The woman sitting on the couch smiles, and leaps off. She turns off the TV and comes dangerously close to Fiona’s shrine housing various god and goddess statues. I flinch as the action dredges up my memory of breaking one as a kid.
“Fiona!” the woman exclaims. “Welcome home. This must be Tasia.”
I appraise her while she does the same to me. She’s wearing an oversized sweater and patterned leggings. She has her long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her skin has a golden tone to it, and her lips are painted a bright red. Her cat eyes are heavily outlined in black eyeliner, accentuating the shape.
“I’m Divya,” she says while offering her hand. She has a slight Indian accent.
I take her hand and we shake.
“Let’s take things easy for a few days, okay?” Fiona says, ignoring this Divya person altogether. “We’ll figure out what to do about you changing schools and all of that later.”
“And the vampire? All the weird stuff that happened to me?”
She frowns.
“I’m not just going to forget about him,” I say. And then I fall silent and think to myself: I’m not going to forget the way he made me feel… or how I didn’t feel at all. I can’t forget the strange urges that overcame me. I won’t forget how I stared into his eyes, searching for something.
Divya folds her arms and looks between us. She seems like she wants to add something to our conversation, but she doesn’t.
“Seriously, Tasia. What do you want me to say?” Fiona asks.
“I don’t know. Tell me the truth. Is Reverie going to be okay? Was that really just a random attack? What about Arsen? Don’t you want him to pay for what he did? And what about the woman he was with, and that other guy Wyatt claimed he saw? You heard about all of that, right? The police aren’t going to be able to do anything about this. They can’t do anything with Arsen’s name, and none of those strangers at Reverie were human. I’m sure of it. The police don’t know anything about the supernatural. I mean, I guess Jazmin might be able to convince them of something, but even her influence only gets her so far!”
Fiona brings her hands to her temples. “We’re not going to talk about this right now. Tasia, you need rest. Forget about all of this. You have your whole life ahead of you. Leave whatever happened in Reverie to the police. We have other things to worry about, like which school to transfer you to.”
I grab my backpack and try to keep my hands from trembling. “Fine.”
“The spare room is all cleared out for you.”
I duck away from the adults and shut myself inside of the room. It’s clean, empty, white, with a made bed in the center. I plop onto the bed and bury my face in a pillow. She can dodge my questions for now, but I’m not going to quit asking. I need to know what’s going on. Fiona doesn’t understand.
I want Arsen to die.
CHAPTER 14
Rynne
“WE NEED TO TALK. I know you have questions.”
“I’m back at the hotel room. Tasia left for Philadelphia with her godmother.”
“I’ll be over soon.”
I lock my phone and set it on the nightstand. I haven’t slept. I’m exhausted, but I can’t rest.
Lying back down on the made hotel bed, I stare up at the bare ceiling. The hotel is plain and all around light on personality. It isn’t trying to prove anything like hotels in big cities. If you want to stay in Reverie but don’t have a relative living here, this is the only option available. It’s been my “home” for over a year, but I haven’t done anything to personalize it. The owner wouldn’t mind. He’s paid well to let me stay here and to not ask questions about where my “parents” are, why they never show up, and why they only wire money to him. Sadly, it only proves how greedy people are. Money will shut most people up.
Maybe I will get some sleep after all.
My eyelids are heavy. Keeping them open is becoming a chore. My thoughts wander to Tasia, and I can see her clearly when I close my eyes. The image I see isn’t the Tasia I’ve grown to know and cherish. It’s the image of a girl who’s lost her parents, a girl whose eyes have been opened to see the world for what it truly is. Even as a psychic, she didn’t know the extent of evil in this world. She still doesn’t. She and so many others don’t know the kind of darkness that comes with the demons that have spread and continue to spread their evil across this world in mortal blood. All the monstrous creatures of legend didn’t spring up from human darkness alone. They are products of demons, just as I am a product of angels. Ever since the day I was made an angel, the world changed for me, and I realized I never knew anything at all.
