Page 19 of Sin of the Saints

Dad, help me,I plead with him in my mind, but he shakes his head. I thought he was on my side. His betrayal causes bile to rise in my throat, and I feel the torturous pressure in my stomach as my tears refuse to fall.

“Simpleton!” I shout at him. I stand up, bend down to the puddle of blood spreading on the floor, and before Libretto can protest I slip his blood into my father’s mouth. “There’s the truth you refuse to accept!” His eyes widen and he gasps in terror. “So I’ll ask you again, will you continue to serve him even now that you know the truth?” I narrow my eyes and await his answer.

“Of course, Bellcolor,” he sighs. “I will do anything for the father of the Council, my father.”

“Traitor!” I scream, shifting around him and running out of the room.

I hear loud commands behind me, rapid footsteps that shake the entire castle, but I don’t stop. I have to get as far from here as I can. The panic overtakes me and dissolves the force field around me. I can’t use my demonic powers, and though my divine abilities are still with me, the emotional maelstrom within me renders me unable to control them.

Frightened, I look over my shoulder to make sure no one’s chasing me, and when I look forward again I slam into someone who appears to be the Angel of Death himself. Darkness overwhelms me, I try to scream but someone stifles my mouth.

God, what is this Hell?

Chapter Eleven

Bartimaeus

“This way,” Valentina commands, and all I can do is follow her dark aura. I see nothing but her, and I must now rely on one who was, until recently, my enemy.

We run, hunched over, pressed against the walls under cover of darkness. If Valentina managed to sneak out of the castle, she’ll also find a way to infiltrate it without us being detected. Unfortunately, not only is my aura shining through my clouded eyes, Valentina sees it too. My damn aura might give us away, and I’m forced to cover myself in a black quilt.

This place is huge, so many dark corridors, and we hear orders being fired off constantly, footsteps running in every direction. Something’s happening, I have no doubt about that. This place is crawling with guards and the atmosphere is tense, and there’s no telling how we’ll find Belle in this demon trap.

“What the Hell…” Valentina sounds stunned.

“What is it?” I look at where her aura is pointing.

And there she is before me, running down the hall right towards us, looking like the Devil himself is pursuing her, or worse. A red, sense-paralyzing aura envelopes her, and I hear her panting hysterically as she dashes towards us.

We didn’t know where to start looking for her, and here she is, running right into my arms in the dark hallway, a crimson glow around her skin and around… her wings? She’s spectacular, she’s mesmerizing, she’s dangerous. And yet I feel her vulnerability and her fear.

I take Valentina’s coat from her; we’ll have to hide the aura around her to keep her from giving us away. I wrap her in the coat and she starts screaming. I have no choice but to cover her mouth. We turn on our heels and start running as fast as we can. Belle tries to resist, but given my past experience her strength is little more than a human girl in the middle of a tantrum. I think I hear bells ringing, which drives Belle to fight me, but I must be wrong. The presence of sacred bells makes no sense in a demonic castle.

“Hush!” Valentina whispers, and we cling to the brick wall, mere footsteps from our door out of this place.

“The bell sounds are coming from here,” I hear someone say, and the running steps approach us.

“Shit, what’s the plan?” I whisper to Valentina.

“Get her out of here, I’ll create a diversion,” she answers, and I hear her draw the Desert Eagle I gave her.

“No, there are too many of them,” I try to dissuade her from the preordained outcome – sacrificing herself. I can’t even believe I’m worried for a demoness, but she was my ally, even if for a short time.

“It’s my obligation, my calling. I don’t know how, but I feel it. Her father charged me with protecting her, and now I know what he meant.”

Her aura moves, and she pulls my hand, wincing at the burn. I smell charred skin. She draws something on my arm and shoves the car keys into my hand. “Go to this address. It’s an isolated cabin my father uses for emergencies. Completely discrete location. You’ll be safe there” I still hesitate. “Go, now! Don’t worry,angel, I have no intention of giving in easily,” she says, and runs straight into the lion’s maw. The aura around her rages, hinting at her determination and sacrifice in her heroic action towards Belle and myself.

I lift Belle up, covered in Valentina’s coat, and she whines in protest. I ignore the sound of the bells, knowing they’re only chasing us in my mind, and I run out of the castle. Blind, but my resolve is the lighthouse that illuminates my path to freedom.

When the voices behind me fade away, and my hands locate the tangle of bushes where Valentina parked the car, I lower Belle and take her coat off so I can look at her crimson aura.

“Belle?” I whisper her name, feeling her breath catch in her throat.

“B-Bar?” her voice cracks. Her aura moves sharply and she stares at me in silence.

I’m almost tempted to throw it all away, to embrace her and comfort her, but the urgency of getting away from the castle wins out and I fire off cold orders, shoving the car keys into her hands. “No time, we’ve got to get to safety.” I lift my arm and show her the address Valentina wrote on my skin. “Drive there.”

Belle doesn’t say a word. She presses the unlock button and the car beeps. I run to the source of the sound, seeking the passenger side and getting in.

---