Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 (11 page)

“
What?” Kara spun around.
“What did you just say, oracle?”

The oracle’s eyes widened. “What? Oh,
nothing—don’t mind me—just prattling along in my old age. Can’t
help the images I see though, from time to time. Dreaded business
this is.” He bent down and picked at his toenails.

“
Oracle?” David leaned
forward.

The oracle turned his head and met
David’s eyes. He smiled. “Hmm? Yes? What is it?”

“
We’re supposed to be
somewhere, remember?”

“
We are? Oh, dear.” The
oracle scratched his head. “What was I about to do? Dear me, I’ve
forgotten again. Drat! Curse these visions. Always meddling with my
mind.” The oracle stomped his foot and pouted. “Tell me boy, where
was I going?”

David shook his head gently and
laughed. “You were escorting us to the High
Council…remember?”

The oracle’s arm shot up, and he
pointed a finger in the air. “Yes! Yes! Of course. Quickly now,
come along angels. The Council awaits you,” urged the oracle. He
shifted his robe and straightened it with a hard tug. “It pains me
to see the Council so distressed. Make haste! Make haste!” He
turned his crystal around and rolled it towards the grey metal door
at the end of the landing platform. His robes flapped against the
wind, and he raced towards the door.

Kara sighed and followed the others in
silence. David kept glancing worriedly over his shoulder. Once
through the door, they trod down the long hallway decorated with
vibrant tapestries and important looking portraits of previous
officials. Kara hated that their eyes always seemed to accuse her
of something before the fact. She shuddered and kept her eyes
looking straight ahead and ignored their gloomy gazes.

They arrived before two giant brass
doors. The oracle pushed them open and waited on the other side. He
gestured them in.

Kara sauntered behind the others. The
only sound was the echo of their feet. She took the time to inspect
the chamber. The last time she had been here, the chamber had been
in total disarray. The glass dome had been shattered and carpeted
the ground in shards. The wood seats and walls had been destroyed,
as though a bomb had been set off. Kara shivered as she remembered
the dying angels scattered and broken all over the chamber. She
crossed the room and halted. The others scrambled to her side. Kara
stood in the middle of the chamber, on the exact spot where she had
faced Asmodeus and killed him for the last time.

But now the chamber had been mended to
its original glory. Rays of yellow light spilled through the
enormous glass dome. A great blue sky hovered above them. The
Council members sat upon a dais around a slick black half-moon
desk. Seven pairs of eyes watched her with great
interest.

She started to feel extremely
cautious. She didn’t recognize any of the archangels except for the
beautiful woman with red wavy hair. Camael had survived Asmodeus’s
vicious attack. Her green eyes smiled at Kara. She let herself
relax a little and unclamped her hands.

At the head of the table sat Uriel’s
replacement. He had a soft reddish-brown complexion, high
cheekbones, and a strong jaw. His small dark eyes looked intense
and curious. His straight black hair cascaded down past his broad
shoulders. If she had to guess his nationality, she would have said
Native American. His face was beautiful. In fact, Kara noticed all
the new members were exceptionally good looking. She had always
wondered why that was—was their good looks a form of
intimidation?

The archangel stood up. His forest
green robe rippled around him as he raised his hands. “Welcome,
guardians, to the Council of Ministers. Let me introduce myself. I
am Jeremiel, the new minister of ministration and peace.” His voice
was throaty, not at all like Uriel’s musical tone, but Kara liked
it nevertheless.

“
You have been summoned
here to help clarify the details of your last mission,” continued
Jeremiel. “We want to hear about the incidents pertaining to the
supposed elemental. The archangel Ariel has informed us of a very
grave situation, and we would like to hear the events of your
mission from you personally.” Jeremiel pushed back his robe and sat
down. He interlaced his fingers above the great desk. “Please. Tell
us what happened.”

The others fidgeted on the spot. Peter
shook his head and stared at his feet. He then pretended to be
interested in something behind him. Only David seemed keen to speak
before the Council. He winked at Kara and gave her thumbs
up.

