by Helen Keeble
A pained look flickered across the Headmistress’s usually impassive expression. “Sometimes,” she said with a sigh, “you are very much his daughter.” She looked down at Faith’s hands, still clutching her own. “Suffice it to say that I have my own reasons for wanting the Hellgate closed. Gabriel thought that he was double-crossing a demon. He never realized that I was on his side all along.”
“The side of Heaven. You’re good, I knew you had to be good!” Faith paused, a shadow flickering across her expression. She drew back fractionally from her mother. “But . . . why did you fight with him after he told me about the Hellgate? You threw him out, leaving him defenseless against the demons.”
“I had no choice. You see, he did not know about the other demons at this school. I kept them concealed from him, even as I ensured they did not discover his true nature.” She sighed, pulling her hands out of Faith’s and folding them in her lap. “He was still a Dante at heart, and I knew he would not be able to restrain himself if he knew their true nature. But that meant that when he decided the time was right to tell you the truth, he did not realize that the other demons were eavesdropping.” She looked around at us all, lingering on me. “Hell is always under your feet. Listening. Watching. You would do well to remember that.”
“So you just sat back and let the demons kill your own husband?” Krystal said. “Nice.”
“It was that or have them kill him, myself, and Faith,” the Headmistress retorted. “If I had attempted to defend him, they would have discovered my treachery, and that would have been the end of us all. I had no choice.”
“You lie, deceiver.” Michaela’s dagger points were rock steady. “You’re still trying to trick Faith into sacrificing her soul to your dark Prince.”
“I will not see my daughter sacrificed to anyone,” the Headmistress said with surprising force. “Not to a Prince of Hell. Not to an angel—oh, yes, Miss Dante, I know what my husband planned for Faith, and I would have killed him myself before I allowed him to risk her in such a fashion. Even a demon may grow to care for her child.” She gestured at me. “Ask Mr. Angelos.”
I thought of my own mother, and the flames flickering over my wings guttered uncertainly. I knew that she would never have done anything to hurt me, and she had been a demon too. “But even if you want to save Faith, why do you want to close the Hellgate? Won’t you be banished too?”
“Yes, Mr. Angelos. I shall be cast down into the deepest depths of Hell, never again to return to the mortal world,” the Headmistress said with perfect equanimity. “I am prepared to face that fate.”
“She’s sacrificing herself. That proves she isn’t evil,” Faith said fiercely, pushing my still-outstretched keys down and clouting me with a wing to force me to fold my own. “Stop threatening her.” She turned her trusting blue eyes back on her mother. “I don’t care what they think. I believe you, Mother.”
“Good.” The Headmistress rose. “Because I expressly forbid you to have anything more to do with these people.”
“What?” Krystal, Michaela, and I yelled together.
“But, Mother, closing the Hellgate takes two nephilim. Two half-breeds united to produce as much light as a full angel.” Faith reached back to take my hand. “Michaela’s guardian said so.”
“Did she? In those precise words? Naming Mr. Angelos specifically?” The Headmistress raised an eyebrow at Faith’s sudden, uncertain silence. “I thought not. Mr. Angelos did not feature in your father’s plans, Faith. Channeling the light of Heaven requires a pure soul. Ask Miss Dante. You have been raised specifically to be such a channel, but do you think Mr. Angelos is as virtuous as yourself? Has he not demonstrated the vast depths of his laziness, his arrogance, his wrath?”
“Hey!” I protested.
“Oh, come on,” Krystal said to the Headmistress. “I’m not saying he’s a saint, but he’s not evil incarnate.”
“He is an adolescent male, Miss Moon, which is bad enough . . . but he is also quite literally half demon. And he is rogue, raised by a mundane unaware of his true heritage, unable to provide the discipline required to overcome his tainted nature. Have you not realized that nephilim are balanced between Heaven and Hell? They can channel the light, true, but they can just as easily unleash the forces of darkness. If a nephil reflected that power into the world, the Hellgate would become immeasurably larger, rather than closing.”
