by T. G. Ayer
Julian nodded. "I know. Nothing's easy right now, is it." He smiled.
A moment passed that felt strangely comfortably and a little too domestic for Evie's liking. She looked at her hands again and cleared her throat. "I want to see Daniel," Evie said softly. She didn't look up at Julian. She knew she'd see those dark eyebrows raised, disbelief and exasperation in those beautiful black eyes. She was pretty sure she felt his tension thickening the air easing through the space between them like a winter cold front.
Dead silence greeted her.
Evie looked up slowly, steeling herself to face him. Julian's eyes glittered, anger accenting both coal-black orbs. "You must be insane." The words were clipped and cold, sending ripples of hurt deep into Evie's heart.
She gazed at him, and hesitated. Then she took a deep breath and said, "I have to see him, Julian. Please try and understand." She paused. Swallowed. "He is my father."
Julian paled. "Who told you this?" His tone was harsh and disbelieving.
"Gavriel. He told me the truth after they took Daniel to his cell."
Julian was silent for a long time. A nerve throbbed at his temple, his eyes grew darker. There was no way to tell what he was thinking and Evie didn't dare to ask.
At last he answered. "Father or not, do you really believe it’s worth the effort. He didn't exactly seem the loving father type to me. Especially when you recall that he wanted to kill you." His voice came out harsh, grating.
"No," Evie said slowly, pain fisting within her chest. "No, I don't think he would want to see me. I don't really think he would care either way."
"Then why do you want to do this to yourself?"
"Because all my life I wanted to find the angel who was my father. I spent my life thinking he was an angel called Gabriel. And when I met Gavriel and learned of his past and got to know him better, a small part of me hoped it was him. It should have been Gavriel. It should have." Evie's voice broke as she sank against the back of the couch and rested her head in her hands. That head felt too heavy to hold up. Suddenly, Evie rose and paced the floor, rubbing her palms against her pants. "It should have been Gavriel," she whispered to herself. Julian would hear her pained words but she didn't care. He didn't move, didn't say anything. He seemed to sense that despite her pain, Evie wouldn't want hugs and soothing words. And he was right. She needed strength.
Evie stopped pacing and looked at Julian just as he looked up. "I have to see him face to face. Tell him who I am. I want him to answer for my mother's death." Evie's eyes shone, moist with a kaleidoscope of anger and grief.
"I still don't think it's a very good idea, Evie." Julian shook his head. "Tartarus is a dangerous place. And the way there is treacherous."
She shrugged. "I'll have your blessing, the King's blessing."
Julian sighed, frustration furrowing his brow. He scrubbed his head, mussing his hair. And Evie smiled, though she hid the happy expression. Julian could wring a smile from her on her bleakest day. His fingers sent his hair poking off into twenty different directions; quite endearing actually.
Too endearing.
"Then let Gavriel come with me-"
"Where is Gavriel going with you?" Gavriel walked in the study, crisp white shirt tucked into a pair of dulled black leather trousers. He pulled off the look, managing to exude a calm that Evie knew was a mere facade. The sharp jut of his jaw below his left ear, and the stiff rise of his shoulder confirmed he was still in pain. Naturally his physical agony would have disappeared to where-ever it was that archangels sent their pain - unlike mere Nephilim who healed slower and hurt longer.
"To Tartarus," Evie said, staring at his face, her own bright with defiance.
"No, no, no, no, no." Gavriel shook his head while wagging his finger at her remonstrating at her as he spoke each 'no'. "Tartarus is no place for Nephilim. Dangerous... fire....Lots of mean and ugly prisoners."
Evie huffed. "Stop making fun of me - this is serious."
"What? You really want to go to Tartarus? Next you will be saying you want to speak to Dan..." he trailed off staring at her as if she had grown two heads more grotesque than poor Cerberus.
Evie folded her arms and raised an eyebrow while Gavriel's jaw tightened, the muscles of his neck taut. He didn't like it but that was his choice.
