Divinity: Immolation: Book Three (The Divinity Saga)

by Susan Reid

  The weird girl Berith, who was obviously not human though she appeared to be on the surface, seemed friendly enough but something about the way she kept looking at me was starting to get on my nerves. We all finally got in some girl time, and that included enjoying the company of the other female fallen as well. The glamour magic…wickedly awesome.

  Spencer being here was a complete shock, especially hearing that he had accepted shunning along with us too. He really didn’t say much to me, and he spent the majority of the time brooding up until all of Cam’s friends got ready to leave. They took everyone, including Lira back to Duriens place in the human realm, where they were all going to stay for right now. Lorelei was irked that she couldn’t remember the exact location of her house, other than it was secluded in the French countryside.

  In the morning, Cam’s friends would bring them back and we’d all meet up for the first day of arduous, yet valuable training here in the Spirit Realm. That would be the plan for however long it took.

  I was told by Rahab, that by placing a feather of their own in and around the house, it would act as a marker or signature to ward off other potential fallen to think twice before entering or attacking. That made me feel better because I was really worried about Lira. I knew everyone would be extra watchful of her, and Jamie and Spencer would keep her protected. That, I was sure of as well as Devlin’s safety now that she was back.

  Speaking of Devlin, she hadn’t said a word much less displayed any emotion the entire time that she was here. She barely even ate anything. I didn’t expect a thank you from her, it was a given, so I understood her state of mind after all of that. Did she even remember that part? I wondered.

  I couldn’t even begin to imagine what she’s been through and endured, what she’s seen, or what she must be thinking being around all of these fallen, who might be reminding her of the one that she had become close to too. Maybe after a while, she’d come around.

  “Have you noticed anything about her that kind of seems…familiar?” I heard whispering coming from the somewhere.

  There were only three fallen left; Rahab, Edanai, Atiro, and then that weird inhuman girl who introduced herself as Berith.

  The voices were female but where were they coming from? There was no one in the kitchen or the living room.

  “Familiar? Like what? I’m sure she didn’t appreciate you staring at her all night like that either.”

  “I wasn’t staring. I was studying.”

  “Whatever you want to call it, it was creepy. She was way too nice to tell you off and I was about to do it for her.”

  “There’s something about her that I can’t quite place other than she’s definitely dangerous and looks are always deceiving, you know.”

  “Tell me about it. Anyway, the party is over. You can leave now.”

  “Where has Cam`ael been?”

  “He’s mad at me.”

  “Mad? Over what?”

  “Bye, Berith.” The other voice was imperative.

  I heard a heavy sigh, mumbling, and then it was quiet.

  I waited for Berith to appear from wherever the voices were coming from but she didn’t. Instead, Atiro simply vanished and then I heard someone in the kitchen.

  Damn, being around so many supernatural beings was unsettling. I wasn’t too crazy about the whispers, the vanishing, the appearing, and the magic but I supposed I’d better get used to it.

  Out of automatic consideration, I began to help with the clean-up. Now that it was quiet, I began to ponder things once again.

  “No need to do all of that. I’ll take care of it.” I heard Edanai say from behind me, just as I began to clear away a few plates.

  I set them back down slowly and watched her.

  Rahab was busy inspecting everything for damage, rearrangement, and messes.

  “In case you haven’t figured it out by now, filth and disorder turns Cam`ael into a raving, demonic lunatic. He’s very anal about it.” She then smiled at me.

  I returned a weak smile, not really knowing what to say to her at this point.

  “I know.” I replied.

  She laughed and then paused.

  There was a gap of silence that hung in the air, and then she pulled out a chair, sitting down.

  “I hope that I didn’t give you the wrong impression about him. I didn’t mean to make it sound as if he was untrustworthy or deceptive, so I apologize for that,”

  I tilted my head, wondering why she was backtracking now all of a sudden, and then I slowly sat down across from her.

  She held her palm forward with the other crossed over her middle, “I’m not saying that it isn’t true, just that I shouldn’t have told you any of it.” She clarified.

  Then she sighed and rested her forearms on the table, staring down at her long, painted fingernails, “If anything, you’re very fortunate to have him bind himself to you the way he has. He’s absolutely crazy about and very deeply in love with you.”

  I only nodded with a half-smile, thinking about him.

  She went on, “There was no mistake that you two ended up together. A relationship between a fallen and a warrior is not something that happens. He took an insane risk but he made a very good choice.”

  Her compliment made me raise both brows in surprise.

  She finally made eye contact with me again, studying me. “You bring out a softer, more at peace side of him that means a lot for me to see. So I guess I can say it now. I’m jealous of you.”

  “Jealous of me?”

  She nodded, averting her jewel-like eyes from me.

  “You’ve given him the very thing that he’s been searching for and wanting badly since falling. Something that no woman has ever be able to give him, not even me.”

  I studied her beautiful, oval shaped face in fascination. What could a being as gorgeous as she was, who could have any male, mortal or immortal that she wanted, and magical abilities and powers, be so sad about?

  She hesitated and then her gaze rested on nothing in particular.

