by D. N. Leo
“Anger is good for dark magic. It’s an exceptional source of dark power.”
Caedmon stomped his foot on the end of a broken chair leg. It flipped up into the air, and he grabbed it and pointed it at Azriel’s heart. “There won’t be any use of your power if you’re dead.”
“For your information, I am immortal. I’m not a vampire—you can’t kill me with that piece of wood.”
“How about this then?” He swung a hard punch at Azriel’s head. To his surprise, the angel dropped to the floor like a felled tree.
Caedmon turned to leave the basement, but before he reached the door, he felt a prick in his neck. He reached back and pulled out three small black thorns. He turned around and saw Azriel standing with his wings spread wide. The feathers of his wings now had spiky thorns protruding from them, and the spine of each feather looked like a spider leg.
“There are several ways a dark angel can make one a successor. Welcome to the house of dark power.”
“You bastard.” He charged at Azriel but took only a few steps before his knees buckled and his world once again went black.
Chapter 30
Alyna gazed into the empty space above the frozen lake in the temple where the Scorpio key would surface during the Summoning. She had never been down to the bottom of the lake. Caedmon had. He told her the key was a fifteen-foot-tall blood ice statue of a Scorpion, frozen in the middle of an ice column that oozed red liquid.
What was it about this key that captured everyone’s attention? Pukak had told her many things about the key, but back then, she thought it was a myth because no human she’d known had ever seen the key surface in their lifetime. And she hadn’t paid much attention to the fact that magical creatures that had lived for thousands of years would have seen a Summoning and would know what the real key looked like.
She closed her eyes, concentrated, and tried to recall the sensation she’d had at the Peak. Did that sensation and the accompanying memories have anything at all to do with the key? Or, as Orla had said, was it simply a personal vendetta of the dark angel?
The memories were coming. She could feel them. She waited. She could see herself as if she were outside of her body. She walked along the west wing toward a small cabinet where the remains of Amaraq’s leaders rested. The first time she was here was when she’d placed Pukak’s remains on the altar. He was still there, looking down at her.
Then she walked toward a corner of the room and pressed a stone. A small compartment opened, and inside she saw a small box. She wouldn’t normally pick it up, let alone open it. But she wasn’t in control of her actions.
Inside the box was a talisman and a small object that looked like it was made of pieces of bone. She had no idea what the box was for. She closed its lid and headed back to the Ethesus office, which was now effectively a pile of ruins.
In a few days, the leaders from different regions of the Amaraq branches would send her more resources. Then she would move back to the Amaraq headquarters. But for now, Ethesus and Amaraq needed each other, and their quarters seemed to be safer than her own.
Orla stepped out from her temporary kitchen with her usual smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you eat my cooking.” She showed Alyna a long, black-bladed dagger, its handle wrapped in sparkling silvery fabric. “This is the real magic you will need. I made the blade using the ritual bones the angel left behind on the Peak. And Lorcan made you some kind of technological protector that he claims will separate the electronic exchange of frequencies and currents in different worlds. Simply speaking, he said if you just hold the handle, you should be fine.”
“And the blade?”
“I added some extra ingredients to its coating. It will kill magical creatures—angels and demons included. That’s all you need to know.”
“Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”
“You’ve just said it.”
“I found this box in the temple.” She showed the box to Orla. Orla lifted the lid, and when she looked inside, the blood drained from her face.
“Where did you get this?”
“In a secret compartment in the temple. I have no idea how I knew about it or what it is. But it was like I was outside of myself. I saw myself going to the temple and retrieving the box. What is it?”
“It’s a very special kind of voodoo. It’s tailor-made. So if you found it, that means it was made for you.”
“Are you talking about my past life and incarnation? Because, with all due respect, I don’t understand that—and I’m pretty sure I don’t believe in it.”
It’s not a matter of belief. It’s what happened. And it’s not incarnation. Didn’t you say you felt as if you were outside your body when you took the box?”
“Yes…but you don’t think someone else is living inside me, do you?”
Orla looked at her and paused, trying to find a way to explain it so that Alyna would comprehend. Alyna said nothing and just waited for the information.
Orla sighed. “Let’s say someone wants to share your body. This box is for that person.”
“Sharing a body? Like carpool?”
Orla laughed. “Yes, you could look at it that way. Now, the most important thing is the timing. You found the box now and not before. That means there is a significant event coming, and you will need to use it.”
“And you know when, what, and how?”
Orla smiled. “I just happen to know quite a bit about magic.” She put the pieces in the box together. In front of Alyna’s astonished eyes, the shape of a doll took shape from the seemingly random objects.
“A voodoo doll.”
Orla nodded. “The power of this one is that all you have to do is name your enemy. Then you can use the knife I just made you to stab the doll. Your enemy will die before he even knows the reason for his death. Do you remember the dark angel’s name?”
“She nodded. Azriel.”
“Good. So now that name is assigned to this doll. If you stab the doll, you’ll kill him.”
“That sounds too simple.”
