Evenstar (32 page)

Michael and Raphael landed at Uriel’s side.
 
Michael picked up Uriel.
 
Raphael grabbed Uriel’s lost wing.
 
The two said nothing, took off, and returned to Heaven.

***

In the City, the Lilliam greeted Belial and the rest with exultation and cheers.
 
Tracy rolled out of Jacob’s arms, tore off her bladed dress, and jumped naked into Nodin’s arms.
 
Nodin looked her over and grinned, much appreciative of her new appearance and naked body.
 

Varen slapped his brother Tokala on the back.
 
Jacob and Celeste were swarmed with Lilliam, curious about the new arrivals.
 
Tokala pushed through his siblings to keep Celeste in sight.
 

Belial waded through the crowd.
 
Her mind switched courses.
 
She found Berith.
 
“Where are the others?”

Berith handed her a towel.
 
“Furcas and Paimon have not returned, we have no way of reaching them.
 
Andy, Dahlia, Whitney, and your brother also have not returned.”

She wiped her face and closed her eyes.
 
“Was Furcas injured in the battle?”

“Terribly.”

Belial opened her eyes.
 
“So without Furcas,
I
have to find her.”

“We were hoping.”

She concentrated and felt for Dahlia’s presence.
 
“I see a room, but…”
 
She squinted against a headache.
 
“Nothing else.”
 
She looked towards the palace.
 
“How is Lucifer?”

Berith shook his head.
 
“I do not know.”

***

Hephaestus joined his cousins in the Sanctuary and reclaimed his seat.
 
“She is safe.”

Spider nodded at him.
 
“Thank you for collecting her.”

Hephaestus rolled his shoulders.
 
“We will need her when he wakes.”

The group focused on Lucifer.
 
His wound knitted together slowly.
 
They combined their energy, that of the physical and material.
 
They drove it into his body, forcing out the angelic infection that prevented him from healing.

Lucifer twitched as his muscles grew and bones locked into place.
 
His eyelids slid open.
 
He tried to sit up.
 

Thanatos pushed his shoulders back down.
 
“Do not.”

Lucifer nodded, too weak to speak.
 
He looked at his grandchild; his head rolled to the side and he stared at the sealed door to the tiny room beyond.
 
He reached for it.
 
Thanatos grabbed his hand and placed it back on the dais.

The cousins drove out the last of the spear’s residue.
 
The wound sealed shut.
 
Lucifer sat up.
 
He touched his chest, the pain gone.
 
He took a deep breath.
 
“Thank you.”

The cousins nodded.
 
They stood and faded out, returning to the formless energy that they resided in.
 
Ceres and Spider remained behind.
 
Lucifer eyed them.
 
“You stay?”

Spider nodded.
 
“I must see to Belial.”

Ceres helped Lucifer stand.
 
“I must see to you.”

Spider passed through the wall.
 

Lucifer gripped Ceres by her shoulder.
 
“Has she arrived?”

Ceres shook her head.
 
“She has not.
 
Furcas and Paimon are also missing.”

Lucifer ripped the door to the palace off its hinges and stormed out.
 
The King and Queen waited outside with their cousins and children.
 
Lucifer did not speak to them; he pushed through the royal family.
 
As he walked, he shifted to blue.
 
The Lilliam followed him cautiously.

Lucifer reshaped the palace to his will, bringing him to the Grand Promenade.
 
He stormed towards the Old Road, leaving fire and steam in his wake.
 
Lilliam went to their knees; they did not look upon his face.
 
His eyes focused straight ahead.

Belial and Berith stood at the entrance of the Old Road.
 
Berith looked back at him, while Belial focused on the passageway.
 
Lucifer grabbed Berith and threw him into a pool of ice water.
 
He took Belial’s hand and turned her around to face him.
 
She reeked of angel, her hair pink with blood.
 
He brought her close and sniffed her hair.
 
“Uriel.”

Belial nodded slowly.
 
“I got a wing off.”

Lucifer smiled grimly.
 
“Where is my Dahlia, Belial?”

Belial squeezed her eyes shut.
 
“I see a room, but it is hazy.
 
She’s not moving around.”

“Are Andy and Helion with her?”

Belial shook her head.
 
“I can’t tell.
 
There is something blocking me.
 
I cannot see where she is.”

Lucifer let her go.
 
“Keep trying.”

A high-pitched cry drew their attention to the Old Road.
 
A solitary boy stumbled out of it, bleeding and bruised.
 
He wore the armor of the Chulyin.
 
Lucifer stalked over to him, and the City Guard parted.
 
Lucifer lifted the boy to his face.
 
“The Chulyin were with the Mother.
 
Were you?”

The boy gasped and pressed Paimon and Furcas’ lamins into his hands.
 
“The Chulyin are dead.”
 
He was too tired for tears over his sister.
 
“The others taken away, including the Mother.”

“By whom?”

“Solomon Soldiers, many of them.”

Lucifer threw the boy to Berith.
 
He erupted into flame and fell to his knees.
 
Raging, untamed madness swelled in his body.
 
He could not think, his mind overtaken by sensation.
 
The flames on his body mirrored the terror and anger he felt inside.
 
He knew what happened to those captured by the Solomon Soldiers.
 
Their methods of interrogation had become, if anything, more violent and depraved the longer they were in existence.
   

