chapter 36
I BACKPEDALED BEFORE SHE SAW ME. AFTER ONE MORE mental shout to Trsiel, I looked down at the amulet in my hand. If she found me, she’d better not find this. She’d heard Dantalian say it was in a drawer, so I shoved my hand into a roll of carpet and dropped the amulet inside. Then I took two steps back and cast a cover spell.
The Nix’s footsteps drew closer. They stopped outside the room.
“Someone’s made a mess in here,” she murmured. She walked to the middle of the room and looked around. “Did they find what they were looking for? Let’s hope not.”
She opened the nearest drawer, then stopped, gaze catching on the broken drawer panel on the ground…on the ground at my feet. She moved toward it. Shit! A couple more steps and she’d smack right into me, breaking my cover spell.
I waited until she was close enough to reach out and touch. Then I let loose a front kick that caught her square in the jaw, and sent her sailing across the room. Before she could recover, I slammed her with a roundhouse kick to the gut then, as she crumpled forward, an uppercut to the jaw knocked her off her feet and flipped her backward, her head cracking against a marble bust. As she staggered back up, I darted behind her and kicked her in the ass, knocking her face-first to the dirt floor.
“Come on,” I said. “Get up again. Please.”
She pushed up to all fours, then lifted her head and glared at me.
“Oh, come on,” I said. “I can’t kick you when you’re down. That’s not fair.”
When she didn’t move, I whirled and slammed a front kick into her the bottom of her jaw, toppling her over onto her back.
“Screw fair,” I said. “This is too much fun.”
Yet, as much fun as it was, I knew I couldn’t keep it up forever. Where the hell was Trsiel? As a last resort, I put my fingers in my mouth and whistled as loud as I could. As I did, the Nix sprang to her feet. I kicked. Her hand shot out, grabbing for my foot. I managed to abort the kick just as her fingers grazed my ankle. I danced away, out of reach of that iron grip.
“You think you’re clever, don’t you, witch?” she said. “But the harder you hit, the harder I’ll hit back. Haven’t you learned that yet?”
She lunged for me. I sidestepped out of the way, pivoted fast, and aimed a roundhouse kick at the back of her knees. My foot connected with a crack and she dropped to her knees.
As I kicked again, the Nix ducked in time, then grabbed at my foot, getting just enough of a grip to pull me off balance. I twisted away and rebounded with a side kick that knocked her into the wall, dirt raining down.
“You want the amulet, witch?” she said. “You keep it. I’ll go the other route. Less satisfying in the long run but—” She smiled. “Temporarily, perhaps very satisfying indeed, if done right. So why don’t…”
She flew at me, hoping to catch me off guard, but I veered out of her path and wheeled to face her again. Running footsteps pounded in the tunnel. Trsiel. Finally.
The Nix started an incantation. A portal, or so I assumed. But the words sounded familiar…and I didn’t know any portal-opening spells. It didn’t matter. Whatever she was casting, I wasn’t about to let her finish.
I spun and kicked, but the Nix backed out of my way. She lifted both hands, then fluttered them down. A spell with hand gestures? Had to be sorcerer magic. As I readied another kick, she stopped casting. I braced myself, but nothing happened.
“As good a spell-caster as a fighter, I see,” I said…and dropped her with a front kick.
Trsiel flew through the doorway. I was off to the side, up near the door, so when he came through, his back was to me and all he saw was the Nix sprawled across the floor.
She lifted her head.
“Trsiel!” she said. “Look out! Behind you!”
He swung around, sword raised. Then he saw me and stopped.
“Trsiel!” the Nix shouted. “It’s her. She cast a glamour spell.”
Glamour? Oh, shit! That’s what the Nix had cast. A sorcerer glamour spell…to make herself look like me. A protest flew to my lips, but Trsiel’s sword was already sheering toward me, too fast for me to say anything…or to dive out of the way.
At the last second, our eyes met, and his filled with horrified realization. He tried to stop, but the momentum of his swing was too great and all he could do was divert the sword’s course, swinging down away from my torso. The blade hit me in the upper thigh. I heard an inhuman scream, then felt the sound ripping from my own throat as the pain—the indescribable pain—tore through me. I pitched forward. Trsiel dove to catch me. The sword clattered to the floor.
As I fell, I blacked out, coming to only as another flash of agony knifed through me. Trsiel’s arms tightened around me as he lowered me to the floor. His mouth opened, but I heard only the sound of my own screaming. Behind him, the Nix was running—not at us, but off to our side. I blinked, then comprehension hit.
“Trsiel,” I gasped. “Sword. She—”
He shot up just as the Nix dove for the sword. Too late to grab it, Trsiel kicked it aside and threw himself at the Nix. He caught her by the shoulders and they went down.
I struggled to focus on them, but pain pulsed through me, each throb bringing a split-second blackout. I fought to stay conscious. Across the room. Trsiel almost had the Nix pinned, but she wriggled out of his grip, rolled, then darted toward the sword. Trsiel took her down again.
