The canal flowed alongside the walkway. I marveled at the water as we walked, and gondolas passed.
Adrianna and Kiran walked arm in arm ahead of us. An image of Nash and I with our hands together, fingers entwined, flashed in my mind. We walked side by side, my head leaned against his arm. We watched the gondolas pass. Do you want to ride one? I shook my head until the image broke away like an unmoored ship from the coast.
Adrianna pointed to something and took off with Kiran.
“Where are they going?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t worry about them if I were you,” said Tom. “This isn’t their first time in Venice, even though they look like a bunch of tourists. They’ll find the hotel on their own. I’m going there now if you want to join me.”
“This is my first time,” I said. “I think I’d like to enjoy it for a little while.”
“Okay, but you should stick close to Adrianna and Kiran.”
Chandra followed Tom, but didn’t try to catch up with him. After what he said to her a few days ago, she might beat him in a dark alley.
When Chandra left too, I thought Nash might go with her, but he stayed with me. Of course, he stayed with me. The others left, so he had to stay. He needed to protect me and make sure that I wouldn’t try to escape.
I was a prisoner. Sure, I didn’t want my soul to end up in Hell for all eternity, but if I didn’t care about that, Lucifer would find another way to make me do what she wanted.
We strolled along the stone pathway. A tall column with a winged lion rose in the air, reaching into the heavens.
I don’t remember who first told me that Heaven was above us. I always pictured angels on clouds. When people died, I thought they became angels. I wondered if any of that was right.
Hell wasn’t at all what I expected. I didn’t know about the Outer Region. I thought Hell was fire, brimstone, and pitchforks. I didn’t realize how much choice was involved or at least the illusion of choice. People could feel so strongly that they belonged in Hell that they ended up there.
I always thought good people go to Heaven, and bad people go to Hell. But it was so much more complicated than that. Things weren’t that black and white. People aren’t good or bad, they are a mix of complex morals and wrongs that paint who they are. I always knew that, and it made this duality of Heaven and Hell seem so silly. Humans don’t quite fit in either one. It’s like they were never designed for us in the first place.
I stood on the arched bridge that overlooked the canal. A gondola floated below. Nash placed his hand on mine.
I looked up at him, and our eyes met.
“There you are,” I said.
“What?” he asked.
My eyes quivered. “For weeks, I thought I did something to make you mad.”
“Oh, you made me mad lots of times by putting yourself in danger.”
I put my hands on my hips. “You’ve been a jerk.”
“I did go to the center of Hell.”
“I don’t know how to read you,” I said.
He stared at the water. “Things got…complicated down in the Circles. I thought that you would be upset with me when I returned.”
He cared enough to worry that I would be angry with him?
“I wasn’t upset. I was relieved.”
“I want to show you this city,” he said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you chose Heaven. That’s why you’re doing all this. But if you go there, you’ll never see all the wonders this world holds.”
“The wonders this world holds? What is that, a ballad?”
Nash grinned, but slowly his expression turned dark. “Human souls don’t come back from Heaven.”
“Maybe that’s because Heaven is so wonderful. Maybe the people there are too happy to come back.” I grinned.
“Perhaps,” he said. “But I want you to enjoy this life before you go.”
He acted as if my time alive was short. I guess it was short to him. Nash had been alive a long time. Maybe alive wasn’t the right word. He might have lived in Sheol for hundreds of years on top of whatever time he spent on Earth.
Was that the real reason he was distant? He might never see me again. He said things got complicated in the Circles. Maybe he meant that he had time to reflect on the fact that our time together would be short. If I survived, I would be going back home to Earth, and after I died, I would move on to Heaven, or maybe Purgatory first, and I would never see him again.
I remembered how I felt when Nash was lost in the Circles. The thought that we might never be together again made me feel empty. I didn’t realize that Nash was faced with the same thing. I shook my head. I had to let go of this fantasy. Nash didn’t care about me like that.