  “Some of us will never have the very thing we fell in the first place over but Cam`ael does with you, and that gives us all hope for something better, and possible redemption.” She finished, her eyes finding mine when she said that.

  Reading my facial expression, she went on, “A part of him grows in you right now.”

  “How did you know about that?” I whispered.

  I thought Cam hadn’t told any of his friends yet?

  “He didn’t reveal it to me. Believe it or not, Cam`ael is a horrible liar. Very cunning and a great bull-shitter, but a horrible liar. I guess maybe I’ve just known him too long. Anyway, the bottom line is that fallen in general, especially Incubus’, are very sexually potent. Your becoming pregnant was inevitable from the very first time…and that’s all I’ll say about that. Though he will never admit to it, he’s a very caring being with a big heart, and I’m honored to have him as my very close and best friend. But I do have one thing that I feel I should warn you about.”

  I stiffened in alarm, my heart beginning to thump wildly.

  “What?”

  She leaned in closer to me before speaking again, “Fallen do not handle devastation very well. If you ever broke things off and decided that you wanted nothing to do with him anymore…he’d fight you to the death.”

  I felt the blood rush from my face. I was nonplussed. I suddenly understood what Jamie meant and what she told me. Fight to the death? I couldn’t even picture it let alone fathom it. I closed my eyes and shook my head, swallowing hard.

  I glanced over at Rahab from the corner of my eye. He continued to busy himself with cleaning and dusting but I could tell with the slight cock of his head, that he had been listening to our conversation too.

  “I would never…are you telling me what I think you’re telling me? That he’d hate me enough to…”

  Edanai pursed her lips and shook her head, “Not your death. His.”

  I stared at her blankly with my mouth o
pen.

  She was apparently letting that sink in, seeing the fearful expression frozen on my face.

  She leaned back, hesitating for a moment.

  “We were angels once. We feel great sorrow, intense pain, and love far deeper than any human can ever imagine. That part of ourselves is still true, even as fallen. Those that wanted to not feel anything at all anymore, chose darkness and Morning Star. Your relationship, Cam`ael’s feelings, and the bond that you’ve both created between each other, especially now that you are about to become the mother of his child, are all very passionate things, so I hope you’re prepared.

  We can’t kill ourselves, that’s part of the terms of our punishment. As fallen, we have way too much pride and power to simply stand by and allow ourselves to be killed by others of our kind either. You have the power to destroy him both physically and emotionally. He knows and accepts that.” She leaned closer to me again, her eyes sparkling as they bore into mine.

  She held a finger up to make her point, “Do not tell him we had this conversation, ever. And if you ever hurt him on any level…I will come after you myself. And don’t worry, I don’t mean killing you. Every child needs its mother.”

  Several thoughts ran through my mind in that instance, especially the longer that I stared into her gorgeous, light purple eyes— and then it hit me.

  I do remember her, or more so…something about her.

  I narrowed my gaze and this time I leaned forward with a smirk, “I haven’t forgotten about the whole spider incident.”

  She was surprised at first and then she laughed.

  Returning to Cam’s room, I sighed, still seeing no sign of him having returned yet but there was another small, gift-wrapped package sitting in the middle of the bed for me. I melted, he had already gotten me several nice, expensive gifts ranging from clothes to electronics, so it made me wonder what this small one could be.

  Just as I sat on the bed and reached for it, my cell phone began to ring on the table next to the bed where I had left it.

  I glanced over at it, frozen and blinking for several seconds before quickly crawling over to and picking it up. China’s profile picture as an icon, along with her cell phone number were displayed on the screen. I swallowed, hesitating for a few more seconds. Then, with a nervous and shaking finger, I tapped on the answer button and held the phone to my ear.

  Pausing to find my voice, I waited for her to speak first.

  “Oh my freaking God, Star. What the hell? What is wrong with you? Why have you been seriously tripping? You’ve never done anything like this. You don’t call or text back, and you told me that you’d be back by Thanksgiving!” She rattled off.

  I did? Crap.

  I probably shouldn’t have answered. Though the very sound of her voice invoked a flash of random images and memories of her, I had no idea what to say.

  “Um…I know and I still plan on it...”

  There was silence. “Are you doing drugs? Did you sustain a massive head injury resulting in a coma? Star, I am really worried about you now. This isn’t funny.”

  “No…I…”

  “Thanksgiving was two days ago and if you tell me that you won’t be home by Christmas, I will fly out there with my parents, Steve, Toya, Jenna, Vanessa, and the fucking FBI to get you and bring you back home. Everyone is worried about you. You’ve got a ton of mail, several from the University marked time-sensitive, that are probably what I think they are, and I haven’t seen or heard from Joel for a while now either — not since he started dating some weird chic. Is everything really okay? You wouldn’t be into some sort of weird cult or something, would you? Has Cam been out there to see you? You said he planned on it, which makes me feel a little better about your absence and safety. He did stop by once to tell me that you were okay but no one has seen him around here since then. Is he still out there with you? I mean, cop or not, how well do you know him? You allowed him to come out there to see and support you but not me?”

  Damn.

