“Your eyes are black like hers.” My voice shook.
Tom let go of my arm and clapped his hands together. “She’s piercing our Veils.”
“I don’t know why that would be something to get so excited about,” said Chandra.
“I’ve never seen a human do it, have you?” asked Tom. “She’s not getting through completely though. Or else she’d be running from the room screaming.”
Pierce their Veils? So, they are demons, and I can see what they truly are sometimes. The chill recoiled…slowly.
“So, angels and demons and the Devil. They all exist. Anything else I should know about?” I asked.
“Well,” said Tom. “There are Cambions.”
“Cambions?”
“The offspring of incubi and humans,” said Adrianna. “It doesn’t happen often. Think of it as a genetic mutation. Cambions are dark magic users. Oh, and they eat people.”
“So, they’re witches?” I asked. Wait, witches don’t eat people, do they?
“No,” said Adrianna. “They’re something different: Half-demons. But there are witches.”
“Not that Lucifer wants them running around,” said Tom.
Witches, demons, Archangels. I felt like they were pushing against the inside of my skull trying to split my head open.
And tracking down Archangels—it wasn’t like there was a class on that or anything. “I don’t know where to start,” I said.
“Of course not,” said Chandra, not looking at me. “You’re just a tool. It’s our responsibility to get you there.” She was dressed like she was going to a ball, but I got the sense that Chandra was a hardened warrior. I imagined her swinging a sword and laughing in the faces of her enemies while tigers in spiked collars roared behind her.
I shook my head. We weren’t going to fight anybody, were we? I guess we were. Raphael wouldn’t back off just because I asked him to. But this was crazy, they were angels for goodness sake. Besides, didn’t angels live in Heaven? Demons couldn’t go there, right?
Chandra, Adrianna, Tom, and Kiran were demons. Well, at least Adrianna and Tom were. They had showed me their true colors, their real eyes. According to Nash, Hell housed more than demons, and he implied that he wasn’t one. “How are we going to find the angels?”
“With their weapons,” said Tom. “Each angel has a weapon made of an extremely powerful metal found only in Arcadia.”
“Where’s Arcadia?” I asked.
“People call Arcadia the Garden of Eden or Utopia,” Tom explained. “Arcadia is a place in Heaven designated for humans.”
“Okay. But how will we use the weapons to find the angels?”
“The angel weapons were placed on Earth as a precaution against future rebellion in Heaven,” said Kiran.
“Each weapon is tied to the angel it belongs to,” said Tom. “Angels are bound to protect their weapons. That is, as long as they aren’t fallen.”
“If we find them and take them,” said Kiran, “they will come.”
“Then what?” I asked.
“Then, you use your super special power,” said Chandra, “the one that makes you so important.” Her words were laced with venom.
“But I’d have to touch them to do that,” I said. I’d have to make them scream, make them suffer.
“Angels aren’t the only ones who have access to Arcadian Steel,” said Nash. “We’ll fight them, and you’ll make them fall.”
SEVEN
MY hand smacked me in the forehead. What time was it? I looked over at the clock. 11 A.M. I tossed and turned all night. Each attempt at sleep brought a new nightmare, which wasn’t strange when I considered the circumstances.
I was on the run from an Archangel, and my birth mom sold my soul to Satan, who commissioned me to kill said Archangel with my fancy superpower. All I needed was a hardcore rock ballad playing behind me, and people would think I was badass.
I stretched in the bed. I wanted to stay nestled in the warmth of the covers. The chill air kissed my face.
Sim climbed onto my stomach, and I stroked her fur. I filled a bowl with water and left the water by the door for her, but I needed to get her food.
I climbed out of bed, and goose bumps speckled my arms as soon as the warm blanket left my skin. I wore a t-shirt and pajama shorts. I wished I packed something warmer, but I live in southern Louisiana. I didn’t have clothes warm enough for the coldness of Nash’s house.
