Page 46 of Far From Center
Gabe felt as if his heart had suddenly refused to beat, then go into double-time.No. No, it couldn’t be.
“Who’s Tear?” Nyalla asked.
“Job.” Gabe replied. He turned to Terrelle. “Are you sure? Are you positive?”
She turned to phone toward him. The text was from Snip and it showed a picture of an innocuous, white nut-like bead.
Nyalla peered over his shoulder. “Is it a petrified tear or something? And who is this Job guy?”
Gabe handed the phone back to the demon. “He was a human who lost everything he loved in the world. The story is that he was a wealthy man who had every privilege, and was strong in the faith of his deity. The Adversary argued that it was easy for a human to be faithful when he had never known sorrow, never suffered. So Job was put to the test. He lost everything — his loved ones, his friends, his wealth, his health. He passed the test, because even though he believed that he’d somehow displeased his deity, that he’d fallen from favor, he never lost his faith.”
“That’s a horrible story,” Nyalla argued hotly. “Seriously? A god and the Iblis were having a philosophical disagreement and decided to settle it by ruining some poor man’s life? And he passed the test? Bravo. Good for him. He kept his faith in a nasty horrible god who tortured him on a whim.”
“That’s not…it’s not what the story is about.” Gabe waved it all away with a hand. “He got it all back in the end, but that doesn’t matter because Job’s Tear is just named so because of the story. It’s also called Sorrow’s Tear.”
“It does matter,” Nyalla insisted. “What do you mean Job got it all back? His god resurrected his loved ones? Or did this horrible deity just replace them with equivalents, because in his mind, humans are all the same and as long as he gave Job the same number and gender, he probably wouldn’t even know the difference? This is why I like demons better than angels. At least they treat humans as if they are sentient beings, and not like a bunch of little ants to play with and torture to solve petty disagreements.”
“You must be joking. Demons torture humans all the time. They don’t care how many they kill, or how painful their deaths are. We at least are basing our actions on what benefits the human race as a whole, what guides you toward positive evolution. If we kill one of you, we have to do an impact analysis, file a huge report, and even face punishment if the killing is decided to be unwarranted. Do you think demons do that? No, they don’t.”
“Guys. Hey, guys.” Terrelle stuck her fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle. “Argue about this later, after we figure out why Job’s Tear is so important that a rebel angel would steal it only to trade it to the Iblis.”
“It’s a cursed object, that’s why. It has the power to take away everything from someone — human or otherwise. It kills their friends, their loved ones, takes away all their material goods, deprives them of their health, and eventually even their life.”
Nyalla’s eyes narrowed. “But at the end, if the cursed person keeps faith, is all restored?”
“No. That’s how it happened in the story, but not with this artifact. What’s gone is gone.”
Terrelle sucked in a sharp breath. “But what activates it? Because I doubt the angel that stole it wanted everything taken from him, or the Gormand, or this ancient demon. Something turns it on, targets it to a specific person. And if something turns it on, then something can turn it off.”
She was a smart demon. But then as an information demon, she’d have to be.
“It’s a tool of the Adversary,” he told her. “Samael wielded it until we made him give it up. He was having far too much fun with it. He would have been doing four-nine-five reports for the next ten billion years if we’d let him continue. So yes, there is a way to target the effect, and there is a way to both turn it on and turn it off any time during the process of the curse. I just don’t know how to do either.”
“Does Sam know how to use it?” Nyalla asked.
Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh. “I doubt it. Have you seen her with the sword? If that thing wasn’t sentient, she would have sliced off her own limbs by now.”
Terrelle frowned. “Then what good is it? I’m assuming it won’t work at all unless this Samael turns up again.”
That wasn’t likely to happen. But there was a good chance this artifact didn’t need a specific person or incantation to make it work. Gabriel once again thought of how the Iblis accidently managed to lock them all out of Aaru — and had no idea how to get them all back in. It was just as likely that once in her hands, this item would be activated and that she’d be unable to turn it off.
Perhaps that’s what Tura and the rebels wanted. Worse, if the Iblis activated Job’s Tear and couldn’t target it, anyone could become cursed. And if it hit the Iblis herself, then all the archangels would fall. All those she loved, all her friends would die.
Except him. She hated Gabe and the feeling was mutual. How ironic it would be if the Iblis and all his siblings were wiped out and he were the only one left behind. Not ironic, horrifying. The idea of losing his family, all of those that he cared about, was his greatest fear. And as strong as he was, without the support of his siblings, he could never hold Aaru against the rebels. Well, if any of them could return to Aaru, that is.
And there was the real irony. No one beyond the Iblis, the archangels, and Nyalla knew that they were locked from Aaru. No doubt these rebels thought to kill off the archangels, then use one of the ancients to break back into Aaru. Instead if they succeeded, they’d find themselves locked out forever, at least until another Iblis came along worthy of the sword. It had been over two million years for the sword to find a worthy successor to Samael. Would the angelic host survive wandering this world among the humans for so long?
As satisfying as that thought was to the part of him that wanted revenge, this could never come to pass. Job’s Tear could never make it to the Iblis, and it most definitely needed to be out of demon and angel hands. Suddenly his mission wasn’t just to bring Tura to justice, it was to save his family and the future of Aaru. And to do that he’d need not only a plan, but the help of a human woman and two demons.
