Nameless’ eyes widened, incredulous. “You had her steal the Seal of Solomon?”
Olin was oddly silent for the first time. I could practically hear the questions racing through his mind, though. Beckett looked like he had been struck between the eyes.
And the Nephilim looked murderous. Because I had gone down to the Catacombs with them to find the Seal of Solomon, telling them I knew nothing of it.
“It’s… true,” Rai said into the oppressive silence, finally repaying her debt to my mother. “I took it with the intent of giving it to her.” She avoided the stunned stares directed her way, taking slow, deep breaths as she stared at the floor, making peace with her decision.
I gave them a few moments to digest that, staring into Nameless’ pensive eyes.
I didn’t avert my eyes as I pointed up at a darkened loft that looked in danger of collapsing at any moment. “You’ll find one of the Fallen up there,” I said. “The one who attacked us in the Templar Vaults.”
Eae roared defiantly, sounding stunned that I had given away his hiding spot, stunned at my betrayal of his trust. Because I had told him to hide there. Told him to bring the Templars here. Nameless had taken off before the words had even finished leaving my mouth, tackling Eae into a wall, sending the loft crashing to the ground. The Nephilim were on Eae in a blink, subduing him with chains designed to restrain an Angel, ignoring his continued shouts of outrage at my betrayal.
“How could you?” Eae bellowed. Nameless landed beside me, watching me thoughtfully. Olin and Beckett stared at me in open disbelief, their bodies rigid as they clutched Rai, who simply stared down at the ground, sobbing softly. Because I had sent Eae to tell them to meet me here.
And I had just betrayed him. There was a lesson in that somewhere. That I no longer played favorites. Even for an Angel.
I stared back at the Templars, showing them my resolve. As much as the consequences of my decisions hurt me – I didn’t relish in the pain to come – this was truly the only way. I would deal with my tattered soul later.
I had tried to save them from this, and they hadn’t listened. Their greed had been too great. Their desperation for power too profound. Eae wanting the Seal of Solomon. The Templars wanting Rai and the Seal of Solomon in lieu of me.
The consequences were now on them. At least I had gotten Claire out.
I turned back to Nameless. “It was the only way to get everyone to listen, to entice their greed. I’ve tried it my way, I’ve tried it the Shepherds’ way, I’ve even tried negotiating with the various powers in town. Yet they continue to scheme and manipulate. We no longer have time to coddle them.” I let my words ring out into the room, even Eae silent as he listened. “It’s time to do it your way. If you’re backing out now, then what are we doing here? Stop wasting my time.”
“Don’t presume to command me, Callie. Only He commands Angels.”
I showed him some of my human side, sneering at him. “Then show some backbone. We’re on thin ice. We can’t afford to hesitate or the demons will sense it. We must be resolved, not display a lack of conviction.” I let my eyes rest on Eae, heavily implying what a lack of conviction looked like in an Angel.
Nameless… did hesitate, the coward. “Why do you hide your thoughts?”
I gave him a level look. “I realized I don’t appreciate unwarranted scrutiny. With two Angels present, I decided it was best to keep you both out. Especially considering what we are about to do. I have found my own strength. Free will.”
He nodded after a few moments. Then he turned to Eae, a last-ditch effort for his fellow Angel to comprehend the big picture. Eae struggled harder against his chains, even knowing it was futile. “What say you, Brother?”
“If you are so righteous, reveal your name!” Eae snarled.
“I gave up my old name when I realized it only held me back, filled me with pride. The pride of all Angels and their petty squabbling that has brought us to this precipice. Now, I am Nameless. The one who will bring us back from that ledge.”
Eae stared at him incredulously, but I could see that it was also an inner realization. That a part of him agreed. That Nameless had a point.
“Lucifer take you!” Eae finally spat, shaking his head in stubborn refusal of his own thoughts. “The both of you. Do NOT do this!” he begged, staring at me.
Like water off a duck’s back, I let his anguish roll over me, and shot Nameless a pointed look, letting him see that I had been right, and that his attempt had been futile.
