31. Scarlet
Chapter 31
Scarlet
T ap. Tap. Tap.
Scarlet groaned, her head groggy as she tried to ignore the sound. Every muscle in her body felt heavy, and it took great effort to open her eyes.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Slowly moving to a sitting position in bed, she frowned at the mirror, suddenly realising she could see her reflection, and Silas.
“Shit.” Jumping up, she went to reach for the sheets. Only to find there were none. They’d been removed, as well as the duvet, pillow cases and anything she could use to cover the mirror.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Scarlet scrambled for the drawer where she kept her clothes, but only a single, white dress was left. The rest was gone.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“Who came into my room?” she asked, ignoring the burn at the back of her eyes.
She’d gone to sleep with the mirror covered, she was sure of it.
Silas sagged in the reflection, his left palm pressed to the mirror to keep him from falling. ‘Gas,’ he wrote. ‘Made u sleep.’
Scar felt her insides turn to ice, her eyes darting to the lock on her door. Except it was gone entirely, leaving only the slight discolouration on the wood. “Si, who came into my room?”
Silas sagged, falling to his knees and Scar reached out as if to catch him. A single tear dripped down his face, diluting the blood he’d rubbed across his cheek. With shaking hands he smeared out his previous words before writing another. ‘Christopher.’
“Christopher?” she repeated. “Si stay with me. Who’s Christopher?”
Silas’s eye rolled in the back of his head, his body beginning to convulse. She had no idea how long he’d been exposed to her, repeating the deterioration over and over. She guessed from how quickly he collapsed that it had been a while.
It would take time for him to regenerate, so swallowing her tears she carefully turned the mirror to face the wall.
Changing into the only available outfit, she attached her knife to her arm and pulled on her bow before frowning at her phone that had been placed neatly on the nightstand. Screen facing up.
It flashed with a new text.
Sex God:
{Picture of a pink flower}
Did you know these can grow in the dark? Pretty cool, huh?
Oh, and Leo’s agreed to help.
I probably should have led with that.
{Picture of him smiling, the flower positioned on his head}
He looked manic, his smile showing too much teeth. It was so ridiculous she almost laughed, and right in that moment she wanted to tell him everything.
Why she’d left Aetherna.
Why she was working for Cassiel.
She wanted to believe he’d understand, but she found she couldn’t, because as soon as she did there was no going back. Lucifer knowing wouldn’t help her when Cassiel wasn’t a man who traded in favours or threats. He wanted payment up front, and right then she had nothing to offer but herself, and everything to lose.
When she entered the shared space Zaph and Nahal looked up from their cereal. “You good?” Zaph asked, his eyes narrowing. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Fine,” she said, conscious she looked exactly as Cassiel had wanted. All in white, wearing his golden knife. The brand burned between her breasts, calling her out. “You look better.” Nahal’s colouring had improved greatly since the last time she’d seen him.
“I am, apparently thanks to you,” he said, crunching on his food. “Do me a favour though, next time don’t bother.”
The table jerked, and she suspected Zaph kicked at him.
“Cassiel deducted my pay because she interfered.” Nahal shoved at his bowl, milk sloshing over the side. “You know the rules. We all agreed to them.”
“I thought you were dying,” Zaph hissed. “Ungrateful prick.”
“I would have let you suffer, arsehole.”
“Hey, have you guys seen Aeron?” Scarlet interrupted their bickering. “I need to speak with him.”
They paused their bickering, turning towards her at the same time. “He’s gone,” Zaph said. “Disappeared a few days ago, the morning after your Daemon carved into his head.”
Nahal raised a brow, showing more interest in the conversation than he ever had before.
“Gone as in resigned?” Scar asked, finding Aeron’s room to be stripped empty. “Where did he go?”
“What part of disappeared do you not understand?”
“Thanks,” she muttered, heading towards Cassiel’s office.
Someone had entered her room and taken everything from it, all while she slept. It was a direct threat, and she wasn’t sure how to handle it without risking Silas. Aeron was her first thought, but if he’d disappeared, that left only Cassiel.
“You should have called.”
