Ruined (The Seraphim Series Book 1)

by Sophia Stafford

  Lilliah could feel her face heat up. The kiss, her only other kiss, had been at a party she and Rebecca had attended the previous year. After too much alcohol, Lilliah had decided she’d had enough of being seventeen without having even kissed a guy before. So in the heat of the moment, she had grabbed the nearest guy and kissed him. Everyone had been shocked. Especially Timothy Gates, the nice guy from her math class whom she had been kissing.

  “You’re right.” She shook her head, wanting to literally shake the images out. “That really wasn’t an experience.” She ran her hands through her hair, massaging her scalp. “How can I be enough for him? I barely know what I'm doing.”

  After a moment of thinking, Rebecca said, “Azrael’s an angel. You’re thinking of him like a guy our age. He’s not.”

  “Exactly,” Lilliah said, not really sure where Rebecca was going with this. “He’s better. Which might mean he’ll want better.”

  “If he really cares that much that you haven't had sex or that you haven't kissed a guy before, then he's a loser and you're better off without him. Just move at your own pace.”

  “But I care that I might be bad at kissing. We’ve kissed twice now. What if they were bad kisses?”

  “Well, the fact that there were two means the first one wasn’t so bad.” Rebecca smirked. “So what's happening with Azrael? Are we trusting him now?”

  “No,” Lilliah answered immediately. “Yes,” she corrected after the twang of guilt hit her. “Maybe?” she tried again.

  “Right. Giving me all three answers isn't really an answer.”

  “I don't know. I want to trust him. I do trust him,” she shared. “Is that stupid? To trust him so soon?”

  “Maybe?” Rebecca tilted her head to the side. “But who knows? This shit isn't normal. Just go with your instincts. And besides, if your dream’s anything to go by, things are moving quite nicely.”

  ************

  Ada Washington sat in the library, her fingers absent-mindedly running over the five rings she always wore on her left hand. Each one represented one of five magical bloodlines. A change was coming; she could feel it in the air. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth; even with her mind elsewhere, she could sense Azrael before she could see him. She could feel the power and energy that literally rolled off him. Even as one of the most powerful witches on Earth, Azrael's power still astounded her.

  “I heard you found her,” Ada said, stating why she was there without any delay while still staring out the window as Azrael walked into the library.

  “Ada,” he greeted. “So glad Benedict let you in.” He smirked sarcastically. “You shouldn’t have come all this way. There are such things as telephones now, you know,” he mocked, walking over to the bar. “Can I get you a drink?”

  “You know I don't drink alcohol, Azrael. It weakens the soul,” she replied, turning to look at him for the first time, her light-green eyes taking him in.

  “Of course.” He smirked, pouring himself a double shot of whiskey. “For a moment there, I’d forgotten about all your rules.” He turned to look at her. “You know she's here,” he said, his eyes taking in the older woman. Her perfect, made-up face stared back at him, refusing to back down as most people would. She looks the part of the perfect lady, Azrael thought, smiling at how deceiving looks could really be. Azrael had known her for more than two hundred years, although she looked no older than fifty.

  “What are you planning to do with her?” she asked, straightening out her black dress. Like Azrael, she always wore black, preferring to watch than be watched.

  “Why is that any business of yours?” He leant on the bar, all casual and at ease. “I don't remember The Cure being interested in anything I’ve done before?”

  “The fate of that girl is all of our business,” she stressed, her anger showing for the first time. “The word is out about her,” she told him, suspecting that he knew that already. “The werewolves, the vampires—everyone knows who she is and everyone is after her.”

  “I know that,” he told her, taking a long, leisurely sip of his drink.

  “You can’t kill her,” Ada told him, her eyes scanning his features, narrowing her eyes for a second. “You’re not going to, are you?” she said, a smile pulling at her lips.

  “No,” he confirmed, still refusing to give anything away.

  “Good.” She smiled a little more brightly but was still puzzled. “I should have guessed. She’s been here for around three weeks hasn’t she? You would have killed her by now.”

