“I’m not sure,” said Milo as he pulled off his coat. “But you must never touch it. None of us can, not without being seduced by its evil. Especially not you, Alexa, now that we know you’re more susceptible to dark energies.”
“What would have happened if I had touched it?” Alexa kept her eyes on the helm.
“I don’t even want to think about that,” growled Milo. “It is far more powerful and evil than anything you can imagine.”
“Then why can’t we use it?” said Alexa. She felt its pull again. Somehow, she knew if she took it she would be able to control demons.
“If it can control demons, maybe I can use it to destroy Hades—”
“No.” Milo’s tone was final.
He sheathed his sword and threw his coat over the helm. He wrapped it until it was a tight little bundle, and he was careful not to touch it with his fingers. He held it close to his chest.
“I told you. It’s too dangerous.”
Alexa started to feel angry.
“But I don’t understand. If it’s as powerful as you say, the helm can help us. Why not take this opportunity and use it against Hades? It can’t be that dangerous if mortals have been moving it around for years and touching it.”
“It’s harmless to mortals,” said Milo. “But not to supernatural creatures like us. Its evil would possess and consume us. Only Hades or another greater demon can wield it.”
Alexa wasn’t convinced. “I don’t know—”
“Milo is right,” said Lance, still keeping his distance.
“When the race of Ancients forged the Helm of Darkness so long ago, they made other magical and demonic objects. Some were more potent and some were less. But the helm was one of the more ominous and insidious kinds. It should never have been created. If you take the helm, even if your will is strong and you wanted to do good with it, neither your strength, nor your good intentions would last. Sooner or later its dark power would devour you.”
There was a long silence. Lance and Milo both looked at Alexa suspiciously, but she didn’t know why. She felt fine. She felt this was her chance to vanquish Hades. She could feel its thrumming power flowing into her veins. She felt it taunting her. She could sense a wild unwieldy power like the breathy edge of another world.
“Fine,” she said finally. “But I still think it’s a mistake. This could have been our only shot at destroying Hades.”
“It’s not,” said Milo. But Alexa’s anger did not diminish.
She put her hands on her waist. “And what do you plan to do with it? You just said angels can’t use it, so what good will it do if you’re planning on taking it back to Horizon?” She raised her brows. “You are planning to take it back to Horizon, right?”
She saw that Lance was watching Milo as well. He looked as though he was wondering the same thing.
Milo was quiet for a while. “The oracles will know what to do with it.”
He looked distressed, but then he turned to Alexa and said, “I’m going to use it as a bargaining chip in exchange for your life.”
Alexa’s throat burned, and no words would come. She felt both angry and foolish at the same time. But mostly she was angry at herself for not thinking of using the Helm of Darkness as a show of loyalty. It was the proof she needed to show Metatron that she was on the side of the Legion.
For a moment, there was nothing in the world but the two of them, standing face to face, staring at each other. Once again, the angel warrior had done her an act of kindness.
But was he acting truly for her sake, or was this Milo’s attempt to get back in the Legion’s good graces himself?
After what she had learned from the Elders’ Guild, Milo needed the helm to make amends for what he’d done, just as much as she did.
Alexa looked into his handsome, noble face, and she could still feel something angry and predatory about him that annoyed her. Even now, he remained as calm and collected as when they’d first met. It was infuriating.
Milo exhaled. The anger in his face vanished, and his gaze became open and vulnerable.
“I know Metatron,” he said. “He’s not unreasonable, but he bases most of his decisions on facts. We need proof that you’re not working for Hades.”
He lifted the bundle. “And this is it. Metatron will believe us with this.”
“And so will the entire Legion,” added Lance. “I’m pretty sure they’ll be pleased to keep this very dangerous artifact safe inside the walls of the Legion and out of enemy hands.”
Alexa hung her head. “You’re right. I’m sorry—”
“Stay where you are!” came a voice behind them.
