Metatron could see and hear everything. He was spying on the entire Legion.
“I have eyes and ears everywhere,” said Metatron. “It’s how I do business. It’s how I know what’s going on before anyone else does. I want to know who’s coming and going. I want to know how many demons we’ve killed this month. I want to know how many new rookies we have and how many we’ve lost. I want to know everything that goes on in Horizon.”
He took another drag of his cigar. “Even when you step into the mortal world, it’s still my business. I own you.”
Alexa let a little growl escape. “Nobody owns me.”
Metatron raised an eyebrow. But then he demanded, “Answer the question. Did you have sexual relations with this mortal?” His voice boomed across the room, and she felt the metal bar shake in her grip. The lights faded a little.
This wasn’t going very well.
“We didn’t have sex,” she said. She kept her voice low and was careful not to show too much emotion. She felt a sorrow and an emptiness that was too still and too deep for a dead girl.
“So what did you do?” asked Metatron, his voice and demeanor more casual like before. “Something did happen. I can see it all over your face. Spit it out.”
Her fury increased as he continued to violate her privacy. “We kissed.”
“You kissed?” Metatron was still, studying her. “And what else?”
“That’s it. Nothing else happened.”
Metatron gave no hint of emotion. “I was told you’d been injured by a death blade. Why didn’t you come home then? Why did you endure the pain when you could have come to Horizon and healed yourself? Were your feelings for this guy holding you back?”
“I wasn’t ready yet,” she said. She didn’t want to share her fear of water with this pompous ass, and because she didn’t understand her private feelings for Erik, she couldn’t describe them to the archangel.
Metatron gestured for her to continue.
“I was sent to investigate a rift and also to shed some light on why some souls were missing. Coffin Grove was my hometown, so Ariel thought I was a good choice for this assignment.”
Alexa quickly retold her theory about the murder of the girls, but she left out the parts about Michael and the Hellgate.
“…and their eyes were burned—”
“What did you say?” Metatron tensed, and his girls dropped their sensual smiles.
Alexa repeated herself, “I said that their eyes were burned.”
“Burned how? Describe it.” Metatron’s voice was only one step above a whisper, and deadly.
Alexa closed her eyes so she could clearly see them in her mind’s eye. “Black and red, pealing skin, scorched all around their empty sockets. It was like their eyes had melted.” She opened her eyes. It was the best description she could come up with. Metatron’s face was stone cold.
“Who was with you when you found these girls? Was there anyone else with you?”
“No,” said Alexa. “There were a few Sensitive operatives who arrived later. We all went to the morgue together to see the other victim. Why?”
But Metatron’s lips were tight, and for a long while he said nothing.
“You know what the burning of the eyes means, don’t you? What does it mean?” Alexa was certain the archangel knew exactly what it meant, but he didn’t share any information with her. She shifted in the uncomfortable silence. “So you can understand,” she continued, “why I felt obligated to stay. We still don’t know why the souls were taken, or where. The matter needed to be investigated fully, and I still don’t have the answers. Unless there’s something you’d like to share?” She knew she was stretching his patience, but if she didn’t ask, she’d never know.
Metatron gazed back, impassive and still. His face darkened, but he kept silent and watched Alexa.
“I’d like the chance to go back,” Alexa pushed. “I was so close, so, so close. I had almost caught the demon who’d killed those girls. I almost had him. And I would have caught him, if you hadn’t sent Ryan and that stupid retrieval team.” She sighed heavily. “I can still do it. Let me go back. I’ll give you the demon responsible. I swear it.”
Metatron leaned back into his couch. “You’re not going back.”
“Why not? I’m telling you, I was this close. Give me two more days. That’s all I ask.” The archangel’s look caused a chill to run up Alexa’s spine.
“Forget it. We’re sending another team out.”
“But they’ll have to start from scratch. I know things. I can help. Let me go back. Please.”