I forced my body to turn, and tried to see the sword through the flashes of darkness. There! By the door. Biting my lip, I managed to push up on all fours, then stumbled toward it. When I was still a few feet away, I felt my limbs tremor, threatening to give way. I threw myself forward, onto the sword. I felt the heat of it burn through my shirt. Then everything went dark.
I awoke in something like a bed, soft and comfortable. Trsiel leaned over me. I struggled to sit, but white-hot pain forced me down again.
“Nix,” I whispered.
“Gone,” he said. “She teleported out as soon as I had a good hold on her.”
“Amulet. Found—”
“It’s right here.”
“Good. Wh—” I gasped as fresh pain ripped through me.
Trsiel’s arms went around me, one sliding under me, and his hands moved up to my neck. I gasped again. His hands were nearly as hot as the sword. As soon as his fingers touched my skin, the pain ebbed. He massaged the back of my neck, and I slowly relaxed into the bed as the pain gave way to soft waves of soothing heat. I felt myself drifting toward sleep, only dimly aware that he was talking. I struggled to listen, but could make out only the hypnotic sound of his voice as he reverted to his angelic tone.
“Better?” he whispered.
“Ummm. Getting better.”
A soft chuckle. “I’ll keep at it, then.” His voice sobered. “I can’t tell you how sorry—”
“S’okay.”
I stretched, then lifted my head and looked around. I was lying on a divan. He’d pulled up a chair beside it. Both were big chunky pieces, postmodern furniture, more comfortable than they looked. Two more chairs flanked a fireplace, and another two were by a window overlooking a cityscape. Art gallery and museum posters decorated the walls. Across the room was a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, crammed to overflowing, with books shoved into every space and more piled on the floor underneath. On my right, magazines covered a low-slung table.
“Your room?” I said.
He nodded. “Not much like the other angel quarters, is it?”
I picked up a copy of Entertainment Weekly. “Not much.”
His cheeks heated.
“I’m teasing you,” I said. “Your room is much nicer. That other one? Kinda creepy.”
He gave a soft laugh. I continued flipping through the stack of magazines. Some, like Time and National Geographic, I recognized. Others, I wasn’t even sure what language they were written in.
“I suppose this answers the question,” he said, sweeping a hand around the room. “Though I’m sure you already knew it.”
“Hmm?”
“What Dantalian meant. About me. His…insults. You said you didn’t know what he meant, but I know you do.”
I flipped onto my back and looked up at him. “That you’re part human. Or so he says.”
“He’s right. Which you also know. Not that I can prove it.” He swept a lock of my hair off the pillow, fingers sliding to the end, his gaze fixed on this diversion as he continued, “I told you I’m from the last group of full-bloods. The Creator—He saw problems with the older ones, the first angels and even the seconds. As the world grew, they couldn’t keep up. They went from thousands of years of watching over hunters and gatherers to a world that seemed to change every time they blinked. When we—the last group—were created, we were taught to immerse ourselves in the human world—to keep up with its traditions, its language, even its fashions, so that we could better understand those we served.”
“Then that’s the explanation, isn’t it? The training. Not that you’re part human.”
He shook his head. “That’s the rationale, not the reason. We all know it. Some of the older ones try to be more like us, and some of us try to be more like them, but it doesn’t work. The difference goes deeper.”
“So you think the Creator gave you some human blood? To make you more human?”
Trsiel released my hair from his fingers and nodded. “And when Dantalian brought it up, I saw my reaction, and I hated myself for it, for what you must have thought of me.”
“I don’t—”
“What a hypocrite, right? One minute I’m telling you I see nothing wrong with humans, and the next I’m flying into a rage when some demon accuses me of having human blood.” He shook his head fiercely, eyes blazing.
“What a damnable—”
I pulled myself up. “I don’t think you’re a hypocrite, Trsiel. I saw how those other angels treated you. That’s the problem, isn’t it? Not having human blood, but having them think you do.”
“I care about what it makes me in their eyes. I know I shouldn’t—”
I ducked to meet his gaze. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain it to me.” I gave a small smile. “I’m a witch, remember? I know all about being treated like a second-class citizen when you know you aren’t.”
I pulled myself up. “But, blood or training aside, whatever the experiment, it obviously worked. You understand and fit into human culture far better than those other angels could, so why the ascendeds?”
“Not all the angels in the last wave are like me. Most aren’t. They…assimilated.”
“Succumbed to the pressure to fit in. But you didn’t.”
“It’s more like ‘couldn’t.’ It isn’t in my nature. And I’m certainly not the only one. There are a few like me.”
“Just not enough to fight this new ‘only ascended angels in the field’ rule.”
A slow nod, gaze shuttering, but not before I saw the sadness there.
“But if I ascend,” I said. “If I do this quest, and they offer me angel-hood, I’d need someone to teach me the ropes, and Zak…Zaf—”
“Zadkiel.”
“Isn’t around, so that would be you.”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, that’s what I’m hoping. Meaning you’re not the only one who needs to prove something on this quest. Unfortunately, you seem to be making your case a lot better than I am.”
“Hey, you got the amulet, right?”
“I’d rather have the Nix. Preferably decorating my sword.”
