Chapter 38 #2
Eventually, I break. I can’t stay quiet any longer. Given the ghost town we just exited, this really doesn’t seem necessary. “How much further?”
“About another mile.”
A bird’s shadow has been circling me for a few minutes. I glance down at it, frowning. “The vultures are already waiting for us to die out here.”
Abaddon looks up, squinting at the sky. “That’s a raven, not a vulture. His name is Ramiel. You’ve met before.”
Did we? I can’t recall.
“Oh. Right. Is he supposed to be Elohim’s scout or something?” I do remember that one asshole letter-carrier mentioning he was some sort of shapeshifter, so it’s not improbable…
“He doesn’t pick sides. Like the Profuga, he prefers to remain neutral.
” Abaddon holds out his arm, and the bird quickly drops from the sky.
I bet he’s relieved for the little resting place to perch on.
“Ramiel is the Archangel of Multiplicity, meaning his soul can be in more than one place at once. He prefers to do that in the form of a bird, for reasons he’s never told anyone. ”
The raven turns his head away, refusing to confess his secrets.
“You were supposed to stay in the Abyss.” Abaddon chastises. “Did Semyaza send you to tail me?”
It only earns him an angry squawk from the little guy, and I’ve officially seen it all.
“That reminds me.” I clear my throat. “What about Jackie? Will Malak bring her to Elohim now instead of the Abyss?”
With everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours, I guess I can’t really blame myself for forgetting about her, but that doesn’t make me feel like any less of a shitty friend.
Abaddon nods stiffly. “We have someone keeping tabs on the two of them. When they enter Israel, we’ll make sure someone takes her to Elohim.”
“Oh, good.” If she’s with Malak, he’ll keep her safe. Or, at least, he fucking better. I might just kill him if a single hair on her head is harmed. “And where—”
A scuttle of noise comes from behind me.
A second later, my lights go out, and I’m falling.
The first thing I notice is a painful ringing in my ears.
Then I open my eyes, where I’m greeted only by more darkness.
Even after the million fucking times I’ve woken up without my wits, I can immediately tell that this is different.
All my instincts are screaming at me in alarm.
Very classic kidnapper style, my head is covered in some sort of heavy fabric, and there’s a sickening metal locked around my limbs.
My ankles are bound, my wrists are bound… and I don’t remember how I got here.
Okay, so I may just be dreaming.
It feels unlikely, but I need to look at the facts. There’s a subtle, rhythmic vibration coming from under the cold metal bench that I’m sitting on, hinting at some sort of ground travel. Nothing makes any sense. I don’t know when I could have fallen asleep, nor when I got in a car.
Unfortunately, though, I can’t access any of the little tricks that I use to tell if I’m dreaming. I can’t count my fingers when they’re tied behind my back, and even if I could, there’s a ridiculous sack over my head.
Pain it is, then.
Imagining the chains binding my hands won’t be there anymore, or maybe just desperate enough to wake myself up, I slam my hands as hard as I can against them.
It stings like a bitch.
“Fuck,” I curse myself, gritting my teeth at the pain. “I’m not waking up.”
“That’s because you already are.” A male voice responds.
My whole body jolts at the shock—at just how bad my unawareness has been. He never made a single sound, and I can’t even see light and shadows right now.
These are simply fantastic circumstances.
I’m bound, kidnapped, and in a moving vehicle with an asshole that I don’t know. I can’t think of a better way to spend my night.
“Where am I,” I bite out.
“It doesn’t matter.” The responding voice is throaty and unusually deep, perhaps even a bit rough. Altogether unrecognizable, though.
There’s only one group of people who would go through all this effort to detain me, and I know virtually nothing about them. If this is the big, bad Adversary, I should probably be more afraid than I am right now...
“Are you going to tell me who you are?”
A short pause, and then, “Maybe later.”
Seriously?
“Look, I already know you’re with the Adversary,” I snap back.
In the silence that follows, I bite my lip, wanting to kick myself. I should probably be minding my manners with a goddamn kidnapper rather than baiting them. Even if I can’t die as a mortal anymore, I can definitely still be tortured.
Sighing, I do my best to humble myself. “I’d like a name, please.”
“You can call me the Devil, if you’d like.” There’s a slight jilt in his low voice, taunting me. And just like that, there goes my will to be patient.
“Real funny.” To Hell with niceties. I’m pissed. “Why don’t you take this sack off so I can see your little devil horns, in that case?”
No response.
Dammit! I need answers, and I need them fast. If I’m being transported somewhere, I could be running out of time. Think, think, think… What does the Adversary possibly stand to gain from capturing me?
It wouldn’t make any sense for them to go through all this effort just to kill me.
They have to want me alive for something.
Information about the Abyss or the Elohim, probably.
I’m the weak link, an easy target for torturing.
They could be taking me as a prisoner of war and transporting me somewhere that I’ll never see the light of day… Yeah, I really need to get out of here.
Shifting my body weight in an effort to hide the movements of my hands, I face them towards each other.
My power’s yet to fucking help me with anything, but maybe fear for my life will finally kick it into gear.
