“Okay,” I piped.
He definitely looked like he came from Avalon, but I wasn’t sure of anything except that my friends seemed to know what he was, and that Cael must have sent him if he knew about my mission.
When I stepped closer, I experienced an eerie peace and stillness that I’d only ever felt in Cael’s presence.
“And what’s my mission?” Maybe he wouldn’t be as cryptic as Cael. Maybe speaking angel-lions could be blunt. Fingers crossed.
His nose twitched and he bowed his head. “To destroy the Netherworld and free the souls Apollyon has trapped there.”
“Uh…” I barely had time to process his bombshell when I was blinded by a glowing white light and then he was gone.
What. In. The. Flying. Laser beam Shooting. Lion. Was that?
“Drea!” Aurelia’s voice snapped me from my trance and drew my gaze to the direction of the nightclub entrance. A group of master hunters filed in and then stared at all of us down on one knee in confusion.
“What happened? You texted ‘level ten.’” Theo looked at his daughter, mystified, and then to the lizard head on the ground that was starting to ash and smoke.
Drea stood, cleared her throat, and looked at me.
“Tatum jumped in front of a demon harpoon to save my life and conjured a guardian of Avalon! Then she killed the level ten. We’re fine now.”
The master hunters all gasped at the mention ofguardian.
Aurelia cleared her throat, looking around the space. “What was his name?”
I chewed my lip. “Aurum?”
Her eyes went wide. “Guardian Aurum washere?” Awe was evident in her voice, but I couldn’t focus on that. I was still looping his words in my head.
Destroy the Netherworld? Free the souls Apollyon trapped? Who did they think I was and why were souls trapped there?
But then the answer came to me.
I was Apollyon’s daughter, and like Cael had said, this mission was something only I could do.
A pit formed in my stomach at the thought.
With the curse lifted from Gran, and Gage healed and safe from Arthur back at the Lumen Compound, all I really wanted was to rescue my mom from Apollyon and call it a day. Freeing souls and destroying a Hell-like realm had not been on my life “to-do” list.
I gazed off into nothing, trying to process the last several minutes. Marlow slid in next to me. She nodded toward a semi-hysterical couple in the corner I was faced toward. “Their memories from the last thirty minutes will be altered,” she said, obviously thinking I was worried about them when I hadn’t even noticed they were there.
With a shake of my head, I focused on the pair. A master Lumen was trying to talk to them, but the guy was openly sobbing, and the woman talking animatedly as she moved her arms in flapping motions. I guess the club wasn’t completely emptied before things got really weird.Oops.
“We only use memory alteration as a last resort,” Marlow went on, “but sometimes it needs to be done.”
I remembered when Gage told me that Stella’s memories of the demon attack at the diner had been wiped and replaced to make her believe there’d been a power outage and attempted robbery. Messing with people’s memories didn’t sit well with me, but the couple across the room were clearly traumatized. Maybe itwasbest they went on with their lives without the memory of this supernatural event.
“How does it work?” I asked. “Is there a special gadget or something?”
“It’s an ability only a few Watchers possess. Healers and master Lumens are the only ones permitted to use it.”
The master Lumen laid his hand on the woman’s shoulder and leaned in to speak with her. I couldn’t hear what he said, but after a few seconds the woman seemed to relax. He moved on to the crying man next, and within a few moments he calmed as well.
“All right, let’s head out,” Drea said as she joined Marlow and me, Jacob and Dash in her wake. “The masters are going to take it from here. We’ve been instructed to go right back to the compound.”
I nodded and we all filed out of the club. Drea fell into step next to me as we headed to the subway station.
She lowered her voice. “Mom wants to talk to you later about everything that went down tonight.”
