"That's no white vampire."
"What is it?" Jaylen asked.
"I'm not quite sure."
As if he had been summoned, the mysterious man leapt from the chandelier, flew through the shadows, and landed gracefully on the balcony. He took off running past them towards the open window.
Zeriel pointed at him. "Incubus."
The svelte figure spun around in the darkness. The man took a few steps closer. His deep smooth voice instantly drew Jaylen's attention. "Are we calling names now? So, are you impressed with yourself that you were able to figure this out, angel?" The incubus glided across the floor then reached out and caressed Jaylen's cheek. "So delicate . . . so untouched."
Zeriel stepped in front of Jaylen and pushed him behind his white wings. "I won't let you touch him. He is a paladin who has taken vows of chastity, which you will try to defile. That's what you do."
Jaylen tugged on Zeriel's coat sleeve. "What is an incubus?"
"The male version of a succubus. They are demonic beings that seduce unwilling people in their sleep. Who is your target tonight, incubus? If you tell me your target and it's no one I have interest in protecting, I will let you go until a later date. I don't want to start a fight and ruin this fancy party."
"Why do you think I would tell an angel?" The incubus asked. "I'm not intimidated by you or your paladin."
"Whose blood is on the floor over there?" Zeriel asked.
"My previous . . . toy. She didn't agree with me trying to make advances on her in the kitchen."
"So she was a servant. I see. Working your way up to the person you really want? Whose soul are you after?"
"If you want that information, then I need something in return." The incubus's flame-like eyes wandered over Jaylen's body. "Five minutes with your paladin."
"Never."
"Then how about this. I tell you my target's name and leave for the night. But I want to touch your wings."
Zeriel's eyes narrowed as he glared at the demonic being. "My wings? What do you want to do with my wings?"
"Just one touch with one finger." The incubus pulled off one of his gloves with his pointed teeth. "It won't hurt. I promise not to do anything that would be detrimental to you or your precious little paladin. Let's just say that I'm curious about some rumors I heard."
"Don't you know it's foolish to believe every rumor you hear?"
"Oh, but I have a hunch this rumor is based on facts, Zeriel." The incubus said.
"You know my name."
"Of course. They announced it earlier in the evening. I am a keen observer, my angelic friend. Tell me. What do you say? Do we have a deal? You get the name of my target and I will leave for the evening. All I want in return is to touch your glorious wings."
Zeriel glanced at Jaylen then tightened his hands into fists. "Fine."
"My target is the baroness."
"Baroness Antilla? Why?"
The incubus waved his finger in the air. "Nope nope! I only agreed to give you her name."
"So none of the king's immediate family."
"Never. Not now, at least. Now, for my turn." The incubus reached out and dragged his fingernail over the long pinion feathers. He grinned and rubbed his fingers together as he sniffed them. "I see that the rumors were true."
"Don't breathe a word to anyone."
"Oh, no, Zeriel. I'm not in the business of verifying rumors. I simply help spread them."
A gust of wind blew around them as two angels landed on the railing with their silver bows drawn and glowing arrows at the ready. One of them pointed at the incubus. "Be gone, foul demon!"
The incubus giggled and bowed a flourishing lavish bow. "Of course. I was just leaving. I already got what I wanted." He dashed forward, his feet not making a sound in the hallway then jumped out of the open window.
Zeriel watched the other two angels replace their bows on their backs. "Thank you both."
The rough-looking bald angel with the scar across his right eye patted Zeriel on the shoulder and leaned close to whisper something in his ear, below what Jaylen could hear.
The white-haired angel with the turquoise-tinted wings knelt down and picked up a large white feather from the floor. He spun it between his fingers before sniffing it and shaking his head. "You dropped this."
Zeriel's smile vanished as he took his feather from the angel. "Thank you, Oviel."
The bald angel pushed past Jaylen and leapt from the railing to hover in the air above the chandelier. "Just don't do anything stupid, Zeriel. We know."
