"Do not glare at me so, Princess. Remember I have already lived through all the moods of your transition."
"You have no right to keep me here, you hear me?" Agrat! How she wanted him, loved his fire and his passion. It was incomprehensible to her that such a cold being as Galaden could be a half-brother of the prince.
"The only time you will see the demon prince again is to view his corpse," Galaden said, as he if could hear her inward cry.
"It won't be his corpse I'll be seeing. It'll be yours!”
"Do not place your loyalty in a demon. Why do you think the demon prince met you at the palace gates in your past life and made you his? Why do you think he has claimed you again?"
"Don't think you can manipulate me. I trust Agrat. He's tough enough without my help. He doesn't need to hide behind me.”
The angel shrugged, left his position by the window and spread his wings.
"Agrat risked his life for me. He defied his father and spent three thousand years trapped as a stone statue. He was not a coward."
Her words hit home. The angel rounded on her, his eyes flashing anger, his hand moved onto the hilt of his sword.
She tensed, expecting him to fly at her, but perhaps he thought better of it because he removed his hand from the hilt of his sword and examined the wound in his left wing, instead. It had stopped seeping blood. He smiled, the expression in his eyes satisfied. "Your anger fuels me. Already I am healing just from the nearness of your energy and yet, unlike Rachael, it doesn't drain you. Soon I will be strong enough to kill the demon without having to leave to seek sunshine or recharge in another dimension."
Phoebe tried to contain her emotion, realizing he was extracting her energy and using it to heal himself. "Before or after you murder me?"
"The result of an unfortunate vow. I prefer to own you. With you close by I would never have to leave this dimension. Regrettably, it is written that you must die."
"No one owns me you cold, evil bastard, and you don't have the right to play God with my life. Go to hell."
"Believe me, I have been there and I do not wish to return. When my honored father turned my demon half-brother to stone for his theft of you, I discovered why Agrat chose you. Your presence enables him to absorb energy faster. You made me resilient and the hollow years without Rachael bearable." Instead of lasciviousness, his gaze held warmth.
"Then why kill me? Why bother with this cruel vendetta? You father has been dead for three thousand years."
"A male angel must do the will of his creator. If I do not enact the curse, I will turn to stone. Already I can feel the cells in my body changing, hardening. There will come a time shortly when I cannot put off your death."
The cool way he delivered his words, so matter of fact, without compassion, chilled her. There was no emotion in him unless he spoke of killing Agrat. He seemed to care for nothing, love no one except Rachael, though she shuddered at what he called love. "Then get it over with."
She moved her hand just behind her, flicked her wrist and the dagger slid into her hand. If the angel thought he was going to snuff her out easily, he had another thing coming. She ran at him, determined to stop him playing with her, the dagger in her hand, hidden just behind her back.
Galaden's wings flared and they folded neatly behind his back. He moved so quickly, she barely had time to register. One of his hands shot out and he jammed the flat of it into her chest preventing her from getting close enough to stab him, the other twisted the dagger from her hand. A bolt of white light sent her skidding backwards and she landed on the floor with a thud, banging her head on the polished concrete floor so she saw stars. She lay gasping.
He strode over to her, flares of anger left his body like white jabs of light. "You are stubborn beyond measure and foolish enough to think you can harm me." He turned over Agrat's dagger, weighing it in his hand. "It disappoints me that you would make an attempt on my life after what we shared in our past life together."
"We have shared nothing. You sicken me." Disappointment blazed through her. The angel was too strong, too fast to defeat. Despite the way his naked torso glowed when he came close to her, he was cold like the marble she'd carved him from.
"It was not always so and may not be again. Your passion excites me, connects me with what it is to be human when I have waited so long in another realm for Agrat to escape his stone prison. You make me feel again."
"Then you'll recognize hatred." She watched as the bruises on his face vanished before her eyes. He was using her, taking her emotions to heal and there was nothing she could do about it.