I’ve heard people call Louisiana “hot as Hell.” Well, I’ve got some news for them. Hell wasn’t hot. It was as cold as an art museum. It held haunting and beautiful wonders, but bring a sweater.
I picked up my guitar case and laid it out on the bed. The snaps on the side of the case unlatched easily. I felt the smooth body of the Strat. The guitar was perfect. It was the last gift my parents had ever given me, and I couldn’t even play it. I couldn’t lug a twelve-pound amp around with me.
I scratched Sim behind the ears and made my way to the kitchen. A note was stuck to the fridge.
Went out for a while, but will be back for training. Look in the refrigerator.
Training?
I opened the refrigerator and found another note folded in half and propped up. For the cat. Behind the note were several packets of tuna.
I wasn’t sure when Nash left the note. If he left earlier this morning, he could be back soon. I poured a glass of juice and gulped it down. Breakfast could wait. I opened a package of tuna and squeezed it into a bowl.
My hand touched the cold, metal banister on my way back upstairs. I pulled my hand away. So damn cold in this house. I placed the bowl of tuna next to Sim’s water and slid the door shut.
I had a few games loaded on my cellphone, but when I tried to access them, my battery died. I forgot to grab my charger. My guitar still lay on the bed. Wouldn’t make much sense to play it. Without an amp, the notes would be soundless.
I could explore the house until Nash comes back. Several rooms were still mysteries to me. Nash must have a television somewhere. Hell might have its own stations. I wondered if shows were weird in Hell. You know, like a game show where the Devil spears the loser in the ass with a pitchfork.
As I passed the foyer, the front door opened. Tom stood and stared at me like I was a bear at a movie theater. He wore a t-shirt with small holes at the hem and a pair of faded black jeans.
“Hi,” I said. “You know where Nash went?”
He pressed his lips together. “Nope.”
“Do you and Nash live together?” I asked.
“No,” said Tom. “I come here for the library, not Nash’s abs.”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” I said.
“And I didn’t take offense to it.”
“Um, where’s the library?” I asked.
“Nash hasn’t given you a tour? I guess he must not like you. But I do.” He winked. “It’s a real treat. Let me show you. Seeing is believing.”
Nash’s house couldn’t get any bigger, but it did. The mansion was like Mary Poppins’s suitcase. Rooms kept coming out of nowhere.
“Why does Nash need such a big house?” I asked.
“You should see my house,” said Tom. “Big houses are a thing in the Outer Region. We like to show off. Although Nash has the best library in Sheol. Thinking about the number of books he has fills me with so much envy you’d think I’ve been hanging out with Leviathan.”
“Leviathan.”
“One of the seven princes of Hell. Lucifer is one of them.”
“But I thought Lucifer was the King—I mean Queen of Hell.”
“It’s more complicated than that,” said Tom. “It’s a good thing I’m showing you the library. You’ve got a lot of reading to do.”
“Does Nash have a family?” I asked. “I mean, does he really live in this big house all by himself?”
“No one in Hell has a family,” said Tom. “Well, that is except for Chandra. She was lucky. Both she and her younger brother went to Sheol, and both accepted cont
racts.”
“She can’t be the only one with family down here,” I said.
“Hell’s a big place,” said Tom. “If you did have family down here, it would be very hard to find them. They could be in the Circles or still on Earth fulfilling their contracts. Once they completed their obligations on Earth, they could be anywhere in the Outer Region.”
I didn’t have family in Hell. The only family I’d ever known were Micah and Alexandria Hebert. They were good people. So, they were in Heaven.
“Can I visit Heaven?” I asked.
Tom laughed. “Are you joking?”
“No.”
“Do you think if demons had access to Heaven, they would hang around down here all the time?” Tom asked.
“But the portals. That’s how Bob brought me to Sheol. One opened in my bedroom.”
“Not all demons have access to portals,” said Tom. “They are a gift from Lucifer, and they only grant us access to Earth, not Heaven. And she only grants them to demons who do her dirty work, like us. Without the portals, we’d have to trek all over—” He stopped. “Here we are.”
