“I’ve heard of the Divine. My father… he was a… servant. He made a deal with a demon, in exchange for wealth and power. He was a cold man. A ruthless man. He tried to raise me in his image. He told me about the war between Heaven and Hell, but he only liked to talk about how we could profit. I didn’t want anything to do with it, with him. I believe in good, and if there is a war, I want Heaven to win. Everything I have, I’ve earned by the grace of God. I didn’t ask for this.”

  His voice was rising as he spoke. By the time he finished I could tell he was near tears. I decided the best thing I could do was to play dumb and see what else came out.

  “Brian? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He put up his hand, and then pulled off his shirt. He was lean and muscular, but it wasn’t his pecs that interested me. Freed from the cloth, a pair of fresh golden wings swept out to either side of him.

  “I was in the hospital six weeks ago because I was having pain in my back so intense that I couldn’t stand up. The doctors couldn’t do anything for me, and after three days they sent me home with nothing but a bottle of oxycodone. Two days after that, these things sprouted from my shoulder blades.”

  He turned so I could see them in full. The skin around the base of the wings was a mess of scar tissue.

  “You’re changing,” I said. “It’s happening to a lot of people. You’re lucky, because others are dying from it.”

  “You mean the bacterial infection people have been getting?” he asked. “You’re telling me that’s what, a Divine disease?”

  “In a sense, I guess it is.”

  “I don’t want to be Divine,” he shouted. “I was there, when the demon came for my father. I was there when he ripped him open from nose to toes and ate his still beating heart. ‘The price agreed,’ the demon had said. This isn’t natural. This isn’t right. I’m not even dead yet.”

  It wasn’t uncommon for demons to ask for such things as part of the bargains they made with mortals. I wasn’t going to tell Brian, but his father had made a good deal.

  “The people with you. I saw them. They were changed too.”

  He licked his lips and nodded. “At first, I tried to just live my life. Go to work, stay focused on my company. Then one day, this guy shows up in my office, out of nowhere. He’s covered in tattoos and jewelry. He tells me I’m not human anymore. That I’m impure. That I have something I don’t deserve. He tried to kill me, but I have this sword… it’s an heirloom… it lets me make people see things my way. I think that’s what he wanted to take, and he didn’t know I knew how to use it, or had the power to use it. I couldn’t, before this.” He flapped his wings a couple of times for emphasis.

  “I don’t know why you’re telling me this,” I said.

  “The others. You mentioned the others. I realized it wasn’t safe for me, and wouldn’t be safe for anyone like me. Not human, not Divine - where would we fit in? I did my homework, went to shelters and paid to help spread the word. I can’t believe how many people have come to me in so little time. I’ve being doing what I could to build a home for them, a place for them to be safe. There’s just one thing I don’t get.”

  “What’s that?”

  His wings swept back and forth again. “Why am I the only angel?”

  I stared at him. I had been charged with seducing him, of lying and tricking my way into taking the Deceiver. Only now I had another way. A straighter path that I would never have dared taken in the past. The fact that he had become an angel was proof that he was a good man, a faithful believer, despite the sins of his father. God had turned me from the chaotic road to the benevolent one.

  “Brian, I… I haven’t been completely honest with you, and I’m sorry. I… I wasn’t sure if I could trust you. If you know about the Divine, then you know how dangerous it is.”

  He stood and looked at me, his face turning hard. “Who are you? Did you bring me here?”

  “No. Well, I might have brought you here by accident. I was trying to possess you. I’m sorry.” Obi’s words echoed in my mind. So did Elyse’s. They all thought I was still a monster, less human than any of them. Even Max thought I was good for nothing but lies. “I was the one who followed Alex. I didn’t know he was going to lead me to you.”

  I could see his jaw clenching, his doubts ebbing and flowing. He wanted to believe, but he needed more of a push.

