They watched me warily. Then they shared a long look with each other. “Well, that pretty much answers that bit,” Nate told Eae matter-of-factly. “I told you we could trust her. You can take her out of the circle now.” But he sounded relieved, as if a small part of him had feared a different outcome. And I suddenly realized that my change in looks might have made him more nervous than he had initially let on.
Eae shook his head. “Not yet.”
“What did you put in my juice box?!” I yelled.
Nate shrugged. “We mixed Holy Water inside it.”
I opened my mouth. Then closed it. “Why?” I finally asked. “I’m not a demon.”
“Maybe because you attacked an Angel the other day?” Nate said, smirking to take away the sting as he pointed at Eae. “Thought I was the only one stupid enough to try that.”
“You thought I was possessed?” I asked incredulously.
He shrugged as he began ticking off fingers. “Shutting down the Vatican. Fighting Templars. Fighting an Angel. I might have done those things, but you and I have different… genes.” He shrugged, alluding to my Nephilim blood. “Those events taken into combination, though, I thought it was at least plausible that someone might try to get to you this way. It would be a clever way to take you down.” He brushed his hands together symbolically, turning to Eae. “Callie is rock solid. I trust her. Now that we know she isn’t possessed, I can’t think of anything else, so she likely has a very good reason for attacking you.”
Eae shook his head stubbornly, unconvinced.
Nate narrowed his eyes at the Angel. “Well, this is about to get awkward,” he said when it became apparent Eae wouldn’t budge. And with a flick of his hand, a small jet of fire torched part of the paint on the ground, breaking the circle. I felt the wall blocking me from my magic evaporate as Eae spluttered angrily at Nate.
Nate just folded his arms, smirking absently as the Angel’s tirade rolled over him. I shot him a grateful smile that he smugly pretended not to notice.
Eae finally threw up his hands in defeat. “Greta didn’t have a high opinion of her,” he said.
Nate snorted dismissively, sounding amused. “She doesn’t have a high opinion of anyone.” He shot me a look. “Eae sent her to convince you something was up.”
I sniffed. “Well, she did a shitty job.”
Nate burst out laughing.
Eae, on the other hand, looked personally offended. “Greta has impeccable judgment.”
I shook my head in disbelief at how arrogant Eae was. “Your Good Samaritan detector seemed to love Cain and Dorian Gray, but not me,” I told him, enjoying his reaction. Greta really had been one of the good guys. I hated it when the ones I disliked were good guys.
Nate’s eyes shot wide open. “Cain? As in, Cain and Abel?” he hissed.
I nodded smugly. “Cool guy if you forgive him his trespasses.”
Nate muttered something under his breath about Cain not being able to take a joke, but that couldn’t have been right. I remembered Cain saying something about wanting to stay away from St. Louis. The two must have had a disagreement at one point, but Cain was definitely into jokes. I shrugged, turning back to Eae.
He had stepped fully into the light while chastising Nate and I finally took a moment to get a good look at him. He wore jeans and a tee, no shoes. His skin was tanned, and he was very tall. Large wings hung from his shoulder blades, made of what seemed to be dry ice with bits of stone hovering amongst the feathers. They radiated power, since he wasn’t bothering to conceal them.
Eae studied me critically. “You have changed. Even since I last saw you underground.”
I shrugged but didn’t offer an explanation.
As I stared into those eyes, I could tell he had spotted Phix in the alley, was curious about it, but had chosen not to bring it up in front of Nate. Which was… strange, since he hadn’t seemed to trust me enough to let me out of the circle. An odd way to interrogate someone.
This angry Angel had secrets.
“You tried stealing the Seal of Solomon,” I pressed. “Why am I the one under suspicion?”
His feathers ruffled agitatedly. “And you lost the Seal of Solomon. It doesn’t belong in the hands of man. It belongs with the Angels!” he snapped, chest heaving angrily.
