Chapter 50
16 0 0
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

Nikola was floating in the nothingness. It was pleasantly warm in here, and he could hear the songs. The same songs that father Sergei sang in the church. He smiled.

“What you did was stupid and forbidden,” Nikola cracked an eye open. He was happy to see Uriel again. But, if they were meeting here and not in the real world, then, there was just one conclusion.

“The child didn’t need to die,” he said. It took him some time, but he managed to get himself upright. He looked at the vast whiteness around him. He wanted for it to be snow instead. For it to be something that reminded him of the world of the living. But it was space and nothing more. “Am I dead?”

“Almost,” Uriel looked just like he had, back then when Nikola had been small and under the illusion that the angel was his real father. Green eyes, dark-brown hair in a braid. Armor clad and with a magnificent red cape.

The first time Nikola had seen him, he had thought that he was some sort of archaic superhero. That Nikola was one too. And that they would go to adventures together.

But the reality had been far more disappointing. Still, Nikola didn’t regret what Uriel was.

“You will be judged by Michael,” well, then that was that, Nikola thought. From what Gabriel had told him, Michael was a sticker for the rules. And, Nikola had been on borrowed time anyway.

“I think I made the right choice. No, I know I did,” Nikola let his conviction bled through his voice. He may be walking to his death, but not with a bend head.

“For all it is worth, I think you are meant for up above,” Nikola was not as convinced. After all, he had tried to kill himself. That was forbidden.

“As you say,” Nikola was not going to mar his last memory of Uriel with making a fuss. He was happy with his life.

He had saved a life, at the expense of his own. But he had done the right thing. Maybe Jake will change, the guilt of someone having sacrificed their life for him enough to curb his bad behavior.

He was slightly ashamed that he had even hesitated. Sadik hadn’t hesitated to jump in the water. Hadn’t even thought much about it. And Nikola had let him do all the work. As usual.

Thinking of Sadik made a pang of guilt run through him. He had found a good man, and he had pushed him away. For a time. Granted, Sadik had been pushy and demanding when it came to Nikola becoming a vampire. But Sadik had given him time and consideration, and Nikola already knew the answer. He had simply held up on saying it.

However now, that he was following Uriel out of the whiteness and into a courtroom, he was thinking on his answer again. Maybe, if he was given a second chance, he will take up Sadik on his offer. They could have an eternity and…

And Nikola didn’t want to die. But, he knew he would be punished for exposing himself to Audrey and Emilia. They knew — now. And, unless Sadik could wipe their memories clean, they will talk. And that was something the angels have warned him about.

“I see you now see the gravity of your situation?” Uriel spoke, breaking Nikola out of his mussing.

“I made my bed…”

“Nikola!” Screamed Uriel, turning around and looking at the startled man with a frown. “I love you like a son. And you are going to the slaughter! With your head held high, still in the clouds! I thought that we agreed that you will never commit suicide again!”

Nikola began shaking his head. This wasn’t like that. Suicide was selfish. What he had done was noble.

“When Michael gets before you, you will beg for your life. I will argue for you. The boy you saved was supposed to die today. That can still be arranged!” Nikola looked at Uriel with a wide stare.

“Are you threatening to kill a child?” Uriel shook his head.

“What do you think will happen when you are found guilty? That the child will be left alone? He will die in less than a year,” Uriel held pity in his eyes, now, and Nikola looked down.

He had thought that, yes. Angels were the good guys. Church and Uriel taught him that.

“Do you want to know why you were spared?” Nikola shook his head. He hadn’t even wondered. Had thought it is a mercy and left it at that.

“Your mother was an angel too. You are the product of incest. But you are not a Nephilim,” Nikola’s eyes widened.

“But you told me?” Uriel barked a laugh.

“I have been around humans long enough to pick up on their tricks. Your parents are both dead, I haven’t lied about that,” the old hope in Nikola that Uriel was his father died then. He nodded.

“That still doesn’t explain why I was not killed,” Nikola was not going to sugar coat it. And he needed to know.

“No one knows what you are capable of. We put bindings on your grace. Forced your soul in a body. But you still managed to get some of your power back. And you brought the child from the dead. I collected his soul personally, and then he disappeared on me!” Nikola blinked. He had done what.

“But, only Christ had ever done such a thing?” He wasn’t sure if the feat had been done, before. But if it had, surely, he would have known.

“And now you. Which makes everyone on edge. However, if you find it in yourself to value your life and ask for it, Michael wouldn’t be able to take your soul if you refuse him,” Nikola nodded. He trusted in Uriel.

“But why?” He needed to know. Why was he so different that he was above the judgement of an Archangel?

“You were never in the plans of my father. Your soul is something different. If you die, you won’t enter the rebirth cycle,” Nikola wanted to cry. He was not one of God’s children. He was damned.   

0