Angelus

by Sabrina Benulis

  “But how—” she began to say.

  Kim cut off her words by drawing in close, pressing a warm hand against her cheek, and giving her a slow, sweet-tasting kiss. His lips slid soft and teasing against hers. She returned the kiss and he embraced her more, pressing her against his chest so that she could feel his heartbeat.

  When he pulled away, Angela touched her lips. It was him. This was real.

  She was just about to open her mouth again, when Kim stopped her.

  He grabbed her wrist hard. “I’ve come to get you out of here. If I’m found out, it will be the end for us both. Don’t say anything. Pretend that nothing is out of the ordinary.”

  “Why am I here?” Angela said. She took the clothes he now handed to her. It was her old Westwood Academy uniform. But instead of the boots she used to wear there were tights and a pair of black clogs. He must not have wanted anyone to see her telltale scars. Angela hastily jumped out of bed and started to undress.

  Kim turned around, giving her privacy. “Do you know how much time has passed since we parted ways in Hell?”

  His voice sounded anguished.

  A piercing fear went through Angela’s heart. Had days gone by since Angela walked in those catacombs beneath Luz? Perhaps—she could hardly dare to consider it—even weeks? But the Realms had already been on the verge of colliding. Angela tried to focus on Kim and ignore the terror working its way through her. Every passing second now felt like a breath she couldn’t bear to take again until she knew.

  They were all still alive, so that meant the end hadn’t arrived yet. But they could be on the verge now, ready to tip into the Abyss at any moment.

  Kim no longer waited for her to answer. “It’s been a month. Since then the Vatican has been gathering all female blood heads in the city and sequestering them in mansions like this one. But it’s all a ploy. Most of them are being killed. They’re trying to find you, Angela. Your existence is common knowledge now and red-haired women are being killed one by one as a precaution. Their blood is being gathered in individual urns . . . for Lucifel.”

  Angela thought back to how the angel under Mikel’s control said Lucifel now only needed Angela’s blood to open Sophia.

  An excruciating lump formed in her throat.

  All these girls were dying for her sake. It was a systematic genocide, and all to find her special blood.

  “But how did you get here?” she said, half tripping as she pulled on her tights and shoved on her shoes. She touched his shoulder so that he turned around again.

  “Troy and I used the Mirror Pool beneath Python’s mansion, just like you did. Troy had struck on the idea to speak to the Cherubim hidden beneath Luz and encourage her to scry the pool and speak to Raziel. I wanted to find a way for you to open Sophia without the Glaive—or to find the last stanzas of the Angelus. They’re the key to stopping Lucifel. It’s what she is searching for, Angela, and it’s the power hidden within the Book. But—” Kim looked angry. “In the end it was no help at all. Raziel showed me his death. He showed me the creature responsible. And he showed me you.” Kim stroked Angela’s face, his fingers lingering near her left eye. “But I also learned it’s impossible to open Sophia without killing her. The only other option is to create a new ending to the Angelus, whatever that means.”

  “The Cherubim!” Angela gripped Kim’s arms. “She’s dead, Kim!”

  His face drained of the rest of its color. “What!”

  “Python killed it. But that was before I ever met it myself. When Sophia and I came to Luz, we were ambushed. Somehow the priests used a mirror connected to the pools to bring us back to Earth when they got an opportunity. We escaped into Memorial Cemetery and found Nina and Fury—”

  “Nina’s alive,” Kim said breathlessly.

  “Yes! She took me to see a woman named Gloriana who—” Angela paused. She longed to tell Kim that he wasn’t alone in the world. That Gloriana was also half-Jinn. But something checked her tongue. Maybe it was the intense look in Kim’s eyes, and the overwhelming sorrow in his voice. She felt that if she spoke at the wrong time, it might do more harm than good. “Gloriana knew how to reach the Cherubim by using the canals beneath Luz,” Angela continued. “But by the time Juno and I reached the angel, she was dead. A soul trapped in that place explained that time flows differently where the Cherubim choose to dwell. I was afraid it was too late by the time she and I got back to the surface . . .”

