“Good?” Evander asks, neither mad nor judgmental. I nod. “Dagen, there are some things that are happening, and because of them, you need to know something we,” he motions between himself and Luc, “have kept from you and the others that were first.”
“First?” My friend voices the question that I also have. He opens his mouth, but before he can say anything else, Luc reaches out and taps his forehead, just like he did mine. Poor bastard. I sit waiting for the rage to roll off him.
It doesn’t come. Instead, the temperature drops at least forty degrees in the room, and my breath puffs in a small cloud from my mouth. It’s been a very long time since I feel a chill this deep, either in nature or from a supernatural source. I had forgotten this power of Dagen’s. He doesn’t speak for a very long time.
“I was an angel. I guarded innocent animals, protected the species.” His voice is flat, filled with sadness. “So many lost.” His head turns to me as a tear slides down his face. I watch, unable to think of words to console my friend, as his eyes harden. “They caught me in the Garden that day. I was so surprised to see them I didn’t notice the blackness of their wings. They slaughtered me like a lamb.”
The temperature drops more as his rage finally breaks free.
“Why has our past been hidden?” I want to know also so I join him in staring at Luc and Boss.
“It was my decision. If you knew the past, you would need to know about the prophecy, and I didn’t want you to focus on the parts of it that pertain to you.” Luc stands and paces away, stopping in front of the bookcase.
“You haven’t told them?” The angel is on his feet as he shouts at Lucifer.
Pale blonde hair shimmers as the leader of hell shakes his head. When he turns back to us, I’m once again struck by how young he looks, like a vampire from a movie, frozen in between man and child. Only his eyes give away his ancientness.
“If we never found them, what good would it do? Just one more torture for an eternity. One more thing stolen from them.” His voice has gone quiet and deadly. He may look like a very young man but make no mistake, he could kill the angel with ease.
“It might have given them an incentive.”
“They needed no other incentive than to stop the Fallen’s slaughtering of humans. Do not believe the propaganda that Heaven has spread about me and my warriors; they are not the evil ones.” His lavender eyes flash with flames.
The warriors in question sit in silence, our heads bouncing back and forth like people at a tennis match.
Evander finally clears his throat. “I think it’s time to lay everything out on the table.”
I fucking agree; this cloak and dagger bullshit is pissing me off. My anger and heat is battling Dagen’s rage and cold, which means the room is almost comfortable. The two stand staring at each other.
“Yin and Yang,” Dagen murmurs so low I barely hear him.
He’s right -- they are light and dark, opposites, and if I understand, created one after the other. God had some crazy fucking ideas. The whole world is one big fucked up idea, in my opinion. He made it and then left it to be destroyed because of some other bad fucking idea. Perfect.
Dagen’s elbow cracks one of my ribs or damn near does as he jolts me from my thoughts. I grimace and rub my hand over the throbbing spot before glaring at him. He jerks his head at the others, looking over I see they’ve sat again and seem to be waiting for us. Following Dagen to our seats, I shrug at Evander. I mean, cut me some slack -- yesterday I found out I had been an angel.
“The whole story, or prophecy as it were, is that each descendent is destined to one who was killed by those that fell. One of what is now a Prince of Hell,” Caliel discloses with no preamble.
The roar is deafening as the blood pounds in my ears. A Prince of Hell. There are eight, including Evander. I look at another sitting beside me. His face is white, well as pale as he can get, and his eyes are unfocused as the the bomb that was dropped detonates in his brain.
Lillian. She is destined for one of us. Fury fills me. The monster that lurks just below my humanity breaks free as I surge to my feet. I know my eyes are crimson and my claws are digging into my palms. I hear voices from a distance as images of her being hurt by those sadistic shrews flash through my mind.
My head flies back as I’m hit with a block of ice. No, not a block of ice. Dagen’s meaty fist connected with my jaw. I taste the blood pouring from the cut on the inside of my cheek and roar. The next instant, I’m blinded by Luc’s light as it wraps me in a blistering heat.
I hear his voice, calm and soothing, say, “Calm yourself, Torryn. You cannot save her like this.”
“Is she mine? Did you know?” I can’t keep the torment from my voice.
“No, I didn’t know. Caliel might have. I’m honestly as surprised by the revelation as you.”
His light dims slowly, but his power still holds me, giving me time to gain control. Finally, I nod slowly at him and he lets me go. I pace away, unable and unwilling to even look at them.
My thoughts are whirling like one of the hurricanes that often tears through the city. Why do I care so much? Why does the thought of her with anyone else make me so jealous? Why does the knowledge of what could have caused her scars release so much rage?
The first memory I have of being an angel plays through my mind. A Guardian with no one to guard. Was she destined to be my charge even thousands of years ago? If so, I’ve already failed her. Staring out the tall, narrow windows, I try to calm myself. I watch an alligator slide through the duckweed that covers the water beneath the shade of the cypress trees. It is the large male that lives near. He often visits because someone started to feed him years and years ago. Well over sixteen feet, he is the lord of this part of the swamp. I feel like his dark citrine eyes are locked on me as he crawls onto the bank. They can’t be at this distance but the knowledge of that doesn’t change the feeling.