  “Maybe,” was all Azrael replied.

  “Things are changing, Azrael.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, lifting her head to the sky. “Can you feel it?”

  “Change is always coming,” he dismissed. “But what I am interested in is what it has to do with The Cure?” He watched her slowly open her eyes. He took the seat opposite her and took a slow sip of his drink before he continued, “For people that are supposed to be unbiased, you’re asking a lot of questions.”

  “I'm not here on Cure business,” she told him. “I'm here on my own business.”

  “And why is Lilliah your business?” he asked, leaning forward, his eyes hard.

  “You know as well as I do that her bloodline could save this earth or ruin it. We can't let her get into the wrong hands. The effects could be catastrophic.”

  “You don't think I can protect her? Is that it?”

  “Until a moment ago, I thought you were the wrong hands.” She smiled slowly, sitting up a little straighter. “But now I’m not sure.”

  “So you came here to save her?” He laughed, shaking his head disbelievingly, downing the rest of his drink. “You’re powerful. But not that powerful.”

  “I didn’t come here looking for a fight,” she quickly assured him. “I came to try and appeal to your more human nature. I came here for help.”

  “I don't have a human nature. I think people are forgetting that I’m not human.”

  “Even so, Earth has been your home for so long. Even you must have some reservations about it being destroyed?” Her raised eyebrows let him know she wanted an answer.

  “Earth is nothing,” he dismissed. His face was devoid of all emotions, but his eyes were blazing. “Besides, your earth has been around for four and a half billion years,” he told her. “What makes you think the end is now? Why do you need my help?”

  “The dark powers are getting stronger. Something is coming, and I don’t know what it is. I just know that it has something to do with that girl. People are disappearing, Azrael.” Her voice wavered slightly. “Members of The Cure are disappearing.”

  “That girl’s name is Lilliah,” he said sternly, then after a moment, “What do you mean disappearing?”

  “Just that. All of them are just vanishing into thin air. I can find anyone, Azrael, dead or alive, but for some reason, I can’t find them.”

  “Fine.” He sighed. “I’ll look into it for you.” He would never let Ada know, but his curiosity was piqued.

  “It’s all very recent,” she added. “It must revolve around the girl. It has to.”

  “Once again, her name is Lilliah, and I’ve already told you she's safe.” Azrael seethed. He was getting tired of people doubting Lilliah’s safety when she was with him. This was the safest place for her to be.

  “How can she be?” Ada demanded, standing. “As long as she is without her powers she is a liability. And with a demon so close by?” she asked, referring to Sebastian. “Now with the disappearances? She needs to protect herself!”

  “Demon, huh? So it seems The Cure knows more than I thought,” he said, almost thinking out loud.

  “The girl needs her powers,” Ada tried again, refusing to be deterred.

  “No,” he shot back.

  “Why? She could be taken any moment. She needs to protect herself. You can't keep her locked away forever,” she tried to explain.

  “You know as well as I do that the spell is too dangerous. The m
emories are too deep in her mind. You could do more damage than good.” His features were hard before they slightly softened, a cocky smirk returning. “Besides, you should be paying more attention to your own problems. Your time is coming to an end.”

  “Yes,” she said, not looking at him anymore. Instead, she ran her hands over her creased dress before slowly sitting again. Azrael knew all the ways of The Cure; he had been there when the rules had been drafted. Ada Washington might be the high priestess now, but soon she would pass on and another would take her place, and her power.

  “Who's it going to be?” Azrael had seen too many priests and priestesses come and go; he'd got bored with the whole takeover. It really was just a ceremony to him.

  “Well, it was supposed to be Benedict,” she told him, her eyes narrowing, much to Azrael’s delight. “But now that it's no longer an option, we're still deliberating.”

  “Benedict can make his own decisions. Why don't you ask him?” Azrael challenged.

  “I might,” Ada said with false bravado. She knew what his answer would be.