Alexa whirled around and drew her soul blade.
Four uniformed security guards were rushing towards them. One of them was talking into his radio.
“Stupid kids, they’ve got a dog in here.”
He pointed his gun at them and looked at Milo.
“Trying to show off in front of your girlfriend by breaking into a museum? Thought that made you cool? It didn’t. Very stupid move, boy. The kind that lands you in jail.”
“Since when do security guards use guns?” whispered Lance. He moved next to Alexa.
“No idea,” said Alexa.
The guards stopped a few feet away from them.
“Martin, look,” said the fattest of the guards. He pointed his chubby finger. “Look, they broke the case.”
The guard called Martin frowned at the shattered glass around their feet. He looked even angrier when he noticed that at one of the masks was missing. His eyes settled on the buddle in Milo’s hand.
“You better give that back if you know what’s good for you, boy.” He waved the gun in front of Milo’s face.
Milo smiled mirthlessly at him. “I’m not your boy, mortal.”
“You’re a boy if I say you are—and you better do what you’re told,” seethed Martin.
“Somebody didn’t get enough hugs as a child,” muttered Lance under his breath.
The security guard closed the distance between them. He was more muscled than Milo and taller. The guard straightened up and stared aggressively at Milo. He looked as if he were itching to start a fight.
Milo squared his shoulders. “Can’t do that.”
Martin snarled angrily. “You’re one stupid SOB. Don’t matter.”
He looked at Alexa, and then he smiled. “The police are on their way. You’re going to be spending the rest of your date locked up in a jail cell—”
Spurts of bright red blood flew out of his mouth and showered Alexa’s face.
She flinched and stepped back in horror as the pointed tip of a dark blade emerged from his mouth. The guard choked on his own blood and collapsed at her feet.
Three creatures stepped out from the shadows. Their faces were emaciated and scabbed, and their skin looked as if it was far too large and didn’t fit. They were making a snuffling noise and moving their heads from side to side. They were smelling them.
Coils of black smoke curled up from the blades in their hands, and the air stank of sulfur and spoiled meat. They smelled of death. While Alexa recognized the cold and putrid presence of a demon, she sensed something else, too.
The brilliant white sphere of the guard’s soul hovered above him, but the demon snatched it and devoured it before Alexa could act.
The remaining security guards were too frightened to move and cowered by the glass displays.
Alexa had never seen these demons before. Their skin hung on them so loosely that it was as though they were in the midst of changing into something else.
The air was suddenly filled with static, and Alexa sensed that some powerful evil was approaching.
A man in an expensive pinstripe suit appeared from the end of the hallway. His dark hair gleamed in the dim light and darkness rippled around him. The man ignored everyone and gazed intently at the bundle in Milo’s hands. He looked as if he was delighted with what he saw.
The Helm of Darkness began to hum and pu
lse as though it had recognized its master and was calling out to him.
They were too late.
Alexa swore, “God, no.”
“Hades will suffice,” the pagan god looked like a wolf when he smiled.
CHAPTER 27
ALEXA GRASPED HER SOUL BLADE angrily and adjusted her stance. She was surprised that she felt afraid. She knew Hades would have found the original of the Deus Septem eventually, and that it would have led him here. She just hadn’t expected him so soon. She knew she could get the missing part of her soul back if she could kill him
“So, this is what Hades looks like?” said Lance. “I thought he’d be taller, and somehow I kept imagining him naked with a beard.”
“It’s him,” said Alexa.
She felt anxious for Lance because he was still in dog guise and had no weapon. She shielded him with her body.
“He’s found us. Which means he’s been at the Elders’ Guild.”
“Which means they’re most probably all dead,” said Lance, reading her mind.
Alexa felt a little guilty because she didn’t feel any real sorrow for their deaths.
Hades looked her over slowly. He looked both amused and irritated.
“You two again,” he said and wrinkled his nose, “and with a mutt?”