Scarlet paused, looking over her shoulder to find she was alone. The office door was closed, Cassiel’s voice muffled through the wood. Guards weren’t permitted to walk this floor, and the officers were only there by invitation only.
“We’re sticking to the schedule, as agreed.”
Moving closer, Scar pressed her ear to the door. Only for the door to open on her without warning. Heart in her throat she jumped back, eyeing Cassiel warily as he stood with his blood spattered white coat.
“Sir,” she greeted, hoping her voice didn’t betray her panic.
Cassiel pursed his lips, his eyes dragging down her body to take in her white dress. It covered her from her shoulders to her knees, fitted around her stomach with the fabric loose around her legs. His gaze lingered, but there was nothing sexual about it.
Stepping to the side he beckoned her to enter the room before closing the door behind her.
The hair at the back of her neck stood on edge, and she instinctively reached for her blade before her wrist was yanked violently, forcing her to drop it. Scarlet threw her weight to the side, but she’d already been grabbed, her airway restricted as she was lifted off the ground by her throat.
“Feisty little thing,” Gideon said in a monotonous tone, heavy brows pulled together as he studied her. Scarlet scraped her nails down his arm, but it did nothing. “Stalking corridors, and listening to conversations not meant for you.”
Up close his face was sharply square, with dark veins wriggling beneath grey skin. Black hair hung thick to his waist, so straight it shimmered against the bright overhead lights. He was starting to look like the epitome of death, the shadows beneath his eyes creating a sunken look against the red of his irises.
Cassiel stood, walking towards the stairs to the lower lab. “She’s needed.”
Descending, Gideon followed with ease, even as she fought and struggled. Her head was getting lighter, her lungs burning the longer she was without breath.
“Which means you can’t kill her,” Cassiel said sharply, and Gideon finally relaxed his fingers once he reached the bottom step.
“She’s a liability,” Gideon growled.
“She’s the only one that can help with my research.” Cassiel approached the table, a new Daemon spread out across it. She assumed he was dead, skin peeled back to reveal his organs in detail. But he moaned low in his throat when Cassiel approached, his arms and legs locked in the golden cuffs.
“A research assistant was never part of our agreement.”
“It is now.” Cassiel looked over his shoulder, a single brow raised. “She’ll do as I say, won’t you Scarlet?”
Gideon released her throat, only to grab her head and press his lips to hers. Scarlet fought, his teeth nicking at her lips until his tongue slipped through. She felt it, the spell wiggling inside her mouth. It began to choke her, swelling until it stole any remaining oxygen.
“Stop fighting, it’ll pass,” Gideon said when he pulled back.
“What did you do?” Cassiel rushed to her side.
“Forced loyalty.” Gideon’s smile was cruel, baring pointed teeth. “Don’t worry, it won’t affect what you need from her. It’s just a generic binding.”
The spell continued to wiggle against her tongue, making her gag.
“I’ve allowed Xahen’s mark to remain,” he continued with a dark chuckle, watching her without a single blink. “Maybe you can be of use to me after all.”
“Enough,” Cassiel snapped. “Why are you here? It was a risk turning up at my home.”
“I’m growing impatient.” Gideon dragged his gaze away from hers, and Scarlet felt herself sag with relief. “I need the final catalyst. You promised me an Archangel.”
“As I’ve already told you, I’m working on it. Not many Archangels are willing to travel from Aetherna.”
“Then I’ll just use you.”
Cassiel shook his head, turning his attention to the Daemon on the table. He began to thrash when Cassiel casually reached inside his chest. “Take me, and you won’t find anyone else in this realm with the ability to activate the final catalyst for you.” Pulling his hand back out, he revealed a liver far larger than it should be in his palm. “No one else can prepare the chalice.”
Gideon flicked his fingers, a ball of arcane turning the liver to dust. “I’ve entertained this for long enough.”
Cassiel sneered, wiping the residue down his coat. “You’ll get your Archangel. Until then, be patient.”
Gideon stood straighter, his presence alone giving off waves of power. It lapped against her skin, stinging the longer he remained. “I’ll give you a little more time Cassiel,” he said, his voice strangely calm. “Or you’ll be the next to fall beneath my power.”
With a blink he disappeared, taking with him the strange pressure.