Galaden held out a hand to her but she backed away. "Come Phoebe, there was a time when you found pleasure in my company, a comfort in your loneliness."
"I will never stop fighting you," she said through gritted teeth. "I will die fighting you." Please God, help me beat this angel, she prayed.
Galaden's eyes widened and disbelief painted his face. "Enough! It makes little sense for you to fight me when you cannot win. Though it gives me a modicum of pleasure when you rail at me because it charges every cell in my body, I do not like fiery women. I remember now that when you were first mine you fought against me, railed at me for the loss of the demon prince, blamed me for his punishment, but you quieted when the child came. You were a wonderful mother and I was grateful for it."
Shock hit her. The child? "What child?"
"Your son, Daniel. You cared for me after Daniel was born. Trusted me. I hoped I would not have to do this, force you to recall your memories when time to save Rachael is pressing. Understand this, Princess, you will obey me and help me find my love."
"Get away from me." She tried to scrabble to her feet as he bent over her. She'd had a child? Was it with Galaden? The very thought was sickening.
He took her face between his hands and stared into her eyes until the intense blue of his irises was all she could see. She gripped his hands with her own, trying to prize his fingers from her face. In vain, she kicked out at him but despite his lithe build, he was too strong.
"Look at me," he ordered. His words seemed to thunder in her brain. The invading sensation was unbearable as if the top of her head was being ripped off and all her thoughts examined. Black dots appeared in front of her eyes and her body went limp.
943 BC Galaden’s Palace
“I have a gift for you, concubine,” Galaden said, walking toward her. In his hands, he held a necklace encrusted with precious gems. Phoebe put her swaddled baby into the carved wooden crib, touching her son’s cheek as she did so. Her baby, Daniel, opened his eyes and on seeing their moss-green color, she smiled. The baby had wisps of brown hair and creamy skin. “You are good to me, my lord. I thank you for your kindness.”
“You have born a son with limbs so strong, he will make a fine warrior,” he said, placing one of his fingers in her son’s fists and pulling his finger away to test the baby’s strength. Galaden bent over the crib and kissed the baby. As he did so, the intense expression in his crystal-blue eyes softened.
"You are kind to Daniel," she said.
"Every baby is precious," Galaden answered, the corner of his lips turning up.
"I…I thought when he was born, you would not want him in your palace." Worse, she'd thought he'd kill Agrat's child, take him from his crib and slaughter him.
The baby gurgled and reached out to him.
Galaden stroked the baby's cheek, the motion of his fingers tender. "You have always been wary of me, concubine, but you have no reason to be so. I do not make war on women and children. While I stay on this plane, your son is safe but I do have a condition."
"Name it." No matter what he asked, she knew that she would do it to keep her son safe.
"Love my son, Cassiel, in return. Every day I am grateful that Rachael and I managed to keep his birth a secret from my father or he would have been put to death like Rachael. I do not yet know how strong his angelic powers will be. He may not live past human years."
"I already
do," she said, her lips turning up at the thought of the little angel child with his glistening blond hair and magnificent azure wings; wings which were too small for him to fly though he made the attempt often like a little bird trying to leave the nest.
“There was never a woman as gentle as my wife and I want Cassiel to know a mother's love as that has been denied him. In return, I will stay your son's protector."
Something in her died in that moment, knowing that Agrat's son would grow to love the angel as his father and not the brave man who had given his life to defend her. Yet, she realized her son was lucky to have Galaden as his protector, too. The angel, though cool and slow to anger, did not have the vicious streak of his father, the late king, nor the evil manipulative nature of his mother. Agrat's enemies had advocated for her boy's death due to his heritage, yet Galaden had stood firm. The child would not suffer for the sin of the father.
"Thank you. You are good to me," she said, relieved that Daniel was safe.
"I vow that I will treat Daniel as my own, love and train him as a warrior alongside Cassiel." He picked the baby up and held him close.
