“Not that it matters in the slightest!” Zel shouted. “We all know how fast physical appearances can change. I can change mine in a heartbeat!” He blinked, and suddenly his hair turned bright violet. In the next second, he changed it back to blue. “No,” he eyed me sternly. “Appearances do not matter. If they did, Dale would still be the brightest star in the sky. The shining diamond in the rough. The-”
Alex sniggered. I nudged him in the ribs. “Don’t mock him,” I scolded. “He’s in love.”
“We still need to talk, Zel," Alex said, pulling himself together. "What information did you come here to give us?”
“Oh, right, information.” Zel stepped back and settled himself on the lounge next to Nimue. Alex and I took the couch opposite. Unconsciously, I reached for Alex’s hand. In the back of my mind, I thought how funny it was that since we almost died in the caves, our lust hadn’t overwhelmed us. I still felt it, but I could control myself now. Before, I couldn’t have had a conversation with these people while touching him, without wanting to throw myself on him.
Apparently, Alex felt the same. Now, as he held my hand, I felt comforted and cherished and protected. My heart expanded. I basked in his adoration for a long moment.
I would never forget how truly lucky I was, despite everything going on around me, and within me. The feeling swelled, consuming me.
Suddenly, to my shock, I got so overwhelmed with emotion my eyes filled with tears. Quickly, I faked a cough and used my free hand to cover my face so I could surreptitiously wipe my eyes.
What the hell was wrong with me? Bloody PMS.
Luckily, Alex took the lead. “So, Zel, what do you have for us?”
Zel leaned back on the lounge, looking relaxed to the point of unconsciousness. “My spies in Rome have been busy,” he said, tapping his nose. “I can tell you that a certain naughty Nephilim has been spotted roaming around Rome.”
“Mags? Mags is in Rome?” My voice came out croaky. At the mention of her, I felt a chill that, luckily, chased away all my fuzzy emotional feelings.
Zel nodded. “She’s been seen in the company of our favorite giant asshole Percuitait friend, Vane.”
Alex leaned forward, tensed. “So Vane and Mags have joined forces.”
“My spies tell me that they joined forces long ago. Vane had seduced Mags over to his side. I don’t mean seduced in the literal sense, because those priggish idiots don’t approve of that sort of thing.”
“We know what you mean, Zel,” I said. “ It would have been nice if one of your spies had told us that earlier. If we knew that Vane and Mags were in bed together, figuratively speaking,” I emphasized, cutting off Zel with a wave of my hand, “then all of us would have been suspicious of Mags from the start.”
“I told you to be suspicious of her,” Nimue said grandly. “She was always a shady character.”
“Mother,” Alex drawled. “You say that about literally every angel and angelic half-breed we’ve ever come across. You say that about Nate every time you see him.”
“And look what he did,” Nimue murmured silkily, winking at me.
I felt my face flush hot. “Th- The point is,” I stammered, too loudly, “it would have been nice to know that Mags and Vane were in cahoots when we asked you about it at your club, Zel.”
“My spies did not think it worthy news for me. They didn’t know the players of the game,” he said reproachfully. “Vane and Magdalena are both angel stock, they’re on the same side. My spies did not realize the implications of their association.”
Alex nodded. “But they’re together now, openly.”
“They are keeping a low profile,” Zel replied. “But yes, they are together. And there’s something else.”
In the silence that followed, I felt another chill on the back of my neck. The chill rapidly dissipated when I realized that Zel was just building up suspense for each little tidbit he dropped on us. Finally, he leaned forward, eyes bright. “It has to do with Vane’s brothers. The ones who are no more than mist and vapor.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to not snap at him. Alex, too, was silent. Nimue took a long sip of her whiskey, emptying her glass, and refilled it from a glowing decanter on the table next to her. She was obviously better at dealing with Zel’s dramatics than we were. I eyed her whiskey glass longingly, but my stomach gave a lurch.
