Balance (The Divine, Book One) (33 page)

“Fellow,
I did not expect to see you again, much less find you here,” she said.

She
was an ethereal sight in a simple long white gown and sandals. She knelt and
put her hand on my forehead. The world began to clarify. The other angels were
dispatching the second hound, and now they were attacking Rebecca?

“No,”
I cried, reaching out for anything I could and sending it banging into the
angels. It distracted them enough to allow her to duck around them and run
towards us.

“Don’t
hurt her,” I said to Josette. I didn’t know if she could or not, but she had
six hundred or so years on the vampire, so I assumed she could.

“This
one is yours?” she asked, confused. She floated to her feet and held her hand
up to the angels. “Stand down,” she said to them.

Rebecca
reached my feet and turned. She hadn’t been running from them, but running to
reach me, to protect me from them. She hissed when they approached.

“Stand
down,” Josette repeated, placing herself between the angels and Rebecca. The
angels pulled up. One was older, his hair long and grey, his bare chest lined
with scars. The other was
younger, with a fresh face and
delicate features
. He reminded me of the angel I had found dead in the
snow.

“Josette,”
the older one said. “We’ve discussed this.”

Josette
was agitated. “We have done no such thing,” she said. “This man has come here
to help us, and you would destroy him and his companion?”

The
seraph glowered. “He is no man, Josette. He is a diuscrucis. You know the laws.
You have agreed to abide by them.”

They
were talking to each other like Rebecca and I weren’t even there. As if they
could just decide to kill us and make it so. As if we couldn't resist. I tried
to stand, my legs shaky. Rebecca caught me before I could fall.

“Look
at him,” Josette said. “Man, diuscrucis, whatever he is, he just about killed
himself to save us. I did not agree to return such benevolence with violence,
regardless of our laws. The law is short-sighted and flawed if that is how it
is intended to be interpreted.”

The
comment infuriated the angel. “How dare you,” he cried, the power of his voice
shaking the Monastery further, and causing Josette to shy away. “Do you still
not understand?” he continued, his voice back to a normal volume. “After all of
the time we have spent over the last three days speaking of such things? The
life a diuscrucis saves today is the life it barters for power tomorrow. That
is their history, that is their truth.”

I
didn’t appreciate being called ‘it’, and I didn’t appreciate being judged on
someone else’s merits.

“Excuse
me,” I said, trying to get into the conversation. The younger angel looked at
me, but the elder was preoccupied with browbeating Josette.

“How
do you know they are the same?” Josette asked. “What if you are wrong? Moses,
the demons almost broke into our sanctuary! You know what that means. The
sanctuary is more important than my life or yours. Landon is a savior.”

It
must have been a bad choice of words, because the older angel, Moses, looked
ready to tear Josette apart with his bare hands. He raised his sword in front
of his face. It was different than the others, older, larger, and simpler. It
looked more like a medieval broadsword, and it had few runes along its surface.

“Josette,
don’t make me do this,” he said, his voice heavy with regret. “You have been
granted clemency for your years of loyal and honorable service to our Lord.
Please do not turn your back on His forgiveness, on His love. No matter what
this diuscrucis does today, if we allow him to survive he will be our
destruction, as his predecessor almost was. Please.”

His
eyes pleaded with her to join them on their side. Josette looked at me, hanging
from Rebecca’s arm. I was only conscious because she had shared her energy with
me.

“Josette,
it’s okay,” I told her. “Just let the vampire go,” I said to Moses. “She is
little threat to you.”

He
looked at me, his face empty of emotion. “No demon will leave this Monastery,”
he said.

In
that moment I realized why Heaven was having such a hard time. It was so
ordered, so unbending. It couldn’t adjust. Good was white, and evil was black,
end of discussion. Now Josette was caught in the middle because she dared to
see gray.

“I’m
sorry,” Josette said, still looking at me. Tears poured from her eyes. She
stepped away from us, and towards Moses.

“The
Lord will forgive me, for he knows my true heart,” she said to Moses. She
pulled her sword from the ether and held it out before her. “I do not wish to
fight you Moses, but I will not allow you to slaughter those who have done you
no harm, and in fact have saved your life. The only perfect being is God, and
He did not write this law. We did. I challenge its validity according to the
rights bestowed upon me by my consecration.”

Moses
took a deep breath and sighed. “Your rights were lost when you
Confessed
. You know that. You cannot make a formal challenge
for seven years. Please do not do this.”

Josette
cast one last glance back at us. “You have given me no choices,” she said to
Moses, her voice filled with sadness. “I will not let you kill them.”

“Then
that is your choice,” he replied.

He
wielded the broadsword as if it were a toothpick, holding the massive blade one
handed, cutting and slashing with speed, grace, and precision. Josette danced
around the older angel, her body a blur as she twirled and twisted away from
the sword. She didn’t make any effort to fight back, at least not yet, her size
giving her a distinct advantage on the defense.

The
younger angel approached us. He handed me a simple white linen robe, which
reminded me of my nakedness.

“Thank
you,” I said, sliding it on over my head. I was sure Rebecca had noticed me.
What did she think about what she had seen? Why did it matter so much?

“My
brother,” the angel said. “He was outside.”

I
knew the angel had looked familiar. I shook my head. “I’m sorry,” I said.

“I
believe you,” he replied. He paused to think. “You will help us?”

I
nodded. “I’ll help you until the balance is restored. After that, I make no
promises.”

“Then
let us hope Josette wins,” he said. “For I am willing to take my chances.”

