Im sorry, said Ziri.
For what? she asked with poor false lightness, as if he hadnt seen and understood everything. But of course he had.
Im sorry that things cant be different. For you. For her and Akiva, Karou understood that he meant, anddear Zirihe was sincere. The Wolfs face was vivid with his compassion.
They can be, she said, somewhat to her own surprise, and in place of her guilt and her quiet torment, she felt resolve. Brimstone had believed it, and so had Akiva, and the fiercest happiness in her two lives had been when she had believed it. Things can be different, she told Ziri. And not just for her and Akiva. For all of us, she said, summoning a smile. Thats the whole point.
24
CUE APOCALYPSE
Several hours later, Karou had entirely forgotten what that smile felt like.
Things can be different, sure. But first, you have to kill a whole lot of angels and probably mess up human civilization forever. And oh, you may well lose anyway. You might all die. No big deal.
It wasnt a surprise, exactly. It wasnt as if anyone was calling this meeting a peace council.
It was one for the history books, no question about that. High in the Adelphas Mountains, which had ever stood as the main land bastion between the Empire and the free holdings, the representatives of two rebel armies faced one another. Seraphim and chimaera, Misbegotten and revenants, Beasts Bane and the White Wolf, not enemies today but allies.
It was going about as well as could be expected.
I am in favor of the clear course. This was Elyon, the brother who had stepped into Hazaels place by Akivas side. He and two othersBriathos and Oritstood for the Misbegotten alongside Akiva and Liraz. With Thiago and Karou were Ten and Lisseth.
And the clear course is? inquired the Wolf.
Elyon said, as if it were evident, We close the portals. Let the humans deal with Jael.
What?
This was not what Karou had been expecting. No, she blurted, though it wasnt her place to respond.
Liraz objected at the same moment, and their words collided in the air. No. Positioned dead across the table from each other, they met eyes, Lirazs narrow, Karous carefully neutral.
No, they would not close the portals between the worlds, trapping Jael and his thousand Dominion soldiers on the other side for humans to deal with. On this they might agree, though for different reasons.
Jael will be dealt with by me, said Liraz. She spoke quietly, tonelessly. It was unnerving, and had the effect of sounding incontrovertible, like a fact long established. Whatever else happens, that much is certain.
Lirazs reason was vengeance, and Karou didnt fault her for it. She had seen Hazaels body, as she had seen Liraz grief-torn and bereft, and Akiva
at her side, just as anguished. Even from within Karous own black well of grief that night, the sight had gutted her. She wanted Jael dead, too, but it wasnt her only concern.
We cant put this on humans, she said. Jael is our problem.
Elyon was ready with a response. If what you tell us of humans and their weapons is true, it should be easy work for them.
It would be if they saw them as enemies, she said. Jaels pageant was a stroke of cunning. They will worship us as gods, Jael had told Akiva, and Karou didnt doubt he was right. She said to Elyon, Imagine your godstars unfasten themselves from the sky and come down to stand before you, living and breathing. How exactly would you deal with them?
I imagine that I would give them whatever they asked for, he replied, adding, with damnable, faultless logic, which is why we must close the portals. Our first concern must be Eretz. We have enough to deal with here without picking a fight in a world not our own.
Karou shook her head, but his words had knocked hers askew, and for a moment she could find none. He was right. It was imperative that Jael not succeed in bringing human weapons into Eretz, and the simplest way to stop him would be to close the portals.
But it was unacceptable. Karou couldnt simply dust humanity off her hands and turn her back on an entire world, especially considering that Jaels pageant traced directly back to her. She had brought the abomination Razgut to Eretz and turned him loose with such dangerous knowledge as he possessedof warcraft, religion, geographyand he had gifted it to Jael. She had brought this down on the human world as surely as if shed match-made that pair of foul angels herself.
In the second that she searched for words, she scanned for support around the stone table and met Akivas gaze. It was like a kick to her heartbeat, that burning stare. He was blank; whatever he was feeling toward herdisgust? disappointment? bone-deep, baffled hurt?it was hidden.
Shutting a door is one way of solving a problem, he said. He stared straight at Thiago. But not a very good way. Our enemies do not always stay where we put them, and tend to come back on us unlooked for, and all the more deadly for it.
There was no doubt that he was referring to his own escape and its consequences. The Wolf didnt miss his meaning. Indeed, he said. Let the past be our teacher. Killing is the only finality. A glance at Karou, and he added with a very small smile, And sometimes, not even that.