Angel's Curse (17 page)

“How do you know? About what I am, I mean,” she whispered. “It’s such a well-guarded secret.
No one
has ever lived to tell the tale.”

Did I detect a possible threat? She knew nothing about me — apart from the fact I carried a knife — knew nothing about what I was capable of. Of course, if I was a mortal she’d think she had nothing to fear, possibly that she could even intimidate me.

“I have
friends
who know about this sort of thing,” I said.

“And what have they told you? That we’re flesh-eating monsters? That humans are our preferred diet?” she asked angrily.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Pretty much.”

“Well they’re wrong. Not all of us are like that. My family prefer to live as mortals. We have adapted and evolved over thousands of years until we no longer crave raw and warm flesh. Admittedly we still have difficulty tolerating most fruits and vegetables — potatoes, tomatoes, apples and bananas are our limit for now and even
they
taste disgusting.”

“How can I believe you?”

“David’s still
alive
isn’t he? Listen, he’ll be getting worried if we don’t get back to the table soon. Please, don’t say anything to him.”

“You and I still need to talk. Does David have to go back to work after lunch?” She nodded. “And you.”

“I don’t work.”

“Good, then you won’t mind telling David that you’d like to show me around, seeing as I haven’t been in town for the last five years,” that was a lie, but he wouldn’t know, “to show me what’s changed.”

“Okay, but please, we need to go back to the table.”

I nodded my head and we both headed out. Kiana’s face was a mask of serenity. It was as if our exchange had never taken place.

David talked about what he was doing now, how they hoped to have a family in the next few years —
could they do that?
— and how he’d like to move away from the city to the country.

He asked how I met my husband —
at the airport of all places, he rescued me from a mugger
— what he’d done —
he’d been an overseas consultant, an attaché to the ambassador in Afghanistan and had moved through the ranks to become a highly-sought liaison between warring factions of different countries
— and how he’d died —
a meeting gone horribly wrong.

It was easy to lie, so much easier than telling the truth. The truth only opened a painful and raw, festering wound, one which was consuming me at an alarming rate.

“David, I thought I might show Helena how much the city has changed since she was last here. You don’t mind do you?”

“No, Kiana. I think that’s a great idea, provided Helena has no objections.”

“Actually, it was Helena who suggested it,” she said.

David picked up the bill and stood. “Well I’ve got to get back to work. You two have fun and I’ll see you,” he kissed Kiana on the top of the head, “tonight.”

When he’d left Kiana stood up, expecting me to do the same.

“Sit down,” I said. “We can talk here just as well as any other place. Are you really going to go through with this charade, or will you dump him at the altar?”

“You don’t understand. We’re different. We’ve chosen a different path and want to live in peace. Okay, so I can’t have children, but we can adopt.”

“How many of you are there?”

“A dozen.”

“Why?” I asked.

Kiana seemed puzzled. “Why what?”

“Why marry a mortal? He’ll grow old and die. You won’t.”

She sighed. “I love him dearly. Haven’t you ever loved someone you know you shouldn’t, someone who was too good for you? I know he’ll die eventually, but I can’t live without him.”

I knew exactly what she meant. Danny was dead because of me and my selfish love for him. How could I deny her what I couldn’t deny myself?

I took a deep breath. “Kiana, I’m going to offer you a once-in-a-lifetime deal.”

She leaned back in the chair and folded her arms across her chest. “Go on, I’m listening.”

“I’m going to let you and your family live for as long as you can continue to keep your diet in check.”

“Who do you —”

I held up a hand to stop her from saying any more. I picked up the glass of water that was still on the table and concentrated on it. Ice crystals formed on the inside of the glass as the water froze to a solid block. I set the glass down on the table and pushed it over to Kiana.

She tapped the cold hard block with her finger and looked at me, stunned.

“You don’t smell like an angel,” she whispered.

“Maybe I’m not,” I whispered back, and laughed. “As I was saying, I’ll leave you alone if you can continue to keep your diet in check. In return you have to do something for me.”

“And what’s that?” she asked.

“I want you to be my eyes and ears in the city.”

“You want me to
spy
on people for you?” she asked in disbelief.

“No, not people. Ordinary mortals are of little concern. It’s the immortals I want information on. I want to know about any activity in the city. Oh, I keep forgetting zombies aren’t immortal, but I guess there wouldn’t be too many of them in the city,” I laughed.

“There’s a nest, sixty kilometres east of here,” Kiana blurted out.

“Zombies?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s interesting to know.” I smiled. “I haven’t come across any real zombies yet.”

“So what exactly would my
job
involve?”

“I don’t want you going out of your way to gather information. Nothing that will draw attention to yourself, but you or your family are bound to hear things, even if they’re just rumours. You can leave messages for me at the La’miere. I pick up my mail there on a regular basis. Just make sure the envelopes are sealed. Don’t name names, just indicate what’s happening and where.”

“What if I don’t?”

“Then David might get an anonymous tip-off that his fiancée is not what she seems, or, if I’m really pissed,” I narrowed my eyes, “I’ll come after each and every one of you.”