By the time the sun went down, Nash and I visited Doge’s Palace, walked through Saint Mark’s Basilica, saw a glassblowing demonstration, gazed upon art at an outdoor sculpture museum, and rode in a gondola to a restaurant where we sat outside and admired the Grand Canal.
As the sun fell on the city, we sat on a bench near the water. The lights of the buildings glowed in the darkness, and their reflections stretched into the canal. Nash’s eyes were vacant. His lips were pale and tense. Mine quivered.
I awoke the next morning, feeling better than I had in months. I joined the others for breakfast at Caffe Florian Venezia. Nash ordered his usual coffee. He smiled at me. I don’t think he listened to a word Tom said as he explained where we were going that day.
“The only clues I have on the Twinblade point to symbols of rebirth. At first I thought, it was something to do with Jesus, but he didn’t seem to fit. Then, I found this.”
He passed a piece of paper to the center of the table. The image depicted a bird, wings spread, surrounded by flames.
“The Phoenix,” said Adrianna.
“Precisely. And only one place in Venice has risen from the ashes multiple times. So, the Twinblade must be in…”
“Teatro La Fenice.” Nash took another sip of his coffee.
I slumped my shoulders. I should have known I couldn’t captivate Nash’s attention like that.
“That’s right, how did you know?”
“I’m older than you, Tom, and that’s saying a lot.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Teatro La Fenice,” said Tom. “It’s an opera house in Venice. La Fenice means the Phoenix. That’s where our angel hid his weapon.”
“How poetic,” I said.
LATER that day, Adrianna took me to an Italian boutique. She bought me a dress, long and black, with off-the-shoulder sleeves and long, black gloves that went past my elbows.
“I don’t think this is good angel-fighting attire,” I said.
“You can’t wear leggings and a t-shirt,” she said. “We’re going to the opera.” She faked a posh accent, twirled one hand into the air, and took a bow.
That evening, we entered the foyer of La Fenice. Two red velvet carpeted staircases were built side by side bordered by an intricate, black railing. Marble columns rose in every place imaginable. Bright chandeliers decorated the ceiling in glowing brilliance.
I couldn’t help but blush when Nash stole a glance at me. But I worried when he didn’t look a second time. Was he running hot and cold again? Was I imagining it?
Around the corner was the entrance to the opera room. Thick, red carpet bordered the doorway.
A clock was set in the ceiling among the golden designs that spread down to the walls. Along the walls, starting at the very top of the opera room were private boxes going down to the red velvet chairs below.
A golden bird with its wings spread adorned the short wall above the stage.
Tom stepped up to me. He must have traced my gaze because he said, “The phoenix. It’s an appropriate symbol for this place. There have been three fires here, one in 1774, then again in 1836, and the last in 1996. Yet, it has risen from the ashes every time.”
Tom knew enough random trivia to be on a game show. I guess that�
�s what happens to you when you read a lot of books.
At the back of the room, sat a private viewing box, four times the size of the smaller boxes, and trimmed with the golden bust of angels.
A large chandelier hung in the center of the sky-blue ceiling where painted angels flew together in romantic poses.
Thick velvet curtains, trimmed with gold, bordered the stage.
Adrianna peered into her bag. The Orb of Metatron glowed. “It’s bright,” she said. “The Twinblade must be close.”
I studied the room closer. My eyes rested on the large box trimmed in gold. Something strange glowed on the trim above the box. I squinted. The pattern on the left didn’t quite match the pattern on the right.
“Maybe it’s in another room.”
“No, wait,” I said. “Up there.” I pointed to the box that hung ten feet from the ceiling.
“The royal box.”
I nodded. “You see the trim. It’s not quite right.”
Nash, wide-eyed, gazed at me. “How did you know?”
“Maybe it’s my fancy Sight ability,” I said. “You know, seeing beyond the Veil and all that.”
“We have to get up there,” said Adrianna.
Chandra stood.
“No.” Kiran grabbed her arm. “We’ll attract too much attention.”