“As you know," Zel said finally, "Vane’s two other brothers gave every single bit of their essence to the Sanctum Domeni, so that they might have the strength and speed needed to murder the Chalice, and any other guardian that she might have. They planned well, as it turned out. The Percuitait have long suspected that the Chalice might be guarded by a demon. Although in their minds, it’s not because killing an innocent would be wrong and that the demon would want to prevent that. No, it’s because according to the Percuitait, the Chalice and her offspring are evil incarnate, come to Earth to destroy the world that God has built, and of course demons would want to support her. In their minds, and also now in Magdalena's mind, Eve is the mother of the Antichrist.”
“Technically,” Alex waved his hand, impatient. “That’s the whole idea of the Chalice. But she’s not evil.”
“We all know that,” Nimue drawled. “You don’t have to sell your girlfriend to us, darling. We know she’s lovely, and not at all a vicious monster.”
Alex shut his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. “Please go on, Zel.”
“The Percuitait always suspected that the true Chalice would be hard to kill. So the three brothers - Vane, Ailo, and Loera, devised a plan to share their essence with the one institution that was as radical as they were. They infiltrated the Sanctum Domeni, seduced the cardinals, and experimented with an energy exchange that would give the Sanctum Domeni the power that they needed.”
“They gave too much, didn’t they?” I said. "They messed up."
I found it hard to believe that the Percuitait would want to give up their power willingly.
Zel nodded. “They did. The two brothers - Ailo and Loera - are now just vapor, without the strength to manifest a physical body. Vane, as the architect of the experiments, is the only one with any solid appearance. But,” Zel said in a low, excited tone. “That does not mean that the two mist-brothers are not without their powers.”
Alex frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The brothers are mere wisps of spirit. They are relying on an attachment to physical bodies to give them strength, which they siphon off in minute amounts, in order to go about their missions.”
“What is their mission, beyond surviving?” Nimue asked, her blood-red nails tapping on her whiskey glass. “I cannot imagine that they could do anything more than that.”
“If a wisp attaches itself to a human body, it can survive indefinitely, drawing strength from that human. Now, if that human was able to live for a thousand years, then the wisp might be able to draw enough energy over time to maintain a form, and to be able to communicate a little. Of course, humans don’t live that long. However, if a wisp were to attach themselves to a being with more power…”
“You mean to Vane?”
“No. Vane is the most powerful warrior the Percuitait have.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly catching on. “You mean to a Nephilim, don’t you? One of them was attached to Mags.”
Zel nodded at me, a proud look on his face. “You catch on quickly, young Chalice.”
I stared at him stonily. “Can you please call me Eve.”
“I will try, but I cannot promise,” he replied airily. “I prefer your more dramatic moniker, The Black Chalice.”
“You have an affinity for dramatics?” I asked sarcastically. “You don’t say?”
“Can we please get back to it?” Alex said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Zel, you’re saying that one of the Percuitait was attached to Mags?”
“Yes,” Zel nodded. “We think it was Loera. He was influencing her and communicating with her. She was able to share a little of h
er strength so that he was slightly more than just spirit.”
“I notice that you’re using the past tense,” Alex said. “Does that mean that he’s not attached to her anymore?”
Zel shook his head. “He is not. He is missing.”
“And the other one - Ailo, is missing too?”
“No. Ailo is apparently attached to Godric.”
I frowned. “We don’t know where Godric is. I was hoping he was out of the equation.”
“Unfortunately, my spies do not know where he is either. Magdalena and Vane have not spoken of it, other than to lament that he has been driven slightly insane by the power transfer. And apparently, he is also maddened at being excommunicated by the Pope.”
“What do you mean ‘slightly insane?'” I muttered. “That boy was already kooky-dukes to start with.”
“Now he is kooky-dukes to the point of being uncontrollable,” Zel said happily. “Vane is annoyed with him. And we know that Ailo is still attached to Godric, drawing power, and communicating with him to an extent.”
