by Maya Daniels
“Right,” Helena drawls. “You just sped up the process.”
“You could say that,” Raphael mumbles hesitantly.
For some reason, thoughts of Abaddon assault my mind out of nowhere. Shaking my head like I can physically make them go away, I grab my mug of coffee and gulp it down in two swallows. I know if I stay here, I won’t be able to stop myself from at least hurting the Archangel. Thinking all I needed to do was find Helena and everything would be right again was a really short sited thing to do. In my anger, I didn’t care about anything else. Now, here I am without any information about what’s going on around us. I need to check my channels and see if we can get the upper hand. Helena put a bullet between Abaddon’s eyes, sending him back to Hell when he helped Michael ambush us that night. From everything I know about the slimy weasel, he will be back before we know it. If he felt slighted by her actions, he might be behind this mess with Hector. Not wanting to give her false hope so I can only fail her, I don’t share my thoughts on that.
“I will be back.” Releasing Helena after kissing her temple, I head out like the hounds of Hell are on my heels.
“Wanna share with the rest of the class what got into you?” Helena calls after me. Maddison’s chuckle grinds on my nerves.
“I will check the word on the streets about our situation.” Turning around, walking backward, I give her a reassuring smile. “I think Raphael will tell you more if I’m not around. Things he is trying not to say in front of me. He is not wrong in thinking I’ll pluck his wings one feather at a time.” Grinning, my gaze locks on his, telling him I’m only calm because I don’t want to upset my mate. “I can always do that later.” With a wink, I leave the apartment and my frowning mate.
Jumping in the SUV Maddison had left in front of the building last night, I drive aimlessly around the city. Taking back roads, unwilling to get stuck in city traffic in downtown Atlanta, my mind goes over everything I know so far. The bomb was not placed as a precaution against me. I was hoping Michael expected me to catch up to him eventually, so he had it as a backup. The bastard didn’t know it was there. Neither did Raphael, or he wouldn’t have taken Helena through that exit. What his motives are is irrelevant right now. As much as it pisses me off to have him around her, begrudgingly I admit he helped me find her. Not knowing his agenda is leaving me uneasy. For now, I have to let it play out. Too many unknowns are involved for my liking, and I can use all the help I can get to keep my mate safe. I’m not too proud to accept the said help from an angel. I might not like it, but I’ll take what I can get.
In my musings, I realize that I’ve driven to the same bar where Helena and I met up with Abaddon. Maybe thinking about him and that night subconsciously brought me here. Checking around for unseen threats, I park in the empty parking lot. Leaning my forearms on the steering wheel, tilting my face on them, I take everything in. The building looks long forgotten, like no one has been here since that night. If my eyes are not deceiving me, even the blood from Abaddon is still a dark stain on the dirt close to the doors.
Abaddon has always been an ambitious fucker, but that night, he overreached his potential. Siding with the Archangel, against Maddison and me. I would’ve believed anything possible but that. He is not a demon overly concerned about others unless there is something in it for him. But what could he possibly want from an Archangel? He couldn’t have been so stupid to think that anyone from Heaven’s squad would help him in any way. Whatever his reasons, he stood on the wrong side of the fence that night. I shouldn’t be wasting my time here; memories of things past don’t help anyone. Annoyed with my own racing mind, slamming both hands on the steering wheel in frustration, I turn on the engine.
The day is gray and cloudy, humidity clinging to the shiny paint of the vehicle like drops of rain. Spinning around and ready to hit the gas pedal to get out of the place, I blink a couple of times at the outline of a man leaning heavily on the side of the building. My mind says a drunk or a homeless person, but at a second glance, those clothes are recognizable anywhere.
A hunter.
Slamming on the breaks, I’m out of the SUV faster than the time the engine needs to cut off after I press the button. The man is pinned by his throat on the side of the building, his feet kicking the air between us.
“Wrong day to pick me as your target, little human.” Snarling in his face, I bare my teeth.
