by Amy Vansant
Tyannah moved forward and touched Alida’s bare arm.
“Syphon. The way Con and I taught you.”
Tyannah closed her eyes and the change in Alida’s expression telegraphed her distress for a moment before the girl set her jaw and stared forward, refusing to reveal her pain. Anne helped herself to enough energy to heal her shin, careful not to gobble before her young ward had her fill. The color returned to Tyannah’s face.
Alida ceased to exist with a shower of white light. Without the Cherub’s body straining against his embrace, Rathe’s arms slammed against his own chest and he made a sharp huh sound as the air escaped his lungs.
Anne grabbed him by the throat before he had time to catch his breath. Her body sang with stolen Cherub energy, and she wanted more. Her mind replayed the image of Michael on his knees before the creature she now held in her eager, capable hands. She hungered to finish him.
“Should I put you on your knees? Make you beg? Or can you face your end with an ounce of the grace Michael did?”
Rathe tried to speak but found himself unable.
“She’s the only thing saving you.”
Rathe’s gaze darted to Tyannah and then back to Anne.
“Try to run and we will end you. Try and betray us and we will end you. Try and take the last chunk of cheese from a snack plate and we will end you.”
“She really likes cheese,” said Leo.
Rathe did his best to nod with Anne’s hand still tight against his jaw.
“Do you want to work for the Angeli?”
Another stiff nod. Anne loosened her grip and he gasped for air. She moved her face close to his.
“Why?”
Rathe’s mandible soundlessly bobbed for a moment before he found his voice. “I don’t have it in me.”
“You don’t have what in you?”
“I’m not a brimstone and wrath type. I, I like the way you guys do it. Helping humans be better people. And...” His voice trailed off but his gaze moved to Tyannah.
“And you’re worried what will happen to Tyannah?”
He nodded.
Tyannah’s eyes welled with tears.
“Young love? You two?” Leo pointed back and forth between the two of them.
Both curled their lips and spoke in unison. “No!”
“He’s like my brother. Only sweet,” added Tyannah.
Leo shrugged. “Sorry. I’d heard rumors that sometimes Sentinels and their makers—”
“Shut up, Leo,” said Anne, glaring at him.
He chuckled.
She returned her focus to Rathe.
“How can I know you won’t betray us the second you get the chance?”
“You can’t.”
“Wrong answer,” said Leo.
Rathe held up his hands. “Wait. I mean, you can’t, really. But I won’t. I swear. I swear on Tyannah’s life. Maybe literally.”
Anne looked to Leo. “What do you think? For some reason you seem pretty amused by all of this.”
Leo shrugged one shoulder. “He didn’t kill Michael. Michael sacrificed himself for you. If anyone should be punished it should be you, the way I see it.”
Anne squinted at him. “Just aren’t going to let that go, are you?”
“Nope. Plus, he’s going to have to die eventually for us to retrieve all the Angeli, so now, later, what’s the difference?”
Tyannah put her hand on Anne’s arm. “It would be nice to have his help in the meantime, wouldn’t it?”
Anne took a deep breath and released the Cherub. He rubbed his neck, eyes never leaving hers.
“So we’re on the same page? You’re going to help us defeat the Cherubim and when we have to finish you in the end, no running, no screaming—”
He nodded. “Got it. I don’t mind. Chaos isn’t so bad.” He looked at Tyannah. “We had a volleyball league. You’d be good at volleyball.”
Tyannah laughed and burst into tears at the same time.
Anne turned away from the others and whispered to Leo, “Are you sure about this? You don’t seem as worried as I would expect.”
“It’s fine for now. Gives us an advantage. I knew he was here all along and he did nothing but help. If he wanted us dead he could have attacked during the stampede.”
“You knew he was here? You could feel him?”
Leo shook his head. “No. He brought Tyannah.”
“But she said your Angelus brought her.”
He peered down at her. “That’s just it. I never sent one for her. I didn’t want her here, remember?”
