“I’m not too fond of these get-togethers myself either,” I muttered, watching them carefully.

“You’ve been a burden, or rather, a nuisance more than anything. You’re no longer our problem.”

I frowned now. “Whose problem will I become?”

Michael, easily the most powerful of the seven was observing me with his cold green eyes, “We’ve considered many possibilities because the obvious problem is you escaping. We cannot allow you to regain what you’ve lost.”

“What you’ve stolen.” I sneered, glaring.

“Take heed, sister,” Raguel murmured, his quiet, yet demanding voice rolling over me like grey thunderheads, “We take no pride or joy from your imprisonment. But it’s to protect our charges.”

“Humans? You hate humans-“

“We are incapable of hate. It is one of the nine sins.” Gabriel reminded me, his voice clear.

“You’re capable of more than you know.” I glared, teeth gritted as I awaited their decision of my fate.

They hadn’t the power to kill me long ago, they haven’t it now, so it was probably another type of prison.

“You know of the Grigori.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

I said nothing.

“Another of our brothers has fallen, and his attachment to the human realm isn’t worthy of the treachery he has caused.”

“You will be bound to him from now until he dies. However, you cannot kill him, or everything,” I felt my power surging against the cage, “Everything you used to be will die with him, and leave you entirely mortal for the remainder of a human life cycle. Then you fall to the deepest depths of Hell.”

“What happens if the Grigori dies by another's hands?”

Gabriel watched me, “Then you will be moved to another Grigori and bound again, until the ends of time. They will be the chains that strand you. They will take our burden from us.”

“You’re all pathetic-“ I began before Saraqeal spoke with a cold edge of her words.

“And yet here we are. You must remember your place, sister. The shackles are on your wrists, and there they will stay.”

It always felt like melting when I was returning to the human realm. But this time I harbored emotions like no other. Hatred, rage, disdain. Where it had settled within my being three hundred years ago and I’d resigned myself to my fate. How dare they treat me in such a way? How dare they call me sister.

The weight of my wings left me as I descended once again into the land of the living, where a new existence would await me. It was still August 3rd, still 2013, still now. I gasped as the humid air tapered off in my lungs, bending at the waist as the constricting chains released me and left me weak and limp. I knew where I was. Slowly collapsing to my knees and resting for a moment. They always left me in a different spot, but that was before now. This was a place I’d been, it was where Uriel had dumped me three hundred years before.

In the middle of the Rocky Mountain range. A small secluded dip, a little valley covered with soft green grass and beautiful yellow flowers. It was muggy and chilly and my tank and shorts weren’t much of a good idea. I felt my ears popping from the altitude and my lungs threatening to burst from the absence of thick oxygen.

Many things occurred to me at once, making me close my eyes and hunch down. I’d be missing Corey’s soccer game tomorrow morning. I’d be missing everything. Though, it probably was better that I leave their lives now anyways.

It was a good of time as any, and there was no way for me to actually get out of here. I knew why I was here. They’d left me here to wait for the Grigori. Whom they’d picked to give my arcane glory too. That’s what they called my kinds powers. The Angel’s had their Grace, and we had our Glory. Each was powerful by its own right, but it depended on their ranking. Out of all my kind, my Glory was one of the greatest, exceeding that of an Archangel Grace. It wasn’t much use to me now, not when they give it to some stupid Fallen Angel to watch over.

I sat down, then sighed and lay back, stretching out, thinking about nothing important. I mostly recollected memories, they flitted across my closed lids with vivid clarity. Not long after I’d started delving into my mind, a presence, stronger than I’d expected, approached. I didn’t bother moving, I couldn’t escape him, he was my new captor. Even as a Fallen Angel he retained most of his Grace, though he was unable to become his Ethereal being, or leave this realm. Sad really, any angel that even thinks about one of the nine sins is banished.

“You must be my new prison guard,” I spoke as soon as I felt him appear beside me, using the Aether to move unnoticed and faster than a human.

He was Fallen, his wings were gone, so he had to travel through Limbo, the first ring of Hell. Though the Angel’s just referred to it as Aether because it was nothing special. I could still feel the remaining remnants of his power and it filled my body with a low thrumming vibration. I didn’t welcome its infiltration, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

“So it seems.” His voice was silky smooth, filled with a sense of arrogance and even a hint of disdain.

