41. ZARA
ZARA
A knock on the kitchen door startled me just as I settled down at the kitchen table with my laptop and my coffee the next morning, followed by Raquel’s voice asking if she could come in.
“About time,” I said, pulling open the door. “You didn’t come back. Again.” I’d actually been a bit worried about her, especially when Jules had told me she hadn’t seen her either since just before Seth had been due to come back, but I wasn’t about to tell her that.
“I’m sorry. My father ordered me to stay away from you, and I didn’t think it would be wise to defy him. But I overheard him and Gabriel talking last night and I had to come and warn you. Can I come in?”
I stepped back to let her pass. “I take it you know what happened with Seth then?”
She nodded. “I’ve been doing a bit of poking around, trying to find out what’s going on in the Underworld, but they never say anything about it when they know I’m around. I only overheard them yesterday by chance.”
“You must know something that can help us. What about where the gateway to the Underworld is located? If we knew that, we might be able to reach out to Seth and find out what’s going on.”
“It’s at the top of Mount Kailash but never mind that.
Michael found out you’ve been bugging Gabriel to bring Seth back and he is so angry.
I’ve never seen him like this before. That’s why I’m here.
To warn you to stop before he— Oh! I have to go.
” She faded away just as Gabriel appeared right next to where she’d been standing.
He cursed when he realised he’d missed her.
“What do you want, Gabriel?” I demanded before he had a chance to ask where she’d gone. Not that I could have told him because I didn’t have a clue. “I don’t recall summoning you. Have you come to tell me when you’re bringing Seth back?”
His eyes narrowed as he glared at me. “Let’s get one thing clear, kitten. You do not summon me. I did you the courtesy of coming before because you asked me to.”
“Fine. Well I definitely didn’t summon, I mean ask you to come this time. So I assume you’ve got some good news for me. When are you bringing Seth back?” One of these days I was going to learn not to provoke beings that were so much more powerful than me. Today was not that day.
“I told you before, I’m not bringing him back,” he snapped. “Now tell me why Raquel was here. And don’t bother denying it because I heard you talking to her.”
“Well firstly, stop listening to me when I don’t know you’re there.
It’s rude. And secondly, what makes you think I wasn’t talking to myself?
It’s the only way to have a sensible conversation around here sometimes.
” I gave him a pointed look, so he’d know that was a dig at him.
“Are you drunk again, Gabe? I hope you’re not hallucinating up any more of your shitty prophecies. ”
His expression darkened, and for a moment I thought I’d gone too far and landed myself in deep shit, until the sound of a throat clearing startled us both.
“I do hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
A look of something that wasn’t quite fear, perhaps more like wariness, flashed across Gabriel’s face when he realised we were no longer alone.
“We’ll finish this later.” He disappeared in his usual flare of golden light, and I turned to face Nero.
“Good timing, boss. But I didn’t call for you either. What gives?”
He smirked. “I didn’t like the tone the shiny angel arse was taking with my favourite apprentice.”
So that was how he’d known about Gabriel visiting me last time. He’d been listening in. Just how often had he been watching over me without me knowing he was there?
“Well, while I’m grateful for the intervention, what are you doing here, Nero?”
“Keeping an eye on you of course,” he admitted without a trace of hesitation. “Somebody has to. Why was Gabriel here?”
“He was looking for someone.” I wasn’t about to say too much in case he was still hanging around listening, and Nero obviously got the message I was trying to telegraph into his head, because he immediately wrapped an arm around me and transported us both to his study.
“There. You can speak freely now. Who was that dipshit looking for?” A giggle escaped me at his use of that word. I would have expected something like ignoramus or imbecile from him, but never dipshit.
“Are you sure it’s safe to talk here?”
“Completely. I ramped up my wards as soon as I found out about the Watchers. Now tell me what that was all about.”
“Raquel came to see me,” I said, sinking down into my favourite armchair.
“She said she didn’t come before because her father has warned her to stay away from me, but she managed to slip away today.
She said Michael knows I’ve been bugging Gabriel to bring Seth back and he’s angry.
But more importantly, she knows where the gateway to the Underworld is.
She said it’s ‘at the top of Mount Kailash’, wherever that is. ”
“Of course,” he murmured, “I suppose I should have thought of that.”
