Redeemed by Rubies (A Dance with Destiny Book 6)

by JK Ensley

  “Continue,” Michael said.

  “Anyway… while we were floating down the river, I thought I saw someone.”

  “Whom?” she demanded.

  “An old friend of yours. That’s all.” He held up his hands, palms out. “I had no idea your feelings had changed, Naga. When last I saw the two of you together, you were laughing and talking and holding hands.”

  “By the gods…” Her celestial pink eyes grew impossibly wide. “Say it, Duhrias. Speak the name. Tell me who you stumbled upon while on Earth!”

  “…Ahriman,” he barely whispered. “I saw him near the water’s edge; we followed him through the woods. Lala was curious—”

  “No! Don’t say it, damn you. Don’t you dare say you traipsed right up to that soul-eater’s side with my granddaughter in tow.”

  “I didn’t know what would happen. I had no idea what he was really like. I swear it, Naga, swear it by the last breath in my lungs. When last I saw Ahriman, he was by your side… laughing and fighting demons and playing with your hair. I didn’t—”

  “What did he do to my grandchild?” she screamed.

  Duhrias fell to his knees. “I know not. As soon as Ahriman smelled you upon her, he turned to Lala and began questioning her concerning you.”

  “What did he say?”

  “I cannot tell you because he froze my whole body—struck me deaf and blind,” Duhrias cried. “When he returned my senses, that dark Angel explained to us what we were doing… how we were using up the veil between worlds. We stopped. From that day until you took us to Ashgard, we have not left Jinn.”

  “Get him out of my sight,” she hissed.

  When Tenshi seized the River Spirit, Duhrias called out to her. “Naga… I love Lala, and she loves me. That will never change. When she comes back… when she comes back… she will come to me. We will be together. I saw the look in her eyes the day you explained to her exactly what your Dragons had to sacrifice to fix what we had broken. She was consumed with guilt. I know her, Empress. She will never err so again. Lala will not travel back and forth to visit me, no. When she is found, she will run to me, and there she will stay. If I am on Earth, you will lose her.”

  “Yet… if you remain on Jinn, I will kill you.”

  “No. No, you won’t. That’s just your anger talking, Naga. You have to know what we did, we did out of ignorance. When Lala is safe within your arms once more, will you punish her? Will you try to keep us separated because we made a mistake? A mistake that we rectified immediately. How many second chances were you given, Empress? How many times have you erred and were forgiven? Is your beloved granddaughter not worthy of at least the same as you?”

  Silence filled the hallway. Even Michael dared not make a sound.

  Jenevier calmly walked to a nearby window, gazing out upon her beloved Jinn a moment before quietly stepping up onto the sill. She crouched then, her knees popping loudly down the quieted corridor.

  She slowly turned to face the emerald-eyed man she had happily brought into this realm. Jenevier narrowed her gaze. Duhrias held his tongue and his breath.

  “Remain hidden from me,” she said coolly. “That is the only warning you will ever get.”

  Then, she leapt from the window and disappeared.

  *****

  “Well…” Michael whispered, mostly to himself. “Looks like the mystery of Kagi Naga’s stolen bracelet has been solved.”

  “Do you think Lala took it?” Tenshi asked.

  “Not with purposeful intent, no. But I would say her tiny little hands did the deed, yes.” Michael turned to Duhrias. “And since Ahriman felt the need to blind the River Spirit to his dealings with the Princess…”

  “Then…” Tears formed in Tenshi’s heavenly blue eyes. “The soul-eater possessed my daughter.”

  Michael nodded. “It looks like it, yes.”

  “But if he possessed Lala just to use her to rid Empress Naga of the binding he had placed upon her…” Duhrias looked from the Arch to the Angel. “Then… why did he take Lala?”

  “I am unsure,” Michael said. “Ahriman is a smart one. There’s no denying that.”

  “Maybe he found out that Mama now hated him,” Tenshi said.

  Michael gazed out the window his little sister had just flown from. “…Perhaps.”

  “Even if the soul-eater had found out how Naga felt… why take Lala?” Duhrias furrowed his brow. “He would have to know that such a thing would make her even angrier.”

