"I syphoned Phoebe's mind while she slept. She does not know where your mother resides. The demon has shielded her whereabouts from me." He raised his hand to a fist, clearly agitated. His wings flared, opened and closed, and he stalked backwards and forwards.
"I know where she is. I'll take you to her. Hurry, Father, there's little time."
Galaden stopped pacing. His gaze met Phoebe's, his eyes cold and steely, their pupils a pinprick. "Stand aside, Cassiel. It is time to do my duty to my father. Every cell in my body demands I act on the vow." His voice was ice.
Phoebe saw a tremor pass through the young angel as if he were fighting with himself, forcing his body to stay put. Deeply grateful for his protection, she raised her hand and put it on his shoulder. Love. She remembered the feeling from her dream. This was the angel child she'd adored as her own. His very presence was proof that her dream was not some strange fantasy implanted by Galaden. Cassiel's skin was warm, not cool like Galaden's. She could see his resolve in the firm set of his back as he faced off against his father. "I dreamed you raised Cassiel to love me, now you want to kill me in front of him. What an asshole you are," she said to Galaden.
"Silence, woman. You know not our ways. Your race does not understand obedience. I made a vow. It is not a choice," Galaden said.
"A foolish vow, made out of hatred for Prince Agrat, and now this innocent woman has to pay the price," Cassiel said.
"I never thought Agrat would escape the statue. No one has ever turned back into human form," Galaden said. "Sometimes even innocents must be sacrificed. It is the way of our race when we do the work we are given by our forebears."
"Phoebe was like my mother," Cassiel said, "which is why I won't let you do this. I've been searching the other dimensions for you for years and now I find you here, a lonely desperate angel. From what I've heard about the prince, he'll chase you across dimensions to avenge Phoebe's death, which means I'll lose you, too."
A choking sound left Galaden's throat at the truth of Cassiel's words.
The little angel boy she'd raised in her past life had become a complex, questioning man.
"The demon will not survive my army's attack," Galaden said.
"Agrat will. I know it. He'll risk everything to get to me," Phoebe said with passion. How she hated Galaden, wished she had the strength to kill him herself.
"Choose, Father. Come with me and save the woman you love or stay and make good your vow," Cassiel challenged.
Galaden stalked toward him, the look on his face deadly. "I created you. You do not issue me with commands. It is not the way of angels."
"It's my way," Cassiel said, squaring his shoulders.
Phoebe tightened her grip on him. She could feel shudders running through him from his disobedience. She knew it cost him deeply to go against his fundamental angelic nature of blind obedience to his creator.
"You would dare disobey me?" Galaden asked. Astonishment made his eyes darken like the sky when clouds crossed the sun. The concept appeared foreign to him.
"Damn right I would," Cassiel said.
Oh dear God, Phoebe thought, this young angel was brave like her prince, but he was taking his life in his hands by crossing Galaden.
"You cannot do so," Galaden said, an appalled expression on his face. "It is in your cells, in your whole angelic make-up to do the will of your creator. You must obey me."
Phoebe could feel Cassiel's whole body trembling under her fingertips, yet his stance was strong.
"I will not let you do this," Cassiel said, his teeth gritted.
"I spoilt you. I raised you too gently. I let you know your human side. My father would have sealed my fate by now. Already my feet would be turning to stone had I gone against his wishes in any way."
"I love you, Dad. You were a good, kind father to me, but you'll have to run that sword right through me before you get to Phoebe," Cassiel said. "The only time I've ever seen you happy was when I was a kid and the princess looked after us. You do this terrible thing and it'll destroy you."
"Cassiel. No!" Phoebe said. She couldn't let him do this. What a good, solid soul she'd raised in her past life.
"I'm a quarter angel with stunted wings and dodgy angelic powers, but the higher power in heaven did allow me and Daniel to hang out in the angelic realm, so we must be doing something right. Maybe this whole turn-to-stone thing won't work with me." He reached behind him, found her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.
