by Hanna Peach
Mason sniffed. “You’re pushing it. It would help if I knew what kind of security system we are dealing with.”
“If I could get that information for you?” said Alyx.
“If you could, I could get it done in a day, two, tops...” he winked, “just for you, lovey.”
“How are we going to do that, Alyx?” asked Jordan.
“I have an idea. But...I’ll need your help.” Alyx looked at Jordan.
“Of course,” Jordan said.
“And I’ll need...your help, Dianne.” Alyx turned to the seraphelle with as much humility as she could on her face. If they could just put their differences aside and work together, they could make this work.
“Me?” Dianne said. She looked as happy at the prospect of having to help Alyx as the prospect of stepping into a pit of agitated brown snakes.
She looked ready to protest, but Marin spoke quietly, “For Zia, Dianne.”
Dianne’s face crumpled, and for a moment it looked like she would burst into tears. She shook herself, and a fierce determination replaced whatever softness was on her face. Alyx couldn’t help but feel a little respect for Dianne at that moment.
“Alright,” Dianne said. “I’ll help.” Alyx exhaled in relief. “But wait,” Dianne said, turning to Mason. “Did you say it needs to be installed properly? What does that mean?”
“It means that you need to have it hooked up to the main security switch,” replied Mason. “This means you need to get access to their security room.”
“How the hell are we going to do that?” wailed Dianne.
Mason shrugged. “Hey. I’m just the IT guy. Getting into this place is not my forte.”
“We can work out getting in later,” said Alyx. “So let’s say we figured out a way in and we installed your device. Then what?”
“Then you come back when the Galleria is closed, figure out a way to circumvent the guards−”
“I can take care of that,” said Jordan, cracking his knuckles. DreamWalker. Of course.
Mason shook his head. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Anyway, you deactivate the security system, get in, get the statue and get out. Easy.”
There was a weighty hush that settled around the room. Easy. Mason made it sound easy, but there were so many details that still needed to be worked out to perfection. How would they get in? The doors? Then how would they pick that lock? Or perhaps it would be pin-locked. Then what about the mortals who would see them get out? Then what of the fall-out when the mortals have discovered that their precious Michelangelo sculpture had been stolen?
“The Darkened will know,” said Alyx, suddenly realizing a glaring problem. She saw the confused looks on everyone’s faces and explained further. “It’ll be on the news the next day, a robbery that big.”
Some of them were still looking confused.
“We’ll tip them off,” said Israel nodding. He understood. “Which means...we need to hit all three locations in one night.” He leaned forward over the map of the world that had been laid out across the table. “We’ll time it with the night as it crosses the time zones.” As Israel moved his hand across the map, Alyx couldn’t help but notice the muscles of his forearm rippling. “Saudi Arabia, Florence, then Lima.” Israel said something else, but Alyx didn’t catch it. She was mesmerized by how his scar was moving as he spoke and the growling authority to his voice.
Israel glanced over at Alyx and she averted her eyes, hoping the flush to her cheeks wasn’t so obvious. He had caught her ogling him. Alyx noticed the hint of a smile on Israel’s lips before he turned to the map. “Saudi Arabia. If we go with Alyx’s plan we’ll need a FireTwirler, which, Tobias, you said you knew.”
He nodded. “I’ll send out a swallow today.”
“Great. And you’ll be the Alchemist.”
“Then a team of us will hit the Galleria,” said Alyx, launching to her feet and leaning across the table. Her gaze locked with Israel’s. She had almost forgotten how deep the chocolate of his gaze was. The sides of her periphery faded until his face seemed to be the only one in the room. Israel smiled out of one corner of his mouth and nodded slightly as if to say, go on. Alyx took a deep breath. “Luce from Florence is a med-grade MirageWeaver. She can hold up a mirage at the front door where we’ll have a van waiting. Israel can pick the lock. We get in and get out that way while the security system is deactivated. Jordan can take care of any guards with DreamWalker.”
