Angelus Read Online Free PDF Page B

about as useful to her as a common fly.”
    The spider on Lilith’s shoulder chittered again. Surely, it couldn’t understand the word fly ? Then again, Kim wouldn’t have been surprised if that spider had once been human itself.
    â€œYes, I suppose you’re right,” Kim said, but not meaning it in the slightest. He’d never give up on Angela. Neither would Sophia.
    And at last he was certain he’d struck on a solution.
    Months ago, when Lilith had forced Angela to drink angel blood to peer into her mind, Kim had feared there’d be lingering aftereffects. He’d not only been right, but the worst had happened: Angela lost most of her memories. She no longer remembered chunks of her former life on Earth in the city of Luz, or much of her hellish journey to rescue Sophia from Python’s clutches. In Angela’s mind, she had been the Prince of Hell for a while, and it was a lie Lilith intended to nurture. Lilith was transparent enough. She wanted prosperity for Hell. She wanted control of that prosperity. And she didn’t need anyone to know about it.
    The only flaw in her plans was that Angela didn’t seem to know how to open the Book of Raziel anymore, and Sophia could feign ignorance forever. No one was stupid enough to harm the Book—the universe’s last chance of salvation—or the Archon who could open her.
    But time was running out. The disintegration was rapidly affecting Hell, and Kim couldn’t imagine what was going on in Luz.
    Lilith’s growing nastiness was a sure sign of her worries.
    She tapped her bare foot against the stone floor, suddenly impatient with Angela’s fearfully regal attitude.
    At last, Angela was ready to speak.
    Sophia stepped forward, emerging into the red light of the glowing pentagrams so that her dress shimmered. Her thick curls resembled a dark storm cloud, and her fathomless gaze scanned the assembled demons, lingering on certain individuals with interest—or suspicion. She lingered longest on Lilith. Her glance at Kim was briefer than he’d hoped, but for the best. She’d surely received his message. Now all she had to do was give him the sign that their meeting would take place tonight.
    â€œThis angel was found on the Silent Plain before the Gates of Babylon,” one of the demonic guards explained in answer to a quiet question from Sophia. “We have every reason to believe he is a spy sent to infiltrate the city.”
    Angela stood and examined the angel carefully.
    Immediately, the ranks of demons thronging the chairs set around the throne stood from their seats and knelt before her. Lilith gave a heavy sigh, but tossed the fan in her lap at a servant and knelt with the others.
    High above Angela, Lucifel’s former chains swayed and clinked together gently in the quiet. There, the great angel had hung in the eternal gloom of Hell, so admired and feared by her worshippers that none dared to free her. There, her mind had wandered from darkness into what Kim knew to be insanity. It was a madness he’d never allow to touch Angela as long as he lived.
    The pentagrams around them pulsed with a dull bloody light. The beasts carved into the throne warped their shapes in the shadows.
    â€œA spy?” Angela reiterated. Her voice rang, shivering Lucifel’s manacles and chains again. Kim’s heart raced. The sound of Angela’s voice sent tremors through his soul. “That’s ludicrous,” she said softly. “The portals to the other Realms have all been destroyed as the dimensions are collapsing. He must have arrived here by mistake. Sit down,” she said, gesturing at the kneeling demons.
    They piled back into their seats. No one voiced their relief louder than Lilith. Seeming to have lost all sense of decorum, she brushed dirt from her dress and slid back into her chair, sighing loudly again.
    Now the Council was open for discussion, though Angela of course had the