by Hanna Peach
“I’m comin’,” he called. If there was no one there and this was some stupid dare by them silly Castus kids again, he’d skin them. He flung open the door and his fierce mask faltered. “Elder Michael. Elder Gabriel. Elder Uriel. What a surprise.”
Behind the three most powerful Seraphim Elders stood a pack of Elderguards, solemn like stone soldiers.
“May we come in?” asked Gabriel.
“Yer won’t all fit, sir,” Mayrekk said, trying to keep his tone light.
“The guards will wait outside.”
Michael didn’t wait for a response. He pushed his way past Mayrekk and headed through the shelves to the space at the back of his hut, Gabriel and Uriel behind him. Mayrekk closed the door and followed the three Elders.
It was Gabriel who spoke first. “Mayrekk, we need your help.”
“Sir?”
“There has been the direst of breaches. Something was taken, something very important was taken from Michael’s chambers.”
“And you think I did it?”
Michael cut in, “Stop playing dumb, Mayrekk, and just tell us where the girl is.”
Mayrekk stared back and forth between the three Elders. “Girl?”
Michael hit the table with his fist, the instruments on it reverberating. “The girl, dammit. Alyxandria.”
“Michael, best not get carried away,” said Uriel.
“Trust me, he knows something about her.” Michael narrowed his eyes at Mayrekk. “Don’t you?”
“No, Elder. I don’t know what yer talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me.” Michael turned to the other two Elders. “He’s already covered for her once.”
Elder Gabriel spoke. “Mayrekk, a piece of the Trinity Amulet has been stolen. This is beyond serious. You must tell us what you know.”
“Honestly Elder, I don’t know nothin’.”
Michael turned to Gabriel. “You could never do what was necessary to keep our society together. I can. Give me ten minutes alone with him. You can both stand outside and pretend not to know what’s going on.”
“Perhaps,” said Uriel, “that would be going too far?”
“And what happens then when this Alyxandria hands the Amulet to the Darkened? What happens when the power shifts to them? If we act now and act swiftly we can find her and stop her.”
“Fine,” Uriel said after a pause. “Come, Gabriel.”
Elder Gabriel didn’t move. Michael and Gabriel stared at each other.
Please don’t leave, Mayrekk pleaded silently.
Finally Gabriel nodded, just once. Without looking again at Mayrekk, the two Elders turned and moved solemnly to the door. Leaving Mayrekk alone with Michael.
A slow crawling smile stretched across Michael’s cold, carved face. It chilled Mayrekk more than the hate in his eyes.
“Are you going to disappoint me, Mayrekk?”
“I hope not, Elder.”
“Good. Tell me...where has Alyxandria gone?”
“Is Alyx missin’?”
“Don’t play games with me. You know she’s fled Michaelea and I know you know where she’s gone to.”
“Honestly Elder, I don’t know where Alyx is.”
“Yes, you do. She’s gone to find the mortal she’s been bonded to. Oh, you didn’t think I knew, did you? Where’s the mortal?”
“I don’t know nothin’ ’bout no mortal, Elder.”
Michael considered Mayrekk for one excruciatingly long moment, then hummed under his breath. He took one precise step towards Mayrekk. “We have something in common, you and I.” With a flick of a wrist, Michael now held a kris in his right hand.
“Elder?”
“I also fancy myself a kind of scientist.” Michael waved the kris to indicate the devices about the room. “Oh yes, a scientist.” Michael brought the kris up in front of him and fingered the point with his other hand. “Did you know that the average adult human body holds around five liters of blood?”
Mayrekk shook his head and shuffled back as Michael continued his languid approach towards him.
“This means that we also hold five liters of blood in our bodies.”
“Interestin’ fact, that.” Mayrekk knew his voice was shaking. But he had to stay strong. Everything depended on him staying strong. Stay strong. For her.
“Do you know,” Michael said, stroking the gleaming blade of his kris with one finger, “how much blood you would have to lose before you died, Mayrekk?”
“No, Elder.”
“Of course your body goes through many painful stages before death from blood loss.”
Mayrekk swallowed hard as he hit the bench behind him. He had nowhere left to go.
“We are lucky, aren’t we, Mayrekk?” Michael took another step, the gap between them closing.
“Sir?”
“We are lucky in that we, unlike mortals, heal very quickly from most wounds.”
“Lucky that.”
“So for someone, like you, for example,” Michael smiled, “to sustain such a significant blood loss, you would have to be cut many, many times, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes, sir.” Mayrekk’s voice quivered. But he would not break down. He couldn’t break down.
“Mark my words, Mayrekk, before I am through with you, you will tell me what you know.”
Michael closed the gap between them.
Chapter 23
Stubborn thing. Alyx rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. “I don’t think you quite understand what we’re up against.”
“I killed a Darkened myself, didn’t I?” said Israel.
“You got lucky. She was a newly-turned Darkened. As they get used to moving in their new mortal body they become faster, stronger and better fighters.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“May I remind you that you were about to be turned into angeldust before I saved your life?”
