“Before—” Caelum grabbed the notebook and carefully undid the tie around it. The edges of the paper were tattered, the words written unreadable. It looked as though the item had suffered water damage. He frantically turned over the pages but no words popped out at him to give him an idea of what had been written there. Then, something black caught his eyes. He turned back to the page and found a lock of dark hair tucked between the pages of the notebook. Caelum touched the smooth strands, remembering the figure from his chemically-induced dream.
“Before, you say,” Caelum whispered. “How can I know for sure this isn’t a trick?”
“Do you really think that it is?” Baron returned the question. “You were just dreaming of it, weren’t you? Of the time when you were still human? Wouldn’t you like to know more?” He smiled almost seductively at him. He knew he didn’t need to say anything more. Baron nodded at Caelum before disappearing into the darkness behind him.
The shell-shocked demon held the lock of hair in his palm, eyes fixated on it. He thought of the figure in his dream and the dark hair he’d watched dance in the wind. Carefully, he placed the lock of hair between the pages and continued to flip through the notebook. Still, the water damage and the years took a toll on the item; the pages were yellowed and the ink had become messy splotches on the pages. He reached the last page of the notebook. The page was devoid of words, but a smear of dull brown tainted the paper.
Blood? Caelum thought, his fingers tracing the print. He thought of all the dreams he’d forced on himself, all the questions that had haunted his mind. Humans were pitiful things, but demons that were once human were far more pitiful. Longing for what was already forgotten, Caelum felt a pang of remorse and sorrow. Could it really be possible? he wondered. Though, another question lingered in his thoughts. Do I really want to remember?
He turned to the page where he’d tucked the lock of hair. Another pile of questions filled his mind at the mere sight of it. When he looked back on the dream he just had, he could not help but link the dark-haired figure to what he’d found between these pages. He had hoped before that by forcing himself to dream like a human, he’d see something from when he was still one. He thought of the years of aimless wandering, of fruitless journeys, of searching for nothing, yet always hoping. It wouldn’t be so bad to give it a shot, right? Caelum concluded. To have a proper goal for once.
But still, the lack of knowledge he possessed about Hell’s motives didn’t elude him. Why is the King of Hell himself interested in finding this fallen angel? Could the dead doppelganger’s claims actually hold truth? Caelum smiled to himself. If so, that was another interesting thing to look forward to.
With more purpose, Caelum lifted himself from the chair, pocketing the old notebook in his suit. He had studied the angels relentlessly when Ariel had placed a curse on him, hoping he could somehow break the curse by himself. During his research, he had read about the fallen angels, though only briefly. Angels who had sinned were cast out of Heaven, their wings removed and revoked of the ability to enter the gates. They are forced to walk on mortal land as their punishment, never to return to their home. But there was no further information about fallen angels in his books nor do they say why one would be interested in holding a party for Earthly creatures.
If I wanted to crash a party I didn’t know the location of, Caelum thought, I should ask one who has an invitation. He let out an exaggerated sigh. He had never been fond of involving himself with monsters, and he had no sure way of finding one. The doppelganger had only caught his attention because it wanted to be caught. But if he wanted to locate another, it might take him some time he didn’t have. There was only one other option he had to make things quick for him, and he realized the depth of his desperation at even considering the idea.
I guess I have to visit my daughter, he thought grimly. It had been a long time since he last saw his daughter, and he was not looking forward to meet her scorned look once he appeared in her home. She was a peculiar witch, a lot more handful than the rest of her kind who inherited his curiosity, no matter how much she denied it.
It was curiosity that drove her to try and study a lot of things. In the dimly lit bathroom, she allowed her body to relax like how humans do. She dipped her hands in the warm water, making circular ripples in it, watching the lines float away from her while she relished in the scent of her candles. Meditation and the like that people crave didn’t really interest her much. Sitting with your eyes closed for minutes, even hours, having someone touch your body to rid you of those sore muscles. She found these unnecessary. Not to mention utterly boring, she added thoughtfully. But she tried them nonetheless. She wanted to know how such simple things could have an effect on the body.
