Revelations (Bloodline Series) (34 page)

Religious
fanatics had taken their messages of the “end of the world” to the streets.
Hundreds of them stood around some of the major cities of the world, crying and
screaming out prayers and waving their cardboard signs in the air, their messages
written in paint or marker pen.
“Jesus will save us, believe in Him”; “Judgment
day approaches”
;
“The end is nigh”
; and others simply read,
“Repent.”
Those who weren’t on the streets spreading their word chose to do it through
the Internet instead. I started to wonder just how right they were.

At
the opposite end of the spectrum, some believed we were being wiped out by
aliens. Several new websites had been created showing pictures of what they
believed to be UFO’s. The owners believed we were being attacked
Independence
Day
style. Funnily enough, before each attack there were always photographs
taken of strange lights in the sky. It seemed to me that someone somewhere was
very good at image manipulation. It surprised me just how many people actually
believed that bullshit. I certainly wouldn’t be waiting for
E.T
. to come
and kill me in the night.

The
news reports were always the same, no matter which channel you watched…another
small town that had been destroyed, or videos and images of Ohio in ruins. It
would show military personnel rummaging through debris, looking for bodies. Of
course, none were ever recovered. Every country was on high alert, waiting for
another to attack them. However, they were always taken by surprise. I mean,
who was waiting for a group of demons or spirits to suddenly appear somewhere? The
world we now lived in was something out of a horror film.

I
was sitting in the living room, watching the latest reports, when Unsere
appeared beside me. I jumped so hard that my whole body left the sofa.

“Sorry,”
she laughed. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You
could have fooled me,” I smiled, shaking my head. “My heart is racing.”

“Sorry.
Listen I need to speak to everyone…I have news. Lucifer has asked me to come
and tell everyone what’s happening.”

“Everyone
except Eligos should be here.”

“Yeah,
Lilith is supposed to be contacting him and telling him to come here.”

I
nodded, and we began to get everyone into the living room. As the last person
walked through the door, Eligos appeared, standing by one of the windows.

“Hey
everyone,” Unsere began. “I have some good news for you…well, if you can
actually call it good.”

“Is
Keira coming back?” Tyler asked.

“No,
I’m sorry.”

“Then
it’s not good news.”

“I
don’t want her to come back. If she stood in front of me now I’d kill her
myself,” Olivia spat. “An eye for an eye.”

“You’d
be dead before you even left your seat,” Eligos warned.

“Okay,
okay, let’s all just calm down, please. This isn’t getting us anywhere, and I
need
to speak to you all,” Unsere almost pleaded. Everyone settled, and she could
finally begin. “Over the last few weeks—well, actually, ever since Lucifer
learned Ballantine was the one behind the attacks—he has been trying to get
someone on the inside. Trusted demons and spirits have been seeking ways to
join Ballantine. Of course, it hasn’t been easy. Ballantine is no fool; he
wouldn’t simply take a demon—not when he knows Hell wants to bring him down.
The demon had to prove itself, have its loyalty tested.”

“So
let me guess, this demon had to kill people?” Jake asked.

“Yes,
and not just one or two.”

“Keira!”
Marley and Lucian shouted.

Unsere
suddenly turned sad. “I wish I
could
say it was Keira...I’m sorry.”

“We
need to stop getting our hopes up and just accept the fact that she’s gone and
is never coming back,” I choked.

“Unsere,
please continue,” Vetis chimed in.

“Well,
our little...secret agent, shall we call him—is reporting back on what’s
happening, where they are, etc. He has a telepathic link with Lucifer. We know
there’s a group of around ten thousand hiding in another realm, on a planet
named Diversia. We attack tonight.”

“What?
Us?” Elizabeth asked.

“No,
we can’t take you there. Lucifer has asked for Danny and Hecate to remain here,
to make sure all humans are protected. Eligos, Oroan, Vetis, my husband, and I
will be going.”

“A
section of my army is ready and waiting,” Eligos told us.

“No
offense, but I doubt you will wipe them all out. They’ll simply flee. So what’s
the point? Why attack such a small group?” Jake asked.

“To
show him that he’s not untouchable…that we are able to track them. Lucifer
thinks if we do this, Ballantine will attack full on…he’ll retaliate. That’s
when we will be able to get them all together and fight them full force,” Unsere
answered. “We’ve been looking for a way to bring this to a head. Now, we are
finally able to.”

“What
are the chances we’ll actually win?” I asked her.

“Originally,
I wasn’t too worried. I thought if we could match them in numbers we would be
able to bring them down. But now...I must admit, I’m nervous.”

“Why?”

“You
really don’t understand just how powerful Keira is, do you? She’s Lilith’s
daughter, which was frightening enough. Now she has the power of an archangel.
Trust me; it doesn’t get much scarier than that.”

“So,
are you telling us we don’t stand a chance?”

“To
the best of my knowledge, there are only two other beings who are more powerful
than Keira; God and Lucifer,” Vetis answered. “Nobody would be able to take them
down alone. It will take a group effort. We will also have to use her weakness
towards Eligos to our advantage.”

“What
weakness?” Eligos snapped.

“Her
love for you, obviously.”

“Her
love? For me? She has NO love for me. She made that abundantly clear.”

“You
do not fall out of love with someone so quickly,” Vetis spoke. “Trust me
brother, she still loves you. I’ve been told of her reaction when she saw you
in Ohio. It may not have been clear to you…it may have only been subtle…but it
was still there. She searched for you when she first appeared. She spoke to
others, and yet her eyes never left yours. She may say hurtful things, but her
heart still belongs to you.”