  “So Juno’s alive too,” Kim said. A grim look crossed his face. He looked both hurt and frightened.

  Angela paused. “Didn’t Troy tell you about her?”

  “No,” Kim whispered. He didn’t look too pleased about it either. “Probably because Troy’s trying to protect her from me. But I remember learning about her existence, and about how anxious the Sixth Clan was to shelter her back then. She’s the former Jinn Queen’s heir, after all. Her survival means a lot. Now that I’m still technically up for execution, my closeness to Juno would be a liability to her safety. But Troy didn’t bargain on Juno pardoning me.”

  Angela felt the surprise all over her face. “When did she do that?”

  “When we were still in Hell. You’d certainly forgotten her after a time, so Juno must not have dared to approach you. She gave me her iron crow’s foot talisman to symbolize her forgiveness of my so-called crimes. But I didn’t know that Juno herself had left it. All I knew was that it was a young Jinn with high rank who’d shown me an ounce of compassion. Later, when Troy spied the talisman, she confiscated it and started guarding it closely. Now, I can put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Now it all makes sense.

  “Juno’s forgiveness is something I thought foreign to the Jinn for so long. You have no idea, Angela, what her gesture ultimately means. Or maybe you do. You know Troy well enough by now to understand how difficult it is for their kind to overlook the past. Yet I can never thank Juno in person and likely never will. In fact, I’ve resigned myself to that already.” Kim shook his head and sighed. Then he said slowly, “But enough about Juno and Troy. Do you know what’s happened to Sophia since you returned to Luz?”

  Angela sighed with him. Tears threatened to blur her vision, but she forced them away. “All I know is that she’s in the city. Somewhere safe, I hope. I have to find her now . . .”

  Angela trailed off. For the first time she noticed the necklace Kim wore. It had an hourglass pendant and all the red grains sat at its bottom. She flashed back to the hourglass in her vision that Lilith tried to stop her from touching. Angela took a step away from him. A cold anxiety tightened her chest.

  “What’s wrong?” Kim said quickly.

  “Well—that necklace. Why are you wearing something like that? Wait . . . Sophia mentioned that you both went to Python to help return my memories. Kim, what did you say to him? What happened?” It was all coming back to Angela so fast, and the more it did, the more frightened she became.

  Kim breathed hard. He rubbed his face with his hands. “Angela, I had no choice. Lilith was using you to rule over Hell. She was biding her time. I couldn’t stand watching that, and the Book needed to be opened. You deserve more than I can give you, and the thought hurts me more every day. But now . . . I . . .”

  “What is it?” Angela whispered.

  His expression broke her heart, it was so despairing. Angela forgot the danger she was in for the moment and cradled his face, kissing him softly again.

  Kim seemed to savor the taste of her. Then he pulled back. “Angela. Right now the most important thing is getting you where you need to be next.”

  “No,” she said. “Right now the most important thing is freeing whatever girls are trapped here and still alive. Then I can think of what to do next.”

  “Lucifel is searching for you,” he said heatedly, sounding more desperate by the second.

  “I’m not leaving without freeing those girls—and that’s final,” Angela said in her most dangerous tone.

  Kim let go of her arms. “All right. If that�
�s what you want, I understand how you must feel. But if anything happens to you, those girls won’t just lose their lives, they’ll lose their souls.”

  “I have to do what’s right,” Angela said. “Don’t let your feelings for me blind you to who I really am, Kim.”

  “You have no idea who you really are.”

  “Do you?” Angela demanded, whirling on him.

  Kim reluctantly lowered his gaze. “I don’t know. What Raziel showed me was confusing. But I do know you look just like the creature that killed him. And that Sophia knows why. You’re taking your frustrations out on me right now. But Sophia is the one who’s been leading you on. Demand answers from her, Angela. Before it’s too late.”

  Angela could only look at him, letting her mind work. The creature he was talking about was the Father. What, then, was Angela’s connection to him?

