Demon or Angel (Age of Exilum Book 1)

by Lynn Michaels

  “What are you talking about? Father? This is crazy!” Zepher clearly didn’t want to hear what his father had to say. Vern couldn’t imagine what it must be like to suddenly learn your twin wasn’t your twin at all and in fact had a different mother, and she had been one of your enemies. He shook his head, not wanting to sympathize with Zepher.

  “It’s called Szélküs. To be angelic bonded. That’s what happened. I became her Szélküs. My will was no longer my own. I lived for her.”

  “No!” Zepher stomped his foot. “You’re not weak— not schküs. Not you.”

  “What’d he say?” Vern put his hand on Teague’s thigh.

  Teague looked down at him and swallowed hard. “Schküs. It means softhearted. Literally, it’s angelic blooded—the same thing. But Szélküs, what my dad said, is different. It’s about a supernatural bond, rather than a weakness from being angelic.”

  He’d left Vern still slightly confused. “Oh...”

  “It’s not important.” Xaphan cleared his throat. “She chose to bond with me rather than die. Then she gave me you. I couldn’t focus on the bonding or what she did or didn’t do with a new baby in my arms.”

  “What happened to her?” Teague asked softly. He considered Vern with worried eyes.

  Vern didn’t think Teague wanted to hear the rest, but he needed to. He braced himself, lacing his fingers with Vern’s.

  “Her family rescued her while she was still pregnant. Took her away. I couldn’t even fight them. I died that day. My heart...shattered.” He chuckled in a very dark manner. “I hadn’t even known I had a heart. Later, her brother brought you to my door. By then, I’d already taken a demon wife, trying to mend a heart that didn’t want to pull back together.”

  “What heart? We don’t have hearts. We’re demons. This is Szrez.”

  “Sit down, Zepher. You don’t know what you’re talking about until it happens to you.” Xaphan stared at Vern. He could see exactly where Teague got his dynamic eyes from.

  Why was he staring at Vern?

  “But Anellia died in childbirth, and I had two sons to raise.”

  “So, I’m...I’m half...Angel? Half Osestra?”

  Xaphan nodded. His thick hair and beard floated around his face with a glow. “We were once the same race. So, so long ago...But not anymore. Not for a long time, and time moves so slowly.”

  “Why are you telling us this now?” Teague squeezed Vern’s fingers.

  “Because Zepher has to leave you alone. I see it now, clearly. You have this bonding power, Teague.” Again, he looked at Vern.

  Then Zepher stared at Vern, too. “No.”

  His dark hair, so much like his father’s, fell over his face again. The contrast between the brothers went much deeper than their physical features. How could anyone not guess their secret?

  “Yes.” Their father shifted his gaze to Teague. “You’ve bonded this one. I see it. Because I’ve been there.”

  “I-I-I’m sorry, Vern.” Teague pulled him up into his arms and onto his lap. “I didn’t know.”

  Vern sighed in his arms. “It’s not something you can help, Teague. You acted on instinct.”

  “Don’t make fucking excuses.” Zepher said something that sounded like deny or die-nai.

  Vern didn’t know what it meant, but it sounded so guttural in Zepher’s throat, it must have been a curse. Vern decided he needed to learn this language.

  “You can’t understand, Zeph.” Teague looked at his brother with pleading eyes and heartbreak.

  “Whatever.” Zepher kicked at the ground and turned as if to leave. His midnight wings beat down, but Xaphan stopped him.

  “I’m not done. You should hear this part, too.”

  “What else could there be?” Zepher snarled as if the whole story had been an affront to him. Maybe it had.

  “Vern’s not totally human.”

  Teague stood up, and set Vern on his feet, too. “What do you mean?”

  Vern didn’t move, too shocked to do or say anything.

  Xaphan sighed. “Didn’t you see his dominion over the beasts? His line is strong within him.”

  “That wasn’t the bond?”

  “Uh, no, Teague. When have you ever gotten along with the hounds? They smell the angel in you. They recognized the demon in Vern.” He pointed at Vern.