“It’s very simple to execute. The complicated part about this kind of voodoo is that it’s a double kill. After you have determined that an individual deserves to die, when you kill that individual, you will also kill the person closest to him.”
“What if the person associated with him has nothing to do with his sins?”
“As I said, it’s not so simple. You’re in a position to kill. But any fight will have collateral damage. That’s natural—and to be expected.”
“All I know is Azriel killed my friend Ben. But for that, I can fight him myself and kill him. I don’t need to use magic like this and deal with all the baggage that goes with it.”
“He sounds like an evil character, and if he’s lived for thousands of years, I doubt he’s killed only one human. If there is a creature or the soul of a person sharing your body, that being has followed Azriel and waited for centuries for the opportunity to kill him. Azriel must have committed some insidious sins in his time.”
“Then I’ll face him and ask him before I decide how to kill him. Where is Caedmon anyway? I need to discuss this with him.”
“Alyna!” Nathan called out.
“Not now, Nathan.”
“You need to come out front. Now!”
Chapter 31
The hill of rock opposite the ice temple where the Scorpio key was held was as sacred as the hill the temple was on. She had never been up here before. Unlike the other hill, nothing could be built on this one because it was a solid piece of bare rock in the shape of a giant fist bursting out of the ground and reaching for the sky. To get up here, she’d had to climb with ropes. No one could come up here to join her without climbing or flying. She looked down, not at all enjoying the idea of a fall.
The shapeshifters she knew didn’t have the ability to fly. She had asked everyone to stay at the base of the rock. She knew what it looked like from the bottom, but from up here, the rock rose up to the sky and se
emed to hover above the ground. It looked magnificent from this vantage point, but its majesty was dimmed a bit by the thought that there was no hope of anyone helping her if anything happened while she was up here. Choppers and machine guns might be of some help in the situation, but she and Amaraq had no such resources—unless Caedmon could pull something off.
Azriel had left another blood note in front of the Ethesus camp, asking to meet with her here. The dark angel claimed to have Caedmon. Given Caedmon had been unreachable, the only conclusion she could come up with was that he had been captured by Azriel. She had checked and double-checked that she had everything necessary with her to deal with this nasty angel, but she still got chills up her spine when she remembered his eyes on the Peak.
The image of Ben’s lifeless eyes flashed back to her then, making her heart pound with fear. The thought of Caedmon being killed just like Ben rattled her confidence, but she couldn’t afford to show fear now. Fear was weakness, and she was sure Azriel would pick up on it. She should have just used the coward’s approach and stabbed the voodoo doll to death. Then they wouldn’t have had to deal with the current situation. Knowing that just the thought of using that method was evidence of weakness, she shook the thought out of her head.
She braced her hand on the top of the cliff and hopped up to complete her climb. On the flat surface at the top of the rock, a short distance away, Azriel stood tall, smiling at her. On the ground next to him lay Caedmon, unconscious.
“Hello, Alyna. I didn’t lie about having him here for you, did I? It was brave of you to come up here by yourself.”
“If I tell you there are a bunch of missiles aimed at you right now, will you know what I mean?”
“Not really, but I figured there’d be some kind of weapons involved. However, it’s irrelevant. You are here because you’re worried about your friend here.” He gestured toward Caedmon. “Ben served as an example, and I do hope it was a strong enough example so you know I do not make threats for the sake of vanity.”
“What do you want?”
“Very direct. I like that,” said Azriel. “All right, I want you to go inside the temple right now and call the Scorpio key up. I’ll figure out the rest.”
“You overestimate me. I don’t have that kind of power.”
“And you underestimate my intelligence.”
She nodded and inched toward the edge of the cliff. She stepped out onto a thin stretch of stone that reached out across the chasm like a diving board at a swimming pool. Except there wasn’t any water below this board.
She pointed down at the tiny shadows of Orla, Lorcan, and Nathan, who were waving frantically for her to go back. She understood why they were panicking. One small gust of wind, and she would topple over.
“The three people below are gathering troops to protect the temple. There will be Amaraq, Ethesus, and fighters from the multiverse to protect it. I am the leader, but I’m only one person. Under what authority do you think I can go inside and call up the Scorpio key?”
“I don’t care. If you want your friend to live, then you will do it.”
“Oh, you don’t understand him at all. If he could speak for himself, I don’t think he’d approve of your actions.” She felt a cool breeze brush across her back, and the sensation from the Peak returned. She sat down immediately to avoid falling over the edge in a faint.
In her mind, she heard a distant female voice. It said, “Azriel killed my parents, my friend, my foster father, and me. He killed my young body so he could drink the blood from my angel heart, hoping to redeem his sins. He has killed innocents for thousands of years and raped their souls. You must kill him.”
In her mind, she asked, “Who are you?”
“I am one of his victims.”
“I can kill him, but he’s holding Caedmon as ransom. Can you wake him?”
“Yes.”
The breeze left her.
