Silver

Chapter 33

After retrieving a glass of champagne from the waitresses mingling through the crowds, we, along with everybody else in the gala, began to meander about the Louvre. Allison had explained that Michael wanted to meet us in front of the Winged Victory of Samothrace at exactly 10 o'clock. It was this headless angel statue atop what looked to be a ship's bow, and had acquired what seemed to be a constant crowd of people huddled around it so we wouldn't appear too suspicious. 

Allison had remained with Suriel after getting deep into a debate about the morality of business, which baffled the rest of us. Grey had given me one last solid glare before heading off to God knows where, leaving Siena and I to wander around by ourselves. 

"As much as I hate to admit it, having restraints on your soul might be a good thing," Siena offered as we strode through a nearly empty hallway full of renaissance age paintings. 

"How could that possibly be a good thing?" I grumbled with a roll of my eyes. 

The clicking of our heels against the marble echoed throughout the hallway, the only other sound being the quiet chatter of the older couple at the opposite end. I could only imagine what it must've been like on a normal day. You would probably have to shove past crowds to even get into this room, let alone see anything. 

"Well, you're kind of like a loose cannon at the moment. Whenever you start feeling especially angry, like when we talk about what Grey did, you start to glow again. Your soul is underneath the surface, just waiting for another crack in your willpower to break free and expose us to Lucifer," Siena explained coolly, eyeing a painting of what appeared to be the Trojan War. 

"But what if something happens and I need the full power of my soul to defend myself? Defend us?" I scowled. 

"What if, Jo. We can't just wait around with your soul like this in the off-chance we need something completely obliterated. We need to be proactive and make sure that power doesn't end up exposing us all," she pulled her lips into a sympathetic smile. 

"I know it sounds selfish, but I really don't want to lock my soul up again," I huffed. 

"It makes sense. It's been hidden your whole life, and now that it's finally free, I can understand why it's probably hard to rationalize locking it back up again. But if it's to protect us, the people you care about as well as yourself, can't you see past that?" She asked softly. 

I clenched my jaw a little as we approached the end of the hallway. Of course I didn't want my friends to get hurt because I couldn't control myself. Of course I didn't want to die. However, it felt like I was losing that part of myself that I gained when I became an Angel. It felt like I was turning back into the girl I once was; the one that needed an Angel to protect her, the one that was deceived by the Devil himself. I didn't want to be her anymore. It felt like I had outgrown her and I was being forced back into that shell. 

"I know it's probably for the best. I just- I don't know," I let out a deep sigh. "Do you think I could be alone for a bit? I'll come find you in like 15 minutes, I just need some time to process things."

"Of course," Siena gently took my hand and squeezed it a little in reassurance before heading off down an adjacent hallway. 

Now alone and able to just think, I walked back down along the hallway. I knew I didn't really have a choice in this matter, given that the Archangels had already decided, but I didn't know how I felt about that. With Grey practically tattling on me to them after an outburst that he caused- it felt like Grey was the one putting me in chains. It felt like Grey had found another way to break my spirit. 

I turned down another hallway into a room full of Grecian-style statues. I'd always admired these, probably because I was unreasonably obsessed with Greek mythology, but also because of the history and stories behind them.