Plague of Angels (7 page)

She landed in front of him, and he saw her for the first time as she truly was, and knew her for what she truly was. He tried to scrabble away, but his body had no more strength. He begged and pleaded, this time for death, but Nyx only smiled.

With a single hand she pulled him to his feet, gripping one of his arms.

“You killed Him,” she said as she dragged Judas across the ground towards the tree and the cliff. She stopped and looked at him.“Do you have any idea what He meant to me?”

Before he could answer, she twisted his arm and broke it. With a move faster than he could see, she reached out and broke the other one, too. He screamed anew as she twisted his broken bones until they pierced his skin. Then she stomped on his legs, and smiled as she heard the bones in them crack, listening with pleasure as they ground against each other. Still gripping the broken arm, she dragged him towards the tree.

“You should be dead, you know,” she said conversationally.“With all I have done to you, you should have died ten times over.” She tossed him down at the base of the tree and crouched beside him.“And do you know why you are not dead?”

He shook his head and moaned something that sounded like a plea.

“Because I am not ready to let you die yet!” screamed Nyx, her razor teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “You murdered Him! You took Him away from me and I will never, never forgive you for it! Do you know who I am? Do you?”

Broken lips and teeth came together, Judas mouthed the word as best he could.“De…v…l.”

“Yes,” hissed Nyx.“I am the ruler of Hell and you, little mortal, have angered me beyond all reason. You have taken away something that I wanted and for that you will suffer!”

She gouged her nails into his belly and slowly ripped it open. Judas, who had thought he could feel no more pain, screamed anew.

“I will give you your wish,” she said, as she reached inside him and pulled out his intestines in long, slippery loops. “You will die here tonight.” His eyes rolled briefly in his head at the sight of his own disembowelment, but she forced him back to himself. “And when you have died, when you pass beyond the veil, I will be waiting for you.” She looped the intestines around his neck, then threw them over the branch of the tree and began pulling. They should not have held his weight, but Nyx’s power made them strong enough that they would, and slowly, inch by inch, she pulled him upright, then aloft, until he was swaying, strangling over the branch on the edge of the cliff. “And when I see you again,” she said, her voice rising to a scream,“I will put you through such agony that these torments will pale in comparison!”

Judas swung, feeling his throat closing in on itself, feeling the world turn black and his senses start to slip.

Nyx released her power from the loop of intestines and it ripped open, sending him plunging down the side of the cliff.

The initial drop was not much, perhaps fifteen feet, and the tumble down the rest of the cliff did not kill him either, as Nyx had known it would not. At the base of the cliff, Judas Iscariot lay, bleeding and gasping, still alive.

Then he heard the rustling, and felt the first of the rats Nyx had summoned to the spot, hours before, digging into his flesh.

Nyx sat under the tree, eating figs and listening to him scream for the rest of the night. It should have been more satisfying, like the tortures she inflicted on the damned. Instead, it left a taste like gall in her mouth. Tribunal was still gone and torturing His murderers did not give her enough satisfaction.

Still makes me feel better
, thought Nyx, sending a command to the rate to eat slower.

And when the sun rose, and Judas was finally silent, Nyx realized God was gone.

Chapter 3

When night fell,
Nyx walked out into the desert.

She had spent the day under the fig tree, listening. She had stretched her senses in all directions, eyes, ears, nose and mind all reaching out, searching for some presence of God. Though her body remained on the hill where she had finished torturing Judas, her mind wandered the earth, searching.

There was nothing.

Her feet slipped lightly over the ground, not feeling the harsh stones and thorns beneath them. The moon above was full, its pale light making her silver-white skin even more ghostly, and her long white hair sparkle. She liked the moon on nights like this.

He was gone. She was almost sure of it.

God’s presence infused His creations—even her, though she hated to admit it. An Angel always felt the presence of God. And though she was the darkest Angel of them all and had long since fallen from His grace, still she felt His presence, even in Hell. God’s presence was all-encompassing and existed in every part of His world, in every thing that was part of His creation.

But now that presence had vanished, leaving an empty space and a vague ache in her being.

Nyx wondered if the humans could feel it, or the animals. She wondered if any being on the world realized that God had left, and that they were alone in the universe. And if they could feel it, she wondered if it left them terrified or relieved.

For Nyx, her feelings raged back and forth from confusion to ecstasy. She was an Angel; a creature built solely to fulfill God’s will, and though she had rebelled, part of her could not imagine a world without him.

The rest of her reveled in the freedom.

For the first time, she could be sure that God was not influencing her decisions, that she was making them by herself, for herself, and that she would reap the rewards of them. A world without God was a world that she could own utterly.

If Tribunal were here, it would be perfect.

If it’s true.

