Tempest
Page 23
“Intriguing…” War walked up to Cricket. He stopped an arm’s length away and leaned in, opening his mouth and breathing in, then exhaling. Cricket followed suit in the same way horses greeted each other.
I was half expecting her to squeal, but instead she said, “Nice to meet you.”
The meekness of her voice startled me, but War’s reaction made me understand.
“Oh, my, but you are a charming thing,” he said.
“We have business to attend to, and this mare is a distraction,” Death spoke up.
“Ah, yes. That nasty business of exterminating humankind,” War replied, but he didn’t turn to leave. Instead, he continued to stare at Cricket. She glanced away, her cheeks reddening. I couldn’t tell if it was part of the act.
The beating of wings turned my attention upwards. Uriel landed beside me with an Angel I didn’t recognize. I peeked around Uriel at the newcomer. His hair was light brown, matching his wings and tunic, and he appeared younger than the other Angels I’d met. He was still tall and carried a long sword strapped to his hip, but my impression of him was that he wasn’t as warlike as his brothers.
“The horn was blown by mistake—not on God’s authority,” Uriel told War, taking the time to look at each of the horsemen in turn before adding, “You must return to your stable. It is not time.”
War barked out a laugh and the other horsemen moved in closer. “A mistake—Gabriel accidently blew the sacred horn?” A smile curved his lips. “Are you teasing us? Is this some kind of wicked Angel humor?” He made a show of looking around. “And where is old Gabriel, anyway? Hmm? Why does he send Uriel and Raphael to meet with us?
Uriel glanced away, taking a quick breath. He was uncomfortable and it showed. “Gabriel is busy elsewhere at the moment. Raphael and I act as emissaries, pleading with you to listen.”
Death joined War’s side. “The sole purpose we were created for was to carry out the tasks of destruction written in the final scripture when the horn was blown.” He shook head. “Now you want us to stand down?”
Raphael’s voice was soft and soothing and I inhaled to clear my head when he spoke. “Yes. All seven arch Angels and the generals of the celestial host, are meeting in the human realm to discuss—” he paused, thinking “—to discuss recent events and decide on our next course of action.”
Death cleared his throat and licked his lips. “I take it our heavenly Father has been absent of late?”
“Something like that,” Uriel muttered.
“Well then, I don’t see any harm in delaying our purpose for a little while longer.” War eyed Cricket, who smiled in return.
“Rubbish. We do not answer to the Angels.” Death sneered and a dusting of colors began to flutter in the breeze around him as if he was about to change.
“Wait!” Cricket cried out. “Haven’t you been stabled for an eternity?”
Death nodded, but his face didn’t flinch.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like to be denied lush green grass or a morning gallop.” She shrugged, with fluttering eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to experience those things before you destroy it all?”
Uriel and Raphael’s gazes shifted to the horsemen. They appeared to be holding their breaths.
“It is a longing of mine,” Conquest said quietly, looking at Famine.
Famine stomped his foot. “Perhaps a delay wouldn’t hurt…”
“You are incorrigible!” Death hissed. “We have jobs to do.”
War spoke up. “That is true…but if what Uriel says is correct—and I don’t think he’d blatantly lie about such a thing—the horn was blown accidently. If we spread famine, war, conquest and death on the land, we may be doing wrong, and who knows how the Master will punish us if that is the case.”
Death frowned. “We must have a consensus in order to move forward and since we don’t, it seems I’m in the position of backing down.” He looked between Uriel and Raphael. “But I won’t stand idly while Angels plot our future. Conquest and I will accompany you to this Angel meeting while War and Famine remain with this one.” He flicked his finger at me. “There is something quite upsetting about her nature.”
When I opened my mouth to protest, Uriel silenced me with a quick glare and a raised hand. “That sounds amicable. We agree to your terms, Death.”
War’s brow lifted at Cricket and she bent her head, a small smile teasing her lips. I looked over my shoulder and saw everyone gathered in front of Ila’s cabin, looking our way. I wondered what they’d think about have a couple of horsemen of the apocalypse hanging around.
The storm clouds that arrived with the horsemen had dissipated and only a few puffy ones remained. The breeze cooled a little as the sun set beyond the hills and I shivered. The brilliant display of autumn colors dulled with the loss of light, blanketing the valley with a soft glow.
I feared some of the Angels, like Michael and Gabriel, would welcome releasing the horsemen to fulfill their duties ahead of schedule. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have time to stop it from happening.
I glanced into the sky. Had God gone on vacation or something?
“Where are the Angels gathering?” Conquest’s voice cut the silence. I caught a glimpse of the roll of his eyes and guessed he would rather stay with War and Famine.