I open my eyes when I hear a knock at the door. The presence is undeniably angelic and most likely my overseer. I answer immediately. Making her wait any longer than necessary would be rude.
“Rynne,” she says as she reaches her hands up to my face.
I lean down to meet her lips, greeting her with a chaste kiss. A simple kiss is a common way angels greet other angels. Imae explained the significance of the gesture to me before. She said greeting another with a kiss is a demonstration of the unconditional love we should all share for one another. I do have a more personal love for Imae though, a profound gratitude. She is the one who gave me a second chance at life.
“Come inside,” I tell her.
She floats past me, light-footed, as she seats herself on my bed. I close the door, but I don’t move from it. I have to take a deep breath before I turn around to face her again. Her youthful appearance and height are misleading, and the almost child-like features of her face are betrayed by her figure. She has the kind of look where it’s hard to assign an age, but any age a mortal would guess would be vastly underestimated.
I still don’t move from the closed door. Normally, I would have taken a seat beside her, but I don’t think I can take this conversation sitting down. It’s better to stand at a distance and at attention so emotions don’t betray me. My actions are studied carefully as Imae watches me with her yellow-green eyes, bright and too ancient for me to understand.
“You’re upset,” she notes.
“I don’t understand,” I reply. “Why did Tasia’s parents die? No one was supposed to get hurt.”
“No, but Arsen isn’t easy to control. The two demons that helped to carry out Tasia and Arsen’s union were killed as well if that gives you any peace of mind.”
“They were?”
“Yes. The meeting didn’t come without a price. Tasia’s parents were unfortunate casualties. But their deaths are meaningful. Tasia is with her godmother now, on her way to Philadelphia. She is where she needs to be, and all is as God wills it.”
“What am I to do next?” I ask.
“Go to Philadelphia and join the Evil Extermination Association hunters there. Watch over Tasia. Inspire her and guide her on the path that leads to her destiny.”
“You think she’ll join them of her own volition? Or do you think her godmother will put her on that path?”
“I’m optimistic about Tasia choosing that path on her own. Either way, fret not. Know that she is always being watched by one of us. You need only act as a friend and a guide. Do exactly what you’ve been doing and climb your way up the ranks in the EEA. Tasia will need a support system, and the EEA hunters are perfect for that. It’s time for humans to take a stand against natural demons, to wipe this world clean. Your experience and everything you’ve been taught will be invaluable to them. They’ll need you just as Tasia needs you.”
“Tasia is the key to the demons’ destruction,” I say.
“Yes. The first step, meeting Arsen, is complete. Now Tasia must grow. She must learn to combat evil she’s never even dreamed of. She must stand strong so that she’ll be able to command Arsen and fight that evil. You and the hunters will be her primary support group. If you can pull together and get her ready for the weight of what she has to carry, then Arsen will be unable to keep his autonomy. He’ll fall prey to her. She’ll use and control him in t
he coming war. Demons have run free in Terra for too long. The world is deteriorating. That is why God has given us Tasia. This prophecy, her undeniable power over Arsen, is just what we needed.”
I nod because I can’t say anything to that. She speaks with such conviction and hope. I know I should share those feelings, but I don’t. I only worry. I worry about Tasia. I wonder if such a softhearted girl can handle the hardships to come. It’s not only that. I don’t want her to handle the hardships to come. I don’t want her to face them at all. This destiny will mean suffering, and suffering is something I’d never wish upon her.
I’m far from an ideal guardian angel, being a mortal made angel, but Tasia was my first assignment. I’ve watched over her since she was small, though she wouldn’t know it. It wasn’t an easy job. I still carry my mortal needs. But I did it. I did it without attachment. I did it because the Oracle told me that was my calling. However, that mentality of being a good soldier, a good servant, didn’t last. Eventually, I started to enjoy it. I started looking forward to watching this human grow, but I also envied her. I envied that she could age. I envied the life I lost. Watching over her from a distance turned out to be just the beginning of my assignment. Over a year ago now, my assignment changed. It was the beginning of the school year last year. I was to enroll in Reverie High School as a student, and I was to befriend her, something that is unheard of among guardian angels. But, like me, Tasia is a special case, and so rules were broken in the name of God.