“Your aura was black.” Michaela’s voice had gone hard and cold. Her dark eyes were fixed upon me, wary. “When you broke my circle, you channeled darkness to do it. That was the power of Hell.”
“You were trying to stab me with a dagger at the time,” I snapped. “You can’t blame a guy for getting angry!”
Krystal bit her lip. “It’s not the only time, Raf,” she said in a very small voice.
“I’m not evil!” Glaring around at them, I put a hand on Faith’s shoulder. “Anyway, you don’t have a choice. You need two nephilim to do this thing, so—” I stopped. Faith had twisted out from under my hand, backing away. “Faith?”
Her eyes met mine, agonized. “What if they’re right, Raffi? My father died to give me this chance. I can’t risk wasting it.”
“But if we can’t use Raf, how can we close the Hellgate?” Krystal asked, frowning.
“Not Faith and my guardian angel!” Michaela had lowered her daggers, but now she pointed them at the Headmistress’s heart again. “It would destroy her. I’ll kill you if you try to persuade her.”
“Miss Dante, I may be a demon, but I have no desire to see my daughter harmed,” the Headmistress snapped. “No. The Hellgate can be closed as you thought, Faith. With the power of love. That is what the light is, after all. Love itself.”
The greatest light is love. The angel’s voice rang in my mind like a distant bell. From the expressions on everyone else’s faces, I wasn’t the only one remembering those words. Even Krystal looked like she wasn’t completely discounting the idea. “You’re saying that if Faith’s in love, it would amplify her light? Enough to close the Hellgate?”
“As I said, Miss Moon, Faith can close the Hellgate. She needs only to be united with a suitable partner.”
“Well then, that’s still me,” I said, ignoring that recurring twinge of doubt. “So there.”
“Is it, Mr. Angelos?” The Headmistress turned to Faith. “Or is it the one you knew it was, before a vain nephil boy caught your eye with his shallow charms?”
Faith’s eyes widened. “Billy-Bob.”
“It’s a trap, Faith!” Michaela shouted. “I see her plot now. Hell still needs you. The Prince is too powerful to possess anyone other than a nephil. If you refuse him, he can’t enter the mortal world.” She dropped into a combat crouch, crossing her daggers as she glared at the Headmistress. “But you’ve been caught by your own lies, demon. There’s no Billy-Bob at Winchester.”
“There are, however, plenty of Roberts,” the Headmistress said acidly. “Honestly, you thought ‘Billy-Bob’ was his real name?”
“I’m with Michaela. I know Ms. Wormwood was faking those messages.” I started to raise my keys again, but a black tentacle flicked out of nowhere, knocking them out of my grasp before I could channel fire down them. “Faith! She’s lying to trick you into binding with the demon Prince!”
“Kindly do not call my daughter an idiot to her face.” The Headmistress grasped Faith’s wrist, pulling her to her side. “Miss Dante, you well know that bindings cannot be forced. And that a manifesting demon cannot fully disguise their true nature. Forewarned as she is, Faith cannot fail to recognize the Prince, and she would have to accept him willingly. Do you honestly think her such a fool?”
Michaela and I exchanged glances across the tentacles holding me at bay. Faith, catching the looks, tossed her hair. “I can recognize a pentagram, you know,” she snapped, sounding very much like her mother. “I’m not about to promise anything to a guy standing inside one.” She hesitated, looking uncertainly at the Headmistress. “But even if Raffi’
s not my true love, he’s still my friend. They all are. I—”
“You will obey me!” We all shivered as the temperature in the room dropped at least ten degrees with the force of the Headmistress’s anger. “The other demons are always watching, Faith. They have no reason to fear you and Billy-Bob, for they do not realize the true strength of your devotion to him, but the mere thought of you together with Mr. Angelos fills them with terror. The succubus was assigned to do all in her power to stop that from happening. She failed. Give them any excuse, and their next attack will not be nearly so subtle.”
“She’s right.” Krystal’s fingers dug into my arm. “Even if she’s lying about everything else. Which . . . I’m not so sure about.”
“I never lie, Miss Moon. Now come, Faith.”
