Scarred (the Spellbound Series Book 3) (22 page)

This time, it’s my turn to fix the queen with a deadly smile. “If we are truly cut from the same cloth, then we both know I won’t be able to keep that promise.”

24

            
 
A couple of days after my trip to Elfame, Lily calls me to arrange a meeting with the other Nephilim. Of the ten others living in the States, she’s only been able to convince six of them to join our ragtag group of rebels. That sounds like more than enough; I’ve seen how much damage just one Nephilim can do. And after adding Nick and Alyssa to our number, we have ten unbelievably powerful people on our side. I tell Lily to bring the rest of the Fallen to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. It’s time we talked about our role in the battle ahead.

              I text both Nick and Alyssa about the meeting, and realize immediately after that I should bring Jenna as well. If she wants to be our strategist, then she should probably come along. I send her a separate text telling her that I’ll pick her up in a few minutes, then start getting dressed. As soon as I’m ready, I walk to Jenna’s apartment, and tentatively knock on her door.

              Jenna steps out to meet me, fully dressed, with a mug of coffee in her hands. “What’s going on?,” she asks me once her door is closed.

              “You offered your services as a strategist, right?”

              “Yeah, I did.”

              “Well, we’re strategizing today, so we’ll need you. Grab my arm.”

              Jenna wraps a hand around my forearm, and clutches her coffee tightly as we vanish and reappear on a browning patch of grass in Van Cortlandt Park. With no one around to maintain the parks, many of them have fallen into disrepair. Vines have begun to claim some of the stone structures, much of the grass reaches up past my ankles, and the zoos are overrun with animals with the means to escape. The ones who didn’t have the means lie rotting in their cages, making some of my favorite parts of New York City unbearable places to see.

              Jenna and I find a couple of benches surrounded the weather-battered remains of a barbecue that never got cleaned up, and clear away the refuse before taking a seat. We don’t have long to wait before Nick and Alyssa arrive. While waving them over, I notice that both of Nick’s eyes have begun glowing red. I’d ask if he’s alright, but I know he’ll lie and say that he’s fine. I choose to withhold my comments, and try not to stare as he takes a seat next to me.

              A few minutes later, Lily arrives with a group of six new faces. Many of them are roughly my age, although one woman seems like she may be nearing her thirties. Jenna takes one look at the newcomers, and says, “Why didn’t anyone tell me we were waiting on
her
?”

              “Didn’t think it was necessary,” I answer. “Try to be civil with Lily, alright? We need her if we’re gonna have any hope of getting through next week alive, and she’s a lot more trustworthy than any angel right now.”

              Lily pays us no heed, and introduces us to the rest of the Fallen. “Ladies and gentlemen, meet the faces of the revolution. This is Lucas, Morgan, Joel, Fiona, Terry, and Cora.”

              I nod as I match names to the faces in front of me. “It’s nice to finally meet you all,” I tell them as I stand up. “I’m Heather.”

              “I recognize you,” one of them says. Terry, I think. “I saw you on TV not too long ago!”

              I groan, and say, “Let’s get down to business-“

              “Yeah! I saw that too,” Fiona chimes in. “I started telling people what I am after you put the word out there. Turns out, I have a couple of werewolf friends and I never even knew it.”

              “Yeah, my step brother is apparently a vampire,” Cora adds.

              “Really? Gianni is a vampire?,” Lily asks.

              “Yeah! It happened a year or two ago.”

              “Wow.” Lily notices my confused expression, and explains, “I’ve been living in Sioux Falls with Cora since July. She’s my… what, second cousin?”

              “Doesn’t matter.” I gesture for all the Nephilim to come over and sit at the picnic tables. “We can get to know each other later, right now we need a battle plan.”

              Now that I’ve commanded everyone’s attention, I give Jenna the floor. She stands, and looks around at all of us, studying our faces carefully. Probably evaluating our worth on the battlefield. “Alright,” she says. “There are ten of you, a handful of angels, and millions of demons we have to contend with, correct?” We all nod, and Jenna continues, “Then I think what needs to happen is pretty obvious; we deal with the demons first.”

              One of the new recruits, possibly Joel, raises his hand and asks, “How are we gonna do that?”

              “Demons are susceptible to holy water. Weaken them with that, then you can either knock them out or kill them easily. The problem is, we’ll need a LOT of holy water for millions of demons…”

              “Holy water?,” Lily repeats dubiously. “Regular water ought to do the trick.”

              “No shit?”

              “No shit.”

              Jenna looks mildly impressed by the revelation, and says, “That makes things way easier, then. Any chance one of you can handle starting a city-wide downpour?”

              Morgan lifts her chin, and says, “I’ve got it covered.”

              “Excellent.” Jenna pulls out her phone, and types in what we’ve covered so far. “We can talk later about who’s gonna be where, and good ways to get rid of a demon. Now, for the angels. How are we gonna deal with them?”

              “We should go after the two big ones first,” Lily suggests. “The rest of them will be easy pickings once Michael and Lucifer are out of the way.”

              “We wanna kill
all
of them?,” Nick asks.

              “Yeah,” Lily tells him. “All of them. It all goes. That’s the only way to make sure this sort of thing never happens again.”

              “Alright. What’s the plan for that then?”

              “The demon army is probably gonna arrive through a portal. I’m gonna slip through it and kill Lucifer, while Heather-“

              “No.” I shake my head, and stare hard at my hands. “I can’t. I can’t kill my father.”

              “Fine,” Lily groans. “Then
I’ll
take care of Michael, with a little help from two of you guys. But that means you’ll have to take down Lucifer, Heather.”

              “But-“

              “You’re the strongest of us, and I can’t do everything. Please, Heather. Don’t puss out on this, we need you.”

