by S. J. West
“Answers to what?” I ask, wondering now who the true interrogator in that room had been.
“I wanted to know exactly what it was they were planning to do to this world,” Lucifer says, sounding drowsy again, like he’s about to fall back to sleep.
“What did you learn?” I ask urgently.
Lucifer chuckles. “Wouldn’t you like to know…?”
I see his head loll to the side, indicating that he’s fallen back to sleep.
I let out a small growl of frustration.
“Why does he have to be so insufferable?” I ask Michael.
“It’s just his way,” Michael replies. “However, now you know he learned some things during his time with Lucian and the others.”
“You know he won’t tell me what he knows unless it benefits him somehow.”
“That is also his way,” Michael acknowledges.
The door to the metal box opens, and Malcolm steps inside.
“I just came down to make sure you weren’t having any problems with him,” Malcolm says, looking into the cell where Lucifer is laying. “Has he woken up yet?”
“For a moment, but he seems to be asleep again.”
Malcolm holds out his right hand to me. “Give me the sedative Brand gave you. I don’t want Rafe going in there unless we’re sure Lucifer’s completely out.”
I pull the silver cylinder from my belt and hand it to Malcolm. I go through the security scan again to open the cell door so he can go inside to administer the shot.
I watch Malcolm kneel down beside the cot and remove the cap of the cylinder. Michael vanishes from my sight, since I’m no longer alone.
“It’s about time,” Lucifer says, still sounding drugged as his head slowly moves on his pillow in order to look at Malcolm. “I was wondering how long it would take before I saw you kneel down before me.”
Without any warning, Malcolm stabs the needle into Lucifer’s chest.
“I will never truly kneel to you,” Malcolm promises Lucifer with conviction.
“We’ll see…” Lucifer replies, before fading into what I hope is a deep sleep.
Malcolm considers Lucifer for a moment before standing and walking out of the cell.
“Rafe is almost through healing Ava,” Malcolm tells me. “I’ll bring him down here when he’s ready.”
Before Malcolm can phase away, I grab his arm. “Wait.”
Malcolm looks at me questioningly.
“What happened to Ava’s husband?” I say, remembering how he joined our fight in the end to help us escape.
Malcolm shakes his head slowly. “He didn’t make it. Mammon showed up and killed him.”
“Why did he help us?”
Malcolm shrugs. “I don’t know the real reason, but, if I were to guess, I think he realized how much he loved Ava. It was only after he saw her in Peyton’s arms that he fought to help get her out.”
“But he’s the one who set her up in the first place,” I say, remembering the scene at the Dome of the Rock. From what was said, it appeared that Micah purposely let Ava hear Gabriel say where they were going for their secret meeting, to prove that she was the one leaking information to the resistance.
“Maybe he ended up regretting doing that to her,” Malcolm suggests. “Whatever the reason, he sacrificed himself for her in the end. You only do that for someone you love.”
“Is Mia here?” I ask.
“Yes. She’s staying with Abby and Tristan, in their cage, while she’s transformed. I’ll take her to be with Ava first thing in the morning.”
I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing Ava’s daughter is somewhere safe.
Mason walks into the box. His hair is still wet from his shower, and he’s dressed simply in a white t-shirt and jeans.
“I’ll be back with Rafe,” Malcolm tells us.
While we wait, I tell Mason what Lucifer said.
“He might have learned something, or he might just want you to think that he did,” Mason says. “I can’t say for sure until I hear him myself, but your instincts are usually close to mine. What do you think?”
“I think he got the information he wanted from them,” I say, “but I don’t think he’ll share that knowledge with us, unless it benefits him in some way.”
“Agreed,” Mason says. “Don’t give him anything, Jess. Odds are he’ll want something from you.”
“I don’t know what I have that he would want, or that I would be willing to trade,” I say.
“There’s no telling with him,” Mason says, unable to keep his contempt for Lucifer out of his voice.
A few minutes later, Malcolm walks back into the box, with Rafe and Nina. After I open the door, all of us go into the cell to make sure Lucifer doesn’t do anything to Rafe while he’s in there.
“What a mess,” Rafe says, examining Lucifer’s injuries.
“Why don’t we just leave him to heal on his own?” Malcolm suggests, obviously having very little pity for Lucifer in his current condition.
“You know we need him,” I say. “And someone we care about needs his help.”
Only Mason knows I’m referring to Leah’s mother. The others just look at me questioningly, waiting for me to explain myself. I tell them about Xiulan.
“Poor Leah,” Rafe says, looking distressed. “Does she know?”
I shake my head. “No, and please don’t say anything to her about it. Xiulan should be given the opportunity to tell her…and to say goodbye.”
“Maybe it would have been better if Leah had never found her mother here,” Nina says.
“No,” I say. “I think Leah needed to spend this time with her mom. Otherwise, she would have gone through her life always wondering what happened to her, and not knowing why she left her with Remy. Losing Xiulan will be difficult, probably one of hardest things she’ll ever experience, but knowing that her mother truly does love her is something she’ll have for the rest of her life.”
