She finished typing, and moved her hand to hover over the enter key, waiting for my response. For the first time since Sarah had disappeared, I gave pause, and that pause led me to doubt. What if she was right? I had been tired, empty, and emotionless. I had been acting on instinct, keeping the balance, and feeling nothing. I had sought out the mark, searched for it in hope of finding some kind of salvation. I looked up at Charis, her face a bunched mess of worry at my hesitation.
What if my path had led me here not to fight the Beast, but to help set him free? My emotions were a tangled nest that I couldn’t sort. I looked back to Rachel, pleading with her eyes, begging me to listen to her reason. I couldn’t deny I had been unhappy, drained by my position in the universe. What if I did free the Beast? What if it destroyed everything? I would be free from the prison I had put myself in. We would all be free of the constant battle, the so-called balance. Did it matter if everything else was gone too, if I wasn’t around to know it?
My anger began to fade. I leaned in and kissed Rachel on the forehead. “Thank you,” I said to her.
“Landon?” Charis said. I could feel her power building, preparing to fight me. I turned my head towards her.
“She’s right,” I said. “I don’t want to always be at war. I don’t want this to be my eternity. I need more than this.”
Her power kept growing, but she didn’t presume to unleash it. She had seen the essence of who I was, and so she held onto her own doubts. She was still unsure, because she could only know who I was when we had been in the cave. She didn’t know who I was right now.
I put my hand on Rachel’s chair and rolled her away from the computer. “If you care for me,” I said, “tell me what’s in the file.” I could have opened it and found out for myself. That wasn’t the point.
Rachel’s eyes met mine, and she smiled sadly. “A list of the owners and locations of all the texts you collected. Each of them has been tasked with keeping the marks safe. I know you have the original sources, but the important passages have been transcribed. They’ve been digitally encrypted and spread throughout the internet, but the keepers have the keys. All except one. That one you can only get from one place.”
“Lucifer’s Bible?” I guessed.
She nodded. “The name of the servant who holds it is in the file, and only they know its location. Few of us have ever seen even that much.”
“Why did you get to see it?”
“I had to have access, so I could show it to you if need be,” she said. “We’ve planned for everything.”
Charis’ eyes followed me closely as I moved over to the computer. Her power was still gathered, but I knew now she wouldn’t use it unless I moved on her first. It was a bad decision, because I was sure I could hit her faster. Not as hard, but faster. I had grown up since she had frozen me with a touch.
My finger found the enter key, and the app unlocked, opening up a spreadsheet that filled the entire screen.
“The Devil’s Bible is last,” she said.
I scanned the list as I scrolled. I recognized many of the names, and found others that I knew were replacements to torch-bearers I had been forced to kill. I didn’t rush down to the final entry, stalling a little bit for time while I continued to process everything I was learning. When I reached it, and read it, I wasn’t really surprised. It all seemed so natural, so fitting, so understandable.
“Landon, what does it say?” Zeek asked. All eyes were on me, waiting for me to do something.
I looked to Zeek, to Charis, to Celia, and then to Rachel. “It says we don’t know half as much as we think we do,” I replied. “But maybe that’s the point. Everyone has the freedom of choice, no matter what has been prescribed to them. We fight our own wars every day, and we decide our own outcomes. This existence may be imperfect, but it’s the variables that make it worth existing. With every passing moment things can change.”
In fact, they already had. Maybe we would always be at war. Maybe there was no satisfying all of the parties concerned. Then again, maybe there was. Maybe we had just grown too complacent with the status quo, and all it would take was someone to rock the boat a little bit. Maybe that someone would be me? One thing at a time.
Charis’ power began to fade as she relaxed her grip, heaving a deep sigh at my words. Rachel’s eyes locked onto mine, and I could feel her fear and sadness.
“You have a choice, right now,” I said. “Forget about everything that’s gone before. We can make a difference. You can make a difference. It can start right here.”
