by S Lawrence
“NO!” Her voice sounds different out loud. Deeper and husky, smoky even. It reminds me of a mixture of Macy Gray and Lauren Jauregui. I wonder if it’s always like that or if emotion is changing it?
That’s my last thought as power bows my back.
Hers maybe, Luc’s for sure, and then the very feminine touch of Sitara. All three hit me with all they’ve got. Then I feel the lightning sliding through me, and I know it is her, for sure. She’s giving it all back.
The others pull theirs back, and I can feel my head beginning to move back and forth as more and more courses through and over me.
I feel her fall onto me, her bones digging into me. I grasp her tightly, pulling her up with me.
“Stop, Lali, stop this. You are so much more important than I.” Her hand comes up as she turns her face, and I see those caramel colored eyes bright with tears.
Cupping my jaw, she shakes her head. “You are everything.”
I feel tears filling my own eyes at her words, even as my head shakes in denial. Movement causes me to glance beyond her, and I see Sitara smiling. She looks like something more than an angel, otherworldly maybe. Her hand comes up, and she quickly wipes away a tear that is running down her cheek.
Then she nods, and I see all of my brothers step up, along with Luc and the women. She begins to chant. Charlie steps closer, her hand reaching for my hand, and I let her take it as she starts with the beat she showed me in Las Vegas. My beat. The chant is in perfect rhythm with it.
Charlie leans close. Smiling down at both Lali and myself, she whispers low.
“It’s her song.” Tears run from the corner of my eyes, and Lillian and Charlie wipe them away. I feel the power of all these people running over us.
Lillian leans down, “No one, not us or even Him, ever thought you have failed.”
Is she trying to make me look like a baby in front of my brothers? I’m a damn Prince of Hell and I’m laying here crying. Shit. I try to not make eye contact with any of them, but Luc draws near.
Nope, not you.
As soon as he steps near, the others follow suit with the women moving back giving them space.
It’s Zeph who dares to speak. “We have all lost our charges, brother. Do you think badly of us because of it?” I refuse to answer him. “Are you going to make me find the answer?”
“Stay out of my head, Zeph,” I growl.
No way am I letting him take a stroll through my head. Too many memories, things he and the others never need to know about. Sure they lost their charges at the beginning of this stupid war, but I’ve failed over and over.
Lali’s fingers stroke over my cheek, and I focus back on her face. “No one could have saved them.” I feel myself drawing away from her. She sees it on my face or maybe in my head. “I’m sorry. The connection, the magic, showed me.” Tears fill her eyes. “I don’t know how to stop it.”
I try to relax, to ignore the fact that she has seen all of my shame, but I can’t.
“Sitara, help me,” she begs the woman. “I didn’t know. You didn’t explain.”
I look at the woman in question, regret stamped all over her face. Her face turns to Luc, and she nods.
“Close your eyes, both of you,” Luc cautions, and I do it but not before I watch him take Sitara’s hand gently in his. “This may hurt.”
Wonderful. Physical pain to go along with the emotional damage. I’m not prepared for her scream as he blasts us with his power, focused and multiplied by Sitara’s magic. I grab her and squeeze her tightly to me, fighting when I feel her body moving away. “Let her go, Arkyn!” It’s not Luc’s voice, it is Lucifer’s, and I realize he didn’t have us close our eyes because of the light. It is because of what he didn’t want us to see.
I feel more tears; he has freed his monster for me.
He is sacrificing what might have been to save me and Citlali. He has shown Sitara his face. The face of Satan that has terrified believers and non-believers alike since the day he was cast into Hell.
He was trying to shield the women, to keep them from looking at him differently.
I don’t know if it is because of the strange connection with Lali or maybe I’ve just felt too much today, but he’s killing me. I realize in that instant everything he’s sacrificed for us.