I did what I was supposed to. I became a friend. But it ended up being more than that for me. I care for her. I care for her as if she were my own family. Seeing her in pain is the worst thing. So, I’ll do what the angels told me to do. But I’m not going to like it. I’m a mere mortal masquerading as an angel. I follow God’s will. And that’s the end of it. I’ll go where the Oracle tells me to go. I’ll keep Tasia safe.
“How soon should I join the EEA?” I ask my overseer.
“Don’t worry too much. Just start by relocating to Philadelphia. The time frame isn’t pressing at the moment,” she says. “We’re working on the story you’ll tell the hunters when you get there. The tragedy in your past will be made to blame Arsen instead of the monsters actually responsible. We want to keep Tasia’s and the EEA’s focus on Arsen himself until Tasia is able to control him. Capturing him is the beginning of justice. I’ll keep you informed on Tasia’s status since I’m to be the angel actively watching her once I leave here. Take time to prepare.”
CHAPTER 15
Arsen
PULSATING BEATS REVERBERATE THROUGH every wall in the club. Flashing lights paint the room in all different colors. They spotlight sweaty bodies pressed up against each other, and girls wearing costumes that look like underwear. Some are here to pick up guys, some aren’t, but whether they’re asking for it or not, the night often turns out that way. I’ve seen it many times before. Hell, I’ve been the guy picking up the girls. It takes next to no effort when people are drunk. It’s one of the perks or downfalls of being human—depending on your point of view.
Tonight’s theme at the club is amusing, seeing as it’s Halloween night. Sexy vampires, sexy nurses, sexy zombies—it’s true. Humans like to turn everything sexy. Halloween night is the one night where it’s acceptable to indulge in dark fantasies. It’s acceptable for humans to dress as a sexy vampire while fake blood is running down their lips. The gore and sexy marry each other on this night and nobody bats an eye, while the rest of the year they’d get stares for dressing that way. It’s all about fitting in and following a flow of normalcy. If everyone is doing it, what is there to fear? True fear lies in being outcast.
What makes a night like tonight fun for Yuki and me is the fact that we don’t have to completely hide ourselves like we normally do. Retaining a human-like form is the easiest way to go unnoticed, but it does become rather dull. Halloween night is the perfect night of the year to hide in human darkness and to let our beasts manifest into our physical forms ever so slightly. I’ve enjoyed Halloween nights before, but tonight my beast is agitated. It’s begging for full release, but I refute it. I give my logician primary control. I do know something of discipline.
I look through the crowd and catch sight of Yuki within moments—even with all the wriggling bodies attempting to conceal her. She’s wearing a shimmering dress that catches the lights like a disco ball. Her fox ears and tail are on full display. The orange fur is bright against her dark hair, but they make a striking contrast. She’s fluid and captivating in her every movement. She has men circled around her like moths to a flame, each one eager to have a piece of her. I grin. Try as hard as they might to touch her, they’ll only succeed if she wants them to. She enjoys tormenting them.
Typically, I’d be in the thick of it right there with her, but I’m not in the mood. Not tonight. Sitting at the bar and trying to get drunk is much more appealing at the moment. If only it’d actually work. Something is scratching underneath my skin. My beast is agitated. So. Very. Agitated.
I glance at the small TV mounted on the wall behind the bar. The channel is set to the news, and the sound is turned off since no one here would be able to hear it. There are captions, but I don’t need them to recognize the scenery on the screen. I was just there about a week and a half ago. Reverie. Images of the human girl who somehow overpowered me flood my mind. The dam I carefully built up since leaving that shit hole is broken down at the sight, and now all I can do is see her. All I can think about is what she did to me. Time away has done nothing to soothe the unease. My beast never lets me forget, even when I did banish her face from my thoughts. I’m constantly battling with my own heart and mind, and I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to keep myself from tearing something apart, preferably limb by fucking limb. Preferably an angel.