“Do you know where it is then?” I had a vague feeling I might have heard of it, but I couldn’t remember when or why.
“It’s in Tibet, and there have certainly been plenty of rumours surrounding it over the eons, including it concealing a portal to heaven.
It’s considered to be insurmountable too, which makes it about as secure as anywhere could be.
I don’t see how this helps you though. What do you intend to do with this knowledge? ”
There was only one possible answer to that question. “I’m going to go and find Seth of course so he can tell me to my face what he’s playing at.”
He shook his head sadly. “I understand how much you want to see him, but I don’t think you realise what you’d be up against. You did hear what I said about it being insurmountable didn’t you?
The harsh environment alone would be deterrent enough, without whatever wards the Watchers may have in place. ”
“It can’t be insurmountable if Gabriel was able to take Seth there,” I argued. “And it’s not like I’ll be climbing it, I’ll ask Jed to open a portal for me. As for wards, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
“So let me get this straight, you think you’re going to persuade Jed to portal you to the summit of Mount Kailash – which I can tell you now he won’t do by the way – somehow find a way to breach whatever wards are in place and find the gateway, and then what?
Knock on the door to the Underworld and demand they send Seth out? ”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. And if they refuse to open the door, I’ll blast the fucking thing down.
” The wall sconces rattled as my siren started to surface.
“If you’re going to try and convince me it’s a bad idea, then there’s no point talking to you.
You can just take me back to the manor.”
I was up from my seat and pacing now, and the glasses and bottles of liquor he kept on the sideboard started to vibrate as my temper rose and the chair I’d been sitting in started to hover a few inches off the floor.
“Stop that, Mathitevómenos, before you do something you’ll regret.
” A wave of his power flowed over me and the energy that had been building up around me dissipated instantly, leaving me shaking with the adrenaline that had flooded my system now my emotions had nowhere else to go.
A wave of shame hit me too, at the thought of how easily I could have turned my powers on Nero.
“I’m sorry… I don’t know what… I could have…”
“Hush dear one. I’ve got you.” He drew me into his arms, and I leaned into him, grateful for the soothing energy he was projecting at me while I struggled to get myself under control.
“You wouldn’t have hurt me.” I wasn’t so sure.
“Even if you’d tried to, I wouldn’t have let you.
But you wouldn’t have. You’re angry at the situation, not at me. ”
“I have to try and see him, Nero. If he tells me he’s got everything under control, then fine. I’ll just have to accept it. But I need to hear it from him.”
“I understand how you feel, I truly do, but storming the castle isn’t the answer. Even if you managed to find the gateway, only those of the Watchers’ bloodline can pass through it apparently.”
“He’s right. There’s no way you’d be able to get to Seth unless they let you. Which they won’t.” I nearly jumped out of my skin when Raquel spoke from behind me and I glared at Nero.
“So much for no one getting through the wards.”
He tutted. “Even my wards can’t stop the Oracle.” He didn’t look at all happy about that. “I told you before, she’s a law unto herself. But why are you here Raquel?”
“To ask for sanctuary.” Her voice sounded odd, hoarse and scratchy, and she wobbled unsteadily on her feet, holding a hand out towards Nero imploringly before her eyes slid shut and she started to crumple to the floor.
I winced as I waited for the thump when she hit the deck, knowing I didn’t have a hope in hell of getting to her in time, but Nero was next to her in the space between heartbeats, catching her easily and laying her gently on the sofa.
I gasped as the shawl she’d had wrapped around her fell open, revealing a ring of bruises around her throat that could only have been made by someone’s hand.
“My gods,” I whispered. “Do you think Gabriel caught her and did that to her?”
“Whoever it was, they won’t get the chance to do it again.
” The unbridled anger in his voice shocked me.
I’d seen him irritated before – usually at me – and saddened by some of the things he’d seen and heard on our visits, but never so openly furious.
“She may not be quite who we always believed her to be, but regardless of what she’s done, she’s still one of us. And we take care of our own.”
He laid a hand tenderly on her forehead and muttered some words in a language I didn’t understand but that seemed to vibrate with power. “There. Sanctuary has been granted. She is under my protection now.”