Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 (12 page)

Kara shifted her weight. “I accept,”
she said finally.

The archangel Leriel leaned forward.
“And how, may I ask, do you plan on entering the demon’s world?” he
asked with a hint of disdain in his tone.

Kara met his gaze. “The same way as I
did before. Through a Rift.”

“
Will they not sense your
arrival?” Leriel’s voice was cold, and he gave her a serious
look.

“
Maybe. I’m not sure how it
works. But don’t worry. I’ll retrieve the information.” She smiled
coldly at him. “I’ll be back before you know it. You can count on
that.”

Leriel pursed his lips and leaned back
into his chair. His face was expressionless once more.

The room was ominously silent.
Jeremiel raised his hand. “Kara. I will ask Ariel to be an adviser
on this mission. She will join you on level five when you are
ready, and you can discuss your plans with her there. You will have
the legion’s full cooperation on this mission.”

“
Thank you, I’m sure I’ll
need it.” Kara straightened, her face a calm mask. Her hands
twitched nervously behind her.
I’m coming,
Jenny. Just hang on a little longer.

“
I’m coming with you,”
whispered David. “And you can’t stop me this time.” He raked his
hair with his hands.

Kara frowned, and spoke with the side
of her mouth. “No you’re not. You can’t come with me, David. I’m
sorry, but it’s too dangerous for you. You know that.”

“
I’m coming.”

“
You’re not—”

“
What were you saying Mr.
McGowan?” Jeremiel swept his gaze between the two of them with
great interest. His dark eyes were locked on David.

“
That I want to come with
her,” blurted David. “She shouldn’t be going in there alone. She
needs my help.”

Jeremiel shook his head. His long
black hair spilled around his shoulders. “That is impossible, my
dear boy. Your angel soul would disintegrate into dust the moment
you crossed into the demon realm. It’s not possible.”

“
He’s right, you know.
You’d die.” said Peter, and buried his chin into his neck when he
saw David’s murderous expression.

“
She shouldn’t be going
alone! It’s suicide!” David’s voice rose, and Kara saw the
irritation flash across Jeremiel’s face. “There’s got to be another
way to cross. Maybe we just haven’t found it yet.”

Kara clasped David’s hand. She
squeezed it gently. “It’s all right David. I’ll sneak in and sneak
back out. I promise. I won’t let anything happen. I’ll be back
before you know it. Besides, it’s my fault Jenny’s been taken. I
just can’t leave her there. I’m the only one who can do this. I
have to do this alone.”

“
I don’t like it.” David
made a face and crossed his arms over his chest. “She expects you
to go, you know, Lilith.”

“
I know. But I can’t let
Jenny die just because my half-sister is psycho. I have to try and
save her.”

Kara and David stood and stared at
each other. An understanding passed between them. David squeezed
her hand back and smiled.

“
I get it,” said David. The
blue of his eyes glistened in the soft light. “Just don’t let
yourself get killed.”

“
I won’t. I
promise.”

“
Very well,” said Jeremiel.
“It is settled. Kara—may the souls protect you on your
journey.”

For the first time, Kara saw a hint of
a smile on Jeremiel’s lips. He pointed a long finger at David and
Peter. “You two are to return to CDD. You will report back to the
archangel Ariel, and remain at your post until further notice. This
meeting is adjourned.”

“
Wait! What about the
seirs?” asked Kara suddenly. “What are you going to do about
them?”

Jeremiel’s brow wrinkled, and he gave
her a little smile. “The seirs are a group of mortals who have been
causing havoc for centuries. They’re harmless, just a nuisance to
the rest of the mortal world. They are not a direct threat to us
and, therefore, not our primary concern. They can be easily dealt
with if they start making trouble. Don’t worry. Do not concern
yourself with them, Kara. Your only focus should be getting us the
information we need.”

“
Right. If you say so.”
Kara bobbed her head.

