“Fine,” she spat, before she knew what she was saying, before she could control her temper. “Send me to your prison! See if I care. But if you’re so sure I’ve done something wrong then why haven’t you sent me to Tartarus already?”
She narrowed her eyes, surprised at her courage or stupidity to be speaking with such impertinence to the archangel. The darkness was making her mad.
“I’ll tell you. It’s because you’ve got nothing. Because I haven’t done anything.”
To her amazement Metatron laughed. “You’re so feisty and insolent, such anger in that tiny little body. It’s one of the reasons why I like you so much, and why I haven’t sent you to Tartarus…yet. It’s because I like you, and I like having you around. There are not many angels who have the nerve to speak to me like you just did. In fact I don’t recall it happening for over three hundred years…and come to think of it, he’s still in Tartarus.”
Kara’s throat tightened as she remembered the heart wrenching echoes of lost souls she’d heard during her stay in the angel prison and wondered if she’d had heard that poor, forgotten angel’s cry. How could Metatron forget an angel for three hundred years in that despicable place? It only made her hate him more. Why would the legion appoint such a ruthless, uncaring commander? It was crazy.
Metatron smiled at her grimace.
“I admire a guardian who’s not afraid to speak her mind. It sets you apart. But like I said, not always in a good way. Lucky for you, I find you amusing.”
“Wonderful.” Kara stepped back into the shadow of the corridor and fought back the scream that she held inside her. If he did anything to prevent her from becoming a normal angel again, she’d feed him his cigar.
“Amusing, yes, but also significant.” Metatron sidled closer to her and brushed her wings with his fingers. Her skin crawled at his nearness, but she didn’t move an inch.
“Truly, your wings are remarkable,” continued the archangel. “But these…these veins tell a different story, don’t they?”
Kara was restless, but at the same time remarkably still. Was he aware of the darkness that brewed inside her? How much did Mr. Patterson and the oracles tell the legion about what they saw in her future?
Perhaps he didn’t know…not yet.
“What is their purpose?” he asked sweetly, standing too close to her. His breath was like an ashtray. “Why are they there at all? Are they trying to tell us something? What does it all mean?”
Kara’s brows knotted. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
She wouldn’t tell him anything. He would have to beat it out of her. God, why can’t he just go away?
Metatron watched her in silence for a moment.
“Well, I’m sure whatever they are they will reveal their mystery soon enough. They don’t seem to pose any kind of threat that I can see…for the moment. Either way, I’ve allowed you to stay in the legion until we discover more about these dreadful marks.”
“Thanks, I’m sure.”
Something shifted in the reflection of Metatron’s glasses, his smile flattened. “You are remarkably ungrateful.”
That was too much.
“Ungrateful? I’m ungrateful!”
Now she was yelling. “After everything that’s happened to me? Over and over and over again without being able to stop it, without being able to say no! I’ve never asked to have elemental power! I’ve never asked for these wings…these marks. I’ve never even asked to be an angel. It just happened, and I had no say in it. And was I ungrateful for all of this? For all these things that keep happening to me? No. I’ve always only shown my appreciation and my devotion to the cause because I believe in it. Even if it doesn’t believe in me. I’ve always been grateful. I do my job to the best of my ability, and I’ve saved countless mortal and angel lives. If that’s ungrateful, then shoot me.”
Kara shook with rage. She’d carried these feelings with her for so long, and now they had exploded out of her. Her only regret was that she had unleashed them on Metatron, the one who really could send her away forever.
The female entourages’ smiles had disappeared completely. Their pretty faces looked stunned. They watched Metatron and waited. No one moved. No one said a word. The fact that they weren’t laughing at her sudden outburst was an answer in itself—she had gone too far. Metatron would never let this go, especially in front of his groupies. He would punish her severely.
Kara braced herself.
He tapped the ashes from his cigar.
“Well, someone forgot to take their happy pills this morning.” He stared at her sullenly. “I’m feeling generous today, so I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear any of this juvenile tantrum. Because, that’s what it was, wasn’t it? A tantrum, brought on by stress, no doubt.”
When Kara realized he was waiting for her to answer, she said, “Yes, yes I guess you’re right. I should be grateful to you.”
Why wasn’t he angrier with her?
He looked almost sad. She couldn’t see his eyes, but it was clear now. He felt sorry for her, and she felt angry again. She didn’t want anyone’s pity, especially not his.
Metatron studied her for a long time and then added. “Where’s your beloved Davy? The two of you are usually inseparable, like two peas in a pod, right?”
He laughed and raised his eyebrows. “So what does he think about your latest look? Is he more or less inclined to be with you? By the looks of it, I’m going to guess less.”
Kara knew he was only trying to get a rise out of her, and she wouldn’t play his game. So instead she asked, “I heard the legion’s planning a strike on the archfiends tomorrow. I’m sure you’re very busy with plans and all. I wouldn’t want to keep you from such an important thing.”
She wasn’t expecting him to answer, but she figured she had nothing to lose.
Metatron frowned. “You heard? Ariel didn’t inform you? That’s not like her.”
