I saw an oval-shaped silver Door in the distance, that looked like it was miles away.
As I moved through the darkness, I came upon two Demons kneeling on either side of my path. They hung their heads subserviently, praying—a sickening, twisted song—and held out their hands, palms down as if to swear allegiance to their dark queen.
“Come, my children,” I said, and I placed my blood-stained palms on the backs of their heads. “Father wants a word with you.” They flashed with light, suddenly encased in white crystal as I turned them into pillars of salt. I don’t know how.
I walked on, not even slowing as I shattered both pillars with mighty blows from my wings.
The jade earrings cracked loudly and then fell from my earlobes. They crunched like brittle bones as I walked over them. I didn’t look down.
I was too busy smiling as another wave of memories washed over me, rocking me back on my heels for a moment. I took a deep breath and then released it, giving my memories a moment to settle fully into place.
My thumb abruptly throbbed ice-cold and I glanced down to find a ring of shadows now encircling it. You’re back! a voice gasped in astonishment, the sound solely in my mind.
“Quiet, Nameless,” I told the Fallen Angel. “Mommy’s busy.” I halted my advance as I saw what lay before me.
A gaping, bottomless pit stood between me and the oval-shaped Silver Door. So did the reflection of a friend—not the real thing, since her eyes shone entirely silver.
Phix—the Great Sphinx—was a wildcat the size of a horse, big enough to ride on. Her massive wings were tucked in close as she turned her human head to glance at me. Because, somewhat like a centaur, the majestic creature before me was a cross between a human and a cat, so a human torso rose up from the feline neck—and it was a torso beautiful enough to make a male sculptor leave the love of his life in favor of having the chance to carve this beauty in marble.
Instead of a centaur, I had a cat-taur. Possibly a meow-taur. I would try out both to see which bothered the real Phix most before officially adopting it. Because I was classy like that.
Phix was beautiful and curvaceous. Worse, she knew it. She managed to flick her long, thick, perfectly-wavy, ebony hair like she was posing for the imagined sculptor. Even her reflection oozed ego-juice.
I had intended to use my own wings to cross the chasm, but…come on. Riding a Sphinx instead? No contest. She crouched down, seeming to read my mind. I climbed atop her back and pointed my finger at the Door ahead. “Good to see you, Phix.”
“You will pay for leaving me behind,” she purred throatily, but she did arch her back affectionately as I wrapped my arms around her neck in a hug that probably looked more like a choke-hold.
Her words made me tense. “Wait. It’s really you—”
She screamed defiantly, cutting me off. Her roar felt like a protective challenge, as if giving a warning to anymore would-be attackers who dared to impede her path. My path.
Then she leapt up into the air. I grabbed a fistful of her hair for support, and she laughed loudly as we raced through the blackness.
The Door didn’t seem to grow any larger despite how fast we flew, and I heard the church crashing down to the ground behind us in one rolling, thunderous bell-toll. I squeezed my thighs, urging Phix on faster, growing anxious that the Door still hadn’t grown larger.
A gold and a silver knight suddenly shimmered into existence between us and the Door, looking like giants in comparison, thanks to depth perception. They stared at us, unflinching, growing larger at a dizzying pace.
Which is when I realized the Door wasn’t far away. And it wasn’t necessarily a Door.
It was as tiny as…the eye of a needle.
I gritted my teeth as I recalled the quote from Jesus in the book of Matthew. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
Well, I wasn’t rich, and I wasn’t trying to enter the Kingdom of God, but I understood the metaphor. I was paying to play—giving up the powers I had accumulated from the Doors.
In favor of finding myself. Rediscovering myself.
I cast a hurried glare at the gold and silver knight on either side of the needle, and then I slapped Phix on the rump for encouragement. “Fly like a camel!” I shouted, leaning down behind her shoulders and wrapping my arms around her…the fancy bitch had a damned six-pack!
What the hell?
We were both screaming as we zipped between the two knights and hit the eye of the needle at full speed.
