Shadow WIngs (Skeleton Key)

by JC Andrijeski

  “Never! Never did this happen... he is the only one, I told him that! And it is only the two visits that I am aware of...” A worried tremor touched his voice. “Did he tell you there were more visits than this? Because as far as I know, Golunsky has never been seen by anyone apart from him. His own mother refused to have any contact with him––”

  “No, no... it is fine. Calm yourself, doctor.” Ilana raised a hand, smiling at him. “It is my mistake. I apologize. And you are correct... it is only the two visits that I meant. Truthfully, I was more concerned with insuring that no one else had come to see him prior to his escape.”

  “No,” the doctor said, looking both relieved and determined. “Absolutely not! I told Karkoff this. There was no one! No one besides him ever came here!”

  “Ah. Well, that is certainly a relief.” Ilana glanced at Raguel, giving him a flat-eyed stare without lessening the smile that curved her lips. She upped the wattage of that smile even more before she swung it back in the doctor’s direction. “Thank you so much, doctor. If that is so, then I believe our work is finished here.”

  The doctor smiled nervously back, once more shoving the glasses up his nose.

  “God bless the Motherland!” he said, smiling wider, more nervously.

  She bowed her head, smiling again.

  “Indeed,” she said. “...God bless us all.”

  HUMANS SOMETIMES LIE

  “KARKOFF DID THIS?” Raguel said, his voice taut. “Did you suspect him, Ilana? Did you know his father was institutionalized in the same place as Golunsky?”

  “No,” she said only.

  Rubbing her face with a gloved hand, she fought the sick feeling that rose in her gut as she tried to think through what they’d just learned.

  Raguel didn’t speak either, not at first. He only frowned, staring at the flashing headlights of cars as they passed on the other side of the street. The weather had turned foul again, bringing a spring thunderstorm and rain. Her windshield wipers squeaked across the front of her windshield, clearing a space for her to see.

  “It is likely your boss Karkoff was recruited by Lahash while Lahash inhabited his father’s body,” he said finally. “Lahash probably had Karkoff arrange to put his father’s body next to Golunsky’s when he died.”

  “Are you saying Karkoff is possessed too?” she said, frowning.

  He shook his head, his eyes still on the road. “No,” he said. “But he is likely under the demon’s influence regardless. They recruit willing helpers too, Ilana.”

  Ilana knew there was probably more to his thoughts just then, but decided she would wait to ask until she got them back to her apartment. Grimly, she found herself thinking it might be her last night as a free woman. Worse, she would spend most of that night trying to solve a murder case that would never be officially solved.

  They had gone to see Golunsky’s mother, too, in part to buy Ilana time in case Karkoff checked out where she had been. The mother had not been particularly helpful. Ilana definitely got the impression she carried a great deal of guilt for how her son turned out. Perhaps she had even suspected what he was and what he’d been doing––or what he was capable of doing, at least. She had twisted those emotions into blame and anger, talking about her son as if he were an animal, something entirely foreign to her that needed to be put down.

  Sometimes people did this out of fear of the government, Ilana knew.

  In this case, however, Ilana saw only grief and rage.

  She left the woman’s drab apartment complex feeling even more depressed than she had when they’d left the mental hospital.

  Now, she found herself thinking about her own predicament again.

  Really, only two options remained for her.

  She could stick around and do her job until Karkoff had her arrested and framed her for his involvement in whatever Golunsky had been part of.

  Or she could make a run for it.

  That meant letting the demon finish his plans without her.

  If she decided to run, she wondered if Raguel would come with her. She strongly suspected he would not. He wouldn’t flee for his own safety before. Why would he flee for hers? No, if she ran, he would stay and try to figure out his demon problem on his own.

  She wasn’t sure if she could let him do that.

  “You know,” she said, her voice casual. “It is really not safe to stay with me now, comrade Archangel. To be known as an associate of mine.” She gave him a bare glance and a smile, not pausing long enough to assess his expression. She returned her eyes back to the road. “You are perhaps smarter if you stay with someone else tonight... or in a hotel, perhaps. I think anyone staying with me is putting themselves in view of a firing squad...”

  Raguel didn’t speak.

  Even so, his silence was loud.

  Eventually, Ilana exhaled again.

  “I can give you money for such a thing,” she offered. “...For a hotel. Food. Enough money to tide you over here until you find a job. As much as you need.” Letting out a grunt, she added in a lower mutter, “Somehow I have my doubts I will need money where I am going. So you might as well take it. Put it to good use.”

  “Ilana.” His voice bordered on cold.

  Her jaw firmed. She did not turn.

  “Ilana!”

  Exhaling louder, letting him hear her exasperation, she did not take her eyes off the road. “What, comrade?”

  “I am not going to leave you.” For the first time, he sounded genuinely angry. “I will not leave you in this alone. Understand? Not now. Not ever. So do not talk to me of hotels and giving me your money again, Ilana Kopovich. Yes?”

