No Demon has ever gone before the Tribunal and returned. Simply being called before them was a sure death sentence. The Tribunal only offered two sentences: freedom or Purgatory. Once sentenced to Purgatory, a Demon loses all of their special abilities and their power diminishes greatly. For an Angel, their wings are stripped away. The excruciating pain of an Angel’s wings being ripped from him is far greater than any possible earthly death. But the punishment does not stop there. Their incredible strength is reduced to practically nothing. Both entities barely have the strength to move, but are given enough energy to stay conscious of their surroundings and pain. That is where the Tribunal has sent every Demon and Angel it has called on to appear. In all of time, not one has been set free.
“What the hell is going on?” Etta’s voice trembled. Alastor watched from the corner of his eye as Etta hid behind me, wrapping her hands around my arm. Etta showed favor toward me and relied on me to protect her. Her touch calmed me and gave me confidence in what I planned to do, but Alastor read into our interaction closely. My plan was to hand him over to Gabriel. The shock of this might cause Alastor to attack me. If he believed, even for a moment, I had an ounce of feeling for Etta, he would surely use it against me in a fight or worse. I gave a low growl as I ripped my arm from Etta’s hold, hoping to scare her away from me and show a lack of concern for her.
“I will not interfere with your business, Gabriel, but you mustn’t forget the number one rule—never combat in front of an innocent human. So I kindly ask you to take your business with my brother Alastor elsewhere.”
“You traitorous fool!” Alastor bellowed.
“You know the rules, my brother.” I protruded my chest outward to let him know I meant business and if he wanted to charge at me I was ready to fight.
“With two of us and one of him, we could easily kill him and be done with The Great Circle of Arches. With Gabriel gone, they will weaken, and we will ascend to rule.”
“It is not my fight, brother, and I don’t think your Master would approve of such a plot without his consent.”
“What do you mean, my master? Lucifer is your Master, too, or have you been so blinded by the girl that you have forgotten that?”
At this point in my existence, I had no Master. I followed orders from no one, because I received none. I came to be a forgotten soldier in Lucifer’s army, and to be honest I preferred it that way. It left me the time to pursue other forms of entertainment, but if I wanted to get back to my normal dealings, I had to get Alastor as far away from Etta and John as possible. My best chance at that would be to let Gabriel take Alastor. There was just one small problem. Etta was still in the room. If Gabriel tried throwing his golden shackles on Alastor, he could make a move for Etta to shield him. The sheer power of Gabriel’s throw could kill her, and if any part of the golden shackles touched Etta’s human skin, she would be instantly damned and sent to Purgatory.
I looked at Etta then shifted my gaze to the stairs. Etta picked up on it right away. I watched Alastor closely as Etta obeyed my unspoken instruction. Every twitch of his body made me jumpy until I finally heard Etta slam her bedroom door. Alastor never took his eyes off of me. By now he knew my intentions were protecting more than just my domain. I just hoped that Gabriel brought his A-game and was able to apprehend Alastor.
“He’s all yours, Gabriel. You’ll receive no resistance from me.” I put my hands up and gave Gabriel a small nod. I couldn’t tell whose eyes were larger from confusion, Alastor’s or Gabriel’s. I flashed to Etta’s room before either of them could figure out what had happened. It didn’t take long for the thunderous crashes and shattering glass to begin downstairs. Soon the floor beneath me began to shake. There was one hell of a fight going on downstairs, and with any luck, Gabriel would be victorious.
“What’s going on?” Etta cried as another violent tremor shook the bed into the middle of the room. I pulled Etta into my chest, wrapping my body around her. Another deafening boom cracked a foot wide crevasse in the floor. Looking through the hole I could see, Gabriel had Alastor pinned to the ground, but Alastor positioned his tail to throw Gabriel off. If he succeeded, it would push Gabriel right through the floor. I couldn’t risk Etta getting hurt.
