Jaylen blew out the candle and hid from her underneath the blankets. "Goodnight."
"You don't have to hide."
"I'm not hiding. I'm going to sleep before you try to show me anything else. I'm done."
"All right. Whatever you want. I will be on the floor. Sleep well, Jaylen."
* * *
Zeriel finished off his fifth glass of wine. Axaniel was on his eighth and was busy pulling the cork out of another bottle. It had been twelve hours since Jaylen went into the rift, but there still was no sign from him. At least he took his body with him this time, unlike when he went into The Veil. That would have been a tricky situation, especially in a country of hungry werewolves who sold children to demons. After Jaylen had blacked out, Aiden created some kind of portal and literally threw Jaylen's body inside. That's a trick Zeriel would have to try the next time they have to go into a rift. Perhaps it had to do with the serum that was injected into Jaylen. Or it could be that Zeriel's paladin was slowly changing and becoming something much more sinister.
"Drink more."
Zeriel looked up at Axaniel who sat across the large wooden table from him in the kitchen of the Wolfekin castle. "Pour me another glass and I'll drink it."
"That's my friend." Axaniel filled the glass then slid it back across the table. "Stop beating yourself up. This kind of stress is bad for you."
"What if Jaylen doesn't come back?"
"He will come back. You would know if he died. Your lives are linked now, remember?"
"Oh, that's right." Zeriel groaned as he drank the entire glass and slammed it down on the table. "Another."
"You're going to be so drunk."
"Good. Then I won't have to think about this anymore. That's why you drink so much, isn't it? To not think about things that hurt you?"
Axaniel absentmindedly stroked his black feathers. "Not exactly. I drink to keep myself from doing something I shouldn't. It's not that big of a deal now that I'm Fallen and stuck here or wherever Sulstair orders me to go, but it used to be very difficult."
"Does this have to do with Oviel?"
"It has everything to do with Oviel. You're quite observant for such a young angel. What about you? Do you have anyone you lust after?"
Zeriel shook his head. "Lust? No. I may be Fallen, but I try my best to stay away from such sins. I've seen what lust can do to people. It's never good."
"So there's nothing going on between you and your paladin?"
Where did that come from? "No. Absolutely not. Why would you ask that?"
"Rumors. There are many rumors going around, Zeriel. Many, many rumors."
"Like what?" Zeriel asked. "Humor me."
"Everything from you two being intimate to you forcing him to do things."
"Are you serious? So what? They see me actually care about my paladin and they have to turn it into something awful?"
Axaniel drank another glass of wine. "You and Jaylen are very close."
"So? Isn't that the way we should be? Our lives and souls are intertwined. We are as close as we have to be. I do love Jaylen, but not in that way. Never in that way. Have I ever lied to you?"
"No. I believe you. I just thought I should let you know the kind of rumors Carvael is spreading about you."
"Of course, my father would be behind this." Zeriel brooded. "This is exactly the reason why I didn't tell him what happened between me and Doran."
"You didn't tell me, either. Has that wine loosened you up enough to the point where you're ready to talk? We all knew there was more to it than what you told the Angelic Court at your trial seven years ago. You're Fallen now. You can talk."
Zeriel took the bottle from his friend and finished it off. "I was abused, beaten, and raped by Doran."
"I knew it."
"You knew it?"
"Yes. I called it when you stepped forward as his killer. I knew that you wouldn't do something so heinous without a reason. And Carvael doesn't know?"
"No angel besides you and Oviel know. You two have always been the closest to me."
"You should have told the court." Axaniel said.
"No. Some things need to be buried and stay that way. That is why I cannot have any kind of romantic relationship with Jaylen. Doran hurt him as well. It is my one and only purpose to make sure that Jaylen is never hurt again."
"That's a very noble purpose. Just a warning. Demons can traverse the rifts with ease. I know of one demon who wants Jaylen more than an easy life in Heaven."
"Sulstair the elf?" Zeriel asked.
"No."
