Angelus

by Sabrina Benulis

“Anything for a friend,” Angela said softly. She held the weapon steady, though her legs already threatened to buckle. “But as for you,” she said to the angel. “What’s your problem? Why did you attack me?”

  You won’t get anything worthwhile out of him, Angela, Nina said. She glided down from the trees. We’ve tried, trust me.

  Well, Angela thought back. It’s worth a shot.

  “You do realize I can hurt you if I want to?” Angela said to the angel.

  The angel kept silent.

  Angela looked him over. Finally, her gaze settled on the adamant cuffs on his wings. They glistened like platinum beneath the stars overhead, but a strange shape had been etched into their metal. It looked a lot like a fly. Angela thought of how Lucifel’s shadow had taken the shape of a giant fly during their battle in Luz.

  Then it’s true—Lucifel has control of Heaven!

  “Why bother with me?” the angel said gently. “You have much bigger problems right now, after all.”

  “What do you mean?” Angela said sharply, keeping her blade at his neck.

  “You’re the Archon, I suppose,” the angel continued. “At least that’s what I’m gathering from the weapon against my neck. Lucifel sends her regards. She’s grateful for your return. And for the gift you brought back with you.”

  Fear rattled Angela’s insides. Her heart froze, and her soul turned to ice. The air suddenly seemed suffocatingly warm in comparison. Even though she was allowing the angel to continue, his words sounded from a faraway place.

  “I agreed it was a mistake for Lucifel to let the Book escape her hands so easily,” the angel said. “But the balance of power will be restored soon. Whether I live or die, I accomplished my mission well enough. Let me live, and I’ll be glad to inform the new Prince of Heaven you’re on your way. Let me die, and she’ll put two and two together herself.”

  Red-hot anger colored Angela’s entire world. She should have listened to her instincts and never left Sophia alone.

  “Where is the Book of Raziel?” Angela seethed. She gripped the Glaive so hard her palms blistered with pain. “Tell me, or I’ll—”

  “You’ll what?” the angel said, scoffing. “You’ll kill me?”

  Angela hesitated. She didn’t want things to go that far, but when it came to Sophia, she couldn’t stand even the thought of her in danger anymore. Honestly, Angela didn’t know what she would do if something happened to Sophia. Her blade at the angel’s neck trembled with her hands.

  “Lucifel doesn’t need you, Archon,” the angel continued. “She thought she needed you, and it’s true that Raziel devised everything so that your blood alone can open the Book. But we’ll have that shortly as well. How long can you run, I wonder? It hasn’t taken much to convince most of the people in Luz that you’re evil, that your blood is worth any price. And they’ll take it from you by any means necessary by now. Stay here, and you’ll be captured by the priests. Enter the city, and you’ll be murdered.”

  The angel’s eyes shone strangely.

  “He’s lying,” Juno growled in the background, but her voice sounded hopeful, not certain.

  He’d better be lying, Angela thought frantically. Or everything is lost. But Lucifel can’t open the Book without me. She needs the Glaive.

  The same Glaive now made with Angela’s mysterious, new, blue blood. Angela’s racing thoughts stalled.

  She felt her eyes widen. A short gasp escaped her. As long as Lucifel had Angela’s blood, she could open the Book herself without anyone to stop her. That was the key. In the past, Lucifel had wielded the Glaive, but Angela’s soul wasn’t connected to it yet. Now it was. Now Angela had changed inside somehow and that had also changed Lucifel’s strategy.

  Nina! Stop worrying about me, and go help Sophia! Angela thought frantically.

  But, Angela—

  Go!

  Nina flew through the trees, branches snapping around her as she left.

  “You’re too late,” the angel said. “I made sure of that.”

  One of the angel’s eyes flashed a brilliant red and he dropped to the ground unconscious. So—he’d been possessed. But by whom? Lucifel’s shadow had been destroyed by Angela.

  That left her daughter, Mikel.

