Chapter FORTY
Landon
I knew where I was as soon as I stepped into it. The Museum of Natural History. The place where it had all began. It was fitting that it would end here too.
I was right outside the chalice exhibit, where the Holy Grail had once rested, and the place where I had died. I could hear voices coming from the far end of the room, though I wasn't close enough to see the speakers yet.
"How did you find me?" Ross asked.
"We always knew where you went, Erus. We couldn't reach you because He gave you asylum. When you repaid Him with your treachery, He allowed me to come to this realm to collect you. I underestimated the damage to your soul."
Ross laughed at that. "Does He even know who you are? What you are?"
"He knows what you are. That is enough."
"I'm what you made me," he shouted. "What you forced me to be. This is your fault."
"Then why was it your guilt that drove you mad? You were safe here, Erus. He had given you the sanctuary you begged for. Why did you destroy it?"
I shouldered Avriel's sword and started walking. After a few steps, I realized that something was wrong. I was back on the normal path of the Box, but the power hadn't returned. Why had Malize prevented me from coming through, if he knew I was powerless anyway? What was it that he didn't want me to see or do?
I decided to be more subtle than I had originally planned. Instead of walking right in on them, I ducked behind one of the display cases and inched my way forward one obstruction at a time. The one benefit to having no power was that they probably couldn't sense my presence.
"Why did I destroy it? It is what you taught me, Malus. You and your council. Destruction is the only thing that eases the pain. It's also the only pleasure that remains, when nothing ever ends. It's the only challenge left to us."
When we had fought Ross outside the Great Pyramid, he had recognized Malize. He had said his name. Only, now I heard Malus. I was sure of it. Why had he sold us a different name? Had anything he'd told us been true? He wasn't a demon, so I couldn't spot his lies. I had trusted him because Charis had trusted him. We had both made a mistake.
"To us, Erus? No. To me. Catching up to you has almost been fun. A masterpiece of controlled chaos."
I peeked my head up from behind a large, jewel-encrusted cup. I could see them now, near the front of the room. Ross standing face to face with Malus. Charis was bound and unconscious, sitting up against the pedestal where the Grail had sat, her head slumped to her chest. Malus was definitely Malize, and he absolutely wasn't a good guy. The boyish angel was in the same robes I had seen on the path.
He had his arm around Clara.
She was clay-faced, motionless in his grasp. Whatever force was giving her life, it had been put on hold. Could she even hear what they were saying?
"So, now here we are. I knew you were somewhere behind the Box, but I hadn't expected you to make a personal appearance. I've been trying to overcome these two meat sacks so I could bust out of here before someone delivered it to you. They're more resilient than they look."
He kicked Charis in the ribs for emphasis, which almost brought me out of my hiding place.
"It took me a long time to prepare this trap," Malize said. "Almost as long as it took me to break you. There were so many pieces, so many possibilities. In the beginning, I thought to just collect you and take you home, so we could both delight in your torture, and repay you for your years of service. Only your power has grown in your madness, hasn't it? My first prison was only barely enough to hold you, and nowhere near good enough to transport you."
"How many of His seraph did I destroy, Malus?" His eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
"Millions. He was furious enough to allow me free reign. That was when I decided the prison wasn't enough. That taking you home wasn't enough."
I moved forward again. I didn't like any of the directions this conversation was going in. I focused, trying to find the power, but there was none. I had to stop them both somehow, and I had nothing but a sword and a gun with a single bullet. A bullet that I was pretty certain couldn't harm either of them.
"There is so little left to us," Malize said. "So little that can consume the years, and bring us feeling. So few places left that we haven't conquered. He is more powerful than you and I, and yet He refuses to get involved. I will make Him get involved. I will make Him fight."
"I can help you," Ross said, a smile growing on his face. "We may not have enough power to defeat him on our own, but together? Together we can not only take His realms, but destroy Him completely."
Malize regarded him for a moment. "How far you have fallen, Erus. How sad and pathetic you have become. At least when you were fighting for the balance, there was something there to respect. Now, I don't even pity you."
He put out his hand and Ross collapsed into a heap on the floor. He didn't move again.
My brain raced ahead at a million miles per hour as I tried to remember everything that Malize had said to us. The story about his origins, his creation, his tag-team with Lucifer in the war against Ross. He was the forgotten for a reason, and now I knew why. Did God even remember where he had come from?
Malize leaned down over Ross and put his hand on his forehead. He closed his eyes as the connection began to glow.
I stood crouched behind the chalice, unsure of what to do. Avriel had said we would be rewarded, but what kind of reward could we expect? Malize meant to absorb Ross' power, and then take up his own banner against God and our worlds. He had trapped Charis and I in here because he wanted all of it, every last drop that we held in our souls. He knew the way in, and I was sure he knew the way back out.
I looked over at Charis, eyes still closed but her expression more peaceful now that Ross was dead. How could she have known what Malize was? How could anyone? Few enough could remember him a minute after they left his presence. I looked at Clara, silent and frozen in time. He wanted the power that was trapped in the Box. She had called herself a battery. All of the energy Charis and I had collected by surviving here and absorbing it was held in her visage. More than that, she had said there was a bond between our power and Ross', because it came from the same place. He had no chance against Malize with only half of the power, and he had cut me off from my share.
Divide and conquer.
Now I knew why he wanted to keep me away. I held the gun in my hand, and took a deep breath. I wasn't sure if my idea would work, but there was a sense to it, a logic that snapped into place in my mind.
I heard a groan. Charis. Her eyes fluttered open, and widened with recognition of her supposed mentor.
I didn't know what he would do if he saw she was awake. My time was up.
I stood up. Malize was too busy with Ross to notice. I raised the pistol, extended my arm, and took aim.