She smacked him on the chest.
Chapter Seventeen
Casso stood in a sea of sand. More specifically, he stood in Seth’s body, which stood in a sea of sand. Seth was getting itchy. The Angelus was fighting for possession of his own body with renewed vigor. Fighting and making headway.
Casso knew he couldn’t maintain his stay on the Earthly plane much longer. He wanted to remain long enough to provide his Cherubim with a solid foothold, but the process had been much slower than he’d anticipated. Not only had it taken centuries to get the first Cherubim to Earth, but now that the Cherubim had arrived, they’d made precious few inroads.
Maybe he shouldn’t have pushed his timeline. The rules of play stated that the Cherubim arriving upon each Angeli death was chosen at random. Terrible luck to have Rathe, so kindhearted and impressionable, go first. Then children. Why were his Cherubs arriving as children? Disaster.
Finally, he had a champion in Nyx. He could not allow him to fail.
The air around Casso vibrated with energy as Nyx appeared before him. The Cherub’s shadowy form took Casso by surprise. His features were ill-formed; the hint of a nose, dark spots where his eyes should be, a black maw that appeared and disappeared as if his face were a roiling sea. The translucent body was human-shaped, but more like an unfinished incubator project than an actual human being.
Again, Casso cursed himself for pushing his agenda. The Cherubim hadn’t been ready. Confused weaklings, children, malformed entities—
You’re a general to an army of misfits.
He heard the comment and, for a moment, believed it to be his own internal monologue.
Then it hit him.
Seth.
Seth mocked him from his own head.
Casso ignored Seth’s taunts and focused on his soldier. At least Nyx had true power. He could feel it radiating from the wraith.
“My. You’re a looker.”
Nyx remained silent.
“You took an Angeli, but the replacement is already gone. Gone gone. Wiped off the planet. Dead. Gone. Kaput.”
Casso’s face spasmed and he yipped like a dog whose paw had been stepped on.
Damn Seth. The Angelus was inside of him, doing his best to sabotage every sentence.
Nyx nodded his head once.
Casso prepared himself to speak again, pushing down the din of Seth’s jeers. The Angeli conscious sharing his body screamed a song:
Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety-nine bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around—
Casso threw his hands into the air. “How can you even know that song! I had possession of you when it was invented!”
He glanced sideways at Nyx, who stood, unfazed by his outburst.
98 bottles of beer on the wall—
The singing continued.
Casso spoke through gritted teeth. “Your Sentinels. You’ve adopted a different approach? Idiot!” He held up a hand. “Excuse my outbursts. It isn’t me.”
“I sense the Angelus within you.”
Casso spoke again, rapidly, desperate to express his thought before Seth could add his own commentary. “The Angeli Sentinels are stronger. Experienced.”
“This is why I’ve chosen numbers. They’ve groomed a select few to serve as their champions. This will be their downfall.”
“You have a plan? Pan? Ran? Frogman? Tarzan? Afghanistan—”
Casso slapped his han
d over his mouth.
“I do. It is in motion.”
Nyx raised his smooth arms and presented a hand devoid of joints or creases. Each of the fingers was a long tube of sheer, black, transparent flesh tipped by a ragged fingernail.
“You grew fingernails. That’s a start.”
Nyx declined to acknowledge the compliment.
Casso took his hand and shook it. He felt Seth bubbling to the surface again and jerked away when he sensed the uncontrollable urge to slap Nyx.
“Sorry.”
Nyx nodded. “You should kill him.”
“Who?”
“The body.”
“Seth? I can’t. He’s the only thing allowing me a foothold on this plane.”
“You should be in Chaos.”
Casso felt a wave of anger and knew it was his own. In his head, Seth roared with laughter.
“Who do you think you are?” he asked.
Nyx showed no reaction. “Alida is gone, did you feel it?”
“Yes.”
“She was a child. If you were in Chaos, you could better control who returns.”
