by Maya Daniels
“You need to stop, Raphael! We will live, she may not!” Beelzebub roars.
Raphael’s face clears out so fast my own anger is sucked out of me along with it, sending me tilting to the side. The Archangel grabs my arms to keep me from hitting my head on the unforgiving floor. Narsi hisses like a deranged cat, scratching at his arms, and Raphael yanks them back, glaring at the Trowe. I guess my sidekick has boundaries on what he will allow before he goes feral.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” Raphael looks pained. “I’m sorry.” Deflating, his shoulders slump, his head hanging down on his chest.
“What the fuck was that?” Leviathan is not the one to mix words.
“Raphael’s empathy picked up on Helena’s fear, and he acted on impulse,” Beelzebub explains nonchalantly, like some twilight therapist to Archangels and abominations.
I gape at him.
“I have a domain in Hell, yes. I also have a brain despite that.” Throwing his head back, Beelzebub laughs in my face.
Now that it’s easier to breathe, and there is no one throwing testosterone in the air like one of those air fresheners that will spray you in the eyes if you walk past them, a million questions push to the front of my mind. One is the most important to me.
“Where are Hector, Maddison, and my team?” I hold my breath, waiting on Raphael to answer.
“Hiding in the ruins of the building where Michael held you, prisoner.” His mouth twists unhappily. “It was the only place we thought no one would look for us.”
“What are we waiting for?” Jumping up, I’m ready to bolt out of the room. “Let’s go find them and bring them here.”
Narsi tightens his hold on me, hanging like a koala from fear that I’ll leave him behind. Looking at Eric’s face, I feel torn on what to do. It’s not like we can drag him around the city with us. But I don’t want to leave him here without anyone watching his back.
“I’ll stay.” My eyebrows hit my hairline when Colt plops down next to Eric. “Just don’t be too long or I might use him as a punching bag.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” I take a step towards him, but Beelzebub grabs my arm.
“Stop frustrating her, whelp, or I’ll put you in your place.” Beelzebub glares at Eric’s twin.
I’m sure I would’ve gotten involved more if I wasn’t staring at the Archangel. Raphael is turned with his back to me, facing Eric. His hands are flat above my mate's chest, fingers splayed, the green glow emanating from them and entering Eric’s body. My heart jackhammers painfully. Prayers jumble in my head that this will help. That Eric will wake up. The glow fades, and I gasp.
The hole from the claw on Eric’s chest is closed. Only smooth skin glides under my fingers when I drop on my knees next to the Archangel. Cupping Eric’s face, I wait unblinking for him to open his eyes. When long moments pass and nothing happens, a tear trickles down my face before I can stop it.
It didn’t work.
Ignoring the four men plus the Trowe staring at me, not wanting to see the pity in their eyes, I scrub my face with a forearm. I’ll find another way to wake him up, even if I have to capture a jinn and bleed him dry on top of Eric.
“I will try again when we come back.” Raphael squeezes my shoulder, and I have to swallow the sob that’s fighting to be set free.
“Yeah, we can try later. Let’s go find the rest before it’s too late.” Avoiding their gazes, I grab the Trowe by the hand and walk out the front door.
We follow Raphael through the city. The Archangel may look like he went through the wringer, but whatever Beelzebub and Colt did healed him completely. He keeps looking over his shoulder, making sure I’m still there. Not like I can run away, even if I wanted to. The two fallen are guarding my back, one on each side. Narsi crawl-walks on all fours, his head twisting around while he looks for threats.
The anxiety is still like acid in my stomach. At this rate, if there will be no place left for me on any realm that won’t remind me of the time I almost died. Seriously. I can really use a break. My hopes that the damn building will look similar to Maddison’s office see a sudden death when we finally reach the street.
Raphael stops, gliding over a yellowed lawn to a half-demolished two-story home. We all follow his lead, my fingers wrapping around the dagger as we blend in with the darkness. The weight of the weapon in my palm soothes my anxiety somewhat.
“It doesn’t look like anyone is around waiting, but we can’t be sure,” Raphael whispers without turning to look at us.
