I start to feel cold wetness striking me. Looking closely, I see that it's sleeting and hailing. I keep flying by flapping and gliding. Trying to prevent my wings from stiffening up from the wet coldness. Even though my wings are fiery, they still are affected by the cold, damp weather.
I keep flying for what feels like over an hour until I see the end of the shoreline. My body is starting to fatigue from shaking with the cold wetness that has permeated my bones. B must have made the coastline longer than the last one.
Reaching the end of the shoreline, I float down to the snow-packed and now frozen solid ground. I think on my running gear, but I modify the soles of my running shoes. Making them grip the ice, so I don't slip and fall that will cause me to break my ass on the ice.
I also keep my goggles on because it's still sleeting and hailing. And it's hard to see in front of me with them on. Don't want to know how hard it will be to see without them on. Starting a leisurely pace to test out my altered running shoes, I start jogging back to the starting point. I listen to my iPod, letting the music clear my head for me to start planning on the whole G's family situation. I need some more insight.
I think my iPod off. I don't unsheathe Cal because I know the sword can hear me sheathed on my back. I ask softly, 'Cal, what type of demoness is Lamia?'
Cal waits a few seconds to answer. 'Lamia is the seducer of men. Once she gets a hold of her victim, she will never let him go. Lamia makes sure that the bond she has with her victim makes intimacy with others extremely painful,' Cal informs me.
'Like soul-crushing painful?' I ask.
'Precisely,' Cal answers. Hmmmmm?
'Cal, how is it possible for G to have a child with Lamia?' I inquire.
'Gabriel was the last Archangel to be made. Therefore he is the least perfect.' Cal explains. No shit.
'Oops. Sorry, Cal. Please continue,' I say contritely in my head.
'Lamia is also the least perfect being made of the demonesses,' Cal says.
Interrupting Cal, 'So they canceled each other out, and he was able to impregnate her,' I state.
Correct little one,' Cal says. I wonder what happened to the real Sariel?
Running back to the guys took me a very long time. I was drenched and freezing, but my mates were awesome enough to think me up a towel and some hot cocoa. I know I could have thunk myself dry, but who doesn't love to be pampered once in a while?
Red picks me up and carries me out of the training room, taking me to "our" bedroom. Red doesn't stop until I'm in the bathroom. I already hear the jacuzzi bath water running, and I can feel the steam rising up the side of me. I think myself naked while Red places me gently in hot water. I look up at Red gratefully while my body is getting used to the water temperature.
"Thank you, Red," I tell him. He smiles down at me. A sad little smile, perhaps? 'Yeah, I know. This situation sucks!' I say to him in my head. 'But no matter what, I still love you,' I say softly. Red's grin widens, and he leans in for a kiss. Our lips meet, and it feels so good to be loved and kissed by my mate. I hear a throat clearing behind Red, forcing us to break our kiss.
Looking behind Red, I see G. Okay?
"Hey G," I say in confusion. "What can I help you with?"
Red steps away from me and says, "I'll leave you two alone for a bit. Call me if you need me, Sera," and Red brushes past G without a word, walking out of the bathroom.
Feeling a little self-conscious that I'm naked but not vulnerable, I reach over to a glass vial I thought of and poured the contents in.
The smell is heavenly, and bubbles appear in different colors. My body becomes immersed in divine smelling bubbles. I then turn the water jets on to massage my aching muscles.
When I feel ready, I turn to G, who is now leaning the doorway wall again, staring at the bubbles with pure lust in his eyes. What is up with him?
"G?" I call him patiently. "Everything okay? Did you need something?" I ask. G blinks at me a few times. Then it's like he's being snapped out of a trance. G looks at me and then looks around the room in confusion.
"How did I get here?"
My eyes widen in amazement. "Uh, you walked in here while Red and I were kissing? What's going on?" I ask.
"I don't know?" G says. He looks more confused than me right now! Now there's definitely something going on! Something is not right with G, and I got a good indication of why!
"Is everything okay with Lamia and Sariel?" I inquire, knowing that everything is okay for the demoness and the little Hells-spawn since they are "home." G gets that stupid giddy look on his face the second I mention Lamia's name.