Israel grimaced and shook his head. “No. The front door is usually the worst way to get into a place like this. Too open, too many chances to be seen, and usually the doors are separately alarmed. They’re too thick to blast through and difficult to just straight pick open.”
“Well, the only other way in is through the windows from above, and they’re too small to let the sculpture out.”
Israel and Alyx both paused for a moment, eyes locked on each other. The only sound Alyx could hear was Israel’s rhythmic breathing. She noticed that his breath matched her own. She suddenly realized how close their faces were. They had been leaning closer and closer together across the table. Alyx cleared her throat and pulled away a little.
“This may have the art lovers up in arms, but could we cut the sculpture up into pieces?” Israel suggested.
Alyx gasped. “Yes. Perfect. I have part of both AirWhisperer and FireTwirler bloodink marks left. I can use Fire to melt the side of the glass so that we can remove the whole piece. We’ll go in, cut the sculpture up with Tobias’s Fire-infused blade and transport the sculpture out the same window in pieces.”
“After which you’ll reset the glass back into the window frame and seal it back up with Fire again,” said Israel.
“Exactly,” cried Alyx, the excitement in her voice evident even to her own ears. “Genius.” Alyx bit her lip. “What about Lima?”
“As the surveillance footage shows, we don’t have to worry about security as much during our small window of opportunity between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Our issue will be the priests that are constantly walking around the cathedral. We don’t want to hurt them or give them cause to alert the authorities.”
Alyx worried her bottom lip. “But MirageWeaver won’t work. The priests will only have to walk through the mirage skin to see underneath. And that door is the only way to get the crucifix out. We don’t have time to chop that crucifix up into pieces like in Florence.”
Israel grinned. “Well, they say that sometimes the best solution is to hide in plain sight.”
His grin was contagious to Alyx. “You have an idea, don’t you?”
“Some friends of mine use this trick sometimes...park a moving van clearly marked outside a house, then pack the van with the required goods. Everybody thinks you’re meant to be there. Voila. Daylight robbery.”
“But a moving van won’t work for a cathedral...what about a repairman’s van? Then we could drive the crucifix statue all the way to the Cajatambo FreeThinker community near Lima.”
Israel beamed at her. “Perfect. We’ll make a sinner out of you yet.” Alyx felt a blush of pleasure warm her cheeks. Israel smiled. For a moment Alyx let herself believe that they might just be okay.
A clapping noise startled Alyx out of her thoughts.
“Bravo.” Mason was grinning at Israel and her as he clapped a few more times. “That was just brilliant. Like poetry.”
It was then that Alyx remembered that Israel and she weren’t alone. That this room was filled with Seraphim. And that they were all watching Israel and her with a range of emotions on their faces. Shock, pride, suspicion, curiosity.
“Well,” said Jordan, clearing his throat and shuffling in his seat. “It looks like you guys have got it all worked out then.”
“I’ll need supplies to create the device,” Mason said.
“Please leave your list with me, and I’ll try to accommodate you as best I can,” said Tobias. “Israel, as the only mortal here, can I seek your assistance in acquiring some of these items?”
“Sure thing.”
Alyx chanced a look at Israel. He was still watching her even as he spoke to Tobias. Israel’s smile had faded, but at least now he wasn’t scowling at her.
“Alyx, you said you were going to go about getting the security system details that Mason needed?” said Tobias.
“Yes, right.” Alyx tore her eyes away from Israel and focused on outlining her plan for Jordan and Dianne.
When she finished, Jordan sank back in his chair, nodding. “It could work.” Dianne looked nervous as hell. “Are you going to be okay, Di?”
Dianne visibly swallowed. “I guess.”
Alyx and Jordan shared a look. It was all up to Dianne. If she couldn’t keep it together…
Alyx smiled confidently at Dianne, trying to reassure her. “You’ll be great. Jordan and I will be right there with you. The museum opens at 9 a.m. Florence time, which means...” Alyx paused for a moment while she calculated the difference in time zones and also calculated the flight time to get to Florence, “we have a few hours until we have to leave. Can we meet back here in two hours? Why don’t we all get some rest in the meantime?”
