Balance (The Divine, Book One) (13 page)

"Josette,"
I said. "It hurts."

She
knew I was back. I don't know how. She pulled the sword from my gut and took a
shaky step back. Her own energy was exhausted, and she was bleeding from her
temple. The second the blade was free. I fell to the ground, first to vomit,
and then to sob. What had I done? What had I almost done? What had I become? It
was all too much for me to handle. My body quaked as I cried.

Josette
knelt down next to me and put her hand on my shoulder. She didn't say anything.
She just let me know she was there. I appreciated it. It was something sane and
peaceful for me to grab onto, to identify myself with. The pain took some time
to subside, the pace of my healing seemed to be affected by the source of the
wound.

After
what seemed like hours I was able to calm myself, to stop the flow of tears, to
roll to a sitting position. When I looked at Josette, I saw that she had been
crying too.

"Let's
get out of here," I said to her.

She
nodded, and we helped each other to our feet. I tried to ignore the
disintegrating bodies of the vampires as we made our way out of the alley.
Sure, they were demons. Sure they were evil, at least in the greater hierarchy
of the Divine. It didn't make the act of killing any easier.

 We
carried each other back to my room at the Belmont. Once we got there, I doused
another rag with holy water and put it over the wound on her head. She smiled
at me as I did it, placing her hand over mine.

"The
demon will try to entice you with promises of power," she told me.
"Do not give in. What he seeks is to own you, or to destroy you so that he
can be set free."

"I
never meant for this to happen," I said. "How do I stop it?"

"I
will teach you,” she said. “But not tonight. Rest now, Landon. You have earned
it."

She
took my hand and kissed it, my body electrified by the warmth of her lips. I
had intended to crash on the couch, but I didn't make it that far. One moment I
was awake, the next I wasn't. When morning came, she was gone.

The
sun was doing its best to get through the crud covered windows when I woke the
next morning. My eyes opened slowly, and I experienced a moment of euphoria at
the fact that I was alive, until I remembered with certainty that I wasn't
really. Until I recalled what had transpired a few hours earlier. If there had
been anything in my stomach, I would have expelled it. Instead I dry heaved off
the edge of the bed for a minute before gaining enough of my senses to get
control of my repulsion.

I
scanned the apartment looking for Josette, but I knew right away that she was
gone. She had told me she would teach me, and she hadn't been lying, so I just
assumed she would be back. I went into the bathroom to look at myself in the
mirror. I was still wearing the clothes the demon had put me in. I couldn't get
them off fast enough. I tossed them in a pile and jumped into the shower,
enjoying the cleansing feeling of the water as it rained down onto me. It
didn't matter that it was tinged orange with rust, or that it sputtered and
choked its way out of the pipe. My requirements were simple, and it fulfilled
them.

Afterwards,
I spent a bit of time trying to will myself some new threads. Meeting only
failure, I resigned myself to wearing the bloodstained mess of clothes I had
discarded. Once I had put them on, I discovered that while I couldn't create
cloth from thin air, I could rearrange the existing material. I put myself in a
black collared shirt and blue jeans, with silver tipped black boots. I didn't
know if the silver was real or just a facsimile. I hoped I didn't need to find
out.

The
next order of business was to get some food into my stomach. As I made my way
out of the Belmont, it occurred to me that I probably didn’t need to sleep or
eat. Like the cold, perhaps these too were mortal desires that my brain was
continuing to cling to. I didn’t mind the hunger part too much. I liked to eat.

I
made my way out of the beat down section of town, keeping myself alert to any
other Divines that may have been wandering Manhattan. It was almost three in
the afternoon, and the city was in full swing. If it would be hard for me to
pick them out in a crowd, the same could be said for my own exposure. I found a
crowded deli to duck into to grab a bite to eat - Pastrami on rye, a pickle, a
knish and a large coffee. I located a small empty table and sat down, picked up
my sandwich and took a huge bite. I hadn't realized how hungry I was.

"Ah,
pastrami. Did you know that pastrami was invented by the Ottoman Empire during
the middle ages? It was even before my time."

I
knew that voice. I looked up from my meal to see Dante in the chair across from
me, a huge smile on his narrow face. He was still wearing the same suit, but
now there was a single red rose pinned to his breast.

"Buongiorno
Signore," he said, his mood jovial. "How was your first day back
among the living?"

I
dropped my sandwich.

"I'm
still here," I said.

I felt… what?
Anger, relief,
frustration, sadness, joy?
I had been waiting for Dante. Now that he was
here, I wasn't sure I wanted him to be. I had no doubt he wouldn't think too
highly about the relationship I had struck up with Josette.

"Yes,
you are," he replied. He reached over and picked up my pickle, taking a
bite out of the end. "Impressive on its own, given the circumstances. Was
my gift helpful?"

I
laughed out loud, attracting the attention of the people around me. "You
could say that," I said. "Although I think paper might have been a
little more durable." I told him about my run-in with Rebecca. He seemed
amused.

"Come
Signore," he said. "Let's go somewhere we can talk about more serious
things." He reached over and put his hand on my shoulder, and we were back
at the Belmont.

"Isn't
that trick reserved for Mr. Ross?" I asked him. The quick trip had left me
feeling a little lightheaded. "How did you know where I was staying
anyway?"

"Mr.
Ross' talents with transportation dwarf my own. I do have some abilities
though, within a limited area of effect. As to your second question, I
didn't," he said. "I just asked your subconscious to take us to a
familiar place." He looked around. "You haven't figured out what to
do with the blank card yet, have you?"