She was still uncertain. This world was God’s, from its first creation until the end of days. It had been His pride and His plaything, even before He had created humans and put them on it. For Him to abandon it seemed unthinkable.

But if He has,
she thought,
Then this world is MINE.

She practically danced across the sand with joy, her lithe body springing from rock to rock. A few puddles remained from the rain three days before, not yet soaked up by the red, sandy earth. She squished through them, feeling the warm water and grainy mud between her toes, a gentle contrast to the harsh bite of the desert rocks.

Nyx clicked her golden nails together. She liked the sharp sound; it was like two swords gently colliding, sharp metal rubbing on sharp metal. She walked to the rhythm of the clicks, her body swaying and stretching, almost dancing as she moved.

She was miles from Jerusalem now, miles from any human sound that might interfere with her listening. The sounds of the mortals – their emotions and desires and beliefs – washed through their cities. They affected her more than she liked to admit and made it hard for her to sense the world clearly.

Now all that had faded into the far distance. The desert was still, except for the soft hiss of the sand giving way beneath her feet, and the metallic percussion of her clicking nails.

She knelt near a pool of rainwater and listened, stretching every sense and her mind as far as she could.

There was nothing.

She looked and smelled and tasted the wind.

Still nothing.

Nyx scooped up the rainwater with both hands. The water was warm to her touch, still heated from the sun. She closed her eyes and tilted her cupped hands up to her mouth. Water dribbled down her chin as she tasted, and tested, the droplets.

The water was water, the air was air, and the presence of God was gone from it all.

Nyx stood, and looked out at the vast hills around her. Tiny, skittering lizards danced across the sand, leaving little footprints in their wake. A light breeze swirled dry sand from the dunes off in the distance.

God had left this place.

But He had not left it unattended.

Their presence was a spark of divinity on the now-Godless earth. Two bright blazes of burning magnesium in a void of darkness. And they were coming toward her.

She willed her armor into being, and the shining, black second skin covered her. The spiked, diamond shoes grew onto her feet and the horned tiara rose up through her hair. If they were coming to face her, then she would remind them who, exactly, she was.

They came into sight, small stars of white, moving fast against the night sky. Nyx resisted the urge to fly up to meet them, to draw her weapons and cut them down from the sky. Instead, she set her feet firmly in the earth and waited until they were close enough for her to see who they were.

Caelum and Orion. He sent the two most pompous ones.

But my, they are beautiful.

Caelum landed first. He was tall, even for an Angel, and his eyes, skin and hair were all golden, as if the light of God Himself had given them their color. His armor was white, and though it followed every contour of his body, the lines and curves of it forming a near-perfect outline of his shape, still it did not emphasize his form the way Nyx’s emphasized hers. The armor of Heaven was for protection and for mobility, not for display. Even so, Nyx could see the power beneath his armor, and knew the strength that he possessed. He was considered by some to be the epitome of Angelic virtue, though not of intelligence.

“It took you long enough,” she said, letting the spikes on the back of her heels dig deeper into the sand.

“We were tasked with more than just hunting you down, Nyx,” said Caelum. “We had to reveal the truth of His son’s resurrection.”

Nyx sneered. “What truth? That he’s flown up to Heaven to be with His Daddy?”

“That His body is gone,” said Caelum. “He has risen and is alive, and walks the earth.”

“Bullshit,” said Nyx, enjoying the distaste on Caelum’s face as he blanched at the human expression. “He’s gone. He’s not here just as His Father’s not here. And are you going to be staring at my ass all night, Orion?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.

The Angel there could have been Caelum’s twin in size and shape, but his skin was pale, and his hair black. The golden eyes were the same, however, and they moved quickly up to meet Nyx’s.

“Or is it that you wish to stab me from behind?” Nyx tilted her hip slightly, and the movement made her suggestion obscene.

“You have spent too much time with mortals,” said Orion. “They have corrupted your language.”

“My language is the least of my corruptions,” she said. “Where’s God?”

“He has left.”

“Why?”

“Because that is the judgment that He has passed. He has heard His son’s report, and His recommendations, and has agreed that mankind should be left alone.”

Nyx tilted her head. “Is that what His son wanted?”

“It is God’s decision,” said Caelum. “That is all you need know.”

But Tribunal said God had betrayed Him,
thought Nyx.
What did He want instead?

“So the mortals who live here are mine, now?” asked Nyx. “Since God has left?”

“The mortals are to be left alone,” said Caelum. “They are to be free to make their own decisions.”

“The pact that God has made with them still stands,” said Caelum. “They will live their lives, they will be judged, and sent to the eternity they deserve. Whether that is Hell, Heaven, or Limbo is up to them.”

“And God’s son was all right with this, was He?”

“It is not His decision. It is God’s. And we must all bend to His decision. Even you.”

Nyx raised an eyebrow. “How should I bow to His decision?” she asked. “And why is Orion still behind me?”

