Billi’s blood went cold. It couldn’t be. Mike stood up and the black coat spread out, not like wings of a bat, but like those of an angel. A Dark Angel.
‘Betray him, Billi. For what he’s done to you. For what he did to your mother.’
‘I told you – you’ve got it so wrong. My dad didn’t kill my mum.’
‘I know.’
‘What?’
Mike leapt.
He launched himself out into the sky and he seemed to halt, impossibly, at the apex of the jump. Then he dived down and slammed into the beam next to Billi. The ladder shook loose and fell away, and Billi tottered on the narrow edge before she came off, touching only empty air. Her heart froze and she flung her arms out, staring in horror as the ladder disappeared down into the deep darkness. Terror robbed her voice of air, and all she could do was stare as the lights blurred and the sky turned and the wind screamed in her ears.
OhGodohGodohGodohGod -
Mike’s hand locked itself round her left wrist and she almost dislocated her shoulder at the sudden halt. He held her with one hand without effort. Their eyes met and for the briefest moment Billi thought he was going to let go. Instead he let her dangle. Billi felt her left shoe slide off and it was gone; the air tickled her foot.
‘I know he didn’t kill her.’ His eyes lit up and there was nothing human in them. ‘I did.’
14
Billi felt like she was on the rack and her arm was being ripped out of her socket. She could barely focus through the blinding agony as she swayed, high above the city, dangling from Mike’s grip.
‘The Mirror, Billi, it’s all I want. Tell me where it is, and I’ll let you go.’ He laughed at his weak joke.
Billi groaned. Hot waves of pain raced along her arm and down her spine.
‘My brothers and sisters have been imprisoned long enough.’ He tightened his grip and Billi screamed.
‘No,’ was all she could say. The ground, so far below, revolved slowly, sickeningly.
Mike’s face was twisted in demonic rage, the skin waxen and pallid in his fury. He caught her looking at him, exposed, then the moment passed. Suddenly he was back to the friendly, human Mike. But the mask had slipped and his true self had been revealed.
The Unholy.
How could she have been so stupid?
‘I almost had it, ten years ago.’ He raised Billi up so they were eye to eye. ‘Would have got it, if it hadn’t been for your mother.’
The Nights of Iron. In spite of the pain, Billi couldn’t help but listen, awestruck.
‘But they were ghuls. The Templars were attacked by ghuls.’
Mike pointed to himself. ‘Created by me. You’d be amazed at how many people would sell their souls for a little immortality.’ Mike let out a sigh. ‘Twelve nights of war and bloodshed. It was glorious. I killed Uriens. Crushed his skull between my palms, but he didn’t tell. If he didn’t know how to live like a Templar Master, he knew how to die like one.’
Billi gritted her teeth and forced herself to look around. Maybe she could reach another beam, or maybe drop to the floor below. There was a ledge about two metres away. But a glance told her it was hopeless. The only solid ground was two hundred sickening metres below her.
Mike winked. ‘And when I found out Arthur had stepped into Uriens’s shoes I came to your home. Thought I’d hold both of you hostage. Force Arthur to hand the Mirror over in exchange for his darling wife and sweet daughter.’
Fire blazed in Billi’s eyes. She was staring at her mother’s killer. Every fibre of her burned with hatred. Mike didn’t seem to mind.
‘Your mother looked at me with those very eyes. So black and so very full of hate. If it’s any consolation she fought till the very end. She just wouldn’t play along and sit tight. I was almost sorry to kill her. Especially since it was clear that you alone wouldn’t be enough to make Arthur hand over the Mirror. It occurred to me, after ending your mother’s life, that the pair of you had been left at home defenceless and yet still no Arthur… He obviously didn’t care about you. Just like he doesn’t care about you now. So I left you, snivelling under the bed.’
‘No, that’s not true,’ Billi whispered. No matter what he did to her, her dad had to love her. She was his daughter – he had to! But as she dangled in the icy winds Billi felt the coldness soak into her heart. Mike leaned closer.
‘See? You believe me, don’t you? And this is the man you want to protect? You owe him nothing, Billi.’ Mike’s fingers locked round her wrist. ‘I only let him go last time after discovering he’d killed all my ghuls. I decided then I would wait and save all my strength for this very special moment. Now it’s your turn, Billi. Tell me where the Mirror is and you’ll be free. Free of your father. Of the Templars. Just tell me.’
‘I’ll tell you something. You’re scum. Murdering scum,’ Billi hissed. Mike’s eyes darkened and for a split second Billi felt his grip loosen and her heart jumped. But then he scowled and instead squeezed her wrist harder than ever until she could feel her bones about to crack.
‘I am Michael, the Angel of Death. It was I that rained fire on Gomorrah. It was I who stalked the streets of Egypt and slew the firstborn. I cast down Satan. I and I alone.’ He stared at her with a mixture of pride and anger. ‘I will bring people back to the light. I am God’s Killer and I will not be judged by the children of clay.’ He shook her wildly. ‘Where is the Cursed Mirror?’
‘So you and your wingless siblings can unleash the tenth plague? I don’t think so. I don’t even understand why.’ She thought about Rebecca and the ones he’d managed to infect with his touch in the hospital. If he got his hands on the Mirror the death toll would be immense. Britain would become a mausoleum overnight. ‘They’re innocent children.’
‘Then rejoice, for they will soon be in His Kingdom. Do you know that Rebecca’s mother prays constantly now?’
He knew? He knew they’d been to China Wharf Hospital? Oh God, what a fool she’d been.
Michael leaned closer. ‘Just think how much harder she’ll pray once Rebecca dies. Think of the thousands, millions of prayers and souls I’ll send to Him after I release the tenth plague.’ He looked up into the cloud-swollen sky. ‘God cannot ignore me then.’ He reached upwards with his free hand, gazing, lost, into the darkness. ‘He will take me back. He must.’
Billi spat in his face. Her muscles were numb now; just a residual dull ache ran down her arm. Her feet hung over empty air and she knew she was going to die. Michael had killed her mother and that hate overcame the fear. He wiped the spittle off his chin, and laughed.
‘A fighter, just like Jamila. I like that.’ He swung her in long arcs like she was a rag doll. Billi thought she’d overcome the pain, but a blaze of fresh agony ran into her shoulders and down her back and she couldn’t help letting out a short scream. Michael continued. ‘Truth be told, I knew you wouldn’t tell. Two stubborn parents – no wonder you’ve turned out this way. Totally pig-headed.’ He smirked and turned his head aside, though his eyes were still on Billi. ‘Isn’t that true, Kay?’
Billi’s eyes were blurred with tears, but she saw Kay, standing at the lift. He stared at them, horrified.
‘Run!’ Billi screamed. What was he doing here? Oh God, he was going to get himself killed.
Michael tutted.
‘Now, now, Billi. That’s not very nice. Kay’s come to save you. How… heroic.’ Then Michael showed her something: her mobile. ‘You left it at the cafe. I just texted him. Thought it was a message from you and here he is. Sweet, don’t you think?’
‘Let her go!’ Kay edged his way across the beams to a flat cast square of floor. He was shaking, but there was a tight grimness to his face.