Fallen Angel

Chapter 10.2

Days had gone by. Gabriël wasn't entirely sure how many, as he didn't know how long he had been unconscious after Michael stabbed him. When he had regained consciousness, he'd been back in his cell in the catacombs. Chained up once more, like a dangerous dog that had to be kept away from everyone else. Michael had been there, together with Raphael.

"You have no one to blame but yourself," he had coldly said to Gabriël.

"No, Michael, this is on you. You, so high and mighty on your balcony, you've forgotten what it's like. To feel what I have felt these past weeks. You've deprived yourself of every good feeling ever since he left you, and you've allowed your heart to turn to stone. But mine is burning with a fire that will never die. I will find her. We will be together again. And you will pay for everything you have done to us. Even if I have to descend to the Circles to make sure of it, you will pay!"

The brief flash of torture in Michael's eyes was seared in Gabriël's memory, but he didn't care if he hurt him. Had Michael truly been his friend, he would never have broken him like this. Only when he was gone did the Archangel break down over his lost love. Raphael had stayed behind, and Gabriël had told him everything. The physician had been horrified and dumbstruck upon hearing all Gabriël, Joan, and Michael, too, had kept hidden.

"I will speak with Michael. But I make no promises," he had assured Gabriël.

But neither he nor Michael had graced him with their presence again. He had not expected Michael to return so soon or give Raphael permission to visit. Not when the Lord Protector was hellbent on punishing and breaking him. But Gabriël refused to give up so easily.
He examined every corner, every crevice of his cell, day in and day out, hoping to find something that could help him escape. It seemed impossible to do so from the inside, though. Still, he persevered, tracing the mortar of the walls for what felt like the hundredth time.

"That won't help you get out of here."

Gabriël spun round to face whoever had spoken, but there was no one there. Had he imagined it? Was he losing his mind?

"There is a way to break out if that's what you really want," said the deep male voice again.

"Who said that? Where are you?" Gabriël moved beneath the low flame of the torch on the wall, searching for the man who had somehow slipped past the guards.

"I'm surprised you don't remember, Gabriël. I would've thought that the little voice that's been keeping you company since the attack at the Gates would've sounded familiar to you."

It then dawned on Gabriël; the man's voice came from inside of him. The demon who took over his body was speaking to him. And familiar... Yes. There was something about the voice that made him recall someone from the past. Someone he believed had been destroyed.

"What do you want from me?" he demanded, clenching his fists.

"From you?" the voice replied with an amused tone. "Nothing at all. I merely wish to help you escape from your current predicament. And to help you return to your lover. That is what, or better, who you want, no?"

"Why would you want to help me?"

"Because I am trying to find her as well. She's in danger. I want her safe again, with you."

"If she's in danger, it's because she's hunted by your kind," Gabriël sneered back.

"The danger is closer to home. The next time you see Michael and Raphael, you ask them what her blood showed them."

"Joan's blood? I don't understand."

"You will. They might have been your friends once, but not anymore."