by Diem, J. C.
I hated the idea that he wasn’t as holy and pure as he’d once been. There was one more question that had been nagging at me. “Hannah must have had at least a few female descendants. How did you know that I was the one who would be chosen to be Fate’s champion?”
“I had been watching twenty girls around your age who are her descendants,” he said. “Despite the number of candidates, the task was made easier as all of the girls reside in America.”
“How is that possible if Hannah was born in another country?” I asked then answered my own question. “Fate must have arranged it.”
“If there are twenty girls, how did you narrow Violet down as being the correct one?” Leo queried.
“I knew she was the one the moment that I was called to her when she almost suffocated in the toy chest,” he said. “A link was forged between us when she almost died. I knew with utter certainty that she was the one who had been chosen to save this world. I then stopped watching over the other girls.”
“I’m the chosen one,” I sniggered. “That sounds like a line from an epic fantasy book.” I remembered something that I’d seen a while back. It seemed like the right time to ask him about it, since we were clearing the air. “Remember the day Sam and I first encountered the raven in Central Park?”
He inclined his head. “I remember it well.”
“We stopped for lunch a few blocks away from here and I saw you speaking to Hagith and Orifiel. It looked like Hag was giving you some kind of order.” I remembered seeing him shaking his head then his shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Hagith was blackmailing me,” he said with a grimace. “She threatened to tell you about my downfall from heaven if I did not follow her orders. Like your claustrophobia, it was not something that I wanted to become public knowledge.”
I understood why he’d withheld being banished from me. It was private and it would be hard for him to talk about. “What orders did she give you?”
“She wanted me to ensure that you remained focused on your task and to advise her of anything of import that happened in relation to you.”
“Why did she bother giving you those orders when she already had Brie as her spy?” I sent an apologetic look at Leo when he flinched.
“Hagith has become very fond of being in charge,” he replied. “She believes that she and Orifiel are superior to me now that I have no rank.”
“She’s wrong,” I said flatly. “I’m glad you put them both in their places.”
“I fear it may have been a tactical mistake.”
“Why?”
“I humiliated her and she will find a way to make us all pay for my transgression.”
I couldn’t argue with his assessment. He knew her far better than I did. Angels were supposed to be above feeling petty emotions, but I knew her pride was stinging. She’d already proven that she enjoyed causing me pain. I shuddered to think what punishment she’d dole out to me the next time I went against her plans.
₪₪₪
Chapter Thirteen
Something occurred to me and I spoke before Leo could take Nathan and Sam away on their spying mission. “Our allies must have set wards in and around their headquarters. Sam will probably set them off if he enters the building.”
Leo’s brow furrowed in concern. “I had not thought of that. If this is the case, we will not be able to sneak inside. Sam might not be a demon, but he is an imp. The wards will not distinguish him from hell spawn.”
Sam hung his head, even though it wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t human.
“Brie altered the spell in here so it doesn’t affect Sam,” I reminded him. “Is it possible to change theirs?” The spell was debilitating and painful to all demons. Once they were teleported here, they were brought to their knees in agony. I imagined the spell burned them with the same holy fire that I’d been zapped with.
Nathan’s eyes roamed around the room. He and Leo could see the wards that Brie had set in place. They studied the invisible weaving of angelic magic and exchanged a look. “It may be possible,” Nathan said. “We will have to be very subtle or they will notice that their wards have been altered.”
“We should leave now,” Leo urged him. “I would very much like to discover what they are up to.”
Sam was frightened of spying on the angels, but he was determined to help. They all stood and moved into a huddle. Leo put his hands on their shoulders in preparation to leave. I gave Sam a reassuring smile then they disappeared.
My smile dropped away as soon as they were gone and I turned to Sophia. “If I’m half-angel, half-demon, why can’t I see angelic spells?”
She looked thoughtful for a moment then came up with a theory. “Without your essence, you do not have much magic of your own. I believe you can only see demonic spells because of the souls that reside inside you.”
It backed up a conclusion that I’d come to on my own. “The legion has shifted the balance so I’m leaning more towards the dark side, haven’t they?”
She inclined her head in agreement. “So it would seem. You only began seeing their runes after you ingested your first demon.”
“If I had angel souls inside me, I wonder if I could see and use their spells as well?” The horror on her face spoke volumes. “Don’t worry, I’m not planning on carving any angels open so I can steal their grace.” I was a little hurt that she’d suspected that I’d do such a horrible thing.
“You already have angelic grace inside you,” she reminded me. “It is just not in the form of a complete soul.”
It took me a moment to understand what she meant. “You mean Nathan’s grace?”
“Yes. He has infused you with enough of his essence to have forged a new bond between you both. I am surprised that this has not allowed you to see Brie’s wards.”
“I guess it doesn’t work that way,” I said with a shrug. “I must need an intact soul inside me before I can see or use angelic magic.” Once again, I was dealing with something that I knew very little about. Fate hadn’t seen fit to give me any guidance during the mission that she’d set for me. She’d unleashed me on the world without a clue of what to do and I just had to stumble my way around.
