Ezekiel then asked, “Shal I tel you why I have longed for you?”
Michael and I didn’t reply. How could you react when evil itself told you that you are the answer to its prayers?
“The key lies—in part—in the Book of Enoch.” He smirked, and said, “El speth, I believe you uncovered that during your little research today.
“When the congregation of the righteous shall appear,
And sinners shall be judged for their sins,
And shall be driven from the face of the earth;
And when the Elect One shall appear before the eyes of the righteous,
Whose elect works hang upon the Lord of the Spirits,
And light shall appear to the righteous and elect who dwell on the earth. . . .
From that time those that possess the earth shall no longer be powerful and exalted; And they shall not be able to behold the face of the holy,
For the Lord of the Spirits has caused his light to appear
On the face of the holy, righteous, and elect.
Then shall the kings and the mighty perish
And be given into the hands of the righteous and holy.
And thenceforth none shall seek for themselves mercy from the Lord of Spirits For their life is at an end.
“Do you know what that means?”
Michael and I had absolutely no idea, and Tamiel hadn’t uttered a word since Ezekiel had shut her up with the threat of fire.
“No?” Ezekiel said with a smile. “Let me explain. El speth, I believe that Hananel and Daniel told you that God cursed certain of us angels when we descended to earth and created a race of our own by mating with humankind; that race was cal ed the Nephilim. God—in His infinite hubris—
was so furious at our act of creation that He wiped out al humans, save for his pet Noah and his kin. God then prohibited angels from procreation and banished us from heaven, leaving us here on earth as the so-cal ed fal en. Did Hananel and Daniel tel you of this, El speth?”
I nodded.
“The Book of Enoch describes how the fal en angels—like me and like your parents and even like Tamiel over there—wil rule mankind until the end of time. Then, at the end, a select being wil emerge whose purpose wil be to judge the fal en angels and mankind. That select being—who Enoch cal s the Elect One—is a Nephilim, part man and part angel.” He smiled. “So you see, Enoch tel s us that, regardless of God’s specific command that the angels not procreate, the Nephilim wil indeed come again. And one of those Nephilim wil decide the fate of al beings on earth
—angels and humans.”
I felt sick. Suddenly, I knew where Ezekiel’s story was going. He stretched out his hands toward me and Michael. “You are those Nephilim. And one of you is the Elect One.”
Chapter Forty-six
Come on. I had gotten used to the fact that I was different, something other than human. But this? Ezekiel expected me and Michael to believe that one of us was a chosen being, here to judge al creatures on earth at the end of time.
I shot Michael a look, but he seemed mesmerized once again. So I glanced over at Tamiel to gauge her reaction. She looked defeated. She also looked as deadly serious as Ezekiel.
“How does this explain why I have longed for your births? For centuries, even mil ennia?” Ezekiel said as he paced back and forth across the stage, lecturing to his captive audience.
He continued. “I knew that, once I found you, and the Elect One stood at my side, the fal en would be judged fairly at the end. For when the Elect One has learned what I have learned and has seen what I have seen, the Elect One would understand that the fal en are not sinners, but indeed the
‘righteous and elect,’ as Enoch said. And the fal en would continue to possess the earth—maybe even the heavens again.”
It al became clear—whoever control ed the Nephilim control ed the end. But why did Ezekiel think that Michael or I would ever judge him to be
“righteous and elect”? Ezekiel would be at the top of my list of sinners.
Ezekiel took center stage. With a flourish, he stretched out his hands in our direction and announced, “The answer lies in your name, El speth.”
What on earth did he mean?
He chuckled, as if I’d said my question aloud. I guessed that my face spoke volumes. “El speth means the Chosen One. You are the Elect One.”
“Me? Why not Michael?” The words just blurted out.
“Oh, Michael has a special role. But more in the nature of protector, a knight to his lady, if you wil . Except you are so much more than a lady.”
Stretching out his hand, he said, “Come with me.”
So it was me. The Elect One. This was insane. And why did Ezekiel think I would go anywhere with him? Better than anyone, I knew his darkness; I had seen it firsthand through his own eyes.
I spun around and looked at Tamiel and Michael for help. Michael’s face stil bore that glazed expression. And Tamiel hadn’t left, but she had averted her eyes and stepped away from me and Michael and Ezekiel. Almost as if she was forbidden to join us in this battle.
Only Ezekiel met my gaze. “El speth, you have a choice. You can come with me and save Michael. Or you can choose Tamiel and her kind, and I wil destroy Michael.”
So that’s how Ezekiel thought he could get me to go with him. He believed that I would never, ever risk Michael’s life. Even for a greater good.
And Ezekiel could be right. How could I choose to destroy Michael?
“You cannot have her!” Michael suddenly awoke with a scream.
Inexplicably, Ezekiel cast an amused look in Michael’s direction. “I’ve heard those words before. I think Hananel and Daniel said them to me the day you were born, El speth.”
Michael lifted off the ground and flew at the surprised Ezekiel, who stil stood on the stage. He landed on him with such force that Ezekiel fel off the stage with a crash, narrowly missing an exposed iron rod that supported the platform. But the rod must have grazed Ezekiel’s face, as blood trickled down his cheek. It was unsettling to see the immortal Ezekiel bleed.
Ezekiel stood up, wiped away the blood with his finger, and then licked it. “You would kil me instead, son?”
“Son? I’m no son of yours,” Michael yel ed.
“That is precisely who you are,” Ezekiel answered calmly.
Michael then flew off the stage toward Ezekiel. This time, Ezekiel was ready. He propel ed himself upward, into the rafters high in the ceiling of the hal . As Michael fol owed him, I started to lift off in pursuit. I couldn’t let Michael fight Ezekiel alone.
Tamiel pul ed me down to the ground. “Michael must combat Ezekiel unaided.”
I struggled to free myself from her grasp, but she was incredibly strong. “Michael is trying to protect me from Ezekiel. I can’t let him do that by himself. He needs me.”
Tamiel took me by the shoulders and stared into my face. “El speth, only the child can kil the parent. Let Michael fulfil his destiny, if he can.”
“Ezekiel is real y his father?” I was shocked, although it explained the link between them. I thought Ezekiel had been speaking metaphorical y.
“Yes, he is. Only one with Ezekiel’s blood in his veins can destroy him.”
The news tore my attention from the battle raging overhead. “But I thought angels couldn’t procreate?”
“They usual y can’t. But you and Michael are unique.”
“So we real y are Nephilim?”
“Yes.”
“Where are our mothers? Our human mothers?” I felt a sudden, deep yearning for mine.
Tamiel stared at the floor. “Your birth mothers are no longer with us.”