"He looks like you, ya know? He's been flappin' his little wings whenever Brinx talks about you."
Trevor had to turn his back to Liam in order to hide the tears that were stinging in his eyes. He couldn't cry. Crying was weakness, and he was supposed to be the strong one. He cleared his throat. "Thank you. Please go."
"Are you okay?"
"I will be."
Liam came up to him and patted his arm. "Oviel thinks you're dead. He tried to get Brinx to stop tellin' Cael about you. He said that Cael needed a new father, someone who would be there for him. You were only supposed to be gone for a week. You were gone for over four months."
"I know. Things got . . . complicated."
"Where's Gavin?"
Trevor slammed his gauntleted fist against the wall. "Go, Liam. Leave me."
"He's dead, huh? How'd he die?"
"You can't tell anyone about him either. Stop it."
"But Trevor-"
"I said shut up!" Trevor spun around and screamed at him. "Go!"
Liam silently went up the steps then left through the door, locking it behind him.
Trevor slid down to the cold bare floor and held his son's downy feathers in his hand as he cried. He was unashamed. He would have given anything for his son. Just a little while longer to make sure that everything was safe. Then he would go see his son. Trevor did his best to stop crying as he unpacked the silver bowl, vial of virgin blood, lavender, and onyx dust from his backpack. Time to make protective runes to place around the house. Nothing would be getting in if he had a say in it. He would use all of his power to ensure the safety of Cael. Carvael would not get his son.
Chapter 8
Gavin's jaw ached from the metal gag that was tightened in his mouth. He knew better than to try to pull out of the chains securing him to the solid stone support column in the holding cells below Carvael's underground palace. He could still smell his blood from the injuries he sustained earlier, but a series of painful injections had given him enough of various potions to keep him from bleeding out or falling into unconsciousness. One of his eyes was obviously swollen shut and throbbing with his heartbeat. For everyone's sick entertainment, Gavin had been stripped down to his underwear that was soaked in purple blood. His bare feet were constantly slipping in the pool of blood on the cold floor. His mind was woozy from blood loss and the strange concoctions of potions.
The heavy metal door was pulled open as Stephan entered, followed by a tall vampire with the unique orange and red eyes peering out from behind a face covered in a scraggly beard and messy dirty blond bangs. Doran, Jaylen's father. They met eyes for a tense few seconds before Doran took a seat against the wall and handed Stephan a leather belt.
"Such a bad boy, Gavin. We really should try to train you to be a better all around demon. Befriending people, loving them, and trying to sacrifice your life for them? Those aren't very demonic qualities, are they? You're weak, Gavin. You are so weak and pampered that you are rotting from the inside." Stephan took Gavin's chin in his claws. "And look at this pretty face. You'd better be glad you still have your looks. Without them, you would have nothing. You're stupid. Oh, don't look at me like that, dearest. You know that I have always been the brains in this relationship. All you're good for is cooking, being pretty, and-"
Doran cleared his throat. "No one wants to hear about that."
"Fine. Gavin shouldn't need to be reminded anyway. I'm sure every moment is permanently engraved into his memory. In fact, that black tattoo around his finger ensures that he remembers everything we have done in extremely vivid detail."
"Tattoo?" Doran asked, squinting. "I see it. What is it?"
"It is a demon's version of a wedding ring. It is a magical and eternally binding part of our blood covenant."
"So you two are married?"
Stephan snickered and ran his razor sharp claws through Gavin's messy red hair. "A blood covenant between two demons is like an arranged marriage, but more completely binding. Gavin has never taken it seriously, but he will be begging for my defense when he faces the archdemons in Hell. A demon's covenant partner carries a great deal of influence on the court. Isn't that right, dearest?"