“We’ll be there for her,” Mason says, placing a comforting arm around my shoulders. “She’ll have us to lean on.”
As we all stand and watch Rafe use his gift of healing and Moses’ staff to mend Lucifer’s wounds, I can’t help but tear up, because I know this puts us one step closer to helping Xiulan escape the rotting corpse she’s living inside. I hope we can find a way to help her before she loses herself to the pain, like so many others around the world have. I haven’t watched the news for almost a week, and I’m afraid to ask how bad things have gotten. No one has bothered to mention it, and I’ve had more pressing matters on my mind.
Now that the carriers of the fourth seal’s trial have been dealt with, I have to wonder why the princes haven’t broken the fifth seal yet. What are they waiting for? In fact, why didn’t they simply unleash all of the seals at one time? What is the purpose of waiting months, sometimes years, to open the next seal?
I’m hoping Lucifer can answer those questions for me. Even if he can, I’m certain he won’t do it out of the goodness of his heart, if there is any goodness left.
My thoughts travel back to the first night we arrived here. Lucifer could have easily let Lucian and the others take me, possibly even kill me, but he didn’t. Instead, he acted as my protector and helped me escape. If there wasn’t some good left in him, I don’t believe he would have done that. I had to keep my faith that buried deep down inside him was a kernel of good that could be nurtured to grow. Perhaps, with just a little bit of kindness, I can help him become a better person.
After Rafe finishes healing Lucifer’s body, Nina drapes a black blanket over his naked form.
“After the drugs wear off,” Rafe says, “he should be fine.”
“How long do you think it will take for the drugs to break down in his system?” I ask.
“I would say not very long,” Rafe answers. “After he wakes up, he should be back to normal.”
“Which isn’t necessarily a good thing,” Malcolm quips.
“How is Ava?” I ask Nina as we all make
our way out of the cell, since there’s nothing else we can do until Lucifer awakens.
“Physically, she’s fine, but Brand was getting ready to tell her about Micah when we left to come down here. To be honest, I didn’t even realize Micah loved her that much,” Nina says, sounding surprised by Micah’s sacrifice.
“I guess you never know what someone is truly feeling until they’re forced to face it themselves,” I tell her.
“Maybe,” Nina reluctantly agrees, briefly glancing in Rafe’s direction.
“Nina,” I say, instantly thinking up an excuse to get her alone, “do you think you could take me to the graveyard in Lakewood? I would like to see if Tara has left us anything.”
“I think Jered and Tristan were there earlier,” Nina says, looking confused by my request. “They didn’t find anything.”
“You never know,” I say with a casual shrug. “She might have left something after they left. It shouldn’t take us long to find out.”
“Are you hungry?” Mason asks me, not needing an explanation for my sudden request to go somewhere alone with Nina. “Would you like me to make you something while you’re gone?”
“I would love a pie,” I tell him. “Any kind of pie.”
“Pie it is, then,” Mason says, leaning over to give me a quick kiss on the lips.
After we all walk out of the graviton cage, I hold my hand out to Nina. She takes it, and phases us to the graveyard.
“I assume,” Nina says, looking at me warily as she lets go of my hand, “that this was just an excuse to get me alone and talk about what happened tonight.”
“You assume right,” I tell her, facing her fully. “Would you have really killed Dillon if Peyton hadn’t helped us?”
Nina’s expression remains guarded, not giving away her true thoughts as she asks, “What do you think?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” I tell her. “I would like to think you were just bluffing, but Peyton didn’t seem to have any problem believing you would do exactly what you said.”
“Her reaction was something I was counting on,” Nina tells me. “Very few people forget what you did in the past, especially if it was bad. I was surprised when Brand offered me a place with him and his group. They were willing to help me find my way again and not hold my earlier transgressions against me.”
“I heard you say that you never gave in to the curse. What else could you have done that was so bad?” I have to ask.
Nina stares at me for a moment, as if she’s debating with herself whether or not she will answer my question. Finally, she makes up her mind.
“I knew drinking blood would damn me forever,” she says, “so I fought against the urge. I still fight against it. We all do. If it wasn’t for Brand taking me under his wing, I might have given in to that need a long time ago.”
“What made you resist it in the first place?”
“Have you ever had something you loved with every fiber of your being taken away from you?”
I shake my head.
“Heaven was that thing for me. I knew if I drank human blood, and failed the trials our father was putting us through, I would never be allowed to go back there.”
“But you’ve killed people, right?” I ask, trying to understand where she is making the distinction.
“Yes,” she admits. “I’ve killed to satisfy my anger.”
“Humans?” I ask.
“Yes. I’ve killed them in combat.”
“Even if you gave them a fair chance to beat you, you had to know they didn’t have a hope in hell of winning.”
“Of course I knew,” Nina says, “but, in my mind, it didn’t matter.”
“Peyton didn’t have any problem believing you would kill a Watcher child. Have you killed them before?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Before I joined Brand, I thought I was helping by thinning their numbers. They provided me with a more challenging fight than humans, but they were just as easy to kill in the end.”