I don’t know how much time has passed when I finally turn around, minutes or maybe just seconds. The others are where I left them, except Dagen, who is no longer in the room. My eyes lock on the open door and the small hole in the wall where the knob hit it.
“Are you ready to hear the rest?” Caliel’s tone is aggrieved, and I want to punch the asshole in the face.
“Are you fucking kidding me? There’s more?” I hiss.
“Yes, unless you are going to throw another hissy fit.” Evander is in front of me before I finish blinking slowly.
He shakes his head and leans in close, his lips near my ear, his words for me alone. “The girl.”
He’s right. I need all the information I can get if I’m going to save her. Closing my eyes, I draw a deep breath and hold it, counting to twenty. I was going to stop at ten, but that wasn’t near long enough. I could keep counting until I pass out and it won’t be long enough to wipe the image of Caliel’s throat locked in my hands, but I don’t want to waste the time. Letting out the breath in a puff, I nod at my friend, and he peers into my eyes for a moment longer before stepping aside.
“Please, do go on.” I force the words out through my teeth that are locked close. Once again, my poor damn molars are getting a workout.
“No one knew about this part of the prophecy except me. I wrote the damn thing, had it thrust into my mind the very day you were murdered. It has been my burden alone. I told no one because inevitably they would have tried to force the completion or try to change destiny.” He sighs before continuing, “Luc knew only that there were to be seven descendants of the Archangels, and they were somehow the key to ending the war. Which is exactly what was leaked to Seraphina.”
As he finishes Luc drops into his chair. I’ve never seen him look defeated before.
“I should have been looking harder for them.” His head shakes side to side.
“We’ve been looking for them constantly since the day you pulled us from the darkness.” Evander is incredulous.
“Not the ones who killed you. The children of the Michael a
nd the others. I was so focused on stopping the Fallen, I didn’t think about them knowing.” He turns his head to the angel. “You could have warned me, told me they knew and they were looking. Damn it, Caliel, you could have told me they had one of them.” The last is growled as his powers ripples through the room, hell, through the bayou around us.
“I was watching her.” His eyes shift to the left, and I narrow my own. He’s lying, but I know he was there with her. She obviously recognized the cat. What is he lying about? I will find out.
“So what changed?” Luc asks deceptively calm.
“They have figured out a way to find the others. Lillian is in more danger now than she’s ever been in.” His voice softens a bit, and I realize he truly cares for the beautiful, sad woman. It doesn’t make up for leaving her with those assholes for her entire life but it is something.
“How do we save her?” I don’t care about the rest right now. We can kill them and find the other descendants later. I suddenly have a thought. “Are the others all women?”
“Yes.” Caliel looks at me like I’m stupid.
“Sorry, but there are two genders. How could I know?”
“The prophecy wouldn’t come to fruition until the perfect partners were born.” Again, he says it like everyone should have been know. “You need to talk Lillian into leaving. You can’t win against them right now. Others have joined them at Avalon. It would be all out war.”
“I have an army of demons,” Luc drawls, and I grin at the thought of spilling angel blood.
“Thousands or millions of humans would be slaughtered. That’s why I’m here,” Caliel says. “To stop the war. By rescuing Lillian, you will stop them.” He locks his dark eyes on me. “And maybe save yourself.”
11
Lillian
I stare at the knife in my hand. I could end all of this now, this eternal damnation that is my life.
Instead, I cut through more of the crisp bell peppers and scrape them into the pot with the onions and garlic. I’m stirring them with my favorite wooden spoon when Grace limps into the kitchen. I haven’t spoken to her since her warning. Or since a stray cat spoke to me and an incredibly handsome and yet dangerous man spoke to me. Spoke to me about angels. The angels living here.
I thought about what happened a long time. I’ve run every scenario and I’ve come to two conclusions. One - either everything good in my life is just one big fabrication, a trick being played on me by the ones who keep me. Or two - what happened three days ago was real.
I haven’t left the house in those days. I haven’t even looked outside but I know he has been watching. I picture his blue eyes and I realize that they had more darkness in them than any brown eyes I’ve ever seen. At the same time, they held none of the evil that shines out of the angel’s sparkling gem-like eyes.
His eyes held heat, like the summer here in the south. It can be oppressive and dangerous but it can also wrap you in it’s warmth. I shiver and wonder what it would be like to feel his heat wrap around me.
I don’t know where that thought came from. I’ve never even kissed a boy or a man. Hell, the closest I’ve even gotten to a man is the delivery people. Shaking my head I refocus on the task at hand, dinner. When I raise my head, Grace is watching me closely, her eyes filled with curiosity.
“You haven’t been out in a few days?” I just nod, not trusting my voice. “Is something wrong?” This time I shake my head. “What happened?”
She grabs the knife in my hand, drops it on the counter, and then pulls me around the island, down the small hall, and into the laundry room. Pushing me inside, she steps in behind me and closes the door.
If it had been any of the others, I would be terrified, but Grace means me no harm. I keep my back to her as I decide what I am going to say. I’m still making the decision when I hear my own voice.
