"However, as time went on, most of the watchers got restless. Longing for the day they would be called back home. So they began to cut corners with their orders, with the encouragement of our leader, Samyaza. Some began to teach the men how to read, write, count the days according to the position of the sun and astronomy. All harmless exercises, except for the fact that the brains of the sons of man had not developed enough to understand such concepts.

So the sons of man began to fight among themselves, killing what they feared or did not understand. Like the example of a girl that had been bitten by a cobra, when the local doctor gave her medicines that he'd been given by one of the watchers, and the girl lived, the people called out both the doctor and the girl, accusing them of witchcraft. The two were stoned to death. For until that day, the community had been used to the idea that once bitten by a cobra, one died. The sudden change or idea of how such an antidote had worked was too difficult for them to understand. There were several cases like that throughout the world. Some cases with even worse implications."

"There were also cases of some watchers that had begun consorting with the females of the sons of man, and even had children with them. The resulting children were beasts, for the human and angelic beings are not to procreate together. You have for sure had your biology lessons, and understand why a lion and a human cannot procreate. How could it be then that an angel, whose anatomy is in all complexity so different from that of a human, should procreate with a human?

Those were dark days, I tell you. Before when the problem had just been some angels being overzealous teachers, we received a warning and some long lectures. But when they began to procreate with humans and birth Nephilims, The ruling Archangels were furious..."

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Who?"

"The ruling Archangels?"

"Oh, the Seraphim? Currently it's Archangels Gabriel and Michael."

"Currently?"

"Yeah, since Abaddon's imprisonment."

"And before?"

"Before them it was Archangels Hanael and Raphael."

"Who is Hanael?" I asked curiously, having never heard her name mentioned before.

"Archangel Hanael, she's fallen now," he said, sounding slightly uncomfortable, which spiked my interest.

"Oh. Why?"

"Let's just say she barked the wrong tree." He refused to say anymore, so I let it go and asked about something else.

"So exactly how many Archangels are there in total?"

"Five," he said.

"And only two rule?"

"Yes, only two can be Seraphim."

"And Abaddon, he's never ruled?"

"No, he's never ruled, because he never did manage to get any of the two female Archangels to be his Sara."

"What is a Sara?"

"A t.i.tle given to a female Archangel in rule. Archangel Gabriel is Michael's Sara, and he is her Seraph. One cannot be Seraph without a Sara, and vice versa."

"Ok..." I said thoughtful. "So a pair always rules."

"Always."

"So what did happen with the Nephilim?" I ask him today as I walk beside him, kicking at some small stones on my path.

"The Heavenly a.s.sembly condemned them to death!" I gasp soundly at what he says. "And those watchers that fathered them were found guilty of sacrilege..."

"Sacrilege?"

"Yes, sacrilege, for there is a Principle of Divinity that declares that all heavenly beings are holy, above all else. Heavenly beings consorting with humans are thereby committing sacrilege against themselves."

"That's a stupid rule! You can't just declare yourself holy!" I chuckle.

"And I suppose it is not equally stupid for man to declare himself above all earthly creatures, to the extent that if one were to consort with an animal, say a dog, he'd be stopped, incarcerated even?"

"I can't believe you just compared humans to dogs!" I exclaim.

"My point exactly," he states, and it takes me a moment to catch on his meaning.

"Either way, whether you think it reasonable or not, there's was a most capital crime, according to our laws, and deserving of capital punishment. But because the heavens were still recovering after the shock of the great rift heralded by Archangel Abaddon just a few thousand years back, the Seraphim decided to be kind. They offered the guilty a chance at redemption, but only if they'd kill all their offspring..."

"No one would agree to that..."

"Some did, but most didn't. And hence a great war broke out, the first angelic civil war- a most vicious war that nearly broke down the governing structure of the heavens, only this time it was Archangel Hanael that led it, bitter at having been dislodged from power by her brothers. She eventually lost the war, so she and all the watchers found guilty were sent to join Abaddon, imprisoned in the great world of Tartaros, to stay there until judgment day."

"So you agreed?" I ask with apprehension, suddenly seeing him under a new light, and not a flattering one. "You're still here, so you agreed to kill your offspring..?" I breathe easier when he shakes his head in answer.

"I never did break the cardinal law to consort with humans," he says gravely, his dark eyes flashing.

"Come on," I taunt with a smile. "A few thousand years of loneliness here in the world and you never got tempted?"

"No," he says solemnly.

"Not even once?" I ask with disbelief, slightly unsettled with the odd intensity in his eyes as he peers back at me.

"Never! I was in love with another."

"Another what?" I ask, my curiosity piquing.

"Another angel, of course..."

"Araqiel!" I jump to say, and a flicker of something yet indeterminate crosses his features before he shakes it away and smiles back at me instead.

"No, I didn't even know her well then. Just another."

"Another watcher?"

"Yes, she'd been demoted to a watcher"

"Where is she?"

"Not here," he says sadly after a long pause, the heavy melancholy in his eyes disquieting, so I look away. "Out of the twenty seven angels that had been sent to this world as watchers, only three of us remain."

"Who is the third?" I ask curiously, knowing that he and Araqiel are the first two.

"Samyaza."

"What? Wasn't that the name of the leader of the watchers that convinced the others to stray?" I ask puzzled.