I just need something bright and hot, capable of burning a hole through the vehicle for me to escape.
Shadow, if you’re not dead, now would be a great time for you to return. I’d even suffer through listening to you talk again if you could save my life.
But… crickets.
Too many factors here are not in my favor. Even when I try to look for souls, there’s nothing. Nothing in front of me, nothing all around me. I didn’t even know it was possible to isolate someone like that. I’ve been so sorely unprepared for the capabilities of the Adversary—
“If it stops your futile attempts to escape any quicker, I can promise you that whatever you’re trying isn’t going to work here.” His voice is deader than a grave, and I have to fight back the flicker of panic that tries to light within me.
Rage does the trick.
I lean into it, growling through gritted teeth: “What do you want.”
Again, no reply comes. I expected just as much, but it was still worth a try.
At least my will to live is still thoroughly intact, even if I am acting a bit more impulsively than I prefer.
I know I need to get a handle on my anger and play the long game.
If I’m stuck here, I should use this to my advantage.
Because I’d be a fool to pass up any opportunity to scope out the Adversary, right?
“Fine. Let’s say you’re the devil himself.
” I keep my voice as flat as possible, and I’m glad the bag over my head hides how my nose cringes in repulsion.
It sickens me to entertain him. “That makes you the first beast of Revelations, yeah? Let me guess: You’re going to free Azael, and he’ll be the second one? ”
A hint of amusement edges his low, rolling voice. “Your beloved Council told you Azael was still imprisoned? I thought they might have let the Key to the Abyss in on our little secret by now.”
“Of course he’s…” I trail off, second-guessing myself.
“—Still held in captivity, being eternally tortured? Yes, it’d be very convenient if everyone believed that, wouldn’t it?”
Shit, shit, shit. He’s already getting to my head! I cannot put myself on the back foot here. “Look, if you’re going to kill me, could you just do it already? I’ve never been dead before, I’d like to give it a try.”
My captor fucking laughs, and I get the feeling it’s not at my sarcasm.
It’s a low, villainous sound that makes my blood boil even hotter, and he ends it with a steadying inhale.
“Ah, foolish girl. Do you not think I’m aware of your immortality?
If I killed you, you’d just come right back, and I would have lost track of you. No, I have no desire to do that.”
The reality of how deeply fucked I am starts to set in.
If my captor is telling the truth, then the Adversary wouldn’t even need an Antichrist. Not when they already have him. Azael.
He’s the one who brought so much evil into the world that God decided genocide would be a better option than letting it fester.
If he’s returned from wherever the Council had him locked away, then the end of the world must be a lot more imminent than I had thought.
The opening of the Abyss isn’t until the fifth trumpet in Revelation.
There were supposed to be seas of blood and such before me.
Is it out of order? How much time do I have left? I have to warn somebody—
“There’s nothing to panic about, girl. I have no motive to deceive you. I only want to have a little talk while we have the chance.”
With a sudden ache in my chest, I realize he’s reading every emotion in my soul. Uninhibitedly. Just like Abaddon.
And I can’t even feel him do it.
He doesn’t skip a beat, jumping straight into his next detestable musing about his findings: “Interesting. That scares you even more.”
“Stop it,” I growl, trying to clear my ego. I need to ignore his bait. He’s counting on me to be emotional, so I’ll do the opposite. I’ll think only with logic—even if it requires taking a likely noticeable steadying breath before I can say anything again. “Why did you abduct me?”
“Straight to the point, are we?” Insolence pours from his every word. “Fair enough. You see, girl, I need you to—”
“Kae,” I correct him, venomous and spiteful. “Not ‘girl.’ My name is Kae.”
Another pause. “Your birth name is Kaelene, actually.”
I jerk against my chains like a rabid, caged, snarling animal. “My name is whatever I fucking say it is!”
“Such a spiteful little creature,” he notes with acidic amusement. “Have you always been this uncivilized, or did the locust king turn you that way?”
“Have you always been this much of an asshole?” If one thing gets unreasonably under my skin, it’s self-righteous assholes calling me a name I no longer choose to use. “How about your name, you goddamn hypocrite. Did you give it to yourself after you got tired of Lucifer, or was it always Azael?”
There’s a beat of silence—followed by a short huff of a laugh.
“Interesting. Why ask me my name if you already know? Perhaps you’re more clever than I thought.”
I didn’t. It was just a hunch, and I never expected him to outright confirm it for me, but… holy shit. He’s Azael. This is actually Azael.
“And now the confidence diminishes,” he muses. “Your human nature reveals itself so easily. You’re very much afraid.”
“No,” I scoff, refusing to give him the satisfaction of being right, even if I’m internally panicking. “I’ve simply confirmed who you are, and now I know that I cannot believe a word you say.”
“Oh? And who am I?”
“You’re the Great Deceiver. Archangel of Corruption, the King of Lies... I’ve heard all about you and your disgusting habits.”
“No, Kaelene,” a low growl comes from the beast within him. “You have it all wrong.”
I don’t even hear him move before the covering over my head is ripped off— “I am the Great Accuser. Archangel of Nothing, Guardian of Chaos.”