Shadow of a Doubt Page 26

  I turned to where Da’s ashes lay in a pile, and kneeled while lowering my head. With no discernible reason as to why, I put two fingers in my mouth and pulled them out covered in Da’s blood. I reached down and placed them into the ash pile, mixing what was left of my friend. Without knowing why, I pulled my fingers out and pressed them to my chest, where I made two strokes on my armor, forming a cross. The armor pulled the blood and ash into itself, but left the image of the painted cross on my chest.

  “You’ll always be with me,” I said in reverence as I stood and faced the stairway.

  Closing my eyes, I took in a massive, slow breath before I bellowed into the darkness, “OBEROOOOOOOON!”

  Dirt fell from the ceiling from the power of my voice, and I was sure that every being in Faerie had heard my call.

  I strode forward and up the stairs, my armor clacking with every step. I was aware that my trench coat was still on under the celestial armor that covered me from head to toe. It made it slightly awkward to move, but only slightly.

  At the top of the stairs, I turned and stomped toward the throne room. Oberon was nowhere to be seen, but I could smell charred flesh in the air. As I stalked forward, a column of Shadow faeries rushed out of a side room. Smiling, I tossed the gladius from one hand to the other and reached to my side in pure instinct. Lifting my right arm, I thumbed the safety to full auto and began spraying silver-tipped rounds down the hallway.

  When the magazine ran dry, I dropped the Sig and reached for the fully loaded semi-auto shotty sitting atop my chest. Without even aiming properly, I sent round after round of phosphorus into the advancing column of Shadow Fae. They screamed as they died. I grinned maliciously.

  The remaining Shadow faeries fled into the darkness, unwilling to continue the fruitless barrage. Then I stepped, unmolested, into the throne room.

  “OBERON!” I screamed with enough ferocity to send spittle laced with blood flying from my mouth. There was no answer in return, and I stepped to the imposing throne. I looked up to see it was powering a churning cloud at the ceiling of the throne room. Black and purple tendrils lanced out, mingling with the dark swirl cloud. I could see the Earth at the center, and realized I was looking through the black hole that was swallowing the sunlight.

  I ignited the angelic gladius again, feeling the unimaginable power in my hand. With a rage-filled yell, I swiped my flaming sword at the base of the thick throne, sending a hailstorm of black stone crashing into the wall. A huge chunk had been cut free, and the throne leaned precariously before gravity took hold and pulled it the rest of the way to the ground. It exploded into rubble that tumbled in all directions.

  Looking up, I noticed the churning storm above remained even though its source of power had been cut down like a rotted tree.

  A pained laugh came from behind, and I whirled to see King Oberon fully decked out in his own angelic armor. The black armor with red etching stood in direct contrast to my white and gold. His gladius was out and had a black flame running down its length, with wafts of amethyst fire intermixed. I wondered if it glowed purple due to him being in his bailiwick.

  “You’re too late, vampire,” King Oberon said from bleeding lips. His skin was still smoking and had bubbled where the phosphorus had eaten away at his flesh. “The black hole is self-sufficient now. Your world will never again see the light of day, and the shadows will rise from the darkne—”

  I blurred forward with blinding speed and decked him in his bitch mouth where the helmet offered no protection. Oberon flew back to crash into the stone wall behind, leaving a crater that rained down rock. To his credit, Oberon recovered almost instantly and glared at me with surprised eyes.

  “Oh yeah, got my powers back, bitch,” I mocked as I rushed forward, blade in hand and ready to take his smoldering head.

  Oberon pushed off the wall, cracking it further, and rushed to meet my blade with his. We stood there, locked with our blades and almost nose to nose. My white-and-blue flames dancing wildly with his black-and-purple ones.

  Filled with angelic blood that was now a part of my very soul, I began to push Oberon back inch by inch.

  “My demon-infused soul now has an angel added to it, you weak, pathetic fairy,” I spit out as my blade grew nearer and nearer to his straining face. “I…am going…to fucking kill you.”

  Anger gave way to fear as my heavenfire began licking at the already charred skin at his neck. I smiled as the blade touched his flesh, drawing blood that immediately sizzled away from the flame.

