Revelations: The Black Chalice (Revelations Series Book 1)

by Lauretta Hignett

  “Exactly,” Malach growled. “He feels he is giving the church… plausible deniability, I suppose you would say. He thinks of himself as the sacrificial lamb.”

  “So who is funding him?”

  “The Quarters.”

  I heard both Alex and Nate gasp.

  I groaned. “Oh, is there another super-secret fundamentalist religious group that I’m supposed to learn about now?”

  “Oh, they’re not religious,” Nate said grimly. “They’re very secular. They’re a small group, less than twenty humans, who have risen to the top of their respective industries, and banded together to ensure that they remain there. The Quarters have been around since the dawn of the industrial age. You’ve even met a few of their members.”

  “Who? Oh,” I said, as the realization dawned. “The horsemen, right? They were all leaders in their industry. So they’re what, like the Illuminati?”

  Nate shook his head. “The Illuminati isn’t real. They’re just a conspiracy theory; they're a smokescreen for the real thing. The Quarters only have twenty members at any one time. They don’t have any secret symbols or handshakes or weird outfits that they use in meetings. They’re purely business and power. They own all the politicians, they handle all the world’s resources. They control all four corners of the globe. Hence the name: The Quarters.”

  “Oh.” I bit my lip. “And they want me dead.”

  “Of course they do,” Alex muttered behind me. “They have spent hundreds of years amassing their influence and power. They don’t want the world to end. They’ve just gotten it exactly the way they want it.”

  “But it’s not sustainable. Do they know that?”

  Malach pursed his bee-stung lips. “They have no affiliation with any religious order; they think they are God themselves. So they believe that they can manipulate the impending apocalypse in the same way that they’d handle a political corruption scandal or an anarchist uprising. They will throw some money around and get a few people killed, then have their media outlets direct the flow of information in a way that suits them.”

  “No love for the Quarters, then, Malach?” I gave him a wink.

  He frowned deeply. “They are lost, and everyone who surrounds them is lost.”

  “And you only deal with people who have the potential for light, right?”

  Malach glared at me. “I do the best I can. I will not encourage sin, not for any reason.”

  “Even though,” Alex sang behind me, “it is undeniably helpful to sin just before death.”

  “Sin is never helpful.”

  “You don’t even know what sin is,” Alex countered angrily. “The sins that you guys get yourself worked up over - gluttony, envy, pride… They’re not something we’re not supposed to do. They’re something that we’re supposed to make peace with, something we’re supposed to grow from. You lot think that shaving your sideburns and bloody wearing two different fabrics together is a sin. Not to mention homosexuality!”

  Nate held up his hands. “Alex...”

  But Alex had gotten to his feet. “And it’s not like these sins matter! The pain that humans feel when they die is all of their own making. They’re focusing on all the wrong things. Your side has got humanity all tangled up in a net that they can’t escape from. The only thing that will save us now is truth, and acceptance.”

  I bit my lip, worried that the huge archangel would explode in fury at Alex’s tirade. But Malach’s eyes dimmed. “I don’t know that anything will save us now,” he said softly. “And I am so tired.” He reminded me of Nimue - Alex’s mother - who was so tired of millennia of helping tortured souls. She was fierce and vibrant. But she too was burned out.

  But none of us wanted the world to end.

  “Dad.” Nate took a step closer and put his hand on his father’s colossal arm. “We’re still here, and still fighting. There’s still hope.”

  “There has to be,” I said, gritting my teeth. “I’m not going to go quietly into the night. No way.”

  I felt pressure on my hand, delicious tingles running through me. I looked down and saw that Alex was braving the light circle to stand as close to me as he dared.

  His hand was smoking in the light. It must be a demon thing. I was a little startled, but I looked up, met his gaze, and saw pure, blazing adoration in his eyes.

  It gave me strength. “We have to try,” I said, my voice clearing. “There’s got to be a way around this.”

  “I see no way out. The prophecies -”

  “Prophecies are always interpreted wrong, aren’t they? Don't some things get mixed up? Look,” I said firmly, “Let’s look at this logically. All I have to do is not get pregnant and not die, and we all get what we want.”

