His expression shifted from anger to incredulous surprise. "You…hate me that much?"
"What the hell do you think?" The pager announced a STAT as a trauma team rushed by the door. "We have to talk and here is not the place."
"I'm not leaving Nona—"
I shifted instantly, my wings unable to unfurl to their full width because of the size of the room. The machine alarms went off as I exerted a little power. No, I wasn't going to put my mom in danger, but I was going to get him out of there.
He looked at the beeping boxes in panic. "Okay—where?"
"Find me. If you don't, I'll have Joe put a ward on this room even you can't break through." I shot straight up through the ceiling and didn't stop until I was high above the hospital. So…where to meet with the father from hell?
I picked a small park I'd visited a few times called Big Trees. The entrance to the walk was in the parking lot of the courthouse for Sandy Springs. Pretty odd place for something as cool as it was. It had a manmade creek and several paths. It wasn't so dense I couldn't poof out of there if I needed to. Private and open at the same time.
I chose a relatively private little nook, complete with dead tree benches fixed a semicircle.
"Zoë." Dad sounded a little tired when he said my name. He appeared less than a second after I landed. "You can't really think everything I've done wasn't for your own good?"
I hit him. I didn't mean to. But my hand was up and striking the side of his face so hard and so fast, I couldn't stop it.
I don't think I expected him to react—but he did. He shifted into the more Ethereal look I was accustomed to and came after me with his hands. But I was still full Wraith and I was pissed…off. Everything happening to me coalesced into that single moment as I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to Scream at him.
I didn't try to stop him as he grabbed my upper arms. I knew the moment the first sound came out, he'd dissolve into a million bits of ass.
"Zoë! Please! I did what I did because I love you!"
My breath caught in my throat. He shook me once, and I stared at him. Even though he stood before me in his Ethereal form, his face remained human. He had light brown eyes. Topaz.
Like my own.
I did what I did because I love you!
He'd never told me that before. He might have when I was young, before he left us, but since he'd returned to my life—
He shifted back to his human appearance, and my own body followed along. Unfortunately, since I'd spent most of the day as Wraith, I didn't have a coat. I stood in front of him, wide-eyed and shivering.
When he removed his coat and stepped toward me with it, who could blame me when I stepped back?
"Zoë…" He actually smiled. "You're cold. And you don't have the power to manifest thought into physical being as I do. Please take this so we can talk and you won't freeze?"
I stared at the coat. My dad's coat.
A year ago, I would have given anything to have him offer me something. Anything. A young girl starving for the return of her father. But now…
"Is it going to do something to me?"
He arched his eyebrows. "Keep you warm?"
When I still hesitated, he lowered his arms holding the coat. "I don't blame you for mistrusting me, Zoë. I deserve that. And even if I explained my motives to you—motives you're unaware of and the reasons behind them—it wouldn't change the way you feel about me right now. I've come to live with that. It's not easy…but for now, I can accept it."
The whole thing felt so surreal. I was standing here in the woods with my father. An Ethereal Virtue. In layman's terms, an Angel.
I needed answers. I believed he could give them to me.
So I took the coat from him and put it over my shoulders. And to my surprise, the only thing it did was stop me from shivering.
"Now." He rubbed his hands together and sighed. "Shall we sit so we can talk?"
I took a bench on the farthest end of the semicircle. He sat on the other end. It wasn't so great a distance we had to yell, and it was far enough away I had a good angle of escape. I licked my lips and pushed my flyaway hair behind my ears. I really should have braided it this morning. The question I intended to ask was not the one I blurted out. "Mom told me she was responsible for what happened to me…and to Barry Stephens that day. Did you know I was raped, Dad." I looked tried to see his face. "Did you even care?"
Chapter Twenty-Two
He didn't look away, but focused fully on me. "Yes I knew. And you have to believe your mother. No one sent a Power to rape or kill you, Zoë."
