The Counter Demon Division looked just as she remembered. It was a giant circular room the size of a baseball field, with second and third-floor offices separated by glass walls. Hundreds of guardian angels walked up and down the stairs or sat at desks and busied their fingers with keyboards.
At first the room was loud with the sound of voices, but within a few seconds of their arrival, the room went still. Kara did her best not to make eye contact with anyone as they moved past holographic screens that looked like moving wallpaper. She angled her body strategically so she could hide behind David. But it was no use. Everyone was watching her.
Instead of moving toward the large round desk in the middle of the chamber, where the guardians usually held their meetings, David led her toward four cubicles of green-colored water. The vega tanks shimmered like giant emeralds from the light from the ceiling.
A group of angels stood nervously around the tanks, as though they were preparing themselves for the jump. Kara could see Ashley and her cronies, Sasha, Raymond, and Ling. Ashley’s hazel eyes shot daggers at her. She was a few years older than Kara and wore her long blonde hair pulled back into a braid. It was a style that caused her sharp, plain features to stand out. Sasha was a mousy, skinny girl with shoulder-length straw-colored hair and big dull eyes. Raymond stood on the other side of Ashley. He was a red-haired brute with a face like a bloodsucker. And Ling hid in the shadows behind Ashley. Ling always made Kara uneasy. He reminded her of a leech with his thin face, black greasy hair, and empty black eyes.
Their hostility was like a sudden frost around the vega tanks, and Kara suppressed a shiver.
A petite teenage girl around the same age as Kara, with a pixie cut of purple hair, squealed at the sight of Kara and rushed over to her.
“Wow, you look like a hologram,” said Jenny.
A giant smile spread across her sharp, pointed features. She looked like a typical teenager, except for her polished purple combat boots and purple bomber-like jacket. She wore a silver quiver with a bow and a multitude of silver arrows strapped to her back.
“This is so totally weird to look at you like this. I can see right through you, like I’m staring through a fog or a cloud. Does it hurt?”
She moved her fingers delicately through Kara’s long ponytail. Her large, green eyes stood out against the black kohl and purple of her eye shadow.
“No,” said Kara. “I don’t feel any different either. I just look different.”
Jenny jumped into Kara’s arms and hugged her tightly. “Who cares? I missed ya.”
Kara relaxed a little and smiled. “Missed you too, you crazy girl.”
As Jenny released Kara from her bear hug, a scrawny teenage boy with glasses, a mousy face, and wearing a combat uniform two sizes too big extended his hand.
“Glad you’re back, Kara,” smiled Peter. “We could really use your help with this.”
Kara shook Peter’s hand. Her eyes went to David. “Yeah, David said something about a situation. What situation? What have I missed?”
“Something the legion hoped we would never have to face,” said a voice.
Kara looked over Peter’s shoulder. A stunning tall woman made her way toward them. Her mocha-colored skin blended beautifully with her black CDD uniform. She studied every inch of Kara’s mysterious semi-transparent body, and Kara felt even more self-conscious. Kara could tell that the archangel Ariel had never seen a ghost-like guardian before. She hadn’t expected Kara to look quite like that.
No one knew what was wrong with her, and it made her feel worse.
“It’s nice to see you again, Kara,” said archangel Ariel. Kara thought that Ariel looked tired.
“Are you up for a mission? I could really use your help and skill with our present situation.”
There was a sense of urgency to her voice. “We don’t have enough trained field agents at the moment. Those who are in training, well, they’re not quite ready just yet, not for a perilous mission like this one.”
She hesitated, measuring Kara’s body again.
“Can you work like this? Do you think you can make another vega leap? I do need you on the team, but I wouldn’t want to add more…more harm to your affliction, whatever it is.”
Despite the strangeness of the situation, Kara was excited. She smiled.
“Raphael seems to think that I can. But she advised me not to overdo it, just in case. I feel fine though.”
