Angel Dust (15 page)

There'd be no more going down to Earth, he'd have Raquel's spare pass off me like a shot and Marcus's Extension would be cancelled.

A shudder went through me. Raquel's spare pass was the only thing left that allowed me to get in and out of Heaven. What with the new checkpoints and the curfews and the breach and the Army, I
had
to hang on to it.

I said as much to Raquel later, when the day's work was done and the jars of amber nectar filled. We were hanging out under some palms by a crazy beautiful beach, south of the City. Raquel was in a hammock and she'd got on an ‘awesome' sarong filled with all the colours of the rainbow. And I was telling her I adored Collection Duty (and thank God for her spare pass).

‘Why?' said a sad voice I remembered from the evening of the garden party.

I turned my head. There was Kamuel, the same tall, sombre, melancholy figure, still as breathtakingly beautiful, still as noble.

‘Why,' I stammered, suddenly overcome by the sheer grace of him. ‘Why, because Collection Duty is the only real work of God.'

Kamuel pulled himself up a chair and sat. ‘Why do you say that?' he asked.

I thought of Robyn and the senseless waste of her life. I thought of the baby, so innocent, so damned by man's Original Sin. I thought of Original Sin and the Devil and his waging of war against us. I thought of the stench of Hell, the fiery pits. I thought of Joey and his pleading eyes. I thought of Marcus and how he'd laughed in the face of God's bad joke.

I turned to look up to Kamuel. ‘I've seen things,' I stammered. ‘I've seen the darkness. I've seen it and I can't forget it or unlearn it. I . . .' My voice trailed off. Why the hell had I said that?

Kamuel studied me gravely.

‘I think, I've seen it for a reason,' I continued. I didn't know why I was telling him this. I shouldn't be. I clamped my mouth shut.

‘Here, honey, have some angel cake.' Raquel slid a dainty slice of pink and yellow and white gateau at Kamuel. (We angels practically
never
eat; we live on fresh air, ambrosia, honeydew and perfume.) ‘Just a nibble, it won't hurt.' She smiled, all dimples, all charm.

The sickly-sweet smell of the cake mingled with the salt tang and the ocean breeze. I thought of the streets on Earth. Life wasn't all romantic beaches and cake there, was it?

Kamuel, noticing that my bounce had gone, that the fiery brilliance of my eyes was dimmed, placed a hand upon my shoulder. And Raquel, tiring of such gloomy faces, got up and said she was going for a dip. She picked up a towel and headed off down the beach.

‘So thoughtful,' murmured Kamuel. But whether he was referring to Raquel or my gloom, I couldn't divine.

But I nodded anyway. I was thoughtful.

‘And very beautiful,' he added. I looked after Raquel's departing figure. She was very beautiful.

I didn't reply. I'd started worrying about Marcus again.
What was he going to do when he found out about Joey?
I quivered from my neck to my wing tips. There was something about Marcus that frightened me – something so volatile and reckless. He might do
anything
.

Kamuel lifted his hand from my shoulder. ‘I need to ask you to help me with something,' he said.

I was so glad he'd spoken. I immediately said, ‘Yes, of course.' (And to be asked by an Archangel for assistance is the highest honour.)

‘It will not be an easy task,' he said.

‘No?' I looked at him.

‘It will demand loyalty and sacrifice.'

I nodded, suddenly worried that I might mess it up. ‘I'm a bit scatty,' I said anxiously.

‘You'll be fine,' he said, ‘if you truly see your mission as to ease suffering and save souls.'

I nodded. I hoped so. I waited for him to tell me what to do.

‘Then meet me later after you've left your friend.'

I nodded again.

‘Meet me by the North Gate.'

‘The North Gate?'

‘Yes, where the Army is watching over the Abyss.'

I gulped. I blinked.

‘I'll meet you there,' he said, ‘by sundown.'

He stood. He bowed to me. He took my hand and kissed it in a strange old-fashioned way. Then he left.

I sat there, faintly shocked.

The North Gate?

That was madness! God's Army would be everywhere. All my feathers curled up at the thought. For Christ's sake why had I ever opened my big mouth?

Raquel returned. She towelled down. ‘
Cripes
, thank
God
, Kamuel's gone!' she cried. ‘He makes me feel so
serious
. Everything is so
solemn
and he's so
brooding
. Even you started getting glum.'

