For as long as I’d known her, which was admittedly not long, she’d seemed like an over-powered sorority girl more than the manifestation of an ageless magical being. Tonight? Tonight, I’d met Gaia, the Earth Goddess. And I’d hurt one of her children. Scratch that, I’d hurt her sister, her family. It had been truly terrifying, but eventually I told her to kill me or get the Hell out of my way. For a minute, I’d thought she was going to kill me, but then she’d simply smiled and stepped aside, nodding toward the door. I’d never understand that woman.
I could have anticipated Alex’s direction change sooner if it hadn't been Alex that I was following, but as it was, I was falling behind. Her dark mahogany hair was streaming behind her, looking almost ebony as it shimmered in the moonlight, and she had two magnificent, pitch black wings beating around her. Each wing was at least the length of her body, resulting in a total wingspan that was more than twice her height. Her tail was twitching aggravatedly behind her too, which was admittedly pretty cute, and her pale skin shone brightly in the moonlight. In contrast to the shadows and her dark clothing it seemed to have an ethereal glow, which was entirely possible given her unusual heritage. She was breathtaking. And it was distracting me.
As soon as I lost sight of her my stomach twisted in knots. I couldn't lose her. Not now. She'd wanted me. She'd remembered me. She'd seen me as a child, when even my brother couldn't. I still don't know how that was possible, but she had. She'd never seen me again, but that was on Henry. I needed her. I couldn’t be with her. It wasn’t fair to her to try and build a life with a demon, a hybrid at that. No one knew what I was capable of. No one. But I’d be damned if I didn’t spend the rest of my life keeping her safe, even if it meant watching her live her life from afar.
I was still scanning the sky when I finally caught sight of her on the horizon. Everything in my body went on alert when I saw her suddenly stop and scan the sky around her. What was she doing? She started scanning the ground and must've found what she was looking for because the expression of sheer terror on her face was chilling, even from this distance. I dug deep and pushed myself to move faster, but as my feet devoured the pavement, I heard a sound that made my blood run cold. An animalistic scream that came from no Earthly animal.
Demons. Demons?! What the—
I heard the demonic screams again, and suddenly, Alex was diving toward the ground. Fuck, Alex, what are you doing?!
I wasn't going to make it to her in time. Change, Alex. Please, change!
I saw her speeding toward the ground. I saw her finally change mid-flight like it was second nature. Then I lost sight of her beyond a building, and panic, cold and unforgiving, flooded my veins. I heard her Gryphon land with a thunderous boom and a deafening scream that shook the very earth I was running on, shattering the windows of several surrounding buildings and cars as car alarms all around the city went off.
I was close enough to hear now. I heard the broken, throaty growls of the demons she was confronting and the falcon-like shriek of her angelic form that hurt my ears. I could hear and feel feet trampling the ground and the grunts and snarls of angry demons. I could hear the tearing and rending of flesh, the cracking of bones, and the strain of metal followed by a hellish scream that would have changed my direction if I hadn't known it was her I was running toward.
Faster. Must run faster. Though I didn’t think it was possible, I sped up automatically when I heard her. My muscles burned and cried beneath my flesh, but my mind and all the tenants that lived there wouldn’t let up. There would be no relief until she was safe in my arms.
I finally burst around a corner onto the same street and could see it several blocks away, a massacre. Luckily, it wasn't her being massacred. Several dozen of the monsters lay dead, their bodies littering the ground around Alex’s feet. Hellhounds. I saw her gryphon form snap the neck of one of the beasts in her powerful beak, place her taloned foot on its corpse and raise her head to the sky, screaming her triumph.
I’d only seen Alex shifted once before, and it had happened so fast I didn’t get much chance to meditate on her form. Her avian-feline body was a shiny black from the tip of her beak to the tips of her talons, claws, and tail. Flying in the night sky, I wasn’t convinced even my demon-wolf vision would be able to make her out. She stood as tall as a horse but definitely bigger.
