Broken glass fell out of her hair and off the back of her dress. The glass crunched beneath her boots as Haydn did what he could to pull the glass out of her hair.
“My memories are starting to return to me after centuries of being bound, but I don’t have all of them yet, so I can’t be sure. I can only go by what Lucifer told me,” she shrugged. “I haven’t been able to muster the courage to ask Gabriel the real reason why I was forced to become a mortal.”
Haydn raised his eyebrow at her. “You can’t trust Lucifer. He’ll say whatever warped thing comes to mind to maintain control over someone,” he said dismissively.
“Very true,” she said in agreement. “However, you should know that as one of the Heads of Hell, I’m required to protect Lucifer and Hell, and if you decide to join with me, you will need to do the same. Not many know this, but Lucifer is my Blood Master because Maraquette used Aganon to try to kill me. Thankfully, they are both dead. If you accept me as your master, there will be a lot that I expect from you. We may not always see eye to eye, but I expect you to follow me,” she said, trying to make him understand the importance of what he was accepting.
He reached down and pulled out two of his throwing knives, gripping them tightly. “I trust you to know what the hell you’re doing at any given moment, so I will follow your lead. If you tell me to protect Lucifer, I will, but don’t expect me to be friends with the bastard,” he grimaced.
“I would never ask you to be friends with him,” she said. Looking down at his knives, she frowned. “I’m assuming that your knives give you some kind of false sense of comfort, but they won’t help with this fight.” She motioned to the melee outside.
He flipped the knives in his hands and placed them back in the holsters. “They help me think, especially in the middle of a battle,” he nodded.
“I get that. If they help you come up with a plan, I’m open to suggestions. You said that you trust me to know what to do, but we’re short on options. Liam is searching for Hades’ scent, but he’s coming up empty. Aello must have flown him into town, so there’s no trail.”
She moved her back to see how quickly she was healing. Though her bones were knitting back together much faster than they would have with the Celestial Bonds on, she still needed more time to recover before going another round with Aello. She also needed a saner plan of action that didn’t involve taunting the Harpy.
“Knowing Hades, he’s probably hiding. I’m not sure what to do about Aello. I’ve never seen anything like this Harpy before. Balthazar has never lost a fight to my knowledge and he can’t scratch the damned thing,” he sighed.
Stretching her neck to see how much range of motion had returned she ducked down to look through the broken window of the restaurant she had crashed through. The Warriors, or what was left of them, were furiously battling the Harpy. Many of them were laying injured on the ground. If none of her Predznak or the Warriors could harm Aello, then they were screwed without Hades. She rubbed her forehead hoping to come up with an idea. She cringed when she felt the metal of her ring digging into a cut on her finger. Sighing, she looked down at the silver band holding the red gem with the slash of black through it.
“I managed to mess up the Harpies pretty badly the first time I encountered them. Even though I believed I was a mortal, the Destroyer rose up as a kind of defense mechanism when the Harpies took off my ring. I’m afraid that if I take off my ring now, I could flatten the entire town, or worse, the entire country, but I might be able to stop Aello. My power still isn’t controllable. Back in Greece, I hadn’t worried about killing everyone because I didn’t know what I was capable of doing. I hadn’t cared much about the death toll or the giant craters and cracks in the countryside while grieving for someone I lost. If that is the level of destruction needed to hurt a Harpy, it’s not worth it,” she said feeling even more hopeless than before.
Haydn grabbed her shoulders and pulled her chin up until she was forced to look at his face.
“You didn’t have your Predznak back then,” he smirked.
She shook her head. “I had two Predznak under my command and I almost destroyed Portland and New York City,” she confessed.
He smiled and knelt down in front of her. “Now you have four under your command,” he said firmly.