Gasping, he claws at my hand that is wrapped around his throat. It’s pathetic; his attempts at fighting me are severely lacking. Pushing myself out of his face and preparing the snap, his neck is not as satisfying as I would like it to be. His gasping words save his life.
“Helena…” he rasps, freezing me in place.
“What did you say?” My words and the malice in my voice give even me chills.
He keeps clawing at my hand, his face turning purple. I release him, dropping him at my feet like the scum that he is. The Order tried to hurt mine and my mate. I should kill them all, one by one. He coughs weakly, sputtering a prayer and making me bristle.
“Your god will not help you here, human. You have exactly one second to speak.” He shivers violently, hearing my voice that’s more demon than human at the moment.
“Helena.” Lifting his head up, his gaze filled with terror, he swallows thickly. “I must speak to Helena, please.”
“And who the fuck are you?” Letting the amber glow fill my eyes, I smile when he flinches.
“Jared.” Lifting his chin in the first sign of deviance, he locks his blue gaze with mine. “I’m part of her team!”
Helena
Watching the door close behind Eric leaves me conflicted. The three of us stay quiet for a while, uncomfortable silence rubbing me wrong like a pair of unbroken-in shoes. Was it my curiosity about Raphael’s allegations that drove Eric to flee like the building was on fire? After hearing that the Archangel brought some angelic traits out in me, did he regret searching for me? Mate or not, he is the son of Lucifer. If I’m more angel than demon, aren’t I against everything he stands for?
An ungraceful snort escapes me. Shaking my head, I turn away from Maddison and Raphael’s questioning looks, staring out the window. My vision turns unfocused when the memory of the night I met the Archangel Michael for the first time pulls me from reality. His words echo in my head.
“Your mother was an angel,” Michael cuts off my tirade, and I close my mouth.
“Is she...alive?” I hate that my voice breaks, so I clear my throat. “Is she still alive?”
“No, she is not.” Hector is the one that speaks, and I slowly turn towards him, searching his eyes.
“Neither your mother nor your father is alive, Helena.” Unshed tears glisten in his eyes, but they turn cold when he looks at Michael. “You better tell her everything, since you started this!”
“What more can there be?” I look from one to the other. “My mother was an angel, my father, human...” My words trail off when Hector winces. “What?” Snapping the word out, I wave the guns again.
“Your father was a demon.” Michael’s emotionless voice is like a punch to my solar plexus.
“No!” My scream echoes around the library, bouncing off the walls and sounding like multiple people screaming at once. Fear and anger mixed together in a cocktail of such intense emotions that I feel like I might burst into pieces where I stand. “You’re lying! I’m not an abomination!”
“You’re not, Hel!” Hector tries to comfort me, and the asshole angel snorts at my nickname. I glare at him. “No matter what anyone says, you are not an abomination, and no one doubts your loyalty.”
“Could’ve fooled me!” Still glaring at Michael, I start taking slow steps back again. “So, what does this mean?” Alarms are blaring in my head, the gut feeling in my GPS redoubles and I can’t ignore it anymore. There is definitely something evil here, but how is that possible? Or...am I the evil? The thought almost makes me double over, but I force myself to keep slowly moving away from them. “Am I evil? Is th
at why you’re here?”
“You are not evil...”
“The demon that scratched you took your blood with him to Hell. They know who and what you are now, and they need your blood to keep the gate open. I cannot let that happen.” Michael straightens up, and for the first time, fear grips me like hands squeezing my throat.
He is not a demon or a normal human that I can just fight off. Blessed metal, salt, and holy water won’t do him harm. No matter how strong I am, there is no way I can fight him and win. So how in the hell am I going to protect myself from him? At the moment, he looks exactly like what he is, a warrior Archangel. His blue eyes are shimmering like liquid silver and his blinding white wings with golden tips spread out around him as he takes a step towards me. Hector screams like a banshee and throws himself at Michael, but the angel only pushes him away one-handed, like he’s flicking off lint from his shirt.
