Dark Nephilim (Always Dark Angel Book 2)

by JN Moon

  “You never told me that before.”

  “I don’t tell you everything. But we heard, and then Marcus fell from grace. I knew he’d look to her for help, and that led me to you.”

  I felt really weary and didn’t want this conversation now, but as he wouldn’t leave I had to say, “But Emidius saved Alexander. Don’t you think that’s sick? I mean he was so vile, so cruel, and yet she of all creatures restored his life. I don’t understand her, nor do I revere her. To save the son of Tyrell, that bastard despot? She is welcome to kill me for saying that.”

  “She acts in ways which you don’t see the whole picture, Anthony. Tyrell was a despot, but there have been worse. Better the devil you know. You and your friend killed Alexander anyway, and Tyrell. They haven’t set up a new order as far as I have found out. I suspect she knew his time was near.”

  “And me, you see me as a threat?”

  “On the contrary. Are you not curious to see how this plays out? Nephilim bleeding vampires; what are the consequences? The two species have never mixed let alone shared blood and sex. And the demons... Ah, they have come out of the shadows. And still hiding but watching, the lycans lurk, biding their time and awaiting their opportunity.”

  He sat down on a chair in my room, thumbing over the books on the bookcase, and then looking at me, he spoke quietly, “I hear you’re thinking... you’re wondering if she annihilated the experimentals?”

  I nodded. Had Emidius done that? We never knew. I almost died trying to do that myself.

  “Well she didn’t, we did. It was a brutal battle, but most of the creatures were exterminated. Except one. He reached the woods where the lycans are so we couldn’t kill it, but we plan to soon.”

  Fallen Angels

  Lucius

  “We have no limits, Lucius; I wonder why you choose her. I did once, and look what she did to me,” Nathaniel asked me.

  “You allowed her to stake you! You know full well her power is nothing compared to yours. You wanted that experience, you felt in that moment ready to let go, but you could not. I swear to God, Nathaniel, you’re a crazy bastard. Why did you do that? You stop at nothing to experience new sensations, it is a wonder you’re still alive.

  “But here you are alive, just, and I have to say, my old friend, you’re not looking too bad for someone who was doused in petrol and staked. Me, I like a challenge, weak subordinate women are for feeble men, and I am not that. I love the fact that she was brazen enough to try and kill you, she invigorates me. But her heart, her soul is so untainted and for one who has fallen into darkness that is rare. She is mine, she will bear my son and we will raise him together, that is my wish. And I always get what I want, however long it takes.”

  “What about Damien? I would not see any harm come to my cousin. She and him have bonded - though she’s doesn’t yet know the truth of him. That bond is rare it cannot easily be undone.”

  “Yes, he is a problem I hadn’t counted on. And as he’s your kin, though he doesn’t know it, I can’t kill him. I think I may leave him to you and your charms to persuade him that his feelings should lie elsewhere.”

  “You’re asking me to seduce my own cousin?”

  “Nathaniel, you’d seduce your own kin without hesitation, and it’s not as if you’re blood line is direct. Just do it enough to steer him away from her.”

  “I see,” he grinned. “But it won’t work, they’ve bonded. You don’t understand that with us, once it’s done that’s it.”

  “You said it’s not easily undone, meaning there is a way, what way is that?”

  “Death of one of them is usually the way. I suggest you leave my kin out of this, get your child with another and leave that woman to her own downfall. I’ve known you long enough and I’ve never seen you smitten like this, I fear it will be you who is damned this time. Damien is far more powerful than you think, he passes as a normal immortal and he lives humbly, but let me assure you, his power easily surpasses mine. You know nothing of his Maker. I’m done with this talk, we were meant to be having fun and thanks to Anthony’s sympathy for my situation, and his blood I am dying to taste an angel. Or two.”

  “You really think you won’t be harmed? If you’re wrong...”

  “I won’t be, he wasn’t and I drank enough from him. Come on, let’s look.”