She closed her eyes and leaned back in the tub, sliding her back ever so slightly so that the water reached to her collarbone. Her hair was bundled up and covered with a towel to keep it from getting wet. The scent was indeed relaxing, and the lowlights gave her comfort. She had always been fond of such ambiance, and she wondered if she was biased about these things. She frowned at the thought. Her own bias may affect her study.
The flickering of lights and the sudden brief drop in temperature caused her eyes to open. She eyed the door to her left and tried to sense the visitor that had just walked into her secluded home. Water sloshed as she rose out of the tub and garbed herself in her pink bathrobe. Slowly, she opened the door and saw the familiar lean, tall figure standing in the common room, waiting. She rolled her eyes.
“What?” Caelum called over before turning to face her. “Not happy to— Ah!” He jumped over the couch that she’d sent moving towards him. He landed on the back of it and shifted his weight to cause it to topple.
“Was that really necessary?” He crinkled his nose at her and to answer, she sent a number of small bottles flying in his way. Caelum dodged the first, and caught the rest with his hands. He pivoted and threw one in her direction. She held her palm up and the bottle stopped in mid-air, just inches from her hand. She made a circular motion with her hand and the bottle changed directions and sped back to the demon who easily evaded it.
“I am taking a relaxing bath right now,” she told him. “Go away.”
“You? Doing something as mundane as that?” Caelum chuckled. “What happened to you in the last years, Mikaela?”
“Getting away from you has given me so much peace,” Mikaela shrugged. “And now you’ve come to ruin it all over again.”
“Is that what you really think of me?”
“Yes.”
Caelum smirked. “Glad to know the feeling is mutual.”
“Now that you’ve confirmed it,” Mikaela made a waving motion with her hand. “Bye bye.”
The carpet beneath Caelum suddenly lurched to the side, causing the demon to lose his balance. He leaped off the carpet and into a patch of shadow behind the shelf. Caelum appeared in the shadow from the door and made to grab the woman, but she turned and gripped his wrist tightly. Caelum changed the momentum by shifting his weight back, pulling Mikaela with him, then swinging his foot against her, causing her to fall. The towel in her hair had come undone, her crimson hair spilling around her as Mikaela landed on the wooden floor on her butt.
She cringed at the pain, pulling her arm from Caelum’s hold. “What in the devil’s name do you want?” she demanded of him, her patience grown thin as her buttocks throbbed.
But Caelum didn’t respond. He placed a hand on his chin, looking at her quizzically. She checked herself and was certain her bathrobe was still intact. After she’d adjusted, Caelum finally asked, “You dyed your hair red?”
Mikaela rolled her eyes as she got back up on her feet. “You came all the way here to talk about my hair?”
“Not exactly,” Caelum said. “I’m just not fond of that color.”
“You know me. I’m fond of doing anything that doesn’t please you, daddy dearest.” Mikaela smiled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I find it highly uncomfortable talking to
you in my undressed state. Rather, I find this chore to be more uncomfortable this way.” She moved towards the bathroom door.
“Please tell me this will not take hours. Kinda defeats the purpose of me choosing to visit you, sweetheart,” Caelum said. In response, Mikaela slammed the door behind her, making the bottles in the shelf beside it clatter.
“Short-tempered little witch, she is,” Caelum muttered, hiding a smirk. He moved around the house where, much like his own, shelves held various items from books to jars containing unrecognizable materials. All were neatly organized. An open book lay on the wooden coffee table. Caelum took the overturned couch and lifted it up to take a seat. He reached for the book, but it quickly skittered away from him before he could touch it.
“Don’t you have any manners?” Mikaela said from behind him. Caelum turned and saw her already fixed up. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and she was wearing a white t-shirt with a rose printed on it, black jeans, and white sneakers. She looked like a normal girl in her early twenties and not at all like what she really was, a much older human-demon hybrid.