  Without another thought Angela dashed through the trees, in the direction Nina had flown. She could only assume Juno followed behind her. The cold and the pain and her overwhelming tiredness meant nothing to her now. And then, she stumbled into the copse where she, and Sophia, and the Kirin had rested only a short while ago. No one was there. Fury was gone. So were Nina and the Kirin. And so was Sophia.

  Angela considered shouting, but if she did, the priests and novices still in the cemetery would certainly hear her.

  Juno landed by her side. Immediately, the Jinn prowled and searched the dirt and rocks. She lifted her head, gazing in the direction of the western side of the cemetery. “They’re definitely gone,” Juno said, “and I’m certain they’ve escaped into the city.”

  “No,” Angela whispered to herself. “What about the Kirin? It can’t have gotten far without—”

  “It escaped somehow,” Juno whispered. “The Earth Realm will affect it like it affects Auntie and me. Although, I often heard the winged Kirin have other abilities.”

  Angela gripped the pendant resting against her chest, squeezing her eyes shut. Then she realized she still held the Glaive in her other hand, and she willed it to collapse. Instantly, a rush of energy flowed through her. She staggered, absently wiping the blood from her hands onto her nightgown.

  “I have to follow Sophia and Nina,” she said to Juno, and she set off toward the thicket.

  Juno’s pointed ears flicked back. Her left ear was still floppy, and it drooped after a second or so. “You can’t,” Juno said with confusion. She began stalking in Angela’s direction and then paused, as if hoping Angela would stop before anything further happened.

  Angela continued on, ready to march into the bushes.

  Whump. Juno landed right in front of her. Her yellow eyes burned into Angela. “I said you can’t.”

  “Who are you to order me around?” Angela said, trying not to shout.

  “Think about what you’re going to do,” Juno retorted.

  “I’ve done enough thinking. I’m not going to let Sophia and Nina just vanish into Luz where anything can happen to them.”

  “They can blend in with the other humans to some degree. You can’t. You’ll be noticed soon enough. And then what?”

  Angela shook her head angrily. “I’m going, and that’s final.”

  “I won’t let you,” Juno said, and she stood up as tall as possible, which wasn’t quite the height of her aunt, but tall enough to be frightening. Her wings snapped open and her eyes glowed brighter. “It’s my responsibility to stop you from doing anything stupid. And entering Luz when everyone is brainwashed into murdering you is stupid. I’m now the Queen of the Jinn, and Auntie would want me to do what’s best for our people. Letting the Archon die is not what’s best for the Jinn. So, please stop.”

  Juno flexed her sharp nails for added emphasis.

  Angela breathed hard. She balled her hands into fists. It was destroying her inside not to charge into Luz after Sophia and Nina. But Juno did have a point. Perhaps Juno wasn’t using the violence and nasty language Troy would use to get the message across, but Angela wasn’t so sure she wanted to test Juno’s words either. A dangerous aura surrounded her right now.

  “All right, you win,” Angela muttered. She stepped away from the bushes.

  Juno relaxed her ears and wings, looking a million times less threatening. “I heard what Gloriana said about the canals beneath Luz. I can go with you to meet Azrael’s twin.”

  Angela considered her options, and diving into Luz’s underworld was all that remained. She glanced up at the sky, a shot of fear burning through her as she thought she saw a shadow pass overhead, briefly blocking out the stars. Was it an angel again? Where had the winged Kirin gone
? Hopefully it hadn’t taken to the skies out of fear. She examined the stars, realizing with alarm that the sky shone brighter. The angelic city must have been coming closer to Luz.

  The cold was probably even worse this hour than the previous. Realms were about to collide. She didn’t have any time to delay. Sophia had said more than once she could take care of herself. Angela would have to trust and pray that was the case, no matter how much it left her screaming inside.

  Angela glanced at Juno.

  As if reading Angela’s thoughts, the Jinn nodded sagely. Then it was settled. It was time to enter Luz’s darkest level, to find the angel lurking in the mists.

  Sixteen

  Angela pressed against the bricks next to the storm grate Gloriana had mentioned was their entrance into the canals. She watched the silvery water churning below and swallowed. Already, she could feel the ice cold water freezing her bones and sucking out her air. She wanted Juno—anyone—to jump into the water with her.

