by Bonnie Lamer
Deciding she better own up to at least a portion of her fear in the presence of the Angel, Zyla admits, “She is terrifying when she’s mad. She has these long fangs, and her eyes are pure black. It’s freaky.”
This starts a flurry of questions from her intrigued brother and cousin. Zyla, now the authority on all things Angel of Judgement, answers them with a flourish. No trace of the paralyzing fear left in her voice or eyes. I smile and shake my head. Kids are awesome.
Deciding to leave them to their discussion, I head out of the library in search of the others. I find them congregating in the kitchen once again after their fruitless searches. I assume that when the screaming stopped, they figured the source was no longer in the house.
When I walk in, Kallen is at my side in an instant. Hands placed firmly on my shoulders, he looks me over. “What happened?” he demands.
Curious, I ask, “How do you know something happened?”
The left side of his mouth lifts in a wry smile. “I can feel the shift when you are pulled into Angel time, remember. I figured you found her and were giving her the help that she needed. So, I gathered everyone back here to wait for you.” Impatiently waiting is what he really meant.
I didn’t remember that fact a minute ago. But now I do. It’s a skill, if that’s the right word, that he has been developing over the course of our time together. He senses the disturbance in time somehow.
“Right,” I nod. “Thanks for gathering everyone, and yes, I did find her.” Taking his hand in mine, I lead him to the counter to join the others. Glancing around the room, I note that everyone except the kids have returned now. Several are pacing to work off their nervous energy. Waving at the stools, I tell everyone, “You should have a seat.”
Dagda stops pacing and replies indignantly, “I do not need to sit down to hear whatever news you have.”
Tana studies my face a second. Laying a gentle hand on her husband’s arm, she gestures to a stool with her other hand. Her voice is not gentle when she speaks. “Dear, take a seat.” She urges him toward the closest stool and climbs onto the one next to it. With a great deal of grumbling under his breath, Dagda does sit down.
When everyone else sits, I take a deep breath to bolster my words. It doesn’t help. My voice still cracks. “Raziel is gone.”
“Gone?” Mom asks. “Where did he go?”
I shake my head and try again to make them understand. “I don’t mean he left. I mean he’s gone.” I squeeze Kallen’s hand, searching for the strength to finish this without bursting into tears over the loss of my dear friend. “The Council came for him. They’ve likely erased him from existence.” The full force of what this means hasn’t hit me yet. I refuse to let it until this is all over. Then I will allow myself time to properly grieve while giving Adriel as much support as I possibly can.
Mom’s hand flies to her mouth to try to stifle her cry of shock, and she’s somewhat successful. But her tears won’t be held back. Dad wraps a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulls her close, his own eyes threatening to drown his cheeks in a salty flood.
Isla clears her throat and wipes at a tear clearly trying to defy orders to stay put. “What of Adriel?”
“Rashnu is protecting her now. She was hurt pretty badly in the fight and is being healed as we speak.” I assume that’s true. I can’t believe Rashnu would leave her in physical pain any longer than necessary. I wipe a traitorous tear from my left eye and continue. “They tried to take her baby, but Rashnu stopped them.”
Brows creased in anger, Dagda demands, “Who did?”
Frowning myself now, I turn to him. “The Council.” I thought that was obvious.
My father waves away my words in frustration. “No. Who did it?”
Oh. I get it now. He wants a target for his rage. I can’t blame him there. Unfortunately, I can’t give him the answer he wants. “I don’t know who it was specifically.” But that is a good question, and I plan to do my best to find out.
“For someone to come for an Archangel, they must be immensely powerful themselves,” Tana muses. I can see her mind racing with the possibilities of who it could have been.
Dagda turns to her. “Do you think it was Hades?”
Tana shakes her head. “I do not believe he is that powerful. Or stupid,” she adds.
I agree. He wouldn’t want to pit himself against Rashnu. Especially since their work is so closely related. “Plus, if Zeus is on our side, I don’t think he’d risk his brother’s wrath again so soon.”
Dagda’s not convinced by our arguments. “If he had the backing of the Council, he might.”
“It was likely more than one being,” Kallen points out. “But, how did they take him without any of us being aware of their presence?”
I grimace as the answer pops into my mind. “I’m pretty sure the members of the Council can come and go without being detected on our plane of existence.” And isn’t that a scary thought. We can prepare all we like, but we may simply not see them coming when they do decide to attack.
Kallen shakes his head. “I do not believe that. All movement creates a disturbance in the molecules around us. That’s why I can feel it when you go into Angel time. It’s simply a matter of being attuned to it.”
I cock my head and glance up at him. “I don’t know. They’re powerful beings. Maybe they can control even the molecules around themselves.”
Kallen’s lips quirk in a wry smile. “I remember their power. But, when they came for the Sirens, their presence was obvious.”
I nod, but I’m still not convinced. “Right. That’s because they wanted it to be.”