  Something grabbed me by the helmet and ripped it off my head with enough force to almost snap my neck. My gladius went out and Oberon shoved me back a few feet before slicing his still flaming sword in the air, creating a hole in space.

  “Lolth!” Oberon yelled as something hit me hard from behind and sent me flying toward the rift.

  “No!” was all I could manage before disappearing into the abyss.

  18

  I tumbled through the darkness, the only light coming from the hole in space that seemed to fly in a circular path all around me. With each revolution, I was alarmed to see the hole cinching itself up, getting smaller and smaller as I toppled through the nothing. I handled it pretty well, though.

  “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuuuuuuuuuck!” I said calmly without even a trace of panic.

  Then a hand was on my chest, and the rift stopped flying around me to settle in one position in space. I followed the hand to look into familiar eyes that were bigger than I was used to. The healthy man was beaming a warm, knowing smile.

  “Da?” I asked dumbly.

  “What are you doing, John?” he asked, amused.

  “Making a sandwich. The fuck does it look like?”

  “It looks to me that you are floating in a void between planes.”

  “Right. That’s what I said,” I mocked. Panic really brought out my snark.

  “Why don’t you get yourself out of it?” Da asked as if the answer were as obvious as flipping a switch.

  “I’m all for suggestions, buddy! But I don’t have the helmet, and I lost my powers.”

  “Can you feel the armor through the closing rift?” Da said, glancing at the shrinking hole.

  Knowing there wasn’t a lot of time left before the door was closed forever, I went with what Da was saying and closed my eyes. I reached out with my senses and landed on the helmet that was sitting in the throne room near the rift hole.

  “I can,” I said through my concentration.

  “Well, bring it here,” Da suggested.

  I reached out again and thought about picking the helmet up. To my surprise, it lifted off the ground and flew into the rift right as the hole was closed. The darkness was blinding. The silence was deafening. Da was gone.

  “Da?” I called into the abyss. “Da?!” I cried out again. Then the helmet smacked me in my head, and I grabbed at it like a drowning man grasping at a life preserver. I slammed it on my head, a little harder than I had intended, and felt my power rush back into me.

  “Now what?” I yelled into the empty void of space.

  Use the gladius, John, Baleius instructed with slight annoyance in his voice.

  “Oh, right,” I said out loud as I willed the sword to life, flames growing down its length in a whoosh.

  I cut at the space in front of me, and nothing happened. I tried again at a different angle and was met with the same result. Then I did the video game equivalent of bashing all the buttons randomly and began frantically slicing the space all around me.

  Think about where you want to go, Baleius said. I could almost hear his face resting in the palm of his hand as he shook his head in embarrassment. Almost.

  Ah, makes sense, I said sheepishly before closing my eyes and picturing Valenta’s Saloon. As I held the image, I sliced the air in front of me and was sucked through the hole I created, like opening the door on an airplane forty thousand feet in the air.

  Close it! Baleius instructed as I rolled in a heap on the fam
iliar wood floor of Val’s bar. I quickly got to my feet and turned the sword in my hand and slashed at the rift with the flat side of the blade. I imagined I was erasing it as I swiped, and the hole closed with a pop. My head shot around searching for the flying debris that had to be rocketing toward where I stood. The room was still, as if I had been the only thing affected by the hole in space and time.

  “Jesus Christ!” Depweg cried out as he ran to where I stood, my chest heaving up and down under my armor. I turned to face him and the rest of the group, and without thinking, let go of the blade to embrace my friend. As I did, it vanished into thin air, though I was acutely aware that I could still feel its presence.

  “Thank Lilith you guys made it,” I called out, my eyes darting over my friends. Ludvig was laid out on the bar, with Valenta operating on him.

  I broke the embrace and rushed to stand by where he lay cringing in pain.

  “What happened? Why can’t he heal himself?”

  “Iron,” Ludvig forced through bloody teeth.

  “They filled him with dull iron rods,” Depweg said, sickened, as he came to stand by me.

  It wasn’t until I saw Magni just off to the side with red-rimmed eyes that I realized the severity of the situation.

