The Nephilim Universe

by L. L Hunter

“Something similar was said about your uncle, Adam, and look what happened.”

  Eden winced, and Asher immediately regretted having to go there, but it was the truth. Angels with power such as Gabe’s were dangerous, especially when they’d had their heart broken.

  Eden reluctantly followed her soul mate from the room.

  Abraham shuffled down the aisles of his secret underground library with hesitation. One half of him was mad that he had to clean up after Eden and Asher, but the other part, the part that was still infused with demon blood, relished in that rage. He used that rage to fuel his revenge for killing his beloved Jazmine. Her body anyway. Abraham now kept her soul safe in a crystal sphere that hung from his neck. Her body had been gorgeous. He’d been in love with it and was heartbroken to have it destroyed.

  “Soon, my love. I’ll find you a body worthy enough to hold a soul such as yours.” Jazmine’s soul leapt excitedly in her little crystal prison.

  As he picked up the dusty sacred tomes and stacked them back on the shelves, the books which held all manner of secrets and keys to the underworld, Abraham chuckled smugly. For little did Eden know of the secret Abraham himself kept. As he bent to lift another heavy text off the floor, a second crystal sphere clinked against the one holding Jazmine’s soul. He stood straight and held onto both of them as he placed the book back in its rightful place on the shelf.

  “Eden thinks she has rid the universe of you and purified my soul, but she knows nothing. You can’t fool the original Angel of Darkness.”

  He chuckled as he headed into the next aisle, stroking the sphere that held his own soul, picking up the last of the ancient demon tomes.

  Chapter 2

  Max ran into combat class the next day and was surprised to find Gabe already there. He was half an hour early, but it wasn’t early enough to get the classroom to himself. He should have woken up before dawn like he had the past two days to get his exercise in.

  “Gabe? What are you doing here?”

  “Training. What are you doing here?”

  Gabe hadn’t been facing the door when Max walked in, but he turned now to look at his cousin and had to do a double-take.

  “Dude! Where’d you get those muscles? I swear the last time I saw you. You weren’t that ripped.” Max just shrugged and walked over to the weights near the far wall. He picked up a medium-weighted dumbbell and placed it on the bar over the bench. Then he lay down and began bench pressing the weights.

  “You’re not the only one who has been training.”

  Gabe put down his bow and walked over to the bench press. He stood beside Max and watched as he lifted a weight heavier than his own body. Gabe sat down on the bench beside Max and swiped a hand through his sweaty hair.

  “Man, I miss her.”

  Max stopped raising the bar over his head and set it back down in its cradle before rolling over onto his elbow to face Gabe.

  “It’s only been a week. She’ll come back. She loved you.”

  “Nah, man. It’s all my fault. I sentenced her to death. I made her mortal. I have to get over her.” He stood up again and grabbed his bow. He set another arrow into the launcher and let it fly into the head of a cloth dummy. “So, that’s my excuse for this insane training schedule. What’s yours?” He shot another arrow and another, all landing within the bullseye painted on the head of the dummy.

  “I had another nightmare,” said Max. Gabe froze and dropped his arms.

  “What about?”

  Max set the bar into the cradle once more and sat up.

  “I had a vision of what’s to come. Nightmares and dreams are prophetic for angels like me.”

  “I know. But it could also have come from Abraham or some demon.”

  “Abraham is no longer a demon. And most demons aren’t strong enough to place visions in people’s heads. This had to have been a vision of the future. A prophecy.”

  “Okay. What did you see?”

  Max stood and walked toward Gabe. “I saw another army of demons, and this time, Abraham was the leader. You were there, as well as Eden. And you both had wings. And then I began to burn. That’s when I woke up.”

  “Hold up. So, Abraham will lead another army of demons, we all get our wings, but you are set on fire and burnt alive? That doesn’t seem fair.”

  “Something like that.”

  “Are you sure you were burning? Did you see flames?”

