The Wings of Heaven and Hell (The Arcadian Steel Sequence Book 1)

by L. M. Peralta

“They’re only half-demon,” I said as I approached the doors. “So, shouldn’t that mean that they’re half as strong?”

  Adrianna shook her head. “A Cambion has twice the spiritual energy because it is both human and demon.”

  “Riiight,” I said.

  Nash pressed his lips together. He reached out his hand to open a portal. “You’re going back.”

  “Stop.” I yanked his arm back down. “You know you shouldn’t open so many portals. What if you’re too drained to open the next one?”

  Nash grimaced. “You shouldn’t have followed us.” He approached the building.

  The windows and doors were boarded up. The red bricks had long, dusty black lines running through them. The smell of wet earth scented the air.

  “How did they get inside?” I asked.

  Adrianna tested the boards. “Cambions who favor their demon halves can make themselves temporarily incorporeal. Long enough to pass through walls. But it requires a lot of energy. They’d have to rest and eat up for several days after that.”

  The front of the hospital was surrounded by dense vegetation. The lower half of the outer walls was stained green.

  “Well, it looks like this is going to be a good-old fashioned break in.” I hacked at the walls with my sword. The wood splintered beneath my blade. Once the boards were no longer an obstacle, I kicked the doors open. They opened with a dull creak, and dust fell upon my shoulders.

  I looked back at Nash. I felt badass, but if Nash was impressed he didn’t show it.

  “Follow me,” he said. He stepped into the abandoned hospital like it wasn’t the creepiest place on Earth.

  The light pooled in from the full moon and revealed a dirty tiled floor, and the once white hospital walls were a dingy gray. I held my breath and waited for a demon to jump out from the shadows.

  Nash withdrew his sword with a zing and marched down the corridor.

  The first floor of the hospital was a maze of empty hallways, abandoned metal gurneys, and quiet rooms. Squares of dirt marked the space of every missing tile. The humidity and heat inside was more intense than outside the hospital.

  We stopped in the large empty space that led to the stairwell. Four hallways led away from the space. The ceilings went all the way to the upper floors with half walls lined along hallways so you could look down and see the landing.

  “Why would Cambions want to live here?” I asked.

  “They’re hiding from Lucifer,” said Alex. “That’s why they’re always moving. But they don’t want to be alone. They can’t have families, you know.”

  I looked at him. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Cambions can’t have children,” said Adrianna. “They’re infertile like mules.”

  “Oh,” I said. Despite the heat, a chill ran down my back as I glanced up at the darkness above us. Anything could be lurking in the shadows. “Do you think they’re…up there?”

  A form moved in the shadows above us. Dread wrapped its fingers around my heart and stopped my breath. Figures with pale faces stood at the half walls overlooking the landing. They jumped.

  Feet thundered to the floor. Laughter echoed. Someone hissed, “Dinner!” More of them dropped to the floor and surrounded us on all sides. They looked normal, like people, but their fingers ended in long, dirty claws.

  They whispered and chanted, “Dinner!”

  Adrianna’s back was to mine.

  “They want to eat us?” I asked. Why were so many demons interested in eating people?

  “Only you,” said Adrianna. “That’s why Nash didn’t want you to come.”

  I gulped. “Why are they acting like this? I thought they were part human.”

  “They haven’t fed.” Adrianna cut down one of the creatures. The circle tightened. “If they don’t eat, they go mad with hunger, forcing them to feed.”

  “But—” I broke off. This isn’t a colony. Someone locked them in here. A Cambion with wild hair and dry, cracked skin lunged toward me. I backed away and knocked into Kiran and Nash. I put my sword between the demon and myself.

  Blood sprayed around me as swords slashed through the bodies of the creatures, but behind them were others, and still more watched from the rafters and the balconies that overlooked the small landing at the bottom of the stairs. My breath spiked. I wielded my sword mechanically, and cut into at least two of the monsters.

  My face was sprayed with blood. My blade was painted with gore that dripped down the hilt and over my hand that fisted the pummel in a tight, urgent grip.