He is leaning to the side of the half-broken wall, watching the street. Beelzebub and Leviathan slink in the shadows, and not even I can tell exactly where they are standing. At least Narsi is quiet, but I wouldn’t put it past him to start hissing or whimpering for no apparent reason. As if he knows I’m thinking about him, craning his neck, his face lifts to look at me, a disturbing smile shimmering on it. Blowing a slow breath through my lips, I yank him closer to me.
“I will check from the air.” Leviathan grunts right behind my ear, and a second later, he when I elbow him in the gut.
“I have a kneejerk reaction if you invade my personal bubble.” As far as apologies go, mine is lacking big time. A grin pulls my lips up so high my cheeks hurt.
Beelzebub chuckles.
“If the three of you are done,”—Raphael frowns at me disapprovingly, and my face burns in embarrassment—“some help might be handy.” Turning to watch the street again, he keeps murmuring. “It’s too quiet, I don’t like this.”
“Everywhere we’ve been in Atlanta has been too quiet after I got back from Hell.” I point out the obvious. “Demons running around destroying everything can have that affect.” Raphael looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Unless you’ve been gone as long as Eric and I, I’m sure you’ve seen this before.”
“It’s too quiet,” he repeats slowly. “There is no sound at all, apart from the five of us.”
And that’s when I genuinely notice it. On the way here I was too tense, expecting an attack at any moment, as well as lost in my own thoughts about unimportant things. I wasn’t paying attention to the sounds unless they were too close for comfort. Right now, there is nothing but the breaths coming from us. No hoots and distant screams that have been constant since I got back. No sounds of buildings collapsing or glass breaking. Not even the sound of insects or birds. Almost like the street is holding its breath.
“I don’t feel jinn.” My lips don’t move when I mumble the words softly.
A line forms between Raphael’s eyebrows and he tilts his head. From the corner of my eye, I see Beelzebub shaking his head subtly when the Archangel’s gaze flicks to him. I don’t have to see Leviathan to feel his penetrating stare, but at least he doesn’t say anything. I’ll count it as a small victory.
“Do you feel anything else?” Beelzebub asks softly, although his deep voice carries. “Anyone else but us?”
I shake my head, not wanting to add to the noise we are making no matter how low. The silence is unnerving. Not like in Maddison’s office, but close. I’ll never forget that deafening silence that made me feel like I’d go insane. Goosebumps prickle my arms just thinking about it.
Narsi releases his hand from mine and I look down at him. The Trowe glances from me to the street and back a few times before pressing his mouth in a firm line. I have no time to realize what he is planning before he bolts like an arrow out of our hiding spot right at the building.
My breath gets stuck in my lungs.
“Stupid Haltija!” Leviathan hisses angrily, and for the first time, I agree with him.
My sidekick definitely has a few screws loose. He is not even trying to hide. Running on all fours faster than anyone I’ve seen, he reaches the ruined building in no time. The front of it looks somewhat intact, not counting the broken front door and busted windows. The back is entirely missing, like someone has taken a serrated knife and hacked the hell out of it. Narsi crawls up the front steps, reaching the gaping door before he turns around and lifts to his
full height. He is tiny, but he looks intimidating, especially when he is baring his teeth like he is doing right now.
I’m about to go join him when he just stands there, but the three men with me surround me on all sides, pressing me too close between their massive bodies. I prickle at their attitude, hating the fact that they are stopping me from seeing what is going on. Taking a deep breath and preparing to elbow my way out of here, I almost choke when the air gets charged with power. It’s not as strong as that of a jinn, but it’s nothing to scoff at. It’s also oddly familiar.
“What are you doing here, Haltija?” a familiar voice splits the quiet air on the street.
Clenching my fists so hard, I can feel my nails ripping the skin of my palms. The warmth of my blood only fuels my anger more. I can’t put my finger on where I’ve heard the voice, but I need to calm down so I don’t give us away, and so I don’t make this entire street shake like an epicenter of a seven-degree earthquake. Concentrating on my breaths, I strain my ears to hear it again. Maybe it’ll come to me. I don’t miss that the three men around me stiffen when whoever it is speaks.