  “Since his spell over Kagi Naga was broken, he no longer held sway with the Death Angel,” Michael said.

  “But if he was in possession of my daughter.” Tenshi met Michael’s knowing gaze. “Then he could get Mama to agree to anything… just to get her back.”

  “True.” Michael turned to Duhrias. “When Ahriman returned your sight, what did you behold? How did the Princess act with the soul-eater?”

  “She was completely enamored with him,” Duhrias said softly. “She thought he was the most enchanting Angel she had ever seen.”

  “…As I feared,” Michael mumbled.

  *****

  He told you true, Little Fire. Nilakanta chuckled. That River Spirit has more guts than I gave him credit for.

  “Yeah… Even knowing that I truly wanted to rip his limbs off, he stood up for Lala, for their love.” Jenevier splayed her arms and legs out atop Nilakanta’s back, and sighed. “I should have ripped his tongue out, at the very least.”

  Why? Because he made you look back upon yourself?

  “Watch it, Dragon.”

  Nilakanta chuckled again. I do not fear your wrath, little Naga. Of all the creatures in this universe, you are now draped atop the only one you cannot defeat.

  “Pfft… you think so?”

  I know so, Little Fire.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure. I mean, I think I know you pretty well. If I were to draw my blade, you would not defend yourself for fear of hurting me.”

  And I know you as well, Kagi Naga. You would never unsheathe your might to draw my blood… you would die first.

  “Then, I guess… we are equally incapable of defeating the other.”

  As it should be, Little Fire. As it should be.

  “Nilakanta…”

  Yes, Kagi Naga?

  “Help me find my Lala,” she whispered.

  I swear it, beautiful Guardian. I swear it by every scale upon my back.

  Jenevier rolled over onto her belly and wrapped her arms around his sapphire neck. “Where do you think she might be, old friend? If neither the darkness nor the light can reach him… where could that damn soul-eater be hiding?”

  “There is only one place left, Your Majesty,” a seemingly disembodied voice whispered.

  Jenevier sighed. “Just go away, Rixx. Whatever your purpose… you have succeeded. My family and I are in torment. You may go now.”

  “No, lovely Naga. Your grief was never my intent. I was sent to watch you. Nothing more.”

  “By whom?”

  “That is irrelevant.” Rixx slowly came into view. “What is relevant, is the Princess. I did not take her and I have not seen her…”

  “…But?” Jenevier said when he paused.

  “But… if any creature is absent this universe, undetectable by both darkness and light… there is only one possible place for them to be.”

  “…Which is?”

  Naga, the Nephilim speaks of Sheol.

  “Sheol?” Jenevier quickly sat up. “But… Uriel and Jophiel said that humans could not go there.”

  “No,” Rixx said. “I believe what the Archs once told you was… humans are not meant to remain in Sheol. That’s why Father provided them an out. Sheol is not like any of the other Underworlds. Sheol is…”

  “A place where ancient things live. Yes, I know.”

  “No, Milady,” Rixx said. “Sheol is a holding cell. A place where things are sent… to wait.”

  “Wait? Wait for what?”

  “No one knows for sure.
Wait for reward. Wait for punishment. Wait for Father to decide what He wants to do with them. It is true that most things in Sheol no longer walk the layers—have been eradicated eons ago. But not all things. There are some creatures residing there… some creatures that you are all too familiar with.”

  “…Angels,” Jenevier whispered.

  If nothing is allowed to leave Sheol, how is it Ahriman and Apollyon boast of walking in and out, freely?

  “I don’t know, Dragon,” she mumbled.

  Rixx softly cleared his throat. “It is because they can escort.”

  Jenevier furrowed her brow. “Explain.”

  “Angels of light, escort through the Nether to the enlightened Otherworlds. The same holds true for the Angels of darkness. Apollyon and Ahriman can freely traverse Sheol, because they escort there.”

  If such is true… then your dear Vindicus should have no trouble retrieving the Princess.