Dagda throws his hat into the conversation. “It would not be possible to mask that kind of power down to every molecule in the universe. Because they are so powerful, even one being from the Council would find it difficult sneaking around unnoticed. Several at once…,” he shakes his head.
I’m still not buying it. “But the Angels come and go all the time from here, and none of you notice. Well, except for Kallen,” I amend. So, I guess I didn’t prove my point very well. The Angels do create a disturbance, however minor and difficult to detect.
Dead. Silence.
I glance around the room in confusion at the stricken faces. “What?” I ask. Then it hits me. “Oh my god. It was other Angels who did this.”
Angels live outside of the realms and can travel unnoticed, for the most part, around the Universe unless they’re Fallen. They also wouldn’t have raised suspicion when they first showed up. Raziel and Adriel probably knew them. And trusted them. That means my Angel friends were betrayed not only by their own kind, but possibly by those who used to be their friends. I’m sickened by the thought of it. The only comfort is knowing that whoever did such a treacherous thing will soon have to face judgement for it. Because Rashnu must be super pissed about Angels going behind her back and attacking one of her own Angels of Death. I guess this is what she meant when she complained about fighting those she’s stood with in the past.
Speaking of feeling sick. A wave of nausea washes over me, and I feel a little lightheaded. I guess morning sickness doesn’t occur just in the mornings, after all. I place a hand over my mouth and debate if I will be steady enough on my feet to make it to the bathroom. If not, everyone in the room is going to want to avert their eyes.
Suddenly, a strange smelling pouch appears directly under my nose. My first instinct is to bat it away before it makes my nausea worse. But, after the first few unintentional sniffs, the bile running laps in the back of my throat begins to lose interest in expanding its course toward my lips. So, I take a few intentional sniffs. The nausea ebbs even more.
I glance up in relief to find Tabitha sporting a satisfied smile. “Old family recipe,” she tells me. “Works every time.”
“Not every time,” Isla remarks drolly.
Tabitha gives her a sour look over her shoulder. “I have perfected the recipe since the dark ages when you were pregnant,” she snipes.
“It’s working this time,” I say gratefully to Tabitha. “That’s all I care about.”
The satisfied smile returns to the old Fairy’s lips. “Good. Now, you need a snack. Keeping a little bit of food in your stomach at all times will also help.” Tabitha bustles away to find something for me.
Alita gives me a knowing nod. “It does.”
Too bad the idea of food is not at all appealing, but I’ll give it a shot. The nausea has subsided for the most part, but I can feel it getting ready to knock on the door of my esophagus again. This is the first real day of morning sickness I’ve had, and I can already tell that this is going to be a long first trimester.
I’m so focused on my nausea that I don’t notice the tension that has spiked around the room at first. At least, among the Fairies. Even Tabitha has stopped moving. Something she rarely does. But, when all the Fairies at the counter fly to their feet en masse, stools clattering to the floor in their haste, they get my full attention.
Now I sense it. Magically and otherwise. There is no mistaking that stench. I gulp back a glob of bile.
Demon.
Chapter 22
“Who would let a Demon out?” I demand. I rush to the kitchen door leading to the back of the house and throw it open. There, ambling up the driveway, is most definitely a demon. It’s black skin, razor sharp fangs, and hunchback are unmistakable.
I decide it doesn’t matter who let him out. It does matter that he is put back into the pit. Pulling magic, I plan to do just that.
“Stop!” a young voice cries behind me. Whirling around, I find Keelan racing into the kitchen. Seeing that he has my attention, he skids to a stop a few feet away. “Don’t hurt him,” he insists.
Alita and Kegan are looking at their son as nonplussed as I am. “Son, do you know this Demon?” Kegan asks. Words I’m certain no parent ever wants to utter.
Keelan shakes his head. “No, not yet. But I will.”
Okay, confusion not cleared up. “What?” I ask.
Trying again, Keelan explains, “I work with Demons in the future.” Well, that’s a surprise. But, given his role in defeating the Demons, I guess he does have a pretty strong connection to them. With a smile in my direction, Keelan adds, “You were right. Some of them can be rehabilitated.”
I give him a tight smile. “Good to know.” I glance over my shoulder at the approaching Demon. His eyes are glowing red with fury, and he’s gnashing his sharp teeth. I still have my magic drawn, ready to strike if the Demon makes a move to harm anyone. “I don’t think this one has gotten with the program.”
“Not yet, but he will,” Keelan insists. “That’s Sam, and he’s a friend of mine. At least, he will be in about ten years from now.”
“Sam?” Kallen asks with a quirk of his brow. “Seems an odd name for a Demon.”
“It’s short for Samael. He’s one of the first Demons to be granted the right to leave the pit. He works hard to prove that he didn’t stand with the Seven, and that he just wants to live in peace with other beings,” Keelan explains.