“I’m looking for Mammon,” Narsi hisses, and my eyes almost pop out of my skull. What the hell?
“Is that so? And why would Mammon want to see you?” A husky chuckle numbs my brain. I know that voice. “Hell didn’t teach you how to properly lie, I see. Who did you bring here, huh? Mammon will reward me greatly when I bring him your hide.”
“I come alone!” Narsi’s hiss turns eerie, but I’m not leaving him to deal with this alone.
Releasing the control on my anger, I unleash it like a whip. The ground rattles violently, the yards and street cracking open and splitting like veins. The three men around me stumble away, and I push my way out from between them. The ground is still shaking when I zero in on my target, striding down the street like I own it.
“Hello, Lauren.” A menacing smile stretches my lips. “Long time no see.”
Colt
It’s strange to walk in the human realm. I’ve always despised my brother for choosing it over Hell. For choosing humans over…me. I know that my father is the one that drove the wedge between my twin and me, comparing us in everything, pushing us against each other. Not like we stopped him, so both of us are to blame for that too.
Seeing Helena ready to stand up to anyone, including Lucifer himself, to protect my twin is like a sharp sword through my chest. Again, he gets the better bargain in life after being banished by my father and losing his wings. She gave him his wings back, as well. There is more to her than any of us know. It’s as plain as anything that she is just coming into her powers, and she already faced a jinn and lived to tell the tale. Fallen and Archangels will be hard pressed to fight a jinn off or kill it. None are able to see their pure form.
“What in the name of the fates did you create, Satanael?” Musing loudly, I watch my brother sleep.
As painful as it is to admit, I’m glad it’s Eric dealing with the she-devil. I will never admit it, but I’m not sure I can handle her. And if I really want to be truthful to myself, I’ll say that she even scares me. Helena is way too reckless, letting her emotions guide her actions more than her brain. I’m an arrogant bastard, I’ll never deny it, but my self-preservation is at the top of my list. I turned my back on my twin out of logic and the selfish need to protect myself. I have no idea why I’m riling myself up and why these thoughts start swirling in my head, but there is nothing I can do to stop them.
The crazy female has no self-preservation instincts at all. She barges into any fight, no matter how futile it is to protect those she sees in need of it. Damn, she brought four of us from Hell to defend us from Mammon. A hunter trained by the Order from Heaven saving fallen. Regardless of her bloodline, she is something special, something different. Satanael wouldn’t have done any of it, and neither would Zedkiel.
“What is she brother?” My eyebrows dip low over my eyes as I chew on my lower lip. “Do you even know what creature your mate is? From where I’m standing, soon she’ll be able to slaughter us all if it strikes her fancy.”
My heart rams against my ribs in a painful lurch. An uneasy thought pushes from the background in a warning that this is not normal behavior, but it disappears before I can grasp it properly. I realize I actually do believe that Helena can kill us on a whim. Maybe not right now, but in a not so distant future, I have no doubt there will be nothing and no one that can stop her if she decides to go on a killing spree. Is that why Michael wanted to get rid of her? Not wishing to advertise that even Heaven fears what she can become, he used her bloodline as an excuse to end her life?
“And you stopped him!” Growling angrily at Eric, I grind my teeth. “You protected something that can destroy us all.”
“I better be mistaken, and you are not talking about my mate, brother.” Eric’s eyes snap open, and I glare back at him.
“Is she your mate? Or her power blinded you to see what she wants you to see?”
“This is a new low, even for you.” Disgust is evident in his voice, so I have no doubt he is not thinking clearly. Why can’t he see the truth?
Pushing off the bundled rags under him, Eric sits up, rolling his shoulders. His wings lift up and down while he tests their weight, so I glare at them too. He shouldn’t even have those back. Maybe the she-devil already has full control over him, turning him into something else as well. What if the jinn were sent to keep the balance by destroying these two? What if they are in the right? That last thought is like a slap in the face, and I jump up, crouching low next to my brother, shaking off whatever compulsion they were doing on me.
