The Vaga (27 page)

She smirks. ‘Creative idea, but no.’

‘And why, if they know about him, aren’t they stopping him themselves? Haven’t they got an army of…of angels they can use or something?’ I kick my shoe across the room, stubbing my toe, but pretending I didn’t just hurt myself.

She cocks an eyebrow. ‘Stub your toe?’

‘No!’

She stands up and floats towards me, grabbing my arms. ‘I love you, but you are such a bad liar. Let me see it.’

I pull away from her. ‘No, I don’t need your help. Plus, I didn’t even stub it.’

She shrugs her shoulders. ‘Suit yourself…child.’

I scowl at her as I plonk myself down on the sofa. ‘This is all so messed up.’

‘Yes, it is.’

I look up. ‘Do you know that he killed Blake?’

Hearing myself say those words sends stabbing pains of guilt and remorse through me.

Her face softens. ‘Yes, Shem, I do. I’m so sorry about your friend.’ Her hand falls softly against my shoulder.

I bite my lip, trying to avoid the tears that are threatening to come again.

‘It wasn’t your fault. You have to know that.’

I wipe my eyes. ‘Well then whose fault was it? Because if he hadn’t of come here last night he would still be alive.’

‘Would he?’ She raises an eyebrow before sitting down beside me. ‘You spend so much time trying to protect everyone that you forget we each have our own destiny. You can’t control fate.’

I rest my head against her shoulder and she strokes my hair. Her touch soothes my pain, if only for a moment.

‘He is in a better place now, Shem. And I know that wherever he is, he doesn’t blame you for what happened.’

I think of Blake’s family, of what they would be going through. I know because I’ve experienced the raw pain of losing someone you love. My family has suffered more than most, and while I believe in the afterlife, it doesn’t bring as much peace as it should right now. Hopefully in time it will.

Ama’s energy shifts and an uneasiness passes over me. I lift my head to look at her. ‘There’s something else, isn’t there?’

She purses her pink lips and looks away from me. ‘There’s one more thing, but we can talk about it another time.’

More
? I don’t know if I can take much more to be honest. In the last few days I’ve reunited with Julian, saved my best friend’s boyfriend, who also happens to be a shapeshifter, discovered that Taqôq Wiyon is alive, and that Erebus is a Dark Lord who potentially wants to use me and Isis to bring about an apocalypse. And now Blake is dead and Ama is telling me that the Other Side wants a piece of the action as well. If “more” had a face, I’d punch the crap out of it right now.

‘We don’t
have
time, Ama. Tell me.’

She lets out a woeful sigh. ‘Shem, how do you think Erebus found you?’ Her arms fold across her bosom, highlighting the auburn frill of her neckline.

Shaking my head I say, ‘I have no idea. Apparently a Dominus didn’t believe I was dead and went out on his own to investigate, hiring the help of the Vaga. At least, that’s what Julian said.’

Her eyes momentarily dim. ‘Yes…Julian. We’ll come back to him in a minute.’

I forgot that Ama would have met Julian for the first time while I was astral travelling. I cringe inwardly, thinking about what that scene would have looked like. I’m betting it wasn’t fun.

‘Erebus didn’t find you by accident.’ She pierces me with her green eyes and a deep chill skates over me. ‘He found you through your mother.’

The soft rustle of her dress is the only sound I hear as her words penetrate my soul. Everything else becomes white noise. I don’t even notice when Magi lays her head on my lap.

My hand automatically clutches my locket. ‘Mum?’

A nod of her head confirms it.

The deep fissure within me where I keep my darkest feelings cracks open, letting a rush of profound pain seep out.

‘I…I don’t understand.’

Her composure starts to slip and the fissure opens a little wider, knowing that what she is about to say threatens to topple me over the edge of my already precarious state of mind.

‘Elena, Erebus has your mother.’

I shake my head violently from side to side. ‘No. That’s not possible!’

‘Shem—’

‘No! He…he can’t have her.’ I jump up off the sofa, turning my wild eyes on her. ‘You’re lying!’