“He’s right,” said Nash, “We’ll have to wait until the theater clears.”
The opera was three hours long, but I lost track of time as I became engrossed in the beauty of the voices and the performances. The opera was in Italian, so I didn’t understand what they said, but body language and tone helped me along.
A woman was forced to be with a man whom she did not love to save the painter who she did.
I teared up as the woman threw herself over the edge of the cliff. The actors bowed, and the audience clapped. Shouts of “Brava” resonated through the audience as the young woman took the stage.
Time ticked by as the theater cleared.
“We could get the blade if we access the seating above the royal box,” said Tom.
We walked up the stairs to the viewing boxes. Chandra leaned over the top of the royal box and reached for the sword. Kiran held her so that she wouldn’t fall. She pulled the sword from its place among the golden trim. Kiran pulled her back.
“Here it is.” She held the blade across both hands.
“He bathed it in gold.” Nash smirked.
Golden tendrils wrapped around the hilt. Feathers frozen in steel made up the cross guard. Two blades like a tuning fork rose from the handle.
“Hiding in plain sight,” said Kiran. “I can’t wait to meet this angel.”
We waited in silence as the minutes dragged on.
“Where is he?” asked Adrianna.
Every other angel came to claim the weapon in mere minutes. As soon as the weapon touched our hands, we heard wings as they swept above us, but this time everything was quiet.
I imagined the angel as he burst through the sky-blue ceiling of the theater, causing the chandelier to crash to the ground and leave sparkly bits of glass among the red velvet seats. But that didn’t happen.
Tom shrugged. “Guess he’s not coming.”
Not coming? That hadn’t happened before.
“Keep your eyes open,” said Chandra. “He might be a little late to the party.”
“I don’t like this,” said Nash. “If he’s not coming, he must know there’s no way to save his weapon like this.”
“But I thought angels were bound to protect their weapons,” I said.
“They are,” said Nash. “I’m suggesting this angel might know our plans and will wait for the right moment to strike. Other angels have been bold and went in blind. If this angel knows what we’re doing, he might have a better plan.”
“Maybe he’s fallen,” I said.
“He’s not,” said Nash.
WE spent five days in Venice, and the angel never showed. Nash did as he promised and continued to show me around the city. We went to several more places with rich architecture and beautiful paintings. A few of them reminded me of Dad’s paintings. I wiped the corner of my eyes and blinked away the glisten that clouded them.
Nash smiled a lot, but at times I caught a grimace or frown on his face. Was the time he spent in the Circles still bothering him?
Nash held my hand to steady me as I stepped into the gondola. The moon and stars dotted the sky. Warm, Mediterranean breezes washed over me. I sat in the small boat, and Nash sat beside me.
Behind us, a man in a striped shirt steered the gondola with a long paddle. The streetlights glowed on the water. The boat drifted along the canal.
My hands were in my lap. My shoulder brushed against Nash’s arm. “When you said you wanted me to see the world, did you mean with you?”
Nash squinted. “You won’t need a chaperone forever, Lia.”
“You can’t? Is that it?”
We passed beneath a bridge. On either side of us, buildings rose out of the water. Nash’s hand was on mine, but he yanked it away as if my skin burned him. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to fix this. Lucifer is a liar. She won’t keep her end of the bargain.”
“You mean let go of my soul?”
He nodded.
“And you knew all along? Why didn’t you say anything to me?”
“What would I say? Lucifer would have tossed me into the Pit if I tried to warn you. I can’t do anything if I’m falling into an endless hole.”
“What should I do?”
“Trust me. I’ll figure something out. We need to keep doing what we’re doing. But hunting angels won’t set you free.”
I looked down at my hands. “Maybe I’m not doing this only for me.”
Nash sighed. “Lia, I—”
Thud!
The paddle hit the side of Nash’s head, and he slumped over into my lap.
“Nash!” I looked accusingly at the man who operated the gondola. “What the hell are you doing?”
