Sam murmured his agreement, and we all started searching the room. Kneeling down next to the altar, I lifted the golden velvet altar cloth to see if anything was underneath.
“Score!” I called out.
“What have you got?” Sam crouched down next to me and took the cloth from my grasp, holding it up so I could reach beneath. I dragged out a large cardboard box and sat down to rifle through it. Cas began to ignite the candles around the room to give us some more light, though I noticed he didn’t light any on the altar itself, even though there must have been at least twenty on there. I pulled out everything on the box and laid all the items on the floor.
“Hmmm... scrolls... some really old papers... portable hard drive?” I passed it to Sam, who glanced at it then stuck it in his pocket.
“I’ll pass that on to Alex. He can have a look and see if there’s anything useful on it.”
Cas crouched down too and started looking through the ancient papers, touching only the edges.
“Anything useful?” Sam inquired, straightening up.
“Well, in that she’s a biblical historian, no, but…” He trailed off, reading through the papers.
“But?”
“But we’ve already searched her office at Concordia and the university, and there’s no reference to her ever having done any work at these particular locations... oh!” Cas shuffled the papers slightly and an envelope, considerably newer than the papers, slipped out and fell to the floor. It had my name on the front, and I grabbed it before Cas could reach it. I sat back and opened the envelope. Inside was a notecard card with a medieval looking painting on the front. My mother’s neat handwriting filled the inside. I looked up.
“Can I have a moment, guys?” Sam looked at Cas, who nodded, and they left the room. Moving closer to a group of candles, I held the letter up to the light.
Faith,
If you have found this letter, or someone has passed it along, then something has gone very wrong, and they have found me. We haven’t spoken properly for years, and I understand your anger at me for keeping the secret of your birth from you for so long. Please believe me when I say it was not out of choice, but out of necessity. The information I gave you when you were eighteen was inaccurate, and I fear your wrath from discovering this, but all I have done was for your own protection. I do not know the identity of your birth mother and father, as I told you, but your father and I did not adopt you from the local council.
I am sure by now you have encountered members of the Concordia and have discovered what I was—a witch of angelic lineage. I believe your mother was another of us. You were brought to us in the greatest of secrecy by a member high up in the Concordia ranks. She was a very powerful witch who bound your powers with an ancient ritual known only to a few and undetectable by most. The enchantment on the door will have removed certain elements of that binding, and some of your powers will start to manifest. You must learn to control them. That witch entreated us to raise you as our own, to say nothing of your birth parents, and to strengthen the binding each year so you could not be found.
More information was not forthcoming, only that there are some who seek to find you who mean you harm. Trust no one. Even without your powers, I hope the education and training I made you endure for so long will help you navigate this new world. You are strong and have powerful instincts, my darling daughter. Follow them. Trust no one and take great care. I hope beyond measure that we will see each other again, and that you can find it within yourself to forgive me.
Your loving mother,
Rose Matthews
“I’m not human,” I murmured quietly.
Cas spun around and stared at me. “What?”
“Euriel was wrong. I’m not human. I’m a witch. Like she was.” I leaned against the doorway. Sam stood up and was at my side almost instantly. He touched my face gently, brushing the tears away, then he took me into his arms as the tears began to fall faster. I tried to wipe them away angrily. I never cried, and I really didn’t want Cas of all people to see, but the last few days were getting to me, and on very little sleep, very little caffeine, and now this... I had hit my limit. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders and one around my waist and held me close. Gently pulling the letter out of my hand, he skimmed through it then handed it to Cas, who did the same.
“Well, I guess that answers the questions I had about your reaction to the room’s enchantment. That must have been one hell of a binding ritual.” Sam took the letter back from Cas, folded it, and handed it to me.
I pulled away from him and slipped the letter into my pocket. “Can we leave? Please? I’m exhausted. I can’t face any more of this right now. We can come back tomorrow.”