  Shaking her head, she gave him an exasperated look. “Don’t be a fool. I told you what Karkoff said on the phone. You also heard that doctor. Karkoff is in this... he is in this up to his eyeballs. He likely has someone waiting for me outside my apartment right now. And clearly he intends to pin his involvement on me. You would be foolish not to distance yourself from that, and from me––”

  “Ilana,” Raguel growled. “You are not hearing me.”

  “My hearing is perfectly fine!” she snapped, turning. “If you do not care about yourself, then think about your case... about stopping your demon! I cannot help you from prison. Nor from a work camp... nor from your heaven!”

  His expression grew hard as stone.

  “Ilana,” he said. “I am the reason you are in this mess. I am not going anywhere... not willingly. So if you want to be rid of me, you’re going to have to arrest me.”

  She let out a laugh. “Arrest you?”

  “Arrest me, yes. Or stop talking about it.”

  She fell silent, staring at the road. Then she shook her head, slowly.

  “No,” she said. “No. You are not the reason for this. This has been going on with Karkoff for weeks, at the very least. The doctor said––”

  “I will not discuss this any further,” Raguel growled. “Drop it, Ilana. I mean it.”

  Scowling, she gripped the steering wheel tighter.

  She glared at him, but those crystal gray eyes only glared right back. As she continued to look at him, he folded his arms, his long jaw clenched.

  In the end, she looked back at the road.

  “Fine,” she said, unable to keep the anger from her voice. “Then I suppose we must stay in a hotel together. We will have to take a lot of precautions to avoid being followed... but at least it will be easier to debug the room.” Turning, she glared at him. “It is your funeral, Raguel! Or I guess Russia’s, or perhaps humanity’s... since I guess it does not matter to you anymore, if you stop your demon or not. As long as you can play stupid with me, da?”

  “Don’t guilt me, Ilana,” he warned. “It won’t work. And I don’t just want your help, I need your help, as you amply proved today. You know as well as I do that I have no way to figure this out on my own. Not as a human. Not even as an angel... I’ve learned more with you today than I had on my own in weeks. I will only end up in a jail cell
of my own without you.”

  “With me, you will only end up dead.”

  He didn’t blink.

  “Then we will end up dead together,” he said.

  She shook her head, about to argue more. When she glanced at him however, he scowled at her in warning, as if daring her to speak. When she saw the sheer stubbornness there, she shook her head again, more angrily that time, but only looked away.

  “Fine,” she muttered.

  “Fine,” he growled in return. “It is settled.”

  Neither of them spoke again for the remainder of the drive.

  WHEN THEY REACHED the tenth floor of the Hotel Ukraina, where she and Raguel had procured a room for the night, all Ilana could think about was a shower.

  That, and food... although the second thing only occurred to her after her stomach growled loudly enough for Raguel to look over, startled.

  She had chosen the luxury hotel in part because she knew exactly where the listening devices would be located, including the one on the phone.

  She had no doubt her apartment was bugged by now as well, but she would be less likely to find all of those. Showing up at a hotel and paying cash with one of her emergency aliases in her pocket felt much safer. She and Raguel left her car in the parking lot of another enormous apartment complex, this one in walking distance to a train station on a different line as the hotel. They’d changed trains twice, then walked to the hotel itself, carrying two bags of clothes and the files and tapes from the Golunsky case between them.

  All in all, the operation took more than two hours.

  Now, she just wanted to shower.

  And apparently, from the noises her stomach was making––eat.

  She flushed at the puzzled look Raguel aimed at her mid-section when her stomach growled loudly again, even as it struck her that neither she nor the angel had eaten that day, and the sky had been dark for over an hour now. That also explained how she felt light-headed, and probably at least part of why she was so exhausted and short-tempered.

  Of course, her emotions right then weren’t only from a lack of food.

  She checked her watch at the thought, exhaling.

  Nearly seven o’clock.

  Being in such a nice hotel, they could order room service at least. They’d used Raguel’s new alias to book the room itself, since Ilana knew Karkoff might look for female names. She wanted to save her own emergency alias in case they had to run for real.

  Unlocking the door to their room, she gave Raguel a tired smile.

  “I call the shower first this time,” she said. “I will order us food before I go in. It should arrive by the time you finish taking your turn.”

  She saw something in his eyes soften before he nodded.

  “Of course, Ilana.”

  Hanging her coat in the closet by the door and pulling off her boots one by one before throwing them in that same closet, she watched Raguel as he dropped their bags of clothes on the floor not far from the television set and bureau. Seeing the unsure expression on his face, she motioned towards the couch and the bed.

  “Make yourself at home, comrade angel,” she grunted. “We might as well enjoy our night of luxury, da?”

  She saw him staring at the king-sized bed for a few seconds too long, but pretended not to notice.

  It was of course less conspicuous to check in as a couple. She’d had Raguel hide in the back of her car when she went back to her apartment building, so they wouldn’t be looking for her with someone else, or vice versa. She’d brought the clothes and files down herself, not letting him show himself until they left the car for the train station.

  Plunking down on the bed with a sigh, she picked up the phone and ordered them food, along with wine for herself. She only noticed the mini-fridge nestled under the bureau after she hung up. Grunting when she saw that it contained water, juice and vodka, along with some chocolate, she contemplated the chocolate briefly then shut the door and headed for the bathroom instead.