Kara’s face fell. Obviously he didn’t know about their mission, and she was about to ruin everything with her big mouth.
“Yes. Of course she did,” she lied quickly.
“We’re all getting ready, physically and mentally. It’s just…”
She faltered and cursed herself for being so stupid. There was no official mission. Mr. Patterson had sent them out himself, out of desperation, without the legion’s knowledge. The legion hadn’t accepted his theory about the seals and the knights. But now Kara and the others were in dangerous territory—they had been on a secret and unauthorized mission.
For a moment she felt elated. She had never been one to follow the rules when breaking them was much more thrilling.
Still, Mr. Patterson should have warned them.
“It’s just what?” demanded the archangel.
“I thought maybe…I was hoping maybe you could stop it.”
“Stop it? Have you lost your mind?” Metatron’s face hardened.
“I don’t want to stop it. And why would I? We need to hit these archfiends with everything we’ve got. They’re a threat to us and to the mortal world. These creatures want to annihilate us. Do you know that that means?”
“Of course I do.” Kara straightened and resisted the urge to snap back, his foul mood was increasing by the millisecond.
“We must destroy them before they get a chance to attack first. There’s no other alternative. We’re going to hit them hard. With the demon legions fighting alongside us, the archfiends won’t stand a chance. It’ll all be over in less than a few hours. I guarantee it. I’m confident we will win this.”
“And you seriously trust the demons?” Kara did her best to hide the skepticism in her voice.
Metatron went still, and a shadow passed over his face.
“No, I don’t trust any demon and I never will. But I trust that they need to vanquish the archfiends as much as we do. They stand to lose as much as us if things turn our badly. The archfiends have no love for the demons either. If they don’t destroy the Netherworld, then they wi
ll bend it to their will. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“It just doesn’t feel right. They can’t be trusted.”
“There is no other way—”
“But there is another way.”
Kara moved forward. She forgot the marks on her face and ignored the stares of Metatron’s entourage.
“The demons have an ulterior motive. I know they do. They’ll turn on us, on you. Maybe they want us to die, I don’t know. But you can’t let the legion strike the archfiends now. They’ll never win!”
Her voice rose. “They’ll be killed if you don’t stop it. The archfiends will slaughter the angels! All of them.”
The words rushed out of her mouth. “You must stop them. Please. There’ll be nothing left! They’re more powerful than anything in this world. I’ve only seen a glimpse of what they’re capable of—”
She shut her mouth. She had said too much. The secret was out.
“A glimpse?” Metatron’s voice became deeper and more authoritative. Kara shuddered slightly under the power of his stare. His entourage stepped back.
“What glimpse are you referring to?”
“Well, it’s more of a feeling than a literal glimpse,” she lied. She wanted to kick herself. “Call it angel intuition. I get it from time to time, and I’m usually right.”
“Are you now?” Metatron’s face was unreadable.
“You’ve been speaking to that oracle again, haven’t you? What’s that one’s name again? Mr. Patterson, that’s the name. What do oracles know of combat and warfare? Of battles? What do oracles know of military strategies? Nothing. They’ve never really partaken in any wars. They’ve never fought side by side with angels. They spend their days scrying through crystal balls! Crystal balls! They don’t know the first thing about battles or how to win the war against the archfiends. And instead of filling young minds with foolish ideals of war, they should stick to fortune telling.”
Kara knew she had struck a nerve. She guessed that Mr. Patterson and the other oracles had interfered with the legion’s war plans over the centuries. Was Metatron opposed to the oracle’s recommendation to go after the knights of the apocalypse? She hoped she hadn’t made this more difficult for Mr. Patterson.
“I will have a talk with that old fool and set him straight once and for all.”
Kara was stuck. There was nothing she could say to help Mr. Patterson without revealing too much about their mission.
Metatron’s oily stare fixed on her again. He clicked his tongue. “This just won’t do.”
“Excuse me?”
The archangel moved away from her. “Your face, those marks, your wings…all of it. It’s clear to me now. This causes a problem for our deal.”
Kara winced. The infamous deal.
She hadn’t forgotten about it, but she hadn’t really thought it was relevant any more. Metatron had agreed not to torture David because he wanted to get information from her. He had offered her a deal in exchange for David’s safety, and she had taken it. She had never told anyone, not even to David. She had hoped that the archangel had forgotten about it. Cleary he hadn’t.
But did he just say that there was a problem?
Kara couldn’t stand this any longer. If he hadn’t been the overall legion commander, and if she hadn’t been linked to him because of the deal they had made, she would have punched him.
“Yes, our deal,” he purred. “You do remember our deal, don’t you?”
Kara clenched her jaw. She wanted to scream. This was insufferable.
“I could have overlooked the wings,” he continued. He took a long drag from his cigar, “But I can’t have you looking like that around me.”
Gray smoke billowed from his lips. “It would make my girls uncomfortable.”
Kara looked over to his entourage. They leered at her. Their red, bulbous lips were turned up in smiles that were not friendly.
“So…regrettably…and I mean it in the most sincere way because you were quiet beautiful…”
Kara leaned forward. She was going to punch him.
