But something about me had changed. I was able to withstand Nameless’ mental thrashing, despite what it had done to Eae after only a half a second of contact.
Nameless screamed as liquid silver began to encase his body like a dipped statue, the liquid pouring out of my fingers somehow. If that was my blood, I was going to be bone dry in about ten seconds, but rather than draining me…
I began to feel stronger. As if I was draining Nameless.
My face still dripped with tears as I stared through blurry eyes, my face a cold, wet mask, like mud. I closed my eyes, rather than trying to blink through the tears, or risking releasing a hand to wipe them away.
I focused on what I had seen before Nameless’ eyes had turned black and my boots had alerted me that he’d Fallen. He had gone on and on about him singlehandedly vanquishing the demons, using a lot of I, and me statements. Hubris. Had that been the cause of his Fall? Because my boots hadn’t told me he was Fallen until after all of that, when his eyes had finally turned black.
It had been a slow descent from Grace. A calculated walk down a path of good intentions.
Part of me wanted to shed a tear at that, but I was kind of already unintentionally doing that.
I recalled what Nameless had hinted at about my powers, how I was the only one strong enough to use the Seal of Solomon, that it was tied to my powers and my potential relation to King Solomon. But I didn’t dare try the ring again, so what did that leave me?
The Silver liquid currently pouring out of my hands looked to be part of the Silvers.
But I hadn’t known if I could trust them either, which was why I hadn’t spoken with that odd version of myself. I’d only used them to break Eae’s chains.
I hadn’t even known if I could truly trust the Whispers – accepting the possibility that some of those Angelic voices might actually be Fallen Angels. But when I’d first noticed the ring in my pocket while bonding with Phix, everything had changed, and I’d decided to beat the Angels – Fallen or otherwise – at their own game. Because I had sensed the sudden change in their tone – that I was possibly hearing Whispers from inside the ring I had just found in my pocket. Or that merely having the ring on my person had possibly attracted the wrong sorts of Angels, suddenly.
I had misled them, promising them release for helping me fight tonight.
And the only way to keep that secret from them had been to ask Phix to trick my own mind. To tell her my plan, and for her to then hide it from me. To let me believe and justify my actions as I skipped down a dark path, pretending to fall into Nameless’ plan.
Until I had wrought despair upon those who knew me. And then without warning noticed Phix hanging out in the rafters of the church.
Phix had done a good job, because until I saw the despair on everyone’s faces tonight, I hadn’t been able to truly remember the details of my plan, which had been part and parcel of my design. She’d said I would need a talisman to snap back out of her block.
My mind finally my own again, I had intended to trap whichever Angel was bad – Eae or Nameless – into the Seal of Solomon. But that path was now closed to me.
I had only the Silvers to rely upon, and they seemed to be doing a fairly good job of restraining Nameless as I felt him thrash beneath my fingers like a struggling snake.
But my grip was firm enough.
With no other idea at hand, I thought back on the Seal of Solomon, how Nameless had scored it enough for Samael to break free. But… wiping my bloody thumb across it had strengthened it sufficiently to keep the others from breaking free.
My bloody thumb.
The blood currently trapping Nameless…
Silver blood.
I suddenly surged against Nameless, forcing more of the liquid silver out of me. Judging by his scream, it worked. I opened my eyes, blinking furiously through the blur to see the silver liquid practically racing over his entire body.
“You have Fallen from grace…” My voice rang out like a soft chime and I felt Nameless stiffen involuntarily. He redoubled his efforts to break free as the silver reached his bare feet.
Nameless roared – a pained, anguished, humiliated sound this time.
“You never once mentioned God,” I told him. “It was always I, or me. You lost your way at some point, too focused on your goal that you lost perspective. You forgot why. Your quest for personal fame… to be the most loved of all the Angels brought you to the land of Despair, and now you are mine,” I called out in another soft breath that struck like a wind chime.
A burst of wind erupted from Nameless and latched onto my thumb like a coiled snake. The silver statue I held in my hands was suddenly devoid of life.
