He ran his fingers through his hair. “Only that she isn’t interested in anything outside her work. I tried to distract her and lure her into opening up, but she’s too focused. She seems detached from everything but the elements. Maybe her focus is a weakness too. If we screw up her little science projects, she’ll notice us.”
“You want to piss off the veil?” I asked incredulously.
“You asked for my opinion. There it is.”
“He has a point,” Akil said. “It’s worth considering. Those creatures we saw, those with the blue eyes, what are they?”
“Lessers,” Torrent replied. “Or they were. She’s making them into something else. They don’t communicate—at least not vocally. They just kinda hang around the tunnels. Some are vicious, and others seem docile. If they have a purpose, I don’t know what it is.”
“I’ll find out,” Akil declared. “I’ll keep an eye on Mother while I’m there.”
“Mother?” I asked, feathers rustling.
“If my theory is correct, then that is what she is, our mother. The mother to all.”
I wasn’t sure if I was more disturbed by his conclusion or the idea that the deity tearing down and remaking LA was my… mother. Life had been so much easier when all I had to worry about was preening my feathers and attending to the needs of my Hollywood worshippers. Now I had to somehow manage the manipulative Prince of Greed and a prince’s son with a split demon personality. How had three demons become the last chance to save the City of Angels?
“There’s something else…” Torrent added, his tone making it clear I wouldn’t like it. “There are people in her tower. She hasn’t killed anyone, that I know of. Just the staff at EcoZone when she broke out. But she has everyone who was left in LA when she started building that tower.”
Gem, Adam…
Torrent nodded, not needing to hear my thoughts to know who I was thinking of. “I don’t know if they got out in time.”
I had told Gem to burn the feather. Had she? I couldn’t lose her, not after Anna. Adam, and even Christian—I couldn’t lose another human under my protection.
“Who got out in time?” Akil asked.
Akil knew Gem as Project Gamma. He was the demon who had broken her and her brother out of the Institute before the Fall. He hadn’t “saved” them, despite what Gem believed. Mammon had planned to use the half-bloods. He wouldn’t hesitate to use her again if it suited his needs.
If he had a half-blood charmed into his service, he would use her to strengthen his ties here. No. Gem was not a bargaining chip, nor was she a tool for him to use. She had earned her freedom. He wasn’t taking that away from her.
“Friends,” I told him. “You wouldn’t understand.”
He narrowed his eyes but stayed silent.
I huffed, but I would not let him draw me into another discussion. Mammon was here to stop Mother. That was all. He wasn’t staying, and he wasn’t getting his claws into Gem. Not while I was around.
Greed will not take her from me too.
“Go, spy on Mother,” I told him.
“And you?” he asked.
I had every intention of returning to the tunnels as air to find Gem. I’d felt the many, many pockets of human locations. It would take time, but I’d find her. I had found her halfway around the world, albeit with the help of a feather. “I’ll work with Torrent on subduing his other half. He’s useless to us this way.”
“Gee, thanks,” he grumbled.
Greed nodded and left the room. When I was sure he’d left the building, I met Torrent’s questioning gaze.
“You two have issues,” he said.
“Many. Don’t trust him.”
“Like I would trust any demon. I am one. I know how they think.” He sighed at the glyphs still penning him in. “So, how do we deal with my problem?”
“The old-fashioned way. I’ll be right back.” Half an hour later, I returned with a handful of Sharpie pens, set them down in front of Torrent’s circle, and plucked a feather from my wing. “Let’s see if we can give you back control. Roll up your sleeve.”
“Seriously?”
I flicked out my claws. “I could carve the marks into your flesh if you’d prefer, but you’ll likely heal over them.”
He rolled up his sleeve, exposing his forearm. “It may come to that.”