  “Like I said,” Angela explained slowly. “I don’t know where Sophia is anymore . . .”

  “And you don’t think that Troy or Nina will find her? She’s here somewhere, Angela. I saw her. And she’ll find you again, and if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, even I won’t be able to help you anymore. I’ve always wondered what my purpose was after mistakenly freeing Lucifel. Now I know it was to be by your side. Maybe you’ll cast me off when it suits you again, but despite what you might think right now, I’m not trying to be selfish. I’m just trying to act with your best interests in mind. But you’re free to act as you please. Only . . .”

  Kim knelt down in front of her. He reached for Angela’s hand and kissed it.

  “. . . I need you to know that I think of you constantly. No matter what happens, remember that I do in fact love you. And that if I ever say or do anything otherwise—it’s not by choice.”

  Silence fell between them.

  This was one of the few times Angela had heard anyone at all say that they loved her. Besides Kim, there had only been Sophia. And maybe . . . someone else. But her mind was foggy and when she thought back as far as she could, she came up empty-handed.

  “Kim, is there something else you need to tell me?” she said, her voice cracking.

  Kim opened his mouth as if to say something. Instead, he shuddered and clutched at his throat, sliding to his knees. “No,” he said hoarsely, his eyes large with fear. “No. Nothing.”

  “Why are you talking like that?” Angela said. “What’s wrong?”

  Was someone stopping Kim from talking? Perhaps it was Python—it had to be!

  Angela threw herself at Kim, embracing him. She ran her fingers through his ebony hair and buried her face in his neck.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. Kim, I love . . .”

  She wanted to say she loved him too, yet something held Angela back as well. But she didn’t have the excuse of a demon’s hold on her soul. She was just afraid of somehow causing Kim more pain.

  “I love you too,” she finally said in the smallest voice.

  Kim gripped her tightly.

  An aura of incredible sadness surrounded him. He was like a defeated man—not at all the hard personality she’d first met in Luz. It was like a part of him had broken. Then wetness touched her cheek and she knew Kim was crying. His cries grew into deep sobs that shook Angela down to her soul, and there was nothing she could do except hold him in their lonely moment that, instead of moving time forward, made it pause as if for eternity.

  They escaped into a long hall connected to a corridor outside of the room where Angela had been imprisoned. Whatever mansion she was in, it was absolutely huge. Black and white tiles checkered the hall’s floor and mirrors gleamed from the walls at regular intervals. Stained-glass windows reached high up to a ceiling with stone angels perched on arches and columns. Large lamps hung from ledges jutting from the walls, and a strange bluish light emanated through their glass.

  Angela stared at the lamps, comparing them to the light of the souls in the catacombs.

  Her left eye burned, and she heard thousands of whispers assaulting her ears at once.

  Kim continued to speak to her in hushed tones. They weren’t the only people walking around. Angela broke from her trance.

  She lowered her head as they passed a novice, then a priest, and then a group of students in heavy muffs who glared at her suspiciously. Kim often stopped to talk with one person or another. Thankfully, no one seemed to recognize him. Perhaps those few individuals who knew him had left Luz. But everyone seemed to regard Angela with curiosity at the very least. Kim acted like Angela was in his custody, which was true to some extent.

  They were halfway to the exit when a man in a dark suit stopped them. Angela peeked up at him. She recognized his face but couldn’t quite place it.

  “Taking her down to the lower levels of the building?” he said to Kim confidentially.

  Kim nodded and murmured something Angela couldn’t quite hear.

  “Well, you wouldn’t mind if I took a look at her myself, then? From the first instant I saw her, I thought to myself . . . I know that one. I’ll just be a minute. How are you, dear?” the man quickly said to Angela before Kim could protest.

  She kept her head down.

  “They’re all shy now,” the man said, shaking his head. “Such a pity. I’ve been buying as many of them as I can. The young ones have been put up for auction. Hair like this will be such a rarity someday. I want to make an investment if we all get through whatever disaster comes next. There’s no clear reason why they all have to die anyway.”