I gasped at the sudden icy sensation searing into my thumb, and collapsed to my knees.
I glanced down to see a whirling shadow circling my finger like a cyclone.
A ring of smoke.
A Fallen Angel.
What have you done to me? a voice wailed in the back of my mind.
My finger throbbed faintly, but nothing else. Nameless. I was hearing Nameless.
I didn’t mean to Fall! I was trying to get intelligence! To break them all! What have I become? His voice trailed off as if he was fleeing deeper inside me.
“You did this to yourself,” I told him sadly. He drifted away, the frigid cold from the shadow ring growing more bearable as he retreated from my accusation.
She lied to us! Tricked us! How? The Whispers suddenly wailed, oddly silent until now, waiting until I was finished swatting down the other Angels and possibly – hopefully – weakened.
I released the statue and held up my dripping silver hands, silencing them.
“I promised to release you… Unless you prefer to be bound,” I said, holding out my thumb with the swirling ring of shadows, “I suggest you take the offer. I have nine other fingers and I didn’t bring my patience with me tonight,” I hissed at them.
They fled, and Pastor Pillow and Sister Sheets hit me with the Sleep Sermon, knocking me unconscious as I collapsed like a sack of potatoes.
Chapter 59
I opened my eyes as I felt a warm presence purring beside me. Gentle hands carefully lifted me slightly – pausing to acknowledge the sudden change in pitch of the purr before settling me back down into a more comfortable position. I blinked back crusted eyelids, my heart racing.
I felt like a wet rag.
I wiped at my eyes with my sleeves to see Eae cradling my head in his lap, brushing my hair with his thumb as he smiled down at me wonderingly. Phix was nestled up beside me, purring.
The Nephilim all knelt before us in a ring, heads down, praying softly in a soothing hum.
Rai stared at me from a few paces away, standing alone, weeping from bloodshot eyes. She gasped, lifting a hand to her mouth as I smiled at her. “I’m sorry, Rai… I never intended to give you up. Not really,” I breathed, but she seemed to have heard me.
Claire – sans clothes, of course – and Beckett stood side by side, shaking their heads absently. Beckett’s stomach was covered in blood, but he looked entirely fine. Well, his eyes were troubled, and he averted them when I looked into them. “I’m… sorry, Callie,” he breathed, shoulders shaking slightly.
I nodded but didn’t offer comment.
Claire glanced at Beckett with a tired smile. “I saw what that bastard was about to do, turning Beckett into a werewolf against his will,” she growled. “I figured I would turn him, first. Knew his gun wouldn’t bother me thanks to this,” she said, shaking out the bracelet she had gotten from Darling and Dear. “Hurt like hell, though,” she complained.
I realized she was absently fidgeting with something between her fingers. She noticed my attention and held it up for me to see a silver strip. Then she bent it to form a circle, shaking her head in disbelief.
“What is it?” I asked, eyes shifting to the giant silver statue of Angel standing before us like an uninvited party guest. I hid my shiver as Claire spoke. “Um… I think it’s y
our tears. Or blood. Or your holy lady juice.” Then she blushed. “Well, not that, but something from inside you,” she said urgently, pointing at the floor.
I glanced down and gasped. The floor all around me was coated in silver. Like someone had spilled molten metal on the ground to let it harden. It wasn’t especially thick, but it didn’t scrape off either as I scuffed at it with my heel.
Seeing all that silver, I gasped, hands suddenly reaching out for the Seal of Solomon. I realized it was already in my hand and lifted it, inspecting it in relief.
I blinked, scrubbing my sleeves at my eyes again.
The two interwoven triangles were now entirely whole. In fact, the ring looked as if it had only been made minutes before – stronger than it had ever been. There wasn’t even a hint of the scored line that had freed Samael.
I hissed instinctively as I noticed the shifting shadow circling my thumb in an eternal rotation.