“I don’t, I can’t,” she replied. “It’s too late for me. I’ve already sworn myself to the Beast. I can’t escape it.” The tears were flowing more freely now. “I’m sorry, Landon. I’m sorry I lied to you, and tricked you. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but I’m just so tired.”
“The Beast is still caged,” I said. “I’ll protect you. Rachel…”
Before I could react, she shot forward, her hand reaching out and finding the handle of the cursed dagger. She pulled it, getting just enough metal to slice her other hand open. The veins of poison began spreading instantly.
“Celia, holy water?” I asked, frantic in the moment.
“No,” Rachel said. “Landon… the Beast… the cage… is imperfect.” She closed her eyes, the poison spreading quickly up her arm. It didn’t matter, because she was already gone. She had acted to take her own life, and had fallen, dead.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“What did you do?” Celia cried, pulling her arm free and rushing around the desk. “Rachel?”
She bent down and put her hands on Rachel’s face, a face wracked with the pain of death and loss. I stood motionless, trying to come to terms with what she had done, and what she had said. ‘The cage is imperfect’. What did it mean?
“You did this,” Celia said, turning on me. “You couldn’t just leave it alone. You couldn’t just use the computer and go. Why did you have to be so snoopy?” The anger fell from her, and she collapsed onto the floor.
“I’m sorry,” I said, kneeling down and putting my hand on Celia’s back. “I didn’t want her to die. I just wanted her to see the truth.”
“What truth?” Celia said through the sobs. “Folks don’t understand what they’re getting into when they sign up to fight a war. Folks never see themselves as a casualty.”
“Just leave her,” Josette said. “She needs her time to grieve, and you have work to do.”
She was right. I didn’t say anything else. I stood up and headed for the door, averting my eyes from Charis and Zeek as I passed.
“First we get Obi, and then I have to go talk to someone,” I said. “At least we got lucky with finding Satan’s Bible.” I didn’t feel lucky. I remembered what Charis had said earlier, and it gave me chills.
“Landon?” Charis said, trying to touch my shoulder on the way by. I shook it off.
“Not now. Just give me a few minutes, okay?”
They followed me out of the room, downstairs and away from the house. My mind was still a whirlwind of thoughts and possibilities, and I didn’t speak until we had walked a few blocks.
“Obi is at the Intrepid Museum,” I said, not slowing or turning to look at them. “We go and pick him up, make sure he’s safe, and then we move on.”
“Landon, you know who the keeper of Satan’s Bible is,” Charis said. “We don’t need to go to your friend. I’m pretty sure he can take of himself.”
I stopped walking and turned on her. “I’ve already lost most of the people I care about over the last two days,” I said. “I’m not going to leave him behind. Cho is sure to be looking for him, because it’s likely he doesn’t know who has the Bible and he still wants to keep us from getting it. He does know Obi and Thomas are our best shot.”
“It won’t matter if Rebecca and Sarah free the Beast,” she said. “Every second we waste makes that even more likely. The Templars have the texts, we just need to get the Bible and go back to Thailand.”
I put my face close to hers, feeling the flush of our anger intermingling. “Would you have left Joseph behind? Besides, I would think you’d be awfully keen to get a shot at Cho, after what he did to him.” It was a cheap shot, and I knew I had gone too far. She reacted as though I had hit her in the gut.
“You son of a bitch,” she growled, her spittle a coldness across my face. “How dare you?”
“Guys,” Zeek said. “Let’s just take a breather here.”
I fought to reign myself in. This could have gotten out of hand in a hurry, and it was the last thing I wanted. “I dare because I need you,” I said, my voice calm. “I need your help, and you need mine, and I’m going to the Intrepid Museum to collect Obi before Cho does. You can come along and help, or you can hang out at Starbucks and wait. Either way, I’m going.”
Her red eyes flared, but she smiled, her anger subsiding. “Okay,” she said, leaning up on her toes to press her forehead against mine. “I do need you, and I trust you. If you hadn’t found that hidden file, we’d be severely up the creek, instead of just treading water in it.”
I returned her smile, keeping my head against hers. “Thanks for seeing it my way,” I said. “I’m sorry for being an asshole.”
