Angelic Anarchy (Heaven on Earth Book 1)

by JP Epperson

  Why do I still ache for this beautiful demon?

  He caught up with me and we edged forward in silence. We turned right at the corner the beast had appeared from. We faced another long and empty corridor. There were fewer torches in this passageway, so the light was much dimmer. We walked silently, keeping in step with each other so as to minimize the sound of our footsteps. Humans would not have heard us, but it wasn’t the humans that concerned us.

  We finally reached the end of the corridor, which was empty but for an ancient-looking wooden door to the left. There was a small window in the top of the door lined with old rusted bars. The oversized door handle was unlocked and covered in a thick layer of dust; more than likely no one walking down here needed doors to get in and out. I could imagine someone hastily walking through the chambers a hundred years ago with a set of thick gold keys on a large ring.

  After we emerged on the other side of the door and verified that the hall was empty, we waited for just a moment in position to attack and “listened” with not just our ears, but all of our senses. Many times we know when we are walking into trouble. Somehow, we can sense danger or evil. I expected to sense those foreboding feelings after we emerged but there was nothing. It was as though the area was void of all emotional signatures. It gave a sense of neutrality . . . Probably a false sense . . .

  There was not much light in this corridor either, just enough for us to see that along each side of the hallway were dozens of enclosed chambers. Some had walls and a door with a barred window like the one that led us here. Some had only walls made of bars. Colton took the lead as we moved on. We crept through the dungeons, staying hidden in the shadows. As we moved along, I noticed that some of the cells had a bed, some had a desk and chair, and some even had bookcases filled with books of every size and color. It was as though someone wanted to make the captives feel more like guests rather than prisoners. I silently wondered if their efforts were well received. Although I doubted any amount of books allowed the guests to forget about the presence of the bars detaining them.

  We were nearing the end of the tunnel, and a door mirroring the one we originally entered came into sight. Colton suddenly stopped me with a slight raise of his hand. I heard it too—the quiet hum of a young woman’s pleading voice. The voice came from one of the confinements toward the end of the corridor on the left side.

  “Please, oh please, what do you want from me? I just want to go home, I just want to go home,” she cried shakily. The voice sobbed inconsolably.

  The girl was so distraught, she failed to notice Colton and me as we hurried past her prison cell. It was for the best, considering that we were going to leave her right where she was. It seemed harsh, but it was just the way it had to be. We could not afford to stray from our mission to save someone we knew nothing about. Especially if there was even the slightest chance that these underground tunnels could lead us to information on Theodore—or possibly even Theodore himself. If things didn’t get too out of hand, I would get her out of there. Otherwise, she would have to wait until we made it out and alerted the guardians. The guardians were in the people-saving business. My business was demon hunting.

  We edged past the bars, which must have mimicked a human cage to all those unfortunate enough to find themselves trapped on the wrong side of them. There were two more cells after we passed the young female captive before we reached the end of the corridor. There, standing unguarded, was the heavy door that was an exact replica of the door we entered to come through this way.

  I was getting nervous; I could feel my insides begin to tingle. Colton was signaling me to go stealth and check out things on the other side of the door. This time it was me that refused to leave him behind. My gut was telling me something, but I was having a difficult time deciphering what. Colton urged me once more to go ahead, but he could tell I was not backing down. He nodded reluctantly, and we both vanished at once and emerged on the other side of the door.

  I sighed as once again we came to another dimly lit passageway. This one was lined with sporadically placed wooden doors, all exactly the same as the two we had already gone through. I was beginning to understand why this place was left unguarded. It was a maze—a labyrinth of identical passageways. Even if one of the prisoners escaped, it was highly unlikely they would get very far before being recaptured.

  There was no way we were splitting up. Colton was not straying from my side whatsoever, especially after our visit with the beast of Hell. So, we did the only other thing we could do. We picked the door nearest us, on the left, and emerged on the other side of it.

