Angelus (13 page)

You and me and Lucifel are siblings
, Raziel had said to him one day.

Later, Lucifel had spoken of the Father's lack of answers concerning their origins.
He says he created us, and we ask for no proof, Israfel. Can't you see how we've blindly accepted everything until now?

Israfel could still picture the haunting coldness behind her eyes as she spoke.

Why,
Lucifel had said,
are we so different from all the other angels?

Then, Raziel had created Sophia, who always unnerved Israfel with her terrible all-knowing expressions. Since the day she'd first arrived in Heaven, Sophia hovered near Raziel, doting over him like a mother. She'd often said the Supernals were one, and soon afterward Lucifel chained herself to the idea in the most rebellious way. Once again, Israfel seemed to look into the past, seeing the proud anger all over Lucifel's face as she prepared to murder him.
We're equals to God,
she'd said to him.
And I deserve the crown of Heaven as much as you ever did. What right did the Father have to give it to you alone?

In a moment of pure spite, Lucifel had stolen the Eye—Lucifel's Grail—from the Father himself.

Yet the Father's eyes were whole and untouched.

So whose Eye was it? Why could only the Archon's soul wield and manipulate it properly?

At last, an answer struck Israfel. For a moment, pieces of a strange and tragic puzzle fell into place.

Israfel froze as if a thunderbolt had thrust him into eternity.

He knew who Angela really was. He knew why Raziel had chosen her soul and not another's to be the Archon. Worst of all, Israfel knew better than ever who he was as well. He looked down at his hands as if seeing them for the first time. The guards below him on the stairway said nothing, but they looked puzzled by the mask of shock on his face.

This time, Israfel couldn't remember to hide his feelings behind a regal screen. He opened his mouth to shout. He tried to send his words to Angela, because time and distance meant nothing to an angel like himself.

It was too late.

The portal closed on Israfel, trapping him once more in the Realm of Ialdaboth, where only the past flourished and nearly every last light had died.

Thirty-Two Days until the Great Silence

Faced with the choice to hope or despair, the soul

finds its answer in friends.

Angela felt like her entire body had been crushed and stretched and then crushed again. Her brain throbbed and her skull threatened to split. She was still aware of her fingers clenched tightly in the winged Kirin's mane, and of Sophia's fingers digging like claws into her waist. Pain drummed at her senses, drowning out thought.

She couldn't see a thing, and the darkness coiled tightly around her spirit, stopping her breath.

A brilliant light flashed in front of her eyes. Angela screamed.

The sound of something brittle smashing to pieces ricocheted through her. Pain blew back against her and sparkled in the light like crystals beneath the sun. Shards like glass seemed to dangle in the air beside her, frozen in time. Without warning, the Kirin broke out of the darkness and into a naked forest layered heavily in snow. It was night, but the stars shining in the clear sky tormented Angela's eyes. She wasn't used to brilliance like this anymore.

What was going on? Were they actually in Luz?

The winged Kirin shrieked in alarm, its great paws pounding the snow as it reared and fell to the earth to rear again. It kicked its legs wildly, nearly bucking Angela and Sophia to the ground.

Pieces of glass thumped to the snow around them. They were mirror shards, but their reflective surfaces rippled like water. Angela stared at them, thinking of the Mirror Pool beneath Python's mansion. They were in Luz, after all! But who could have helped bring them here? As the Kirin turned, its great paws crunched against the gilded frame of the mirror that had helped transport them to Luz.

Fear twisted Angela's insides in a knot.

Voices erupted from the trees. Priests and novices in black robes dashed from the dark undergrowth while others knelt and cocked crossbows at Angela and Sophia.

“Angela—” Sophia shouted.

The crossbows engaged. Arrows trailing nets assaulted them from either side.

The Kirin's wings flapped powerfully. The nets fell, and then threatened to cinch as the beast tore at them maniacally with its horn. Angela hunched against the Kirin's neck and peered through the nets, searching their attackers. Maybe there would be a friendly face who could help. She breathed hard, and every lungful of air froze her heart all over again. Sophia's breaths felt searingly hot against Angela's back as they clung to the Kirin while it kicked and brayed.

Screams broke over the shouting and noise. “
Stop it! Let them go! Angela, you have to run away—
”

That voice—it was so familiar. Angela turned to see a young woman with a brown ponytail, dressed in Westwood Academy's uniform, being forcibly restrained. Another novice pushed her down to her knees as hands clamped over her
mouth. Another woman was being restrained beside her, but she looked much older and her thick hair was a deep red. A heavy shawl had been draped around her shoulders.

Another male voice erupted over the echoing shouts of the novices. “I told you to kill her! Who decided to let these damned crows stay alive? We need to complete this before that Jinn returns!”