Chapter 25
A soft, fluttering touch told me Gem had ignored my advice—nothing new there—and kept the feather pressed close to her flesh, probably still tucked in her bra considering the warm rhythmic beat of her heart. With Torrent’s ink still drying on my hands, I turned to air outside the tower and funelled inside. Gem was alive and calm. It could have been worse. When Adam Harper had taken her from LA to Boston, I’d felt her alarm as though it were my own, and afterward, while attempting to weave through the Institute’s underground facility and around the glyphs, I’d experienced her fear and her anger. I had reached her in time then. I would help her now.
My flight along the tunnels abruptly ended when I slammed into a wall of nothingness. I hung in the air, stunned, and tried to probe around the invisible force holding me back. Impossible. There was nothing there.
The tunnels rushed by in reverse, flushing me out or up, I wasn’t sure. It all looked and felt the same. Over and under I tumbled, unable to stop, unable to claw myself back into a physical form. Then the movement ceased, and I found myself hovering in a hollow chamber similar to the one I’d found Torrent in. Only this one had concentric circles around a central island, upon which stood Mother, as bright and surreal as the veil poured into a female figure. Barely there, but everywhere.
She looked at me, through me, seeing more than air, seeing thoughts, seeing my soul. I couldn’t hide, couldn’t move, couldn’t pull away, and in a blink, none of that mattered because I wanted to be here with her. Where else would I be?
Her grip released me, and I settled on two feet, revealing my wings and all of me. And she was there, so close. Warmth consumed me, and power licked across my skin and spread through every muscle and feather. She has control. And I wanted her to have control over me. It was easier this way.
“My child…”
She reached out a hand. I expected the power to overwhelm me and waited, ready to embrace it, but when her hand touched my cheek, I felt only the cool crackle of her smooth skin. I brushed my cheek against her hand. It had been love. A child’s love. I couldn’t prevent it. It was ingrained.
My child…
Mammon was right. Was he here? Fog smothered my thoughts, pushing them down to where nothing mattered but a mother’s touch.
I blinked. She was there, smiling. “This is my fault.”
No, it wasn’t possible. Mother did not make mistakes.
“I abandoned you. But I am here now, and everything will be right again.”
Yes, she was here. Everything would be right again.
“Come…” Her hand closed around mine. She led me to where a ledge jutted from the wall, to where the clouds swirled. I instinctively parted them, pushing the air aside to reveal the glittering ocean beyond. Something else grew among the waters, pushing up through the waves. “Witness creation.”
The Pacific receded, waves boiling and crashing, revealing a land I recognized. Sweeping valleys and jagged mountains, all bathed in a pinkish glow. This was the netherworld at the beginning, before the princes corrupted the elements. A paradise. A world I could never have dreamed I would see again.
“Do you see my work?” Mother asked.
“Yes.” I saw a world of possibilities, a new world where all our past mistakes had been wiped away. Anna’s death, the hundreds—thousands of lives lost over the years. I couldn’t get those back, but I could start again. A second chance.
“I am here now,” Mother said. “And this world will be perfect.”
A sense of rightness chased my doubts away. Of course this was right. It was always supposed to be this way. Demons and humans had evolved in her absence, but w
e had twisted our worlds into something wrong, taken an evolutionary wrong turn, but Mother had returned.
Mother had saved us all… from ourselves.
I had never been more afraid.
“Hello, Christian.” I leaned an arm against the cell bars and smiled at the hunter hunched inside. He didn’t have the weight of broken wings pushing him down like I’d had, but he looked burdened. Good. “What an interesting turn of events. How many steps is your cell? Six? No, merely four, I see. You’ll soon get to know those steps like the back of your hand.”
“Pride,” he drawled, lifting his head. Dark circles ringed his eyes. “You took your time getting here.”
I gripped the bars. Marvelous how Mother had crafted them from the elements. Christian looked hopeful for a moment, as though I was about to yank out the bars and free him. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. “Years you kept me caged. By my recollection, you’ve been here two weeks.” I moved away from his cage to admire the picture it presented. Yes, this was immensely satisfying.
“Li’el…” Gem said carefully.