Faith hesitated, caught between us and her mother in an agony of indecision. “I don’t—I can’t—I don’t know what to believe! How am I supposed to know what to do?”
“Simple, my daughter.” The Headmistress held out her hand. “You must decide if you trust me.”
Chapter 31
All hell had broken loose. Girls crowded in the narrow corridor, fighting to get through to the notice board. Screams of excitement mingled with heartbroken sobs.
The Ball list had gone up.
“For God’s sake.” Krystal flattened against the wall to avoid getting squashed as yet another tear-stricken girl fled the scene of her humiliation. Krystal wasn’t even trying to get a look at the list herself. She knew full well her Peer Assessment results had her in last place. “You’d think it was the end of the world.”
“It might very well be,” I said grimly. Averaging about a foot taller than the rest of my year meant I had a clear view of the top of the notice board, even from back here. “Look.”
MASKED BALL PARTNER LIST (GIRLS)
1. FAITH JONES—Billy-Bob
Faith had just finished writing his name next to her own. I tried to push through to her, but before I could get more than three steps she’d seen me. Her blonde hair flashed as she turned and fled in the opposite direction, the crowd parting before her like water.
Someone’s elbow caught me hard in the ribs. “That’s what you get for sucking up to that conceited cow,” Suzanne spat as she shoved her way past. “How does it feel to be rejected, Rafael?”
“You tell me,” I called after her. “Who’s your date, Suzanne?” She made an obscene gesture at me as she stalked away.
“Wow, it’s a good thing the demon Prince needs a nephilim to possess,” Krystal murmured, eyeing Suzanne’s retreating back. “If anything even vaguely male-shaped and unattached turns up at the Ball, Suzanne will jump on him without question. Along with half the year group, by the looks of things.”
“Well, he has got a nephil.” Both my stomach and my fists clenched as I read the list one last time, confirming that this wasn’t some horrible nightmare. “I can’t believe Faith fell for her mother’s blatant lies.”
Krystal was silent for a moment, her mouth set in that particular stubborn line that I’d come to learn meant she was deep in thought. Then she tugged on my sleeve, pulling me away from the crowd. Finding an empty classroom, she pushed me inside and shut the door behind us. “Not that that’s likely to do anything to stop eavesdropping demons,” she muttered, glancing at it. She shook her head, turning back to me. “Raf, there’s a hole in the Headmistress’s story.”
I snorted. “Just one?”
“Yes, just one. You may not like her explanations, but at least they’re consistent. Except for one thing. Michaela didn’t know you were a nephil, right?”
I blinked at the sudden swerve in topic. “Right. So?”
“So that means Gabriel didn’t tell the Order. In fact, he didn’t say anything to them about a second nephil. And the Headmistress told us that he intended to use Faith and an angel to close the Hellgate. Not two nephilim.”
“I still don’t see where this is going, Krystal.”
Krystal tugged on her hair in agitation. “I don’t know how much I dare say out loud. Not after what the Headmistress said about the other demons always listening. Raf, we have no hints that Gabriel even suspected you existed. So why are you here?”
“Because you—” I stopped dead.
I was here because Krystal had summoned me. Using a charm from the last entry in Gabriel Dante’s notebooks. An entry that he couldn’t have written.
And there was only one person who could have planted that information in the notebooks that she knew her daughter was studying.
From Krystal’s expression of relief, she’d seen that I’d followed her train of thought. “Someone wanted you here,” she whispered, barely moving her lips. “Someone wants you to do something.” She pointed significantly at the floor. “And that someone couldn’t just come out and tell us.”
I stared downward myself, imagining unseen demonic forms lurking on the flip side of the world. If the Headmistress really was a traitor to Hell, she’d have to be incredibly careful about what she said. She’d have to appear to be telling us to do what Hell wanted, while actually giving us clues to the real plan.
Faith needs only to be united with a suitable partner.
And I heard again the angel’s silence-filled voice: The greatest light is love. If two become one, the darkness will be lifted.
“Krystal,” I said, matching her hushed tones. “The Headmistress said I might corrupt the light, that I’m not as pure as Faith.”
