After the rescue, I was more weary than I realized. It didn’t really hit me until I had calmed down, but once I had it became clear that I needed more rest than usual. I slept for more than a day, and since I have woken my seniors have urged me to ease my way back into work. So I have been relieved from missions and patrol, and aside from visiting Freya twice and Alex once, I have not been to Earth. Today, however, I was beginning to feel the need to do something, and so I compromised by going with Ophell to visit Ananiah in the Asylum.
Brid met us as we arrived, smiling at me even as her eyes assessed my wellness. “Your energy is much better, Asa’el,” she said.
“Does that mean I can go back to work?” I asked her.
“Tomorrow, perhaps,” she said, laughing even as her eyes became stern. That sternness disappeared beneath a vast kindness as she turned to Ophell. “Ananiah is also much improved,” she said. “She will need much more rest, but my seniors are confident that she will bear no lasting wound from this.”
“I am glad, and I thank you for your care of her,” Ophell answered. “May we see her?”
“Of course.”
Ananiah was awake, though the weariness hung heavily around her. Still, she smiled to see us both. “It is good to see you better, Asa’el,” she told me. “When you first visited me you looked almost as bad as I feel!”
“I would hope that I look much worse than you feel now,” I told her, and she laughed. The simple sound seemed to make her feel better, and she sat up straighter.
“Our sisters here are putting me back together piece by piece,” she said, nodding to Brid and Perrine, who had been with Ananiah when we arrived, hands moving with competent care over her aura.
“Time and affection will do their work,” Perrine said. She drew back, resting a hand on Ananiah’s shoulder. “A short visit with friends will help. I will come back soon. Brid?”
The Healers withdrew, and Ophell came forward to take Ananiah’s hand. I very nearly stepped back myself to give them some time alone, but Ananiah looked at me and said, “I’m very grateful to you for your help that night. Ophell tells me that he would not have been able to find me so quickly without your support.”
“He exaggerates,” I assured her. “But I was glad to help in whatever small way I could.” I hesitated, then I said, “Ananiah, will it trouble you to talk about what happened?”
Her smile disappeared, but she did not seem distressed. “No more than it did when I spoke to our seniors. You have questions about that night?”
“More about the ones who captured you. You could see them as Ophell and I could not—did you notice anything particular about their leader, the one they called Asoharith?”
She frowned. “Whoever the leader was, they were very clever. The lot of them were on me without warning, and they bound me and were careful to keep out of sight of my Eye.” That Eye on her brow was clouded with anger, a lingering longing for justice that attested to the damage to her spirit. “But I did hear one voice that stood out from the others. They treated her with scorn, as if she were of low rank among them, but they did as she said more than they didn’t. She was the clever one.”
“What do you remember about that voice?”
Ananiah looked at me for a long moment, and I worried that I had tired her out. But then she said, “It was proud and vain, expecting the others to obey. And there was a deep, deep hate in it. If ever you should come across this Asoharith again, Asa’el, have a care. She may not be strong, but she is dangerous.”
I had more questions, but I did not ask them, rather choosing to step back and let Ophell have some time with her. Brid found me shortly afterwards in a dark mood.
“I heard what you were asking Ananiah,” she said, settling down against my side. “Are you so worried about this escaped Fallen?”
“Orison is worried,” I answered, “as well as others among our seniors, if they were already pressing Ananiah about her ordeal. From what I can tell, it is rare for a low-ranking Violence to escape the Elder herself. And I think it was she who touched me, Brid. If Salathiel had been just a breath later—”
Brid shivered and pressed closer to me. “Will they hunt for her?”
“No, that would be a waste of our resources. Trying to find one small Violence in the world?” I laughed. “A needle in a haystack is simple by comparison. No, but we will be watching. What frightens the seniors is the thought that she will not remain small after this.”
Brid didn’t speak for a moment, only leaned up and kissed my cheek. “When you do go back to work, promise me that you’ll be careful?” she whispered.
I put my arms and wings around her and made her that promise. It’s silly, though, to worry. Just as Asoharith is just one Fallen, so Asa’el is just one angel. Why should I be any more in danger than any of my siblings? I just want to be sure that we are all prepared. The more we know, the sooner we can find this Asoharith and finish her once and for all.