She stood at the bars in the adjacent cell and watched me approach. Her icy blue eyes held wary suspicion. My chest tightened at the sight of her doubt in me.
“You didn’t burn my feather,” I said.
She swallowed and pressed her hand over her heart. “I tried…” She still wore the same clothes I’d left her in—combat pants and a tank top. Her ragged mop of blond hair curled where it touched her shoulders. “Did you come to let us out?”
I stepped back. No door. No lock. I couldn’t lock-whisper them out. From the scratch marks inside, Gem had tried using ice to carve her way out. Mother had sealed them in here. She was likely the only one who could release them.
“Li’el…” Gem lowered her voice. “What’s going on out there?”
“Mother is restoring order.”
“Mother?” She recoiled, and the tightness in my chest hardened.
“He’s talking about Katrina,” Noah said from the cell behind me. His was next to Adam’s. The Institute man sat much like Christian, beaten and silent, but Noah was alert and curious. “The veil,” Noah added. “EcoZone called her Katrina.”
“She’s your…” Gem began, but couldn’t finish.
“She is mother to us all, even you.”
She pressed her face to the bars and glared with all her human might. “This doesn’t sound like you.”
I gripped the bars above her head, tilting my wings back, and leaned in close. When she didn’t flinch, I eased my wings around and slipped the leading feathers between the bars to encircle her, blocking out everything else. She let it happen. There was a time when she had done the same, encircling me in ice.
“Gem, careful!” Christian warned. The fool. Gem knew better. She moved closer, pressing herself against the bars so my wings could seal us both inside,
Her icy eyes shone in the dark.
“There is art in everything I do,” I whispered.
“What does that mean?” she asked, searching my clouded eyes for reason. She didn’t know I’d said those words to Anna. But Gem knew how I created acts to hide behind, just like Mother built her worlds. Gem understood. In many ways, she always had.
“I have never lied to you,” I told her.
Her lips gently curved. “You are the most human demon I know, Li’el, but you’re still demon. You don’t need to lie to manipulate. Is that what you’re doing? Manipulating us?”
“Not you.” Opening my wings again, I stepped back.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Christian grumbled. “He’s jumped into bed with that thing. Don’t bother trying to talk him ’round. Whatever made him different he’s obviously given it up. It’s their way. Demons all get in line when something bigger and badder comes along. Like the rest of us, he wants to live, so he’s put himself in a position of power. He’ll do anything to earn her favor.” The hunter got to his feet and stood at the bars. “Who’s the bitch now, huh?”
I arched an eyebrow. “Your lips are moving, yet you’re speaking out of your arse.”
Gem snorted a laugh and covered it with a cough.
“Do you still have PC-Eighty in your possession?” I asked the hunter.
He snarled in reply.
“He does,” Adam replied.
I thanked the Institute man with a nod. They all looked at me, some believing I was made of deceit, others seeing the truth.
“Do you trust me?” I asked the icy little half-blood.
She nodded.
“You’re mine, remember.” I smiled.
She touched the spot on her tank top where she’d hidden my feather. “We had a deal.”
Good. She had faith. She would need it for what was coming.
I left with a suitably dramatic flick of my wings, and as air, I headed through the tunnels, deeper into the tower. My people were alive and well, as were several thousand other LA citizens. A week ago, Torrent had said the creatures Mother was creating had originally been lessers. With that in mind, I had been spending time monitoring the Blue Eyes, watching them without their knowing, and now it was time to formally introduce myself and find out how much Mother had changed them on the inside, because, as Mother had said, she had been away. She didn’t know lessers like I did, nor did she know people like I did. I had lived in both worlds and loved both worlds. Now, all I had to do was save both worlds.
I reformed in the midst of a group of Blue Eyes, careful to keep my wings down and pulled close to make myself smaller and less threatening. Threats would come later. Their smooth white bodies reflected the bluish background hue, deflecting it over my dark skin and feathers. I must have appeared as alien to them as they did to me. As before, they quietly observed me, heads tilting, blue eyes sparkling. These creatures were not aggressive unless provoked. It was typical lesser behavior. They recognized power when they saw it, and like Christian had said, demons fell in line with those more powerful than them, but it wouldn’t be enough.