  Malach cocked his head to the side and squinted at me, looking at me as if I was mad. “Yes, but the Percuitait… the Quarters… the Sanctum Domeni…”

  “Yes, yes,” I said, waving my hand impatiently. “They all want me dead. But what if there was a way to, I don’t know… get them to back off? Okay...” I scratched my head for a second, thinking out loud. “Who is doing the actual dirty work here. Godric, right? Godric, and the Sanctum Domeni. But they all answer to him. He’s the cardinal, the leader.”

  “Right.” Alex smiled at me and squeezed my hand again. His fingers felt oddly flaky. I looked down to see his hand was actually on fire, burning in the light circle.

  My eyes popped. My own hand didn’t hurt at all, but his whole arm was aflame.

  “Go on,” Malach boomed.

  “Uh, right.” I gave Alex a look. He winked at me, but thankfully withdrew his smoking hand from mine, and rubbed it absently against his chest to extinguish the flames. “Anyways, as I was saying, Godric is the main threat here. He’s the one with the drive to actually kill me. The Percuitait and the Quarters are just using him as a tool. So, what would get him to stop?”

  Nate frowned. “He’s the ultimate fanatic. I doubt that anything can sow the seeds of doubt in his mind.”

  “But we can slow him down...?” An idea was starting to form in my brain. “He’s convinced that the church is the divine word of God, right? That what the Pope says, goes? And he wants to protect the Pope, so he’s doing the work that he feels needs to be done, without implicating the church in mortal sin, right?”

  Everyone was silent, staring at me. “It’s a bit like you, Alex, getting humans to sin before they die, so that they can realize the truth better when they pass over. You’re doing the dirty work for the greater good. Well, Godric thinks he’s doing the same thing.”

  “Rough comparison, woman,” Alex growled. “You’re comparing me, a Cambion who persuades schoolteachers to park in disabled car parks, to a vicious and insane murderer.”

  “I’m not comparing. But you get the idea.”

  He didn’t answer, but he nodded slightly.

  “So,” I carried on, warming up to my idea. “What if we ratted Godric out to the Pope?”

  There was silence. It went on for a long time. I could hear nothing except the faint strains of a divine choir singing through the light channel.

  “No thoughts, Malach?”

  He was frowning deeply. “I am unsure what the Pope would say.”

  “He’s a decent guy, by all accounts, though, right? He would never sanction murder. Not for any reason.”

  Malach nodded slowly. “I would say so. I believe he would see the Chalice, and the apocalypse, as all part of God’s plan. He would not sanction murder.”

  “So what if we went to the Vatican, and met with the Pope? And we dobbed Godric in. Do you think he’d get the hump and give up?”

  Malach just cocked his head to the side, staring at me blankly. “I have no idea of the words you are using. Dobbed? Hump?”

  “It might provoke him,” Alex murmured, ignoring Malach. “If the Pope excommunicated him, he might be tipped over the edge into madness.”

  “He’s already mad,” I said mildly. “And if the Pope excommunicated him, then tha
t screws up his crazy-man dogma. The Pope is supposed to speak for God. If he believes it, then he’ll have to stop.” I waved my hand airily. “Not that it matters. If the Pope cuts him off, then at the very least he’ll lose some manpower and a few more marbles. He’ll be less powerful, and more erratic. At best, he’ll give up. At worst, he’ll be easier to kill.” I shrugged.

  Silence fell on the room again. I turned to look back at Alex.

  There was the battle-light in his eyes. “You can leave that to me,” he said roughly.

  “And me,” Nate said. “Sorry, Dad, but I think I’ve picked my side. And it’s not with the demons, like you think. It’s with the humans. This is for Eve, and for the rest of humanity. I think they can make it, Dad. And I think we’re close.”

  Malach pushed his shoulders back, thrusting out his huge chest. “I will have no part in any killing, Nate. But,” he rumbled, his voice low. “You can make your own decisions. You do what you need to, my son.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” They embraced. The massive figure of the Archangel buried his son completely in his arms for a minute, so Nate was lost from view.

  “Great, so we have a plan!” I said brightly. “I like being proactive.”