Tobias adjourned the meeting.
“Alyx, lovey,” Mason said. “Could you escort me to a guest room where I can lay my head down for a bit? It’ll be good to catch up with yer as well.”
“Sure thing,” said Alyx.
“Oh, and Israel,” said Mason. “I’ll need yer to walk with me, too. So I can go through some stuff with yer.”
Alyx couldn’t help but narrow her eyes at Mason’s back as he turned to Israel. If she didn’t know any better, this old dog was fixing to make sure that she and Israel were left together.
* * *
After Alyx and Israel made sure that Mason had settled in, they stepped out into the corridor and Israel closed the door to Mason’s room.
“We need to talk,” he said.
The four worst words of any language. Except maybe for “I love her instead” or “he dies, you die”.
Alyx nodded dumbly to Israel. There was no avoiding this anymore.
His face was stern and cold as he grabbed her arm and started to walk. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she let herself be dragged by Israel outside into the Aradale grounds, away from eavesdroppers. Away from anyone who might hear her heart breaking.
She was silly to believe that he could just forget about her keeping secrets from him. Silly to think that they could just be okay again. She could barely breathe at the thought of what he may say to her. Her heart already felt like it had been split open. Couldn’t he just do it here and be done with it?
But Israel didn’t stop walking until they came to a small lake in the side gardens of the Aradale grounds. Alyx had never ventured here before. It was beautiful. The fresh breeze dragged languidly through the wispy willow, skittering across the pond and under the small bridge, carrying with it the soft scent of lilies. But Alyx couldn’t enjoy the beauty at the moment.
Israel let go of her arm and started to pace, his hand running through his dark hair. It was getting long and beginning to fall back into his face in an untamed mess rather than standing up. Alyx wished she could push the hair back from his face. If she tried to now, she feared that her hand would be slapped away by him.
“Israel,” Alyx started. She ignored how desperate her voice sounded. “I’m so sorry−”
“No,” he cut her off. “You don’t get to talk.” His voice wasn’t angry but it held a firmness in it that she hadn’t ever heard in him before.
Alyx swallowed. “Okay.”
Israel stopped pacing and stood to face her, his wide shoulders square to her, his hand in two loose fists at his side. He appeared to loom over her. Alyx blinked as she looked up at him. She had forgotten how tall he was.
He stepped closer so that he was less than a step away from her. Alyx had to make an effort to stand her ground. For several moments he said nothing. Alyx almost began trying to apologize again just to fill in the silence when he spoke in that low and firm voice again. “Ever since we met you have treated me like a child. Like I was something to coddle. Something weaker than you that needed your protection.”
Alyx began to protest but was silenced by Israel raising his hand.
“Don’t try to deny it. You make decisions without me. You knock me out and go off on your own. Now I find out that you have been keeping secrets from me. Secrets about me. How would you feel if I did these things to you?”
Alyx felt a blush begin to flood her face. But he still wouldn’t let her talk. “Truthfully, I’m grateful that you did these things, Alyx. You know why? Because from the beginning I looked at you as if you were...infallible. Perfect. I put you so high up on that pedestal that you were unreachable to me. I put you there.
“When it became clear that you returned my feelings, I couldn’t believe my luck, because yes, I thought it was just luck that you decided to choose me. I thought that we were on borrowed time. I thought you were so far out of my world that I believed Adere and her crap that I wasn’t good enough for you and allowed myself to get tricked by her, putting both of us in danger.
“I thought you were too good for me so when you pulled away I didn’t fight to get you back. How could I even begin to fight for something that was never truly mine?”
Israel laughed but the sound held no humor in it. “So when it came out that you lied to me, that you kept these secrets from me...” His eyes narrowed. “Are you keeping anything else from me?”
Alyx dropped her head. She considered denying it...
