by Vox Day
“Good luck, blondie,” she heard Derek murmur, but she was too busy concentrating on remembering to breathe to reply. She started as she began to feel a gentle warmth in the angel’s palms, which spread first to her hands, then up her arms until it surrounded her entire body. It was a rather nice sensation, almost like whole body massage, but as the heat began to rise to the point of discomfort, she started getting nervous. At that moment, she made the mistake of peeking. Silver filled her eyes; she was engulfed in silver fire! She screamed, and the flames filled her throat, choking it off and searing her mouth and lungs.
The flames were incinerating her now, and she tried desperately to get away, but her hands were imprisoned as firmly as if they’d been set in concrete. She thrashed violently from side to side, but it was no use. Then, just when the pain was reaching its peak and she had given herself up to a fiery death, she fell back and was bathed in something cool and glorious.
It was as if she’d been bathed in warm milk, then dipped in Estee Lauder moisturizer. Too shocked and exhausted to speak or open her eyes, she ran her fingers over the top of her hand. It wasn’t the charcoaled x-ray she’d expected, in fact, her skin felt softer and silkier than it ever had before. She turned her hand over and felt her palm; the callus from cheerleading practice was gone.
“That’s, like, the world’s best chemical peel,” she told the angel, who was still standing in front of her when she opened her eyes.
“How do you feel?” Khasar asked.
“Um… great! I’m a little tingly… whoa!” Her foot slipped when she pushed herself out of the chair, and balanced herself with her wings. Wings! Looking back over her shoulder, she saw lovely white feathers, with just a faint dusting of gold. They were exactly like Aliel’s, she realized with delight.
Thoroughly enchanted with them, she clapped her hands together and twirled around in a happy pirouette. But when she saw what they’d done to Derek, she frowned in dismay.
“Why did you do that to him?” Derek looked at least ten years older, with small, beady eyes, a thick, stumpy neck and a bald head shaped like a bullet. He hadn’t been particularly attractive before, but now, whatever physical charm he might have possessed was completely gone.
“I suppose they thought that I’d attract less attention if I didn’t look like someone who’s on America’s Ten Most Wanted.” His voice was rough, a smoker’s voice, and deeper than before. Even stranger, he had some kind of English accent. “I take it I don’t look quite as pretty as you.”
“We don’t need pretty,” the captain informed him. “We need someone who will attract as little attention from the Fallen as possible. You’re to act the part of one who’s unsaved, which, considering your recent salvation, should not be a problem.”
“That’s act as in look the part, not act as in actually act, you understand,” Khasar added, earning him an irritated glance from the captain. “And now that they’re ready, we’ll be off, Lord Koervael, if you don’t mind. Derek’s plane leaves early tomorrow morning, and Holli will need every minute of that time to practice if she’s not going to make a hash of it.”
“My plane?” Derek said.
“Where are we going?” demanded Holli.
Khasar produced an airline ticket from nowhere and handed it to Derek, whose eyes widened as he looked it over. “We’re going to London?” he said in a wondering tone of voice. “But what are we going to do there?”
Khasar mimed holding something, and swung it like a golf club. Holli wrinkled her brow. They were going golfing? Or maybe not, she realized, as the archon explained.
“It’s very simple, believe it or not. We’re going to find a sword and then, if everything goes according to plan, stick it into a very bad individual who very much deserves to get stuck. Doesn’t that sound like a lovely way to spend your summer vacation?”
Chapter 22
Masquerade
The yellow leaves begin to fade
and flutter from the temple elms,
and at my feet the pale green Thames
lies like a rod of rippled jade
—Oscar Wilde, Symphony in Yellow
London was nothing like Holli expected. It was a huge city, much bigger than Minneapolis, and it stretched in every direction further than the eye could see. It was a busy place, and far from being a collection the sort of stuffy, pasty people she’d seen on PBS, it was a mix of people from all over the world, speaking with at least ten different accents when they weren’t actually speaking another language altogether. It was dirty too, although now that she was not actually in the material world, she found that didn’t bother her as much.
Getting used to not being solid most of the time wasn’t easy. She was terrified that she’d forget and slip back into the real world right when she was in the middle of a wall or something, but Khasar assured her that was impossible.
“It’s what you think of as being the real world that is actually the shadow. It’s like being in a pool, then getting out of it, no, I suppose that doesn’t work now, does it. Look, in a sense, you could say that you’re actually more real now, not that you weren’t real before, if you know what I’m saying.”
After that incredibly helpful explanation, Holli stopped asking Khasar to explain things to her. As long as she couldn’t kill herself by accident, it would be easier to figure things out on her own. It was much more fun to hear what he’d been doing since she’d last seen him; as hard as it seemed to believe, from his point of view thousands of years had passed.
“Of course, it’s all kind of a blur when you keep yourself busy,” he explained. “Or rather, when folks like Lord Coervael keep you busy. Do you have any idea how many ways there are to start a war? There are honestly times when I start to suspect that the entire notion of mortal free will is little more than an experiment gone horribly awry.”
