Amira paced back and forth inside the small holding cell the carriers had put her in. She was in the Headquarters building--a large dome-like structure in the center of Heaven.
Verna and the carriers had brought her here and left her two hours ago. The stupid angels had taken her daggers and ignored all of Amira's questions. Now she was stuck in a holding cell, unarmed and shackled. She felt very vulnerable.
Amira felt the urge to scream. No, to rip something apart. They had told her nothing about her supposed crime. She didn't even know what she was here for. She had spent the last two hours scouring her memory for any crime she may have committed. Yet besides the occasional trick she played on other angels, nothing came to mind. She was a good angel--she never stole, never used violence against the other angels, even when they deserved it. For all her life, she had done nothing except her job as a La'ziel. And this was what her obedience and service were rewarded with?
Suddenly, the door to her cell slammed open. Amira looked up to find Verna flanked by three carriers. The Warfire whispered to her that she could take them. Four angels against one La'ziel. Easy. They had underestimated her.
But even if she resisted, where could she go? They would find her eventually. Heaven was only so large. Amira quelled the Warfire burning inside her. Instead, she looked defiantly at Verna who stared at Amira with narrowed eyes. "Amira of the La'ziel, the Council requests your presence."
Amira felt her blood run cold. The Council was a panel of judges that only judged the most severe crimes. They were made up of representatives from each angel species, except for the La'ziel who didn't get a say in what happened. Because Heaven was mostly peaceful, the Council only made a ruling approximately every hundred years. But when they did, the punishment was shattering.
Thrown into Hell. That's what happened to most of the angels who stood before the Council.
God, what did they think she had done?
They led her out of the holding cell and down a long hallway. Verna pushed open a heavy wooden door that opened into a wide courtroom. On the other side of the room were four angels. Their power slammed into Amira across the room, power that came with great age and centuries of being alive. These angels were very old and powerful. This must be the Council.
Amira was surprised to see Amziel, Ten, Ilana, and Asa who shot her reassuring smiles. Despite her situation, she couldn't help but feel relieved that her friends had come for her.
Besides the Council and her friends, there were two other angels present in the room that she didn't recognize. They were common angels judging by their dusky grey wings. They sat huddled together, staring at Amira with such hatred and grief that she physically recoiled.
Ignoring her reaction, Verna pulled Amira into the center of the courtroom.
One of the angels, a seraph with striking green eyes, looked Amira up and down. "Amira of the La'ziel, do you know what crime you are being charged with?"
"No," she said, dread filling her.
"You are being charged with the murder of a female common angel by the name of Jezabelle. Yesterday, Jezabelle's family reported missing after she didn't return home. This morning, we found Jezabelle's body with twenty stab wounds. Blood loss was the reason for her death. We found this dagger lying next to her with your prints." A blood-stained dagger floated above her palm. "Do you have anything to say?"
The world tilted. "Murder?" she managed to say. "I'm being accused of murder?"
"Where were you between the hours of twilight and morning yesterday?"
"I-I was in my dorm. Resting," Amira stuttered. Her head spun wildly as she struggled to process the seraph's words. Murder. Body. Dagger. Prints.
"Can anyone confirm that?"
Ten and Amziel had seen her go into her room but they couldn't confirm that she stayed in her room. No one could unless they had been with her.
"No, but-
"No one could confirm her alibi at the time of the murder. Do we have a motive?"
The two common angels stood up. The male pointed at her, his finger shaking. "She tried to befriend Jezabelle sixty-six years ago. I pushed her away because she was a La'ziel. Who knew that this monster would take revenge on my girl! Damn you! Damn you to hell!"
Amira suddenly recognized the pair of angels. They were the parents of the blond-haired angel who she had tried to talk to when she was four years of age. Being angels, they hadn't aged a day. So that meant that Jezabelle was her name?
"Please sit down, Morpheus and Lianna. So we have a motive. The suspect had been rejected by the victim years ago," the common angel on the Council said.
"Yes, and her prints were found on the murder weapon and she has no alibi."
Amira shook her head. "I didn't do this," she protested. "I don't know why my prints are on that dagger but I swear to God I didn't do this."
Jezabelle's father sneered at her. "You don't get to say His Name. Not filth like you."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amziel's eyes glow red and Ten's gritted teeth. Amira shook her head slowly at them. Nothing they did could help her now.
"If only an oath like that was binding," the seraph sighed. "Unfortunately, Amira, the evidence mounted against you is overwhelming. I think we've all reached a verdict."