The attack came like before. A sudden rush of movement to my right. The vicious lesser sprang out of the crowd. I caught a glimpse of claws and teeth before ghosting out of its path and yanking it out of the air from behind. The creature scrabbled to twist in my grip. With a thought, I pulled the air from its lungs. Its chest immediately crushed inward. Its elongated muzzle chewed at the air, trying to gulp it down. I held it back until the creature’s heart slowed. The Blue Eyes watched me toss the vicious lesser to the floor. It wasn’t dead. Any demon could kill another. I was teaching my rapt crowd a lesson. I didn’t need to kill.
After eventually regaining consciousness, the wounded lesser whimpered away.
When the second demon came, I effortlessly disabled it, but didn’t kill it. A third, bigger and coated in white spikes, met the same fate. When no more came, I made sure to eye each Blue Eye in turn. Satisfied I’d made my point, I vanished.
On the third day, the first Blue Eye knelt in my presence. By the fifth, they all did, and the lessers no longer attacked.
Mother’s army was now mine.
The meadow spread on and on, blanketing hills that stretched farther than I could see. Purple-headed flowers swayed beneath the undulating wind. The sky here was a perfect azure. All around, color and light shone in splendor. But no animals, not yet. Mother hadn’t perfected the species that would inhabit this new land. It certainly wouldn’t be humans. Like demons, we were her mistakes.
Am I doing the right thing?
I walked through her garden, brushing my hands over the flower heads, releasing a sweet scent and pollen into the air. The breeze swept the purple dust around me. Some clung to my feathers, but most scattered.
I must stop her creation before it goes too far.
This five-hundred-mile-long strip of land jutting off the coast into the Pacific was a test. This was Mother’s do-over. But the cost was too high. Wasn’t it?
Sometimes I envied my demon brethren and their simple minds. I envied their ability not t
o feel. But I felt it all, felt too much. Mother was creating life, but she was also destroying a world and its people. In her mind, it was an acceptable sacrifice. I could not allow that, no matter her promise of perfection.
What if she’s right?
It didn’t matter. No civilization born from the murder of another could ever be right.
“Pride… come…” At the whisper of her voice, I turned my back on the new world. The white tower dominated LA’s original coastline. But it wasn’t too late. There was time to bring it all down. I had played my act. It would soon be time for the curtain to fall.
Returning to the tower and Mother’s chamber, I was met with a palace of ice and the small form of the little half-blood girl slumped at its center. The pair of crystal wings sprouting from her back had shattered, leaving jagged edges.
Gem.
My hands curled into fists. I hadn’t known. I hadn’t felt her distress.
“This…” Mother produced a single black feather. “She says it was a promise. Explain.”
Mother had taken my feather from Gem. That was why I hadn’t felt her alarm. But why was she here? Mother must have removed her from her cell for a reason. Ice glittered all around us. Gem had fought, but it hadn’t lasted. Now, head bowed and shoulders heaving from her ragged breaths, she didn’t look up. She probably didn’t know I was there. But why had Gem fought? She surely hadn’t attacked Mother. She was impulsive, but not foolish. What was I missing?
“It matters not.” The feather in Mother’s hand turned to black dust. She let the dust fall through her fingers. It vanished before it could settle on the floor. “This… being.” Mother gestured at Gem. “I did not create her.” Mother lifted her hand, and as though lifting Gem on puppet strings, she pulled Gem’s limp body upright.
A familiar knot of anger tightened inside my chest. “What is the girl to you?”
“She is not of my design,” Mother said. “Where did she come from?”
The full pressure of Mother’s penetrating gaze speared into me, dug in, and hooked out answers. “She is a half-breed. Half demon, half human.”
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