Metatron tapped his cigar. “The deal’s off.”
Kara felt relief, anger, and ultimately, excitement. This couldn’t have happened at a better time.
It was odd. She thought she heard resignation in his voice. Did he regret his decision? Was there something else? Despite herself, she felt a tingle of hope.
“We’ll be in touch.” Metatron turned on his heel and disappeared down the corridor with his entourage.
Kara stared after them in a cloud of cigar smoke.
She felt like someone had given her the moon.
She smiled wickedly.
Chapter 9
Revelations
Mr. Patterson stared at Kara’s face, his eyes wide with alarm.
“Dear souls! It is worse than I feared.”
David, Peter, Jenny, and Ashley lingered behind Kara, but she could feel their fear for what was happening to her. The thought that they felt sorry for her made it worse. She didn’t want anyone’s pity. She just wanted to confirm her suspicions that she might have some kind of link with the knights and that the connection might enable her to break her dreaded curse.
If she was right.
“What does it mean?” Kara pulled her hood back over her head.
The oracle fumbled with his crystal ball nervously. “I’m not sure. It seems the mutation has progressed more rapidly than I had hoped. It’s almost as though something triggered it.”
Kara knew what had triggered it. She had.
“Do you think there’s more to come?” David stepped in beside Kara.
He had taken the words right out of her mouth. But she could barely look at him for fear of what the oracle was about to say.
Mr. Patterson blinked the sadness from his eyes and looked back to Kara. “It’s hard to say. Hold this.”
He handed his crystal ball to David who took it carefully, surprised that the oracle trusted him to hold one of his precious crystals.
Then Mr. Patterson reached out and took her hand. He brushed his fingers over the black veins carefully, inspecting them. His fingers were soft and warm on her skin.
“Have more marks developed since the last outbreak? Since they last appeared on your face?”
The oracle inspected her hands closely. “Have you noticed if they keep progressing, is what I mean”
“I…I don’t think so.”
Kara stared at the bulging veins on her hands and tried not to make a face. They disgusted her. She disgusted herself.
“It’s not like I’m keeping count, but they look the same. I mean, I don’t think there’s more. I think it stopped.”
“Hmmm.” Mr. Patterson watched her silently. “Or maybe just slowed down.”
“Slowed down?” asked David, his brows furrowed. “So you don’t think it’s stopped yet?”
Mr. Patterson looked at Kara sadly. “We’ll never know for sure. Not until we know precisely what these markings mean.”
“Fantastic,” growled David.
“But will Kara be okay?” Jenny’s voice sounded from the back of the bookstore.
Jenny’s face was drawn, and she gave Kara a tight smile that Kara found hard to return. Peter and Ashley were watching her, too. They looked worried that she might suddenly blow up or something.
Kara looked back at Mr. Patterson.
“I will speak to the oracle mothers about this,” said the oracle with some urgency.
He let go of Kara’s hand. “They are the wisest of our kind. They might have better answers for you. I wish…I wish we had more time. I could run some tests, maybe find a temporary remedy to slow the mutation…maybe even find a cure.”
A cure.
“There’s something I have to tell you. All of you.” Kara waited until she had everyone’s undivided attention. She had hoped that the oracle would have made the connection between her and the knights. But he hadn’t. Now, she had no choice but to tell them what had happened.<
br />
Kara braced herself. “I think I have theory about a cure.”
“You never told me this?” said David with surprise.
“That’s because I didn’t know, well not for sure until I fought with the knight.”
Mr. Patterson snatched his crystal back from David. “Go on.”
They all gathered closer around her. “It’s a working theory. I could be wrong—”
“But you think you’re right.” David’s face was unreadable.
Kara’s throat tightened. “When I injured the knight with my blade, I cut a deep wound into its left bicep. Well, it left a mark on me, too.”
“What kind of a mark?” asked David quietly.
Kara kept her eyes on the oracle as she answered.
“A wound. Exactly like the one I left on the knight.”
She watched as the oracle’s eyes widened. She could see that his mind was working overtime. She could practically hear him think.
David raked his hair with his fingers. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that when I hurt the knight, I felt the pain, too. The cut. As soon as my blade perforated its skin—a gash opened up on my arm.”
Mr. Patterson’s face paled. “From what you are telling us, I fear you share a connection with these creatures. A physical connection.”
Kara had suspected that she shared a connection with the knight, but hearing it confirmed by the oracle made it more likely to be true. She had been right. There was a connection.
Kara nodded. “I know. Well, at least that’s what I thought. I’m linked to them somehow. The knight saw the wound on my arm, and it was just as surprised as I was. It wasn’t expecting it either. So, for whatever reasons, I appear to be linked to the knights. But the fact that the knight didn’t seem to know that I was linked to it in some way is even more confusing.”
“So if you are linked to them,” Ashley began, “couldn’t you have warned us before it appeared? Didn’t you sense it?”
“No. It doesn’t work like that.”
Kara didn’t really know how it worked. It just did. She wasn’t thrilled about it either. However, she hoped that her bond with the knights might provide her with a clue as to how she might rid herself of her mutation.
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