I close my eyes, and try to pinpoint where the beacon of energy is coming from. It seems to be centered in Times Square, so that’s where I decide my destination will be. I pull my hood over my head, and say, “I love you all,” to the room before vanishing into thin air.
***
The scene on Times Square is far worse than I ever thought it could be. The first thing I notice is that there’s practically no one on the streets; Broadway and Seventh are completely abandoned as far as I can see. The only people I can see are those still climbing out of and running from their cars, many of which are hovering a few inches above the pavement. Several of the cars closer to 44th street are much higher off the ground, and swirling around a central point. I can feel the other Nephilim floating at the epicenter of the slowly spinning vortex. That’s where I’ll need to go.
I drop down from the building I’d been perched on, and slow my descent long before I reach the ground. It’s eerie, walking across Times Square unimpeded. I’m used to having to push my way through a horde of slow-walking tourists from everywhere imaginable. Most of these said tourists are holed up in the stores along both avenues, their faces and hands pressed against the glass as they watch the scene unfold. I lower my head, and walk faster. I can’t afford to let anything happen to them.
The floating cars are so close together, they can easily be used as stepping stones. I step onto the hood of an abandoned taxi as I approach, and hop from there to the top of the next car. I follow the trail until I set foot on an empty bus a few feet away from the vortex itself. The immense energy radiating from the center is almost enough to make me feel small, but I’m not afraid. In fact, if I’m being honest with myself, I’m excited by the thought of a challenge. I walk to the end of the bus, and shout into the vortex, “Who are you? And what do you want?”
The swirling storm of floating cars shifts, and the ones directly in front of me move quickly out of the way so that I can see into the middle. And there, floating amidst the sea of vehicles, I can clearly see Lily, looking every bit as distraught as she had when I last saw her. I’m especially thankful for the mask and the hood in this moment; she has yet to recognize me, and my surprise is well hidden. “Lillian Charbonneau,” Lily shouts back. “Daughter of Lucifer. And I’m here to send Michael a message.”
I look around at the emptied out Times Square, and reply, “He’s in a meeting right now, but I can jot it down for you if you’d like.”
“Funny. Who are you, exactly?”
“Oh, honey… asking someone in a mask who they are kind of defeats the purpose.”
Lily raises one of her perfectly styled eyebrows, and asks, “Really… who are you?”
“The other Nephilim,” I announce. “Michael’s daughter.”
“No name?”
“None you need to hear.”
“Fair enough.”
I carefully lower myself down, and take a seat on the edge of the bus, my feet dangling out over the windshield. “Can I ask you a couple of things? You know, before we get to the whole ‘fight to the death’ portion of tonight’s show?”
“You’re just prolonging the inevitable, but sure… why not.”
“We’ve both been living here all our lives, I’m guessing. How have I never felt your presence, or you mine?”
Lily shrugs in response. “My father never taught me how to tap into that particular skill. He hammered into me that it was important to keep my power under wraps so no one would find me, though. He didn’t want me drawing any more attention to myself than necessary.”
“I guess that makes sense.” I lean back on my elbows, and ask, “How can you possibly be Lucifer’s daughter? Or on his side, even? You seem like such a nice girl.”
“I’m a vindictive little bitch, truth be told. And it’s not as easy as taking sides…”
“Yeah? Enlighten me.”
“He… when I decided I didn’t want to play his little game, my father decided to take my mother’s soul. The only way to get it back is to play along.”
I’ve been witness to some pretty horrifying things in the past year and a half, but knowing that Lucifer would stoop so low is what makes me sick to my stomach. At least that explains why Lily’s mother didn’t seem to have any life in her when I checked with my second sight; it’s because she didn’t. Her soul was gone, her body just going through the motions of keeping itself alive. I can’t imagine a worse fate for someone I love.
I silently thank every heavenly being that I wound up the daughter of Michael. He may not be the shining prince that I expected a biblical figure to be, but he’s the lesser of two evils.
