Angel Tears, page 30
Something told me I wasn’t completely helpless or without options. Giving up only made certain he won, so I’d fight to the bitter end. Cain, my siblings, the team, even Charlie deserved that much. Abandoned as I was, I refused to let it mean I stopped trying. I tested the spark of my power and pooled it into my arms, silently celebrating the rise of gooseflesh when it responded and did exactly as I commanded.
I’ve still got it.
After a half hour, Asmodeus returned to my side, several vials in his hands. “There’s really no romance to this.” It took all my control not to physically gag at the mere mention of romance. “It’s just drink, share blood, and then until never do us part,” he mused emphatically. “You really just lie there and do as you’re told.”
I eyed the dagger he set down next to the collection of bottles containing whatever apothecary nonsense he needed for the two of us to commit to a lifetime, rather, a soul-time of connection. It was a wonder how the act itself didn’t require some sort of compliance from both parties, but I got the impression Asmodeus would find a way around it. My sole objective was to avoid the act of sharing blood at all costs.
I carded through conversations with everyone, searching out vulnerabilities to the connection Asmodeus intended to bind me with. There wasn’t much to draw from. Most of my conversations about sharing blood didn’t venture farther than Cain needing help to perform it. He hadn’t even really discussed the fundamentals involved.
I silently berated my lack of inquisitiveness. If I’d been more curious, I could’ve figured out how to stall, if not thwart, the successful carry out of the connection. Instead, I was stuck in the clutches of an insane uncle who didn’t mind the inevitable incest in favor of getting what he wanted—my power.
Fuck my life.
My eyes naturally fell to the dagger again. And when the whisper of voices resounded in my head, I got the sense that even without my voice, I could internally power the verses.
Locked away without a voice,
One should only have to make a choice.
Asmodeus stole my arm, grasping it roughly, and I was forced to lengthen it. He took a vial and swallowed half its contents, then brought the lip of the bottle to my mouth. “Drink.”
With his arms occupied by the vial and my arm, I threw my other one out and quickly stole the dagger. I mouthed the verses with no voice and no reason to think it’d work. But even so, the weapon in my hand glowed to life. Time seemed to slow down, a heart-stopping crawl, as I lifted my upper body with all the strength I could muster and sunk the blade, hilt-deep, into Asmodeus’s chest where I was almost eighty-percent sure his black heart was.
The demon’s eyes were instantly eclipsed by a dark abyss and his wings appeared in a glitter of light, fluttering aggressively. His hand came around my throat, and I was violently pinned back down to the table. Head thrown back, it cracked loudly as it hit the hard wood surface. The loud thrum of my pulse was in my ears as my vision suffered for several heartbeats. But as I fought to regain my sight, the fallen angel removed the blade from his chest and blood poured over my white skin, staining it red.
My enemy’s lips lifted into a cruel sneer before he cut an unforgiving line across my stomach with the sharp edge of the blade, causing my mouth to fall open to a silent cry of anguish. Liquid was hastily poured down my throat, too fast for me to react, and I swallowed it with a sputtering, soundless cough. The fallen angel grabbed hold of my jaw and with brutal force, my mouth was opened, even as my fingernails broke through the skin of his hand. Another three vials of liquid were emptied into my mouth after Asmodeus swallowed his half, and I struggled, writhing and gyrating in terrified chaos, to swallow.
A sick feeling swelled in my stomach as a whirlwind of magic swept over me after the final vial’s consumption. Asmodeus muttered under his breath and spread our blood over the cut in my stomach with his hand. Gritting my jaw, I desperately tried not to cry out, though he wouldn’t hear it, every time he prodded the wound. But even I couldn’t hide how much agony I was in. As if relishing my pain, and very likely he was, the demon’s black eyes stayed with me. He sucked one of his fingers into his mouth, and I quivered violently when it hit me I couldn’t avoid it—he’d done exactly what Cain feared he’d do.
But as the clean digit left his lips, Asmodeus’s expression melted away to surprise, then wild, irrepressible ire. “It can’t be,” he said seconds before the door broke away from its frame and collapsed loudly on the floor, separating into several splintered pieces.
My eyes shot over, and a thick cloud of dust cloaked the bulky figure before a familiar pair of gold eyes gleamed through the haze. His recognizable silhouette was so profoundly relieving, tears immediately poured from my eyes. Though not out of danger, I couldn’t suppress how amazing it felt not to be alone anymore and to know he’d come for me.
Cain.
Asmodeus growled low in his throat and hauled me from the table, jostling my injury enough to make me give way to another soundless cry. Then, like a coward, he used me as a shield with the dagger already at my throat. “I should’ve known better than to underestimate you, but I never expected this.”
Cain’s eyes flickered with barely controlled emotion. His gaze fell to the blade, then to my stomach where I still bled. The thick liquid made several wide paths down my thighs, gravity my worst enemy. What a mess I must look to my angel, and I couldn’t even tell him everything was okay. I opened my mouth, but again, nothing. My voice was still held hostage by whatever Asmodeus had done to it.
A long sword appeared in Cain’s hand, his eyes now directed at the demon. “Let her go, or are you the sort of coward who hides behind a woman as a shield?”
“Hardly,” Asmodeus responded, scoffing, but didn’t release me.
When Cain’s gold eyes strayed to my face again, I smiled at him and hoped it would express that I was fine. He gripped his weapon harder, the power in his body radiating around him.
The voices in my head whispered again, louder than any time before. All other sounds were overpowered by their chorus. And as I mouthed the words, the ground beneath us moved and quaked in response.
A connection no one can break,
Is the victor’s prize to take.