"Gavin the incubus?"
"Nope. Think female and younger."
"His daughter?"
"Yes. Liaxa can't be trusted, not yet. There's something about her that makes me uneasy. She's not like the other succubi I've seen. When you speak with Jaylen next, you have to make sure he is still pure. You know what those kinds of demons do to young men. If Liaxa has his soul key, Jaylen is as good as dead to you."
Zeriel opened another bottle of wine. "Then I will find his soul key and guard it with my life."
Chapter 9
Zeriel nocked an arrow and drew back the shortbow. His muscles tensed as he pulled the string back until it brushed across the short black stubble on his cheek. Slowing his breathing, he let the arrow fly towards the red target painted on the side of the tree one hundred yards away. Miss.
"Damn it." He reached for another arrow on his back, but the quiver was empty. He went to the tree and found all one hundred arrows that had missed and ended up in the thick brush. This was the fourth time he had gathered all of the arrows. Out of those four hundred shots, none hit the target. None even hit the tree.
Twigs snapped as Axaniel stepped around the side of the castle wall and shook his head. "Is this how you fight off a hangover?"
Zeriel growled as he took his place behind the line he drew with the toe of his boot in the dark soil. He drew the bow again and let it go. Miss. "This was so much easier when I had my bow and light arrows."
"You're Fallen now. Nothing is easy anymore. Your magic let you shoot like that. Now that you have dark magic, you are never going to be able to be that good."
"Gee, thanks for the support."
"I'm just being truthful. How many have you tried?" Axaniel asked.
"Four hundred and one."
"And how many did you at least get near the target?"
"A grand total of zero." Zeriel tossed the bow to the ground and pulled off the quiver. "I give up. Apparently I'm awful. What do other fallen angels use in combat?"
"Their shadows. I use my sword, but that's because of my past."
"Because you were the last paladin to become an angel after you died?" Zeriel asked.
"Yes, that. I try not to let many angels know that bit of information. My human name was Axanis. It was simple enough to change it into something more fitting for an angel, I guess. As a paladin, I was trained to use a longsword, just like Jaylen. That was almost two hundred years ago. The Holy Order has changed a lot since my days as a paladin, that's for sure. I really do feel sympathy for Jaylen. The kid has gone through a lot."
"You're telling me? I've been there and seen it. Being bonded to him is the most challenging thing I've ever done."
"And the most rewarding?" Axaniel asked hopefully.
"Not yet. When it starts paying off, I'll let you know. So far, it's been confusing, painful, and an experience I wish I could wipe from my memory. Well, except for getting to know the best kid in the world."
"You do care for Jaylen, don't you?"
Zeriel smiled as he thought about the boy. "More than you know. I can't imagine my life without him. It is killing me to not have him here with me. That's why I'm out here doing this. If things get bad, I have to be able to defend him."
"Maybe Jaylen needs to learn to defend himself. It's sweet of you to care so much, but he's not a baby anymore. If he wants to have all the privileges of a man, he needs to act like one. You treating him like he's a c
hild will get him nowhere."
"I know, but he went through an awful childhood."
Axaniel spit into the dirt. "That's no excuse."
"You're so heartless sometimes, Axa."
"It's not being heartless to expect a boy to eventually grow up into a man."
"But his innocence is what I love about Jaylen."
"No, that's part of what you love about him." Axaniel pulled out a small bottle of whiskey from the pocket of his baggy pants. "You love every single thing that boy does and you know it. You're a good father."
"Father?"
"Think about it. You are being the supportive and caring father that Doran wasn't able to be for him. No father ever wants their son to grow up. Jaylen will always be your innocent little boy. Don't worry about that. The bond you two have is unbreakable."
"How was your father?" Zeriel asked.
"Dead. He died on the battlefield two months before I was born. I never knew him."
"Vilyron soldier?"
"Nope. Wolfekin soldier. That's why I fit in so well here. I actually grew up here before my mother took me to Vilyron and I later joined the Holy Order."
