“You’ll do these people no good by getting yourself killed,” Belial answered with a harsh glare, his fingers tightening on my upper arms.
“Rest. I may be a murderer among other things, but I will protect you until your archangel returns.”
“And how do I know this isn’t some kind of trap?”
He let a secretive smile slip across his lips. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me. Now be a good girl and rest. I’ll wake you when Gabriel returns.”
“You tell me to trust you and then you tell me to fall asleep in your presence. How stupid do you think I am?”
“On a scale of one to ten?”
I gritted my teeth to stop myself from yelling at him. “Swear on your demonic law that you will not harm me and I’ll sleep.”
“You have my word as an archdemon that I will not harm you,” he replied with a straight face.
I met his gaze for a long moment and then relaxed. I closed my eyes just before I spoke. “Did I thank you?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I will.”
His chuckles followed me into the deep warmth of sleep.
* * *
ONCE MORE, I felt strong fingers on my back, stroking up and down, soothing the ache that had settled in my muscles. Little by little, the pain dissipated until I knew the bruise had vanished. The healing hands traced my sides, tickling my ribs, gliding down to my hips. I groaned as they massaged my waist, relaxing me further, and shivered when warm lips came in contact with the spot between my shoulder blades. A hot, muscular chest melted into my spine and the hands dipped lower, unbuttoning my jeans and sliding inside. A muffled sound escaped me as pleasure unfurled from the intimate touch, spreading from my lower body outward until my breath came in shallow pants.
I awoke with a startled noise building in my throat. I was face down on the bed with someone kneeling above me, his hands on my back. My t-shirt was bunched beneath my arms, nearly exposing my bra, and the pain on my forearms and spine had vanished. I tried to roll over but the strong hands were upon me again, holding my arms down so I couldn’t move.
“What the hell, Belial?” I snapped, struggling to get free.
He held me still, replying in a mild voice. “I thought you were a heavier sleeper. Clearly, I was mistaken.”
“What are you doing? Why is my shirt halfway off and why are you on top of me?” I demanded, giving up my struggle when I realized I couldn’t get loose.
He sighed, sounding exasperated. “I told you to rest because I knew you would not allow me to heal your back while you were conscious. You woke up just as I finished.”
“Finished what? What else were you doing to me while I was asleep?” I said, glaring at him from over my shoulder.
He smirked. “Aren’t we presumptuous?”
“Presumptuous, huh? Why are my pants unbuckled then?”
“The clothing was getting in the way,” the demon sniffed. “I did nothing salacious to you.”
“You swear?”
Belial let out a dry chuckle, lowering his face until it was only inches away from mine. “Now that’s where I draw the line. I don’t have to answer that question because it wasn’t part of our deal.”
“You can’t harm anyone—”
“—and I didn’t. If I did something to you, and I’m not saying I did, you can be sure that it wouldn’t have been unpleasant. I’ve had centuries of practice, after all.”
I closed my eyes for a second to restrain myself from spewing obscenities at him. “Will you let me up now?”
“Do you promise not to punch me?”
“No.”
“Then I guess you’ll just have to stay here until you calm down, won’t you?”
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
I lay there breathing deeply until the anger subsided and I could think straight. He was probably telling the truth. I definitely wouldn’t have let him touch me like this while I was awake. Furthermore, the pain from the fight was all gone so he must have kept his word about healing me. It also occurred to me that Belial got his powers from violence, death, and sex, so doing something intimate may have increased his energy supply. But that didn’t mean the dream was all a dream. He couldn’t have kissed me because it would have burned him, but he could’ve easily done other things wearing those gloves of his.
“You can let go now.”
His fingers unwrapped themselves from around my wrists. He slid backwards on the bed, giving me some much-needed space. I sat up, tugging my shirt down and re-buttoning my jeans without saying anything.
The demon watched me with a cautious expression. “I didn’t know you kept the scars.”