Phoebe had never seen Galaden so content as when he was in the nursery. In the clear morning light, he looked like a simple proud father, not the stern angel determined to hang on to an empire as difficult to contain as the shifting desert sands.
On the day that Agrat had been turned to stone, the angel had promised he would look after her and he had been true to his vow.
Even after one year of living in this foreign, hot land, the sight of the army returning from battle with their evil distorted faces and their swords dripping blood still chilled her to the bone. Memories of what it had been like to be hunted by them still haunted her. It was far better to be the friend of this new king of twelve moons past than his enemy. She had only to utter a desire and it was hers.
Perhaps he thought his kindness made up for the loss of her prince. Nothing and no one could replace Agrat, but the birth of her son had eased the pain. Although Galaden hated Agrat, it had not been him who had turned her beloved to stone, a curse worse than death. For that, and the safety of her son, she could live with him.
Phoebe stood close to Galaden watching the careful way he held her son. "When did your brother, the prince, show his powers?"
“After his birth, my father, the late king, ordered his demon wife's death because she warred against him, refused to obey his will. Agrat was left at my father’s door. No nurse would feed him after he drew blood from a wet nurse. She died from fever soon after. He screamed for many days and nights until he was given milk from a horned goat. His eyes glowed when he was angry even as a newborn, but when I joined him in the nursery my presence calmed him. Be grateful that Daniel does not show Agrat's wild character.”
Phoebe felt inside the baby's mouth, relieved when her son sucked gently on her finger and not with such force as to draw blood. She missed Agrat's passion and energy, but said nothing. “His nurse has not complained. She says the boy feeds well.”
“That pleases me,” he said. "I pray he will know happiness in the nursery."
Phoebe saw sadness in Galaden’s face as he gazed at her small son whose coloring was lighter than Agrat's though he looked like him. Once in a moment of reflection, the angel had told her that his younger years with Agrat had been the happiest of his life.
“Cassiel adores Daniel already,” he added.
"Cassiel has longed for company in the nursery," she said.
"I am glad my son knows how to love. His nature comes from his mother," he added wistfully.
Phoebe glanced at him, seeing vulnerability cross his features. He was not a man of emotion, rarely conversing with her about his past and she was surprised by his admissions. “It is better when brothers love one another,” she said. It was as close to a criticism as she could dare come after Galaden's betrayal of Agrat and his theft of the prince's kingdom.
If he sensed more meaning in her words, he didn't show it. He put Daniel down into his crib. “I would like that for our sons.”
“I pray the boys will love and protect each other.” Phoebe closed her eyes and took a deep breath to stop her thoughts, but still the picture of Agrat remained, his face one of desperation as he turned to stone. She would spend the rest of her life mourning for him and praying for his salvation.
And what of Galaden? He demanded nothing from her and she was grateful. Despite the protests of his advisers, he refused to take another wife after Rachael. Perhaps it was the only way he could punish his mother whom he believed could have used her influence with the king to save Rachael's life, although the order to cut her throat had been given by his father. At times, when he suffered deep grief over Rachael, he cursed Agrat for betraying her. He was the only one who knew about Galaden's love for Rachael outside of her family. Phoebe would leave the room then, unable to bear criticism of her beloved. It made her own grief more painful than ever.
Galaden opened his wings, closed them around her and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for agreeing to mother Cassiel. I am glad that the boys will not know loneliness like I have,” he said, his voice soft. “Thank you for bringing companionship to my life. Know that while you are with me you will be safe. I cannot give you the love you crave, but I hope you will find contentment and care for me a little so that our sons will know what it is to live in a peaceful household.” He lifted her hair so that he could place the necklace around her throat.
Although she submitted to his ministrations, her heart beat with a slow dull thud; she could not love Galaden either though he was kind to her, but she was grateful for his care and the stability his protection offered her and Daniel.
When Galaden made a vow he kept it.