Jinn! But he couldn't be talking about Troy. She was still in Hell, wasn't she?

A flash of red light blinded everyone for a moment. Angela regained her vision in time to see the young woman who'd shouted to Angela vanish within the mist it left behind and reshape herself. She was now a crow. She broke from her captor's grip and soared for the trees.

“
Shoot her down!
” the male voice shouted.

Gunshots broke through the noise. More arrows whistled.

“Shoot her down, damn it!”

The crow was gone.

The Kirin's horn had broken a gigantic hole through the netting, and it brayed threateningly. Now the priests and novices turned and regarded Angela with horrified faces. They surely hadn't been counting on this. They'd expected a young woman, not a fearsome rider astride an even more fearsome beast. She and Sophia would have to take their chances and make for the trees. If they tried to fly, they would run the risk of being shot down.

Angela didn't even warn Sophia this time. She kicked the Kirin's flanks hard and it exploded through the last of the netting, heading for the thick darkness in a copse of broken oaks. This was Memorial Cemetery—it had to be. The oak Fae named Tileaf had lived and died here in Luz's last spot of life and greenery, and the winged Kirin jumped over the
remnants of her broken oak tree as they neared the undergrowth.

Soon they moved so fast, the branches melted into a blur as she and Sophia entered the thicket. Bullets screamed past them and lodged into tree trunks. Another grazed Angela's ankle before vanishing in the darkness. She bit her lip, trying to stifle a scream of pain.

They headed in the direction the crow had flown.

The priests will follow us. Memorial Cemetery is only so big, after all. They'll find us eventually, and then, and then . . .

Shouts suddenly echoed back to her. The same voice that shouted for the crow's death began to order retreat.

Angela thought of the Jinn that had been mentioned and gritted her teeth, praying for the best. They needed more than one person on their side right now.

An hour must have passed, and now Angela's adrenaline rush began to subside into waves of utter exhaustion. At last, even the winged Kirin slowed to a trot. It folded its great wings and began to slip silently between the trees like a shadow. Then it stilled and lowered to the moldy earth in a small clearing, giving Angela and Sophia the opportunity to dismount.

Angela winced as she gingerly slid off the beast's back. Her muscles screamed, and she couldn't help flinching as her bare feet brushed the rocks and frozen soil. Her bloody ankle throbbed, and blue blood stained the snow and dirt like ink. She was deathly cold already. The air was too pure and icy, and she still wore little more than a nightgown.

“You look absolutely frozen,” Sophia whispered with concern. She took Angela's hand and carefully slid from the Kirin's back. “Your fingers feel like icicles already!”

“I'll be all right,” Angela whispered. “Frozen is better than dead any time.”

“Freeze for long enough, and you will be dead. What just happened, though?” Sophia said. Her gray eyes narrowed with suspicion. She quickly knelt down and examined Angela's injured ankle. “It's clear that you were summoned through a mirror. I never thought any mirrors connected to the portals still existed on Earth. Most were destroyed.”

Angela tried to think. “I'm sure that if the Vatican knew the mirror existed they
would
have destroyed it. But—”

“What now?” Sophia said for her. She closed her eyes. “I'm sure we're safe for a little while. But they'll return to find you.”

For the first time, Angela noticed the bruise on Sophia's body and the cuts from the mirror shards. She grabbed Sophia by the hands and forced her to stand still as Angela looked for anything worse.

“I don't know what to do,” Angela said. She broke away from Sophia and clenched her fists. God, she just wanted to scream for hours. “I don't know. You're right, we'll have to keep moving no matter what.”

“Not just yet. You need rest. You're staying right here while I find you some warmer clothes. Besides, you shouldn't walk on that ankle right away, even if the bullet only grazed you.”

“You can't go into Luz, Sophia, they'll capture you!”

“Do you think I can't disguise myself? I can pass for a child easily enough. Just stay here. I lived by Lucifel's side for centuries, Angela. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, I can take care of myself.”

Sophia turned to leave. Angela grasped her by the wrist, tugging her back.

“No, please understand. Sophia, I can't keep losing you.”

Sophia played with the lifeless stone on her necklace. She sighed and then sat by Angela's side next to the Kirin. Its leathery wings had almost disappeared against the darkness of its body. The beast had dimmed the bioluminescent lights usually rippling on its fur, but its great eyes still glowed. It regarded Angela and Sophia in turn, and then opened its wings like a canopy. Angela and Sophia looked at the wings, and then at each other.

Angela was the first to scoot closer to the Kirin's body, feeding off its warmth. Sophia did the same. Soon Angela was so comfortable, she could have had her back to a bonfire.

There was silence for a long while.

Until a twig snapped. The tree branches scraped one another overhead.

