Seals (15 page)

“What you just did is a serious violation of
our treaty with them. We can’t afford to lose the demons now, not
when we face the biggest battle of our time. Yes, they’re slimly
and ugly and they smell of death, but by gods they can fight. We
need them.”

“Was it those markings on your face?” asked
Ariel. “Was it the mutation that made you do this? Where you
compelled in some way?” There was a trace of hope in Ariel’s voice.
She hoped that Kara wasn’t a murderer.

But it wasn’t the case.

Kara knew that everyone, even David, thought
the exact same thing. She had to clear the air.

“No,” she said, her anger still rippled on
her lips.

Even though the higher demons were gone,
their foul stink lingered in the air and reminded her of their
treachery.

She looked at Metatron. “They didn’t respect
your
treaty
. They’re not loyal to us, to the legion. I know
they have another agenda. I had a clear shot. I had an opening to
kill Pestilence, one of the four knights of the apocalypse. And
just when I was about to finish him off, they
stopped
me.
They came out of nowhere and pushed me down. And when I got back on
my feet the knight was gone.”

Ariel gave her a bemused look and then
crossed her arms. “Is that what really happened?”

“Yes. I swear it.”

Metatron watched her with barely concealed
surprise. Clearly, he didn’t believe a word that came out of her
mouth.

“Can anyone else corroborate her story?” he
inquired. “Did anyone else see this? Because all we saw was her
assassinate three higher demons.”

Kara’s team stared at one another. Jenny
paled. She eyed Peter, who adjusted his glasses nervously. Ashley
was stony faced, but her knitted brows showed that she was fighting
with something internally.

David had kept his eyes on Metatron.

After a few seconds of silence he said, “I
did. They stopped her just as she was about to kill the knight. I
was there. I saw it all. What Kara’s telling you is the truth.”

It took every ounce of Kara’s power to keep
a straight face. David lied so effortlessly. She was shocked.

Metatron looked at him for a very long
moment. “And you’d be willing to swear on the souls that this is
true?” He grinned with an odd twisted expression.

David’s eyes flashed. “I would!”

Metatron surveyed David from under his
shades. He smiled slightly and twisted his cigar in his hands.
“You’re lying, boy.”

“I’m not.”

“Don’t embarrass yourself any further, Mr.
McGowan. I can always tell when someone is lying. That’s just one
of my many talents. You don’t want to get on my bad side, Davy.
That is
my
truth.”

The air above Metatron darkened as though a
storm was brewing.

Rage started to fill Kara again, and she
shifted on her feet. She turned to Metatron and gazed up into his
smug, oily face.

“Leave David out of this,” she said.

Everyone looked at her.

“I killed the demons. You saw it. Everyone
saw that part. But what you didn’t see, and what I’m telling you,
is
my
truth. The demons made sure I couldn’t touch the
knight. They jeopardized our mission. David has done nothing wrong.
If you’re so good at spotting a lie, then surely you can spot the
truth.”

Metatron grinned evilly and pointed his
cigar at her.

“But that’s where you’re wrong. You are
lying because there is
no
mission here. You’re all on an
unauthorized mission. You shouldn’t even be here. We shouldn’t be
here. You’re all in violation of the Angel Code. And if we didn’t
need you tomorrow, you’d all be locked up in Tartarus for
insubordination.”

“What!” Jenny was outraged. “You can’t do
that!”

David stepped dangerously close to Metatron,
who, although he wasn’t as tall as Ariel, was still much taller and
broader than David.

“What the heck are you talking about?” David
did his best to look surprised.

Metatron took a drag of his cigar and blew
it in David’s face.

“Like I said, there is
no
official
mission here. And all of you,” he pointed to each guardian with his
cigar, “are in violation of the Code. I’ve killed guardians for
lesser crimes than this. You can look at it however you want, but
the bottom line is that this is a crime.”

“Hey, just a second,” Ashley raised her
hands. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Clearly there’s been a
misunderstanding.”

David barked out a laugh. “This is
crazy.”

