Shadows in the Silence
Page 37
With my other hand, I smoothed her hair away from her face. “Thank you, Sabina,” I said, emphasizing every word. “You have been an incredible soldier.”
“I wish I could keep fighting for you,” she replied. A trickle of blood slipped past her lips.
“You’ve fought enough.”
“I wanted to see the end,” Sabina continued. “I wanted to see us win.”
“It’ll just be more blood,” I told her. “Are you sure you can’t heal from this?”
When I looked at our hands clasped together, I realized why her skin felt so cold. Her fingers had already begun to harden and turn to stone. I bit hard on my lip. Sabina gave me a tiny smile before throwing her head back and groaning with pain. She seemed so small, shuddering on the floor in front of me, bleeding to death.
Ava crouched beside me. “Don’t worry, my friend. We will have victory. Someday I’ll see you on the other side.”
Sabina huffed a tiny laugh and coughed before swallowing more blood. “There is no other side.”
“You say that only because no one knows for sure,” I said. “There is Heaven for human souls and angels, and there must be a place for the souls of reapers. A paradise all your own.”
Sabina’s eyes, even lighter than they were moments ago, slowly rolled over to meet mine. Her face and lips had begun to turn gray. A crack split across her cheek. “Do you promise, archangel?”
“I believe it,” I said firmly.
“Good-bye, Ellie.” Sabina breathed in and out and closed her eyes. Her grip on my hand loosened. “Make it bright,” she whispered. And with those peculiar words, she was gone.
Rage boiled deep within me, a torrent river of fury and bloodlust. We weren’t supposed to lose anyone else. Sabina shouldn’t have died. I rose to my feet and called my sword again. Angelfire blazed as I marched toward Xastur. Cadan stepped aside, the heat of the divine fire nearly scorching his skin. Xastur’s eyes were wild and he struggled against my Khopesh sword impaling him to the wall through his chest.
“Do you see what you’ve done?” I snarled at him and pointed my fiery blade in the direction of Sabina’s remains. The other angelic reapers had closed in behind me and watched in silence.
“That wasn’t me!” Xastur howled. “I didn’t kill her!”
“The one who did was acting on your orders,” I shot back, and poised the blade at his face. “So did the ones who murdered my human friends only hours ago. Their blood is on your hands, along with countless other lives.”
“It was Merodach’s idea! He’s the one—”
“He’s next on my list,” I said. “Don’t you worry. I’m going to kill every single one of you.”
“Him, too?” Xastur barked, motioning to Cadan. “What about him?”
I looked over my shoulder at the demonic reaper with the fire-opal gaze pinned on my face. “Bastian’s son fights for me now. He’s risked his life for me and for the ones I love.”
Xastur swore and spit a red glob on the cement floor at Cadan’s feet. “Traitor! The Lord of Souls will come for you.”
Cadan said nothing.
I pressed the tip of my sword to the base of Xastur’s throat and he hissed at the angelfire turning his skin red. “We will meet Sammael sooner or later. But first, we deal with you. There is a reason why I haven’t yet split you from collarbone to crotch.”
“What do you want?” The demonic reaper laughed. “Information? You think I’m going to tell you where our Lord is?”
“No,” I said. “I need something else from you. I will let you go if you cooperate.”
He laughed even louder. “How would you know I’m telling the truth?”
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” I asked. “I suppose I’ll just have to make you want to tell me the truth.”
My Khopesh sword opened his skin and let the angelfire in. The reaper’s screams echoed through the factory.
There was so much blood on the floor by the time Xastur started squawking that a wide river of red split the room in two. The bits I’d cut off of him had turned to stone at my feet and I’d kicked them away. Not much of his face was left recognizable, and I could never take enough flesh from him to make up for Sabina and Landon and the other kids murdered tonight.
“Please,” Xastur sputtered through blood. His head hung low and one eye struggled to focus on my face. His other eye wasn’t there anymore. “I’ll tell you anything. Anything.”
“Ellie,” Will said in a careful voice. “I think he’s had enough.”
But had I? I felt so much hate in my blood that it seemed like I couldn’t spill enough of it onto the ground. Xastur was nearly dead, almost where I wanted him, but a dark, coiling part of myself enjoyed torturing him. My mother would hate to see what I’d become.
But this wasn’t me. The ice forming around my heart had crept from the deepest, darkest pits of my past, from the lost part of me that had never known any of the things that now made me human: love, compassion, regret. This part of me, the whispers of an archangel who’d had a taste of my human emotions and preferred the flavor of hate the most—even savored it. The archangel I had once been now desired to take control and I’d handed the reins right over to her.
