Alazar shook in disbelief. He had failed. He had failed to protect his Master’s lover.
Alazar counted to twenty before he even considered going down to the ravine to examine the scene. He admitted to himself that he actually liked the kid. Derick was confident, brave, incredibly stupid, and loved his Master with all his heart.
He composed himself as best he could and appeared in the ravine. Dead bodies normally didn’t bother him, but he didn’t want to see this one. It was rare for him to know the deceased personally. Even though he saw the memories of the mortals that he tempted, he didn’t hold any affection for them. It had been a long time since someone close to him had died.
Taking a deep breath, he approached the first of the bodies. He looked down into the face of Aganon, knowing the fall wouldn’t kill the pathetic servant. A fall was too good for the deceitful servant anyway. He would delight in watching Lucifer turn him into cinder, unless Anjali took his head. He thought about doing it himself, but spitefully wanted Lucifer to do it.
A sound farther away made him look up. He expected Derick’s body to convulse as death took control of his movements, but his knees buckled when he saw that Derick was still breathing, though barely.
“Derick. Oh God, you’re still alive,” he crawled over to him and helplessly fussed over Derick’s body decided on how best to help him. He wasn’t very good at tending to the wounded. Tristan, Solren, and Rayan were better suited for triage in the field.
“Alazar. I don’t know if I’m happy or scared to see you,” Derick wheezed, struggling to breathe.
Alazar laughed, and wiped away the tears running down his face. “Normally, I would say that you were up shit’s creek, but not today. I swore to Anjali that I would do everything I could to keep you alive.”
He lightly placed his hand on Derick’s chest. He could feel Derick’s heart staggering, struggling to beat. Even without his power, he would know that he was close to death.
“Derick, I need to find Anjali. She needs to know what happened. I’ll bring her here,” Alazar tried to get to his feet but Derick grabbed him.
“I don’t want to die alone,” Derick sniffled as tears rolled down his pale cheeks.
Alazar looked to Aganon knowing that he shouldn’t leave them together. He nodded his head and sat down next to Derick on the hard, frozen ground. Putting on an optimistic expression, he decided to do his best to lie to the boy.
“I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. You are going to stay here with me, swear it,” Alazar tried to keep his voice from giving out. He zipped up Derick’s coat. He told himself it was to keep the kid a little warmer, but really, he didn’t want to see the Spirit Expert logo. If the kid died, he would certainly become an expert in spirits.
“I swear,” Derick whispered.
Derick felt broken everywhere. Despite the numbness, he could tell that his legs and arms were fractured. His head was pounding, causing his vision to blur. While he was glad to see a familiar face, he made sure not to look into Alazar’s eyes. He didn’t want to know what Death had in store for him.
“Do me a favor, just stay away from any bright lights, and don’t go with anyone wearing a dark suit, other than me. We need to keep you here. If you die, the best you can hope for is Purgatory, since you didn’t die from your attempted suicide. You reached out for help at the last minute. Even in Purgatory, you won’t be with Anjali, but at least you won’t be in pain. On the bright side, once you’ve spent enough time in Purgatory, you will be reincarnated and live another life in the Mortal Realm,” Alazar hated breaking the news to the kid, but he needed him to fight to stay alive.
“I won’t go. I want to be with her. I need to tell her something,” Derick’s body spasmed from the pain, making it harder to focus.
“Okay, just stay with me and you will see her again,” Alazar replied. Sacha would be proud of his lies. He needed to remember to tell him about it someday. Alazar had no idea what was happening with Maraquette and was desperate to find Anjali, but he had made a promise to protect Derick.
“I’m cold,” Derick whispered.
Alazar shook himself and remembered not to believe is own lies. He waved his hand and produced a blanket for Derick. He knew better than to move the kid somewhere more comfortable. Any one of his injuries could kill him.
“There, that’s better,” Alazar tried to figure out what to do.
“How did she find…?” Derick asked, but started coughing before he could finish his sentence.