I froze and then glanced at him in surprise. The arrogance had left his features and was replaced with a rather genuine expression I rarely ever saw on his face.
“I saw them in the dream and in your ex-boyfriend’s memories, but I wasn’t sure if you still had them. They’re old scars, too. ‘Gifts’ from your aunt, are they not?”
I winced and looked away. “Why should you care?”
“Who says I do? I merely thought it was interesting that you didn’t heal them.”
“You of all people should know that you can’t erase the past.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but then there was a knock at the door. Instantly, my pulse skyrocketed and I had to remind myself to calm down as Belial went to check.
Gabriel walked in, looking incredibly tired, bruised, and disheveled, and I wasted no time throwing myself in his arms. He hugged me, lifting my body a few inches off the floor as he did. The urge to cry branched out inside me and I had to take a deep breath to control it.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” he murmured into my hair.
“Ditto,” I mumbled back.
He placed me safely on the floor and glanced at the demon standing beside us.
“Know that I will never forgive you for what you have done in the past and when the time comes, I will not hesitate to strike you down. But also know that I am grateful that you kept your word about protecting Jordan.”
The demon nodded in acknowledgment. “Fair enough, archangel. Now, what happened?”
Gabriel set his jaw and sat on the bed, running both hands through his hair to smooth it down. I ran some tap water into one of the glasses and handed it to him. He drank the entire thing and cleared his throat to start his story.
After we rushed down the hall to the hotel room, I was granted the sight of two people on the floor. I recognized the skinny legs clad in jeans that could only be one person—Jordan. On top of her sat a man with shoulders hardly bigger than hers, but the way they were strained meant only one thing. He was choking her.
The man’s head whipped around to face us. A cold shock flooded through me. The rogue angel, alias Edmond Saraf. I watched fear crawl through his features and he leapt off of Jordan in an instant as Belial and I ran towards him. I shouted, “Stop!” just as he picked up and threw the broken flat screen through the window behind him. He jumped out as I ran to the windowsill, watching in horror as he plummeted several floors before disappearing into the thick branches of a tree below. Damn him. He’d known that would be his exit strategy. I only had seconds to give chase.
“Tend to Jordan!” I ordered, struggling out of my suit jacket.
Belial glared at me. “What? I’m a better hunter than you, archangel. You know that.”
“I don’t have time to argue, just do it!” I snapped, slapping my cell phone into his hand. “Get her somewhere safe and call Michael. I will find you when this is over.”
With that, I jumped out the window. Cold air blasted my face, my hair, my body as I fell. A branch smashed into my chest and I wrapped my arms around it, stopping my descent. Once I was steady, I let go and hit the grass, rolling. The rogue angel was several feet ahead of me, running like a well-oiled machine down the hotel driveway and onto the sidewalk. I broke into a sprint, calling for him to stop. I knew he wouldn’t
but if the people around me suspected him to be a criminal, they may have assisted me.
The rogue angel raced into the busy street, dodging cars as they honked and screeched on their brakes. He made a sharp right turn and I followed closely, staying on the left-hand side of the road so that I would be parallel with him without running into pedestrians. He darted into an alley on his left and I did so as well, apologizing over my shoulder to a man I knocked down. The sound of our footsteps bounced off the brick walls on either side. I knew he had too good of a lead on me to keep this up. I took a deep breath and shouted, “Strike!”
Three shards of energy sliced through the air and he turned on his heel, holding his forearms up. “I reject!”
The shards bounced off of his shield, but it gave me just enough time to take a running kick at him. He kept his forearms up, but my feet connected, sending him tumbling backwards head over foot. He got up on one knee and I threw my leg up high, bringing the heel down as hard as I could. He blocked, rolling to the side and jumping to his feet in a blur of motion.
I aimed quick punches at his chest and he parried them one by one. He was amazingly fast, and his thin frame did nothing to show the immense strength he possessed. I tried several martial arts styles, flowing from one to the next, but he always had a defense prepared, and soon my limbs went numb from all the contact.