“We’ve got to go to the attic,” I called out as I ran toward the closet, tugging Etta with me. In my haste, I sent her flying through the access so hard her body crashed into one of the trusses. Just seconds after I jumped into the attic, Gabriel burst through the floor right where I had stood a moment before. I had made a wise judgment. Etta let out a whimpered moan. I flashed to her side.
“Etta! Are you okay?” Panic struck me. “Etta, wake up!” I shouted.
“Ugh. I’m fine.” Etta sat up, rubbing the back of her head. Blood trickled down her shirt from a small gash on her forehead.
“You’re bleeding. Lie still.” I walked to where I kept my trinkets of the haunted past and pulled out a blue silk scarf I’d taken from an old Swedish couple. Pulling her chin up so I could get a good look at her wound gave me a sense of déjà vu. The look of uneasy peacefulness in her eyes was a familiar one. Shaking it off, I placed the scarf on her forehead. I searched her beautiful chocolate brown eyes for clues.
“Thank you,” Etta whispered as she placed her hand on top of mine. Her touch brought the tingle back into my stomach and the look in her eyes changed to a smile, making my chest ache. As much as I didn’t like the feeling, I didn’t want her to let go of my hand, which was all the more reason to pull away.
“Hold that. The pressure will stop the bleeding.” Etta gave me a sheepish smile as I stood up and sat on the other side of the attic. I had no clue what just happened. This girl had me twisted and confused. Why did she smile that way? Why did I relish it when she did? The more I asked the same questions, the more confused I became. So wrapped inside my own head that I didn’t realize the house had become silent. That didn’t make any sense. I stood to go check everything when the sonic boom of Gabriel’s departure sent Etta soaring to my side. She wrapped herself around my waist.
“Don’t leave!” Etta trembled.
“I’m not leaving you. That last boom was Gabriel leaving. They have a tendency of cleaning up their messes so your house should be fine and that should be the end of it. I’m just going to make sure. I’ll be right back.” I stroked Etta’s long curly hair hoping to comfort her until she looked up at me with those big brown eyes again. She was terrified, but not of me. The thought of me leaving her side with Alastor and Gabriel in the house scared her more than any of the horrible things I’d done to her in the past few months.
“All right, I’ll stay for a few minutes, but then I need to check the house. If Gabriel left any signs or damage behind, I’ll need to clean it up before your parents get home.” Etta let out a long sigh as she freed my hand from hers. We sat silent for a half an hour with each other, listening for any noise, before she grew comfortable enough to let me go and check downstairs.
Chapter Nine
It took me only seconds to go through the house. Gabriel had done a pretty good job of making everything look normal. The only thing out of place was the couch I had thrown while he sat on it. After putting it back in the family room, I flashed back up to the attic. Etta was standing in the corner staring off at my armor.
“All clear,” I said.
Etta jumped back almost knocking her head on another truss. “You scared me.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her as I flashed to her side.
“What?” Etta giggled.
“You’re a strange one,” I said with a snicker.
“No stranger than you.” Etta smirked. “So…you and him are brothers?” she asked, ending our playful banter.
“Don’t ask me questions unless you’re ready to answer some yourself.” I turned my voice cold.
“I don’t care anymore. I have nothing to hide from you. But it would appear there is more to you than you let on. I thought you didn’t remember anything.”
“I don’t remember anything before coming to Earth. I first met Alastor in the early 1600s. He traveled through here a few times. I couldn’t stand him, but I thought he might help me remember what had happened to me, so I would let him stay for a while. Brother is just a term we use when talking to our own kind. We’re not actually brothers in the sense you’re thinking.”
“Could have fooled me with the way you guys were talking. For a minute there, I thought you two were going to bust out some champagne and celebrate his newly found freedom.”
“You understood us?” I was stunned. No human has ever had the ability to understand celestial tongues.
“Yeah…why wouldn’t I?”
“Because we weren’t speaking a tongue any human can understand. We were speaking the native language of our world, a unique blend of Sanskrit and Aramaic.”