I quirked the corner of my mouth and slid my hands behind my head as a cushion, “Well, that’s too bad. I was hoping you would never show up and I could just perish right here.”

“You’re immortal, that might be a feat, even for you.”

I smiled fully to myself, eyes still remaining shut, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

He was silent, and I could tell he was thinking, I was a perceptive immortal human, he was a Grigori, he’d ask, and he did, “Believe what?”

“There is no such thing as immortal.” I opened my eyes, turning my head and staring straight at the man standing five feet from where I lay, arms crossed over his broad chest and blond hair short, glinting in the slight fog.

He was tall, probably a few inches over six feet and he was muscular and he was beautiful. Still, all angels, Grigori or otherwise were that exact same way, so it didn’t twist my gut as it would any other girl.

“You lie.”

“Why would I lie about something like that, Grigori? I’m just a human, I’m going to end up dead some time or another.” I shrugged as I pushed myself up into a sitting position, “You, you’ll die eventually. You’ll find that even though you can live through the end of time, there is no reason too.”

“You wish to die?”

I laughed dryly and got up, looking at the pale blue sky, puffy white clouds floating across the expanse lazily, “Nobody wishes to die.”

“You are not what I expected.” He admitted, almost shyly and I flashed him a charming grin.

“It’s called humanity, I have been here three hundred years, and these human emotions kind of grow on a person.”

“You aren’t a human though.”

“I wish that were true, but as much as you are a Grigori, this body is nothing but human. For, you hold everything of me that is not.” My eyes flashed to the chain peeking around the sides of his neck and was hidden beneath the baggy jacket he wore, “I’m human without that.”

He tensed, I could tell, but just because his eyes hardened and his body froze. If I were in my true Arcane form, I would have smelled the fear oozing from his pores and tasted the sour drink of discomfort. Now though, I resorted to basic human body language. Because in reality, he was almost as human as I was, though he had gotten here for other reasons.

“We should go.” He stated firmly and I raised a brow answering, “I’m not able to go into Limbo if you don’t remember. Banished, means banished for me. I don’t get to break the rules like you angel folk.”

“That’s why I paid a helicopter to come pick us up. Hopefully, you aren’t afraid of heights.” He sounded snarky.

“Unlike you, Grigori, my wings are intact. Even if I can’t use them.”

“Oh, how could I forget.” He mocked horror, having lost his fright of me now that he was probably sure I was harmless to him, and that he held the key to my everything, it was within my grasp.

He touched the orb resting against his stomach beneath the jacket, “Kneel.”

Energy surged through me, prickling, tightening my muscles and setting fire to my nerves. “What?”

He smirked, “I’m commanding you to kneel before me.”

No one commanded me, I knew that in my head, but something was different and I couldn’t stop my body as it slid to its knee, bowing my head submissively, “You dare use my own Glory against me?” I snarled, feeling immense hatred unfurling like tidal waves inside me.

“As you stated, you’re nothing but a mere human, and now, you’re my pitiful human.” He was smirking coldly and I felt ice tremble down my spine as I knelt there before him like his slave.

He was Grigori, the lowest of the low, a foul thing, and now he controlled me. I never knew that part of the bargain, and it angered me to no end as I stayed like that, waiting for him to release me.

“I never knew getting stuck with such a burden as yourself would have any spark of joy. But it seems I’ve found it.”

I gritted my teeth, wishing I could detonate my glory and throw him away from me, and then I could sink my-

I forced the train of thought to stop. I didn’t do that, not to Grigori, not to humans or any other creature. Not even Archangels if I had the opportunity. “You won’t be smiling long, Grigori.”

“Oh, I’m sure I will. I now control the most feared creature that walks the Earth realm. That makes me the strongest-“

“Hah,” I snorted loudly, “You’re nothing but Grigori, and I’m a crippled prisoner. No one fears my Glory anymore. My time was past, all you are is a babysitter.”

“I don’t think that’s so.” He smiled again, walking closer, “I am the Fallen Angel Seth, Master of the Great Archangel Azazel.”

I closed my eyes as my name washed over me, dread slipping along with it, and all the whispers I suppressed exploded within my head, Kill… Kill. Drink, and murder. Kill. It’s your birthright. Drink and triumph. Walk Alone. The Archangel Azazel will raise her voice, and descend upon the unworthy. Death with trail her like a shadow and none will escape…