  Malach released Nate from his bear hug and eyed me steadily. “I will confess,” he said in his booming voice. “You seem strange to me. You are definitely not what I expected the Womb to act like.”

  “I’m not an object,” I muttered under my breath. “I’m a person. I can think, and talk, and I can act.”

  “She’s just like a Cambion, in that respect,” Alex told Malach proudly, from the safety of the other side of the light channel. “She acts, and she will find a way.”

  Malach glared at Alex. “Don’t think I won’t manifest on the human plane and knock some respect into you, young Sorensen.”

  Alex grinned. “That would be a sin, wouldn’t it, Malach?” He turned to me and gave me a wink. “Come, woman. We’ve got a world to save.”

  He swept his leg into the light channel; it started smoking immediately. But he was quick, and kicked the huge quartz crystal that lay in the center of the circle. It thudded out of the ring of salt, and the light channel popped out of existence immediately.

  I blinked to adjust my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw Nate shaking his head at Alex.

  “Why’d you have to hang up on my dad, Alex?”

  Alex just shrugged, and smiled again. “He annoys me, I annoy him. It’s been the same way for a thousand years.”

  Nate just smiled. “I’m glad we’ve got a plan.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  “We better leave now,” Nate looked at his watch. “I can have us in Cairns and on a plane to Rome in less than two hours.”

  “Um, no,” I shook my head. “Hold up, partner. I haven’t put in for vacation leave yet. I’ll have to clear it with Martin. And I have to spend this weekend with Margot, anyway. She’s worried about me,” I added, ignoring their incredulous gazes. “And probably for good reason. If I get murdered in Rome, I’ll want to have hung out with her at least one more time.”

  Alex glowered at me. “Eve, this is urgent. We need to get an audience with the Vatican as soon as possible. Your life, and the lives of billions of people depend on it.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Okay, no need to be dramatic. It’s not that urgent. Godric is somewhere, licking his wounds. It will take him a while to build his little army back up. We’ve got three days up our sleeves; I can work this last shift tonight, and spend two nights at home with Margot. We’ll leave on Monday.”

  I shifted my gaze from Alex, who was scowling, to Nate, who was staring at Alex, dumbfounded.

  “Are you… are you going to let her do that?” Nate asked Alex.

  Alex growled. “I have no choice.”

  “What do you mean, let her do that?” I snapped. “And no, he doesn't have a choice. I know that you guys won’t go and leave me behind, unprotected. And you need me to talk to the Pope. He needs to see that I’m a real person, a vulnerable, innocent girl.”

  Alex was smirking again. “Innocent?”

  “Non-evil girl, then.”

  “You practically told an Archangel to pull his head out of his ass.”

  “Not in so many words,” I replied hastily. “And you,” I rounded on Nate, pointing. “You could make yourself useful in the next three days by finding out which ones of your angel brethren are the ones funding the Sanctum Domeni. The ones that are bleeding their essence into those crazy bastards.”

  Nate looked shamefaced. “You are right. I will reach out to my contacts and see which of the Percuitait might have become so desperate that they’re willing to aid and abet terrorists.”

  “Can you do it from here? Just for now, Nate?” Alex asked him. “I don’t want you going too far. I get the feeling that if the Percuitait are willing to murder, then they’re probably willing to murder whoever might get in their way.” He gave his friend a grin. “Plus, I’ll need your help in case the Sanctum Domeni manage to regroup.”

  Nate nodded. “I will stay close.”

  “Okay, that’s settled,” I said. “Now I have to hit the desk.” I smiled at Alex. “Walk me to reception?”

  Alex and I left the luxurious, small two-story building that the resort charmingly called ‘bungalows’ and walked the jungle-lined path towards the main building. Revelations wasn’t big, as far as resorts go, but we were easily the most exclusive and expensive retreat in the world.

  Situated in deep jungle, on the edge of some spectacular and secret caves, our guests paid astronomical sums for the luxury, privacy, and confidentiality that we could provide. They also got access to the Develian caves, which were essentially private property, and absolutely spectacular.

  You would never find Revelations in a travel guide. We were surrounded by thick jungle. The nearest town was over an hour’s drive away. There were no locals, apart from us. Rich people adored the secrecy and exclusivity.