“Listen, kid,” said Metatron. “I feel for you, I really do. But the truth of the matter is, you’re going to Tartarus.”
Her hopes suddenly burned to ash, choking fear flamed up inside her and she was afraid. “But I thought—”
“You thought wrong,” said Metatron. “You do understand that even kissing a mortal is a serious violation of the angel code. Enough to throw you away in Tartarus for the rest of your angel life.”
Alexa leaned forward, desperate. “What about my trial? Don’t I get a trial?”
“This was your trial.”
“What! This isn’t real trial. There’s no jury or anyone representing me. It’s just you and your two Barbies. Don’t I get a lawyer or something? What the hell is this? This isn’t right, and you know it.”
Alexa felt despair envelope her like icy wind. She wished she could cry, but in Horizon angels didn’t have the luxury of tears. Alexa stood numbly, listening and shaking. She was grateful for the metal bar she gripped because without it she would have collapsed to the ground.
“I had all the necessary information to make my decision,” continued Metatron. “It’s over. You’re going to Tartarus.”
CHAPTER 27
ALEXA DIDN’T KNOW HOW LONG she stood in her metal cage while Metatron and his females carried on a private discussion.
It was as though she didn’t exist, as though she’d already been thrown into prison, broken and forgotten. It wasn’t like anyone would miss her. Apart from Lance, she barely had any friends in Horizon. She stared at the ground and didn’t even bother to look at the surveillance screens that lined the wall. She figured she might as well get used to the idea of not seeing or knowing anything.
She was going to Tartarus.
Her brief life in Horizon had been brutal enough. Now she had lost even the spark of hope. There would be no life after death for her, and she would never see Erik again.
“Michelle and Jasmine are going to escort you to level six,” said Metatron as he stepped down from the dais. He blew a bird-like shape of smoke. “The Keepers will meet you there and escort you to the prison.”
“So that’s it?” Alexa’s voice cracked. “I’m done. This is it?”
“Listen, kid,” continued Metatron. “You’re going to Tartarus because of what you did. It’s how it’s done here. Right now my hands are tied. It might not be forever, but it’s where you need to be for now.” If he thought he had comforted her, he was wrong.
Alexa pushed open the gate to her cage sadly and slowly followed the two angels out of Metatron’s chamber.
To her surprise, Lance sat next to the bench outside. “And?” he asked. His eyebrows drooped gloomily.
Alexa tried to speak, but her throat burned like she had swallowed broken glass. She just shook her head.
“Tartarus?” guessed Lance. He growled deep in his throat. “You can’t be serious. She’s a rookie for crying out loud! Have you lost your minds!”
“Get lost, dog,” spat Michelle. She grabbed Alexa by the arm and steered her down the hall. “We’re taking her to level six. Best get out of the way if you don’t want to join her.”
“Fine,” said Lance trotting alongside them. “I’m coming with you. Just to see her off, that is. There’s no law against that, right?”
The two women said nothing, but Michelle let go of Alexa’s arm, and both women fell behind and allowed Alexa to wa
lk on ahead. At least they were decent enough to give her a little privacy with her friend.
“I found out what a Hellgate is,” whispered Lance, and Alexa could sense the urgency in his voice.
“It’s a rift, right?”
“It’s worse than that,” said the dog. “Yes, it opens a gateway to the Netherworld dimension, but it’s a much bigger portal. An open Hellgate would be an apocalyptic threat to the mortal world. It’s a bigger portal, for a much, much bigger evil, an evil too great to escape through a normal rift in the Veil.”
“Like what? A demon lord?”
“Worse. Much worse.”
Alexa slowed. “What is it, Lance? What could be worse?”
“A deity.”
Alexa frowned. “You mean like a pagan god? I thought they were only a myth.”
“They’re not,” said Lance, looking over his shoulder. “They’re a race of immortal supernatural entities. They were the original leaders of the religions that they established, and they were just short of invincible. They got a lot of their mojo from worshipers who fed them blood and souls, and while some of them were indifferent to humans, most were evil. Many of them ate human flesh, and they accepted virgin souls as sacrificial offerings.
