Covenant (33 page)

Sophia turned to the city again. “Yes,” she whispered. “Often it crossed my mind that the poetic images were too vague, too easily twisted into another meaning entirely. How many have interpreted my words the wrong way?”

Angela couldn't answer her.

Sophia held Angela's face and brushed a slim finger near the Eye. Angela sighed and squeezed Sophia's fingers. It seemed they'd both been thinking of so many things. “I've known my fate,” Sophia said, “since the day Raziel opened my eyes in this new body, giving me a chance at redemption. Sophia, he named me. The word means wisdom in the Tongue of Souls. But the name is ironic, I think.” She lowered her head. “Angela, do you remember how I told you that I died in childbirth long ago?”

“Yes,” Angela whispered. “I was afraid for a while that you had lied to me.”

Sophia glanced at her quickly. “Lied?”

Angela shook her head. “It just—didn't seem right.” She couldn't look Sophia in the eyes. “You seemed too fragile for something like that. Nothing about it made sense to me.”

Sophia sighed. “No. I don't blame you.” Her face took on that distant and almost frightening expression. “Angela, when I died, I fell into darkness. I also took the universe with me. My soul, my secrets, my power have been reborn thanks to Raziel. Thus, I am the Book of Raziel. But I am also only a meager fraction of my former self. The idea that I am a Revenant of Lucifel was the lie. I am Raziel's creation, but only using parts of myself that already existed. I died once, and I can die again. Now, I am terrified it will be because of the same sin.”

There was more to terrify Angela. The idea that Sophia was someone or something she would never completely understand was perhaps the worst.

“What could you possibly have done?” Angela said, touching her hair. “Sophia, I don't care why you think you are being punished. You won't die again.”

“I promised one year ago today to be by your side always,” Sophia whispered to Angela. Tears slid down her smooth cheeks. “And I want to be. But I also wanted more for you from the very beginning. For me, it was never about your destiny as you made it. It was always about your happiness . . .”

Angela rubbed away one of Sophia's tears. “You're talking like you've always known me,” she said.

But that can't be.

Sophia laughed softly at that. “I sound like a mother, don't I?” she said.

“You're not a mother,” Angela said gently. “You're more than that. There's always more.”

Kim had accused Angela of loving Sophia. Angela couldn't explain then, but she felt he'd only scratched the surface of something deeper. Love felt like too small a word for certain feelings. Maybe they'd have to make a new one. Lucifel had used the word
covenant
. Perhaps that was truly more appropriate.

“You're right . . .” Sophia said. She gazed back out into the city of Babylon, her face settled and cool. The clouds near the cavern's far-reaching ceiling rained down fine crystals. Angela had sensed the growing cold in the mere few days since she'd arrived. “Merry Christmas,” Sophia said abruptly, breaking the spell. “I wanted it to be better for you.”

“It can be right now,” Angela said, tapping her necklace. They smiled at each other briefly and held hands before the world, defiant of the darkness in front and ahead of them. It didn't feel right to be completely happy, but Angela felt it was okay to at least be grateful for each other. “Sophia, I know it might hurt you, but—tell me about your children one day.”

Sophia's face hardened a little. “I won't be telling you much you don't already know,” she said slowly.

Her tone suggested an end to the conversation. The mystery within it would have to remain so for a little longer.

Angela looked out into Hell. She thought of Juno's little rock resting safe and sound in her skirt pocket where she'd left it. She thought of Camdon Willis, and where his soul had gone after touching the Grail. Because that was all she could do for the people who meant anything to her right now—think, hope, and pray. Troy never responded to Angela's mental calls—hopefully meaning she was too far away to hear, not dead. “I've been wondering about Troy and Nina and Juno . . . Maybe Python was right when he said that Nina was dead and Troy betrayed me . . .”

“He wasn't,” Sophia said firmly.

“How do you know?”

Sophia looked at Angela with a chiding expression. The Grail throbbed, sending ripples of warning fire through Angela's entire being. Somehow, Angela thought she could see a pair of burning orange eyes, staring right back at her, like a flash from the farthest corners of her mind. Fear touched her, her heart ached. Python wasn't dead, nor was his ambitious game perhaps over. The protection of Hell was no real protection at all.