“I cannot help but wonder where Asteraoth hid your essence,” Sophia said.
She’d brought up a topic that we could only speak about when we were alone. With the boys gone, now was a good opportunity to discuss it. Everyone knew my soul was missing, but we were the only two who knew about its dual nature. “It must be in Denver somewhere. Maybe it’s in our apartment, unless it was thrown away by someone by accident.” That thought filled me with unease. Surely our apartment would have been cleaned and our belongings would have been given away by now. Someone else was probably living in my old home and was sleeping in my old bedroom.
“I do not believe that Fate would allow your essence to be discarded so easily. It is safe somewhere, but you will not be able to search for it since you are unable to leave Manhattan.”
An idea came to me and I looked at her with wild hope. “I might be trapped here, but something tells me that you’re not.”
She looked surprised then nodded in realization. “That is most likely true. I have not attempted to leave Manhattan since the wards were set in place. Since I am not an angel, I will probably not be impeded by the barrier.”
“We should test it, but we’ll need someone to go with us to teleport us away from danger if the test fails.”
“What danger are you referring to?” Brie said from right behind me.
I almost leaped off my chair in surprise. I might be able to see them when they came and went, but I didn’t have eyes in the back of my head.
“Violet has just pointed out that I might not be restricted by the demon wards,” Sophia said. Her tone was slightly cool. Her trust in the teen had been strained by her defection to Hagith’s team. “We were debating about testing whether I could leave the island or not.”
“Why would you want to leave?” Brie asked su
spiciously. She trusted us about as much as we trusted her.
“It may become necessary at some point,” Sophia replied. I admired how she avoided the question without giving an untruthful answer.
“Can you take us close to the wards so we can try it out?” I asked Brie. I didn’t particularly want her help, but she was here and we had nothing better to do right now.
“Where are Leo and Nathan?” She looked around as though she expected them to appear simply because she’d spoken.
“They’re out on patrol,” I responded. She didn’t ask where Sam was. He was less than nothing to her and he didn’t concern her at all.
“I suppose I could take you to the wards,” she said with great reluctance.
“The Brooklyn Bridge would be a good place to try this,” I suggested. “It should be busy at this time of the day. If there are enough people around, the demons might not be so quick to attack us if we set off any alarms.”
Sophia stood. “Shall we?” she said to Brie and offered the teen her hand. I pushed away from the table and moved to join them. Brie took Sophia’s hand and touched me on the shoulder. She whisked us across the city in the blink of an eye.
After I recovered from the blinding flash of white light, I oriented myself. Brie had brought us to the start of the wooden pathway on the Brooklyn Bridge. I hadn’t been back here since the night I’d accidentally set off the wards and Nathan had come to my rescue. It had been the first time I’d seen him in the flesh. He’d been even more magnificent than the brief glimpses of his face that I’d seen each time he’d saved me in the past.
It was now late afternoon and the sun would soon set. A few cyclists and dozens of pedestrians were making their way across the bridge. They didn’t notice us arrive and either stepped or rode around us without realizing it. As I’d hoped, enough people were around to make the demons think twice before attacking us.
Speaking of demons, I saw six people loitering further down the hill. “A captain and his lackeys are standing guard,” I said and nodded at the group.
Sophia and Brie turned to survey them. While Brie could see their red auras, they would look like normal humans to the clairvoyant. “I will make this quick,” Sophia said and started up the hill. We trailed along behind her as she approached the twin archways.
“The barrier should be just ahead,” I warned her.
Sophia slowed down and tensed up. I held my breath in anticipation as she reached the archways. It whooshed out again when she stepped through them without being repelled. I’d been sent flying backwards when I’d tried to traverse through the archway. The blast of demonic power had been powerful enough to knock me out for a few seconds.
“Now we know that you can leave Manhattan,” Brie said when Sophia returned. “We should leave here before the demons become suspicious.” She wasn’t particularly impressed with our discovery, but I had to hide my excitement.
The demons hadn’t even noticed us and it was doubtful that they would thanks to the bracelets that we wore. She was anxious to leave, so we dutifully gathered in close so she could zap us back to the store.
₪₪₪
Chapter Fourteen
Sophia headed to the kitchen to make a fresh pot of tea, leaving me alone with Brie. The teen hated me and I wasn’t fond of her either, so we sat in a strained silence. “Is there a reason why you came back here?” I asked when the tension grew too thick.
Her upper lip curled unconsciously at being addressed by me. “I am here to make sure that you do not get into any more trouble.” Hagith had chosen her to spy on us, but she didn’t tend to stay for very long. She popped in and out at random these days and it always seemed to be at the worst possible moment.
“I highly doubt that I’ll get into any trouble here,” I said flatly. Not unless she pulled her weapon on me again. If that happened, there was no one to step in between us this time. Sophia didn’t have an angel’s strength or speed. Neither did I. All I had was my wrath. Speaking of which, I could feel my anger trying to rise. Brie always seemed to bring out the worst in me and it took her very little effort to goad me.
