Horizon, Soul Guardians Book 3 (3 page)

Uriel lifted his hand to silence Kara.
“We have questioned the archangel Cassiel on several occasions. He
believes it was an accident … but the evidence speaks for itself.
Unfortunately for you, we never found the dagger you spoke of. You
viciously attacked an unarmed angel … and nearly killed him.
Fortunately, he lives, the archangel Raphael mended him, so your
sentence will be more lenient.”

Kara trembled. Anger flared inside
her. She fought to control her temper. She had run the entire
scenario in her head for weeks; this was not how she had imagined
it. She glowered at Zadkiel. To her surprise, his face openly
showed his immense satisfaction.

“
This isn’t fair! This
isn’t a trial. Your witnesses are liars! It was an accident!”
yelled Kara before she could stop herself. She felt herself losing
control.

Uriel leaned closer. “Compose
yourself, Miss. Without the evidence of the knife, it’s your word
against his.” His dark eyes flickered as he studied Kara
momentarily. “And from what we’ve gathered, you were not injured …
correct?”

“
Yes, but—”

“
A terrible crime was
committed,” continued Uriel as if he hadn’t heard Kara. “One party
was nearly killed, while the other party didn’t even have a
scratch. The eyewitnesses all say that you attacked him from the
back, leaving him defenseless—without the ability to fight back.
How could he have defended himself from such an attack? So tell me
now, Miss Nightingale. How do you expect us to believe you when all
the evidence points to you?”

Kara suppressed the scream rising in
her throat. Her bottom lip trembled. She clenched her fists.
“Because it’s the truth. I never meant to hurt him. It was an
accident. We were training … and then Al and David started
fighting. I saw him pull out a death blade … he was going to
hurt—”

“
Yes, we’ve all heard this
before.” Uriel sat, poker faced, drumming his fingers on the
gleaming black desk. “Unfortunately for you, there is no blade.
There was never any blade, was there? You made up this silly story
to hide your crime.”

Dread welled inside her. This was much
worse than what she had imagined. “No, that—that’s not true,” she
said, her voice wavering. “There was a blade! I saw it. It was
black … and it had marks—”

“
Enough of your lies!”
boomed Uriel. He pushed back his chair and stood up. His robes
billowed before him like liquid gold. “We have voted, and the
council has found you guilty. The decision is final. You are
therefore sentenced to serve out your term in Tartarus … for five
hundred years.”

Shock exploded in Kara—they didn’t
believe her. Fear ate at her core. She knew she couldn’t survive
even a few more months in Tartarus, let alone five hundred years.
The weight of Uriel’s words pulled her down, like a metal chain
wrapped around her neck. The room started to spin. Kara strained to
keep from fainting.

“
But …” Kara heard Uriel
say, as she tried to focus. “If you give up the names of the angels
that helped you escape from Tartarus … the council has agreed to
lessen your sentence.”

Kara lifted her eyes. “It was just me.
No one helped me.” Her voice wavered, but she didn’t
care.

“
Liar!” The archangel
Zadkiel jumped up and pointed a large finger at Kara. His face
screwed up in disgust. Kara stared back, wishing she could punch
him in the face. “She lies! The guards told us that she had help.
They saw
three
other angels. Give us their names!”

“
The guards are mistaken,”
replied Kara, glad that her voice was even. She glowered at
Zadkiel—the true traitor posing as the good guy. He made her sick.
“I escaped on my own. I had no help.” She remembered David’s cocky
expression when he had come to rescue her. It had been a great
moment for both of them.

Zadkiel struck the desk
before him with a giant fist, and Kara wondered how it didn’t
break. He leered at Kara from his seat. “How can we let this filth
live and spread her lies? She is the demon lord’s daughter. You are
all aware of this. He created this
monstrosity
and disguised her as a
girl to fool us all!”

He turned to face the council and
waved his arms theatrically. “Do not be fooled by her. She is a
creature of evil, a spawn of the netherworld, sent here to destroy
our world. She will try and kill us all! I vote for the true death.
Kill the demon. Be rid of her once and for all!”

