by S. J. West
“What are you doing?” I hiss at him.
“I’m trying to figure out where he is,” Will says.
Suddenly Will’s chair is pushed further up to the table.
“Stop,” Aiden warns.
Will silently mouths, “O-K.”
Linc snickers at Will.
“Dude, you should know better. Aiden’s a War Angel. He could have your noodle for breakfast if he wanted to.”
Will rolls his eyes at Linc.
“He wouldn’t do that to me.”
Will makes his statement with so much confidence I have to ask, “What makes you think that?”
“Because I’m your brother and you guys will be getting married. We’re like family now, which makes me like his little brother too. There’s no way he would hurt me.”
Well, I couldn’t exactly argue against that logic.
Even though I can’t see him, I know Aiden is probably smiling about what Will just said. I get the feeling family will be very important to Aiden. The total respect he shows my parents tells me that he won’t expect anything less from our own children. And to be honest, that’s exactly what I want. I always imagined me having the same relationship with my own kids that my parents have with Will, Mae, and me. We’ve always felt loved and taken care of, yet, at the same time, given just enough freedom to slowly come into our own and become the people we are meant to be.
When I walk into Uncle Malcolm’s class, I sit in my usual desk. After everyone has entered the room and the door is closed, I hear a slight creak of leather beside me and know Aiden has just sat down in the desk Hunter used to sit in every period. I’m reminded that this fight with the princes has already claimed a casualty. An innocent boy who could have had the world at his feet when he became a man. But, his attraction to me led him to an early grave. I feel a pang of guilt as I realize how different Hunter Manning’s life would have turned out if he had never met me.
“I hope you all did your assignment this weekend,” Uncle Malcolm tells the class.
It’s only then that I realize I didn’t actually do the project, but surely Uncle Malcolm will cut me some slack after the weekend I just had.
“Caylin,” Uncle Malcolm says, “why don’t you start us off on today’s assignment?”
Hmm, I guess trying to save the world doesn’t get you out of homework in Uncle Malcolm’s class. Thankfully, I have a memory so perfect I can remember things I haven’t read in years.
I stand up and go to the front of the class.
“I hope you all have your chosen poems memorized,” Uncle Malcolm says. “And I want you to recite them with a little feeling. Don’t just say the words like you’re reading a shopping list. Put a little emotion into what the writer of the poem is trying to make you feel. Caylin, which poem did you pick?”
“You said we could pick any poem we wanted, right? Even if it wasn’t by an English poet?”
“Yes. That’s what I said. Which did you choose?”
“I chose one by an American poet by the name of Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Its title is I Love You.”
As I stand in front of the class, I direct my gaze to where I know Aiden is sitting. I wish I could look into his eyes as I recite it, but I try to put as much of my feelings for him into the words as I can to make up for not being able to see him. The poem is a little racy in parts with talk about wet mouths and warm young bodies in each other’s arms, but the part I want him to hear most and know that it comes from me is how he sets my heart on fire.
When I’m through reciting my poem, I have to take in a deep breath just to calm the beating of my heart. Every word, every syllable I just uttered was meant only for Aiden. Even though I can’t see him, I feel sure he understands the poem was meant as a small gift from me to him.
“Thank you, Caylin,” Uncle Malcolm says. “You may sit down.”
I go back to my seat and as soon as I sit down, I feel Aiden’s lips press lightly against my right cheek. It makes me smile.
The rest of the period goes by rather boringly. At least until the last student gets her chance to recite her chosen poem.
“Keri,” Uncle Malcolm says, “it’s your turn.”
Keri gets up and goes to stand in front of Uncle Malcolm’s desk.
“I have chosen to recite a poem by Pablo Neruda. He was a Chilean poet, and he also won the Nobel Prize for Literature a long time ago.”
“And which of his poems did you choose for us today?” Uncle Malcolm asks from his perch on the corner of his desk.
“I chose…” Keri turns towards Uncle Malcolm and says dramatically, “I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You.”
“Oookay,” Uncle Malcolm says, looking a little worried by Keri’s selection. “Proceed when you are ready, Keri.”
Keri clears her throat and goes on to recite her poem.
The poem starts slow by talking about how much the person in the poem loves this other person. Keri slowly inches her way closer to Uncle Malcolm as she says the words and then, rather melodramatically spreads her arms out wide as she says ‘I hate you deeply and hating you bend to you’.
Uncle Malcolm leans back away from Keri as far as he can without falling off the edge of the desk.
Keri’s rendition of the poem is very intense. She continues her recitation, all the while staring into Uncle Malcolm’s eyes. I almost want to laugh at the expression on Uncle Malcolm’s face. He doesn’t seem to know how to react to Keri’s sudden dramatic performance, which seems meant just for him. If I didn’t know any better, I would say he looks… scared.
When Keri falls to her knees in front of him almost screaming ‘I will die of love because I love you’, I think she actually renders Uncle Malcolm speechless, something that doesn’t happen very often.
Once Keri is through reciting the poem, she stands to her feet and just looks at Uncle Malcolm. She’s slightly out of breath from her theatrics as she waits for Uncle Malcolm to make a response to her poetic plea.
