Gabriel looked up from his pacing. He watched Tobias walk past him, and accidentally drop his endless notes on the white marble floor. Tobias was in charge of keeping the Council apprised of the news in the Mortal Realm. He informed them when a presumed Rogue or a creature of evil was preying upon the helpless mortals so that the Celestial Warriors, or the Xiphos Warriors, could be dispatched to eliminate the threat. He was due to give his report to the Council. Michael always listened to Tobias and followed even the smallest lead given by him. Tobias could be the distraction he needed.
“May I sneak a peek at your reports?” Gabriel asked, pretending to be interested. He picked up the scattered papers, glancing at them quickly before handing back them to Tobias.
“Be my guest, my lord. I am sure you will find my report detailed and full of viable leads,” Tobias gushed.
Gabriel ignored the all-too-eager-to-please Tobias, who was standing over his shoulder so that he could point to each useless fact and explain each one in mind-numbing detail. Gabriel knew that Tobias was usually wrong in his assessments, but he kept Michael busy. Today, that made Tobias a valuable ally.
Gabriel skimmed through the stacks of scribbled notes about odd occurrences and suspicious deaths. It was a miracle that Michael found anything of value in the torrent of dead ends and half guesses. He paused when he found what he needed. There were widespread rumors of a scourge in Romania, where the death toll was higher than usual. The area was rife with vampire lore and often lured real vampires who wanted to capitalize on the fear of the locals. Michael hated vampires, more than most, and loved to vanquish the foul things personally. He would undoubtedly assign a Xiphos Warrior to investigate, and then swoop in to finish off the vampire.
“Tobias, I’m concerned about the Romanian death toll and the stories about a dark figure roaming the town at nightfall. It sounds like a vampire, a particularly nasty one. I would suggest putting that at the top of your list. The Xiphos in that area must be having a hard time with it if it has garnered this much attention,” Gabriel said with all seriousness. It was the perfect wild goose chase to distract Michael from his anger over the Rusalka’s torture.
“Yes, I agree, Lord Gabriel, you are very wise. I will mention that one before the others. Thank you for understanding the dire nature of the Romanian deaths. I will see you inside, brother,” Tobias said with pure excitement in his eyes.
Tobias was practically running into the hall so that he could prepare his long-winded speech about how terrible the deaths were and how quickly the Council needed to act. It was worth the long, drawn out process of going through each item on his list just to stall Michael and keep him away from his daughter.
Chapter 4
Fierce blue eyes greeted her whenever Anjali closed her eyes to sleep. Tossing and turning in her bed, she couldn’t get the image of Alazar out of her mind. His beautifully sketched face had been burned into her retinas while the dream of him walking alone through the snow played in her mind over and over again. Why couldn’t she find him? She’d searched maximum security prisons filled with murderers, psych wards overflowing with patients recovering from attempted suicides, and still she had no leads.
She had toyed with the idea of searching for Sacha first since he had so boldly inserted himself into her mortal life, but she didn’t want her entire school freaking out because they had seen the ghost of a dead girl roaming the halls. Besides, it was entirely possible that he had moved on, knowing that she wasn’t coming back. She needed to speak to Gabriel about Sacha the next time she saw him.
Throwing off the covers, she gave up on sleeping. It was useless to avoid the inevitable. She opened her hand and commanded Alazar’s scroll to appear. Staring down at his face, she felt like she was losing her mind. A feeling inside of her resembling a ticking clock was pushing her to find Alazar. It had become a singular purpose, so much so that she had denied an apologetic Lucifer the night before because she couldn’t focus on him. It had frustrated him, until he began to see that her obsession was taking a toll on her. Her eyes were shadowed from sleeplessness and her hands trembled when she spoke. He had kissed her head and left her to her pacing. She knew that he had been disturbed by her appearance since she was normally the steady one, the one who calmed the beast, but now she was the one who needed calming. Lucifer was too consumed by darkness to comfort her without getting his fix first, so he was of little use to her.