I tilted my head as I studied Xastur’s shredded face. I plucked my sword sticking out from his chest and he moaned in pain and slumped over. “Do you know how to summon an angel?” I asked him.
“I wish I could keep fighting for you,” she replied. A trickle of blood slipped past her lips.
“You’ve fought enough.”
“I wanted to see the end,” Sabina continued. “I wanted to see us win.”
“It’ll just be more blood,” I told her. “Are you sure you can’t heal from this?”
When I looked at our hands clasped together, I realized why her skin felt so cold. Her fingers had already begun to harden and turn to stone. I bit hard on my lip. Sabina gave me a tiny smile before throwing her head back and groaning with pain. She seemed so small, shuddering on the floor in front of me, bleeding to death.
Ava crouched beside me. “Don’t worry, my friend. We will have victory. Someday I’ll see you on the other side.”
Sabina huffed a tiny laugh and coughed before swallowing more blood. “There is no other side.”
“You say that only because no one knows for sure,” I said. “There is Heaven for human souls and angels, and there must be a place for the souls of reapers. A paradise all your own.”
Sabina’s eyes, even lighter than they were moments ago, slowly rolled over to meet mine. Her face and lips had begun to turn gray. A crack split across her cheek. “Do you promise, archangel?”
“I believe it,” I said firmly.
“Good-bye, Ellie.” Sabina breathed in and out and closed her eyes. Her grip on my hand loosened. “Make it bright,” she whispered. And with those peculiar words, she was gone.
Rage boiled deep within me, a torrent river of fury and bloodlust. We weren’t supposed to lose anyone else. Sabina shouldn’t have died. I rose to my feet and called my sword again. Angelfire blazed as I marched toward Xastur. Cadan stepped aside, the heat of the divine fire nearly scorching his skin. Xastur’s eyes were wild and he struggled against my Khopesh sword impaling him to the wall through his chest.
“Do you see what you’ve done?” I snarled at him and pointed my fiery blade in the direction of Sabina’s remains. The other angelic reapers had closed in behind me and watched in silence.
“That wasn’t me!” Xastur howled. “I didn’t kill her!”
“The one who did was acting on your orders,” I shot back, and poised the blade at his face. “So did the ones who murdered my human friends only hours ago. Their blood is on your hands, along with countless other lives.”
“It was Merodach’s idea! He’s the one—”
“He’s next on my list,” I said. “Don’t you worry. I’m going to kill every single one of you.”
“Him, too?” Xastur barked, motioning to Cadan. “What about him?”
I looked over my shoulder at the demonic reaper with the fire-opal gaze pinned on my face. “Bastian’s son fights for me now. He’s risked his life for me and for the ones I love.”
Xastur swore and spit a red glob on the cement floor at Cadan’s feet. “Traitor! The Lord of Souls will come for you.”
Cadan said nothing.
I pressed the tip of my sword to the base of Xastur’s throat and he hissed at the angelfire turning his skin red. “We will meet Sammael sooner or later. But first, we deal with you. There is a reason why I haven’t yet split you from collarbone to crotch.”
“What do you want?” The demonic reaper laughed. “Information? You think I’m going to tell you where our Lord is?”
“No,” I said. “I need something else from you. I will let you go if you cooperate.”
He laughed even louder. “How would you know I’m telling the truth?”
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” I asked. “I suppose I’ll just have to make you want to tell me the truth.”
My Khopesh sword opened his skin and let the angelfire in. The reaper’s screams echoed through the factory.
There was so much blood on the floor by the time Xastur started squawking that a wide river of red split the room in two. The bits I’d cut off of him had turned to stone at my feet and I’d kicked them away. Not much of his face was left recognizable, and I could never take enough flesh from him to make up for Sabina and Landon and the other kids murdered tonight.
“Please,” Xastur sputtered through blood. His head hung low and one eye struggled to focus on my face. His other eye wasn’t there anymore. “I’ll tell you anything. Anything.”
“Ellie,” Will said in a careful voice. “I think he’s had enough.”
But had I? I felt so much hate in my blood that it seemed like I couldn’t spill enough of it onto the ground. Xastur was nearly dead, almost where I wanted him, but a dark, coiling part of myself enjoyed torturing him. My mother would hate to see what I’d become.
But this wasn’t me. The ice forming around my heart had crept from the deepest, darkest pits of my past, from the lost part of me that had never known any of the things that now made me human: love, compassion, regret. This part of me, the whispers of an archangel who’d had a taste of my human emotions and preferred the flavor of hate the most—even savored it. The archangel I had once been now desired to take control and I’d handed the reins right over to her.
I tilted my head as I studied Xastur’s shredded face. I plucked my sword sticking out from his chest and he moaned in pain and slumped over. “Do you know how to summon an angel?” I asked him.
