“Shh, your mouth never tells the truth. You should let your body speak for you.”
My heart clenches tight. “I’m not lyin’ when I say I need you.”
“I need you as well.”
“And I’m not lyin’ when I say I love you.”
“Show me.”
REED
I have a gut-wrenching reaction to Evie evaporating into the night. The need to smash something is nearly overwhelming. Clenching my muscles is the only outward sign I allow. In truth, I can’t control that, no matter how much I try. It’s a physical reaction to the loss of her—the loss of butterflies between us. Tau observes me from the other end of the stone corridor. He is the epitome of control. I slip my belt from the loops of my jeans and wind the supple leather around one of my fists. The buckle I hold between my flattened fingers.
“I can’t seem to keep you two apart,” Tau says.
“I know.” I wait for him to make a move.
“Will you walk with me?” Tau gestures with his arm extended to the adjacent hallway. I assess the Power angels amassing near Tau. They make no move to attack me. “I promise you that you will be unharmed.” I straighten from my defensive posture. Powers line the corridors at measured widths, strategic in their formations. At the smallest signal from Tau, they’ll crash in on me.
Tau sees the direction of my stare. He speaks to the soldiers closest to him, dismissing them. Their reluctance to leave him is obvious, but they obey his order, departing with vicious stares in my direction. Alone in the corridor with Tau and a handful of Powers, I unwrap the leather from my hand. I thread it back around my waist. With measured steps, I walk to Evie’s father. Face to face with him, he looks me in the eyes. His are so much like Evie’s, gray with a hint of blue. “It’s this way to the reception hall. We can speak on the way.” He starts down the corridor. “Do you need anything?”
I walk beside him. “No.”
“No? Would you like a change of clothes?” He indicates my bare chest and dirt-streaked jeans.
“I’m capable of clothing myself.”
“Still,” Tau replies. He gestures to a Power behind us, calling him over, ordering clothes and food for me to be brought to the reception hall.
We turn a corner. Phaedrus is just ahead of us, waiting. His caramel-colored, owl-shaped wings are resting behind him in a nonthreatening posture. He joins us, walking beside Tau, matching his steps. I don’t acknowledge the Virtue angel. I’m aware that Evie believes Phaedrus betrayed us by siding with the Seraphim. I know Phaedrus was only attempting to keep her safe from Brennus by letting me die. I cannot fault him for it. It was a sound decision at the time. He couldn’t have known that I was not permanently lost to the Gancanagh. Even if he had known, I still cannot fault him. He has done me a service for which I can never repay him. He performed the ceremony that bound my life to Evie’s. I’m in his debt, I think, as I touch the mark of Evie’s wings on my chest
Tau notices my hand on my heart. “I may have miscalculated your role in this mission, Reed. There are circumstances at play here that suggests you were chosen for this.” His words surprise me, but I don’t show it.
“Circumstances?” I ask. I drop my hand from my heart.
“The extra sensory gift you possess—your ability to influence humans—it’s a mystery to me. I’d like to know how you’ve used it.”
“I’m not inclined to explain,” I reply. Phaedrus is quiet, but his presence speaks volumes. He’s here to help facilitate something between Tau and me.
“Your ability to influence humans eliminates free will. Without it, humans cannot be judged for their actions. They’d more than likely go unpunished for any wrongdoing, if you were to order them to sin.”
“I don’t use my influence in that way.”
“Never? You know the rules we have with humans? We’re not to interfere in their lives.”
“I know.”
“Ever break the rules?”
I shrug, noncommittal, but my mind searches for instances. I have used my talent a few times recently with Russell, I think, but I don’t say it aloud. A thought pushes its way to the periphery of my mind. I glimpse a girl on a stone floor…I lose the thought. It evaporates and I can’t seem to call it back. We climb stairs leading up to the main level.
Tau reads my silence as reluctance to answer his question. He presses on. “You attract Evie to you.”
