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When Bliss stepped out of the oculus, Ahramin was waiting. “We saw the light flash, it meant the message went out. You are one of them,” the dark girl said. “Lucifer’s kin.”
Bliss did not argue. She looked at the boys, worried about their reaction. “I am sorry that I did not tell you sooner, but while I am my father’s daughter, I am my own person. He is as much my enemy as yours.”
“You don’t need to explain,” Malcolm said, and hugged her. “You saved the timeline.”
“Where is Lawson? Does he know about you?” Ahramin asked.
She nodded. “Yes,” she said, not wanting to share any more information for now.
They heard footsteps from the entrance to the temple. Ahramin turned to the boys. “Guard this place. Make sure no one else uses the oculus. Bliss and I will go to Lawson. Come,” she said to Bliss, moving her away from the brothers.
“Look, Lawson doesn’t want me around, I’ll stay here,” Bliss said.
Ahramin shook her head. “There is no time to be bashful. Listen, Lawson thinks he can kill Romulus with the archangel’s sword.”
Bliss nodded.
“He can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I stole it,” Ahramin said, trembling. “When I shook his hand, when he released me.” She showed Bliss the velvet pouch that contained Michael’s sword. “I’ve had it ever since.”
Bliss stared at her. “You sent him to his death! Romulus will destroy him! What were you thinking!” Then she realized. “You lied to us. You are still a Hound of Hell.”
Ahramin’s body was wracked with spasms. “I tried to fight it—Romulus left me in the house as bait—he hoped that somehow Lawson would find out—and come back for me. I was supposed to deliver them all to him—but I fought it, as long as I could.”
Bliss stared at the shaking girl, seeing the broken patient from the hospital again. “Your cough. Your body was fighting your will.”
“Yes.”
“But hallowed ground—how did you manage it? I thought hounds weren’t allowed to be in those places.”
“St. Bernadette’s was not holy. It was once run by an order, but it is a public hospital now. I made sure before they took me there.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“I have fought the collar as much as I could, but it is killing me. With every step I take to help the wolves, it takes another piece of my soul. I am going to die now,” Ahramin said. “But I don’t want…I don’t want them to die.” She motioned to the temple, where the boys were fighting the hounds. “Edon doesn’t know. I don’t want him to know I was ever false. Please, let him still love me, even when I am gone.”
“Why should I believe anything you say?”
“Because you love Lawson and you want to help him. I love him too. Will you help me?”
In human form, Romulus was an enormous man, nearly seven feet in height. His shadow covered Lawson, his blinding red robe fluttering in an iridescent halo around him. No simple togas for him, silk or otherwise; he was arrayed in full golden battle armor, with the sweeping robe flowing from his shoulders. In one hand he carried the golden staff Lawson had seen from the window, a weapon as heavy as a pair of Roman soldiers. A red fire roared in his black eyes as he smiled at Lawson, a strange, eerie smile.
“Where is she?” Lawson asked. “Where’s Tala?”
Romulus laughed. “Where do you think she is? She’s dead, of course.”
“You’re lying.” Lawson tapped his pocket, looking for the sword he had stolen from the underworld, the sword of the angels, but it was nowhere to be found.
Romulus smiled as he smacked him down with his golden staff, felling him as easily as if he were a child or a small animal. An annoyance, nothing more. Lawson fell backward on the hard stone. He heard his skull crack, blood trailing from the wound.
What had happened…?
Where was the sword?
Bliss?