“Are you meditating? If so, stop. I don’t have the luxury of time for that. I need you to get moving now, or else.” Azriel approached the cliff’s edge.
“Or else what?”
“Your friend will die.”
“How do I know he’s not dead already?”
“Don’t fool around with me.”
“I don’t have the luxury of time, dark angel, to fool around with you. And stay where you are. Don’t approach me.”
“All you have to do is to go down and get the key for me. When you do, I will let you and your friend leave and be happy together forever.”
“I don’t think you know what happiness means. You stay right there. One more step, and I’ll jump off this cliff. If I die, there will be no Amaraq leader, and the temple will close for the Summoning.”
“First, I don’t believe anyone would be willing to die for that key. Second, if you die, your successor will be the leader. Unless you don’t have a successor, that is, but I doubt the mages would let that happen.”
“I have a successor, but you already said you’ll kill him if I don’t get you the key.”
Azriel looked astonished. He turned and looked at Caedmon. Then he turned back and looked at her again.
“Why do you think he’s always with me if he’s not my successor?”
“No! It’s not possible. He’s my successor.”
“Since when?”
“I appointed him.”
“With his consent?”
“I don’t need his consent. I don’t need anyone’s consent. I’m the one with the power. I do what I want.” He roared and lunged at her.
She took a step backward and slipped. She grabbed the edge of the rock and dangled by one hand in the wind. With her free hand, she pulled out the box with the voodoo doll inside. She wouldn’t need to stab the doll. Simply dropping it from the top of the cliff would do. As long as the angel didn’t see what she was doing, he wouldn’t be able to fly after it to catch it. The doll would be crushed at the bottom of the cliff. And thus, so would he.
She let the box slide down her palm to her fingertips. Then a daunting thought crossed her mind—she had bluffed when she told Azriel that Caedmon was her successor, but he didn’t look like he’d been lying. He was very upset by what she’d said. What if Caedmon was his closest relation now that Azriel had claimed a master-successor relationship? Caedmon would never have consented to it. But if the relationship had been forced, would it still count?
Chapter 32
The army of freelance fighters had arrived. Lorcan efficiently gathered them together and gave them instructions. Orla kept staring at the cliff above.
“Lorcan!”
“What?”
She pointed up, and Lorcan saw Alyna dangling by a hand at the top of the cliff.
“Shit!” He turned toward Nathan and saw that he was no longer looked human. His eyes sparked with a strange color, and he was whispering a strange language into the air as if communicating with an unseen someone or something.
But he didn’t shift.
Lorcan returned to his troops. “Do we have any shapeshifters here? Anyone who can fly?”
No response.
“What kind of weapons do we have?”
They all patted their belts loaded with an assortment of handguns, rifles, saws, and daggers. One even had a large machine gun. But all of them were individual weapons and would do no good if anything happened up on the cliff. Lorcan rushed back into the temporary office to see if he could find anything that flew. This was Ciaran’s department, not his. But it was too late to call Eudaiz now.
Soon, Nathan returned
“What was that about?” Orla asked.
“I just called some friends to get some wings.”
She nodded. “Whatever it takes.” Then she raised her arms and pulled across a curtain of fog and white smoke.
“What’s that?” Nathan asked.
“A safety net.”
They heard a low hum and the sound of the earth cracking open.
“What is it?” Nathan asked.
/> “Trouble,” Orla said and withdrew the fog curtain. “Lorcan, come out here. Lorcan!”
Lorcan raced outside and saw a small army rising from the ground in the distance.
“The underworld army. How the fuck did he get this?” Nathan muttered.
“Can your magic kill them, Orla? Because I’m not sure guns and daggers will,” Lorcan said as he watched the underworld soldiers that looked quite similar to the stone statue in the forbidden city in China. Some of the soldiers looked like mummies, and some looked like cowboys.
“A multicultural underworld army. How delightful,” said Orla.
Lorcan waved his arms and signaled. The Xiilok mercenaries he had just hired charged toward the underworld army and engaged in battle.
At the top of the cliff, dangling in the wind, Alyna could see the armies clashing below. Pukak had told her about the underworld army once before. They were one of the few forces that could break the temple gate. They could be killed with weapons made of bloodstone, but if they had the numbers, they would trash the temple guards.
This army could only be raised when strong figures in power from different worlds joined forces. In addition, they needed to be endorsed to rise. If her guess was right, the dark angel had endorsed the underworld army after he realized he couldn’t attack the temple on his own. To her, that meant a quick way to kill the entire underworld army was to kill the endorser.
The opportunity was right in her hand. All she had to do was to drop the box. But thinking better of it, she slid the box back into her jacket pocket and climbed back up to the cliff.
“What was that like? That taste of death?” Azriel asked.
“It didn’t taste like anything because it wasn’t a near-death experience.” She glanced behind Azriel and could see that Caedmon was now sitting up. She kept her face neutral. “But I’m sure an old angel like you has experienced it many times. Tell me, how did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Handle the emotion. I’m sure anytime you’re close to death, it’s like the first time.”