  “Is he going to make it?” I asked Valenta.

  “Shut up, boy. Concentrate’n,” Val responded sharply as he pulled a six-inch rod of gore-coated iron from Ludvig’s thigh. Joey covered the wound in gauze before taping it shut. I looked up Ludvig’s body and saw several leaking bandages in seemingly random intervals.

  “Why did they do that?” I asked, the formation of an educated guess constructing itself at the back of my mind as if it were being created by Legos. Lolth had been waiting for us at the cabin.

  “Dey made me tell where Depweg was. I held out until Oberon decided dat I wasn’t going to talk and den moved to Magni’s cell. I-I’m sorry, Depweg. I didn’t have a choice.” Tears flowed down his dirt-covered and bruised face.

  “I understand,” Depweg breathed out as his head hung low.

  “Well, I fucking don’t!” Joey cried out as he strode to the front doors and slammed them open with a kick. They bounced back and he stopped them with his elbows and a scream of frustration as he made his way outside.

  “That Shadow bitch killed Dawson,” I informed Ludvig. He raised his head to regard me and began nodding his head slowly at first, and then vigorously. He had known what the consequences would be when he had revealed the location of where I had been heading. Now, what he had suspected might happen had been confirmed, and he would have to carry that guilt.

  “How did you appear out of thin air?” Depweg asked, searching the room behind me like trying to find the hidden door the magician had used.

  “I, ah…” I started, unsure of where to begin about Da.

  Valenta barked a cry of surprise, and my eyes shot to meet his gaze. He was looking me up and down with mouth hung agape and eyes mixed with fury and sorrow.

  “What?” I asked as I looked down to see Da’s angelic armor. My gaze shot back to Valenta in an expression of “I can explain,” but he turned his head and shook it twice before returning to Ludvig. At that moment, I really didn’t want to have the armor on and was surprised when it disappeared in an instant at my wish. As with the gladius, I could still feel it as a part of me and awaiting my command to reemerge. My black trench coat flowed free, and my hands went up to feel my gray beanie still atop my head.

  Magni stopped sniffling as I performed my magic trick and looked at me with an expression of awe on his face.

  I turned back to Valenta, stepped closer, and whispered, “Val…” before he shot me a look filled with daggers and said, “Not now, abomination.” His Southern drawl was gone, leaving only his powerful angelic voice. In his anger, his words pierced into my mind like the guardian’s had when I had first been made. I flinched slightly before returning his cold gaze. Da was my friend and had saved my life in his sacrifice.

  “No, NOW!” I bellowed in return, my own voice permeating the fabric of space all around. Ludvig, Magni, and Depweg all cried out as Magni and Depweg rushed to cover their ears. Ludvig was too weak to move his arms.

  Valenta’s eyes began glowing a fierce white as he dropped his medical instruments and squared off with me from across the bar. His body began growing to full angel height. Once again, I noticed how small Da was compared to the other angels I’d encountered. A flash of light, as if being bounced off a highly reflective surface, shimmered over his entire body, and Varhmiel stood coated in ivory armor etched in gold. Beautiful white feathered wings extended to the sides in warning as a flaming gladius grew from his hand.

  Depweg stumbled backward, startled by the events unfolding, while Magni just watched in horrid fascination.

  In reflex to Varhmiel’s actions, my own armor shimmered into existence along with my matching sword coated in heavenfire.

  “You have killed two of my brothers, abomination,” Varhmiel’s voice rumbled the very ground I stood on. “Raziel was one of the best of us, and you stand wearing his armor and wielding his blade.” Varhmiel exuded fervent anger with his words.

  “I had no choice, Varhmiel,” I responded feverishly, calling him by his angelic name so as not to piss him off any further. Respect seemed apropos, mostly because he was right. “Da made me drink from him.”

  “Raziel! His name was Raziel,” Varhmiel asserted.

  “Raziel put the armor on me and placed the sword in my hand as we were being overrun with Shadow Fae. He was near death and sacrificed himself to save me—to save all of creation, Varhmiel.”

  Varhmiel stood glaring, but didn’t combat my words. I continued.