“You’re welcome, and I forgive you, asshole,” she replied with a smirk.
“If it matters to either of you,” Zeek said, “I’m in.”
I didn’t typically like to rely on cabs to get around the city, but we were on the upper east side, and the museum was to the midwest, resting on the Hudson. Our driver was a middle eastern man who drove with all the pizzazz of a legendary NYC cab driver, careening us through every back alley shortcut imaginable to get us to our destination in no time. There wasn’t much room in the rear, with Zeek shoved into the first half of the back seat, and Charis and I sharing the other half between us. We were squeezed in pretty tight, so it wasn’t all bad.
“Intrepid,” the driver announced, tapping his meter. “Twelve seventy five.”
I reached into my pocket and found a twenty. “Keep the change,” I said, handing it to him and pushing open the door. We spilled out onto the sidewalk.
The Intrepid towered above us, a hundred feet of American steel casting a long shadow on the seaport. I had been here once before, on a school field trip when I was a kid. It was my story about how I had wandered off into a restricted area and wound up getting booted off the ship that had probably given Obi the thought to meet up here.
I focused and reached forward with my Sight, in search of Obi’s familiar signature. I found him near the center of the ship, towards the flight deck. Thomas and Melody were with him.
“Up there,” I said, pointing. Charis nodded, she had Seen them too.
I looked around in search of any other Divine, not expecting to find anything. If Cho were here, he and his crew would be hiding themselves anyway, and we didn’t have time to do a careful recon. I had nearly finished my sweep when Charis pointed off to a restaurant across the street.
“Over there,” she said. “It’s small. A messenger, I think.”
I followed her aim with my Sight, feeling the light touch of heat that gave the demon away. I recognized this one too. “Could be a problem,” I said. “Wait here. Stay ready.”
The people parted around me as I jogged across the street, not even trying to disguise my approach. When Yuli saw me, he waved.
“Good evening mastersss,” he said, flapping his wings and bowing deeply in the air. “What bringsesss you to thisss part of the city?”
My relationship with Reyzl’s former familiar could only be called interesting. After the events under the Statue, the demon had sought me out, offering me his services in exchange for an occasional bit of raw meat and the promise of my protection. I had taken him up on it, and his status in the city had been a great benefit to keeping tabs on all of the potential Reyzl replacements. That wasn’t to say I trusted him though. I knew he would sell me out at the drop of a hat. If he was here, he already had.
“Just came to meet some friends,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
His lips drew back from his snout in a wide, leering smile. “Justsss came to meetsss your friendsss,” he said. “It’sss just businesss.”
“Cho?” I asked.
“Yesss. He promisesss Yuli twice the meat, and a girl if I tellsss himsss when you arrivesss.”
“Sounds like a good deal,” I said. “Is he here yet?”
Yuli cackled. “Maybe. Maybe notsss.” I reached out to grab him, but he swooped away with ridiculous quickness and started laughing. “Good luck. Call me if you needsss my servicesss again.”
I didn’t stand around to watch him fly away.
“Cho is on his way,” I said, grabbing Charis’ hand and pulling her behind me as I ran towards the Intrepid. “Obi doesn’t stand a chance alone against him.”
We burst up the ramp and onto the hanger deck. It was early enough that the museum was still pretty empty, with just a couple of local schools herding their students through the exhibits. I located the stairs up to the flight deck and focused, giving myself extra speed to sprint to the steps and glide up them. Charis was close behind, but Zeek just couldn’t keep up.
I spotted them as soon as I exited the stairwell, all three standing near the front of the Blackbird spy plane, one of the prizes of the museum’s collection. Melody saw me first, and she immediately grabbed Thomas and pointed my way.
“Landon, wait,” Thomas shouted as I ran towards them. “It’s a trap!”
I felt my body float into the air, vaguely aware of the heat and noise when the aircraft next to me exploded in a ball of flame. I heard the screams of the people scattered around the deck, smelled the sickly scent of cooked meat, and then landed perpendicular to my friends, face down on the smooth surface of the vessel. I knew by the pain that half my side had been ripped away, but I could already feel it healing.