  An invisible force tore my sword from my hand, and my bloody palm clenched around nothing. My eyes swept the room. The weapons were torn from the hands of my friends as well, and we stood defenseless before the monsters.

  “Welcome, friends.” A tall man stepped out from the shadows, but something in his calm demeanor and the glint in his emerald eyes told me this wasn’t a man. He was good-looking. He had dirty-blond hair and clear skin.

  “Quentin,” Adrianna’s voice was a whisper, but somehow the man heard it.

  “Oh, if it isn’t the lovely Adrianna.”

  Adrianna stabbed him with her hard, green eyes. “What are you doing here? Are you responsible for these?”

  “Most of them are my children, yes.” He moved along the balcony on the second floor.

  “Are you crazy?” Adrianna shouted. “Why didn’t you return to Sheol?” Her hair gathered together and became slick and scaly like snake’s skin. I blinked, and it returned to soft, blonde curls.

  “I missed my quota.” His fingertips grazed the railing. “With each one of my children, my power increases. I can’t get enough of it.”

  “You can never have enough children to put up a good fight if Lucifer comes for you.”

  “You think I did this only for power. Why would I lock myself up in this place? I was asked to do this and, in exchange, I don’t have to spend an eternity in the Circles.”

  “Asked by who?” Nash’s voice came from behind me.

  The Redeemer, I thought. He has stained fingers from dipping his hands in everything.

  Quentin’s mouth curled up on one side. “We are sleepers, and for now, we dream. You were wrong to come and tempt us with this human.”

  He looked down at me, and my blood curdled. His hand rolled into a fist, and the weapons that were pulled away from us hovered in the air and pointed towards us in a circle of swords. He wanted to stick our own weapons through us like needles into a pin cushion.

  As the steel wavered, thoughts clouded my mind. I was going back to Sheol to spend an eternity. Nash, Adrianna, Kiran, Chandra, and Alex would die in this place and forever be destined to the Pit. I would never see Mom and Dad again. I clasped my locket in one shaking fist.

  But, in a rush of air and confusion, the Cambions around us were thrust back and skewered onto the blades that surrounded us. Two alone shuttered on the end of my blade. The bodies of others hung on the blades of my companions like a gory wreath.

  Quentin’s face darkened. “What was that?”

  Adrianna’s eyes met mine with a look of both shock and fear. The swords fell to the floor, and the bodies came with them.

  Nash pulled his sword out of the two bodies that were tossed on the ground like puppets. He cut off the head of the shocked creature that stood in front of him.

  Quentin and the Cambions that stood with him on the balconies were thrust against the wall and into the shadows.

  “Lia,” shouted Adrianna. “Whatever you’re doing keep doing it.”

  “But I’m not doing anything,” I said.

  Adrianna tossed me my sword as a Cambion came at me. His jaws gnashed like a rabid dog’s. I ran my sword through his neck.

  The air smelled coppery. Mixed with the humidity and moldy smell of the hospital, I thought I would be sick. But I continued to slash my sword at my enemies, liking the thought of their teeth in my flesh even less.

  A mess of bodies littered the floor so that I could no longer se
e the tiles beneath. Adrianna turned to the stairs when Nash’s hand gripped her shoulder. “If we don’t stop Quentin, he’ll make more of them.”

  “We can’t go after him,” said Nash. “We don’t know how many more he has lurking in the darkness. We need to go.” He looked at me.

  He wanted to leave because of me. Hasn’t he seen that I could handle myself without even trying to? I wanted to tell him that, but my lips quivered like the strings on a violin.

  SIXTEEN

  I grabbed the spear from the ground and ran. It hadn’t worked this time. The angel must have known something was up. He felt me behind him. I needed to get him away from the others. All I needed to do was touch him, and it would all be over.

  I tripped and knelt among the stalks of corn. This was it.

  The wings flapped above me. I waited as the sound grew louder and louder. A little closer. I rolled over onto my back and thrust the spear into the air. The pointed edge invaded the angel’s body. Silver blood spilled onto my chest and neck. I continued to push until the spearhead jutted out from his back.