              I shrug, and mutter, “Fine. I’ll do it.” I suppose if I remind myself of all the pain Lucifer’s caused me, I might be able to live with his blood on my hands.

              “I’m going too,” Nick announces. “And don’t you dare try to talk me out of it. I owe him a punch or two for turning me into this… whatever I am.”

              “Okay, glad that’s settled,” Jenna says as she types in the new information. “But that wasn’t exactly what I meant. What I meant was, I’ve never
once
seen any info on killing an angel. What if they’re indestructible?”

              “They’re not,” I say with absolute confidence. Even if Queen Aileana hadn’t taught me what we’ll need to do the deed, I know for a fact that Michael’s killed his fair share of angels. “You just need the right tools. And I think I know where to get some.”

              The rest of the meeting goes by pretty quickly. Jenna pulls up a list of defensible positions in the city, and assigns each of the Fallen to an area from which they’ll contain the battlefield. Lucas and Cora will be on the East and West Sides respectively, patrolling the length of the island to keep the rivers clear and hem in any demons that stray too far from the action. The same will be done will be done by Alyssa and Fiona, though with the uptown and downtown sides of the island. Morgan will focus on stirring up the perfect storm, and keeping it going at least until Michael and Lucifer are finished. At that point, all of us will gather in Midtown and wipe out what’s left of Lucifer’s forces with everything we’ve got before turning on the remaining angels.

              Once everything’s planned out, and everyone understands where they need to be and what they need to do, I ask Lily to tear open a doorway to Genesis. I trust her skill in that department more than my own. Without questioning my request, Lily does what I ask, and I instruct everyone, including Jenna, to follow me through the tear. The transition from one world to the next is jarring; dying grass and overcast skies in New York City are immediately replaced by blinding sunlight and thriving seas of green. As soon as everyone is through, I lead the group towards the Temple of the Guardians.

              We’re greeted at the door by Artemis and Apollo, who bow to me respectfully as I approach. “We weren’t expecting you again so soon,” Artemis says. “But we welcome you and your associates to our realm.”

              “Thanks,” I mutter. “Is Krystal around? I need to talk to her.”

              Apollo and his sister glance at each other, before he answers, “She’s testing the prowess of a group of young spellcasters at the moment. If you wait in the amphitheater, she’ll be with you shortly.”

              The temple’s golden doors swing open, and I walk straight down the marble passage to the amphitheater. In an odd way, it feels like I’m leading a tour group. Alyssa and I may be the only ones among us who have been here before; Lily and the other Nephilim likely weren’t adopted by a clan, and never got to go through the ritual journey through Genesis. Nick was
turned
into a spellcaster by forces outside of his control, and Jenna has no supernatural powers whatsoever. Sure enough, when I look over my shoulder at the others, half of them are marveling at the temple’s marble interior. I smile, and face forward. They haven’t seen anything yet.

              There are a few Guardians already occupying the amphitheater, lounging around in their seats or writing in leather bound journals. Thankfully, none of them bow when they notice me enter; I prefer the subtle head nod, or silent acknowledgment that they offer me. My eyes roam over the stained glass windows above the seats. Each of them portrays various scenes from mythology, everything from the Olympians defeating the Titans, to Izanagi producing the sun and moon from his left and right eyes respectively. There’s even one window that looks like a city skyline, with someone that looks an awful lot like
me
flying over the rooftops.

              I sense that there’s someone invading my personal space, and spin to confront them, only to find Krystal gazing at the same stained glass window I was. “I suggested that one,” she says. “After Alyssa broke the last window, there was a lot of debate over what to replace it with. In the end, everyone agreed that it’s time to recognize the new stories being told.”

              Heads turn towards the newcomer in our midst, and the moment Nick spots Krystal, his face breaks into the widest grin I’ve seen him wear in months. He rushes over to Krystal, and sweeps her up in a massive hug. “Holy shit,” he says to himself over and over. “Krys, I never thought I’d see you again. How is this even possible?”

              “It’s a long story,” Krystal laughs as she returns the hug. She takes note of Nick’s pale complexion, the black veins reaching across his skin, and the red eyes, and she asks, “What the hell happened to you?”

              “Lucifer happened,” Nick replies. “But that’s an even longer story.”

              All the joy in Krystal’s face dwindles into nothingness as she sobers up. “Is that what you guys are here to see me about?”

              “Sort of,” I tell her. “I was wondering if you guys might have a secret stash of angel weapons here.”

              “There’s a bunch of them stored away.”

              “Good, because we’re going to need them.”

              “Alright.” Krystal gestures for us to follow her as she leaves the amphitheater. We turn down a hallway, and she says, “I’m glad you finally figured it out.”

              “Figured what out?,” I ask.

              “I couldn’t tell you with Michael around, but all I’ve been hearing since I arrived are horror stories about what angels have done over thousands of years. They’re not at all what they seem.”

              “Yeah, I’m realizing that.”

              Before long, we reach the end of a familiar looking hallway, and Krystal presses her hand against the marble wall. With a jolt, the floor beneath us sinks into the ground. Anyone not standing on the moving platform hops down onto it, lest they be left behind. When we reach the end of the ride, Krystal lights up the space with tiny fragments of light, and the room full of ancient artifacts comes into focus.

              “This way,” Krystal urges as she walks toward the back end of the room. She steps onto the dais where Michael’s sword once stood, and waves her hand once. A section of the marble wall swings inward to reveal a second secret room, which she leads the group into. Everyone follows Krystal inside, except for me. I already have my weapon; I think of the sword I own, and the souls of the archangels trapped inside of it. I’d rather avoid using such a weapon if I can, but if it’s what I’ll need to take care of Lucifer, then I’ll suck it up and do what I have to.