Angela gripped Sophia's arm, motioning with her other hand for silence. She rose slowly to her feet and searched the leafless canopy.

A giant crow with shining golden eyes hopped from branch to branch. At last it sat directly above and then glided to Angela's feet. Another crow followed it moments later. Both birds stepped back for a moment, seemingly unnerved by the sight of Angela and the intimidating Kirin. Then one of the crows took a cautious step forward, its attention focused on Angela's face.

Angela.
Its words echoed through Angela's mind like memories.
You . . . look different.

Angela thought of Troy's crow familiar, Fury. The larger of the two crows certainly looked just like her. But who was the other one speaking to Angela? That familiar voice—it couldn't be!

“Nina?” Angela said softly.

The crow's head bobbed up and down excitedly.

“Nina,” Angela gasped. She flung herself on her knees in front of both birds, insensible now to the freezing hard ground against her knees. “What happened back there? How are you a Vapor now? The last time I saw you—” Angela's voice choked away. The last time she'd seen Nina, they'd been separated in Python's hellish maze, and Nina's leg had been badly burned by acidic water. Thank God she'd survived! But how had she become like Fury? Too many questions entered Angela's mind, and she wasn't sure how many answers she wanted. “This is Fury, right?” Angela said, and gestured to the other crow.

Yes. Angela, it's a long story. But I can't lie. I never thought I'd see you again. Ever since we were separated in Hell, I wondered what had happened to you. Did you find out how to open the Book of Raziel? Do you know Lucifel escaped Hell?

Angela stilled. Something within her felt wild and anguished. This was too much too soon. Since she'd awakened in Python's mansion, everything had been a whirlwind of terror and now she felt dizzy from it all. She just needed a minute to get her bearings, to think. “Yes . . . I know about Lucifel.”

She couldn't look at Sophia right now.

What about Sophia? Thank God you found her again! But why haven't you opened her—

“You wouldn't understand,” Angela snapped.

Nina flinched. Fury cocked her head curiously and then started preening her feathers.

Angela dug her fingers against the soil. “I'm sorry. Like you said, it's a long story.”

I see . . .

Angela squeezed her eyes shut.
No,
she thought,
this isn't right. I have to tell her what's going on. We owe each other so very much.
“Nina, would you mind changing back to a human again? I—I don't feel right talking to you as a bird. It's just strange.”

Fury stopped her preening and stared at Angela with a wounded expression.

“No offense,” Angela said to her.

But there must have been some, because Fury glided over to Sophia and began tugging playfully at Sophia's curls, refusing to look at Angela again.

“I don't get it,” Angela whispered to Nina. “Fury was human once too. What did I say that was so bad?”

There was a flash of red light and a mist and then Nina's human form coalesced. She stood beside Angela and shrugged. “Fury's been a crow for so long, she doesn't really think of herself as human anymore, Angela.”

That's exactly how I feel,
Angela thought.
I've been the Archon now long enough to feel like someone else entirely.

But was that the truth? Angela had lost her memories and that wasn't entirely her fault. But she also hadn't thought about Luz, or worried about the burn scars on her arms and legs, or painted a single picture while in Hell. She openly talked to people now. She trusted people when she felt they deserved it. She had hope for once and clung to it.

“I'm different, as you can see,” Nina continued. “I'm the only Vapor who can shape-shift. At least that's what Juno told me.”

“Juno's alive!” Angela said excitedly.

“Yes, she and Troy risked their lives to save me while in Hell. That was how I died again and became a Vapor. Python tricked Stephanie into entering Hell, he possessed
her, and she attacked me as he tempted me to become his slave. To save Troy and Juno from being killed by him, I attacked Stephanie to stop her . . . but I didn't survive.”

Angela grabbed Nina in a swift hug. She held her tightly, trying not to cry. “Nina, I'm so sorry. You've gone through too much suffering. Because of me! Oh, God . . .”

And then it all spilled out of her at once in a torrent. Angela started from the moment Lucifel escaped Hell and continued from there, explaining how Lilith had erased her memories and that she was now the ruler of Hell in Lucifel's place. She didn't leave out anything, not even what it really meant to open the Book of Raziel. When she explained that Sophia needed to die for that to happen, Nina's eyes widened and she looked curiously at Sophia, who sat by the Kirin's side, staring into the trees in utter silence. Angela ended with their recent escape from Lilith and Python's control, and the winged Kirin breaking through the mirror as she and Sophia returned to Luz. Nina's face became grave.

“What about this?” Nina said, pointing at Angela's green left eye.

Angela looked at the ground for a moment. She thought of her visions of being torn apart. “Lucifel wounded my eye badly before she left Hell. The Grail moved there to take its place.”