“You don’t understand the rules.”
Nyx remained motionless.
“Go. Kill more. Find a partner.”
Nyx bowed and returned to his energy form before flying away.
Casso stared at the heavens. Maybe Nyx was right.
Maybe it was time to go. His best Cherub didn’t even have a face. Now he could only hope for the—
“Eighty-five bottles of beer on the wall, eighty-five bottles of beeeeer—”
Seth’s voice rang out and Casso hit himself on the side of his head.
“Shut up!”
Chapter Eighteen
“Where now?” said Leo, scratching at his arm.
Anne pointed at the motion with a quick bob of her chin. “What’s wrong? That’s the third time I’ve seen you clawing at yourself since you came back. Do they have fleas in Chaos?”
He gave his bicep one last rub and shrugged.
“I’ve been itchy since I returned. Something about the journey, I guess.”
Rathe perked. “They have this wonderful creamy stuff here for things like that. Lotion they call it. Have you tried it?”
Leo glowered at him. “You don’t talk to me.”
Rathe nodded. “Done.”
Anne noticed Tyannah’s eyelids drooping. “Do you need to sleep?”
Tyannah’s bobbing neck snapped back. “Who me? I—”
Anne could tell by her expression she was about to throw a show of bravado and cut her short. “You do. Let’s rest for a few hours and then figure out the next step.”
Tyannah flopped sideways onto the bale of hay on which she’d been sitting.
“Not here. Rathe, can you transport her to my apartment? Do you remember where that is?”
Rathe shuddered. “I remember.”
“Good. Leo. Take me home.”
Leo waited until Rathe had left with Tyannah and then looked at Anne, his face awash with disapproval.
“What?”
“You just sent a Cherub and his Sentinel to your home.”
“We can trust Tyannah. Rathe I’m having more of a problem with, but it might be a good thing to have one of them on our side.”
“If he is on our side. This could be an elaborate ruse.”
“It could. But he doesn’t seem sneaky. More like a jumble of nerves. And he did just help destroy one of his own.”
“And what about in the end?”
Anne grimaced. “When the time comes, I’ll take him out in a heartbeat.”
Leo shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
“Well here’s a thought, instead of standing there shoveling disapproval on me, how ’bout taking me home so that Cherub isn’t in my house alone?”
“Fine.”
Leo put his arms around her, his Angeli heat radiating against her body. She didn’t consider herself a small person, but she always felt like a doll in his arms. It made her a little nervous.
Two jumps and a quick rest later, they arrived in her New York apartment.
“You’re back,” said Jeffrey, standing at the entrance to the hallway leading to the bedrooms. He held a small twenty-two caliber handgun on Rathe, who stood with his hands in the air.
Tyannah stood nearby, exasperated. “He says he’s gonna shoot Rathe. Rathe coulda snatched that gun from him in a heartbeat, but he’s been standing there like an idiot with his hands in the air, waiting on you.”
Anne spoke to Jeffrey. “You know that gun can’t do anything to him, right?”
“He has his hands up.”
“He’s just being polite. If he wanted to he could dissipate you and that ridiculous gun in a matter of seconds.”
“But he didn’t. That’s the point.. The fact that he’s standing there like a good boy with his hands in the air means I can trust him and that made me feel better.”
“I question your logic, but whatever. You can put it away now.”
Jeffrey slipped the gun into the pocket of his fuzzy robe. “It isn’t loaded anyway.”
Anne waggled her finger in the direction of the hall. “Tyannah, you can go to bed.”
The girl nodded and headed for her room, pausing to make eye contact with Anne.
“Don’t hurt him.”
Anne shook her head, trying not to grin at how confident Tyannah had become in a short period of time. “I won’t. For you.”
The girl nodded and headed down the hall to her bedroom.
“Night all. It’s been a joy as always,” said Jeffrey, following Tyannah’s lead.
Anne turned her attention to Rathe. “You’re sleeping on the sofa if you’re going to sleep.”