  But she’d already decided—she couldn’t just let Sophia hide in Luz alone.

  Over and over, she’d been practicing how to explain herself to Juno. Angela peeked back and forth down the empty alley. She was sure people lived down here, yet there weren’t any lights behind the shuttered windows, and most of them were boarded up completely.

  The cold air picked at her skin and lungs, and her breath looked like smoke.

  At last, a gentle thump touched the cobblestones behind her. Angela turned quickly.

  She’d never become used to how Jinn eyes glowed so eerily.

  “Is something wrong?” Juno said, her ears pricking forward. She was on alert already.

  “No, I’m sorry. I’m just not used to . . . well, never mind. Thanks for getting me these clothes,” Angela said. She plucked the pair of brown pants from Juno and then grabbed the form-fitting black shirt offered to her. It wasn’t much, but it would at least keep her from freezing to death for fifteen minutes or so. Angela laid aside the scarves she’d been wearing. They would be too dangerous to bring into the water, wrapped around her neck.

  This is insane.

  “There’s no way I’m allowing you to enter the canals alone,” Juno said almost sweetly.

  Angela choked on her next breath. She stared at Juno. “How did you—”

  “I could see it in your eyes,” Juno whispered. “Deep down in your soul, you want me to go after Sophia and watch over her. You’re misunderstanding everything. She’s safer than you at the moment.”

  Angela took a deep breath again. “You’re only saying that to make me feel better.”

  “No. I know she and Nina and Fury are all right—for now. Nina is my Vapor. I can sense if she’s in danger or not.”

  “What?” Angela said. “Then you can tell me where they are, right?”

  Juno’s wings stiffened almost defensively. “I can’t. If I would, don’t you think I’d say something?”

  “That’s true. Well, tell me if you sense anything wrong at any point.”

  “I will.”

  “Juno?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you . . . for all your help.”

  Juno bared her teeth, which for most Jinn passed as a smile, and then she leaned down, lifting the heavy grate separating them from the churning water beneath. Angela was already shivering. There was no way to know they wouldn’t just get dumped right into the ocean, or worse. She stepped closer and then knelt down. If it was possible, the air beneath the grate actually seemed colder. But wasn’t water always warmer than the surrounding air? She remembered that much from her schooling. Even so, it would be a small consolation.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Juno said.

  Angela steeled herself. She didn’t want to jump into the water. She almost couldn’t. Then, without thinking, she took the next step and slid inside.

  The current snagged her like a fish on a hook, dragging her into water so cold it stole her breath away. Angela spluttered, trying to keep her head up to see and breathe, but it was almost impossible. Salt water entered her mouth and ears. Foam surrounded her head. The water roared, and she felt her entire body being thrown forward, faster and faster with every passing second. The bricks of the tunnel seemed to fly by on either side, and soon everything was a blur. She tried to shout for Juno, but only succeeded in getting more water in her mouth. Her bones ached. Her organs were probably freezing.

  Then, Angela felt herself lurch over a sudden drop.

  Her body splashed into calmer water and she used the last ounce of her strength to swim for an ancient boat moored to a shore of slimy cobblestones. The roar of the water was still deafening. Angela grasped the boat and clung to it as hard as she could. Somehow, she pulled herself inside and curled up, trying to stay warm. She couldn’t take off her sopping wet clothes, and her hair was plastered icily against her neck. She glanced up at the high arches of the stone ceiling above her. Icicles that looked more like silver daggers hung among the rock.

  Juno crawled across the ceiling, weaving her way around the ice. She glided into the boat but didn’t land gracefully. More water splashed inside, and Juno recoiled from the cold as she spread her wings, shaking off the moisture.

  Angela might have complained if her teeth weren’t chattering so violently.

  Only by summoning all her strength could Angela uncurl herself and sit up to start rowing the boat.

  She grasped the rotten oar and started to push, letting the current take them again.