  The moment pressed on him heavily with the accusation. His chest tightened and sweat broke out on his brow. He recalled reading the story of Alice in Wonderland and pictured the queen of hearts pointing her accusing finger at Alice. It had been one of the scariest stories from his childhood, particularly that part. Vern swallowed hard and held his breath, waiting for all the card soldiers to come flying into his face.

  But nothing happened.

  Teague took a step toward his brother and held out his hand.

  “You’re not my brother,” Zepher spat at him as he disappeared without clasping Teague’s hand.

  Vern bit his bottom lip. This shit wasn’t over, despite his newfound, supposed demon heritage. In fact, things had gotten much, much worse for them. He had a feeling Zepher wouldn’t let this go easily.

  “Don’t worry, Teague. Give Zeph some time. You know damn well how shit gets twisted. Things are never black and white. We’re all people, and not so different than our human cousins. Zeph will come around. He’s angry now, but he loves you.”

  Vern finally found his voice. “What does this mean then? What happens next?”

  Xaphan’s brows lowered, worried. “There will be a war for Manna. It's going to get ugly. Your bond will help, but it’s not over. Not at all.”

  Teague let out a long, slow breath. “So what about the Seers? What do they say about all of this?”

  Xaphan laughed, sounding every bit as evil as a demon should sound. “The one who had set us on Vern to begin with has been beheaded for her mistake. They think she read the signs all wrong, but I think they used it as an excuse. They’re afraid of the unknown, and Vern is a big unknown.”

  Vern’s childhood story returned with a vision of the queen screaming Off With Her Head.

  “The rest of them now refuse to look at this path.” Xaphan, father of demons, disappeared. Like a fucking Cheshire cat. Vern presumed he went back to the demon world, but none of it settled well with him. His mother was no demon, and his father was just a drunk fool. Xaphan had to be mistaken.

  “So, the good news is we can be together. No need to hide. We’re both part demon.”

  “You take what he said at face value?” Vern asked. “Demons lie, and I sure as hell don’t feel like a demon. And as far as supernatural powers go... sending the puppies home doesn’t stack up to having wings and shit.” He did cause a mini-earthquake back in the alley by the club the night before when he’d been pissed off. He’d written it off as coincidence or some kind of reverb from the two demons, but perhaps he had caused it after all...flexing his demon-power.

  “Puppies? You crack me up. Those horrible beasts—”

  “Were dogs,” Vern interrupted. “Like any other dog, but bigger.”

  “And scarier.” Teague shivered.

  “And stinkier.” There was no arguing they smelled downright rotten. Vern was dead serious, but Teague laughed. “I’ll tell you one other thing I do know, Teague. I’m not fighting for Exilum or Osestra. If I fight in the war it will be for, what do you call it? Manna?”

  “Yes, Manna.” He put his arm around Vern’s shoulders. “That’s all good, but there's no way you’ll win. But if Osestra does, they'll obliterate humanity. They won’t stand to let even one of you live. The demons may enslave humans, but most of the demons will fall for someone and love them. It’s why we had a war in the first place. My opinion, anyway. Ultimately, despite Zeph’s aversions, most demons are like that—we love...We just don’t like to admit it.”

  “Yeah? I’m not so sure that’s true. I think you’re a bit biased.”

  Teague shrugged. “We should have a long time to worry about it. For now, we c
an concentrate on your acting career and your friends. Xaphan will smooth things over, and Beleth has other things to be concerned with. Without the Seers looking at us, we should be safe. For a while, anyway.”

  “Okay, but this is all a lot to deal with before breakfast.”

  Teague kissed him on the forehead. “Let’s go eat.”

  “And coffee—I need coffee.”

  TWENTY ONE

  Sean

  “I don’t know about all of this,” Sean said and then stuffed a piece of bacon in his mouth.

  Vern sat across from him in the booth. He looked more confident than Sean had ever seen him. Except for maybe when he played Kenickie in Grease. The same cool vibe wafted off of him, though. Maybe he was channeling his inner Kenickie, but he didn’t need to. Sean would never do anything against him. Wouldn’t bully him. They’d chosen the same side. Hadn’t they?

  “I’m worried, Vern.” Sean took a few chugs of orange juice. “I think if you put yourself out there, these demons will keep attacking you.”

