Libera Me by Christine Fonseca Page B

own race? I don’t understand.”
    “A long time ago, in the ancient times, our battle was not with the UnHoly, but with the Jinn.” Mikayel’s gaze grows distant. “Azzaziel…he is to blame for the extinction of that species. All but the smoke.” His eyes dampen as he swallows back the tide of emotions surfacing in his eyes. “The smoke, alone, holds the essence of its race within its mind. It is all that remains.”
    “He annihilated an entire race?” I ask in shock. I knew that Azzaziel’s powers were strong; heard that he fancied himself the demolisher of lesser species. But I never really thought it was true—never believed that he would, he could, commit such an act.
    “He wanted their power,” Mikayel continued. “He needed it to survive. Theirs were the first souls he drank when the Beast was awakened in him. They nourished him.” He turns away. “I was young then and newly commissioned to the Council. While I trained a new army to take on Azzaziel, he killed the species that gave him life. By the time Sariel and the Guardians discovered the truth, it was too late. The Jinn were destroyed; all but the keeper of the archives.”
    “The demonic smoke,” I whisper.
    “Yes.”
    Mikayel turns back toward us, his expression hard once more. “It is a vile creature, just as the Jinn were; committed to nothing but deception. Power. But it is a sentient being, and as such, it did not deserve its fate.”
    This history is not in the lessons I learned when I was young.
    “I saved the smoke from Azza and brought it here.”
    “Here? The smoke lived in Celestium?” I ask.
    “Yes,” Mikayel says. “But it wasn’t compatible with our way of life. It wasn’t willing to endure the scrutiny of the Council. So, it left, choosing to exist alongside the one that destroyed its people.”
    “That doesn’t make sense.”
    “None of us understood why the smoke left,” Gabriel says. “We offered it asylum in exchange for honesty.”
    “Something too foreign for it to understand,” Mikayel added. “It said it longed for the peace of Azzaziel’s labyrinth.”
    I shake my head, still not understanding.
    “I don't believe Azzaziel knows that any of the Jinn survived.” Mikayel paces across the room.
    “How is that possible?” I ask.
    “The smoke can assume many forms. The way you encountered it, the swirling black emptiness? That is only one of its forms. When Azza attacked it, it looked different.”
    “What did it look like?”
    “It looked like the rest of its people; tall with yellow skin and black eyes. It looked like the Jinn.”
    “Wait, let me get this right. The smoke has lived next to its mortal enemy in disguise and Azzaziel has no idea about its true identity.”
    “That’s what we think,” Gabriel said.
    “I promised never to reveal its other forms to anyone,” Mikayel said. “Not even my brethren on the Council.”
    I look to Gabriel, my pulse racing. “Is this true? Are there things a Council member can keep hidden?”
    “It is rare,” Gabriel says. “But yes. There are times when such agreements are needed. And honored.”
    Too many thoughts weave through my mind, too many worries.
    “You said it can assume other forms, yes?” I ask.
    “Yes.”
    “What forms?”
    “We aren’t certain. But we suspect it can become nearly anything.”
    “Humans? Angels.”
    “Yes, but we would know. We would sense it.”
    Not all of us.
    My body tenses as I consider everything:
    Nesy and her abilities.
    The Beast within Aydan.
    The green-eyed girl and her warnings.
    A chill runs down my spine. “So, you saved its life, Mikayel? The smoke.”
    “Yes.”
    “And it repaid the debt by saving Nesy.”
    “Yes.”
    “But how can you trust it?” I ask
    “We can’t.” Gabriel’s face is grim.
    More chills explode against my skin.
    “It’ll keep its word. It always has.” Mikayel clenches his jaw.
    “And if it doesn’t? What then?”
    Gabriel looks at Mikayel, tilting his head