“Easy, Callie. It’s okay. He can’t hurt you.” Eae said, looking down at me. He didn’t sound particularly appeased by this statement, but more nervous than ever. That I had managed to trap an Angel on my thumb – Fallen or not – was not good table conversation.
I nodded shakily, then relaxed my shoulders, breathing deeply for a few moments as I stared at the Nephilim still kneeling before us. Then I frowned. Were they praying for forgiveness? To Eae? Or… to me?
The woman who had bound an Angel – their old boss – on her finger.
I looked up at Eae. “What have I done?” I whispered.
“I think… you just trapped an Angel on your finger…” he whispered. He studied me for a time, cocking his head pensively. That was when I realized I still had my mind locked down for protection. Maybe it had been instinctual upon waking up and seeing him nearby. I had done it repeatedly for days, now. With great effort, I uncurled my figurative fingers from the ledge and I opened up my mind, which was hard after clamping it down for so long.
He gasped, eyes wide. “It… that whole thing… was a setup?” he breathed. “That’s not possible!”
I smiled weakly, forcing myself to sit up. “They say the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. I always was a competitive little shit. Wanted to see if I could do one better than old Lucifer. Trick the devil. Or… a devil.” I turned to glance at him over my shoulder. “In the spirit of honesty, I wasn’t sure if it would end up being you or Nameless locked away… But I didn’t know it would be on my finger,” I said, hefting the Seal of Solomon in my palm. “I thought I would trap one of you in here.”
He stared at me as if I had just admitted to plucking Angel wings in my spare time. Maybe I had. “But… the Whispers,” he said, shaking his head. “They would have seen through it.”
Phix lifted her head, acknowledging Eae with her intense purple eyes. Her purr was like a not so humble brag, now.
I smiled at her. “That was why I had to even lie to myself. I had a… friend help me deceive myself. Phix,” I explained.
Phix grinned widely. “The Whispers are now Callie’s bitches,” she said. Then she reached out with one of her paws to bat around a loose piece of silver on the ground.
I was so amused by this that I didn’t realize Claire had walked up to me and was now staring down at me, her face warring between anger, fear, and relief. “Not cool, bitch. How did you know I wouldn’t listen to you?”
I smiled proudly, a sob escaping my lips as I remembered seeing her hiding in the shadows, that surprising sense of unconditional love. “You told me,” I whispered, reaching up to grasp her hand and squeeze. “You’re my conscience. You were the one person I knew I could always trust, even though I couldn’t trust myself to remember it.”
She squeezed back, shaking her head with a faint smile. “You’re very scary, Callie.”
“I love you too, honey,” I managed, before she wrapped me up in a hug, lifting me to my feet.
“I’ll always be there for you, Callie. Especially when you use a legendary monster to wipe your mind to pretend to turn evil for a little while. I’m your Guardian Ang—” she cut off abruptly, glancing at the silver statue, “well, your spirit animal. Your personal guard bear.”
I smiled, squeezing her close as I inhaled deeply. It felt so nice to not hold up my shield any longer. The Whispers were gone, for now. I knew I hadn’t permanently blocked them, but I had scared them off enough to rethink their plan – whoever they had been.
I turned to Eae. “The Whispers… is there any way to find out who they really are? Will they change as I go to different places? Like radio stations picking up different channels?”
Eae thought about it. “We’ll have to test it out. Maybe you and I could practice. We can stand a small distance apart and try to converse. If it works, you should hear me as a Whisper.”
Claire shivered at the idea, shaking her head. She squeezed me one last time before walking back to Beckett and speaking to him in low tones. Beckett Killian, brief Templar, now shifter bear. I wondered if I could ever trust him again. He had seen what good intentions led to, if on a much grander scale, and I hoped the lesson had been driven home.
Because Olin was still out there and would need to be put down at some point.
I turned as Rai cleared her throat behind me. “I would have done it,” she said, eyes downcast. “I believed you and would have done it. Although… I like this a lot better,” she whispered.