Most of her body was that of a sleek feline, darker than any panther, twice the size or more of any predator known to humankind, at least any that still walk the Earth. Her hind feet were deceptively soft looking paws adorned with viciously sharp claws. Her shiny black fur gave way to feathers around the front of her ribcage. A thick, glorious mane of feathers led upward to her avian head, and feathers adorned her front legs to about her elbows, where her feathers gave way to shiny, black, leathery skin that led to lethal looking taloned avian feet. She was magnificent, powerful, deadly, and in danger.
I was pulled from my momentary rumination by the Dark one inside of me. He was growling at me to focus. At least a dozen more hellhounds were circling Alex in her Cherubim form, trying to get behind her. She stood tall and proud, but she'd sustained quite a few injuries. Blood was streaming from each cut and tear in her flesh. Each would be infected with demon venom, and her strength seemed to be waning. As terrifyingly powerful as she looked, this was only the second time she’d shifted, and she’d already fought off several dozen demons in a matter of minutes. My Goddess that woman was a badass.
I saw the three monsters creeping over the roof toward her too late. Not that it would have mattered if I’d seen them sooner. I never slowed, but I knew I wouldn't make it. She was going to die if I didn't stop them. She caught scent or sight of the monsters on the roof behind her and turned to look, but she lost her footing as she lost consciousness, falling to the ground, human before she landed. The Hounds snarled and I saw them crouch in preparation to launch themselves off the roof at her very vulnerable human form, now unconscious on the ground. I wasn’t going to make it.
Let me OUT!!! I heard the monster inside me roar, rattling the bars of his mental prison. We must protect her! I felt my wolf, free and in control, whine his agreement, and I knew I wouldn't win this fight alone. I’d fought to keep this monster caged my entire life, but I couldn’t lose Alex. Not like this. Not now. Not ever. So I opened the cage.
I felt the fire in my eyes as speed like I’d never known overwhelmed me. My body burned like fire, grew, and morphed into something else. I was suddenly there, mere strides form her, and I felt pain like I’d never experienced encompass my entire body just before I leapt over Alex’s unconscious form. I plowed into the three hounds, which I now dwarfed, just as they launched off the roof.
I ripped the first one’s throat out midair as his six hand-like, clawed feet scraped against my skin, finding no purchase. The second hound twisted in midair, trying to fend me off, only to have his neck snapped and be tossed away like garbage. I sliced the third hound’s abdomen open with the claws of one back paw, gutting him and landing deftly next to Alex on the ground. It all happened so fast, my presence startled the remaining seventeen hellhounds who whined and cowered as I whipped around to face them with a menacing growl.
24
Alex
Iwas in the dark place again. There was nothing but me. No floor, no ceiling, no ground or sky, no air, just… being. Jade had called it the Shadow Realm. Last time I’d been here I’d seen Andrew, but I hadn’t remembered what had happened. I hadn’t known it was the last time I would see him. I hadn’t said goodbye.
And one of those monsters had attacked me. Now they were attacking on Earth, but why? How had that many gotten through? Had the Veil fallen? And if not…
“Alex?”
I froze. It couldn’t be. Couldn’t. But when I turned around, it was.
“Andrew?” I breathed, unwilling to believe my eyes.
He stood awkwardly several feet from me, his expression tight and anxious as he watched me. I approached him slowly, reaching my shaking
hand out timidly to my friend. Once I touched his sleeve, I crumbled. I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to me, hugging him tightly, like he might disappear at any given moment. Andrew wrapped me up in his steady arms, tucking my head under his chin as he had so many times before.
“I thought you’d hate me,” he whispered into my hair.
I pulled back to look at him, “Hate you? Why on earth would I hate you?”
“Because of what I’ve done to you. The world I threw you into,” he glanced down, ashamed.
I lifted his chin with one finger and said, “I was already a part of this world. Between you and Jade... and Ash. I was part of it. I just didn’t know it yet. When I think of the danger I could’ve been in and never known. I’m grateful for the life you’ve given me. Including my Guardian. We have bonded finally. We are one, and we are both. And to top it off, I was a nephilim and no one knew.”