It was unusual to be back so soon. And even more so with another tainted form, but there was nothing in the world that Kara wanted more than to be a guardian again. At that moment, she realized that this, being a guardian angel, was what she was meant to be in this ethereal life. It explained the empty feeling she had experienced as a mortal. It was what she had tried very inarticulately to explain to Mr. Patterson. She was meant to be a guardian angel. She was meant to save lives.
Kara raised her chin, and then she added more confidently. “I can do this. I’m ready.”
“Good,” said Ariel. “You don’t have time to change, so those clothes will have to do for now. Not sure how effective they will be on your mission though. I’m sure you’ll make them work.”
Kara looked down at herself. She’d never imagined her blue jeans, white cami, and gray cardigan would be effective for anything. They were just comfortable. Although they weren’t demon-fighting clothes, she could still maneuver easily in them.
“Kara,” said Ariel, “you’ll be on Jenny’s team with Peter and David. Ashley already has her team ready—”
“She shouldn’t be on any team,” said Ashley suddenly.
Her tone was cold and filled with hatred. “I mean, look at her. All she’ll do is attract attention to us. She’ll put us all in danger.”
All eyes were on Kara once again, but she stood her ground defiantly.
“Shut up, Ashley,” David growled.
“Yeah, Ashley,” agreed Jenny. “Nobody asked for your opinion.”
“My opinion matters just as much as yours does, Jenny. I’m a team leader.”
Ashley continued in a superior tone and drew herself higher. “She hasn’t told us why she looks the way she looks, has she? Do we really know what her motives are? It’s not like we read minds. How do we know what side she truly is on? We can’t tell, can we? All we know for sure is that she was once marked by demons, and now it looks to me like she’s been marked all over again—”
David made a move toward Ashley, but Kara grabbed him back, shaking her head. The last thing she wanted was for David to get suspended because of her.
“I swear to God I’m going to shut you up if you don’t stop.” David turned away angrily.
Ashley studied the faces of her cronies, and then she smiled confidently.
“You know I’m right. Every one of you knows that I’m speaking the truth. You just don’t have the guts to say it, but I do.”
She looked at Kara and sneered.
Kara felt deflated. She searched her friends’ faces and wondered if Ashley’s words had any real truth to them. Were they really afraid she might get them hurt?
“Speak for yourself,” Peter frowned. “I want Kara on my team. She’s an excellent guardian, and I couldn’t ask for a better teammate.”
Kara relaxed her shoulders and felt a little better. At least Peter didn’t believe the words that spilled from Ashley’s insufferable mouth.
Ashley turned on Peter but pointed at Kara.
“She looks foul. She is foul, and I don’t trust her. For all we know she could be leading us into a trap, an ambush. Until we know for sure, she should stay back with archangel Raphael so that she can keep an eye on her.” She shook her head. “She shouldn’t be with us. She poses a threat to our mission. We’ll never be safe with her around.”
She glared at Kara, her face twisted as though she wanted to slap her.
“You know,” said Jenny, wandering forward. “All kinds of accidents can happen on the job.”
She smiled wickedly at her.
“I might mistake you for a demon—”
“Enough,” said Ariel. “We don’t have time for this.”
Kara didn’t hear the archangel. She could fight her own battles.
Before she knew what she was doing, she stepped in front of Ashley and thrust her face into Ashley’s.
“I’m right here. You’ve got something to say to me? Then say it to my face.”
Ashley drew herself up and met Kara’s challenging glare. “I don’t trust you. You’re tainted. We both know you don’t belong here. It’s just a matter of time before the rest of the legion realizes their mistake.”
“I have a right to be here just as much as you do,” spat Kara.
Ashley laughed a spiteful laugh. “But you don’t. You just don’t know it yet.”
Kara made fists with her hands. “You’re going to wish you never said that.”
“What?” mocked Ashley, “That you’re fouled?”
Her cronies laughed.
Kara raised her fists. “You’re the one who’s going to be fouled when I’m finished with you.”