She walked over to the fireplace and stared at the flames, searching for the answer. The same questions plagued her, what did she know of Alazar? She was supposed to be his Master, yet how could she know him if she had never met him? It was a circular problem that was tying her brain in knots.
His scroll revealed an angel who was self-assured, which was why he was able to challenge Lucifer and the Council, believing that he could just walk away from his duties. According to Mark, Alazar hated the mortals and wanted them to suffer for their indifference toward God. All of this was well and good, but it didn’t point her in a direction. She needed to narrow down a location. Snow and an isolated road didn’t give much detail as to where he was, even if the dream was to be believed.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed her mind and sat in front of the inferno roaring in her black fireplace. Alazar was brazen and arrogant, which would pose a problem. He had marched straight out of Hell undeterred. Lucifer wouldn’t be happy to see him again, which was probably why he hadn’t been very helpful. She pondered what Lucifer would do when Alazar returned, if he returned. How was she going to keep them from killing each other? Unfortunately, that was a problem for later.
Running her hand through her hair, she stared at the scroll. Death was more elusive than she could have imagined. She laughed when she realized the irony. It had been easy for her to kill herself, yet now she was chasing death. She paused as she stared at the name that defined the handsome face on the scroll. It didn’t say Alazar; it said “Death.”
Something inside of her stirred. She wasn’t searching for Alazar; she was searching for the embodiment of death. She was Death’s Master. Death she understood. It was cold, lonely, and dark. The numbness that stretched out through her body and slowly consumed the warmth inside was familiar to her. The last images of the room as they blurred and turned black were forever burned into her mind. The hollow sound of her heart stopping was terrifying and yet comforting in some way. Yes, death was well within her understanding. It wasn’t complicated, but simple, so simple that she almost laughed. When you die by your own hand, you end up in the fire, the Realm of Fire to be exact.
She couldn’t believe her stupidity. She finally knew where to look. It was no wonder that Hades thought she was inept. The key to finding Alazar had been right under her nose.
Anjali ran out of the castle and made her way through the Realms of Torture to the Hall of Winds. She passed the lines of incoming and outgoing souls who were waiting to be reincarnated and sent home to the Mortal Realm, or escorted to a Realm of Torture to begin suffering for their sins.
She found Sebastian yelling at Xavier, who had screwed up Sebastian’s count of the souls. Sebastian was a noxious hobgoblin who needed a lesson in manners and was cantankerous like an old man. She hated dealing with him, but he might be the break that she needed.
“Oh, it’s you. Why are you here? Did you run out of people to torture in the VIP room? Come trolling for lesser souls, my lady?” Sebastian rolled his brown eyes at her. He hated his job, but he hated her more. None of the Fallen were particularly happy that the Destroyer had finally entered Hell. They resented having yet another person in charge of them. They had all witnessed her power and despised that they now had to fear her too.
“Sebastian, have I told you how nice you look today? Is that a new suit?” she enjoyed antagonizing him on most days, but today she needed him pleasant. Trading barbs would only prolong the conversation. She hoped honey would work better, but she was prepared with barbs nonetheless.
“Did you hit your head on something
? I can’t believe that no one called me to watch. What is wrong with this place? I’m still mad that I didn’t get the opportunity to witness you writhing in the realms for myself. Hades certainly did a number on you, didn’t he?” Sebastian chucked at her misfortune.
Ignoring his taunt, she tapped her foot. “Sebastian, I need your help. I need to interview the inbound souls to see if any of them had contact with Alazar. While the other Predznak are subtle with their influence, Death would need to get up close and personal with his victims. I know you don’t keep track of which mortals died under his influence since deaths caused by him are classified as murders or suicides, but his victims might remember him. I need to see all the suicides that also committed murder in the last few months. Combo murder and suicide should shorten my list and hopefully give me a starting place,” Anjali watched Sebastian straighten his suit and stare at the scrolls on his stone podium.
“Why should I help you? If you do find Alazar and bring him back here, I will have bigger problems than you or Lord Lucifer. You have no idea what Alazar was like or what he did when he was here. Let’s just say I would rather die than help you find him,” Sebastian studied his scrolls.