Because no one had known my intentions tonight. I had warned Nate and Claire away. But Rai, Eae, and the Templars had been necessary tools. This moment was for Kansas City itself. And to save my city, I’d do anything. It was all so clear to me, now.
I had been so blind…
The Whispers cooed approvingly, and I let them encourage me, let them fuel my conviction.
“We are wasting time,” I finally said. My tone made it obvious that there was the high probability that with all the different parties involved, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that reinforcements could show up if we delayed further.
Nameless nodded his agreement, though he addressed Eae one last time, sounding disappointed. “We have tried it your way for centuries, Eae. It never worked as more than a delaying tactic. We must go on the offensive. Two demons in just the last two years… No. These are desperate times. I smell our end in the air, Brother. It is coming. The End of Days. Without bold, decisive action, here, now, it will arrive sooner rather than later. I would have you see the truth to my words, but either way, I must stop it.” Eae shook his head adamantly.
“We must stop it,” I said, correcting his statement to include myself. Nameless didn’t acknowledge my response, but a sudden flash of silver in his palms revealed the Seal of Solomon. I didn’t look at it, meeting his stare with a calm, determined look.
“Our purpose is pure,” I continued. “We have to stop the demons. Learn of their plans.” Then, I pointedly glanced down at the Seal of Solomon. “That has the answers. I can almost hear them from here.”
I allowed him to see my tightly bottled grief for a fraction of a moment, to prove the price I was paying for this. “It hurts to watch them suffer the consequences of their choices,” I admitted, indicating the others in the room. “But that’s on them. I can shelter them no longer.”
“What finally convinced you?” Nameless asked me, ignoring Eae’s arguments.
I lowered my eyes and let out a breath. Then I allowed both Angels to read my mind for themselves. Eae gasped in astonishment, as if having not believed my words up until this moment. I spoke very clearly. “When I truly saw that everyone was working against each other. Especially those that should have been allies. Taking the Ring in the first place was a hope to get everyone to stand down, yet it only made everything worse. And the demons will win if they get us to continue fighting each other. It’s probably their plan. The first two were the farmers sowing their seeds of chaos. They understood that we would do the rest to ourselves.”
Nameless finally nodded. “Yes.” And I could tell that he had read my mind, assessing me for a lie. The look of relief on his face was momentarily bright and expectant, overwhelmed to find proof to my words. Then it was gone again, resolved to the dirty work ahead. “It’s distasteful, but necessary, work I do this night,” he agreed.
I closed off my mind again, needing as much defense as possible from unwarranted intrusion. I could still allow communication if I chose, but I wasn’t handing out unrestricted access. Toeing that line was taxing on me, especially after my long physically and emotionally draining day.
I shivered slightly as I settled my focus back into place like armor – a requirement when dealing with Angels – both Fallen and not. Because soon, I would immerse myself into the Seal of Solomon, and would need every layer of protection available to me as Fallen Angels attempted to scrub my soul raw.
“If anyone should have been on our side, it should have been him, th
e Demon Thwarter,” I said, glancing back at Eae with disappointment. “He wanted the Seal for himself.” Eae railed against his bonds. The Nephilim restraining him shifted uneasily from foot to foot, looking disgusted at the act of holding back an Angel, but resolved to follow Nameless’ orders – especially at the news that he had wanted the Seal for himself. And Eae was too hesitant to fight back against the Nephilim, fearing to hurt them unless they overtly did anything against God.
Nameless held out his hand, offering me the Seal of Solomon. “Give me what I seek. Help me save the world, Callie Penrose. Interrogate the Fallen for me.”
Eae was frowning in disgust at Nameless, momentarily halting his struggle, on the verge of giving up.
With a deep breath, I slid the Seal of Solomon – the Ring of Aandaleeb – onto my finger. It fit perfectly.
Then my eyes flashed white. Or the church exploded in a heartbeat. I wasn’t able to determine which, because I was suddenly in a fight for my very soul.