Sam looked at Cas, who nodded. “Why don’t you take her home, Sam? I’ll tidy up here and lock everything. Plus, there’s a dominion out there who’s supposed to be bunking with us, so I guess I’d better track him down. I’ll see you guys back at home.”
“Sure. Come on, Faith. I’m seeing a hot shower, fish and chips, and possibly a couple of beers in your not-too-distant future.”
I smiled up at his sky-blue eyes. “Beer?”
“If you behave. No more insulting powerful supernatural beings though, you’ll get us all in trouble.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.”
“Don’t try too hard,” Cas muttered in the background as we headed up to the kitchen.
I stopped just before the door that led out into the hall. It had been open every other time we’d walked through the kitchen, but now it was closed. Euriel must have shut it behind him when he left. Or slammed it in a temper. I smiled to myself, hoping it was the second. Hanging from the hook on the back of the door was my mother’s everyday handbag. It wasn’t that surprising, since she often took her nicer ones to conferences and such as this one was a bit battered. But it was her favourite, and she’d had it since I was little. I lifted it down from the door and raised it to my face to breathe in that soft, buttery leather smell laced with traces of her floral perfume. The weight of it told me the bag wasn’t empty, and I unzipped it to look inside.
“Something wrong?” Sam asked, coming up behind me. He rested his chin gently on my shoulder, and my skin warmed at the affectionate gesture.
“My mother’s handbag.”
“Does she have a spare?”
“Yes, several actually. But everything is in here, look.” I opened the bag wider so he could see the contents and rifled through the small container of chaos. “Her purse, passport, car keys. All here. The only thing missing is her phone. I guess that definitely proves she didn’t go anywhere of her own accord. She was definitely taken.” I leaned back against his solid chest for a moment.
“We’ve got a trace on her phone, Faith. If she, or anyone else, turns it on, we’ll be able to pick it up,” Sam reminded me. “Come on, let’s go. You need a distraction and food.” He pushed me gently through the door, the handbag held tightly in my arms.
I resisted for a second. “And beer. Don’t forget the beer.”
“Baby girl, one thing you should know about me—I would never forget the beer.”
Chapter Twelve
CASSIEL
Snapping the top off the bottle, I lifted it to my lips and took a long drink, concentrating on the feeling of the cold bubbles sliding down my throat. I set the bottle on the nearby wall and leaned against the side of the house, looking out over the lawn and into the trees. I could hear the sound of squealing tyres and gunshots from the practically plotless action film they’d decided to watch inside. I’d sat through the first one, laughing and joking with the others as we’d tried to distract Faith from this today’s revelations, but once the sequel had started, I’d made an excuse about needing the bathroom and had snuck out on my own. To be perfectly honest, I needed to come to terms with today’s revelations as well.
Faith was a witch. And not only that, but if the effect that the releasing enchantment had on h
er was anything to go by, she must be a pretty powerful one to be under that kind of a binding spell. I briefly wondered which of the watchers she was descended from. With witches being descendants of the nephilim, it was usually possible to trace one’s lineage back to a particular watcher. A large part of the witch society could get rather snobby about who was descended from whom, often deigning to arrange marriages for their children with others descended from the same watcher in the hope that it would increase their powers. There was no evidence it ever had, but they were still determined to try.
