Dust (Bones, Ashes and Dust Trilogy #3) Page 9

'Ready?' he asked her.

  She nodded and closed her eyes.

  The air stilled, the breeze dropped as the sounds of the morning seemed to disappear. My skin prickled, every nerve alive and awake as I watched them. Nothing was happening, but everything was happening at the same time; I could feel it. Warmth flooded through me, and a calmness swept over me, settling inside my stomach. The air around them began to shimmer, almost like a heat haze. Although Josh had dissolved his wings, and Sophia had lost hers, I could see the ghost of them folded behind their bodies. I couldn't see Josh's face clearly, but Sophia's eyes were screwed up in concentration.

  I don't know how long they stood there, time had fallen into a hole where it didn't move forward or backwards. Everything had stopped.

  And then the spell broke. Josh stumbled backwards. He threw his hand to his forehead, bent forward and vomited.

  I jumped out of the car, nearly falling over as I became entwined in the seat belt. I disentangled myself and ran over to him.

  'You okay?' I heard Sophia ask as she stood over him.

  'Hey,' I said, rubbing his back. It felt weird running my hands across where I had just seen his phantom wings.

  'Yeah, I'm…' He vomited again.

  'Let's get you to the car.'

  He stood up, still unsteady on his feet.

  'I'm fine,' he snapped, before adding, 'honestly,' when he saw the look on my face.

  'What happened?'

  'Nothing,' said Sophia, 'I couldn't connect with Josh. I tried but….'

  'I couldn't find him,' said Josh, 'it was like there was an impenetrable wall that kept pushing me back.' His face was pale, his hands trembling. He tried to hide them in his jacket pockets. 'It wasn't like this before.'

  'Times are changing,' said Sophia, 'maybe he's already cleaved?'

  Josh nodded. 'I think you might be right.'

  'How do we find him now?'

  'I have to do something I really didn't want to do.' Josh looked over at Sophia. Although no words were spoken their eyes seemed to say everything.

  'What?'

  'I need to go to Death. I need to ask her for help.'

  Josh fell forward as his wings erupted from his back. The pain ripped through him, stealing his legs from underneath him. I hated seeing him suffer, and yet, the beauty that emerged from that pain was captivating. My heart seemed to take flight as I watched Josh straighten up and stretch his wings.

  'Are you sure this is a good idea?' I asked, studying his pale face. 'You don't look so good.'

  He walked over to me, put his hands on my arms, and planted a kiss on my lips. His kiss lingered on my skin, like a beautiful bruise. A sadness fell upon me.

  'I'll be back soon,' he said, stepping backwards with a melancholic smile. He turned, outstretched his wings and took flight.

  I watched as Josh disappeared before my eyes, consumed by the azure sky.

  I was so tired, almost dead on my feet, and yet I couldn't rest, my mind was too wired. I needed Josh back with me. I dropped down to the floor, lay down and kept my eyes on the sky, awaiting his return.

  'Sleep,' said Sophia, coming to rest beside me.

  I shook my head.

  'He'll be ok.'

  I flashed a weak smile at her.

  'You know, when I first met you, standing by Josh in the bar, I thought you were a mouse. I didn't know what he saw in you. A human.'

  'Thanks,' I said, sitting up, 'but I know I'm the weak link. You don't have to tell me that.'

  Sophia smiled at me. 'No. No, you're not.'

  'Yeah.' I looked at the floor and began playing with a tuft of grass peeping out of the scorched earth. 'That's not the impression you've been giving me.'

  'Jesus, Evie. Do you really think Josh would have brought you along if you were weak? Maybe you should stop with the self-pity.'

  Wow. Self-pity? My Gran had this old saying about the pot calling the kettle black. I smiled as I remembered her and wondered what she'd think about what I was doing now.

  I looked out towards the horizon. The sky was on fire, the golden fingers of sun coating the red roofs of the little town in the foothills below us. People were down there, going about their business, doing normal things in their uncomplicated lives.

  For a moment I felt a pang inside me, a pang of loss for a simple life, and then I realised I was grieving for something I'd never had anyway.

  'You could've walked away at any time, and you haven't.'

  I shrugged. 'I love him.' I turned my head to face her. 'Why the change of heart? You hated me when we first met.'