I heard a sound as if a treasure chest had been upended as all the powers—both tangible and not—I had acquired in the Doors were instantaneously torn away from me to pay for our passage through the eye of the needle.
My mind exploded with memories, visions, and conversations from my past—heart-aches and heart-felts, tears and laughs, angers and joys, failures and victories, vices and virtues…
And for a fraction of a second, I understood it all—the inner complexities of this thing called life, and how all the broken fragments of a stained-glass window fit perfectly back together.
Why all the answers in the universe rested in the space between two palms pressed together.
Between the palms of a noble man and a naive little girl.
Between a man named Roland Haviar and a girl named Callie Penrose.
And…it brought tears of astonishment to my cheeks.
Then it was abruptly ripped away from me, sending my mind reeling. My vision began to tunnel closed as everything around us flared with brilliant white light. But before the world folded in on itself, I decided that single moment of enlightenment—even if now gone—had been worth it.
Simply knowing that there was a purpose to it all…
Even if it was tragically malicious and beautifully elegant…
Well, that was more than most people ever learned.
I heard Nameless murmuring another Bible quote to me as I fell into unconsciousness, but something was wrong about it…
Let there be dark…
And there was…
Chapter 40
I slowly woke in a vibrating recliner—the warm back of the chair rising and falling with a steady thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump beat I felt against my spine.
“You live,” Phix said. I looked up to see her face only a foot away. I was tucked against her furry body between her paws, and she was purring like a locomotive. It said something about me that I was disappointed I wasn’t actually sitting in a vibrating recliner.
I blinked rapidly, studying the white opulence all around me. The ceiling stretched impossibly high over my head. Birds chirped at each other as they flapped from one arch to the next high above. The air was warm, and a gentle breeze brought the smell of fresh fruit and aromatic flowers.
Because we sat on an open-air balcony the length of a football field. The balcony was furnished with pillows, wicker couches and chairs, huge Persian rugs, and columns as wide as a car that held up the expansive roof. I stared out over the black iron railings to see fields stretching as far as the eye could see, a quilt consisting of every shade of green I had ever seen at any paint store. It was breathtaking.
“Better get your legs under you before he sees that you’re vulnerable,” Phix murmured.
That’s when I noticed the arguing voices approaching.
I turned to see a massive, bipedal, white lion walking backwards towards me, fighting an impotent force on the other side like a bouncer at a club. Solomon walked beside him, smiling at me. He wore white linen pants and a loosely buttoned white linen shirt, making the black veins over his wrists, neck, and cheeks really stand out. The dark veins even grew down his chest—an impressively fit chest for his age. The veins obviously weren’t a concern to him, more like an embarrassing tattoo from his younger, wilder days.
And I suddenly remembered our conversation on the rooftop. The highlights, anyway.
The arguing grew louder and my heart st
uttered to a stop.
“I’ve waited long enough, Dick Breath!” a familiar voice snarled murderously. “Let me see my gods-damned Sister!”
I forgot all about standing, my heartbeat picking back up in a wildly erratic beat. I was shaking, trying to see past the wall of lion.
The beast chomped his jaws furiously at the nickname. “Richard or Last Breath, not—”
But Cain suddenly darted out from under his arms and tackled me into Phix—who hissed indignantly. He squeezed me tightly, laughing and speaking at the same time into the side of my neck. “You did it!”
I was digging my fingernails into his back, shaking in confusion. “H-how,” I stammered in a hoarse whisper, my eyes latching onto Solomon. Richard the lion folded his arms with a sigh but seeing Cain and I together seemed to douse his anger significantly, and a smile tugged at the corners of his leonine lips.
Cain detached himself from my fingers with a murmured complaint, but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his smile was radiant.