She looked at the other three Council members. The common angel and the cherubim nodded quickly. The guardian angel hesitated before nodding as well.
No, this couldn't be happening, Amira thought dazedly. She was being framed for murder and they were just going to let it happen.
"Amira of the La'ziel, the Council finds you guilty for the murder of Jezabelle of the Common angels. As you know, the murder of a fellow angel is the most severe crime an angel can commit. You're to be banished into the inner regions of Hell."
Amira's heart stopped as she fell to the ground. Her knees, which had weakened throughout the hearing, had finally given out. Out of the corner of her eye, Ten and Amziel shot up out of their seats, fury on their faces.
"Please, you're making a mistake," she pleaded, frantic for them to hear her. "I really don't know how my prints got on the dagger. I didn't do this."
"This hearing was bullshit," Amziel spat, his body vibrating with anger. "That isn't a motive. If this was any other angel, you'd be investigating this more carefully."
The Council stared stonily back at Amira and her friends without a response. The guardian angel, despite the sympathetic look on her face, said nothing. Amira's heart sank. They didn't care. They believed she was the murderer the moment they stepped into this room. All they saw when they looked at her was a violent, murderous La'ziel who had killed another angel in revenge.
"If you would remove this angel from our presence and escort her to the site of banishment. This hearing is over, " the seraph told Verna. Her carrier nodded before grasping Amira's arm.
Amira resisted, planting her feet firmly. The angels tensed. Ha, she thought bitterly. They were scared of her. These centuries-old angels with more power in their little finger than Amira had throughout her whole body were afraid of her. Why?
"I will go," she announced as they relaxed. "But I want to know why."
"Why?"
"What have we ever done to you? Why do you treat us like pariahs? We protect you from these monsters yet you hate us so much. What is it that you are so afraid of? That our species is more powerful? That our Warfire rages harder than any instinct that you have? Tell me!" Amira was panting by the time she was done.
The seraph's gaze hardened. "The reason we are doing this is that you're a murderer. It is not because of any prejudice against the La'ziel but I will not waste my time any longer explaining this to you. Take her away."
Jezabelle's parents spat at her, eyes full of hate. She couldn't blame them. They thought she was their daughter's killer.
Verna pulled at her hard and Amira let her. A sudden bone weariness swept through her. All she wanted to do was curl up and sleep. She wanted her bed. But now she might never be able to lay in it. Amira's eyes burned but she refused to cry. They had taken away everything but they would not get her tears.
Her friends rushed over to her as she approached the door. Verna hissed at them but they ignored her.
Amira grabbed Amziel's hands. "You know I wouldn't do this, right?" she asked desperately, searching his face. "I've been framed. I don't know why."
Amziel nodded, his face pinched. "Of course we believe you. We'll find a way to get you out."
Ten squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Ilana bit her lip while Asa's eyes filled with tears.
"How?" Amira laughed hollowly. "I'm about to be thrown in Hell."
"I don't know. But somehow..."
They both knew it was a lie. There was no way to return to Heaven once one fell into Hell, once one became Fallen.
"That's enough talk," Verna said before shoving Amira out the door, ripping her hand out of Amziel's. She tried to look behind her at her friends but three carriers blocked her view.
The next few minutes passed in a blur. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of an open dark hole which sucked greedily for her. It looked almost like the rip but she had a feeling this didn't go to the outer rings of Hell. She knew instantly what it was: The Portal.
Sixty years ago, Verna had told her the story of what happened to angels who did very bad things. They vanished into a pit much like the one she was standing in front of, never to be heard from again. Amira had shivered at her tale and vowed that she would never do something that would cause her to be thrown into Hell. Yet, here she was, even though she didn't do anything.
No angel, not even the La'ziel who fought demons all the time, knew what lay in the Inner Sanctum of Hell. There had definitely been angels that were thrown into Hell before but what happened to them remained a mystery to all those in Heaven.
The emptiness of the hole sucked greedily, reaching for her. Her Warfire screeched a challenge. She shook in fear and anger.
Verna nodded at the portal, no emotion on her face. "Whenever you're ready."
Amira thought of Amziel's quietness and how he could be kind to Ten and Amira. She remembered Ten's crooked smiles, his awful jokes and laughing with him as they walked to the mess hall. Ilana's loud voice. Asa's gentle smile. The dead Jezabelle.
She gazed at the carrier who brought her up and those cold eyes that didn't feel anything for her.
No, never love, her Warfire whispered.
And then she Fell.
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