by Lan Chan
“Who’s inside?” came Astrid’s reply.
“Alessia.”
“Oh,” Astrid’s voice was suddenly soft. “Alright. Let’s just leave her be.”
Sympathy points. I would take it if it got them off my back. While I waited for the Mirror personality to complete its calculations, I unstrapped Morning Star from my back and went through the many drills Giselle had drummed into me. Intent on my mission, I didn’t hear the sound of knocking on the door until it became an insistent banging.
“Mirror. Lock the simulation to my voice command and Academy identification.”
The blue circle magically stamped on the back of my hand blazed. “Simulation locked.”
“Power it down.”
“Would you like for the calculations to continue during power save mode?”
“Yes, please.”
“Very well.”
Walking to the door, I opened it to find Tyler leaning against the frame. “Any chance I can get the power back to the east sector?” he asked, a wry smile tugging at his mouth. “I’m sort of running blind out there.”
I raised a brow. “Can’t you produce fire?”
“Not indefinitely.”
“The east sector has an everlasting flame.”
He stalked around contemplatively. “You have a good head for strategy. And a good memory. You’re going to make a hell of a guard one day.” He grinned. “Okay, you got me. I was just curious about what you’ve been doing in here. Rumour is you’re working on a spell to get Malachi back.”
Of course it was. Half the school was still in disbelief about the truth of the matter. So was half of supernatural society. Cassie absolutely refused to acknowledge it. As a result, she wasn’t speaking to me.
I swept my arm out wide, pointing at the room with Morning Star. “As you can see, no spellwork is happening here.”
He ambled in. “Is this the infamous demon blade?”
I tossed it at him, and he caught the handle. Morning Star reacted by shaking violently. In his grip, the blade began to morph from a sleek, short sabre to a heavier broadsword with a sharp-toothed edge. I frowned as a lick of red ran along its tip. Tyler yelped and dropped the blade like it was on fire.
We both stared as Morning Star clattered to the ground, reshaping back into its original form that belonged to me. Tyler shook his hand. “You really brand your stuff, huh?”
I shrugged and held out my arm, my palm turned up. Morning Star shot from the floor into my grip. “It’s an only-child thing.” I eyed him curiously. “Shouldn’t you be guarding Emily?”
He answered too quickly. “Another guard has this shift.” Judging by the way his eyes flicked to me and then down at the floor, I assumed the other guard was Kai. My mind immediately offered up a slideshow of Emily’s various reactions to Kai’s presence. In all honesty, they would make more sense than Kai and I ever did. Casting out for something to redirect my thoughts, I asked Tyler about the fissures.
“The Sisterhood have contained them as best they can. Giselle says the only way to repair them is by sealing them with soul energy and we know why that can’t happen.”
Speaking of souls, I found myself curious about Andrei’s situation. “The elite guard would punish anyone caught stealing souls, wouldn’t they?” I asked.
“Of course.” He frowned as though it was obvious.
“I’m given to believe that there have been some instances where the theft of souls has been covered up.”
Now that frown edged on a grimace. “There is no reason why the elite guard would cover up a death that way.” He was a little too adamant. “I’m assuming you mean the Popescu incident? You do know that was investigated but it went nowhere?”
“Did they ever get a necromancer to do a summoning?” I countered.
He nodded. “Of course. Nothing turned up.”
Rolling my wrist to keep it supple, I regarded him. “Did you ever think that was because their souls were unmade?”
He paused just for a fraction of a second. I could see his critical thinking warring with his training as an elite guard. It wasn’t long before the latter won. “I’m sure that thread was followed. If nothing came of it, that probably means they were unable to find the culprit.”
“But then why condemn the Popescus to the Book of Beasts?”
He shrugged, his care factor for Andrei’s family disturbingly slim. “Sometimes, politics trump the truth.”
I couldn’t quite be sure but it sounded like he was trying to say that the culprits were either well connected, or catching them might have a detrimental effect that the elite guard or the Council weren’t willing to broadcast publicly. So they had thrown Andrei’s family under the bus. No wonder he was insane.
Overhead, the Mirror personality beeped. Tyler and I looked at each other for a moment before he got the hint that he’d overstayed his welcome. He resealed the door on his way out.
Commanding the MirrorNet to unlock, the personality went right into its explanation. “The unmaking of a seraph would discharge a pulse of energy so immense that it would destroy the barriers holding this dimension together,” it said. “Your strength is compromised. With the assistance of demon essence, it would take two million demons or supernaturals to nullify the blast.”
What the heck?
“That’s impossible!” I sputtered.
“Alternatively,” the MirrorNet offered, “it would take two hundred and fifty thousand human souls to create the same resistance.” I hadn’t asked but it had done the human calculation anyway.
“What about my soul?” I asked.
“Such as it is?” I didn’t think it would sting coming from an artificial intelligence, but I was wrong.
“Yes.”
“Unknown. Your soul is not a quantifiable source of energy.”
That meant I had to plan without counting on my soul as backup.
Deciding that what I was doing was more important than Academy classes, I skipped out on school the next day and met up with Ashton outside the State Library.
