Bound (The Divine, Book Four) (27 page)

I could still hear Avriel squaring off against Josette, their blades skittering and cracking against one another. I still didn't want to look, and I knew she was the one false face that I couldn't bring myself to harm. "Avriel, end it," I said. I used my power to break her blade apart. I felt sick when I heard his weapon sink into her.

"Are you okay?" I asked Clara. She was looking down on the Great Were. It was clear she had aged again, her baby fat receded and her dangerously delicate beauty rising to the surface. I could see parts of me in her eyes and face, but her appearance was more Charis.

"We need to move faster," she said.
 

We couldn't move faster through these crowds. Wasn't that the point? I returned the gun to my pants and wrapped my good arm around Clara's waist. I had been able to use Ross' power to fly in Purgatory. What was keeping me from doing the same here?

"Dad, don't. You're going to weaken yourself."

"I have to." I pulled in the power, focusing on bending this universe to my will. Ripples of energy cracked the world around me, and I launched into the air.
 

Lady Liberty was easy to spot from altitude, and I only wasted a single heartbeat to ensure the archangel had followed my lead. I took a deep breath to steel myself against the demon's innate power, and then spun in the sky and rocketed towards the Statue.
 

I could see him before I landed, the dark tendrils of his power trailing out around him like the train of a massive cloak. He was there as Avriel had said, on his knees at the base of the pedestal. I came to ground a thousand feet back, out of the reach of his dark essence. Avriel landed next to me.

"You two wait here," I said. I turned to Avriel. "Do your job, and protect her."

I started walking towards the demon, trying to ignore the pain in my arm and the sudden feeling of exhaustion that was pulling on me. Convincing Abaddon to help me was the only option, because there was no way he wouldn't destroy me in my current state.

"Abaddon." I got as close to him as I could before the reach of his energy threatened to cause me to collapse.

The demon didn't move.

"Abaddon."

He bent down in prostration, and then rose to his feet. The swirling despair that surrounded him was sucked in as he turned, until he stood before me as only a man. His hair was short and white, his skin dark and aged. He wore a heavy wool trench coat above a black tuxedo, leaving him dark and foreboding even without the essence swirling around him. Ruby red eyes pierced the darkness and dove deep into me. When he smiled, his fanged teeth were pleasant instead of predatory.

"Diuscrucis. Have you considered what we discussed, the last time we spoke?"

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Rebecca

"I'm still not sure I understand everything," Brian said as we taxied towards a small hanger at Senmon Daiten. "I mean, I get why you're so desperate to get your hands on this Box, but..." He stared out the window at nothing. "There's so much that's happening here, and nobody knows about it."

"You know about it. The question is, what are you going to do?"

He kept looking out the window. "It's a lot to take in, Rebecca. All of this has been a lot to take in, and this is supersonic unbelievable. If I hadn't grown wings, I'd never think it was even possible." He turned his head to look at me, seated across from him in the small jet. "I already said I would help you, before I even understood why. If you're afraid that's changed because of what you were, and what you've done... it hasn't. It's up to God to decide what happens to you, not me."

I'd been waiting for him to pass his judgement on me, despite what he had said. I was surprised to find myself relieved when he proved true to his word. "Thank you, Brian." It was a simple thing, and all I had to offer, but it seemed to be enough.

They were waiting for us inside the hanger. I saw them from the small window over the wing. Max, waving at the aircraft with a huge smile on his face. Sarah, calm and emotionless. Ulnyx, looking like a bodyguard in a black suit and standing with his arms folded across his broad chest.
 

"He's bigger than I imagined," Brian said.
 

"You haven't seen him shift yet."

The plane rolled to a stop. The stewardess opened the door and dropped the ladder. I got up and went to the rear seat, where we had bound and gagged Obi. He'd slept most of the trip, but as soon as he'd woken up his efforts to exorcise me had resumed. I was unknotting the nylon rope the stewardess had found in an emergency toolkit when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Rebecca. I'll take care of him." I looked up to see Sarah standing there. She had spoken to me without emotion, but I could see the concern for Obi on her face.
 