She watched the Council. They were too
confident. That was their first misstep. Their reluctance in giving
attention to the seirs was a mistake—a very big mistake. Mortal or
not, they could do some serious damage. But it was not for her to
decide. And Jenny needed her help right now.

With Jeremiel’s words echoing in her
head, Kara turned on her heel and stormed out of the chamber. She
didn’t wait for the others. She ran down the hall and passed an
oracle who was wrapping his beard around his head. She heard David
and Peter call out her name, but she ignored them and ran harder.
There was hope, a shred of hope, that Jenny was still alive. There
was only one way to find out.

She had to go back to the hall of
souls.

Chapter 9

Windows to the Souls

K
ara followed a small golden haired child through a field of
sparkling lights. His forget-me-not-blue robes swished at his
heels, and Kara hurried to catch up. An ebony sky loomed over them,
with thousands of bright twinkling stars. Kara knew these weren’t
stars, but the luminescent lights of hovering souls. Their intense
presence weighed heavily on Kara—the soft humming of millions of
tiny hearts beating at once. The souls were alive, waiting to make
the jump into another life, to be reborn as someone new. The hairs
on the back of her neck stood up. Warm air brushed her face, and
she quickened her pace.

But not all the souls in the hall were
glowing brightly. Some blackened globes hung close to the marble
ground. Their once brilliant light had been extinguished and only
empty shells remained. Her chest burned—these souls were dead—never
to be reborn. Asmodeus had released thousands of demons who had
massacred both mortals and angels. But Kara had also been partly to
blame. Without her, his plan would never have worked.

Kara hung her head and sighed. There
weren’t as many cherubs as she’d remembered, but there were a great
deal more than the last time she’d been here. She counted nearly a
hundred. Her heart ached at the memory of holding a dying cherub as
his body disintegrated in her arms. She never wanted to go through
that again.

Brilliant light surrounded them. The
soft tread of their feet on the black marble floors echoed all
around. They ventured deeper into the walls of dazzling spheres.
Radiant globes floated around them like giant fireflies. A surge of
warm energy fluttered inside her. After walking for nearly half an
hour, the cherub stopped abruptly and pointed.

“
Here it is. This is the
guardian angel, Jenny Harris’s soul,” he said in a mousy
voice.

Pain exploded in Kara’s chest and she
coiled her shaking fingers into balls. She leaned closer. She
blinked at the brightness and the warmth radiated on her face. She
reached out a trembling hand and touched the glowing
soul.

A jolt of electricity slammed into
her. Her head jerked back. Immediately she was overwhelmed with
images of her friend’s past lives. Faces of people she didn’t
recognize passed her in a blur—a dark skinned woman wrapped in a
blue and white sari stood before a mirror; a young girl with
tousled blond hair rearranged her dolls in a large colonial
dollhouse; a smiling woman with a face creased by wrinkles picked
strawberries in a field. Although the faces were different, Kara
could feel Jenny’s presence in all of them. It was as though she
had looked at old photographs of her own distant relatives—and
recognized family traits in their faces and eyes.

Then the images stopped suddenly. A
black ominous haze rose in her mind’s eye. The haze lifted
slightly. An image of an unconscious Jenny wavered in the black
mist. She was bent over, and a large iron chain was fastened around
her middle. Her skin was white and sick looking. The black mist
thickened, and Jenny disappeared.

Kara released the soul and staggered
back. Numbness spread through her body. Her head spun. A dull throb
sounded in her ears. A shiver rolled through her, and it took a
moment for her to gather herself.

“
Sh-she’s alive! She’s
alive!” Kara jumped into the air and grabbed a fistful of the
cherub’s robes. She pulled him into a tight bear hug and kissed him
repeatedly on the forehead. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Kara
released the confused and staring cherub.

“
Uh…you’re welcome.” The
cherub smiled nervously, flattened his robe, and scurried away
touching the spot on his forehead where Kara had kissed
him

Kara danced and skipped her way back
to the elevator. She extended her arms and ran through walls of
brilliant souls as if she were running in the fields by her
grandmother’s cottage. Her fingers grazed the soft globes. Tiny
shocks of electricity pricked her fingertips, and she waved
joyfully to the puzzled cherubs.