I had
forgotten about the card. I dug it out of my pocket and looked at it, twirling
it over in my fingers. I had an idea of what he was getting it.

"I've
been a little busy trying not to have my face ripped off," I responded.
"In any case, I'm done stealing other people's money."

I
looked up at Dante. I don't think he heard me. He was consumed with
deconstructing the apartment with his eyes, apparently not impressed by the
accommodations.

"You
don't like how I decorated the place?" I asked.

He
turned on me, a look in his eyes that caused me to take a few steps back. An
instant later it was gone, and he was smiling again.

"Not
what I would have chosen," he said. "Now, why don't you tell me about
the seraph."

Josette
wasn't there, but I should have known that Dante would be able to sense her. It
was nothing that he could have physically seen, but I knew there was an
indelible presence of her hanging in the air. I had felt it the moment I had
woken up, and it still sat in the apartment like a spring breeze. Oh well, no
denying it.

"Just
someone I met yesterday,” I said. “The only one who didn't try to rip my face
off.
Well, she wanted to, but we came to an
understanding."

Dante
sat himself on the dilapidated sofa. "You came to an understanding with an
angel? What kind of understanding?"

"Simple
really," I said. "I kill some demons, she doesn't kill me."

He
laughed at this. "As if she could," he said. "No Signore, it is
not as simple as you say. The seraph
Calmed
you."

I
didn't like the way he said it, and I didn't like the way it sounded.
"Calmed?"

"Angels
don't have dirty tricks,” he said. “They don't lie, at least not well, and
certainly not well enough to fool you. They won't stab you in the back or aim
to outright deceive you. Instead they have the power to
Calm
.
To put you at ease, and make you start talking about whatever they want to
know."

I
thought back to when we had sat together in the park. "Right, yeah, she
did that to me. We came to the understanding after that. At first, she thought
I was an angel, but she was suspicious, so she
Calmed
me."

He
seemed surprised and puzzled. "She thought you were an angel?"

"Yup,”
I said. “I was in the Apple store up on Fifth Avenue, and she was in there with
a friend. I noticed her, and I knew what she was right away, so I did my best
to get out of there as fast as I could. It wasn't fast enough though, she
spotted me and we left the store together. It was like she opened a port to my
soul. I could hear her speaking to me, but she wasn't actually talking. She called
me 'fellow'."

"Interesting.
Angels rarely communicate with each other verbally, it’s just safer for them
that way. The fact that she was even able to establish a connection with you is
incredible. This is not a trait that I believed diuscrucis possessed, and I am
certain it was not in Charis's repertoire. You said that Rebecca mistook you
for an angel also?"

I
took a seat on the couch across from Dante. "Yeah. She said I smelled like
an angel, but when she got up close she realized she was wrong. Here's the
crazy part, I got marked as a demon by a couple of Touched. They would have
killed me, but Rebecca showed up and stopped them."

"Why
would she do that?" he asked.

His
expression was pure confusion. His question was whispered, as if he was asking
it of himself. I could tell he was fighting hard to make sense of the whole
thing.

"She
said she's done the math and realized that if Hell wins, vampires are going to
become the new food source. She's not so sure she wants to play on the Devil's
team anymore, because there isn't much of a future in it for her."

Dante
didn’t look convinced. "A vampire does not just change sides,” he said.
“To do so would make them a target for every demon on Earth. She may have
helped you this once, but I would be wary of her true motives."

I
hadn’t thought about it, but it made sense. "Agreed," I said.

"Very
good,” he said. “Now, back to the seraph. You said you met her in Central Park,
but she was in this apartment. She
Calmed
you in this
apartment. I can feel the residual energy."

Calmed
me here? I didn't think so. Sure, I could feel the energy too, but that was
just
her
.

"Sorry
Dante, but we were definitely in the park. We were attacked by a demon, a Great
Were. We killed it together. She was injured, I brought her here and healed her
wounds with some holy water."

I
hadn't finished speaking when his expression darkened, his eyes turned black,
and he rose to his feet. The next thing I knew, I was pinned against the wall
by an invisible force that I couldn't break.

"You
healed her," he shouted. "The seraphim are our enemies! How dare
you!"

I
tried to move, but it was an overwhelming effort just to gather the willpower
to make the attempt. Every muscle in my body cried out in exhaustion, and even
my eyes began to feel heavy. I could feel the evil soul inside me stirring,
offering me the power to break free of these bounds and destroy the one who
held me here. I could sense my growing anger, and the temptation that
accompanied it. I remembered what Josette had told me. Not this time.

"What
right do you have to judge me," I yelled back with all of the force I
could muster. I doubted if it had come out as more than a whisper. "You
dumped me here to fend for myself, the only thing you told me was that the
balance had to be maintained. I don't know if you noticed, but the balance is
totally out of whack."

As
quickly as his anger had risen, it subsided. He lowered me to the floor and
bowed his head.

"I
am sorry, Signore,” he said. “Your words are true. I have no right to judge
you. Please forgive me."

He
spoke with such honest regret, my own anger faded as well. I shook my arms out
to make sure I was back to normal. Everything seemed to be functioning okay.

"It's
all right," I said. "There's something else you should know. After I
killed the demon, somehow I absorbed its soul."

Dante's
smile returned. "You killed a Great Were, and you captured his soul?
Fantastico!"

It
was my turn to be confused. "Josette made it sound like it was a bad
thing."

"Maybe
for her," he replied. "Do not be afraid to make use of every tool at
your disposal, Landon. The seraph will tell you that capturing souls this way
is dangerous, but while you remain in control you can use this power to your
advantage."