Not that I’d ever known many of the watchers personally. I mean, sure, I’d been around when they were sent to Earth, but I’d only really known a few, and they had been of lower rank. I paused, briefly remembering Arkas, Cambriel, and Kabaiel as they had been before I watched them descend to Earth, overjoyed in their new assignment. I’d never seen them again, and when I’d heard of their betrayal of our father, I’d hated them alongside the rest of them. Until, of course, I’d finally found myself on Earth and had seen true beauty and love for the first time. I’d seen what humans could feel for each other, and I’d been in awe of such emotion. I’d discovered the physical side of love and indulged freely. Since the fall of the watchers, our father had made sure that no nephilim could ever be created again. Angels had been forbidden from physical contact of any kind except fighting, and fallen angels were stripped of any ability to reproduce before they were cast out. Angels were created only by Him, and He had made sure of that. I smiled to myself wryly, thinking back to when I’d told Faith to make sure she was taking the pill so I didn’t get her pregnant. It was normal for me to pretend I was taking precautions with women. It made them more comfortable. Funny, though, I remembered feeling slightly disappointed when I’d told Faith. She’d been young at the time, and there was no way we’d have wanted a child, but for the first time ever, I’d felt... sad... that it would never be an option for me. It was also another reason I had told myself we shouldn’t be together. Plus, she was human, and long-term relationships between supernaturals and humans were definitely frowned upon. Of course, now, as it turned out, she wasn’t actually human at all. She was a witch. I sighed. Not that it mattered. She still hated me for what happened all those years ago.
“Cassiel.”
The quiet voice came from behind me, and I suppressed a groan as I turned around, forcing my face into a pleasant smile. “Euriel.”
“It’s Lord Euriel. I am still your superior, whether you work on Earth or down below.”
“Of course, my lord.”
The sarcasm wasn’t lost on him, but he chose to ignore it. “You need to have a word with your charge.”
“My... oh, you mean Faith. Well, I would, but—”
“I will not be spoken to like that by a lower life form. You will inform her of my rank and my status, and warn her that should she speak out of turn, there will be consequences.”
I cocked my head. “Will I? See, I would, but I think it would be much better if you told her yourself.”
Euriel frowned. “You do? Why? I thought I might be too intimidating for the child.”
I bit my lip and tried to look as though I was giving the notion serious thought. “Well, if I tell her, it won’t go down well. She doesn’t like me much.”
“Can’t imagine why,” Euriel muttered.
I ignored him. “But if you told her…”
“What?”
“Well, we’d all get to see what she says when you tell her she’s a lower life form and that she shouldn’t talk to you that way. And I, for one, would not want to miss that,” I added, grinning. His expression darkened, and I saw a pale blur as his barely suppressed frustration nearly caused his wings to form.
“You have no idea who you’re talking to and what I am capable of. I suggest you ask around before you continue with your immature efforts to annoy me. If you continue this childish rebellion, there will be ramifications. For you and her.” He turned to stalk away.
“Hmm, I don’t think I’m that worried. I’ve been involved in childish rebellions before, and the last one worked out rather well for me.”
Euriel whirled around, his face red with rage. “You dare... You will regret making an enemy of me, Cassiel. The crimes I am investigating hold significant and long-term punishments, and those found guilty will suffer as none have before.”
“Which would worry me greatly if I had committed such a crime.”
Euriel moved closer so that he looked me directly in the eyes. There weren’t many who could do that with my height, but most angels were taller than humans. “Let me put it clearly, Cassiel. If you continue to enrage me, you might find yourself accompanying the damned to their punishments whether you committed the acts or not.” He straightened up, his face returning to its normal sickeningly pleasant appearance, and righted his collar. “I suggest you relay to... Faith... that I am not someone to trifle with.” And with that, he turned and went back inside, leaving me alone on the patio wondering what on earth was going on.
“Nice to see angelic morals haven’t changed since I fell,” I muttered to myself as I downed the rest of my beer and headed back inside to the others.
The film was still only halfway through, so I sat down between Faith and Amadi. Faith had her legs curled up on the sofa and her head resting on Sam’s shoulder. I stared at the screen, trying not to remember those days when she would curl up with me like that and suppressing a twinge of jealousy. I couldn’t deny that the overwhelming attraction I’d felt the first time I’d met her was still very much there. I still felt drawn to her, as I always had. That desire to make her smile, make her feel good, protect her, and to just be near her was still there. As were other slightly less savoury desires that involved feeling her nails raking down my back and her sinful mouth screaming my name over and over again.
Enough. She’s clearly not interested in you anymore, and you’re asking for trouble by trying to reignite that spark again. You’re her protector, nothing more, I admonished myself. I stared hard at the screen for the rest of the film, trying my best to ignore her.