“The archangels were able to destroy the less powerful deities,” Lance continued as he trotted along. “But the stronger ones were only banished to the Netherworld.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “The thing is, you can’t just open a Hellgate. You need to feed it. You need to feed it mortal souls.”
Alexa almost tripped. She looked behind her but the two females gave no indication that they were eavesdropping. And then it hit her.
“The demon I vanquished in Pine Park,” said Alexa. “It had said, He is coming. I thought it was just some desperate demon gibberish. I didn’t make the connection. But it’s clear now. It meant this pagan god, didn’t it?”
“That would make sense, yes.”
Alexa wished she could puke. “So all those girls…” She couldn’t finish. Her memory of all those dead girls was too hard to bear. But now she knew the why. Their souls had been used to feed the Hellgate.
“And,” he lowered his voice as he looked over his shoulder, “this particular Hellgate, the one in Coffin Grove, I think someone or something had tried to open it before but failed. I checked the logs and two years ago, almost to the day, two Sensitive operatives reported strange demonic activity and even used the words, ‘black rift.’” He raised his eyebrows. “Can you guess who?”
“Erik’s parents.”
“That’s right,” said Lance, and he paused for a moment. “There wasn’t much detail, except that they died horribly and their eyes…their eyes were burned.”
“Like the girls,” she whispered.
“Exactly. My guess is that they tried to shut it down. In the end they succeeded, but it cost them their lives. The Legion should have sent angels to help out, but I think they tried to cover up their mess.”
Erik deserved to know the truth. His parents had died trying to keep a monster deity from entering the mortal world. But how could she tell him if she was locked up in Tartarus?
“Someone’s trying to raise a deity,” said Lance. “The more souls it feeds on, the more powerful it’ll become. But it will only be strong enough to break through the Hellgate once it’s been fully replenished with souls.”
Alexa realized that the situation was dire. “If it hasn’t broken through yet, we might still have time to stop it then? How much time do we have?”
“Not much,” Lance lowered his voice further. “From what I gathered, Hellgates can’t stay open for that long, a few hours maybe. It needs to feed on souls continuously when it is open because the Veil keeps trying to close it. Whoever opened it knows this, and that’s why they continue to murder these girls. But the deity hasn’t escaped yet. I would have heard about it if it had. But we don’t have much time.”
Alexa’s steps faltered again. She had lost hope. She stood before the elevator quivering with anger. Metatron was sending her off without a trial now that she had all the missing pieces and couldn’t do anything about it.
“If we knew who or what was trying to raise the deity, we might be able to stop them.”
“I know who’s been trying to open the Hellgate.” Alexa told Lance her suspicions about Michael. She had seen him at one of the murders, and he had run from her and led her to a trap near the death gate.
“Well, it won’t be the first time a Sensitive went bad,” said Lance. “We’ll just have to stop him.”
There was a ting and the elevator doors swung open. She didn’t even care to look at the large and gangly orangutan that operated it. She stepped in and shuffled to the back. Lance sat at her heels. The elevator smelled of wet dog, but it wasn’t Lance.
The elevator swayed as Michelle and Jasmine stepped in and turned their backs to Alexa and Lance.
“Does the Legion know?”
“I found Ariel with Gabriel on my way here,” said Lance. “I told them everything. I’m not sure if they believe it, but I know they can’t just ignore it either. They were on their way to see the Council of Ministers when I left them.”
“So there’s a chance that they won’t believe you and will continue to do nothing? What about the safety of mortals that live around the Hellgate?” Alexa couldn’t believe how irresponsible the Legion was. With everything that had happened to Erik’s parents, why wasn’t the Legion quicker to act now? It didn’t make sense.
“Let’s hope the Legion will be there to stop it in time,” said Lance.
