Covenant

by Sabrina Benulis

  “You do not speak to her,” Troy thundered at him.

  Juno stood rooted to the spot.

  Fury had flown to another perch, but Troy could sense her nearby, waiting for her master’s signal when the moment came.

  “And just why can’t I speak to her? Because she’s your runty Queen?” Python spat.

  “Because your malice should be toward me alone,” Troy said. She remembered their conversation in the cavern. Troy shivered, unable to believe there’d been a moment she’d considered killing her own niece.

  “Fair enough,” Python whispered. His orange eyes burned. “Well, Troy, aren’t you going to ask me about Angela Mathers? Or about your cousin, that annoying half-breed my mother took a fancy to?”

  A growl bubbled up from deep within her. “There is no need, because you will not take me to them. I will find them on my own.”

  Python tipped back his head and laughed. “Really? But that’s why I’m here, dear. To stop you from getting there. You’ve come quite far through my labyrinth. It’s commendable. You’ve been entertaining enough to watch. But I think I’ve had enough of this little game. I have bigger crows to cage, bigger rats to trap.” His eyes blazed fiercely. “You’ve reached the real end now, High Assassin. And it’s a pity. Think about what you could have been—Queen. Consider what you will be without my mercy—dead.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. I always sensed this was your maze, snake,” Troy whispered. “If it weren’t for the Archon, I would have escaped it long ago.”

  “How loyal,” Python said with a dark cleverness in his smile. “And it was exactly that sense of nobility I was counting on.”

  The rage within her intensified. He had been playing them all for fools—and worst of all, enjoying every minute of it.

  Somehow, despite her better judgment, Troy had believed enough of Python’s lies to think that maybe—just maybe—he was truly on the Archon’s side. But Nina’s death had ended that for good. If only Troy could be where Angela was now, to protect her from Python’s treachery. Angela’s desperation to rescue Sophia would only keep blinding her to the demon’s real motives, and those couldn’t be in her favor.

  He would spring for Angela’s throat eventually. The grim question was when?

  Python regarded Troy with amusement. “I see your mind working. And it’s absolutely right—there was never any way out of this for you, or for the Archon. I play every chess game well, High Assassin. I certainly have a lot of time to plan my moves ahead. But not every pawn realizes who their real master happens to be. Look at Nina Willis, for example,” he said softly. “When her half brother approached me, begging me to resurrect her body—how could I push aside such an opportunity? With Nina’s unwitting help, Angela Mathers finally found and entered the door to Hell like a blind fool. It was almost laughably easy to get her inside.”

  Troy could hardly breathe. There was more to that story. There had to be. It was too much of a coincidence that Nina’s half brother had known how to summon Python and ask for his help.

  “Her brother was smart enough to find you on his own?” Troy smirked. “Perhaps you aren’t as well concealed and clever as you’d like to think . . .”

  Python lost his laughter. “It shows what a naive winged rat you are. Your own Clan betrayed you. What makes you think the angels wouldn’t do the same to their own kind? It was an angel who led that weak human to me. Not his own mortal cleverness.”

  “What angel?” Troy said, her tone scoffing at the news. But she already knew.

  Instantly, she thought back to the angel Mikel who had possessed Nina Willis a year ago.

  Regrettably, Python had caught on to the ruse. His deadly eyes narrowed to something even more sinister. “None of your business,” he snapped. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, before I torture you and the runt, I’m here to collect the soul that now belongs by rights to me.” He stooped down over Nina and muttered under his breath. A cold light began to outline the human’s body and reflect brilliantly off the acidic water.

  Troy’s eyes burned with pain.

  “Look away!” she said to Juno and rushed in front of her again.

  Juno cowered, whimpering. The light subsided, and they could only watch in helpless horror as Python lifted a softly glowing bluish sphere from Nina’s body. It pulsed, and tremors of brilliant light flowed over its surface. With the Netherworld closed and Nina already in Hell, her soul had regressed to its most pure essence. Python kissed the light in his hands. “What will the Archon have to say to me now?” he said under his breath.