She looked down at him, surprised to see the commitment in his eyes. “I appreciate the offer, but Alazar is unsure about what he wants to do. I could easily lose him if I force him to choose between me and living in Heaven. Even if he says yes, I don’t know if four angels are enough. I’ve caused so much destruction and loss of life. You have no idea what I’ve done,” she said tearing up. She was afraid to unleash her power even with four of her angels following her.
“Alazar will follow you. I’m sure of that. I may have sort of tempted him to get off his indecisive ass and decide his fate,” he said unabashedly.
Her mouth fell open. “You looked into Alazar’s eyes and tempted him? I didn’t think anyone was brave enough to do that,” she said.
“I give Haydn a lot of credit for looking me in the eyes. He’s got balls and he’s lucky he still has them,” Alazar grunted from behind her. She turned to see Alazar limping through the broken wall, holding his right side. He was bleeding from a nasty wound over his left eye and his broken arm hung at his left side. Balthazar and Tristan were right behind him, also limping and bleeding.
“You needed someone to help you get your head on straight,” Haydn chuckled.
Anjali couldn’t believe that her angels were actually joking with each other. “I seem to have missed your bonding moment,” she chuckled.
Alazar shrugged. “Yeah, good times. I love being tempted by the other Predznak. It’s my favorite thing to do,” he said snidely. “Regardless, Haydn helped me to see the truth. I told you that I accepted you as my master, but I never relinquished my command. I led the Predznak for so long in your absence that I didn’t know how to let go. You told me that it wasn’t my place to question your commands or to worry about things beyond my control because you were the final authority. You were right. I was so worried about keeping everyone safe and together that I forgot to let you lead. I’m sorry for not surrendering my command. It wasn’t my place to worry about Tristan fulfilling his mission. It was your responsibility to make sure that he did what he was supposed to do. I messed up. That’s why I took my defeat at the hands of Azazel, Brend and Pax so hard. I still thought of myself as the leader and failing you wasn’t an option. I let the prisoners prey upon my fear of failure until I doubted my abilities and myself. I forgot that I wasn’t invincible.” He limped closer and fell to his knees in front of her. “Tristan is your responsibility, My Lady, not mine. I accept that I’m allowed to disagree with your commands, as long as I carry them out. I’m sorry for screwing things up so badly. Will you accept me back?” he asked. His eyes teared up as he waited for her response.
Anjali put her hand on his shoulder. “You don’t want to go back home to Heaven?” she asked, concerned that he still might change his mind when presented with the offer.
A tear spilled down his cheek when he shook his head. “You are my home.”
Balthazar knelt down on his good leg, with his broken leg extended to the side. He winced and did his best to kneel in front of her. “I’m with you until the end, My Lady,” he said bowing his head.
She smiled at them and put her other hand on Balthazar’s shoulder to acknowledge his commitment to her.
Glancing up at Tristan, she held her breath. He was leaning against an undamaged section of wall, cradling his arm. “Is it true that you are allowed to go back to Heaven whenever you wish?” she asked, finally acknowledging his out clause.
Tristan chuckled darkly. “And there it is. Alazar told me that you knew about my deal with Father, yet you never mentioned it to me directly. Why not?”
Biting her lip, she nervously looked around the demolished restaurant and the dent she had created in the wooden bar where her head hit
against it. “I was afraid to hear your answer,” she replied. “I wasn’t ready to lose you.”
He gently pushed himself off the wall and shuffled toward her. “Yes, it’s true that I have an out clause, but Alazar only knew half of my deal. Father knew that becoming Fear would be more difficult than becoming Desire or Deception. It’s a temptation that no one wants to experience. Why would anyone intentionally want to combat terror and panic every second of every day? If lost to fear, the angel who wielded the temptation would be lost to his master and Heaven. He could be driven mad by his own power. Father was right of course, since it came to pass. I was lost, so very lost to any sense of rational thought. I had no way of combatting it without my master, which was why I was allowed to return home to Father and Heaven without any repercussions or consequences, until I joined with my master, which is what I have been trying to do since the battle in New York,” Tristan explained. There was an edge to his voice as he glared at Alazar.