“And if they’re not?”
“Then it’ll be too late. The deity will escape, and it will be literally hell on Earth,” said the Scout. “Once the first pagan god comes through, it will then do everything in its power to free its brothers and sisters. And they will escape. Then mortals will be nothing more than food and entertainment for the gods. It will be the apocalypse, the end of days.”
“Level six,” said Jasmine, and the operator pressed a long, gnarled finger on the brass number six. The elevator jerked and began its decent.
“Then it’s up to you,” whispered Alexa. “You must make them stop it. You must.” When Lance didn’t respond, she pressed him again. “And you have to tell Erik. He’ll believe it, if it comes from you. They need to be prepared. You need to warn them. Promise me you will.”
“I think it’ll be better coming from you,” whispered the dog.
Alexa turned and stared down at him incredulously. “Have you forgotten I’m going to jail?”
“Are you?” said Lance. There was something mischievous in his voice.
The elevator jerked to a stop.
“Level six.” The operator sounded bored.
The doors swished open, and before Alexa had time to register what was happening, Lance slammed into the two unsuspecting angels. Their screams magnified as they tumbled out of the elevator.
Lance bounded back inside, and the elevator doors slammed shut behind him. Alexa had only seen blue sky and clouds before the doors slid shut. She hadn’t seen anything solid, and she hadn’t heard the angels hit anything after they’d fallen.
“You’ve killed those angels.”
Lance laughed and shook his body just like a real dog would do after a roll in the grass. “Of course not. They landed on the platform. I saw them. They’ll be pretty pissed, but they’re still alive.”
Alexa watched as the operator pressed the number one on the elevator panel. “You’re mad.”
“I’d rather a thank you,” said the dog. He sat back down and cocked his head towards the operator. “Orry, here, owed me a favor.”
Alexa gazed at the strange creature, but it didn’t even acknowledge her presence. “What now?” For the first time since she’d been back to Horizon, Alexa felt some hope. She was terrified and excited. A giant smile spread on her face.
Lance considered for an instant. “We can’t risk going to level five. Ryan and the others
are there. So level one it is. We’ll use the pools at Orientation. You’ll have to make do with a regular M-Suit, I’m afraid. And we can’t risk weaponing up either. You’ll have to suit up when we get to Hallow Hall. We only have about thirty seconds’ lead, so we’ll need to be quick when the elevator stops.”
Alexa trembled in excitement. She didn’t even care that she was an escaped convict. There were too many lives at stake. She needed to shut down the Hellgate. “I’ve only been to Orientation once. I don’t remember it well.”
“Don’t worry,” said Lance. “I’ll lead the way. And don’t stop for anything. No matter what you hear, don’t stop. You just keep running. You ready?”
Alexa smiled at the adventure of their escape and at the thought of seeing Erik again. She could feel the adrenaline flooding through her body as she prepared to sprint out of the elevator. She couldn’t stop smiling. If the Legion wouldn’t stop Michael, she would.
Alexa braced herself. “Ready.”
The elevator swayed to a stop, and they sprinted out. Lance let out a cry of laughter, and Alexa was amazed at how fast he ran. She barely managed to keep up with him. No wonder he preferred his four-legged body to a two-legged one.
Alexa and Lance ran through the crowds of the recently dead that milled around in the great space. They dodged an oracle driving his gigantic crystal ball with his bare feet, and they ran on towards the pools.
But then Alexa heard a different kind of noise, like the roar of a giant animal. The crowd screamed, and she caught glimpses of terror on the faces that blurred past her. But she didn’t dare a glance over her shoulder because the stench of wet dog told her that Horizon’s giant guard gorillas were right behind them
Metatron’s girls had sounded the alarm.
Alexa ran and ran as she followed the bouncing white shape that was Lance. At one point, she panicked when she thought she had lost him, but she caught sight of him again and followed him when he disappeared inside one of the offices.
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