by Mary Ting
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © Mary Ting 2018
Licensing Notes
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
Book of Watchers
When men began to multiply on Earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw how beautiful the daughters of man were, and so they took for their wives as many of them as they chose.
— Genesis 6:1-4
Bonus
Read ISAN-International Sensory Assassin Network
Chapter one
"Captivating from the very beginning...this thrilling dystopian drama has a splash of romance and tons of action.”—School Library Journal
https://books2read.com/ISAN <--Purchase link.
Chapter 1
The Stranger
Malum
I didn’t bother to knock on the door, but instead flicked my wrist to the side. My power tore the slab of wood off the hinges and I walked through. The family of four became immobile, their eyes wide with terror as they watched me saunter inside.
Fools.
They should be on their knees, bowing, worshiping me, but instead they stared like I was a ghost. Luckily for them, I felt tolerant. After all, I had come to claim my own.
A happy occasion indeed.
I didn’t hide my true form, and I supposed I would have been horrified if I were human and saw the likes of me. A demon. Over seven feet tall with ripped muscles, I towered over the entire family. With my face—reptilian with hardly any nose and rows of teeth like a shark’s—I was a thing of nightmares.
The man pushed his wife and two daughters behind him. “I-I did as you asked. Wh-why are you here?”
I tugged off my black leather gloves one finger at a time, watching him squirm. “I told you to bring me your eldest daughter. I waited, but you did not come.”
“I told you I would bring another. It’s only been an hour.” His tone was urgent.
Rude.
“It’s only been an hour.” I tamed my temper so I could play with him. Making humans feel inferior always gave me pleasure.
When I walked around the sofa to the suitcases by the fireplace, the man stiffened and scooted his family closer to the kitchen.
“Please. I’ll bring you a girl. I need an hour.”
No amount of begging would soften my dark heart. Such a fool. He should have run away with his family instead of packing. No matter. I would have found him either way.
His two daughters, one ten and the other twelve, trembled, but curiosity kept their eyes glued to me. They had never seen me before. But they would know the true color of my soul, and starting today, the twelve-year-old would have a new life.
I shoved my gloves into my coat pockets and wiggled my fingers. “You’re already late. And you were going to run away, so I will take my eldest daughter now.”
“No. Please. Take me instead.” The mother pulled away from the security of her husband and stepped forward. “Whatever my husband’s debt is, I’ll pay it. But please leave my daughter out of it. She’s innocent.”
Right on the nose. It seemed the woman knew her husband gambled and was in debt. They still had a home because of my generosity and because he’d taken care of something precious to me.
Bring the eldest, I’d asked. Such a simple task. One he’d failed to do.
“She’s mine,” I growled.
The woman had no idea that I, glamoured to look like her husband, had sex with her. Of course, she wasn’t the only one. But I had to claim my daughter when she turned twelve and bind her blood with mine, or she’d remain human forever.
“I won’t go with you.” The eldest daughter glared, her eyes dark and cold like mine.
Such spunk. So young and naïve. As the scent of her demon blood spiraled through me, I sensed something remarkable. She was surely one of a kind. If given proper training, she would become my greatest weapon.
“A bargain is a bargain, girl. I will get my way.”
The man took something from his back pocket and pointed it at me with a trembling hand. “Please. I don’t want to hurt you. I’ll bring a girl. I need time.”
I narrowed my eyes and sighed through my nose. “Nobody makes me wait, human. I do not tolerate a broken promise or threats.”
“I didn’t break my promise. I asked for two hours, but you only gave me one.”
I roared when he raised his voice.
The woman and the girls hunched their shoulders and covered their ears. The man pulled the trigger when I took a step toward my daughter. Palm out, I stopped the bullet.
He fired a rain of them at me. I froze all of them in midair.
His eyes grew larger and his mouth fell open.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.” I clucked my tongue. “You do not fear me. That will change.”
I flicked my fingers and redirected the bullets. Two at his knees, two in his feet, and one to his wife’s head. The daughters screamed when their mother dropped. The father collapsed next to his wife.
“No. No. No!” he bellowed, unable to move from his injuries. The anguish in his scream was palpable. “You’re a monster,” he huffed between clenched teeth.
I bent lower, meeting his eyes, and stroked his hair like a dog’s. “No. I’m no monster.”
“What are you?” He groaned and clutched at his legs.
“I am the thing you should fear most in this world. I have no soul. I give no mercy. My father was not created by your God, but rather formed in the pit of Hell. As your God represents good, I represent evil. There cannot be one without the other. The angels fear Lucifer, but Lucifer fears me.” My nails grew into blades by my will, and I pierced them through his head.
I shuddered with exhilaration. The metallic scent of blood, weight of death, and the essence of his soul leaving his body gave me the most euphoric feeling. A sensation like happiness, but so much better.
