Page 122 of Legion
“Others agreed that your requests and responses weren’t so divine in nature anymore.They were suspicious.I’ll be surprised if there aren’t others among this monkhood who harbor the same suspicions.”She briefly scanned the large crowd, noting a few avert their gazes or shift uneasily.
“Such lies and manipulations,” scoffed Kushiel, standing upright.He sniffed, haughty.“I would expect nothing less from the consort of Satan.”
“Satan and Lucifer are two separate people.Any celestial would know that.The fact that you don’t only supports my claim that you’re no angel.”
His eyes went hard.
“But hey, I’m sure you could easily prove me wrong.Calling on heavenly light, for instance, would do the trick.Fill the room with it here and now,” she dared.
He forced a dismissive smile.“I do not have to prove anything to ademon.”
“But it would put these clerics’ minds at rest.As servants of God—a being you supposedly revere and love—they must indeed matter dearly to you.”
“The only thing making these clerics uneasy is your existence.Of course, as of tonight, that will no longer be an issue.”Kushiel clicked his fingers.Almost instantly, a bunch of clerics rushed forward to place buckets near her chair.
Naomi regarded him through slitted eyes as he conjured a ceremonial dagger.“Let me guess ...you plan to bleed me out.It’s what a dark practitioner who feeds off anything holy would do.They’d drink my blood; use it in their rituals.”A typical practice.“Of course, if you’retrulya celestial, you’ll have no such plan.You’ll just kill me outright, because my blood would have no value to you.”
He didn’t react other than to glare down at her in annoyance, a light flush creeping into his face at the rise in air temperature.
She smiled.“I’m right,” she accused.“You intend to bleed me out.How are you going to justify that to these people here?”
“A demon does not deserve to harbor holy blood.Being drained of it is an appropriate way for you to die.”
She snickered.“That so?”He had an answer for everything, didn’t he?“Look, these clerics might buy your brand of crap.But I don’t.If you were truly an angel, truly favored by God,you would not be here.No celestials are permitted to walk the earth until demonic tempers have cooled.The last thing the people upstairs would do is make matters worse by targeting yetanotherdemon.”
“They made an exception for you, since it is essential to prevent the birth of the Antichrist.”
“That would imply that you knew about the prophecybeforeyou came here.You didn’t learn of it from the clerics?”
He pressed his lips shut, his eyes flickering.
A grin tugged at her mouth.“Ah, you weren’t aware of it until you came to them.”Something he couldn’t lie about, because the clerics would know.“If you had no knowledge of it, well, God had no reason to send you to these people, did he?”
“He did not go into the specifics of my mission, true,” he clipped.“But he was clear that the Antichrist might soon walk this earth if I did not aid the clerics.”
“Oh, I see.Explain one thing to me, then.”She paused.“How is it that a supposed angel, who’d know and speak the old languages, wasn’t able to tell that they’d mistranslated the prophecy?”
His brows flicked together, a mix of confusion, doubt, and interest rippling across his face.He wanted to hear what the prophecymightsay, but he wasn’t sure if he should believe her.
Right then, Luka’s mind touched hers.Naomi, we’re ...Need ...finding ...flames.
Uh, yeah, she wasn’t too sure what he was saying.Not knowing how much of this would make sense to him, she replied,Don’t worry about me, Luka, I’m just dandy.I got this, trust me on that.She paused.I’ll be home soon.
Kushiel inched up his chin, sweat now dotting his forehead.“Just like Lucifer himself, you are a great pretender.Full of lies.No wonder he chose you.”
“What-the-fuck-ever, dude.You and me both know that you’re no angel.You’re not here on some divine mission.You’ve been manipulating these clerics since the moment you showed up on their doorstep.Iknow what the prophecy really states.Iknow what the Elioud predicted all those years ago.And ifyouknew, you would never have come for me.”
“Cease trying to plant seeds of doubt in our minds—it will do you no good.I wouldn’t bother begging, bargaining, or attempting to flee either.You could scream, but no one aside for us would hear you,” he taunted.
“Why would I scream?You’re no real threat to me.You never were.”
“You think if you keep us all chatting it will give someone time to save you?”
Nope, she’d just wanted to keep him occupied while she psychically healed ...and she’d been successful.
He chuckled, as though she were pathetic.“Nobody is coming for you.Even if they did come to this very area, they would never find the monastery.So you see, you are going nowhere.I have you now.Your death is guaranteed.”
It was almost cute that he truly believed that.“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” she said as the molten force inside her bubbled and snapped.“It was a mistake on your part to let me live, just as it was a mistake to assume that I’d need rescuing.Bringing me here achieved one thing only—it allowedmeto get toyou.”