  Rixx chuckled. “One might think so, yes. But forget not what I told you. There are things living within that realm… as old as time itself. The only way any creature could freely stroll right in and out with Lala on their arm, would be if they offered Sheol’s inhabitants something far more valuable than the Princess herself. If Apollyon has nothing to exchange for Lala… he will not be the one to bring her home.”

  So… someone in Sheol wants Naga.

  “Yes,” Rixx said. “Someone, or something.”

  “But, why? What in the world could a creature of Sheol want with me? Of what value am I to them?”

  “You have no idea, do you?” Rixx’s dual-colored eyes sparkled brightly. “You have been blessed far beyond your worth, little one. You have garnered favor where none should have been given. You alone have committed far greater sins than even some who have been caged within that dark realm. Yet… you live. Not only do you live, you thrive, Kagi Naga. You have been forgiven and tolerated at every turn.” He moved a tiny bit closer. “What does that say to you, Angel of Death?”

  “…That I don’t deserve what I have,” she whispered.

  What it says, Kagi Naga, is that Father favors you. He has plans for you to achieve your destiny, expectations. It means that He wants to see you do what it was you were intended to do.

  “Yes.” Rixx nodded. “And if Father is willing to go that far for one flawed, tiny, broken little Angel… what would He give to keep her whole?”

  “A trade?” Jenevier laughed. “You actually think Father would make a deal with a creature bound in darkness for my sake? You are mad, Nephilim.”

  “Perhaps… perhaps not. We shall see.” He turned to go. “Oh… but if it is true. If Father truly wants you freed from Sheol—if you should choose to go there—then He will have to pluck you out by His own hand. You are all Angel now, Kagi Naga. There will be no escape. Once you step into Sheol, there is no creature in this universe who can save you. Not Michael. Not Daichi. Not even your all-powerful Vindicus. If you go to Sheol, there you will remain.”

  Still chuckling, Maza Vespar Rixx slowly disappeared.

  *****

  “You will not go there,” Michael said. “It is out of the question.”

  “I didn’t come back here to ask your permission, Brother. I came back here…” She turned to face Apollyon. “…to ask how I could gain entrance.”

  “To Sheol?” Apollyon sort of snorted. “Never gonna happen, Anicee.”

  “Do not put too much stock in the words of that Rixx creature,” Michael said. “I saw him with my own eyes. He is not Nephilim.”

  “Then… what is he?”

  “Not to be trusted,” Apollyon said. “That’s what he is.”

  “I know not what he is,” Michael said. “I have never seen his like. I must agree with my darkest brother on this one, Kagi Naga. Rixx cannot be trusted.”

  “Then, tell me. Is what he said completely false? Is it not true that if Ahriman can be found nowhere else in the universe, then he has to have Lala trapped in Sheol?”

  Neither Michael nor Apollyon answered her.

  “And is what he said about Sheol not also true?”

  “If you mean the part about Angels not being able to enter Sheol,” Michael said. “Then, no. He did not speak true. I can enter Sheol, if I so choose.”

  “Any creature can enter Sheol,” Apollyon said.

  “Yet… they cannot return,” Michael added.

  “But, why? Why can an Angel not return from Sheol? It doesn’t make any sense. If I can fight my way out, who’s gonna keep me there?”

  “Sheol is forbidden,” Michael said flatly. “If an Angel enters there, all Grace for that creature is forfeit.”

  “And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Apollyon took her hand. “Your power, my power, any Angel’s power is not granted them by their own worth. None of us have earned or deserve it. It is a gift, a divine gift of Grace. An Angel is granted their might through Grace alone. Alas, a gift refused is no gift at all.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning…” The Prince of Hell smiled sweetly. “If you forfeit the gift—the Grace—then it is gone. Thus is the price for breaking the law and entering Sheol.”

  “But you go there all the time, Vindicus. Yet, your power remains.”

  “And that is because I am already damned. I made the decision, Anicee. I fell… of my own free will. My judgment is set in stone, my love. Yours is not. If you willingly choose the path that is forbidden… you sacrifice your Grace.”