I yanked out my talons, blood dripping from the sharpened tips. The quaking girls held each other, sobbing, as I licked one claw and inhaled a deep, settling breath.
His blood tasted like sugar. Exquisite.
“Now. You have a choice. Share the same fate as your parents or come with me,” I said to the eldest.
My daughter shook her head. Not a sound escaped her throat.
“Wrong answer, girl.”
I grabbed the ten-year-old by the hair and yanked her out of her sister’s hold. She screamed, kicking and throwing sloppy punches.
I had no patience left. Tired of their crap, I sank my canines into the crook of her neck and drank her blood while my daughter watched in horror. Then I made her watch me eat her sister’s flesh. All of it. Until only the bones were left.
I had planned to take a few bites to show her how vicious I could be, but the flavor of the girl’s flesh and the honey-sweet blood drove me wild, and I couldn’t stop.
Fear made humans obey me.
“Let me ask you again, child.” I took out a handkerchief and wiped my mouth. “Will you be coming with me?”
I could have taken her without her permission, but I like to think she had a choice. Besides, I might have killed her if she screamed.
I hated that sound. A sound of weakness.
Tears streaming down her face, her body shaking, she nodded.
She had moved to the corner and curled into a ball. Such a shame she met me on a bad day. At least it wasn’t my worst.
My spirits lifted, and I tried to sound pleasant and not threatening. And for a second, my heart expanded.
Perhaps it was parental love I felt. I wasn’t sure, since I’d never felt such a feeling before. Or perhaps it was joy of finally having found the pure soul I sought, one I would destroy to make her like me.
“You do not need to tell me your name. I’ve been watching you. I’ve always been there,” I told her.
I helped her stand. So small and fragile. But after the ritual, she would become stronger.
I had many children, but this one owned my heart. Perhaps I felt a little sorry for killing her family and eating her sister, an image I would have to make her forget…all of it.
No family to recall. It was better that way.
“Don’t cry, Liana. You’ll have all the riches in the world. You’ll rule beside your brothers and sisters. And soon, everyone will bow before us. Now let me see your wings.”
When she hesitated, I let out a warning growl. She shuddered and released a strange annoying human sound.
I tightened my fist and sighed to release my temper. “It’s okay. I know you have them. I have them too.”
I slowly expanded my ebony wings to fill the whole room, knocking over a lamp and few other insignificant human things in the process.
Her eyes grew wide and her tears stopped. She released some feathers, and then with encouragement, the rest of her dove-like wings opened.
“Beautiful. Now pluck one of your feathers and hand it to me.”
She had no idea taking out a feather would be painful, as if one of her limbs had been broken.
When she did as I asked, she screamed.
Windows and everything that was glass shattered to bits.
I scooped her shaking body into my arms and tucked her close to me. “Good. When you listen, I don’t get mad. Remember that. The pain will go away soon.”
Then I wrapped my wings around her and bolted through the roof.
Ten years later…
Chapter 2
At the Nightclub
Malum
The nightclub stank of sweat and alcohol. I walked around a dance floor filled with humans and glamorized demons grinding their bodies to the music.
On my way to my office, I saw the doors down the hall, to either side of me, had a red glow. It meant the rooms had been paid for and were occupied. Many were ménages à trois. And some humans paid a hefty amount to have sex with demons in their true form. Sick bastards.
The office door opened by my will, and I shut it behind me.
“My lord. I wasn’t expecting you. I mean…not this late.” Micah’s hand dropped to his zipper, and he stood from the chair behind my desk.
The scent of fear and cheap perfume…a female…filled the air. I sighed through my nose and flicked my finger. My power slid the desk toward me. A redheaded female was on her knees, trembling, her head bowed. The gesture of respect saved her life. I turned to face the heavy tinted glass that covered the back wall and glued my eyes to the people escaping reality.
“Do whatever you like, Micah, but not in my office. This is your only warning,” I said softly.
Micah was lucky I favored him, and that he was Liana’s half-brother, whom she loved so much. Had he been anyone else, I would have killed the girl in front of him and ripped out his heart.
“Yes. I didn’t…wasn’t expecting…I mean…it just happened…I’ll tell her to leave.” Micah led the half-naked girl out and shut the door behind him. After he’d smoothed his hair and adjusted his button-up shirt and pants, he stood beside me.
With his head slightly low, Micah asked, “What brings you late into the night, my lord?”
I didn’t answer, but instead I observed my daughter behind the bar taking care of the customers. At only twenty-two, she exceeded my expectations in training, power, and beauty. She looked like her dead mother, but she had my cold eyes and dark heart.
“Liana has grown up quickly, hasn’t she?”
“Yes, my lord. It pleases me that I helped you train her.”
“We did well, Micah. She is the most powerful of all my children. I’m glad I sought her out.”
I grinned when Liana smiled as she met my gaze. She could see through the thick, tinted window, a unique power my other children did not possess.