Gavin let out a low menacing growl from behind the gag. There was no chance that he would ever beg Stephan for help with anything. Whatever tiny scraps of attraction or dare he say it, love, were crushed and obliterated a long time ago. Now the normally prideful and confident Gavin was haunted by his past and the growing terror that spread through his veins. If Stephan was out for revenge, why would he go through all the trouble to bring him back here? Why didn't he simply finish him off back in that field? No. This was about more than petty revenge. This was going to be long and horrible to make Gavin break. He was at the mercy of one of Hell's most powerful and ancient beings. Stephan was a Nephilim, one of the very first fallen angels who fell so far that they went to Hell and became demons.
Doran smoothed his beard with his hand. "Well, aren't you going to get on with this, Stephan? Necromancer Sulstair is waiting patiently for Gavin's half of the soul."
Gavin pulled against the chains. No. What could that sadistic elven necromancer want with his soul? It wasn't even a full soul to begin with. It was the one he shared with Carvael. They were two parts of the same deceased human. One half became an angel, Carvael. The other became a demon, Gavin.
Stephan seemed to sense Gavin's growing panic. "Oh yes, darling. You didn't know? We are giving your soul to Sulstair so he can make you into a weapon to be used against our new strange and socially awkward friends. You may know a little about them. In fact, you met a fallen one not too long ago in Ka'tayl. Does the name Divinus ring a bell in that empty head of yours? That's right, dearest. The seraphs are out of Purgatory. To top it all off, the first ishim has been born."
How did he know about Cael? Gavin gave an involuntary whimper.
"Oh, so you know about that little abomination. Why do you think female angels have been locked away for so long? Because only angel mothers can give birth to ishim after being impregnated by a human male. They are the angelic children of men. Common human men. The children of male angels are normal angels. But not ishim. They are the lowest ranking angels, the ones closest to humans. And more than that, they are a sign of the end of times. And guess what, Gavin? You will be the one to keep the apocalypse from happening. After we harvest and alter your soul, of course. You will devour that tiny ishim's soul."
Doran was getting antsy and licking his fangs. "When are we going to do this, Stephan? I'm starving."
Stephan wrapped the leather belt around Gavin's neck and cinched it tightly before buckling it. "Go ahead, Doran. Drain him until there's nothing left. Do it slowly. Remember, don't kill him. We just want him to nearly die so we can manipulate his soul once it is weak."
"Don't we want Sammy in here to share?"
"Oh, yes. I almost forgot about the kid. Come on out, Sammy. Don't be afraid."
The young red-haired boy emerged from the closet against the side wall and looked up at Doran with his big blue eyes. He was so young that he was still wearing a diaper, but there was an air of danger surrounding him. Gavin immediately felt uncomfortable and it wasn't just from the leather belt strangling him.
* * *
"Here. You want to be cruel to me, then I'll be cruel to you." Kato tossed a metal bowl filled with stew on the floor by the bed. "You eat on the floor like the heartless dog you are."
Jaylen set the parchment map on the desk where he had been working on plotting a new course then stood up and looked down at the bowl. "Is this how you want to play this, Kato?"
"You don't address me as Kato. I'm your Master."
Jaylen laughed. "Really? I don't even know what I did to make you so angry." He then spotted the black key around her neck again. "So you took the key to my collar. Funny. I thought stealing was below you, Kato."
"I'm a pirate. Stealing is kind of what I do. Plus, you're my slave. It belongs to me just like you belong to
me."
Jaylen scoffed. "I thought you were selling me to your brother."
"You snarky bastard!" Kato stormed up to him the grabbed his hair and pushed him down to this knees. "I am your Master! You will obey me! Now eat your dinner like the good little dog you are."
Jaylen yelped in pain and tried to wriggle free from her grasp, but she was stronger than he was. "Kato, stop it. What the hell is wrong with you?"
There was a knock on the door and someone called out to Kato. "Captain, we have secured lines to a ship that came near. It just came out of nowhere and was close enough that we were able to tie it to the side of our ship. So far, there have been no signs of any crew or captain. We are about to send someone over to check it out. It's a small caravel by the looks of it."
Kato glared at Jaylen before throwing him down on the floor. She took a breath then straightened the red bandana in her hair. With one last angry glance at Jaylen, she opened the door to address the sailor. "What are their colors?"
