Sentinal's Tear (Book #1 in Requiem Series) [formally titled Lacrimosa]

Chapter 28

Nesy

It's too late. There is no way out of this mess. This beautiful, perfect mess. Unless...

I walk to the sculpture. Mikayel and Azzaziel. An eternity of hatred between them. Mikayel's existence has always been about defeating evil. Capturing Azzaziel.

I smile as the idea flirts with the edges of my thoughts. "I'm going to talk with the Council," I say to Aydan. "Work out a deal. Maybe if you help capture Azzaziel, Mik—"

Aydan crosses the courtyard in two steps, slipping his hands around my waist. "They'll never let me come back," he whispers. "I chose to fall."

I tremble as his hot breath caresses my cheek. "But you didn't mean it. You're ready to change, right? They might understand." My voice is nothing more than a whisper. A thought. "They have to."

Aydan still has good in him.

I feel it in the way he touches me...a moment of grace.

Taste it on his lips...a communion of souls.

I have to get the Council to see him as I do. Show them the angel that still lives inside the demon.

I walk to our bench, my new mission clear. "I'm going to Celestium." The fierce determination of the Sentinal I am encrusts every word. "I'm going to convince them to offer you grace. Let you return to Celestium."

"No! They won't let you come back. They'll send another team. Nesy, please. Don't do this."

"I have to. I'm not going to sit here and send you to Abyss. I won't kill you. This isn't what being a Sentinal is about."

"This is exactly what being a Sentinal is. Slaying demons, capturing the UnHoly, and dealing with Azza."

"Not if the UnHoly is capable of redemption." I clench my jaw, my resolve absolute. "This is wrong, Aydan. It's just wrong. And I'm going to convince the Council."

"It's too late for my redemption. I loved a human."

"No. You loved an angel."

He refuses to hear me.

"I twisted the minds of the humans I was bound to protect, Nesy. I made a deal with Azza. I let my rage consume me. And I've been paying the price ever since."

"And now you're willing to give all that up. You said so yourself. You won't feed. You won't do Azzaziel's bidding. You won't give into the Beast. You should be allowed a trial with the Council. It's only right."

"To you." Aydan takes my hand and kisses it. "I doubt Mikayel will see it that way."

"He understood when I told him about my feelings for you."