by Knight, TW
Cassidy gave him a look clouded with hurt. "Okay."
"Tell me about your plans for researching the Knights and finding the Aktura."
"Well, I thought I would start with what you were working on regarding your brothers and sisters and branch out from there. I’ll need access to all of your notes. What parameters do you use? Are there characteristics I should build in?"
The more she talked, the more animated Cassidy became, completely enchanting Rail to the point where he wasn’t listening to her words, so much as listening to the joy in her voice. It pained him to realize he’d lost that sense of passion so long ago he hadn’t noticed it was missing. It pained him more to think maybe he’d never had that drive. Other than fighting demons, and more recently his search for the others expelled from Heaven, he hadn’t considered pursuing any of his passing interests.
"Are you even listening to me?" Cassidy patted his chest.
"Huh? Yeah. Of course."
"Okay, I know you say you can’t lie to me, but why don’t I believe you?"
He chuckled. "I was listening, just not listening. What were you asking?"
"I asked if talking about looking for the Aktura was hurting you, but if you weren’t really listening…I guess it didn’t register enough to trigger the compulsion."
Abruptly, Rail sat up, dislodging Cassidy from his arm. "It’s not there."
"What?" Cassidy rearranged herself, sitting cross-legged next to him. "What’s not there?"
"I asked you to tell me about your plans to find the Aktura. It wasn’t something you just started talking about. I asked you. And there was no pain. Not even a twinge."
"Are you sure? Maybe it was just the wording."
He shook his head. "I don’t think so. I’ve got all these ideas about how to link the Aktura to whom they belong to. I don’t remember ever thinking about this before. I only thought about finding my brothers and sisters, not their soul-keepers."
Cassidy laid a trembling hand on his cheek. "What’s going on?"
"I don’t know."
Chapter Nineteen
He couldn’t help it. If he didn’t laugh, he was going to explode. The look on Kaz’s face was ridiculous, completely blank like a mannequin. "Is that how I looked?" Rail coughed out as he doubled over.
In an attempt to maintain some dignity, Cassidy giggled behind her hand. "Right before you collapsed because I kept pushing the issue."
"I’m sorry I didn’t entirely believe you."
"What are the two of you going on about?" One blond eyebrow rose as Kaz stared at them.
Rail burst into another bout of laughter. "He doesn’t even remember the conversation!"
"Stop it, Rail." Cassidy laughed as well, any hope for decorum vanishing. "You’re going to hurt yourself."
"Or I’m going to hurt both of you if you don’t start explaining!" Kaz slammed his hands on the desk as he stood.
Rail's laughter stopped immediately. "Do not threaten my woman."
Cassidy moved to stand in front of Rail, her hands on his chest. "Well, it got you to stop laughing."
"Whatever."
"Let me try this time." Cassidy patted him on the arm then turned to face Kaz. "We were discussing my use of the computers."
"To find the other Knights, yeah I remember," he snapped. "What’s so funny about that?"
"Do you remember Rail collapsing on the barge after you guys first found me?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember why he collapsed," she pushed.
Kaz opened his mouth, shut it, and then shook his head. "You were asking him questions about us."
"I was asking him questions about the Aktura and why you can’t find them," Cassidy pushed a little more.
Kaz grimaced. "You said something about a compulsion…"Pinching the bridge of his nose, the big man squeezed his eyes closed for a moment, obviously in pain.
"Yes. And how it keeps you from thinking about what we were just trying to explain to you about the Aktura. You zone out."
"You’re saying I have to take your word on it."
"Basically," Cassidy held up her hands and shrugged, "but going back to why we were so excited earlier. Whatever happened between Rail and I seems to have turned the compulsion off in him. I can discuss my pending research to find the Aktura without him zoning out or writhing in pain."
"This is unprecedented." Kaz shifted his hands through his close-cropped hair, making it stand in unruly spikes.
"How would you know? Rail told me that no one has ever found their soul-keeper before." Cassidy gave him a challenging look.