  She considered my words. 'I didn't hate you. I…look, I'm sorry.'

  'I still don't trust you.'

  'And I don't blame you.'

  'But I don't think you killed Hass.'

  We sat in silence, staring at the sky of gold.

  'They're coming,' said Sophia, jumping up from the floor.

  'I can't see them,' I said, standing up, shielding my eyes from the sun with my hand.

  'You won't, not yet, but I can hear them.'

  I waited. And then the air around us began to shimmer. The increase in temperature burned my skin, then faded, as Josh and Death seemed to step out of nothingness. My heart jumped as I caught sight of Josh again, and plunged when Death's eyes locked on to mine.

  'Ah, a welcoming committee,' said Death. She looked at Sophia and smiled. 'Sophia? It is, isn't it? Only I'd forgotten your name as I haven't seen you in such a long time.'

  Sophia pursed her lips. 'Well, I could say, we shouldn't have left if so long, but I won't because if I did, I would be lying.'

  Death smiled weakly. 'So Josh tells me you need help. That you've lost the Spear.' She spoke directly to Sophia. 'Again.'

  Sophia twitched beside me. She balled her hands into fists at her side.

  'We need to find Hyperion,' said Josh.

  'And what are you going to do then?' asked Death, putting her hand on her hip. 'Give him the Book of Solomon too?'

  'Are you going to help or not?' snapped Sophia. She looked like a coiled spring waiting to explode.

  'How this must pain you, Sophia, asking me for help.'

  'Oh, Azra, why don't you just shut the fuck up,' snapped Sophia.

  My mouth dropped open. I stared at Sophia, unsure that I'd heard what I thought I'd just heard.

  Death looked like she'd just sucked on a whole grove of lemons. 'I'll just leave you to it then,' she replied, her eyebrows raised, her chin jutting out and her eyes sparkling with angry fire.

  'Don't pretend to be the injured party here, Azra.' Sophia stepped towards her, finger raised in the air. 'Do they know what you've pulled them in to? Do they?'

  Death stepped back. 'Sophia,' she warned.

  'What? You think I'm scared of you?'

  'Don't!'

  'What's going on?' asked Josh.

  'Nothing.'

  'Tell them,' demanded Sophia.

  'It's nothing to do with them.'

  'I think you'll find it has everything to do with them.' Sophia turned to Josh. 'Do you know why she won't fight Hyperion herself?'

  'Sophia, stop,' said Death, her voice lacking its usual harshness. She moved forwards, her palms up in supplication.

  'No,' said Josh.

  'Because she can't. She's too weak. That's why.'

  'Sophia,' said Death. It was a warning.

  'Our friend, Death here,' she said, her delight barely contained, 'can't fight Hyperion because -'

  'Stop,' said Death, her voice was quiet, tired, resigned. 'I'll tell them.'

  Again, a pause.

  I looked at Death. She looked smaller, less threatening somehow.

  'I am one of the four horsemen.'

  'What?' Josh asked.

  Of course she was! It was obvious, really. How could we have missed it?

  'And?' added Sophia, trying to force her to reveal more.

  Death sighed. 'And…it's complicated.'

  'It's not complicated,' said Sophia, '
it's pretty simple.'

  'Okay,' snapped Death. 'I am not an angel. I am an outsider, with no power in the angelic realm. I am physically weaker and….'

  'And? Come on.'

  'And I cannot afford to meet Hyperion. I know he wants to control me and he has the means to do it.'

  'You're scared of him,' said Josh.

  'He who has dominion over death is God,' I said.

  'What?' asked Josh.

  'It's true. If he manages to reunite the relics he will be able to summon me. If he summons me, he can control me, conquer me. And if he conquers me there will be no hope. He will use me as a weapon to destroy everything in his path. I will not be able to tend to my tapestry of life. I will not be able to read the threads of peoples' lives and therefore I will not be able to see when they die. Everything, every life on earth will be in his hands. He will use me to kill Lucifer. He will use me to kill God. He will become God.

  'How do we find him? I can't hear his music anymore,' said Josh.

  'It will be difficult,' she said. 'I finally managed to persuade the Virtues to try to track him, but they couldn't find him at all. That's not all. Lucifer came to see me a week ago -'

  'Lucifer?' I squeaked.