  “Don’t care.” He sipped his coffee.

  Tucker bumped his leg against Sean’s, getting his attention. When Sean looked at him, Tucker’s expression screamed Back off. They’d had that particular argument the night before in the hotel room. Tucker believed the meeting with Teague’s dad had ended the demon threat, and Vern was safe. As safe as he could be, anyway. In fact, Sean’s fears hadn’t been warranted. Vern had his shit together. Although seeing him dance in the club had been way strange, but if it paid his bills, and he liked doing it, good for him. Could be worse. He could be hooking. No doubt Teague would keep him in line. Still, Sean didn’t think their mission had ended with finding Vern or with Teague’s father’s story. In fact, it was only the beginning.

  Sean sighed and pushed his plate forward. The diner was one of those typical nineteen-fifties retro jobs, decked out in chrome and vinyl, all red and black with old forty-five records on the wall and jukebox shaped menus. But they didn’t even have a real jukebox in the place. They did have good food, or Sean had been hungry enough to make it taste that way. “What do you want us to do then?”

  “Nothing. Go home.” Vern set his mug on the table but didn’t let it go as if afraid he wouldn’t get more coffee.

  Sean grumbled under his breath. That had been another argument he’d had with Tucker. Sean didn’t want to go home. The messed-up dreams had stopped, but it didn’t mean the mission did. “Look, Vern. We’re here. We see the bigger picture in this. So we’re not leaving. We’re your team. Team Vern.”

  Vern laughed, his smile way more relaxed than Sean thought he’d ever see, especially after finding out he was half demon with all of hell targeting him.

  “I don’t have a team. And sticking around is only going to get you hurt.”

  The bells on the front door jingled, and one of those demon fuckers walked in through the door. Teague flicked a cigarette out into the parking lot, then turned those massive shoulders and let the door shut behind him. He made his way toward them and slid into the booth beside Vern, putting his arm around him. “Hey, guys.”

  “Hey,” Tucker said with a small smile, though not a happy one. He’d agreed to stay in Miami when they’d talked, but the whole demon mess scared the crap out of him, even if he wouldn’t boldly admit it.

  “Okay, Teague. What do you think? If Vern goes public, you know, getting more into acting, don’t you think you’re asking for more demon trouble?”

  Teague shook his head. “No. We’re not going to have demon trouble for a while. I don’t think.”

  “See? I can do what I want. I’m going to follow my own path. I’m so not hiding. I got the commercial, and I’m doing it.”

  “I think it’s dangerous, Vern.”

  “Vick.”

  Sean rolled his eyes. “I don’t know if I can get used to calling you that. You’ve been Vern to me for too long, man.”

  “Fine.”

  Tucker ignored their bickering. “Why do you think he’s safe?” He stared at Teague with those stunning blue eyes, glaring at him with deep intensity.

  “There’s no sign of Zepher anywhere. I know when he’s near. I know when he’s in this realm. We may not be twins, but we were raised that way, and we have a sense of each other.”

  “Okay. So we have one demon leaving Vern alone, but what about the others?” Tucker had a way of getting right to the heart of the issue. “Those goons at the club didn’t try to take Vern for nothing...” He looked at Teague, waiting for an answer. “They were hired by somebody. Right?”

  Teague pushed his long, blond hair off of his shoulders and slid lower in the booth. “Honestly, I don’t know. Zeph probably hired them. He did show up pretty quickly when that shit went down. I’m not sure about anything, but we need to be careful. If he could do that before he knew the truth...when he found out, he was hurt—”

  Vern sat up straight. “Hurt? Hurt how? I didn’t see him hurt.”

  “Not physically. I mean the whole, you know...all the shit my father said. It killed him. Me being half Osestran. They’re the enemy.”

  “Okay, but I don’t get it.” Sean lifted his empty mug to his lips. “I need more coffee.” He held it up for the waitress to see. “How is heaven—Osestra is heaven, right? How are they the enemy? Aren’t you the enemy?” He glared at Teague, but before he could answer, the waitress walked up. She refilled their coffee and placed another mug in front of Teague.

  “Can I get you anything?” she asked sweetly, not taking her eyes off of Teague.