A cage match with Angels.
My Whispers rode with me into the fight, my own personal gang of monsters.
Chapter 56
The first thing I consciously knew was that my soul was screaming.
Tears of liquid fire rolled down my cheeks. Even though I wasn’t a physical presence here, I still resembled a human form, like a spirit. My soul was laid bare for the Fallen Angels to come and gobble me up.
I desperately gathered my Whispers around me like a blanket. “Protect me, and you shall earn your promised reward,” I stammered, spiritual teeth clacking together at the frigid cold and agony that threatened to splinter my mind. They obeyed, and I immediately felt a slight relief in the onslaught.
Very slight.
Unseen power still slammed into me from all angles, wings of claw, bone, stone, and teeth shredding at my mental armor – my last line of protection from the flapping, swooping, stained Angels. Screams, roars, agony, fury, excitement boomed through the world of chrome-tinted glass I found myself standing in – like a tarnished orb with no corners. I could faintly see the church outside the prison, eerily calm in comparison to the chaos inside the Seal of Solomon.
A perfect, circular prison of madness. And the curved glass surface was etched with millions of warding symbols, all identical – as numerous as the stars in the sky.
“FREEDOM!” a voice snarled in a ragged roar. “You promised US freedom, too!”
“Not yet,” I thought back at it, gritting my figurative teeth. “We have a show to put on, first. Give me something. Anything. Credible enough to convince them, or all of this is for nothing.”
They couldn’t comply fast enough, spouting out a torrent of names. Details. Locations. Plans. Schemes. They could almost taste their freedom, and would do anything to serve their savior…
Callie Penrose.
Even though their excited frenzy – their very existence – threatened to rip me to spiritual ribbons. I kept a tight leash on my armor, grunting against the wills of the Fallen Angels, because although they were trying to buy back their freedom, they were quite literally too powerful for me to remain for any determinable length of time in the same presence as them. They had been locked here for centuries, and the sweet smell of their freedom was only moments away.
Seconds to them. But they had grown impatient in their captivity.
Like blood thrown into a shark tank, the predators thrashed.
With a ragged breath, I focused on the church that I could still make out beyond the polished chrome glass. I left the Whispers inside with their long-lost Brothers, not sure if I would have the strength to keep bringing them back and forth with me.
The wind, screams, and gusts of power evaporated, and I was standing in the church again, panting heavily.
Nameless was staring at me incredulously, as if stunned that our plan had truly worked – that I had actually survived Round One. The rest of the room was dead silent. My ears almost popped at the sudden silence in comparison to when my mind had been inside the Seal. Nameless grabbed me by the shoulders, shaking me. “What did you learn?” he begged, eyes dancing with eager anticipation.
I recited the list of names and cities I had been given, not all of them, but enough of them. Kansas City had appeared to be the largest target for the Fallen Angels, but St. Louis and Boston had also been mentioned. Some of the names from Kansas City were vaguely familiar to me, but I didn’t know much about the other cities.
Nameless’ face turned radiant as he demanded more answers of me, tears streaming down his face as he stared through my eyes, trying to peek inside the Seal. “WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?” He screamed at the Fallen Angels, laughing victoriously.
I fell back into the Seal of Solomon, bringing his question with me. The Whispers surrounded me again, but I still grunted and gasped as the swarm of Fallen Angels battered my soul around like a punching bag. They hissed at Nameless’ question, howling at me for their promised release.
But they answered the question.
“To cripple the Riders, to burn Eden, to swallow mankind!” I repeated their anguished answers, shouting them out into the Church, feeling like a two-way radio, torrents of power washing through me – first one direction, and then another. My voice was a distorted howl as I hovered between worlds.
“He shall rise!” I screamed, repeating another answer from one of the Fallen. My heartbeat skipped haphazardly for a few moments as I received a mental image of a humanoid figure on a black throne, roaring with his own triumph that seemed to mirror Nameless’ in the church.