Sophia's voice held only a hint of the approaching storm. “Like I told you from the very beginning,” she murmured, “never trust a snake.”

Forty-one

Even the Devil played my game to satisfaction.
—P
YTHON

A foot jabbed Troy sharply in the ribs. Pain shot through her body.

Her dreamless sleep shattered instantly. She was alive, yet the thought held no relief. Troy awakened gasping for breath, spitting out the bitter dust that had found its way into her mouth. Her muscles felt torn in nine different directions. The spot on her back that marked her missing wing throbbed horrendously. Troy shuddered as a hand grabbed her by her rags and lifted her up. Icy cold metal latched around her neck.

Her energy returned in a hot rush. Troy thrashed.

She hissed and spit in her captor's face. Slowly, the demon's features emerged in the wan light of Babylon.

His pale face was almost half hidden by his mop of violet-streaked, sable hair. The scales above his eyelids glittered under reams of purple eye paint.

Python dropped Troy back to the rocky earth, his snakelike eyes watching her keenly. He shook his head, pushing back the hair in front of his face. Three long cuts layered one of his eyes. Python rubbed at them with a sour twist to his mouth. His other hand firmly grasped the chain that connected to the collar around Troy's neck.

Juno! Where was she?

Troy glanced around frantically, searching for her niece amid the cold light of Babylon. They had landed somewhere near the outskirts of the city. The softness that had somewhat broken their fall revealed itself to be a mound of Kirin carcasses and trash. The stench would have been unbearable to anyone, but with Troy's highly developed sense of smell, it was almost a torture. To her right, the city rose above her jagged and menacing. The lights played with her eyes and made the act of thinking painful.

Juno was gone. Even her scent seemed to have faded, which meant she'd been absent for quite a while.

She could have been eaten or captured. Anything.

“Looking for that ragged little chick?” Python said, yanking hard on Troy's chain.

The collar dug into Troy's neck. She had no choice but to look right at him. Troy snarled coldly and threatened to lunge at his face. “
Where is she, snake?
”

“Irritatingly alive,” Python said. “At least, that's my best guess. By the time I medicated my injured eye and arrived to find her corpse, she was long gone. I wanted her to die, but I wasn't about to throw my looks away for a dream.” He smiled coldly and tugged even harder on Troy's chain. “So the little mouse left my house. And she left her aunt behind as well. Interesting. I thought you both shared a better relationship than
that
.”

Troy didn't bother answering. Juno wouldn't abandon her outright. There would have to have been a good reason.

Despite the overwhelming smell of trash and decay, there was no scent of fresh blood. Juno had to be alive. Fury hadn't returned from rescuing Nina Willis's soul. Troy couldn't help but feel both Fury's and Juno's absences were connected to that fact. But Python didn't need to know how they'd kept him from winning that particular part of his game.

“What do you want with me?” Troy snarled at him. She grabbed at the collar around her neck, trying to break it somehow. There was no use. It wouldn't budge an inch.

“Don't even try,” Python said. “That collar is made of adamant. Not even Lucifel herself could break it. No—that would take someone like your half-breed cousin, I'm afraid. But I doubt he'll feel up to the task any time soon. Lucifel's shackles left him a bit . . . drained.”

Troy froze. Fire rushed through her veins, and her heart pounded.

“Oh, that's right. I'm so sorry. You couldn't possibly know the news that has the elite of Babylon seething—or at least the part that doesn't know how to stay quiet and obedient.” Python seemed to gloat, but his face held no happiness. “Your lovesick cousin succeeded, Troy. His unique hands freed Hell's blackbird from her cage. Lucifel has escaped her regime, and she partly has you to thank for it. If you'd succeeded in your mission as the High Assassin, perhaps we'd be having a much different conversation. But at least take comfort in your cousin Kim's courage. You're more alike than you think. I detested him every other minute, but I'll admit that his blind resolve was enthralling.”

Troy felt suffocated, like the world rather than the collar choked her.

All she could cling to now was the idea that if Kim had gotten so far, maybe Angela had also been alive and present.

