Forbidden Boys

by Chantal Cross

  “No. I doubt the weak flesh of the girl she has become.”

  “That is short-sighted, especially for a heavenly being.” Mother is really getting angry now. “You are supposed to have foresight, humility, and an acceptance of life. Isn’t that how heaven works?”

  “Why yes, thank you, old demon, for telling me what it’s like in my sphere since you know so much.” Glaw’s sarcasm is scathing. “Heaven also protects the innocent and punishes the sinners. Do you ever think what kind of creature the Archangel Michael must be, to slaughter all the first-born sons of Egypt in a single night?”

  Mother sighs. “You’re missing the point. I was trying to give you perspective. You don’t have to bring holy justice into it. My point is she has done nothing. Even your heavenly realms are based on actions, not intent or thoughts. God himself understands that human weakness is a major factor of our soul’s trials. That is why he rewards restraint, even if one is tempted.”

  Glaw narrows her eyes, not liking the argument.

  “So,” Mother pushes on, taking her silence for acceptance, “Even you must admit that even if she is tempted, and certain parts of her are aware, you cannot act when she has actually done nothing. She is clean. Innocent. You know this.”

  “You expect me to just wait around for the inevitable?” Glaw raises her voice. “By then, it will be too late. If she is allowed to break through to her memories, it’s all over. It should have been done on the day she was born. It was her wish. She made those loyal to her swear it, yet here they all are standing around as if their promise meant nothing. It must be done—while she is still innocent. It would save her soul. Waiting around would be true cruelty.”

  Mother leans on the table, and her voice is low and dangerous, more frightening than if she screamed.

  “You will not touch her, Glaw. That is not an option. None of us will let you touch her. You know that. Even your God prevents you from harming the innocent.”

  “Plenty of innocents have died to save themselves from the stain of hell!” Glaw slaps the table, and it shrieks as her powers leak from her. “Taking a lamb and returning it to the Shepherd is very different from waiting for it to grow into a beast where it can ravage the innocence of others!”

  “Glaw! Enough! I don’t think this incident is significant. You’re wasting my time—and yours. You don’t have any evidence that would let us take her to the final solution.”

  “But I am not the only one thinking you are doing an appalling job, Cordelia.” Glaw narrows her eyes. “It’s being said by everyone. You must realize the fact that you are not fit to raise her. Every day she gets more out of control.”

  The small trickle of power Glaw lets go simmers around her. Golden light trimmed in white haze settles around her shoulders. Bright glitter sparkles in the air as the powers of heaven hear her need and bend to her will.

  Mother’s eyes darken, and her hair curls up like angry snakes. Her eyes go black, and she slams her hand on the table. The wood smokes as hellfire rises in her, unquenchable, eternal, the fires that eat the damned.

  I take a step back, heart hammering in my chest. I’ve never seen mother like this before—I never knew! What the hell is going on? Is there anyone in my life I can trust? Is everyone I know lying to me?

  So much of this conversation does not make any sense to me. But seeing mother glowing with demonic power is more than I can take, especially on top of everything else that’s been happening. The well of confusion in me breaks in my chest and threatens to pour from my eyes.

  Mother lied. How can I trust anyone, ever again?

  Ivora doesn’t care, she abandoned me. Seth has gone distant. Gabriel is cruel to me. Lucien has simply vanished. There is no one I can turn to, no one to lean on even if I could find it in myself to trust.

  Now I’m invisible, because I made a deal with a mad fairy to get myself out of danger which probably wasn’t that bad—considering mother is a demon and an angel wants to kill me. My heart is just breaking. All the hard feelings I’ve been trying to swallow come tearing through my chest all at once.

  I want to cry, oh God. If I start bawling, they’ll hear me. I have to do something! Rage, terror, betrayal, they roar in my blood, and the pounding of my heart becomes so loud for a moment I can barely see.

  Just at the edge of my fingertips, I can feel something. It whispers to me. Like I could have all the answers if I only look in the right place. It scares me like the unknown always does. Like I should retreat and hide.