  “I wasn’t the only one who’s looking for you. There’s a man, Joe, he’s the leader of the Nicht Creidim. They’re humans who want to destroy all of the Divine, including the changelings. The man who came to you in your office, he was one of theirs. Joe confronted me in the alley where your people attacked us.” I stepped closer to him, so I could put my face right into his. I could tell he was still unsure. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. Your people didn’t come back because they’re dead. The girl you sent out, she won’t be coming back either.”

  He paled at the words, and his strong resolve crumbled. “Why? What do they want?”

  “The sword,” I said. I knew that had to be why they were here, and why Joe had lied to me. I had Elyse’s memories, and I was sure they wouldn’t have gone to such lengths for a ward stone. The question was, did he know that he could use the blade in conjunction with the Box, or was he after the weapon for another purpose, like to trick Elyse into surrendering it? “Do you even know what you have?”

  He shrugged, and took a step away from me. “It belonged to my father, and his father before that. He said that if I would make a deal with a demon, I could make people see things that weren’t there… illusions. That I could make every dream I could ever have come true.” His eyes were sad when he stared into mine. “My dream is to be normal. I wish I’d never heard of the Divine. I can see them, you know. The vampires, the weres, the fiends. They mix in with humanity, but I always know they’re there. I’ve always known. I wish I didn’t. Anyway, the sword can’t give me that. I’m becoming less normal every day.”

  “I need the sword, Brian. It’s called the Deceiver. It was forged by a powerful demon, and it’s a weapon of Hell. I need to take it with me, to stop what’s happening to you, to save all of us from what’s going to happen if I don’t. You have no reason to trust me, I know, but I’m begging you. In the name of God I swear I’m telling you the truth.”

  He surprised me then, reaching out with his hand and using it to cup my face. I felt a warmth, a strength that wasn’t human at all. If I had to name it, I would have called it the Touch of God, and it flowed into me and brought me to a state of peace I could never have imagined. It was a taste of the Heaven I was seeking.

  He held me like that for a few seconds, and then nodded.

  “I believe you. How do I push you out?”

  “I’m not sure. Just do whatever feels nat-“

  The field vanished, and I felt a wave of dizziness and nausea overtake me. In an instant, I was back where I had started, floating in front of him, my mind a flood of emotion and desperation. It took me a few seconds to focus and regain enough understanding to capture the moment.

  I didn’t like what I saw.

  Elyse was in the room, her arms pinned behind her back by Uncle Paul. Rae stood next to him, gun trained on Brian’s forehead, while Joe sat at the end of the table, his feet up on the wood. Brian’s head was resting against the table, where it had landed when he fell into his Source. The other changelings were immobile from fear.

  “He’s awake,” Joe said. “Good morning, sunshine.”

  Brian lifted his head and eyed the man. He must have remembered our conversation, because he shot upright. “How did you get in here?”

  I knew Elyse could see me, but she didn’t give any indication. She sat still in her uncle’s grip, submissive.

  Joe laughed. “I knew your father. He was a real asshole, but he was smart. He knew how to stay under the radar. You, on the other hand. You’ve brought too much of the wrong kind of attention to yourself.” He dropped his feet to the floor and slid his chair back, then stood and walked over to where Rae was waiting. He reached under her long coat, and pulled out a chipped and rusted blade.

  “This is how,” he said. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but the truth is rarely pretty.”

  Truth? Max had said he was hoping the blade would come to us, and now I understood why. But Joe couldn’t have had it all this time or Elyse would have said something. It was Uncle Paul. He must have been in possession of the sword from the start.

  Joe walked back over to the table. “You don’t look like you know what I’m talking about. If I hadn’t gotten knocked down by your goons, I’d probably be in a better mood to explain it to you. Since I’m not… Give me the Deceiver, and I won’t kill every single one of you.”

  He was lying. I knew it before he even said it. He was going to take the sword, one way or another. I needed to get to Elyse, to stop him before he killed Brian and everyone else in the room. I pushed myself forward, moving at what felt like a snail’s pace.