"I'm hopeless. You realize this, don't you?" Zeriel asked.
Axaniel handed him the whiskey. "Why do you say that?"
"Without trying, Jaylen has me under his spell. I couldn't leave that kid if I had to."
"That's good. Be the father he needs. Prove Carvael and all those snobby angels wrong. Be the best angel you can be and everything will fall into place."
"What did you do to earn your wings after you died?" Zeriel asked, taking a drink from the bottle. "Only the greatest men ever aspire to be angels."
"It's not what I did before I died. It's how I died. It is still difficult for me to talk about, but I did what I had to do. I wasn't even expecting to meet Sola at that time. I was only concerned with saving lives."
"Did you die on the battlefield?" Zeriel asked, handing the bottle back to his friend.
"Quite the opposite, actually. You've heard of when Sola's temple in Ilyan was destroyed, right?"
"That was before I was born. By the vampires?"
"They were the reason it was destroyed, but not the ones who destroyed it."
Did that even make any sense? "Huh?"
"Well, the day they attacked was the day all the babies born in the year were being introduced to the church and blessed by the high priest. I know they did it on purpose so they could have the sweet blood of the infants to drink. They're twisted and sick beings. Anyway, I was one of the paladins who was there to help bless the babies. When the vampires attacked, they stormed the inner cloister where all the infants were. As the parents were trying their best to fight off the vampires to prevent them from reaching the cloister, I ordered the other paladins to take the babies and sneak them out through the back emergency tunnels. I knew they wouldn't have enough time to get out when the vampires broke through the defensive line and had slaughtered all of the adults. It was then that I took action. I raced to close and lock all the doors, all the while keeping the vampires distracted with a torch. Once I had the windows and doors closed, I overturned all of the braziers and used every ounce of my light magic to burn the temple down and kill the vampires, giving the other paladins enough time to escape. In the end, all the children were saved."
"And you died in the fire."
Axaniel finished off the whiskey. "Precisely. That was evidently enough of an act of divinity and courage that Sola allowed me to be reborn as Axaniel in Heaven."
"Was it strange for you to go from being a human to being an angel?"
"Not with Oviel's help. He and I are so close because he was my bonded angel when I was a paladin."
"Oh. Now it all makes sense."
"He was a major voice in my case to become an angel. He was the best angel I could have asked for. He was amazing in all things and he still is."
"Will you answer a personal question?" Zeriel asked.
"Depends on how personal it is."
"You and Oviel."
"How close are we?" Axaniel asked. "You know about Oviel and Gawain, right? I was the paladin who got Oviel directly after he was forced to sacrifice Gawain. Those two were in love, not lust, but actual soul-bonding love. I found out and tried my hardest to be his new Gawain. It didn't work. He wouldn't be physically intimate with me. However, we developed the most intimate emotional relationship you could imagine. You should have seen how happy Oviel was when I was old enough to remember everything that happened between us in my previous life as a human."
"So when you were reborn as an angel, you were a baby angel?"
"Yep, just like you were." He threw the bottle against the tree, hitting the target and shattering the bottle. "Oviel raised me from my angelic infancy because he was so attached to me."
"How sweet. That's why you two are so close."
"You have no idea. He is my best friend, my father, my confidant, and my emotional lover."
"He doesn't know that you're Fallen."
"I don't know how to tell him." Axaniel said. "I wrote that letter, but I didn't give much information."
"He still thinks you're dead. He thought that someone was impersonating you."
"How do I tell the angel I have everything with that I'm Fallen? He will be so disappointed in me."
"Do you want me to talk to him and try to explain it to where he can understand?" Zeriel asked.
"No, I'll do it myself. He deserves to hear it from me." Axaniel slid one of the arrows out of the quiver and spun it in his fingers. "Come on, now. I'll show you how to really use a bow."