We stopped in front of a set of tall, frosted glass double doors. Sim rested in a fur crescent in front of them. She looked up at me and meowed.
“Sim.” I picked up the cat. “How did you get out here?”
“Your cat, I presume,” said Tom.
I stroked Sim’s fur and felt the soft rattle of her purring. “I don’t know how she got out here. I closed my door.”
Tom frowned. “Maybe you didn’t.” He opened the doors. They slid into the wall. I clenched Sim, and I followed Tom inside.
Shelves of books towered from the floor and up to the ceiling. Nash’s house was three-stories and the library ceiling took advantage of each one of them. Ladders on caster wheels ran along the shelves so the books at the top could be reached.
The books had leather covers with creases along the spines. Pages stuck out of the older volumes as if the pages had become loose or were, in some cases, cut unevenly.
The floor was polished white marble. A desk sat in the center of the room. A loveseat and set of cushioned chairs were nestled in front of the frosted glass window.
“This is Nash’s personal library?” I was in awe of the sheer size. The library must have housed thousands of books.
“Yeah, Nash is a bit of a collector.”
“A bit.”
“You can uncover a lot of information in these books,” said Tom. “Information we can use to locate the angel weapons.”
“That would take forever.”
“Not really. I’ve been through most of them. I know what I’m looking for.”
“How could you possibly have been through most of them?”
“I’m older than I look.” Tom winked.
Tom looked no older than the guys I went to school with.
A laugh echoed through the room. A space on the third floor where the shelves stopped housed a loft that led into the third-floor hallway.
Chandra looked down from the loft. She grinned. She reached over the railing and grabbed a hold of one of the ladders. She leapt over and slid down the side rails of the ladder to the marble floor below.
She no longer wore the long, elegant dress she sported at dinner. She wore tight black clothes. Her body, long and lean, reminded me of a cat’s. Her long, thin eyebrows were swept over dark almond-shaped eyes that threatened to collide with the bridge of her nose. Her sleek, black hair reached down to her tailbone.
Without a breath, she said, “Do you really think we’ll be able to take any angel weapons? A full angel is stronger than ten demons. Have you ever fought an angel? Because I haven’t.”
Tom raised an eyebrow. “We have someone who can make angels fall with a touch.”
“Look at her,” said Chandra. “Barely five feet and ninety pounds soaking wet. You think an angel is going to let her get near him? She’ll never make an angel fall.” She glared at me with such hostility you’d think I killed her dog.
“I already did,” I shot back. “That fallen angel Nash, Adrianna, and Kiran killed two days ago, I was the one who made him fall. He burst into flames when I touched him with my bare hands. You might never have fought an angel before, but I have.”
Chandra’s mouth tightened. “If what you’re saying is true, you got lucky.” She passed me and walked through the sliding door.
Tom shrugged. He grabbed a book and left me alone in the library with Sim. I put Sim down. She wandered around and stopped every now and then to sniff at something.
I pulled one of the books off the shelf and curled up in the armchair to read. Winged Warriors: The Seven Archangels.
The first chapter was about the Archangel Michael. A picture depicted Michael, wings spread and sword raised. His foot pressed down on the head of what I assumed to be the Devil, only the Devil was male. I wondered how many people knew Lucifer was a woman?
Next was Gabriel, he wore blue and white and held a silver horn. His wings were grayish, instead of the pure white of Adriel’s wings.
I flipped through the book.
There he was: Raphael, the Archangel who wanted to use me to close the gates of Heaven. He didn’t look anything like the Archangel who attacked us on the freeway. I only saw him for a split second, but his eyes didn’t hold the same hatred and intensity.
He looked so…kind. He wore a brown shift and held a staff. His white wings were striking against the shadows. The caption read that he was the patron of the blind, of lovers, of shepherds, of the sick, and of guardian angels.
How could someone like that want to shut down Heaven for everyone? Could he have changed so much?