“Are there still male angels?” Shit. Her gasp is deafening in the tiny room. Oh no.
“A male? Here?” She whispers, and I turn around. Her already porcelain skin is almost translucent in her panic. So the answer is yes, there are. Maybe this Torryn is one after all. That tiny spark of hope flares bright in my chest, and I realize I had never actually put that fire out.
“Tell me what happened,” she says as she steps closer.
So I do, the words tumbling from my mouth in a whispered rush. I tell her about Captain Jack and her eyes narrow and then I tell her about Torryn and what he said. She’s quiet the entire time, and by the time I finish, I’m positive her brows can lower not a millimeter more. I can barely even see her eyes at this point.
Holding my breath, I wait for to say something, anything. When she does finally, my breath explodes from me.
“Yes, there are still male angels. I think I might actually know the one that is pretending to be a cat. If it is who I think it is…” She looks up at my face. “Well, that doesn’t matter. If he comes back, come get me.” Her eyes are filled with some emotion I don’t recognize and then she looks away. “Actually, no don’t.”
She’s scaring me now. Pacing away all of three steps the little room will allow, she stops at the door and puts her hands on it. I’m frozen; I have no idea what to do or how to console her. Suddenly, she whips around and I jump.
“There’s no time. I mean I’ve had a lifetime, but it felt cruel.” She’s not talking to me, exactly. I keep quiet, not wanting to interrupt her. Finally, she focuses on me once again and nods her head, coming to some silent decision.
“First, before I tell you anything else, please understand I did what I could. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you away or protect you more.” Now I’m really worried; her iridescent eyes are swirling in a way that used to fascinate me but now I know just means trouble.
“When they found you, I thought sure they would kill you. But of course they didn’t. They used you to control me. I’m the reason you’ve had this terrible life.” I listen but I’m caught on the kill me part.
“Why would they want to kill a baby?”
“I told you why they fell, what they did, but I didn’t tell you the why of their rage. Jealousy. The Archangels had children with their human lovers.” She stares at my face and I shiver. “You are a descendant of those first children. You have a hint of their blood running through your veins. Thousands of years ago, the Prophet of God foretold of an end to the war the fallen wage on humanity and Heaven. It is the seven descendants that defeat the Fallen. They have gotten a tip where another is. They will kill the others, then they will kill you.”
She draws a breath, and I shake my head, wanting to stop her from uttering another word. I can’t hear one more thing. I’m a child of angels. Angels have tortured me all my life. Angels want to kill me. Angels will kill me because I can’t escape Avalon.
I feel her smooth hands on my own scar roughened ones and I flinch. I hate myself for the hurt I see in her eyes. But I steel myself against it.
“Why are you here?” She shakes her head.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is I saw the man you spoke to. He was across the street a few days ago, and I saw him watching you. He is no angel.” There is a strange roaring in my ears as she continues speaking.
The last words I hear as I fall to the floor, passing out cold, are, “He is a demon.”
12
Torryn
Rain runs down my face as I watch the house. I’ve been here for days. Watching and waiting.
“You stink and you look like shit,” Caliel says.
I ignore him. He’s back in his cat form, sitting on the wide porch of the house behind me, staying well away from the pouring rain.
He’s probably right. I haven’t left this spot since I ran from the office, images of her driving me to come here. To save her. I’m afraid I’ll miss her, afraid I’ll fail her.
“I don’t think she’ll be strolling the garden in a torrential downpour,” he calls out over the thunder. “Maybe go get cleaned up. It’d be easier to coax her from Avalon if you didn’t sc
are her with your crazy stalker behavior. Maybe she’s seen you staring at the house like a lunatic hour after hour for days and would rather face the crazy she knows.”
My shoulders slump. What if he’s right? What if she saw me and thinks I’m going to hurt her? Fuck. Some guardian angel I am. You’re no angel, idiot. I was, I retort to myself. Guardian demon. I like that. Keep her safe and destroy those that think to stop me. Steam billows off me as my temper heats my skin.
“I’ll watch. Go get some rest and a shower. Eat something, for the love of… well, God. Plan what you’re going to say.” I look over my shoulder at the cat.
“What do you think I’ve been doing while I stand here?” His tail swishes. “Fine. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Call me... Can you call me?”
“I can reach you anywhere, Demon.” His power flares and washes over me for just a moment.
Only one other has such intensity -- Lucifer. I nod my head just a bit before turning back toward the street. I take one last look. Sprinting down Saint Charles, I probably just look like someone caught in the storm. Looking around, I check for anyone that might see me as the rain starts to grow heavier. No one is out, so I use my demon speed. Racing for my home, it takes only minutes for me to arrive.
I give the doorman an apologetic look at I slosh across the lobby, the water running off me like tiny rivers. Pushing the call button, I try not to notice the puddle that grows by the second around me on the marble floor. Finally, the ding announces the arrival of the elevator, and I waste no time getting in when the doors slide open.
Once I’m in my apartment, I head straight to the bathroom, stripping and throwing my wet clothes in the basket. Turning on the water, I step in, not waiting for it to heat up. My body is still running hot, so I barely notice the frigid water as it pours over me.
Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 76