  “No. All I felt was the pain. It was the worst pain I had ever felt. It felt like I was burning.”

  Gabe placed a reassuring hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “Whatever happens, man, we’ll get through it together. You and me, Eden and Asher. We can do this.”

  “And the guardians. I have hope they’ll be back,” said Max.

  Gabe dropped his gaze to his hands. “I don’t know about that. Let’s get back to training. Whatever is coming, we have to be strong enough to face it. We have to be ready.”

  Max smiled. “Wanna do sprints?”

  “Sure. But I get a head start.” Gabe took off across the floor.

  “Hey!” Max laughed and ran after him.

  Chapter 3

  Melody flapped her wings as hard as she could. She had to get away from London, away from Gabe. She had to keep going forward. She had to keep moving. Otherwise, she’ll just turn around and sentence herself to death. So, flying too near exhaustion was the only thing she could do to stop herself from turning around.

  She heard a sound behind her, but when she glanced back and saw nothing, she kept going. She flapped harder, feeling the burn of her pectoral muscles as she pushed herself to the limits. Another sound came from behind, and Melody put it down to nothing but wind.

  Then, out of nowhere, a shadow crossed beneath her. Melody faltered and glanced around frantically.

  “It’s okay. It’s just a bird. The demons are gone.”

  But Melody was in denial. She knew the demons had not been banished altogether. Another shadow flew in front of the sun, and then all she saw was darkness as thousands of shadows swarmed around her. She drew her guardian blade, but it was too late. The demons swarmed her until all that was left behind was her scream—a scream that, unbeknownst to those who took her, could alert her friends and save her life.

  Aria floated down the few golden steps from the Hall of Songs to the cloud below. After she and Melody had left their assignments, at Melody’s request, Aria had returned to the Realm of Fire to await another assignment. She hadn’t wanted to leave Max. She could sense he was still in danger. For as long as he lived, the son of the Goddess of the Universe would always be in danger. But her friend came first.

  Speaking of Melody, she had left a few hours earlier to check on Gabe because “she just had to check on him.” She was due back at any moment. Aria walked to the precipice and looked down upon the earth. It didn’t take six hours to fly to earth and back. Aria smirked. She knew how deeply her friend cared for the boy, and no matter what the rules were or what she said, you couldn’t break the bond of soul mates. But there was something more unique about the bond between a guardian angel and their assignment. If they fell in love, that bond was stronger than that of ordinary soul mates. It was forbidden for a guardian angel to fall in love with their assignment because a bond like that could turn a guardian angel mortal. A guardian angel worked their whole existence to help save others. Their immortality was sacred. It was all that they were. It was what they lived for. And to have that taken away…

  Thunder shook the heavens. Angels screamed and hurried to find shelter. They rarely got thunder quakes up in the Realm of Fire. Instead, an angel caused the thunder. It was a trait—a gift. And usually meant someone was angry. And it was usually accompanied by dark storm clouds and lightning. But everything still looked the same as it had before. The clouds beneath Aria’s feet were still white and fluffy. This was no ordinary thunder.

  The sound came again, but this time, as the heavens shook, Aria saw the sound waves bouncing off every object it passed. Sh
e recognised those sound waves.

  “Melody,” she whispered. She stood on the edge of the world and listened.

  That was when she heard Melody’s cries.

  Aria leapt into the air, dagger in hand, and flew toward the golden palace.

  Melody was in trouble.

  Scarlett was on the throne when Aria flew into the grand foyer. She looked graceful and regal like a queen with her straight back and her sunrise coloured hair cascading over her breasts. Her knuckles turned white when she saw the look on Aria’s face.

  “Aria? What’s wrong?”

  “My Goddess, forgive me for barging in like this. But it’s Melody. Something’s wrong.”

  Scarlett stood, brushing down her golden gown made of golden lace and feathers (not real, of course).

  “What happened?”