“That was quick,” Caelum commented as Mikaela crossed the common room and placed herself against the fireplace in front of him.
“Quicker to get you out of here,” Mikaela said. She crossed her arms over her chest. “So, what do you want?”
“Oh, I just wanted to see my—” Caelum stopped to chuckle. “I can’t even pull that off, can I?”
“Time is ticking,” Mikaela reminded him.
“Fine,” Caelum leaned back on the couch. “What do you know about fallen angels?”
“Why don’t you ask your angel girlfriend about it?” Mikaela told him.
Caelum was taken by surprise. “How did you know about that?”
Mikaela gave him a devious smile. “I got a pair of eyes and ears on you.”
“Ah.” Caelum thought a moment before it dawned on him. “Miss Fortune?”
“Lame name, by the way. But what did I expect from you, really? Naming me after the archangel…” She rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s water under the bridge or whatever. But I don’t know anything about fallen angels, really. Just that they’re angels with clipped off wings. Haven’t met one either.”
“I bet you’ve heard something,” Caelum pried. “Things are starting to get exciting out there. I bet you couldn’t help but listen, hmmm?”
“And what about it?” Mikaela challenged him. “Even if I heard something, why would I tell you, seeing that you’ll benefit out of it?”
“Early Christmas gift?” Caelum offered, and Mikaela shot him a glare. “Alright.” Caelum leaned forward, locking his fingers together. “What do you want in return?”
“I can’t really ask for your head on a spike, can I?” Mikaela wondered, and Caelum shook his head. “Too bad. Hmm…” She placed a hand to her chin as she thought, pacing in front of the fireplace. “Would you able to get me fire straight from Hell?”
Caelum pulled his brows together. “What do you need that for?”
“Is that the information you’ll be paying me for?” Mikaela smiled.
Caelum rolled his eyes. ”Alright, I will when I return to Hell,” he promised. “Now, tell me what you know.”
“Not much,” Mikaela admitted. “Monsters from across the country have been uneasy for quite some time now. Something has been troubling them. I didn’t understand what it was until another witch approached me when I was gathering materials in Maine three months ago.”
“What did it say?”
“War is coming,” Mikaela began. “Something is brewing behind the Gates of Heaven and Hell, and the monsters are uniting to protect Earth. Most of them are murderous bastards, which is why we call them monsters, but they are territorial. Earth is theirs, not the angels’ nor the demons’. They’re gathering as many as they can, and they even managed to mend rivalries between some of the monster clans. Work together to defeat a common enemy, then they can agree to settle their differences at a later date.
“But it did mention something about a fallen angel,” Mikaela added, sitting carefully on the bricks of the fireplace. “From what I can tell, the fallen angel is the one leading them, and he is recruiting the alphas of many of the groups. I heard that he has a clan of werewolves and goblins on his side, among others. They’re expanding their influence by taking witches which is why they came for me. A lot of my kind have no love at all for demons and couldn’t care less for angels so many have jumped on the bandwagon. But I refused their invitation, so I don’t know much else. I have no time to deal with their politics.”
Caelum listened closely. He had already deduced what she’d told him, but hearing it confirmed his theories. A fallen angel gathering monsters to wage war on Heaven and Hell. Is this for revenge, or are they speaking the truth? The answer still eluded him.
Mikaela removed herself from the fireplace and extended her arm towards the front door. “If that is all.”
“That hardly warrants the prize you requested,” Caelum said. “You know how I hate returning to Hell.”
Mikaela groaned. “Fine, anything else you want?”
Caelum smiled, fishing an item out of his pocket. “There is.” He handed Mikaela the tattered notebook Baron had just given him. Mikaela took it and opened the pages.
“What is this?” Mikaela asked.
“Something I need deciphered,” Caelum explained. “I believe there is a spell that can return it to its original state.”
“There is,” Mikaela confirmed. “But what is it for? I’ll end up being the first to read it anyway, so you might as well tell me.”
“Something from my past,” Caelum admitted. “At least, that’s what I’ve been told. And I want to find out.”