I laughed. “We’ll get her for you, don’t you worry. Then we’ll finally find out whether all this supposition has been for naught. My luck, I’ll finally decide I want to be an angel, and find out the offer isn’t even on the table, that it never was.”
A look passed through his eyes.
“You already know, don’t you?” I said.
He stood, crossed the room, grabbed an apple off the counter. “We should work on our next move.”
“No, you should work on your diversionary tactics. That one’s as obvious as trying to send me to check on Lizzie before Aratron arrived.” I got to my feet. “You’ve talked to the Fates, haven’t you? You sneaky…When did you—what did they say?”
He lobbed the apple from one palm to the other. “It’s not my place to discuss this, Eve.”
I grabbed the apple from him. “Well, obviously, if you’re still worried about proving you could mentor me, the answer was yes. They want me to be an angel.”
I took a bite and chewed slowly, turning the thought over in my mind. Like a magnet, it both repelled and attracted, depending on which way I turned it. But, still, no matter how much it might change my life, it would take care of my problem with Savannah…
I took another chomp of the apple and walked back to the divan.
“Why me?” I said.
When Trsiel didn’t respond, I sighed and glanced over my shoulder at him. “Okay, hypothetically, if the Fates have a space to fill, why pick me? There must be dozens of supernaturals more worthy of the honor.”
“Becoming an angel isn’t a reward for goodness,” he said, taking the chair next to the divan again. “It’s a job, and like any job, it has requirements.”
“Such as?”
“Each realm has its own team of ascendeds, pulled from that realm, who tend to matters involving the ghosts in that realm and the living who will eventually come to that realm. The Fates, having guardianship of the smaller supernatural realms, are permitted fewer ascendeds, and have a smaller pool to choose from. So they must choose more carefully and have developed a rather unique, and creative, system for picking angels.”
“They’re inventive, like Aratron said.”
Trsiel nodded. “Every ascended on the Fates’ team has been chosen for what new skills or personality traits he or she can add to it. Janah, for example, was the first, and she was a priestess, a very devout woman eager to serve on the side of righteousness. Katsuo—who investigated Glamis—was a samurai, making him a powerful warrior who will obey without question. Marius is a warrior of another kind, a gladiator who led an uprising against the Romans. Unlike Katsuo, Marius has never met an authority figure he didn’t challenge, but give him a case of injustice to solve, and no one fights harder.”
“Different angels, different strengths. Different weapons for different battles.”
“But when it came to the Nix, the Fates realized something was missing from their weapon case.”
“Someone who could understand a creature like the Nix.”
“I can’t speak for the Fates, but I suspect it’s that, plus a combination of other factors, that made them—or would make them—see you as a good candidate.” He snuck a look my way. “You do want it, don’t you? At first, I wasn’t sure, but then you seemed to warm to the idea.”
“I did,” I said, turning the half-eaten apple over in my hands. “But now…I’m not sure. There’s a lot to think about.”
He was quiet for a moment, then looked at me. “It’s Kristof, isn’t it?”
“He…” I leaned back against the divan cushions and fixed my gaze on the bookshelf. “A few days ago he said I need a purpose in my life, and he’s right. This hunt—this quest—it’s made me feel…” A small smile. “I’d say ‘alive,’ if that didn’t sound so silly.”
“It doesn’t.”
“In a way, ‘alive’ really does make sense. Since I died, I’ve been…well, ‘dead,’ hovering in limbo, obsessing about my daughter, surfacing now and then to see Kristof, but he’s been the only thing that brings me out of it. I need more than that, and he knows it. I need a job.” I laughed. “Isn’t that rich? Spent my life proud of the fact that I never held a proper job, never paid a dime in income taxes, and now that I’m dead, that’s exactly what I want.”
Trsiel smiled. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but angels don’t pay taxes. Don’t collect a salary, either.”
“You know what I mean.”
“You want a purpose, and you think this might be it. Your calling.”
I made a gagging noise.
He grinned. “Okay, career, not calling. But there’s still the problem with Kristof. Obviously he means a lot to you…”
“And in taking his advice and taking this ‘job,’ I might screw things up completely. Become an angel, and I’ll finally realize my dream of being able to protect Savannah. Instead of finding a new purpose in my life, I might be opening the door to furthering that obsession. So what could be the best thing for me might end up being the worst. If that happens, Kris is gone. Guy’s got the tenacity of a bulldog, but even a bulldog eventually realizes it’s latched onto something it’ll never pull free.”
Trsiel said nothing. When I glanced over, he was just staring at me.
“You don’t know, do you?” he said softly.
“Don’t know what?”
“When you ascend…Eve, you can’t…” He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?”
“When you ascend, you have to break all ties with the ghost world.”
The room seemed to darken and tilt.
“You mean, I couldn’t live there, right?” I said slowly. “I’d have to move up here or something, but I could still visit the ghost world—”
“I mean you’d have to leave. Forever.”
I don’t know what I said next. I felt my lips moving, heard something like words coming from them, vaguely saw Trsiel nod and say something in return, then felt myself recite a transportation code. The room darkened, then disappeared.