"Everything is perfect," he says dreamily.
"Great!" I tell G, making myself sound as happy I can for him. "I hope little Sariel likes her temporary home?" I inquire.
"Yes, my little angel is pleased to be here." G says, that dopey expression still on his face.
Okay, I know I sound really jealous right now. BUT, you guys are not seeing what I'm seeing. This lover-boy image looks very very wrong on G. It's definitely not natural. I can feel it in my bones.
"G?" I ask, and I see his eyes are glazed over. "G!" I yell and snap my fingers to get his attention. It sounds rude, but I am naked, sitting in a bathtub full of water and bubbles.
G can regain his focus and look at me with bright eyes. "What is it that you wanted, Sera?" G asks me gruffly like I'm the one interrupting his bath.
"Don't forget we got training later," I inform him politely.
"Is that why you dragged me away from my family?" G snarls. The fuck?!
"G," I attempt to say as patiently as possible. My patience is wearing really thin from this whole fucked-up situation! "I did not summon you or ask you to come in here. Especially when I'm trying to relax from my grueling morning exercise. Why the hell would I call you in here when I just spoke with you earlier today?" I demand.
I seemed to have mollified G after my little outburst. "You're right, Sera," G says apologetically. "I'm sorry. For some reason, I thought you called me, and I came. Sorry to interrupt your bath." G states primly and executes an about-face and leaves. I have a feeling that this situation is going to make things worse. Then an idea pops into my head.
Red comes back into the bathroom and sits with me and holds my hand. Helping me recharge faster. When I'm a prune, I stand up to get out. Red thinks up a cute plush, emerald green bathrobe. Thinking myself dry, I step into the robe and into Red's arms. So nice!
Red kisses me on top of the head. "Time to take a nap and recharge for later," Red whispers and kisses the top of my head.
"Lead the way," I tell him.
A few hours later, I'm in the living room and approaching G's door. Raising my hand to knock, the door suddenly bursts open. Lamia is standing at the doorway with a grimace on her face, somehow making her beauty look disgusting. It's the grimace that definitely makes her ugly. Too bad G can't see it. Yet.
"What do you want?" Lamia nastily asks me. I so wish I could punch this demoness bitch in the face! But I need to play nice.
"I've come here to ask that you and Sariel wait for G in this Circle until it's time to go to Heaven. The Circles become colder and more dangerous the further down we descend Hell. I would feel horrible if something happened to you and Sariel," I say pleadingly.
"Cut the shit," Lamia demands. "You want MY husband for yourself. You can never have him. He's mine!" Lamia snarls. Somehow I know G is listening to our exchange, so I need to be careful.
"That's not true, Lamia! I love G enough to let him go. I only want him to be happy. And his only happiness is with you and Sariel. If it means anything, G has treated me like shit the day I met him. So there is no doubt that he loves you and only," I say desperately. The Academy goes to...
"Sera's right Lamia," G interrupts. Lamia's face immediately goes back to perfection. "I did treat her like garbage because I do love only you! But please listen to her. She's right about traveling through the next Circles. And you did tell me that Lucifer promi
sed to release your souls when Sera completes her divine mission. Please stay here with Sariel. I don't know what will happen if I lost you two again." And won't wonder ever cease? G actually gets on his knees to beg.
Lamia looks defeated when she sees G begging like a dog for her and Sariel to stay at this Circle. I keep my poker face on. Not showing any facial expression but kind concern. Inside, however, I'm doing a "Fuck You" dance with both middle fingers up directed towards Lamia.
"Okay," Lamia acquiesces. "But you have to vow right here and now that you will not touch her," Lamia demands.
"I vow to never touch Sera again," G quickly vows. I feel our bond weaken, and a painful twisting like a knife in my soul.
I know G is feeling something similar because he blanches for a second. Like something knifed him painfully in the chest because he slightly hunches over. G looks up at, still on his knees, and studies me. I hide my discomfort, pretending that the vow he made to that demoness cunt didn't affect me.
