A Gift of Wings by Stephanie Stamm

then the terms of the Alliance have been violated. It does not necessarily follow that the Alliance itself has been destroyed. We could work together, Light and Dark—and Fallen—to seek out the perpetrators and see that they are punished. That would be in keeping with the terms of the Alliance.”
    This time it was Galiel who responded. “And what would be the advantage to the Light in attempting to maintain this Alliance that has already been broken? Why should we not consider it ended?”
    Kev answered with a question of his own. “Do you truly wish for war? If the Alliance is ended, such will be the outcome.”
    “Are we to consider that a threat?” asked Margash.
    In the midst of castigating himself for not choosing his words more wisely, Kev paused a moment to wonder if the members of the Metatron always took turns responding in the formal meeting. Then, weighing his words with care, he responded, “My apologies, Most High. No threat was intended. Please allow me to rephrase. As you are no doubt aware, there are certain among the Dark who merely tolerate Lucifer’s position among them. Their continued tolerance is, in large part, due to the Alliance. If the Alliance is ended, then their tolerance will decrease, putting Lucifer’s leadership at risk.”
    “And why should we be concerned if Lucifer loses power?” Adrigon interrupted. “Lucifer is no longer a great favorite of ours.”
    Once again, Kev inclined his head in assent. “We do not, of course, expect the Metatron to be concerned with the leadership struggles of the Dark or the Fallen in general. But, in this instance, the Light could be affected by these struggles. If Lucifer loses his power over this—recalcitrant—element among the Dark, then they will see no need to even attempt to maintain peace with the Light. You have stated that the violation of the Alliance is a declaration of war, but I would respectfully disagree. I humbly submit that it is a mere salvo, a calculated attempt to get the Most High to call for an end to the Alliance. It is the end of the Alliance itself that would be the declaration of war.”
    “But if the Dark has fired this first salvo, as you call it,” said Tatriel, “then has not war already been declared?”
    Kev considered his response, taking a grim satisfaction—albeit minuscule—in the apparent accuracy of his guess about the Metatron’s speaking patterns. “While we would agree that whoever committed this act intended it to start a war, we neither consider it, in and of itself, a declaration, nor do we believe war is inevitable. First, we would respectfully submit that we do not know for certain that this act was committed by a member or members of the Dark. Second, even if it were, that act was in no way condoned by the Dark at large, nor was it in any way sanctioned by the Dark’s leadership. I speak the truth when I say that Lucifer does not desire warfare with the Light, nor do the Fallen.”
    When Kev finished speaking, the members of the Metatron silently rose to their feet. He followed suit, uncomfortably aware of his Dominion guards stepping nearer to him, their swords at the ready.
    “We will take your words under advisement,” said Galiel coolly.
    Margash then closed the meeting. “We thank you for your visit, Ha-Satan . You are dismissed.”
    Kev directed the small ceremonial bow to each of them in turn and then, flanked by the Dominions, made his way back to the ante-chamber. Before he was allowed to leave, he had to submit to the indignity of another pat-down. He wondered where or when the guards thought he could possibly have acquired any weapons—at least one of them had kept an eye on him the entire time. When he was given permission to step back through the Gates, he breathed a silent sigh of relief. As far as he was concerned, he couldn’t get out of there soon enough.

CHAPTER 8

    For her first foray into the world of job hunting, Lucky decided it only made sense to target places