“Did the creature tell you anything else you think we should know? Is there anything else essential that you’re not telling us?”
Kara shook her head like a stubborn child. Her head was spinning. “No. I’ve told you everything.”
Jeremiel watched her carefully. Kara was sure he knew she was lying, but he didn’t question her anymore.
“Kara Nightingale, you have done well. The Council thanks you for your services. You are to return to level five. The archangel Ariel awaits your return. You will be informed if we seek another audience with you. That is all for today. This meeting is adjourned. You may go.”
She had a strange feeling she would be back in front of the Council very soon. After mumbling her thanks awkwardly, she ran across the chamber, smiled, and bolted out of the large iron doors.
Chapter 21
A Gift for a Friend
The sun was a yellow disk in the blue afternoon sky. A warm breeze carried the smell of freshly cut grass and summer blooms. The street was alive with the sounds of people scurrying in and out of shops and the screeching of tires on asphalt.
Kara smiled at three little boys who had their faces squished up against the glass window from a comic book store. Their mothers peeled them away angrily, shouting about oily finger marks on the glass.
“Poor kids,” said Jenny. “I put forehead and finger marks all over the windows on my block, and that was probably why the owners chased me out all the time. I used to think it was because they didn’t like my hair.”
Kara smelled fresh coffee. “I love your hair. It makes you look like a cool fairy.”
“Thanks,” Jenny giggled. She sighed loudly. “I’m so happy Peter and David didn’t get in trouble for their experiment with you. I wish I could have been there—it sounded so cool.”
“Well, I’m never doing that again. It kinda hurt them—and me. But I’m really happy we’re not in too much trouble. To be honest, I wasn’t sure we’d get away with it. We were crazy to do it, you know, but we didn’t really have any alternative. I think the Council is freaked out about the whole Lilith thing.”
Jenny stared at the ground, her face withdrawn. “I hope we don’t bump into that bleached psycho anytime soon.”
Kara clenched her jaw and didn’t answer. The truth was, she felt as though Lilith could pop by for a visit anytime. What’s worse, with her talent for shape shifting, Lilith could disguise herself as anyone. She doubted that her half-sister would use the little girl disguise again.
Kara stared at the faces she passed on the street. Lilith could be any one of them.
Kara frowned. There was no way of telling. She knew that the demon princess still wasn’t finished with her.
“So…what’s the assignment?” asked Jenny a little more cheerfully. “You haven’t told me anything since we jumped. I saw you whispering to David and Peter before we left. What was that about? I saw how they looked at me. What’s going on, Kara? And why are we back in Boston?”
Kara smiled. “You’ll see. We’re almost there. It’s just—”
A long black leather coat appeared and then disappeared in the crowd.
Kara froze. Her hand grazed the handle of her soul blade inside her jacket. She strained to see down the street through the mass of mortals. The coat was gone. Had she imagined it?
Jenny stepped beside Kara and searched her face. “Kara? What is it? Did you see something?”
Kara shook her head gently. “I…I thought I saw something. I’m sure it’s nothing. Don’t worry. It isn’t part of the assignment.”
“Can you at least tell me where we’re going?”
Kara pointed straight ahead. “There. We’re going in there.”
Jenny frowned and put her hands on her hips. “In the coffee shop? There’s a Rift in there? Come on Kara. What’s really going on?”
“Can’t tell you—official CDD business—top secret. Come.”
Kara laughed and ushered Jenny forward. She stopped in front of a red brick shop with a large wooden sign that read, One Stop Café. She wrapped her fingers around the cold iron door handle and pulled.
The aroma of fresh coffee hovered like a pungent mist and rows of freshly baked pastries and breads were displayed on the counters of the little store. A variety of round tables and chairs occupied a small space in the center. Kara studied the people sitting at the tables. Her eyes fell on a handsome young man with dark hair and grey eyes.
Jenny followed her gaze. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “Kara…what is this? What is really going on?”