"Not that we know of." The warrior glared at her.
"I don’t get why you haven’t been keeping in contact with the others." Cassidy sighed in frustration. "What happened? I mean, you guys fought together and were imprisoned together. You’re supposed to be in this ‘protect the poor humans thing’ together. Why did you all split up?"
"We just did." Kaz hissed.
"Oh." Cassidy took a step back. Apparently, it was a touchy subject she’d have to talk to Rail about later.
"It’s ancient history," the big man grumbled as he sat and leaned back in his chair.
"It’s not like I haven’t tried to contact the others; I’ve been searching for about two decades now." Rail dropped into one of the chairs facing the desk and pulled Cassidy into his lap. "But it’s been slow going."
"Why?"
"Aside from a lack of help," he gave Kaz a pointed look, "we’ve become so paranoid over the ages that," his massive shoulders lifted slightly, "we just don’t trust staying together for very long."
"I’m surprised this group has stayed together as long as it has. The fear of betrayal is always with us," Kaz mumbled.
Rail wrapped his arms around Cassidy and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "You know, she has a point. Even if the others won’t join with us, we can open a network for passing on information. We can’t be the only ones running around the world hunting skratars."
Kaz narrowed his eyes and snorted with derision. "Why not? Who says they haven’t given up and gone into hiding?"
"Because it goes against who we are." Rail let out a long breath. "What we were made to be. Besides, we have two unmatched soul-keepers here."
"Think about it, Kaz," Cassidy chimed in. "The compulsion. You must fight to protect your hidden souls."
"You really think this whole thing was more than a choice of ‘do what we tell you to or die?’"
"I think you were told you had a choice to keep you from realizing you really didn’t. Be honest. How many of your brothers and sisters would have said ‘up yours, screw humanity’ and waited until their Aktura were killed without lifting a finger?" She looked from Rail to Kaz. "But if the compulsion was in your minds always whispering, ‘you can’t go down without a fight,’ well, you wouldn’t know it wasn’t your idea, right?"
Both males remained silent for several minutes before Rail spoke up. "We’ve been fighting the demons for so long, we no longer question the reason. We stopped questioning everything a long time ago."
Kaz pushed to his feet and moved around the room like a restless tiger. Muscles flexing under his t-shirt. Hands opening and closing at his sides. After a few a laps, he gave a resigned sigh, as if he’d come to a distasteful decision. "There’s something I want to show you," he said, sounding tired.
"What?" Rail stood, setting Cassidy on her feet.
"I’ve kept something hidden in the very heart of this island since before we were cast out."
"I don’t understand."
"I’ll explain, but the two of you must swear to complete secrecy." He pointed at Rail. "Even from our brothers."
Rail shook his head in disbelief. "Why?"
"Because I fear there is a traitor among us."
Chapter Twenty
"No fuckin’ way!" Rail’s voice echoed around the three of them as he, Cassidy, and Kaz descended ever farther into the core of the island. "I don’t believe one of us would spy
for Lucifer."
"I know you don’t want to believe it, but people change. Isn’t that what started all of this in the first place? The angels changed?" Cassidy shivered as she ducked under another archway, brushing a cobweb out of the way. The entire trip had her feeling as if she were being devoured by some prehistoric behemoth. The limited glow of the flashlights cast every inch of the place in moving shadows. "They went against everything they were for their own personal needs."
"Just what are you implying?" Rail asked defensively.
"Maybe someone really Fell, like Lucifer and his followers. It’s possible, isn’t it?"
"We would know." Kaz’s voice rumbled through the cavern, challenging her to question him.
"How?" Cassidy pressed.
"They feel different," Rail offered matter-of-factly.
That was something she hadn’t considered. "Like how Aktura feel different than regular humans?"
"Yes, but unlike the positive energy we feel in the Aktura, there’s an emptiness to the true fallen that we can sense," Kaz answered, his words echoing ominously.