  Troy sensed what she planned to do next would mean certain death for both her and Juno, but there were few options left. While a few moments ago escape had still been possible, this new outrage deserved swift justice. It was now achingly clear why the demon had murdered Nina, and Troy alone stood in the way of his plans. Python had enough pawns already. Nina’s soul would be one too many.

  With her eyes still burning from the light, Troy leaped at Python.

  Her hands reached for Nina’s soul, were a second from grasping it.

  Hardly concerned, Python waved his hand.

  Power rippled through the ether and smacked into Troy. Her body whipped into a mirror, knocking the wind out of her as it smashed, raining shards around her body. Troy dropped to the ground, her muscles in agony, gnashing her teeth from the pain. Blood oozed from new cuts on her skin.

  Juno shrieked in horror and was about to run to Troy’s rescue, but Troy shot her a cold, hard glare. Don’t move, it said.

  Python sauntered toward Troy, annoyance souring his perfect face.

  NOW, Troy said in her thoughts.

  Fury streaked down from above. With a cold cry of victory, she plucked Nina’s soul from the demon’s grasp, cradling it between her large talons.

  Python screamed, his face twisting with rage. He thrust out his hand and said something ugly in the demonic language, but Fury was already too far away. She soared out into the darkness screeching, certainly heading for the exit from the labyrinth. Fury had found it after all. Her next job would be to take Nina’s soul somewhere Python could never steal it again.

  Keep going, Troy said to Fury in her thoughts. Go and don’t look back.

  “You frustrating bitch,” Python said, rounding on Troy again with blazing eyes.

  Troy knew what was coming next. “Run,” she hissed at Juno. “Follow Fury.”

  The chick stared at Troy in pure horror. Violet mist erupted around Python, and his body began to dissolve, his orange reptilian eyes the single feature that never changed. Every part of him stretched and transformed into inky black smoke and scales.

  “GO,” Troy screamed at Juno.

  Juno hesitated, and then she turned around and dashed off into the blackness.

  The moment she did, the walls of the room seemed to rush in on Troy.

  She had no time to escape. Obsidian mirrors toppled and smashed. Bones nearby cracked into shards. Thick loops of scaled and feathered flesh thumped out of the shadows and wrapped around Troy’s body, coiling swiftly one at a time. Higher and higher they surrounded her. Purplish mist choked out her breath.

  Troy tried desperately to crawl up and out of her prison, but the coils of scales and muscle tightened. In seconds she would be crushed to death.

  A triangular snake’s head crowned by a tuft of feathers swayed above her.

  She snagged her nails into black scales and climbed as hard as she could. Fear and pain sent shocking waves of strength through her body.

  The gigantic snake’s head darted down, aiming to bite her in half.

  Troy ducked sideways. Breath hot as steam passed over her.

  The snake snapped back into position with movements almost too quick to see, preparing for another strike.

  Python was now in his truest form as a feathered serpent, and the glorious plumes on his head had blended into a combination of violet and black, defining him as a demon. His enormous orange eyes focused on Troy. With the so
und of an iron trap slamming shut, he bit again at her torso. His fangs gleamed like knives. “Stop moving,” a soft voice echoed from his entire body, “and this will be over much sooner.”

  Troy latched frantically onto Python’s scaly folds and climbed with all her skill.

  He arched his neck, opening his lethal jaws directly over Troy’s head. She dodged again at the right second, jumping for another foothold.

  Her body slammed against Python’s again, but she rolled, suddenly free of her scaled prison. The cold ground seemed to rise and strike her in the face and chest. Troy shot upright, ready to dash out of reach. A shadow loomed above her.

  Pain more agonizing than a boulder breaking her bones ricocheted through Troy’s entire body. Blood gushed in a hot river down her back.

  Troy hit the earth hard, screaming.

  Python’s fangs had sliced her left wing. And now his shadow hovered over her again as he prepared to finish his work. A suffocating coil of muscle slammed against Troy, pinning her to the earth. Her jaw snapped shut from the force, and dots of lights speckled her vision. The ground felt hard and cold as iron. Troy thrashed against it, but Python pinned her tighter, bit into her wing again, and twisted his head.

