Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (83 page)

action. I walked more slowly with Azeem.

“You carry the burden of one many years more than you,” he

said as we walked.

“Yeah. I’m taking it all up front so that later in life, I can lie back on a chaise longue and drink mojitos.”

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“An armor of humor is not a strong defense.”

“I know,” I admitted. “But right now, it’s all I’ve got.”

“That is not true. You are never alone,” Azeem said, looking to the sky.

“I don’t really believe in…I’m not sure what I believe.”

“We would all believe in God if he served our every whim.

Belief is not about an easy life or even truth. Belief is something you have regardless.”

I wished I could nod and say something spiritually appropriate

but…no. We were nearing the top and an enormous sculpture

came into view, which sent a shiver down my spine.

“The cross?” I inquired, looking up at the impressive cross that looked like it was made of bronze, the figure of a serpent wrapped around it. It made me think of Lilith. In some stories, she is thought to be the serpent of Eden. It’s a visual that doesn’t leave you.

“When Moses brought the people on pilgrimage from Egypt

in hope of the Promised Land, they turned on him and on God.

Starving and dying, they questioned why they had been brought

to this desert and wilderness only to die. On this, God sent

poisonous serpents to bite them and many died. When Moses

prayed to God to save the people, he was told to make a serpent and put it on a pole. Everyone who had been bitten and looked

upon it was saved.”

“And this is the God you believe in?”

Azeem gave a small smile. “I admit, it is not the most inspiring of stories.”

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Now it wasn’t just the sculpture that reminded me of Lilith.

That story sounded like something that would come from her book of tales too. I was learning more and more; nothing was as clear-cut as I would have liked it. Nothing was wholly good or evil, it seemed. And if there was a God, I wasn’t sure he was any better than the worst of us.

We were nearing the top. I stopped and turned to Azeem. “Azeem, I…When I embraced and became Grigori, I had to do something.”

“A test of will,” he said, nodding.

“I had to kill an image that I chose.” I couldn’t find the words to express how that silhouette had turned into me.

“And now you feel remorse,” he said compassionately.

“Kind of. I don’t regret it, it’s just, the image that I chose…is there any chance I could have actually…”

“Violet”— he put his gigantic hand on my shoulder— “I don’t

have your answers. I can see you are haunted by this. Choices often reveal consequences in many ways. But what you are looking for I cannot give you.”

“But I’m not looking for something. I…I just want to know…”

“Of course you are searching. You seek forgiveness and this is

something I cannot give. You will have to look beyond this place of dirt and rock.”

He was back on the God thing.

I didn’t want to offend him, tell him that right now, I wasn’t

finding much comfort in the possibility that God might actually exist. I settled for, “I’ll think about it.”

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“This is a good place to start.” He continued along the path and picked up the pace. “Come on—we’re almost there.”

The mountain— actually more of a hill— was not spectacular.

It was large, but not like the rock formations that surrounded the hotel with waterfalls. It was simple, and though you could see work had been done to restore the area— small trees and green shrubs to break up the continuum of barren land, a small path that was well maintained— it wasn’t until we reached the very top that I realized why it was such a special place.

The views.

Azeem pointed toward a mass of water. “West, the Dead

Sea”— and then he raised his hand higher, signaling beyond— “and the Promised Land.”

“Jerusalem,” Griffin said, now standing beside us.

“Wow,” I said, meaning it wholeheartedly.

Azeem turned. “South is the Crusader Castles, north, the Seven

Hills of Amman, and east, the Jordanian Desert to the wastes of Saudi Arabia.” Then he walked us in a full circle around the perimeter of the chapel that rested at the top of the rise. It was old but also surprisingly modern in design. Nyla took in my reaction.

“The original chapel is within the walls of this one,” Nyla explained.

“The outer shell was built to protect it. But even the one within is no more than sixteen or seventeen hundred years old. It is

mostly a tourist destination now and normally open every day,”

Azeem added.

“Why not today?” I asked.

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“We have asked a favor. We did not think it wise to have you all here among tourists.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

Lincoln and Spence appeared from the back of the building.

Spence had a handful of small rocks he was throwing into the

patchy shrubbery. Lincoln looked frustrated.

“How are we going to find anything here? This construction is

too recent. Griffin, this looks like a dead end.”

“No,” Griffin said. He was standing out in front of the chapel, studying every stone, every groove. “There has to be something

here. The story tells us that Moses was buried within the mountain, and later Jeremiah returned with the Ark and left it where Moses was buried.”

“We should look inside,” Rudyard said.

“I am afraid Lincoln is right. You will not find what you are

looking for inside. We have searched every inch of the chapel for hidden passages or markers.” Azeem gestured to his men. “I fear this may be a wasted trip for you.”

“If Moses was buried in this mountain, it’s likely some sort of tomb was created,” Griffin said.

“I am not disagreeing with you, friend. It is likely that there is a tomb directly under the chapel. But short of pulling down the mountain, we cannot be sure and, well, for some time we have

considered that perhaps this may be for the best. If the wrong

people or
beings
were to get their hands on the remains of Moses and whatever else may rest with him, it would not be good.”

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“Well, they’re coming, Azeem,” Griffin said, now irritated. “And if
we
don’t find it, believe me, they will.”

