Covenant (24 page)

Juno shrieked in horror and was about to run to Troy's rescue, but Troy shot her a cold, hard glare.
Don't move,
it said.

Python sauntered toward Troy, annoyance souring his perfect face.

NOW,
Troy said in her thoughts.

Fury streaked down from above. With a cold cry of victory, she plucked Nina's soul from the demon's grasp, cradling it between her large talons.

Python screamed, his face twisting with rage. He thrust out his hand and said something ugly in the demonic language, but Fury was already too far away. She soared out into the darkness screeching, certainly heading for the exit from the labyrinth. Fury had found it after all. Her next job would be to take Nina's soul somewhere Python could never steal it again.

Keep going,
Troy said to Fury in her thoughts.
Go and don't look back.

“You frustrating
bitch,
” Python said, rounding on Troy again with blazing eyes.

Troy knew what was coming next. “
Run,
” she hissed at Juno. “
Follow Fury
.”

The chick stared at Troy in pure horror. Violet mist erupted around Python, and his body began to dissolve, his orange reptilian eyes the single feature that never changed. Every part of him stretched and transformed into inky black smoke and scales.

“
GO,
” Troy screamed at Juno.

Juno hesitated, and then she turned around and dashed off into the blackness.

The moment she did, the walls of the room seemed to rush in on Troy.

She had no time to escape. Obsidian mirrors toppled and smashed. Bones nearby cracked into shards. Thick loops of scaled and feathered flesh thumped out of the shadows and wrapped around Troy's body, coiling swiftly one at a time. Higher and higher they surrounded her. Purplish mist choked out her breath.

Troy tried desperately to crawl up and out of her prison, but the coils of scales and muscle tightened. In seconds she would be crushed to death.

A triangular snake's head crowned by a tuft of feathers swayed above her.

She snagged her nails into black scales and climbed as hard as she could. Fear and pain sent shocking waves of strength through her body.

The gigantic snake's head darted down, aiming to bite her in half.

Troy ducked sideways. Breath hot as steam passed over her.

The snake snapped back into position with movements almost too quick to see, preparing for another strike.

Python was now in his truest form as a feathered serpent, and the glorious plumes on his head had blended into a combination of violet and black, defining him as a demon. His enormous orange eyes focused on Troy. With the sound of an iron trap slamming shut, he bit again at her torso. His fangs gleamed like knives. “
Stop moving,
” a soft voice echoed from his entire body, “
and this will be over much sooner.
”

Troy latched frantically onto Python's scaly folds and climbed with all her skill.

He arched his neck, opening his lethal jaws directly over Troy's head. She dodged again at the right second, jumping for another foothold.

Her body slammed against Python's again, but she rolled, suddenly free of her scaled prison. The cold ground seemed to rise and strike her in the face and chest. Troy shot upright, ready to dash out of reach. A shadow loomed above her.

Pain more agonizing than a boulder breaking her bones ricocheted through Troy's entire body. Blood gushed in a hot river down her back.

Troy hit the earth hard, screaming.

Python's fangs had sliced her left wing. And now his shadow hovered over her again as he prepared to finish his work. A suffocating coil of muscle slammed against Troy, pinning her to the earth. Her jaw snapped shut from the force, and dots of lights speckled her vision. The ground felt hard and cold as iron. Troy thrashed against it, but Python pinned her tighter, bit into her wing again, and twisted his head.

He was breaking Troy's wing off right where it met her shoulder blade.

Such pain. Indescribable anguish.

Troy shrieked, and Python twisted harder, intensifying the pain, pouring more liquid fire into the marrow of what was left of her wing bones. The final bits of Troy's wing tore away. Her ears buzzed and the world seemed to tilt. A horrific numbness crept across the left side of her back.

She struggled to stay conscious. Nausea turned her stomach upside down.

“You Jinn are too proud with these wings of yours,”
Python said, his voice echoing distantly.
“Perhaps now you won't be quite so judgmental. Finally, High Assassin, at least one of your kind can understand what it is to be a demon like me. Finally you can know the pain I feel when I remember what it was to flap my wings amid the stars. Your sister, the previous Jinn Queen, didn't quite get the message. Let's hope you can do a better job.”

