Alazar pondered the question. When he thought about Heaven it felt distant, far away, and more like a memory than an actual place. When he pictured God in his mind, he no longer felt strongly toward Him. He still loved Him and respected Him, but it was different, muted. Looking at Anjali, he figured out the answer. “You are the center of my world now. I still care about Him, but I no longer think of Him as Father. I mean He created me, but I no longer serve Him. I serve you,” Alazar couldn’t believe what he was saying, but he felt it all the way down to his soul.
She understood what he meant. She could feel the bond between them strengthening. There was a piece of Alazar inside her heart and it changed the way she thought of him. She liked him before, but now he felt like an extension of her soul. She could sense where he was without looking. Most of all, she knew that if she commanded him to do something, he would do it without question.
Anjali nodded. “I feel different too. I feel stronger and more centered. I always felt disconnected from the world, as if I was in a fog. That’s all changed now. I swear if close my eyes, I could feel every mortal heartbeat. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I could crush everything living soul just by clenching my fist. It’s scary, but intriguing at the same time,” she saw the look of concern on Alazar’s face.
“That’s because I’m the final temptation. One day you will command me to find every last mortal and strike them down while you wreak havoc upon the world, causing mass chaos and destruction. Together we will find every beating heart and crush it,” he hoped that it would be a long time before she commanded him to end the world. Finding every mortal reminded him of his least favorite hobby. “I had this weird obsession with maps. There was a time when I did nothing but sit in my room and draw one elaborate map after another until my fingers bled. I couldn’t stop until Solren smacked some sense into me. I was obsessed with knowing every hill and valley where the mortals might hide. I knew I would have to find them all, but you’re right. I can feel them. I can close my eyes and know where they are.”
“I saw the maps in your room. As pretty as they are, I don’t think we’ll need them. Of course, it would be helpful if we had a map to find Derick,” she sighed. She continued to look for clues as to where Derick could be.
Alazar nearly choked. “We don’t need a map. If Maraquette has Derick, then she won’t be hiding. She wants you to find him.”
Anjali hung her head and groaned. “The castle. She was all too eager to get Derick there. I thought it was because you were there, but there has to be more to it. It’s her playing field. That’s where she will be,” Anjali growled and kicked a boulder.
“She will use Derick against you,” Alazar murmured quietly. He didn’t need her exploding again, but she needed to understand what they were up against. “She will try to distract you. If you get angry enough, she will win. I’ve seen Aeries lose control of his anger and lose his advantage in a battle. It only takes a split second for your concentration to break.”
“Letting my anger rise is the only way to use my power without taking the ring off. My anger can get past its barrier,” Anjali knew it was the only way to win the fight.
“Maraquette’s had centuries to plot against you,” Alazar took Anjali by the shoulders and shook her a bit to make sure that he had her full attention. “She’s seen all the Predznak at their worst. If you are anything like us, then she will know your weaknesses. She will use all that she knows about us to kill you. She’s already deceived you and created distrust between us. Fear, anger, and agony will be easy to use if she has control of Derick’s life. I want to save the boy as much as you do, but you have to push him out of your mind. Let me handle the boy. I can do that for you. You keep your mind clear of the distraction of Derick being killed and focus solely on stopping Maraquette.”
“You’re right. As long as I know you will keep him safe, I can focus on her,” Anjali closed her eyes and steadied herself. She would find Maraquette and end her.
Alazar watched his Master change before his eyes. Confidence and determination filled her face. He no longer saw worry and fear creeping in. She reminded him of Balthazar and Aeries when they prepared for battle. He even saw a bit of Sacha around the edges.
Together they raced to the castle. Appearing on the bridge, they peered up at the dark castle.
Anjali knew Mrs. Pavel and any wayward tourists would have left since she never stayed after dark. At least there wouldn’t be any mortals caught in the crossfire if Maraquette were lurking in the castle.
