The Mesmerist(51)

I look to Gabriel, who is once again the small boy with dark curls and eyes, not the blazing figure I saw in the tunnel. He is an angel, I remind myself. An angel.

Emily seems better now, after drinking several ewers of water.

I am beyond exhausted, still reeling from the battle. The fire in the grate warms my aching limbs. But finally I ask the question that is weighing on me. “Where were you?” I ask Balthazar. “We needed you.” I know I am being rather blunt, but I do not care.

“This was your quest, child,” he tells me. “It had to be this way.”

I am flabbergasted.

“My quest? But what if we were harmed . . . or killed?”

“You swore an oath to this order,” he replies without the slightest trace of sentiment.

The words of the initiation come back to me:

And do you swear to use your gift for the good of mankind and strike down evil at any cost, even at risk to your own life?

For a moment, I cannot speak. I hear Emily’s breathing deepen and see that she has fallen asleep in her chair. Gabriel’s head dips to his chest several times, and he jerks awake, only to let it happen again.

“We all have a great task in life, Jess,” Balthazar tells me. “Your parents had theirs in defeating Mephisto, and this was yours—?to rise as a member of the League of Ravens, continue their work, and avenge their deaths. You faced a threat brave men would flee from, and that is no small thing.”

What Balthazar says is true, and even in this moment, with all that has come to pass, I can think of only one thing: a little girl in Deal, running about the house with a carpet beater as a sword—?The Adventures of Jess the Pirate Girl and her Deeds of Derring-Do!

Now I have truly seen what adventure holds, and it is no playful lark.



Sleep is a blanket that wraps me in peaceful slumber. There are no dreams of a dark tunnel filled with white mist. I see no man with red eyes or children sick with disease. There is only a deep, restful quiet that embraces my whole being.

And somewhere within that quiet, I see the faces of Mother and Father, who smile upon me and kiss me good night.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE





The Wood Beyond the World


Darby spills the pile of sticks onto the floor. “Come on, then,” she says. “Let’s play again.”

Emily sighs. “There are other games, you know.”

I feel for her, as it is the fourth time they’ve played, and she seems rather bored.

“But I like this game,” Darby protests.

Emily sighs again and picks up the sticks.

It has been two days now since our battle in the Underground, and things seem to be returning to normal. That is, if normal is living in a house with a mesmerist, a lightbringer, a werewolf, and an angel. Oh, and a faerie.

We are gathered in the parlor, and while Emily and Darby play jackstraws, I finally gain the courage to ask Gabriel a question that has been plaguing me. I take a breath. “Have you . . . died before?” I ask him. There. I’ve said it. “Do you have to die to become an angel?”

I feel like an absolute beast for prying, but how can I resist? There is an angel in the parlor.

He works on his harp thoughtfully, tightening the little pins that hold the strings in place. “There are things I cannot speak of,” he says. “From the world beyond. But I can tell you that death is not the end, Jess. Your mother and father are at rest, and their souls have passed on to a place with no pain or suffering.”

These words almost make me weep, but I take another breath and my heart is suddenly filled with a sense of peacefulness. “What will you do now?” I ask him.

He looks at me, and I see that same fierce gaze he wore in battle. “Evil still exists in this world, does it not?”

“Yes.”

“That means our work is not yet done. We swore an oath. Remember?”

“Yes,” I tell him. “I do remember.”

We are interrupted by Balthazar, who strides into the room. He looks to Emily and Darby, and then to me and Gabriel. He holds a small black box in his hands. “Ahem,” he murmurs. “Please. Gather round, if you will.”

I rise with a slight pain in my side. The wound from the ghoul is healed, but every now and then I feel a cold, lingering ache. Maybe it will be with me forever, a reminder of the day I avenged my parents.

“Long ago,” Balthazar starts, “when the League of Ravens was formed, we worked in the shadows, for that has always been our way. But now a new day has dawned. There is no need to hide, and we should be proud of the work we do, for we hold the line against the dark forces that exist in this world.”

He reaches into the box. Cradled within black velvet are several rings. He pulls one out. “Jessamine Grace, wear this ring to show your belief in the power of good over evil, and as a testament to those who have died for our cause.”

I take the ring from his hand. It is beautiful, and I know the emblem on the white cameo well—?a raven’s head surrounded by a wreath of golden leaves. I place it on my finger. “Thank you,” I tell him. “It’s quite lovely.”

He gives Emily and Gabriel their rings. Gabriel takes his without a word, but Emily raises her hand in the air and turns it to and fro, admiringly. “Pretty as a penny, innit?”