"How many know?"
"Just me and Oviel. We'll keep it safe for now, but if anything happens to the boy, we will be forced to tell the Angelic Court. Sola hasn't told them yet because she still has hope. I don't think I'm as optimistic. We will see you later, Zeriel. We must get back to our paladins out in the field."
Zeriel placed his hand over his chest and spread his wings high. "Thank you again, Axa and Oviel."
After the angels left and the guests in the room were still dancing and drinking, completely oblivious to the events on the balcony, Jaylen let out a sigh of relief. "Who were they? Friends?"
"The closest things I'll ever have to angel friends. Oviel is the quiet wise one. Axaniel is the rough one. He goes by Axa. They've been the closest to me on the Angelic Court for years."
"What were they talking about? What do they know?"
"Nothing that you need to concern yourself over. Just angel business." Zeriel pushed his paladin's bangs back up under his hat. "Now, let's get back to your cousin's party. It's not gentlemanly to leave the other guests for so long."
Chapter 4
Hazy yellow mage-glow hovered on top of the light posts lining the cobblestone streets that ran between the rows of merchant's shops, private homes, and trading centers. The magical light almost made it appear to be daylight. The paladins in charge of patrolling the city streets constantly varied the levels of mage-glow to mimic how the sky would be if the sun was still in the sky. Women in long dresses carried baskets filled with loaves of bread and fresh fish from the harbor wrapped in parchment. Children skipped through the alleys playing with toy swords and scaring away the stray cats that lived in the rafters of the houses and the empty crates from the docks.
A paladin, followed closely by a female angel in flowery pink robes, saluted Jaylen with his fist over his heart. Jaylen stood at attention and returned the gesture as the angel glared at Zeriel.
Zeriel jumped in front of the angel and held out his wings. "Don't look at me like that, Tarael. If you have something to say to me, say it to my face."
The female angel pushed Zeriel out of the way and rejoined her paladin's side as she pushed her long brown waves behind her shoulders. "I don't have to explain myself to you."
"Tara, don't be like this."
"Don't be like what, Zeriel? All I'm trying to do is accompany my paladin as I have been ordered. Paladin Jaylen, you would do well to train your angel better. Angels bickering in the streets for all to hear isn't very professional."
Zeriel growled as he watched them walk away. "How dare he?"
"Who was that?" Jaylen asked. "A friend?"
"I don't want to talk about him. Tara has never liked me very much."
"There are female angels too?"
Zeriel laughed dryly. "Uh . . . no."
"But-"
"Tarael is male. He just likes to look more feminine than everyone else. He claims it makes him feel closer to Sola if he behaves like a female. He's an interesting angel, to be sure. Don't get on his bad side. He is the most talented angel with his bow. He has killed more demons just for fun than every other angel combined."
That was a daunting thing to think about. "Combined?"
"Yes. He's a bit bloodthirsty."
"How many demons have you killed?"
"By myself?" Zeriel asked. "Without my paladin having the final strike? Zero."
"None? You don't hunt down demons?"
"No."
&nbs
p; "Why not?"
Zeriel rubbed his eyes. "Don't get me wrong. I've fought many demons. I will fight anything that threatens my paladin, but I simply haven't killed a demon on my own. It's a personal decision."
"I don't understand."
"They are poor, tormented souls who have been corrupted by the world around them. Yes, it is their fault, but I have too much mercy for them, I guess. Think back to our analogy from this morning. If you had to do something with the young boy who killed another child just so he wouldn't starve to death on the street, would you kill the boy?"
Jaylen pulled away from him. "Of course not. He's a child who didn't know any better!"
Zeriel stopped walking and turned to face Jaylen. He raised an eyebrow. "That's not the response I thought I would get out of you. Interesting. Seems like I made the right choice after all."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We'll talk more later. Right now, we need to get moving. We have a mission for today. We are hunting down a certain brand of heretic."
"Heretics?" Jaylen asked.