  “Maybe you won’t ask him because you know what he’ll say?” Azrael teased again.

  “We will find another to replace me,” Ada shot back.

  “I have no doubt about that. But it’s who will replace you that is the big question.” He smiled wickedly, knowing he was getting under her skin.

  “Well, that’s The Cure’s business now, isn't it?” she told him sweetly.

  “Touché.” He shrugged, smiling, liking how unsettled she had become.

  “Bring the girl to New York. Let us open her mind,” Ada suggested, getting up from her seat. “It'll be best for everyone. She'll remember everything—who she is, her powers,” she whispered almost wishfully.

  “The answer’s still no,” Azrael replied.

  “Maybe you should ask her,” Ada suggested. “I think I’ll be seeing you soon, Azrael.”

  He watched her leave the room with all the confidence he couldn’t possess, not about this anyway. Lilliah wanted to remember who she was. She wanted her powers. He knew all of that, and yet he couldn’t give them to her. The road she needed to take to regain her powers and memories was too dark, and he wasn’t sure she could make it to the other side. He wasn’t prepared to take that risk.

  “Was she asking about Lilliah?” Benedict asked, walking into the room a few seconds later.

  “Yes,” Azrael confirmed, standing. “And you.”

  “She wants Lilliah to remember, doesn’t she?”

  “She could lose everything. Every memory, every feeling. You cannot just go into someone's head and make them remember. It's not that easy,” Azrael defended.

  “We'll protect her,” Benedict assured him confidently.

  “She'd be in so much pain.” Azrael was well aware of the spell that needed to be performed for Lilliah to remember her past. He also knew about the great amount of pain that came with it. The spell would break down walls that had been up for so long, making her remember something that had been buried so far down in her memory.

  “There will be some discomfort.”

  “Discomfort?” His eyes widened. “You and I both know that the pain she will have to go through is a hell of a lot more than discomfort. I refuse to put her in that situation. We can't even be sure of what we'd be walking into. You know The Cure is unstable at the moment. I'm not putting her in that position.” Walking over to the bar, he poured himself another drink. “I feel like we're missing something.” The words were spoken quietly, but Benedict had heard them.

  “What can we possibly be missing?” They had both been searching for Lilliah and Sebastian’s mother, trying to connect the dots.

  “If I knew that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he spat back, irritated. “What did Lilliah see the day I saved her from the car? What was the purpose of sending out Sebastian? Why use all that magic for something that's of no use to him? Hell won’t be opened for hundreds of years. Why now?” These questions had been bothering Azrael for weeks, and he'd silently pondered them for hours. And he still didn’t have any answers.

  “Some members of The Cure have disappeared. Ada can't find them,” he informed his second-in-command.

  “Just like we can’t find their mother?” Benedict asked with a frown.

  “Exactly.” He grabbed his glass of whiskey. The uncertainty of the situation bothered him. He was the one who was always in control.

  “I'll carry on looking,” Benedict suggested.

  “Until we have all the answers, she won’t be put in that much danger.” His eyes squinted at Benedict over the rim of his glass.

  “Of course.”

  Azrael watched Benedict leave the room. His frustration built and built until he couldn’t hold it anymore; he threw his glass at the nearest wall and watched it shatter into a thousand tiny pieces. He'd promised her he'd protect her, but how could he when he didn’t know the full story? He didn’t know all the facts. Stalking over to his desk, he pulled out the papers they’d collected over the past few days—all he could find about Lilliah and Sebastian, and anything on Hell and Lucifer. It all had to mean something; Lucifer never did anything without proper reason or cause. Azrael had now made it his mission to find out what that was.

  Chapter 11

  “I need food,” Rebecca decided, standing. “Does anyone want anything?”

  “No thanks,” Sebastian and Lilliah answered simultaneously.

  “Right, don't have too much fun without me,” Rebecca called out, walking out the room.

  “I hate this,” Sebastian announced after a moment of silence, falling into the chair behind him, his long legs and arms out stretched in front.

