Page 56 of Metatron
The devil strolled to stand right below the cage and gestured. “Once upon a time, she was a deity. The ruler of those you call angels. They worshipped her and gave her their power willingly. Under her guiding wing, she kept their planet safe from harm, until I came along. I had to flee from my galaxy for supposed crimes, but my vessel suffered a mishap, and I crash-landed on her planet. My grave injuries required tending, and she did it herself, not wanting to frighten her people with the strange man with leathery wings who didn’t even remember his name.” As he spoke, his appearance shifted slightly again to give him the wings he’d mentioned. “She called me Elyon. And being a weak fool at the time, we fell in love.”
I had to admit to some surprise. This sounded like many a romance novel. But they usually didn’t end with one lover in a cage. “Let me guess, you got your memories back and turned on her.”
“As if she gave me a choice,” he hissed. “I was meant to be more than a pretty consort. So I studied her and her power until I found a way to bind her.”
“The HALO,” Tron whispered his gaze on the circle around her head.
“She was the recipient of the first one I designed.” His eyes glowed fiercely, a sign of the magic. “I bound her while she slept. When she woke, she was powerless. All her energy came to me, and she couldn’t use any for herself.”
The angel in the cage finally made a noise, a huffing of breath.
“Let me guess, she wasn’t enough,” I stated, thinking of the other HALOs I’d seen.
The devil waved his hand. “The worshipful donations of her people were pitiful compared to what I could achieve with more HALOs. And so I bound the strongest with adjusted versions that allowed shields and communication, nothing more. Then they made me even stronger by finding sources of suul. Sweet suul, the essence of life and creation.”
Rattle. A glance showed the angel gripping the bars, her HALO too bright for me to look long. She must be exerting herself, only to make things worse because all her effort went to the devil. She collapsed to her knees, suddenly weak.
The devil laughed. “Despite starving her of suul, she finds ways to pull it. And then gives it back to me. Her despair is delicious.”
“You’re nothing but a thief!” I accused.
“She lacked the vision to do great things. I didn’t. Her biggest mistake was trusting me.”
“I’m surprised you kept her alive.”
“Call it nostalgia.”
It was Tron who asked, “Why are you afraid of her?”
“I don’t fear her,” the devil retorted.
“Then why keep her in a cage?” Tron insisted. “If she’s so weak and pathetic, why not let her roam free. Wouldn’t that be crueler?”
The devil’s gaze slewed to the cage then away.
Sensing a sore point, I pressed next, “Afraid of a woman. Kind of ironic. It’s probably why he only lets guys be in charge of stuff. He’s a coward.”
“She can’t harm me,” the devil boasted and then grimaced as he saw the hole he’d dug. “She won’t even try. She knows what will happen if she does.” The cage suddenly lowered, hitting the floor with a loud clang that had me bite my cheek. Ouch.
The cage didn’t bend at all, but the momentum had tossed the angel to the floor of it.
“You haven’t let her out.” Tron held him accountable to his boast.
“Those bars aren’t meant to be opened.”
“Because he’s scared of her,” I confided in an aside to Tron. Then I clucked.
A universal sound that had the devil suddenly holding a glowing sword of power. It crackled as he approached the cage and then sliced through the bars.
He then never fully turned as he retreated, huffing, “Happy? I told you, nothing to fear.”
Yet I would have sworn the devil finally appeared nervous. It made no sense. She remained crumpled in the bottom of the cage, unmoving. Her HALO a weak flicker that rendered her powerless. But still, the devil appeared wary.
On an impulse, I ran to her side. “Are you okay?”
“She’s fine. Move away!” barked Satan.
Instead, I reached out to touch the angel, my hands on her splayed arm, causing me to suck in a breath, as I was given a message. In that second of communication, I saw what I needed to do. And it would hurt. At the same time, pain seemed preferable to death.