Everyone
turned silent, so silent you could have heard darkness fall. Hecate looked
confused, staring at Eligos and Vetis in turn. Eventually, she broke the
silence.

“Brother?”
she frowned.

“Yes,
Hecate, Vetis is my half brother; same human father, different mothers,” Eligos
nodded.

“All
this time I’ve been frightened to death of him. I thought he was a monster…cold,
heartless. Now you tell me he’s your brother?”

“Why
were you frightened of me? I wouldn’t have harmed you. What reason would I
have?”

“I
watched you murder a man in cold blood.”

“Can
we talk about this later? I’ll tell you all about
that man
.”

Hecate
nodded and turned her attention to Unsere. “Please be careful in Diversia.”

“I
will, don’t worry about me.”

“That’s
easier said than done.”

“So
you only have a few hours until you attack? I mean, it’s already getting dark,
and didn’t you say you were attacking tonight?” Lucian asked.

“Times
will be different, don’t forget. In actual fact, we will leave Hell together in
about an hour, earth time,” Eligos said. “I’m going back now…I need to speak
with Brad. I will meet you outside the palace.” He disappeared, Vetis following
closely after him.

“I
guess I should return to my husband,” Unsere sighed. “What a wonderful evening
we will spend together.”

“Be
careful.” Most of us said to her before she vanished.

“I’m
going to wait here until they call for me,” Oroan told us. “That way you will
know for certain when we’re going.”

“So
the rest of us get to sit here on pins, unable to do anything at all to help,” Danny
thundered. “Well, that’s just wonderful.”

“I
know what you mean,” I said. “God knows how long we’ll have to wait to find out
if they’re safe.”

“Actually,
I think I can do something about this,” Hecate smiled. “I’m sure you’ve heard
of the viewing pools in Hell?”

We
all nodded.

“Well,
I can create one. I think the most effective way of making one here is by using
a large mirror and some water, if memory serves me correctly.”

“So
we’ll be able to watch everything that happens?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Couldn’t
we do the same thing with Keira?”

“No,
she’s hidden from us; it’s very hard to spy on an archangel. Besides, we have
to know their location in order to view them, and we have no idea where she is.
So we can’t even try.”

Jake
and Lucian went to fetch the large mirror, which was easily my height, from the
master bathroom. We laid it on the dining room table and then sat around in
silence, all of us on edge. Shortly afterwards, Oroan announced it was time for
him to leave. The surprise attack was about to begin.

Chapter 44

Discovered

Keira

I
was sitting with Mason having something to eat and a general chitchat. He and
Tina were the only ones who actually tried to be friendly with me. He was
asking me all kinds of questions; what my favorite film was, what music I liked,
just to try and get to know me a little better. It was nice to be able to chat
with someone other than Ballantine. Don’t get me wrong; after proving myself to
him in Ohio, Ballantine had been even nicer to me than normal. I think he
finally realized he could trust me. He told me many things; we’d spent evenings
together watching the storms rage and getting to know each other more and more.
I was actually rather taken with him. I felt like I’d known him all my life—he
was the big brother I’d always wanted, but never had.

Mason
was telling me how much respect he had for Ballantine, how he would always
answer any questions without getting annoyed or frustrated, even if he had to
repeat himself. Apparently he was the same with everyone. He seemed to have the
patience of a saint with people. He’d taken me back to Decorum a couple of
times over the last week to try and get me to use more of my power. This time
there had been no illusions, no friends crying to me or burning houses. I
surprised myself on a few occasions, and Ballantine seemed genuinely proud of
me. At first I was so worried about having a repeat of the first time that I
point blank refused to do anything. He pushed me as much as he could until
eventually I relented, but he never lost his temper with me. He only ever told
me to have faith in myself and my abilities.

I
learned that when Mason first joined Ballantine he was completely powerless,
just an immortal soul. Ballantine had returned him to his physical body,
completely restoring it, and as Mason put it “blessed me with some amazing
power and spent weeks teaching me how to use it.” He was happily telling me
some of the very first things Ballantine had taught him to do, and how wrong they
went sometimes, when suddenly things took a strange turn.

I
could hear people shouting, going crazy, and very loud bangs. A moment later,
Ballantine burst into the room. His eyes were glowing blue, and he looked
absolutely livid.

“Get
up,” he ordered. “We’re being attacked.”

“What?”
I gasped, getting to my feet.

“Here?”
Mason asked.

“No,
Mason; you must stay here in case anything comes. Contact me at once if there
are any problems,” Ballantine spoke, before turning to me. “Keira, I hope you’re
ready to fight; we’re leaving.”

He
grabbed my arm, and I watched as the view around me changed from rock walls to
a rather pretty field. I was about to try and take in the view, but the sounds
of screams filled my ears.

“What’s
going on?” I asked, looking around me.

“Lucifer
has somehow found one of our hiding places. I have no idea how, or who the hell
has told him, but he has sent an army out to destroy it,” he said, glaring at
me.

“Hey,
don’t look at me like that, all accusing. I don’t even know where we are!”

“I
never thought it was you. Come, I’m sure your friend and his little followers
won’t be expecting to see
us.
”

“My
friend?”

“I
believe Eligos is here.”

“Wh...at?”
My voice caught in my throat. I was going to have to fight him...again.

“Come
on, seeing you may put them off. They may leave.”

“Doubtful.”

He
took my arm and led me through a small gathering of trees. The planet was so
earth-like…how I would imagine our world to look without its human pollutants.
As we walked out of the trees, we saw them. Ballantine froze on the spot. We
were too late. In front of us was a mound of bodies, all of them lifeless,
lying in front of a large cliff face. I could see an opening not too far from us
where they must have been hiding.