“No, not crazy,” said Metatron. “According
to the legion, and your boss—” he turned and looked at Ariel. “The
five of you have abandoned your posts.”

Kara glared at Metatron.

His smile widened. In some sick way he
enjoyed watching her get angry. There was no point in lying
anymore. He knew.

“The oracle lied.” Metatron blew a sphere of
smoke out of his mouth and then poked a hole in it with his
finger.

“Yes, your beloved Mr. Patterson took it
upon himself to send you on an unauthorized and dangerous mission.
There is no mission. There never was.”

He raised his brows. “I knew you were hiding
something when I saw you lurking in the shadows. I know when
someone’s hiding something from me. That’s when I
knew
the
oracle you call Mr. Patterson was involved. I knew he had sent his
favorite
on this ridiculous quest.”

Kara felt a jolt of tension. Her anger
simmered, barely in control.

She cared deeply for Mr. Patterson. She
loved him. Having anyone destroy his good name was like a kick in
the face. She had never liked Metatron, but now her animosity
toward him was more like deep loathing. She wanted to punch that
smug face more than ever. The world around her disappeared and only
she and Metatron remained. Where was that dagger of hers?

“Oracles fill the heads of angels with tall
tales, myths, legends…their fables are legendary,” said Metatron.
“Unfortunately, they do have their uses. But I think this Mr.
Patterson has been stationed on earth too long. Clearly it’s
affected his mind. It wasn’t his place to give out missions,
especially ones that are destined to fail.”

Kara shared a look with David, but he kept
his face blank.

“Mr. Patterson’s been challenging me and my
methods for centuries, a lot longer than you’ve known him,”
continued Metatron. “I’ve always had trouble with that
oracle…always stirring up nonsense, spreading fear. He already came
to us with this ridiculous scheme about the four knights and
seals.”

He waved his arms in the air. “All of it a
fabrication, a figment of the oracle’s imagination. There is no
proof or guarantee that any of it would work, and so he was turned
down and ordered to keep his big mouth shut and to forget his
master plan.”

Metatron frowned. “But I see now, that he
didn’t.”

“The guardians aren’t to blame,” voiced
Ariel. “They thought they were acting on orders from us, from me,
which isn’t true. They would have never sought out this mission if
they’d known it wasn’t authorized.”

Kara and the others kept their faces blank.
She had to remember to commend them for such great acting. It was
the only thing to keep them from Tartarus. If Ariel knew the truth,
there was no way of telling what would happen to them.

“They’re my best team, and I see no reason
to pursue this any further. I need them back, Metatron.”

Metatron smiled lazily at Ariel.

“Sure. These four, you can have back. I
don’t care.” He turned on Kara. “But this one. This one almost
ruined
everything
. This one’s mine.”

Kara’s rage took her to a place where she
only knew three things: that she was a weapon forged to end lives,
that if she went to Tartarus the archfiends would win, and that her
hopes of becoming a normal angel were being crushed.

She didn’t care what sort of information
they expected to twist from her. She wasn’t a traitor. They could
torture her for all eternity. She didn’t care because she did not
intend to let them take her.

Metatron turned his head and addressed his
girls. “Take her prisoner. And when I’ve finished with her, once
and for all, we’ll see what finally bleeds out of her.”

“You can’t do this!”

David moved and shielded Kara with his body.
Kara felt tenderness for his loyalty. But this wasn’t the time to
be brave.

Metatron smiled smoothly. “Oh, but I can and
I will.”

He cleared his throat. “Kara Nightingale,
you are under arrest for a violation of the Angel treaty with the
Netherworld, and for the murder of three higher demons. You are to
be sentenced to Tartarus for an undefined term.”

“Ariel, do something!” cried David. “You
can’t let him do this. This is crazy. You know Kara. You know she’s
not a liar. The higher demons betrayed us. They’re not on our
side.”

Ariel’s face was full of sorrow. “I’m sorry,
David. There’s nothing to support her story. There’s nothing I can
do. She broke the laws. I’m sorry.”