She turned and looked at her friend, confused.
Kara didn’t answer and only gave her friend a huge smile.
“Wait a minute…I don’t understand.” Jenny leaned closer. “How did you find him? How did you even know? I never told anyone.”
Kara smiled confidently. “I have my sources.” Kara laughed softly again. “Go on—talk to him. He won’t recognize you, but you’ll seem familiar to him. Go and be with him. You have three hours—you can be anyone you want.”
Jenny squeezed Kara in a bear hug. “I don’t know what to say to thank you.” Jenny squeezed her tighter. “You’re the best, Kara. I owe you one.”
Jenny released Kara and scampered through the tables and chairs to stand next to the boy with dark hair. He looked up at her and smiled. Kara noted how white his teeth were. He was even more handsome when he smiled. She watched as Jenny and he conversed for a moment, and then he pulled the chair next to him and invited Jenny to sit.
Jenny settled in the chair. She turned and waved back to Kara, a huge smile plastered on her face.
A lump choked Kara’s throat. This meant the world to her—to see her friend so happy. Jenny deserved the world. She was an amazing girl. If Kara had to lie and sneak out of CDD for a few hours for a friend—it was worth it just to see that smile. In fact, she’d do it again in a minute.
The mortal world was safe for the time being, and Kara was really looking forward to going back home and spending more quality time with David. They still had a movie to catch—
Woof, woof!
A white and tan bulldog stood at her feet. Its big serious brown eyes stared up at her under thick folds of skin. Buckets of drool ran down the sides of his droopy jowls. A red and white polka dot collar was wrapped around his thick neck.
“Thor!” Kara knelt down and patted the dog on the head. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was paying attention. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
Thor licked his lips. “I smelled you out.”
“Thanks.” Kara glared at the dog. “It’s nice to see you, too. You don’t smell like flowers either, you know.” She wasn’t sure if she was happy to see the little fellow anymore.
“Never said I did. And you’re welcome.” Thor sat down with a plop. His scrawny little legs protruded from under his giant belly. “Listen—I’m not here to mingle over a latte—you need to come with me. There’s been an attack.”
Kara leaned closer. “What kind of attack?” By the amounts of drool flying out of the dog’s maw, it sounded serious.
“There’s been an attack on the sensitives—a massacre—they’re almost all dead. Only a few have survived.”
“What!” Kara’s voice rose before she could control it. She saw Jenny whirl around, but she dismissed her with a wave of her hand and a fake smile. She lowered her voice. “How can this have happened? Who did it?”
A deep growl formed in Thor’s throat. “The seirs.”
And now a sneak peek at SEIRS
Chapter 1
Bloodbath
A warm breeze brushed her face as Kara rushed through the throng of mortals who crowded the elaborate maze of streets. She tried her best to follow the English bulldog that ran at her side, staying close to the buildings and out of the thickest of the commotion. The smells ran from foul to fragrant. There was a faint mist of exhaust fumes with a hint of blossoms. She sl
id past men in suits arguing loudly on their cell phones, women balancing large shopping bags while they tried to hang on to their children, and teens huddled together as they laughed excitedly about something on their smart phones. Kara ignored the beautiful lush park and the sweet aroma of the summer blooms. She didn’t even glance at the Golden Retriever puppies in the window of the pet shop.
She didn’t have time to stop.
“How far is it till we get there?” whispered Kara as she sidled around a large woman sucking a soda drink through a straw. “The mortals are giving me looks.”
Thor dove under the legs of an elderly man with a walking stick and kept his eyes on the street. “Not far. Just after the next block.”
Kara accidentally rammed her shoulder into a man. He glowered at her. “I’m so sorry, excuse me. I didn’t see you there. I said I was sorry.” She twisted around him and ran to catch up to Thor.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she blurted out loudly to the dog. She disregarded the confused looks that the passing mortals gave her. It seemed only fair to her that she should know what was going on.