Finally, I managed to catch one arm in a lock and shouted “Strike!” again. He cried out as a shard went deep into his shoulder, spilling blood down the side of his button up shirt. We both stopped, panting in breaths ragged from exhaustion, and I managed enough strength to speak.
“Why are you doing this, brother? We are not your enemy. She is not your enemy!”
“It was never about that,” he answered in a pained voice. “I never considered the Seers my enemies. Never.”
“Then why?” I demanded, jerking his arm further forward at the elbow.
He groaned, crumpling onto one knee. “They have to be sacrificed or the world will end.”
“No, no more of this vagueness. You will tell me what you’re talking about or I’ll break off this arm like a twig,” I spat.
He gritted his teeth, forcing out the next sentence. “Et Liber Tempor states that in this year, a Seer will help the demons unleash a force of evil so great that it will cause the deaths of one thousand people and plunge the world into darkness. That is why I have hunted them down and killed them so that I can change the future and spare innocent lives. You have to believe me!”
“How could you be so arrogant to think that this was the only way? Six dead Seers, brother. These people deserved to live, but you took that away from them. You will never reenter the gates of Heaven. You will never be forgiven.”
He bowed his head. “And that is my sacrifice to protect these people. I thought you would understand most of all, Gabriel. We are servants. Nothing more.”
“Yes, we are. And it is my duty as a servant to bring you in for the murder of six Seers and the attempt of a seventh.”
“I am sorry,” he whispered, “but I cannot allow you to bring me to justice yet. My task is not complete. Not while she still lives.”
With a roar, he dislocated his own shoulder and slid out of the arm lock. He whirled around and brought his fist down on the base of my skull as hard as he could. Stars exploded in my vision and I fell to my knees, dazed. He stood there, clutching his bloody arm as I tried to regain my strength, but the world had gone dark around the edges and my body trembled like a leaf in a hurricane.
“Forgive me, brother.”
He kicked me in the forehead and everything went black.
Gabriel sighed, rubbing his eyelids with the palms of his hands. “I woke up half an hour later. Someone had called 911. The paramedics found me in the alley and patched me up. After that, I felt for Belial’s energy signature and found you here.”
“This is insane,” I said, wrapping my arms around my sides. “How can he believe what he saw in the book? That one of the Seers will betray the angels and bring about the Apocalypse?”
“I corrupted a Seer once,” Belial said. “It is not an impossible feat. Even though you have managed to resist me all this time, another Seer might not be as strong as you. He did not say that he thought it would be you who betrayed the angels. He’s not taking any chances so he’s killing all of them.”
“Then why didn’t he kill me in the restaurant?”
“Too many witnesses. Too many variables that he couldn’t control.”
“What about earlier? Why didn’t he use his scythe on me in the hotel and burn the place to purify it?”
“Practicality,” Gabriel answered instead in a hushed tone. “The other Seers were cornered when they were all alone, but you have stayed mostly in public places or with one of us. He took a gamble coming here, apparently hoping that he could kill you before I returned. You are the most difficult Seer to kill, having escaped death twice, so he has grown desperate. I don’t know what this means for us now. You’ll have to stay close to one of us at all times until the page of Et Liber Tempor is re-translated and we know when the next Seer will Awaken.”
“How specific is the Symphony of Time, then? It says when and where these Seers Awaken, but does it have their names?”
“I’m not sure. The Book and the Symphony only record that which they consider to be relevant in the context of the universe. We cannot control what they say. We can only interpret them as best as we can.”
“That’s a load of help,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t know, Gabriel, you can’t just be my bodyguards until the end of the year. We still have lives to lead. Maybe there’s some way to talk him out of it.”
He shot me an incredulous look. “Are you insane? The man broke into our hotel room and nearly strangled you to death.”