"Rogue mages."
"Rogue mages? I thought the only mages were paladins. They are blessed by Sola with their light magic during the Divinity Trial like I was."
"Then who has the dark magic?" Zeriel asked.
"Demons."
"And their rogue paladins that they steal away from the human cities." Zeriel said. "Just like paladins have their angels, rogue mages have their demons."
"What about fallen angels? Do Fallen have paladins or rogue mages?"
"Fallen angels have their own rogue mages, usually paladins who abandon their faith and turn their backs on Sola. Those apostates are Tainted."
Jaylen smoothed his hair back out of his face. "So Tainted and Fallen work together."
"Yes."
"I will never abandon the teachings of Sola."
"Good. As an angel, I would have to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening. That is one reason why we are being sent on this mission today. The Holy Order always sends a new paladin to see what happens to paladins who lose their way."
"And where exactly are we going?" Jaylen asked, looking around at the cherry trees that were laden with heavy snow.
"A vampire coven in the foothills to the south of here. There have been reports of townspeople being carried off in the middle of the night by vampires."
"How does this show me the evils of the Tainted?"
"Because someone has been leading the vampires to specific targets, namely family members of the clergy. Whoever is helping the vampires has the keys to the city gates that are locked for twelve hours every night. The helpers knew when the paladin's families would be home alone and then when the paladins themselves were sent off to assignments. More than that, over the past three months, twelve paladins have vanished from the surrounding cities without a trace."
"Could they just be deserters?" Jaylen asked.
"Not likely. You know the penalties and punishments that await any paladin who breaks the rules or their vows."
"Of course."
"Which brings me to our first stop today."
"What?"
"The temple." Zeriel said.
"Why are we going to the temple?"
"It seems some people at the party last night were witnesses to a severely scandalous slip-up on the part of a certain young paladin."
Jaylen started to panic. "Me? Are you talking about me? What did I do?"
"That glass of wine."
Jaylen stomped his feet in frustration. "I didn't drink it!"
"But you looked like you were going to drink it. That's all it takes. You are supposed to fully embody all virtues and purity, especially in public. You know how those people were watching you, scrutinizing every single movement you made. Something as simple as you picking up that glass of wine made someone angry. They reported you to the Holy Order. I received a summons early this morning to bring you to the temple for disciplinary action."
Jaylen nearly tripped as his angel pushed him forward. "What do you think they'll do?"
"The punishment for indecent public actions by a paladin is ten lashes, isn't it?"
"Oh, Sola no. Please don't let them hurt me, Zeriel. I didn't mean to do it. It was an accident. I wasn't thinking clearly."
Zeriel took Jaylen's hand and led him down the street to the large golden doors of the temple. "You will be all right. Look at me." He turned Jaylen face to look up at him. "Learn to trust me. I may be demanding at times, but I am not your enemy. I serve you and I protect you. However, you must face the high priest and take responsibility for your actions. I will be right there behind you. There's no need to panic. I promise."
The doors to the temple opened as two guards seized Jaylen by the arms and dragged him over the yellow velvet that ran all the way down the glass hallway. Yellow mage-glow hovered in the elaborate golden sun-shaped chandeliers, illuminating the walls that were blanketed with thick grapevines that Jaylen knew all too well. He swallowed hard as the white veils to the inner cloister were separated and he was thrown to his knees on the yellow silk in front of the marble statue of a graceful woman wearing a flowing robe and holding a cluster of grapes in one hand and the sun in the other. Sola.
From a door behind the statue and blazing braziers, High Priest Corin emerged. His long grey beard was braided and woven with diamonds and his white robes were embroidered with golden suns. His slippers slid across the floor until he stood directly in front of Jaylen then raised his hands. "Paladin Jaylen Amalas Corrifus, you have been accused of public actions inappropriate for a holy paladin to be exhibiting. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Jaylen hung his head. "No, Your Holiness."
"Then according to the laws of the clergy, you will be dealt ten lashes with a leather strap upon your bare back."