Thor halted and turned. His gray tongue hung out the side of his jaw and grazed the sidewalk in a sloppy mess. “You’ll see when we get there. Then you’ll understand. I just can’t talk about it right now—especially here.” His big brown eyes looked about uneasily. He lifted his snout and sniffed the air. With a bounce in his step, he turned and scurried down the street.
Pressure weighed on Kara’s chest, and she pressed on. She had been on an unauthorized excursion to a Boston coffee shop with Jenny when Thor had suddenly appeared. There had been an attack on the Sensitives. If Thor had known where she was, that meant that the legion also knew.
Leaving Jenny to her own devices, Kara had followed Thor out of the shop.
She wasn’t sorry she had lied about a possible rift to the Counter Demon Division. In fact, she would do it again to see that smile on Jenny’s face when she hooked her up with that handsome teen. Jenny had nearly died in the netherworld, and she deserved a break and a little fun. Perhaps guardian angels were good at hiding their emotions, but it didn’t mean they didn’t have feelings. Kara wanted to do something meaningful for her friend, even if she undoubtedly knew she was breaking some sacred law. She was aware her actions would probably cost her a demotion in the legion or worse—a trip to Tartarus, the angel prison, her favorite of all places. But it seemed that the recent attacks on the Sensitives had saved her the trip.
And right now, it appeared Tartarus was the least of her problems.
Kara’s knees buckled at the thought of those evil Seirs slaughtering the Sensitives in a merciless attack. A chill rolled up her back as she remembered the wicked grins painted on the hideous faces of the Seirs. The horrifying tattooed eyes on the back of their heads seemed to follow her wherever she went. Their long black leather coats and death blades haunted her. Although they had once been Sensitives, gifted with the ability to see the supernatural, the Seirs had turned evil and had sworn an allegiance to the netherworld. Now they had become enemies that the guardian angels couldn’t fight or kill. Like all guardian angels, Kara had sworn an oath to protect all mortals, and although the Seirs were the most sinister of all, they were still mortals and were not to be touched. The Seirs were off limits.
Kara glowered and clenched her jaw, resolving that somehow she would find a way to stop them. Someone had to, and she might as well be that someone.
She remembered the kind faces and the confident gleam in the eyes of the Sensitives who had saved her and her friends from the Seirs in the warehouse a week ago. They had been so elegant in their suits and fedora hats, like the gangsters from the old movies she loved to watch with her grandmother. But if the Sensitives had been so skilled with their gleaming swords and so well trained in the martial arts, how had the Seirs defeated them in these recent attacks? Was Lilith behind these assaults?
Somehow, Kara had the nasty feeling that she was.
The Seirs followed Lilith’s commands like obedient dogs. They had been promised power and immortality, and in return they did Lilith’s bidding. When Kara had rescued Jenny from their clutches, Lilith had promised that she would avenge her father’s death. It appeared as though Lilith’s revenge had already begun.
Kara’s last visit to the netherworld had left her feeling troubled. She hadn’t shared the conversations she’d had with Morthdu, the keeper of the netherworld, with anyone—not even with David. It was bad enough to be marked, to be a demon spawn. She couldn’t blame the legion for being suspicious of her—they must have known that they had traitors among them. Kara knew not only that she was Asmodeus’s daughter, but that she also shared a link with Morthdu. It would be a mistake to tell anybody about that.
The green entity had said, The darkness lives within you...
Kara shivered at the thought. She knew that she was part of the netherworld and had an unmistakable connection to another conscious level. What the green sun had told her was all true—Kara had the darkness inside her.
But how did it get there?
Since her trip to the netherworld she had been obsessed with what Morthdu had told her. She replayed the conversations in her head over and over again. Had she missed something? Had she misheard Morthdu? Kara repeatedly tried to deny it, but in the end she knew she had a darkness in her—she felt it. But she desperately wanted to share it with someone, that way they could tell her it wasn’t true. It ate at her, like a flesh eating disease, like cold hands wrapped around her neck choking the angel life out of her.