"Evie's insisting on meeting with him. I don't think it's a good idea." Julian now stood at the mantelpiece, and stared at the flames behind the grate, as if they would jump out and bite him if he dared blink.
"I have to go. And I told you why." Evie folded her arms her shoulders tight. Then she faced Gavriel, her eyes narrowed. "And how come Gavriel's walking around a free man if he's supposed to be in his cell, paying for his sins?" She hadn't meant to sound ungrateful but she found it odd that he suddenly seemed to have the run of the place.
Julian cleared his throat. "Gavriel has done Hades a great service. He saved your life and the Seals from Daniel. I thought he deserved a small reprieve. And I've discussed it with the Council of Judgment- they agree."
"So he will return to his prison eventually?"
"Evangeline, you sound like you want me back in my cell?" Gavriel teased but she didn't even look in his direction.
Julian nodded and Evie realized she didn't like the idea very much. "I don't think its fair."
"To be honest, I agree. But there is little that I can do about it. Unless Gavriel escapes I have to send him back to his prison." A wave of ice dashed into Evie. Escape? Was that what Julian and Gavriel had planned? If so she wasn't going to disagree. Gavriel didn't belong in an eternity of Hell even if he'd been relegated to Hades and not the burning depths of Tartarus.
Evie nodded, then turned her thoughts back to her current task. "So when can I leave? Am I allowed to fly? Can you show me a map or something so I can find Tartarus?"
"You are insane." Gavriel was fairly vibrating with anger. His face had taken on a distinctly uncomfortable shade of blue. Evie swallowed. "Why in Heaven's name would you want to even talk to him? He tried to kill you. Would have killed you if I had not stopped him."
"Don't you think I know that?" Evie asked, her eyes icy? "But I do need to see him face-to-face. Say my piece. And I need answers."
Gavriel regarded Evie, his forehead contorted in a scowl, as if attempting to solve the puzzle of her craziness. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Evangeline?"
"Can't you understand that it's something I need to do? He let my mother die. He left me for dead. He killed Patrick. He has to be held accountable."
"That's what Tartarus is for," said Julian wearily. "He will get his punishment."
Evie sensed she was going nowhere fast. Neither man would relent.
She gritted her teeth, impatience making her fingers curl into fists. Julian was in charge, she would give him that. But, Evie had one last card to play. "If you don't allow me to see Daniel I will not release the Vows of Ascension. That way I will be Ruler and no-one can stop me from seeing him," she finished carefully, knowing her words would hit home. Hard.
Both men stared at her, flabbergasted at her audacity.
Gavriel shook his head.
Julian just blinked.
The room fell into an ominous silence. Neither men would appreciate being pushed into a corner but Evie had the upper hand. And they both knew it. Julian's jaw tightened.
"Evie, I only want to protect you, but if it means that much to you then I can't object. You are, as the New Ruler, in control. You may do as you wish." From the look on his face those words must have been very hard to say. He looked stiff as if he was trying to keep his emotions out of his expression. He took a breath before saying, "Gavriel should accompany you though. Having been there before, Gavriel knows the way."
"Thank you," was all Evie could manage.
Julian nodded abruptly. "When do you wish to leave?"
"I have a little less than two weeks left of my decision time. The sooner we leave and return the sooner we can get the Ascension Ceremony completed."
"Do you know how long it will take you to get to Tartarus? The route is treacherous, thus making the trip longer."
"That's why I have Gavriel," Evie cut in quickly, still sensitive about mentioning her true nature to Julian. Gavriel nodded.
Julian, outvoted, acquiesced. He rose and walked to Gavriel. "Unfortunately, it is not as easy as going straight to Tartarus. You will need to meet the Gods of Judgment and obtain permission." Then Julian turned to face Evie, his brow furrowed. "Should the gods request you to perform a task, you do so at your own peril. Understand that there is nothing certain about entering the prison of uncountable souls of evil."
Evie nodded. Nothing she heard him say had done anything to change her mind.
Julian turned to Gavriel. "And Gavriel?" The archangel looked at the king of the underworld a curious expression to his face. His features tightened when Julian spoke. "If she is hurt I will hold you responsible."