Nate was watching the two of us glare at each other, frowning. “I wonder what it’s like to make a mistake,” he mused absently. “I seem to remember an Angel getting his wings clip—”
Eae rounded on Nate, face livid. “That was entirely different!” he snapped.
Nate shrugged. “Bad judgment call, if I recall.”
Listening to them, I began to have doubts about Nate’s Angel friend. He had tried to steal the Seal of Solomon, and Alyksandre – the most incorruptible Nephilim I had met so far – had seemed confident he was a Fallen Angel. Rather than approaching me – or Nameless – he remained hidden, only showing up again when the Seal of Solomon appeared. When he didn’t get it, he kidnapped me, using Nate’s friendship to sway me. And rather than releasing me from the circle himself, Nate had had to intervene – which had pissed Eae off. Then, the next real comment directed my way was an accusation… about losing the Seal he seemed so intent upon acquiring.
And now Nate had brought up a blemish in his record.
I decided that these Angels in my life were high maintenance, and I didn’t trust a single feather on their wings. They were playing their own game on us. On me. I could play games, too.
I checked my grip on my mental block, making sure it was impenetrable, and I prepared to start throwing wrenches into plans.
Chapter 45
I cleared my throat, interrupting their heated argument. They turned to look at me.
“I’ve got places to be. An heirloom to get back.”
Eae spluttered. “You will not go after the Seal. It belongs with me, if it belongs with anyone!” he met my eyes, his wings flaring out. “I. Am. Eae. The Demon Thwarter! Of course I should have it!” he hissed pompously.
Nate frowned at his display. “I’m pretty sure she can do whatever she fucking pleases, Your Holiness.” Eae rounded on him, redirecting his fury into a fresh argument.
“And I’m a firm believer that heirlooms should stay in the family,” I said casually.
My words cut them both off like a glass crashing to the floor at a dinner party. They stilled, and then slowly turned to look at me. “What?” Nate asked, staring into my eyes.
“Nameless seems to think that I’m descended from King Solomon, that I can control the Seal all by myself. Wants me to use it for him, but I’ve got other plans.”
“Cool name,” Nate muttered almost subconsciously, as his brain tried to process the rest of what I had said. Then he was slowly nodding to himself, as if finding facts to back up my claim – at least enough to merit a debate.
“Nameless is not a cool name. It is not even an Angel’s name,” Eae hissed, sounding on the edge of violence.
“He said he changed his name.”
Eae blinked. “That wouldn’t change who he is…” he said, frowning.
I shrugged. “He thinks that the other Angels are too proud, reminiscing about the glory days with their powerful names,” I arched an eyebrow at him pointedly, enjoying his resulting scowl, “and forgetting their duties. He chose to adopt a new moniker.”
As Eae processed that, Beckett’s words came to mind, supporting my suspicion of Eae. As many mistakes as Beckett had made recently, he’d gotten at least one thing right. The Angels don’t care about us. Never have. They have their own agendas and will crush anyone who stands in their way.
“You believe him?” Nate asked me. “That you’re related to King Solomon?”
I met his eyes and nodded confidently.
I didn’t, though. Not really. Sure, it explained a lot of weird things about me, but I didn’t have any real proof. Thinking about that, I realized that the only real proof would be to slip on the Seal of Solomon and throw myself a
gainst the Fallen Angels trapped inside.
Do or die.
But I didn’t let any of this show on my face. I needed Eae in a very specific situation.
“It will destroy you,” Eae finally said, forcing calm into his voice, trying a new tactic. “Even if it didn’t, no man should wield that power. It is too seductive. Too tempting.”
I leaned forward. “Not sure if you noticed, but I’m not a man.”
Nate smirked, but still rolled his eyes. That hadn’t been what Eae meant, and I knew it.
Eae studied me suspiciously. “How did you get the ring in the first place?”
I doubled down on my mental block, making sure it was rock solid. “I didn’t know I had it.”
Eae studied me with even greater suspicion, and I could tell he was unsuccessfully trying to probe my mind. And his failure was both pissing him off and making him uncertain.