“Hagith and Orifiel have made their wishes very clear,” she said icily. “An angel will be with you at all times until you have fulfilled your task. Despite Nathan’s vow that he and Leo will guard you, they are not here. They have already failed in their duty, therefore, I will remain until they return.” She would also no doubt run to tattle on us to her superiors as soon as the guys returned from their clandestine mission.
“Well, I’m going to the bathroom right now. Feel free to follow me upstairs and watch me pee,” I said with all the sarcasm that I could muster. “You never know, there’s a chance that I might fall into the toilet and drown.”
“I can only hope,” she replied not quite quietly enough.
I left my seat and passed Sophia in the kitchen. She gave me a disapproving look for teasing Brie, but she didn’t scold me out loud. I knew it was a bad idea to rile Brie’s temper, but I just couldn’t seem to help myself.
Since the guys hadn’t returned yet, I hoped that meant they’d found a way to alter the spells on the angels’ headquarters. I was pretty sure Hag would have sent someone to take me away by now if they’d been caught snooping.
I took my time in the bathroom, delaying my return downstairs for as long as possible. Sophia had tea waiting for me when I sauntered back into the front room. I took my seat just as Nathan, Leo and Sam materialized. Brie’s back was to them, so she didn’t realize they were there.
Nathan saw that we had company and motioned for Sam to make himself scarce. Sam wisely blended into the wall while Leo and Nathan took their seats. Camouflaged against the cream paint, Sam sidled towards the kitchen. It would be hard to explain why they’d taken him with them on what we’d pretended was just a routine patrol.
“Hagith and Orifiel will not be pleased when they discover that you left Violet here alone,” Brie said to Nathan primly.
“She was not alone,” Sophia pointed out. “I was here with her.”
“So was I,” Sam lied as he walked through the doorway, pretending that he’d come from upstairs.
“Neither of you are angels,” Brie responded. “Hagith and Orifiel expect one of our kind to watch over her from now on.”
I scowled at her repeated usage of her superiors’ names. “Can you even think for yourself anymore or do Hag and Orifice make every decision for you?”
She drew herself up in affront. “Someone had to take charge since we are trapped in this city. They are the most qualified for that task.”
“They are bureaucrats, not warriors,” Leo said. “Neither of them know how to lead an army.”
“They don’t have an army,” I pointed out. “They only have a few followers, don’t they?” I knew they’d been snooping around the headquarters, but they couldn’t exactly tell me what they’d learned with Brie sitting right there.
“We have located over twenty of our kin and have brought them into our fold,” Brie said stiffly.
“Over twenty?” I said in profound sarcasm. “Wow, that’s a relief. I guess I can stop searching for the remaining pieces of the object now. I’m sure you guys can stop the apocalypse from wiping everyone out.”
Sam and Leo did their best to hide their sniggers, but they weren’t very successful. Brie glared at her twin and sent a cold look at Sam.
“Did you have a message to impart to us?” Nathan asked her pointedly.
Her response was sullen. “No.”
“Then surely you should be running to Hag and Orifice to tattle on us for leaving Violet alone for a short time,” Leo said almost nastily. A flash of pain crossed his sister’s face and she disappeared.
His shoulders slumped and Nathan put his hand on the younger angel’s shoulder. “Things will not always be this strained between you,” he said.
“Are you certain of that?” Leo replied miserably. “Brie has chosen her side and she will not be standing with us.” Her d
efection had hurt him, but he’d hurt her just as badly by choosing to stay with us.
“Were you able to infiltrate the warehouse?” Sophia asked, getting us back on track.
Nathan shook his head. “It is too heavily warded. Altering the spells even a little would have given us away. Two angels were watching the entrances and another two were monitoring the wards.”
“Thanks to Sam, we managed to sneak up close enough to be able to look in through the windows,” Leo added. “We saw Hagith and Orifiel holding a meeting. We could not hear what they were saying, but Hagith was gesturing at the box that contains the metal objects.”
“They have placed it on a pedestal in the middle of the warehouse,” Nathan explained. “It is also heavily warded and is being guarded.”
I remembered the look of greed on Hag’s face when she’d retrieved the pieces that I’d gathered so far. “It sounds like she’s planning to try to use the object once I’ve found all nine pieces.” I was highly disturbed by that thought and turned to Sophia. “You were sent a vision about this thing. Did you see anything at all that could tell us what it’s supposed to do?”
She shook her head. “I am afraid not. I was merely given the impression that it would be very powerful. It will somehow turn the tide in the war against demonkind.”
“Even if I do find all of the pieces, Hagith won’t be able to use it,” I said.
“How do you know that?” Sam asked me curiously.
“Because she’s an angel and this thing was made in hell. Doesn’t that usually mean only a demon can use it?”
“You will be able to use it. Just as you can use their weapons.”
Sophia and I were the only ones who knew why I could use the dagger that I’d stolen from Bob. I was a half-breed and I was well on my way to turning to the dark side each time I went to hell.