Theo nodded.
"You said you were saving our lives by getting us out of their way."
"Hashmallim are more or less the police force for the Court of Divine Blood, but their job encompasses more than just policing citizens of the Court. They are also used by the sovereign to exact retribution on mortals for sins committed against members of the Court."
"We didn't do anything to anyone, let alone a Court member," I pointed out. "We were just standing around on the hilltop when Hope appeared, and she left under her own power."
"I didn't know that at the time," Theo said with a slight twist of his lips. "As soon as you said you were mortal, and yet were clearly a virtue, I reckoned something was not right. When I felt the Hashmallim on their way, I knew it wasn't anything good, so I tried to get you away from them."
"That's so romantic," Sarah said, sighing happily.
"It is?"
"Yes, it is. Don't you see? These Hashmallim people are the police in the Court of Divine Blood, and by going against them, he was risking his own reputation, if not life."
I was shaking my head even before she finished. "Theo isn't a member of the Court."
"Not yet. But when he does become one, won't that sort of thing be frowned on?"
We both looked at Theo.
"Assuming the Hashmallim know I helped you escape earlier, and that's a pretty fair assumption given their scope of knowledge, yes, it will be one of the issues we will have to overcome in order to get the exculpation granted," he said calmly. I decided if it wasn't something he was worried over, I didn't need to worry about it yet either.
"All right, then. How do we find the Hashmallim?" Sarah asked him.
"They can be summoned."
"What makes you think that even if you get one to be summoned, he will talk to you?" I asked.
Theo frowned. I wanted badly to forget all the woes of the world and kiss the frown right off his face. "There is no reason for them not to. So long as the questions are phrased properly, we should get the answers we seek."
"Great! Let's get to summoning," Sarah said, grabbing her purse as she rose. "I'll take care of our lunch bill. You guys get your coats."
"I believe she's the only person I've met who is actually looking forward to meeting with the Hashmallim," Theo said thoughtfully, watching Sarah as she toddled over to the pub counter and handed over her credit card.
"She's not normal. She was dropped on her head several times as a baby. It left her mentally deranged. We all just pretend she's sane."
"I heard that!" she shouted, glaring at me from the counter.
"She also has very good hearing," I said, sighing as I gathered up my things.
"It'll be all right, sweet. I'll be with you this time," Theo reminded me.
It took some doing, but Theo's powers of persuasion proved to be too much for the Guardian named Noelle who had previously summoned the ill-fated demon.
"Now what happens?" I asked several hours later, as we sat huddled on a fallen tree trunk that edged one side of an empty gravel parking lot for an abandoned fish factory at the far side of town.
Noelle rubbed out the markings she'd drawn in the gravel and dirt with the toe of her shoe. "Now you wait. The Hashmallim has been summoned—he will show up whenever he wants. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No, thank you for your time," Theo said, rising to shake her hand. "Er…you didn't tell me what payment we owe you for your help."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Noelle said, giving us all a bright smile. It was dark in that corner of the parking lot, long flickering shadows stretching across it from the feeble light attached near a corner of the building, but Noelle's down-to-earth appearance and cheerful personality did much to eliminate the serious case of the creeps I'd had ever since I resigned myself to the thought of having to speak with one of the ghostly Hashmallim. "I get a stipend from the Guardian Guild to be used on such cases as I deem needy. You lot look like you could use a bit of good news, so this one will be complimentary."
We all thanked her. Theo escorted her across the parking lot to where her little blue Mini sat.
"You got yourself a winner this time," Sarah said as she watched them walk away. "What does it feel like being a Dark One's Beloved?"
Theo's mind touched mine, warm and reassuring, filled with tender emotions that made my stomach flutter with happiness. "It's…indescribable."
She peered closer at me. "You love him, don't you?"
"Yes." I smiled, unable to keep the happiness from spilling out of me. "More than any other man. We had a less-than-sterling start, but I know now that he's the man I was meant to be with."
"That's so romantic," she said with a sigh. "Does it hurt when he bites you?"
"Just for a second, then it's really…well, to be blunt, it's pretty darn erotic."
"Oh, man." She pursed her lips and looked at Theo as he stood chatting with Noelle. "You have a gorgeous, drop-dead-sexy man who clearly worships the ground you walk on, you're never going to age, never face sagging boobs and menopause and grey hair, and you get your jollies every time he needs to eat. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"
"As a matter of fact, I—holy cow!"
Some sort of a shimmering portal opened up directly in front of me, so close I felt static from the little snakes of electricity that sparked off it. I fell backward off the log as an empty black shape formed almost directly on top of me, the sudden skin-crawling wrongness of the Hashmallim bursting to life in my brain.
Theo! I screamed as I crawled backward, trying to avoid contact with the Hashmallim. Panic filled me, threatening to send me teetering over the edge of control. "Theo!"
"I'm here," he said, racing over to me, stepping between the still-approaching Hashmallim and myself. Somehow, his body seemed to block some of the horrible sensations the Hashmallim's presence was causing, leaving me able to dampen the rest enough so I could get to my feet.
"Wow," Sarah said, her expression a mixture of curiosity and terror. She grabbed my arm and clung on with a grip that would no doubt leave bruises. "OK, I see what you mean about them being unpleasant to be around. They look…wrong somehow. Just wrong. Like they're empty black shells of what people are. I think I'm going to forgo my interview."
I swallowed down a thick lump that made my throat ache, moving closer to Theo. I'm sure the picture we presented—the three of us clumped up together in a tight bunch—was amusing, but that was the furthest thing from my mind at the moment.
"Hashmallim, you honor us with your presence," Theo said in a strained voice, his usual elegant bow coming out a bit less than perfect.
"Why am I summoned, champion?" The Hashmallim's voice matched its image—flat and devoid of all emotion, yet awful at the same time.
"Oh my god, it has nothing, absolutely nothing in it," Sarah whispered in my ear as she clung to my back. "Not a face, not a shadow, not even a glimmer of depth."
I held onto Theo, silently drawing comfort from his broad, strong back.
"This is so amazing. I've never seen anything like it. It would be a bad idea to take a picture, wouldn't it?"
"Very." I struggled with the impossibility that was the Hashmallim, aware that as it had before, its very presence seemed to fill the surroundings with despair.
"We seek answers that only you can give us," Theo said, his voice steady. My awe and appreciation of him went up another few notches. "We would like information about the virtue Hope."
The Hashmallim's shape seemed to shimmer for a moment, then moved to the side to look at me, if such a thing was possible. Sarah gasped, and hid behind me. I knew just how she felt—at that moment, I would have just about given anything to close my eyes and hide from the Hashmallim. "What do you seek, Portia Harding?"