“You’d do that,” her eyes were wide with fear, “even though we’ve never hurt a single human?”

I winced at the words. They reminded me of a situation I was in once, when Danny didn’t know whether to kill me because I’d been changed by a vampire, and should therefore be evil, or let me live. I probably couldn’t do it, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Yes,” I replied icily.

“I guess I have no choice then,” she replied dryly. “What’s your surname again?”

“Malakh.”

The corner of her mouth curled up in what appeared to be a half smile.

“Seems we’ve both got names that disguise what we are.”

“I’ll need a contact number for you,” I said, “in case I need to talk to you, and don’t give me a false number. I’ll hunt you down. Don’t think I won’t.”

“We smell mortal,” she said smugly, “you’ll never find me.”

“But I
can
find David.”

14.
Don't Touch Me

I left Kiana at the restaurant and walked back to the hotel, a smile on my face and her phone number in my head — it was so much easier to memorise things and take in what used to be small meaningless details than when I’d been mortal.

Perhaps it was fate that led David and Kiana to me. I thought I’d handled my first encounter with a varakiana rather well. She certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. I wondered if all
creatures
could evolve to such a state that they didn’t need to drink blood or eat live flesh. Anything was possible, but for now I had to live in the present. Evolution would have to wait, and it normally did, hundreds and thousands of years.

I collected my swipe card and returned to my room, even emptier now I knew Danny wasn’t really here with me.

Damn the angels to hell!
I thought.

I sifted through Danny’s memories and knowledge. The angel I wanted most, Raphael, did not feature very much. Danny hadn’t known where Raphael resided, whereas he knew where Michael and all the angels in his army could be found. They were not the ones I was after. They had not aided Raphael and his lackeys. Which of the archangels
had
sent their armies? What had Danny said?
The armies of Phanuel, Sariel and Raguel.
Those were the archangels, along with their armies, I would target … for now.

The talk of zombies had got me thinking. I remembered Danny had said the angels were busy during the solstice. I searched deeper and found the areas Michael’s army targeted. These I would leave alone, unless of course they turned on me. Then it was open season.

I wondered if Kiana was home yet. I needed some information. She’d already provided me with something, but perhaps she knew more. I dialled the number and she picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Kiana. Just thought I’d call and say what a great time I had today.”

“Checking the number, were you?” she asked dryly.

“Actually, no. I need some information. You told me about a nest sixty kilometres east of the city. You remember that conversation, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know of any other zombie nests?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Well give me the details, I haven’t got all day,” I said.

“You’re going to kill them, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Not at all. I have something entirely different planned.”

“Care to share?”

“The less you know, Kiana, the better. I have some powerful enemies out there, and I mean to go to war. If you don’t want to get caught up in it, I suggest you don’t ask
any
questions. Then at least you’ll have nothing they can torture you for.”

“You’re going after demons, aren’t you?” She sounded shocked. “They’re renowned for their love of torture.”

She was a slow learner. If I said she shouldn’t ask questions I meant it.

“The less you know the better.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “There are four other nests all within a hundred kilometres of the city.”

“If I showed you a map could you point them out for me?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“What’s your address?”

“3 Falconer Terrace.”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a backyard?”

“Yes, but why is that important?” she asked.

“Meet me in your backyard in ten minutes,” I said, then hung up.

If Danny could produce a detailed map there was no reason I couldn’t. I thought of a 3D map of the city and surrounding suburbs, and it appeared on the coffee table.

“Zoom in on 3 Falconer Terrace,” I said.

I felt a bit silly talking to a map. I probably only needed to think about what I wanted to see, though there were so many things going on in my head that
anything
might appear on the map. The image shifted and I saw the area from a few hundred metres above ground.

“Zoom in to ten metres above 3 Falconer Terrace.”

The house and its yard took up most of the map. I could see the path out the back and the clothes line, the barbecue and outdoor setting. There was a nice patch of lawn in the middle of the yard. That’s where I’d go. Now I had a visual of my target it would be easy to get there.

I stood up. It’d do me no good to transport sitting down, unless I was sure I’d land in a seat. What an entrance that would be, landing flat on my arse.

Kiana was leaning on the table of the outdoor setting, facing the back of the house, smoking a cigarette. She didn’t see me arrive. I walked up silently behind her.

“Don’t you know those things will kill you?” I whispered in her ear.

“Holy shit!” she said, jumping up and spinning to face me.

I waved my hand over the table — for Kiana’s benefit — and a map covering an area of twenty thousand square kilometres appeared. The table was large, so the scale wasn’t too bad.

“Do you need me to zoom in or is this okay?” I asked.

She shook her head, amazed. “No, this is fine.”

“I want you to touch the map at the exact location where there’s an active zombie nest, or near enough to the exact location. The map will flare where you touch it, so make sure you’re on the right spot
before
touching it.”

I saw her pull her hand back when I said the map would flare. Presumably she was worried that her fingers might get burned.

“Don’t worry, it’s only an illusion,” I assured her. “It can’t hurt you, but remember, if you think to cross me
I
can hurt you.”

She pointed to eight areas on the map.

“I thought you said you knew of four other nests?”