My life has taken a turn. I’m not a tool guy, nor am I a supernatural guy, but here we are.
"Who speaks the words?" I ask.
"Ideally, someone bound to the entity. Someone with a direct metaphysical connection. The words carry more weight when spoken by a voice that the binding recognizes as…relevant."
My eyes find James. He's already looking at me. Already understanding.
"Aye," he says from the wall. "I'll do it."
Dr. Reyes can't see him from the laptop's angle, but she must hear his voice because her brow furrows. "Detective, how many people are involved in this?"
"Enough." I turn back to the screen. "What about the center? The name? You said it’s the anchor to the whole thing?"
"Right. The name is the keystone. The final lock. Once the seven points are negated, the binding's structural integrity is gone, but the name still anchors the entity to the physical location. To fully release the seal, the name must be countered as well."
"What's the counter-word for Azhrael?"
"Well, the name Azhrael," she says carefully, "is itself a compound word.Azh—a root associated with shadow, void, the spaces between. Andrael—a theophoric element meaning…" She swallows thickly. "Meaningof God. Or more precisely,heavenly."
She sets down her notes and looks directly into the camera. "The counter-word for Azhrael isheavenly.”
Which means he’s the opposite of heavenly. Why am I not surprised?
“Speaking the name aloud over the defaced center name completes the unbinding. It…acknowledges the entity's original nature. Before the binding. Before the diminishment." Another pause. "Detective, are you sure you want to do this? What exactly is down there in the base—?"
"Thank you, Dr. Reyes. I'll be in touch."
"Wait, Detective Crowe." Her voice sharpens. "If you break the Seal of Dissolution, you're releasing something that is the opposite of heavenly. Something that was bound for a reason. Whatever you think you know about this Azhrael, I urge you to think twice before you unleash—"
"Someone I care about is going to die if I don't," I say through gritted teeth. "The only thing that can find her is the thing trapped here. That’s all you need to know, Dr. Reyes."
Silence.
"Then God help you," she says quietly. "All of you."
The call ends.
I close the laptop and turn to face the basement. James is already pulling himself to his feet. Azhrael's form hovers near the ceiling, denser than I've seen him in hours, as if he’s slowly recovering. His ember eyes burn with an intensity that makes the hair on my arms stand up.
"You heard the instructions." I pick up the chisel and the hammer. The tools feel absurdly mundane for what we’re about to do. "Seven points, reverse order. You speak the counter-words, James. I deface the symbols. We work our way to the center."
James nods. He moves to the edge of the Seal, his shadow-wrapped feet leaving faint dark impressions in the packed earth. He locates the seventh point, the last one carved, which means the first one we unmake.
"Ready?" I ask.
"Been ready since I came back from the dead," James growls.
That pulls me up short for a second. Did he really die?
No time to process that right now. I position the chisel at the seventh point, its edge aligned with the ancient script that readsSilence. The chisel bites in. I raise the hammer.
"Voice," James says.
I strike.
The impact shudders up my arm. The symbol cracks, splits, the ancient script fracturing under cold steel. I strike several more times since the symbols are carved deep, at least half an inch into packed earth that's hardened into something approaching stone. Finally, the moment the word is erased, the basementheaves.
The floor lurches. A shockwave rolls outward from the broken point, invisible but palpable, a pressure wave that pops my ears and makes my vision swim. Overhead, plaster cracks, and a jagged line races across the ceiling from wall to wall, raining white dust. A pipe in the wall groans and bursts, spraying water across the far corner.