“Well, look at you,” he said with the same warm grin he’d given me when I’d first joined Terran Academy.
“Hey. How goes guarding Emily?”
Too old to attend Bloodline, Ashton had taken up a position as a freelance agent working for the Human League after Terran was closed for renovations. His ability with tech was the reason why I needed his help now.
“It’s not the best gig in the world,” he told me. “She’s really paranoid.”
I wasn’t surprised. Taking her away from supernatural energy didn’t mean that these things would automatically disappear.
Though we had agreed to meet in front of the iconic Melbourne building, we settled into a café around the corner. While Ashton booted up his laptop, I found myself scanning the headlines on the free newspapers by the register. “Ummm,” I said absently. “What’s with all the doom and gloom?”
I snagged one from the stand. The headline was of a suicide murder pact in a small country town close to Echuca. Ashton flicked his gaze over the newspaper briefly. “You haven’t heard? That kind of stuff has been happening all over the place. Ever since what happened in that monster prison. You should see the conspiracy theories that are popping up.”
I could just imagine. Swallowing hard, I pinned him with my gaze. “Do you still think humans need to know about supernaturals?”
He stopped tapping for a second. “Something needs to be done,” he said. “Whether that should be a supernatural reveal? I don’t know. Emily sure is taking it badly. But what else can we do? It looks like the demons have suddenly decided it’s fine for a full-scale invasion. It’s like they’re gearing up for something. This is ready, by the way. What records do you need?”
Lacing my hands in front of each other so they wouldn’t shake, I told him what I needed. “Criminal records from all of the prisons in Australia.”
He scratched at his stubble. “What for?”
Sensing that
he would be less than impressed with the truth, I offered him the requisite lie. “The family of a friend was murdered and I want to check if the culprit might be human.”
“That’s a lot of effort to go to for a monster.”
I smiled ruefully. “He saved my life once. I owe him this much.”
Ashton blew out a breath. “Okay, but it’s going to take me a bit of time.”
“Can you pass it on to Matilda when it’s done?” I touched his wrist to stop him from already obsessively going down a rabbit hole.
“Without the threat of Lucifer, do you think the humans have a chance at survival with the supernaturals still hidden?” I asked.
“As long as they keep to their edict. But that’s a pipe dream, isn’t it? When will we ever be rid of Lucifer?”
More than once, I had thought the exact same thing.
48
My absence from class had been duly noted. I arrived back at the Academy to be greeted by a bulletin asking me to see the headmistress as soon as I arrived. Ignoring it, I put a call through to Eugenia instead.
“I need you to get me a list of all the bounties that are currently available,” I said. “And if you can bypass the Dominion security, get me the details of all the current prisoners as well.” It was difficult to contemplate exactly what I was intending. The ball of rage that had been simmering in my chest was gathering momentum. Even as I was dying, Lucifer would force me to become something horrible. He would strip me of the one thing that I had clung to despite these awful powers. He would turn me into a cold-blooded killer.
“Well hello to you too,” she smirked, completely ignoring my request with a segue that put a crick in my neck. “Sometimes fate works in very obvious ways. Do you know who I just received a visit from?”
“I don’t have time for this.”
Her smile was sickeningly smug. “Oh, I bet you do. Your ex just left here about ten minutes ago.”
Trying to keep my face straight, I shoved aside all of the feelings that were threatening to burst through. “And?”
“And I thought from all the reports I’ve received that he was supposed to be some kind of walking shell. But I have pretty damning evidence of the exact opposite.” She lifted her chin to reveal the fingerprint bruising beginning to show around her neck. My heart stilled.
“What the heck is that?” I didn’t dare breathe.
“Courtesy of one confused but rapidly hurtling towards pissed-off Nephilim.” She ran a tongue across her bottom lip. “Don’t look so terrified, witchling. It was kinda hot. He’s something, isn’t he?”
“What do you mean he was pissed off?” By my account, he was incapable of producing any emotion even close to pissed. More than anything else, that was why I couldn’t bring myself to be around him anymore.
She shrugged. “To be honest, I thought I’d be getting this visit sooner. Had my bags packed and everything. I thought you’d pulled off some kind of miracle. But the potion didn’t work, did it?” she said, eyeing me closely. “You did something else to him to make him stop coming after you.”
This was why I had avoided her since the failed potion debacle. “What did he say?”
She tapped her chin. “It wasn’t what he said, per se,” she noted. “His eyes were completely unfocused. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought he had taken a potion of his own.”
This couldn’t be happening. How could he possibly be resisting an Angelical command?
“Whatever you did,” Eugenia surmised, “he’s starting to get ticked off. This thing is going to blow up in your face shortly.”
There was no need for her to look so delighted about it. Taking a gulping breath, I forced my rapidly beating heart to slow down. It was just a distraction. White noise. It had been weeks since the incident. If Kai ever did regain his feelings, there would be no bond to speak of.
“Can you please just get me what I need?” I pressed.
“Sure, but what is this about?”
“I’m taking the fight to Lucifer.”