“So where is Loera?” I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Mags had him when she came here, but now he’s not with her…” I swallowed heavily. “Does that mean he’s here somewhere?”
Zel shrugged. “Possibly. He might have been thrown off when she fought with her brother, in which case, Loera will be drifting on the winds. I doubt he would have the strength to make an attachment to a human by himself. He’d need assistance to do it.”
I chewed the side of my fingernail, thinking hard. “Mags ran right out of here after she fought with Nate.”
Nimue stretched out languidly, her shimmering black gown sparkling like a black river. “I chased that bitch all the way down to Newcastle,” she announced. “As soon as I got you back here safely. She wouldn’t have had much time to remove Loera’s spirit from her body, and reattach him to someone else.”
“There were no other supernatural entities in the area,” Alex said. “So if she were going to do it, it would have to be to a human, and she would have had to be quick.”
“It would have to be a very strong human, too,” Zel chipped in. “Someone very grounded, with a lot of spirit, a strong moral core, and immense resilience. Or else he would not be able to attach.”
“Why is that?”
“It is draining to have a spirit attached to you. If you are not grounded, you could lose your mind. If you’re not strong, you will crumble into nothing. If you’re not resilient, you wouldn’t be able to bounce back.”
“There is literally no one here that fits that description,” I said, thinking of all the spoilt, pampered guests at Revelations. “Most of the humans here would have a tantrum if the thread-count on their sheets was less than three thousand. Magdalena would not have had time to look for a human with a strong spirit here, especially with Nimue chasing her.”
“So in all likelihood, she ran out of here with Loera still attached to her,” Alex said. “And passed him on later.”
“Ah,” Zel raised his finger. “That is the question, isn’t it?”
“One of many,” I muttered. “This has got to have something to do with these circles I keep finding. You don’t think that Loera can make them himself?”
“He wouldn’t have the strength,” Zel replied. “He would not be able to move objects at all.”
“Someone is doing it. Maybe a weak human here is trying to get Loera to attach to them,” I said, casting out ideas wildly. “Maybe, because he’s imbibed a bit of energy from Mags, he’s strong enough to communicate, but not to attach. So he’s directing someone to create circles… to… I don’t know,” I shook my head helplessly.
Alex squeezed my hand. “It’s a lead, at least. Not much of one, but at least we know who we’re up against.”
“The who has never been the problem,” I muttered. “We’re up against everyone.”
I cleared my throat, trying to be optimistic. “I definitely think that the circles have something to do with the Percuitait. I can feel it.”
Alex nodded. “I think you’re right. Loera can’t be too much of a threat at this stage though, he’s just mist and vapor, floating around.”
Zel stretched out on the couch, his bulging muscles popping and swelling underneath his luminous creamy skin. “I’ll have my spies keep an eye on Magdalena and Vane, and if they make a move to descend anywhere near the southern hemisphere, we’ll know about it. The same with Godric. We’re not completely sure where he is, but we know he’s not down here.”
“My katadonis are dotted all over the area,” Nimue added. “No entity can get through to here.”
“Hmm,” I tapped my mouth with my finger. “It would help if we could get someone on the Astral Plane to look out for us too.”
Nimue and Zel both burst into laughter.
I was a little offended. “It might be a good idea,” I whined. “That way, if anything were to try and come from there to here, we’d know in advance.
Nimue snorted. “You might as well ask a butterfly to bring you the morning paper,” she giggled.
I cocked an eyebrow. “There’s no need to be mean.”
I looked around for back-up, but Met had disappeared. Zel and Nimue continued to guffaw on the couch opposite us.
Alex was more gentle. “It’s tough to concentrate on the Astral Plane,” he told me. “I questioned several hundred spirits until I managed to get any proper information out of any of them. There’s no chance we could get an entity to watch out for something, especially when we’re not sure what they need to look out for.”