  Angela bit her lip. Hot rage boiled in her veins. Redheaded students were commodities now? Things to be bought and sold?

  “Besides, you’re far too lovely to expire at such a young age,” the man said.

  Angela bristled at his disgusting tone. She looked at Kim, who shook his head and mouthed the word no. This wasn’t the time to insist on her dignity. Angela fought the urge to grab the man by the neck and throttle him.

  “Look at me,” the man said sharply. He grabbed Angela by the chin, forcing her to stare him right in the eyes.

  He examined her face for a few moments. “No,” he said sullenly. “You look much like a young blood head whose paintings I viewed shortly after she first came to the Academy. In fact, you could be her twin. But your eyes . . .”

  He seemed unable to stare at her anymore. He relinquished his grip like she’d burned him.

  “Well, good luck,” he said, patting Kim on the shoulder. “I heard some of them give the bloodletters a hard time. This one looks a bit feisty if you ask me.”

  As he left, Angela lost her cool and nearly lunged at him before Kim grabbed her and held her back, giving her a poignant look.

  “Bastard,” Angela whispered.

  “Luz is full of them now,” Kim whispered back. “Especially now that Lucifel’s influence has grown. Her cult is becoming more obvious than ever.”

  Angela was too angry to speak for a while. She smoothed down her black-and-red skirt and continued to walk by Kim’s side. Very soon, she’d free most of those blood head students and then men like that monster would be sorry. “You mentioned that it’s now a matter of either opening Sophia or creating new stanzas to the Angelus,” Angela dared to murmur when the most recent group of people had passed them. “What is the Angelus, though? I’ve never heard it.”

  “Yes, you have,” Kim replied just as softly. “It’s the lullaby Sophia likes to sing.”

  Angela stopped in the middle of the hall. People sidestepped them and cast some irritated glances.

  “What are you doing?” Kim hissed at her.

  Angela wasn’t listening. She thought of Sophia constantly evading Angela’s questions about the meaning of the song. If the Angelus was the ultimate key to keeping the universe from disintegrating, it must have had a strong connection to the world, and creation.

  That meant Sophia did too.

  Angela recalled that moment when Sophia spoke of dying in childbirth. Instantly, her mind jumped to her nightmarish vision
s of being born to the stars and torn apart. She remembered someone singing to her.

  And loving her.

  Angela’s heart raced. She felt on the verge of the truth. If she could just reach out and grasp it. Without thinking, she touched her left eye—the Grail. Whose eye was it really? Hers? Angela’s eye before she was murdered, and her body torn to bits? But who would have done such a thing to her? If only—if only she could—

  “. . . Angela! Angela!”

  Kim clasped her hand.

  Angela gasped and looked deep into his eyes.

  “Don’t. Say. A word,” he whispered in warning. He nodded his head and looked warily down the hall. Three angels marched toward them, side by side and in perfect unison. The other people in the building all stopped whatever they were doing and stared in wide-eyed terror.

  The angels were of course taller than everyone and dazzlingly perfect. Their large heavily lined eyes scanned down to people’s souls, and as they walked barefoot toward Angela she noticed the shimmering quality of their feet, as if they’d been powdered in glitter. The cuffs on their wing bones, though, were the same as the angel’s who’d attacked her in Memorial Cemetery. As if they were of one mind, each angel zeroed in on Angela.

  She stood still and felt very alone as they stopped a foot away and stared her down. One of the angels carried a thin crossbow at his back. The other wielded a crystal dagger at his hip. None of them looked kind or understanding. It was the angel boasting thick black hair and dark wings who stepped closer to her.

  She gazed back at him fearlessly. He examined her openly, lingering with special interest on Angela’s left eye.

  Angela clenched her fists, trying to stop her arms and hands from shaking. She could hear Kim breathing behind her. His hand brushed her wrist, and it was obvious he wanted to hold her, to calm her or even protect her. But that would give everything away.