Troy's entire body throbbed with unbearable pain. Yet now it struck her—she wasn't dead yet. But why? Python picked up her body and flung it to the side. Troy's head smacked into the ground again. Her cheek scraped the earth and she landed facing him, her remaining wing twitching in spasms, blood trickling from her countless wounds. Slowly, Python's serpentine body dissolved into violet smoke again.

In seconds he stood before her as a demon, but now he revealed what was left of his own wings. They were a mess of bone, metal rods meant to support what patchy skin remained, and ragged flesh. Steam from the acid pool nearby brushed at his ankles.

“Now we're practically twins,” he hissed at Troy spitefully. “Queen or not, you'll do well to remember who your new master is, you feathered rat.”

Something dark and blindingly fast burst from behind a broken mirror.

Juno
.

With a loud cry of rage, she slammed into Python hard and they both pitched straight for the acid pool.

Juno broke away seconds before the inevitable and thumped back to the floor.

Python's slender body continued to tumble backward into the steaming water. Shock and anger contorted his face. His lips parted and he appeared on the verge of screaming or cursing.

With a sickening
crack,
his body exploded in a rain of black ash. Pieces hazed the air, drifting onto Juno as she raced for Troy and stooped down beside her.

“Your wing,” she said in abject horror.

Troy fought to stay conscious, struggling to her feet despite more pain than she'd ever known. She staggered in the ash. Blood still ran down her back, but both she and Juno knew there was no time for Troy to rest or recover her strength. Even if Python was gone, they had to get out of this death trap to wherever Fury awaited.

Her gaze met with Juno's and locked tightly. Troy grasped her niece's arm and leaned against her for a moment. Jinn weren't skilled at showing gratefulness, and Troy was worse than most. But Juno understood, and she nodded at Troy with such a mature expression. It faintly resembled Hecate's in her nobler moments. Perhaps this little one would make a great Queen after all . . .

“Auntie, what's happening?” Juno shouted suddenly.

Troy broke from her trance and rocked forward. Ash had slipped from beneath her. The room darkened. She glanced up, straining to focus.

A mysterious wind whipped out of nowhere, blinding Troy as more ashes lifted into the air and whirled like black snow. Her eyes stung but she forced herself to see. Slowly the ashes condensed near the acid pool into the tall and familiar shape of a man. Cold laughter echoed through the chamber, and Troy's insides instantly knotted with fear.

Python wasn't dead.

They had only been battling his shadow—nothing more than a clone of himself created and sustained by blood and astral energy. And as it returned for the second round, the real Python remained elsewhere, very much alive, watching their misery and laughing about it incessantly.

“
Did you really think it would be that easy to kill me?
” The demon's smooth voice shivered throughout the room. “
The Prince taught me more than one trick in my days as a chick. Besides, I'm not stupid enough to play with the High Assassin of the Jinn without a backup plan. If only you weren't so rude, Troy, my dear. Perhaps then I would have reconsidered killing your niece . . . Oh well. So much for mercy . . .”

Troy's heart almost stopped. A pain worse than the loss of her wing hammered her hard, because worst of all, despite the unthinkable torment Python had put Troy through, she'd never been his real target.

Juno's eyes widened. She tugged at Troy's arm desperately. “This way!”

This wasn't right. Troy was always the one protecting her niece. Reversing the roles twisted her stomach into a ball. But Juno was already ahead—and Python's shadow loomed behind.

Troy shivered and shrieked, and in a whirlwind of pain she sprinted after Juno, following her to the exit as Python's laughter echoed in her brain, nearly making her insane.

Troy would make it. No, she wouldn't, she couldn't. They would survive. They would die. Her thoughts warred with one another madly. Then Juno disappeared into a misty haze, and though Troy ran after her, the fog only thickened.

Every breath felt more impossible than the last. Troy entered a tunnel with a dull light at its end and she forced herself onward.

The final walls of the labyrinth peeled outward, widening.

Abruptly, the ground was pulled out from beneath her.