Raw, dark energy pulses through my veins, threatening to manifest as tremors throughout my body. I’m going to explode.
“Sick horns, man.”
I let my eyes flicker behind me to see a young human male. He seats himself beside me and offers a smile too unassuming. He looks barely old enough to be in this club—or perhaps he snuck in. He’s wearing that Count Dracula type of vampire costume, the classic image of a vampire humans are so attached to.
I acknowledge his words with a grunt and go back to drinking the beer in front of me. I haven’t been keeping track of how many drinks I’ve had. Martinis, cocktails, wines, beer, it doesn’t matter. None of it can get me drunk. I used to think it could probably give me alcohol poisoning if I drank enough. But if that’s the case, I’ve never noticed. My body filters it out too fast. I have too much life essence to care.
“How’d you do it?” The boy is trying to make conversation with me again. “They look so real.”
I show him my teeth. “Maybe that’s because they are real.”
His hazel eyes go wide when they meet mine. Fear. Wonder. Desire. He seems to cycle through a few different reactions before settling on one of the most common I get from demons and humans alike: desire. I can see he’s entranced by me. I could tempt him to do whatever I’d like. I’m a fly zapper and he’s the fly.
“Can I… touch them?” he asks.
His eyes are glazed over; they’ve lost all of their luster. He’s let down all of his defenses and ruined himself without even knowing it. I could claim him the way my former master, Erin, once claimed me so easily.
“If you let me kiss you,” I tell him.
He doesn’t say anything to that, but he does lean toward me. His eyes never leave mine. My lips are on his in an instant. He opens his mouth wider to let me in, but he doesn’t know how to play the game. He’s sloppy. Inexperienced. He is definitely young, or maybe he’s shy. Ironic. He’s not bad looking at all by human standards.
As the kiss grows deeper, the scratching underneath my skin gets more intense. My beast starts rumbling in my chest. Growling. This is getting dangerous now. If I kiss him for much longer, I’m going to lose control.
My body moves instinctively, my beast acting out. I pin the boy against the bar, forcing glasses out of our way as they fall to the floor and shatter. More than kissing him, I’m pressing my whole body into him. I don’t know if I want to play with him or kill him. My logician warns me that killing him here and like this would be unwise, but my beast doesn’t care.
“The hell you doing?!” the deep voice of a man manages to make itself heard over the pulsing music.
I feel a meaty hand on my shoulder. It only makes my beast angrier.
“Get off my brother, bastard!”
The brute’s expecting me to turn my face in his direction, and then he’s planning on punching me. I don’t follow suit. I jerk to the side, twist around, and kick his legs out from under him. The guy falls to the floor with a heavy thud. He grasps his shin, writhing in pain. The sides of his head are shaved and the middle section of his hair is dyed blue and sprayed into a hard mohawk. The young man I was pinning to the bar comes to his senses and inches away from behind me. I can smell the fear on him now.
I’ve officially caused a scene at this point. All the people anywhere near us are gathered, waiting to see what will happen next. The air is charged with their want for blood. Mohawk Guy gets up from the floor and forms his hands into fists as he bounces back and forth on the balls of his feet. I let my hands fall to my sides in a devil-may-care fashion and stand perfectly still.
“You’re going down, you sick fuck!” Mohawk announces as he takes his first swing at me.
He misses of course. To the crowd it looks like he misses, that is. I can move subtly and too fast for the humans to process. My beast is growling at me and tearing at my insides, begging me to release it, but I can’t. I need to keep it in check. Its aura is too powerful. I can’t afford to paint a target on my back—especially not when that girl is out there. My beast grows angrier as thoughts of her once again make it to the front of my mind. Damn that girl.
Demon Snare (These Immortal Vows Book 1) Page 11
