"Should we confront her?" Hades asked Evadne the moment they stepped into Angelina's office and he shut the door behind them.
No one else was there aside from the two of them. Angelina and Cielo were currently in a meeting with the rest of the staff who would be heavily involved in the Foundation's upcoming annual celebration.
Evadne had originally been supposed to attend the meeting, since she would be leading the activities for the orphanage and the shelters. But while they were on the way to the Foundation, Cielo had called to tell her that they would not include her just yet so she would not feel overwhelmed, and that for today, she and Angelina would simply discuss the Foundation's plans with her afterward.
At the time, while she was still in Hades' car with him and Casadin, Evadne had not found the request suspicious. After all, her mother and godmother had only made the decision to involve her on impulse, and she understood that there were many things she would not immediately be included in. In fact, there were probably far more things she did not know than things she did.
But now, knowing that an Archangel had rooted herself inside the Foundation, Evadne knew her exclusion from that meeting was no coincidence at all.
"No. We can't do that now," Evadne said. She could already feel the cold beginning to spread through her whole body, and she sank onto one of the sofas in the lounge area of the office. "Who do you think she is?"
She looked up at Hades, who had gone to the kitchenette area and was now pouring her a glass of cold water.
"I don't know, baby," Hades said as he returned and handed her the glass before sitting beside her. Evadne took it immediately and drank, because at that moment she truly needed it.
A long silence settled between them as they both sat there thinking.
Then Hades pulled out his phone and began typing.
Evadne frowned as she watched him.
"If we think about the pattern of the names the angels we know have chosen for themselves... Michael Heavensblade, Uriel Sunray, and the last one you mentioned, Seraphyne Warrior... then we can probably figure out who Remie Hope really is," Hades said, explaining his thought process as he typed.
Then he turned the phone toward her and showed her what he had entered into the search bar.
Who is the archangel of hope?
The two of them looked at each other the moment they saw the first result.
The archangel of hope is Remiel, also known as Jeremiel or Ramiel, in traditional religious and apocryphal texts.
And in that instant, they both knew.
Remie Hope was the Archangel of Hope.
"Princess... "
"Oh my God!"
"Fuck!"
Hades and Evadne both stiffened at the same time when the office door suddenly opened and Casadin walked in.
He looked at the two of them with a frown, then glanced behind him first to make sure no one else had followed before he fully stepped inside and shut the door.
"It's not like you were having sex, so why do you both look so shocked?" Casadin said, one eyebrow arched, as he walked over and dropped into the seat on Evadne's other side.
"Mate, you should have knocked," Evadne said, glaring at him over the rim of her glass.
"When are you ever going to learn to knock?" Hades snapped.
Casadin only rolled his eyes.
"Then you should have locked the door so I would know to knock," he said, wrapping one arm around Evadne's waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.
"If the door is closed, you're supposed to knock before coming in," Hades shot back.
"When the door is closed, you're supposed to open it. Period," Casadin replied, unwilling to lose.
"Stop," Evadne cut in before the argument over a door could grow any bigger. Then she looked back at Casadin over her shoulder. "And you, if you don't intend to knock, then at least try to mindlink me first so I don't get startled."
"I like surprising you," Casadin replied with a grin, then kissed her cheek, which earned a frustrated groan from Hades.
"There is really no winning with you when it comes to arguments," Evadne muttered, shaking her head at Casadin.
Casadin only made both his eyebrows dance.
"So what is the reason the two of you looked so stunned when I came in?" Casadin asked, now looking between Hades and the phone in his hand.
"Remie Hope is, without a doubt, the Archangel of Hope," Hades said.
As if in slow motion, Casadin's eyes widened and he sat up straight.
"Shut the fuck up," he cursed before flicking his gaze between Hades and Evadne, waiting for one of them to tell him they were messing with him.
But there was no humor on either of their faces.
They were dead serious.
"Remie Hope was the girl Aunt Ceres saved in that accident that killed her," Casadin said, confirming out loud what Hades had already told Evadne earlier. "Oh my God..."
Then he looked straight at Evadne.
"Princess, are you sure?" Casadin asked.
"Yes," Evadne said. "She has the same Celestial Aura as Uriel."
Hades frowned and turned to Casadin.
"Didn't you meet her just now? Shouldn't you have been able to feel that too, now that your angelic power is starting to come back?" Hades asked.
"No, they were already in the meeting. One of the staff informed me that you were both here in Grammy's office waiting," Casadin said, shaking his head.