I try to sound outwardly aloof as I ask, “Do you really think Lucifer will hold up his end of the bargain? I mean, he is kind of the devil.”
“You don’t think I know that? I don’t want to trust him, but it’s the only hope I have.”
“So, what happens now?”
Lily scowls at me as she answers, “Now, I do exactly what I came here to do. Send Michael a message.”
“Yeah? And what’s the message?”
“Game on.” Lily’s power surges, and I can almost see the space around her bending under the pressure of her exertion. Then, all of the cars start moving, swiftly converging on one spot.
The very place I’m sitting.
27
I slide off the edge of the bus just as the first of the cars crashes into it. A shock runs up my spine when I land hard on my feet, and I stare up at where I just was moments ago. It’s almost amusing, watching a manmade traffic accident happen over my head. That is, until the hail of glass and metal shards begins. I cast a protective spell over myself to prevent getting sliced open by falling debris. Lily takes it one step further; I feel her power surge again, and the now totaled cars are flying at me once more.
If she’s trying to show off, she’s doing a poor job. I halt the progress of the cars, then whip them up into a real vortex, fuelled by wind moving fast enough to pick up the cars still nearest to the ground. I hold my ground as the tornado sucks up everything around me, until my concentration is broken by the fist that collides with my jaw. The tornado dissipates instantly, sending cars flying to the ground, through shop windows, into or over buildings, and everywhere in between. I roll out of the way of a falling van, and peer through the wreckage at Lily in shock.
She stands in the middle of the street with a hand on her hip, and wings nearly as huge as Michael’s protruding from her back. They don’t seem anything like Alyssa’s ethereal wings that she makes for herself, either. These are made of beautiful feathers an even deeper shade of black than Lily’s hair, and I can tell they’re actually a part of her. “How are you doing that?,” I ask in awe.
“What?”
“The wings…”
“Oh.” Lily looks behind her, and smiles. “Do you remember when you removed the first two seals on your power?”
I nod; I remember that time of my life pretty well. The first seal I removed when Krystal and I first met. The second was removed after a long period of training, and a series of challenges set up by the Guardians.
“Well,” Lily continues, “think of the wings as being the third seal, only available to someone with angel blood in them.”
“And how do you remove the third seal?”
“Like I’d tell you.” Lily beats her wings once, and flies toward me faster than I can react physically. I teleport out of harm’s way, and watch as she nearly flies through the glass entrance to Forever 21. She folds her wings, swings her legs in front of her, kicks off the glass surface, and looses a ball of cracking black flame at me. It’s a slow enough attack that I can slide under it to avoid any harm, but when I look around for Lily, she’s gone.
I turn in time to catch sight of the leather boot flying towards me, but I’m not quite fast enough to stop it from connecting with my face. My head flies back, and I can feel the blood streaming over my lips and down my chin as I right myself, but I wipe my nose and stem the flow wit
h a spell. Then I launch an attack of my own. The punch I try to land on Lily’s face buries itself in her outstretched palm instead, so I let loose a burst of energy that scalds her hand. I headbutt her, crying out when our skulls collide, and both of us stagger back a couple of steps before Lily takes to the skies.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I mutter through gritted teeth. I leap onto one of the upright cars, and give it a gentle tug with my energy. Within seconds, I’m airborne, chasing Lily as she circles higher and higher over the city, each powerful beat of her wings pushing her upward an impressive amount. She fires a couple of spells at me, but I maneuver the car out of the way before taking any damage. With a frustrated grunt, Lily forcefully wrests the car from my control, and flings it towards one of the huge billboards advertising The Lion King, me along with it.
I teleport onto the nearest rooftop before slamming into the billboard, but the momentum of Lily’s spell leaves me rolling along the gravel surface. I grit my teeth as tiny jagged rocks pierce my bare arms, and I chide myself for removing the hoodie’s sleeves. Nevertheless, I stand up, wipe the debris off my arms, and race for the edge of the building. I push off as hard as I can when I reach the end, and for a split second, it feels like I’m genuinely flying. Then gravity takes over, and I crash into Lily from above, our bodies a tangle of limbs and feathers.
