Balance (The Divine, Book One) (10 page)

Josette
was still unconscious when I returned to my room at the Belmont. The bedding
under her was red with her blood, still running out through the wounds on her
face and chest. I didn't know how much blood an angel could lose, but judging
by the coolness of her forehead and the shallowness of her breathing, it
couldn't be much more.

As I
stripped off her shredded clothes so I could treat the wounds, I had to remind
myself that even though she appeared to be in a child’s body, Josette was not a
child. Even so, it felt so wrong to be undressing her this way, but I had no
other choice. Her flesh underneath was pale grey, and the same lines of black
veins that I had seen on her face were also spreading from the cuts on her
body.

The
linens were already ruined, so I used the sword to cut out strips of cloth,
dipped them in the holy water, and placed them over the gashes. The affected
areas hissed and steamed as I did so, causing Josette to let out a soft moan
and the familiar scent of frankincense to fill the room. Almost immediately
some of the color began returning to her skin, and I could see the black lines
receding from under the edges of the cloths. I went over to one of the empty
hotel rooms to get a sheet to lay over her, then grabbed the box for the iPad
and sat down at the side of the bed.

I
slid the device out of the box and turned it on, then kept my eyes on Josette
while it booted up. The cut on her face was super deep, and had taken two
cloths dipped in the holy water before it had stopped bleeding. I wasn't sure
if it would ever heal completely. Otherwise, she was looking a lot better
already, her face flushing as the blood returned to it.

Wi-Fi
was pretty ubiquitous in Manhattan, and I didn't have any trouble finding an
open connection I could leech off of. I started with the basics. I typed 'how
to kill a demon' into Google and hit enter. It didn’t surprise me that all of
the results were filled with media fed, superstition based thoughts on
destroying evil beings, without a hint of truth to any of them. Holy water,
wooden stakes, garlic, blah, blah,
blah
. I hadn't
thought I would come up with anything there. I needed better sources.

At
the height of my illicit dealings in credit card numbers, I had belonged to a
message board called 'SamChan', so named after Samuel L. Jackson,
motherf**cker. If anyone knew anything real about the war between angels and
demons, I could probably get a line to them there. The channel was filled with
all types of hackers, crackers, conspiracy theorists, and other assorted
societal chafe that would buy and sell any data they could get their hands on.
I wasn't too sure I should try to use my old account, but getting access wasn't
as simple as entering an e-mail address and password. If anyone noticed they'd
probably think my credentials had been compromised, which would result in a
good laugh for all involved. That was assuming my account was still active. It
was.

I was
eyeball deep in a thread posted by a guy who was looking to sell or trade a
video he claimed was of a real vampire when Josette woke up. I wasn't looking
at her at the time, but I could just feel her presence change. It reminded me
of a butterfly bursting from a cocoon - one moment there was this ugly
emptiness, the next a fullness of spirit and beauty that caught me off guard.
When I turned my head to check on her, her golden eyes were open and alight
with an internal sparkle, and she was smiling at me.

"Thank
you," she said. I hadn't known what to expect, but gratefulness was a good
start.

"I
should be thanking you," I told her. "If you hadn't tossed me your
sword, we'd both be dead right now. How do you feel?"

She
took a moment, shifting in the bed a little bit. "The poison has been
purged. The wounds are healing, but I still feel a little weak. Why did you
save me?"

"Like
I said, you saved my life."

She
shook her head. "I saved my life, diuscrucis. You may have benefitted from
that, but it was not an act of benevolence."

No, I
suppose it wasn't. Had I really thought she was doing me a favor?

"Whether
it was intentional or not, you did. Look, whatever you think of me, I'm not a
bad guy. I'm just trying to make sure that mankind is allowed to govern its own
future. Letting you die would have been a negative on the scorecard, and
besides I don't think you deserved to go like that."

Her
eyes turned thoughtful, the sparkle shifting inwards.

"You
must understand, Landon,” she said. “This isn't about whether or not you are a
nice guy. This war has been going on for thousands of years, and now after
spending centuries gaining ground we are beginning to lose, and badly. There
was another who came here making the same claims as you. She earned our trust
and respect even as our enemy. She fought against us, and she fought with us,
but we believed she would never seek to deceive. We were wrong."

"You
mean Charis?” I asked.

The
name kept coming up. Was she the reason my inception here felt like such a
disaster?

Josette
nodded. "She used our trust to trick us, then gave us up to Reyzl. She
knew the outcome would shift the tide of the war, would go against everything
she claimed to be fighting for. She said we didn't understand the bigger
picture. We lost a dozen angels and countless mortal allies in the nights that
followed."

As
she spoke, tears began rolling down her face. She winced in pain as one slid
under the bandage and touched the wound there.

"What
happened to her?" I asked. Dante had said she was gone. He hadn’t bothered
to mention that she was a traitor. Why not?

"She
disappeared,” Josette said. “We have heard that Reyzl double-crossed her, and
stabbed her in the back while she was enjoying the fruits of her
betrayal."

I was
being racially profiled, except as far as I knew there were only two of us. It
figured this Charis had to go and ruin it for me.

“We
may have similar bloodlines, but we’re not the same person,” I said.

"It
is unjust I agree,” she replied, “but you must consider our perspective. Unlike
demons, it is very difficult to replace a lost seraph. Heaven is a wondrous
place, and few enough are willing to give it up to fight a war that has no
definitive end. To lose so many in such a short time was an event that none of
us can bear to see repeated. So we do not trust those who are not of our kind,
and we forbid alliances because the gain of an ally cannot compare to the
potential devastation that could follow."