This
is why I have a problem with religion. People do too many things in the name of belief or, worse, use it to prevent others from exploring alternative possibilities. I walked to the back of the chapel and saw a narrow overgrown path that led down the back

of the hillside.

“Why is that path there?” I asked one of Azeem’s Grigori, who

was standing nearby.

“It used to be the path to the top; pilgrims would trek from

Jerusalem. Now the roads have taken its place,” he said, looking back to where the others were milling about.

It gave me an idea and I ran back to the front of the chapel.

“Rudyard, do you have that thing you read to us at Hades? The

Mc- whatever.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I am assuming you are referring to the Second Book of Maccabees.”

“Yeah.”

He reached into his well- organized backpack and pulled out the old leather- bound book, opening it to the right page before passing it to me.

“Thanks,” I said, reading as I walked back around the chapel.

“Don’t suppose you’d care to enlighten any of us?” he called out.

“Just an idea,” I yelled back, not stopping.

A few paces later, I turned. Everyone was casually shuffling

behind me. Lincoln came to my side and shrugged.

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“No one else has had an idea.”

“Oh.” I gulped, suddenly feeling like I was on display.

I headed down the old forgotten path, my shoes catching on

dried roots that carpeted the ground. Once I got a third of the way down, I stopped and turned back to face the hilltop.

Here’s the thing about observation: it is open to so many interpretations. At the first and most basic level— visual— we see, we believe. Even this level is substandard for the average human. We have four other main senses that influence us. If we smell something burning, for example, but see nothing on fire, most people will investigate to find the source.

After the senses comes instinct. Griffin had been teaching me in our classes that humans are confused by this concept and, therefore, on the whole, are unable to harness the power of intuition.

Instinct requires self- belief— something humans, who are all too aware of their own shortcomings, often fail to find.

From instinct, we move to the higher end: imagination and

manipulation. Angels have dominion over these.

But in the end, observation will always come down to the

final, unique factor: perception. Any one person’s point of view will provide their own individual perspective, influenced by the accumulation of their own life’s millions of moments. What one

person would do if they saw the one they loved gunned down in

front of them is completely different from what another would

do. Whether it’s real or imagination doesn’t matter. The only thing that is certain is that an individual’s response sets off a chain of 347

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events that changes everything for that person, forever. The power of angels— and this is why there must be both light and dark— is to filter perception.

“Here,” I said, letting the part in me that wasn’t human take

the reins.

“What?” Lincoln asked, baffled.

I pointed to the plateaus on the mountain face and the trees

that offered seclusion. “Doesn’t that look like the perfect place for a cave?”

“I guess, but, Vi, there are no caves here, no sign of an old

opening. I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”

“Jeremiah was on some kind of angelic mission, wasn’t he?” I

asked, the sun catching in my eyes.

“Apparently,” Lincoln said, taking off his cap and putting it

on me.

“So he may have been able to see things that the normal person

couldn’t. Maybe even things only angels could see, right?”

Lincoln wiped his face, tired, and looked at me dubiously.

“I suppose.”

I huffed and moved closer to him, sharing the book. “Look,”

I said pointing to the passage. “‘
And
when
Jeremiah
came
thither,
he found an hollow CAVE, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the
ark, and the altar of incense, and SO
,’” I emphasized, “‘
STOPPED

THE
DOOR. And some of those that followed him came to mark
the way, BUT
’”— I looked at him to finish— “‘
THEY
could
not
find
it
.’”

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“There’s a cave!” Lincoln called out to the others who’d been

waiting at the top of the hill, watching us.

Spence and Zoe raced down with everyone else not far behind.

“Where is it?” Zoe asked, looking up and down, all around.

“We don’t know,” I admitted, hoping I wasn’t leading everyone

down a dead end.

Once everyone had joined us, Lincoln explained to the group

of astonished faces. It didn’t take long for everyone to get on board with the new theory. There was a cave in this mountain.

“Rudyard,” Griffin said, “I think you can help.”

“Shoot,” Rudyard replied.

“Can you sense power here? You’ll need to try and focus it at the mountain and find its source.”

Rudyard crouched to the ground, touching it with both hands.

He waited.

Eventually, he stood and sighed. “I can’t be a hundred percent, but a different energy certainly comes from that direction.” He pointed to the right.

“Okay, my turn,” Griffin said, as we all silently looked at each other, trying to figure out what was going on.

Griffin didn’t take long, though. He just walked a little to

the right and then back. “The true mountain has definitely been disturbed and Rudy is right. It comes from over there, but like him, I can’t pinpoint the spot.”

Griffin put his head down, thinking. Everyone gave him time.

“Right,” he said, as if not really sure. “Zoe, your turn.”

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“About damn time. What’s your pleasure?” she asked, beaming.

“
Lift
the mountain.”

“What?” everyone chorused.

Zoe just looked from Griffin to the mountain, back to Griffin,

then back to the mountain. “How high?” she asked, as the mouths of the rest of us fell open.

Griffin smiled. “Just move it. If I’m right and the glamour

holds, it won’t move. If you can shift the mountain and part of it remains still— ”

“The cave will be showing,” Salvatore finished, looking

impressed. He really was doing well at keeping up, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed. I think Zoe, who usually appeared

completely immune to Salvatore, actually became aware of him.

She closed her eyes and we all waited. Well, until Spence cracked.

“You all right, Zo?”

“Shut up! Even Mother Nature would need a moment for this