“It’s a mutual attraction,” I reply.
“And you’ll do anything to stay together.”
“That surprises you?”
“You’re a Power. You’re designed to follow my orders, but you would’ve killed me had Xavier and Cole not stopped you.” There’s respect and admiration in his demeanor.
“I wouldn’t have hesitated. I’ve promised to protect Evie with my life. You were threatening her life.” We reach the next floor.
“She wanted to end the fight between you and Xavier.”
“And killing her was your best solution?” I cannot hide the anger in my tone, however much I wish I could.
“I didn’t use a killing tone when I blew the boatswain. It was meant to subdue her, nothing more, and thereby get your attention and that of Xavier. I did not anticipate the damage it would do to her. It was not supposed to be that way, but it did demonstrate something to me. Now I see that she’s ready to die rather than lose either of you. I also understand that you’re both here for a purpose. I cannot allow either of you to cease to be now without fulfilling your destinies.”
“So you had me thrown in a cell here and separated from my aspire.”
“No. I’ve just recovered from getting my throat cut, and then I was gathering information before I freed you. Evie just got to you first.”
Traversing a short hallway, we enter a reception area of the Chateau. Its floor is ancient marble. The ceiling is painted with scenes of angels at war. Gilded mirrors and furniture serve as elegant accouterments to our negotiations. “You believe you know my destiny?” I ask.
“Evie chose her champion. It’s you.” He stops at a sitting area in the middle of the room.
I face him, standing in front of a chair, but neither of us takes a seat. “You know this, how?”
“The ring on your finger,” he indicates it with a flick of his hand. “I thought at first that it was a random act of misguidedness on her part. It belonged to Jim, her uncle. She loved Jim more than anyone—her surrogate father. The ring was divinely made, given to him in a covert way to protect him from magic and evil. He was human; it was necessary. When I learned that she gave it to you, I believed she was attempting to transfer her love for Jim onto you.”
“What made you change your mind about that?”
“Phaedrus,” Tau says, indicating the Virtue angel standing nearby, silently watching our exchange. His black eyes are missing nothing. “He convinced me otherwise. He explained some of the pieces of information to me that I’ve been missing. You work alone—a Prostat Power. You’ve occasionally made strategic partnerships over the millennia—bands of hunter-killers. Anytime you come across evil, you don’t hesitate to annihilate it, or at the very least, send it running back to Sheol. You prefer to work alone. Why is that?”
“Killing is personal.” A Power angel appears with clothes in his outstretched arms. I ignore him. Tau indicates that he can leave the clothes on the table near us. After the Power does so, Tau waves him away with a small gesture.
“Yes, every angel has his or her own style. You prefer to make death quick; you don’t linger over prey—most times, they never see it coming. One doesn’t usually find that type of killing in a group of Power angels. Groups of Powers tend to be more vicious. They want to judge—berate—exact vengeance.”
“Avenge God.”
“Avenge,” he agrees. “And Zephyr? Does he avenge?”
“He’s more like me. We do our jobs—stalk and kill. We’re efficient. We work together when it’s warranted.”
“And you have a bond.” I
t’s a statement. I neither agree nor disagree. I don’t know how he’ll use the information, so answering would be unwise. In this instance, Tau understands me better than I’d like. “Zephyr is your closest ally. He probably saved your life more than once, and you, his. You’ve both grown close. I daresay it’s a bond of brotherhood.”
Again I don’t answer.
“It’s rare, a bond like that,” Tau continues. “We’re not made for such emotions—angels. But it’s different when one is around Evie, isn’t it? She changes us. We can’t help but feel everything.”
“Do you find a bond of brotherhood a weakness?”
“It could be,” he replies. “All emotional attachments are costly in their own way. It can sometimes blind one to the truth.”
“You speak as if you have some experience.”
“I’ve experienced it, only my bond of brotherhood is with Xavier. We grew close while taking care of Evie.”
