Sinful Things

13

I don’t agree with the Order’s beliefs or their methods, but I infiltrated their ranks in order to find my brother, and now I hope to learn more about their plans and to uncover the identities of their members. I know Kassiel is a member—he was sent by Lucifer himself to infiltrate the Order and see if they’re a threat. We’ve already agreed to work together to stop their grand plan—to retrieve the Staff of Eternity to send demons back to hell.

I need to find out who their leader is, most importantly. He or she is the one who ordered Araceli’s boyfriend, Darel, killed. They made it look like a demon murdered him in an attempt to get her to join the Order, but I convinced her to stay far away from them. They want to use her fae blood to get into Faerie, although neither of us is sure how exactly—something else I hope to learn from the Order.

The meeting tonight is earlier than the ones last year, and it’s in their secret lair under the lake. I make myself invisible using my Ishim powers, and fly to the large boulder in the forest. As I fly lower, I spot another golden-robed member appear out of the night, as if made of shadow. That must be Kassiel. As a Fallen, he can control darkness, although I’ve never seen him use his powers before. It eases my nerves to know he’s going to be with me at the meeting tonight, that I have an ally among the other masked members.

Of course, I know some of the other people in the Order already. Grace. Cyrus. The Princes. But I’m not sure I can call any of them allies.

Kassiel opens the boulder, and I follow him down into the dark, damp stone tunnels leading under the lake. At the end of the tunnel, far below the surface, is a large cavern with over a dozen people sitting in a circle, all wearing gold robes and matching masks. Kassiel and I take a seat on the last empty stone bench.

The leader of the Order wears a gold crown and stands before us, in front of an ancient gold throne carved with depictions of angels and demons in battle. I’ve never seen our leader sit on the throne before, but maybe that will happen tonight. Otherwise, who is meant to sit there?

The leader speaks, but the masks are magically enchanted to distort voices, so I can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman. "Welcome, members of the Order of the Golden Throne. I'm pleased to see you all back with us for another year. We have much work to do."

He or she strides forward, and a shoe peeks out from under the robes. Black loafers, too big to be female, although some of the Valkyries have pretty big feet. It’s impossible to tell from the voluminous robes, but I get the sense it’s a man.

“As this is the first meeting of the year, let me remind everyone of our three basic tenets. One, angels are superior beings, meant to guide Earth and humanity to a brighter future. Two, demons are evil and must be eradicated from Earth to protect humanity. And three, loyalty to the Order is paramount, along with discretion. Anyone who speaks of the Order outside of these chambers will face dire consequences.”

He continues on about the Order’s long history, and I glance around at the other members, wondering which is Grace. I look for feminine builds, but the robes are very good at concealing body types, which I’m sure isn’t an accident. Everyone else is a mystery. There are three large figures sitting together, who could be the Princes, but it’s hard to tell for certain. Cyrus must be here somewhere, probably at Grace’s side. I wonder if Jeremy, who hates demons so much, is here too. If so, he’d probably lose his s**t if he discovered I was a member. It’s probably a good thing my identity remains hidden from most members of the Order at this meeting. Only when people graduate do they learn who else is in the Order.

“Has anyone made any progress in our goal to retrieve the Staff of Eternity from Faerie?” the leader asks, drawing my attention once again. I hold my breath, but no one answers. Good.

Finally one person speaks up, their voice unreadable due to the mask. “Perhaps we should try to get that fae-blooded girl to join us again.”

Another person adds, “Or we could kidnap her and force her to help us. She must know how to get into Faerie.”

“She doesn’t,” I speak up, even though it draws attention to me. I don’t care though—I can’t let them hurt Araceli. “She was raised among angels and knows nothing about her fae side.”

“I agree,” says one of the people in the cluster that could be the Princes. “She is worthless. We must find another way.”

“We could use the fae at one of the upcoming soccer games,” a person across the room says. “Perhaps we can kidnap one of them and force them to open a portal.”

I have to bite my lip to stop from speaking out against this idea. This is exactly why I’m here—to learn their plans. Even if I disagree with them.

“A valid idea,” the leader says. “One that we must ponder. However, getting to Faerie is only the first step. We must find the Staff once we are there, and Faerie is large and dangerous. It won’t be easy.” “And we need to find Jonah too,” another of the Princes says. My bet is Marcus.

The leader inclines his head slightly. Not really an answer, I notice. “Continue your research,” he says instead. “You will also be sent an individual task throughout the year, which you must complete. Do not fail us, or your punishment will be swift and severe.”

His chilling words wash over me. What kind of things do they want us to do? Last year they had us manipulate humans and torture demons as tests, so I’m not looking forward to whatever these new tasks are.