She slowly stands, her aura expanding, lighting the room up in a flash of purple and gold. ‘You need to
listen
to me.’

‘No, I won’t listen!’ I shout. ‘What you’re saying can’t be true. Mum is
dead
. She can’t be his prisoner. She can’t be.’

Please don’t let it be true. Please don’t tell me that the reason I haven’t seen Mum is because he’s had her all this time, had her locked away somewhere…

‘The dungeon?’ I whisper.

Ama’s face crumbles as she nods once again.

Erebus has Mum locked up in the dungeon
.

The fissure breaks open and a cry of pain and anguish escapes me, so raw and primal that I fall to my knees, my heart and soul breaking, any light left within me going dark.

Ama cradles me in her arms. ‘I’m so sorry, Elena.’

Uncle Jo’s face is filled with a deep, unrelenting sorrow. As twins he and Mum were exceptionally close, and to lose her crushed him in more ways than one. Now to find out that she is being held prisoner in that hellhole has just unleashed his pain all over again.

He lays his head in his hands. ‘How can this have happened?’ He lifts his head to look at Ama. ‘How can he have her?’

The living room is quiet, all of us numb and grief-stricken at the news that Erebus has Mum.

‘The balance between good and evil has been going on since the creation of time, Josiah,’ Ama says. ‘Erebus rules his own dominion, and he has his own ways of manipulating that balance.’

‘But Evie was good. She should have been protected, surely?’

Hearing Uncle Jo say Mum’s name rattles me. Julian grabs my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I lace my fingers tightly with his, scared that if I let go I’ll never make it back from the dark abyss that my soul had been plunged into.

Ama shakes her head. ‘None of us knew where Evelyn was. It’s been years since we even caught sight of her. You know that. She wasn’t on The Other Side…at least not in a normal sense.’

After Mum died I tried desperately to connect with her spirit, to know if she was alright. Even Ama searched the planes of The Other Side looking for her, but with no luck. We didn’t know where she was, and it wasn’t until I was in Egypt with Uncle Jo, trying to find the light of Isis, that she revealed herself to us, helping us in our search. Since that time there has been nothing. No spell or prayer to summon her has ever worked. I had always hoped that after helping me she would have moved on, found some peace, but now I know that that hasn’t happened.

Ama continues. ‘And even if she was, it’s not like her soul can be controlled. It doesn’t work that way. Free will extends to
her
soul, just as it extends to yours. Erebus’ power would be strong enough that he would have been able to track her down, especially if she was outside certain spiritual parameters. There would have been nothing they could have done.’

Uncle Jo raises his voice. ‘Yeah, well I find that hard to believe. Forgive me if I don’t buy into the whole we-can’t-interfere bullshit!’ He stands up, raking his hair in frustration, his body trembling with anger.

‘Josiah, please. I understand—’

‘Do
not
give me the speech about how you understand, Amaris. Do not!’ He points his finger at her. ‘You have no idea how I feel right now.’ He moves over to the window, crossing his arms and looking out into the dawn of another day.

I know his agony. I feel it too. It’s a helpless, hollow wound that will never heal. Tears sting my eyes again, but I refuse to let them fall. I’ve done enough crying to last a lifetime.

‘We can’t leave her to him,’ I say, my voice uneven. ‘I won’t allow it. So why don’t you tell us what they know, Ama?’

She shifts her gaze from Uncle Jo to me and a fire burns within her stare. Normally she wouldn’t let Uncle Jo get away with speaking to her like that, but under the circumstances she’s letting this one slide. Good call.

She takes a measured breath before responding.

‘The Elders received word of strange sightings of creatures, mythical creatures, roaming the planet. This in itself isn’t unheard of, but it’s as if they were being more brazen in showing themselves. This was unusual, seeing as these creatures haven’t been seen in these numbers for a very long time.’

Julian’s hand tenses within mine and I know that what Ama just said coincides with what Cassius told him as well.

‘I’m sorry, but
who
saw them?’ Sam asks, his voice a little unsure.