“Maraquette might believe you’re dead if Derick told her about Michael capturing you. Although, if she is still commanding Aganon, then she’ll know that someone powerful kicked the crap out Michael. Let’s separate, and hope that she thinks you’re dead,” Anjali decided to forego her mortal clothes given the late hour.
“I’ll go high, you go low. Keep in mind she’s had plenty of time to learn the layout of the castle. She’ll have an exit strategy if things go bad. Cut off her escape route if you can,” Alazar turned to Anjali and moved her until she was facing him.
“Be careful,” she put her hand on his face. She didn’t want to lose her angel again.
Brushing the backs of his fingers along her cheek, he smiled at her. He kissed her forehead softly. “You too. I promise I won’t let him die,” he leaned in, took in the scent of her hair, and disappeared.
Anjali squared her shoulders and entered the foyer. It took everything she had not to glance at the places that reminded her of Derick. Alazar was right; Maraquette would use him to distract her. She had to push him from her mind and remember why she was there. She was hunting a Rogue who was plotting to assassinate her.
Quickly moving from room to room, she tried to figure out where Maraquette would hide. She paused in the main dining hall when she realized Maraquette would be in a place where she held the advantage. Of all the rooms in the castle, there was only one that would strategically hold any interest for Maraquette. The armory. It was filled with arcane weapons and suits of armor for the tourists to explore. She remembered passing through it the first night she searched for Alazar. Undoubtedly, Maraquette would’ve made sure everything was nice and sharp for her arrival.
Anjali appeared before the door to the armory. She walked inside the room and the door immediately slammed behind her.
“I wondered how long it would take you to find me, Annie. I was about to dangle Derick from the roof to get your attention,” Maraquette scoffed, stepping out from behind a suit of armor.
“I never liked Cassie, just for the record. I should have punched you in the face when I had the chance,” Anjali snickered. “Why would I care about the boy? He means nothing to me.”
“Don’t bother lying to me. I know you marked Derick and I’ve seen Gabriel keeping watch over him. He means something to you. Don’t worry though, you will see him again. You will hear him screaming your name, begging you to save him, just before he dies. I will let you live long enough to regret that you couldn’t help him. Only then will you understand my pain,” Maraquette smiled smugly.
“Why? Why do you care enough to go to all this trouble to kill me? You don’t even know me,” Anjali quickly surveyed the room, deciding that she didn’t want to be there. She was grateful that Derick wasn’t in the room.
The room resembled the Hall of Torment, minus the hanging bodies. The walls were lined with swords, daggers, knives, and anything sharp and deadly enough to make a person bleed. The only other exit from the long narrow room was a door at the opposite end. The windowless room was lit by candles from the long candelabras placed around the room. Display cases with maps and drawings of weapons sat along the edges of the room. There were five different suits of armor standing around with decorative signs explaining what time periods they were from.
Anjali would have loved nothing more than to surround herself with shields while using Hell Fire against Maraquette, but Hell held no power over Rogues, which was why they rotted away in the Hall of S
hadows. Using the weapons would be her best bet to injure or kill Maraquette, but she didn’t possess the skills to attack her openly with one.
“I know you better than you think, Destroyer. I had to listen to your endless lists of crimes against humanity when I sat on the Council. I was also a part of your trial when you created your first Ice Age. Personally, I wanted to lock you up and lose the key. The next thing I know, you were granted a deal to sit on Tabbris’ old throne in Hell. You should have never been granted any kind of authority,” Maraquette sneered.
“That’s why you want me dead? You don’t want me ruling in Hell?” Anjali put her hand on her hip. She wanted to keep Maraquette talking as long as possible to give Alazar enough time to find Derick.
“Hardly. I want you dead for interfering with my relationship with Lucifer. He came back to Heaven to claim me as his queen. Only after I descended into Hell did I understand his fixation with you. I thought I could break him of your hold, but I was wrong. Your sway was too powerful. Lucifer used his obsession with you to hurt me. Whenever we disagreed about something, the bastard would detail all the things he would do to you upon your arrival. He told me I would have to watch as he took possession of you. Even though I made the sacrifice to leave the Council and my family to fall into Hell to be with my lover, he did nothing but praise your beauty and extol your virtues. He told me that I was nothing more than a toy to him. I plan on killing you and eliminating your hold on him. I will use his hatred of Father to help me destroy Heaven, Hell, and everything in between. Once Heaven and Hell fall, Lucifer will be free to love me again, as he once did,” Maraquette sauntered across the room in her bright green dress and flats.