“
Ahem. Dear majesties and
nobles of the afterlife,” began David as he stepped forward, “I can
help you with that. I was there. You see, with my astonishing
skills as a CDD agent—”

Jeremiel lifted his hand to silence
him. The archangel smiled at Kara. “We were hoping, perhaps, that
Kara Nightingale might enlighten us with the details, partly since
it has greatly to do with her.”

David’s mouth fell open. “Uh…right…of
course.” He stepped back and gave Kara a shrug. She knew he was
hurt by the sudden dismissal. David wanted to prove to everyone
that he was a great guardian, despite his reputation as a hot head.
He mumbled to himself and folded his arms.

Jeremiel smiled gently at Kara and
bobbed his head. “Please, tell us what happened on your mission in
your own words.”

All eyes fell on Kara. She clasped her
hands tightly behind her back. She met Jeremiel’s eyes and
nodded.

And so Kara recounted the events to
the Council, with elaborated details about the seirs and
sensitives. She paid special close attention to the parts about
Lilith. She watched for reactions from the Council, but their
visages were unreadable and expressionless. When she was finished,
she looked to the Council and waited.

A flash of uncertainty passed briefly
through Jeremiel’s dark eyes. His face was drawn, and he shared a
few looks with the other archangels. After a moment, he turned his
attention back to Kara. “And that’s exactly what
happened?”

“
Yeah…” said David
dreamily. “It was awesome. You should have seen their ugly clown
faces when they ran. I scared them.”

Jeremiel ignored David and shook his
head in puzzlement. “I fear it is far worse than the archangel
Ariel had warned.”

Jeremiel was silent for a long moment.
And when he spoke again, his face was grave. “And you are certain
she is not elemental…this Lilith?”

Kara nodded. “I wasn’t sure at first.
I thought she was—to me it felt as though she was elemental. But
she only did that to trick me. When she showed her true self to us,
I knew she wasn’t elemental. She felt foul. She felt like a
demon…only different. I can’t explain it.”

“
I see.” Jeremiel watched
Kara closely. She shifted her weight uncomfortably under his
mesmerizing gaze. Jeremiel leaned forward and lowered his head. “My
next question is of the greatest importance, Kara. Do you remember
if Lilith implied that she was an
only
child?”

Kara raked her brain trying
to recall the events with Lilith. “I’m not really sure. I don’t
remember everything. I was so angry with her. I’m sure I missed a
few things. I thought she was a little elemental kid who had gone
wacko, so I didn’t pay that much attention at first. But she didn’t
say anything about that...I think. Are you saying that there’s more
than one?” She cringed.
Could there be
more than one Lilith?

The Council erupted in a
disharmony of heated arguments. Kara watched stunned, as the
archangels shouted at each other angrily over the sparkling desk.
Kara caught a few words like
demise
and
forever
darkness
amongst the yelling. Their voices
boomed across the chamber and ricocheted off the walls like the
crack of thunder before a great storm. The sky clouded over, and
the room was blanketed in darkness momentarily.

“
Enough!” Jeremiel raised
his arms in the air, and the Council was silent once again. Kara
could hear her own fingers twitching behind her. “We cannot be sure
of anything. Let us not be victims of our emotions. For now, we
know only of
one
progeny. We cannot tell if there are others.”

David whistled between his teeth,
“Whoa—an army of your sisters,” he whispered.

“
She’s not my sister!”
hissed Kara, and gritted her teeth.

“
Uh…right. Then an army of
your freaky albino
half
-sisters.”

Kara felt uneasy. She didn’t know what
to believe. The thought of Jenny surrounded by a group of
white-skinned abomination half-sisters was terrifying to her. Was
Jenny’s soul still alive? She had to believe it was. It was obvious
Lilith wanted Kara to pay for killing Asmodeus. And Jenny was
caught in the middle of it. If Lilith was anything like her father,
she would keep Jenny alive long enough for Kara to see her suffer.
She was sure of it. She had to get to Jenny.

