It was like his voice was some type of trigger, because Cass’s eyes widened, and then Kushiel felt something familiar twine around his legs. He bent down, placing his hands upon the ground.
He knew this feeling. He knew the weight and guilt and pain of every soul in his care. Every single one. And here was one his lost ones, somehow in this man’s home, unseen but felt.
“Lost one, is that you?” he asked, but there was no answer, only a sort of pressing feeling, like the soul was getting closer to him.
“It is you, isn’t it. Oh, little one, I have found you. I had thought you lost, but I have found you,” he murmured, and he felt tears spring to his eyes. Here was one of the many that he was searching for.
He stood, and he felt the soul stay with him, like it was wrapped around him for comfort. He placed his hand where he felt like it had settled, gently petting the air where he felt sure the soul resided.
“I am here, lost one,” he murmured. He did not know if it could hear or understand him, but he could not help offering comfort. The soul felt disjointed and broken, and no wonder. It had been torn from its home, even if that home had been one in hell. Still, souls in Erebus were left to an existence of quiet contemplation and actions of absolution. They were delicate things. They were not meant for topside. They were like children, babies even, and it was Kushiel’s job to nurse them to a path that would lead to redemption.
Instead, someone had stolen them, broken them, and put them here.
It was an abomination.
“Did you do this?” Kushiel growled, looking at Cass.
“Me? What the fuck? How would I do that? Of course I didn’t do that,” Cass said, and his outrage calmed Kushiel. He looked to his side then for a moment, and then he looked back at Kushiel.
“Are there more here?” Kushiel asked hopefully.
“No. Just this one. I don’t know where the other ones are. Have you seen any more?” Cass asked, but he wasn’t looking at Kushiel when he asked that question, and before Kushiel had time to respond, Cass looked back and said, “Only the one so far. I don’t know where the rest that you’re looking for are.”
“Can you see it?” Kushiel asked, a question he probably should have asked sooner.
“Yes, I can see it.” Cass shuddered then. “And I could feel it—such overwhelming pain and despair. It isn’t meant to be here. Although it’s… muted, now that you’re here. The sense of dread and doom isn’t permeating the house anymore.”
“No, it isn’t meant to be here, and I have no notion of how it came to be here, or how all the souls who could find redemption came to be taken from their home. I am glad if this soul’s pain is less now, though. Perhaps my presence is some comfort,” Kushiel said. He turned his attention to the soul he felt then. “Little one, I will take you home.”
Kushiel looked back at Cass, who was once again turned to look to his side. He blushed, but then he focused back on Kushiel. “So you can just take it back? Then I guess I’m supposed to help you find the rest of them?”
Cass looked to the side again and nodded his head, adding, “Yes, and probably figure out who fucked around with afterlife souls to begin with. That’s an issue that will need to be dealt with.”
“Who are you talking to?” Kushiel finally asked. He looked where Cass kept looking, but there was nothing there. The man obviously knew things, and he didn’t discount the help that Casscould offer him, but he wondered if perhaps there was some type of split personality disorder or hallucinations or something beyond his knowledge going on here. It wasn’t unheard of for seers to have visions manifest as hallucinations, and Kushiel wondered if perhaps that was the case. Maybe he shouldn’t have drawn attention to the fact that he couldn’t see whoever Cass was talking to, but it was too late to worry about that now.
Cass just sighed, though, not seeming at all upset at Kushiel’s question or his inability to see whoever he was talking to. “It’s my aunt,” he replied, as if somehow that explained everything.
Kushiel nodded his head. Ok then. Hallucinations, obviously. At any rate, this hallucination seemed only helpful, so Kushiel wouldn’t question Cass about it.
“I’ll be back, and we can figure out a plan. Let me take this one home,” Kushiel stated.
At Cass’s nod, he folded his wings around himself, making sure to leave space where he felt the soul, and he transported to Erebus.
The burning was immediate and sharp, and he grunted a bit at the sudden onslaught. He usually never transported this far into hell—it was always a shock to his system—but he didn’t think taking the scenic route through Limbo would be good for the lost soul, so he would deal with the pain.
He took a moment, deeply breathing, until the fire in his bones receded to the level he was used to. His skin felt too hot and tight, but it was discomfort now and not the pain of his arrival.
He also realized, quite belatedly, that the soul was not with him.
He blamed the pain for distracting him, because he should have realized it immediately. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t see the soul, because he hadn’t been able to see it topside, either. He couldn’t feel it anymore, either. The weight of it was no longerwrapped around him. He was alone once again on Erebus, the mountain still empty.
Fuck.
Chapter 7
Cassius
“Well that didn’t work,” Aunt Ro commented, hands on her hips, staring at the soul who had retreated back to the corner once Kushiel had disappeared. “I’m not sure why an angel is expected to help, anyway,” she sniffed.