“Fuck!” Eric jolts back at my outburst, but I yank him down with me. “We have company.”
He stiffens at my words, turning in a fluid motion to crouch next to me. Pointing at the far side that leads to the kitchen, he blends in with the shadows and is gone. I glide soundlessly on the opposite side, my entire focus on the door. I should’ve known something was wrong when all my thoughts got twisted and paranoid. Instead, like a fool, I was stewing in anger and almost attacked my brother.
The door cracks, but it doesn’t fully open. I guess they know we are aware of them now. Creeping closer, I reach the wall next to the door and lift up, pressing my back to it. My claws lengthen, sharpening as I stretch my fingers. I missed out on fighting the jinn yesterday, but I’ll make up for it now.
Eric materializes on the other side of the door, his horns already extended, his eyes burning with rage. I’m sure by now that he is aware that Helena is not here, and I can only imagine what kind of thoughts are going through his head. My mouth opens so I can tell him she is alive at least, but one of his claws lifts up, silencing me. His head tilts closer to the wall, and I follow his lead.
A tapping sound, like someone is trying to send a code through the wall, makes me frown. My gaze flicks to Eric, and I see the confusion on his face too. What in the worlds is going on? Before I have a chance to figure out who is playing games with us, the wall I’m leaning on explodes, sending me flying through the wall-to-ceiling windows, and I plummet to the ground.
Eric
I’m not sure how exactly I ended up back in this realm, and all I can think of at the moment is I need to find Helena. The last thing I remember is the crippling pain when a claw sunk in my chest. I had no time to even fear for her life or my own. It all went blank.
Now here I am, home.
Not just home, but with my twin brother next to me, mumbling angrily and cursing my mate. If I didn’t need information so I can search for her, I will happily ended his miserable existence the moment I my eyes opened. I might not know anything else, but I still feel the warmth that was surrounding me in the void.
When the claw pierced my skin, sinking so close to my heart, I was sucked into a cold black hole, my soul shrinking from the iciness creeping inside me. It felt like it lasted forever, yet from one moment to the next, it was replaced by something warm. Something keeping the darkness t
hat was trying to eat my soul away. It lulled me into the comfort that I feel ashamed of right now. I should’ve fought to find my way out. I should’ve struggled to shake off whatever it was so I could get back to Helena. To protect my mate.
Now, after being yanked by a glow from my warm cocoon not long ago, I’m back in my apartment with no one but my estranged brother next to me. Not what I expected, nor what I wanted, at any rate. I was ready to grab him by the neck and demand answers, but we got interrupted. First, I’ll remove this threat, then I’ll drill Colt for answers. Watching him pale across from me while we plaster ourselves on each side of the front door does not sit well with me. For someone wanting to be one step ahead of everyone, I sure as fuck don’t feel all that great right now.
And what the fuck happened to my place?
Tilting my head, I hear the tapping on the wall, frowning at the sound. Is this some sick joke? What exactly are we dealing with here? The Order, the Archangels or Mammon? I have no time to even hype up my anger when a blast sends both of us flying across the vast living room. Colt hits the floor-to-ceiling windows first, bursting the glass into a shower of shards pelting our bodies before he goes down. I follow right behind him, the slicing of the broken window keeping me alert.
Colt is limp, which tells me the blast must’ve been closer to his side to render him unconscious. His body flips in the air, spiraling to the ground that’s raising to meet us. I unfold my wings, righting myself in the air before arrowing in his direction. My wings are pressed close to my body to give me more speed, and I manage to scoop him up just before he hits the ground. I can feel the concrete graze my front for a second before I lift up again, soaring in the night.
Reaching enough altitude, I hover in the air with my twin draped over my arms, shocked at the sight before me. The city is in flames. Fires burn everywhere, the flames reaching for the dark sky like gruesome fingers. Skyscrapers and buildings stand like broken shards. Entire areas have been leveled to the ground, leaving empty patches sprinkled around the horrid distraction of Atlanta.