If Troy could reach Angela, there was still hope for them all.

“I love it when your clever mind works.” Python's face burned with excitement. “It makes your eyes so fierce and bright. To survive such pain and come so far—no wonder your race honors and fears you like they do. Perhaps that's why they named you after the city I helped destroy. Hope always seems to linger where it's least wise to believe in it.” He rubbed the links of the chain that made up Troy's leash. “Wondering about the Archon, Troy? She's just fine. Though we'll see how long she lasts with my mother for a protector,” he ended ominously.

Troy lunged for him again.

The chain twanged harshly. She crashed back to the earth, scraping her knees.

Python stepped backward, staring at her long nails. “Easy,” he hissed under his breath. “I wouldn't want to have to muzzle you.”

“Let me go now,” Troy said to him, gritting her sharp teeth. Her words erupted dark and certain. She dug her nails into the earth and split a few rocks beneath them for emphasis. “Because I promise if you don't, you'll be sorry for it, snake. Wasn't mutilating your face enough? Next time, I'll make sure it's your heart. I won't eat it, of course. Far too much venom for my taste.”

Python's expression chilled. He snapped the chain, almost throwing Troy into the dirt again. “Watch your tongue, my dear,” he said. “Temper temper. But keep in mind from now on—you're the flightless bird on the leash.”

“I won't fail to keep my promise,” Troy said viciously. Her ears pressed back into her hair. Her entire soul froze over with purpose. “I never do.”

“Neither do I,” Python said. “That's why we're going to Babylon together.”

Troy stilled, her entire being quivering. She couldn't go to Babylon when Juno was alive but missing. Even killing Sariel could wait for that. The broken Jinn Clans needed a Queen, and Troy would never be that Queen as long as Juno lived. There was no doubt in Troy's mind anymore about her niece's suitability for the role.

Python laughed grimly. “The Archon thinks she's gotten out of my labyrinth. But mazes don't necessarily need walls to continue. All they really need are people's hearts and desires. I can't wait to see the look on her noble face when I show her the great High Assassin at my heels like a Hound. Shortly afterward, all of Hell will be there with you. But I'm a much more patient demon than I look, so I'm willing to start one individual at a time.” The demon stooped down and gazed directly into Troy's eyes. “The universe is my chessboard, and I still have a few pieces left to play. Even better—I have the best piece at my disposal, the Queen.”

He smiled, showing all his perfect teeth.

Python spread his wings in a blinding flash of reddish light. The cold lights of Babylon gleamed across the metal holding them together. The fine fog in the air wafted away from him like smoke. He yanked on Troy's chain, jerking her painfully toward the city in the most humiliating way possible.

She stood anyway, her feet cut by rocks as he continued to tug. Against her will, she followed him.

The city waited for her like a pair of shiny black jaws.

At that moment, Troy made her decision. If she did become Queen of the Jinn, she would destroy Babylon utterly and raze it. And if she couldn't do that, she would help the Archon destroy Heaven, Hell, or whatever else came in the way of a newer heaven and a better earth, one dying Realm at a time.

But Troy didn't need to say anything aloud.

Python glanced back, and his suddenly quiet demeanor told her enough. He had seen the future in the icy terror of her smile.

Omega

Luz waited for the Archon amid a whirlwind of snow and darkness. Blackbirds and crows converged on the city, screeching and crying over its impending ruin.

Earth shivered, and the ocean threw up enormous waves that licked the lower levels of the poorer human dwellings.

All this passed beneath Nina Willis like a dream.

Nina soared with the crows over Westwood Academy, wheeling and turning through the icy winter air. She was now one of them, and yet infinitely superior. But despite Juno's warnings for Nina not to lose herself in exhilaration, her new wings had an agility to them she'd never expected, and she couldn't help testing them time and again. Flying was wonderful enough, but flying through the snow was even better, and Nina tumbled with Fury over and over for the sheer bliss of it, plummeting to the roaring sea only to streak up back into the clouds at the last possible second.

Nina had not died in Python's labyrinth. Thanks to Troy, Juno, and Fury, she'd instead been given new life that could last as long as she wished.