When the credits came on, I stood and turned to look at her. She stretched her long legs out in front of her. She changed when we’d got home, replacing her jeans and jacket with an oversized T-shirt, which I suspected was Sam’s, and a pair of boxers I really hoped weren’t. I held a hand out to her to help her up and pulled her straight against my chest. Stepping back immediately so she wouldn’t feel my half hard cock through the flimsy clothes she was wearing, I moved towards the door. She leaned over and ruffled Sam’s hair.
“I’m off to bed. Thanks for the distraction. And the beer.”
He grinned at her. “Anytime, Faith. Sleep well.” He caught hold of her hand and pulled her down for a kiss, brushing his lips over hers. She let him for a moment before pulling away and poking her tongue out at him. Turning, she headed for the door, but Amadi reached out and caught her, drawing her into his lap.
“What are you doing?” She laughed. “I really can’t watch another one, I’m shattered.”
“I’m just wondering why Sammy boy over there got a goodnight kiss and we didn’t,” Amadi complained.
She mock sighed and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Scrambling out of his lap, she looked at Alex who was watching them. “You too?”
“Well, um... I’d not turn one down if you felt inclined…” If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear the guy was blushing. I shook my head in wonder as she dropped a kiss on his forehead.
“Night, guys,” she said, and moved towards the door. I held it open for her, and she walked past me into the hall, not giving me a second look. Following her up to her room, I caught her hand as she was about to open her door.
“What?” She didn’t look too happy with me and tried to pull away. I didn’t let her.
“I just wanted to warn you, Euriel’s not impressed with how you spoke to him earlier.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What a shame for him.”
>
“Faith—”
“Tell me you aren’t asking me to apologise.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I’d never tell you to do anything you didn’t want to, Peaches. I just wanted to warn you to be careful. He might look like a suit, but he’s a suit that’s packing.”
She gave a frustrated sigh. “Fine, I’ll try to restrain myself. Was there anything else? I’m tired.”
“Well, nothing much, just…” I pushed her back against the door, pulling her hand up to wrap it around my neck and sliding my own into her hair. I brought my lips down on hers before she could refuse and felt her melt under me for a moment or two. She stiffened and pushed me away. Her mouth opened, but I stepped back and walked down the corridor to my own room.
As I reached it, I turned and grinned at her. “Good night, Faith.”
She was still glaring at me when I shut my door.
Chapter Thirteen
FAITH
Bloody, bloody man! Damn him. I hated the way he could get to me like that, even after everything that had happened. Fuck him. And fuck Euriel too. I got ready for bed, cursing the two of them under my breath the whole time. I sat on the edge of the mattress then stood back up and wandered around the room, unable to settle. I sat back down again, leaned back on my elbows, and tipped my head backwards, squeezing my eyes shut. I felt completely drained, physically and emotionally, but way too wired to sleep. The pizza and beer had made me feel a bit more alive, but now I just felt emotionally and mentally exhausted. Sighing, I dragged myself up and stuck my head out into the hallway to see if any of the guys were about. Dressed in only a cami and my underwear, I didn’t want to run into any of them wandering the hallways. All seemed quiet, so I slipped out of the door and made my way as quietly as possible down the stairs.
Although beautiful during the day, at night, the large arched beams that branched over the main, open-plan part of the house reminded me all too much of the cathedral that kept appearing in my nightmares. I shivered slightly as I crept into the kitchen. Thankfully, all the cupboard doors were soft close, so they made no sound as I raided them. I leaned back against the workstop, frowning. Nothing. No alcohol of any type except the beer in the fridge, and they wouldn’t knock me out. I glanced around the sitting area. Searching the oak sideboards didn’t reveal any liquor stash either, and I was starting to think that strong coffee and a refusal to sleep was going to be the way forward until I saw blue light flickering under the door in the far corner.
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