"But Mom—"
"Your mother blames herself for what happened. And no matter how many times I try to convince her otherwise, she refuses to listen."
"But he's back. The man who raped me and killed Barry is raping and killing again." I pointed at him. "And he's wearing your mark!"
"No, he's not. He's got a tattoo."
I—um— "Say what?"
Dad pursed his lips. "Zoë, the man who raped you is dead, but the body of that man is occupied by a Power. Only I did not create him. I have seen him, and I was informed he'd modified his mark to resemble my own. In fact, most of that Virtue's Powers have modified their marks."
"Whose Powers are they, and why would they do that?" I wasn't going to say I believed him, but it was an explanation I hadn't thought about before.
"The Virtue was Raziel. The one you destroyed. And when he was obliterated, his Powers were left orphaned. Several of them came to me and asked if they could be a part of my army—and I refused, because I never approved of Raziel's behavior."
"So they all decided to make themselves look like they belonged under your command."
He nodded slowly. "Yes. And they've committed heinous acts under my name. Right now, my army is out destroying them when they can." Dad reached out his hand.
I looked at it, and then looked at him. "I just can't."
"I understand." He returned his hand to his knee. "But I need you to listen to what I'm going to tell you about that night." He took in a deep breath. "First off, I never intended Nona to use the Eidolon the way she did. She took my instructions and ripped them up—she was still very angry at me. But sealing your power so young was the right thing to do. It kept you hidden and safe, which was what I always wanted.
"But somehow a Virtue discovered what you were—what hid beneath the magic of the Eidolon. That Virtue created a Power to watch you and wait for the moment to kill you."
"But why? Why would anyone want me dead?"
He held up his hand. "You have Nona's lack of patience, Zoëtrope."
"I hate it when you—"
"Deal with it. And listen." He winked before he continued. "That night, your mother had one of her feelings—that something terrible was going to happen. She sent Karl, one of her dearest friends and a former employee, out to keep an eye on you. What she didn't know, because Karl kept the mark hidden under makeup, was that he was the Power created to kill you."
My jaw fell open. Oh no—oh fuck. "Mom didn't realize she'd sent an assassin to kill me."
"No. So it took advantage of the situation when you and that boy went to Piedmont Park. Barry's death was a tragedy and something no one could predict. When Nona got the call and Karl disappeared, she realized what'd happened. But it was too late."
"And that's why she said it was her fault. So…" I leaned toward him. "Then I wasn't attacked in order to break the spell. That happened by accident."
"Yes. The Power possessing Karl failed. You didn't die. Instead, you came into your full Irin power. The police did catch him a while later when he was shot, but he didn't stay dead for long, and he escaped. He's been traveling around doing petty crimes here and there. It wasn't until the other orphaned Powers called him back that he started raping and killing again."
"I don't understand why, though. Who ordered him to do that?"
"Zacharel. Remember, Dominions can control the Powers we make if they want. And onc
e Zach started getting stupid ideas, he gathered up all of Raz's orphans and started ordering them out there."
I sat in silence for a few minutes, not really sure what else I wanted to ask.
"Zoë, to answer the other question I'm sure is burning you inside—we do not have the Guardian."
"You don't?"
His brows arched again. "No, we don't."
No?
My turn to frown. "Of course, the Seraphim has him."
"No, we don't."
"Yes, you do."
"No, we don't."
"Yes…you do."
He held up his hands. "Zoë—stop. The First Choir does not have the Guardian."
"First Choir?"
"Think of them as…" he shrugged as he leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "The generals of the Ethereal, Zoë. Three Choirs, all in order of their abilities, their place, and their obedience. The Seraphim and the Cherubim upon the Throne is the First Choir."
"Cherubim? I've heard of Virtues, Powers, and Dominions, but Cherubim?"
"They are something you do not want to mess with, Zoë. I'm not even sure there's an Abysmal Equivalent. They have never possessed a human soul, and live exclusively in the Ethereal Plane to guard the Seraphim." Dad turned his head to the right. "They do not have possession of the Guardian—although the Seraphim desires it above all else, to the point of obsession."