Cassiel tutted, head tilted down to study the Daemon. “Still alive, fascinating.” Looking over his shoulder, he pinned her with a cold stare. “Sit,” he demanded, nodding towards the chair wheeled beside the table.
“You’re the one helping…” Her voice became strangled, the word Gideon lost.
“I said sit .” A dangerous edge bled into his voice. “Now.”
Scarlet sat, carefully tucking her wings away as Cassiel stood over her, a torch in hand.
“Open.” Once she followed the instruction he peered across her tongue. “Fascinating. Bound by the tongue. It’s an old Fae spell, different yet just as remarkable as the mark Lucifer gave you.”
“Why are you helping him ?” Scarlet jerked her head back. “He tried to destroy the Council, and kill you.”
“He was never going to kill me.” Cassiel leaned back, his expression cold. “Gideon’s a fool for coveting power that doesn’t belong to him. He will destroy himself, and then I will have my answer.”
“Answer?” she croaked, flinching when Cassiel gripped her chin.
“Whether Chaos can truly be contained. Hadriel was the first to create life using Chaos. But I plan to be better. My creatures are more refined.”
Scarlet tried to keep still, even when he released her to return to the table. Searching the floor she looked for her knife, finding it by the bottom step.
“Try it, and you’ll regret it,” he warned, his wings flipping out with a crack that echoed violently against the tiles. “Maybe you need to be reminded why you’re here. Let me show you something.”
Moving far calmer than she felt, Scarlet allowed him to guide her behind one of the shelves, his hand pressed against the centre tile. His palm glowed, and with a hiss a seam appeared within the grout, opening up to the other door.
With a shove she passed the threshold into the next room, the air suffocating as laughter and vicious screeches rattled around her.
A familiar smile greeted her, his yellow wings held tight to his spine. “Hey babe,” Kit said, sitting on a box beside what looked to be a cage. His stomach was red, the wound where he’d been impaled stitched up neatly. He held a long, metal rod, waving it to her before he poked it between the links and shoved violently, his other hand casually holding one of his guns.
There was a shriek, followed by a pained snarl as the cage jostled from side to side.
“Kit? I thought you’d gone.” Scar frowned at the cage, the sounds haunting. Metal sheets partially blocked the side, giving her only brief flashes of feathers and fur.
Kit poked the metal rod back through the cage, holding it inside long enough for smoke to appear.
“That’s enough, Christopher,” Cassiel scolded. “You don’t want to damage the specimen.”
Scar froze, her stomach recoiling as ice spread through her veins.
Christopher.
Kit shot Cassiel a glower, throwing the metal rod down like a petulant child before returning to face Scarlet. “You look surprised to see me.”
His hand loosely held the gun, Scarlet warily looking at it before returning her attention to his face.
“Imagine my surprise when my father tells me who you are.” Hopping from the box, he approached, his smile spreading. “You see, I was right. I said you looked familiar,” he said, closing their distance until his breath ghosted across her face. “You have the same eyes as your brother.”
Scarlet didn’t even feel herself move, her fist connecting with his nose with an audible crunch. Her knuckle ached, possibly broken with how hard she’d hit him, but she didn’t care. The only reason she didn’t hit him again was because Cassiel moved to pin her arms.
“Fucking bitch,” Kit screeched, blood pouring from his nose. He raised his gun, pointing it towards her face.
A hand sunk in her hair, wrenching her head back sharply. Cassiel moved her forward, past Kit to the front of the cage. Scarlet tried to scramble back, the monster inside snarling and clawing to be free, but she was held only an inch from the links.
Six humanoid limbs protruded from a single body, all ending with thick claws that seemed to have been pushed between the skin folds of where the fingers used to be. Pale blue wings were awkwardly stitched to its back, parallel to the protruding spine and completely limp but for a strange golden structure screwed into the bones. Then there was the head, so swollen it didn’t have a definitive shape, and was made up of an assortment of stitches in a strange patchwork of grey skin and white fur. It looked like multiple creatures had been spliced together to become one.
The monster threw itself forward until its snout smashed against the cage only an inch from Scar’s face, and a cold sensation burned through her chest as pale blue eyes met hers, holding an intelligence that had her stomach threatening to spill.