"They're flying the Tivareshen flag, Captain. Elves."
"Elves? What are elves doing in these waters?" Kato asked. "More importantly, what are elves doing sailing anything? They hate the ocean."
"I'm just telling you what I see, Captain. They're approaching fast. The first mate should-"
"Don't tell me what my first mate should do. That's my job."
"Move." Jaylen pushed past her with his longsword on his hip. "I'll take care of it."
Kato called after him. "No, you won't. You're-"
"I said I'll take care of it. I may be your slave, but I'm still a man." Jaylen climbed up onto the railing of the ship then leapt over to the elven ship. He dropped to one knee as he landed on the slick planks that had obviously not been scrubbed in a while. As he stood up, he examined the small ship. The white sails had turned a dingy grey and were ripped, just flapping in the breeze. Sections of the hull were damaged by what looked to be small cannonballs, but not enough to sink it.
In search of more clues, he went to the tiny cabin and pushed open the unlocked door. Everything was in place and undisturbed. But then he noticed something strange as he continued searching. All the drawers and cabinets were empty. There were no maps, no papers, no ledgers. There wasn't even a log book. "Hello? Anyone here?"
No answer.
Jaylen had to find out what was going on. He went back outside, ignoring Kato's furious cursing. He would have to deal with that later. The wooden steps creaked underneath his boots as he moved down into the hull of the ship. As soon as he reached the end of the stairs, the overwhelming stench of death hit him like a brick wall. Once he smelled it before, it was a scent he never could have forgotten. Then he saw the carnage.
Grey skin and long ears. Elves. But not just any elves. They were young elven children. Jaylen's heart sank as he scanned over the morbid scene. Blood was smeared across the walls and had dripped down into puddles on the floor. The children were mutilated beyond words. Jaylen covered his mouth and nose with his shirt in an attempt to not breathe the noxious stench that already nearly had him on the verge of vomiting. Who would do something like this? His question would soon be answered when he spotted the hastily-scribbled note pinned to the wooden column in the middle of the room.
Let this be a warning to you, Captain Kato. Give us the slave and no one else has to get hurt. But if you hide him away, we will find you. And the next time we contact you, it will be your blood on the walls of your ship. Your precious slave boy will be a good little dog at the side of his true Master. You have one week to bring Jaylen to Tivareshen or you die. Long live Eternal Eclipse.
- Archangel Carvael
Jaylen ripped the note from the wall and slipped it into his cloak. How dare he? Why was Carvael kidnapping elven children just to slaughter them? Deep down, Jaylen already knew why. It was to get Kato to hand Jaylen over to him to prevent the further needless slaughter of rare and precious eleven children. At least now he knew that Carvael was working with Stephan, Sulstair, and Doran as a member of Eternal Eclipse. No one truly knew what those people were working on, but Jaylen did know something. He didn't want to be involved with them in any way. Eternal Eclipse was like a fruit salad where all the fruit was rotten. Each piece was gross on its own, but together they were abhorrent.
When he was certain there was nothing else he could do there, Jaylen took one last look at the poor children then climbed up the steps. He was beyond grateful to take a deep breath of fresh air. His relief was short-lived because Kato started screaming at him. Why was she constantly nagging? Didn't Jaylen just do a good thing by investigating the ship? It's not like Kato would have done the same thing. She would have been too squeamish. While it did go smoothly, Jaylen was admittedly a bit disappointed. It had been a long time since he had a good fight and if he was going to be swinging his sword with any proficiency, he would need to get back into the hang of it. Even picking up his sword felt foreign.
"Jaylen! First Mate, you'd better get back over here. This isn't funny!"
Sola's rays, she was relentless. Jaylen rolled his eyes. He grabbed onto one of the ropes and swung across to their ship where Kato reached over the edge and dragged him up over the railing. "I could have climbed. You don't have to baby me, Captain."
"With one hand?" Kato covered her nose with her hand. "What is that? Why do you smell awful?"
Jaylen noticed the blood on his shoes. "There's no one alive on board."