  I led my vampire friend into the city and it didn’t take us long to come across a nephilim male high on vampire blood. Of course, as is the way with the blood lust, the inexperienced angel was aroused, drunk and all over the place. He could barely stand, he looked like a human who had drunk way too much alcohol, it was funny to watch, and dangerous. Nathaniel walked carefully towards him and stared at him. He slumped down against a wall his eyes glazed and we both heard his heart pounding so fast we thought he might hyperventilate. At least he was still dressed; this was obviously his first time with a vampire. Nathaniel knew the vampire woman. He knows all the vampires in this small city.

  “Sarah,” he whispered. Her eyes were glazed from the ferocity of the male drinking from her. If Nathaniel didn’t help her now, she’d be dead soon. He pushed the drunk angel aside and bit his wrist for her. She gulped as fiercely as she could; drinking for her life and within a few minutes she looked almost restored. He stayed there with her, his arms around her until he knew she was alright. We are not always so merciless.

  Me, I was taunting the angel, whispering in his ear and running my demon fingers through the fallen one’s hair.

  Actually Marcus was Nathaniel’s goal for that evening. But what could we do?

  Viewing our winged friend at last and without a word, Nathaniel went over to him, pressed his cold body against his, and whispered death in his ear and then bit his neck. I watched as he drank his blood, rapturous; euphoric. Nathaniel’s eyes widened, and I worried then that the fiery liquid was burning him.

  I steadied him and tried to bring him around, but he was out of it. Lost in a stupor, vulnerable and warm with that liquid burning through him.

  Within minutes of drinking, the angel was in a daze, doubled up on the floor, groaning. I flinched back, pulling Nathaniel away, who had in his blood lust sunk to his heels, his legs kicking erratically. Hauling Nathaniel up, he was so high on blood he fell back into me and flinched in shock as the angel ignited a brilliant blue-white light, immense heat almost scorching us. Shielding our faces and Sarah who was by now as I recall, walking in the distance turned to look.

  In the seconds that followed, the fallen one was gone with just ash left where he had been. A sweat broke out over my friend and his face paler than usual, his hands, body trembling. Blinking rapidly the heat of his blood was burning me, he tried to talk, but only managed to mumble, “Anthony,” before pain seized him and he crumpled over.

  I called him and didn’t say who I was, only a friend of Nathaniel’s and waited until Anthony arrived.

  Anthony swiftly gave Nathaniel his blood, he drank intensely, hoping for relief.

  To say that Anthony was furious with me is an understatement; he swore to kill me, whilst my friend drank his blood. Little did Anthony know that I had known Nathaniel for a century and I had possibly just saved Rachel from an eternity with him. But he didn’t need to know that.

  Nathaniel whispered to Anthony, his voice croaking, “Why did it burn me, but not you?” He seemed slightly better, still too warm inside but cooler than earlier. “I don’t know, maybe because mine is purer? I mean it came directly from her. Don’t worry about that now, just rest.”

  As Anthony stood up, he looked at me, his eyes narrow, he sneered, “If you go near her, I vow I will hunt you down and you will beg for death.”

  He left, taking Nathaniel with him, his arms wrapped around Nathaniel’s shoulders, aiding him. As for me, I went to find her. I enjoy the hunt.

  Lucius’ Story

  Lucius

  I glided over the bed, hovering over Rachel’s body. Aaron had made the fatal mistake of revealing my presence to her so now she was aware
of me. I had been watching as she slept night after night, when she and her ‘lover’ returned from the hunt. But that was over now. He was emotionally attached to Nathaniel, my wicked friend and debaucher of dreams. Which left her for me. A new vampire, capable of...

  She opened her eyes as if sensing my presence and at the moment she was conscious of me, our eyes met and I transformed from spiritual to physical. I am only made real by the awareness, the recognition of the minds of the living, and so spirit becomes flesh. At last I was able to embrace my lover, whom I had watched for many weeks.

  I am the darkness to her light. Her scent, her smile have a hold over me and her soul draws my savage soul screaming towards it. In all my years I have never felt a yearning, a desire so strong as this. And yet the brutal truth that a demon and a vampire have never been together before causes me doubt. Despite this doubt, she is mine and I shall never leave her. We will be for all eternity, my demonic blood mixing with hers so immortality will embrace us together, forever.