Kara noticed Zadkiel’s skin flicker to
a darker shade, and then it went back to its normal olive tone.
Murmurs reached her ears, and she saw some council members nodding
their heads in agreement.

Once the whispers died down, a
beautiful archangel woman with rolling red hair and flowing green
robes said, “Let’s not get in over our heads, Zadkiel.” Kara
recognized her immediately. She was the archangel Camael. She had
always shown kindness towards Kara. And Kara wondered if Camael
believed her.

“
She will be punished for
her crime,” continued Camael. “As we have discussed previously, the
true death will not be applicable in this case.”

“
I say that it should! We
should take another vote.” Zadkiel turned and faced Kara, his eyes
blazing. “She should die for her crimes! We cannot let her live and
corrupt other angels!”

“
Enough!” roared Uriel. “We
have already spent too much time discussing these cases. Kara
Nightingale is a unique angel … and should be treated as such. She
will not suffer the true death. The council has voted.”

Uriel shared a look with
Zadkiel.

Kara had the impression that they must
have had this discussion many times before.

Uriel turned his attention back to
Kara. “Now, Kara. If you want a lesser sentence, give us the names
of your accomplices.”

Kara watched Uriel’s lips
move. Her mouth wouldn’t open. How could she betray her only
friends? She wouldn’t. She forced the words out of her mouth. “Like
I said—I escaped on my own. I used my
unique
powers to blow down the door,
and then I jumped.” For a moment, Kara saw a look of surprise pass
over Zadkiel’s face. He seemed to have taken the bait.

“
It was that David McGowan
again,” growled Zadkiel, his voice rising. “I’m sure it was
him.”

“
Be quiet!” bellowed Uriel,
and Kara noticed that he had lost his patience with Zadkiel. It
gave her an idea.

“
Why are you so intent on
having me killed, Zadkiel?” asked Kara, in her most innocent voice,
and tried to keep a disinterested expression.

“
Because you are the
demon’s progeny! Sent here to trick us!” spat Zadkiel.

“
Right. So, in your eyes …
I’m a traitor?”

“
You
are
a traitor! I’ve always known you
were a traitor.”

“
I’m the traitor who saved
the elemental child from Asmodeus, right? But then, tell me why did
I do that? Why didn’t I just give the kid to Asmodeus, if I’m a
traitor?” Kara took a step forward.

“
Because you are trying to
deceive us into believing you are good,” said Zadkiel in disgust.
“You want the council to trust you, so that you can destroy them
with your demon powers when they are least expecting it. But you
don’t fool me, demon.”

Kara met Zadkiel’s stare with a level
gaze. “I see. So you think that I’ll use my demon powers to kill
everyone in this room. You’re saying that I’m powerful enough to
kill all of you now—” She snapped her fingers. “Like I can snap my
fingers and—poof—all gone. So then why aren’t I doing that now? Why
am I letting myself be thrown into prison instead of killing you
all and then going to hang out with my dad in the
Netherworld?”

Zadkiel’s jaw was a hard line. “Maybe
you’re waiting for better timing... or for orders from your true
master.”

“
Don’t you mean
your
true master,
Zadkiel?” Kara saw recognition flash in the archangel’s eyes, and
wondered if anyone else had seen it too.

Zadkiel began to laugh. “Everything
out of your mouth is a lie! You just can’t help yourself—it’s in
your nature.”

Kara watched Zadkiel
without expression. “Isn’t it
your
nature to serve the demon lord, your true master?
You want me gone because you fear that I can kill him.”

“
Nonsense, the demon lord
is our sworn enemy,” said Zadkiel, and Kara saw his fingers twitch.
“The council is in the process of planning his demise, we
will—”

“—
but you know that’s not
true.” Kara’s tone was casual. “You believe I can destroy him, and
that’s why you want me dead.”