“You cannot win this fight, Helena. I should’ve done this the day we found you, but Raphael is sometimes too sentimental for his own good. I cannot allow you to live. We all must sacrifice for the greater good of all.”
“Helena?” Raphael’s voice brings me back to the present.
Blinking a couple of times to clear my vision, I turn back to where he and Maddison are still sitting at the kitchen counter. Both of them have concerned looks on their faces, watching me as if expecting me to lose my shit at any moment. They are not far from the truth. My breathing is haggard, hands clammy from cold sweat that’s drenching my body, while anxiety eats a hole inside my chest.
“I’m fine.”
Blowing out a deep breath, I walk back to my chair. The scraping sound it makes when I twist it around to sit has both of them flinching. Supernatural hearing is not always a plus, I guess. My movement slows down, that thought freezing me in the air right before my butt connects with the leather of the chair.
“Unless you want me to start freaking out, I need you to tell me what’s wrong.” Maddison snaps her fingers a couple of times in front of my face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“How much exactly did you change me, Raphael?” Ignoring Maddison, I watch the Archangel like a hawk.
His eyebrows jerk up in surprise, but he schools his features from one blink to the next. The calm mask slides into place so fast that if I weren’t watching him so intently, I would’ve missed it. The yellow glow of his angelic eyes pulses once as if in warning, lodging a lump the size of my fist in my throat.
“I’ll repeat it, Helena. I did not change you.” The tone of his voice can put a feral beast into a peaceful sleep. “I only tried to help you, but I did notice a slight change in you after I did that.”
“And you didn’t think it was important to let me know, right?” Tilting my head, I watch for any other signs that he is not telling the whole truth.
“There was nothing to tell.” A line forms above the bridge of his nose, disturbing the perfect features on his face. “You are a good person, Helena. Having angelic traits is not a bad thing.”
“Being a good person does not make me an angel, Raphael.” Hissing at him through clenched teeth, I do my best to calm my temper. The assholes think they can do whatever they like with the rest of us and we should wag our tails like good little pets at their mercy. “Just like sinning does not make me a demon. You had no right to keep it from me.” My whole body is trembling in anger.
“Helena snap out of it!” Maddison grabs my forearm, shaking me out of the red haze that started clouding my vision.
Oh, crap!
The building is shaking again, but it isn’t my body trembling. Groaning and rubbing my hands over my face, I’m taking slow, deep breaths to calm down. Gradually, my mind clears and I can think reasonably again, my heart slowing down the relentless beat against my breastbone.
“You are neither of those things, Helena. You are…other.” Reaching his hand as if he was thinking of touching me, Raphael snatches it back when a menacing growl raises the hairs on the back of my neck.
Checking over my shoulder, I expected to see Eric back. Not seeing anyone, I slowly turn my head, looking from Maddison to Raphael. The beautiful redhead is grinning proudly, like a parent at their child’s first stage performance. The Archangel looks disturbed and constipated, his eyes rounded and too big for his face. A sinking feeling tells me the terrifying sound came from me. Raphael’s comment about the exchange of energy hit home finally. Hysterical laughter bursts from me and tears stream down my face. I laugh for a long time, slapping my hand on the kitchen counter. When I finally get myself under control, I notice both of them watching me like I have finally lost my mind. And maybe I have. At the moment, everything is so messed up and ridiculous, I don’t even care.
“Other, indeed, Archangel.” Still chuckling and shaking my head, I stand up and walk away, leaving them murmuring softly behind me. “Other, indeed…”
Eric
“She doesn’t have a team, human.” Grabbing a handful of his shirt, I lift the hunter up and slam his back against the wall. “Did you forget all of you tried to kill her? Or did the Order give you some happy juice to wash out your brain?”
