Seirs, Soul Guardians Book 5 (12 page)

I have to wake up.
Eyelids open.

Nothing happened.

Her awareness wandered, and the ache
in her head worsened. Her memories floated inside her head like
pieces in a puzzle. Mr. Patterson was expecting her this morning.
There was an entire horror section to categorize and scan through
the new computer program, and Mr. Patterson couldn’t even work the
cash register properly let alone decipher a new computer program.
Her face curled into a smile. Mr. Patterson needed her, and it was
nice to be needed. Then she would have the afternoon off—plenty of
time to spend with David.

She concentrated on the sounds around
her. Silence. Sparrows didn’t chirp outside her bedroom window, and
the neighbor’s miniature schnauzer didn’t bark. Even the muffled
sound of heavy traffic from her street was absent. The calmness
unnerved her. This wasn’t normal.

Kara felt claustrophobic and struggled
feverishly to open her eyes, but her lids would not part. She
willed herself to wake. Slowly she forced her eyes open.

She was in a white room.

At first, she thought she
was in a hospital, suffering from a head injury from the rugby
game, but she quickly realized that she was in no
mortal
place. Gleaming
white walls surrounded her on three sides and were lost into an
endless white sky above. On the fourth side she could see four
great wooden doors with intricate designs carved into the wood.
They were painted in gold and red, like elegant jewels. Their
golden handles were carved into the shapes of big watchful eyes.
Bright red and blue neon signs sizzled and flashed above each door.
Kara leaned in for a closer look.

The signs read:

Door # 1 - Unintentional
mortal killing

Door # 2 - Mortal killing
in angel-defense

Door # 3 - Intentional
mortal killing

Door # 4 -
Other

It all came back to her
then. The Seirs’ attack on the Sensitives

the missing
children

Lilith’s
weapon

the
infected mortals

the cabin fire

Elder Otis.

Ranab—she had killed a
mortal.

Kara’s head fell to her hands. What
had she done? Had she ended her own angel career by executing
Ranab? This was by far the worst thing she’d ever done as an angel.
It was a Tartarus offence, ‘a lock her up and throw away the key’
kind of violation. She knew this was worse than a trip to the angel
prison—it was the end of the road for her.

Gathering herself, Kara
raised her head slowly. She read the signs over and over, for what
seemed like hours, not sure which door to open. Ranab had died as
result of her strike, but she had killed him in order to protect
the elder. He was going to kill him. Was it
intentional mortal killing
or
mortal killing in
angel-defense
? It couldn’t be an
angel-defense since Elder Otis was a mortal. She had fought to save
his life—not another angel’s. Perhaps it was
intentional mortal killing
, since
she had struck out at Ranab willingly. She had wanted to kill
him.

She remembered the darkness she had
felt inside her. Was it to blame?

She had enjoyed the sensation of the
new cool energy flowing through her. It had revitalized her. In
those seconds she had forgotten who she was and had lost control of
herself and her mission. The darkness had compelled her. Deep down,
she had always wanted to kill him—she had always been
bad.

One thing was for sure; it was all
over for her now. The elder had been wrong. She was no savior of
the mortal world—she was nothing special—just an angel with bad
blood.

Reluctantly, Kara stepped
forward and wrapped her hand around the golden handle of door
number three,
Intentional Mortal
Killing
. She could feel the coolness of
the metal. She pushed open the door and stepped through the
threshold.

She walked into a giant
bathroom.

Rows of stand-alone glass showers
lined the back wall of the massive rectangular room. A single
chrome shower head sprouted from the top of the showers, like long
elongated arms. All the stalls were empty, but cherubs stood next
to the showers, waiting. Their blue-forget-me-not robes shimmered
in the light. Three oracles occupied a long wooden desk on the
right side of the room and busied themselves with paperwork. Water
dripped into each stall and an earsplitting suction noise rose from
the drains. With determined faces, the oracles stamped documents
loudly. They mumbled among themselves, but Kara couldn’t hear what
they were saying. Halogen lights flickered and buzzed, and added an
eerie melody to the gloomy place.

Twelve grim-faced angels filed in and
stood in line, waiting to use the showers. Shame and regret painted
their faces. Suppressing her feeling of awkwardness, Kara stepped
closer for a better look. A plump woman with blond curly hair
stepped slowly into an empty shower. She reached out and pulled a
chrome lever. Immediately, sparkling water sprouted from the
shower-head. The woman sobbed. Water trickled down her cheeks like
tears. Within moments, her body was covered in brilliant lights
like a coat of diamonds. Her body sizzled, popped, and then
disintegrated. Her clothes floated to the bottom of the shower in a
crumbled wet mess. The water receded and her dazzling soul hovered
in the shower like a lonely firefly. A cherub holding a large glass
jar stepped into the shower. He grabbed the soul gently and placed
it carefully into the jar. Another cherub with broom twice his size
swept the clothes into a mountain-high pile of clothes at the back
of the room.

Kara frowned. At least the souls were
kept alive. It was better than she had imagined.

This would be her fate. She felt the
same humiliation that reflected in the eyes of the other angels—she
had broken the sacred oath; they all had. Her guardian angel days
would end with a cold shower.

“
Kara
Nightingale!”

Kara jumped. The three oracles sat
above their crystal balls with their tiny arms crossed over their
chests. Their bare feet peeked from under their long silver robes.
Their expressions were unreadable. With feet like blocks of
concrete, Kara sighed and dragged herself over to the desk. Her
shoulders slumped as she stood and waited. She clasped her hands in
front of her and picked at her fingernails nervously.

