Augustus looked off, the fine lines around his eyes deepening. “We’ve been around longer than you can imagine. Living so long has not deadened us, but made us susceptible to emotions. Oftentimes we react without thinking things through.” He glanced back, his eyes wry and amused. “In truth, we do not like to think about things too deeply. Not any longer. Nor do we pay attention to this world as we ought.
“At any rate,” Augustus continued, “Raphael is no longer Here—”
“But There?”
“Yes,” Augustus said with a broad smile. “We all have our crosses to bear. Raphael’s is that he can no longer travel Here. My curse is that I can only be Here for a short period of time.” A shadow of sorrow darkened his eyes. “With each passing year, that period of grace grows smaller.”
“And why are you using your moment Here to speak with me?”
“In an indirect way, I am the one who has caused the problem.”
“Forgive me,” Jack said with a politeness he clearly did not feel, “but you’re not explaining yourself very well.”
Mary wanted to be annoyed as well, but the goodwill flowing off the angel could not be denied. She liked him. Instinctively.
“Poppy often tells me the same,” Augustus murmured. “It is simply this. Two years ago, Winston Lane was attacked by Death. I intervened and brought him to Benjamin Archer.” A strange look of pride lit the angel’s features for a moment, then was gone.
“Death, thus cheated, prompted another, Apep, to break free from Nowhere or what you call Hell,” Augustus explained with a wave of his hand. “A rift was opened, and many who had been consigned to hell used the opportunity to escape, including Amaros. The Nex gained power and strength in those new allies.”
Augustus’s mouth turned down. “While I do not regret saving Winston Lane’s life, I regret the unforeseen effects of that action. The least I can do is give you knowledge to defend yourself. When Amaros took your blood, he thought himself cured. Unfortunately, it was a temporary stay of execution. He needs a constant diet of your blood to remain as he is. As your healing blood is a gift, you must freely give it to him for it to have full potency.”
Deep within Mary’s soul, something stilled and then went on alert. She could see the end, a dark shadow on the horizon, and it was she who stood between Jack and that chasm.
Yes. You understand.
Augustus’s voice was clear in her mind. She glanced back at him, but he gave no indication that he’d spoken.
“He won’t get any more from me,” Jack said flatly. “Let him die.”
“Do you honestly believe that once he realizes your blood did not permanently cure him that he will not come after you?” Augustus shook his head sadly. “While his mind might be muddled by madness, he is not without intelligence. Expect him to return soon. And his rage will be great.”
“And so will mine,” Jack retorted.
Augustus’s gentle expression turned solemn. “I know what you are planning, Jack. And it is not the answer to your troubles.”
But you have the answer, do you not, Mistress Chase? A flicker of his gaze toward her.
Her spirit stretched wide, then collapsed tight. Did she? Her mind raced. No answers came.
Wholly ignorant of their exchange, Jack stood straighter, his hands at the ready. “What am I planning, then?”
If the threat in his voice bothered Augustus, it didn’t show. “That you will kill him.” He smiled slightly. “It is what I would do to anyone who threatened my beloved.”
“A good guess.” Jack rolled his tight shoulders. “And the right one.”
“It will not work.” Augustus sighed, and the air upon the platform grew warm and tinged with the scent of a summer storm. Augustus’s expression grew grim. “If I could, I’d kill Amaros myself. But a fallen is forbidden to kill his kind.”
Mary drifted closer to Augustus. A queer sort of anticipation surged through her being. As if the answer was just bumping along the edges of her mind.
“Which is why Amaros is now cursed,” Augustus said. “Long ago, in a fit of rage, he killed another fallen and has been rotting away ever since.”
Jack frowned. “I am half fallen. Can I kill him? Or will I too be cursed?”
Dark, ancient eyes held his. “You will be cursed just as he is. To destroy his soul is to destroy your own. That is our way.”
“Hell.” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose.
Can I kill him in Jack’s stead? Mary asked Augustus.
“Miss Chase has asked me if she could destroy Amaros in your stead.”