I knew that figure. I’d seen him before. When I had killed Johnathan, and then again when I killed Amira. But… who was he?
Nameless laughed a challenge, and I forced myself to slip back out of the Seal before there was nothing left of me. I pulled the Whispers back out with me and they immediately fled from my mind. The ring on my finger seeming to buzz as the Fallen Angels within realized I had taken away their chew toys. I ignored them. “And I will defeat him singlehandedly!” Nameless roared, eyes clouded with anticipation as he imagined the battle. “I shall be the most loved of all the Angels!”
The Seal of Solomon was a writhing fire of subarctic ice on my finger, slicing, burning, and grinding against my flesh until I was sure the very bone would freeze solid and my finger would fall off, a blackened, frostbitten digit.
I gritted my teeth, grunting as I withstood the torrents of power warring to break free from the Seal of Solomon.
Demanding I follow through with my promises to them.
I flicked my eyes about the church, locking gazes with each and every person, waiting…
Until each face was twisted with terror and despair.
Then I took a deep, shuddering breath, and managed a shaky smile as I attempted to send a message into the Seal of Solomon, rather than jumping back inside myself.
I was relieved that it worked.
It is almost time, I told the screaming, Fallen Angels. I must neutralize your foes, first… They screamed in exultation.
With supreme effort – hoping I was strong enough to survive it - I drew deeply from the Seal of Solomon on my finger, attempting to harness the arctic frost of the physical ring itself.
If I was the blood of King Solomon – as it so seemed – it should obey me.
Not just the beings inside, but the ring itself.
Scalding fire bloomed behind my eyes, and I heard gasps of disbelief in the church, and I felt more tears cascading down my cheeks at the sheer agony. I glanced up at some unknown instinct, and saw a silhouette watching me from the rafters of the church. I saw wings tucked neatly against the back of a large, four-legged feline, tail twitching absently. Glowing purple human eyes assessed me and gave me a very approving nod.
Phix. And a door creaked open in my mind, revealing sunshine and fields of flowers on the other side. I gasped as a memory slammed into me, making me blink hurriedly.
Yes. I remembered!
I immediately focused on the two Angels
before me.
Nameless cackled, head thrown back, relishing in his victory over darkness.
I glanced at Eae to find his own eyes darkening, glaring at the Seal of Solomon on my finger.
Nameless’ wings stretched wider as he lifted his arms up to Heaven, weeping. And like he had shrugged off a constraint, energy suddenly crackled around him, buzzing against me as if I stood before a live electric fence. He spun in slow circles, not seeing me, not seeing anyone as raw power washed over the church. He kept his hands out as he laughed, either unaware or relishing in it.
His eyes were storm clouds of power, lightning flashing in their depths as they grew darker – more violent – less restrained. Like he had turned his Angel volume knob up to eleven.
I noticed Eae’s fists beginning to pulse, and the chains holding him began to rattle all on their own, steaming and vibrating against his skin. Still, he stared at my ring, his own eyes growing darker with fury, flashing with inner lightning. The Nephilim held fast, but their boots were sliding against the floor, as if magnetically repelled by Eae’s loosening of power.
Between the two Angels and the Seal of Solomon on my finger, I panted, grinding my boots into the floor to maintain my footing as pews, detritus, and other trash began to whip about the church, swept up by the storm of power raging within.
There was quite literally an overabundance of epic shit going on.
The floorboards began to rattle in protest, walls cracked, and pews splintered into puffs of kindling like dandelions – the sound swallowed up by the piercing gong of the two Angels suddenly roaring like eternal horns of war.
The Seal of Solomon grew colder against my flesh, if that was possible, the beings inside furious at my delay in fulfilling my promise – and manic that I may have done something to change the ring itself, although they didn’t seem to know what. Even though I wasn’t inside the ring, they were affecting me, wearing me down. Just like I was somehow affecting them from outside the ring with whatever that bloom of pain behind my eyes had been.
Angel's Roar: Feathers and Fire Book 4 Page 26