“Okay fine,” I said sulkily. “I have another idea, though.” I turned to Alex. “One that you might not like.”
“What?” Alex replied warily.
“I want to try and call Hannah Savage.”
“What? Why?”
“Whatever for?” Nimue, at least, was shocked out of her mirth.
“I don’t know,” I said. I gave a little shake of my head. “I just have this weird feeling. I feel like she is still around, somehow.” I held up my finger, stopping Alex as he opened his mouth. “I feel like she’s still a part of this… thing that we’ve got going on here. She’s still in this story.” I shook my head, frustrated. “I don’t know why I want to call her.”
Alex dragged his thumb over my cheek, his touch feather-light. “Do you think it might be because you’re feeling so guilty about her still?”
“Maybe. I still want to do it though. Even if it just gives me a better idea of where she is.”
“You know where she is,” he said softly.
“I know. And I know she’s in pain, and suffering.”
Nimue sat up on the sofa, her spine rigid. “You know that she won’t be able to communicate with you?”
I nodded. “I figured that. I… I just...”
“And her spirit, called into the Mortal Plane, might wreak havoc on her surroundings?”
“Yeah, so…” I pursed my lips. “About that. How much damage are we talking?”
Nimue shrugged elegantly. “One spirit? She might knock down this building.”
“But you can rein her in? And send her back to Hell?”
“Of course I can,” Nimue waved her hand arrogantly. “It’s my job.”
“So if we call her, and I can’t communicate with her, you’ll be able to get rid of her before she does too much damage?’
“Well, darling, I can’t guarantee anything,” she drawled. “Some spirits are slipperier than others.”
Zel piped up, his face animated. “Some demons have a theory that souls can process their pain faster on earth. Meaning, they can think clearer on the mortal plane.”
“I do not subscribe to that theory,” Nimue sniffed. “There has been no evidence to suggest that it might be true.”
“Well, we don’t exactly take records, do we?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Well, there you go!” I said brightly. “Let’s call Hannah, she can smash up this
room a little, and let’s see if that helps her!”
Alex gave me a half-smile. “Uh, Eve, you know that it’s not going to help our cause, though. We’re talking billions of billions of souls that have enormous pent-up pain.”
“It might help Hannah,” I said. “It’s like that story of the man who walks along the beach which is covered in starfish, and every now and then he will pick one up and throw it in the ocean… you know what, never mind. We’re doing it,” I said firmly. “It’s a good idea. At the very least, maybe we can set her loose on the Quarters. She could work out some of her rage on those bastards.”
“It won’t work like that,” Alex said gently.
“Well, I don’t see you coming up with any ideas.”
“We’re not doing it here!” Zel declared. “I like this suite. It’s very comfortable. I’ve had to make minimal adjustments to it, which is nice.”
“Actually, you know where would be perfect?” Nimue said. “That lovely little clearing where your friends go to smoke marijuana, Eve.”
“My friends don’t smoke marijuana,” I muttered.
“I don't see why they shouldn’t,” she replied patronizingly. “It’s very relaxing, and a lot less harmful than alcohol consumption.”
“Okay, whatever,” I said, waving a hand. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Seven
“This is not a good idea,” Nate muttered as we walked up the hill towards the clearing. “I can see this going very, very badly.”
“Why is everyone so pessimistic about my ideas?” I gave him a sideways glare. “Come on, Nate. You’ve been sulking around the resort with nothing to do. At least we’re doing something.”
“I have been busy,” he said, grimacing. “Met started a squash tournament with a couple of CEO’s. I had to drag him away after he thrashed two of the most alpha males in this resort. They were getting suspicious.”
I smirked, but my good mood quickly fell away as the climb became steeper, and my lungs started to burn. I had to lean on my thighs, pushing down on them with my palms as I made my way up the hill. Alex walked directly in front of me, brushing aside the branches and palm fronds as we passed, and helping me over fallen logs and boggy patches.
Revelations: The Fallen Page 11