"What makes you think there’s a traitor in our midst?" Rail asked toward Kaz’s back.
"It’s just a feeling. Like something you see, but you don’t realize you’ve seen it until it’s too late."
"That’s called paranoia," Cassidy quipped.
"True, but it’s also called being cautious and staying alive. Besides, as you keep pointing out, things have changed. Too many close calls." Kaz kicked a loose rock over the edge of the stair. "Lucifer is upping his game with more demon attacks against the general human population on top of hunting our Aktura."
The conversation was cut off as they rounded a massive carved column and found themselves standing before two ancient and enormous iron doors decorated with gold accents. Rail placed a hand over the studded metal. "What is this?"
"The real reason I took this island as a base of operations." Kaz closed his eyes.
Cassidy felt the air hum against her skin. Without even a whisper of sound, the doors swung open.
"Welcome to the archives."
With a crackle of electricity, a bank of overhead lights flickered on, bathing the cavern in sharp contrasts.
"Wow." Cassidy followed the men in, gaping at the immense room.
"It was more impressive before I installed the electric. There’s just something about the wavering flames of candles and oil lamps to set the mood."
"Yeah, a mood of creepiness," Rail joked. "You sure you weren’t thinking dungeon when you carved this out?" Kaz gave him the finger in response.
It was obvious the entire cavern had been carved from the earth rather than formed by nature. Although Cassidy couldn’t figure out how. There wasn’t a single chisel mark to be found. Great stone tables and benches rose from the floor. Precisely cut niches covered every wall. Columns and pedestals rose from the very stone. Shelves flowed out from the walls. "You did this all on your own," she whispered, considering the sheer enormity of the task. It wasn’t just the space that took her breath away; it was the collection of artifacts neatly stored within the cavern.
Kaz nodded, running a hand over one of the columns as a master sculptor would caress a newly completed work of art.
"What is all of this?" Rail tilted his head back, scanning the cavern as he moved in a slow circle.
"History," Kaz said flatly, tapping an ancient tome sitting on one of the tables.
"You said you built this before we were cast out…Why?"
"You might say I had a premonition of the demon wars. I had to protect what I could. Some of these items are priceless, lost to history."
Static filled the air and Rail’s joking mood vanished, his demon rising below the surface. "You never mention that before. We could have—"
"No," Kaz cut him off, his eyes glowing in response to Rail's aggression. "We couldn’t have changed anything."
"Fine. Whatever. Twenty-twenty hindsight," Rail snapped. "Even if you believed we couldn’t stop the war, you could have told us about this place."
"I didn’t see a reason to," Kaz countered.
Rail glared at his commander.
"Why have this at all if you’re going to keep it a secret, even from your own people?" Cassidy asked, bumping into Rail as she continued to survey the library. "I mean, you didn’t hide any of the art work you’ve collected over time. The villa is like a museum."
"Because," Kaz ground out, "information is power."
"And you wanted to keep all of that power to yourself." Rail's words rang with accusation.
"I didn’t see a reason for you to know about it," Kaz countered. "Besides, you lived through most of the events chronicled here by angel and human alike." He raised his arms to indicate the contents. "After we brought Seraphina here, I felt it was too dangerous to reveal."
Cassidy ran a finger over the edge of one of the tables. The stone was so smooth; it felt like silk. "Why?"
Kaz sighed like an over-taxed parent. "Because within this hall lie truths that humankind could never comprehend or adjust to. It’s been difficult enough explaining our existence to the few of you."
"What kind of truths?" Enthralled, Cassidy moved around the space, longingly examining each artifact she came across, conscious not to touch any documents for fear they might disintegrate in her hands.
"Well, let’s start with the fact that all Deities, no matter what faith, are constructs of the human mind and faith—given life and substance, not to mention power, by the universal energy infused into this world. That energy came from the dimension humans call Heaven. Just think what that knowledge could do. It could either topple the very foundation of civilization or give rise to a despot who finds a way to harness that power and literally make himself a God. It’s a good assumption that the first gods were changed humans."