  “Hate what?” Lilliah asked, her head still down as she read from a book. They were sitting in the library with books and magazine sprawled out in front of them, and empty snack and drink wrappers everywhere.

  “All this waiting around.” He tipped his head back and sighed. “I feel useless. All we're doing is sitting around. What's the point?”

  “Speak for yourself.” She finally looked up and pointed down to the open page on her lap. “I think I'm actually getting somewhere with this stuff.” After a few days of doing nothing, Lilliah had decided to start her own research. She started with missing persons reports from the last five years in London.

  “How is that helping anyone?” Sebastian demanded.

  “Well.” Lilliah closed the book. She'd been waiting for the opportunity to show off her findings. “These”—she lifted a pile of papers that were laid out next to her—“are all the missing persons reports that I think could be magically related. I'm going to look into them and see whether there's any connection to Mum’s abduction.”

  “How exactly are you planning on doing that?” he challenged, looking unimpressed.

  “Well, there might be links. Just because there's not a lot of evidence with Mum, doesn't mean there's no evidence with every case. We could find a few similarities with other disappearances, and find out who did that. Then boom”—she held her hands up, smiling confidently—“we've found the guys who took Mum.”

  “I want to do more. I need to be out there looking for Mum.”

  “You don't think I feel the same way?” she demanded, irritated. “I want to help find her just as much as you do!”

  “Then why are we just sitting in this goddamn library?” He stood up, frustrated, running his hands through his already wild hair. “Why aren't we out there looking?”

  “We are looking! Just because we're not in the streets doesn't mean we're not doing anything. If it makes you feel better, get a picture of Mum and start walking the streets. Ask a load of people if they've seen her. Let's see how far that get you.”

  “Now you're just being a bitch,” Sebastian replied snidely.

  “And you’re being a fucking baby!” It wasn't her best response, but Sebastian was getting on her nerves. She needed to get away from him. It wasn't natural for brothers and s
isters to be spending this much time with each other; it went against nature.

  “Oh, yeah. Real mature, Lil.”

  “I think it's funny when you guys fight.” Rebecca walked back into the room, her arms full of treats.

  “It's him.” Lilliah pointed to her brother. “I was fine. He started it.”

  “Okay, three-year-old Lilliah.” Rebecca laughed, dropping the food on the floor. “I hope Azrael doesn't mind me taking most of his food.”

  “I doubt it. The guy has more money than sense.” Sebastian grabbed a bag of crisps from the floor.

  “I know,” Rebecca laughed. “He saw me walking out the kitchen. He didn't say anything, but I could see it in his eyes. He was judging me.” Rebecca and Sebastian laughed but Lilliah didn't.

  “He's back?” she pressed.

  “Yeah. I saw him and Benedict walk into his office.”

  Lilliah was already standing before Rebecca had finished.

  “I'll see you guys later.” Lilliah grabbed a few pieces of paper and headed for the door.

  “Oh, I get it. Use us and abuse us,” Rebecca called after her.

  “Let her leave,” Sebastian called out. “More food for us.”

  Lilliah just laughed in reply. They'd fallen into a comfortable routine over the past few days. Azrael would be out in the mornings, and Lilliah would spend it with her brother and Rebecca. Then they'd meet in the afternoon once he returned. She was beginning to like the small sense of normality they’d developed.

  “How did it go?” Lilliah could hear Benedict ask as she walked up to Azrael’s office.

  “Uneventful,” she could hear him answer. “It would appear the entire vampire population is completely unaware of what’s been happening.”

  “Do you believe them?” Benedict pressed.

  “They wouldn’t dare lie to me.”

  Lilliah rolled her eyes. He really was too sure of himself, mostly because no one seemed to ever go against him.

  “Besides, Dena hasn’t heard of anything. There isn’t anything that happens in the vampire community that she doesn’t know about.”

  “That’s true. We should probably talk to . . .”