“You really are crazy. I didn’t do anything to enchant him. Just because you couldn’t love him enough to take away his burdens, don’t blame me. You left him alone to bear the weight of his sacrifice. That’s not love! You weren’t strong enough to survive in Hell. You ran away and turned your back on God because you are weak and pathetic. That’s where you and I differ. I care enough about Lucifer to stay with him, regardless of his darkness,” Anjali saw Alazar’s dagger attached to the belt around Maraquette’s waist. Maraquette truly believed that she would win this fight and blame Alazar for her death.
“I love him with all my heart! I couldn’t help him because you distorted his mind!” Maraquette screamed and flicked her wrist, sending a primitive dagger soaring toward her from the right side of the room.
Anjali pulled her head back quickly and felt the breeze as the dagger crossed millimeters in front of her face. The dagger embedded itself into the stone wall next to her.
Swing her right arm, Anjali propelled a suit of armor next to her into the air and aimed it at Maraquette.
Maraquette moved quickly, but the metal collar and elbow guard grazed her shoulder and side, throwing her off balance. Stumbling, she reached for a display case to catch herself from falling.
Anjali appeared next to Maraquette and smashed her head through the case. The glass and wood shattered apart as Maraquette tumbled to the ground.
A bloody and bruised Maraquette started laughing. “It won’t be that easy to defeat me,” her face was marred by the glass chips embedded in her skin. She looked up at Anjali through her blood stained hair. Her eyes were glazed over and all signs of sanity were gone.
Anjali stepped away from the evil angel, but she was taken by surprise by a flurry of swords pointed at her back. She quickly disappeared and reappeared further into the room. Falling to her knees, she was grateful to escape most of the swords. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been fast enough to avoid the sword that pierced her right shoulder.
Maraquette appeared behind her and grabbed the hilt of the sword sticking out of her shoulder. “Love never dies, Anjali. I deserve to rule by his side, not some mass-murdering bitch. You didn’t know him in Heaven. He was perfect and we were completely in love. I made a mistake when I left him, but now I’m ready to take back my throne and be what he needs,” Maraquette shoved the blade further into Anjali’s shoulder and then wrenched out of her body.
Anjali screamed and fell forward. It felt like her arm had been ripped off. Though she couldn’t move it, she was overjoyed to find that it was still attached.
Anjali saw Maraquette reaching down to grab her hair, but she twisted on the ground and kicked Maraquette’s knee with the heel of her boot.
Maraquette crumpled to the ground, holding her knee. She tried to grab Anjali’s skirt, but Anjali disappeared.
Anjali appeared across the room and propped herself up against the wall, trying to work through the pain and remain conscious. “You were too afraid to go with Lucifer when he originally fell into Hell. You were too afraid to stay with him in Hell. Lucifer feeds off people’s fear, and that’s why he couldn’t respect you. He turned on because you lacked conviction.”
“I loved Father too much to leave Heaven. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I mourned the loss of Lucifer. I never took another lover in Heaven. When he came to me, I saw it as my redemption, a way to show him that I still loved him. I had no way of knowing he would be so different. Father destroyed Lucifer by letting him fall into that abysmal den of evil. Lucifer couldn’t love me because Hell had destroyed him and made him crazed,” Maraquette’s sanity broke down with each accusation, leaving her a snarling, heartbroken woman.
Maraquette got to her feet, but favored her injured leg. Anjali summoned as many swords from the walls as she could and scattered them across the floor in front of Maraquette, making it harder for her to walk.