“If you want it so badly, maybe you could just go ask Nameless for it,” I offered. “If he declines, you two can go off to a field in Kansas to duke it out. Blame the aftermath on a Superman sighting.”
Eae snorted, and I realized that as much as he thwarted demons, allegedly, he was not as confident in his ability to face-off against his fellow Angel. An unnamed one. Hell, Nameless could end up being the Archangel Michael or something, for all anyone knew.
Nate cleared his throat, interrupting us. I looked over to see him staring down Eae. “Kansas City belongs to Callie, and you are an unwelcome visitor. I didn’t ask you here to support your own motives, Eae. You promised to share what you found with her.” Eae’s face darkened, but he didn’t speak. “And I’m holding you to that, Angel,” Nate warned him in a very frosty tone.
Like Nate had just plucked his feathers, Eae shivered. “As agreed,” he said through gritted teeth. “We can discuss the Seal of Solomon at a later time,” he added not sounding the least bit pleased about it, but not daring to break his word.
Or possibly to stand up against Nate.
I stared from one to the other. “What are you talking about?” I asked, frowning uncertainly.
Eae lowered his eyes. “It’s about your parents,” he said in a surprisingly sympathetic tone. I took a step back instinctively, shaking my head. How… had I forgotten about that?
Nate had told me – what felt like a lifetime ago – that he would get Eae to look into my parents. Had the Seal of Solomon really kept me from remembering such a burning desire to discover their background?
Had Eae been right about the seduction of the Seal?
Nate cleared his throat delicately and I slowly turned to look at him. “I found them, Callie…” Eae grunted meaningfully. “Well, I helped find them,” Nate clarified. “If you need me, I’ll be outside.” He smiled sadly and turned to leave.
I flung out a hand, latching onto his sleeve, stunned that he was just walking away. Leaving me to face this alone. “I might need a… friend to lean on,” I whispered, my heart beginning to beat faster. My parents. I had wanted information about them for so long, but…
Right now?
Nate was shaking his head firmly. “You don’t need to lean on anyone, Callie. In fact, it might do you some good to… wobble a little.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Excuse me? It sounds like you’re saying I could stand to be knocked down a peg or two.”
Nate blinked, caught off guard. “What? No. I meant…” his eyes grew distant, and whatever he was remembering, hurt him. “Look, I’ve had to have a talk like… this,” he said, waving a hand at Eae. “I thought I wanted friends with me, needed friends with me, for support. But I learned that using a crutch only delays the healing. Meaning you won’t see your fall coming, and it will hit you when you least expect it, knocking you on your ass at the worst possible moment. Sometimes… we need to stand and take the punches. Be prepared to fall at a time of our own choosing. The blows will hurt, but…” he smiled encouragingly, “things like this are supposed to hurt, right? It means your heart is still open. Not broken…”
I realized I was sobbing softly, irrationally angry at him for being… right.
“You don’t need me to help you take off your Band-Aids.” He squared his shoulders, lifting his chin. “And I respect you too much to be your crutch, Callie…” He subconsciously scratched at his chest as he spoke, right where he wore the coin necklace that disguised his Horseman’s Mask. The Horseman of Hope. Something about that tickled my memory.
Then he was walking away, disappearing into the darkness.
Leaving me with the Angel.
Chapter 46
I sat down in the center of my circle, staring as Eae sat directly before me.
I mentally prepared myself for the emotional beat-down ahead. I knew it wasn’t going to be a happily ever after story, because – spoiler alert – I already knew a demon killed them in the end. Johnathan had bragged to me about it while trying to torture me to death.
But I’d never read the first chapters of their book. Or the prequel.
“Your mother was a dark wizard,” he said, watching me with an expressionless face.
I stared at him in silence, imagining ripping off his wings by hand. Luckily, he couldn’t read my thoughts, so I relished in it for a few moments. I don’t know why the statement angered me so much. It wasn’t like I had ever known her. She could have been a polka-dotted owl for all I knew. For all it mattered. She had abandoned me. Left me on the steps of the church. And I’d once had the audacity to actually believe that I had been touched by heaven. Eae’s single statement had just ripped through that like a paper target at a RPG testing facility.