We wrestle as we hurtle to the ground, punching and kicking at each other as the pavement rushes up to meet us. Just before we crash, Lily disentangles herself, and pushes me away from her to glide safely to the ground. I land on my feet, sliding a short distance before I skid to a stop. I look around frantically for any sign of Lily, but she’s disappeared, presumably flying over my head. Then I notice the growing shadow behind me, and roll out of the way of a car door aimed at the back of my head. I spin, and fire off a massive jet of pure energy, which Lily responds to with one of her own.
My blue stream meets Lily’s black one with a shower of sparks, and the sound of a stone being split down the middle. I struggle as hard as I can against Lily’s might, but it quickly becomes apparent that she has the upper hand. I’m not used to being at a disadvantage, and it’s a little unsettling. But I’ve never backed down from a challenge before, and I’m not about to start. When I realize I’m not going to win this way, I divert some of my attention to bringing a billboard down upon us. The metal frame supporting it creaks as the huge screen splits from it, and topples over toward us. I break off my spell, and teleport to the other side of the street as the billboard slams first into Lily, and then the ground, exploding into sparks and shards of glass on impact.
Just when it looks like I’ve won, Lily rises from the wreckage, somehow having avoided being crushed by the billboard. A couple of shallow cuts adorn her face and arms, but she seems otherwise unharmed. “Not bad,” Lily comments. “I’ll admit, I didn’t think you’d put up this much of a fight.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” I reply. It’s something of a bluff, but Lily can’t sense how strong I actually am, so she has no idea what she’s up against anyway.
Lily steps over the still sparking billboard, and asks, “Why the mask? I’d like to know who it is I’m fighting.”
I shrug. “We live in a world where people like us aren’t meant to exist.”
“People like us?”
“Metahumans. Weirdos. Mutants. Freaks.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you have to cover up your face.”
“It’s to add an air of anonymity,” I explain after a pause. I’m not entirely sure if what I’m trying to say makes sense, but I word it as best I can on such short notice. “I could be anybody. And anybody could be capable of doing something great.”
“Well, that doesn’t change the fact that I want to know who you are.” Lily vanishes, and reappears directly in front of me, her hand outstretched to rip off my mask. I grab her by the wrist, and wrench her hand away before shoving her back a few paces. I aim a kick at her sternum, but she moves and I accidentally hit her shoulder instead, which spins her around to face the other way. I go to knock her out with a blow to the back of her head, but she flexes a wing and knocks me back while she turns back to face me. The bones making up the wing’s structure are surprisingly less dense than I imagined, but they still pack enough punch to send me staggering back a few steps.
Lily advances on me, and on a whim, I summon the aura blade to my hand, and brandish it at her. It’s as I assumed; she may have strength on her side, but her eyes widen in fear as if she’s never seen such a thing before. She still knows better than to let it touch her, at the very least, and sidesteps every slash frantically as if it’s life or death. Eventually, she catches my wrist, and twists until the hilt drops into her waiting hand, and she holds it to my throat only to find that the shimmering blue blade that once protruded from it has vanished.
I let out a small chuckle; it’s refreshing to have the upper hand in one respect. “Who taught you how to fight?,” I ask. “Because it looks like they didn’t do a very thorough job.”
“On the contrary, my father taught me well. I’ve been wrestling demons since I was fifteen. And I’ve been winning consistently since I was seventeen.”
“Really? You should have been around earlier, then. Alyssa could have used your help.”
Lily looks crestfallen, and a flicker of concern ignites behind her eyes. “Allie… you know her?”
“Know her? I’m terrified of her. She’s almost as strong as I am.”
“Does she know about me?”
“I doubt it. She spends too much of her time swooning over some other girl to worry about you.” Guilt washes over me even as I speak, but I can’t stop now. It may be a dirty trick, but a little psychological warfare is exactly what I need to bring Lily’s guard down.