  I’d started here as a night receptionist a little over a year ago. I’d been so lucky to get this job. And I was lucky to have kept it, since I have a little habit of occasionally talking to some of our guests like they are just snotty little kids.

  It’s not often, though. Most of them are lovely, albeit a little eccentric. Usually they just ignore me, which I’m fine with. Despite my history, I love dealing with people. It’s just a lot easier for me to deal with them with three-foot of reception desk between us.

  Alex slipped his hand into mine as we walked down the path; his hand felt warm and gentle in my grasp. It was almost miraculous to me that I could feel the perfect joy of holding a boy’s hand. I’d thought that experience would be lost to me for good.

  But Alex is no ordinary guy. He is a thousand-year-old Cambion, half-demon, half-human. I could not even begin to imagine what it must be like to roam the earth for so long. But he once told me that his memories are more human than they are demon, and things get a little foggy after a few decades. So he wouldn’t be able to imagine it either. It’s probably why he’s not unbearably arrogant.

  But he is spectacularly strong, and mind-blowingly fast. And, he’s had several hundred years to build up a bank balance worthy of a Saudi prince. It’s not enough to be worthy of notice, as he explained to me. But it’s enough.

  I glanced sideways at Alex now, as we walked the path to reception. “If you’re going to shadow me, try and make it subtle,” I told him. “I don’t need Clover and Dale grilling me for my whole shift.”

  Alex’s brow furrowed. “You could come clean with them, you know. They should have the opportunity to prepare themselves for the end of the world, should it come to that.”

  I scoffed. “Plenty of time,” I said, waving my free hand around airily. “It’s only going to happen if I get pregnant. And it’s not going to happen.”

  He turned to me and fixed me with his penetrating, icy blue gaze. “But you should tell them about your relationship with me, in any case.”<
br />
  That surprised me. “Why? Wouldn’t that just create more questions? Don’t you... I don’t know, want to stay in the shadows? Keep your secret, upon pain of death?”

  A little wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows. “I don’t have to,” he said. “If they freak out, I can always compel the information out of their head.”

  I glanced up ahead at the path, where great big palm fronds formed a tunnel up ahead. It was like walking through a hallway that was perfectly green and alive. “So you want me to tell them about… us?”

  “Yes.” I must have looked surprised, because he tugged my hand, forcing me to look at him again. “Why not?”

  I laughed out loud. “I suppose you want me to take you home and introduce you to Margot too,” I giggled. My laughter trailed off when I saw how serious he was. “Oh, you do want to meet Margot?”

  “Of course I do. She’s special to you. And she’s part of the reason why you are the way you are. I would love to meet her.”

  I shook my head, confused. “You want me to introduce you to Margot as… as my boyfriend?”

  “I don’t want to rush you,” Alex said, staring directly into my eyes. “But yes, I do. And it’s not because I’m going to be hanging around you to protect you. I want your friends and your family to know me, as someone who loves you.”

  The word thrilled through me. I felt it deep within my bones. His love was as tangible as a warm blanket wrapped around me.

  But it was also so alien to me it was terrifying. Passionate, all-consuming love was such a foreign concept, one that I’d never even entertained. It was a struggle not to let myself get overwhelmed, or else I’d be running away screaming.

  But, as I said, I’d been scared my whole life. It was nothing new. I just kept breathing as the waves of bliss rolled through me. Slowly, I let myself feel the butterflies raging in my stomach, a little at a time.

  I had been silent for too long. Alex raised an eyebrow. “What is so wrong with that?”

  “Uh, nothing,” I drawled, a little sarcastically. “Just the little matter of me living my whole life hiding from men, being terrified of them, not wanting to even stand next to them for fear they will attack me, let alone become romantically involved.” I laughed and shook my head. “‘I’ll show up at home for breakfast and go: Hey, Margot, I know that I thought I was damaged for good and I wouldn’t ever be able to let a man be close to me, but here, please meet my lover, who is incidentally half-demon and brutally hot. I met him a couple of days ago and he’s sworn to love me forever and protect me upon pain of death.” My giggle dissolved into a snort. I put my hand over my mouth, slightly embarrassed. “I’m sure that will put her at ease.”