I’m still not convinced. I jab a finger in Sam’s direction. “He does not look like a Demon ready to live in peace with other beings.”
By now, Zyla and Xavion have joined us. “That’s because he’s obviously under a spell,” Zyla points out in a snarky tone. I swear, most of her sentences should end with the word ‘duh’ instead of a period.
But to my surprise, Kallen agrees with her. “She is correct. I can sense the spell too.”
I narrow my eyes in my husband’s direction. He may be able to sense it now, but he didn’t a minute ago. Not until Zyla pointed it out. I know this because I can sense it too now that I’m aware of its existence. “Okay,” I drawl. “What do we do about it then?” Spell or not, this Demon is hellbent on destruction and needs to be stopped before he succeeds.
“Demons have very little power of their own,” Xavion reminds us.
I try hard to maintain my patience as the fang-gnashing Demon moves ever closer to the house. “I understand that,” I say through gritted teeth. “But the spell he is under seems to have increased his strength.” If we don’t act soon, we risk someone getting seriously injured.
Zyla and Xavion give each other that ‘twin’ look that I know in my heart Kallen and I are going to learn to fear above all other things. I don’t even get a chance to open my mouth to tell them to think about what they’re planning to do before they grasp hands and pull magic. A loud clap of thunder precedes the explosion of energy as the massive amount of magic is thrust forward toward the Demon.
Except, the Demon isn’t the only thing it hits. I never really thought about the floor plans of the house, but it turns out there’s a bathroom right above the kitchen. I know this now because a bathtub comes crashing through the ceiling. The kitchen walls explode into tiny pieces. Hopefully, none of them were critical to weightbearing for the rest of the house. The counter that we all love to gather around is reduced to pieces about the size of match sticks.
It’s funny how you notice these types of details even as you’re propelled through the air at about two hundred miles per hour. Which is what is currently happening to everyone in the kitchen who is not my son or daughter. Despite my dire predicament, a thought implants itself in my mind and a giggle escapes my lips. I wonder what the rest of the Fae realm would pay to see the most powerful of their kind being tossed into the air by a couple of kids. We could probably raise a lot of money for charity if we did this in front of an audience. Okay, the concussion I likely got when the magic hit me is probably making me think such thoughts. Two concussions in one day. I keep this up and my brain is going to turn to mush.
After wrapping myself in a ball of magic, the impact when I hit the ground is only mildly uncomfortable as opposed to wildly painful. Sitting up as soon as I can manage it, I frantically search for the others. I felt Kallen reach out magically to Mom and Dad, so I know they made it safely to the ground. They’re about twenty feet away from me. Shaken but not harmed. Garren is a little farther out. He’s dangling from a tree branch with a bewildered look on his face. Isla is below him, a storm gathering in her eyes as she stares back at her demolished kitchen. Dagda and Tana are sitting atop the garage in stunned silence. Alita, Kegan and Keelan are strewn about the yard like fallen limbs after a storm, but none of them seem to have sustained any injuries other than bumps and bruises.
Tabitha is the one I’m most concerned about. Even though she easily protected herself from the blast with her own magic, she landed smack on top of the Demon. I’m not sure which one is the most surprised about this sudden turn of events. I am sure that neither of them is happy about it.
Finally, my eyes swing back toward the kitchen. There, among the studs that once held walls, I find my children. They are staring wide-eyed back at me.
In a shaky voice, Zyla announces, “The spell is broken.”
Then the rest of the kitchen ceiling falls, blocking them from my view.
Chapter 23
Kallen and I are on our feet and running toward the house in a flash. Behind us, I hear Tabitha fighting off the confused Demon, but the others are going to have to help her while we save our kids. Although, the Demon doesn’t seem to be putting up too much of a fight. He shouldn’t be much of a problem now that the spell is broken.
We’re almost to the spot where the kitchen door used to be when two figures emerge through the thick cloud of dust surrounding the rubble. Coughing and waving away the particles of plaster trying to invade their mouths and noses, our children seem otherwise unharmed. A wave of relief hits me so hard that I feel like I’ve been hit by their magic again. I need to stop and catch my breath. Which I can do now that I know our kids are okay.
The hou
se, on the other hand, is creaking dangerously. Somewhere, a weightbearing wall was definitely destroyed. Probably several of them. It’s not going to last much longer if we don’t do something to keep it from falling down.
“Keelan!” Alita screams when she realizes the same thing.
It was one thing when we thought it was just the kitchen that was damaged. Keelan was safe three stories above in his crib. Now, he’s in serious danger. Alita comes running toward us with Kegan tight on her heels. Both ready to race through the house even as it crumbles around them.
But, there’s no need. “Here,” Xavion calls. What I thought was a thick layer of dust and debris on his arm turns out to be a baby blanket. Now that he’s outside of the dust storm, Xavion peels back the edge of the blanket to expose baby Keelan’s pristine face.