  The walls were again aligned with prison cell after prison cell. For the second time, there was a completely neutral sense about this place, and the utter absence of emotion unnerved me. We laid low, watchful for any signs to indicate someone lurking in the shadows.

  As we continued to scope things out, I realized this passage was actually longer than the last one had been. I estimated, after a quick glance, that there were approximately fifty prison cells in this ward—twenty-five on each side, though I could have been off by a few. It was difficult to see with the scarce light from the torches on the walls.

  We took our time making sure that every cell was empty. We neared the end, and I heard a soft ruffling of sheets. I reached for Colton and clutched his wrist firmly. I could see from the look in his eyes that he’d heard it too. We slowed our pace as we pursued the source of the noise. More than likely it would be another unfortunate human captive, but we still had to be careful. Before I finished taking my next step, a voice spoke from one of the far prison cells.

  “I know you’re there,” it said. It was the voice of a boy—a teenage boy. My heart sped up. Could this be the boy we’d been searching for, or was it just going to be another letdown? I put my excitement in check; I didn’t want to jump the gun, but for the first time since I received my mission, I felt hope.

  “I can feel you somehow. You’re different from them . . . lighter, I think. But not completely light.” I raised my eyebrow in surprise. This boy was some sort of empath, or he at least had some empathic abilities. “You should go now,” the voice went on, scarcely changing as he warned us. His pitch did not get higher as is usual with a sense of urgency; instead, his voice became quieter with each word. “They are coming. I can feel them. They are coming very quickly. Go now,” he urged before falling silent.

  I tensed my body and felt Colton beside me do the same. I hoped there would only be a couple of demons that we could dispatch quickly. I still hadn’t got the kid’s name. But suddenly a dozen demons emerged, the space in the hallway becoming a little cramped. We had enough time to vanish, but this was the first glimmer of hope I’d had of finding the kid or news on the kid so there was no way I was going home empty-handed . . . Again!

  For all we knew, it was Theodore in the cell just a few feet away, and if we left, we would lose the only chance we had to get him back. Even if it wasn’t Theodore, this looked like the kind of place the demons would take him. If we left, they would abandon this place as a refuge, and we would be back at square zero. Not to mention a warrior never runs from a fight . . . even if outmanned. Especially Colton and me. We shared almost the same hunger for battle that we shared for each other. It was almost an insatiable thirst . . . Always bubbling just below the surface with no possible way to extinguish it, and right now, I was having a craving for both Colton and battle. I was denying myself the first; I wouldn’t deny myself the second.

  Nodding at him, I turned to the door in front of us and braced myself.

  Chapter Fourteen

  A fireball flew past Colton and grazed my shoulder. I hissed, and suddenly the sharp clangs of metal hitting metal echoed throughout the dungeons. These demons, unlike most of the demons I had ever fought, were expertly skilled fighters. Of course, many of the demons we fought were warriors, and thus they were trained, but usually the fallen were newer and lacking in experience. These demons fought with a purpose, and it was clear
they’d had some kind of training. Their style was similar to mine and Colton’s—almost imitating. This was surprising, as our ancient method of fighting had long been outlawed by the elder archangels. Newer angels were taught more modern methods, but Colton and I had gone through our training together, and that was how we fought together.

  As I parried blows and dodged strikes, I was surprised the demons were fighting so expertly as a group, like how Colton and I worked together. Not only were they skilled, but these were also older and experienced demons. Things suddenly went from copasetic to complex in a matter of seconds. We were still faster, more powerful, and just plain better, but we were severely outnumbered.

  They fought like they were some kind of elite demon army. We were not fighting twelve individual demons; it was as if we were fighting one entity. It didn’t matter that they were all different sizes and shapes. Though they were in their human forms, the shadows on the wall showed them for what they truly were—monsters. I looked around wearily for Colton’s shadow, both wanting to see it and not wanting too. Relief hit me when I finally found it and there was no sign of a monster just a normal shadow like mine.