His head shot up at that, his eyes searching mine. “How is that possible?”
“Oh, who the hell knows? I don’t even care at the moment. I’m happy, and I love you. I could never hate you even if I’d hated the life you gave me, but I don’t.”
“It warms my heart to hear that, but we have more important things to talk about and very little time. I can’t outlast them much longer. They’re getting closer and closer each time. The Veil will fall, and soon. You need to be prepared. They will come for you, and Alex…” Andrew hesitated, which put me on edge. Andrew never hesitated, especially with me. He just said what he needed to say and dealt with any repercussions later.
“What? What is it Andrew? What could be worse than the Veil falling?”
“My father’s alive, Alex.”
I felt prickles of chills up and down my spine as goosebumps covered my flesh. There it was. The only piece of information that could be worse than the end of the world by demon infestation. Henry Tennyn, alive and well. I’d killed that son-of-a-bitch once. I wasn’t sure how he survived, but I’d kill him again, and this time, he would stay dead.
“He’s behind this whole thing, Alex. And don’t get that murderous, vengeful look in your eyes. Leave him be. Your safety is more important than revenge. You can’t bring me back, but you can save everyone else. It’s his minions that are coming after me. He’s working with the demons. He needs you and Ash for whatever he has planned. You need to lay low. Don’t fight, don’t Guardian out, just hide. Both of you. And stay with Jade.”
My silence was more telling than anything I had to say would have been, and he dropped to his knees in front of me, hugging my hips and soaking my phantom form with very real tears. “Alex, I know I’ve already lost you, but what makes this bearable is knowing you’ll live. I don’t know what will become of me after this, but I know it will be worse if you’re not safe somewhere living your life,” he begged. “Please, for me, just be safe.”
It broke my heart, but I absolutely couldn’t do what he was asking of me, but I could do something. I sunk down on my knees in front of him. “Andrew? My Drew? I’m so sorry. I can’t do exactly what you’re asking of me, but I can promise you that I will be safe. I know it’s hard to believe, but you haven’t seen me in this new life. You can’t feel my Guardian the way I can. Or my destiny. Andrew, I will be safe, and I will kill Henry. I’ll stop him, Andrew. This is what I’m built for, and being a nephilim to begin with, I’m stronger than you can imagine. I can do this,” I finished resolutely.
Andrew looked into my eyes, like he was seeing me for the first time. “I wish I could see you. In your new form. In your new life.” He cupped my face in one hand, brushing my cheek delicately with his thumb, then he slid his hand behind my head and leaned toward me.
A thousand thoughts flew through my mind in an instant: Andrew, our past, our friendship, our fledgling romance, our love for one another, betrayal, guilt, shame. But front and center was Ash. The guilt and the shame and the feelings of betrayal weren’t only about Andrew as they used to be. I’d come full circle. Now I felt like I was betraying Ash.
But he’d rejected me, and for all I knew this was the last time I’d ever see Andrew. In the split second I had to make a decision, I decided Andrew’s happiness, right now, was worth it. Because this was goodbye. The only one I would get.
His lips grazed mine, gently at first, then more heavily. His tongue brushed my lips, politely requesting entry, but once it was granted… Oh, it was a different story. It was the Groom’s dressing room all over again. He moaned against my mouth and pulled me roughly to him, wrapping his arms around my ribs, crushing me in his embrace. His mouth was pressed so harshly to mine, I knew I would come back from this vision with bruised lips.
But it went no further. He requested no more. Why sully it? We both knew this was goodbye. So I threw everything I had into this kiss. Every joyful memory we’d ever made, every tearful parting and reunion, every missed opportunity, every regret, every hope for the future that would go forever unfulfilled, every I’m sorry and I love you, every everything we’d never experience again went into that single embrace. I willed him to feel it all, to feel everything I felt for him, to know what he meant to me because this, this was it. This was the last of us. His tears were streaming down his face, mingling with my own as he clutched me to him, desperate to push back fate for a few more precious moments.