  “I heard her like I did last time when Gabe was taken. Her cries rebounded off the heavens. She just wanted to check on him. She shouldn’t have taken this long.” Aria fell to her knees on the dais right before Scarlett’s feet. Scarlett reached out and touched the guardian angel’s white-blonde hair. Aria looked up at her goddess, her leader, with her tear-stained cheeks.

  “It’ll be okay, Aria. We’ll call our friends and allies. We will find her.”

  “Thank you. I can’t lose another friend.”

  Scarlett crouched down to Aria’s level and took her hands in hers. Aria, whose head had been bowed, now looked up and met Scarlett’s gaze.

  “Neither can I,” replied Scarlett.

  Chapter 4

  The blindfold came off, and Melody could finally see. She had heard everything that had happened, but because of the bag that was thrown over her head and the blindfold over her eyes, she was in total darkness. When the blindfold was finally taken off, she found she was in darkness once more.

  “Hello?” she called out. She coughed. The air was thick with mould and mildew. She sniffed and immediately felt sick. The air was also filled with the stench of decay. Was she underground? She tried to move her hands but found them bound. Even with her angel strength, she could not break them. The bindings were probably infused with supernatural magic. Her hands were tied behind her back, so she twisted to the side and tried to reach for her thigh, where she kept her dagger, but she couldn’t reach.

  “Illuminate,” she whispered, willing her magical angelic dagger to light up. But there was no light. Her dagger was gone. “Damn it!”

  Then a light appeared in the darkness. She recognised that light anywhere. It was her dagger. The person who wielded it moved it so it illuminated their face. Melody gasped. She recognised her captor.

  “Looking for this?” said a bored female voice.

  “Willow? What’s going on? Why are you doing this?”

  Samson’s soul mate stood from her seat on a battered armchair and sauntered toward her. She could have sworn she had killed Willow along with Samson, but she realised now she couldn’t remember if the Nephilim girl had perished in the fight or not.

  “Don’t play dumb. You know exactly why I’m doing this.”

  Willow came to stand in front of Melody and waved the dagger in front of her face. The blade skimmed her cheek and then her lips as Willow ran it over Melody’s face. She then held the blade at Melody’s throat.

  “Say it. Go on. Tell me why I’m doing this. Tell me why I had to kidnap the one who killed the only person who ever loved me,” Willow cried.

  Melody immediately felt sorry for Willow. It wasn’t the girl’s fault she had been brainwashed by the son of Lucifer. Samson was a demon, which meant everything he had done was not out of love.

  “Willow, let me help you. Samson was a demon. Okay? He had demon blood. He was brainwashing you.”

  “No. That’s not true. That’s a lie! He loved me. I loved him. He was my soul mate. And you killed him!” She pinned the blade of the dagger at Melody’s throat once more, and Melody tensed.

  “We had to. He was trying to repopulate the world with demons, possessing millions of innocent men, women, and children. It’s okay, Willow. If you let me go, I can take you back to the Academy, and you will be pardoned of any wrongdoings. You can come live with us.”

  Willow took the tip of the dagger away from Melody’s throat, and it looked promising as she contemplated Melody’s words. Only then, she whipped something out from behind her back and stabbed Melody in the neck with it. Melody cried out, and then her vision began to blur.

  “I will never be one of you. You took my love away from me, so I’m going to take yours away from you.”

  “Willow, wait! No! Please!” But her pleas for help fell on deaf ears. It was no use. Melody’s world tilted sideways as she fell to her side and was left to watch her captor walk away, taking Melody’s magical blade with her.

  Chapter 5

  Gabe paced outside his grandmother’s office. He had been debating either bursting in and demanding to know more about guardian angels or knocking and asking politely. But he was done waiting. It had now been a month since Melody left, since both the guardian angels left, and he needed answers.

  He walked up to the door, knocked twice, and then entered. He found that his grandmother, Miss Abigrine, the Principal of Michael Academy, wasn’t in her office. Gabe mentally fist-pumped and went in search of the research on guardian angels. Ten minutes later, he sat behind the desk, twirling around on the chair, empty-handed. He couldn’t find his grandmother’s research. He had hacked her computer and searched through all her books and papers on the desk but found nothing.