  My God, I was seriously getting chewed out. I had no memory of China and her ability to fuss and say so much in one breath. This wasn’t going well. I shouldn’t have answered.

  In my panic, I had to think of something because I did plan to return soon.

  Playing off of her words, I finally responded, “China…” My mouth hung open, my words suspended in my throat as my heart hammered wildly. I said the only thing that quickly came to mind and it had nothing to do with her barrage of questions.

  I sighed. “I know, I’m sorry about everything. Nothing is wrong though. Cam has been here too—and I’m…pregnant.”

  It went completely silent on her end.

  XXIX. Cam`ael

  Ifelt betrayed by Edanai. As much as we all had to battle against the stigma, the hate, and being marked forever as demons; she managed to send me right back to that place with words alone. It was even worse this time because she had replanted that image in Starling’s mind.

  I was both pissed and devastated, wondering if Starling would ever be able to look at me the same again.

  Though I didn’t want to leave the party, I felt that it would be best before the anger sloughing off of me began to fester negatively in the air and ruin everyone’s mood.

  At first, I planned to simply just fly off somewhere to vent off my anger but then I remembered the mysterious text. This would probably be more of a perfect time than any to retrieve the rest but I needed my assistant for translation purposes.

  I almost stopped and returned back inside, shocked when Starling’s voice entered my head, especially when she said that she wanted me to stay. Did that mean she was okay with the information that Edanai had generously dumped on her? Did she still want me?

  I wanted to go back as soon as I heard her voice but I needed to release the dark anger first. I don’t know if I’d ever forgive Edanai for causing this painful rift of doubt between myself and the only human being that has ever held my wicked yet fragile heart in her hands. She may as well have killed me herself because it was practically what she’s done.

  It was cold on this small, miniscule, dusty gray planet, which was barren of any life form. I don’t think it was because the atmosphere was lethal but because it was small, nearly insignificant, and derived purely of glorified stone and light. The ground emitted a soft, pale glow and there was no sky to divide it from the heavens. That told me all that I needed to know about its origins and history. The original text had been buried here by an angel. Possibly an angel who had eventually fallen, and only managed to salvage part of it to take with him, eventually ending up in the hands of Morning Star.

  I didn’t have enough light in me to withstand contact with the ground, so I was left to hover at about a foot or so above with wings out.

  “Why didn’t you just have me do this when I was with you earlier? And what are we doing anyway?” Aliks grumbled, looking up at me.

  I had him meet me and then we both tunneled in from a portal. I would have lost my feet entirely had I not quickly reacted upon realizing that the earth was created of light. It was way different from the sanctified lands of the divine hall.

  “I didn’t plan on doing this just yet. I was attempting the whole Psyren kumbaya thing, remember? You don’t know anything about part of a text that’s entitled, End to End All, the Genesis of Divine Warriors, do you? It’s written in the very first language of Angels.” I looked at him questioningly.

  A single, pink brow rose with interest, “There were many texts written in that language. Where is it?”

  “I only have a portion of it and I didn’t bring it with me. It was given to me by one of Morning Star’s former lovers. He had it. I’m pretty sure you’re about to get a briefing on it now if you haven’t already. Elohim disclosed the location of the rest of it to me but I can’t read it much less retrieve it, obviously, so I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. That’s where you’ll come in and prove to be useful.” I nodded at him.

  Aliks inhaled. His lips tigh
tened as his gaze went to the heavens above in silence.

  I waited.

  Then he trained his eyes back on me. “You’ll need to cut yourself and allow your blood to flow and fall upon the ground.”

  “What?” I was taken aback.

  “What part did you not hear?”

  “What good will my blood do? I can’t even stand on the ground.” I argued.

  “I didn’t say you had to stand on the ground. In case you haven’t noticed, there are no landmarks or X’s on the ground to mark the actual location of the text. You were given the location of this book. Elohim entrusted you with it for a reason and I was told to help you for that same reason. I am simply relaying a direct command if you want to find it. Now, cut yourself and let’s get this done.” Aliks was serious.

  I didn’t understand what my cursed blood would do except to completely disintegrate upon impact. Why couldn’t Elohim just tell me all of this directly? Apparently, I needed Aliks or any other angel to help me accomplish this anyway. I imagined that was why he commanded him to assist me but he couldn’t have known that I would request it though.

  What am I saying? Of course he did.

  That was Elohim.

  Reluctantly, I conjured my trusty but deadly blade. I hadn’t used this one in a while. It was the very one that I had used many times before to cut myself with for the guilt of having partied in Morning Star’s domain.

  “How much blood?” I asked.

  “Let it flow until it stops on its own.”

  I dug the tip of the blade in deep, flinching slightly and biting my bottom lip as I pressed down and sliced a, long, deep cut into my forearm and then across the veins in my wrists. Dark, crimson blood immediately began to spurt and gush, splattering the landscape in a soft, pattering rhythm.

  The earth hissed, steamed, and crackled like crazy, just like I had predicted. Black smoke began to rise, and the smell of electricity, like wires burning, began to waft upwards. It was hard to see anything beyond the smoke at first but as it cleared…something strange began to emerge.