  'And you're telling us this now?' I could tell Josh was struggling to control his temper.

  'Things have...developed…'

  There was something about the way she hesitated, the look on her face, that made my stomach roll, tossing the ball of anxiety around in my gut.

  'A development?' asked Josh, tilting his head towards her, his eyes narrowing. 'What kind of development?'

  'Lucifer is threatening us with all-out war -'

  'Jesus Christ, Azra! Like, do we really need this now? I mean, does he know what we're dealing with here?' screeched Sophia.

  'He does and he doesn't care. His dominions are becoming restless, they say we have broken the terms of the Ten Thousand Year Truce.'

  'How? What terms have been broken?'

  'Several; Hyperion's murdered angels and demons using demonic weapons, he's been using a demonic text, the Necrodemonicon, in his pursuit of power, and he's been hiding out in a demonic territory….

  'Where?'

  'Centralia.'

  'The earthly door to Hell? Is Hyperion completely crazy?' asked Sophia. 'Did he want to be caught?'

  'I don't know,' said Death.

  'And I thought Hyperion was smart,' said Sophia.

  'He is,' said Josh. 'It's all part of his game, his big plan. He's trying to cause friction between and angels and demons. He wants war. It would make it easier for him to take over.'

  'I think you're right,' said Death. 'He cleaved there, with Lucifer's own weapon –'

  'Dark Soul?' asked Sophia. 'No wonder Lucifer's pissed.'

  'And he broke it in the process.'

  'Wow,' said Sophia.

  'So he's finally cleaved?' asked Josh.

  Death nodded.

  'And they didn't think to tell us that he was hanging out there?' asked Josh.

  'They didn't know, not until recently.'

  'And even if they did know, why would they tell us? We're not exactly friends,' said Sophia, 'which makes me ask; why are they telling us now?'

  'That's a good question. I suspect Lucifer doesn't want to go to war, despite all of his bluster. He's spent too long growing fat on the spoils of peace.'

  'Spoils of peace?' asked Josh.

  'Drinking, whoring, possessing humans, and whatever else he likes to do in his free time,' said Death.

  'And is that fact or pure speculation?'

  Death clenched her teeth and smiled. 'Put it this way, it didn't take much to talk him down. The Lucifer of old wouldn't have thought twice about summoning a war council and declaring all-out war. It helped that Lucifer knows Hyperion has already cleaved his Arkhe from his soul, and in doing so has relinquished his position as an angel. He also believes war is what Hyperion wants, so for the moment, he is staying his hand.'

  'That wouldn't have stopped Lucifer in the past,' said Sophia. 'It would have probably spurred him on. And how does he know Hyperion has, in fact, cleaved?'

  'It seems that the actual process of cleaving has weakened Hyperion, but the effect will only be temporary. The demons saw the opportunity to drive him from the Gates of Hell, and when he fled he left behind his Arkhe, encased in a lead box.'

  'Where is his Arkhe now?' asked Josh. 'Can we use it, to defeat him?'

  'No. But it is safe. Lucifer is holding on to it. For now. We need to bring Hyperion to heel, because, if we don't, Lucifer made it clear war will be the only option left. He conceded that Hyperion is acting independently of the angels at this moment in time, but, if we don't rein him in and he manages to reunite the relics, triggering the Apocalypse in the process, it would then become an angelic matter and in direct contravention of the truce. War would have to be declared.'

  'What's this truce you keep talking about?' I asked.

  Death flicked me a look of distaste.

  'The Ten-thousand-year Truce,' said Josh, 'came at the end of a long period of war, The Eternal War, between the angels and demons. It set out a list of terms for peace.'

  'And if any of those terms are broken Eternal War breaks out again,' said Sophia.

  'Don't sound so enthusiastic,' said Death to Sophia.

  'What? War's my business. And anyway, don't pretend you don't like war too.'

  Death raised her eyebrows and placed her hands on her hips. 'Used to be your business. And anyway, if I like war so much why would I have talked Lucifer out of it?

  'Really? You're going to play that game, and keep on pretending? You're just running scared. I remember the old days, the look on your face on the battlefield. You loved it.'

  'Why should Josh help you?' I asked.

  'What?'