His arms flew in a frenzy as he paddled wildly down the canal. I was cold all over. His eyes went solid black, and a grin crawled across his face.
I lifted Nash’s head and tried to shake him, but he was out cold. I searched his waist. Strapped to his hip was a sheath and dagger. I pulled the dagger and pointed the blade at the demon. “I’ll cut your throat.”
His laugh was deep with an echo behind it. Goose bumps rippled across my skin. I faced him as I knelt in the gondola, afraid if I stood I might fall into the water.
The demon drove the paddle into the water, and the gondola halted. My hands shook. The demon licked his lips. I gripped the dagger tighter as the gondola shifted in the water. I grabbed onto the edge with one hand. Weight made the gondola tilt as if someone jumped in with me.
I spun around. Another demon with white eyes like close-up stars was in the boat with us. He smiled, and his teeth were all pointed like a shark’s. His skin was black and flaky like he had been burned.
The gondola jerked, and my blade fell to the bed of the boat. I scrambled to get a hold of it. The white-eyed demon lunged at me. His hands were around my throat. I clawed at his hands with my fingernails, and the blackened skin flaked off. Beneath was blood-red flesh that oozed white pus.
I felt movement behind me. My eyes strained upwards. Nash was awake. His hands flew to the sides of the white-eyed demon’s head. His thumbs went into its eyes. The demon screamed. Nash screamed.
The black-eyed demon plunged the dagger deep into his back, right between the shoulder blades. Despite the wound, Nash continued to dig his thumbnails into the eyes of the demon that attacked me.
Meanwhile, the black-eyed demon wielded his paddle. I reached up and yanked the dagger from Nash’s back. Nash grunted through his teeth. I stood on shaky legs.
The demon raised his oar above Nash, ready to hit him, but he wasn’t watching me. I sank the dagger into his stomach and let my body drop down. The blade was so sharp, it cut down the middle of his body to
his groin. All that was left of him was the black blood, like tar at the front of the gondola.
Nash no longer wrestled with the white-eyed demon. The demon lay in the bottom of the boat, dark gouges where its eyes used to be. Nash bound its hands with rope.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I want to know why this demon attacked us.” Nash grabbed the oar that floated on the surface of the water. He set his teeth as he rowed.
“Let me do that,” I said.
“I have it.”
“Nash, that demon stabbed you. Let me help.”
He handed me the oar. I rowed to the edge of the canal. Nash climbed out and lugged the body with him. I stood under the street lamp. The boat idled away. I left the oar inside.
“Come on.” Nash pulled the demon up from the ground.
“Nash.” I tried to stop him, but he had the body of the demon across his shoulders.
Midnight fell by the time we met up with the others. Nash dragged the demon to the alley behind the hotel. The demon came to. His sockets dripped thick gobs of blood.
Adrianna knelt and yanked a fistful of his hair back. “What color were its eyes?” she asked.
“White,” I said.
Adrianna looked up at Nash. “He was possessed by a Jinn? How do you expect us to get any information out of him?”
“He might remember something,” said Nash.
“That’s doubtful.” Tom approached with his hands in his pockets. “The Jinn wouldn’t let him see, and it’s probably already fled his body.”
“But Jinni can form,” said Adrianna. “I once saw one morph from a man to a deer.”
“Why would a Jinn need a body if they can change into anything they want?” I asked.
Nash shook his head.
“Even the most practiced Jinni find it difficult to hold their shape for long periods of time, especially on Earth. That’s why they like to hang out in Sheol. Possessions are sometimes easier if they want to confront someone. Maybe it needed this particular form for some reason.”
“It wanted the demon to come at us with all it had,” I said quietly. “It didn’t think we would catch it. It was going to kill us. So, finding out it was a possession wasn’t even in the cards. The Jinn wanted the demon to come after us with no fear of the Pit.”
The Wings of Heaven and Hell (The Arcadian Steel Sequence Book 1) Page 19