Smiling down like nothing is wrong, I say, "Now that's out of the way. Ready to train? Lamia, I would love you and Sariel to come and watch if you want," I sweetly offer with a smile.
The bitch turns back to me, mirroring my sweet smile. Probably because she thinks she won! Oops
Looking down at G, who now has a lovesick expression on his face, is staring at Lamia and shows no signs that he heard my thoughts. That will actually benefit me while I lay my trap for Lamia and that little Hells-spawn pretending to be Sariel.
"Thank you for the offer," Lamia says politely. "But I think Sariel and I will be more comfortable in here." Lamia is smiling brightly.
"Another time, perhaps?" I say smoothly.
"Perhaps," she replies sweetly in return.
I turn back to a still kneeling G. "G?" I inquire. Trying to get his attention. "G!" I yell because my first attempt fails. G finally focuses his attention back on to me. He's got the attention span of a rabbit!
"Ready to train? I promise I'll have you back with Lamia as soon as possible," I tell G point-blank. Realizing he's still on his knees, G stands up and gives Lamia a long, lazy kiss. I am loudly clear my throat to interrupt the messed up scene in front of me because I want to make sure that G follows me.
G breaks the kiss and frowns at me. I give him an impatient look, emphasized strongly by my body language. Lamia smiles at me triumphantly. "Go train Gabriel," Lamia kindly orders G. And G scowls at me while brushing past me and heads towards the training room. Hell sucks!
Pretending to look defeated in front of the audience, I spin on my heel and follow G towards the training room. "Sera," I hear Lamia sing-song call out to my back. "Have fun trying to steal MY Gabriel now." I never realized how bitchy Liama sounded until she said those words.
Stopping at the open doorway to the training room, I turn back and say gleefully, "Don't worry! I will!" Bitch is going down!
Now, I am not going to bore you with training details, but the room gets colder and colder. And it's getting harder and harder to keep G focused on training me. The last day at the Fourth Circle, G didn't even bother leaving his wife. He was stuck to Lamia like shit on velcro. Time to go!
When I'm in the training room with my other four mates, waiting for G to finally grace us with his presence, I lose my impatience.
'Guys,' I call out to my four mates in my head. 'I think G is too distracted with his family now. We have to go before he does something to damage the bond further,' I inform them. They all nod their heads in understanding. Even though they've got no idea what the hell is going on.
After the pissing contest between myself and Lamia, I telepathically asked my guys to stay far away, Lamia. They all vowed to stay away from her. Not even asking me why. They completely trust and love me!
Back to the situation at hand. "Lucifer!" I yell up to the sky. "Where's the door? You made a vow. Keep it!" A large red door suddenly appears onto the frozen ocean. The room looks like a barren wasteland now. I can feel the energy pulsating from the door, so I know the door is not an illusion. Now for the fun part!
We all quickly leave the training room to collect our gear. I conjured up G's pack because I'm going to have to forcefully pry his ass away from his little demonic family. Which means I'm going to have to solicit some help.
"FMC," I call out my Hellhound's name. She is taking a nap next to the bed. "Time to go!" I tell her. FMC lazily gets up and stretches. Making grunting sounds from her three heads. "Sorry to disturb your beauty rest, but I've got a mission for you," I tell her. That got her tail wagging.
"I need you to kidnap G and bring him to the door," I command her. If I didn't know any better, I think the Hellhound's three heads just grinned at me. Freaky! "I'll give you a nice belly rub at the next Circle," I tell FMC, who immediately disappears.
"Sera," Virgil says. "Why are we kidnapping G?" he inquires.
'Trust me?' I plead with him in my head while shrugging my shoulders. 'These walls have too many ears,' I tell Virgil.
"Okay, Sera. You're the boss," Virgil says out loud. I know he's acting because he gives me a wink.
I hear a commotion in the living room, and without further ado, I command the guys, saying, "Let's go!" Grabbing Virgil, I slip into the stream, going Mach One into the training room and stopping at the giant red door. FMC is holding a fighting G by the arm.