“She will always have a team!” The human finds his courage whenever his team is mentioned. It’s almost adorable how he glares at me one moment and cowers the next. “We didn’t try to hurt her. We’ve been doing our best to help her as much as we can.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! And if you ask her, you will know I’m telling the truth.” Seeing my clenched fist lift in the air, Jared stumbles over his own words. “Call her and ask her! Just tell her…just say you found Jared, and you’ll see. She won’t be happy if you hurt me.” Gulping, he clumps his mouth shut with an audible click.
He just said the only thing that can actually save him. Helena won’t be happy. My mate cares too much about people, even those that have done nothing but hurt her. Hearing Raphael say her mother was an angel of mercy rings true in my soul. The woman has a heart bigger than this realm. It might be her downfall, but I admire that about her. Even when it pisses me off. Maybe it’s a bad idea to hurt the hunter, but I can still toss him around a little. Just to make sure he thinks twice if he ever considers crossing her.
Lifting him off the ground, I throw him a few feet away, the dust from the dried-up soil puffing up a cloud around him. With slow, measured steps, I stalk him, one corner of my mouth lifted in a wicked smile. His eyes widen comically, and he blanches, scrambling to get his feet under him, like a turtle trying to right itself after being flipped upside down.
“Where is Hector?” Letting my fingers change to claws, I watch him sputter, almost swallowing his own tongue. “Speak now or you may never say another word.”
“That’s why I need to speak to her.” After a coughing fit, his hands waving away the cloud of dust still hanging around him, Jared clears his throat. “We saw that you took her away from that historical building where Archangel Michael kept her. You beat us to it by a day. We had everything planned to get her out.” Shaking his head sadly, he almost looks regretful that I saved my mate. “Hector disappeared a couple of days after Helena was taken by Michael. No one has seen him since.”
I stop advancing, watching his eyes dart around searching for a way out, or maybe expecting help? Nostrils flaring, filling my lungs with the dusty air, I can’t sense anyone else around us. Not for a mile or so at least. So, I wait. When he doesn’t get any response from me, Jared huffs out a heavy breath.
“We didn’t see him or hear from him at all, so we concentrated on finding and helping Hel.” Glancing uneasily at me, he looks at my nose, not meeting my eyes. “That was until two days ago when we accidentally overheard two of our patrons mention his name.”
“Saying what exactly?” Unable to stop myself, I growl the words at him.
He jerks like he has been punched, a shudder visibly shaking his body. I’ve forgotten how jumpy the hunters are when faced with one of us. As if breathing the same air will make them catch
a demon disease. Snorting at my own joke, I grin menacingly at him.
“They mentioned that no matter what was done to him, he will help them get their hands on Helena. I was keeping watch so we are not seen listening to something that might get us killed. I didn’t hear all of it. From what George said after, they were planning to take Helena, even from the Archangel. They had plans for her that made George act insane for hours. If you know him, you’ll know that’s saying a lot.”
The name George nudges my brain like an insistent poker. I’ve heard it before. And then it hits me, the night at this very place, the hunter that I didn’t think survived. Helena’s friend. The one that helped me get her out of here and away from Michael’s clutches, at least for the time being. Maybe the guy is not full of shit and only trying to save his skin. I pay closer attention to him. There are beads of sweat gathered along his hairline and on his upper lip. He is terrified of me; there is no question about it. But he is not trying to run away like any sane human will do. His hands are shaking, even when he clenches his fists in a futile attempt to hide it, yet he stands in front of me, doing his best to convince me to let him see my mate. I’m not sure if it’s the mention of George or the other things I started noticing about him, but I decide to take him with me. Hunter or not, if he even breathes wrong in Helena’s direction, I’ll kill him before he can blink. She will have to forgive me for it, no matter how long it takes.
“You speak the truth.” Rolling my shoulders, I crack my neck to release the tension.
“I might not be the brightest bulb in the box, but I’m not stupid,” he says, so matter-a-fact I burst out laughing.
“That remains to be seen, human. Let us not jump to conclusions, huh?” My claws retract, Jared visibly relaxing at that.