Charis had been thrown by the blast too, and she shouted curses from somewhere behind me. I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees and tried to turn around, but before I could a thin wire dropped down over my head and tightened on my throat. I felt the serrated edges dig into my skin, and then I felt the wetness of blood running down my neck.
“It’s so good to see you again, Landon,” Cho said. He pulled on the wire so that I was forced to turn around to face him. He was still wearing that same fancy suit, clean and pressed and smelling like cologne. “It is especially wonderful of you to be so utterly predictable.”
“What B-movie did you steal those lines from?” I asked.
He laughed, and then spun me so I could see Charis, similarly tied, along with a small army of vampires who didn’t seem to mind the bright sunshine blasting them. Another benefit to feeding on my blood, I was sure. Zeek had also finally made it up the stairs, but he was powerless with both of us being held. He dropped his shotgun and surrendered without a fight.
“Now, I have to assume you wouldn’t normally be so stupid and reckless to rush to your friend’s aid without ensuring it wasn’t a trap first, so I must conclude that you’re in a bit of a hurry. Which means Rebecca has the Grail, and is on her way to meet our destiny.”
There was no point in denying it. “She does,” I admitted. “But it won’t do her much good when she doesn’t know where to take it.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” he said. He must have noticed my shocked expression, because he laughed again. “Ah, I guess you weren’t expecting that little tidbit. Not that it will do you any good in your current situation. I guess there’s just one more loose end to tie up, and we can get on with changing the world.”
He reached forward, sticking his hand in my left coat pocket, and then my right. “Where is it?” he asked.
“Where is what?”
“Avriel’s Box,” he hissed. “What did you do with it?”
I didn’t have it. Charis did. “Sorry,” I said. “If I had known you needed it, I would have brought it with me.�
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That smart-ass remark earned me a punch in the face, and the wire noose tightened enough to cut into my trachea. I could feel the blood pouring down my neck.
“No matter,” he said. “I can adjust.” He pulled me along with the noose, leading me to where Obi, Thomas, and Melody were standing. He motioned for his cronies to bring Charis and Zeek over too.
“Hey, boss,” Obi said when we approached. “A little help?”
“I would love a little help, thanks,” I said. He smiled. Even in the face of death, he kept his sense of humor. His eyes shifted to Charis.
“Man, you get all the hot girls,” he said.
“She’s hotter than you know,” I replied.
“Enough,” Cho said, tightening the noose even more, opening my neck wide enough that I couldn’t get any air to speak. “Such a brave soldier,” he said to Obi. “A joker right to the end.” He reached behind me with his free hand, taking hold of the cursed dagger. He held it up to Obi’s face, trying to get him to flinch.
“I’m not afraid of you, man,” Obi said.
“You should be,” Cho snapped. He took the dagger and jabbed. I winced at the pain as it sunk into my flesh. “Be a good man, and hold that for me while I drain your sidekick.” He smiled, his eyes flashing black and his teeth elongating.
“Who, whoa, whoa, hang on one second,” Obi said. “You can’t suck my blood!”
Cho’s laugh was throaty. “Why not?” he asked.
Obi glanced at me, and winked. “Because you don’t have any teeth,” he said.
I saw the glint of light reflecting off the dagger an instant before it smashed into Cho’s face, shattering his jaw and teeth, the force of the throw dropping him and causing him to relinquish his hold on the noose. I didn’t waste any time getting my hands on it and pulling it off my head.
There was a flash of heat, and another explosion as a second plane went up in flames. The force blasted a couple of the vampires and threw us all to the ground. I was on my feet in an instant, and I rushed to Charis’ side, decapitating her captor before he could get his hands back on her noose. I looked up at the ship’s island just in time to see a Great Were make the thirty foot leap to the deck, landing almost gracefully and charging a pair of vamps. They didn’t stand a chance.
Betrayal (The Divine, Book Two) Page 22