  He was breaking Troy’s wing off right where it met her shoulder blade.

  Such pain. Indescribable anguish.

  Troy shrieked, and Python twisted harder, intensifying the pain, pouring more liquid fire into the marrow of what was left of her wing bones. The final bits of Troy’s wing tore away. Her ears buzzed and the world seemed to tilt. A horrific numbness crept across the left side of her back.

  She struggled to stay conscious. Nausea turned her stomach upside down.

  “You Jinn are too proud with these wings of yours,” Python said, his voice echoing distantly. “Perhaps now you won’t be quite so judgmental. Finally, High Assassin, at least one of your kind can understand what it is to be a demon like me. Finally you can know the pain I feel when I remember what it was to flap my wings amid the stars. Your sister, the previous Jinn Queen, didn’t quite get the message. Let’s hope you can do a better job.”

  Troy’s entire body throbbed with unbearable pain. Yet now it struck her—she wasn’t dead yet. But why? Python picked up her body and flung it to the side. Troy’s head smacked into the ground again. Her cheek scraped the earth and she landed facing him, her remaining wing twitching in spasms, blood trickling from her countless wounds. Slowly, Python’s serpentine body dissolved into violet smoke again.

  In seconds he stood before her as a demon, but now he revealed what was left of his own wings. They were a mess of bone, metal rods meant to support what patchy skin remained, and ragged flesh. Steam from the acid pool nearby brushed at his ankles.

  “Now we’re practically twins,” he hissed at Troy spitefully. “Queen or not, you’ll do well to remember who your new master is, you feathered rat.”

  Something dark and blindingly fast burst from behind a broken mirror.

  Juno.

  With a loud cry of rage, she slammed into Python hard and they both pitched straight for the acid pool.

  Juno broke away seconds before the inevitable and thumped back to the floor.

  Python’s slender body continued to tumble backward into the steaming water. Shock and anger contorted his face. His lips parted and he appeared on the verge of screaming or cursing.

  With a sickening crack, his body exploded in a rain of black ash. Pieces hazed the air, drifting onto Juno as she raced for Troy and stooped down beside her.

  “Your wing,” she said in abject horror.

  Troy fought to stay conscious, struggling to her feet despite more pain than she’d ever known. She staggered in the ash. Blood still ran down her back, but both she and Juno knew there was no time for Troy to rest or recover her strength. Even if Python was gone, they had to get out of this death trap to wherever Fury awaited.

  Her gaze met with Juno’s and locked tightly. Troy grasped her niece’s arm and leaned against her for a moment. Jinn weren’t skilled at showing gratefulness, and Troy was worse than most. But Juno understood, and she nodded at Troy with such a mature expression. It faintly resembled Hecate’s in her nobler moments. Perhaps this little one would make a great Queen after all . . .

  “Auntie, what’s happening?” Juno shouted suddenly.

  Troy broke from her trance and rocked forward. Ash had slipped from beneath her. The room darkened. She glanced up, straining to focus.

  A mysterious wind whipped out of nowhere, blinding Troy as more ashes lifted into the air and whirled like black snow. Her eyes stung but she forced herself to see. Slowly the ashes condensed near the acid pool into the tall and familiar shape of a man. Cold laughter echoed through the chamber, and Troy’s insides instantly knotted with fear.

  Python wasn’t dead.

  They had only been battling his shadow—nothing more than a clone of himself created and sustained by blood and astral energy. And as it returned for the second round, the real Python remained elsewhere, very much alive, watching their misery and laughing about it incessantly.

  “Did you really think it would be that easy to kill me?” The demon’s smooth voice shivered throughout the room. “The Prince taught me more than one trick in my days as a chick. Besides, I’m not stupid enough to play with the High Assassin of the Jinn without a backup plan. If only you weren’t so rude, Troy, my dear. Perhaps then I would have reconsidered killing your niece . . . Oh well. So much for mercy . . .”