Max came up the ladder as I moved aside to let her pass.

"Ah, there you are my tasty raspberry tart. Oh, and in a man now, I see. Hmm... Brother Shane, if I'm not mistaken." He put his arms around me and squeezed.

"How did you know his name?" I asked.

"I know the names of all of my enemies." He let me go and turned to Brian. "And the white knight himself. Your assistance has been invaluable. I'm sorry about your friends, but we'll do our best to make things right."

"Obi." I heard Sarah behind me. "Obi, it's me, Sarah."

He didn't respond.

"Open your eyes."
 

I didn't see his eyes open, but I heard him begin to speak. She must have taken the tape off his mouth.
 

"Sarah-" I started to turn, to get her out of the way and put the tape back on.
 

Max took hold of my wrists. "Wait."

"Obi, shhhh." Sarah put her hand to his mouth and he quieted immediately, following her Command. It seemed even the power of the Deceiver could be overruled. "I want you to remember what happened. I want you to remember the truth."

The glazed look in his eyes vanished. He stared straight ahead for a moment, and then he looked at her.
 

"Sarah? What are you doing here?" His eyes passed her, falling on Max. "What's going on?"

"The Deceiver," Max said. "The Nicht Creidim used it on you."

"Oh. Crap." He lifted his hand to his forehead. "I didn't do anything stupid, did I?"

"You tried to exorcise me," I said.

I should have expected he would laugh. "They could have convinced me of anything, and that's what they chose? I might have done that willingly."

"They also made you hand over to box."

He stopped laughing. "Right. They would do that, wouldn't they. It looks like we're in an airplane. Where are we?"

"Japan," Sarah said. "Osaka."

"The Nicht Creidim have the Deceiver, the Damned, Truth, and the Box," I said. "We're here to get it all back."

Obi stretched and got to his feet. "So what are we waiting for? You have my Eagle?"

"Up front," I said.
 

"We aren't here to get it back," Max said.

My head whipped around. "What?"
 

"You're here to get it back. You and Sarah. You're the only ones who can, but I think you already knew that."

I had considered it. I looked over at her. "You're okay with this?"

"No, but we don't have a choice. I want Landon back too. I'll let you in."

"Wonderful," Max said, clapping his hands together. "Now, if you ladies don't mind, we're on a bit of a tight schedule."

"So what's the plan?" I asked.

"Ditch your current host, and I'll let you hitch a ride. Ulnyx will drive us to the docks. After that, we improvise." Sarah lifted the leg of her pants as she spoke, revealing a cursed and blessed dagger riding on her calf. "I'm not much of a fighter, but I know you are."

"None of the swords will work on you or Sarah. Between her power, and your experience, it should be like a walk in the park."

I was sure it wouldn't be that easy. Joe was guaranteed to have tricks up his sleeve that none of us knew about. "What are you going to do?"

"We'll wait for you here. Once you get back, we'll need to get airborne and go claim the Destroyer." The demon put his hand on Brian's shoulder. "If you wouldn't mind?"

"I'm in," Brian replied. "I'll go talk to the pilot."
 

"What the heck am I supposed to do?" Obi asked. "You woke me up just to leave me twiddling my thumbs again?"

"We couldn't exactly leave you spouting latin every time you were conscious," Max said. "If you're itching to get involved, you can ride shotgun with the fur ball."

"Not my first choice, but it beats hanging out here."
 

"Very well. You three better get moving. Be back with the Box in two hours, or I'm afraid the end of the world as we know it will come sooner than we'd like."
 

Everything was happening so fast. I glanced at Sarah. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

 
I let go of Brother Shane, feeling myself spread away from his soul and exit his body. Max grabbed him before he could collapse, holding him in a tight grip. I didn't want to know what he would do with him.