“Is that a threat?” laughed Ashley again.
She narrowed her eyes. “I doubt you can even throw a decent punch, the way you look. Look at you: pathetic, weak. You’re not even real. You’re a ghost, a figment of what you used to be. You’re nothing. They should have locked you up in Tartarus.”
Kara pulled herself together and stood stone-faced. Ashley would never know how much her words hurt.
“Well, they probably will throw me in Tartarus, after I’m done with you.” Kara leaned forward. “And I think I’ll start with your face, seeing as it’s the closest thing to me—”
“Stop this at once!”
Ariel pushed the girls apart, scowling. “Have you all gone mad? Have you forgotten the camaraderie that is the first rule of the legion—we are an extended family, a fellowship. How can you treat your family like this? It’s ridiculous. You are all on the same team—each and every one of you—the same team. You are equals.”
Ariel searched every face, challenging them to defy her. “I trust everyone here, and that should be good enough for all of you. Do you understand?”
“Sure, I understand,” answered Ashley as she brushed her blonde hair from her face. “It’s fine by me, really. I didn’t want to get infected by her anyway.”
She turned around laughing, and her followers erupted in laughter with her.
“I mean it, Ashley,” warned Ariel. “One more word out of you…and you’ll be sitting this one out. Got that?”
Ashley crossed her arms. “Yes, archangel Ariel. I get it.” She looked at Kara with cold, calculating eyes, like she was challenging her silently to a fight where Ariel couldn’t stop them. It was clear to both girls that this wasn’t over.
Ariel watched Ashley for a moment longer then addressed the rest of the group.
“Now listen up, everyone. I don’t want or have the time to repeat myself. You’ve wasted too much time as it is with your bickering.” She raised her voice. “Kara is here because we need an experienced guardian. Kara is a skilled guardian and a valuable asset to the legion. I need her. You need her. She is one of us, the same as you. We are a family. And what do families do? They stick together. Is that clear?”
Everyone nodded a silent consensus. Ashley knew better than to start another fight in front of the archangel. Their battle would continue at another time and place.
“Good.” Ariel turned back to Kara. “If you don’t feel up to it, if you feel a little off, there’s no shame in saying so, Kara. I just want you to know that.”
“I’m fine, really, I am,” said Kara. “I would tell you if I didn’t feel up to it.”
She heard Ashley snort, but she paid no attention to it. She was more aware of the anxiousness and urgency in Ariel’s voice.
“But, Archangel Ariel,” Kara continued, feeling that she had to ask. “What’s going on? What are you not telling me?”
She wondered if the archangel was worried Kara’s body wouldn’t survive the vega jump. Or was it something else?
Ariel’s mouth opened halfway, but she said nothing for a moment.
“Jenny will fill you in with the details.”
“Here.” She handed Kara a silver-blue blade, the length of her forearm. It was lighter than it looked, and cool to the touch. Small markings were etched into the blade in a language Kara couldn’t decipher. Tiny stars were engraved around the hilt like fingerprints. It was stunning. Kara knew it was one of Ariel’s personal blades.
“Don’t get too close to them,” said the archangel as she stepped away from the green tanks.
“Don’t get too close to what exactly?” Kara looked over to David for an explanation of whom or what was them, but he narrowed his eyes and mouthed the word later.
“Quickly now.” Ariel looked worse than Kara felt, as though she had the weight of the mortal world on her shoulders. “May the souls protect you.”
Before Kara could wrap her head around this new threat, Ashley and her team stepped into the vega tanks. Their bodies disintegrated into sparkling specks of sand, and then they disappeared as though they had never been there.
“Come on, Kara, our turn,” said Jenny. She pulled Kara with her toward the tanks. “I’ll go first.”
Kara narrowed her eyes. “But where are we going?”
“Las Vegas, Nevada.” Jenny stepped into the green waters and was gone.