“Do you still enjoy killing?”
“Yes,” Nina answers honestly.
“Would you have killed Dillon tonight?” I ask again.
“I needed Peyton to believe I would.”
“Would you have killed Dillon?” I ask more stridently, needing a yes or no answer from her.
Nina lowers her head, looking at the ground before quietly saying, “No.”
“Are you sure?” I demand, wondering if she’s telling me the truth or just saying what I want to hear.
Nina raises her gaze to meet mine.
“There was a time in my life that I could have done exactly what I said and not felt an ounce of guilt over it,” she admits. “However, that isn’t me. I’m not that person anymore.”
“I assume you understand why I’m asking you these questions,” I say.
“Yes,” Nina replies. “You’re worried about Rafe, and what effect being with someone like me could have on him.”
“Do I need to be worried?”
“No. I would never hurt Rafe.”
“This probably isn’t any of my business,” I say, “but I would like to know if anything has changed between the two of you during the last two weeks. I’ve barely seen him long enough to say hello, much less have a serious discussion with him about his love life.”
“He’s… expressed his feelings for me,” Nina says uncomfortably.
I want her to say more, but it’s obvious she won’t without a little prodding.
“And what did you say?”
“I told him that I respected him,” Nina says, as if this were a perfectly reasonable response to what was probably Rafe’s declaration of love. If he ‘expressed his feelings’, I couldn’t imagine him saying anything else of significance.
“How did he take the brush-off?” I ask.
Nina looks confused. “I didn’t brush him off. I let him know that I thought highly of him.”
“Yeah,” I say, drawing the word out, “that’s what we call a brush-off, Nina, which I totally understand. If you don’t care for him romantically, you definitely needed to let him know.”
Nina’s expression turns to one of worry. “Do you think that’s the way he took it?”
“How else was he supposed to take it? When a man tells a woman he loves her, he only does it hoping that she’ll say it back. If you told him you respected him, I’m sure he took it as you saying you only want to be his friend.”
Nina closes her eyes and shakes her head. “That’s why he’s been acting so odd lately.” Nina opens her eyes to look at me and says, “He’s been friendly, mostly because I don’t think he knows how to be any other way with people, but he’s also been keeping his distance, never saying more than what needs to be said.”
“Ok, you’re confusing me,” I tell her. “And, if I’m confused, I’m sure he’s confused. What exactly do you want? A friend or something more?”
“I was hoping to explore the ‘something more’ option,” Nina admits, sounding worried she might have missed her opportunity.
“Have you ever been in a romantic relationship before?” I ask, wondering how Nina could miss the mark by such a huge margin.
“Only with the man I was with when I broke my vow to God,” Nina tells me, “but that ended shortly after God cursed us. I left him because all I could think about was killing him. I laid the blame for the curse on him for a very long time. It took me a while to realize I was the one who should have been stronger.”
“If you truly care for Rafe as more than just a friend, then you need to show him.”
“How?” Nina asks, looking slightly desperate for some good advice.
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “It has to come from your heart, Nina. I could stand here and tell you some things to do, but it would mean a lot more to Rafe if you came up with it on your own.”
“Planning a strategy for a war would be much simpler for me,” Nina says in all seriousness.
I can’t help but
laugh softly at her plight.
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” I say. “Just don’t wait too long to do it.”
Now that I feel a little better about Nina, I turn to search out Utha Mae’s grave. As I walk up to it, I notice a fresh bouquet of daisies in the stone vase underneath her chiseled name. I sigh in disappointment, because I don’t immediately see anything else left behind by Tara to help us understand more about Project T-7.
I sit down beside the grave and reach out to touch the silky texture of the flowers’ petals. Unexpectedly, I feel something hard against my fingers. I grab hold of the small metallic object hidden within the bunch of flowers, and pull it out.
I stare at the miniature trumpet in my hands, wondering why Tara left it behind.
I hear Nina gasp as she sees what I’m holding.
“How could we be so stupid?” she asks softly, more to herself than to me.
“Do you know what this means?” I ask her.
“Yes,” she says with a small nod. “It all makes sense now.”
“What are they looking for?” I ask as my heart beats so fast it feels as though it might jump out of my chest.
Nina holds out her hand. “Come on,” she says. “We need to go back to the others.”
“Nina,” I say, slipping my hand into hers and gripping it tightly, “what does this mean?”
“It means they don’t plan to stop after all the seals are opened,” Nina tells me grimly. “They’re planning to sound the trumpets, too.”
CHAPTER TEN
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s to always be as prepared as possible before going into any situation. For the last few years, I studied the Book of Revelation to make sure I knew what to expect when we got here. I knew exactly what Nina was referring to when she said the princes planned to ‘sound the trumpets’. According to the Bible, after the seven seals have been opened, seven trumpets will be blown by seven angels. With each trumpet blast, another trial begins; each one worse than the one preceding it. It was something we definitely needed to stop.
Nina phases us directly to the kitchen. Mason is standing behind the granite- topped kitchen island, peeling some red apples, while Brand rolls out some dough, presumably to make a piecrust.