Anjali was shocked. Tristan was allowed to return home only if he was unclaimed by her. “That’s why you were so adamant about joining with me. I thought you were trying to prove your loyalty. I didn’t know that you were trying to commit to me because you had no intentions of returning to Heaven,” she said as the full impact of the truth hit her.
He nodded and shuffled closer to Alazar. “Despite everything I suffered, and in the face of crippling fear, I never once wanted to go back to Heaven. Certainly, the thought crossed my mind, but I never fully considered using my out clause. I clung to the hope that everything I was feeling would disappear the moment that I joined with my master. I didn’t want you to question my loyalty or my commitment to the mission, so I waited until the day I would be with you. It’s true that I made a mistake in allying myself with Fenris, because I allowed my fear to cloud my judgement for one stupid moment. I regretted my deal with the Wolf God immediately, but the deal was done. When I came to Hell to find you, I was fully prepared to join with you, but I understood your hesitation. I had proven myself to be a traitor. Since that day, I have wanted to fulfill my destiny and be one with the Bringer of the Apocalypse,” Tristan said. He fell to his knees in front of her and reverently bowed his head.
Alazar cleared his throat and looked over at Tristan. “I’m so sorry for everything. Please forgive me,” he whispered.
Tristan let out a long breath. “I understand your reluctance in believing me capable of standing by Anjali’s side. I truly do. I fell victim to my temptation and became completely useless to you. I regret not being strong enough to wait for her. I wish that things had been different, but I can’t change what happened. I can only tell you that I’m in this until the end. Of course I don’t know which will come first right about now, the end of our lives or the end of the world, but I’m here no matter what comes to pass,” Tristan declared.
Anjali smiled at her angels and accepted their commitment to her. “It’s time,” she announced.
She slowly pulled off her ring, handed it to Alazar, and took a deep breath. She needed to focus on her angels and not allow her power to escape. “Do you Alazar accept me as your one true master?” she asked.
“I, Alazar, the Angel of Death, accept you, Anjali, the Bringer of the Apocalypse, as my one and only Master so that I may serve as your Predznak, until my end of days. I vow to help you bring about the destruction of the mortals when you deem that they have lost their faith in God and are no longer worthy of His love. I will be loyal to you and to the other Predznak from this day forward. No other shall sway me from carrying out your will as God and Heaven have decreed. All I do henceforth, l do to serve you as you serve God and Heaven.”
She took Alazar’s hand and accepted his reaffirmation. With her ring off, she could feel the pain of his injured arm. She pushed as much power into him as she could to aid with his healing. She felt the part of his power that lived inside of her stirring inside her chest. She had missed her Angel of Death more than she could express. “I’m glad that you came back to me.”
She turned to Balthazar and shared her power with him, hoping to heal his broken leg.
Finally, she turned her attention to Haydn and Tristan. They both declared their loyalty to her and spoke the same vow as Alazar, except this time she pushed her power into both of them.
“I, Anjali, the Bringer of Apocalypse, accept you Tristan, as my Harbinger and Angel of Fear, and you Haydn, as my Harbinger and Angel of Distrust. You shall both serve me henceforth as I do God’s will and the will of Heaven. We shall smite the faithless and prepare for the day that paradise is once again achieved.” She felt her power spike when it mingled with Fear and Distrust’s power. She could feel Tristan’s respect for her and Haydn’s faith in her. Pulling her power back, she left a part of her inside of them but claimed a part of their power that merged with her heart and soul.
She felt stronger with all four of her angels under her command and she embraced the feeling of wholeness she experienced when joining with her angels. She prayed that the four of them were enough to help ground her.
When Alazar presented her ring, she shook her head. “No, keep it safe for me. I have a Harpy to fight.”
Chapter 16
Liam raced through the town searching for any signs of Hades or Viktor. If the Harpy were careful not to touch down, finding Hades or Viktor’s scent would be nearly impossible.