The fog vanished, and Troy found herself leaping from a cliff high above the demon city of Babylon. It glimmered below her, glorious with obsidian and flickering lights in a cavern large enough to be the world. Juno was nowhere to be found. There was only the immense city, Python's laughter, and the warm air embracing Troy's body as it wafted beneath her remaining wing. Troy could no longer fly.

She could also no longer think. Her eyes closed.

Without a single sigh left to her, she fell.

Twenty-eight

My situation felt hopeless. How could anyone survive this kind of pain? Then I considered Nina's pain, and Troy's, and Sophia's and even when it felt unbearable, I pushed on toward the precious place where we'd certainly meet again.
—A
NGELA
M
ATHERS

The Grail sent throbs of aching pain through Angela's entire body.

She stood before an enormous emerald Eye in a sea of utter blackness, her feet somehow positioned on solid ground. Within the Eye's shining pupil, Israfel's reflection gleamed. He cried out in anguish, his wings beating in agony. His white hair hung before his large blue eyes. Something about him seemed so small and human. Then he faded from view, and the Eye blinked shut.

Angela awakened suddenly, one last throb shooting through her body.

Darkness suffocated her, but gradually her eyes adjusted. She struggled to free her arms, but they had been chained to the wall and the manacles bit into her wrists. The chains jangled as she jostled with them, their noise echoing throughout the now empty ballroom. Angela swallowed, her throat feeling raw, a sour taste coating the inside of her mouth. Her head swam. Over and over, she continued to see Israfel, Lucifel, and Raziel, arguing, interacting. Raziel's pain sliced through her again as he plummeted to his death. The legend was wrong. He hadn't committed suicide.

Somebody had murdered him
.

The frightening but beautiful being with a hundred wings had shredded Raziel's wings and thrown him to his death. That same being whose eyes had been so familiar . . .

The person the angels called “Father.”

Angela glanced up at her left hand. The arm glove remained in place, deftly covering the Eye bleeding beneath the fabric. Her mind whirled.

Israfel, Raziel, and Lucifel were definitively siblings. Israfel had been unable to bear the guilt of accidentally falling in love with his own brother. Lucifel had been discontent as well, though Angela could only guess why. There seemed to be more behind her venom than envy over Israfel's position as Archangel. And Raziel had tried to put a stop to the bloodshed but died miserably despite his efforts.

Angela shivered, finding herself face-to-face in her memories with that awful creature looming over Raziel. The cold hatred on its face had been almost impossible to look at.

Lucifel took Sophia to Hell after the War. Was that to keep her safe from that awful . . . thing?

What did Raziel really learn that led to his death?

Maybe Lucifel already knew.

Angela sighed and turned her head, still groggy. Kim was to her left where Lilith had chained him, sound asleep. Bruises peppered his face, and a nasty cut had been scratched into his cheek. The demon must have slapped him more than once. Yet she hadn't bothered to kill Angela. That didn't sit well with her. Angela struggled again with the chains and finally gave up, leaning her head back against the smooth cold wall.

I wonder if Nina and Troy are still alive . . .

The odds said no, but Angela couldn't help hoping. The tears she'd always promised to stop but could never really hold back slid hotly down her cheeks. Why did she hate tears so much? Because her parents beat her when she cried? Maybe it was because tears made her feel so weak and vulnerable. They were an admission of the pain she used to always try to run away from.

“Feeling discouraged?” a gentle voice said.

Angela gasped, whipping her head around to face the sound.

Lilith sat in the shadows on a velvet cushion, her dark legs crossed, and her long fingers drumming against her thigh. She slid out of the chair and strolled nearer to Angela. Without warning, she stooped down and gripped Angela roughly by the chin.

Angela's cheekbones screamed with pain. Any harder and her face might shatter. She tried to twist her head away without success.

“It serves you right, Archon. You really are quite a thorn in the Prince's side. I wonder if she ever really expected you to get this far. Not that it matters, because I'm here to make sure your journey comes to a screeching halt.”

“Over my dead body.” Angela spit in her face.

Lilith wiped her cheek in disgust. Muttering a curse, she slapped Angela powerfully across the mouth.

More pain raced across Angela's skin like lightning. She gasped, unable to lift her head again.