Gavriel nodded. "I will guard her like my own kin, Julian. You need not doubt my intentions. She is like my very own child."
Evie and Gavriel left the room. Only the sound of their heels on the softened moss-carpet broke the silence of the halls.
Chapter 15
Evie and Gavriel picked their way down a rock path outside the warren of black tunnels that was the royal palace. The path that would take them to the Temple of Judgment. Gavriel seemed to know his way around, moving down passageways unerringly until he reached the exit that led to the pathway. Evie hung back a little and refrained from asking him any further questions. He still gave off an aura of seething anger, although it had simmered down a few notches from potent fury.
So he was angry that she wanted to see Daniel.
That was really his own problem - it had nothing to do with Evie. In fact, the way she saw it, it was all a bit of Gavriel's fault anyway. If it hadn't been for him she wouldn't be alive. And it was with his falsehoods that he'd given her to Patrick to raise. His lies, which she had been brought up on.
What a sham! To grow up worshiping a man who wasn't really yours to worship. Evie wanted so desperately to destroy every particle of Daniel's blood which ran in her veins. But she couldn't deny her parentage any more than she could deny her wings. She sighed.
Daniel was just her sire.
That was all he was to her. All he would ever be.
Now she followed Gavriel as he led her lower and lower into the bowels of Hades. They followed a gritty path peppered with shards of fine black stone and uneven black gravel. A tiny river of molten lava hugged their gritty path. The angry stream spat red sparks of super-heated rock as it traveled lazily beside them. Heat licked at her, from her thigh to her arms to her cheeks. Beads of perspiration dotted her skin, running down her spine until she felt a wet patch at the waistband of her pants.
Gavriel walked on, unaffected. No sweat, no discomfort, not even the slightest sheen of cession on his angelic forehead. Coarse black sand rustled beneath their feet. Gleaming black rocks littered their path, slowing them down as they made their way around the obstacles. Evie slid left, the incline to the fiery river a little too steep for comfort. She scrambled up the steep rise sending a fall of rocks splashing into the molten stream, wishing she could just fly where they needed to go.
Then Gavriel took a sharp right, and Evie gasped.
The path rose, up a steep incline, bordered by twenty foot rock plinths. Lights flickered beyond the path, shivering shadows beckoned.
"Is that the Temple of Judgment?" asked Evie.
"No. It is merely the entrance to the path. It is a long way," said Gavriel before he hurried off.
Gavriel and Evie followed the path in silence, not even their feet daring to break the peace and quiet. A small mountain blocked their path, split by a set of stone steps cut out of the ebony, grey-streaked rock-face. The path glowed, lit by red flames reaching and twisting from iron torches fixed to the walls.
Evie titled her head, following the path further up ahead. At the peak of the mountain sat a small temple. A few columns had pitched over, spilling broken white stone across torn marble tiles. The gleaming columns that remained standing tilted precariously, threatening to topple over any second. The gods of this tiny temple was surely nowhere to be found. The place felt forsaken, the dull ache of it echoing in Evie's gut.
In silence they began their climb, avoiding the cracks in the steps. It didn't take long for them to reach the top of the steep staircase. Gavriel stopped before her and Evie moved forward to get a better look. The center of the black marble floor rose and fell, ripped open by an enormous crack, as if the ground had decided it didn't like the ancient Greek architecture, then decided half-way through it wasn't worth the effort.
The gash in the floor snaked ahead, veining into the dark depths of the temple. They followed as the crack grew into a gaping maw, and followed even further until they saw how it ended; into a deep, bottomless ravine.
Evie glanced up at Gavriel. "Now what?" Gavriel raised an eyebrow and nodded in the direction of the shadowy pit.
"That's where we're headed?" She asked eying the pit dubiously. "Does it even go anywhere?"
Gavriel snorted. "Come Evangeline, we'd better get going." He thrust his wings into the darkness surrounding them. They hovered above him, almost disembodied in the thick blackness. Evie sighed and shucked her own wings out.