“Has that relationship blinded you?”
“Perhaps. You didn’t kill Evie when you discovered her in your territory. By your very admission, you kill swiftly and decisively.”
“I kill fallen angels. She’s not one of them.”
“You kill a myriad of evil.”
“She’s not evil.”
“How many Power angels would’ve hesitated to find that out?”
I shrug. I know it’s not many. “You’re making a point. I’m just not clear what it is.”
Phaedrus retracts his wings and sits down. He looks expectantly at Tau. Tau gets the message. He retracts his blood-colored wings and sits as well in a high-backed chair. He offers me a seat with a gesture of his hand. I retract my wings, sinking into a similar chair. Tau continues, “I know Evie’s history with Xavier. I know she’s aware that he’s our most resourceful fighter; he’s extremely well-suited to be her champion.”
I want to kill him where he sits. “You’re saying that because he wasn’t here, she chose me in his absence?”
Tau holds up his palm. “No. I’m not saying that, but it could be true. What I’m suggesting is that she chose you before all this began.”
“You mean before she ever came here to this mission—she chose me as champion prior to this lifetime?” I clarify.
“It’s a theory.”
“Why would she do that? We didn’t know one another.”
“There could be several reasons for her to do so. The simplest one I can think of is she didn’t want to allow for the chance that she’d lose Xavier.”
It’s a logical theory, but that possibility has my stomach clenching again as if he has struck a blow there. “What makes you think this?”
“The attraction between you both is divinely made. You have to find out why she chose you as her champion.”
Champion, I think. Is that all I’m meant to be to her? “You want to know ‘why me’?”
“It could be that she chose you for your skill set. You nearly killed me. That’s no easy feat.” Tau rubs his neck where I’d slashed it. “But if there were another reason…” He stares at me as he contemplates the question, and then he asks, “Did you know her before this lifetime? Had you ever had the occasion to meet her? She would’ve looked different. She may not have been female.”
“It’s possible.”
“I’d say it’s probable.”
“I’m her aspire. I only need to know where her enemy is so that I may eliminate the threat to her life.”
“You met her enemy—in Crestwood. We believe we know the evil that attacked you. His name is Emil. He didn’t kill Evie then, not because he couldn’t, but because he needs something from her.”
“What does he need?”
“We don’t know. What we do know is he couldn’t kill you. The magic wouldn’t touch you. We believe it’s because of the ring you wear.”
“Can this ring protect Evie if I give it to her?” I try to tug the ring from my finger. It won’t move; it’s as if it is bonded to my flesh and bone.
“We attempted to cut it from you while you were unconscious. The Power who touched it ascended. Do you know why?”
“Heaven wants my help.”
“Yes. You’re not just Evie’s champion; you’re Heaven’s champion as well.”
“What do you know about the target?” I ask, leaning forward to hear every word he utters.
“He’s Evie’s inescapable and he’s more powerful than we ever imagined.”
“Do you know why he’s here?”
“It’s unclear, but I believe he’s here to confront Evie. The boatswain was given to us to protect—the key to Sheol. I didn’t anticipate that Evie had been preprogramed to use it. She’s meant to go there; for what purpose, I can only speculate.”
The thought of Evie in Sheol is a knife in my heart. “Heaven has been playing chess while you’ve been playing checkers, Tau.”
“Isn’t that always the way? We only ever get to know a piece of the puzzle—we’re left to discover how it fits. That way, no one can be forced to divulge the plan to Sheol.”
“What do you expect from me?”
“Evie needs to find a way to remember her past. We’d like you to convince her to try.”
“I want the boatswain.”
“I cannot give it to you. I am sworn to deliver it to an angel.”
“Who?”
“He’s Cherubim and goes by the name of Atwater.”
“Do you know him?”
“No. I have been searching for him for a long time. Xavier has just located him. He arrived unannounced at our mountain enclave, looking for Evie.”