  To touch her is exquisite. She seems unaware that I am real, she thinks that she is dreaming. Her sighs ignite sensations in my body that had dulled over time. So many women, the experience had deadened beyond imagining. But a vampire, everything is heightened, every pulse felt stronger, scent sweeter, and kiss more powerful.

  Her hazel eyes seemed to darken in passion and her lips, so soft against mine. I feel young again, like when I first experienced passion—that mixture of excitement and intense anticipation. She is my light, my blood.

  He left without sensing my presence and so I lay there beside her while she was somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, believing she is dreaming and that I am not real. I’m not offended. With her lover gone she needs time to adjust and in time I will take his place. I will defend her fiercely unlike Anthony, and unlike him my emotions are stable, for a demon at least. Her head on the pillow, her eyes looked tired as she drifted back to sleep and I wrapped myself around her.

  I was fiercely happy that Marcus had fallen and watched with interest the others that were following him. Their righteous world had started to crumble, but I was no fool. I would not stay around long enough to get pulled down with them.

  For centuries I had lived in fear of those winged vigilantes and watched my step, my only defence my speed to save me from their uncompromising lack of mercy. My kind had hidden in the shadows, made to feel revulsion of our species for our lust for human souls, making me livid and petulant.

  I had, in the beginning, tried to get my own retribution but that nearly cost me my life. Outwitting them by de-materializing was my only hope then. Then they sought me out, for years. Every night I would end up either running or vanishing, and every time I vanish, my power wanes, as they intended.

  For so long I was forced to exist as an outlaw on this Earth, or in the plane above it as an outcast judged by those who deem themselves a higher authority than I, even though they are cast out and damned by their God and then they sought to damn me. Nephilim are God’s fallen angels, descendants of those he sent to Earth as punishment, no longer allowed to stay in the realms of Heaven.

  Righteous fools, I watched with wonder and exhilaration at their demise. As their morals faltered and crumbled, my happiness grew. Now my kin could rise and be part of this society, this modern age so easily corrupted, capturing the souls of the dispossessed.

  And with my vampire lover, I felt at last like my time had come, my turn to stand tall as the angels around me faltered and ceased. As the fallen ones drink vampire blood I knew their ruin is imminent.

  Her though. I had searched for centuries and though I have had many human lovers, I have never had one like her—a vampire. A vampire with a pure soul. I wanted to be near that, near her.

  I am a vicious and calculating creature by nature, but something in me is drawn to her. I contemplated this for many hours, I had never questioned my nature before. And to question it over a woman, my gut reaction is one of ruin. But she will bear my son, of that I was sure. She has the blood of the demi-god in her, after drinking from him, and so shall he, my son.

  I would die for this... Soon I shall reveal my true existence to her and she will know I am real, but for now I shall let her dream.

  Most call me a devil, but I am not He. I am, however, an Incubus, a demon. So many species in the underworld of darkness, we wait for you to falter just a little. Believe in us, and we can consume you.

  I cast many under my spell, drawing them into my world of darkness and depravity. I devour the souls of the living, feeding on these to strengthen my life force. Human kind becomes predicable with time. So I preyed on the less willing, and that made it more interesting for me. But many now don’t believe in the supernatural. That makes it harder.

  I enjoy interacting with mortals, their feelings, their emotions, taking liberties. I look so young to them. One thing that never ceases to amuse me is their shock when they discover how strong, how powerful I am. I have taken thousands of souls into my being which has slowly increased my strength.

  There are many supernaturals now. I have to be more careful. If anything they are my only threat. The new-borns from the dark world are usually no threat as they cannot detect me and I enjoy toying with them, but I still need my wits about me. Though some are my friends and we even hunt together. Nathaniel is one of these. He was always a rebel. Rules cannot contain him.

  This is why we got on so famously; his disregard for rules and my blatant lack of respect for anything higher or not in my own interest seems to have bonded us.

  I have fathered many children during my time but none have become powerful as was my desire and intent. I am ever hopeful that one of these will be the greatest necromancer of all time. And so, with Rachel, I will try again...