Kara left the hall of souls feeling
more hopeful. Jenny was still alive somewhere in the netherworld,
and Kara was determined to find her. While she was required to
gather information for the Council—it was her job to do so—deep
down she knew her own selfish priority was to save her friend’s
life. She couldn’t deny it. She wouldn’t leave Jenny to rot in the
bowels of the demon realm. She would save her, no matter what, even
if it meant going back to Tartarus—she didn’t care.

In the vision, Jenny had looked sick,
and Kara knew she didn’t have very long. Her mission to discover if
there were an army of Liliths could wait until another trip—that is
if she made it back at all. Kara knew that telling the Council that
Jenny was alive would be a mistake. They would force her to ignore
her friend—or worse—wait until Jenny’s soul had died before sending
her out. No. She decided to keep this piece of information to
herself. There was no reason to alarm the Council since they all
believed Jenny was dead anyway.

Kara strolled into CDD an hour later.
She made her way through the desks and chairs and noticed a few new
faces she didn’t recognize. A few angels glanced her way as she
crossed the room. They mumbled to themselves, and she heard her
half-sister’s name whispered along the way. CDD was worse than a
local high school when it came to keeping secrets. It appeared that
her mission was on everyone’s mind. Kara glared at the onlookers,
and they quickly turned around and pretended to busy themselves
with their work. But she still caught the murmurs of her name once
or twice. Her freak status was still an ongoing topic of
gossip.

She made her way slowly towards the
large desk in the middle of the chamber. All but one of the chairs
sat empty now. Apparently, David and Peter had not come straight
back to level five. Kara wondered briefly what they were up to. She
had a strange feeling—David was set on coming with her. She hoped
he wasn’t doing anything stupid or careless. With David, it was
almost always reckless, whatever it was. It was his motto. He was
always getting into trouble. And now he had dragged Peter with him.
Ariel sat alone at the desk. She looked up as Kara
approached.

“
Hello, Kara,” said Ariel.
She gestured with her hand. “Please, have a seat. I’m sure you’re
anxious to get going, but I have a few things to go over with you
before you depart.”

Kara pursed her lips and nodded. She
took a seat opposite the archangel. She folded her hands in her lap
and waited. With her fingers twitching, she contemplated telling
Ariel about Jenny’s soul, but decided against it at the last
minute. She hardly knew Ariel; she wasn’t sure she’d keep her
secret. She couldn’t take that chance.

“
The Council explained to
you how important this mission is to the legion. Are you mentally
prepared for it?” Ariel leaned forward. Her big toffee-colored eyes
watched Kara carefully. “Do you have everything you need?
Weapons?”

“
Yes, I think so.” Kara
wiggled in her seat and returned the archangel’s gaze. “Apart from
a few weapons, I don’t need much else. If I’m to
spy
—then I should be
more invisible than anything else, right?”

“
Yes, you’re quite right.”
Ariel looked along the table and then back to Kara. “Do you know
where to find the Rift that leads to the netherworld? Any ideas
where it could be situated?”

“
Well, I was hoping Peter
would help me with that.” Kara glanced behind her. “I thought he’d
be back by now. I wonder where he is—”

“
I’m sure he’ll turn up to
see you off. Don’t worry.” Ariel looked serious.

“
Kara, listen to me. You’ll
need to be extra careful. We know nothing of this Lilith. All we
know is what you have told us—that she claims to be Asmodeus’s
daughter—although we have no proof. Her anger towards you seems to
be proof enough for the High Council now, but it smells rotten to
me. And I don’t like you going in there alone.”

Kara shrugged. “I don’t have a choice.
No one can come with me.” Jenny’s pained face wavered in her mind’s
eye. She leaned forward and placed her hands on the table. She
sighed impatiently.