  They were the twelve vital pieces of a killing machine, and their sole purpose was to destroy us. They strategically kept us surrounded and on defense. I hardly had time to make any moves. It almost seemed as though they were toying with us.

  Colton and I stood back-to-back, our stances mirroring one another. We both knew what to do. Take them down one by one. But the problem was, they were blocking every opportunity we had to do that. Every time one of us attempted to take one of them down, one of the other demons stepped in to take their place and do some damage control. We had to get out of the center of this circle of death or we were going to be in some serious trouble soon.

  As usual, Colton was exactly where I needed him to be. We sidestepped each other without missing a beat of our swordplay with the enemy. We were now standing chest to chest, each of our arms bearing weapons that moved at top speeds against the weapons of our opponents. Again, despite the poor timing, I could not help but to take a mental picture of the beauty of battle. There we stood in a circle—two against a dozen. We danced with calculated, graceful movements to a song of metal against metal.

  In the movies, this would have been where we vanished and reemerged behind the antagonist, killing them without breaking a sweat. In reality, it didn’t work that way. Sure we could have vanished, but they could have “tagged” along with us wherever we went.

  Colton’s hands began to shake, and I covered him. It was just like old times. If I tried really hard to block out the last five years, I could almost pretend we were a team once again. That we were warrior angels and devoted lovers Colton and Belleeza. But I knew, of course, that we weren’t. I was warrior angel Belleeza, and he was demon and betrayer Colton. We were so far apart, yet standing side by side. I shook my head and forced myself to focus.

  I was moving faster than a human would be able to follow. They would have thought they saw a person, but I would have been a blur, and before I knew it, they would have convinced themselves that they imagined it. Colton’s hands started to grow luminescent. His hands did not change, but there was a bluish glow coming from within his fingertips. It was only visible out of the corner of my eye, and if I looked at him directly, it would disappear. And, of course, the demons wouldn’t be able to see it. Angels can choose who sees their light—and choose who to hide it from. Helps cut down the risk of friendly fire too—always a hazard in our line of work.

  I could feel the air thickening and coagulating just in front of us as I darted and danced to and fro. He worked his magic quietly and quickly; I could not see it, but I could feel that he was creating a shield into the shape of a circle since our enemy was closing in all around us like a group of starving sharks. There was suddenly an invisible barrier between us and our many opponents. It would not last long, as they were now using their abilities to hack it down, but it gave me the opportunity I needed. Just before Colton closed the circular shield, I vanished, going stealth, and emerged behind the demons. They scattered like ants searching for me, and Colton seized his moment. The beautiful part about Colton’s shielding ability was that he alone could penetrate it without the use of force or weapons. He could walk right through it.

  Still in a crouched position, I revealed myself at precisely the same moment that I slid the dagger from my right hand into the back of the demon nearest me. As soon as I exposed myself, two demons rushed me from the back. I stood with the sword in my right hand and spun so fast that the first demon’s head fell from his shoulders before he even stopped running at me. The second demon that came at my back vanished, and I prepared for him to him emerge, looking all around me, but he didn’t come back. So three demons out of a dozen, and the odds suddenly tipped in our favor.

  I glanced at Colton; two bodies lay at his feet, and he gracefully managed to avoid them while he fought gallantly. I was confident now we were about to win the battle, and I felt triumphant as I spun around. I caught Colton’s eye and he was grinning too. Then his face froze as his eyes caught something behind me. I spun, puzzled. The demon that had disappeared during our fight a few moments earlier had emerged . . . but he wasn’t alone. In tow were about three dozen more demons—possibly four; I couldn’t be sure. I could tell just from looking at the way they moved and held their weapons that these demons were skilled, trained, and experienced. They actually were an elite demon army. I could not believe what I was seeing.

  We were in deep shit.