  He tried to pull back from the spear, but he screeched in pain as he realized the spearhead had sharp teeth on the back end.

  But I didn’t need much time. I ducked my head, and slam!

  His gauntleted fists came down upon my back, and I plummeted to the ground. His blow knocked the breath from my lungs.

  I sensed him as he struggled above me, attempting to pull the spear from his body. Loud screams battered my ears, and silver blood dotted the ground. I couldn’t let him pull the spear out.

  I crawled along the ground and reached out in front of me. The sudden loss of oxygen made me dizzy, and my vision blurred.

  My hand landed against something cold and smooth. Arcadian Steel. The angel’s boots were made of it. But Kiran’s sword had cracked his armor in places. One of his leg guards had shattered under the repeated blows of pure Arcadian Steel.

  I climbed up his leg until I touched smooth, exposed flesh. The scream brought me utter satisfaction.

  The loud guttural shriek of despair was mixed with hopelessness as he suffered the knowledge that he was damned for all eternity.

  He stumbled back. His wings burned and set the stalks of corn on fire.

  The corners of my vision crept into darkness.

  WHEN I awoke, I was in the arms of Adrianna.

  “Did I get him?” My memory was fuzzy.

  “You got him,” said Adrianna. “He’s chained up in the cargo hold.”

  I sat up. We were on the plane.

  “You shouldn’t have grabbed the spear and ran off on your own.” Nash turned his back to me.

  I was ashamed, not because of what I had done to the angel, but because since Nash returned, all he did was criticize me. I should have known that he would be upset that I took matters into my own hands.

  Nash wasn’t too keen on the idea of me sneaking up on the angel anyway, but Chandra said that was the best I could do. For once, I agreed with her.

  It was easier for them to distract the angels and for me to get them unaware than it was for Nash and the others to beat them down until they were weak enough for me to approach. Nash’s way always led to injuries that took weeks to heal.

  I was fine doing it this way. It got the job done sooner, and we could move on to the next angel as my way caused very few, if any, injuries. This time, however, things didn’t go as planned.

  I sat up and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m sorry,” I said. “But if I wouldn’t have done that, he would have gone after you.”

  “And we would have handled it,” said Nash.

  I narrowed my eyes. “I know that, and then what, someone gets nearly killed, and you attempt another journey through the Circles all over again?”

  Nash leaned forward. His face was inches from mine. “It's not about us. If you are mortally wounded, you die. Simple as that. We can’t open a portal and save you.”

  Nash stormed into the sleeping quarters and slid the door closed behind him.

  “I think you made him mad.” Chandra smiled as she took a seat in the brown plushy chair opposite the white sofa.

  “He’s worried about you because he cares,” said Adrianna.

  “You must see something I don’t,” I said.

  “Listen,” said Chandra. “This is what Nash does. This is the culling phase.”

  “Chandra, stop,” said Kiran.

  “No, she deserves to know,” she said.

  Tom looked up from his book, but returned to it once he heard Chandra’s next few words.

  “Nash likes his girls…interesting. Whenever, the next hot, young demon comes down to Sheol, he wants to know her story, how she got to Hell. If the story is interesting, he dates her for some time, and then he slowly purges himself of her.”

  “That isn’t true,” said Kiran. “Sheol can get lonely. Nash has been with women in the past. He found out they weren’t his type. It’s hard to live an eternity with the same person.”

  “Do you believe that?” asked Adrianna.

  “It is for some people,” said Kiran.

  Adrianna’s lips formed a hard line.

  Chandra smirked. “Guess this is another gutter ball for good old Nash.” Her eyes threatened to collide with the bridge of her nose.

  “You’re jealous.” Tom didn’t look up from his book.

  “What did you say?” asked Chandra.

  “I said you’re just being a bitch.” Tom’s voice was nonchalant. “Nash dated you for three weeks, which is like what? A second in the face of eternity, and he couldn’t stand you for that long.”