  “I see. Then… this is my destiny, isn’t it?” Tears filled her ethereal pink eyes. “I wasn’t born with these powers. I have simply been borrowing them… borrowing them so that I may fulfill this destiny, pass through this crucible. There are plenty of Angels that could rescue Lala, but none that will… save me.” She sort of snorted. “I am no Angel. Every creature in the universe agrees with this. And not only that, I was gifted with being the darkest sort of light Angel there can be. I have always loathed being Death, Vindicus. This you well know. If I have to give that up to see my granddaughter safe, then there is truly no decision to make at all. Of course I will go. I want to go.”

  “You will not only sacrifice your Grace,” Michael said. “You will sacrifice your life as well—your very soul.”

  Jenevier smiled. “And how could I go on living, knowing that Ahriman was making a nightly feast of my precious Lala? No, Michael. If I do not walk into Sheol of my own free will, then I will fall… and walk into that wretched realm already damned and lost. No… If this is it, if this is truly the end… then I will go out on my own terms. I will ensure my grandchild’s safety, then I will wait in the holding cell with the rest of those poor souls… wait until Father decides what He wishes to do with me.”

  “I will not take you there,” Apollyon whispered softly. “I will not show you the way to Sheol.”

  “Not even for your own granddaughter?”

  “Not for my son and my granddaughter combined.”

  Jenevier jerked her hand free of his. “How can you even say such a thing?”

  “I love you, Anicee. You, and you alone. Have I not told you this before? My heart knew love when I first knew you. There will never be room for another.”

  “Not even for your own blood?”

  “The fruit of our union was meant as a blessing unto you, my love. Not me. I have enjoyed being around them, yes. I love the way they make you happy.”

  “Apollyon lost the capacity to love when he chose to fall,” Michael said. “In truth, I’m not completely certain he had the capability while he was yet light. If he did, it remained a secret to us all.”

  “You are my miracle, Anicee. My only miracle. Do not wish for another. I love you… and I will not see you bound in that place.”

  “I don’t need your permission,” she spat through gritted teeth. “I will find Sheol on my own. If you feel nothing for your own children, then your love is a worthless thing to me. Consider this our farewell.”

  And with that, Jenevi
er transported away from the palace on Jinn… never to return.

  *****

  “Rixx! Show your face! Let us be done with this farce. Take me to my granddaughter. Now!”

  “No need to shout, Death Angel. I am ever near.”

  Rixx appeared atop the largest waterfall in the Valley of Dragons… smiling.

  I would beg you to stay, Nilakanta said. Burn down this entire layer… if I knew it would keep you ever at my side.

  “I know, Brother.” Jenevier hugged and kissed her Dragon’s soft snout. “You are the one my heart breaks for… only you. My son will have his family. Yui will go on for the sake of the kingdom. And Daichi is content with his duty as an Arch. Every person I love will be comforted… in time.”

  Save me.

  “Yes, Nilakanta… save you. You, my most handsome of all Dragons…” Jenevier sniffed and wiped her eyes. “You are my only true regret. If I could ask Father for one thing… it would be that the two of us were never parted.”

  That is my wish as well, Little Fire. When you leave… I will take to my cave and never again look upon the light of day. You possess my heart and soul, Kagi Naga. Only my shell will remain here in this world, after your departure. I will rest now—sleep until time is no more. Then, I will come to you. Never again shall we part.

  “I will wait for you, Nilakanta. Always will I wait for you.”

  When the Dragon raised his mighty head, Jenevier wrapped her arms as far as she could across his massive chest. A single giant tear fell—soaking through her clothing and drenching her hair—a heartbeat before she felt his velvety wings wrap about her, pressing her ever closer to his heart.

  “Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?”

  Jenevier’s breath hitched when she heard her son’s sorrowful voice.

  “…Tenshi. How did you—”

  “I was listening at your door, Mama. I heard everything.” He pulled her to him as his tears began to flow. “When you disappeared, I knew exactly where I could find you.”

  “Did you tell anyone else? Yui or Daichi or—”

  “No, Mama. I knew there was no one capable of stopping you. Telling them would have only caused you more pain.”