Airs & Graces (12 page)

I made my way to the exercise yard, where many of the Temple’s inhabitants were stretching and exercising. I remembered how much Iaoel enjoyed these simple rituals, when we came here together. As much as she paid little mind to the people themselves, at least as individuals, ceremony, tradition, and ritual were things she appreciated. She said that she found the sight came easier when her mind was properly relaxed.

“Good morning, Tabbris.” Yin was only a few seconds behind me. In his younger days, he’d quite enjoyed watching the other residents go through their exercises and rituals, taking pleasure in the community, as much as in any particular activity himself. For all that I knew our previous conversations weighed heavily on him, he sounded pleasant enough. Good sign that we still had time. “Your companion seems to have taken to her guide.” He gestured.

“Good morning,” I responded, without looking away from the girls. “Two days.”

“Two days?”

“Today and tomorrow. I think that’s as much as we can reasonably ask. I know you’ll be meeting with the others soon. You can tell them that we’ll be out of the Temple in two days’ time.”

“You have a plan, then?”

“Not yet, but I’m hoping to very soon. Any help or insight would be appreciated.” There was something odd about Adelaide, but I couldn’t quite place it while I watched her exercising. She never looked up, so it wasn’t anything that came about because of any awareness of our presence.

“You hid her Grace away for a very long time. Continuing to hide seems sensible, to begin with.”

“They know who they’re looking for, now. And I somehow don’t think Adelaide would take well to being kept entirely out of anyone’s sight for long. Whatever we do, it will still have to be with her agreement.”

“That will make hiding far more difficult, yes. All the more reason she’s going to have to come to trust you.”

“I had hoped saving her life might have that effect.”

Yin smiled. “It will almost certainly help. At least for a while. You’re still going to do yourself a favor if you try to get to know her. Being too distant, for too long, some of that trust will begin to erode again. Especially when dealing with so many unfamiliar beings and situations. I realize it’s a balancing act, you can’t get too close … but be too distant, too long, and Lucifer becomes that much more tempting. I know he’s the least of your short-term worries, but his endgame is also the most damaging. If one of the others wins, they may learn of a narrow window to try to climb through. If he wins, he can bide his time.”

I nodded, and looked at Addy again. Something was still bothering me. “I’ll try to keep that in mind. Perhaps this afternoon, I’ll talk to her. Give her a chance to ask some of her questions.”

“I’d say that would be an excellent use of your time here, yes. We’ll still need to meet, and work out your next steps, though.”

“So you do want to be involved in the planning, after all?”

“As ever, you raise a lot of questions whenever you show up. I had to ponder some of them. Ultimately, while knowing anything makes me, and this place, a target, not doing my very best to aid you in any way I can – excuse me, in any way in which you’ll allow – ” He glanced meaningfully at Adelaide, in the yard below. “ – increases the chance you’ll fail, and something far worse will succeed. I wish I had your conviction, my friend. But you’ll have to settle for friendship plus a touch of enlightened self-interest.”

“It will do,” I replied, with a hint of a smile.

It quickly faded at his next words. Glancing down into the courtyard towards Adelaide, he said, “Well, that brings back memories.”

It finally hit me, what was bothering me. As much as he meant it to be pleasant, or at least a pleasant memory to him of a previous visit, the realization was anything but. The two of us here, talking, looking down into the yard was only part of it. Addy, in her exercises, had taken on not only the same position, but the same posture, same general character, and same serene expression as Iaoel always had in her exercises down in that same yard. The girl was moving towards Adelaide as we spoke. It seemed that perhaps Iaoel, during such relaxed moments, was able to assert herself a little, even mostly still folded into Adelaide’s being, beyond just the occasional flash of post-cognition.