“Did you send Oni to find Enoch?” I asked.
“Yes, I did. But—”
“But?” I hated that word. An indication someone had failed to do as I asked. “No need to explain. I want to hear it from Oni. Call him. Tell him I want to see him.”
Micah paled. “He’s…here.”
I narrowed my eyes to a group on the dance floor. “I know. I see him. He doesn’t seem to care he didn’t deliver my request. Call him right now.” I tightened my fists to restrain myself from punching the wall, or even Micah. How dare that little piece of shit party after he failed me?
Micah scrolled through his cell and placed the phone to his ear. “Oni. Malum wants to see you.” Pause. “I’m with him in his office.” Micah angled slightly away from me. “Hurry.” After he hung up, he met my eyes. “He’s coming. I’m going to finish the accounts in my office.” Micah dipped his head and backed away to the door.
“No. Stay.”
“Yes, my lord.”
I observed Oni through the glass. He should move his ass to come see me, but he was too busy running his hands all over a human girl and sucking her mouth.
“Liana.” I called my daughter through my mind. “Bring Oni to me. He has ignored my order. He’s on the dance floor.”
I knew Liana understood when she flicked her auburn hair behind her shoulders, strode with a determined look to the dance floor, and yanked Oni from the girl’s grasp. Tugging on his earlobe, she dragged him up a flight of stairs and into my office. Oni’s physique was similar to mine, but he knew better than to refuse Liana.
“Good to see you, Father. Here’s the rat you wanted me to fetch.” She tossed him across the room.
Oni rigidly touched his forehead to the ground. “My lord. I was on my way.”
Liana scowled and leaned against the bookcase. “Liar.”
“Where is Enoch?” I placed my polished shoe by his skull, still pressed on the floor. “You were supposed to call me.”
Oni slowly lifted his head, but his body remained low. “Someone watches over him. I caused an accident so I could capture him, but a light appeared. Bright enough to knock me out.”
“And you failed to tell me?” The window vibrated as my voice rose in anger. This being must indeed be powerful to stop Oni. Perhaps a nephilim bound to Enoch? Oni had never failed me before.
“I didn’t tell you because I’m going back for him. I know where he lives. Currently, he’s in St. Luke’s hospital. And you know I can’t step into places with holy names. I’ll have to wait until he’s sent home.”
I paced, my fingers clasped behind my back. “Don’t go after Enoch by yourself. Find Marcus and Tanya.”
“May I stand?” Oni asked.
I waved my hand.
Oni rose and straightened his shirt. “You want me to team up with the watchers?”
I rubbed my chin with my thumb and index finger, contemplating. “Yes. They have the same interest. Stay in your demon form, but let Marcus and Tanya do the talking. When they have him in their possession, bring him to me.”
“Marcus and Tanya won’t be just talking.” Liana sauntered to the bookcase and studied a sphere-shaped globe the size of a Christmas ornament.
I held my breath. She had never asked why there was a single white feather inside it, and I hoped she never would. I supposed it looked like any other globe I’d collected. I cleared my throat to catch her attention.
“No, they won’t. But they will get the job done. I’d rather have their kind die than ours. I want the blame to fall on them. The
Daemonium Council will not be pleased if they find out what I’ve done.”
“Nor will the Trinity Order, Father.”
“They won’t find out as long as we keep things in control. Marcus and Tanya have been rumored to cause chaos; therefore, they will likely get the blame if things go haywire.”
“As you wish,” Oni said. “I’ll find Marcus and Tanya.”
“Why is this human so important? Why bring him in? Have Oni kill him.” Liana softly tapped on a globe with a castle inside it.
A little more than a hundred years before, a war had brewed between archangels and watchers, the angels were sent to Earth to live among humans. No one knew what had happened to them exactly, but a book called Book of Watchers given by God had been opened, and the archangels all had simply vanished.
But I knew the truth. The one who could bring them back had been reborn, as stated in the prophecy.
Using my supernatural speed, I appeared next to my daughter and caressed her cheeks. “Because, my love, I’m giving you the killing blow.”
Liana gave me a broad smile. “You have such great faith in me. I will not disappoint you.”
She wouldn’t. She never had.
The day she was born, humans thought a fallen star had burst from the sky. But, in fact, it had been an archangel’s soul split into two. Each half had taken a body.
Two holy souls had been reborn.
My daughter carried one soul. I knew the second she was born. As I watched, a halo of light had surrounded her. How fortunate for me that a daughter of evil carried that soul. I had waited so long for such a fate. And then I’d searched for another newborn with the same light and found a little boy name Enoch Winston.
Chapter 3
Nightmare in The Wake
Enoch
My phone buzzed. I pulled it out from my back jean pocket and read the text.
Jonah: Where the hell are you?
Me: I’m on my way. Chill out.
Jonah: The sofa is so cold without you.