  “I’m done.” Glaw steps away from the table. “I’m not here to fight you. Not tonight. Tonight, I’m here for her. The time has come. I don’t care what consequences I have to face. It can’t be as bad as what will happen if I let her rise.”

  “No, Glaw, you can’t—”

  “I will. I will end this. Clearly, you cannot. She’s nearby, I can feel her.”

  She turns to leave the room.

  “Don’t worry Cordelia. I’ll make it quick. If she doesn’t resist me, that is.”

  I turn in absolute terror and flee. My feet fly out in front of me, and my body lurches along behind them. I don’t know where I’m going, or what I’m doing. All I know is, I have to get away.

  19

  Ebony

  The walls of the vault are dark stone, barely lit by the occasional flickering torch. I don’t know how Glaw found me. I don’t even know where I am.

  The room is wide, and the shadows are deep. Even if I wasn’t invisible, I’d try to hide in it.

  I have no idea what Glaw is talking about when she says, ‘Her’. This is not the first time she has alluded to a person I know nothing about.

  My mind spins frantically through all the women we both know. I can’t fathom any answer that satisfies the hatred and fear Glaw emanates.

  I stay as still as I can. Glaw can’t see me. All I have to do is stay quiet, and she won’t find me.

  Glaw steps into the darkness of the room, both hands on the hilt of her massive sword. Her eyes dart around the room, and with a tilt of her head, flames dart up from the point. The weapon ignites into a raging blade of pure fire.

  The light shimmers on the walls and Glaw points the tip of the sword towards the shadows of the room.

  “I can see you, Ebony.”

  I’m sure she’s just baiting me, trying to get me to show myself. I try to stay still, but my breath rasps in and out like razors scraping the stone.

  “How did you turn invisible anyway?” Glaw’s tone is strangely conversational, and it freaks me out. She’s looking right at me now. I just shake my head.

  “You can’t hide from me with demon tricks like that. It’s done. The time has come. Submit yourself to me. Come quietly. The angels are waiting—they are singing a path for you into paradise. You can do as you wished to, and keep everyone you love safe.”

  There is something gentle and seductive in her voice. It lulls me, and I feel like I should submit. That it is the right thing to do. Even though right and wrong seem to bleed into each other these days, her voice draws me in as if there is no other path but the one she shows me.

  I’m so enchanted, so needy for comfort, I step forward towards her.

  Glaw’s eyes light up, and they are terrible in her triumph. Something about the way her face twists makes me hesitate. When she raises the flaming sword, I can’t help it—my self-preservation kicks in.

  The sword comes charging down, aimed at my shoulder to cut me in half. I try to cower, throwing up my right arm but my body doesn’t obey me. Reality seems to split as one part of me falls to the floor, arm upraised to ward off the blow while I lay in a puddle of helpless fear under it.

  The other part of me braces under my upraised arm, spine straight, legs pushing toward the blow. The flaming sword glances off my forearm, and when I look into Glaw’s eyes, standing tall and strong under the violence of her move, she looks more than surprised.

  She looks frightened.

  The sword is swinging down in her hands
after glancing off my arm, and I know that she will use that momentum on the next upswing. I spin in the opposite direction, twirling, so I come in back to back with her. I jab my elbow hard into her ribs then spin again, my feet stepping around each other with a dancer’s grace.

  I turn back to face her, my weight rolling easily on to my back foot to brace myself. My fists come up to block, and I think to myself—my body knows what it’s doing more than I do.

  No. Deeper. My body is trying to keep up with commands from somewhere deeper. From in my soul.

  Glaw charges me, sword high. As she moves towards me, feet coming up off the ground. Eyes open up all over her face, across her forehead and down her cheeks, the deep, multiple windows of the angel’s soul glow with holy light.

  She brings the sword down, screaming. Both of my hands come up, and I hear a mighty roar break from my own throat as the sword hits my crossed fists. Power bursts from the contact point, shocking me through the bones, chasing into aftershocks down my spine.