And yet she couldn’t shake off her thrill for that power and for more...
Kara shuddered. Was that the darkness?
What’s worse, the more she used her elemental powers, the more she felt drawn to the netherworld. She tried to deny it, but the sensation was intoxicating. Part of her wanted to explore these feelings—and the other part was absolutely terrified at what this meant.
She wasn’t like her late father or her half-sister Lilith. She was one of the good guys.
The brick buildings around them cast long shadows, and Kara hurried to catch up to Thor. He tore around the next corner at the end of the block. A wall of brownstone buildings loomed before them. Thor dashed across the street. Kara ignored the loud comments of having her dog off leash by a middle aged couple and galloped behind him. He hurtled up a set of concrete stairs that led to a large black wooden door. Kara was amazed at the agility of the bulldog’s grubby little legs.
The stone building was a warm brown color, and Kara imagined that the brick was made of chocolate. How she missed the taste of chocolate melting on her tongue! Her mortal days already seemed so far away.
Vibrant flower boxes with a variety of purple pansies and blood-red geraniums hung below the tall windows of the neighboring buildings, but the flowers hanging from the windows of the chocolate-brown building were dead. A single candle burned in one of the lower windows.
Thor scrambled onto the side metal railing and pressed a paw on the dagger shaped brass doorbell. After a few seconds, there was a buzzing sound, a click, and the door unlocked. Thor jumped down onto the veranda and pushed open the door with his flat face.
Kara closed the door behind her. The floorboards creaked as she stepped out of the foyer and followed Thor down a hall. Intricate moldings decorated the walls like icing on a fancy cake. It was like a grand hotel, but on a smaller scale. The sound of Kara’s boots was stifled by lush Persian carpets that ran the length of the hall. The dim lighting from a large chandelier cast a sullen light, and Kara could hear mumbling voices. The air smelled of disinfectant and blood.
Thor disappeared through a doorway at the end of the hall. Kara stepped behind him across the threshold.
David, Peter, and some Sensitives were already inside. In front of them, the bodies of men and women lay tangled over one another with their limbs twisted hideously. Gaping wounds slashed across their necks, and their empty hands clutched a
t their throats in a last attempt to keep the blood from pouring out.
The grisly scene horrified her and yet compelled her to investigate closer. It was like a crime scene from one of the television police shows she loved to watch with her mother. Blood covered the walls as though buckets of red paint had been thrown against them. Kara searched but could find no weapons.
A young woman with swollen red eyes had begun to wash the blood from the floors. She wiped her wet nose with her sleeve and swabbed a pink cloth on the floorboards. Her long blonde hair fell over her face. She pushed it back and mumbled incomprehensively as she worked vigorously at the dark maroon stains which were seeping into the floorboards.
David and Peter stood by the far wall next to a large bay window. The soft light cast shadows under their eyes. Peter looked as though he was about to be sick. She shared a look with David before she forced her feelings for him out of her mind. This wasn’t the time or place to be affectionate.
“Where’s Jenny?” asked David in a low voice. He brushed up against Kara. “I thought she was with you.”
Kara averted her eyes. “She’s still at the coffee shop. I told her we’d meet up with her later. I didn’t tell her about this. Thor didn’t give me much anyway.”
David raked his blond disheveled hair with his fingers and sighed. “Not what you expected, huh? Those Seirs are pretty messed up. You have to be seriously psychotic to do this to other mortals. They need to be taught a lesson.” David cracked his knuckles. “I wish the legion could let us revoke our oaths for a few minutes—just enough to kill a few of them.”
“I wish we could have done something.” With his hands in his pockets, Peter teetered back and forth on the balls of his feet. “I feel so useless.”
Kara squeezed his shoulder gently. “So do I, Peter. I wish we could have helped in some way. These poor people didn’t deserve to die like this.” Kara sighed loudly. “It’s horrible.”
Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 Page 18
