Guardian Of Fate (Fate Series)

by Kentowski, L. J.

  I heard a warrior-like cry escape my lungs and I was about to lunge the blade into his demon heart, when I heard my mom's screams. With my arms straining above me, I turned my head towards the cries. Nergal held my mom against him. His face was that of pure evil. On the other side of the car, Nora was in the clutches of one of the guards. I stared at them for a while, hatred emanating from my body at the demons that would tie my hands and force me into cooperation.

  Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said. I dropped the Sword next to me in surrender, my heart crashing down with it as it hit the pavement. Caleb pushed me off him and grabbed the Sword at the same time that he pulled me back into his chest. His face came next to mine and he licked the blood that continued to flow from my face.

  "Mmmm...you taste just as sweet as I imagined you would. I can't wait to see if the rest of you tastes as satisfying," he said seductively. I closed my eyes in disgust, bile rising in my throat.

  An animalistic cry pierced the night and I felt a surge of energy burst from where Hunter stood as he threw the guards off him, scattering them further than I thought was possible. He charged at us, reaching us in seconds. Throwing me to the side, he slammed his body against Caleb's and they went down in a heap of muscle. I heard something crack against the ground and, when I righted myself enough to look, all I could see was Caleb lying motionless beneath Hunter.

  Hunter was staring down at Caleb's lifeless body. Was this a trick? Why wasn't Caleb getting up? Hunter told me that the only way to kill a demon was with the Sword, but the Sword had not moved from the pavement, at least not that I'd seen.

  Hunter was so fixated that he didn't notice the guards had righted themselves and were now pulling him off Caleb. He didn't seem like he was putting up much of a fight. One of the guards grabbed me as I watched Hunter fall powerless to the men. Once we were all in their control again, Nergal walked forward with my mom.

  "Enough games. This is over. If you do not come with us now, I will kill your mom and your friend. You've run out of time... and options, Cassandra."

  I didn't want any more bloodshed. They'd already proven there was no hope in defeating them. We were overpowered. I looked down at Caleb again, picturing his body as being any one of ours if I continued to fight the inevitable. This was it. I'd reached the end of the line.

  "I'll come with you," I told him. "But I want to say goodbye, and I want to see that they leave safely."

  "As you wish," he said. While he released my mom, he motioned for the other guard to release Nora. My mom stayed where she was, staring out in front of her at nothing in particular. Suddenly, I watched her eyes roll back and her body become limp. Catching her just before she fell, I held her dead weight against me. Nora was by my side quickly, helping me get her into the car. No one else moved. I imagined they didn't much care what was wrong with her.

  As we sat her in the passenger side of the car, I leaned her head back on the headrest and lightly tapped her face, calling her name. I knew that everything she'd seen and heard had finally become too much for her mind to process. It had given up and shut down to recoup. Mostly, I assumed it was the information about my father and me being demons that had been the last straw. Finding out that my father was still alive in some form was hard; finding out he was now living as a demon in Hell was even tougher; but knowing that he had been tortured for so long was too much to bear. I made a secret vow to somehow avenge it all, if I ever got the chance.

  "She'll be okay, Cassie. I'll take care of her. I promise," Nora said, looking at me with tears in her eyes. "I won't fail you. I owe you that much."

  "You don't owe me anything, Nora. It's not your fault that any of this happened. It's been me they were after all this time. There was nothing you could do to stop it." Looking at her green eyes, the telltale sign of her being a Guardian, I felt so different from her now. If I had known all this time that part of me descended from Hell, would I have turned out differently? I hoped not, but fate doesn't seem to let you decide these things. I was grateful for being kept in the dark for as long as I had been.

  "I just hope that you can still see me for what you thought I was... what I thought I was. I don't want you to think of me as one of... them," I said putting my head down in shame.

  "I never did," she said.

  I jerked my head up to look into her eyes. I thought maybe I heard her wrong, but seeing her face, I knew I hadn't. She'd known all along. For an instant, I was mad as hell at her for not telling me, but I didn't have the energy to be mad, or sad, or confused, or hurt, or anything else anymore. I was done with surprises. I'd had enough of them within the last few weeks to become numb. So I simply nodded my head and said, "Of course you did."

  "I'm sorry, Cassie. It was my job to watch over you and make sure you remained true to your Guardian blood. I was never to tell you. As long as you were good, there was no reason for you to know."

  I pulled her to me and hugged her hard. "It's okay, Nora. It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters now is that you make sure you get my mom to the Elders. Take care of her for me. She'll need you. Especially after all of this."

  She nodded and I knew that she would keep to her word. She walked to the other side of the car and got behind the wheel as I buckled my mom in. Leaning over, I kissed her on the cheek and whispered into her ear, "I love you, Mom. I promise, I'll send Dad home to you if it's the last thing I do."

  I stood and went to close the door when I noticed that Nergal was walking with a determination over to Anael who still lay on the pavement. He was dangling the Sword as if he were on a stroll swinging a yo-yo. Reaching down, he pulled her up by her hair as she cried out and struggled against him.