“Which is it? Did God destroy Lucifer or did I? You seem to be blaming everyone else for Lucifer not loving you. I think you need to accept the fact that he never loved you,” Anjali saw the exact moment when Maraquette’s mind snapped in half.
“I will kill you slowly,” Maraquette screeched. She waved her arm and sent Anjali crashing into a suit of armor.
Anjali closed her eyes and tried to make the room stop spinning. She could feel blood trickling down her face. Lifting her head, she saw Maraquette limping toward her with an axe. She rolled off the armor just as the axe came down over her. The axe struck the armor, piercing the space between the arm and the chest plate. It pinned her left sleeve against the metal, missing her arm by an inch.
Anjali threw out her hand and sent Maraquette crashing through the wooden entrance door. She needed a moment to regroup before Maraquette came at her again.
Maraquette screamed as she crashed through the door, causing it to explode into shards. She skidded to a stop in the hallway, covered in wooden spikes and splinters.
Anjali ripped her sleeve free from the axe embedded in the armor and wiped the blood from the cut on her forehead. The blood was obscuring her vision. Though she wanted to call Alazar for help, she knew it was up to him to find Derick and keep him safe.
She heard Maraquette shuffling in the hallway. To buy more time, Anjali hurled daggers and swords at the entryway. She didn’t care if they hit Maraquette or not, she just needed a diversion. Before she could disappear from the room and take the fight somewhere softer, Maraquette pushed all the swords back into the room.
Anjali pulled the armor on top of her and used it as a shield. The swords clanged throughout the room, but none of them hit her.
She heard Maraquette grunting and swearing as she crossed the room.
Anjali tried to disappear, but she was having trouble seeing clearly. The room was wavy and distorted. She didn’t want to reappear inside a wall.
The armor was ripped away and Maraquette grabbed Anjali by the hair. She felt cold metal at her throat and knew she was in trouble.
Maraquette was kneeling on her good leg and holding Anjali in front of her. Anjali was too weak to struggle.
“If you kill me, Lucifer will hunt your ass down and personally see to your demise. Whatever he feels for me won’t disappear when I die. You said it yourself, he’s obsessed with me. What do you think he will do when he finds out that the obj
ect of his obsession is dead? He will slit your throat and make you beg for a quick death,” Anjali panted.
Maraquette laughed. “He will have no idea it was me. Let him hunt for your presumed killer. Lucifer can take his head for all I care,” she tightened her hold on Anjali and pushed Alazar’s dagger into her throat. “First, we must find your lover and watch him die.”
“One flaw in your plan psycho, Alazar is dead. Michael killed him; though I’m sure he had time to tell Michael all about you being a Rogue,” Anjali lied. She scanned the ground around her, searching for something helpful.
Maraquette faltered for a moment, trying to decide if she was telling the truth. If she used the dagger to kill Anjali, no one would believe that Alazar was responsible.
Anjali used Maraquette’s hesitation to summon a knife to her hand. She drove the knife into the side of Maraquette’s thigh and pushed Alazar’s dagger away from her throat. She quickly scrambled away from Maraquette.
Maraquette swore and pulled the knife out her thigh.
Anjali struggled to get to her feet. Her right shoulder was burning and her head was still swimming. She shook her head, trying to figure out which of the three Maraquettes was the real one. Deciding that it didn’t matter, she raised her left arm and sent all the remaining swords on the wall behind her soaring toward the Maraquettes.
Before Anjali could blink, the three Maraquettes were replaced by a mortal standing in front of her.
“Damn it!” Anjali yelled. She feared it was Derick. She struggled to stop all the swords in midair.
Maraquette cackled from behind the mortal. “It’s funny, Destroyer, I was doubtful that you would go to the effort to save a mortal. How ironic.”
Anjali let the swords drop helplessly to the ground. She had to find a way to keep the mortal safe.
Maraquette grabbed the mortal’s shoulder and pushed the person closer to Anjali. Raising her palms, she summoned two swords. “On your knees, Destroyer, or I will gut the woman.”
The Third Throne: Angel of Death Page 52