My doors crashed open and my mother was dragged from my room. I tucked the parchment into my sleeve and stood tall as my brother entered my chamber.
“Was she begging for you to save her?” he growled.
“She was saying her goodbyes as she enters the service of our father.”
“I am in charge of those on the surface.”
Only those on the surface, I thought, but kept such blasphemy to myself. He would not break me. I’d been practicing the powers he feared. If anything happened to my Damarion, he would uncork years of rage I didn’t even know I had inside me. Being subservient had been acceptable, until I learned it wasn’t enough. Nothing would be enough for my brother. And because of that I would no longer be the one serving; I would be the one he would serve. They all would.
“Pivane.” My mother screeched his name as if it were a curse upon the world…which in a way it was as she stormed into my office. “You are having Pivane hunt?”
“Yes,” I said as I rose and smoothed out my shirt. “Is there a problem with that?”
“He’s male.”
“So I’ve been told.” I moved out from behind my desk and headed for the kitchen.
“He will be a distraction for the Deumos.” She chased after me.
“In what way? They hate him so if he falls it will not upset their day. They will not have the urge to put themselves between him and danger. How could he possibly be a distraction?”
“Daughter, you do not understand all that is involved in a hunt.”
“If one more creature says I do not understand something I will smite you all and start anew.”
As my temper raged, the cabinets shook and my mother plastered herself to the wall.
“If you were not of my flesh—”
“You would what?” I growled. “I have been and will always be more powerful than you.”
“Know your place, child.”
“Know yours. I am of royal birth and blood. I am a sire of Lucifer and I have the blood of demons that have withstood attacks from above and below and rose again. It is I who leads this coven and I who will someday rule in Hell.”
My body shook as words and thoughts filled my mind as never before. What was I saying? What was I doing? Fighting all around me. My parentage?
“It is time then for you to claim your rightful place,” my mother snarled with delight.
I ran from the room. Every inch of me tingled in a way I couldn’t understand. I could feel the marrow in my bones as my fingers elongated and my nails turned to claws. Ancient tattoos appeared on my arms where only alabaster skin had been for so many centuries. I didn’t want my mother near, but I couldn’t understand the change or the pain as I arched my back and screamed.
The sound of cracking bones and tearing flesh echoed in my empty bed chamber and I knew my life had changed. I felt the wings growing on my back and when I could once again stand erect I looked into a mirror and saw them. Wings, black feathered wings with blood dripping from the tips.
“Mine were white as freshly fallen snow,” my mother spoke. “Tipped in gold and they took me anywhere I wanted. They were clipped as well as your great-great grandfather’s. His were silver. Every inch. Pure and reflective of all around. Maybe that is why he fell so easily. We could not hide from his knowledge of us. Our faults. Every one of us.”
“You knew him, Lucifer the First?”
“I told you I was an angel. I’m much older than your father. I did not like the first, even fought against him, but I see his blood flows through your veins. You are what your father and I dreamed you would be. Your brother can only ascend to Heaven one day in the cycle, but you, my dear…” My mother circled me and felt the soft downy covering of my dark wings. “Can ascend at any time.”
A shiver shot through me and my wings bristled.
“How do I make them go away?” I asked through a trembling voice. “They must retract. How else do you walk among the humans?”
“We rarely do, but we rarely pull out our wings once inside the safety of Heaven’s gates either. You must wait a few days, my dear. You need to heal from the emergence. I was so young I don’t remember the pain or blood. Then again, maybe there was none for one born true.”
Her fingers lightly touched the torn skin on my back and I winced at the sensation.
“I shall find you a healing ointment and tell the others you need seclusion tonight. You’ve already handed down your orders to Pivane and the others. I see no reason why they should need to bother you.”
Mother left and I stumbled around my room. The weight on my back was that of a full grown person. How could I ever learn to deal with these malignancies upon my back? I could not lie on my bed for fear of suffocation. I pulled a stool from the corner of my room and rested upon the seat.
Being on Earth has taxed my body in ways I never imagined. Sitting in a corner on a stool like a petulant child, I felt more secluded then when I had been in my castle.
“Yahweh—” Nemesio opened the door with a start and I turned only to discover my wings reacted to the Deumos as if they had their own mind. I wasn’t the only petulant child in the room, but I needed to reign in this one before I murdered someone in my charge.
* * * *
Trisha O’Driscoll
I woke up not knowing where I was. There was a dimly-lit light in the corner and I could see that woman from the mall reading a book in an overstuffed chair. Not sure what was going on or where I was, I cleared my throat of the cotton that had formed in it and started to move, only to have my head swim again.
“I’d get up slowly. I think Schmitty overdid it on the narcs,” the woman said as she flipped a page in the book.
“He drugged me?” I replied, laying my head back down.
“Sucks, doesn’t it? Don’t worry—he’ll tell you it was for your own good, then kiss you and you’ll forget about how mad you are at him.”
“He did that to you?”
“Hell, no. I’d kick his ass.” She dog-eared a page in the book, then closed it and finally looked up at me. “My husband did. Long story for another time.”
