Chapter 16

  Call Me a Mistake

  She stands alone staring at a single screen in Her white office. A cross between a doctors office, sterile, clean, everything in order, and an interrogation room, ominous, threatening for no obvious reason.

  “You have no idea what you have just stirred…” she mumbles almost under her breath. A soft rapping on the door.

  “Enter.”

  Gabriel walks in with nervousness in each step, but a silent power humming through him.

  “My Lord. I wanted to discuss with you the plans.”

  She stares at him expectantly.

  He clears his throat.

  “If I may speak my truth for a second. I understand that in order for all of this to exist, your power, your truth, even us your loyal servants you need faith in you my Lord. Yet, I fear to remove Scott just based on the fact that he knows your power may be…limited—“

  Her eyes narrow, and her nostril flare for a quick second.

  He presses on.

  “But, I have been watching Scott, and it is my belief that he would never destroy their faith in You. He understands what You mean to people…even if he knows the truth.”

  A heavy silence fills the room. Only the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears.

  Then, finally —

  “And do you still believe in Me, Gabriel?”

  Gabriel lifts his head, lips parted to respond—

  But She’s turned away.

  Scott sits on the sand, the only illumination coming from the full moon above. The waves are the only sound.

  “She died because I wasn’t supposed to be here…so, it’s my fault.”

  His head drops as he stares at the grains beneath him.

  “I’m sorry again, Mom. Maybe people are wrong, you wouldn’t be proud of me, and I really was a mistake.”

  A voice cuts in from behind, soft but firm.

  “No. You’re wrong.”

  Scott doesn’t move.

  “What do you know?” he mutters “You’re just a less dickish version of the Devil. You followed her orders without question. You should’ve finished the job…”

  Cal steps forward, standing beside him. Eyes on the dark ocean ahead.

  “I didn’t follow Her orders,” He offers quietly. “Not all the way.”

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  Scott scoffs.

  “Could’ve fooled me.”

  Cal nods. “That was back when I didn’t have a choice.”

  A pause. The waves roll in, then out again.

  “Your mother made a deal. Not just a prayer or hope. She bargained with him.”

  Scott turns, brow furrowed.

  “With Lucien. Or I guess—“ he lifts his hands, making air quotes, “The Devil.”

  Cal nods slowly. “You mock, but you saw it yourself. She asked for a miracle. She offered her very soul…so you could exist.”

  Scott stares, hollow.

  “You’re telling me my mom sold her soul— so an angel could maybe choose to spare me?”

  “Yes.” Cals voice is steady now. “The Devil doesn’t play by anyones rules but his own. He loves games. Her soul—for the chance that I might choose you. That I might disobey.”

  Scott blinks.

  “You never said anything. You’ve been following me and you never said anything.”

  Cal’s voice drops as he lowers his head.

  “I was ashamed. I hesitated. I questioned. Part of me still felt bound to Her will. But after what your mother gave…I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let you die.”

  Scott looks away. His voice barely a whisper.

  “So I am a mistake.”

  Cal turns toward him.

  “No. You’re a miracle—one even Heaven can’t explain.”

  A long silence.

  Cal adds, almost to himself—

  “And I’d make the same choice again.”

  Scott sits with the news. The waves continue to crash.

  “Why does it matter so much?” he finally asks. “Why does She care if I exist?”

  Cal takes a breath, eyes still on the ocean.

  “Because faith…is power.”

  Cal doesn’t meet his gaze.

  “The more people that believe in Her, the stronger She becomes. The more order She can impose. The cleaner the universe looks on paper.”

  “I still don’t see how that makes me a problem.”

  “You’re a constant reminder that even the divine make mistakes.”

  A beat.

  “And if people start to question Her perfection…” Cal finally looks at him.

  “That’s why you’re a threat. She needs people to believe She’s all powerful. All knowing. All good.”

  A sudden thought hits Scott, like a finger on a nerve.

  For someone who claims to be all-good and all-powerful… maybe She’s not all She claims to be.

  He hates that he can hear Lucien’s voice in his head, he can feel his soul shiver.

  He hates it even more that he might be right.