"SERA!" G roars at me even though I'm right in front of him. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" He looks as if he wants to kill me right now. Hopefully, G will forgive me for this. Like I've forgiven him.
"Saving the Universe G," I tell him matter-of-factly, showing no fear at G's anger towards me. "Remember? That's my purpose," I deadpan. Without waiting for a reply and not caring how hard he's struggling to break free from FMC's iron grip with her jaws on his arm, I touch the door handle.
Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one. And everyone thinks that the other's stinks.
'Words of wisdom.' The others are chuckling at my sarcastic remark towards the saying.
Yanking the door open, I simultaneously grab G's hand and slip into the stream. FMC releases G's arm at the perfect time. Once I am enveloped in blackness, I slip out of the stream. Knowing that he cannot get back to the Fourth Circle, I release my firm grip on G's arm.
G immediately releases his ebony black wings and flies away from me. I release my own wings and let myself float. My other mates quickly surround me. I sigh and say, "I had to." Then I telepathically tell the guys everything that I've found out about Lamia and little Sariel.
"Shit," B mutters. 'Ye were right to keep this to yourself while we were there. I think I would have killed the bitch if ye told me sooner,' B comments in my head.
'We all would have taken turns killing them,' Raph says in my head, sounding frustrated and pissed.
'That's why I waited until now to tell you. G's family is stuck in the Fourth Circle. And out of our way. The bond is extremely precarious between myself and G right now,' I inform the guys.
There is an ensuing silence while we float down to the Fifth Circle. "What's the Fifth Circle I ask out loud?" I forgot to ask that question during my training.
"The Fifth Circle is Heresy," answers B. And then the putrid stench of burning flesh hits me.
"Oh my god! What the hell is that smell?" I exclaim.
To Be Continued…
Excerpt from Book Three: Still Descending…
Chapter One: The Fifth Circle Is Burning Love
Oh My God! I'm going to fucking puke!
I am dropping in total blackness with my five mates, and there is this awful burning stench. It smells like something died, got roasted, resurrected after three days, died again, and baked on the HI broil setting in an oven.
“That is the smell of the burning souls who preached heretical teachings that had nothing to do with The Creator’s vision,” I hear Virgil’s grim voice explaining from the enveloping darkness while we descend.
“Like what?” I ask.
The
six of us: four Archangel's (B, Raph, Red, and G) and the one pure soul, Virgil, are falling from Hell's Fourth Circle, Wrath, to the Fifth Circle, Heresy. It’s been a hell of a trip!
For those who are now joining us, here comes the Clift Notes.
My name is Seraphim Dante, Sera for short. The night I turned twenty-one is the night that weird shit started to happen to me. All because my first legal drink was a Holy Fire shot. And it glowed.
I know, THAT should have a significant indicator NOT to drink the juice. But I am a sucker for intrigue and did it anyway. Oh, and Virgil, my Pure Soul guide, was the one who bought me my drink. And then knocked me out and proceeded to kidnap me. Happy Birthday to Me!
Virgil tells me that The Creator wanted me to descend all the freezing depths of Hell to retrieve the seven Archangels: Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Barachiel, Jegudiel, Selaphiel, and Michael.
I have so far saved: Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, and Barachiel. AKA: G, Red, Raph, and B. And in protecting them, they also became my mates.
Well, sort of…
G has been a pain in my ass since day one. Fighting the soul bond between us, forgetting to mention about his deceased wife and child who we happened to run into in the last Circle, Wrath.
Long story short, I made a deal with Lucifer to free them for G’s sake (and my sanity), only to find out the G’s wife, Lamia, is a literal love-sucking demoness cunt. And G’s cherub daughter Sariel is a hell-spawn glamoured to look like G’s missing daughter.
And of course G is so enamored with the return of his “family” that I couldn’t tell him and in turn, kidnapped him to fall with us to the Fifth Circle. Because there is a more significant thing at stake, as the saving of the entire Universe…
Back to our falling party….
Virgil replies immediately to my question. “Anyone that preaches hatred or they idolize themselves automatically got sent here.”
And just because I'm me, I comment, “I guess every politician and religious leader does get roasted.”
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