Alazar ignored the blood on Derick’s mouth. He understood the question. “After Michael took me, Anjali found us flying over a lake. She created a storm that knocked Michael out of the sky. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt. Michael dropped me into a lake and I drowned, but it was worth it. When I woke up, I was in my old room and she was there with me. She healed my wounds and I pledged myself to her,” Alazar smiled when he spoke about his experience. He knew he shouldn’t tell the kid how much he loved Anjali, but he would rather have the kid hate him than lie about it. “Derick, I love her as much as you do, maybe more. She’s my Master. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I’m okay with that, if you’re okay with that. I know she needs you and you need her. I figured the whole Master thing was more complicated than you said. Is your Council mad at her for saving you?” Derick gurgled when he tried to clear his throat.
“Yeah. They’re looking for us. I don’t know what will happen. Her father was trying to convince the Council that I’m innocent. I have no idea if they will believe him. I’m also afraid of what they will do to Anjali since she attacked Michael. I swear I won’t let anyone hurt her,” Alazar said, hoping to ease Derick’s mind. “By the way, I should mention that your friend Pete is dead,” he wasn’t sure how Derick would take the news, but hoped it would bring him some measure of peace.
“Pete’s not my friend. He hasn’t been for a long time,” Derick whispered. “Be strong for her. Convince them that she did the right thing.”
“You’re the one who has to be strong. She will come for you, have faith,” Alazar said. The words weren’t lost on him. He was the one who had lost faith, but it was clear to him that it could be restored.
Derick closed his eyes and pictured Annie is his mind.
Alazar panicked when he saw the peaceful look on Derick’s face. The kid was fading fast, so much so that he didn’t believe Anjali would make it in time. He did the one thing he never thought he would do.
“Gabriel, I summon you!” Alazar’s voice called out to the Heavens, hoping that Gabriel would listen to him.
He waited for what seemed like an eternity before he heard the fluttering of wings. Relief filled him knowing that Gabriel would do anything for his daughter.
Gabriel prepared himself for an attack but was startled to find Alazar sitting next to a young man on the ground. His world stopped when he recognized the man.
“What happened?” Gabriel went immediately to Derick’s side.
“Aganon grabbed this boy and jumped off the tower under Maraquette’s orders. He is Anjali’s lover. She is confronting Maraquette as we speak. I chased down Aganon and one of Maraquette’s servants to save him. I failed,” Alazar summarized quickly.
“Obviously,” Gabriel snapped, his mind raced, searching for a way to help Derick.
“I volunteered to protect him. Gabriel, I tried to save him, I swear it. Maraquette used one of his friends against him. He shot me so that I couldn’t fly. You have to find Anjali and bring her here. I promised that I wouldn’t distract Anjali during her fight. I promised not to leave the kid until she arrived,” Alazar’s throat tightened. Anjali would lose her mind when she saw Derick. Gabriel looked distraught and he didn’t even know the kid.
“I know of Maraquette’s treachery. I should never have allowed you to travel to Romania,” Gabriel murmured while pushing Derick’s hair from his forehead.
Derick heard a familiar voice through the humming in his ears. He op
ened his eyes, surprised to see his mentor.
“Uncle Benjamin?” he asked in disbelief.
Alazar raised his eyebrow, but didn’t ask the obvious question.
“It’s all right my boy. I’m here. You must hang on. I will find your love,” Gabriel patted Derick’s hand and stood up. He smiled at Derick and disappeared.
Derick sighed. He believed his uncle, even if he didn’t understand what was happening.
Alazar wondered how Gabriel knew the boy, but didn’t want to interrogate Derick. Instead, he looked up through the dark sky and tried to determine how far the fall had been.
“How the hell did you survive that fall?” Alazar spoke more to himself than Derick.
“She didn’t tell me that I couldn’t take the brunt of the fall,” Aganon gurgled next to him.
Alazar turned his head, stunned by Aganon’s statement. The little weasel had found a way to help Derick after all. That’s why he held on to him and jumped. Derick would have died if Aganon hadn’t found the loophole.
“Thank you, Aganon. I’m sorry about the part where I said I would rip you to pieces,” Alazar smirked.