  “Where the heck is it?”

  “Where’s what, Gabriel?”

  Gabe froze and swore.

  “Um, hi, Grandma. How are you?” He plastered on the biggest fake smile he could manage.

  “I’m good. Gabriel, what are you doing in my office? Just because I’m your grandmother doesn’t mean you can come in here anytime you please.”

  His smile fell away, and he sighed deeply, sinking back into the soft leather of the chair.

  “I know. I was looking for answers, that’s all.”

  “Ah. I see.” Miss Abigrine walked around the desk and stopped beside the chair. She then perched on the side and turned to face her grandson. “I know love hurts, but you need to let her go, Gabe.”

  “I’m trying! Honestly, I’ve been trying, but I can’t function. I’m running around and around in circles like a mouse on a wheel, never getting any further. I’m like a robot, going through the day on autopilot, answering commands when they’re given. I can’t do this much longer. I don’t know how to do this.”

  His voice broke, and his grandmother moved closer and pulled him into her arms. Gabriel wrapped his arms around her waist. Gabe was glad he had someone who cared for him. Sure, he had his cousins Max and Eden and his friends, but he had no one he could tell his most intimate problems—these thoughts only made him sob harder as they reminded him of one person.

  “I miss her,” he mumbled into his grandmother’s blouse. She stroked his hair.

  “I know, sweetheart. I know. It will get easier.”

  He peered up at her through his tears. “When?”

  “In time. It’s different for everyone. I tell you what.” Miss Abigrine got up from her perch on the side of the desk and twisted around so she could unlock the second drawer in the desk. Gabe had searched high and low for the key to that drawer, and it turns out his grandmother had been wearing it the entire time as a charm on her bracelet. She unlocked the drawer and pulled out a small flash drive in the shape of a golden angel. The female angel had a long dress and shoulder-length hair and carried a dagger in one hand. It looked a bit like Melody. Damn it! Everything reminded him of Melody.

  “This is everything I’ve collected so far for my book. I’d love to get your opinion eventually but have a read, and maybe you’ll find your answers.”

  Gabe grinned and hugged his grandmother tight. She laughed and hugged him back.

  “Thank you, Grandma.”

 
; “You’re welcome… but don’t let me catch you in here again, you hear me? Not without my permission, anyway.” He gave his grandmother another hug and a one-handed salute as he backed out the door.

  He ran to his room immediately and pushed the flash drive into his laptop. Then the bell rang, and he swore.

  “Damn it. I forgot about math class!” He shut his laptop, gathered his books, and headed out the door, but not without a second glance at the golden angel sitting on his computer.

  “Soon, Melody. I’ll find a way to get you back.”

  Chapter 6

  When Melody woke, her head throbbed. Her mouth was dry, and her stomach growled. As she tried to sit up, the memories of the past hours and days flooded back. She had no idea how long she had been inside this dark, damp room.

  “You took my love away from me, so I’m going to take yours away from you.”

  Willow was alive. She had somehow hired demons to kidnap Melody so she could hold her for ransom and exact revenge for killing her one true love.

  What had Willow planned? Was she going to lure Gabe in by using her as bait? She couldn’t have that.

  Because one more day near Gabe was one more nail in her coffin.

  Each day she spent close to Gabe, loving him, was one less day of immortality.

  But she missed him terribly. She missed his laugh and his jesting. She missed his hugs and his kisses. It had been about a month now, but it felt like an entire immortal lifetime.

  She was cursed whatever way she went, with whatever choice she made. She would die with him or without him.

  She didn’t know what she was going to do.

  A door hinge squeaked in the dark, and she heard footsteps approaching. Willow was returning. What she was going to do to her next, Melody was unsure. At that moment, she was unsure of her future.