Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 (25 page)

The voice drifted in her ears, so
close that Kara expected Lilith to jump down from one of the
buildings.

After the city had blurred past her,
Kara ran through the grey desert. David and Peter’s feet dragged as
she struggled forward. Strong winds pushed against her, but she
ploughed on.

“
KARA! THIS IS NOT OVER!”
Lilith’s voice rose over the wailing winds.

A red rectangular box appeared ahead.
Kara blinked the dust out of her eyes. It stood like a lonely star
in a pitch-black night. She shot towards it at full
speed.

Then, with a gasp, Kara, Jenny, Peter,
and David collapsed inside the elevator.

Chapter 20

The Debrief

R
ays of yellow light spilled through the glass dome, and
illuminated the dust motes like sparkling jewels. Majestic stone
buildings floated above in a perfect blue sky. The air was hot and
musty.

Kara stood before the Council. She
clasped her hands behind her back and waited patiently. While the
silence unnerved her, the glaring eyes from the Council members
were torture. She had just finished recalling the events of her
mission for them, and now she waited for their counsel. Their faces
were bleak. They huddled together in deep conversation. Every now
and then, a face would turn from the group and watch her, before
turning back.

She wished David were with her. At
least he could make her laugh and find a joke in all the
excruciating seriousness. But he was still at the Healing-Xpress
with the others. Kara had been thrilled to hear that Jenny was
going to be all right. It had been a close call, but the archangel
Raphael had successfully healed her, and her friend would be back
on her feet shortly. Kara was even more pleased to hear that Peter
and especially David had suffered no permanent damage
either.

Kara had told the truth, and now she
didn’t dare look at Raphael. In a matter of minutes, she would be
summoned back to the High Council. Raphael’s deadly stare had
unnerved her during the debriefing. She thought the archangel might
rip her to pieces.

She was in a world of her own when she
heard someone clear their throat. Her eyes met the Council, and she
flinched.

The archangel Jeremiel’s face was
grim. “And that is how Lilith destroyed the archangel Zadkiel—so
easily?”

“
Yes,” answered Kara,
trying to keep her voice level. Even if she had spoken many times
before the High Council, her insides were still tight.

“
It’s as I said. She had
some energy field around her…there was a loud boom, and when I
looked back, Zadkiel was annihilated. There was nothing left of
him.” She studied the Council. Their faces had grown darker, and
Kara noted real concern in their eyes. They were
frightened—frightened of Lilith.

Jeremiel lowered his brows in thought
and considered for a moment. “I’ve never heard of a demon killing
an archangel so easily. From what I understood—they were not strong
enough. Asmodeus must have discovered something to enable this
Lilith to do so. Not only is she the daughter of a powerful
archangel, and a demon shape shifter—she is also a demon who can
kill archangels. This information, I’m afraid, is very grave
indeed.”

The council erupted into an argument
about the welfare of Horizon. Kara shifted her weight and lowered
her eyes. She waited until the voices tapered off. And when she
looked up at the Council, the archangel Jeremiel was staring at
her.

“
I hear your friends are
recovering nicely with the help of the archangel Raphael.” Jeremiel
lifted his brows. “They seem to have
misunderstood
their
instructions.”

Kara pursed her lips. She gave a small
nod. “Uh…yes…they should be back on their feet in no
time.”

The archangel gave her a reproachful
look. “The breaking of sacred laws seems to be a pattern with you,
Miss Nightingale. You knew the dangers pertaining to your
mission…and you still let them come with you. That was very foolish
of you. You are lucky their souls still live. I don’t even want to
know how you managed to get them across. But with the success of
your mission, the Council has agreed to let your friends off the
hook, as you say, for this time only.”

Kara gave the archangel a tight smile.
There was nothing she could say to that.

Jeremiel rubbed his chin.
“Kara Nightingale. You are positive this…this green
entity
spoke the truth
with regard to your late father, Asmodeus—that you and this Lilith
are the only two offspring?”

Kara glanced at the ground
momentarily. She had decided not to reveal every conversation she
had had with the green sun, especially when it had said that she
had darkness in her, and that she belonged in the netherworld. She
thought the Council wouldn’t understand and would probably consider
her a threat once again. They feared what they didn’t understand.
She was already a freak amongst the angels—she didn’t want to wait
in Tartarus while they figured out what to do with her. Kara rubbed
her temples.

“
Yes. I’m sure.” Kara said
finally. “The green entity had no reason to lie.” Kara wanted to
say,
because it was about to suck my
brains out, so that I would become one of them.
“It didn’t plan on my escape.” She knew it had told her the
truth.

Jeremiel arched an eyebrow
questioningly. “But how can you put so much faith in this wicked
entity—rest assured it is evil—it could have been lying to
you.”

Kara shook her head gently. “It
wasn’t. I could feel it. I’m good at telling if people are
lying.”

“
This thing isn’t a person,
Kara,” said the archangel Muriel. Her long wavy brown hair sparkled
in the light. She folded her hands on the table and regarded Kara
with a concerned expression. “It’s a creature of the worst possible
evil.”

“
So you know what it is?
You know what the green sun is?”

Muriel shared a long side-glance with
Jeremiel. “Yes. It is the creature Morthdu, the mother of all
darkness, the keeper of the netherworld.”

Kara fought the panic that threatened
to reveal itself—the creature had said that she belonged with it,
with them—that she had the darkness in her.

“
Perhaps this creature
wanted you to think it was telling the truth,” said Jeremiel. “It
knew you would come back and tell us what we wanted to
hear.”

Kara watched the Council. “I’m
positive it was telling the truth. Lilith and I are the only ones.
And believe me, Lilith is going to be a handful. From what I saw
and told you—she’s going to be back soon, and with a serious
vengeance. She’s pretty angry with me.”