“In the City of Angels—Los Angeles.” Raphael answered. “And you won’t need to worry about this Watcher. You’ll be able to keep an eye on her yourself, because we’re bringing her with us.”
Chapter 31
And the devil said to him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
Luke 4:6-8
Sawyer
The massive trees that Insepth had awakened days earlier were burning. Everything was burning. Even the lake full of leviathans had pockets of flames on its oily surface. Winged creatures with animal heads and Angel bodies swooped through the sky, diving occasionally when they spotted a wayward soul. Their spears stabbed at the soul until its glow dimmed into shadow.
As bad as all that was, the thousands of monsters spilling through the fissure from Hell were much worse. They were the same glowing-eyed, deformed creatures who had attacked us in the forest after we’d fled the compound for Ila’s valley. Formless bodies of black smoke darted just above the ground, searching out anything at all living. When they found a fleeing Demon or Growler, they overtook them and entered the body through the mouth. A moment later, the being was transformed into a grotesque, spiderlike eating machine.
I had seen these creatures before—in Youmi’s water vision. Only they’d been in an American city, hunting down the poor human souls who hadn’t been transported to Heaven during the rapture.
And then there were the black-winged fallen Angels. They all looked very similar, with dull hair and fierce eyes, as if their defiance to God had taken away their individuality. They were an angry lot, quick to strike down anything that got in their way, including the soul-eating monsters.
To my left was the king of them all. Samael sat on a simple throne made from the limbs of one of the fallen trees before it was set on fire. The branches curved around him like skeletal fingers, and he had to keep his wings tucked tightly about him to keep from losing any feathers.
I glanced sideways and caught his eye. A wicked smile spread on his red lips. A dribble of blood dripped down his chin and seeing me staring at it, he brought his free hand up, caught the drops onto his finger and licked it clean. His other hand held the dove’s limp, headless body.
“This bird is such delicacy.” His look sharpened. “Did you know, Demon, that Angels are forbidden to eat the fle
sh of any creature?” He snorted. “While the humans dined on scrumptious fatted cow, we had only the manna from Heaven to sustain us. Oh, what we were missing.” He smacked his lips for emphasis.
The action awakened my blood lust. With all ties to Ember severed, I was a weak Demon once again. The hunger for blood and souls was strong, even though I tried to swallow the sensation down.
Samael rose from the throne and stepped up beside me at the edge of the cliff that overlooked Purgatory. His wing spread out behind me, then closed around my shoulder like he was draping an arm around me.
“Sawyer is your name, correct?” I nodded, my body remaining ridged. “I have need of a Demon like you. A dark soul who has intermingled with Angels and Watchers could be a great asset to my cause.”
“And what, exactly, is your cause?” I dared to asked, keeping my voice as level as possible.
He pursed his lips. “I was once the great prince of Heaven—the Morning Star. I was the first, most beautiful and mightiest of the arch Angels. It was not my intention to supplant our Father. Merely have recognition of my superiority over my brothers. I led a revolt against Heaven, hoping God would once and for all reward me the highest position, second only to Himself.” He smiled, the look of memory in his blue eyes. “There was much dissention in the ranks at the time. It was easy to gather loyal subjects to my cause. But when Michael and Uriel led their legions to defeat us, we were cast into Hell.” His smile turned into a smirk. “What my brothers didn’t expect was for God to assign me as ruler of the Hellish lands, for I was the only one strong enough to survive its ravages.” His expression took on a faraway quality as he gazed out at his increasing domain. “For good to exist, there must be evil—and sometimes, there’s a fine line between the two.”
He slapped my back and withdrew his wing, turning to face me. “You ask, what is my cause? I used to dream of being God’s equal, but my ambitions have grown.” His pupils dilated. “When the war is over, I will rule all four planes of existence. I already have two—only earth and Heaven remain to be conquered.” He chuckled. “The Angels are consumed with invoking the rapture, thinking it will eliminate the humans, who they’ve always envied. But in actuality, Armageddon is not only the downfall of humans, but of Angels, too.”
Samael sliced one of his talons into his arm and blue liquid swelled at the wound. He raised his arm, close enough to my face that the sweet smell of Angel blood flooded my nostrils.
“I will kill God and rule all His lands—and you will be one of my lieutenants.”
Memories of my previous lives, as both a human and Demon, faded. I tried to grasp at them with my mind, frantically holding onto the feel of Ember’s hot skin against mine and the sound of her honeyed voice in my ears.
Ember—my sweetheart, my love.
But Samael’s gaze was magical and I couldn’t resist.
My mouth latched onto his arm and I sucked at the blood, swallowing with hungry gulps.
Then I was transformed.