I was already dead in the darkness when he fell for us and was cast into Hell for disagreeing with the Father. I’ve pieced together the story over the years, picking up things from Evander and those who were pulled out first. Those who chained the demons faster than I did heard more of the truth of his fall from grace. Since Lillian was found and then Charlie, I’ve seen him with them, his surprise at their acceptance, the stiffness when they embrace him, and now he’s risking losing that which he’s not felt in thousands of years. Hell, he probably didn’t have either much before his disgrace, for being the favorite of the Lord wouldn’t have made him many friends among those living in Heaven.
That was the Lord’s mistake; He thought the angels couldn’t possibly feel jealousy or anger.
He was wrong on both accounts. His hubris caused all of this.
Suddenly, I feel as if I’m being ripped apart and I can hear Lali’s screams. Then it’s like a rubber band that’s been stretched so tight it snaps. She is jerked from me, both physically and mentally.
My body arches from the force of it, and when I open my eyes, I see my brothers flat on their backs on the floor. Only Luc and Sitara still stand, and I’m positive it’s only because of their joined hands.
She slowly pulls her hand away, and I watch as he shuts down, once again the aloof young man who seems so far above you that you don’t bother even approaching him.
I glance around and I meet the sad eyes of Lillian and Charlie. They had seen the potential too.
Lali is laying on Victor, and while I’m glad he kept her from getting hurt, my demon growls in displeasure at him holding her against his body. He grins at the redness of my eyes.
“Come, kitten, we are poking the bear.” His Russian accent is thick as he sits her up and to the side.
Lali looks up at me, still on the altar, her eyes fighting to focus. “Arkyn?” She frowns as her vision clears and she takes in my red eyes. “What?” She looks at Sitara as the woman steps around Luc. “Sitara, what is going on? Who are you? What are you?” She begins to scoot back even as she asks.
We’ve lost her.
Chapter 13
CITLALI
They are monsters.
He...his face. It was indescribable. Arkyn’s eyes are still glowing red. The others just seem resigned. The women start towards me, but I shake my head and scoot even farther away.
I gather my muscles, trying to get my body under control. I had thought while we were connected that Arkyn was maybe the person I had longed for for so long, but it must have been the magic.
It twisted and hid his monster. All this time, Sitara had been...what? Her brother was insane, evil, and I had thought that she and Arkyn would save me from that evil. They did too, just to bring me to more, to greater.
Sitara draws near, but I shove up, spinning as I do, and race from the temple. I run and run, not caring where I go. Not paying attention to my surroundings. When I finally stop, I’m deep in the mountain jungle. Glancing down, I realize I’m in trouble in a single breath, a beat of my heart. I’m in the flimsy clothes Theon had left for me, no shoes, and blood is streaming from cuts on my feet and legs.
It’s growing dark, and I’m lost in the rainforest, bleeding, a lure for predators.
I need to get the bleeding to stop. I look around and just up from me, I see the outline of something that makes my nerves calm slightly. Even in my mindless run, my subconscious took me to safety. There, hidden in the branches, is the old treehouse of the village elder, which means somewhere below it is the garden of plants and herbs she had so painstakingly transplanted and tended. Even though she has been gone for many years, they will still be here.
I stumble up the sl
ope. Now that my adrenaline has crashed, the pain of the cuts pulses through my body. Luckily, it only takes me a few minutes to find yarrow. Pulling some, I drag myself up the rotting ladder into the safety of the trees.
Everything is how she left it, and I sigh with relief to find blankets and clothing. First I sit and tear some of the silk from a gown and crush the yarrow before wrapping my damaged feet gently.
Grabbing a blanket, I shake the layers of dirt from it before dragging it around my shaking body. I’m not cold.
I just keep picturing the face of the man that had held Sitara’s hand. It was normal, like a very young man, and then when I opened my eyes a crack, a monster straight from a horror movie had stood there.
I will never get that image from my mind. Never.
What had Sitara raised me for?
“Citlali?” I know his voice and I freeze. If one finds me, all of them will. “Citlali? I won’t come up but I know you’re bleeding. Are you okay?”