“Well, Ra-ha-whatever he called you, I understood all three of you plain as day.”
“The name is Rahovart. But, if you are going to speak to me by name, call me Ra.”
“Ra? Okay. I’ve must have read a hundred different books about Angels and Demons, but I’ve never heard of you. Why’s that?”
“If I knew I would tell you.”
“You really don’t remember anything?” Etta raised a brow. I could see a simple “no” wasn’t going to be enough for her, and I grew tired of her asking the same questions. I would have to be a little more honest.
Turning my head away from Etta, I replied, “I remember bits and pieces.”
“Well, like what?” Etta wanted to know all the details, details I didn’t have. I rubbed my face vigorously as I thought about how to answer her and shake the uneasy feeling in my body. Etta stared at me as if she were waiting for me to make a rabbit pop out of a hat.
“I remember laughing with the Arches in Heaven, then it blurs. I remember the pain of my wings being ripped out of my body. I remember a hate in my heart and many battles. Then it fades to me waking up near the river wounded and bloodied. But none of it is clear or makes sense.”
Etta went back to my armor, investigating every inch. She seemed entranced by the design and look of it. Forgetting all the questions I had planned on asking her about her time with Alastor, I was more focused now on knowing what had her in such deep thought.
“What are you thinking, Etta?” As the words flowed from me, I felt a hint of fear, but not from her. From me.
“I’ve seen similar suits in my books, but never so detailed or so large. In one book, it said the larger the shoulder plates the higher rank the Demon and the more legions he commanded. So, I wonder, if you were such a high-ranking Demon, why are you here and why are you protecting me?”
“Do not be confused by my actions, Etta. I’m not protecting you, only protecting what is mine.” I tried sounding nonchalant.
“I don’t believe that. If you weren’t trying to protect me, you wouldn’t have gotten so mad when I was ignoring your warnings about Gabe earlier. You wouldn’t have told me to go upstairs and you definitely wouldn’t have thrown me in the attic.” She smiled.
I was becoming attached to Etta, and if I read her body language correctly, she too had begun to be just as fond of me as well. As much as her smile made me tingle, I couldn’t let it continue. The lines between Demon and human couldn’t be blurred and even in a perfect world, it would be a relationship that would never work. It became time for damage control.
Squaring off my shoulders, I let out a deep sigh. “The only thing that bothered me was your broken word. You promised we would talk when you returned from school and instead you showed up hanging all over an Arch like some sex-crazed whore.” I’ve whispered worse things in people’s ears and felt pretty good about it, but now that they were directed to Etta, it hurt to say them.
Etta’s lips went from a beautiful soft smile to an irate curl. Her eyes narrowed. I could see that any good images she had of me shatter into a million pieces. She finally saw me as the Demon I was.
“I wasn’t hanging on him. I didn’t even want him driving me home, but he insisted. Why’s it even matter who I hang on anyway?” Etta crossed her arms.
“You could have fooled me. You might as well have stripped down and jumped on his lap the way you were sitting right on him.” Not even my rage could hide the hint of jealously in my voice.
“Oh. Oh! I see what’s going on here. You’re just jealous because it wasn’t you. I mean, when’s the last time a female paid any attention to you? They don’t. That’s why you have to try and sneak a peek when they aren’t looking. You watch everyone around you getting exactly what you can’t have.”
Etta’s comeback hit me hard. With every ounce of restraint, I held back the urge to slap her for what she said. I was jealous that she threw her attention on someone else, but more upset about her breaking her promise. Plus, she had been wrong about watching people get what I could never have. Demons are more than capable of having “relationships” and many do with their own kind and with humans. But it was never anything I wanted. I do things my way. A female would just complicate things. Exactly what Etta was doing now.