“Apparently, they had a test for me as well,” he admitted. “Although no one told me about it ahead of time.” He noticed the fast-approaching nervous breakdown on my face and squeezed my shoulders reassuringly. “It’s okay. You did it. This isn’t a dream. My trial was to prove…” he paused, sucked in a deep breath, and then let it out, meeting my eyes with an inner pride that made my heart melt. “That I could be a good, big brother. That I was willing to sacrifice my life to save my sister.”
I lost it. I hunched over, collapsing in on myself, and wept into my hands. The ugly, uncontrollable kind of crying that no man should ever have to see.
Phix hissed at Cain. “Great job, you hairy lummox.” She curled a paw to wrap around my waist and tugged me back protectively against her side. Then she began pawing at the floor like cats do, sheathing and unsheathing her claws in a repetitive motion. Except her claws scored the marble floor as she did it.
“No,” I mumbled between sobs. “I’m just so…” I trailed off, unsure what exactly hit me the hardest. Overjoyed to learn that Cain wasn’t dead. Furious that Solomon had lied to me. Proud of Cain’s absolution. Confusion at our location. That Phix—the real Phix—was somehow here and acting overprotective…
I smiled at Cain, wiping at my face. “I’m so proud of you. And…” I reached out and slapped him in the face as hard as I could. The sound rang out like a gunshot, and Richard grunted satisfactorily. I scowled at the lion. “Watch it, Dick. You’ve got one coming, too, and I feel an army in my fist,” I warned.
Solomon grinned. “Friedrich Schiller. Nice.”
I gave him a look that shouted he had one of his own slaps brewing. He nodded in understanding, accepting responsibility for his own actions in this.
Cain’s cheek was bright red, but he was smiling. “Worth it,” he said. And I knew he wasn’t talking about the slap. He was telling me that sacrificing himself for me had been worth it—even if he wouldn’t have made it back.
I lowered my eyes, trying to regain my breathing. “Thank you, Brother,” I whispered. “Now get over here and let me wipe my face on your shirt. It’s the only other thing brothers are good for, so you might as well get it over with,” I told him.
In answer, he wrapped me up in another hug, petting my hair as he held me close.
I let it all out. All the pain, the sorrow, the relief…and I wiped the results all over his shirt.
“I’m sorry I didn’t kill Samael,” I told Cain. “But you can bet your ass I’m hunting him down soon,” I promised.
Cain grunted. “If you had, I wouldn’t be here right now,” he said in a soft voice. My eyes widened in disbelief. Then they shot to Solomon, demanding an explanation.
He nodded simply. “The Temple chose to treat your trial like a team effort. By bringing Cain to the fountain, you altered the trial, altered the rules. Without Cain’s sacrifice, you would have failed or died—either against Samael or in one of the next Doors. Without your choice to abandon vengeance and power, Cain’s death would have been final. The prize demands it,” he said, holding up his hands to signify the balcony around us. Then he turned back to me. “But I would have made the same decision were it up to me. Your newfound epiphany to become siblings in all but blood was the perfect test of your moral fortitude, your discretion, and your dignity. You passed and were permitted entrance here.”
As angry as I was, I had the feeling he was not lying or being cruel. I shivered, realizing where we were for the first time.
“Solomon’s Temple…” I breathed incredulously.
“Welcome home, my great-great-great…” he waved a hand absently, tacking on a bunch more greats. “Granddaughter.”
I dipped my head at him, not entirely sure how I felt about calling him family. I hadn’t anticipated meeting the bastard. I’d just wanted to rob his house for answers on my past. Which made things awkward.
“No offense taken,” he said, smiling directly at me. “Don’t worry. I can’t read your mind. But your face speaks very loudly.”
I decided not to try denying it. The cards were on the table, and after what he had put me through—put us both through—I wasn’t too concerned about his feelings.
I turned to the lion, remembering all the things he had done to piss me off. “You, Richard, are a Dick.”
In response, he abruptly shimmered, becoming a tall, muscular Asian man…
I blinked incredulously. “You!”
He smirked. “Glad you liked the rosé.”
I sputtered, stammered, and then finally took a deep breath. “Why?” I asked him.
