Bound (The Divine, Book Four) (22 page)

It fed into an abandoned city, an underground world of wooden structures that would have been commonplace in the eighteen hundreds, but surprised me with their existence. They had been cleaned up, painted and patched, glassed and lit. I stumbled into it unseen, but now I could hear the voices of this secret world in hushed murmurs around me. What was this place?
 

I was on a wide street that looked recently swept. It continued a few hundred feet ahead, and I could see two more streets stretching off to either side. A neon sign over one of the larger structures read 'Brian's' next to a flashing beard and mustache. I could hear eighties rock music pumping from inside.

"You've got to be kidding me." I was here to get the Deceiver, and I had a feeling the sword was waiting for me in the old-time bar.
 

At least it looked like I might be able to skip the seduction after all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Rebecca

My first thought was to walk right in, head held high and nothing but confidence oozing out of every one of Elyse's pores. It was a part I knew how to play, having perfected it as the laughing stock daughter of Merov Solen, the weirdo who didn't think vampires needed to drink human blood. I had poured millions of Merov's money into the research, and all the while it had been a front, a way to distance myself from my father, and a means to get the diuscrucis to trust me. The Beast had told me that was what I had to do, and I had done it. I had played that part well, and it had worked to convince Landon I wasn't like the others. It was heaped in with all of my other regrets.

The idea of making a grand entrance as Reyka Solen fell to the curb when one of the patrons made their way through the open doorway of the bar and hurried past my makeshift hiding place in the deeper shadows. She had a look of concern on her face, and tears in her eyes, and I could only guess she was going to find out what had happened to the group that had jumped us. I watched her back disappear down the tunnel, and tried to decide what to do. In two minutes she would discover their ambush party was dead, because I was sure Joe and family was too much for a bunch of new demons with zero fighting skill. She would come running back with the news, and then what?

At the same time, I had to assume Brian Rutherford was in there, and that he had the scrying stone. If I gave him enough time to use it, would he be able to know what I was going to do even before I did?
 

Whatever I did, I needed to do it fast. I left my place in the shadows and dashed across the lit areas of the underground village, keeping my eyes out for anyone on the streets. I could hear things happening in the other buildings - clattering plates, laughter, conversation. It was as though the changelings had come down here to find the normalcy that the Beast's power had stolen from them. And maybe they had. Maybe that's what they had gone out into the alley to defend.

I reached the side of the bar and crouched beneath the flashing facial hair. I had an idea, and a violent and simplistic backup plan.
 

"
Wait here
," I said to Elyse, letting go of her and propelling my spirit form out of her body and into the void. I passed right through the wall of the structure, fighting to keep my energy focused on the motion. I needed to be fast to make it in time.

The place wasn't crowded. Eight changelings sat around a single old wooden table, directly in front of a bar where a nouveau-were poured drinks. The eighties hits were blasting out of an old jukebox hunched in the corner, and on the table sat a simple rough stone, covered in demonic runes.
 

My mark was there, sitting to the left of a young, bald man with a thick, trimmed beard and mustache and wearing blue jeans and a brown sweater. He had to be Brian Rutherford. There was nothing about him that would give him away as a seraph, but then again his back was covered.
 

"I don't like it," the mark said, digging his elongated claws into the table. "Whoever she was, she was good. I wouldn't have even noticed, except she smelled so sweet."

I'd underestimated him, thinking he wouldn't have picked up my scent. I pushed harder, feeling myself floating along the stale air, directly towards Brian.

"The question, Alex, is how did she know you were carrying the stone? I thought you said you picked it up at the terminal locker and nobody saw you."

"I didn't see or smell anybody," Alex replied. "I tucked it under my coat first thing and got the hell out of there. I brought it straight to you."

"What is it?" The question came from a young woman on his right, a cute little thing in a jean jacket and linen skirt.
 

"I bought it from a dealer in China," Brian said. "It's supposed to have belonged to Jacob, or Isaac, or one of those biblical guys. You recite the Hebrew on the face and it will glow red whenever someone nearby means you harm. Well, means me harm, anyway. It only works for one person at a time, but at least while I'm down here I'll know you guys are all safe."

Not a scrying stone? What was Joe trying to pull? I kept moving towards Brian, closing the distance as fast as I could. It was still taking too long for my comfort.

"I don't think you need a stone to know we're in danger, Brian," the girl said. "The others should have been back by now. It was what, twenty against one?"

I was only a few feet away from him now. I could feel the other people around me, their eyes all on or near the spot where I was floating, but I was invisible. I was taking a chance trying to possess a changeling. I didn't know if I could even do it, but my hope was that since they were still some kind of human, my grip would hold.

"I know. I'm worried about them too, but the entrances are hidden. There's no way anybody is going to be able to get in here."

Nobody, except me. It was my last thought as I plunged into his body, drawn to the warm throbbing of his soul. I reached out for it and wrapped myself around it.

Taking control normally meant pain, as the energy of a person's lifetime flowed through me, teaching me who they were in only seconds, and offering me the hooks I needed to latch on and become the driver of the mortal shell. I expected that when I joined with the false seraph I would either be met with this pain or cast out entirely, to find myself back in the emptiness of the strange space between all of God's places.
 

Neither of those things happened.

Instead, I found myself in an open field, laying on the grass, with way too much sunshine beaming down overhead. I squinted my eyes to ward it off and tried to bring myself up to my elbows to look around. A hand entered my field of view - large, strong, and young.
 

"Are you okay?"
 

That was the question from whoever owned the hand. I reached forward and took it, and was pulled to my feet.

"My name is Brian. How did you get here? Actually... how did I get here?" He let go of my hand and rotated all the way around. "Where am I?"

I knew where, but I didn't quite believe it. I mimicked his rotation, taking note of the lush grass, the strands of evergreens, and the mountains off in the distance. "This is your Source," I said. Except, he was a human. He shouldn't even have a Source.

"My Source? I don't understand. Two seconds ago I was in the Underground with my friends. Now I'm here with you, which I'm not ready to believe is a bad thing, because you're amazingly beautiful." He took a breath and calmed himself. "I've learned not to trust anything I see."

I didn't understand either, but I was sure that I didn't want to be here. I closed my eyes and tried to will myself away from him.
 

"Hello? Hey. Do you have a name?"

I opened my eyes. We were still in the field. I was stuck.

"Rebecca," I said.
 

"Rebecca. Your name is as pretty as you are. I would remember your face, if I had seen you before. You aren't a figment of my imagination. My father used to tell me there were demons who could possess souls... but you aren't possessing me either. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were lost."

Did I look lost? I sure felt it. "I shouldn't be here. Neither should you. I'm not a demon. I'm not lost. I'm trapped."

"Trapped?"

"Here, with you. I want to leave, but I can't. I'm a spirit, a ghost. You can't see me, back in the real world. I don't always have control, and I... fell... into you. Anyway, this is your Source. It's a place in your soul where your power comes from."
 

Brian laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Just a strange way to meet someone, that's all."

I smiled. "God has a way of bringing people together."

"I guess He does."

I stared at him, trying to decide what to say. I needed to get out of his body and back to Elyse before things got any worse. "If you have a Source, that means you're Divine. You can push me out."

"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?"