Holli felt a little strange, having this discussion on either side of Derek, although he couldn’t hear what they were talking about. The city was even more crowded with angels and demons than it was with people; most were simple guardians and tempters going about their business, but she was surprised to see how many territorial spirits there were, some of them quite friendly, others about as civil as pit bulls. There was an uneasy truce between the Divine and the Fallen, but it was quite clear that the peace only extended as far as the open spaces.
The most shocking discovery was how little territory was actually held by Heaven’s forces. They passed block after block of buildings which, to her newly enhanced vision, appeared to glow slightly red, as if in warning. When she brushed her fingers close to the wall, there was a faint crackling sound and her hand tingled like she’d touched an invisible electric fence.
“Don’t do that,” Khasar warned. “And if you set foot in one of those places, be ready to fight.”
“I don’t even know how to use this thing,” Holli complained, slapping the scabbard that hung at her side. When she’d tried to draw it the first time, she’d burned her left hand.
“The idea is to avoid having to.”
“I thought we were supposed to stick a sword in somebody.”
“Not that sword. Although I admit, I’d feel a lot better if you had any idea of how to use that thing. I don’t expect you’ll find yourself in anything approaching a fair fight, though, which is good because you certainly wouldn’t survive one.”
“I can get killed like this?”
“Well, not really, but let’s just say it would end your little impersonation in a hurry. But then if you happened to be flying one hundred feet up in the air at the time… actually, yes, that would be a problem, I suppose. So, let’s try to avoid that, shall we?”
The Divine strongholds, on the other hand, gave off a cool bluish ambience. It was depressing to see how few of them there were—even some of the churches they passed glowed ominously red—but she was intrigued to find that they filled her with a noticeable sense of power, like getting her batteries recharged. Khasar laughed at the expres
sion on her face the first time they entered one, a little Catholic church which consisted, by the looks of it, primarily of African immigrants.
“Faith, my dear, it’s our food and drink. It strengthens us, gives us power. We can’t act without it.” He had momentarily changed back into his normal aspect, to avoid being attacked on sight.
“Aren’t you worried someone will notice you changing back and forth like that?”
He shrugged. “It’s a risk we have to take. But I’ve been watching. No one is paying any more attention to us than we are to them. That’s why I told Derek to stay in that game shop across the street, so no passing Fallen would think we were working on him.”
“Oh.” Holli watched as the father blessed an old lady who had come in to bring him a bouquet of flowers, accompanied by a surprisingly powerful guardian, who nodded to them in greeting. Except for the two elderly people and five or six Divine, no one was about. “Well, if he’s anything like Christopher, he’ll be happy there for hours. Now that he’s not around, can you tell me what’s really going on?”
“He’s one of us too now, Holli.” His tone of rebuke felt like a betrayal. “I know it’s hard for you to accept.”
“You have no idea!”
The archon shook his head, but he was smiling. “Be brave, kitten. Being around him may be the least unpleasant thing asked of you.” Then he told her of Albion and its king, of that king’s doomed attempt to create a magic kingdom of Faerie that would stand outside of the insane war that Lucifer had begun. He told her of the glorious tournaments and balls, and of the cruel, heartless manner in which the fallen fae ruled over man. He told of the king’s great betrayal, and how, centuries later, they had learned of his escape.
“Lord Coervael told me that his Shadow Hunters learned that this king, Oberon, is hiding with the vampires of London. So, our first task is to find Oberon. Then we will find the Sword, and use it to permit Oberon to reclaim his throne.”
“But I thought you said he was a fallen angel, that he was cruel and heartless.”
“A Fallen throne must have a Fallen ruler. And every fallen prince is cruel, but there are many worse than Oberon. It is not that we serve his interests, we merely make use of him to prevent one who is much more dangerous from claiming Britain’s throne.”
“Isn’t anyone on it already?”
Khasar wrinkled his lip. “Not one who can hope to hold it. The present king is feared, and hated. His servants are not loyal, and will betray him at the first opportunity. Those among the Fallen who thought he would prove a better king than Oberon were sadly disappointed. But we must install Oberon before the other makes her move. There is little time.”
“I just find it hard to believe that it’s God’s will to help a demon king.” Holli shook her head. “This sounds all wrong.”
“Who said anything about God’s will?” Khasar laughed without amusement. “God’s will is that all should worship His Son. He has little to do with this; it is Prince Uriel’s game we play.”
“But I thought everything happened according to some special plan of God’s or something?”
“Hardly.” Khasar rolled his eyes. “You think it is somehow for the good of Mankind that children are murdered with machetes in Africa? Do you think it pleased Him to see six million of His chosen people burned to ashes? God had a plan, and Adam shattered it by abdicating his dominion. That’s why He had to come up with an alternative. That’s why Man required a Savior.”
Holli’s head was spinning. Just the thought that God might not be in complete control of everything upset her more than she would have thought.
“But, I thought He did everything for our good!”
“Everything he does is for your good, Holli. But nearly everything Satan does is to do you harm. Was it good that your boyfriend died?”
“No!”
“Did anything good come out of it? Did you learn anything about life, the universe and everything.”
“Yes,” she admitted reluctantly.