  “You’re going to kill us either way,” Brian said. “You can’t lie to me.”

  Joe stopped smiling. “No, I guess I can’t.”

  His arm twitched, and he had a gun in his hand, dropped from the sleeve of his coat. The changelings had overcome their fear, and they tried to rush towards him, but a single bullet to each of their foreheads shut them down before they could gather momentum. Within seconds, only Brian remained.

  “You son of a bitch,” he said.

  I was still too far away from where Uncle Paul was holding Elyse, but I was close to Rae. I changed course and concentrated, my soul crying out in searing agony as I made myself go forward. If I didn’t do something he was going to die, and both the swords, and Landon, would be lost.

  “Give me the sword, and I’ll make it painless,” Joe said.

  Brian might have been changing into a seraph, and he might have had a good heart, but he wasn’t a warrior. None of them were. It was up to me.

  I felt myself move into Rae’s body, and I stretched myself around her soul, clamping down tight on her with the force of my desperation. Her memories flooded into me - her warrior upbringing, the pain of the tattooing and scarring, the nights she spent in the arms of her lovers. Her jealousy towards Elyse, who was younger and more favored.

  I also felt her resist. There was heat, and pain like I had tried to step on the surface of the sun. I clenched my will and fought, pushing through it, screaming at the intensity of the memories and somehow finding my way to the other side. She was strong enough to fight back, but not strong enough to win.

  Her eyes became my eyes, and I turned and aimed the gun at Joe’s back. I pulled the trigger and he fell forward onto the floor.

  I pivoted to Uncle Paul, who pulled his arm tight against Elyse’s neck.

  “Brian, get out of here,” I said. I didn’t know if he knew it was me. It didn’t matter. He skirted the table and ran, rushing past us and out into the underground.

  “Let her go,” I said. I aimed the gun at him. I didn’t know how accurate my shot would be.

  Paul smiled. “Fine.” He pushed her towards me, with enough force that I lost the target trying to catch her. As she stumbled into my arms, he began to chant. “Sacerdos ab Ordinario delegatus…”

  I shoved Elyse aside, aiming to stop him, when I was thrown forward onto the ground from behind. Before I could recover, the cold steel of a blade was in my back.

  “I don’t know who you are,” Joe said, “but I figured there must be a reason Elyse put that Eye on her head. Thanks for helping us find the Deceiver. It’ll sure come in handy to have her lead me to wherever you stashed the Box.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Not only had Joe somehow survived the gunshots, but he had killed his own child to get to me. Paul was still speaking in the background, finishing the exorcism, and I could feel my spirit being pulled away. There was nothing I could do, no way to stop it. They would find the Deceiver, and they would make Elyse bring them back to the hotel. They would use it on Max and Obi, and waltz out of there with the Box, and with Landon. I felt the wetness of my tears in the eyes of my host.

  I had failed.

  “…Se et astantes communiat signo crucis, et aspergat aqua benedicta, et genibus flexis, aliis respondentibus, dicat Litanias ordinarias usque ad Preces exclusive.”

  The last thing I saw was Elyse, kneeling on the ground with a bruise on her cheek. She looked as defeated as I felt.

  Then I was thrown away.

  It was like being shot from a cannon. The world flew by at warp speed, a blur of color and earth, heat and cold. I was surrounded by a rumble that felt like God was either laughing or yelling at me, and then almost as quickly as it had started, it was over. Everything moved back into place, and I found myself out over the ocean. Waves rolled around me. A storm roiled in the distance. There was no land in sight.

  There was nothing.

  What I felt in that moment was despair. Deep and dark, it stretched into the pit of every emotion I had left in my disembodied soul and mashed it all together. I let out a non-verbal scream, a primal roar of defeat that echoed in silence into the water below, and the air above. I had been stupid, careless, reckless, overconfident. I had underestimated the Nicht Creidim, and how far Joe would go to get his hands on the Box. I had made a mistake in trying to join with Brian. Now it had cost me everything.