  Juno edged closer to her and wrapped her wings around Angela, trying to warm her as best she could.

  Angela fought to stay conscious. Gloriana had said to watch for two statues, but all Angela saw was more brick, and more water, and suddenly her exhaustion caught up with her.

  She was aware of Juno shouting in alarm. But Angela could do nothing as sleep sank its claws into her brain and, instead of letting go, fatally tightened its grip.

  Angela awakened to what was initially utter darkness.

  Soon her eyes adjusted, and she realized she lay in the bottom of a boat with water leaking through its wooden frame. But despite that, the air was oddly hot and stuffy, and she was no longer freezing but warm and almost entirely dry.

  Now she noticed the boat wasn’t rocking. They must have hit some kind of shore.

  Slowly, Angela sat up and peered out into the quiet darkness. Juno stood in front of two statues flanking either side of a narrow path. Hundreds of similarly ragged boats lay on the shore. Perhaps these were all that remained of adventurers who entered the underbelly of Luz. But something about the walls was strange. Angela noticed there were many tunnels branching off in various directions, all radiating from this central pool. The arches above the entryways had been skillfully constructed and elaborately carved. And then, her eyes focused completely.

  Death lined the walls.

  Innumerable bones had been set in just as innumerable shelves in the rock.

  The canals beneath Luz were catacombs. Angela and Juno had entered a giant, watery tomb.

  Angela swallowed, searching the empty eye sockets of thousands of grinning skulls.

  She felt afraid to move again.

  At any moment, it seemed the skulls would come to life and speak. Instead, they stared at her as they had stared into the water.

  Juno crawled away from the statues and scampered nearer to Angela. She seemed relieved Angela was awake, but she shook her head again as they both regarded the bones that now made up the world. “They’ve been dead a long, long time,” Juno said. “I can smell it.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t try to taste any of them,” Angela said weakly.

  Juno sighed. “There’s no meat left in them,” she said very seriously. “Ah, I’m so hungry, though . . .”

  Angela remembered Troy telling her how staying in this dimension caused her to become insanely hungry. The High Assassin of the Jinn had been a terror in Luz for a short time, taking the sick or criminals or other unsavory individuals as he
r prey. She’d said there’d been no choice. It was either kill and devour her meals or starve to death.

  Angela eyed Juno carefully.

  Juno showed no sign that she noticed, but she licked her lips, and her eyes glazed over as she examined the bones again.

  “These statues,” Angela said. She pointed at the two enormous stone angels flanking the narrow path Juno had been inspecting. “They look just like statues I’ve seen on buildings in Luz built by the Vatican. They probably made these catacombs ages ago. No wonder most people were unaware they existed. Every stupid teenager in Luz would be down here to see these bones if word got out. But why would an angel live down here? And why wouldn’t she let people who found her leave again?”

  Juno sniffed the air. “I don’t smell an angel,” she said softly.

  “Exactly. I bet it’s more of a legend than anything else. The Vatican probably never really sent anyone down here to find her. They just sent guards to silence people who found the catacombs.”

  “So Gloriana lied to us?” Juno flapped her wings before folding them crisply against her back again. “Why?”

  Juno raised an interesting point. Gloriana had been smart enough to hide her real self from the Vatican for so long. She surely knew what she was talking about when it came to angels.

  Angela trembled again, but the cold wasn’t an excuse anymore. Fear crept into every fiber of her being.

  She walked up to the statues and glanced from one to the other. Except for their size, they looked ordinary enough. The lanterns they held aloft had lost their flames ages ago. So how could Angela see in such darkness?

  Then it hit her. The walls were glowing.

  She peered more closely at the skulls and bones around them. Bluish lights danced behind their empty eye sockets before disappearing again. Angela knew these delicate glowing spheres. The first time she’d encountered them was in the Netherworld ruled by Azrael. They were human souls.

  Maybe Gloriana is right. Azrael hoarded human souls. Why wouldn’t his twin do the same?

  What awaited them beyond the statues? According to Gloriana, no one had ever returned to tell.