He held his head in his hands and screamed.
 
The Lilliam covered their ears at the noise, even Ceres bent beneath the sound.
 
Rock split and cracked; his fire raced along the ground, consuming everything around him.
 
He became too bright to look upon.
 

Belial scowled.
 
She stepped into the blue fire, ignoring the pain it inflicted.
 
She gripped Lucifer’s arm, turned him around, and backhanded him.
 
“Calm down.”

Lucifer lost his flame and fell back into the flesh.
 
He reclaimed his thoughts, held the rage down, and sealed it up.
 
He shook himself and nodded to her, his only indication of thanks.
 
He stared at the entrance to the Old Road.
 
“
Where
are Paimon and Furcas?”

***

Paimon wiped his brow.
 
He clung to the side of a building with cables looped around his arm and tools in his belt.
 
The sun hovered low in the sky, the light cast everything in a warm orange glow.
 
He’d lost track of time and not everything was ready, but he needed to do this before he lost daylight.
 
He examined the speaker he’d just put up.
 
Across the street, the Chulyin finished his work and gave Paimon a nod.
 

Paimon jumped to the sidewalk and looked down the street.
 
They had set up speakers discreetly for blocks all the way down to the water.
 
He grinned.
 
He pulled a wireless microphone out of his pocket and gave it a tap.
 
The tap reverberated up and down the street causing pedestrians to stop and look around.
 
He grinned and motioned for the Chulyin.
 
He handed the raven soldier the remaining seedpods he had taken from his house.
 
“Spread these over the city.”

He turned and ran back to the front of the bookstore where Furcas waited.
 
Furcas sat in a new wheelchair wearing only his pants.
 
He was drenched in sweat.
 
He stared at people as they walked by.
 
His good arm and legs were tied to the chair with leather straps.
 
He’d fallen out of the chair twice before Paimon had made the modification.

Furcas looked up when Paimon stopped at his side.
 
Paimon brushed his fingers across Furcas’ cheek.
 
“We’ll be back in the City shortly.”

Furcas sucked on a straw that led to a water bottle filled with ice.
 
“Why are we going there?”

Paimon leaned over him and shined a small flashlight in his eye.
 
“Because you are sick.”

Furcas grinned feebly.
 
“Not compared to you.
 
You stripped me and left me for the public.”

“Not that kind of sick and no one can see you.”
 
Paimon leaned back.
 
“You’re very ill, you have a fever, and you’re bleeding through shirts.”

Furcas squeezed his eye shut as Dahlia’s pain spread through his limbs.
 
He lit up like a light bulb.
 
Anxiety and terror squeezed on his already weak heart.
 
He bit his lip, drawing blood.
 
“I can’t take this.
 
I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”

Paimon got on his knees and took Furcas’ hand.
 
“What is it now?”

“Her fear, I can’t handle it.”
 
Furcas opened his eye and gulped down air.
 
“I can’t do anything for her, but I can feel her!”

Paimon nodded grimly.
 
“Just hold on.”
 
He kissed Furcas’ forehead and looked for the raven.
 
The Chulyin touched down across the street in the shape of a man.
 
He gave them a thumbs up.
 
Paimon forced a smile.
 
“I’m going to roll you around for a bit so that I can keep you with me, is that okay?”

Furcas shrugged and winced.
 
“I can’t see how it would make this any worse.”

“At least you’re conscious.”
 
Paimon leaned over and touched a planter with flowers in bloom.
 
His hand glowed green and the plants began to change.

“I wish I weren’t.
 
I hate this.”

Paimon smiled.
 
“I’ve got a surprise for you.”
 

Furcas eyed him.
 
“What?”

Paimon wheeled Furcas over to a patch of grass.
 
He touched the ground, and a wash of light moved across the lawn and into the trees and bushes.
 
The light jumped to flower pots, patches of moss, and lichen.
 
The wave hit rosebushes and sidewalk weeds alike.
 
The seeds the Chulyin had dropped sprouted where they’d fallen.
 
Paimon picked a gray rose and handed it to Furcas.
 
“For you.”

Furcas stared at the iridescent flower in surprise.
 
“What are you doing?
 
You’re using your powers?
 
Why?”

Paimon grinned and snapped his fingers.
 
The beginnings of a melody started up on the speakers.
 
He hummed.
 

“No.”
 
Furcas closed his eye.
 
“
Don’t
sing.
 
Please don’t sing.
 
Please.”

Paimon ignored him.
 
He checked his microphone and gazed at the plants around him.
 
The pedestrians stopped and did the same.
 
All over the city, strange flowering vines and creeping groundcover grew and bloomed, the pollen neon green, pink, and silver.
 
Paimon breathed out, and his eyes turned blue.
 
His skin flickered bright for a second only.
 
All around them, pollen puffed out in the air.
 
The dust whirled around in a haze of bright colors, and the humans had no choice but to inhale.
  

The humans stopped and smiled, euphoria gripped their bodies.
 
The pollen, a natural ecstasy and hallucinogen, amplified colors and sensations.
 
The humans grew docile, wrapped up in each beam of sunshine, every movement of clothes against skin.
 
Drivers stopped their cars and gaped.
 
Pedestrians bumped up against one another, at the sound of music people swayed.