Her soul was in the body of a crow exactly like Fury's, but the difference was that unlike most Jinn creations, Nina could leave that body if she wished. The rest of the Jinn had found Nina's talent inexplicable, but she knew it all had to do with Angela. Nina wanted to help her friend, and that had made something impossible, possible. Her promise had become her reality, perhaps because it had been deserved. Troy would certainly understand.

There had been doubt and confusion in her before each death, yet now Nina unswervingly knew her purpose. The souls waiting to fight on the Archon's side in Heaven needed someone who could intercede between them and Angela.

Nina was the only person in that position to help.

First, though, she needed to return to Luz and gather more allies. She streaked above the Memorial Cemetery graveyard, calling for the hundredth time to anyone below willing to fight. Already she heard answers from those whose spirits had yet to escape Earth's dimension for good. Soon, when the time arrived, she could tell them when they would rise and where they would go. But before that crucial hour, she needed to visit a trustworthy friend and tell him to prepare.

Follow me,
she said to Fury in her thoughts.

Fury banked to the left and soared with Nina to a series of high turrets crowning Luz. More crows followed them in a gale of birds. The wind screamed at them, while the city below glowed like a star set in the sea. Darkness had set forever over Luz and Earth, and it would not lift until Angela either saved the universe or let it collapse. Nina was certain, though, that Angela would succeed and bring the sun back to a city that had not seen it since time immemorial. She was sure above everything else that the light would return.

She landed with her new crow's feet on Father Schrader's windowsill. Nina shifted on the ice-slicked stone and tapped with her beak on the panes. All around her, more crows landed side by side, chattering furiously.

In the city streets, people looked up and pointed at the enormous flock of birds commanding the skies above Luz.

The old priest stood within a circle of his peers. Noticing Nina, he waved them away and ran to the window, opening it quickly. He stepped back and she and Fury glided within, landing in a circle of priests and novices who stared at them with wide and fearful eyes reflecting beams of candlelight.

A few rested on their knees, half hidden by the shadows of a never-ending night.

Father Schrader stared at Nina solemnly.

Fire burned through her, and she left the crow's body and stood before him as a vaporous form. She recognized her own hands and feet and body, though they were now transparent. She stood firmly, gazing at every person in turn.

“Nina Willis,” Father Schrader said in an awestruck voice. “Did the Archon send you?”

A stronger fire coursed within her, and she sensed her master, Juno, returning.

“No,” Nina said. Her voice echoed like a song.

The priests and novices looked at one another, murmuring with apprehension.

Nina raised her hand, gesturing for silence. “She didn't send me. I chose to come on my own. But I want to tell you that the time has come to make your own choice. Will you stand on Angela's side, or will you stand against her? She is in Hell now against her will. But she will return soon and will forever take her place on one throne or another. There is no escaping her destiny, and I know, because I couldn't escape mine. The hour is upon you, everyone. When Angela arrives in Luz again, what will she find? I hope you do the right thing.”

“She will choose Ruin,” one of the novices cried out in fear. “So what does it matter if we are on her side or not! She is our destroyer—”

“Ruin doesn't always mean darkness,” Nina said quickly. “Sometimes, it takes the ruin of an old order for a new one to rise. Sometimes it means change.”

“Revolution,” Father Schrader whispered to himself. He nodded slowly and turned to one of the priests to his right. “Gereth, grab me the book on the top shelf to your left side.”

The young man obeyed and handed the book to the old priest. Father Schrader flipped through it hurriedly. It fell open to a set of verses hastily scrawled in black ink. Nina listened as he read them aloud.

The darkness grew, and yet his weary face held a hope that was a light.

The sound of thundering wings circled Luz and echoed throughout the air. The candle flames in the room flickered at his words, and then unexpectedly brightened.

Swiftly rushes the blood-red tide.

In the city of revolving stars She rides,

Where the Crown awaits,

And angels have flown,

Near the watchful Eye of the great unknown.

Ruin ever present, Ruin ever near.

Behold the death of the hour of fear.

Now, the light of the Eternal Year,

Shines on us singing,

The end is here.

TO BE CONTINUED