Chapter 13
The arrow of silver that carried Phoebe’s prayers in this lifetime arrived in one of the angelic realms. Angel Cassiel, the son of Prince Galaden and Rachael, caught it, deciphered the message, spread his wings and flew to the temple portico where Prince Agrat and Phoebe's son, Daniel, was growing red fireballs in one hand and juggling them. "Quit playing, Dan. My father has stopped hiding out in the wastelands. He's in New York and he's kidnapped your mother. It's serious. He's told her of the vow he made to our grandfather, the old king."
Daniel extinguished the fireballs. His moss-green eyes widened with dismay. "He's told her he's going to kill her? He cared for her. You and Phoebe were the only ones that kept him going after your mother was murdered."
"He loved you too, Dan. Raised you as his own," Cassiel said. "But for my kind, a vow must be served or we turn to stone."
"The lesson is, don't agree to vicious vows in anger. Show me that." Daniel held out his hand.
"Unfortunately my kind must do the will of our creator." Cassiel handed the arrow to his cousin and best friend. He watched as his dark-haired cousin's fingers moved over the arrow shaft, his brow creased as he focused on interpreting the angelic message in the way Cassiel had taught him. Through their different inheritances the angel and the elemental demon had divergent skills, but Phoebe had brought them up so lovingly in her past life, they'd taught each other everything they knew.
"This looks bad," Daniel said, his moss-colored eyes glowing a vivid green with worry. He rubbed his hand over his thick, cropped mahogany hair.
"I knew this would come to a head the moment your mother bought the statue. She just couldn't leave it alone."
"She loved my father. She told me so many stories about him when I was young. She prayed every day that she could find some way to release him from his stone prison. She took me to visit him in the palace and I'd press my face against the statue and tell him how much I loved him," Daniel said, running his fingers along the shaft of the arrow in order to further read the message inscribed on it.
"Phoebe's dedicated. She insisted I love you, even after you'd set my wings on fire."
Daniel grinned and flicked a fireball at him and the angel froze it, his movement so fast it was impossi
ble to see. "It's not my fault you're so feathery. I was improving your reflexes. You used to move so slowly."
"Not anymore." He sent an ice-colored ball at Daniel's head.
Daniel raised his hand without even glancing in Cassiel's direction and the sphere fizzled out. "Still too slow." He grinned. The smile dropped from his face as his fingers moved further up the silver arrow shaft. "Oh shit, Cassiel, there's another prayer here. My mother is praying for Rachael, too. It's bad."
"How bad?" King Sol had ordered his mother, Rachael's death just after he had been born, but the link from being held and loved by her still remained with him.
"I'm going to call upon the elements to open a portal so I can see what's going on." Daniel strode over to the temple's crystal pool and stared into the water. "Great ancestor, Warrior of Water, open the crystal portal so that I may see." The water shimmered. He waved his hand over the top and it stilled.
Cassiel joined him, glad that Daniel could access the crystal pool portal because scrying, seeing into another dimension, didn't come easily to him. Being of part human descent on his mother’s side meant he had to train long and hard to learn the skills that came to angels easily, but he had enormous curative powers from Rachael which Daniel didn't have. "What can you see?"
"Rachael's sick. She's in one of earth's modern day healing centers and they don't know how to fix her. Galaden's been using her life-force to charge. She needs your healing powers, Cass. When your father fucks up, he does it bad."
Cassiel's brow drew together and his broad shoulders bumped against Daniel's as he looked into the pool to see Rachael lying on a hospital bed, a feeding tube in her nose. "She isn't meant to pass over. This life is meant to be happy, a reward life for all her healing services from her past life. This'll be yet another black mark against Dad." He straightened. "I need to get down there fast."
Daniel waved his hand over the pool. The image changed to that of Agrat surrounded by his enemies. "Oh man. My dad is in serious trouble, too. He needs back-up fast."
Her Demon Prince (Forbidden Fantasy) Page 15