Beloved Purgatory (Fallen Angels, Book 2) (21 page)

He grinned. "So your solution to your problem is,
again, to rely on someone else to fix everything for you?"

It sounded bad when he said it, but really, what was
I supposed to do? I didn't know any demons, devils or angels. Well,
alright, I knew one of each.

"Devi, what will you do if those you've put your
faith in fail you?"

"They won't," I whispered. "Because we love each
other. It's something someone like you couldn't understand."

His chest heaved, like he was holding in laughter.
"It will take Azazel a long time to figure this out, because he
won't want to. Even after he's uncovered the truth about you, it
will take a long time for him to accept it."

"Why?"

"Because, once he learns who you really are, things
will change. I wouldn't be surprised if the relationship between
you, and his feelings for you, changed as well."

My eyes felt dry.

"I think he will be reluctant to take you to your
brother, Devi. In fact, it is likely he will try to prevent you
from going to him."

"Why?"

Forneus laughed. "Oh, come on, I'm not going to tell
you that. If you want answers, you're welcome to make me an offer
anytime--except right now, of course."

I frowned. "I don't know why you're telling me these
things. I'll just tell Oz, and he'll find a way to get it out of
you."

"He might, but could you live with the consequences,
I wonder?" The devil slipped forward. "I'm going to make a
prediction--something that, with almost absolute certainty, I think
will come true. When Azazel learns the truth, he will hate you as
much as he loves you."

You're lying
, I wanted to scream.

But Forneus didn't lie.

He brushed his thumb over his chin. "There will
probably come a time in the future when you will find yourself
alone. Just remember that it doesn't matter to me how tarnished you
become, or how much this world despises you, or what horrible
things you may or may not decide to do."

His eyes glowed, deeper and brighter than the
Rukah-Hayim
around us, until they were all I saw. I didn't
realize he'd touched me until he bent his head down to kiss the
back of my hand. "I will always accept you," he whispered over my
skin. "And above all else, I will cherish your soul."

I reared back, unintentionally slamming my hand into
his nose.
Damn
. I pushed my stinging hand against my
stomach.

Forneus caught my gaze. The front of his face was
covered with blood. "That amount of force wasn't necessary." He
smiled as black ooze leaked into his mouth and between the cracks
of his front teeth. Skin around the bumped area began to flake off,
as if his nose had a really bad case of dandruff.

My stomach rolled. I had to get away. I whipped
around and rushed forward, tripping. The doorknob cut into my hip
as I crashed into it.

"Please think about what I said. I am the only one
you know who can save your father and arrange for you to meet your
brother."

My hand froze on the doorknob.
Just turn it. Don't
listen to him
, I demanded, but some part of me hesitated.

I leaned forward until my forehead hit the door. "I
really hate you."

His shadow eclipsed mine. When had he moved so
close?

"I don't doubt that." His voice was deathly quiet.
"Now, we should rejoin our party. I'm sure they're worrying about
all the terrible things I could be doing to you."

Chapter 11

I saw his light before I saw him. It glowed
as softly as a lantern in the fog, and painted the stained mohogany
walls of the narrow hallway red.

I stopped.

His looked past me, as if I wasn't there.
"Where did you take her?"

Behind, Forneus sighed. "Devi, you should
discipline your dog. You know, make sure he stays when you say
'stay'."

The angel's jaw clenched. So did my heart.
Was he irritated? No, he couldn't be. Angels didn't get irritated.
I'd probably just imagined it. When Camael spoke, his voice was
cold. "Step away from her."

The devil did as he was told. "No need to get
testy."

Camael looked at me. "Did he do something to
you?"

I couldn't answer. His eyes were clear, just
like Azazel's had been in Forneus' illusion. If Camael and I were
in that dream world, they would be the same color as the sky.

Why do you trust me to answer that
question
, I wondered,
when you've witnessed every lie I've
ever told?
Unconsciously, I took a step forward.

I couldn't tell him what had happened. If
Forneus had been telling the truth, then...well, I didn't want to
think about it either. For now, I'd keep it a secret.