  “Get down!” I shouted to Colton. As I shouted, it occurred to me that I should have just opened myself up emotionally to Colton so he would know I was planning to do something, rather than shouting to him and giving the demons the heads-up too. Truth be told, it had just been so long since I’d had any help that I’d forgotten what it was like to have someone on my side for once. Colton dropped to his knees, still trying to take out anyone in his reach, while I summoned the power from within to use my light-casting ability. I reached inside myself to find the heat concealed within me, past the warmth of my lifeblood, past my heart, deep in the place where my faith resides. That’s where I found what I was looking for.

  A spark of yellow light appeared in the center of my palms, growing and growing with my concentration. I called upon my faith, willing my light to come to me, and the moment I felt the full strength of the light coming to my aid, I raised my arms and blasted slivers of pure holy light toward the group of demons trying to take out Colton. I was hurling light here and there taking demons out, but it was not enough—there were just too many. They shrieked from the pain, getting angry and more violent.

  The shield was gone now, and Colton danced around, deftly fighting, armed with his favorite sword and a shield he created from the air.

  We were outnumbered, and I felt the demons crowding round closer. Desperately, I lashed out, trying to drive them back, but every time one fell back, another took its place.

  I ducked as a fireball narrowly missed my brow and instead hit my shoulder. I hissed but kept fighting. Another fireball came flying at me, landing in my hair. “Shit,” I screamed like an angry banshee. Colton harnessed some air quickly and thrust it my way, blowing out the fire before it had a chance to do more than singe a few strands. This place was quickly becoming a warzone. Fireballs in a variety of shades were flying throughout the corridor, lighting up the walls in a play of color like a disco ball.

  I called my light and suddenly felt it rearing up inside of me with a strength I’d never felt before. So strong was the pull of energy that it sucked the light straight from the torches, plunging the corridor into almost total darkness. There was sudden silence, and all I could hear was the heavy breathing of the demons. The fireballs had stopped. It was as if we were in the eye of the storm. In the dim light remaining, I saw Colton look at me in wonder and confusion. I shrugged. I had no clue what was going on either.

  And then a purple fir
eball nailed Colton in the neck. It broke the spell. The room lit up once more in a rainbow of fire.

  I could feel the light I harnessed burning me from the inside out, itching for release. Filling up every part of my insides and searching frantically for a way out. I balled it all up and threw it as hard as I could at the large group of demons around Colton. It came out in an explosion of light, taking out several demons and even some walls and part of the ceiling, but it wasn’t enough. There were just too many of them. We were getting hit left and right. I winced as I got hit over and over again. Colton and I tried to find our way back to each other to team up and regroup, but it was no use.

  Where before they seemed to be trying to take us in alive, they now seemed hell bent on destroying us—or at least Colton. They used numbers to snuff out my light, forcing me to fight with weaponry rather than light. I slid here and dove there, taking out any demon I could, continually trying to get closer to Colton while he did the same. He could have bought himself some time by enclosing himself in a shield, but he would never leave me out to dry like that.

  I tried to tell him to shield, but he knew what I was about to say and rolled his eyes, glaring at me with a look that said yeah, right. He looked so beautiful even with the jagged slice from some type of blade down the side of his face. I suddenly felt a flood of emotions as he opened himself up to me. Like me, he knew we were beyond screwed and barring a miracle, we weren’t going to make our way out of here. I opened myself up to him and he grinned when he realized that were on the same page.

  We would both fight to the death.

  I pushed forward to get to him. If we were going to go out, we were going to do it together. In that moment, I didn’t care that he had betrayed me—that he had fallen. I was hastily clearing a path, driving my blades into one demon after another while Colton did the same. Finally, we were getting closer to one another. He jumped, missing by a hair’s breadth a blade that was clearly intent on slicing his body in half. He flipped over the blade, landing neatly by my side. We were once again side by side. He grabbed me and kissed me fiercely with such lust that I momentarily forgot we were currently on the losing side of a raging battle. My knees went weak, my body went slack, and I writhed against him passionately.