Kara had never been to Las Vegas as a mortal or on the job as a guardian. She’d always wanted to go, especially to see the shows, but this wasn’t the time to play the tourist. By the looks everyone had on their faces, this wasn’t going to be a fun trip. She began to dread what they weren’t telling her.
“Let’s do this.” David stepped forward and was followed quickly by Peter. They vanished in a blink of an eye.
Kara was the only one left. She looked over at Ariel, whose face showed the same fear and urgency. She gave a nod of her head to Kara.
Kara realized how nervous she was. Would her strange, semi-transparent body survive the jump? Would she come apart in millions of pieces and disappear forever? There was only one way to find out.
With her blade clasped tightly in her trembling hand, Kara willed herself to move. She fell forward into the wall of emerald waters and was gone.
Chapter 7
Lord Beelzebub
Beyond the planes of the living in a world of shadow and death, a man sat on a great black marble throne. Black veins pulsed under his gray-colored skin, and a long black braid of his hair hung down the side of his large, bare, muscular torso. Golden loops hung from his ears, and the many rings he wore around his fingers glimmered with the torchlight. He sat in the semi-darkness that he liked the best, in a vast dark dungeon. Torchlights sparkled off the black stone walls that looked like sheets of black diamonds.
An orange translucent wall of energy divided the chamber and disappeared into the darkness of the chambered ceiling. It hummed and shivered as an ominous warning to intruders.
The man on the throne liked things that sparkled. He admired the globe that represented the mortal world, and he clutched it firmly in his right hand.
He heard soft footsteps approach.
A man dressed in simple black leather clothes strode into the throne room. His long black hair and cape billowed behind him like fluttering wings. He was tall and thin, but he walked confidently and in a manner that showed off his athleticism. His face was fierce but handsome, and in his ears were golden loops. The sound of his tall boots echoed from the dark, slippery chamber walls, and his yellow cat-like eyes glimmered in the torchlight.
A servant-creature, a bow-legged dwarf with long, ape-like arms, a flat nose, and a face that was twisted repulsively, followed behind the man. Its dark gray skin was thick as leather. It looked like a cross between an ape and a pig. Its glowing red eyes shone in the dim light as it scurried along like a frightened pet dog at its master’s heels.
“Did y
ou find the girl?” asked the man on the throne.
His deep, commanding voice had the authority of a king who had spent many years in battles. His yellow cat-like eyes stayed fixed upon the globe in his hand.
The man stopped just in front of the moving energy wall and clasped his hands behind his back. The servant-creature bowed low and stayed in the shadow of the other man.
“Yes, my lord,” said the man, his voice contented.
“And were you successful?”
“Yes, Lord Beelzebub,” the man’s black pointy teeth glistened. “I was very successful. The legion thought they could hide her in the body of a mortal, but her energy flows with such potency that I found her very easily. The angels haven’t changed their ways; they are still fools.”
He hesitated for a moment and then added with a smile, “She is a feisty little creature. She fought hard against it, but I got her in the end. I imagine she should be showing signs of her transformation very soon.”
Lord Beelzebub looked up from the globe and tilted his head toward the two figures.
“I am pleased. That is very good news, Betaazu.” His gaze returned to the globe. “And the legion knows nothing of her…transformation? They don’t suspect anything?”
Betaazu shook his head. “No, my lord. They will not notice any changes in her, not until the final stages of the transmutation. After that, it’ll be too late for them. She’ll be in our control. The darkness will have taken over. They don’t stand a chance. They will not know how to control her.”
Lord Beelzebub was silent for a moment. He seemed to be thinking. His fingers fiddled with the globe in his hand. His eyes slid to Betaazu and lingered.
“When my confinement is lifted,” he pointed to the energy field, “and my brothers and sisters are free, we will take back what is ours. Horizon will burn for keeping us prisoners in this forsaken place. We will crush the light and let in the darkness—the true and only power.”
Lord Beelzebub’s voice boomed. “Get the armies ready. We strike in two moons.
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