“
I heard enough of her
lies!” hissed Zadkiel, with a look of intense hatred. “Take her
back to her cell. We can continue the deliberation
later.”

“
I’d like to hear what else
Kara has to say,” said Camael suddenly. She flicked her eyes
towards Kara for a moment. “If they are all falsehoods, then you
have nothing to fear, Zadkiel.”

“
Lies from the demon’s
tongue! Don’t listen to her.” Zadkiel pushed his chair out of his
way and stepped down from the dais. He strode towards Kara. His
bald head glistened in the light. “Take her back! I demand she be
put back into her prison!” shouted Zadkiel to no one in
particular.

“
Why don’t you tell him
about the archangel, Legan?” said Kara. “You locked him up because
he found you out. Isn’t that true?”

Zadkiel frowned, then threw his head
back and laughed. “There is no archangel with the name Legan in
Tartarus—or anywhere else in Horizon. You lying filth.” He turned
to the council. “You see. She lies. You all know there is no one of
that name. She is delusional.”

Kara saw confusion spread over the
council’s faces. Did she get his name wrong, she wondered. It was
hard to hear from the other side of the wall, perhaps she did get
his name wrong.

“
Maybe I didn’t get his
name right, but I know what he said was true.” She glared at
Zadkiel. “What did you do with my mother’s soul?”

Zadkiel flinched. “What are you
talking about? More lies. She cannot help herself. Can’t you see
she is mad?”

“
My mother’s soul was in a
glass jar. I gave it to you. What did you do with it?”

Zadkiel smiled and observed the
council. Kara noticed that Uriel seemed distraught. She saw Zadkiel
noticing it too as he fought to control his composure.

“
I have no idea where your
mother’s soul is. Perhaps it is lost. What does that have anything
to do with your crimes? Send her back!”

Zadkiel stood beside Kara. She could
see the delicate ruby red trimmings around his large collar and
sleeves. His hands twitched.

“
You’re the liar, and the
traitor. And I’ll kill you if I find out you hurt my
mother.”

“
Ha! There she goes again.
A mad demon should be locked away for good. I had enough of the
filth from her mouth.”

Come closer, Kara thought.

“
Say hi to my father for me
when you see him. I’m sure the two of you will have lots to talk
about—”

Zadkiel grabbed Kara roughly by the
arm and threw her down. She landed hard on the marble
floors.

She grinned. She had him exactly where
she wanted. This was her chance. She jumped up with incredible
speed. Before Zadkiel knew what was happening, Kara had reached out
and pressed her hand on his bare chest above his collar.

A puzzled expression appeared on
Zadkiel’s face. Kara backed away. She scanned his body for the
mark. She frowned. There was nothing... Had Legan lied to her?
Dread crept inside her as she took an involuntary step
back.

Zadkiel laughed. He looked up at the
council. “Isn’t this clear enough? The girl is mad—”

Kara heard Camael gasp. She pointed to
Zadkiel, horror coloring her face. “He’s Marked! Look!”

Kara saw a black mark like a spider’s
web slowly materialize until it covered half of Zadkiel’s face,
like a mask.

Uriel’s face was frozen in shock. “How
could you? How could you betray us?”

A strange laugh escaped from Zadkiel.
He smiled. Everyone was staring at him now. “Why? Why you ask?
Because you are fools! Mortal-loving fools! You love the weak. It’s
pathetic.”

Uriel glanced over to Kara; his eyes
were filled with remorse. He shook his head and pointed to Zadkiel
who smiled back. “You will pay for this! Summon
Michael—”

Black lightening shot out of Zadkiel’s
hands like electric tendrils.

They hit Kara.

She rocketed back into the air and
crashed into the wall. She crumpled to the floor and winced. Black
smoke coiled from her body, like a smoking log. She heard a
thundering roar and looked up. Millions of glass shards exploded
from the sky, like sheets of glass rain and the entire room was
showered in diamonds. They hit the ground in a cacophony of
breaking glass. Kara caught a glimpse of a red robe dash across the
room and disappear behind the chamber doors.