He sounds so defeated, so heartbroken. I clench my teeth refusing to answer, to ease his worry.
My brain can’t make sense of the man I connected with and the thing I saw.
“I told you it was a long story, that I would explain it all when we found you.” I hold my breath. “Do you want to hear?”
Do I?
I want to scream no. To deny all of them, especially Sitara, who has raised me as a sacrifice to these monsters, but I saw him with all those tribes, felt his pain at their loss. How can someone feel that much pain and be a soulless monster?
Science says the two things can’t coincide. My head and heart hurt. My heart wants to hear him out. My head is afraid that the connection has corrupted my heart.
“Are the other monsters coming?” I hate how scared those whispered words sound.
“No. Just you and me.” I hate that he sounds even sadder, knowing that I caused it.
“Start at the beginning.” I move closer to the ladder opening. “Wait.” He glances up at me. “Start with me. Am I supposed to be sacrificed to all of you?”
He smiles sadly while shaking his head. That’s good news, if he’s telling the truth.
“Can you lie to me?” I blurt the question I’m thinking.
“No.” What if he’s lying now? This is stupid. I’m going round and round. Either I believe him or I don’t. I must make a decision, at least where Arkyn is concerned.
Looking down, I see that he is staring out at the jungle, just waiting. He could have already been up here, killing me, raping me, doing God knows what, but he’s just leaning against the trunk of the tree. Waiting. For me to decide whether he is trustworthy or not.
“What have you decided? Believe me or not?” His voice holds a bit of amusement, and I purse my lips.
“Okay, go ahead with your story.” Something in me knows I can believe him. I need to hear all of this story. My story. His story.
“Our story, sweetheart,” he whispers, but I can still hear him.
Our story. A part of me likes the sound of that, and I don’t understand it.
He starts talking, his voice low but steady as an unbelievable tale begins to flow from his lips, lips that seem too rosy for a man. Listening while leaning against the same tree trunk, I let those words take me away to an amazing world.
Heaven is real. God is real. Angels are real, and it seems most are real dicks. Arkyn was an angel.
Arkyn was an angel. Arkyn is a demon. A Prince of Hell.
His voice dies away, and I glance down. “I guess you have reached my portion of this tale.” His dark eyes meet mine, and he nods. “Don’t hide anything from me. Tell me everything.”
He does; he tells me everything.
Sitara had told me I was from a long line of healers. How could I have known it started with Raphael, an Archangel? I don’t know what to say as once again, he falls silent.
Finally, he stands and looks up, waiting. I nod slowly, and he begins to climb up, pausing after each rung to give me the chance to change my mind.
Now, knowing everything, I see how honorable he is, has always been. His anguish at failing his people. My people.
I wonder if Raphael had something to do with his assignment to the First Peoples, if the healer that had fallen in love with one of them had hoped to protect them all through the ages?
“Who gave you your assignment in Heaven?” He looks up and stops on the ladder at my words.
His head shakes. “It came from above. That’s all I know.”
“Did you know Raphael?” He nods as he pulls himself into the treehouse.
“Not well, but I had met him on occasion before he was sent to Earth. Why?” It’s my turn to shake my head as I shrug.
“Just wondered.” I watch as he slides down the wall opposite me. “What of Sitara? Is she an angel?”
“No. She is the last, or at least we thought she was, of the Father’s first creations. The Lumeria, destroyed by Him for their ambitions. They have powers, maybe ones even greater than ours.”
I know I’ve only experienced a hint of the powers her brother had so I can’t imagine the scope of what he hints at.
“The temple was built for her.” I realize she had told me many times over the years it was hers but I never understood. “My people worshipped her as a goddess hundreds of years ago.”
“Makes sense; her magic would have seemed very godlike.”
“I think she has watched over my entire line.” He nods. “Was she waiting for me?”