“Call me a mutt again. I dare you, little fairy,” growled Lance. He pulled back his lips to reveal his sharp canines, and the hair on his back stood up.
Hades ignored him. He turned and admired his own reflection on one of the glass cabinets. He smiled at himself and said, “I can understand that once you get a little taste of me—you just can’t help yourselves. Of course, I blame myself—but this obsession really must stop.”
“Please,” said Alexa. “Get over yourself.”
Hades looked at her and clicked his tongue. “You’re the reason Kali is so angry with me. We had a deal, you see. And now you’ve gone and ruined it for her. Not that I care. But she does have her uses—the goddess does have four hands.”
He let out a wicked chuckle as he sauntered forward and turned his glance towards Milo.
“Give me back what’s mine, and I will think about letting you live.”
Milo answered coldly. “You’re not getting it. The helm is going to the Legion, as far away from you as possible. You’re never going to get it.”
Hades raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? And who’s going to stop me? You, I suppose?”
Milo rolled his shoulders. “Exactly.”
“You forget yourself,” said Hades. “I’m a god, and you’re nothing. A nuisance. Like a pebble in a shoe. Irritating, yes, but easily discarded. The helm belongs to me. It was made for me. And now I’ll have it back—”
The security guards began to whimper.
Hades’ features twisted in anger. He raised his arms, and green fire crackled around his open hands. He held his fire magic in his hands and grinned at Alexa.
He flicked his wrists, and green fire shot from his hands.
Everything happened at once. Alexa leapt to the side, but the flame had a mind of its own. It branched out like long fingers and hit the security guards as they tried to escape it.
The men screamed in agony and twitched on the ground as they tried to put out the fire. Alexa could feel the heat and smell of their burnt flesh. Their screams died suddenly, and the museum was silent once again.
“I can’t stand the sight of grown men weeping like children,” said Hades. He smoothed his hair into place with his fingers. “It’s not like they were going to amount to much anyway—I did them a favor. And, we can’t have any witnesses.”
Hades’ eyes glowed with green fire that was brighter and more terrible than anything Alexa had ever seen.
He picked at some lint on his jacket and said, “Well now, let’s try this again, shall we. You have something of mine. And now I’d like it back.”
Milo pulled out his sword. “Come and get it.”
Hades tutted and shook his head. “How disappointing.”
He snapped his fingers, and a demon broke apart from the others and fixed its black eyes on Alexa. Its pointed teeth jutted every which way when it smiled. There was something familiar about the way it moved.
“Lexi, I thought I’d find you here,” the demon’s voice was otherworldly, but it sounded familiar as well.
Alexa felt like she’d been slapped across the face with a brick.
“Ryan? What the hell happened to you? You look like crap.”
She realized that Ryan and the other creatures with hanging skin were fallen angels that were still changing into demons. She couldn’t recognize them, but if she had to guess, she supposed the others would be Ryan’s minions, James and Will.
The demon Ryan grinned.
“What happened is that I woke up. I broke free from the Legion’s lies and corruption. Everything they ever told us was a lie. The Angel Code, all of it, everything we were supposed to abide by was a lie.”
A wet chuckle formed in his throat. “I feel better than I ever have. This is what I should have been from the beginning—not an angel, but a superior creature with unlimited power.”
“Whatever you’re doing, I think you should stop,” said Alexa. “It’s turning you into a monster.”
Yellow spit dribbled from the corner of his mouth as he laughed.
“The Legion knew we could be free and strong and powerful. They told us for years that we couldn’t break free from them. Well, we can. And they kept it from us.”
The other two demon angels slipped out of the shadows and made their way to either side of Ryan.
Alexa looked at Milo and said in a low voice, “When I heard of the Cleansing, I never imagined fallen angels could look like demons.”