“But you know you wouldn’t.” Krystal squeezed my hand briefly. “I know you wouldn’t. I trust you, Raf. And I don’t think I’m the only one.”
I paced a few steps, my mind reeling as everything fit into place. The Headmistress did mean for me and Faith to close the Hellgate with our united light. The only problem was . . . “Do you think Faith has worked any of this out?”
Krystal winced. “I don’t know. She’s not talking to me either.” She blew out her breath. “I hope that the Headmistress is right, and Faith will be able to recognize that ‘Billy-Bob’ is actually the demon Prince when she meets him.”
“You do realize that we’re staking the fate of the world on Faith’s observational skills and common sense, right?”
Krystal groaned. “Oh, God. Raf, we’re in deep trouble.”
“Hey, Raffi!” Debbie poked her head around the door. From her ear-to-ear grin, I guessed she at least had a date for the Ball. “Hiding out? Good plan. You are gonna get ripped to shreds.”
For a heart-stopping moment, I thought she meant that the demons were after us. Then I realized Debbie had no idea what was really going on. “Huh? What do you mean?”
“Haven’t you seen the list?” She winked at me. “Open season just got declared.”
Krystal and I exchanged puzzled glances as Debbie withdrew again. “It’s a bit clearer,” Krystal said, leaning out to check the corridor. “Let’s go see what she was talking about.”
I felt like I had even more of a target painted on my back than usual as we stepped out into the corridor. The girls still lingering nearby were pinning me with identical stares of desperate hope. And as I got close enough to read the other notice on the board, I realized why.
MASKED BALL PARTNER LIST (BOYS)
1. RAFAEL ANGELOS—
That was all that was printed on the notice. Krystal and I both stared at the empty space next to my name.
“Do you think I can pick whoever I want?” I said slowly.
Chapter 32
It’s not much of a costume,” Lydie said dubiously. She eyed a nearby group of sixth-year girls, glorious in white party dresses and feathered wings. The courtyard outside the chapel had been hung with hundreds of fairy lights, so that the milling girls seemed to waft through a star-filled night. “Everyone else’s is much better.”
“Hey, it’s the best I could do.” The theme of the Masked Ball was “Heaven and Hell.” The Headmistress had a terrible sense of humor. “It wasn’t like demon costumes form a big part of my da
ily wardrobe.” I could have done a really excellent angel, but of course boys had to be the bad guys. I was making do with my regular all-black school uniform, minus the jacket and tie, and accessorized with Krystal’s old pentagram charm and some other bits of occult jewelry my girls had managed to scrounge up. “Tell everyone thanks for finding this stuff.”
Lydie nodded, dropping her gaze as if having suddenly found something fascinating about the flagstones. “We studied medieval tournaments last year in History,” she said, apparently at utter random. “Did you know, if a lady really liked a knight, she’d give him a token, like a scarf or something, for him to wear. It was called a ‘favor.’ It was to bring him good luck in battle.” She thrust something out at arm’s length. “Um. Here. I made you this. For your costume.”
The homemade devil’s horns were just cardboard, glue-gunned onto a red plastic headband, but Lydie had really gone to town on the glitter and sequins. Very solemnly, I knelt on one knee so that Lydie could fit them on my head. She adjusted them carefully. “Thank you, Raffi,” she whispered. “For trying.” Then she blushed from throat to hairline, and fled.
“What in the name of God have you got on your head?” Krystal said from behind me. “You look like a cow trying to pass as a unicorn.”
“If you mock my knightly favor,” I said, rising and turning. “I shall challenge you to—”
My words died in my mouth.
Her gossamer-thin white tunic floated over her curves, fluttering with every movement. Golden chains secured the fabric, highlighting her slender waist. Matching gold sandals laced high over her smooth, elegant legs. She was wearing her hair up, exposing the delicate, vulnerable sweep of her neck. Another golden chain wound through the intricate braids, catching the light like a halo. A small pair of white-feathered wings completed the angelic effect. She could have just stepped down from one of the stained-glass windows.