  Glaw staggers back, looking at me with astonishment and fury. She twirls the sword, getting her grip back. As she turns to me Glaw's wings manifest. First, a beautiful pair of elegantly shaped, golden colored wings. They grow from her shoulder blades in trails of light.

  Glaw charges again, sword held low. She slices upwards as she draws near, and I don’t turn fast enough—the blade gets me just under the ribs.

  I stagger, screaming, and clutching the ragged gash. The wound smokes, barely bleeding. It’s not even cleanly cauterized but smoking like a charred corpse.

  Glaw smiles, pure triumph lighting her many eyes. Other sets of wings glow as they trace into life behind her. Above her head, by her feet, golden wings grace her form and stroke the air. Between each fluttering movement, I can hear the singing of Seraphs.

  She charges, letting the tip of the sword trail on the ground, leaving a blazing trail. I brace my weight on my back foot, preparing to move. She comes straight on, and I know she plans to bring the sword up and slice me in two.

  I feint one way, then pull back the other. I don’t spin on my toe well enough and stumble against her. She reacts immediately, flipping the sword awkwardly towards me. It cuts into my arm, and I scream as the flames sear into me around the cutting blade.

  As we stagger apart the wound on my arm smokes then heals itself. The one on my ribs is still smoking and foul. I have no idea what’s going on. It’s great my magic is working so well, but why are some wounds healing and others not?

  Glaw raises the sword again, holding it in front of her. Every single pair of eyes narrow as she stares me down. There is a rush of power across her form and the metal of the sword’s blade a flowing haze envelops her arms. As she waves the blade gently back and forth metal crawls up her arms until both of them are gleaming like the flaming sword.

  Glaw stands before me, clothed in the light of heaven. I should be scared. She’s in front of me in her full glory. She means to kill me.

  But I can see her breath heaving. She’s expending a lot of energy and not getting any closer to killing me. I wonder why I am not afraid.

  Light glows in my hands. I step forward, confidence flowing through me. I try and pick one set of eyes to gaze into but end up bouncing all around her face, getting confused by the many sets. She laughs.

  I shake my head, raising my arms. “Come on, bitch.”

  Glaw’s face twists and she flies towards me, screaming. We whirl around each other, trading blows. I can feel my fists and feet connecting, my body straining in a way that feels terribly familiar. Every hit I land is full of magic, and I can tell it hurts her.

  She keeps me in close quarters and manages to land a few hits of her own. Some bleed and smoke, some heal. I wish I had control of this power!

  We break apart again. We stare at each other across a distance of a few feet, both of us are panting. Glaw's weapon is wavering in her hands.

  I can win. I’m so close. The disbelief at this thought kindles something deep inside of me. A knowledge of what I can be capable of if I only accept myself.

  As I call my power through me and prepare to charge, I see a movement down the hall. I only glance at it briefly—to see if it might be another attack—but when I see who it is, I lose focus completely.

  “Lucien.” The whisper rises from my lips like a prayer. He stares into the room curiously, head cocked to the side.

  Of course. Lucien can’t see me. That’s why he doesn’t run to my side.

  I’ve hesitated too long.

  The kick Glaw delivers to my chest is devastating. I fly several feet through the air before I hit the great doors behind us. Glaw moves towards me, the angelic touch makes me visible again.

  I see Lucien’s face change. Shock. Disbelief. Horror.

  Lucien begins to run towards us.

  Glaw is standing over me. I can only just see Lucien behind her.

  He’s not going to make it in time.

  There’s nothing I can do. Crumpled in a heap, stunned from the blow, I can’t react. The flaming sword pulls towards my breast like its drawn to me.

  Glaw plunges the sword into my chest. I must be screaming, but I can’t hear anything. I can’t even feel anything. There is blazing, horrible light that feels sharp on every inch of my body. Shock and terrible fear paralyze me, and I think, they hurt worse than the fatal blow.