‘I like him, though,' I said loyally.

‘Of
course
you do, darling, everybody
adores
him.'

‘But I do like him,' I said.

She threw her marble-white arms around me. ‘What a serious little softy you are,' she cried. ‘What was all that “I've seen the darkness” rubbish? When you've been down to Earth as many times as I have, you get pretty fed up with the darkness; it's all so boring and useless and nobody'll ever sort it out. But you're a legend! You completely saved me today.'

‘It's nothing,' I said. ‘I like all work, and I love Collection Duty.' I started to wax lyrical about the timing of a Passing Over and how wonderful it was to make it serene and how an extra slanting ray of sunlight or a rainbow shimmer worked miracles on a half-repentant soul. Raquel looked at me, wide-eyed.

‘Wow,' she said, ‘if you like it that much, you can help me out every day!'

‘Yes,' I breathed. ‘Yes, please.'

‘There! Aren't you a treasure,' she said. ‘I told Maybelle just as much, though she seemed to think God's Army were after you for something.'

‘God's Army?' I said, instantly petrified.

The contract?

Larry?

Raquel laughed. ‘Said she'd heard it on the Fig-Vine.'

‘Heard what?'

‘Oh, just that. God's Army are on to you, sweetie.'

When the sun was just sinking below the crest of the Sapphire Mountains I left my cell. The Seraphim were still holding their vigil, the Superiors attending devotions. The Cloisters were practically closed since the breach, so there were no new arrivals, no one to spy on me – thank God.

I didn't know what work Kamuel intended to give me, but God's Army were camped north of the North Gate, so knowing we would meet near there, I tied my hair back and chose a dark raiment with cloak and hood. Raquel's words still rang like a knell of doom in my ears:
God's Army are on to you.
I had been warned. With a pounding heart, I drew the cloth close around me. I must stay as invisible as possible.

I glided out of the building, more quietly than a cloud passes across the face of the moon. But no sooner had I reached the Cloister gates than a uniformed being suddenly materialised out of nowhere. My blood froze.

‘Who goes there?' he hissed.

I didn't answer.

‘Halt. Show yourself.'

I stayed in the shadows.

‘Don't try to leave the Cloisters without one.'

‘Without one what?' I whispered.

‘Standard-issue Cloisters-Only Identity Bracelet,' he ordered, and thrust something at me.

I backed away, heart hammering.

‘Your choice,' he said.

I stepped forward very cautiously.

‘Hold out your arm.'

I held it out. He slipped the security band over my wrist and fastened it. ‘Don't remove it if you know what's good for you,' he hissed. ‘It's the new curfew rule. Just be grateful they haven't put your number on it yet.'

‘My number?'

‘Show it if you get challenged, or you'll be arrested.'

Arrested?

‘You can go.'

I did.

I moved as only the Seraphim can – silently and with the speed of the west wind through the shadowy streets.

The Golden City is not very big. Only angels dwell in its confines. The souls of the dead live in the huge Suburbs-of-the-Saved, which stretch in every direction across the great Elysian Plains. They're lovely places. Sometimes I wander there, through the leafy green lanes of the un-living, but even dead humans have their own ways; it's not easy to mingle amongst them.

So it didn't take me long to reach the North Gate. I stayed close to the Jasper Wall all the way. Shadows dappled off its jewelled ramparts and threw enough variance of light to confuse any watching eyes. Not many would have been able to make me out gliding through the darkened streets. Even if they had, they would have been confused, for angels don't slink around in their own city.

At least I supposed they didn't. Up until then I'd never had any reason to suppose differently. But perhaps there were others like me – out on clandestine missions, weighed down by guilty secrets. Hurriedly I cast a glance behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed. What was that? A darker patch of darkness? A figure ducking into an alcove?

I pulled my cloak tighter and broke into a run. No flying, and now identity bracelets. Maybe it was all my fault God's Army were clamping down on everyone. Suppose Larry
was
working for the Devil? Would signing the contract for Marcus's life mean I'd made the ‘pact' with him?

And if it did, was I sorry?

I thought of Marcus. I put my hand to my throat and held the key he'd given me. To know that Marcus was alive, to hope that I could save him from Hell – I couldn't be sorry for that.