The archangel avoided Kara’s eyes. Peter and
Ashley both looked like they were about to break down, and Jenny
swayed unsteadily like she might pass out.

David turned to Metatron.

“I won’t let you do this. I won’t.”

Metatron shook his head. “Davy, Davy, Davy.
If you try and stop me, then I’ll have no choice but to throw you
in Tartarus with her. But in separate cells, of course.”

“Do it then,” barked David.

Even though Kara was overwhelmed by David’s
affection for her and for the sacrifice he was willing to make, she
couldn’t let him do this. She would never let him suffer for
her.

Kara pushed David aside and turned to him.
“I can’t let you do this."

His eyes traced the black lines over her
face. "I won’t let them take you away from me.”

Kara pressed her lips firmly together to
keep them from trembling. And then she said softly. “They
won’t.”

Kara knew what she needed to do. There was
the only way to keep everyone safe.

And before anyone could react, she pushed
off hard with her wings and soared in the air.

They called after her, but she didn’t look
down. When she’d decided she’d ascended high enough, she glanced
down at Metatron and his groupies below.

The women flashed their blades and pointed
in Kara’s direction, like they were about to shoot them at her,
like darts.

Metatron looked like a tiny rat from where
Kara was, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Don’t!” he growled.

Even from a distance she couldn’t mistake
his glare through his shades.

“If you go, there’s no coming back. You’re
assuring your own death sentence.”

“I’m already dead,” called Kara.

She winced at the pain she saw in in David’s
eyes. She turned away. If she looked at him again, she might
actually decide to stay. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

“What’s the point now?” she hissed and
flapped her wings savagely.

“Look at me! Look at what I’ve become. Look
at what the archfiends did to me. I’m not even an angel anymore.
I’m just a thing, a dark corrupted thing.”

“Don’t,” warned Metatron. “I won’t tell you
again.”

The groupies raised their weapons and smiled
at the chance to hurt her. They wanted to see her squirm in pain.
Metatron’s groupies were much more like him than she had first
thought. They wanted to inflict pain, and they were going to
like
it.

Kara stared down at the stunned faces of her
friends. David gave a slight nod of his head.

It was all she needed.

“Shoot her down!” ordered Metatron.

His groupies’ blades flew like spears into
the sky toward Kara.

She did the only thing she could.

With a great push of her wings, Kara climbed
higher into the air and disappeared in the dark gray sky.

Chapter 13

O
nly one blade
nicked her thigh, and she didn’t even notice it until later when
she felt something wet roll down her leg.

She flew above the clouds. The two-hour
journey from Boston to Mr. Patterson’s bookstore was nearing its
end, and she hoped to get there before Metatron’s cronies. She
didn’t want to imagine what they’d do to the old man. She banked
slowly and tucked in her wings a little as she began her
descent.

What would she do if she came face to face
with Metatron? The thought that his ugly face would be twisted in
fury made Kara smile. She’d enjoyed seeing him squirm.

The lights of the city gleamed like stars,
and her chest tightened as her thoughts moved to David. She
remembered the last night they’d been on a date together. The night
lights had lit up his eyes, and she remembered how desperately
handsome he was and how she wanted to kiss him.

Would she ever get to have a normal life
again with David? Would the end of the world come too soon?

Hopefully Metatron wouldn’t take his revenge
out on David. But Metatron was such a loose cannon of an archangel,
who knew what would happen to David. Hopefully Ariel would knock
some sense into the legion’s commander. Hopefully. But even if
Metatron pardoned David and the others, they would be ordered to
fight the archfiends in a few hours anyway. The thought of the
legion fighting alongside the black-eyed demons sent a wave of fury
through Kara. The demons weren’t in alliance with anyone but
themselves. Ice in her gut spread into her black veins. Somehow she
would prove to everyone just how treacherous the demons were.

She had gotten but a taste of the
archfiend’s power when she fought the knights.
What other
creatures had the archfiends created? How much more powerful were
they now that two seals had been broken?