  Raguel was still standing in the middle of the room. He still wore his winter coat even, but she didn’t offer to help him put it away.

  He would have to find his own way to feel comfortable here.

  Inside the luxurious bathroom, she cranked up the hot water, marveling at the water pressure. When steam began to fill the small room, she exhaled in relief and began peeling off her clothes. Stepping into the stream of hot water felt so good, she could only sigh again, dunking her head under the shower head––and thinking maybe she did not indulge herself in luxury like this often enough.

  She almost felt human again when she finally turned the water off.

  Opening the door to the glass shower cubicle, she squeezed out her hair, then leaned out of the stall, grabbing a fluffy white towel off the rack.

  When she did, she found Raguel standing in the doorway, watching her.

  “Sooka sin!” she swore, snatching the towel and pulling it to her chest. She stared up at his face and saw him avert his eyes, right before he folded his arms. “You scared the hell out of me, Raguel! Why did not you say something?”

  He looked over, discomfort etched in his white marble features.

  “I am sorry,” he said. “I was considering joining you in there, but I could not decide. You seemed so peaceful, like the water relaxed you... but you also seem upset. You have seemed upset since we left the mental hospital.” He met her gaze when she finished wrapping the towel around her body. “...I could not decide if you truly wanted to be left alone, or if you would have preferred some kind of comfort. I know you must be upset about Karkoff. I know he is a friend to you... almost like a father, since your own father died.”

  She stared at him, unable to come up with words to respond.

  “...As an angel, I would have known which it was.” He sounded almost apologetic. “I would have known whether you truly wanted to be alone or if you desired another’s presence. But I know humans often do not express things they are feeling. Humans sometimes lie... for reasons I don’t always understand. So...”

  He trailed once more, waving a hand, as if at a loss.

  “...I could not decide,” he finished lamely.

  For some reason, Ilana found herself fighting a smile.

  Then, as she thought about his words, her smile faded. She made up her mind before she’d fully let herself think about what it meant. Walking up to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist as soon as she was close enough.

  Raguel didn’t flinch back, or even seem startled.

  If anything, he seemed relieved.

  Whatever he was feeling, he enveloped her, not moving from where he stood in the bathroom doorway by the marble-topped sink. When he curled his strong arms around her back and waist, she felt her body melt into his. He only gripped her tighter then, holding her with both hands as he pulled her tightly up against him.

  Leaning her head against his chest, she closed her eyes.

  She let herself just be there with him for those few seconds, her mind blank.

  They stood there for a few minutes before she felt that tension start to drain out of her for real. As it did, reality took over once more.

  “This will not end well for me, Raguel,” she said, looking up at him. “And it will not end well for you, if you stay here with me. You really should go.”

  He shook his head, but didn’t scowl that time. “We will not talk about that now.”

  Loosening his hold on her, he looked towards the shower stall.

  “I am going to shower now.” He paused, meeting her gaze with those smoky crystal eyes. “You are welcome to come in with me, Ilana. I would like that very much.”

  Blushing at the added meaning in his words, she thought about his offer.

  Then, slowly, she shook her head.

  “No.” She looked up, giving him a wry smile. “It is a tempting offer, comrade Archangel. But we have food coming... and whatever might happen if I joined you in that shower, I suspect it would take longer than the hotel kit
chen...”

  Raguel laughed.

  The sound startled her but also made her smile.

  Still smiling, she added somewhat more seriously, “And I still very much want to listen to that recording of the interview with Golunsky... possibly while I drink generous amounts of vodka and think about my own mortality.” She looked up, studying his storm-cloud gray eyes. “We can talk about anything else after we manage those two things, da? But you are human now, Raguel... as am I. Humans must eat.”

  “And drink vodka?” he said, quirking an eyebrow.

  She laughed herself that time, pulling the rest of the way out of his embrace. Rubbing him affectionately on the chest through the thermal shirt, she shook her head.

  “I think we will wait a bit longer before introducing you to that particular Russian pastime, my angelic friend. I have enough to answer to with God already.”

  Raguel laughed at that, too.

  Something about that laugh, which sounded so genuine, so open, forced Ilana to smile again.

  OUT OF THE WAY

  ILANA DISMANTLED ALL of the listening devices in the room after she got dressed, then did a second sweep just to be sure. She heard the shower turn off in the other room right as she found her copy of the taped interview in her shoulder bag.

  Room service knocked on their door then.

  They wheeled in a cart loaded with covered plates, along with roses in a vase and two thin-stemmed wine glasses and a bottle of French red wine.

  She instructed them to set everything up on the coffee table by the couch, then dug out her tape player after they left, thankful she’d remembered to grab that from her apartment prior to leaving. She’d just finished setting up the recorder on the carpet next to the coffee table, when Raguel emerged from the bathroom, trailed by a cloud of steam.

  He wore a different set of clothes than the ones she’d given him that morning––a pair of black pants and a royal blue long-sleeved shirt. Since she’d packed more of Uri’s clothes from the box in her apartment and left them inside the bathroom door for Raguel to use, she wasn’t surprised to see him wearing them.