The girl tapped Addy on the shoulder, bringing her out of her reverie, and pointed towards us. Master Yin, of course, was still smiling, and waved back when Addy waved to us. Not sure what to make of the realization yet, or what it foretold for our future, I’m sure I wasn’t nearly so warm. It was not precisely a good start to opening up or helping her to trust me, but at the moment, that concern came secondary to worries about how else, or when, Iaoel might influence her host.

Yin was still smiling. “She seems like a pleasant girl,” he said. “Beautiful, too.”

“So was Iaoel,” I said blankly as I turned around. “We should return to the planning room. I’ll find Adelaide and speak with her more later on.”

“As you wish, of course.” I seemed to have made my concerns clear, as his expression sobered. We walked in silence, aside from Yin’s offering greetings to two of the other high-ranking members of the Temple, whom he assured all was going according to plan. I was uncertain just how much they agreed with the plan, as both took pains to avoid eye contact with me. Perhaps it was just that they had been well-schooled in such matters when dealing with any supernatural creature. I hoped they wouldn’t soon have to deal with more.

“You don’t like being reminded of Iaoel,” Yin began upon our return to the planning room.

“Given my last interactions with Iaoel and the consequences, no. What’s more, after resisting Piorre’s efforts for so long, she seems very comfortable with Adelaide. I’m very certain that there’s more to do before her Grace would awaken fully. What we saw was still tied to a peaceful condition far more familiar to the Grace than to Adelaide, but the visions, at least, are likely to start coming more frequently.”

“And that’s bad? It might give her some insight.”

“Or it might show her very limited perspectives on past events. Iaoel’s memories and insights are likely to be tricky things for her to navigate.”

“But if she can, it might give you an advantage that no one knows you have. If she can control the visions, or help direct them, at least.”

I pondered that for a little while, then spoke my thoughts aloud, watching his reactions. “That’s a dangerous path. I’m more and more concerned that Iaoel could ‘wake up’ and overtake Adelaide completely as the Grace unfolds. On the other hand, the personal journey of unfolding the visions could make Adelaide an ally with some ability to protect herself. Just as importantly, it’s a blind spot for Michael. He’ll keep watch on the places and people he thinks I might go to, without a thought for looking into her background.”

“A blind spot for Michael. Certainly not for Lucifer. Her motivations will be foremost on his mind. Most of your friends and allies have at least fully made up their minds where he’s concerned.” He’d brought up the idea, of course, but I quickly caught on that he was not so much objecting to the idea now, as helping me make sure I was looking at all the risks and rewards involved. Truly an apt time to play devil’s advocate.

“Then I will definitely need to talk to Adelaide soon, if we’re to follow her path instead of mine.”

“Hoping she knows what that path is?”

“She doesn’t, almost certainly. And it’s not the right time for that discussion yet, anyway. I need to get a better feel for her understanding of her situation, and see if she’s recovered enough yet to start taking on some of the emotional blows that dealing with all her past regrets will bring up. If she’s still not accepting what’s happened so far, she’s definitely not ready yet to resist temptation.”

“And?” Apparently he could sense that there was something more I was hesitating to say aloud.

“And I need to determine how much Iaoel’s visions are showing her, and how much she’s missing. If she’s going to start guiding our steps once we leave this place, I need to make sure it’s Adelaide’s will doing the guiding.”

“And?” he smiled.

“And Michael attempted to influence her with half-truths. I’m sure he sees it as the full truth. I didn’t debate philosophy at the time.”

“Ahh, I see. And you’re worried that it’s not just Lucifer’s words that might sway her.”

“As I understand it, through most of human history, people have been told to be cautious of deals with devils. I can’t recall ever hearing any similar caution regarding Archangels.”

“So you are at least occasionally paying attention to us, and our morality tales?”

That drew another small smile. “Repeat something often enough, and I might hear about it sooner or later.”

“Then when you get the chance, you may want to do some catching up. You’re going to have to be able to pass as human now and then, with what you’re doing now.”

“Any suggestions?”

“Read some newspapers, visit a library, find a motel to hide out in for a couple days and watch television.”