“You have courage, at least,” Lilith said smoothly. “Perhaps it's the one thing that makes you resemble Lucifel.”

“If you want to kill me,” Angela said, still gasping, “why are you taking your time?”

Lilith smiled. “Because you don't deserve a quick and painless death.” She knelt down in front of Angela, petting the same spot on Angela's cheek she had so cruelly smacked only moments before. “Do you remember a demon named Naamah?”

Angela's chest tightened. How could she forget?

“You do,” Lilith said brightly. “Well, she was my protégée, Archon. Naamah's true parents died when she was young and so I took her in as a mentor. But I grew to love her, perhaps even more than my own offspring. She was a dutiful daughter. Our ideals divided in the end, but I could never bring myself to follow the Prince's orders and destroy her. She was too valuable to me as a person. That is—until you killed her.”

“I didn't kill her,” Angela shouted.

Lilith shook her head. “Perhaps not directly. But indirectly is good enough for me. Someone has to pay. Why not you?”

“What are you going to do? Just let me and Kim starve here?” Angela glanced around, trying to find anything that might help her or Kim escape. There was nothing.

Lilith chuckled sweetly. “That would be far too boring, Archon. I think we should just go slowly, see what makes you scream most, and work from there. I'm sure a replay of the torment you just went through in your visions should suffice. I saw quite a bit. It was very interesting, just as the Prince told me it would be. That whole business about Raziel committing suicide was apparently a lie.” Lilith leaned down, her dress sliding to an uncomfortably revealing spot below her shoulders. “It makes me wonder what else is in that head of yours. Better yet, if angel blood can bring on visions, what can the blood of the Archon do? It wouldn't be a bad idea to experiment.”

She put a nail to Angela's neck and slid it up to her chin.

“The only question now, is how painful should it be?”

Her nail dug into skin.

Angela cried out, unable to help herself.

“Lady,” a voice said from the shadows.

Lilith cringed, but she stood up and regarded the visitor. It was the same female demon who had curtsied to Angela. “What is it?” Lilith snapped. “You can see that I'm busy here.”

“Your son wishes to speak with you,” the demon said.

Lilith laughed. “I have no son. If you're talking to a snake, though, tell him I'll be there in a moment. Let him know this had better be worth my time. I'm tired of his constant interruptions. Milk,” Lilith muttered under her breath. “I should have fed him poison instead. Perhaps it would only have made him more of a serpent . . .”

Lilith glared at Angela but silently left the chamber, shoving the other demon out of the way as she exited through a set of double doors.

The female demon's eyes brightened dangerously the moment Lilith was gone.

The demon walked up to Angela. Slowly, a purple mist rose up around her body, and Angela watched with a pounding heart as the demon's figure stretched and reshaped itself. Python broke out of the fog and quickly set to work on Angela's chains. His mouth was set in a cold line. Once Angela's arms were free, he stepped back and watched as she rubbed her wrists. “A simple thank-you would be sufficient,” he said.

“You're the one who got me into this mess,” Angela hissed back. “You knew what would happen when I walked through those doors.”

“Touché,” the demon said. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “But I had to see the truth. That part of my mother's plan I agreed to. This, I did not.” The malice in his voice sent shivers up Angela's spine. “My mother's cry of frustration will be quite soothing in the end.” He reached down and picked up one of the masks thrown carelessly onto the ground. It happened to be another snake's mask. He held it up to his face. “She is such a careless hedonist, she didn't even notice her own son at the ball. Even though I danced with her three times.”

Angela tried to ignore the odd light behind his eyes when he said that.

“What did I drink?” She rubbed at her throat. Her head still hurt.

“Angel blood,” Python said shortly. “Drinking it reveals the truth of many things. Thus the unfortunate need to plunge you headfirst into a pool of it.”

Angel blood
?

Angela steadied herself, trying not to retch. The idea of how many angels had needed to die in order to fill that fountain made her even more hideously sick. For all their gloss of civilization, the demons were almost worse than Troy and the Jinn. At least the Jinn seemed to kill out of hunger and necessity. This was different. This was murder for the fun of it.