"Yes, he was the one. But unlike the others, he had the stones to do that which was required of him..."

"He killed his children?" I ask in a horrified whisper.

"He did," Penuel says with detest. I don't know what disgusts him more, the idea that Samyaza consorted with humans, or that he killed his own children. Either way it is clear that Penuel is very much repulsed by the remaining watcher.

I overheard him in the Park last Sunday, telling Araqiel that he'd contacted Samyaza, probably to ask for help. It must have been a sad day for him to have to ask for help from someone he clearly despises so much.

Chapter 28.

I sit up on my bed slowly and watch the dark haired angel lying on my bed, his chest rising slowly with each breath he takes.

I'm sure he is awake, though, for I've never seen him actually sleep. However, at this moment as he lies on his back, eyes closed and his beautiful facial features completely relaxed, I am almost tempted to think that he could be just a teenager, not a heavenly being that has lived for billions of years or more.

"Morning," he says in his quiet manner to me, and I smile before responding.

"Morning to you too," I say. "Dad will be here soon."

"Maybe I should let him find me here. It'll be easy explaining why we are always together if they believe me to be your boyfriend." He says this in his calm quiet voice that I admire so much.

"You want to be my boyfriend?" I ask in the most uncool way that I bite hard on my lip to scold myself. He smiles up at me warmly, his eyes still closed, his long eyelashes lying beautifully, majestically long over his flawless olive skin.

"I do not consort with humans, dear Caroline," the words said are patronizing, but his voice is smooth and endearing in its quiet tone. "But I think it will be easier for me, now that I have to shadow you everywhere."

"Won't the other angels a.s.sume you have fallen, you know, consorted with a female of the son of man?" I ask, mocking him by using the same awkward words he often uses.

"Haha! Don't worry, I will not consort with you Caroline. So my conscience will remain clear, hence my Essence will remain divine. Suspicions and a.s.sumptions are unnecessary for us angels, when all one has to look at to find the truth is one's soul," he says winking at me. I let the meaning of the words sink in, as I stare at him with admiration. It is hard to believe that such a perfect being could have fallen from grace in the past.

"My friends will expect you to kiss me if we are in a relationship," I say to him, and for some reason cannot stop my eyes from wandering down to his full soft lips.

"Control your thoughts, little girl," he says chuckling lightly, his eyes still closed. I smile back, though he doesn't see it. I do not mind that he puts me off, because he does it in such a gentle way and manages to inject some humor into it. Plus I do not think I like him that way. He is hot, and I admire the person that he is. I would also make out with him, given the opportunity. But if I have to make a choice, I would rather have him as a friend than a lover.

"Oh..." I feign a groan. "What has a girl got to do to get kissed around here?" I pull a pillow over my head to complete the dramatization. Penuel tickles me then between my ribs, reducing me to hysterical laughter that I try to m.u.f.fle down, before I realize he is bent over me, his knees planted on either side of me.

"First, morning breath is a turn off," he says, before planting a small kiss at the tip of my nose. "And two, stop hanging out so much with angels. Hang out with teenage human boys, and they'll offer to kiss you every moment they can!"

"I don't want to hang out with angels. You demons just won't let me go!" I complain good-naturedly and he shushes me with a finger across my lips.

"Your dad is walking up here. So am I your boyfriend or not?"

"Only if you can kiss me," I taunt him, "despite my morning breath."

"For you, anything," he says playfully as he places a warm kiss on my lips.

Yeah! Second kiss! Even though both were done for untraditional reasons. Whatever, they are both super-hot guys, and I won't let anything burst bubble right now.

I freeze in his arms as the door is pushed open, and I quirk my eyebrow at the beautiful angel hovering above me.

"Hi," dad says slowly, when he pushes the door and finds Penuel sitting on the edge of my bed. I admire how he a.s.sesses the situation calmly before walking over to give the teenage looking angel a handshake. I keep forgetting just how liberal Danes are when it comes to such matters. Mom would be screaming at the top of her head and clawing at the boy right now.

"So, is he your boyfriend now?" He asks me as he sits down on the bed too.

"Yes, he is dad," I say with an embarra.s.sed smile.

"Good. He is stronger than the other boy, Magnus, and is more interesting to talk to." We all laugh at what he says, and I thank the heavens for giving me such a cool dad.

"So that means you'll keep helping out with the renovations? Great!" We all laugh lightly at this.

"It will be my pleasure, Torben."

"Alright, I'll get out of your hairs," dad says as he pulls out a clean t-shirt from the top drawer, and a clean pair of socks.

"Breakfast is almost ready. I'll tell your grandma that there is one more at our breakfast table.

"Thanks dad," I call as he walks out, closing the door quietly behind him.

"So, boyfriend, breakfast?"

"Sounds fantastic!"

My grandparents act pretty cool at the table. This family would be great for when I do finally get a real boyfriend, I think to myself as I nibble on my morning bread.

"So, what is the plan today?" Dad asks as he puts an ample layer of b.u.t.ter on his piece of bread.

"Well, I told you my friend has a birthday party. But I thought since you'll be in Snderbirk anyway, we could help out with picking out the plumbing fixtures and then you could leave us there."

"Sounds like a plan! But we are living soon after we clear out the breakfast table, so hurry up with your makeup and stuff."

"Dad! You know I never put makeup on!"