“I know, but when he did it…I talked to him. I told him we could help him. The way he looked at me, I just…” I shook my head.
“He doesn’t want to do this. Yes, he nearly killed me, but if you could have seen his face before I fell unconscious, you’d wonder if we could talk him out of it too.”
“No,” Gabriel said. “It’s too late for that. He made his decision tonight. We have no choice but to eliminate him, for your safety and for the safety of the future Seers of the world.”
He glanced at Belial, his face firm with resolve. “Kill him on sight if the opportunity presents itself.”
Belial nodded. “Very well. What are we going to do for now?”
“I injured him too badly for him to come for her again tonight. However, just to be safe, we’ll gather up our belongings from the other hotel and stay here. The two of us should be enough for now. We’ll return to Albany in the morning. Michael is a far better warrior than I am and I think Jordan will be safest with him.”
Gabriel touched my hand. “Are you feeling well enough to come with me or would you rather stay here?”
I bit my bottom lip. To be honest, I wanted to stick close to Gabriel, but the thought of being in any open spaces where Edmond could get to me scared me more. I squeezed his fingers, keeping my voice level.
“I’ll stay here. Call the room phone when you get back and I’ll come to you.”
“Okay.” He kissed my forehead, slowly. His energy, cool and light like a breeze, settled on my skin.
“Be safe.”
“You too.” He stood and walked out the door.
Once more, I was left alone with the demon. I rubbed my arms, trying to think of what to say. “Can I use your shower?”
Belial arched an eyebrow and I corrected myself. “Alone?”
He smirked. “Of course.”
I stood, crossing my arms beneath my chest. “Are you sure it’s not too much of a strain to ask you not to sneak a peek while I’m in there?”
The demon chuckled. “My, my, you are high on yourself these days. There’s nothing you’ve got that I haven’t seen before, Seer. Be my guest.”
That stung my ego more than it shoul
d have. It irritated me that I even cared. I had gotten so used to him making passes at me that his nonchalance got under my skin. I wondered if he was doing that on purpose. Probably.
“Fine. Then we’re at a ceasefire, right?”
“Right.”
“Excellent.” I pulled off my shirt and dropped it on the floor right in front of him. His face betrayed nothing, but I could hear him take a deep breath and I instantly felt better. I smiled and sauntered past him into the bathroom, shutting the door. It wasn’t until the shower was on full blast that I collapsed onto the bottom of the tub and cried.
Chapter 10
Michael
THE DOORBELL RANG. I stood up from the couch and walked across the carpeted floors to open the door. My wife was on the other side, alone, with a sheepish smile on her lips.
“Forgot my key.”
The smile was real, but her eyes were already wet. She threw herself into my arms and I lifted her up, ashamed of how glad I was to see her. I had been a hardened warrior for the majority of my existence. I had been trained to let nothing slip beneath my armor, to do whatever was needed to secure the safety of mankind and destroy all evil no matter what the cost. But something about this woman made the warrior in me soften somewhat.
After a moment or two, I had enough presence of mind to shut the door with my foot. Jordan didn’t let go, instead wrapping her long legs around my waist and sliding her face upward from where it had been buried in my neck. She kissed me and it tasted salty because she was crying, quietly, just like her voice when she spoke.
“Lo siento,” my wife whispered against my lips. “Lo siento, mi amor.”
“You’re safe,” I murmured back. “That’s all that matters.”
“Te amo. Te amo, amor.”
“Yo sé.” I knew what she needed, what we both needed, so I carried her to the bedroom and no other words were spoken. I had lost track of how many times she and I made love in the past, but this was the only time it reminded me of our first night together. Everything felt different because we both knew how close she had come to dying. Jordan had cheated death twice in her life and both times, it broke some part of me deep down—knowing that I couldn’t always be there to protect my wife, the other half of my soul, the only woman I had ever met who truly understood who and what I was and loved me still.
Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More Page 218