An instant later, I was trying to wrap myself around Sarah's soul. I could feel the resistance, the energy roiling around me like a massive lightning storm, and I could hear Max telling her to relax. I pushed into the storm even as it rolled, trying to navigate my way through, trying to complete the connection.

When I did, it hurt. Not like the others, where the pain was intense but manageable. It hurt more than any hurt I had ever experienced, or any hurt I could have possibly conceived. It was as if I had been shattered into a million tiny fragments, and each of those shards had been stabbed with a white hot sun. There was nothing to compare it to, and no way to get around it. I was forced to ride through the whirlpool, to hold on while I was pulled through the broken mess that was at the heart of the true diuscrucis. They always went mad eventually, I knew, but to see it, to feel it, to have it run through me... once I had come out the other side, it was all I could do to hold myself together.
 

How Sarah was managing defied my understanding.

"
Are you with me?
" Sarah asked.
 

I was with her, but she was still in control. "
Yes. Sarah, I-
"

"
Do you remember our conversation on the beach?
"
 

"
Yes.
"

"
Let's just leave it at that, okay, Rebecca? I'm trying to forgive you, because I know it's what my mother would want, and what Landon would want. It's not easy, after everything that happened, that you helped to cause.
"

"
I'm sorry.
" I had to say it. She didn't reply.

"We're ready," Sarah said to Max. "Obi, let's go."

He had retrieved his gun and was standing by the ladder. "I'm waiting on you, kiddo," he said.

We followed him out of the airplane and down to where Ulnyx was waiting.

"The other meat," he said with a laugh. "I'm impressed to see you're still alive."

"These are silver bullets, man," Obi replied, tapping the gun at his hip. The Were just kept laughing.

"Ulnyx, we're ready," Sarah said.
 

"She's in there?"

"Yes."

He stared into our eyes. "I owe you one for saving my ass." He waved towards the back of the hanger. "The car's out back. Well, it's more like a truck. We don't want to be too suspicious."

We followed him out the back door. When he had said truck, he had meant truck. An eighteen wheeler was parked there, a black big-rig with Japanese lettering running along the side, hooked up to a trailer painted with cartoon characters.

"You get the VIP seat in the back," Ulnyx said, pointing to the rear of the trailer. "Meat and I will be in the cab."

"Seriously, man," Obi said. "Stop calling me that."

I could still hear him laughing as we climbed into the empty trailer and pulled down the door.

"
Just you and me
," I said. "
It would help if I could try your body on, to get used to it before we get there."

The floor shifted below us as the truck roared to life. A moment later I could feel us start moving.
 

"
Okay. I'll give you a few minutes.
"

Give me? Before I could ask what she meant, I found myself in her skin. I stumbled forward, getting my bearings, and then straightened up. Sarah was young, and she had kept herself in good shape. She wasn't Elyse, but she was much closer to my size than Brother Shane had been. I crouched down and grabbed one of the daggers from her calf. In one quick motion, I hurled it forward, smiling when it stuck into the wall of the trailer. I'd been too long without a decent host, and I'd missed it.

"
That's enough,
" Sarah said. I was kicked out without warning. It left me disoriented and angry.

"
What the hell?
" I was the spirit. I was supposed to be in control.

"
Not here,
" Sarah said, leaving me to wonder if she could sense my thoughts. "
I decide when you get to come out and play.
"

 
It was possible to join with her, but not without complications. At least I hadn't tried to take her back at the beach house.
 

"
Your soul is a mess,
" I said. Just thinking about what I had experienced made me feel cold.

"
Tell me about it.
"
 

The truck started vibrating and shifting as we got away from the airport and out onto the highway. Sarah and I sat in silence, and in time I began to count the rivets that held the trailer together.

"Rebecca?" Sarah whispered my name out loud, as if she was trying to say it without spitting, or cursing.
 

"
Yes?
"

"Max told me what happened to you. He told me that you've changed. Is it true?"

I remembered the look in Obi's eyes at the train station. I remembered his words. "
I'm not sure. I'm trying to.
"