Then he looked at Hades.
"So what your angel self told you was really true?" he asked. "If Remie is really the Archangel of Hope, then Aunt Ceres' death was not an accident?" His brows drew together. "But why? Why would an angel... an Archangel of Hope, of all beings... scheme to do something like that?"
It was the same question Evadne and Hades had already asked themselves.
And none of them had an answer.
"You think we should talk to Uriel again?" Hades asked after a stretch of silence settled between the three of them.
"No," Evadne said after a moment, her voice quiet but firm. "If we really want the answer to that question, then the only real answer will come from the angel directly involved. We need to ask Remiel herself." Her expression tightened with worry. "But that is exactly what frightens me. What if we stumble onto a plan we were never supposed to know about and end up putting everyone at risk? If Remiel disguised herself as a child just to make that accident happen, then it is not impossible that she would do something far worse if we uncovered something we were never meant to learn. What if, by accident, Ceres ruined whatever plan they had? And the only way to fix it was to remove her?"
Silence fell again.
The thought was too heavy, too terrible, for any of them to answer too quickly.
"Continue with your plan to hold a Blackhearts Night at Nirvana," Hades finally said to Casadin. "It is safest to assume that Remiel is a Lightbearer, and if we cannot trust her, then the only ones we might be able to rely on are those from our own side."
"But can we really trust them?" Casadin asked at once. "They are still angels who chose the dark side, remember?"
"Maybe we cannot trust their words," Hades said, "but I am sure we can trust them not to hurt us... or at least not to hurt you." Then he turned to Evadne. "What do you think, baby?"
Evadne let out a long breath.
"Yes," she said at last. "I think that is our best choice for now."
Then she turned to Casadin.
"You should not go near Remiel for now. It is best if you leave."
"But why?" Casadin asked. There was hurt in his voice for a second, though he caught it quickly and buried it.
"Mate, your angelic power is beginning to return," Evadne said gently. "It may not be strong yet, but I am sure an Archangel like Remiel would notice it."
"Seraphyne didn't," Casadin said immediately. "And if she had, flirting with me would not have been the first thing on her mind."
"Maybe because Seraphyne is a lesser-ranked angel," Hades replied. "But Remiel is an Archangel. Cas, stop arguing this time. We do not know whether Remiel is our enemy, but we do know she is not a friend to a Blackheart."
"But I thought I was the one who was supposed to keep an eye on you while Hades is stuck in the office," Casadin said, still clearly unwilling to let go of the matter.
"I will talk to Dad," Hades said. "I will ask him if I can continue my training here for now. There is no real difference whether I stay in the Falcon building or work from here."
"And what excuse are you going to give Gramps?" Casadin asked. "Aren't you in the middle of business dealings with the Heavensblade Corporation?"
"Did you forget who my father is?" Hades said with a faint, dry smile. "He will not question anything as long as my reason has something to do with Vee's well-being. I am sure he will agree if I tell him I want to make sure she is fine while she handles her tasks for the Foundation." His voice turned colder. "And honestly, I would rather stay here and pretend I do not know that Remie Hope is an Archangel than face Michael and spend the whole day stopping myself from punching him every time he looks at me the wrong way."
Evadne set the glass of water down on the center table, then turned fully to Casadin and took both his hands in hers.
"Hades is right, mate," she said softly. "We are surrounded by beings we do not even know are friends or enemies, and you are going through something we still do not fully understand. We have no idea what effect that will have on them." Her grip on his hands tightened. "So we need to be careful. For now, Hades and I will keep an eye on Michael and Remiel. And you... you need to try to connect with the Blackhearts."
Casadin held her gaze, listening carefully.
"Until I can mark Hades and awaken his angelic power too, you are the only connection we have to the other side of this angelic conflict," Evadne continued. "And if you can, learn from them. Learn how your ability works. Right now, you are our greatest weapon against whatever is coming." Her expression grew even more serious. "Find out how you can teleport again. And once you can do it safely, you need to travel back to Noir Village. We need every hand we can get."
It sat heavy in his chest, but Casadin knew they were right.
So, in the end, he only nodded.
He could not afford to waste time trying blindly to figure out how his powers worked through trial and error. Not now. They did not have the luxury of moving slowly anymore. They still had no idea what Michael truly wanted, nor what Remiel's purpose was after planting herself so deeply into their lives for years without any of them realizing it.
They had to be smarter now.
Much smarter.