“Maybe. Or maybe she was waiting for us.” His eyes lock on mine. “She seems to have been watching me for a very long time as well. Maybe she waited for us to find Lillian.”
“Why?” He draws a deep breath and holds it for a minute. “So, there’s more to this story.”
He sighs, and a laugh is strangled in it a bit. “I’m afraid I’ve saved maybe the biggest part for last.”
“Why?” I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs.
“I don’t want you to run. To lose you before…” He looks away.
“Before?”
He glances back at me, and I see hope flickering in his eyes but there is also worry there.
“Arkyn?” I wonder what could worry a demon.
The fact that I even have that strange thought proves what an insane world I’m now a part of.
“There was a prophecy written in Heaven after the war. It foretold of the descendants and how they would join with those that were slain that day along with the Archangels. Together they would defeat the Fallen.”
“So, I’m supposed to fight with you.” His eyes shift away, and I frown. So not fight. I play his words over in my head again. Oh. “Shit. You mean...like...biblically. Join.”
I push up and pace away. He does nothing, just sits silently. I pace and pace until he finally stands. His movement stops me in my tracks. I feel like doing exactly what he says as he stands before me. Run. Flee. This is my one chance. I know he will let me go.
I know his heart, it is honorable, and he will release me from my role in this, if it is what I wish.
Freedom.
He would sacrifice the world for my freedom.
Even if it meant one more failure to etch into his soul.
Chapter 14
ARKYN
I smile softly, letting her know I understand. I’m surprised Lillian and Charlie came around so readily.
Maybe it’s because they already knew the world was full of demons. Maybe not real ones, but they had known all about evil. Citlali had been sheltered from it all by Sitara.
Maybe that was her mistake. She had hidden the evil too well.
I don’t blame her for leaving. Hell, I would if I could. Okay, I wouldn’t but still I don’t begrudge her the need to flee.
“It’s alright, Lali. Go. I’ll keep them busy and give you plenty of time to get far away.” I can’t stop myself from reaching out and tucking her glossy hair behind her ear.
“Why do you call me that?” She looks at me curiously.
“Do you know what your name means?” She shakes her head. “Shooting Star.”
“I don’t understand.”
I don’t either, I guess. “I don’t know, just fitting somehow.” She smiles.
“So, about the nickname.” I was hoping she would move on to something else.
“I just wanted… I mean, I just needed to feel like maybe, just maybe...” I stop before I embarrass myself and her.
She stares at me, and I watch as something in her face shifts. It softens, and she reaches up, taking my hand in hers. She grips my fingers tightly. A goodbye.
“I don’t understand any of this, Arkyn, but I understand you.” Frowning, I stare at her face, trying to understand what she’s saying. “Can you take me back? I need to talk to Sitara.” She surprises me with the request.
“Of course.” I douse the tiny flame of hope that flares to life at her words before picking her up and cradling her in my arms. Two steps and I’m at the opening for the ladder.
She makes a little squeak of a noise when I step out. We land softly on the ground as I bend my knees to absorb the impact.
“Damn it, you scared me.” She sounds a little ferocious, and I know I better hide my smile. “Don’t ever do anything like that again.”
Oh, I’m totally doing that again.
It only takes me a couple minutes to get us back to the temple. Zeph is standing in the clearing outside the door. He’s surrounded by at least ten little kids, all clamoring at him. I stop just out of sight, and we watch as he picks up one after the other, spinning them in circles as their laughter fills the air.
Lali practically melts against me at the sight. What is it about a man with a child that is like catnip for women? I step out, and he immediately stops.
“Too late, we already saw you, Uncle Zeph.” He shoos them away, but I don’t miss the wink he throws a little girl whose eyes were filling with tears at her lost turn.
“Shut up, man.” His words have none of the old fire in them. Even before the war and our deaths, Zeph had been a warrior. He had been in the second tier of angels, a Power angel tasked with keeping evil from the Earth. He spins on his heel, and I get a glimpse of the old soldier.