“
Jeremiel, we must assume
that there are others,” said a dark skinned Council member in deep
burgundy robes. “Asmodeus was cunning. How do we know she is the
only one? He might have a thousand offspring! What would happen if
they attacked us? Clearly this Lilith has inherited some of his
powers…and something else entirely. The legion is at risk! We
cannot pretend it to be otherwise.”

“
Calm yourself, Leriel,”
soothed Jeremiel. He rubbed his hands absently. “We need to think
this through. Let’s not jump to any conclusions.”

“
What we need is more
information,” interrupted a brunette archangel with an olive
complexion. “We need evidence that there are more offspring. If we
knew for sure, then we could prepare ourselves properly. As of now,
nothing is for sure. There might be one. There might be hundreds.
How can we protect our world without knowing what to expect?” Her
piercing blue eyes focused on Kara for a moment.

“
I believe Muriel is
correct,” Jeremiel drummed his fingers on the desk. “We shouldn’t
make any hasty decisions without all the facts.”

“
And how are we supposed to
get more information, Jeremiel?” asked Leriel, his voice rising
above the others. “The netherworld is shut to angels. We cannot see
beyond its walls. What do you propose we do? Shall we knock on
their door and ask them politely?”

Jeremiel closed his eyes for a moment,
lost in his own thoughts. “You are quite right, Leriel. But there
is someone who can. We are fortunate to have amongst us an angel
with special abilities. An angel who has been to the
netherworld…and come back.”

Kara shifted nervously. She felt all
the eyes of the Council on her again. She hated to be the center of
attention. She glanced at her boots.

“
Kara,” she heard Jeremiel
say, “I’m afraid we must burden you once again with a dangerous
mission. We would never ask you to take on such a perilous task and
risk your angel soul if we didn’t feel the immediate threat against
Horizon. We ask that you go back to the netherworld—and find out if
Asmodeus had any more offspring. We need you to spy for
us.”

“
Hey! I want to be a spy
too!” whispered David, a slight frown on his face. “I’d be an
awesome spy. One of my nicknames back at the legion is
Double-O-Dave
.”

Kara ignored David and sighed in
relief. It was better than she had hoped for. This time she
wouldn’t have to sneak out. She could go to the netherworld, gather
information for the Council, and save Jenny in the process. It was
a good plan, and she needed to start right away.

“
I’ll do it,” she said a
little too eagerly. “I’ll leave right away. I’ll get whatever
information you need and get my friend Jenny out while I’m
there—”

“
Kara,” interrupted the
archangel Camael. She looked at Kara kindly. “Your friend couldn’t
have survived the netherworld’s environment. I am sorry…but you
must understand that her soul is no longer with us. This new
mission is dangerous, and you mustn’t stray from it. It will
require your full attention. Don’t attempt a rescue mission that’s
already lost. Your friend is gone.”

“
She’s not gone! Her soul
still lives. I know it!” Kara’s voice rose before she could control
it. She didn’t care. She knew Jenny couldn’t survive long in the
netherworld, but there was still a chance her friend was alive. She
couldn’t be dead. Kara couldn’t face the fact that she had been the
cause of her best friend’s death.

“
Please be reasonable,
Kara,” said Camael softly. “I know we owe you so much for all that
you have done for Horizon, but please listen to us. I do not want
to hurt you with these words. I want you to be prepared. Lilith is
luring you into a trap. Don’t forget who her father was. She is
just as cunning. She knows how far you will go to save your
friends. Don’t ever forget that. She’s counting on your emotions.
Your friend Jenny is gone. Don’t be fooled by the demon’s
words.”

Kara shook her head. “She’s not. I
know she’s not.” Kara grabbed a fistful of her jeans. “And I will
find her,” she whispered to herself. “I will.”

Jeremiel flattened his palms against
the desk. “Well then—Kara Nightingale—will you accept this new
mission to seek out information from the depths of the
netherworld?” There was a long moment of dead silence.