“Where am I?”
“In Schmitty’s room. Way crossing the line, but it’s his to cross.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re not supposed to bring people home. Well, they aren’t, and since technically he had me…fuck…”
“What?”
“Damn it.” She got up holding her arm and went into the next room. “I’m going to kill that useless bitch!”
Rising slowly, I steadied myself until I could sit without thinking everything was in motion around me. I then stood and repeated the process. Finally feeling like myself I stepped into the adjacent room and saw a generic white bathroom with a shower stall, toilet, and simple pedestal sink. The woman had taken off her shirt and was digging through a medicine cabinet.
On her left arm was a gash about two inches long.
“How did that happen?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to kill Berlin.”
“Huh?”
“She’s not protecting my Other.”
“Other what?”
“My husband. We call them Others.”
“So why are you bleeding?”
The woman breathed in deep and looked at me. Her expression was frustrated.
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you. Let’s just say my Other and I are extremely…” She turned and threw up in the toilet. “Close.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just a little pregnant.”
“You’re having a baby. That’s so wonderful.” I could feel my eyes starting to well up and the memory of Colin’s last breath hit me hard. Stumbling back to the bed, I curled up in a ball and felt a sting from tears in my eyes. Forgetting where I was or what had happened, I just wanted to go away. It hadn’t been a nightmare this time. It had happened. All my preparation was as useless t
o me as if he’d been struck by a car on his bike. There was no way one could brace oneself for death.
“I’m sorry about your loss. I’m sure the last thing you want is a pregnant babysitter right now.”
“It’s…how did he get me here?”
“Schmitty gave you something to drink and it was spiked. Then he called me to pick you up and bring you here. He went back and made all the arrangements, but then his shift came up so he’s out. He should be home soon.”
“You live together?”
“In a way. My Other and I live a few doors down. But we have a lot of communal space.”
“This doesn’t seem like a barracks?”
“It’s not…although.” The woman cocked her head to the side. “No, it’s not.”
“What is going on?”
“He has to tell you. Sorry that’s the rules, but he did ask me to see if you wanted a private funeral. That would determine a lot for him.”
“How would my son’s funeral determine anything?”
The woman put her shirt back on over her bandaged arm and walked to the chair. Resting, she looked at me.
“I think he wants to be with you, and if you were with him that would change where you bury Colin.”
“Why? No, wait, you can’t tell me.”
“I wish I could.”
“Can you tell me your name? I’m sure Jimmy mentioned it, but I…”
“Kiriana. My friends call me KK.”
Then her phone rang. “Let me guess, the bitch didn’t even break a nail!” Kiriana snapped, not even saying hello. “What? No.” She looked up to me with a worried expression and a chill cut through the air. “How bad?” Her head was nodding and she looked like she was trying to figure something out. “Well I can move her but to where? His holiness will want to stay in the arrivals room. You know what, I’ll bring her down to ours I guess. Nye, be truthful with me. How bad is it?”
Kiriana snapped the phone shut then looked at me. Flipping it back open she made a quick call.
“Z, meet me at Schmitty’s room. I need your help. Hey, are you okay?” This was followed by a few uh huhs and yeas and finally a, “I’ll talk to you when we move her.”
“Move who?”
“You. We need to hide you. And well. You’re going to get your wish; I just hope I don’t fry for this.”
“Um…” I started to talk when the door opened and a beautiful slender woman arrived. She had olive skin, black hair that shined from the light, and green eyes that reminded me of my trip to Ireland.
“Hey, sweetie," the woman said to KK. “Let me guess, Nye got hurt.”
“Yes. His arm.” Kiriana tapped her bicep. “But she needs to be hidden.” She hitched her thumb toward me.
“I’m not doing anything until I know what’s going on.”
“No wonder Schmitty loves her. She’s just like you.”
“Is not,” Kiriana snapped.
“You’re right. She didn’t say I’m not doing a fucking thing until you fucking tell me what the fuck is going on,” the new woman said with the sweetest smile.
“Wow, you reached your cussing quota for the year in one sentence.”
“KK has a little swearing problem,” the woman explained to me.
“No, I don’t. I do it very well.” Kiriana looked at me and smiled. “I like you. But you’re going to move your ass down the hall before I grab your hair and drag you down it.”
“Excuse me? You don’t know me well enough to threaten me.”
“And I never will if you don’t move it.”
“What’s the rush?”
“You better tell her,” the other woman said.
“Schmitty’s been hurt. When our boss comes he can’t see you.”
“How bad?” A chill shot through me. I noticed that it wasn’t just the idea that had me start to shiver: the room had become freezing.
“Bad enough that Gabriel’s coming. That’s really bad.”
“Is it warmer in your room?” I asked as the cold made me think I’d been moved to a walk-in freezer.
“Probably not.”
Walking into the hall I noticed an open staircase below with paintings of various people. Then I saw Jimmy looking out across a field in what had to be his Class B uniform. A bottle of Jack was in his hand and a pack of smokes were visible on one of his biceps under his shirt sleeve. My Jimmy, the little soldier.