“You are, aren’t you?” Israel’s voice didn’t seem angry. He seemed…disappointed. Oh God, that was so much worse. “Tell me. Everything.”
Alyx closed her eyes for a moment and prayed for courage. She spoke hesitantly, “Jordan and I…we kissed.”
Alyx heard Israel’s healing knuckles crack as his hands gripped into fists at his side. She watched his eyes darken.
“It was just once,” she said quickly. “But it won’t happen again. I promise you. He knows…about you.”
“What does he know?”
Alyx lowered her gaze. “He knows that I still…have feelings for you.”
“Anything else I should know?”
“Mayrekk...” Alyx had to swallow to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth. “He said that if...if we had a child, then the child would have the mix of the three bloods, mortal, Seraphim and demon.”
Israel’s eyes widened. “This is the keye everyone wants to get their hands on, isn’t it? The keye to open the gates of Hell that your prophecy is talking about, isn’t it?”
Alyx nodded.
“Our child… Jesus. Are you pregnant?”
“I...I don’t know.”
Israel made an exasperated sounding noise. “And you didn’t think to find out?”
“I was going to ask Ana, but then she got mad at me for training her son without her permission, and I didn’t think she would keep my secret if I asked for her help and then I would have to explain...” Her voice faltered when she realized how stupid her explanations sounded out loud. It had all seemed so reasonable at the time.
“We are going to see Ana. Right now.” He grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. Alyx allowed him to march her into the house.
Israel strode up to the infirmary door and rapped at it with his knuckles. The wait for the door to open seemed to take forever.
Israel had been silent this whole time and Alyx was too caught up in her own head to attempt conversation. She stumbled over in her mind how she was going to explain all of this to Ana and how she was going to convince Ana to keep it a secret.
“We need to talk to you. Now. Please,” Israel said when Ana opened her door.
Ana opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it. Perhaps it was the grim look on Israel’s face.
“Come in.”
Ana led them through the infirmary waiting area to one of the rooms beyond. It looked
to be a consultation room with a desk and two facing chairs separating part of the end of the room. Along the other wall was a low bed covered in an off-white sheet. Cupboards and shelves lined the wall, separating the desk and the bed.
Ana sat at the chair behind the desk and motioned for Alyx and Israel to take a seat in the two chairs facing her. “What is so important that it couldn’t wait?”
“We need to know that you won’t tell anyone,” said Alyx, biting her lip.
“Alyx,” Israel admonished her.
Ana raised her hand up. “That’s okay, Israel.” Turning to Alyx, she said, “I can’t promise that I can keep what you will tell me a secret. If it concerns the safety of this community or others, I shall be obliged to tell Tobias or at least organize a meeting with Tobias so that you can tell him, if you prefer.”
“What about doctor-patient privilege stuff?” Alyx said, crossing her arms.
Ana shook her head. “You’ve been reading too many mortal books. That is a mortal policy. Not mine. I won’t unnecessarily tell anyone about your secret, but if I think it best, I will tell Tobias.”
“Alyx,” Israel spoke low. “We don’t have any choice. If we leave it, it could get worse.”
“What could get worse?” Now there was genuine concern crossing Ana’s face. “Please let me help you.”
Alyx huffed in resignation. “Israel is part-demon, I’m sure you know. Well, maybe two or three weeks ago we...please understand, it just felt like the right thing at the time...we weren’t careful...”
“What? What is it?” Ana asked, leaning forward with her elbows on the desk.
Alyx tried to speak, tried to say the words, but she couldn’t find her voice. She looked up when Israel took her hand in his. She hadn’t realized she had been twisting her fingers over and over in her lap. His thumb ran softly across the back of her hand.
“We made love,” Israel said. “Just that one night, but now we’re worried that...”
Ana nodded. “I see. Certainly a terrifying prospect but not the end of the world, although it can feel like it.” Ana’s voice became a little far off. “Oh God.” Her eyes widened when the realization sank in. “If you were to have…then it…”