  Troy’s heart almost stopped. A pain worse than the loss of her wing hammered her hard, because worst of all, despite the unthinkable torment Python had put Troy through, she’d never been his real target.

  Juno’s eyes widened. She tugged at Troy’s arm desperately. “This way!”

  This wasn’t right. Troy was always the one protecting her niece. Reversing the roles twisted her stomach into a ball. But Juno was already ahead—and Python’s shadow loomed behind.

  Troy shivered and shrieked, and in a whirlwind of pain she sprinted after Juno, following her to the exit as Python’s laughter echoed in her brain, nearly making her insane.

  Troy would make it. No, she wouldn’t, she couldn’t. They would survive. They would die. Her thoughts warred with one another madly. Then Juno disappeared into a misty haze, and though Troy ran after her, the fog only thickened.

  Every breath felt more impossible than the last. Troy entered a tunnel with a dull light at its end and she forced herself onward.

  The final walls of the labyrinth peeled outward, widening.

  Abruptly, the ground was pulled out from beneath her.

  The fog vanished, and Troy found herself leaping from a cliff high above the demon city of Babylon. It glimmered below her, glorious with obsidian and flickering lights in a cavern large enough to be the world. Juno was nowhere to be found. There was only the immense city, Python’s laughter, and the warm air embracing Troy’s body as it wafted beneath her remaining wing. Troy could no longer fly.

  She could also no longer think. Her eyes closed.

  Without a single sigh left to her, she fell.

  Twenty-eight

  My situation felt hopeless. How could anyone survive this kind of pain? Then I considered Nina’s pain, and Troy’s, and Sophia’s and even when it felt unbearable, I pushed on toward the precious place where we’d certainly meet again. —ANGELA MATHERS

  The Grail sent throbs of aching pain through Angela’s entire body.

  She stood before an enormous emerald Eye in a sea of utter blackness, her feet somehow positioned on solid ground. Within the Eye’s shining pupil, Israfel’s reflection gleamed. He cried out in anguish, his wings beating in agony. His white hair hung before his large blue eyes. Something about him seemed so small and human. Then he faded from view, and the Eye blinked shut.

  Angela awakened suddenly, one last throb shooting through her body.

  Darkness suffocated her, but gradually her eyes adjusted. She struggled to free her a
rms, but they had been chained to the wall and the manacles bit into her wrists. The chains jangled as she jostled with them, their noise echoing throughout the now empty ballroom. Angela swallowed, her throat feeling raw, a sour taste coating the inside of her mouth. Her head swam. Over and over, she continued to see Israfel, Lucifel, and Raziel, arguing, interacting. Raziel’s pain sliced through her again as he plummeted to his death. The legend was wrong. He hadn’t committed suicide.

  Somebody had murdered him.

  The frightening but beautiful being with a hundred wings had shredded Raziel’s wings and thrown him to his death. That same being whose eyes had been so familiar . . .

  The person the angels called “Father.”

  Angela glanced up at her left hand. The arm glove remained in place, deftly covering the Eye bleeding beneath the fabric. Her mind whirled.

  Israfel, Raziel, and Lucifel were definitively siblings. Israfel had been unable to bear the guilt of accidentally falling in love with his own brother. Lucifel had been discontent as well, though Angela could only guess why. There seemed to be more behind her venom than envy over Israfel’s position as Archangel. And Raziel had tried to put a stop to the bloodshed but died miserably despite his efforts.

  Angela shivered, finding herself face-to-face in her memories with that awful creature looming over Raziel. The cold hatred on its face had been almost impossible to look at.

  Lucifel took Sophia to Hell after the War. Was that to keep her safe from that awful . . . thing?

  What did Raziel really learn that led to his death?

  Maybe Lucifel already knew.

  Angela sighed and turned her head, still groggy. Kim was to her left where Lilith had chained him, sound asleep. Bruises peppered his face, and a nasty cut had been scratched into his cheek. The demon must have slapped him more than once. Yet she hadn’t bothered to kill Angela. That didn’t sit well with her. Angela struggled again with the chains and finally gave up, leaning her head back against the smooth cold wall.