Page 402 of Castings & Curses

Aurelia never arrived, not that I thought they'd let her in, but a part of me had hoped they would.

"Do you have any reason to doubt the loyalty of your angelic allies?" Leoriel asked as he paced around the too-small interrogation room.

I was sure it was a design feature, to make the place even less pleasant than it could've been.

"No, not at all," I replied with total honesty. "Raphael has demonstrated kindness, compassion, intelligence and he has approached the investigation logically each step of the way, as far as I can see. He saved my friend's life, and he came back up to heaven after being badly injured. Once here, he continued the investigation…"

"Continued in what way?" Leoriel asked as he leaned forward in his seat.

I didn't know what to make of that.

"Doing research, I suppose. I know he received the analysis of a pin I wore to see if it contained any unwanted magic. Apart from that, I'm not sure. He seemed to direct the investigation, and Aurelia took him the information she learned each step of the…"

One moment, I was dwelling on the details of the investigation, and the next, the wall exploded inward, showering the room with dust and debris.

A figure floated through a massive hole in the wall, and it was only when the dust shifted that I noticed a hint of translucent wings on the angel's back. I didn't recognize the angel in question, though I could tell she was female. Her head hung down with her long hair sleek around her face. I could honestly say I'd never seen her before in my life, so why was she in my interrogation room?

"Joanne, what are you doing?" Leoriel asked.

I released a silent 'ah.' So this was Aurelia's superior, who was potentially the victim of the killer's mind control? And whose memories had been erased? She looked more a threat than a victim now, and when she raised her head, her eyes glowed in a distinctly unangel-like manner.

"Joanne has left the building," she replied as I felt a wave of energy sweep through the room. I ducked down, which was lucky, because it was almost like a net had been cast, and she was reeling it in. Only instead of dragging me… she dragged Leoriel’s soul instead, and it seemed as though she was pulling it apart.

I heard a tearing noise — just as I had from a distance that day Misha had been killed. I might not have been a fan of my questioner, but I couldn't let this happen to him. Not if I had any say about it.

I sent out a blast of magic, fracturing the net into hundreds of shards of energy. The moment the net of magic broke, Leoriel's soul flowed back into its previous shape. He went from falling down to recoiling in a matter of moments, his eyes wide with horror. He knew what Joanne had just tried to do to him.

"No, noooo…" he cried out as he backed away.

His eyes darted to me, and so did Joanne's… or what had once been Joanne's body.

I threw up a hasty shield, blocking the attacker's next attempt to snag us with a freshly summoned net. Then I threw all of my strength into bringing the ceiling down on our attacker. As it crashed down, pinning them to the floor, I glanced Leoriel's way.

"Help me… our attacker’s too powerful for me alone."

He seemed afraid to do anything, but I felt him add his strength to mine. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I reached out to Aurelia's mind.

'Please, I need your help. Joanne is attacking us, only she's not herself anymore. Please come! We need you.'

I repeated the same message for Raphael. I assumed Aurelia was the most likely to hear me because of our connection, whereas Raphael was the most powerful.

I had no idea whether he could hear me or not — it was harder to communicate telepathically without line of sight — but I couldn't help but shout to his mind after what had just happened.

There was no way out of the cell, except through the hole in the wall behind our attacker, and there was no easy way to get past. Then I remembered — I was a goddess, and more than capable of tearing down walls if I put my mind to it. I didn't sense any beings on the other side of our cell door, so I momentarily opened the shield and blasted the door with every ounce of energy I could muster.

It shattered in a shower of splintered wood, and it was a blessed sight to see a means of escape. Leoriel ran straight for the door, and I followed, keeping the shield firmly in place in the interrogation room until I got halfway down the corridor and it was out of my range to sustain.

Raphael and Gabriel arrived at the scene moments later, flying past us toward the remnants of the interrogation room door.

Before I could have another thought, Aurelia's arms were around me, and then she was pulling me to safety, further away from the scene that was continuing to unfold further into the cell block.

"Are you alright?" she asked me as we ran.

I nodded, but realizing she didn't see, I spoke up. "Yes, I think so."

Crowds of angels gathered, and I sensed the danger might be over for us, but I couldn't know for sure. Who or whatever inhabited Joanne's form was incredibly powerful and completely devoid of compassion. It wanted me for some reason — I still wasn't clear on why that was. As far as I knew, I'd never had anything to do with… whoever that was.

If Joanne had indeed 'vacated the building,' it had to be a god possessing or controlling her, I realized. That net — it wasn't a method of magic I'd have expected an angel to use.

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