She
put her hand on the sheet to hold it in place and sat up. When she dropped the
sheet, she was wearing a white leather raincoat over a plain white blouse. A
large diamond
cross hung
from her neck. She reached up
with small, delicate fingers and pulled the bandage from her face. As I had
feared, the wound had left a thin black scar along her snow-white cheek. She
ran her finger over it, her eyes dimming in sadness.

"I
should have known it was a trick," she said. "I have to go. You have
my gratitude for saving my life."

She moved
to head for the door, but without thinking, I stopped her. I put my hand to her
face, surprised by how small and soft it was in my hand. She didn't resist my
touch.

"We
both should have died today," I said, looking her in the eyes. "We
got lucky. I won't keep getting lucky forever."

Her
lips were trembling as she waited to hear me out, and to see what I intended to
do with her. Her wounds might have been healed but I could tell she was still
weak.

"If
you can’t or won’t be my ally because of your laws, I can accept that,” I said.
“But please don't leave without giving me the one thing that can help us both
stop this war from being won by the demons."

"Wh
..
.What is that?" she asked. Her voice was soft,
scared.

I
didn't know if it would work, but I had to try. I focused my will on my hand
the way I had focused on the air to make it rain. I tried to feel the damage to
her face, to pick out every molecule of imperfection that was marring the
otherwise flawless surface. I ordered the damaged cells to disconnect, pulling
the remaining demonic filth into my own body, and removing it from hers. She
shook as I did it, her eyes glowing brightly in surprise.

"Knowledge,"
I said, pulling my hand away.

With
the dirty tissue cleaned she healed without obstruction, and in moments the
scar was gone.

She
stared at me then for what seemed like ages. Her eyes were locked on mine, and
she was still as a statue. Her breathing evened out and her face flushed red. I
could feel the tension between us while I waited for her to decide what to do.

"Very
well diuscrucis,” she said. “You saved my life, so I will try to help you. Know
that we are not allies, and never shall be. I am simply repaying my debt, which
is well within the tenets of our laws."

She
smiled then, a big, wild smile that told me she had made up her mind, that she
was throwing her caution to the wind, and that she still didn't trust that I
wouldn't crush her with it. It was the kind of smile that comes from the
strength of willful disobedience and the underlying fear of the consequences.

"Now,
grab your sword and follow me to the roof,” she said. “I shall call this class
Demon Fighting One-o-one."

 I
went over to where my sword was resting by the window. I noticed it was dark
outside. "Josette," I said, remembering Dante's rules.

She
bounced over to where I was standing. Her whole demeanor had changed, and she
looked a lot more like a fourteen-year-old girl to me. She peered out the
window.

"What
is it?" she asked.

"It's
dark out," I told her.

"Yes,"
she agreed. "The sun has in fact set." She stepped back and looked at
me, her brow furrowing inward. "You destroyed a Great Were, and you are
fearful of the dark?"

I
could feel the heat of my flush rise up through my cheeks. "Dan
..
."

"Do
not," she cried out, interrupting me. When she was sure I was done
talking, she lowered her voice. "Do not say his name." Serious
Josette had returned.

"Why
not?" I asked her.

"He
is the only person ever to volunteer to leave Heaven for the Middle realm,” she
explained. “His name is to be forgotten and unwrought for all time, as is that
of his servant. That is our law. It is the only law that both Heaven and Hell
have ever agreed to. If you absolutely must make reference, he is known as the
Outcast."

Wow,
that was a lot of hate. I could understand why Heaven may have been cross with
him, but what had he done in Hell to cause such disdain?

"How
old are you anyway?" I asked Josette, trying to turn the conversation away
from things she wasn't allowed to mention.

The
seriousness faded, and the adolescent exuberance sprang back into view.
"That is your non-sequitor, Landon?"

The
way she giggled changed her from plain to almost pretty. My face flushed again.
Everything I said was making me feel dumber and dumber.

"I
know you aren't fourteen." It was all I could think of to say.

She
laughed louder. "You are concerned about this physical
manifestation?"

"I'm
more concerned about having undressed your physical manifestation,” I said.
“I’m sorry for that, by the way. I didn’t have any other choice."

It
was her turn to be embarrassed. It seemed she hadn't realized the efforts I had
to go to in order to heal her.

"Do
not fear Landon, I have been a member of the Order of Seraph for over seven
hundred years. I did die as a young lady, and have chosen to remain that way
because I find it comfortable and familiar. The same goes for the underlying
personality, although I do find it increasingly difficult at times to hold onto
the joy and innocence of youth."

Seven
hundred years? So much she had seen and done; centuries of war and fighting and
killing. Did she regret her decision to become an angel? I didn't ask, for fear
of spoiling her mood before she had taught me anything.

"Well
then grandma,” I said. “Let’s hit the roof."

The
rain had stopped some time earlier, but the roof was still slick from the
downpour, and the dropping temperature was already turning it into a sheet of
black ice. My footing was unsteady, and I was shivering from the cold as we
walked out towards the center of the rooftop. Josette didn't seem to notice it
at all, her knee high white boots moving her effortlessly across the surface
despite their four-inch heels. When we reached the center, she materialized her
own sword and held it up in front of me. She noticed how much I was shaking and
cocked her head to the side.

“What
are you doing?” she asked.

“It’s
freezing out here,” I told her, crossing my arms and rubbing my shoulders. I
guess I could have changed my shirt into a parka, but I had never seen any
movies where the samurai wore heavy, puffy coats.

Josette
laughed at me again. “Landon, you are Awake. Divine. You do not need to feel
cold unless you choose to.“