Relief overwhelmed her but it would prey on her conscience to let this young angel risk everything for her. She walked to his side, yet he put his arm in front of her to stop her advancing. "You're an ice-cold bastard, Galaden, but I thought from my dream that you weren't cruel like your father, the old king who made you watch when he killed Rachael in her past life. I was wrong. You want to kill me in front of Cassiel."
Oh, God, where was Agrat? Fear made her throat tight and she wasn't sure how long Cassiel could hold out. Agrat had to come. She needed him, longed for him in a way that went deep into her bones. She hadn't told him how much she loved him. She thought of the last moment she'd seen him, suspended in the air as Lightning charged him. How could he survive? But if he were dead, surely there would be some way she would know it? Their love connected them through lifetimes.
He had to come.
Galaden's shoulders slumped as he sheathed his sword. "I cannot fight you, Cassiel. The pain of it is unbearable. Nor can I turn you to stone for my own sin. Take me to Rachael. I wish to say goodbye."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe cried. Was Galaden going to let Rachael die?
Cassiel spread his wings, clearly shielding her from Galaden and advanced toward his father. In a flash, they disappeared, not answering her question.
Phoebe sank to the sofa and put her head between her hands. Death had been close. Too close. Agrat. All she wanted was his arms around her. Please Lord, I need him, she prayed, her eyes full of tears. Spare my love, even if he is not one of your subjects. She put her hand on the lapis lazuli of her wrist guard and cried out his name.
She had to get out of here before Galaden returned. She had seen death in his eyes. Next time, there would be no second chances.
An explosion of light flared in the room and Phoebe backed up against the sealed door. A man with mahogany-colored hair stood in front of her, his arm wrapped around Agrat's waist in support. The prince's naked body was slumped against the man, blood streaming from a wound in his stomach and the cuts and abrasions all over him. His eyes were closed and he barely appeared conscious.
"Hurry, Princess. Come with me. I need your help with the prince."
Phoebe blinked and blinked again. The dire situation wasn't lost on her but for a millisecond she froze. She knew those moss-colored eyes. She'd seen them before in her dreams in the face of her baby. "Daniel?"
He grinned. "The one and the same."
Her son and yet not her son. It was almost too much to take in. A son! A giant warrior dressed in ancient battle gear, filthy from fighting, yet he didn't seem to be wounded. Boy, was she pleased to see him. He was tall and handsome like the prince, but he had a lightness about his character that Agrat didn't. Joy, that he was real, even if her head was still struggling with the idea, and relief that Agrat hadn't battled alone, made her heart leap. It was clear from Daniel's blood smeared battle dress that both men had fought hard. "I'm so glad you're here."
"I'd hug you, but my arms are kinda occupied." He held out one hand. "Quick. We gotta get out of here and I'm not great at teleporting on my own, let alone with three of us. Takes a lotta concentration and energy seeing as I'm only a quarter elemental demon. Agrat, if you can hear me, I need help with this."
Phoebe didn't need to be told twice. She raced forward and grabbed the prince's other arm and put it around her shoulders. "How bad is he?" she asked Daniel.
"Bad," he confirmed.
Agrat's skin was clammy against hers and each breath he took seemed labored. "Please don't die. I love you,"
she said, tucking her other arm around his waist to secure him into position for the shift. She tenderly touched his face, the memory of his lovemaking in her mind, his scent in her nostrils, and her need of him as totally essential to her as breathing.
Agrat groaned and muttered something at the jostling of his body, but he didn't open his eyes. He still clutched his dagger in his fist and Phoebe didn't dare take it from him in case he sensed the movement and thought someone was attacking him.
"Ready?" Daniel said.
"As I'll ever be," she muttered, dreading it.
Already particles of air seemed to swirl around her and she could feel herself becoming weightless. The floor seemed to fall away from her feet and she clutched Agrat. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt her stomach drop and was glad she hadn't eaten much because she was certain she'd end up on her hands and knees dry retching again.