"Yeah…so where do you fall into that hierarchy?"
"Second Choir has Virtue. Dominion, Virtue, then Power. You already know this though, since we are the ones who take care of the hassles in the Physical Plane. The First Choir can't manifest here—" he shrugged "—and affect anything. They can show up as spirits or Shades, but they will never be tangible."
"So they use you."
"And like I said, they use the Powers we create."
This was the most information my father had ever given out to me. Most of the time when I'd seen him, he'd been trying to manipulate me into something. So… "Why are you telling me this?"
"You need to know."
"I needed to know this a lot sooner."
"Were you willing to listen if I'd tried sooner?"
Ah…there he was. My father the ass-hat. "I see. So…you're saying neither the First Choir nor the Seraphim have Dags or Rhonda. Do the Second Choir?"
This time he looked away. "No…and yes."
"Damn it. What does that mean?"
"It means we're a plane divided, Zoë." He seemed to sink further into the bench as he rubbed his face with his hand, his elbows still on his knees. "My dream to close the Abysmal Plane ended when you didn't resonate. The truth was, I didn't think you would."
!!!
"So why put me in that fucking Throne?"
"To make sure the Seraphim didn't put one of his damn Cherubim in there." He looked at me and clasped his hands together. "There is a lot you don't know, Zoë. A lot your mother never told you, because I've never told her. There are plots and betrayals so vast and deceitful the name Machiavelli doesn't even come close to describing them."
"So you used me…like a cork? To stop the Seraphim?"
He laughed. He freakin' laughed! "You get your humor from your mom. And I've always loved it." He sat up and put his hands on his knees. "You asked me questions, and I have given you honest answers, Zoë."
I moved closer to the middle bench. "Does someone else in the Second Choir have him?"
Adiran looked torn as he gazed at me. I knew he wasn't really seeing me. He was thinking. Then, "Yes." He put his hands up. "But you can't interfere, do you understand? We are doing what we can to get them back—"
"Oh, yeah, right. You want Dags so you can rip that book out of him and kill him."
"Zoë, that book should never have been created in the Physical Plane to begin with." His voice rose just a smidgen. "And to think some damn megalomaniac witch dares to fuse it to the soul of a Guardian? In fact, to the only Guardian to be born in a century? She should be punished for all eternity for causing so much turmoil."
He was mad. But not at me.
He was mad…at Rhonda!
Holy hell.
I took in a deep breath and held up my hands. "Look, Dad…" I called him that to defuse his anger, not because I thought any differently about him. "For once, I agree with you. I'm pissed as hell at her for everything. But it's done, and I can't and won't just stand by and let you and your damn Seraphim murder the man I love just get some old book back."
"Some old book?" He tilted his head toward his right shoulder. "You really don't know what that book is, do you?"
"I don't care. I just want Dags. And I want him in one piece. And I want…" I sighed. "I want him to remember me."
"I know. And I'm sorry. Geist told me what happened. And how he'd had a part in it. You do realize he…he was only doing what he felt was the right thing to do."
"Because I could be a hindrance to the Guardian." I'd heard it before. I wiped my face and pulled my hair back. I was warm under his coat. And I'd sort of forgotten and gone off track from the reason I needed to talk to him, although what he'd already divulged was gold. "Dad…who has Dags?"
"Someone you can't mess with, Zoë. Someone even we're having difficulty with."
The conversations with Nick and Jason, and with Mom, came back to me. "It's a Dominion, isn't it?"
The expression on his face told me I was right. "How did you—"
"Zacharel. I fought him a few days ago. Well, more like a week, by now. He was judging souls down in a club in midtown—"
I didn't see him move. He was suddenly there, kneeling in front of me, and had his hands on my wrists. "Zoë, tell me what happened."
"Let go. You're hurting me."