Then we heard it. The howling. My head snapped in that direction, but Andrew just hugged me too him. When I looked at him, I saw the look of finality in his eyes.
“No. Andrew, no. You can still run. Now! Go! Please go!” I begged, but he just smiled,
“I will take that kiss with me where my soul goes after this. I will take you in my heart. They will follow me, and they will come for you if I’m not here, just like they did last time. You know I can’t let that happen. I love you, Alex. My soul will always love you, in any form it takes. Always. You’re my soulmate. My only soulmate. I’m not going to take it lying down, but I’m not going to let you fight my battle either.” Andrew brushed the falling tears from my eyes and kissed my lips one last time.
“I don’t want you anywhere near my father, but I know you won’t listen to me. I don’t know why I ever thought you might. So, I’ll just ask this instead. If you can’t avoid him, kill him. Cut off his head and burn his body and head separately. Bury the ashes on different sides of the world. That’s the only way to be sure. He’s changed somehow, Alex. He’s not human.”
He wiped a few more tears from my face before continuing, “Don’t cry for me, my beloved. I’ve been gone a long time. Now I finally get to go home. Heaven. Don’t be sad.”
His smile looked so serene that I couldn’t help but return it. He hugged me one last time, then backed away. “I learned a new trick in here. Time for you to go home.”
I held his gaze, praying for a miracle, for something to intervene, hoping if I didn’t look away from him, I wouldn’t lose him again. Then I felt a pull in my tummy and just like that...
25
Alex
Man, I was tired of coming to on the ground. Although I wasn't quite ‘to’ yet, but I could feel the rough concrete beneath me. I couldn't quite open my eyes, but I could hear snarling and yelping. Then it was suddenly quiet, and I could smell smoke and flames, sulfur and burnt hair and flesh. I finally managed to open my eyes, wondering why I was still alive. I'd passed out with two of those monsters still circling me. I was pretty sure there was one behind me on the roof, too. Or, at least, there had been. Whatever it was, it was over now.
I managed to get my elbows under me and push up a bit to look around. There were dead hellhounds everywhere. Dozens. One of them was on fire and someone was dragging the others into a pile on top of it. I pushed up further, feeling a broken rib shift, then stitch itself back together, which elicited a hiss from me, and the fire starter whipped around.
There he was in all his glory. Ash. His massive figure loomed over me in the fire light. He was truly magnificent like this. Naked, tense, bathed in the blood of the wicked, and s
urrounded by the bodies of the fallen. He looked every bit the warrior he was. And I wanted him. His eyes changed briefly... Just a flicker of dilated pupils, before he schooled his expression and walked toward me. He glanced only briefly at my eyes, revealing something like shame, then knelt down and started checking over my wounds. I just stared at him silently as he worked.
Finally, he broke the silence. “Are you okay?”
“Define okay. I just woke up on the ground again. But on the positive side, I woke up not dead, so…”
Ash just stared at me like I’d sprouted a second head. “Jokes? Really?”
“What do you want from me, Ash? I know how bad this is. I have to be able to handle it somehow, and making light helps me deal, so… deal.”
Ash just nodded. “Hmm... Okay.” His lack of douchey comebacks was more unnerving than anything else that had happened tonight, though something was tugging at my memory that I couldn’t quite pin down.
Sirens sounded in the distance and Ash stiffened. “We need to get out of here. Fast. Can you walk?”
“Yeah, I think so. I feel pretty okay, considering.” Ash stood and pulled me to my feet. A little wobbly, I fell into him. It was very reminiscent of the scene in the shower earlier, and I felt my cheeks flame.
“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this,” Ash whispered, grinning.
I thought I would pass back out from shock. Ash told a joke. A non-asshole joke.
“Don’t look so surprised, Princess. I’m funny.”
My mouth actually dropped open in shock. Then I remembered. “The kids! That's what I was doing in the first place. Are the kids okay?”
Veiled Guardian: A Borne of Angels Novel (The Awakening Book 1) Page 21