The oracle in the middle fumbled with
some paperwork. He flipped open a file and his eyebrows rose. After
reading for a moment, he slammed it shut with the palm of his hand.
Finally, he laced his fingers and looked up at Kara.

“
So...Miss Clara. You have
killed a mortal with
intent
,” said the oracle in a
concerned tone.

Kara lowered her head. “Yes, oracle.”
It sounded much worse when she heard it out loud from the mouth of
an oracle. She felt ashamed, as if she had been scolded by one of
her teachers after she had done poorly in a test.

“
Hmmm.” The oracle drummed
his fingers on the desk. “The price of breaking this sacred oath is
very severe. Angels are guardians of the Earth, soldiers sworn to
protect all mortals...but you have taken a life.” He looked sad.
“Do you understand the seriousness of your actions?”

Kara nodded. “I
do...but...I was told if we killed a mortal we would suffer
a
true
death.”
Kara pointed behind her to the showers. “But I just saw the cherubs
take the souls away.”

The oracle’s face wrinkled
into a smile. “You are quite right.” He leaned back and twirled his
finger around his long white beard. He shared a look with the other
two oracles and their faces beamed contentedly. “You see my dear,
if angels knew the truth...then they would not be so
reluctant
to kill a
mortal, now would they? It’s best they believe they will die a true
death if they break the sacred law. Don’t you agree?”

“
I guess so. What does this
mean? What happens next?”

He blinked up at Kara. “Those who
forsake the oath will have their guardian status removed, with
immediate effect. Their souls will become mortal—they can never
become guardians again. It’s not a true death, per say, but it is a
guardian angel’s death—so to speak.”

Kara didn’t comment. She knew what she
had done, and was prepared to pay the price. At least her soul
would live on. Maybe she could even have a regular life with David.
She wondered if her friends would be able to stop Lilith. Would she
get the weapon? This entire mess with Lilith was her fault, and now
she wouldn’t even be able to help.

“
Ending a mortal life is
very serious,” continued the oracle. “You were sworn to protect
them, no matter how vile and evil they might be. It is the
law.”

Kara looked the oracle in the eyes.
“I’m not sorry about killing Ranab. I’m sorry I broke the rules,
but he was going to execute the elder. It was a judgment call, and
I made a choice. Maybe it was the wrong one according to the laws,
but I’m not sorry I did it. I’d do it again if I had
to.”

The oracles were speechless. They
huddled together and spoke softly to each other. Kara leaned
forward, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Kara stood waiting as they went on
speaking to one another. She was getting a little annoyed. Had they
forgotten about her completely?

“
Ahem...excuse me,
oracles?” she burst out suddenly. “So...do I go stand in line with
the rest of the guardians?”

The oracles turned slowly to face Kara
once more. The expressions on their faces were more hopeful. The
oracle on Kara’s right spoke next.

“
No.”

Kara’s jaw dropped. She stared at them
dumbfounded. “No? I’m not sure I understand. I thought you just
said that I wasn’t going to suffer a true death. I thought my soul
was safe. This is different because I killed a Seir, isn’t it? I’m
not going to have a normal mortal life now, am I?” She studied
their faces, trying to make sense of it all.

The oracles shared another look before
answering.

“
We need you to finish your
mission,” said the same oracle. “You are a strong guardian
with
unique
abilities. Your talents have proven useful to us before, and
the legion has much to thank you for. We know of Lilith’s plan. We
know she has acquired a piece of the Arath. We are hoping you can
stop her. The legion needs you, Tara . . .”

“
It’s Kara.” Kara measured
their faces. Had she heard right? “So...what does this mean,
exactly? Do I get my job back?”

The three oracles leaned forward and
answered as one. “You have twelve hours to complete your last
mission.”

Things were looking up. Kara couldn’t
believe her luck. Even if it were only for a short time, she was a
guardian angel again.

She wondered if she should tell them
about Morthdu, but decided against it. They wouldn’t grant her this
last chance if they knew that her unique abilities included dark
power.

“
Is there something you
wish to say?” inquired the oracle gently, seeing Kara’s internal
struggle.

“
Uh...no. Thank you, I
guess.”

The oracle on Kara’s left reached over
the desk. A tiny golden hourglass on a golden chain dangled from
his hand. He lifted it to Kara. “Please take this. You will need
it.”

Kara grasped the chain in
her hand. She held it up to the light.
A slow trickle of crystal sand fell from
the top to the bottom glass bulb.

“
What is it?”

“
It’s a crystal timer.” The
oracle folded his hands together on the desk. “You need to finish
your mission before the rest of the crystal runs through. It’s
exactly twelve hours.”

Kara pulled the chain over her head.
The crystal timer fell against her chest. “What happens if I
don’t?”

Sadness washed over the oracle’s face.
“Then the mortal world will have been lost. You will reappear here
and stand in line with the others, waiting to use the
showers.”

She didn’t like the sound of
that.

Twelve hours. It was tight, but it
might be enough to scout out Lilith and get the other piece of the
Arath. That is only if she knew where it was.

“
Do you know where the
other piece of the weapon is?”

The oracle nodded grimly. “The other
piece of the Arath is in Rome, hidden amongst the ancient treasures
of the Pantheon. We depend upon you, Clara. You must find the other
piece of the weapon.”

Kara fumbled with the crystal timer.
“I will, don’t worry—”

The oracle lifted up his hand. “And
you mustn’t tell anyone about the crystal timer, or this place. You
cannot even tell your friends. You must promise. Angels must
continue to think that killing a mortal will result in their true
death.”

Kara lifted the collar of her shirt
and slipped the crystal timer underneath. “Okay, but won’t they
wonder why I’m back? What am I supposed to tell them?”