He sighed and wrapped his arms around his chest. “I don’t know if I could sleep in this place. Brings back bad memories.”
Anne recalled herself and Michael chasing Rathe through the floor of her home upon his first arrival in New York City. It felt so long ago. They had no idea what a Cherub was then.
“You don’t have anything to worry about as long as you behave yourself. But if you don’t—”
She flashed forth one of her energy blades and Rathe jumped.
“I’m going to take the guest room,” said Leo.
Anne scowled. “I thought we could talk about our next move. Maybe see what Rathe knows.”
“Give me a couple of hours. I’m still feeling, chaos-lagged, for lack of a better word. I need to catch up.”
She nodded and Leo disappeared down the hall.
“Looks like it’s just you and me,” said Rathe.
She stared at him until his mouth jerked with an uncomfortable twitch.
“Maybe a rousing game of Go Fish? Tyannah taught me.”
“Don’t think I’ve forgiven you for what you did to Michael.”
He looked down. “No. I know. You have to understand, it was my job—”
“Don’t.”
“Sorry. Sorry.”
She stood. “I’m going to get a shower. You don’t move from this room.”
Rathe’s eyes drifted to the kitchen. “Can I eat something? I’ve been living in warehouses and cabins since I arrived, eating terrible food in plastic packages from convenience stores. I bet you have some amazing things in there.” He nodded toward her Sub Zero refrigerator.
“Jeffrey probably does. Help yourself.”
Rathe grinned and trotted toward the kitchen, careful to give Anne wide berth as she headed for her bedroom.
“Don’t touch the bacon!” she called back over her shoulder.
Anne closed her bedroom door and leaned against it.
What am I doing?
She couldn’t believe she had the Cherub who orchestrated Michael’s death in her house. Eating her food. What was she thinking?
I know he’s going to go right for the damn bacon.
She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As tired as she felt, she wasn’t going to s
leep. Part of that had to do with the four dogs curled on her bed, napping. They didn’t look interested in sharing.
She wanted to clean the barn dust out of her hair and then return to the living room where she could keep an eye on Rathe. Maybe he knew something that would be useful to them.
Maybe, she could kill him where he stood and Michael would return.
After scratching the ears and bellies of the dogs, she undressed and stepped into the steamy shower. She closed her eyes and let the water beat away the tension in her upper back.
“Anne.”
She gasped.
Michael. Again, he was trying to reach her through a daydream.
She kept her eyes shut, straining to see Michael manifest in her imagination. She saw only darkness.
“I can’t see you. Tell me where you are. I’ll come for you.”
Outside the bathroom, she heard one of the dogs offer a half-hearted woof at the sound of her voice.
“I’m here.”
She felt a hand touch her shoulder, though her back was turned toward the spigot and no one could enter on that side. Startled, she spun and backed against the opposite tile wall.
The steady white noise of the water stopped as she opened her eyes.
Michael stood engulfed in steam, a white shirt clinging to his broad chest, the curl of a smile on his lips as he stared at her.
“Michael!”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her close; an embrace she thought she’d lost.
“You’re back!” she said, leaning back to look into his eyes. “When? How? Did you escape? I kept seeing visions of you—”
He put his finger on her lips.
“Shhh.”
She grinned. “Sorry. I’m just so excited.”
Her fingers slide across the wet fabric of his shirt and she squinted one eye. The fabric felt, cheap. Maybe because it was wet? As a rule, Michael’s clothes felt like they’d been woven by magic caterpillars.
She scanned the length of his form and felt her stomach twist with nerves, a cold tingle traveling down her spine.
Michael’s body ended at his hip, disappearing into darkness in her well-lit shower. Her mind searched for an explanation. Illusion? Steam?
No.
Her head snapped back and she saw the flesh of his forehead had peeled away to flop over his left eye. His right cheekbone sagged, dragging the corner of his mouth down at an unnatural angle.