“You caught me during a temporary slip of concentration. I would have killed that Darkened eventually if you hadn’t come along.”
Alyx rolled her eyes. She had a sly thought. “Care to put your steel where your mouth is?”
It was to be a friendly fight. A tap with the blunt of the blade was a hit. First to three won. If Alyx won, Israel would let her train him for as long as she saw fit before they attempted to find Adere. If Israel won, they would go after Adere tonight.
It took Alyx exactly twenty-three seconds to win.
“Totally rigged,” Israel said, flopping down onto one of the theater’s wooden stages that they had just fought across.
“Don’t be a sore loser.” Alyx lowered herself down next to him, legs hanging over the edge of the stage, barely a bead of sweat on her.
“So what now, boss?”
“We need supplies. Food, weapons, a map of the city and local newspapers for the last two weeks. The Darkened need to feed on life. They leave tracks,” Alyx explained. “Most noticeably in the form of dead bodies. Your coroners usually call them heart attacks. We need to get you on a training schedule – fighting with and without weapons, demon basics, general fitness, that kind of thing. And we need to see if we can replicate our communication bond again on purpose. It will come in handy if we are ever separated.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said you had a plan.”
“What were you going to do?” Alyx laughed. “Wander the streets at night killing demons and carving Adere’s name on their stomachs until you found the right one or the right one found you?” She stopped laughing when she saw the sheepish look on Israel’s face. “Oh God. You were, weren’t you?”
He grinned. “I would’ve gotten lucky eventually.”
We are so screwed.
Ten minutes later Alyx had taken an old clothing dummy into the dressing room, stripped it of its monstrous sequined and feathered costume, faded with age and falling apart, and set it up on the creaking stage of the main theater hall.
“Welcome to Demonology 101,” Alyx said with a flourish.
Alyx ignored this remark. “The Darkened are pack creatures. Although you’ll get the occasional Darkened that hunts alone, they will tend to group together because it is easier to hunt that way. Assuming Adere is still in Saint Joseph, she will most likely be running with a den. Dens tend to be located in the more derelict parts of town, as they are louder and rowdier, meaning it’s easier for them to blend in. The Darkened will usually feed on the homeless, streetwalkers or drunks, because their presence or lack of presence isn’t noticed. Dens tend to be places like brothels, old warehouses, churches−”
“Churches? Shouldn’t Demons be repelled by the Houses of God or something?”
“A church is just a building, no different than a school or a house or a theater. Only mortals prescribe any meaning to it.” Alyx turned to the dummy. “The Darkened have enhanced healing powers thanks to their demon inhabitants, so you can’t muck around with them.” She pointed to it with her kris as she spoke. “The surest way to kill them is to either pierce their heart or cut off their heads.”
“Heart, head, got it. When do we leave?”
“It’s not that easy. Actually getting to their heart is difficult. The heart is only the size of a closed fist and it’s encased in a bony cage designed to keep you from getting to it. Come over here and show me how you hold a dagger.”
Israel jumped up to the stage, took the kris from Alyx and stood in a ready position.
She studied him. “Not bad, but let me correct some things.”
Alyx moved around Israel, repositioning his stance, shifting his elbows and pushing at his shoulders to make him relax. She could feel his eyes on her, following her. She was suddenly aware of the air between them. It made it harder than usual to concentrate.
“There,” she said, stepping back.
She began to work him through the basics. He was a decent fighter and his size and strength was an advantage, but he needed more training.
Several hours later Israel collapsed across the stage, panting and sweating. “Enough.”
Alyx sat on the floor near him. “Yes, that’s enough for today. You’ve done well. For a mortal,” she added with a smile.
Alyx had dreamt that in her future, she would one day become a flock leader, the highest rank for someone like her. Who would have thought that her turn to teach would be like this?
She had a new appreciation for Symon’s training – his patience, his insistence on basics rather than tricks, his obsession with technique. So much of what she knew she owed to him. Suddenly she missed Symon with an urgency that caused her eyes to water. A wave of sadness came over her as the full weight of the old life she had lost pressed down on her.
“What are you thinking about?” Israel asked. “It looks intense.”
Alyx shook herself. No looking back. She tucked away these reminiscent feelings into a crowded corner of her soul. “I’m just thinking about the life I left behind.”
“Would you go back if you could?”
If she could return to her old life and be ignorant again, would she do it? Would she choose to forget what she had learned about her parents, about the Elders…about Israel? She looked over at Israel lying with his hands tucked under his head. Israel, her bonded. Her heart fluttered and a fierce protectiveness flowed through her veins. “No. And yes.”
“No, obviously because, well…” he indicated himself, making Alyx laugh. “But why yes?”
“As much as I hated all of the Elders’ rules, I knew exactly what was expected of me. Now…how do I even know what I’m doing is right?”