I wasn't sorry.

I'd do it again.

And that scared me more than anything. I wasn't sorry, and part of me didn't care who the hell Larry worked for.

Even if it was the Devil.

At the North Gate I waited. I hid myself behind a buttress. From there I could see down a long valley. God's Army were still at work far off, bombing the edge of the Abyss. Every now and then flares lit up the night sky. I wondered if demons were already crawling up its cliffs, already seeping in their oiliness out of its depths.

‘How clever of you to come so quietly,' murmured a voice at my ear. I spun round to see the noble figure of Kamuel just at my right shoulder. ‘But no more than I expected.'

I glowed at his praise. I had done right to be secretive, to cover my fiery beauty with such a dark cloak

‘Yet still quite brilliant,' he said. ‘No raiment, however dark, could hide that.'

My glow turned a little hot. I think I blushed. It was very sweet of him to say so. I knew he was sincere. And I was sure he didn't say such things often, maybe hardly ever. His voice had a kind of unpractised air about it. But despite all that it was sort of embarrassing. The earnestness of his tone made me shrink from him. How perverse I was! When Marcus laughed at me, I longed for him; when Kamuel praised me, I cringed.

‘Thank you,' I whispered, ‘but I don't think you summoned me here to admire my dark cloak.'

‘No,' he said. ‘Tonight we have a difficult and dangerous mission to accomplish: know that this night I intend to break all the Rules of Heaven. I do not ask you to join me in this – I hope that you will. But if not, then you may turn back now.'

My eyes flew wide. What, was I to break yet more rules? But Kamuel was an Archangel so all I said was: ‘Tell me what I must do.'

His beautiful face softened and he smiled with such radiant happiness, I was almost afraid. ‘So lovely, so innocent,' he murmured.

But I said nothing except: ‘I don't understand.'

‘No,' he said. ‘Now you have chosen your path, do not seek to understand, only to obey.'

Obedience is the third vow and a prized virtue. I couldn't refuse. No one can refuse an Archangel, anyway.

‘Your will is my command,' I said.

‘Good. You are not to tell of anything that happens this night,' instructed Kamuel. ‘And for your loyalty, know that I shall not forget you when misfortune knocks at your door.'

My feathers tingled. Misfortune was certain to come, then? A cold shiver ran through me.

‘It's right to be afraid,' said Kamuel. ‘Did you not say – only earlier today – that you have seen the darkness?'

I nodded, swallowing.

‘Remember, then,' said Kamuel. ‘In your darkest hour, I will not desert you.'

‘Thank you,' I whispered.

‘Then know that there is one whose soul we must save tonight.'

I nodded again, suddenly wondering if we were to go down to Earth.

‘You did say you believed that the saving of souls was God's true work, didn't you?'

‘Yes.'

‘Then meet the one whose soul will be forever in your debt,' he said.

He waved a wing. Out of the shadows came forth a dark figure. He was cloaked as I was and with faltering steps he slunk along the edge of the Jasper Wall until he reached us.

‘Vincent,' Kamuel said. ‘Come, take courage, this young Seraph will lead you to the edge.'

I peered through the shadows at the cloaked figure. It was the same tired angel I'd seen at Raquel's garden party. He looked even more tired than ever. His eyes were red. His arms hung limp. The lines of his face told of things that chilled my spirit.

What in Heaven's name had they done to him?

Vincent bowed slightly to me, but didn't speak.

Kamuel drew nearer. ‘Together we will guide him to the Abyss,' he said. ‘You must be ready to carry on alone should God's Army detect us.'

‘Carry on alone?' I faltered.

‘You can command thunderbolts, I hope?' smiled Kamuel.

‘Yes,' I said.

‘If for any unforeseen reason we are found out, on the beat of a wing I will repair to the topmost peak of the Sapphire Mountains and hurl thunderbolts into the sky. I will make a fine show. Dazzle and terrify. Let obscene wailings be heard from the depths of the void, create shadows that dance against the starry sky. Fearing a new offensive, God's Army must and will turn their steps towards me. When they are upon the foothills, I will disappear and meet you by the very rim of the Abyss, right at the point where Lucifer fell: the place they call Devil's Drop.'