* * *
The warm morning mage-glow danced on Jaylen's eyelids as he slowly woke up in the soft inn bed. He stretched his arms above his head and breathed deeply of the clean air. He opened his eyes to see a thin grey elf with straight black hair standing over him. The elf's bony finger was tracing the purple sun sigil on Jaylen's chest.
"Ah!" Jaylen screamed then fell off of the bed. "Who are you and why are you in my bed?"
The elf laughed dryly as he watched Jaylen climb back up onto the bed and hide his bare chest with the blanket. "Shy?"
"What?"
"Are you shy about not wearing clothes around others? You humans are so interesting."
"I . . ." Jaylen frantically looked around for his pants. "I'm naked."
"So? You're so skinny and young. I doubt you even have anything down there."
His frustrations grew to new heights as he glared at the dark-skinned elf. "Stop mocking me. Liaxa!"
"She won't hear you. She left to go get breakfast about ten minutes ago. I thought I'd stop by and see how you're doing."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Sulstair." The elf held up Jaylen's pants. "Looking for these?"
"Please give me my pants. This isn't funny."
"What's wrong with your hands?"
Jaylen tied the blanket around his waist then unwrapped the bandages, revealing the large rough bloody scars. "They nailed me to the board during the soul purge exorcism in Ilyan. They're not fully healed yet."
"I hate damaged goods. I suppose there was nothing I could do to stop it, though. From now on, you need to avoid those kinds of situations."
"I didn't exactly have a choice. Who would volunteer to be publically tortured?"
"Show me your dark magic."
"I don't have dark magic."
The elf raised an eyebrow. "No?"
"I still have my light magic."
"Show me that."
"I can't. It will hurt me and I might die."
"You want your pants back?" Sulstair asked threateningly.
"Yes."
"You call me sir."
Jaylen's hands tightened into painful fists. "Yes, sir. I want my pants back."
"Then show me your light magic. Just a little."
"Why?"
Sulstair's last scraps of mocking joy faded from his orange eyes. He stood up and unbuckled his belt. When
he pulled it from his pants, he slapped it against the wall. "I told you to use your light magic, boy. Do it, or I'll beat you like the clergy did. You won't be able to walk for a week."
"You can't threaten me, elf!"
Sulstair lunged at Jaylen and pushed him against the wall before stripping the blanket away. "Do it." With one decisive blow, he sent the leather belt lashing across Jaylen's bare thighs.
Jaylen cried out and squirmed under the elf's rough grasp. "Stop!"
Four more lashes left raised red welts on the boy's stomach, chest, and hips. "You will be black and blue with bruises by the time I'm done with you. Then I'm going to kill you and chop your body up into tiny little pieces."
That was all it took for Jaylen to scream and unleash the wave of light magic that sent Sulstair to the floor. The paintings on the wall were knocked loose and the candle from the nightstand fell over. He switched into spirit sight to see the dark haze surrounding the elf. "You're dead." He sent another wave of light from his outstretched hands, barely missing Sulstair. Suddenly, he stopped as his magic vanished and the pain returned into his body. "Sola, help me."
Sulstair stood up and fixed his black tunic. "There. That's all I wanted."
Jaylen was panting as he collapsed onto the bed. "You did that . . . on purpose so I'd cast . . . my magic."
"It's really sad that violence is the only way to communicate with you." Sulstair replaced his belt. "And here I thought you were better than an animal I had to train."
Jaylen groaned as his arms throbbed with a deep ache.
"Stay still." The elf opened a small jar from his pocket and spread the purple jelly onto Jaylen's arms, massaging them as he went. "How does that feel? It should be numbing the pain."
"Thank you, sir."
Sulstair patted Jaylen's blond locks. "Good boy. That's my good boy. Now, for your answer. I own three of your soul segments. In essence, you are partially my slave. Get up and get dressed. We have a long way to go today."
Jaylen quickly dressed. "Where are we going?"
"Tell me, Jaylen, have you ever been to Hell?"
The door opened and Liaxa entered with shadows surrounding her hands. "Sulstair."
Angel of Darkness Books 1-5 Page 19