  "Time to die, bitch," I heard him tell her. He raised the Sword, pulling his arm back as he aimed it straight for her heart. I quickly looked at Hunter, hoping he'd be able to stop Nergal's deadly intentions, but he was being held securely by two of the guards.

  I opened my mouth to scream, but the words died before they reached my lips as a blaze of white light swallowed up the street. I closed my eyes against the blinding glare. When the light slowly faded against my lids, I chanced squinting them open. Before I could make out the scene in the street, I heard a deep, powerful voice resonate in the night. "Release her, Nergal, or our war begins now."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  When the light finally faded enough for me to see comfortably, I had to blink several times just to make sure what I was seeing was really there. It could only be described as an army of men, their skin radiant with light. It was as if their bright souls were transcending their bodies for all to see. While each of them differed in appearance, they were all beautifully alluring; each and every one of them. Their only common attribute was the color of their eyes. Resembling the color of emeralds shining under a shimmering white light, they were mesmerizing.

  Powerfully built, they appeared as angelic warriors standing on the street before Nergal and his demons. All were strong and at attention, as if assigned, their swords and shields positioned for battle. They wore steel armor over their tunics to protect their bodies.

  One stood out in front of them all, as if he were the leader. While he shared the fierce green eyes, his other features were sharp, more powerful looking, and different from the rest. He had long, dark hair that was pulled back from his face and held in place by a very regal headpiece, etched with an emblem, which spanned his forehead. His silky white tunic was partially covered by gold armor, molded to his muscular build. Massive arms matched his bare shoulders, one of which held an intricately carved sword at the ready. His presence exuded respect and compliance and, right now, he seemed to be demanding just that from Nergal.

  Nergal continued to hold Anael ruthlessly by the back of the head, but it seemed the intimidation of the men before him was enough to drop his arm, dropping the damning Sword to his side.

  "Hadraniel," he spit as if the name left a bad taste in his mouth. "Why do you presume to care for Anael now? You gave her up
when you tossed her soul into the depths of Hell with me long ago."

  Holy shit! Was this the angel that Anael told me she had betrayed? He'd come back for her after all this time? But why? And why now? The answers didn't really matter at the moment, however. Standing before me was, in essence, good versus evil. The good guys against the bad guys. Realizing that the next few moments could potentially change the universe as we knew it, I held my breath while I watched.

  "The reasons for my actions are no longer of your concern, Nergal. What you need to be concerned about is if that Sword scratches even the smallest pore of her skin, I will consider it a challenge to war. And I'm quite certain you do not possess the strength in numbers or power to make that move yet. I've made sure of that. You are also forbidden to take another of my descendents to your putrid underworld. Cassandra is not to step foot in Sheol," Hadraniel stated with tenacity, his eyes boring into Nergal.

  I placed my hand on the car door to hold me up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Hadraniel had just said I was his descendent. But how?

  "But she is of our blood too now," Nergal argued. I couldn't believe it. Here I was, standing in the middle of nowhere, and I had Heaven and Hell fighting over my blood. This was something you read about in horror books, it didn't happen in real life.

  "She has shown no tendencies as a demon or Seeker. Her Guardian blood seems to be overpowering the poison of your kind. We've watched over her since coming into her bloodlines," he explained.

  I looked at Nora and she put her head down, a telltale sign that she had to be their source of knowledge.

  "She will remain in our world, with our rules," Hadraniel continued, "unless she starts displaying her evil lineage."

  Talk about fate, I thought. Mine was dependent on whether I let the tiger out of the cage that inhabited my body. It was a terrifying awareness of what I was capable of. It was even more frightening to think about what the consequences would be if I were to change.

  "You really have no choice here, Nergal. Pick up your dregs and take them back to Sheol, or we fight here and now," he said with finality.

  Nergal looked to the demons surrounding him, which seemed like a small circle of friends compared to the army standing in front of him. He motioned the guards near him towards Caleb's body, "Pick him up and take him back to my quarters," he said dejectedly. "This isn't over, Hadraniel. We will face off again."

  "I look forward to it," Hadraniel answered.

  "You can be sure next time, we will be ready for war. And we will win. Humanity will be ours and all of your angels will be our slaves," he finished with a sneer.

  "We shall see."

  Nergal looked to Anael then, adding "Useless bitch. I'm glad to be rid of you. I'm even happy I didn't go through with your final death. Now you can torture your old love for the rest of eternity."

  Anael met his gaze, probably finding new ambition from the fact that she would finally be shielded from him. She was, after all, an angel at heart.

  He motioned for the guards handling Hunter to follow. As they walked, Hunter turned his head towards me. All of the feelings I'd had for him came rushing back, knowing I'd probably never see him again. I ran up and stood in front of them, blocking their path.

  "Stop!" I told them. "I have something to say before you take him away." The guards looked over my shoulder at Nergal. I turned towards Nergal as well and told him, "You have nothing to worry about. I don't want him. I just have a few things I want him to remember me by." Nergal looked like he was going to protest, so I quickly got closer to him before he had the chance.

  I was so close I could feel Hunter's breath on the tip of my nose as I looked up at him. With every inch of resolve I had in my soul, I glared into his eyes. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to think I'd fallen in love with you. You lied to me and used me for your own pleasure. I despise you, Hunter. I may have demon blood in me, but I will never be as ugly as you. You truly are a demon from Hell, and I hope you rot there."