Which she did, only this time there was a wooden floorboard underneath her and in the near distance she could hear the sound of the sea. Her stomach heaved and she flopped down flat on her front, shifted her face to the side until the violent nausea left her. With a sense of déjà vu, she forced herself to a sitting position. Her head swam with the movement and her stomach heaved again, but it wasn't as violent as the last time. When she could manage to look around it seemed like she was in a beautiful, modern beach house. The air was balmy and warm. Through the large sliding doors she could see the ocean and miles of beach with yellow sand. The whole place had a sense of peace and she breathed it in with gratitude.
"Sorry. That was a rough trip. Humans don't do it so well. I'll get you some healing water once I've settled the prince," Daniel said, his body straining under the weight of his father. Daniel lowered Agrat onto a fold out wooden chair. Carefully, he extracted the dagger from the prince's hand and laid it on a table nearby.
"I had worse when Envy snatched me. It wasn’t as rough this time."
"Gets easier."
The prince's body was so battered, so raw and helpless, her heart cried out for him. Although every nerve ending screamed at her to rest, she crawled next to Agrat, determined to hold him close until she could give him aid. Her prince had taken on an army to save her; his normally swarthy face was ashen, his eyes glazed and his breathing still lacked rhythm. Terror gripped her that he might die. Everything the prince had told her about their past was true. The sense of wonder that they'd had a son together filled her heart with amazement and she wanted to share it with him. He couldn't die. He couldn't.
"Let me help you." She felt Daniel's strong arms enclose and lift her onto a fold-out chair next to Agrat.
"Thank you," she said.
"I hope your presence will revive him," Daniel said, a frown creasing his brow. "All he thinks of is you. All he talks about is you." He strode away and in a moment he returned with two glasses of liquid, one of which he set on a coffee table next to Agrat and the other he held to her lips.
Managing to take it in shaking hands she sipped it gratefully. Although the liquid had the crystal clear look of water, it was sweet and thirst quenching, revitalizing her as she gulped it down. "Where are we?"
"Cassiel's and my beach house in Hawaii. I couldn't hide you in an angelic dimension. Your body is human. Anyway, the wards are locked. You would disintegrate. The healing Kahuna energy here is magical so that even humans can feel it and come to the islands to revive. We're shielded here on sacred land away from the main island. Demon energy, the evil kind, can't penetrate it. Cass and I like coming down here when we're not in the angelic dimension."
"What happened?" she asked Daniel, nodding at Agrat. She set her glass down on the coffee table nearby and took Agrat's hand in hers. His palm was covered in dried blood, but she didn't care. She'd do whatever it took to get him well again.
"Major stomach wound. Demon knife. I think the blade was poisonous."
"Demon poison?" How could she deal with that?
"Serious shit."
"How can I get it out of his system?"
"If we can get him to drink, Cass's water will help clear the demon poison from the inside." Daniel reached over, picked up the full glass and handed it to her. "Wet his lips. Get it in."
Phoebe dipped her fingers in the liquid and traced her fingertips along his bottom lip. "Take it, my darling," she murmured. She didn't want to be without him, she thought, her heart thumping with misery.
Agrat shifted and groaned at her touch.
She could feel tears welling in her eyes. "He's barely conscious. I've never seen him so helpless."
"Lightning roasted him. He's fully charged, but his energy flow is faulty. He fought furiously, but his energy balls weren't releasing. I hope you can fix him. Wish Cass was here. He has healing powers." Daniel's answer came out fast and staccato and Phoebe realized how deeply worried he was.
Anxiety that Cassiel's cure might not work bore down on her. "Both Galaden and Agrat say my presence is restorative, whatever that means. They think there's something else in my ancestry, but I have to say, this is all new to me. I don't know how to cure sickness. I only have basic first aid skills."
"Goddess power," Daniel said.
"So I'm told. If I hadn't seen Agrat heal in front of my eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. Mind you, I still can't get my head around the fact I have a son who is three thousand years older than I am." She dipped her fingers into the glass again and dripped drops of it into the prince's mouth.
Agrat swallowed, but didn't open his eyes.
The sides of Daniel's mouth turned up slightly. "That's because you don't have the memories I have. We all mended faster when you were my mother in your past life. Kicked in properly after you turned twenty-five in human years. A few hours with you tending us and we'd be fixed and back out fighting alongside Galaden again."