Cassidy thought of history's dictators and shivered. Is this the supernatural knowledge Hitler had been hunting for when he'd became obsessed with the occult? "Okay, I get keeping all this hidden from the general public, or even the Aktura, but why not share it with Rail and the others? It’s not as if they would question the origins of religion."
Kaz’s eyes lit up for a moment before returning to their normal emerald green. "There was no need to share."
"You keep saying that. What’s changed? Why us?" Cassidy gestured to Rail. "And not the others? Why now?"
"Because of something I have. Something I forgot about until recently." Kaz strode to one of the walls and removed a sealed clay jar from an upper niche. "I haven’t looked at it since it came into my possession during the first demon war."
Cassidy and Rail flanked Kaz at one of the tables as he carefully broke the seal and removed a tiny curled up something resembling leather.
"That doesn’t look like paper," Cassidy commented softly, watching Kaz use two thin gold rods to unroll the scrap.
"It’s not. It’s skin."
His blunt answer made her recoil. "Please tell me that’s cow or camel." Cassidy blanched. Fine hairs stuck up between the markings tattooed on the skin.
"Human," Kaz waved Rail closer, "and the ink is blood mixed with iron, if you must know."
"Didn’t, but too late now."
Rail stared at the markings, looked at Kaz, and then back at the object laid out before them. "Most of it is obviously missing, but it looks like part of a prophecy."
"My thoughts, as well." Kaz rubbed the stubble on his chin like an old professor.
Even though she was repulsed, Cassidy pushed Rail to the side so she could get a better look. "What does it say?"
"Well, the parts that are still legible say something like ‘one will fall’ and ‘trembling earth’." He pointed to another scribble. "This says ‘two become one’ or ‘join’, depending on how you translate it. And this bit says that ‘Darkness’ will rise."
"Which means?" she asked, holding her breath.
"Two becoming one could mean one of us is going to find our Aktura-nom, our Soul-Mate
." Rail took Cassidy’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
Cassidy’s hold tightened around Rail's hand. "Is that good or bad?"
"Don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. If that is what this is referring to, then it’s an obsolete prophecy. It’s already come to pass." Rail looked at Kaz. "Remember the legend of Anallis and Savor?"
"That happened nearly a thousand years before the war, meaning this is a new prophecy. One I think is coming to pass now." Kaz tapped the table. "What do you make of this part?"
Rail focused on the markings. "It says something like, The beginning of the end for all, but there are too many missing symbols to be sure."
"The end of what?" Cassidy whispered.
Kaz let out a long breath and rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. "I think it prophesizes the end of everything."
"Shit."
Chapter Twenty-One
Cassidy got right up in the big man’s face. "You think it’s us!" she shouted. "You think whatever is happening with Rail and I…that we’re going to end the world."
"I don’t know. It’s incomplete—"
"But that’s what you’re thinking. That’s why you brought us down here, isn’t it?"
"Yes. I’m concerned you two are now the soul mates the prophecy predicted. The two of you are just so different…"
"The world didn’t end with Anallis and Savor," Rail countered.
"I told you, this was written after that!" Kaz flung the empty jar across the room. "This was prophesized after our expulsion.”
“Or did you just find it after?” Rail snapped back.
With a sob of frustration and anger, Cassidy burst into tears and fled the chamber. When Rail finally caught up with her, after taking a few minutes to verbally rip Kaz apart, he found Cassidy sitting on the beach, letting the incoming tide crash against her…just as her emotional pain crashed into him.
When Cassidy moved away at his approach, Rail sat off to the side and waited. After nearly two hours, the sun set and Rail felt Cassidy’s emotions settle from anger to exhaustion. Scooping her into his arms, he retreated to the cover of the palm trees lining the beach. Cassidy didn’t need the audience back at the villa.