"Is there any other way in?" she asked hopefully, recalling Baaruk's warning about angels in the underworld.
"Sorry Evie. This is it." He rose off the ground and glided over the edge, hovering over the gaping pit.
Evie swallowed as ripples of fear undulated through her gut. She clenched her jaw shut. If Gavriel thought it was the best way then who was she to disagree.
With wings fluttering and sending wavelets of hot air surging around them, Gavriel and Evie descended, further into the belly of Hades. Down there somewhere within those fiery depths was Tartarus.
The darkness was surreal. Evie had never before experienced the utter lack of light which greeted her as she sank deeper into the gaping maw of the earth. She wasn't afraid, just disconcerted by the sheer blackness around her. She wasn't comfortable with being unable to see where she was going. Soon, the faint glow of Gavriel's wings below her caught her frantic eye.
She breathed a sigh of relief, reaching out so that her fingertips traced the rock wall as they dropped lower and lower. They didn't speak much during their descent.
What could they talk about? Why he lied to Patrick about being her father? A lie by omission is still a lie. Why he'd saved her? Besides, conversation itself was difficult in the dark. All she had to do was hover and lower herself a little at a time.
Mostly they fell slowly. And it was the slow part that was hard. Left alone in the dark with just her thoughts for company was not a healthy thing for Evie, not right now, when so many facets of her world were tumbling down around her feet.
She cleared her throat. "Gavriel?"
From below his voice rose, disembodied and strange, and sharp. "Pay attention to the walls of the hole Evie, they are dangerous. One wrong move and you could be seriously hurt. Here in the Underworld both our abilities to heal are slowed to an almost human rate. You won't die, but you would jeopardize your chances of reaching Tartarus." That was all he said. Then he fell into silence again and Evie figured there was no point in talking to him again if he was going to bite her head off like that.
Her entire life had taken a turn for the crazy. Julian's beautiful face had touched her heart. He'd been angry, and disappointed in her. Of course, he would be. Lies did that to people. He would forgive her with time. He seemed like he'd wanted it to work out between them.
Before she'd entered the Underworld, Baaruk, the albino demon friend she'd made had been adamant that Evie keep her angelic identity a secret. Adamant that her very life depended on that secrecy. She had trusted his advice and rightly so. Persephone would have had a field day with that information given that she'd already tried to termin
ate Evie once during her stay in Hades.
Right now she had to concentrate on what she would say once she met her father. Evie shuddered. She bit her lip, pressing into the soft flesh. Seeing him, meeting him face to face, it was the right thing to do. She was sure if it. The air moved hot and angry around her, ruffling her hair and throwing strands around with wild flair.
Truthfully, she was being selfish. This was all about Evie.
She wanted to look into his eyes when she told him who she was. She wanted to see his reaction, to know for herself what he thought of her revelation. Perhaps she would see some flicker of regret or remorse in those eyes.
Evie shook her head. No, she wasn't going to see Daniel for a family reunion. She just wanted him to be accountable. To acknowledge he was responsible for her mother's death. It was better than leaving Hades without any sort of closure.
She gritted her teeth. Again, the memory of Daniel walking the halls of Greylock for this past decade, twisted within her like a hot knife. She'd been face to face with him countless times in the last few years. But, that was the strangest thing- face to face and never the slightest knowledge or awareness of who he really was.
Without Gavriel's angel light - anjelo lumino, they would have seen nothing below them. Maybe they would have seen the eerie vein-thin lines of red lava within the rock-face, but that would have been where their ability to see would have ended.
The point of the depths of hell was to be as dark as the depths of hell. Evie's lips curled into a small smile. Until she remembered where she was.
Gavriel lit their way revealing the reality of the tubes shape and design. It did not descend straight down into the earth. It curved and twisted in a cruel and ungainly fashion. As if some molten snake had slithered its way deep into the core of the earth, twisting and turning as it went.
Resigned, Evie lowered herself after Gavriel in silence.