Carlos stared at the lights in the sky unblinking... he'd played himself... oh, no...
"Only you who have been polluted can cross the dark realm's barriers to bring us the names. Each soul that was snatched into darkness by treachery, each soul that was put under torture and duress until it capitulated to the dark side can be freed to stand with the Light at the final hour, if we can call them to us by name, by location. We need the location, send - "
"Polluted?" Carlos shouted, "I was tricked; I was corrupted by larceny, and did my time. I didn't know what you were doing!"
"You did not have to know," the strongest voice in the triumvirate said. "Blind faith is what was required."
"We had shown you enough by bringing you back!" another said.
"That was a miracle."
"That was enough."
Carlos swallowed hard as sweat poured down his temples and causing his tattered T-shirt to cling to his torso. He had really messed up this time. The Light didn't negotiate.
"But you want me to go back down there with a blood-hunger jones and get a book in that condition?" Carlos stammered. "What if - "
"Silence!" the entities shouted together. "Our priest was corrupted at your hand!"
"You will know no peace until you reverse this transgression," the lead entity said flatly. "He must be one with us. You wanted to lead - lead! Your team depends on you. Stand by the female Neteru in copartnership or be banished from her. She cannot be unevenly yoked with the darkness, and will ultimately seek the Light within the soul of her Guardian brother, whose soul is not tainted by power lust. He respects her position. Her body is already beginning to yield toward him. You are unraveling your destiny and hers to be as one. This is your handiwork!"
"We must have the soul of the virgin Covenant priest and that of our male Neteru," two angelic voices said in harmony.
"Neither can be captive within the Dark Realms! Not the priest!" the lead entity shouted. "Your burden in that would have been also mitigated - had you not compounded the problem with a total disregard for the blessings after you were reborn. That is what created your new debt, not the cleric's weakness. That had been forgiven. Your continuing power lust and desire for your old darkness after the miracle of salvation was not. Correct that injustice to reestablish your light! Our priest is being tortured."
Carlos remained still. The truth made him shiver. He'd sent a priest... a male virgin, down there from an errant display of power. He'd given him the fever to want to be a vamp, worked him down to a loss of faith by way of a seduction trance. Carlos shuddered when the bright lights before him blazed brighter, clearly enraged as the images swept through his mind. Instantly he saw Lopez's death.
Lilith had locked in on the man's last thought. Carlos closed his eyes. Instead of a prayer of protection, Lopez had wanted absolute vampiric strength, like his before he'd gone to ash... wanted to go after Juanita and save her from it all to be with her, and then leave the church. The pulse ran through Lopez, burned his aura red for a moment; Lilith saw it through the clerical prayer barriers and speared Lopez, hoping it was him... then flung Lopez's broken body aside like a rag doll, enraged. Lopez had had so many emotions running through him at the time, there was no telling what level his soul had bottomed out on.
"Yes," the voices said in unison. "The debt is profound. The search delicate. His energy is scattered on almost every level."
"He was a priest," the voices whispered. "Do you know what they do to the men of lost faith down there?"
Carlos wrapped his arms around himself, hung his head, and tried to fight back the tears. Lopez was beyond damned - the poor man was f**ked. Just like the Guardian team was. He knew he had to work quickly. The thought of Padre being down there all by himself on whatever levels he landed upon made him want to tear his hair out. But to go down there in a weakened condition was suicidal, and they knew it. He looked up slowly, wondering if that was the trade they'd decided upon to right this wrong?
"You possess a dangerous new gift by accident of the dark side's unrelenting larceny."
Carlos remained silent, his gaze intense. Something else was going on that he didn't understand. He would definitely go get his man Lopez and would go after the Chairman and Lilith, but their urgency seemed to contain more than that. So, he waited.
One of the angels stepped forward, and all around him in a three-dimensional panorama, the final battle with the Chairman and Lilith replayed itself. Carlos stood as a spectator, his eyes wide, and his jaw becoming slack as he watched Damali raise her short Isis and gore Lilith. Then, what had been eclipsed from his mind was revealed.
Dark, sputtering, living smoke exited Lilith's body, rushed toward him, filled his mouth and nose, strangling him.
"The essence of Level Seven entered the strongest dark male as a carrier. This is what began the contagion and allowed it to remain topside! Lilith opened the portals, but through you, ensured her doors would not be closed when her husband began to search for her."
"She flees him, and must keep him preoccupied in his realm's chaos to buy her escape - hoping to rush the Armageddon through the contagion."
"If the Armageddon is rushed, she might be able to form an alliance with the new leader of the darkness to stop her imminent extinction. This is her goal."
"You were the carrier of her deceit, her dark energy that has kept open the doors. You became that because your spiritual armor and faith was weak when you attempted to battle a strong entity from Level Seven."
"Why would you attempt a battle with her without being readied by a soul shield of faith? You needed more than exterior weapons."
"We have held the line for your team, the Covenant, and all other Guardian teams since the Philadelphia incident, but they are weakening as more of the Damned find the openings and pollute the gray zone of earth. Each escapee weakens them. Each passed infection to the living weakens them. They are beginning to lose the inner battle. Our teams are in jeopardy, as is humanity."
"This must be corrected."
"We have waited patiently for your spirit to evict pride, ego, and power lust on its own - to no avail. Your prayers have been polluted with requests for the old life."