Aganon craned his neck to look at Alazar. “Why didn’t you kill me before you left Hell all those years ago?” he needed to know if the Angel of Death would finally have his revenge.
“Why would I have killed you? You were the servant that I hated the least,” Alazar shrugged, confused by Aganon’s strange question.
“For my part in what happened to Zacharael,” Aganon whispered.
Alazar carefully took Derick’s hand to let him know he was still with him. Shifting, he turned to look at Aganon whose arm was bent the wrong way.
“What are you talking about? Lucifer made Zacharael his bitch. What did you have to do with it?” Alazar snickered. The servant obviously had brain damage.
“Zacharael never succumbed to Lord Lucifer, no matter how much he was punished. I don’t think my Master has ever humiliated anyone as much as the Angel of Desire,” Aganon wheezed.
Alazar grew cold inside when he recalled the morning he saw Aganon leaving Zacharael’s room.
“What happened?” Alazar couldn’t contain his anger, but remembered not to crush Derick’s hand.
“Lord Lucifer sent me to summon you to the Throne Room. When I knocked on your door, I was surprised to find Zacharael in your place. I told him that Lord Lucifer was demanding that you appear before him. Zacharael said you were asleep and impossible to wake. Whatever Lord Lucifer wanted to say to you, he could say to Zacharael, because you spoke for each other. I didn’t care, so long as I didn’t return empty handed,” Aganon breathed in heavily, trying to continue. “Lord Lucifer was not pleased to see Zacharael, but he used the opportunity to beat Zacharael into submission. My Master had always been jealous of his beauty, as you know, but having him without you there to protect him made Lord Lucifer wild. He seized the opportunity to force Zacharael to take him as his Master, but Zacharael refused. Frustrated, my Master had me chain Zacharael so that he could beat him senseless. Hades wasn’t present and there was no one else to stop him. Zacharael should have died from the brutal beating, but of course, he couldn’t. When Lord Lucifer was done, he swore me to silence and made me return Zacharael to his room. That’s when you saw me leaving his room. I thought Zacharael would tell you what happened and that you would raze Hell to the ground, but instead you left Hell days later without a battle. I truly thought you would murder us both. I know my Master was grateful to have escaped your wrath. Why didn’t you or the other Predznak seek revenge?” Aganon had always feared Alazar’s return and with it his rage.
Alazar was stunned into silence. All these years he had thought Zacharael had betrayed him, when in fact it was the other way around. Selfishly, he had ignored Zacharael for days after the incident. He’d been so angry with him that he never spoke to him about it. It explained the bruises he’d seen. He could hardly breathe when he thought about what Zacharael had endured. Zacharael had protected him from Lucifer’s cruelty. How could he have been so wrong about his brother?
He needed to find Zacharael and beg for his forgiveness, but first he needed to avenge his brother. Lucifer would feel his wrath for what he had done.
∞
“We need to hurry if you want to watch Derick draw his last breaths into his broken body,” Maraquette held the crisscrossed swords against Anjali’s neck, careful to keep a wide-eyed Mrs. Pavel between her and the Destroyer.
Maraquette hoped her servants had everything under control without her, but she was concerned. She would gut them if they failed in their missions.
Anjali looked into Mrs. Pavel’s eyes and saw what she was looking for. She carefully reached around her back and summoned a sword to her hand. “I’m sorry Marina Pavel, but it’s time.”
Anjali quickly thrust the sword straight through Mrs. Pavel’s stomach and up through Maraquette’s chest, while dropping under the swords at her neck.
An intense pain blossomed in Maraquette’s stomach and chest. Confused, she dropped the swords and tried to back away from Mrs. Pavel, but found that they were connected.
Anjali pulled the sword out and grabbed Mrs. Pavel when she fell to the ground. Maraquette stumbled backward into a pile of weapons, clinging to her blood drenched stomach in disbelief.
Mrs. Pavel nodded to Anjali and whispered, “I am ready for death and accept my punishment.” She closed her eyes and was gone.