  I heard the guards quietly laugh at his side, but I continued to stare at him as he slowly closed his eyes and let out an aching sigh. When he opened them back up, there was no angry response, as I expected there would be. There was almost understanding and resolve reflected in the liquid blue orbs.

  "You may hate me now, Cassandra, but someday you'll realize that I kept those things from you to protect you. If you think I'm ugly for being a demon, how would you have felt about your father, or yourself? I know now, after loving you, how hard it is to accept who I am, and feel the way I do about you. I'm a demon. I'm not supposed to love anything, feel anything, but lust for evil. But I love you, Cassandra. I lust for only you."

  His words melted my heart, despite me wanting to hate him for what he'd done. I really never thought of him as anything else but a demon, once I knew. He was right, I couldn't get past it. I'd pegged him as evil from the beginning and when I found out he'd lied to me, I thought it all fell into place, that he used me for his own evil intentions. The times we were together, those beautiful moments when we were alone, I'd gotten past it and even thought that he'd somehow overcome the blood that ran through his veins. But he'd never overcome it; he merely waged his own war with it for what he felt for me. I blinked back tears, not wanting to show him how he'd affected me, but I knew he caught it. He caught everything about me.

  "When that someday comes, I promise, I'll be back for you," he told me. "And when I come back, you won't doubt me; or this—"

  Suddenly he was out of the hands of the guards and his own hands were capturing my face hard, pulling it towards his lips. There was no time to fight him off. His tongue was in my mouth, desperate to taste what he could, before being pulled away. As quickly as he had assaulted my mouth, he was back in the clutches of the guards. I felt empty, as I watched him surrender to them. It was as if he'd ripped my heart out as he was pulled from me. They tried to maneuver him around me, but before they'd passed, he leaned towards my ear, just close enough for me to hear him quietly say, "I'll be back for you, Cassandra, my love."

  ***

  As the demons disappeared into the night, I stood in the middle of the street, immobilized by my emotions. Hunter's words twisted around my heart, circling like bloodthirsty sharks. The cage I shielded it with after hearing about his deceit, threatened to break open and allow them to feed on it. I knew the love I felt for him was real, because it penetrated through the pain of knowing he'd kept those life-changing things from me and overpowered it. My heart heard his reasoning and loved him all the more for it. The only pain now was that he was gone, probably forever. I would need to force my heart to beat again without him.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and slowly, lifelessly, I turned around. Anael pulled me into her arms, and I rested my head on her shoulder, allowing the tears to flow freely. She didn't say anything; just held me there while my tears turned to racking sobs. Everything that had transpired in the last few weeks came crashing down on me, crushing me. I felt a gentle hand on my face and smelled my mom's familiar scent on it. Opening my eyes, she appeared before me, concern and love on her face. Anael handed me off to her, and we hugged for a long time, crying together over everything we had learned.

  "Dad..." I started, but couldn't find the right words to express the shock I felt, as I'm sure she did also, about him not being alive, but most importantly, that he'd been a demon all along.

  "I know, I know. I can't believe it either. All this time I thought he was a Guardian. I never would have guessed - I mean, how could I not have known for all those years?" she asked more to herself. "I thought we were in love, but how could he have loved me if he was a demon?"

  Pulling from her quickly, I looked into her eyes, and said through tight lips, "I'm going to find him, Mom. I'm going to find him and make him explain everything. I swear it."

  "No, you won't," came Hadraniel's voice from behind me, deep and with powerful authority.

  I whirled around, prepared for a verbal battle of wills, but th
e intensity of his eyes melted my resolve. He had a power over me that I couldn't explain and couldn't resist.

  "I can't just let him suffer like that," I said.

  "Cassandra, your father's fate was decided long ago. He was turned, so he belongs to Sheol now. I cannot help him; his blood is not ours anymore." He glanced at Anael, who was now at his side. "Nor can you, if you wish us to protect you. There will be many more Seekers they will send after you. You are the last of our line and very powerful. The only way into Sheol is to allow your demon blood to overpower your Guardian. If you allow that to happen, we will consider you fallen from our graces and deem you as our enemy."

  The realization of my demon blood hit me. Part of my soul belonged to Hell, just as my father did. But I wasn't forced to drink the blood of a Seeker, I was born with it. My fate seemed to be at war all on its own, at any point in time going in a different direction. What I wanted to know now, was how much control I had in changing the course of that path.

  "You mean I can get into Sheol? How? I mean, I don't even feel like I'm a demon. Shouldn't I have some evil thoughts going on or something?" Probably not the best thing to be asking one of the most powerful angels in Heaven, especially one that just sent the Devil back where he came from.

  He looked at me for a minute as if contemplating what he should or should not tell me. "Our blood in you is strong, Cassandra. You will be wise to keep it that way. You have the powers of both worlds. The Seeker is also in your blood, but you must not acknowledge it. If you do, there is no telling where your soul will lie. Live your life as you had before all of this happened. Continue to serve the angels as a Guardian and we will watch over you. You can live the normal life that you've always wanted."