They would have had to have set out the day our kind escaped and headed here with all speed to reach us by now. “How is this possible?”
“There are a few possibilities, but we think an angel is creating these devices.”
I didn’t believe him. An angel would never betray us to our worst enemy. “That’s impossible.”
“Most things are possible,” Michael said. “The question is why someone would do it.”
I studied the map intently. I could think of a lot of reasons why ahumanmight work with our enemy, but not an angel. If the Drevlin found a way to infiltrate Earth, the consequence could be catastrophic. “I’m sorry, Michael. I’ve no idea why an angel would betray us.”
With a wave of his hand, Michael cleared the map. “Have a seat. I need to share some information with you before I give you an assignment.”
I was tempted to use the chair behind my desk, but given the power dynamics, it would’ve been ill advised. This was why I didn’t want to be part of the inner circle. I had a life and a business I’d spent decades building. In three minutes, Michael snatched it away from me.
“A thousand years ago, Uriel saw the Drevlin would eventually find us. Since then, we’ve monitored their movements. They’ve not reached Earth—yet. Thus, no angel betrayed us.”
The “yet,” after his last statement shook me enough that I needed a moment to respond. “How did they get Drevlin technology? I thought access was screened.”
“Youknowit is. Someone with access is either using it, has sold it, or unwittingly allowed it to fall into the wrong hands.”
