Bitterly

Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

I tapped my foot on my bedroom floor warily. I glanced at my alarm clock and sighed.

She was fifteen minutes late.

I turned to go into my bathroom and get ready for bed when I heard a slap followed by a string of curse words. I whipped around to see Isabella and Elliot standing in my room with Isabella rubbing her arm.

"He hit me," Isabella accused while Elliot frowned at my decor. Isabella punched him in the stomach and he doubled over in pain.

"Stop it," I quickly went over and separated the two. "You're late."

"And you're blonde," Isabella shrugged, making herself comfortable by taking a seat on my bed. Elliot opted for the place on my window sill and I stood awkwardly. "Paul told Becca to tell me you wanted to see us?"

"I did," I nodded slowly.

"Well?" she asked impatiently.

"Keep you voice down," I whispered quickly and sat next to her on my bed. "I testified today."

"I'm aware," she pursed her lips. "What about it?"

"Maybe try to be a little nicer, Belle," Elliot cringed at her tone of voice. This girl was no walk in the park, but she never was. Even when I met her at Navy Pier when she was a ghost she found a way to be snarky.

I quickly dove into everything I told the Council and how I thought there was something going on that they weren't telling us about. Isabella was quick to agree with me.

"Dahlia mentioned it all the time," she admitted. "Of course Maine believed every word she said without question, but I wasn't as easily convinced."

"Look at the circumstances," Elliot chimed in. "Who could have orchestrated something so huge without the help of the most powerful archangels in heaven?"

"Black magick is not that strong," Isabella added. "There had to have been help from the inside. And how has no one found this mysterious person?"

"Jocelyn," I spat angrily. I looked between the both of them. "She knows something. She's the most defensive one of them all."

"We can't just outright accuse someone of being guilty of a crime like that," Elliot twisted his lips into a scowl. "I'd agree with you on that, though. Jocelyn seems to be the one with the most to hide. She's a mean one."

"Colby too that little shit," Isabella rolled her eyes, then turned to me with an even more serious look. "Why'd you call us and not just talk to your guardian? Trouble in paradise?"

"Um," I blushed and looked down at my nails. Isabella let out a small laugh.

"You're acting like you two made out or something," she teased lightly.

"Yeah, right," I laughed it off too and quickly changed the subject. "Remember how I said they told me Dahlia wasn't the leader and how she was just the face of the rebellion."

"Who would be feeding her that kind of intel," Elliot questioned.

"And who else would have the motive to start something like this?" Isabella added.

"Well who else worked for the Council that was fired shortly after the switch?" I wondered. "There had to have been more than Dahlia right?"

"We would have known if they fell," Isabella shook her head. "It's someone who's no longer in heaven or was never in heaven to begin with. That'd be too dangerous. It's part of the reason all those changelings are in purgatory."