I quirked a brow, glancing around at the monastery walls. “What do you know about television?”

Another easy smile. “Something is around long enough, I might hear about it sooner or later. Regardless, I’ll bet I know more about it than you do.”

“You’d win that bet. I haven’t had a lot of leisure time.”

“And even when you have, you haven’t allowed yourself the chance to rest. I suppose, of course, you don’t really need to. But getting to know a few more humans, or at least what is important to them, might help you appreciate the benefits of free will a little more; since you are so focused on defending it.”

“Not needed. I appreciate free will as God’s gift to mankind. That’s plenty.”

“Different kinds of appreciation, I suppose. But as I understand it, not all of your brethren are so, how to put it, dedicated? You might allow yourself a little chance to relax.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon. As for my brethren, if you’re referring to Gabriel, yes, he’s very laid back. He also thinks plagues can make great punch lines.”

Yin’s expression sobered. “Maybe I do like you better the way you are,” he sighed. “Back to business, then. What are your first steps?”

“I talk to her, and determine if this plan is even possible. If it is, we’ll need to start soon, before how much is Adelaide and how much is Iaoel’s influence becomes more confused.”

“So you’re going to tell her the plan, and see what she thinks?”

“Not yet. I’m going to let her ask her questions. See how much she’s figured out, and how much she just knows now. I’m going to try to get some sense of her confidence in me, and herself. If I feel comfortable with the results, I tell her there’s a plan in the works, but we need to discuss it more. Then, you and I need to meet one more time tomorrow to work out some details.”

Chapter Five

Adelaide

I looked over my shoulder, glancing back at them as Tab and Master Yin watched us go. The girl’s hand was gentle and silently urging in my own, and I swallowed. Everything was turned upside down and inside out in my head. Earlier today, I couldn’t wait to get rid of Tab, and now I felt apprehensive about letting him out of my sight after just having arrived on a strange Temple’s doorstep. Master Yin’s words echoed in the back of my mind.

“You will have to forgive Tabbris. He’s been through a lot for humanity. He seldom sees any gratitude or warm feelings from us, and I think that makes him a little grumpy.”

I heaved a sigh, and the girl who had a hold of my hand looked at me, blinking. I didn’t want her feeling like she’d done anything wrong, so I gave her my best smile, but I knew instantly what made it onto my face was a very watered down version. It seemed to satisfy her, though, because she beamed back at me and, in heavily accented English, said, “Come, come!” and led me out of the Temple’s grand chamber. She went to the corner of the large room, just off to the left of the large doors we had entered through, and pulled back one of the red cloth hangings that hung from the so-very-high ceiling. It was a doorway, completely black, with stone steps leading in a sweeping curve downward.

I swallowed, the images from the frat house ghosting up from my memory. Stone steps, an altar drenched in blood, and Tab’s screaming face. The girl was tugging gently at my hand, and so I steeled myself and followed. After the first gentle curve, we hit an alcove lit with flickering candles, the scent of beeswax soothing and familiar. God, I had so much to think about… Archangels, old gods and Demons, oh my! I coughed to cover up my insane desire to start laughing. At this point if I started laughing, it would probably turn to tears, then screaming, and if I let that happen, I would probably go stark raving mad.

I was so not letting that happen, so I followed my guide’s enthusiastic gait and just looked forward to a moment alone with a tub of hot water. It felt like we were traversing an entire underground city, with how many passageways we went through, and I counted at least three more flights of stairs as we went down, each one short, but still, to my aching body it felt like I was skipping down from the top of the Columbia Tower back in Seattle.

I finally thought to ask her, “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name, but could you tell me where I am?” My guide stopped and turned, smiling, but with a puzzled look on her delicate face. Maybe I was overestimating her English skills. She pointed at herself, and I nodded.

“Mei-Lei,” she said with a dazzling smile. I couldn’t help it; I smiled back and pointed at myself.