Anjali was annoyed that she had to threaten the Fallen to do as she requested. Her options were to be nice to them or threaten them. Nice got you a sword through the chest, so she was left with threats.
“When I find Alazar and bring him here, he will have pledged his loyalty to me. I am his rightful Master. I will command him to do my will. That could work to your benefit or to your disadvantage. It’s your choice,” Anjali watched Sebastian comprehend her threat.
Sebastian hesitated, but he could tell that she wasn’t bluffing. “Katarina was wrong; you’re perfectly suited for Hell,” he chuckled. “Fine. As you’re well aware, the suicides have to suffer in all the realms, but they usually start in the Realm of Fire and move on from there depending on the space available in the other realms. A number of them came in recently, so they will still be there. I’ll make you a list. These are all the suicides from the past month who have also committed murder. Azazel is off helping Malcolm, so Katarina is overseeing that realm. Good luck, since she hates Alazar even more than I do,” Sebastian quickly jotted down the names, as requested, praying that she kept Alazar away from him. He tried to keep his hand from shaking and handed her the parchment.
Anjali nodded to him and took the paper. She grimaced when she saw all the names. There were more than she expected, which saddened her to see how many mortals had fallen from grace in such a short period of time.
“Thank you, Sebastian. You have been very helpful,” Anjali replied, grateful for his help. Sebastian would do anything to prolong a fight between them. Being the Gatekeeper of Hell was a boring, thankless job. He had nothing better to occupy his time than to spread his misery to others. She smirked to herself thinking that he had chosen the wrong occupation. He would have made an excellent Angel of Agony.
When she reached the Realm of Fire, she searched for Katarina amongst the Fallen who were beating the prisoners back from the edges of the realm. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea of dealing with Hades’ bitchy girlfriend. Katarina wasn’t her least favorite person in Hell, but they certainly didn’t sit around braiding each other’s hair and giving each other pedicures.
She watched the mortals twist and writhe in the flames, begging for mercy that wouldn’t come until they were pardoned for their sins. Phantom pains raced along her arms and torso as she remembered the pain of the fire. Forcing herself away from the edge, she grabbed Katarina and thrust the paper toward her.
“I need to speak to these prisons immediately,” Anjali announced loudly. She had to yell to be heard over the screams of the tortured.
Katarina was surprised by her request.
“Why should I care?” Katarina pulled away from her grip and whipped a prisoner who was trying to crawl to the edge to escape.
Anjali cracked her fingers and sought the patience to speak calmly.
“Because I have the authority to speak to them and you have to do as I say,” she thought it sounded like a pretty good reason.
Katarina rolled her eyes and continued whipping the prisoner. She too had suffered from Katarina’s whip, while in the realm. It was hard to earn the respect of someone who had made you cry for your mother, repeatedly.
So, plan B it was then. She knew it would come back to haunt her, but she had to find Alazar. She walked up behind Katarina and kicked her, hard, into the Realm of Fire. Katarina screamed as she flew headlong into the fire. Hades would find a way to punish Anjali, but she wasn’t concerned about him at the moment.
Anjali refrained from chuckling, because that would be wrong. Guilt sprang to the surface when she realized that the prisoners were clambering around Katarina, attacking their punisher. Oops.
Working quickly, Anjali unrolled the scroll and called out three names at a time. Each time the souls were released from the realm, she interrogated them by asking if they knew Alazar, or if the Angel of Death had tempted them. With each negative response, she threw the souls back into the realm and continued down the list.
Katarina slowly approached the edge. Anjali needed to work faster before she too ended up on fire.
“Lucas Ilkerwise, Toby Greay, Mitch Maynan, you get a ten second reprieve. Same question, did anyone influence your death? Do you know Alazar, the Angel of Death?” Anjali saw Lucas’ eyes snap up, stunned. She had found her first solid clue.