“It’s easier to let someone else tell you what’s right. That way you don’t have to be responsible for your life. That way you have someone else to blame when it doesn’t turn out the way you think it should.” Israel played with his lip between his teeth, his beautifully imperfect face tilted. “Knowing what is right and doing it is about having faith in yourself. And that takes true strength and courage.”
Alyx made a face. “Strength is beating back a demon twice your size. Courage is facing a wall of Darkened with no backup.”
“Strength and courage aren’t just swords and battles.”
“They’re the only ones I know.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit. It took strength for you to keep going even after you found out you had been betrayed. It took courage to come to me and ask for help.”
“You think so?”
“Absolutely. It takes strength and courage to decide for yourself what is right, especially in the face of everyone who tells you that you’re wrong.”
Strength and courage aren’t just swords and battles. Alyx found herself smiling.
“What are you smiling at?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“You don’t need to hide everything. Tell me.”
“You surprised me, that’s all. I didn’t expect…”
“What? That I could say something so profound?” Israel snorted. “I’m not just a pretty face, you know?”
“Apparently not.”
“And a pretty body.”
“Well…”
“And a pretty big−”
“Okay. Alright. I get it.”
* * *
Later while Israel slept, Alyx pinned a large map of Saint Joseph on a wall of one of the theater dressing rooms. She picked up the top paper from the stack of newspapers on one of the tables. “Museum robbery: meteorite stolen” was splashed across the front cover. She opened up the first page.
Alyx spent the next few hours scanning the papers for news stories on recent deaths, missing persons or increased crime sprees. She dotted the map of Saint Joseph with little pins, hoping to discern some kind of pattern.
She was studying the map when she heard Israel enter the room. “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice rough from sleep.
“I think there’s a den here and here.” Alyx ran her finger around two sections of an area of Saint Joseph called the Valley.
He stood next to her and studied the map. “So we check it out tonight?”
Alyx dropped to the ground and swept her leg out, knocking his feet out from under him. He landed on his back, letting out a groan. “Jesus, what the hell was that for?”
“I’m making a point,” said Alyx, standing over him. “You’re not even close to being ready.”
“But I never expected you to just knock me over like that.”
“And you think the Darkened are going to warn you before they attack? What was lesson number seven? Expect the unexpected. Period.”
Alyx put her hand out to help him up. When Israel clasped her hand, she saw the wicked little gleam in his eyes too late. He yanked her down on top of him. “Lesson number two. Never let your guard down.”
She sent a curt elbow into his side and he flinched, letting her go. “Lesson number nine. Always cover your weak spots.”
She rolled off him but he was too quick. He rolled after her and managed to get on top of her, pinning her down. “Lesson number six…” His voice trailed off as he stared down at her. She became aware of his body along hers as he hung over her, covering her so completely. “…um, what…what was lesson number six again?”
She took a sharp inhale of breath and her stomach clenched. Why couldn’t she look away? What was this fire in her belly? What were all these uncontrollable feelings? A wave of fear rose up, washing over everything else. “Israel, you’re crushing me.”
“Oh. Sorry.” He rolled off her. Alyx felt a release, like she could breathe again. At the same time there was a strange sense of loss, like a part of her had stopped breathing. They lay there side by side, not touching, staring at the ceiling.
“So,” Israel said. “More practice, huh?”
Alyx cleared her throat, trying to smooth out the lump that had appeared there. “Yeah.”
He sighed. “Thought so.”
“Remember whe
n you appeared in my room that night?”
“You mean, when you appeared in my room?”
“My room, your room. Tell me what you were doing before. Exactly, step by step.”
“I had just gotten into bed. I was thinking about you…”
Thinking about me? Her belly fluttered. “What were you thinking?”
“I had this weird thought that if I wanted to see you badly enough, I could just want you into being.”
“That’s it?” Alyx looked over to him. He was still looking at the ceiling.
“Yes. I wanted to see you again badly enough,” a small smile played at the corner of his lips, “and you appeared.”
“That’s all you did?”
He nodded.
“Wait here.” Alyx sprang up and ran out of the room.
“Where are you going?” he called after her.
Alyx lay down in the middle of the stage of the main theater and closed her eyes. She began to picture Israel’s face. She remembered how his scar danced when he talked, how it whitened when he smiled. Slowly the feelings started to trickle to the surface of her heart, the feelings that had been building from within its depths. A want started to clench at her chest. She remembered how, when she first arrived at the theater, he had put his arm around her and pulled her in close. He seemed to know what she needed. He had pretended not to notice the mess of her hair and he let her cry without making her feel weak. Her want became a deep ache.
“Hello there,” his voice blew softly across her neck and sent shivers down her spine. Alyx heard herself giggle and she opened her eyes. Israel’s ghostly figure was lying next to her on the stage.
It worked.
* * *
Over the next few weeks Alyx and Israel fell into a routine. Israel moved with less stiffness as his muscles grew used to the daily stresses of their training sessions. Metallic clangs rang out through the theater as they fought across the stage, in the fly loft and among the rigging, over the audience chairs, across the open rooftop.