“I had to find a way to show you my illusions. The fountain. The Sons of Solomon.”
I held up a hand. “The Sons of Solomon…aren’t real?” I asked, really considering hitting him in the face. I heard Cain’s knuckles cracking, and I remembered how troubled he had been when they hadn’t bled on his dagger.
Richard shrugged. “Once upon a time, yes. But they have been defunct for centuries. But people never believe that secret societies fade away, so we just keep using their name, adding to their mystery.”
I rubbed at my temples, reminding myself that I shouldn’t kill him. Yet.
He went on without remorse. “With the Angels and Samael hunting you at every turn, and Nameless watching your every move, I saw no way to lead you—and only you—to the fountain. But my efforts were in vain,” he said, frowning at Cain. “Samael has been—at times—conversing with Nameless. Regardless of how fiercely Nameless resisted,” he said, sounding impressed. “It’s almost a wonder he ever Fell.”
I shuddered at the barrage. To realize that Samael had been tracking me, even if only occasionally, and that Nameless had tried to fight back…I glanced down at my thumb.
And froze.
The shadow ring was gone.
I looked up, my eyes wild. Solomon lifted his hand to show me the Seal of Solomon. Then he tossed it to me, underhanded. “I put him back where he belongs for you. Couldn’t have one of them showing Samael where you were. And it will take some time for you to learn how to do it yourself,” he told me.
I stared down at the Seal, then at my thumb, shaking my head. It felt…surprisingly empty. I hadn’t realized how heavy it had been. “Thank you,” I murmured, not knowing what else to say.
At least I had one less thing for Michael to worry about.
I gasped, glancing about for the Spear. “Where is it?”
“Inside of you, of course,” Solomon said, smiling at my panic. “But it’s resting, like you were a few minutes ago. Try taking it out now and you’ll pass out. It needs time to heal. Perhaps a long time. It went through much in the Doors.”
I stared at him, suddenly anxious as I remembered Michael’s warning. “Is it going to be okay? Is it broken, or did I actually fix it?”
Solomon debated that, thinking hard on the answer. “Only time will tell. But…” he paused significantly, making sure I was paying close attention. �
��The white blade has found its sheath.”
And he pointed directly at me.
Oh.
Well…
“Let’s just wait to see what it looks like when it finally wakes up,” Solomon smiled.
I nodded, turning back to Richard. There had been only one thing I had really wanted to ask him, and it had nothing to do with the trial. He let out a breath as if knowing my question.
“Why were you at Abundant Angel the night of the storm?”
He stared down at his feet for so long that I began to grow angry, but when he looked back up, I was surprised to see an anguished look on his face. “I was trying to find your mother. She had abandoned the Seal, hiding it in Kansas City somewhere. I could sense that much, but not where she had hidden it.…I was chasing rumors the night of the storm, rumors of a powerful wizard creeping through the streets. Because Shepherds were hunting her.” he said in a haggard voice.
I almost gasped. Fabrizio. He was talking about Fabrizio. And…my mother had hidden the Seal of Solomon in Kansas City? In the underground cavern where I had found it? That meant…I’d walked in her footsteps.
Richard continued, not sensing my sad, but happy smile. “Constance was using some kind of spell that prevented me from finding her. I didn’t even know she was with child, let alone that I saw the baby with my own eyes! Watching as the pastor opened the door and wrapped you in his arms. I had no idea, I was so fixated on finding your mother. That protection that kept her from me, also kept you from me. I only discovered your existence—and the realization that you had been at that very church the same night as me—when you used the Seal of Solomon for the first time.”
His shoulders sagged as Solomon stepped up beside him. He also looked pained as he placed a hand on Richard’s shoulder. “We saw you outside your own church…the night you bound Nameless. Do you remember?”
I nodded, misty-eyed at the pain in Richard’s voice and the look in Solomon’s eyes. “Yes.” They had been standing on a nearby rooftop.
Feathers and Fire Series Box Set 2 Page 53