“Explain,” I managed in a whisper.
Eae’s face was merciless as he nodded. “A dark wizard,” he repeated in a monotone. “She employed black magic. Sacrifices, rituals, murder. A truly despicable person. The works.”
I felt myself growing cold, wanting to scream and snarl and hurt something. “Your bedside manner is truly overwhelming,” I said in a dangerously calm tone.
He didn’t react. He just continued to watch me. I took a deep breath, forcing the rage down. “Fine. So, you think I’m broken. That’s why you don’t trust me. But you forget that I’m my own woman, Angel. I have free will, remember?”
His lips thinned, but he continued to watch me, staring straight into my eyes. It was more than a little unnerving. As if he was trying to read my gray matter, or considering how best to dissect me. Where to slice first. Or maybe he sensed something within me. The Sphinx. The Whispers.
No. I had that part of me locked down. Maybe that was why he was staring at me so intently, wondering why all he could hear was white noise.
“Stop staring, creep. Talk.”
He narrowed his eyes one last time, as if not best pleased. “It is good that you accept your mother’s past, because that was well behind her when you came into the picture.”
I gritted my teeth, barely forcing the words out. “I’ve wondered how your wings would look nailed to the wall of my living room… But I don’t like to be cruel.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously as he picked up on my indirect insult. “Let’s not pretend that I’m a nice childhood friend. I’m an Angel. Eae, the Demon Thwarter.” The room pulsed and I felt an unseen physical force slightly press against me. He watched my reaction, and… didn’t look best pleased when he realized that I wasn’t sobbing and crying bloody tears of rapture. “You are an anomaly,” he continued, frowning pensively. “It is my duty to make sure that anomalies do not put the Realm of Man at risk. So, yes. I’m testing you. Reading into your responses. Tracking your pulse. Trying to read your mind.” I smiled smugly and he realized he had inadvertently admitted to failing at the mind-reading thing, which I was betting wasn’t usual for him.
“At least I can still ward us,” he continued. “No one can eavesdrop with me nearby. I’m blocking them.”
I kept my face blank. Was he talking about Phix? The Whispers? Both? I nodded as if I wasn’t concerned, although
I hoped Phix wasn’t suddenly murdering everyone in town in her quest to find me.
She hadn’t sounded pleased when Eae kidnapped me.
“I’m still waiting for you to show me why I shouldn’t redecorate my living room.”
He snarled. “Be careful what you wish for, Little Nephilim. I will show you the fable of Titus and Constance. Your father and mother.” And he grabbed my entire face with one hand before I could react to hearing my father’s name for the first time.
Chapter 47
I found myself in the middle of the deep, dark woods – you know the place – creepy tendrils of fog drifting about like a nest of snakes, creepy ravens cawing in the darkened branches, a wolf howling, perhaps, and imagined eyes everywhere I looked.
Except the place was slightly hazy, as if made of smoke. A reflection of a memory. Despite it being night, there was an ambient glow to the woods, with neon flashes in my peripheral vision, like little crackles of electricity and motes of sparkling, multicolored dust forming the construct of the scene around us. The details faded into these hazy sparks around the edges, wherever I wasn’t directly looking.
I reached out to touch a bush, and my hand went right through it with a small disruption of neon sparks. So, not real. I began to wonder if Eae had designed this whole thing – this virtual reality – to play me. To manipulate me. Only one way to find out.
I walked towards a flickering light around a bend in the path ahead. I came upon a small clearing, the trees forming a thick canopy above, only allowing a fraction of moonlight through to stab the ground like a prison of lunar beams.
A woman knelt before two dead friends. Constance. My mother. I had never seen her before.
And she was sobbing with grief. My so-called evil mother was crying by herself, and it hurt something surprisingly deep inside me to witness it.
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