  I hear the metal scrape on bone as she pulls the sword out. The warmth I can feel must be my blood pouring out. Maybe it’s the sweet embrace of death.

  I welcome the dark ocean that swallows me. Perhaps, this time, I’ll never have to surface.

  20

  Lucien

  I see Ebony sag against the great double doors as Glaw pulls her sword free. I’m close, so close, but not fast enough.

  A massive wave of power blasts towards us, throwing Glaw and me back into the stone walls. Glaw hits so hard most of her angelic attributes fall from her, dissipating into the air like heat from her sword.

  The blade hisses as it becomes a sword again, clanging on the floor as she struggles to her feet.

  The taste of the power in the air gives me hope. It came from Ebony, I know it did. There must be time.

  If I just take care of Glaw.

  I pull myself up, face twisting in rage. Glaw’s turning to me just as fast as I can get up, both of us ready to fight.

  Without conscious will, my feet move towards Ebony, even while my eyes track Glaw. Just as I suspected, she’s coming at me, moving to stand between us. Her sword is already starting to glow again, the power of heaven beginning to light her from within.

  “If you move towards her, Lust, then do your duty!” Glaw’s voice comes out in a horrific shriek.

  “She’ll die!”

  “That’s the point! That’s what she wanted! How can you fight this! You know what we face! It’s too late anyway—no one can survive that wound.” Glaw screams.

  Glaw angles around until she is almost fully blocking me. I can see Ebony behind her. Crumpled, bleeding, but breathing.

  “It was always going to be this way! Why am I surrounded by such forgetful morons! Are you all deliberately playing the fool?” Glaw’s exasperated as well as furious, and I can’t believe a creature of heaven can be so indifferent to a dying girl.

  “This was her wish, Lust.” Glaw’s voice turns plaintive. “You know this. She made you swear. How can you go against her now, when she needs you so much?”

  “You did this!” My voice roars around the chamber, echoing back to me. “You made it so that the only way for her to survive was if her demonic power awakened! None of this would have happened if you could have just left her alone!”

  “And did you, Lucien?” Glaw raises the sword in front of her face as it begins to light with flame. “Did you let her alone?”

  “I didn’t push her into her power! I couldn’t help getting close to her—but I wanted to protect her! You’ve been trying to kill her since the day she was born! You forced her to defen
d herself!”

  “If she dies, Lust.” Glaw waves her sword a little, flames trailing it. “There can be no Queen. Snow White asked this of you. Your love, who you would do anything for.”

  “My love lies bleeding behind you.” The words shoot out through my teeth. “Whatever I may have promised, my love and my longing and yes—my lust—have proven so strong that any vow I made before becomes null and void. I pledge myself a new vow. To protect her. It’s what I should have promised in the beginning.”

  “The Queen is becoming stronger, Lucien. Do you know that? Can't you feel it? She is only held back only by the fact that Ebony has not fully embraced her true nature.”

  “And now, because of you, she is open to her power and all that comes with it,” I tell her. I’m sick of arguing with Glaw. I feel like I’ve argued with her for years now. “Rhiannon can rise now because you had to attack Ebony and give her a reason to tap into those powers.”

  “Not if she dies.” Glaw holds the sword steady, looking between us both. Ebony is still breathing. Blood leaks slowly from her chest.

  I step towards her sword. “I can’t let her die.”

  “I’ve had it with all of you!” As Glaw's angelic rage comes upon her, she glows with all her holy light, wings, eyes, armor all flaring across her human form until she stands before me fully as an Archangel. God’s chosen warrior.

  I clench my fists and stare her down.

  “Ebony's fate was sealed the day she was born!” Glaw shrieks. “Snow White herself made this pact! If we had murdered Ebony at birth, she would have been at peace! It is you who tear her reincarnated soul asunder—why can’t you see that?”

  “Because I am full of love.” I don’t bother shouting. My words are full of truth and ring through the room. An angel can hear it's truth more surely than a human.