"Why aren't you with Kim?" I asked, changing
the question.

Camael's looked guilty--or at least as guilty
as a being who felt nothing could be. "You said you'd be gone five
minutes. You left alone. Why is he with you?"

Now it was my turn to stare at him. What
could I say?
Forneus cornered me in his secret lair. Then he
took me to his make-believe dream world, and told me he could make
all my problems disappear if I just gave him my soul.

"Devi," Camael whispered.

I tucked my chin into my chest. A flimsy
zombie sore slid off my face. It wiggled when it hit the ground,
like Jell-O.

Forneus groaned, then spit out a curse.
Guess he didn't like getting that on his fancy rug
. At any
other time I probably would have gloated. But my heart was pounding
too fast in my chest, and I grasped at any excuse not to talk to
Camael.

"Oh, I need to get that," I blurted out and
dropped to my knees. When I reached out to grab the sore, a large
hand wrapped around my wrist.

The flawless white skin sparkled like
sunlight on the surface of a lake. My eyes stung.

I yanked my hand back.

The angel didn't let go. "What did you do to
her?"

"I'll let Devi tell you." The devil's smug
voice slithered over my shoulder. Even though Camael was putting on
his little light show, the room seemed to grow darker.

My body wouldn't stop shaking. Why was it so
cold? And why did his immobile grip feel so gentle?

"You should have just stayed with Kim." I
tried to keep my voice steady. "Forneus didn't hurt me. I'm
fine."

Camael's chin brushed the top of my head.
"Let me see your hands."

"What?"

He was already turning them over. "Just let
me look at them."

He brought them close to his lips. Slowly, he
wiped away the layers of flour and dried Kool-Aid.

My jaw locked shut. His touch made my skin
tingle, but that wasn't what unnerved me.
What is it, then? What
am I waiting for?

And then I realized what it was. He wasn't
breathing.

Of course angels didn't need to breathe, but
Camael normally did. He'd noticed that it upset me when he appeared
too otherworldly. But now, he was so focused on my wrist that he'd
forgotten.

Camel's thumb stopped. The corpse paint and
the dirt on my palms were gone, leaving pink flesh.

"You don't trust me?" Forneus laughed. "I
told you I wouldn't do anything."

Camael kept staring at my naked skin, as if
reassuring himself nothing else was there. "It's good you
didn't."

"Oh?" Forneus drawled. "Will you get in the
way of her free will again?"

Camael let go of me and stood. "Come on,
Devi. Let's go check on Kim."

Then he started down the hall.

I glanced back at Forneus. The devil raised
his eyebrows and made a "shoo" gesture.
Fine
, I thought,
stalking forward. That man was infuriating even when he was
silent.

I stepped where Camael's shadow would have
been if he'd had one. On our way to the living room, he didn't look
back at me or Forneus. Not even once.

***

Kim had wedged herself between Azazel and
Sariel. Azazel's dinosaur gloves were abandoned below his shaking
feet, and his hands were balled into fists at his sides. Kim moved
his fire-engine red gingerbread figurine on the
Candy Land
board.

"It's okay, Velociraptor. It's almost over."
She gave him a pitying look. Sariel had already passed the Molasses
Swamp, and they were still hanging out with Princess Lollipop.

None of them realized I'd entered the room.
"Hey," I said.

Azazel's head whipped around. "Devi."

It sounded as though speaking my name made
him ache. It looked like it, too--his cheeks flushed, and he'd
gnawed on his bottom lip until it split. "What took you so
long?"

"Yeah, really," Kim grumbled. "Longest
bathroom trip ever. What the Hell were you do--"

Kim shrieked. Her knees smashed into the
table and her chair clattered to the floor. Her foot got caught
around one of its legs and she tripped, catapulting forward.

Her fist slammed onto the
Candy Land
board as she tried to steady herself. Cards flew through the air,
and the little gingerbread figurines that had endured so much in
vain to get to King Kandy plummeted to the floor.

"Kim! What is it?" I yelled, but she wasn't
listening.

The blood had drained from her face. Her lips
parted in horror as she pointed at the gash in Forneus' cheek.