The
battle was still raging, Josette and Moses continuing their angry dance.
Josette had joined the fight in full, adding her weapon to the mix. Their
swords were silver rays of light, whistling through the air, crashing into one
another, throwing up a shower of sparks. It was impossible to say who was the
better fighter, impossible to guess what the outcome would be. The rage shared
between them was obvious, their mutual dislike apparent. In a way, it was good
to know that even the warriors of God were not immune to such emotions. As
Josette had said, they were not perfect.

For
every bit of strength the older angel possessed, Josette made up for in
agility. The huge broadsword came in at her from every conceivable angle and
speed, followed by a foot, a fist, or a knee, and she would dip and dodge and
parry without breaking stride, without making a mistake. Moses pressed the
attack hard to keep her on the defensive, like he knew that once she had a
moment to breathe, she would overtake him.

Just
when it seemed as though the fight would continue forever, that is exactly what
happened, and a moment later it was over. Moses reached out a little too far, a
little too high, and left himself a little too off-balance. Josette pounced on
the opening like a cat, springing forward and planting her sword in his stomach
and pushing him over with the weight she bore down on it. He hit the earth
hard, Josette straddling him like a surfboard, holding the blade in position to
prevent him from continuing the fight.

“Yield,”
she demanded.

Moses
coughed and glared up at her. “You are making a mistake Josette,” he said. “I
will not yield.”

She
twisted the sword, leading the older angel to wince in pain. “You have lost.
Yield, and we will leave this place. The sanctuary will remain safe.”

“I
will not yield,” Moses yelled.

He
grabbed Josette’s sword by the blade and threw it out of his body, sending the
slight angel tumbling backwards. His hands trailing blood, he pounced on her,
wrapping his arms around her neck. Josette struggled under his weight, her arms
flailing. She sought to gain leverage to get him off, finding it difficult on
the blood-slicked floor. Sickened, I pushed against Rebecca, trying to find the
strength to come to her aid.

“This
is their fight,” Rebecca said, holding me in place. “You cannot intervene.” I
stopped squirming.

“I’m
sorry Josette,” Moses whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. Her
laboring had ceased, and I wasn’t even sure she was still alive. That was when
I noticed the knife.

It
was a demon’s blade, obsidian and serrated. It was lying just on the outside of
the pentagram that had been scratched into the floor, near a pile of decayed
ash that had once been a fallen angel. Josette’s hand was inching towards it,
trying to get a hold on it without drawing Moses’ attention. It seemed surreal
that it would come down to this, a scene that had been played out in movies
that was happening now for real. I focused on the blade, and with the little
energy I had left I pushed it, an inch or less. It was enough.

Josette’s
fingers wrapped around the handle, and she jerked the blade up and into the
back of Moses’ shoulder, burying it deep in his flesh. He cried out in shock
and pain, giving her the chance she needed to get her arms under his chest and
shove him away. He landed on his feet, pure animosity pouring from him. Josette
staggered to a stand.

“How
could you?” Moses cried, his bare chest already beginning to show signs of the
poison. He turned to the younger angel. “Thomas, holy water.”

Thomas
raced back through the doorway into the room Josette had referred to as the
sanctuary. Josette walked over to the stricken seraph.

“I’m
sorry,” she said. Her eyes were wet with tears.

“You
should be,” Moses said. He spat blood at her feet. “Your soul is tainted
Josette. Since you met this crossbred demon-spawn you have lost your way. Do
you think he is the solution to our problems? Do you think he deserves to live
while I die?”

His
anger turned Josette’s sorrow into an equal rage. Her voice boomed in the
gigantic room. “No one deserves to die for no reason other than being.” She
pointed at Rebecca. “Not even a demon.”

Thomas
returned from the sanctuary, racing by us to deliver the holy water to Moses.
The older angel’s’ poison was spreading, but he remained strong enough to
continue his vitriol.

“You
are filth Josette, a sorry excuse for a servant of the Lord. You turn your back
on Him because you don’t trust in His plan. You should be grateful to Him, for
showing mercy on you after what you did with your own brother.”

It
was as though in that moment all of time and space came to a screeching halt.
Thomas hit the skids, stopping a good ten feet away from Moses and Josette, his
eyes like saucers in response to the elder seraph’s words. Josette’s face
drained of all color, and a frightening darkness flashed in her eyes. I remembered
what Josette had told me about her brother. I could piece together what she
hadn’t. The vampires had thought she was a virgin, and in a sense she was, but
for their intents they were wrong.

Josette
wrenched the demonic blade from Moses’ back and without hesitation reinserted
it into his heart. She pulled it back out, and stabbed him again, and again,
and again, the fury of her hurt, guilt, and shame overcoming all other rational
thought, overwhelming her spirit of goodness. She sobbed as she punctured him,
over and over, brought to a stop only when Thomas grabbed her from behind and
held her to him with her back pressed up against his chest. Moses coughed up
some blood, his face cracking with poisoned veins, and passed without another
word.

“Josette,”
Thomas whispered, trying to calm her. “Josette, please it’s me, Thomas.” She
flailed and fought, trying to break away, to continue her assault on the now
empty form. “Josette.”

I
looked at Rebecca and motioned with my head. “We have to help her,” I said.

Rebecca
helped me walk over to Josette. Her face was feral, her growls
incomprehensible. I reached out and put my hand under her chin, making sure her
eyes were in line with mine.

“Josette,”
I said, my voice as soft and warm as I could make it. “It’s Landon. It’s okay.
You’re going to be okay.”

I
sank my gaze into her eyes, searching for her in them. She was seeing right
through me, blinded by her pain. I leaned in and kissed her forehead. In
response, a whine poured from her lips, a flat, straight, painful, powerful
sound that felt as though it had her whole existence wrapped up in it. It
continued for uncounted minutes, her sorrow heartbreaking. When it tailed off
she collapsed into me, and I lowered her to the floor.