  I grinned. So, that was the reason Chandra was so terrible to me all the time. She was another Felicia, jealous that a guy might like me over her. I guess jealous girls are everywhere, even in Hell.

  But maybe Chandra was right. Nash decided that I wasn’t interesting enough, and he decided that right away. Or maybe I read the entire situation wrong, and he hadn’t been interested in the first place. I was the same to him as I was to Lucifer and Raphael, a tool to get what they wanted. In Nash’s case, he used me to avoid the Pit.

  That didn’t matter anyway. I needed to do this. What scared me was that I got used to making angels fall. That angel I destroyed in the cornfield, I might have considered beautiful once, with its clear blue eyes and delicate white wings. But not anymore. So many of them tried to kill me. I thought of them as monsters and nothing more.

  Lucifer said she would release my soul if I did this for her, but Tom told me that some people were destined for Hell. What if I wasn’t allowed into Heaven anyway?

  I have the power to make angels fall. So, I must be one of the bad guys. I guess everyone has the potential for evil, but I used my power to help the Devil. Surely, that would earn me a spot in Hell. But if Lucifer didn’t take me and God didn’t want me, where would I go?

  Still, I wasn’t fighting just any angels. I fought the ones who wanted to lock Heaven down to humans. These angels went against God’s will, right? I hadn’t read the Bible, but I was sure that God made Heaven for human souls. I must be doing the right thing, and the only path that would get me back home.

  I had found a small alcove with a plush armchair to hide away in. I looked up from the book I was reading. Soft, sure music echoed down the hall.

  I stood, placing the book down on the chair.

  The music became louder as I walked down the hall. I peered through the open doorway. A grand piano was nestled in one corner, and Nash stood in the center. His long fingers cradled a violin.

  His chin was pressed against the instrument while his other hand clasped the bow. He wore black pants and an untucked, rumpled shirt. His hands were rapid and sure. The sound vibrated down the strings in clear, quick notes.

  Nash’s slender fingers ran along the strings as he swept the bow across as gracefully as he wielded a sword.

  His eyes shot open, and when he saw me, he stopped playing.

  “Please, don�
��t stop,” I whispered. “I didn’t know you played. I didn’t even know you liked music.”

  “Everyone likes music.” Nash knelt and placed the violin in a velvet lined case.

  “When you said you hadn’t listened to Rock…”

  “I wasn’t lying. There is more music in the world than rock n’ roll. When you’ve had as much time as I have, you become interested in learning lots of things.”

  “I was starting to think there was no music in Hell.”

  Nash looked up at me as he closed the violin case. “There is. It just has no emotion.”

  “That song you played.” I stepped closer. “I felt something.”

  Nash stood. “I thought you were trying to get out of here.”

  “I am.”

  “Then why are you being so reckless?”

  “Reckless? I’m doing what I was asked to do.” I was baffled.

  “You’re taking risks, improvising, going against my orders.”

  “Your orders.”

  “I’m the leader of this team. I’m the one who was charged to protect you.”

  “I’m trying to protect myself. My soul is hers. If I don’t do this, I’ll end up here. I want to get this done. I wish you could understand that.” I turned, ready to march out the door when Nash’s hand wrapped around my arm.

  He spun me around into his embrace, and I felt his breath on my lips. His hands pressed into my back. His warmth spread through me.

  My hands clenched against his chest, feeling his heart beat like a drum, and my heart beat with it. The up-tempo melody filled my ears, every other sense, but touch and sound, was dulled. He pulled in closer to me. My lips trembled. My palms sweat. He stopped.

  Nash pulled away from me. His eyes were half-lidded as he looked down to mine. “You should go.” His voice was uneven. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”

  I pressed my lips together, feeling silly that I thought something was happening between us. “Where?” I asked.

  “Italy,” he said.

  SEVENTEEN

  I peered through the window of the plane. Below was a cluster of buildings that seemed to float on the blue-green sea. We landed at the airport and walked to the nearest café to eat lunch.