  I was motionless. I wept with whatever faculties I held to weep. Time passed. It began to snow. The waves gained strength. The clouds darkened.

  The storm tore the world around me while I suffered through my guilt and regret. It churned still as I forced myself to calm, and came to accept that there was nothing else for me to do.

  I pushed myself towards what I hoped was east.

  Chapter 25

  We started walking, through the old subway tunnel and down the loop. We could have had Avriel air lift us back to the surface, but it just seemed safer in the enclosed space. I had no doubts that Ross would think of more monsters to conjure up and send after us. According to Clara, he was regaining his power, and biding his time.

  She had also said that his death had allowed him to become stronger, like changing the locks on a door, or upgrading a computer. It was the balance, I knew. We were getting stronger, too.

  I stayed next to Charis, while Clara and Avriel took point a few yards away. It was nice to have a little more time with her, even if was to walk in the dim light of the subway tunnel without saying much at all.

  “It’s great to have some calm time to walk with you, but I’d feel better if we had a plan,” she said, echoing my own thoughts and breaking the silence.

  We were walking a fairly long, straight stretch of track, headed uptown. Not because we had a destination in mind, but because that’s where the path had led us. We were wandering right now, twisting in the wind, waiting.

  I hated it as much as she did.

  “You’re right.” I reached back and put my hand on the pistol, feeling the splintered wood of the grip. “We need to figure out how to use this thing, and then come up with a way to turn the tables on Ross. A trap of some kind.”

  “He has a knack for slipping traps.”

  “Maybe, but we can’t play defense forever. Besides, I don’t think we need to hold him, we just need to lead him to a predetermined point. An ambush.”

  “That’s easy to say. I don’t think it will be so easy to do.”

  “I don’t know. He seems pretty intense when he gets close enough. If he thinks he has a clear shot at us, or Clara, he might get a little reckless to take it. I mean, that’s how we dropped him in the first place.”

  “You want to put Clara out on the end of the stick?”

  The repulsion in her voice surprised me. “Charis… she’s not… real.”

  “She’s as real as we are, in this place,” she replied. “And she’s ours. Yours and mine. As long as we’re trapped here, this is as close to a family as we’re ever going to have.”

  “With one major difference. If she dies, she’ll come back again. Just like we do.”

  She stopped walking and put her arm out to stop me, letting Avriel and Clara get further ahead. “She still feels it, Landon. Just like we do. It still hurts.” Her whispers were fierce and intense.

  I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “She doesn’t remember it, though. She isn’t like us. She doesn’t have a soul.”

  She swatted my hand away. “You don’t get it, do you? She has a soul. Our soul. Yours and mine. A piece of each. She isn’t a carrot, she’s our child.”

  She started moving again, leaving me standing there, watching her back. I didn’t hurry to catch up. A few minutes of breathing room might help her cool her head, and I needed time to come to terms with our difference in opinion.

  I was still in the rear when Avriel dropped back next to me. His weathered face looked a little younger, and he seemed renewed for having a purpose.

  “You look troubled.”

  Said the angel who I had betrayed, and then failed. His suffering was still on my hands, and I felt the guilt of it burning through my soul. “Avriel. I know this won’t make any sense to you, but I’m sorry.”

  He gazed at me and nodded. “Penitence is the path to God’s grace. I believe you.”

  They weren’t comforting words, but they still found a place in me to warm. “To be honest, I’m worried about Charis.” I watched her up in front with Clara. They were talking and smiling. Was she wrong? Or was I?

  “You’ve made a lot of difficult choices. I can see that on your face and in your eyes. I’m afraid that won’t end just yet.”

  “What do you mean by that? Is there something you aren’t telling me?” The fact that he was even here was proof enough there was more going on than any of us had been let in on.

  “I…” He paused. It was an uncomfortable pause, as if he was trying to decide what to say.