Screams came from downstairs and I instantly turned to run, only to have my body flung back. Kiriana and the other woman pulled me away.
“Come on, Trisha, you don’t want to see him like this.”
“Like what,” I screamed. “Please, I need to be with him. How hurt is he?” The screams became like sharp blades cutting through my skin. “How are you so calm?”
“We’re not. We’re trying to protect the one thing he loves.”
My body stopped its attempt at escape and turned to them. “Loves? Jimmy doesn’t…”
“…want to admit it.” Kiriana finished. “He loves you so much.”
“Then I should go to him. Listen to him.” The screams continued until suddenly it was silent. “Oh my God.” I dropped to my knees. “Not him. I’m not ready to lose him. I…” My breathing became labored as my tears caught in my throat. “I…I…”
I felt arms surrounding me as a soft voice whispered in my ear. “He’s just asleep. He’ll awaken soon and you can see him. But now you need to come and rest.”
* * * *
PFC James Schmitt
Okay, it’s official, I hate Berlin. KK was right; Berlin’s as useless as tits on a boar. I don’t know when the Deumos started hunting in packs, but if this is the new hunting method we’re going to have to go back to double shifts.
A nice heavy dose of narcs had me in a fog, but I could still feel the burning in my gut. Knife wounds are a bitch, especially when it’s some super freaky demon knife that must have special powers. And since when do men join the hunt? Nye and KK are going to have to reevaluate their whole plan of attack after this.
I could see Nye getting treated by Lars. He just got a slice to the arm that I’m sure caused a handful of expletives from Kiriana. I wonder if Trish is okay. Funny, the first time I died I was being haunted by memories, but never thought about anyone I cared for.
“Hey, partner, I told you fightin’ with a chick would get you messed up.”
“Thanks, sunshine. How’s he doing?” I asked, tossing my head toward Nye.
“Quit worrying about the chick.”
“Fuck you, Lars.”
Ah, Kiriana has arrived.
“He was talking about Nye.”
“Oh, well then, it’s okay.” Nye cut his eyes at KK. “Can I kill her yet?”
“No,” Nye replied, probably his first words to her in a while.
“You said that a little fast,” Lars interjected. “KK, you can be her sparring partner in the morning. I want your arm to heal.”
“She’s not fighting with the baby.”
“You better not have called that fucking bitch baby!” KK snapped. So much for cleaning up her language around Nye.
“You’re knocked up. Or has your rage caused you to forget that already?”
“You seemed to,” KK snarled. Good, they were talking. “Look where Schmitty got injured. You can’t fight either. If that’d been you what would have happened?”
Nye looked at me and the chill hit all of us.
“Hey, Kiriana, I know the world revolves around you, but my gut needs to be addressed.”
“Have you called Gabriel?” she asked Nye.
“No.”
“Then do it,” KK snapped at Nye. “So, Schmitty, you want me to let Trisha borrow my naughty nurse’s uniform?”
“What nurse’s uniform?” Nye’s confused face was hard to not laugh at.
Kiriana turned toward Nye and shook her head.
“Nye, it was a joke.”
&n
bsp; Turning back to me, she winked and smiled. Somewhere in her closet was an outfit Trish would never fit, but then again skin tight—Damn it, sex off the brain or my gut is going to bleed out trying to rush to my damn Johnson. What is the matter with me? Sure the drugs dulled the pain, but then again if my last action was to get a hard on at the thought of Trish, that had to mean something.
“Halloween,” KK explained.
“Bullshit,” I replied, and she laughed.
“My mom wanted me to marry a doctor.”
I actually missed hanging with my real partner; if nothing else while I recovered I’d hopefully get some quality time with KK.
“How’s Trish doing?”
“She’s confused, but I’m sure once you sit her down and explain everything to her—”
“Like how my soul resides in a knife handle?”
“Everything.”
“Only Gabriel knows everything.”
“Do you love her?”
“What if she runs away screaming?”
“I’m faster. Even with the interloper, I could totally take her down for you. We could tie her up and make her see reason.”
I stroked KK’s belly and she cradled my head in her hands while leaning down so we touched foreheads. I used the time to pass her a message.
“The demon that stabbed me told me it didn’t matter what we did with the ashes,” I whispered. “The princess would never—”
“Stop it,” she snapped. Confused at first I looked in her tear-filled eyes and saw Nye come up behind her. “He’s my partner and my friend. And your useless partner got you and him injured.”
“I know, Kiri, I know, but Gabriel is here.”
She pulled back, biting her bottom lip then looked at the stunned angel by the door. Gabriel actually appeared worried. I knew this hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but we’re as close to immortal as they come. Or were we?
“My soldier.” Gabriel came to my side as if I were his son and placed his comforting hand on my shoulder. “Everyone leave. Lars, your Other must collect me the following herbs. Calamus, uva ursi, burdock, calendula and a coconut.”
“Don’t forget the lime,” I joked.
“Spirits will not ease your belly ache.”
“I’ll go help in the greenhouse,” KK said, then gave me a worried look as she left.
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