“Aless –”
I ended the call before I had to listen to yet another lecture. Under the circumstances, I dispensed with the Academy altogether. Retrieving two additional vials of Sophie’s potion from the nightstand, I gulped them both down and waited for the numbness to settle over me. The effects were incredible. It was no wonder her great-grandfather had been feared.
Running my thumb over Gabriel’s Key, I commanded the ring to take me directly to Lucifer’s chamber. Before it dragged me through the Ley dimension, I jumped into a phase and attempted to appear on the other side in a state of complete nothingness. But as soon as I appeared, so too did Uriel. Since my edict not to get into my head, the seraphim had raised the alert that I was not to be inside the chamber on my own. Actually, that might have always been the case anyway. They were just wary now.
His face was completely serene. Though he didn’t smile at me outright, there was a spark of amusement in his eyes. Like I was just a cheeky kid trying to pull a fast one over him.
“Alessia,” he said. “You look well.”
Was he being sarcastic? Well was not how I would describe my reflection these days. I wasn’t normally anything to write home about, but my eyes had always been a piercing shade of blue that lifted the rest of my features. Now they were washed-out like the light had been extinguished from my soul.
I smiled. Walking casually up to the dais, I glanced at Lucifer’s surreal features.
Uriel glided beside me. They were definitely jumpy as hell. It was the reason why I always came here unarmed. There was no way to explain why I had a weapon otherwise. “He remains the same,” Uriel informed me.
“His vessel remains the same,” I contradicted. “Where his grace resides is another matter.” Not for the first time, I cursed myself and my carelessness for allowing Behemoth to bleed me in the cavern beneath the Fae forest. If Lucifer’s grace had never been freed, I wouldn’t be in this position now. Logic wasn’t my strong suit at the moment. Uriel pointed out the flaw in my reasoning when I voiced my regret.
“How could you possibly have known?” he asked. “Even if you did, Lucifer’s will might still have been carried out. He was always treacherous. Do not allow him to take governance in your thoughts.”
That was a bit hard considering it was the fumes of Lucifer’s blood keeping me alive at the moment. This was the third time I had tried to sneak into the chamber without the seraphim catching me. Every time I had been a failure.
Gulping, I thought about dropping into the Ley dimension. But from what I could already sense, I would be almost blinded by the strength of Lucifer’s aura. Never mind Uriel and Ariel’s as well.
“Don’t you get tired of watching him?” I asked, completely without motive.
“It is our penance,” he said, with a hint of regret in his voice. “When the war broke out, I allowed him through the barrier believing he would never destroy the paradise that was our home.”
“He lied to you.”
“Yes. But to Lucifer, a lie and the truth are the same. It is his nature.”
“Is Gabriel all alone up there?”
He shook his head. “She is the last of our order. The last Archangel. But there are others.”
“Do you ever get homesick?”
“What would be the point?” Wistfulness belied his words now. A silent longing that would go unfulfilled because he had chosen to fall to save the tiny world that he had helped destroy. “Sometimes, duty is worth everything. Sacrifice has its own merits.”
His words echoed in my ear. It made me nervous thinking about what might happen should I be successful. There would be no need for them to watch anything. They might be free. What would happen then?
“He is bound at the moment,” I hedged.
“Yes. By heavenly magic.”
Hmmm. “We allowed him in once,” Uriel said. “We must keep him in forever.”
I was still ruminating on what he’d said when I finally
returned to the Academy. At the moment, it was just a place to sleep and recover while I made plans. That was not at all how Sophie and Diana saw it.
“The boys are asking questions,” Sophie snapped at me. “You think nobody notices that you’re never in class anymore?”
I wanted to tell her it didn’t matter if I was going to flunk out of the end-of-semester trials because I would likely be dead by then. Sophie’s indignation was amplified by the irritation on Diana’s face.
“Don’t bloody worry about the boys!” Diana seethed. “Where the hell have you even been? I knew you were full of shit when you said you didn’t care about Kai, but this is taking it a step too far.”
It took everything in me not to look at Sophie. Not that she was receptive to my conspiratorial glances at the moment.
“It was just a few classes,” I said lamely.
“Just a few?” Diana snorted. “You haven’t shown up to a single Weaponry and Combat class in weeks. Not to mention all the other classes you’ve missed.”
“I’m injured. Professor Mortimer said it might take some time for me to recover from what happened in the Reserve.”
Her whole body twitched. She stepped up to me, obliterating any personal space. “Don’t think for a second that I’m an idiot,” she said. Her arm whipped out and she grabbed me by the shoulder before I could weasel away. “Whatever you’re doing, just stop it right now before I knock you out and lock you away.”
Sophie’s eyes bugged out, knowing it was exactly the wrong thing to say even if Diana’s intentions had been good. So that she wouldn’t see my bottom lip quivering, I wrapped my arms around her.
“I don’t think you’re stupid, Di,” I said. It was the complete opposite. I had to avoid all of them because I knew if they really understood what I had been intending to do, they would try to stop me. When they realised they couldn’t, they would try to help me, which was infinitely worse. I wasn’t coming back from this, and anyone I took with me probably wouldn’t either. I could rationalise away the Sisterhood because they had been gearing up for this showdown for centuries. But I could never allow my friends to make a sacrifice because of me.