The Council pondered silently. They
leaned forward and bent their heads together in mumbled
conversations again. After a moment, the archangel Jeremiel leaned
forward and clasped his hands together on the table.

“
Did the creature tell you
anything else you think we should know? Is there anything else
essential that you’re not telling us?”

Kara shook her head like a stubborn
child. Her head was spinning. “No. I’ve told you
everything.”

Jeremiel watched her carefully. Kara
was sure he knew she was lying, but he didn’t question her
anymore.

“
Kara Nightingale, you have
done well. The Council thanks you for your services. You are to
return to level five. The archangel Ariel awaits your return. You
will be informed if we seek another audience with you. That is all
for today. This meeting is adjourned. You may go.”

She had a strange feeling she would be
back in front of the Council very soon. After mumbling her thanks
awkwardly, she ran across the chamber, smiled, and bolted out of
the large iron doors.

Chapter 21

A Gift for a Friend

T
he sun was a yellow disk in the blue afternoon sky. A warm
breeze carried the smell of freshly cut grass and summer blooms.
The street was alive with the sounds of people scurrying in and out
of shops and the screeching of tires on asphalt.

Kara smiled at three little boys who
had their faces squished up against the glass window from a comic
book store. Their mothers peeled them away angrily, shouting about
oily finger marks on the glass.

“
Poor kids,” said Jenny. “I
put forehead and finger marks all over the windows on my block, and
that was probably why the owners chased me out all the time. I used
to think it was because they didn’t like my hair.”

Kara smelled fresh coffee. “I love
your hair. It makes you look like a cool fairy.”

“
Thanks,” Jenny giggled.
She sighed loudly. “I’m so happy Peter and David didn’t get in
trouble for their experiment with you. I wish I could have been
there—it sounded so cool.”

“
Well, I’m never doing that
again. It kinda hurt them—and me. But I’m really happy we’re not in
too much trouble. To be honest, I wasn’t sure we’d get away with
it. We were crazy to do it, you know, but we didn’t really have any
alternative. I think the Council is freaked out about the whole
Lilith thing.”

Jenny stared at the ground, her face
withdrawn. “I hope we don’t bump into that bleached psycho anytime
soon.”

Kara clenched her jaw and didn’t
answer. The truth was, she felt as though Lilith could pop by for a
visit anytime. What’s worse, with her talent for shape shifting,
Lilith could disguise herself as anyone. She doubted that her
half-sister would use the little girl disguise again.

Kara stared at the faces she passed on
the street. Lilith could be any one of them.

Kara frowned. There was no way of
telling. She knew that the demon princess still wasn’t finished
with her.

“
So…what’s the assignment?”
asked Jenny a little more cheerfully. “You haven’t told me anything
since we jumped. I saw you whispering to David and Peter before we
left. What was that about? I saw how they looked at me. What’s
going on, Kara? And why are we back in Boston?”

Kara smiled. “You’ll see. We’re almost
there. It’s just—”

A long black leather coat appeared and
then disappeared in the crowd.

Kara froze. Her hand grazed the handle
of her soul blade inside her jacket. She strained to see down the
street through the mass of mortals. The coat was gone. Had she
imagined it?

Jenny stepped beside Kara and searched
her face. “Kara? What is it? Did you see something?”

Kara shook her head gently. “I…I
thought I saw something. I’m sure it’s nothing. Don’t worry. It
isn’t part of the assignment.”

“
Can you at least tell me
where we’re going?”

Kara pointed straight ahead. “There.
We’re going in there.”

Jenny frowned and put her hands on her
hips. “In the coffee shop? There’s a Rift in there? Come on Kara.
What’s really going on?”

“
Can’t tell you—official
CDD business—top secret. Come.”

Kara laughed and ushered
Jenny forward. She stopped in front of a red brick shop with a
large wooden sign that read,
One Stop
Café
. She wrapped her fingers around the
cold iron door handle and pulled.

The aroma of fresh coffee hovered like
a pungent mist and rows of freshly baked pastries and breads were
displayed on the counters of the little store. A variety of round
tables and chairs occupied a small space in the center. Kara
studied the people sitting at the tables. Her eyes fell on a
handsome young man with dark hair and grey eyes.

Jenny followed her gaze. She gasped
and covered her mouth with her hand. “Kara…what is this? What is
really going on?”

She turned and looked at her friend,
confused.

Kara didn’t answer and only gave her
friend a huge smile.

“
Wait a minute…I don’t
understand.” Jenny leaned closer. “How did you find him? How did
you even know? I never told anyone.”

Kara smiled confidently. “I have my
sources.” Kara laughed softly again. “Go on—talk to him. He won’t
recognize you, but you’ll seem familiar to him. Go and be with him.
You have three hours—you can be anyone you want.”

Jenny squeezed Kara in a bear hug. “I
don’t know what to say to thank you.” Jenny squeezed her tighter.
“You’re the best, Kara. I owe you one.”

Jenny released Kara and scampered
through the tables and chairs to stand next to the boy with dark
hair. He looked up at her and smiled. Kara noted how white his
teeth were. He was even more handsome when he smiled. She watched
as Jenny and he conversed for a moment, and then he pulled the
chair next to him and invited Jenny to sit.

Jenny settled in the chair. She turned
and waved back to Kara, a huge smile plastered on her
face.

A lump choked Kara’s throat. This
meant the world to her—to see her friend so happy. Jenny deserved
the world. She was an amazing girl. If Kara had to lie and sneak
out of CDD for a few hours for a friend—it was worth it just to see
that smile. In fact, she’d do it again in a minute.