I can see my words taking root in Lily’s mind, but instead of losing her resolve, she gets even angrier. “Has she been cheating on me?,” she asks as she drops the aura blade and grabs me by the shoulders.
Uh oh. This wasn’t where I wanted the conversation to go. “I doubt it,” I answer. “I just think it’s pretty clear that you’re not her first choice.”
“Shut up!”
“How does it feel? To know that for all the love you’ve given her, that she’d gladly take it and pass it along to someone younger, and cuter…”
“SHUT UP!” Lily throws me back against the window of Toys ‘R Us, and I duck to avoid a punch so strong that thin cracks spread along the glass when she misses. I take advantage of Lily’s lowered guard to punch her twice in the kidneys, before darting out of the way of a kick aimed at my chest. I grab the back of her head, and slam her face into the glass window at full force. The window nearly shatters, and the people inside cower away from it as I sprint towards the TKTS booth. Lily may not care where we settle our differences, but I want to put as few people in danger as possible.
I make it to the top of the glowing red steps before I spot Lily flying overhead. I hop up onto the railing, push off as hard as I can, and grab onto her foot as she passes by. Lily kicks and jerks, but I won’t let go until we both land hard on the debris-laden street. I roll to avoid Lily’s flailing kicks aimed at my face, and stand over the enraged Nephilim, watching as she scrambles to her feet. Her face scraped against the pavement a little, her makeup smudged even further, and her nose trickles blood from where the septum piercing got ripped out. She blasts me backward with an immense burst of power, and I land hard on my back, the wind painfully whooshing from my lungs when I hit the ground.
My body rises from the ground of its own volition, slowly at first, but then at breakneck speed until I’m high above any of the buildings surrounding Times Square. Then Lily appears right behind me, and wraps her arms around me before folding her winds and spiraling into a dive. I struggle against her grip, but we’re about evenly matched in terms of physical strength, so I can’t get her to budge very much. I resort to a spell that produces an electrical current along the surface of my skin. Sh
e releases me at last, but flings me hard with a spell before vanishing from sight.
I’d teleport to safety as well, but I’m flying too fast, and I can’t see where I’m going until the last second. I punch through the glass pane in front of me with a spell before I hit, but my arms still get nicked by tiny shards as I roll along the tile floor until I come to a stop.
I take a few seconds to just lie here and breathe, my heart hammering not just from my most recent flight, but the entirety of my contest with Lily. She’s like no one I’ve ever faced before; she’s more than a match for me in terms of spell power, and she can keep up with me physically, but she’s easily outshined in terms of technique. I’m suddenly thankful for Krystal’s insistence on teaching me skills that wouldn’t normally be used in combat. The electric shock might have just saved my life.
I groan in pain when I stand once more, ready to continue. I’m battered, but not beaten. The sound of people whimpering nearby catches my attention, and I scan the office around me until I find a few of them cowering in the corner. They seem to have been watching the action unfold from the window, and had to dive for cover when they noticed I was about to crash through it. I can feel their fear, seeping into their individual auras like a poison, but they don’t realize that of the two freaks outside, I’m not the one that they should be afraid of.
I can feel a single vampire in the gaggle of humans, and her aura is plagued by hunger as opposed to fear. Not quite hunger, even, more a crippling need. I spot her towards the back of the group, watching me with rapt attention, and it isn’t until I look down at myself that I realize why. My arms are lined with tiny cuts from where I rolled on broken shards of glass, and trickles of hot blood are rolling down my skin.
An idea comes to mind that’s simultaneously sickening and tempting. If I convinced this vampire to give me a turn bite, I’d acquire her agility, reflexes, and durability. It could give me the edge I need to defeat Lily before we end up hurting someone, not to mention cure this woman of her vampirism. It’s a win/win for the two of us. But do I actually have it in me to do something so drastic? Could I sacrifice a sliver of my humanity to protect the lives of others?
Shattered (the Spellbound Series Book 2) Page 20