“When God closed this world, He deemed that He would have three Angels, and only three, to stand over it, to watch over the efforts of mankind. And He picked the three most worthy of His Angels to remain here.”

“Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael?” asked Nyx, just to infuriate them. She looked around. “I don’t see them.”

“You know very well that we are two of them,” snapped Orion. “And the third awaits entry, frozen in place until the earth is opened to her.”

“And who is this third Angel?” asked Nyx, not bothering to look at Orion.

“Arcana.”

“Arcana,” repeated Nyx. She had been friends with Arcana once—very good friends—before the rebellion that sent Nyx down from Heaven. Arcana was beautiful and powerful and intelligent—and it was rare for an Angel to be all three. She would be an excellent choice to come to earth. She could help guide the mortals forward.

Especially if they wanted to get me to leave peacefully. Of course, if they wanted that, why didn’t they send Arcana in the first place?

“Just one girl and two boys?” she said out loud. “My, my, my. What will you do when you get bored? Or is this one in front, one behind thing you’re doing with me an indication?”

“Corrupted harlot!” spat Orion.

Nyx’s hand came up, her finger extended and the gold talon pointed directly at Orion, though she had not turned from Caelum. “If you don’t take your hand off your sword right now, I swear your existence will come to an end.”

Caelum’s eyes went to Orion. Nyx didn’t bother to turn around, knowing that Orion was doing exactly what she’d told him. She waited a moment longer, then said, “Good dog.”

She could practically feel Orion’s anger and resentment welling up behind her. It made her smile.

“I don’t think I want to leave this world,” she said. “Someone needs to be here to corrupt mankind.”

“They are corrupt enough,” said Caelum. “They need guidance. They need embrace the proper ways. And your presence here will make it difficult.”

“Did His son want me gone?” asked Nyx. “Did Tribunal ask that I be removed?”

“It is not His decision,” said Caelum. “It is…. ”

“But it was supposed to be His decision,” said Nyx. “He came, He saw, He suffered, and He was to make the decision and God was to abide by it. So I’ll ask again. What did Tribunal want?”

“That is not His name in these realms,” snapped Orion.

“I don’t care what His name is in these realms.”

“You must leave,” said Caelum. “God has said there will be three Angels on this world and no more for the next thousand years. So leave this place.”

“And who,” asked Nyx, “is going to make me?” She could practically hear Orion’s hand creeping towards his sword again. Her smile changed, transforming into the grin of a wolf that has scented blood. “God is gone, remember? And without His power behind you, do you really think you can beat me?”

Caelum straightened, his chest puffing out. “I am an Angel of God!”

“So am I,” said Nyx. “So what?”

“I have His blessing and serve in His army!”

“I decimated half His army,” said Nyx. “I fought Michael to a standstill. I am
the Queen of Hell
and I got that way by destroying all those who stood in my way. So I ask you again, what did Tribunal want?”

“Tribunal wanted what His Father wanted,” said Orion. “He is ready to obey His Father.”

“Really?” said Nyx. “Because that wasn’t what He said when we were fucking.”

She was already spinning before Orion’s sword left its scabbard. She closed the distance between them, not bothering to draw her own blade. She caught his arm with one hand, and slashed open his forehead with the talons on the other. Even as he reared back in pain she was already spinning, sending him flying to where Caelum had been standing.

Unlike Orion, Caelum had a decent battle sense. He was already in the air, his sword out, as Orion spun and fell where he had stood.

“You’ve made your choice,” said Caelum. “And since you will not leave, you will have to be destroyed.”

Nyx grinned widely. “I was hoping you would say that.”

Her fiery wings spread open with a whoosh, and she flashed upward in a shimmering cascade of sparks, the force of her launch sending dirt and dust into the air. Her black-bladed sword flamed into life and met Caelum’s. The force of the blow sent both flying back. Caelum charged forward again, his sword flashing.

He isn’t bad,
thought Nyx as she parried his charge, bending her wings and using the shift in shape to flip above him.
Not good, but not bad.

Orion had recovered his feet and forced himself up into the air. His golden blood was dripping down his forehead where she had opened him up. Nyx pulled her whip free and circled, letting Caelum chase her while Orion came closer.

“I will kill you!” Orion screamed. “I will send you back to your Hell!”

The gilded blood dripped into Orion’s eyes, and in the moment he blinked, Nyx struck. Her whip lashed out, the fire-tipped lashes wrapping around one of his wings. With a hard yank, she took his balance and sent him spinning to the ground, hard. The earth shivered with the impact. In the same motion, she reversed her direction and flew, her sword hacking down at Caelum. He parried the first blow, and the second, but the third was a feint, and when he over-reached the parry, Nyx was ready, driving her blade hard at his stomach.