Afterlife: A Fall of Angels Novelette Read Online Free PDF Page B

shaking.  “I understand that much.”
    “And you understand judgment?” he asked in a reassuring voice.
    Sal nodded.
    “Those around you are calling for a vote.  The leadership here shifts, changes.  People who lived a life like yours don’t come around very often.  Will you accept this position should the vote be granted?”
    “I…” she stuttered, turning to look at these who surrounded her.  “I don’t know.”
    “You’ll know soon enough,” he said.  “All those in favor of Sally Thomas joining the exalted council?”
    The afterlife rumbled with replies of “I.”
    “All those opposed?”
    A few replies fell flat against the hot stones.
    “Just like that?” one of the exalted leaders hissed.  Cole felt a twitch of a smile curl in the corner of his lips.  “You would replace me just like that?  When she isn’t even sure if she wants this?”
    “We will let her observe,” the leader said, rubbing his hand over his bearded chin.  “She can watch and learn what we do.  Should she decide to decline, your position will be reconsidered. ”
    Seeing that this council and voting was coming to an end, more of the blue- eyed’s flocked around Sal, preparing to escort her to the above.
    “Thank you,” Sal managed to say.  Once more her eyes flicked to Cole’s face.  He simply gave her a single nod before being taken to a place he could never go.
    Being in the afterlife these days felt like standing on shifting sand.

 
     
     
    “ Necessity brings him here, not pleasure.”
    - Canto XII, Inferno, Dante
     
    The seats of the changing council were all anyone could talk about.  Deliberation seemed to be the only language the dead could use anymore.  Sal’s position on the council seemed more and more sure .  Cole’s remained to be seen.
    But there was one person everyone in the afterlife seemed set on.
    The one angel who wasn’t there, yet was supposed to be.
    Alex was all everyone could talk about.  Most were anxious to have him pulled back, for him to return to their world and assume the position wanted of him.  Yet Cole heard hushed whispers.  Whispers about proxies and debts.
    He didn’t understand that part.
    But he did understand one thing.  Alex was going back to his world.  Soon.
    Cole felt the pull but didn’t have to move.  He was already seated.  He wasn’t the most active being those days.
    It wasn’t always easy to recognize a proxy.  Most people who came into the cylinder were terrified.  Most times the proxies were that way too.  But there were times when one would seem just a tad too calm, knew just a little too well where exactly to stand.
    And he recognized that curved form.  He’d let his lips trail from that shoulder up to that hidden neck.  He’d traced those legs with his fingertips, even if it wasn’t the body he’d wanted, it was body he could still appreciate. 
    He’d invaded that head before.
    But he also knew what Emily had done in her past, that she hadn’t been allowed to return to his world because of it.  Yet here she was again.
    Interesting.
    Seeing that none of the other council noticed anything different about “Morgan Denner ” before them, Cole turned his eyes to the walls around them.
    Cormack wasn’t hard to spot among the masses.  He sat with his legs hanging over the edge of the staircase, his head inclined forward, his burning blue eyes both sad and hopeful at the same time.
    What a fool.  Falling in love with a girl from the world of the living.
    Cole chuckled at his hypocrisy silently.  They were both fools.
    The scrolls of Morgan’s life were read, Cole didn’t want to feel bad for what he knew was coming in a few moments.
    “Down,” the exalted sentenced.
    “Down,” his fellow men condemned.
    Cole hesitated for a moment.  Emily’s head had turned in his direction.  He sensed the fear she felt yet there was something bordering on confidence coming off of her.
    “Down,” he finally breathed.
    The heckles