“There you go. When something bad happens, there is always a silver lining. We make of it what we can. When that mega-psycho Moloch tried to wipe out the Chosen People, Uriel used it as a means of convincing a conscience-stricken world to fulfill the prophecy. But I’d think it’s pretty obvious who’s in charge here—only look around! When Jesus said that the Prince of this world was coming to kill him, who did you think he was talking about, Gabriel?”
Holli looked around the cool sanctuary of the church and thought about how many Fallen strongholds she’d seen just this morning, and how the demons walked tall and confident, sneering at her as they went past. “I just never thought about it, I guess. In church, they just tell us that everything’s in God’s hands.”
“We’re God’s hands, my dear. And do you know what else? Most of the time, He leaves us free to do as we think best. Some angels are serious about their responsibilities, some aren’t. That’s why you’ll be judging us one day.”
“We’ll judge you?”
“Yeah,” Khasar winced. “On how we did. I can’t say I’m really looking forward to that. I happened to get busted down to guardian for a bit after one particularly unfortunate misunderstanding, and I’m afraid I didn’t do quite as good a job with my charge as Aliel has with you. It all turned out all right in the end, but it was pretty close there for a while.”
“I had no clue about any of this. How come you didn’t tell me any of this before, when we were on Rahab?” Khasar looked at her for a moment in amazement. When she stared blankly back at him, he laughed in disbelief.
“We hadn’t exactly had the rules laid out for us then, you know, considering that it all took place long before God decided to have another go with Adam. I don’t know how to break this to you lightly, but this isn’t the first world God has created, and I rather doubt it will be the last.”
Holli felt as if she’d sprained her brain. This was what everybody must have felt like when that one guy told everyone that the sun didn’t go around the earth, but things were the other way around. No, she corrected herself, it was the other way around, wasn’t it? Whatever, it didn’t matter now.
“Hey” Khasar was pointing at something outside the window from which most of the sunlight was coming in. His voice was quiet, and his brows were knitted together. “Do you see that demon near the phone booth?”
“The short one with the black hot pants?”
“No, not her. The muscular one with the tattoo running up his arm.”
“Sure, what about him.” He was hard to miss, being about a head taller than the rest of the crowd, with a pair of meat cleavers strapped to his back.
“That’s our boy.” Khasar was already moving towards the rear of the church, and pulling her along with him. “Go outside, to the alley, and tell me if anyone is coming.” He gave her a little push and Holli cringed as she stepped into the rear wall, but she managed to slip right through the stone of the old church without incident. She looked back and forth. No one was there, except a fat, mangy dog that was rooting around an overflowing trash can, his tail wagging optimistically.
“You’re good,” she called back softly. When nothing happened, she raised her voice. “I said, you’re good.”
Yikes! Not anymore. Khasar had bulked himself up a little, and he’d jacked up the evilness of his Fallen aspect to match. His black horns were shot through with a glowing red pattern that pulsed with an ominous air and his eyes were blood-red, with yellow reptilian pupils. His upper body was not only huge, but shredded, with thick purplish veins threatening to burst from his shoulders.
“I think our boy has had enough time mucking about in that toy shop, don’t you?” His voice was deep and grating, and if Holli had not been sure it was him, she would have run screaming through the wall at the far end of the alley. As it was, she followed him at a safe distance, her hand on the jeweled hilt of her sword.
Khasar stopped where the alley reached the side street and turned around to face her. His
face was still recognizable, barely, and she found it hard to concentrate on what he was saying, as his two rows of jagged, broken teeth were tremendously distracting.
“The big dude with the two swords on his back is our informant. He’s going to go inside, and you’re going to follow him. When you get inside, tell Derek that he should call his mother, because it’s her birthday. That’s how he’ll recognize you.”
“You want me to go full material?”
“No!’’ Khasar’s evil eyes widened. “No, no, no, no, no! You never walk shadow to septus unless I tell you to, do you understand! That would ruin everything. You’re supposed to be his conscience, okay? So, talk to him just like you’re talking to me. You’re not talking to his ears, you’re talking to his spirit, right?”
“Um, sure.” Holli wasn’t quite understanding all of this, but as long as she just had to talk, that was fine. “And once he recognizes me—the demon, not Derek—what’s he going to do?”
“I don’t know. But don’t talk to him, don’t even look at him, unless he talks to you. Just pay attention to whatever he does. And don’t follow him when he leaves!”
“Unless he tells me to, right?”
“Yeah—although in that case we’d have to consider the possibility that it might be a trap of some- “
“Khasar?” Holli interrupted. “Would you please shut up? I’m already scared enough as it is, all right?”
“Right.” Khasar nodded and patted her on the shoulder with one huge, black-taloned hand. “You’ll be fine, just remember, his mother’s birthday.”
Holli didn’t realize that that was the sort of thing guardian angels concerned themselves with, but then, what did she know? She stepped into the street, there was a roar and a rush of wind, and she jumped about thirty feet in the air as a green Mercedes ran right through her. She’d forgotten that they drove on the wrong side of the road here! As she spread her wings and floated back down to earth, she glanced back towards the alley where Khasar was leaning against the wall, burying his horned head in his hands. Demons were pointing their fingers at her and cackling with amusement; so much for not attracting unnecessary attention.
