Page 193 of The Dark Mirror

Arcturus brought up the rear of our group. He whirled a few spools together and sent them at the other Buzzers, diverting their attention as we made for the Basilica di San Pietro. So far, he was holding up, but falling well behind the other Ranthen. I waited for him, letting him pass me before I went on, so I could guard his back. I threw nearly all my knives as I ran, trying to distract the Buzzers from the people they were killing.

To my right, a Buzzer stood up on its hind legs, making it about twelve feet tall. I had never seen one of them do that before, and the sight of it froze me. It was like it was remembering its old life as a Reph.

‘Paige,’ Nick roared.

A rocket exploded against the Buzzer, and it fell back, wreathed in smoke. An Italian soldier lowered her launcher. Others rushed in with rifles, opening fire. I snapped out of it and sprinted up the steps after the others.

Mistry hurried between two broad columns, into the cool gloom of the Basilica de San Pietro. I had never set foot in such an immense building. Even the Westminster Archon paled in comparison tothis palace of marble and gold. My boots squeaked on its gleaming floor as we ran beneath the arch of the ceiling, towards an ornate wooden canopy. The last few visitors hurried in the other direction, shepherded by guards and tour guides.

One person stood alone. An amaurotic, dressed in red and white. He waited by the canopy, in the weak daylight that came in from an opening in the dome above.

‘Cardinal Rocha.’ Mistry stopped in front of him. ‘You should leave, Your Eminence.’

‘No. This is where I remain, to welcome them back.’ Rocha was gazing up at the dome, his liver-spotted hands clasped in front of him. ‘God has sent his angels to us.’

‘They’re not angels,’ I said.

‘Don’t waste your breath,’ Jaxon said. ‘One cannot reason with this sort of tomfoolery.’

‘Your Eminence, you must get to safety,’ Mistry urged. ‘The Republic of Scion is here. It will not spare men of the cloth. The Holy Father ordered an evacuation.’

‘Beatrice Sala told him to do it. They have all fled, for they are unbelievers. Daniela Gonçalves showed the same lack of faith. But I will stay to guard the house,’ Cardinal Rocha said, calm as anything. ‘God has chosen us to host the angels here in Roma, the Eternal City.’

Nick tightened his grip on his gun. ‘Do you work for Grapevine?’

‘I serve the Almighty.’

‘Wait.’ I pointed to the Ranthen. ‘Are these your angels, Cardinal Rocha?’

Catching my intention, Pleione and Errai lifted their masks and drew themselves up to their full height. At once, Cardinal Rocha prostrated himself.

‘His body was like topaz, his face like lightning,’ he whispered to the floor. ‘His eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.’

‘Our fellow angels told you to lay our fallen here,’ Pleione said. ‘Where are they, priest?’

‘Castor brought them. I let him in, glorious ones. They lie below, in the Cripta dei Monarchi.’ He looked at me through rheumy eyes,drunk on his devotion, a smile on his crinkled face. ‘Do you see the divine fire in them, burning away the unnaturals?’

Mistry turned to me. ‘The Cripta dei Monarchi is beneath the basilica. This way.’

‘Wait. We don’t want to wind up trapped with the Buzzers,’ I said. ‘Is there more than one way out of this Cripta dei Monarchi?’

‘There is a second exit. We just need to—’

‘Incoming,’ Nick barked.

The Buzzers had followed us from outside. There were more of them now. Before I could run, Arcturus swung me on to his back. I held tight as he scaled the wall, climbing up to a ledge, followed by Terebell. Pleione scooped Mistry up, while Errai did the same for Nick. It took me a moment to realise they had all ignored Jaxon and Cardinal Rocha.

‘Jax—’

His name escaped me before I could stop it. Arcturus glanced down, but the Buzzers were too close.

Jaxon dealt us an amused look, took a few steps back and swept his poltergeists in front of him. The Buzzers avoided him and fell on Cardinal Rocha, who let out a cry before they devoured him. I turned away, grasping Arcturus. He kept an iron grip on both the ledge and me.

The Buzzers made a horrific cacophony as they feasted on Cardinal Rocha. Once they had stripped every last thread of flesh and sinew off his bones, they abandoned the skeleton, leaving a pool of blood in their wake, and disappeared through an opening I had missed.

‘Terebell, you disappoint me.’ Jaxon laughed. ‘I expected you to give me a more specific death.’

‘Your gift may be useful, arch-traitor,’ Terebell said, ‘but I will not assist you any more than I must.’

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