  'Why would Josh help you when you're going to kill him anyway?'

  'Evie,' warned Josh.

  'No, she's right,' said Sophia. 'Why should he help you?'

  'Because he owes me a life,' she said, speaking directly to me.

  'And you need him,' said Sophia.

  'Can you make him a fallen?' I asked.

  'No,' said Death, 'like I have already said, that can never be.'

  'Surely there's something you can do?' asked Sophia. 'They're risking their lives for you. For all of us.'

  Death was silent.

  'Hyperion told me,' said Josh, his voice sorrowful, 'that he knew of the reason why Evie and I are connected so intensely. He told me if I joined him, he would tell me.'

  I didn't know this. My heart broke and yet jumped with hope.

  'Josh,' said Death, her voice was sincere and lacked her usual coldness, 'I am sorry to have brought you into all of this, but you can never be a fallen angel.'

  My heart crashed down again. So Josh was to die after all.

  'I think,' said Death, 'there is a reason why you are attracted to Evie. There is a deeper connection there. I cannot make you a fallen angel, but if you help me I promise I will look into this link that you share.' Death reached over to Josh. She cupped his chin her hand and forced him to look at her. 'I promise.'

  Josh prised his face from her hand.

  'We still have a problem,' said Sophia.

  'Apart from Hyperion?' snapped Death.

  'Yes. Even if Josh helps you, he still can't kill Hyperion. You can't even kill Hyperion,' said Sophia, 'and I certainly can't kill him. He's an Archangel. It's forbidden.'

  'I'm going to die anyway,' said Josh, 'why can't I do it? Besides, he's not an angel anymore.'

  'Hyperion may not be an angel, or a demon, but he's certainly unstable. If you had tried to kill him when he was a full angel it would be dangerous, but now….'

  'Obadiah didn't die like that,' said Josh.

  Sophia placed her hand on Josh's shoulder. 'Not all angels die the same. Especially if they're from different elements. Obadiah was of air, Hyperion was of fire. Add to that the fact that Hyperion is now
unstable, I would say he would explode with the force of an atomic bomb. He would destroy everything within a five-mile radius.'

  'So what do you suggest, Sophia?'

  'You're asking me?'

  'Well, you are the warrior here,' said Death.

  'Was, Azra, as well you know,' said Sophia turning to me and Josh. 'You have the Book of Solomon?'

  'Yes, it's hidden somewhere safe.'

  'I need you to go to it.'

  'Why?' asked Josh.

  'It contains all knowledge, of both heaven and earth. And hell. I'm hoping it will give us some information, some idea of how to stop him safely. When we know that, we have a chance of stopping him.'

  'And what are you going to do, Sophia?' asked Death.

  'I'm going to see my father -'

  'Your father?' said Death, her eyebrows arched high on her forehead. 'The father that disowned you?'

  Sophia glared at her with a face that said, 'Are you for real?' She breathed in deeply, then said 'I'm afraid you are wrong, Azra, my father did not disown me. Blood ties us together, family is family.'

  If only that were true, I thought.

  'I have an idea which will need my father's, and your, expertise,' said Sophia.

  'Now I'm intrigued,' said Death, 'tell me more.'

  'I think there is a way to kill him. One weapon that can neutralise his power; Starfall.'

  'Starfall? And where would we find this weapon?'

  'My father.'

  Death smiled. A smile that sent shivers down my spine.

  Chapter Eleven

  Josh had promised he'd tell me everything; that was our compromise, our pact. And yet there were still things unspoken between us. I knew I was being unfair, that we hadn't had any time in which to discuss these things, not when we were preparing to stop the Apocalypse and destroy Hyperion. But, on the other hand, I'd had plenty of time in which to think about everything on the journey back to Oakwood. And thoughts unspoken tend to fester and harden over time, especially when they're continually tossed around inside a brain.

  My heart had fractured when Death finally confirmed that Josh couldn't be a fallen angel.

  All hope was lost. And yet, I couldn't give up. I couldn't give up on him. On us. On the chaos that was unfolding around us. I would be with him until the end, however painful that proved to be.

  And then he'd said something about a connection we'd shared, a shared past which neither of us remembered. Hope took flight again. Was this the key to unlock our future happiness?