Anjali gently put her down, knowing that she would see her again soon.
“The next time you use a mortal as a shield, make sure that she isn’t Hell-bound for poisoning her abusive husband, you twit,” Anjali lurched over to a stunned Maraquette and held the point of the sword at her throat.
Maraquette tried to speak, but blood bubbled up out of her mouth. Unfortunately, the sword hadn’t penetrated her heart. While it hadn’t been a deathblow, the sword had done enough damage to subdue the angel.
“Radek, I summon you,” Anjali called to the sky.
Radek appeared with a smile and Celestial Bonds.
“You look like you’ve been in a knife fight and lost,” Radek said drolly.
“Better than a gun fight, besides, I won,” she shrugged.
Maraquette used the last ounce of her strength to grip the axe lying next to her on the ground, disappear, and reappear behind a distracted Anjali. Stark rage filled her and she swung the axe at the Destroyer’s pretty head.
Anjali turned in time to see the axe swinging directly at her neck. A force kicked out the back of her knees, dropping her awkwardly through the air and down to the ground. Blood sprayed on top of her and covered her face and dress. Looking up, she saw the reason for the blood. Radek’s head tumbled to the floor, bumping along the uneven piles of weapons. The thud from his falling body echoed in her ears.
Radek was dead. Her only friend in Hell had died to protect her. Anger overtook her senses. Her ring had no chance of containing the rage that exploded from her body. Time stood still as the room quaked and the weapons clattered.
Maraquette was thrown across the room when the raw power burst forth from Anjali, causing everything in its path to take to the air.
Maraquette crashed against the wall while swords and daggers clanged all around her. Two swords pierced her body, one in her hip and one in her shoulder, securing her to the wall. She screamed in agony and fear, trying to protect herself from the flying weapons and debris with her arms.
Peering through her arms, she saw Anjali standing before her, possessed. Her eyes were glowing and the wind swirled around her. While she didn’t fear God, the Celestial Warriors, or the Predznak, she did fear the Destroyer. She held pure destruction within her and could easily erase her from existence. Shaking, she held out her hand, pleading for Anjali to stop her attack.
“I surrender,” Maraquette screeched.
“You should have done that before you killed Radek,” Anjali’s voice was not her own.
Before she could reach Ma
raquette, the sound of wings flapping drowned out the noise of the rumbling floor and the wind humming in her ears. Blue and white saturated the dark room as Celestial Warriors stood shoulder to shoulder, surrounding her. Their wings were at half-mast and each warrior held a blue glowing Celestial Sword in their hand.
The unusual sight was enough to take break Anjali’s concentration and allow her anger to ebb. She took a deep breath and relaxed, allowing her power to snake back inside of her.
“Anjali, stop. This is not your fight,” a burly angel to her right called out.
She had no idea who he was, but she gave him her best, “run away before I kill you too” look. He seemed surprised by her lack of acquiescence.
“She’s the one who attacked me. Moments ago she tried to kill me and instead took the head of Lucifer’s servant,” Anjali sneered. She wasn’t about to let the warrior tell her what to do.
An angel to her left snapped Celestial Bonds onto Maraquette’s wrists. He pointed his sword at Maraquette’s neck and refused to take his eyes off her.
“Anjali, I am General Tabbris. The Council has ordered me to take Maraquette into custody. She is to stand trial so they may determine her involvement in multiple crimes against Heaven. We will take it from here,” Tabbris spoke authoritatively. He put away his sword and stood tall, waiting for her to back down, proving that he was neither afraid of her, nor concerned about her power.
“Trust me; she is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Anjali shot back at Tabbris, unimpressed by his cocky stance.
Tabbris took a step closer, making sure that Anjali understood that he would drag her back to Hell in chains, if necessary. “That is for the Council to decide, not you. The Council is demanding that you return to Lucifer’s Throne Room immediately. They wish to speak to you at once regarding your alleged attack on Lord Michael. If you have possession of the Angel of Death, he is to appear before them as well.”
The Third Throne: Angel of Death Page 54