I smiled. “I want you to do something much harder. This was just the tryout.” Her face paled and she looked up sharply in disbelief. “I want you to live. To make my dad happy for as long as you can.” She immediately began to cry in relief, hands jerking up to cover her mouth and wipe at her eyes. I let her go for a second, enjoying her sudden relief. “But to do that, you need to first come clean with him…” I warned. “Tell him everything. Hold nothing back. His ignorance puts him in danger.” I smiled. “I think he’ll appreciate the real you a lot better,” I said, pointedly sweeping my eyes over her younger body.
Her exuberant grin was contagious, and I didn’t have time to prepare for her sudden hug. Then she held me at arms’ length, wiping my cheek with a thumb as she smiled at me, crying. “Thank you, Callie. Your mother would be proud…” Then she kissed me on the forehead and ran through the door ahead of us, laughing jubilantly.
I felt a heavy presence shove against my hip lightly and looked down to see Phix supporting me. I shook my head in wonder, placing my hand on her back and allowing her and Eae to guide me out of the church.
Eae must have already given commands to the Nephilim, because they didn’t follow, and he didn’t seem concerned about them. Judging by the look he gave them before we opened the door leading outside, I was pretty sure their new Daddy had put them in their place.
And put them on notice.
I took a deep breath of the damp night air, staring out at the crescent moon hanging in the distance through the low-hanging clouds.
A reflection made me glance up at a building across the street, and I froze, breath catching. Two armored… knights with spear and sword stood facing me from the rooftop. When I say armored, I mean full-on jousting armor with helmets, shoulder pauldrons, and everything.
One was gold.
One was silver.
They dipped their heads respectfully at me. Not knowing what else to do, I dipped my head right back.
Eae sniffed at the air suddenly, body tensing. I looked up at him to see if he had noticed our guests. But he wasn’t looking at that. He was questing about with his nose, tracking something.
“What is it?” I asked warily.
He smiled absently. “I do not know. Something… beautiful…” he said, sounding annoyed that he couldn’t define it. “But it’s gone now.” He glanced at me suspiciously.
I shrugged, waiting until he looked away before discreetly glancing at the opposite rooftop again. But my beautiful knights were gone.
“I could use a little beautiful after tonight…”
I told Eae, leading my two handlers down the steps. A black taxi pulled up to the curb as we reached the bottom, and Roland climbed out. He tossed a bag out of the car, freeing his hands as he saw us.
“Callie…” he said, not looking at me. As if checking to see if I was in immediate danger.
“Vampire,” Eae said flatly.
“You’re trespassing. This is my church,” Roland replied, ignoring Phix entirely – which judging by her suddenly lashing tail, she didn’t find acceptable.
“Relax, Roland. We’re all friends. And technically, it’s my church.”
He continued to stare at Eae for a moment longer before turning to me, not appreciating my technicality. He gasped as he noticed my face. “What happened to you?” he practically shouted.
“It’s my lady juice,” I said, shrugging, hoping to get a rise out of him.
He grimaced at that, but shook his head. “No, you look older—”
I lifted my head to the sky and screamed as loud as possible, ignoring Phix’s sudden coughing fit as she battled an Egyptian hairball.
Chapter 60
Not knowing where else to go, Eae had agreed to meet us back at Abundant Angel Catholic Church – to the training floor beneath – in a few hours. We needed somewhere safe, secluded, and private to catch Roland up, and I knew Arthur could sneak us in. Even though Roland was a vampire, now, he had an amulet that let him step foot on hallowed ground.
Eae had wanted to give his new Nephilim some commands before he left them unattended.
I had asked after the Nephilim – especially Alyksandre and Kevin – but Eae had only smiled, not sharing my concern about their absence during the fight. Apparently, he’d sought them out after our talk at the warehouse and found them in prayer – troubled over Nameless’ plan, but not knowing what they could do since they couldn’t directly stand up against their boss. Eae had answered their prayers by… adopting them and sending them to terrorize the rest of the Templars during my knock-out brawl at the church. Leaving him free to bear witness to my confrontation with Nameless.
Feathers and Fire Series Box Set 2 Page 28