He shifted back into mortal form and disappeared from the street. He appeared at the top of a tall building and crouched down so that Aello wouldn’t spot him. He tried not to be worry about Anjali’s reasons for shutting off her communication with him and the other Nachtghuls, but it was difficult after spending so much time away from her. Knowing that she must be in pain, he had to hurry and find their hiding place.
Assessing the situation, he thought about what the Harpy wanted. Since she took Viktor instead of Anjali, Aello wanted Anjali to find her. The odds were high that Aello would use Viktor as leverage if she started to lose the fight, which meant Viktor was close by. If Hades had been captured, it was possible that he was at a separate location, unless she planned to show him Anjali’s body. He prayed that it didn’t come down to that. He decided to search near the battlefield and hope for the best.
He leapt to the next rooftop and checked the surrounding buildings. Most of the shops in the square had rooms or apartments above them. Aello had damaged a few of them, but there was an abandoned building overlooking the main road that hadn’t been damaged. Could it be that easy?
He disappeared and reappeared on the roof to find a hole leading down into the apartment. Sniffing the air around the hole, he smiled.
Concerned that it was a trap, Liam carefully lowered himself through the roof and searched the small room. The scents were stronger here, so he followed his nose into the next room where he found Viktor on his side, tied to a chair. He was trying to cut the ropes around his legs, but his hands were still tied together. In the other corner was none other than Hades.
“I would have preferred Derick to find me since the likeliness of him punching me in the groin would be significantly lower than if you or Calin found me. Get your taunting over with quickly and I may spare your life,” Hades sneered.
Liam raised his eyebrow at Hades’ mortal clothing. He had been in too much pain to notice Hades’ clothing when he found them hanging in the barn, but now he couldn’t help but take in his polo shirt and khakis. He had never seen the jerk without a suit and tie.
“Moonlighting as a pro golfer?” Liam snickered.
Hades glared at him.
Liam ignored Hades and went to help Viktor.
“Are you intentionally ignoring me, or are you under orders to only save that one?” Hades asked disdainfully.
Liam winked at Viktor and took the knife from his bound hands. He quickly sliced through the rope and released him.
“Much obliged,” Viktor grunted as he got to his feet.
Liam kept the knife and turned to Hades. “Whose side are you on, Lor
d Hades?” he asked.
Hades popped his jaw and sighed. “Of course you would show me respect once you had a weapon in your possession.”
“I am the weapon, or have you forgotten?” Liam smirked.
“What are his options for taking sides?” Viktor asked over Liam’s shoulder.
“Well, he could tell me that he’s working with the Harpy and I could get away with killing him, or he could tell me how he plans to kill Aello and I would release him,” Liam shrugged.
“Is he really the Hades?” Viktor asked as he walked over to the window.
“Yep,” Liam replied while staring down one of the Heads of Hell, waiting for his answer.
“So far, I’m not impressed,” Viktor snickered.
Hades didn’t blink as he sat stone faced, staring up at Liam. “Derick would have realized that I am bound in my own Celestial Bonds and at the mercy of Aello. He would have surmised that my servant has turned against me and recognized that I am not the mastermind you presume me to be,” Hades said matter-of-factly.
Liam wanted to laugh at Hades’ attempt to show favoritism toward Derick to drive a wedge between them, but refrained.
Who knew I was so well liked by Hades? Derick chuckled inside his mind.
I’m pretty sure that he’s telling the truth, but I want to make him a sweat a little after hearing that he sent the Harpies after Anjali centuries ago, Liam said to Derick.
I would hurry up. Things aren’t good down here. Calin and I were forced to retreat to a convenience store. I wish I could enjoy watching the Celestial Warriors getting their asses handed to them, but I’m worried. All the Predznak are gathered with Anjali. We can’t see what’s happening, but I think they are planning something, Derick explained.
Just make sure Hades is really going to help us before you let him go, Calin said.
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