“Hey, Samantha. We spoke on the phone. I’m Julio with Grim Dating.” He held out his hand.
“Oh, I’m surprised to see you here. I only submitted an application to your company on a lark. That logo with the cute little reaper...” Samantha rolled her shoulders and chuckled.
“And I’m so glad you did because your portfolio caught my eye. May we come in?”
“Of course.” Samantha stepped aside and ushered them into the living room where he sat on the couch, Helen by his side. “Can I get you a drink? Coffee? Water?”
“We’re fine. And I’ll be sure to add gracious hostess to your profile.” Julio leaned forward and smiled. “You’re just the type of candidate we like. I’m convinced we’ll be able to find your perfect match.”
“I can’t wait. I haven’t dated in forever. It will be kind of nice to have the vetting process taken out of my hands. I figure you can’t do any worse than I have.” Samantha laughed despite the self-deprecating comment.
“Don’t you worry. Grim Dating is all about making the right matches.” Julio smiled at the other woman, and Helen got annoyed, even though she couldn’t have explained why.
It soured her mood and words. “Why are we here? I thought you said you had proof to show me.”
“I’m getting to it. Tell me, have you noticed anything different about Samantha?”
“She’s very attractive for a human.” It made her self-conscious.
Samantha snorted. “Wow. Complimented and insulted in one shot. I’m not human, sweetie.”
“Then what are you?” Helen asked. She saw no sign of wings, or anything that set Samantha apart from other humans.
“Can’t you smell it?”
Helen could only smell a jumbled mess that meant nothing to her. “I smell a great many things.”
“I’m a shapeshifter. My other form is a wolf.”
“You’re an animal?” Helen’s eyes widened.
“We’re all animals, sweetie.”
Helen shook her head. “No. I’m not.” She glanced at Julio. “I don’t understand why we’re here.”
“That makes two of us. Why are you really here? Because it’s becoming obvious it’s not only because of my application.” Samantha arched a brow.
“I’m afraid my visit did have a secondary purpose. Helen is a new client of ours, currently under the misconception that angels can’t make babies.”
To which Samantha snorted. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
Samantha eyed Helen. “Where do you think angel babies come from?”
Why did Helen blush as she said, “The stork brings them.”
Samantha couldn’t stop laughing and all the while Helen got more and more annoyed. Finally, Samantha wiped at her wet eyes and said, “Holy fuck, that was funny.”
“Except for the fact she truly believes it,” Julio added.
“Now I see why you’re here.” Samantha then yelled, “Lector, get in here.”
A small boy entered, sporting big shiny eyes, curly blond hair, a dimple in his cheek. A gorgeous child who ran to his mother, meaning Helen could see his back.
And the outline of his wings.
A roaring filled her ears. She couldn’t blink, and her eyes dried as she stared at the boy crawling into his mother’s lap. A cherub. Here. On Earth.
How could this be?
“Where did you find him? Did you pick him in a cabbage patch?” she asked through wooden lips.
“I wish! Took me a full day of labor before I could push out his giant head. I thought my twat would never recover. He’s my son. One hundred percent.”
“And the Father?” Julio softly prodded.
“What do you think?” was Samantha’s sarcastic reply. “His daddy was an angel.”
Helen was frozen in place as it hit her. “Heaven lied.” The Archangels, the teachers, everyone.
Samantha set the child down and eyed Helen. “Did they lie? Or did they just not tell you? Because Theodore, Lector’s Father, was fully aware he could make babies. It’s why he wore a rubber. Only it broke.”
“And you’re sure Theodore was an angel?” she asked to clarify.
Samantha nodded. “Wings, halo, and all. It’s kind of why I slept with him.”
“If you were sleeping, then how do you know he is the Father?”
“By sleeping, I mean we fucked. Twice. He called me a few days later, but I blew him off. He was only okay in the sack and boring out of it. When I found out I was pregnant, I tried to call, but his number was out of service. He doesn’t know he’s a Father, and I had no idea how to contact him.”
“We don’t have phones in Heaven. I think,” Helen added musingly. “I wonder if it was just the nursery that lacked amenities.” She glanced at Julio. “The night I went for a walk, I heard music. I saw people out and not seemingly worried about breaking rules. As if they didn’t have to obey them.” Her head dipped. “Why do they live differently than the nannies? Why are we punished if we don’t obey every single rule? Why couldn’t we have the same freedom as others?”
Julio had an answer. “Because there is no perfect system. Thinking, feeling people won’t act the same. There are some who will always force their will, their view, on others.”
“But why? How does it make sense to lie to us? They outlawed laughter,” she huffed.
He winced. “Yeah, that’s kind of brutal.”
“If you don’t like it, change it,” Samantha suggested. “You know Heaven’s secret. Reveal it. The more people, or in this case angels, who know the truth of how things really are, the more likely you are to change things.”
“How can I tell anyone? I don’t know how to get home.”
Even as she said it, uncertainty filled her on whether she wanted to return. Especially as she glanced over at Lector, who’d climbed the table and leaped off it, the outline of his wings spreading, not taking shape in this reality but reacting nonetheless.
A cherub on Earth. Were there more like him?
“Does he shapeshift into a wolf as well?” Julio asked.
Samantha shook her head. “No, but he’s young yet. Some don’t trigger until their teen years. Others need a full moon.”
The idea of the child changing shapes boggled the mind. But when the boy suddenly came close and grabbed her hand, his eyes peering into hers, she began to breathe quickly. He was living proof angels could make babies.
Male angels could, but she couldn’t. Because someone decided she shouldn’t.
God. Her lying Father in his prison. He’d done this to her.
That didn’t sit well.
13
Poor Helen. Julio had shattered her worldview by introducing her to a Nephilim. Hard to ignore visual evidence. But would Helen run with it? Start a revolution in Heaven?
Samantha had nudged her in that direction, but rather than fly into a rage and promise retribution, Helen grew quiet.
Quiet people could be frightening, as it could mean many things. Some mentally shut down, caving to pressure. Others plotted the kind of revenge that required meticulous detail—and didn’t leave a body. The latter made prosecution more difficult. He’d learned that after one of his arrests.