  It didn’t surprise Sean. She’d flirted shamelessly with Tucker earlier, but he wasn’t the sexiest guy at the table anymore. Teague was a walking, talking sex god. His muscular arms and chest beat Tucker’s hands down, making Tucker look puny. Sean didn’t care, though. He only wanted her to stop flirting with his man, and he sure as hell wouldn’t give up Tucker for a demon.

  “No. Coffee’s good,” Teague said.

  Sean noticed Vern had slid his hand up Teague’s thigh. He waited for the waitress to walk away, then blurted out, “So, are y’all together now? Or what?”

  Tucker groaned and covered his face with his hand. He didn’t want Sean to talk about any of this, but Sean needed to know.

  “What? It’s a fair question.” Sean wouldn’t take it back. He wanted to know.

  Vern sighed. “Yes. We’re together. And why not? We’re both demons.” He pushed his glasses up his nose.

  “You aren’t very demon-like, Vern.” Sean laughed. “Hard to believe you’re part demon after all those Bible study classes we did. Seriously, your dad’s a dick, but he’s no demon.”

  Vern and Tucker laughed with Sean, but Teague looked uncomfortable.

  Sean didn’t care about making him feel better, he simply wanted the answers. With a huff, he changed the subject, getting back on track. “So answer the question, Teague. Why are you the good guy?”

  Teague took a sip of his coffee. Maybe he was stalling...Sean silently waited through the pause. He needed the answer. If it wasn’t good enough, he might have to return to Georgia and get on with his life, leaving Vern to his own devices, though he didn’t want to. An inexplicable pull inside him made him overly concerned about Vern’s well-being, but even beyond the weird compulsion, all of humanity might be at stake.

  Finally, Teague spoke up. “Everything’s backward. I mean, I’m not saying all demons are good. We’re not. I’m not denying we’re an evil bunch. It’s kind of our job to cause problems here for you, for Manna, but Osestra...” Teague shook his head, golden hair swishing around his face. “They come off like they’re good, and they have ethereal qualities to back it up, but if they win, they’ll destroy Manna and everyone and everything in it.”

  “How do you know?” Sean asked. “Where is God in all of this?”

  “God?” Teague belted out a sardonic laugh. “What makes you think we know anything about God? Any more than you do? Osestra created religion in many forms on Manna to control huma
nity. To control you until the day comes when they can eliminate you and take your world. They’ve been setting this up for eons. We demons cause trouble for them any way we can.” He leaned over the table and whispered, “It means fucking with you.” He laughed, grasping his mug between his large fingers. “We’ve been painted into our roles from the beginning, thanks to them.”

  “It sounds too crazy,” Sean scoffed. He didn’t want to believe everything he’d learned, everything he knew, his whole life, all of it had been based on lies.

  “Believe what you want,” Teague said with a flick of his hand. “The sisters don’t need your belief. Whatever they want, ultimately, we have to stop them both.”

  “Sisters?” Tucker asked.

  Vern nodded. “It’s what they call their realms. They’re all from Osestra originally, but a faction went to Exilum. Remember the fall of Satan?” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “It wasn’t exactly like that, but yeah, it’s the basic idea.” Teague sipped his coffee as if he’d finished talking, but he continued instead. “I’m not sure what’s going on. Zeph isn’t around, but I can’t get back to Exilum, either.”

  “What do you mean?” Vern asked.

  “Something has changed. I’m not sure what, but I’ll find out. I even called my minions, and they won’t come.”

  “You have minions?” Sean’s jaw fell open.

  “Sort of.” Teague actually squirmed a little as if he didn’t want to admit it. “They’re kind of like slaves, but I hate it. I’ve never treated them poorly, and they’re loyal, but...” He held a hand up in the air.

  “Not so much since all of this happened?” Sean wrinkled his nose. He didn’t like any of this news, and he’d heard enough. He stood up and dug some money out of his wallet to drop on the table before leaving. Tucker did the same and followed him out.

  Sean pushed through the glass door and shielded his eyes from the bright Miami sun. Had it been this bright back in Georgia? Would he ever go home again to find out? Maybe the bigger question was, did he care?