Zeriel stepped forward and bowed. "Your Holiness, as Jaylen's personal angel, I believe this duty can fall upon my shoulders when I was there and failed to prevent him from taking such scandalous actions. With your blessing, I will deliver the punishment in private so I may further explain to my young Master the errors of his ways. As a Holy Angel, I know the best ways to communicate the disappointment we all feel towards his errant behaviors. Sola has entrusted him to my care, and I will fully carry out any reprimands directed at him."
"Holy Zeriel, you will take the responsibility of punishing your Master?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Paladin Jaylen, you are hereby released into the custody of your Holy Angel. I fear for you more than ever, young man. If an angel from Sola herself has decided to punish you, the lashes you receive from him will be more painful and memorable than any delivered by a mere mortal. May Sola have mercy on your soul."
* * *
Jaylen waited at the small wooden table outside in the plaza as Zeriel brought back their sandwiches from the counter of the street vendor and slid one to him. He sipped his lemonade and picked at the crust of his bread. He didn't really feel like eating, especially not after the meeting he just had in the temple with the high priest. Jaylen never intended to mess up, but it proved to him that he would have to keep his vows in the highest regard, not allowing the world around him to cause him to mess up again.
"Not hungry? You should eat, Jay. We have a lot of work to do today, and there's no telling when we will have another chance to eat."
"I messed up."
Zeriel greedily ate his sandwich and spoke with food in his mouth. "You know, you made a mistake. It's not the end of the world."
"For the angel of a nobleman, you should have better manners."
"Hey, don't make me angry, Jaylen. I'm the one who is going to punish you, remember?"
"Are you actually going to whip me?" Jaylen asked meekly.
"That's the appropriate punishment, isn't it?"
"You wouldn't hurt me, would you?" Jaylen looked up at Zeriel as he felt the forbidden tears swelling in his eyes. "You're my friend."
Zeriel's face was as emotionless as stone as he shrugged his shoulders and continued eating his sandwich. "Crying is punishable as well for a paladin."
"Don't!" Jaylen slammed his glass on the table and stood up. "You don't get to talk to me like that. I don't care what the high priest gave you permission to do to me. I won't let you. No one is going to touch me again!"
Everyone on the streets and sitting at the other tables around them stopped what they were doing and stared at him. The entire area fell silent. A paladin from across the plaza shook his head disappointedly. A few women began whispering to each other and one man ran off to get a guard.
"Sit down and eat. You are making a scene."
"I don't give a damn!" Jaylen screamed as he flipped the table over, sending their food scattering on the ground.
Zeriel seized his wrist and tried to drag him out of the way. "The guards will arrest you if you don't calm down."
Before he could stop himself, Jaylen slapped Zeriel across the face. He stumbled backwards and gasped as he saw the red handprint on his angel's cheek. "Zeriel . . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
Tarael swooped down from the sky, his large golden hoop earrings glinting in the mage-glow. He already had his silver bow drawn and an ethereal arrow pointed straight at Jaylen. "You would dare strike a Holy Angel? Speak, heathen paladin! If you have become tainted enough to hit your own angel, then you deserve nothing less than to be exterminated."
Completely horrified and overcome by his emotions, Jaylen screamed as he dropped to his knees in the middle of the plaza. He knew he looked horrible, a paladin in full chainmail and surcoat with tears streaming down his face as an angel stood ready to kill him. Through his sobbing, he heard the screaming women and the angry shouting as guards approached and drew their swords.
One of the guards in plate armor stepped forward. "Holy Angel, do you want us to arrest your paladin?"
"No." Zeriel grabbed Jaylen and lifted him into his arms as he spread his wings. "I will take him home and deal with him myself."
"Do you need my help?" Tarael asked.
"No. If you hear screaming, know that I'm doing my job as a Holy Angel. This boy will learn what behaviors are unacceptable."
Angel of Darkness Books 1-5 Page 3