“Yes, I know the person that you speak of. I believe he is the reason that my friend Johann is dead and why I took my own life. I killed Johann for reasons that I still don’t comprehend. There was so much blood. The stranger’s eyes, they haunt me. I can still see the field of flowers and can feel the air rushing past me. All I wanted was peace and now I’m in the fire. I don’t know what is real,” Lucas looked like he’d seen a ghost and the ghost had stolen his wallet and kicked him in the balls.
“Okay, everyone else back in, oh, and next time chose the path of the righteous,” she said as she threw the other prisoners back into the fire. She turned to Lucas and stared into his eyes, trying to get him to focus. “Where? Where did you see him?” his accent sounded European. No, it dawned on her that he was speaking Romanian.
“He came out of nowhere. I was arguing with Johann and he appeared before us. He asked us questions. I tried to ignore him, but then I saw his eyes. I couldn’t move. Oh God, I killed my friend. Poor Johann, I killed him with my bare hands,” Lucas was looking at his hands as if they were foreign objects. She was losing him fast.
“Yes, and then you killed yourself and ended up here. Where did you die? Where did this happen? Was it Romania? It sounds like you are from there,” from the corner of her eye, she saw Katarina about to pull herself up onto the edge.
“The town of Călan, Romania. We were visiting on business. I don’t know what…,” Anjali shook the answer from Lucas, but Katarina tore him away and threw him back into the realm.
Katarina looked at Anjali with hatred pouring from her eyes. Her hair was singed and smoke wafted from her leather outfit.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Katarina snatched her arm and pulled her to the edge of the realm.
Anjali ripped her arm away from Katarina and sneered at her. “I have already paid, in full. You were under Lucifer’s orders not to harm me, yet you all had a good laugh at my expense. Don’t think I’ve forgotten you stomping on my face in the Realm of Seas. I’d say we’re a little closer to being even.”
She noticed that the other Fallen were watching their interaction with interest. If she didn’t make an example out of Katarina, they would see it as a sign of weakness.
Hating herself, she grabbed Katarina by the neck, lifted her off the ground, and shook her with enough force to get her attention.
Katarina’s eyes widened with shock. The haughty look on her face was replaced by fear. Anjali hated using fear as a weapon, but it was one of the few things the
Fallen responded to anymore, that and pain.
Katarina started sputtering an apology, but Anjali cut her off.
“The next time I give you an order and you fail to obey it you will wish that I had merely set you on fire. Be thankful that angels can’t end up in the Realm of the Destroyer,” Anjali callously dropped her on her ass and turned back to the pathway.
“Yes, my lady,” she heard Katarina gasp.
The Fallen averted their eyes and starting yelling to each other to work faster. Gresham practically jumped into the fire to get out of her way as she passed him. It seemed that she was scarier than she thought.
She heard footsteps thundering toward her when she entered the Hall of Mirrors, but disappeared before Hades could reach her. She would have to deal with his wrath at some point, but he would have to wait.
She appeared in the mountains on the outskirts of the Romanian city, as the sun was setting. Excited about having her first real lead, she quickly scanned the city below to find the best possible hiding place for a creature that enjoyed death. There were a number of cemeteries within sight, but they were too decrepit and wouldn’t make for a cozy home base. She doubted that he would hide in the factories or the abandoned buildings, since they didn’t fit his bold style. While the Angel of Death would appear to be unassuming, he would be blatant enough to seek more ostentatious accommodations. As she turned, she caught sight of a castle looming in the distance. It was dark, imposing, and large enough to hide a brooding angel who didn’t want to be found. Instinctively, she knew she would find Alazar there.
Disappearing and reappearing closer to the castle, she walked along the main road that snaked up the mountain. She donned clothing befitting a tourist, jeans, hiking boots, a black Mortal Kombat shirt with a red dragon logo, a charcoal gray wool coat, and brown leather backpack. She always told people that she was a tourist backpacking through Europe when traveling through the Mortal Realm. It seemed that a female couldn’t travel alone without people trying to offer their assistance, or worse, trying to take advantage of her. Those people never fared very well.
The Third Throne: Angel of Death Page 9