“He’s not a fallen angel,” said Milo. “Not anymore. Fallen angels are still angels who have rebelled against the Legion and hidden in the outskirts of Horizon. But he’s a belphegor. He’s an angel that has killed the innocent and tasted mortal souls. He’s an abomination. He’s all demon now. There’s no angel left in him.”
Ryan smiled like this was a huge compliment. “Angels are so overrated. Your minds and bodies are weak. You’re just puppets of the Legion.”
The two other belphegors moved closer together and held their long slender death blades at the ready.
Milo turned to Lance. “How fast can you run, Scout?”
Lance’s ears perked up. “Faster than the wind itself.”
“Then go,” said Milo.
He shielded the dog with his body. “Seek help from the archangel Ariel, and pray to the souls she believes you. Tell her we have the Helm of Darkness, and if the Legion wants to keep Hades from getting it, they need to send reinforcements now.”
“I’m on it,” said Lance. He looked up at Alexa. “I’ll be back. I promise. Just…don’t die.”
“I’ll try not to,” said Alexa, her chest tight. “Please hurry.”
Without another word, Lance disappeared down the hallway.
Hades watched him go but did nothing. He made an impatient noise and tapped his foot on the ground.
Alexa was curious why he hadn’t attacked. The demons simply stood in a loose ring around him.
Why did he need to have bodyguards with him at all times? Was he too weak to defeat some angels?
Ryan glanced at one of the bodies on the ground and laughed. “Angels. You have the ability to be the most powerful creatures in this world. Can’t you see it? It’s right here.”
He kicked the body with his boot. “This world has a never-ending supply of energy, of power. Billions of ripe souls—all you need to do is take them.”
“Killing innocent mortals and feeding on their souls is not power,” snapped Alexa. “It’s murder. It’s twisted and sick. You take from the weak. Mortal souls are sacred—”
“Sacred?” laughed Ryan. “If they were sacred, why is it so easy to take them? A mortal soul is vulnerable and impermanent. But it is also stronger and more valuable than you
can imagine. Souls are living batteries. They’re full of energy and light.”
Ryan looked as if he were poised to devour the world.
“Join us,” he said, surprising Alexa. “Join us, and we’ll forget this little incident ever happened.”
“Screw you,” spat Alexa. “You were always such a bastard. You’re just as foul now as you were as an angel. At least you look like your true self now. You’re right. You should have been born a demon because you were never an angel.”
But Ryan only laughed. “I’m really going to enjoy watching you die, Lexi.”
He licked his lips with a long, serpentine tongue. “I’m going to rip your pretty little body limb from limb, slowly, until you scream my name and beg me to end it. And then I will oblige. I’ll drink your soul like a good wine. I know you’ll be worth it.”
Alexa gripped her soul blade. “I’ll cut you before you touch me.”
Ryan snorted. “Why are you so loyal to the Legion? You’ve barely been an angel long enough to make a career out of it.”
He reached out, and Alexa could see strings of skin hanging from his skeleton fingers.
“I’ll take the helm now, if you please.”
Milo’s sword glimmered in the soft light.
“Try and take it from us, and I will return you to the depth of darkness where you belong, belphegor.” He spat the word like it tasted rotten in his mouth just to say it.
“I’ve lost my patience with these angels.” Hades’ tone was almost languid, but there was fierceness in it, a hungry threat of violence.
“Get the helm,” he ordered. “And don’t touch it.”
“Stay close.” Milo’s shoulder pressed against her. “Whatever happens, Alexa,” he whispered, “know that I couldn’t have asked for a better fledgling to work with.”
Alexa looked at him, too surprised to say anything. The hilt of her weapon was warm and comforting in her hand, and Milo’s silver blade glowed as if it had a fire of its own.
“Milo—”
Faster than lightning, the belphegors attacked in a blur of shadows, blades, and death.
The shadows began swirling around Alexa, faster and faster, until they were a blur of gray and brown. She felt the air move to her right and lashed out with her blade, but there was nothing there, and she nearly impaled herself.
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