“Thank you, Keri, for that…rather manic interpretation of Mr. Neruda’s poem. Please, retake your seat.”
Keri goes back to her seat but continues to stare at Uncle Malcolm.
“And on that note,” Uncle Malcolm says, raising a dubious eyebrow, “class dismissed. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
I pick up my books and head out of the room.
I feel Aiden grab hold of my right elbow and gently guide me somewhere. He steers me towards a door stenciled with the words ‘supply closet’ in black.
I look around to see if anyone is watching, but no one seems to be paying me any mind. I quickly open the door and feel Aiden grab me around the waist pulling me inside and shutting the door behind me.
In the pitch black of the closet, I feel Aiden press my body firmly against him as his mouth finds mine easily in the darkness. He kisses me like a man who hasn’t eaten in weeks, and I’m his first taste of food. His mouth ravages mine not only stealing my breath but also stealing every thought inside my head because all I’m able to think about is how his mouth feels against mine. His passion for me in that moment is almost like a physical presence in the room with us. I feel his want and his love for me in the kiss, and I don’t want it to end.
It’s only the screams from my classmates that is able to break through the spell Aiden is weaving around me.
Their cries of terror tear us away from one another. I immediately reach for the doorknob to see what’s going on but Aiden stops me.
“Stay here,” he orders. “Let me see what’s happening out there first.”
“They need help,” I argue. “It might be a fire.”
“If it is, I’ll know soon enough. Please, Caylin, just stay here for a few seconds.”
“Fine. Go!”
Aiden phases and I stand there in the dark for what seems like forever but is actually only about ten seconds.
Aiden is soon beside me again.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “What’s happening?”
“
The princes are attacking.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I reach for the doorknob, but Aiden grabs my wrist to stop me.
“You can’t go out there,” he says, almost yelling at me.
“Innocent people are in danger because of me, Aiden. I have to help them.”
“Let me take care of it, Caylin, please.”
“I don’t run,” I tell him. “And I don’t hide. Either fight by my side or get out of my way!”
Aiden’s hold on my wrist slackens, and he twines the fingers of our hands together instead.
“Side by side then,” he says, sounding resigned to the fact that whether or not he helps me I’m going out to fight.
I open the door and see my classmates frantically running away from something coming down the other end of the corridor towards them.
Aiden, who is fully visible now, and I step out of the closet to face what’s coming.
I’m not completely sure what I’m seeing at first.
Baal is walking down the hallway with two creatures who look like oversized wolves. Their fur is fluffy and a pristine white, but it has an orange glow to it as if it’s on fire. Their soulless eyes are jet black like pieces of coal and staring straight at me.
“What are those things?” I ask Aiden.
“Hellhounds,” he tells me, and I can hear the dread in his voice. “Whatever happens, don’t let them bite you.”
“I didn’t have any intentions of letting them bite me, but why are you making a point of saying it?”
“Their bite is poisonous. You’ll live the rest of your life feeling like your whole body is on fire. And that’s not even the worst part.”
“It gets worse than that?” I ask sarcastically. “Maybe you should just tell me the best way to kill them.”
“Rip their heads off,” Aiden says. “Your archangel power might work too. I don’t know exactly. It’s not something I have much experience with.”
“Are the two of you trying to strategize together?” Baal taunts as he comes to a halt halfway down the hall with his beasts staying close to his sides. “How sweet. You know a couple who dies together gets to drift off into the ether in each other’s arms. Wouldn’t that be the epitome of a tragic love story?”
“Neither of them will be dying today,” I hear Uncle Malcolm say behind me.
An eruption of frightened shrieks from the student body of my school echo down the hallway. They seem to be coming from each end of the building.
“Caylin,” Uncle Malcolm says, “go find Leah. Aiden, go up front and see what’s causing the commotion there.”
“We can’t just leave you here with him,” I say, not liking the idea of splitting up.
“The more time you spend standing here arguing with me the more people will die because of this,” Uncle Malcolm says to me in a controlled voice. “Now go!”
I know he’s right, but it doesn’t mean I have to like the idea of us being separated from one another.
I look over at Aiden. “Be careful.”
Aiden nods. “You too, beautiful.”
I phase to the back of the school where the Olympic size swimming pool is. Leah would have been at swim practice this time of day. It doesn’t take me long to know she’s in trouble.
One of her fireballs shoots over the water of the pool like a meteor and blasts the inner wall of the school, setting it ablaze with flames I know will be close to impossible to put out by conventional means. Leah’s fire isn’t like normal earthly fire. It can last ten times as long and burn a thousand times as hot. I look to see what or who she’s firing at but see nothing there except a burning wall.
The fire alarm in the school begins to blare its warning siren and the sprinkler system switches on.
Through the deluge of water, I see Leah crouched down behind the stands against the outer wall with the other members of her swim team. It’s only then I realize the cat’s been let out of the bag. The kids at our school will soon know we’re not your ordinary run of the mill students. I just hope none of them has to pay for that knowledge with their lives.
I phase over to Leah, which seems to startle the girls cowering beside her.
“What are you shooting at?” I ask Leah as I frantically scan the room for any signs of danger.