“Aeron?” she whispered, her body beginning to shake.
“What do you think?” Cassiel asked, his fingers tightening in her hair. “He’s my first successful prototype, thanks to you. The others barely survived an hour, their organs unable to handle the transition.”
Scarlet tried to jerk free, but Cassiel simply kicked her. She slumped forward when he released her hair, the creature’s breath rancid as he opened his jaws to reveal random fangs amongst blunter teeth.
“You asked me before where I get my specimens from,” he said. “I specifically choose strong men to work for me, ones looking for money or to escape. You were never supposed to be here, but in the end it worked out because you’re a perfect candidate.”
“No family.” Kit sniggered, his teeth red and his nose crooked. “A loner with no friends. Someone nobody will miss if you suddenly go missing.”
“Perfect,” Cassiel repeated, his fingers stroking through her hair while she remained on her knees.
“He was falling for you,” she whispered to Kit, her tears made of anger rather than sorrow. “Why did you have to kill him?”
She saw it then, the familiarities between father and son. Empathy leaked from Kit’s gaze, leaving behind a sick pleasure he failed to hide. He was enjoying her pain, revelled in it, even.
Kit released a single laugh, his hand sinking into his pocket to pull out his copper ball. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before. Alchemist were notorious with fidgeting with their preferred metal, even if it was copper compared to his father’s gold. “I kept wondering why I always found sheets on your mirrors.” Brows drawn together, he stepped closer. “Is it true? Does Silas wander the Null?”
“Enough,” Cassiel scolded, his fingers disappearing to point at his son. “Christopher, return to the officers’ quarters. I’ll need you to take over Aeron’s duties until he can be replaced.”
Kit didn’t acknowledge his father, simply smirking as he turned on his heel and left.
There was a heavy pause, her lungs aching from the frozen air.
“There’s a reason our kind are so strict with breeding,” Cassiel sighed, reaching for the rod Kit had used earlier. “Christopher is brilliant in many ways, but unrefined in others. I was hoping having him closer would be enough to help his… urges.”
Scarlet watched him walk around the cage casually, her cheeks stinging from where her tears were beginning to freeze, but she didn’t dare move.
“He lacks control, and it’s unfortunate that his interest in your brother ended in such a way. A waste, really. I was looking forward to meeting him. His body would have made a perfect specimen.” Taking the rod, he prodded between the metal links until the end sparked, and the creature wearing Aeron’s eyes and wings screeched in pain.
“Fuck you,” she said, unable to hold it back.
Cassiel smiled, laying the rod on top of the cage. “But as it were, things have clearly worked out. Without your brother’s sacrifice, we would never have met, and I wouldn’t have something to hold against you.” He let out a sound of amusement. “I hope you appreciate the irony of blackmail as much as I do. I’m sure Aeron does. Did.”
Scarlet held her ground when he approached, his touch soft as it brushed along her cheek.
“My research has been pushed forward, which means it’s time for you to bring me Lucifer.”
She swallowed the bile that threatened to spill. “And what if he doesn’t come?”
“Then I guess your brother will forever wander the Null. In pain and unable to find relief because I’ll make sure you’ll always face a mirror.”
“How do I know if you even have his eye?” she whispered, her voice becoming dangerously quiet.
“You’ll just have to trust me.” His fingers moved away, only to backhand her hard enough she tumbled against the cage.
The creature went crazy, and Scarlet managed to back away just before a claw could catch her through the gaps.
“Or don’t, it’s not like you have much choice. Bring me the Daemon, and I will give you what you’ve been longing for. You’ll free your brother’s spirit, allowing him to pass into the light just as you’d always intended.”
Scarlet straightened, licking across her lip to where it had split. She itched to reach for one of her arrows, the bone so sharp she’d have no problem slicing through Cassiel’s jugular. Instead she concentrated on her anger, heavy with the knowledge that he was right. She had no choice if she wanted to help Silas.
“Fail, and you’ll meet a worse fate than death.” Cassiel didn’t need to explain the threat, not as the creature’s snarls filled the room. “So, what will it be?”