The fact that he can see Ama, let alone speak to her, must be a bit of a shock. It’s not every day you get to speak to the dead.

Ama’s expression softens. ‘Angels, dear.’

Sam’s eyes widen. ‘Oh.’ He turns his head to look at me and I give him a reassuring smile. ‘Okay.’

Uncle Jo walks over to the lounge and sits back down, his mood still simmering with frustration. ‘Are you telling us that angels really do exist?’

She sighs. ‘Yes, Josiah, they exist.’

‘Well then why didn’t they do something before now? Aren’t they supposed to be higher up in the universal food chain?’

She purses her lips together, her face showing irritation. ‘I’ve already explained this to you. They do not interfere in our lives here on Earth. That is, unless they have a direct order from the top.’

Julian speaks up. ‘The top? As in God?’

Ama’s eye twitches before she answers him. She hasn’t been able to look at him directly yet without breaking out in a tic of some sort. I can’t say I blame her. Julian represents all the Venators who have walked before him, and every single one has Cole blood on their hands.

‘Yes, Julian. That is one of their names. They also go by the name of mother and father, and the universal Godhead.’

Julian scoffs, the loss of his parents rippling off him in waves.

Her eyes narrow. ‘You don’t believe in God?’

He takes a breath before responding. ‘Not if we’re talking about a guy in the sky who watches the horrors going on down here with indifference. No, I don’t.’

I can understand Julian’s position. I was there once. After Mum died I hated the world. I refused to believe that there was a higher power out there just sitting by and watching bad things happen to good people.

A lot has happened since then though, and I now believe that many different forces are at work in the universe. Some we see and others we don’t.

‘Then you might want to find some faith soon. You’re about to go into a battle that isn’t fought in the physical world alone.’

Those words hit him. I feel it.

Ama puts her hand up. ‘Listen, I know this is all a bit much to take in right now, but for time’s sake can we all just assume that if you’ve heard of it then it exists. Maybe not on this realm, but then we do know that parallel universes are real now, don’t we?’

She lifts an eyebrow and puckers her lips, looking like a schoolmarm berating her class of imbecile students. I press my lips together, resisting the urge to smile.

‘Right, now then, back to what we were talking about. The Elders, upon investigation, were told that Erebus himself had been sending out his cronies, or as you would know them, the Vaga. The Elders knew they were looking for something, but couldn’t determine what that was. However, there was one who was able to find out the truth. He was the one who was able to find out that your mother had been taken. His name…is Remiel.’

Her breath quickens as she says his name, and if I wasn’t mistaken I would think she was…blushing?

‘Who the hell is Remiel?’ Uncle Jo demands.

She turns a hard stare on him. ‘Josiah, please don’t use that tone with me.’

Uncle Jo blinks in surprise and Ama regains the upper hand once again.

‘Remiel,’ she touches her throat unconsciously, ‘is an angel—a guardian angel of souls in the Midst. He was the one who was able to track your mother’s soul. He is the reason I am here with you now.’

Uncle Jo throws me a dark look, and I know he is having just as hard a time as I am in taking all this in.

‘Souls in the Midst?’ Julian says.

‘Yes. The Midst is a region of the underworld, a place where lost and confused souls go. Remiel resides over them, making sure they are looked after and protected from evil, helping them to cross over to The Other Side when they are ready.’

‘If he’s in the underworld then he’s in the same vicinity as Erebus, and you’re telling me he did nothing!?’ Uncle Jo exclaims.

‘Josiah, mind what you say about Remiel.’ Her voice lowers and electricity crackles the air around us. ‘He is just and good. There are millions of souls roaming the realms. This is not something you know about, nor
should
you, but trust me when I say it is not as easy as you think. Tracking a lost soul is like trying to find a needle in a giant haystack—it’s precarious at best and dangerous at worst. There are rules angels must follow, laws of the nether realms. Remiel risked his own safety to track Evelyn’s soul. He could not have gotten to her without being detected. If it wasn’t for his courage we wouldn’t know that Erebus had her at all, so I suggest you show some respect instead of finding someone to blame.’