  “Because of him, I was able to destroy hundreds, maybe thousands of those fuckers. I even hurt Oberon and was about to cut him down when that bitch, Lolth, attacked me from behind. Raziel saved me as I was thrown into the abyss,” I said aggressively, pissed I was having to justify myself as if I had killed one of my dearest friends wantonly.

  Varhmiel’s wings folded in slightly, and the gladius he had been pointing at me lowered as he said, “What do you mean he saved you.”

  “I was tumbling through the nothingness when Da appeared and told me how to get out. He was the fucking Obi-Wan to my Luke.” I took a risk by calling him Da, but it was how I knew him. It felt…odd, to call him by any other name. I supposed I could say the same thing about how I called Depweg by his last name instead of by Jonathan. It was weird to call him by anything else.

  Varhmiel’s wings folded completely as the flames extinguished along his blade. “How is this possible?” he asked himself.

  “Da told me to make his blood a part of my essence. I could feel him becoming one with my flesh. Once I had, the gladius burst into life,” I said as I turned my blade over in my hand and looked into the hypnotic flames. They didn’t crackle like a normal fire, and though there was heat I could feel, I knew it would never burn me.

  Varhmiel began to shrink as his armor and gladius shimmered and disappeared. A look of consternation was on his face as he regarded me, unsure of what to do or say.

  “Raziel was my oldest friend,” Varhmiel said as he shrunk to become Valenta again.

  “I understand,” I said empathetically as I shot a quick glance at Depweg before returning my gaze to Valenta. Depweg caught the look, and from the corner of my vision, I noticed him shifting where he stood, his chest puffing out ever so slightly in what I took for pride. I was going to have to punch him in the arm or something later, though I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to do so.

  “Of all my siblings, he was one of the few that stayed behind after the revolt and who remained in contact with me, uncaring of my desire to remain absent from the senseless politics and entitlements.” Valenta looked up at the ceiling, then, and I wasn’t sure if it was to stanch the flow of tears or to regard Heaven. “I honestly believe he, alone, helped to keep my mind intact in the overwhelming loneliness of eternity.” His f
ace twitched in thought as he looked back down at me with a gaping mouth. “You were a mortal who had a demon infuse with his soul and body to become vampire. Now Raziel, an angel, has become a part of you, too. You,” he said, pointing a trembling finger at me, “are truly an abomination that has never before existed in all of time.”

  “Th-thanks?” I stammered, confused as to the appropriate response.

  “The prophecy…” Valenta whispered as his eyes went unfocused and a look of worry spread across his features. “She was right.”

  “Who?” I asked, taking a step closer to the bar. Valenta ignored my question as his eyes shifted around as if searching for an answer that eluded him. Then he snapped back to reality while shaking his head to clear his mind. He returned to Ludvig and began packing up his instruments.

  “Hey, where’s Locke?” I asked, looking around the bar, deciding to let Valenta’s comment slide.

  “Downstairs,” Valenta said heavily, still with his angelic voice, though at a normal volume. He spoke as if extremely tired all of a sudden. “He asked to view my collection to see if there was anything he could use to summon you back to this plane.”

  My eyebrows jumped up my face as I realized that he had let Locke, of all people, rummage through his holy relics.

  As if on cue, Locke burst through the kitchen door holding an armful of various items. “Alright, one of these might work. And what was that yelling?” Locke said before lifting his gaze from his armful of goodies to spot me, still in full angelic armor. “Oh,” he said with a mixture of relief followed by sudden sadness. His eyes inspected every inch of me as his brow furrowed. “Da?”

  My lips tightened into a thin line, and I shook my head with sorrow in my eyes. Valenta unconsciously turned his body away from me to stare at the back wall. I could see through the mirror that his bottom lip was quivering.

  Valenta had never been one to show much emotion or reveal his feelings below the surface, but I could appreciate how losing a brother who had also been a friend since the beginning of time might be difficult to process. Hell, I had almost lost Depweg a few times after knowing him less than a century, and could remember how impossibly hard that had been on me. I couldn’t imagine, you know, the beginning of time itself. It made me dizzy to try and fathom eternity.