"What do you mean?"
"They're dead. There are nine corpses on board that have been torn apart. Elven children, all under ten years old. I'm going to go lie down. I don't feel very good."
"Do you know who did this or why?" Kato asked.
Jaylen shoved the note down farther in his pocket. "No idea."
* * *
Jaylen wrapped a towel around his waist as he stepped out of the bath, the hot water steaming on his skin. He felt much better, even sitting on the edge of the bed to shave. He never really grew much facial hair, but it looked better when he simply shaved it all. There wasn't enough to call it a beard. Jaylen was lost in thought until he jumped when he heard Kato's scathing voice from the opposite side of the cabin. He thought that she was busy with the crew. Had she been watching him bathing this entire time?
"Since when do you lie to me?"
So she found the letter from Carvael. Jaylen started rummaging through the dresser to find his clothes. "Since you started treating me like less than a human. I know you're upset with me, but I'm new to this whole relationship thing. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm willing to learn, but you have to teach me."
"Stand up straight and remove the towel."
"What?"
Kato gave a tiny grin and crossed her arms. "Remove the towel. I want to play our little game."
He tried to ignore her wandering eyes. "I'm not in the mood to play that game."
"But you love that game. We used to play all the time."
"It's borderline breaking my vow."
"But you love it."
Jaylen found his clothes then slammed the dresser drawer shut. He turned his back to her as he pulled on his underwear and pants. "I'm not in the mood, Kato. If you want to be all loving and flirty, then maybe you shouldn't yell at me first. I'm not into that, especially not right now. You don't know what it looked like on that ship. It was a massacre. And now you know that it's all because of me."
"It's not your fault, Jaylen. None of this is your fault. Carvael is insane. We're not sailing to Tivareshen and I'm not going to sell you. I can't. I was afraid and I did what I thought was going to be the right decision. I know now that it's not."
As much as he wanted to, Jaylen couldn't stay mad at her. "Kato, Don't abuse my trust. I've been hurt far too many times in my life by people who were supposed to care for me and love me. The things my father did to me were . . . awful. I don't know any other words to describe it. I was used and abused and forgotten. I didn't matter. It has only been in the past year that I have been able to stand
on my own two feet without the continuous threat of falling back into depression."
"What kind of depression?" Kato asked, her voice softer and filled with concern.
"There is a reason I gave you my pain pills to hold instead of me. I was suicidal at a few points over the past few years."
"Jaylen, I didn't know."
He sighed and dried his short blond hair with a towel. "So please, don't push me too far. I will do whatever you want me to do, but don't hurt me."
"I was being selfish and not thinking about your feelings. Anyway, I wanted to apologize for earlier and for the way I've been treating you the past couple of days. It was wrong of me. You're not a dog. You're a very kind man. I got you something."
Jaylen took the thin soft brown leather strips. "Leather."
"For the hilt of your sword. I noticed it was wearing out. Now you can replace it. This leather is very expensive and soft, directly from the cattle fields in Cilona. It's the best money can buy."
"Thank you, Kato. This is very thoughtful. Can I do it now?" Jaylen asked. He figured he would treat her with the respect she was due if she was being kinder to him now.
"Go ahead."
Kato watched Jaylen who was lost in concentration as he was sitting on the bed and wrapping the leather around the hilt of his sword. She poured some rum into a glass and sat on her desk. "Where do you see us going from here?"
"Uh, probably out into the Onyx Sea then heading up to the north where there is less of a chance of us being found. Then we can anchor somewhere and find supplies."
"No, I meant us. Me and you."
"Oh." Jaylen ripped the leather with his teeth then groaned as he grabbed his jaw. "I shouldn't have done that. Sola's rays, I'm ready for my jaw to heal already. It's broken in two pieces. Did you know that?"
"No. How did it happen?" Kato asked. "You haven't exactly told me much about your life."
"My father did it. I was eight. He hit me so hard that he broke my jawbone into two pieces. It's never healed."
Angel of Darkness Books 6-10 Page 7