The Black Rider - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,49
mass production.”
“Still, it’s pretty amazing.”
“If that impressed you, I haven’t even fiddled with my zombie killing samples yet.”
“Can I watch?”
“Why don’t you hop in my lap and be my assistant?”
“I’ll happily sit in your lap, but I barely passed biology and didn’t take chemistry at all because it wasn’t required for my major. The only reason I passed those in high school is that my father paid a lot of money for me to. He wanted me at an all girl’s school that was close to home, and they had a certain GPA requirement to stay. He greased a lot of palms so he could keep me close to home.”
“You’re a Harbinger, a kick-ass artist, and one of the best shortstops on the West Coast. You need not be good at science too. I’m excellent with diseases and stopping the Antichrist, but angels have sporting games in Heaven too, and I’m always picked last because I suck at all of them.”
“Let me guess, Aeron gets picked first.”
“Aeron is good, but he’s got a bad temper, and he’s a sore loser. He’s banned from most of our sports. Most people want Dice and Asher on their team, but Dice prefers drinking and watching, and Asher thinks sports shouldn’t exist because they distract us from our jobs.”
“What kind of sports do angels play, anyway?”
“It’s kind of like capture the flag, but with weapons and wings. Everyone wants Dice because he’s good at strategy, and people want Asher because he’s the fucking Horseman of Conquest, but they don’t want to play. The game is actually fun, but I can admit I’m horrible at it. Aeron would give his left nut to be allowed to play again, but he gets a little ridiculous when it comes to winning.”
“Then why is he okay with this group thing we have going on? Why are both of you?”
“Angels aren’t perfect, Ariel. Sometimes, we rebel and fall. Some of us are too serious about our jobs. When we are created, it’s to do one thing, and that’s our sole purpose. The first time an angel fell in love with a human, he taught humans all sorts of secrets they weren’t supposed to have. He knew he would get in trouble. Instead of taking his punishment, he convinced two hundred other Grigori to do the same thing.
“If he had just accepted his punishment, two hundred Grigori wouldn’t have been cast into Hell and all their Nephilim children slaughtered. Things have lightened up since then because Heaven doesn’t want angels to disobey and fall. We’re allowed to love now as long as we ask permission if we want to stay.
“Aeron and I have our issues. We know we aren’t perfect. We were also created together for different sides of one cube. We’ve fought side by side since we were created. Aeron has stood up for me more times than I can count. We knew we were developing feelings for you. We also knew we would never meet anyone like you again. I’d never ask him to give up love, and he’d never ask me. You seemed to like both of us. Our choice was to give it up together or share you. It was no choice really, and we are both fine with it because it means you are in our life.”
I don’t think anyone had ever said anything like that to me before. One thing was for sure, no one had made me feel like Aeron and Leif did. Now that I knew for sure they were both okay with it, and no one was silently unhappy about it, I felt this peace settle over me. They were mine. We would end this together.
I kissed his knuckles.
“You’re both perfect for me. What do we need to do with your zombie killing weapon?”
“Can you hand me a vial of Jose’s blood? It should be labeled.”
He had an entire tray full of blood samples. Some were mine, some were Jose’s, some were his, and some were names I didn’t recognize. I wasn’t weirded out at all like that guy I dated who wanted to wear a vial of my blood around his neck. Leif was a scientist, not some poseur trying too hard to be hardcore by asking for people’s blood, but listened to pop-country music when he thought no one was around.
I handed Leif the vial and had no idea what would happen next. He lifted the top from a centrifuge and pulled another vial out. I didn’t have to