She rocked slowly to her feet. “Then free Kim and show me how to get out of here. I know I can't have much time left. Sophia can be anywhere by now. Troy and the others—”

“Troy and the others?” Python sighed. “You still turn your thoughts back to them?”

He seemed to be considering something.

“All right. I suppose I will tell you.” Python looked Angela straight in the eye. “Nina Willis is dead. Troy and the Jinn chick betrayed you, Angela. They have returned to the Underworld and left you to fend for yourself.”

Angela swallowed, a shot of pain working through her. Her heart hammered. Her hearing buzzed. “No. That's not true. Troy wouldn't—”

“Wrong,” Python said. “But I don't blame you for needing proof. So here it is.”

He threw something resembling a large garnet against the wall. It shattered, sending a spray of red across the stone that quickly coalesced into a circle of pulsing light. In this light, Angela saw Nina lying dead on the ground. The girl's injured leg was clearly visible. Then the scene switched out, and Juno knelt down by a body dressed in white, just like Nina's. She bit the corpse.

Angela screamed Nina's name.

Python waved his hand, and the red liquid fell to the floor in hundreds of droplets. “I have been keeping a very close eye on those two Jinn,” Python said. “Who can trust them, after all? It's their nature to kill at any opportunity, especially when they happen to be starving. You would be wise to forget about them completely. Come with me, and I'll make sure you find the Book without anything more to trouble you. Seeing the truth hidden in your soul was an unfortunate necessity. How can I help you when I'm not entirely sure you are indeed the Archon? But now that I know, I feel no more hesitation risking my life to keep the Prince of Hell caged.”

“Troy wouldn't do that to Nina. Neither would Juno,” Angela whispered.

Nina . . . You've died yet again? How could that happen? Where would you go this time? This is all my fault. Nothing is going like I'd hoped. How can I bring you back now?

Angela wiped at her tears. She clawed at the ground, sobbing. Misery clenched at her heart.

“Betrayal hurts,” Python whispered, staring at her. “Thanks to my wretched mother, I know that all too well. But look at it this way. When you know the truth about people, you also know how to keep yourself from being hurt by them in the future. Live for yourself alone, and all of your problems solve themselves.” He knelt down in front of her. “You should just accept that sometimes the world isn't worth saving. Just imagine how easy life would be if all the troublesome people disappeared.”

“Troy wouldn't do that,” Angela whispered again.

She knew instinctively that what Python had shown her was the truth, but perhaps not in the way he wanted her to believe.

It couldn't be.

He stared at her more, perhaps trying to determine how firm she was in her beliefs. “As you wish,” he said, standing up again. “But I'll warn you now, people are never quite what they appear to be on the surface. There is always more. Everyone has a dark secret or two. It's only a matter of bringing those secrets to light. Every friendship is based on how well those secrets are kept hidden, and how effectively someone gets what they want.”

“Sometimes, friends are friends, and there really isn't any more to it than that,” Angela said firmly.

She and Python locked eyes for another moment.

“We'll see just how well your little friendships serve you in the future,” he said darkly. His gaze shifted sideways. “Oh, your knight awakens.”

Kim opened his eyes and glanced around the room until he saw Angela.

“I'll give you a few touching moments together,” Python said meaningfully to Kim. “Then it's onward and forward before Mama's return.”

Python took a slow step sideways and disappeared, as if he'd entered an invisible door.

Angela suppressed her shivers. The misery inside of her was all encompassing. Tears ran down her face, and she could barely look at Kim.

“What happened?” he said weakly.

Angela shook her head.

Kim hung his own, hair swinging into his eyes. “I understand. You obviously don't need to tell me.” He looked around the room grimly. “I'm sorry, Angela. Maybe Lilith was too much of a force for me to reckon with.” He sighed. “I thought I could at least stop her from making you drink the angel blood. Somehow, I think she was on to me all along. Perhaps not entirely, but . . .”

“No,” Angela said. She stood and wiped at her tears. “You did what you could for me. Thank you.”

“Are you still intent on finding Sophia?” Kim said gently.

Angela rubbed her forehead. “I don't have a choice but to go where this demon is going to take me. Whatever part of the labyrinth comes next.”