“Mammon was here,” Leah tells me.
“Can you put the fire out?”
Leah shakes her head. “Not without my staff to help me control it.”
I sigh because there’s nothing to be done about it now, and there just wasn’t enough time to worry about the school burning down. In fact, it might help get more of the students out of the building faster with the water pouring out of the sprinkler system and the deafening shriek of the alarm reverberating against the walls.
“Everyone grab hold of me,” I tell the seven girls crouched around Leah. It seems like there should be one more girl to fill out the swim team, but I’m not certain.
They all look at me as if they’re not sure I can be trusted.
“If you want to live,” I tell them resisting the urge to yell at them, “come here and touch me so I can get you out of here.”
“Come on girls,” Leah tells them. “Caylin will protect us.”
To Leah, they listen and finally gather around me.
“Hold on,” I tell them and phase them to Mama Lynn’s living room.
“Let go of me,” I tell them, but one doesn’t let go. “Leah, you need to let go of me.”
“No.” She says stubbornly. “I’m going back with you.”
“I don’t have time to argue about this,” I tell her, snatching my arm out of her grasp.
I phase back to the pool, but not before Leah grabs me again and phases with me, only then letting go.
“Damn it, Leah!” I yell, grabbing her again, but she just yanks her arm out of my hand before I can phase her back to safety.
“Don’t curse at me, Caylin Cole,” Leah says, looking just as frustrated with me as I am with her. “You’re not the only one who can fight them. I’ve done it once. I can do it again.”
“Yet, we always manage to come back,” a voice from the other side of the pool mocks.
We both look to see a man holding Keri, the girl from my English Lit class, by the throat three feet above the ground in front of him. Apparently, she was the missing swim team member because she’s still dressed in her swimsuit.
“Put the girl down, Mammon,” Leah says, pointing the palm of her hand straight at the prince.
“Or what?” He asks snidely. “You’re going to kill me? I bet I kill this thing first.”
Mammon tightens his grip around Keri’s throat, and I hear her begin to gag.
“Aren’t you acting a bit childish, Mammon?” Leah taunts. “Or do you really have to hide behind a little girl? Afraid I’ll fry your ass again like I did in Antarctica?”
“That body was rotting anyway,” Mammon says, still holding Keri like a shield in front of him. “It just gave Lucifer incentive to release me from it so I could find a new one. Do you like this new form my little firecracker?”
“It’s certainly younger and prettier to look at,” Leah says. “Finally got better taste in bodies?”
While Leah taunts Mammon, I try to decide what to do. I have two options. One, I can phase over there and save Keri. Two, I can phase over there and stab Mammon with the dagger Jess gave me this morning and hope I can pry Keri out of Mammon’s grip afterwards. Thankfully, a third option presents itself.
Uncle Malcolm phases in, grabs Keri and phases out, providing me with just the distraction I need. As Uncle Malcolm phases away with her, I crouch down to pull the dagger out of my boot where I stashed it earlier this morning and phase over to Mammon, stabbing him in the calf with it. The prince instantly falls to the ground.
Leah runs over yelling, “You got him!”
I stand up and look down at Mammon. My eyes are drawn to his outstretched hand, and I see a brand there similar to the one Belphagor had but this one
says something different. I still don’t understand the significance of the word but make a note to tell someone about it later.
“But what do I do with him now?” I ask.
“I’ll take care of him,” Uncle Malcolm says, favoring his right leg as he bends down to pick Mammon up and toss him over his shoulder.
I look down at Uncle Malcolm’s leg and notice a lot of blood. His clothes have various rips everywhere but the material over his lower right leg is completely shredded.
“What’s wrong with your leg?” I ask him.
“Nothing,” Uncle Malcolm says with a stone cold face.
I instantly know he’s lying.
“I’ll be right back,” he tells us before phasing.
He’s true to his word and returns a few seconds later, minus Mammon.
“We need to find Will and Linc,” I tell Uncle Malcolm.
“I sent them home as soon as all of this started,” Uncle Malcolm says. “I’m afraid my cover is blown here though. Too many people saw me phase.”
“Leah’s swim team saw us use our powers too,” I inform him.
“Well, nothing to be done about it,” Uncle Malcolm says, resigned to the fact that people know about us now.
“Where is Aiden?” I ask Uncle Malcolm.
“Still at the front of the school as far as I know,” he says.
I grab Leah and phase us to where Aiden should be.
We find Aiden grappling with a man I have to assume is one of the princes since his hands are surrounded by blue flames. Their fighting is furious, and so fast I can’t tell exactly who is winning. Their split second phasing gives the illusion that they’re blinking in and out of existence.
“How can we help him?” I ask Uncle Malcolm, feeling like we should do something but not knowing what.
“We’ll just get in the way if we try,” Uncle Malcolm says to me. “Or worse yet, accidentally hurt Aiden instead of Asmodeus.”
“Do you have another dagger with you?” I ask Uncle Malcolm.
“No.”
Leah shoots a fireball off to the right of us, and I hear a grunt of pain, which is the only thing that could draw my attention away from Aiden’s fight with the prince.