"Sorry." He did let go, but he remained in front of me, invading my personal space. I recounted to him what Manuel and I had done in the club, of how this asshole had killed a Revenant and then was after Manuel, so I'd fought him with my sword and then—well—grabbed him. I left out the eating-the-souls part of that. Didn't think it was relevant. "Then we took in him into custody and the Society put him in the dungeon." Well, not a real dungeon, but it was one to me.
"Is that how he came in contact with the witch?"
"Rhonda? Yeah. But him overshadowing her happened after I left town—"
"But how, Zoë? How is he overshadowing a witch? Dominions can't possess humans. They can't take physical human forms. And they can't manifest physically without sacrificing their power. If they did, they'd become immortal humans damned to live for eternity."
My jaw dropped. "Are you serious? We have immortals besides the Revenants walking around down here?"
"Down here?" He gave me a half smile. "Where do you think the Physical Plane is, Zoë? It's not below anything. It's at the center of everything."
"It is?" I'd never thought of that. I'd always kind of seen the Physical Plane as like the bottom of a layered dip: the bean layer on bottom.
I'm not always the best at putting these puzzles together, and sometimes it takes a bit of percolating to do that. Meaning I get a bunch of questions, a bunch of answers, throw them into the pot, and poof. I have pie or brownies.
And suddenly, I had a seven-layer cake.
It started making sense now. Dominions can't physically control humans. Nor can they possess them, or overshadow. Pick a word. But Zacharel had found a way to manipulate Rhonda by hiding in her Veil, if Joe was right about what he saw. Since Rhonda couldn't make Dags do anything he didn't want to do, and Maureen was apparently protecting Dags from anyone physically taking the Grimoire out, then it made sense now as to why someone was looking for the Eidolons.
I grabbed my dad's arms. "Dad, I think I know what they're doing." I told him what we knew, of what we'd learned about the Eidolons, Rhonda, the Veil, and Maureen. He watched me, listening and nodding. "So you're assuming Zacharel has Dags?"
"Yes. He's trying to control the Grimoire before the Seraphim can." He looked up at the sky and stood. "I have to go.
Nona's condition is getting a little better. If there's any chance she wakes—I want to be there, and not that blood-sucking—"
I stood, too, and put my finger in his face. "Jason is a good man. So is Mephistopheles. They're both loyal and very trustworthy. If they show up at the hospital, you be nice to them. Or I'll personally—"
"I know, have Joe cast a spell. You might want to check on him, by the way. Casting a ward like that taxes a witch's magic, and they have a limited well to pull from."
I leaned back as I glared at him. "How did you know—"
"I pay attention when it comes to you, Zoë. I always have." He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder before I could back away. "I can give you one more piece of the riddle, Zoë, but you have to solve it."
Huh?
"There are six Eidolons in the riddle, my baby girl. And their creation is Ethereal." With that he vanished. Just…poof.
I stood there for a few minutes, thinking. Six Eidolons? No one ever mentioned six! Destruction, Creation, Possession, Banishing, and Command. Five! And what did he mean, they were Ethereal?
I hate this shit! But, now I knew the Seraphim didn't have Dags and wasn't torturing him—some creepy-ass Dominion did. And he wanted to Eidolons to control Dags and the Grimoire.
I'd kicked this Dom's ass before—time to kick it again.
Because if Zacharel got his hands on those Eidolons, then we were all in deep shit.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jason answered his door after I pounded on it for a whole minute. "Wow, quiet down—"
I rushed inside. "Where's Daniel?"
"I'm here," Daniel stepped out of the hall and met me in the living room of Jason's plush apartment. "What is it? Whose coat—" His eyes widened. "That thing wreaks of Ethereal energy."
"It's my dad's." I ignored the gasps and voiced outrage that Nick, Jason, and Daniel threw at me as Umayma stepped in off the terrace and asked what was happening.
Dominion: Zoë Martinique Investigation, Book 6 Page 15