"Glad I was such a good mom," she said dryly. She wondered how he felt about her being his mother. The whole concept was surreal. Daniel was so much older than she was yet he looked about twenty to her twenty-four years. "This must be the first time you've met your father. The old king turned him to stone before you were born."
"The prince kicks ass, doesn't he? He liked the way I fought." Daniel strode toward the kitchen and returned with a washcloth, basin and towel. "The prince is too weak to bathe. You've gotta get this demon blood splatter off him. It's filth. Poison. It'll seep in through his skin and give him nightmares, make him lose all hope. Use this water and refill it from the urn. It's Cassiel's brew. Very healing. Same as the stuff you're drinking." He rinsed the cloth and handed it to her.
"It works. All the vertigo's gone now."
"You won't be disturbed unless Galaden gets the location out of Cass, which is why I've gotta get over there. Cass is strong but Galaden is an old being and he won't be able to hold out against him forever."
Phoebe took the cloth and forced herself to a standing position, delighted her head didn't swirl and her legs seemed steady. "Wait a minute. What are you going to do?"
"Told you. I've gotta get back to Cassiel. I've left him alone with Galaden."
"They've gone to see Rachael!" How could she have forgotten her best friend? "Cassiel promised to take him to her. She's dying," Phoebe said, her voice rising with alarm.
"Not if Cass has anything to do with it. She's his mother. He'll be bound by blood to save her. Dammit, Princess, he has to. She's the only one who'll have any real influence over Galaden now."
"Do you think Galaden will return her life-force?" The thought of Rachael lying there at the mercy of Galaden sickened her. What if he strengthened himself further by taking the last of Rachael's life-force?
"He always spoke of Rachael with love when I was a child. It's hard to know with Galaden. He's more remote than ever before. Guess he's spent too long hiding out in the wasteland dimensions, where the suicides hang out."
Phoebe winced at the thought. "Why did he do that? Why didn't he join you and Cassiel?"
Daniel's eyes narrowed and his head tilted as he sought t
o explain. "The angelic dimensions have wards which are locked. Galaden can't go there and he didn't want to return to his mother's kin. Cass carries enough goodness and light to be accepted."
"He's Rachael's child from her past life," Phoebe said, thoughtfully.
"I'm only admitted to the lower dimensions thanks to my human side, so Cass and I hang out there together, whereas Galaden's spent thousands of years alone. I mean, seriously, I wouldn't give him a hug now and he raised me. Rachael's the only one he really loves."
Phoebe thought of Agrat's description of the state he'd found Rachael in. "I'm not convinced of that. He's sucked her dry of her life-force. I don't call that love. Please help Rachael. Don't let him hurt her."
Daniel walked over to her, put his arm around her. "I'll do everything I can."
"Thank you. I can't tell you how relieved I am to have you on my side. Knowing you're here gives me hope." A son. Her son. She put her hand on his. An overwhelming sense of gratitude flooded her. Thanks to Daniel, Agrat was alive.
He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "When you lived with us as a family in your past life, things were stable. Galaden was stable. Sometimes he was even happy. When you passed on into the spirit world, everything went to pieces."
"What do you mean?"
"Galaden lost his humanity," Daniel said, his face grim. "I'm glad you weren't there to see it. The whole kingdom fell apart."
"He terrifies me." Phoebe shuddered just thinking of the cool, unfeeling angel and the horror he'd wrought on her. She looked over at Agrat and put her hand on his brow. He was scorching. She dipped the cloth in the basin, rinsed it out and washed his face, savoring the familiar planes and angles. "I want my peaceful life back, but I want Agrat in it. This hideous vendetta has to stop. You and Cassiel have to find a way. Please, I'm begging you."
"I'll try. I promise, I'll try. The trouble is Galaden has a dark side and it's like I don't even know him anymore. He never harmed a hair on your head when I was young. Now he's determined to…well, you know." Daniel shook his head. "I don't know where his real loyalties lie. There's too much of his mother in him. You know who her father is, don't you?"
Her Demon Prince (Forbidden Fantasy) Page 17