“Do you know him?”
“No. I have been searching for him for a long time. Xavier has just located him. He arrived unannounced at our mountain enclave, looking for Evie.”
“Has he spoken of the boatswain? Does he know about it?”
“He has requested an audience with me. I suspect that it is to obtain the whistle.”
“Will you meet him?”
“I leave within the hour. We are to meet this evening.”
“You’re aware it’s a weapon against half-angels? It can be used to harm your daughter. Are you eager to give that away when you don’t know how he’ll use it?”
“No. I’m not eager to relinquish it to him, especially now that I’ve seen what it can do. I didn’t know the extent of its power. I was told it would subdue, not that it had the potential to kill.”
“It’s also a key.”
“It is and I don’t believe Evie made the conscious choice to use the whistle to unlock the gateway to Sheol. She was conditioned to do it. The moment she touched it, she was no longer in control of the consequences of her actions or even aware of them. Once the gateway opened, it attempted to pull her into it.”
“Do you believe it wise to give the boatswain to an angel you don’t know?”
“I have to trust in Heaven to know what’s right.”
“What’s right for them or what is right for Evie? It’s not always the same thing. They don’t always coincide.”
“No, you’re correct, they don’t. I said I have to give Atwater the key. I never said you had to let him keep it. He’s at the same base as Evie. Will you come with me to deliver it?”
“What would you like me to do once you deliver the boatswain?”
“Whatever comes to mind,” Tau murmurs, touching his throat lightly.
“When do we leave?” I ask.
Phaedrus rises from his chair. “I must leave you both here,” Phaedrus says absently as his soft, fuzzy wings unfold from him.
“What is it?” Tau asks.
“I’ve just been given a mission.” His black owlish eyes grow even darker. “It would seem I have to depart at once.”
“Do you know your assignment?” Tau asks, standing as well.
“We’ve met. It’s Reed’s friends: the half-Seraph, the Power, the Throne, and the two Reapers.”
I lurch to my feet. “Are they in danger?”
“They’re in no immediate danger. They want my help to locate something for them.”
I frown. “What do they want?”
“They want a weapon capable of destroying a soul.”
“Is there such a weapon in existence?” Tau asks.
“Heaven says there is. Heaven says they’re looking for a Faerie weapon—one that sings.”
EVIE
A beefy Power angel with beige-colored wings brings me a delicate plate of seasoned cod. Xavier and I sit alone at our table in a posh dining room beneath low-hanging crystal chandeliers. Around us, Power angels savor the exquisite cuisine, casting covert glances at Xavier and me. I would’ve preferred to eat alone in my room, but Xavier insisted that I show myself here. He wants the other angels to grow accustomed to my presence—to my supremacy inherited through my Seraphim blood.
My skin feels paper-thin as Xavier’s hand comes within a breath of it. He picks up his wine glass, watching me, expecting me to suddenly recognize him for more than the human he has always been to me in this lifetime. I also remember him now as a British soldier from another lifetime—the life I don’t want to remember. In that time, he’d dangled the carrot of freedom before Simone—a desperate girl and she’d agreed to help him in exchange for her life. The biggest problem I have with that is I’m not entirely sure how it worked out for her. Not well, I’d imagine, because she died—I died. I’m Simone…or I was.
I scan the room for the diamond-shaped pupils and blue wings of the Cherub angel I’d seen when I first arrived. Atwater. I need to speak to him. If he knew Brennus before his fall, then I want to know why he’s still hanging around the Gancanagh and hasn’t tried to kill them. The Gancanagh lair in Houghton is not something that angels would normally let slide. Atwater knew I was a prisoner there, and yet, he’d done nothing to help me escape them. He had only come to me after Russell had freed me.
“You’re quiet.” Xavier lifts his glass to his lips and stares at me over the rim. His blond hair is dark under the dim light of the chandelier.
“Why would Atwater be following the Gancanagh?”
“I don’t know. He must have his reasons.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“Not at the moment.”
“But you can find him, right?”
“I can.”
“Find him for me.”
“Okay.” Xavier leans back in his seat, toying with his glass. “What are you going to do for me in exchange?”
“What do you want?”
“Cooperation.”
“Am I fighting you?”
“No. You’re biding your time, waiting for Reed to rescue you.”