Forneus gave her a bloody smile. "Hasn't
anyone told you it isn't nice to gawk?"

"I just--I..." She swallowed and brought her
hands to her chest. "Oh God. I mean, what happened to you
face?"

Forneus rolled his eyes over to me. "Devi did
it."

"Devi!" She chided. "What were you thinking?
Did you want to make him into your freaky older zombie
brother?"

My lip twitched. Forneus, however, didn't
find it funny.

Kim crept towards us. "I can't believe how
real it looks. I mean, it looks like you were mauled by a rabid
bear. How did you do it?"

"Thanks," Forneus muttered. "She used her
nails, mostly. Then she clocked me in the nose."

Kim took a few more steps forward, then
recoiled. "Oh God, it stinks too."

I laughed. I couldn't help myself. And when
Forneus glared at me, I laughed harder. "What? It does stink."

His lip curled back. "Alright. Party's over.
Everyone out."

This time I recoiled. He actually considered
two kids playing Candy Land in a dark room while two ancients and
two teenage girls watched a party?

Shamsiel retracted his golden wings. They
disappeared behind his shoulders, and with them gone the only light
in the room came from the ice blue and violet-tinted reflections of
skyscrapers on the water hundreds of feet below.

Kim hugged her arms. Her eyes shifted between
Shamsiel and the silent children at the table before finally
settling on me. I guess even she'd noticed how strange that
was.

I shrugged, trying to pretend it was no big
deal, but it was hard to move my tight shoulders.

Forneus flicked on a lamp without offering an
explanation to the light's absence.

"We'll leave first." Without looking at any
of us, Shamsiel walked to the table.

Azazel became even more still as the angel
drew near. Even his chest, beneath the layers of green and yellow
felt, stopped moving. Shamsiel ignored him and knelt down before
Sariel.

The silver boy's chair wobbled as he scooted
back. "Looks as if I won our game."

"I never was that good at
Candy Land
,"
Azazel mumbled.

I frowned. He'd played
Candy Land
before? And like it meant something?

Kim's high-pitched, fast laughter echoed
through the room. "Oh, come on. How can you be bad at
Candy
Land
? It's just a game of luck."

No one said anything. Her desperate eyes
locked onto mine, silently begging me to laugh as well.

But I could do little to ease the tension. "I
was never all that good at it either, Azazel."

The dinosaur's hands trembled when I spoke
his name. Why didn't he look at me? What was going on?

Shamsiel lifted Sariel into his arms. The
silver boy wrapped his arms around the angel's golden neck and laid
his cheek on his collarbone. "Put me down when we get to her," he
whispered.

They can't mean me.

The angel walked slowly to where I stood. My
heart pounded ten times for every one of his steps. Azazel remained
at the table with his face to the windows. Camael stood by me,
unmoving.

When they reached me, Shamsiel set the child
down.

The boy stood on his tiptoes. His pudgy
fingers slipped around the locket. The metal looked dull against
his skin. Only one part of him didn't gleam as if it were made of
moonbeams--the shadowed tattooed symbol on the underside of his
wrist.

"Pretty," he murmured.

He knows.

No, he couldn't. Forneus said the charm would
disguise me against his kind. Where did that thought come from? And
what was it that he might even know, exactly?

But those reassurances did nothing to stop
the chill from creeping up my spine, or my chest from growing
tight.

Camael shifted on his feet.

"Come, Sariel," the golden angel said.

The boy didn't react to the reprimanding
tone. He shut his eyes and pushed himself up even further onto his
the balls of his feet.

"Thank you." He closed his eyes and parted
his lips. The rest of him remained still and reverent, as if
waiting for me to anoint him with oil. Then, he leaned forward and
kissed the locket.

"It is pretty, but you're more beautiful
without it." He looked up at me as he said it, with steel eyes
behind silver lashes.

The chain felt heavy though he cradled it in
his palm. His cool white breath seeped through my cheerleader
uniform and penetrated my chest. My heart pounded--faster,
faster--until the only sound I could hear was my escalating
desperation, and all I could see was that seemingly innocent child
that saw too much.