“Oh?” Mikaela’s eyes suddenly brightened with interest. “So I can get some dirt on you with this. Alright.”
Caelum frowned. “Try not to get involved too much in this mess, Mikaela.”
“Are you actually pretending to be concerned about me?”
“No,” Caelum claimed. “I’ll just be needing that notebook back.” He took something out of his pocket and crushed it in his palms. When he opened his hands, thick black smoke fell to his feet and began to rise up and around him. He took one more glance at his daughter who watched the concentrated shadow engulf him with little interest. The shadows reached up, blocking his sight of her, and when the black smoke cleared, he was back in his home.
Caelum crossed his living room with a tired look. “Such a drag going all the way there for such meager information,” he muttered to himself. He heard Miss Fortune meow from behind him. “Stop eavesdropping, Mikaela.” He considered throwing the cat out, knowing that the witch was actually using it to spy on him.
He moved over to his shelves once again, in search of a material he could review that may point him in the right direction when a sharp whistling sound came from behind him. Caelum dodged to the side, a familiar silver blade having missed his head by mere inches.
“My, my,” Caelum said, turning to see his visitor. “Someone seemed to have woken up in a bad mood.”
Chapter Thirteen: Unlikely Trinity
Without uttering a word, Ariel charged towards Caelum, fists lifted. Caelum jumped out of the way, allowing Ariel to grab her weapon and pull it off the shelf. Shredded paper exploded as she pulled away and turned back to him. She leapt and sliced through the fabric of his shirt, and Caelum staggered back. He ducked forward, going around Ariel and grabbed the wrist that held her weapon. He lifted his other arm and drove it against the back of her neck, pinning her against the wall.
“Do not touch me, demon!” she yelled. She stretched out her wings, but Caelum released her before they reached their full potential. Ariel turned around and found the room empty. Patches of shadows were in all corners, and she couldn’t tell which he had hidden himself in. “Coward! Show yourself and fight me!”
“I’d really rather not,” Caelum’s voice echoed in the room, seeming to
come from all directions. “You seem to be having one of your mood swings, and it wouldn’t be nice of me to provoke you further.”
“Do not mock me,” Ariel muttered through gritted teeth. She lifted her weaponless hand to call on the light but something moved to her right. Caelum grabbed the hand holding the blade and twisted it, making Ariel release the weapon. The demon kicked the blade out of her reach, but Ariel pulled back her free arm and brought it against his face.
“It’s your fault!” she screamed. Ariel pulled back for another punch, but Caelum grabbed her fist. Instead, she smashed her head against his, weakening his grip. She pulled away from him and sent a kick to his stomach.
“You tainted me. You corrupted me just like the humans did before!” Ariel yelled. The words caught Caelum’s attention, distracting him long enough to land a punch. “I cannot return… I cannot return to Heaven until I have your head!” She charged at him again. Caelum anticipated her attack and grabbed her by the forearm. He swung her around, slamming her against the wall.
“Don’t you think you’re taking this too personally?” he told her, but it only infuriated her more. Ariel wheeled around, light shining brightly from her palm. Caelum backed away towards the window, blinded by the light. He heard her move, and he heard the silver blade ring as she grabbed it. When he had regained his vision, Ariel swung her blade across his body again. He moved away from the window, letting the blade clink against the glass.
“You are a creature of Hell and you had no right to touch me the way you did,” Ariel began, pursuing him as he moved away. “Just like these mortals, you corrupt everything you touch. You forced me to commit another crime, and I will be punished once again unless I bring your head to Heaven!”
Tears brimmed at the corner of Ariel’s eyes, fury and desperation in her voice. She attacked him again and again, each strike messier than the last. Caelum still refused to fight her, evading and knocking her off balance instead. It only fueled her anger, and she kept swinging her weapon until she’d driven him into a corner. Caelum ducked out, her blade stabbing at the wall. Her hands were shaking, but she fought it off, biting down on her lip.
The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set) Page 13
