Fallen Angel

Chapter 35.2

So close. They had been so close to being reunited. So close to being in each other's arms again. Gabriël couldn't fathom what had happened. How could Joan have stepped through the same portal everyone else had and not arrive in the Vale?

"Can you tell me anything else, Hypatia?" he asked the Egyptian Nephilim mage. "Anything at all?"

"No, I... I don't understand how this..." Hypatia's voice faltered. "Richard and Thomas, a-and Anne and Tepes... Even that boy Joan was with. They're all here, and she's..."

Richard pulled his wife to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She buried her face against her chest, sobbing quietly. 

"The portal worked, Gabriël," said Richard. "This is not the first time Hypatia has created one; there is no reason to believe this is her fault."

"I'm not blaming Hypatia, Richard. But you just told me that the woman I love, the woman carrying my child and apparently close to giving birth when she's only a few weeks pregnant, vanished without a trace. So forgive me for trying to find an explanation of how that happened."

An eerie silence fell amongst the four people gathered in the apothecary. Raphael was still tending to Michael, Anne, and Thomas, so it fell to Hypatia, Richard, and Tepes to inform Gabriël of what had occurred during their mission. All were shaken up by their fight against Bathory and Joan's disappearance.

"What is Peter's theory?" asked Tepes then.

"He believes someone created another portal within the one Hypatia conjured to pull Joan out of it," said Gabriël.

"To perform such a feat, one needs immense power, not to mention control."

"That rules out Borgia. Lucifer ordered him to go to the Dream Realm when he realised my ploy, but he doesn't possess magic. Unless he had help. Bathory?"

"No, impossible. She couldn't have done this whilst using her magic on Anne and Michael. And she was wounded as well. Opening a portal within an existing portal requires the utmost concentration."

"Who then?" asked Richard.

Gabriël groaned as it dawned on him. "The only other person Lucifer would trust and who can travel between realms undetected — his son."

To think Joan was with that monstrosity... Gabriël could not bear it. He hoped Margaret was with her as well. Samael might have taken his mother for personal reasons, but it was no coincidence Margaret was also a patron to all who faced the dangers of childbirth. Neither was Isabelle going missing — apart from Raphael, she was the best physician in the Vale.
If anyone could guide Joan through this, it was her mother and her best friend. But it wasn't enough. She needed to be brought to the Vale as quickly as possible if there was any hope of her delivering a celestial being safely. Gabriël had to find her. He had to get to her, one way or another.

God, if You can hear me... If You have ever cared for us, Your children, please help us now. Keep Joan and our child safe until I find them. I put my faith in You. Do not forsake me again.

The door to the apothecary opened, and Raphael entered. Hypatia and Richard immediately greeted the physician, who gave them a weary smile. He looked absolutely exhausted, but nothing in his expression said he had lost a patient. Gabriël sighed in relief. It was something, at least.

"They pulled through," said Raphael. "Thomas used a massive amount of magic, so he'll still be out of it for a while. We've unfortunately had to amputate his arm just above the elbow, but Da Vinci is already working on a prosthetic for him. It wouldn't surprise me if he could shoot a grappling hook out of it or something of the sort.
"Anne was more difficult to treat. Whatever Bathory did to her, it was magic of the darkest sort. If Michael's grace hadn't affected her when he protected her with his wings, she wouldn't have made it. We had to tap about three-quarters of Anne's blood out to take the curse away. It's being transfused back into her body now. The healing magic we've put into her blood will fend off any darkness left inside her until Michael is strong enough to use Heaven's Fire and eradicate it fully."