  Time has no meaning to me; it is only relevant to mortals. I exist and I am everything and nothing. I am conjured by the power of your belief in me. As soon as you accept my existence, I enter yours...

  Reflective World

  Rachel

  I closed my eyes and allowed him to consume me in passion. Was he real? He felt like a dream, a dream without consequences. Feeling his desire, his touch, his presence consumed me

  “Rachel, your heart is pure for a vampire. I want to show you this place and to be with you for all time. You will find I am devoted to you and my heart, demonic though it is, will never waver. I just want you,” he whispered.

  And so, I held my fantasy close. Anthony had already left. Damien was all I wanted now, but this dream, this was erotic. Who was the man in my dream? The demon, Lucius? If I was dreaming of a demon, had he snuck his way into my subconscious? Maybe, but it was such a sensual dream, safer than reality. And in my slumber Lucius wrapped himself around me. I heard him whisper in my ear, felt his touch on my skin. I’m not sure I want to wake up.

  Suddenly I jolted, my stomach flipped, and I felt like I was being pulled. It was so strong I couldn’t open my eyes, I held onto him with trepidation. A fast, warm wind blew past us, pushing against me, peeking through half-open eyes to see I was no longer in my bedroom. I was in what looked like a tunnel. Clinging tighter to this creature as I was being swept to God knows where, my body froze in fear.

  Trying to hide my utter shock, I somehow managed to pull myself together in an instant by schooling my facial expression and fighting against my body to look relaxed. I’d had an inkling before, but in my half-sleep state had ignored it and assumed that it was just a dream.

  An icy chill swept over me as fear rose from the pit of my stomach and I lost my breath for a second. But there was Lucius, smiling warmly and trying to put me at ease. Who knew a demon could do that?

  “Where are we?” was all I could say, straining to maintain composure.

  “Come, see.” He got up with such grace and offered me his hand.

  He looked young, about nineteen, and his long black hair hung straight matching his dark eye brows. His eyes, though small, looked kind and his lips, I had tasted those lips. His lithe
body was covered in tattoos—skulls, patterns in black and white, and some full colour. Writing was also inked on him, but I couldn’t read it. My guess was he was Native American in origin. He looked like he belonged to a gang. He wore an old black T-shirt and blue jeans, he was bare foot. Noticing me noticing him, he spoke quietly. “Ah, no shoes! Shoes stop our connection to the Earth. I like to feel connected.”

  I nodded. A breeze swept through blowing back his hair and the sky...the sky... Hues of red and bronze in the sky, smudged from light at the horizon with the sinking sun fading into dark, added an ethereal glow to the trees. Ivy was bright, illuminated under that warm ruby sunset and amber leaves created an inviting warm carpet. The whole place had an unearthly feel. It was calming and I felt immediately at ease, like I would never want to leave this place.

  In the distance willow trees arched together, their branches intertwined looking like a natural passage way. Someone had placed lanterns hanging from the branches. The golden leaves hung heavy with water droplets as if it had dewed recently and a scattering of them had fallen to the ground. As I looked beyond I saw the russet reds, greens, and copper tones of a forest, thick and plush.

  The rich scent in the air, pierced with a hint of cold stimulated my senses, saturated as they already were. How had Lucius found this place? It didn’t look the sort of place to find a demon hiding. I had underestimated him, and I felt sure that there was more to him than a stealer of souls. This being must have a soul himself to want to be in such a beautiful place.

  Stillness hung heavy around us. No sounds penetrated that stillness. Finding my breath after this surprise, I asked again breaking the silence, “Where are we?”

  With a huge glowing smile, he looked into my eyes. “This is my sanctuary. I have never shared it with another, but I have come here for decades when I needed to escape. Allow me to lead you to my home.” He looked like a boy at that moment, proudly showing off his creation. “It is humble and basic. I come here to get away from the human world, from other immortals. I come here to read, to study, and to rest. I don’t know where we are. It’s a portal. That’s all I know. There are many portals. I can show you them, but this is my favourite one and where I call home. Demons—well, at least me—don’t spend all our time tormenting humans and supernaturals! That would be boring! I can only speak for myself and my sister.”