It was unfair that Jarod had been saddled with a skewed knowledge ofus.
It was unfair that his number could never drop, because the Ishim thought he’d killed aNephilim.
I spun on my heels and changed directions. In the Channel, I yelled, “I request an audience with SeraphAsher.”
And then I waited, clutching myelbows.
I had no idea how long it would take my message to reach Elysium. I stared into the beam of pure light until my eyes stung. I supposed the archangel wasn’t at my beck and call, but he’d have to show, right? Or would he send an emissary to tell me he was otherwise engaged? I began to pace, wishing I could scale the wall of the Channel and accessElysium.
I’d never questioned our rules, but at that moment, I began to find fault in them. Why were we separated from our parents? Why were we kept in guilds in the human dimension? Why did we have to relinquish our wings if we wanted to live among humans? On Earth, we aged, perhaps slower, but still our faces wrinkled and our fleshsagged.
I understood that laws were indispensable to the smooth functioning of a society, but how many of ours still made sense? Hadn’t we—our people and our world—evolved?
“Leigh?”
My name made me snap around. Asher stood in his leathers, turquoise wingsretracting.
“I thought Nephilim couldn’t have children,” I said on a singlebreath.
The tendons in his biceps pinched. “You thoughtcorrectly.”
“Yet Jarod Adler’s mother was a Nephilim. Which means he’s a hybrid. Which explains why he can seeus.”
Asher remainedsilent.
“How is that possible,Seraph?”
His jaw clenched, and I worried he’d be as elusive as earlier. But I was wrong to worry. His expression softened. “We believe Mikaela was with child before she was stripped of her wings, and by some miracle, the embryo heldon.”
“Has this ever happenedbefore?”
He speared his hand through his long hair, which slid like molten gold around his fingers. “I am not at liberty to share this withyou.”
I nibbled on my lip. “There’s one thing I don’tunderstand.”
A corner of Asher’s mouth lifted. “Onlyone?”
“You’re right. There is more than one thing, but let’s start with the most pressing one. The Ishim thought he was human. They didn’t know he was a hybrid,correct?”
Asher slanted his thick blond eyebrows. “Correct.”
“Why is he still in the system now that his lineage isknown?”
“We’re all in thesystem, Leigh. How do you think the Ishim control your feathers? They’re not constantly watching you; they’re watching your souls. All of oursouls.”
My brows arched up very high. “We’re in the guild’s sinnersystem?”
“A derivative of it that’s only accessible to the Ishim and to the Council of Seven, but yes, your soul is being weighed on the celestial scales at alltime.”
Why were we never taught this? “Then, I suppose my question is, why is Jarod still in themortalsystem?”
“Because he never lived in a guild, so he never developed wingbones.”
“If he was brought into a guild now, could he developthem?”
“They won’t form afterpuberty.”
“Why was he never brought into a guild?” I twirled a lock of hair around my finger, then watched the copper coil loosen and bounce back against my patterneddress.