I awoke to a knock at the door. I lounged in the armchair. The book rested open on my chest. Sim curled up at my feet. Nash stood in the doorway. I sat up.
The book dropped onto the floor, and Sim scurried away.
“Sorry.” I scrambled to pick the book up.
“We’re outside,” he said.
“Yeah, I got your note. What do you mean train? Train for what?”
“To hunt angels.”
I cringed. He said that so nonchalantly like we were going to hunt rabbits or something. Of course, I might have cringed at the prospect of killing poor innocent bunnies too.
“How are we going to do that?” I asked.
“With weapons. You’ll need to know how to use them.”
Weapons. Arcadian weapons, the same weapons the angels themselves used. I hoped Nash didn’t expect much from me. I could barely run a lap around the football field in gym class.
“Okay, I’ll get dressed.”
He looked me up and down, and my face got hot. “What you’re wearing is fine,” he said.
I wore a t-shirt, black leggings, and a pair of laced boots that stopped right above the ankle. In gym class, I wore shorts and a sleeveless shirt. I wasn’t sure if I packed anything like that.
I followed him to the back patio. The backyard was open and went all the way to a fence in the distance. Kiran, Adrianna, Tom and Chandra stood on the field, talking. They all wore dark, tight clothes.
“What exactly does training consist of?” I asked before we were in earshot of the others. Surely, we weren’t going to come at each other with sharpened swords made of the strongest steel in Heaven.
“Fighting,” he said.
I learned that Nash didn’t deal in specifics. Either that, or he must have thought I was dense and wouldn’t understand anyway.
We faced the others.
“You ready?” asked Adrianna.
“I’m not sure,” I said.
“We’ll start with hand to hand. Chandra,” said Nash. “Why don’t you show Lia a thing or two?”
Chandra sighed. “You insult me, Nash.”
Chandra stood opposite me. She lowered her head and glared at me. In the dress the night before, Chandra looked delicate, but now, her physique showed. Her body was thin, but toned compared to my skinny frame. She was right.
I didn’t stand a chance against her.
“You want me to just jump into it?” I asked.
“What better way to train how to fight than to fight?” said Kiran.
“She’ll go easy on you,” said Nash.
“I’ll have to.” Chandra smirked. “Or I’ll break you.”
I glared at her. I might be skinny, but I took on an angel. I could have clawed his eyes out. And anyone could throw a punch, right?
I pulled back my arm and tried to land a punch on Chandra.
She rolled her eyes and dodged my fist. She kicked, and I didn’t have time to register my next move before the blow hit me in the stomach, and I landed flat on my back.
Her speed was inhuman. Of course, I wasn’t dealing with humans, and even if I was, I still would have landed on my back.
Nash’s lips were set as he watched. He probably thought I was hopeless.
I scrambled to my feet, worried I didn’t look very graceful. I tried to move my feet a little more, maybe I could confuse her. I attempted to swing another punch, but she was so fast, I saw two of her.
Her fist landed against the side of my face. I felt my teeth click together as a sharp pain rode through my jaw.
I put my arms up to shield my face as another blow landed into the side of my stomach. I bent over.
Don’t give up. I didn’t want to look like a complete reject, but at the same time I wanted to live through this.
Chandra hit me again, and violent pain went up my arm. I was playing fisticuffs with a demon ten times faster and stronger than me. She had proper training. I didn’t.
I tried to dodge the blow, but it landed against my jawline, pushing my head to the side. She was going to kill me.
Dread rose within me until it burst out of me like a firework. The air rippled in front of me like water. Chandra flew backwards and landed hard on her back several feet away.
She looked around, eyes wide, and scrambled to her feet with her hands curled into fists in front of her.
Adrianna, Kiran, and Tom stood with their mouths open. In the sudden silence, my heart pounded in my chest.
“Did you see that?” Adrianna said. “Nash, you didn’t tell us she was a witch!”
The Wings of Heaven and Hell (The Arcadian Steel Sequence Book 1) Page 7