“Has he spoken of the boatswain? Does he know about it?”
“He has requested an audience with me. I suspect that it is to obtain the whistle.”
“Will you meet him?”
“I leave within the hour. We are to meet this evening.”
“You’re aware it’s a weapon against half-angels? It can be used to harm your daughter. Are you eager to give that away when you don’t know how he’ll use it?”
“No. I’m not eager to relinquish it to him, especially now that I’ve seen what it can do. I didn’t know the extent of its power. I was told it would subdue, not that it had the potential to kill.”
“It’s also a key.”
“It is and I don’t believe Evie made the conscious choice to use the whistle to unlock the gateway to Sheol. She was conditioned to do it. The moment she touched it, she was no longer in control of the consequences of her actions or even aware of them. Once the gateway opened, it attempted to pull her into it.”
“Do you believe it wise to give the boatswain to an angel you don’t know?”
“I have to trust in Heaven to know what’s right.”
“What’s right for them or what is right for Evie? It’s not always the same thing. They don’t always coincide.”
“No, you’re correct, they don’t. I said I have to give Atwater the key. I never said you had to let him keep it. He’s at the same base as Evie. Will you come with me to deliver it?”
“What would you like me to do once you deliver the boatswain?”
“Whatever comes to mind,” Tau murmurs, touching his throat lightly.
“When do we leave?” I ask.
Phaedrus rises from his chair. “I must leave you both here,” Phaedrus says absently as his soft, fuzzy wings unfold from him.
“What is it?” Tau asks.
“I’ve just been given a mission.” His black owlish eyes grow even darker. “It would seem I have to depart at once.”
“Do you know your assignment?” Tau asks, standing as well.
“We’ve met. It’s Reed’s friends: the half-Seraph, the Power, the Throne, and the two Reapers.”
I lurch to my feet. “Are they in danger?”
“They’re in no immediate danger. They want my help to locate something for them.”
I frown. “What do they want?”
“They want a weapon capable of destroying a soul.”
“Is there such a weapon in existence?” Tau asks.
“Heaven says there is. Heaven says they’re looking for a Faerie weapon—one that sings.”
EVIE
A beefy Power angel with beige-colored wings brings me a delicate plate of seasoned cod. Xavier and I sit alone at our table in a posh dining room beneath low-hanging crystal chandeliers. Around us, Power angels savor the exquisite cuisine, casting covert glances at Xavier and me. I would’ve preferred to eat alone in my room, but Xavier insisted that I show myself here. He wants the other angels to grow accustomed to my presence—to my supremacy inherited through my Seraphim blood.
My skin feels paper-thin as Xavier’s hand comes within a breath of it. He picks up his wine glass, watching me, expecting me to suddenly recognize him for more than the human he has always been to me in this lifetime. I also remember him now as a British soldier from another lifetime—the life I don’t want to remember. In that time, he’d dangled the carrot of freedom before Simone—a desperate girl and she’d agreed to help him in exchange for her life. The biggest problem I have with that is I’m not entirely sure how it worked out for her. Not well, I’d imagine, because she died—I died. I’m Simone…or I was.
I scan the room for the diamond-shaped pupils and blue wings of the Cherub angel I’d seen when I first arrived. Atwater. I need to speak to him. If he knew Brennus before his fall, then I want to know why he’s still hanging around the Gancanagh and hasn’t tried to kill them. The Gancanagh lair in Houghton is not something that angels would normally let slide. Atwater knew I was a prisoner there, and yet, he’d done nothing to help me escape them. He had only come to me after Russell had freed me.
“You’re quiet.” Xavier lifts his glass to his lips and stares at me over the rim. His blond hair is dark under the dim light of the chandelier.
“Why would Atwater be following the Gancanagh?”
“I don’t know. He must have his reasons.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“Not at the moment.”
“But you can find him, right?”
“I can.”
“Find him for me.”
Iniquity (The Premonition Series Book 5) Page 17