“I can assure you, I am not jealous. You have nothing that is even remotely appetizing to me, especially after that spectacle. But I warn you, you should be very careful with the promises you make and break with me. You wouldn’t want me having a change of heart and saving my dear brother Alastor all the trouble of torturing you, now would you?” I didn’t mean a word of it and the tears welling up in Etta eyes were almost too much to bear.
“Uh, you A-hole!” Etta tried at rushing me, but I grabbed her arms before she could even get close. As she jerked her wrists from my grip, I could hear the tears falling on the plywood below our feet. The girl had so much going on I couldn’t bring myself to follow through with hurting her, not like this. Not without it hurting me as well.
“Let go of me now!” Etta jerked again, releasing her wrists from my grip only for a split second before I grabbed her face. Towering over her, I stared straight down at her. She could handle anything a terrorizing Demon threw at her, but my cruel words hurt her more than I could have ever imagined and it showed. How did this happen? How did I go from giving her temporary asylum so I could get rid of any followers to never wanting to let her go?
Etta stared up at me, her jaw trembling as she tried to fight back the stream of tears running down her olive cheeks. I leaned my face down and softly kissed her lips. Etta’s pulse raced out of control. I crossed a line and misinterpreted her body language. If she didn’t fear me before, she definitely did now. How could I have made such a mistake? How could I think for a minute such a beautiful girl would be attracted to a monster like me?
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I moved my lips away and rested my forehead on hers. Etta wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled her lips up to mine. Her breathing labored and her heart was racing, but not because she was scared of me. Etta wanted to kiss me. A spark of electricity ran through my body as she kissed me more deeply. Her lips were so soft and her breath tasted sweet. I could no longer resist nature.
I pulled Etta closer, picking her up. She wrapped her legs around me. With our lips level with each other, my forked tongue slowly parted her lips to meet hers. Etta’s hands caressed the back of my head as they held me to her. My whole body tingled unlike anything I’d felt before and my knees were getting weak. Walking over to my little corner, still kissing Etta passionately, I delicately placed Etta onto the floor. I laid my body off to the side of her, not wanting to hurt her. Holding my weight with one arm, I stroked her cheek with the other hand until it tangled in the back of her hair.
My black claws shadowed against Etta’s creamy olive skin. The contrast should have snapped me back into reality, but the tingling in my body and the warm sweetness of Etta’s breath kept me engrossed in the moment. Etta began to pull her magenta T-shirt up. I quickly grabbed her hand, stopping her. My loins already ached with every kiss, but my heart wouldn’t allow me to push Etta that
far whether she wanted it or not.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t this what you wanted?” Etta searched my face for an answer. She was eager to please me. I would have loved to take such a ripe young girl, but I couldn’t.
“That is a major decision with many severe consequences if not thought through, Etta.”
For months, I had annoyed Etta by trying to peep in on her while showering or changing her clothes, but that’s all it was, just my way of trying to get her attention so I could run her out of the house. This was an entirely different situation. Etta pulled herself from under me and wrapped her arms around her knees. I’d made her self-conscious even though it hadn’t been my intention. I may be a monster who feeds off of hatred and fear, but I wasn’t a rapist, nor would I take advantage of a girl who didn’t fully understand the repercussions of such a decision.
“Etta, it’s not that I do not want you in that way, trust me. I’ve fantasized about it, but it is not a simple choice you make in the heat of the moment. Giving me permission to enter you is giving me your soul and by that, you are damning yourself to Hell. The life you know now would end.”
“Then my soul belongs to Alastor?” Concern came over Etta’s face. She thought she already damned her soul. My first instinct insisted I go with my carnal urges. If she already believed herself as damned then I could take her now and she wouldn’t be the wiser. Not only would it release the sexual frustration I’d suffered from for the past five hundred years, it would bind her to me for all eternity. She could never leave my side and I would never have to let her go. But, the look of worry on her face told me that was an existence she didn’t truly want.
“No. He took your innocence from you. You never gave him permission, so therefore your soul remains yours. But trust me, having any Demon own your soul is something you don’t want.”
The Demon Side Page 6