The devil’s intentions clear,
Only saved by the one you hold dear.
A sensation I’d never felt before tickled along my back and an explosion of power broke Asmodeus’s hold on me. A strong waft of sparkling light burst and weight unlike I’d ever felt spread across my back, then out. The weight moved on command, lifting and folding. I wasn’t sure how but the substantial feeling was like another pair of arms.
Cain’s face expressed sheer confusion at first, before his lips lifted into a gentle smile. I turned my head, only to catch sight of an expanse of feathers. Unable to truly understand what I was seeing, I stared in dumbfounded surprise. Then I was in my angel’s arms and the choir of mystical voices were back.
Dark becomes light.
Love dies on a blood soaked night.
The final summoning.
Dawn is coming.
My voice broke through the sound in my head, reciting the familiar verses. I sucked in a breath and pivoted a half circle to face the man of my nightmares. My power burst out and struck the demon, taking Asmodeus to a knee. His face and arms were charred where my power hit him, and he panted with his head hung down similarly to the time I attacked Theron.
Cain brought me close, folding my wings down with his embrace. “I’ve got you,” he whispered softly. “You’re safe.”
Asmodeus’s dark energy grew up from the floor, instantly dropping the room’s temperature. “Your father couldn’t end me, and neither will you.”
But I would.
Even as the temperature dropped below zero and every surface was rapidly covered in frost, in my heart I knew what the new verses would do to him. I knew he’d be exorcised. I knew the final blow, the vengeance morphing my tone, would banish him to ash and expunge our world of his existence. I’d accomplish what my father tried to do all those years ago. I’d make Asmodeus pay for his sins.
“Banished and destroyed, the life you’ve lived void,” I finished loudly. The swift explosion of my angelic light crashed over the man on his knees, and white was all I saw before the space was filled with ash and the voices in my head went silent.
Cain’s arms around me were shaking before I was spun toward him and his large, eclipsing hands were on my cheeks. Gold eyes traveled my face twice-over, then down my body. Clicking his tongue, Cain tore a perfect strip of fabric from his tank top, exposing his taut, heavily bruised stomach. He used the torn piece as a makeshift bandage for the cut across my abdomen. Shifting the harnesses with all his weaponry, Cain went to a knee and gently wrapped the wound several times over. When I stiffened and hissed, he paused and waited until I nodded for him to keep going. His jaw clenched with anger and he finished the job, tying off the strip to keep it there.
“That’s going to have to do for now. Dias and the rest aren’t far, I’m sure.” Standing again, he bent close and ran fingers over the column of my neck, probably where I was bruised from being strangled. “I should’ve gotten to you sooner.” The self-hatred I saw in his expression made me reach for him, molding my palm to his cheek. “You must’ve been so scared,” he whispered in a heart-wrenching timbre.
“You came, Cain. That’s all that matters. But why are you here alone? Where’s everyone else?”
Cain’s eyes danced with emotion, and then he finally laughed. “I’ll be in trouble for sure, but I don’t think anyone will blame me for rushing over here. I’ll never regret getting to you as fast as I could, and I’ll never apologize for it either.”
This is definitely my Cain.
“Fair enough,” I rasped, voice still sounding pretty rough. “I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing myself. Still...” I looked around, “It doesn’t feel real.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Cain said with a conflicted expression. “But it’s really over, and there are a lot of people who need to know you’re okay.”
Without another word, he lifted me into his arms. My wings had disappeared with the last expulsion of my magic, and I’d only stayed upright to that point with Cain’s help.
For a second, my gaze strayed to where Asmodeus had once been. Most of the ash had settled on the ground, darkening it. Vials were strewn about on the floor. The dagger he’d used on me was still where he dropped it. The table was angled after being hit by my attack. Many areas of the room were understandably destroyed. Yet, I had trouble believing he was gone and I’d been the one to deliver the final blow. It all felt like a dream, and I worried I’d wake up only to be back as the demon’s hostage. The sensation of pain in my abdomen was really the only thing keeping me from truly branding this a dream of my own making.
Immeasurably warm and safe in Cain’s arms, his beautiful wings stretched out from his back and he swiftly traveled the corridor until he found a window. Kicking out the frame, he dislodged the entire glass panel and it went crashing to the floor into a thousand glittering pieces.
The angel’s eyes dropped to mine, then he bent down and kissed me with so much passion I was left dangerously lightheaded. “I love you,” Cain proclaimed, voice croaking. “Samuel would be so proud of you.”
Tears rushed out of my eyes, emotion crowding my chest. “I love you, too. Thanks for finding me.” I swallowed and stared at the beautiful shades of gold in his eyes. “I knew you’d come.”
His mouth swept up tenderly, and he nodded just before soaring out of the window.
Thirty-Three
After we made it back, it was a long line of people coming in and out of the room Cain commanded me to stay in for recovery. I had a world of questions to ask, but decided I could always ask them later because so many people were desperate to see me. And really, I wanted to mentally unwind from all the agony and torture I suffered in Asmodeus’s care.
In the end, we didn’t know the real reason Asmodeus did what he did or what inevitably led to his turn to darkness. I hadn’t the time to ask him anything of value. The demon stole the show and never gave me a real opportunity to ask questions. Maybe that was the reason why my chest was still tight and uncomfortable when I thought about what occurred—we were as much in the dark as before, and nothing I did now would change it. But with the voices no longer endlessly whispering, the silence in my head was a welcomed change.
First, my siblings came to visit, who were a sight for sore eyes. I hadn’t been aware how worried I was they’d be caught up in the mayhem. Or how much I was sure I’d never see them again. But after their arrival, it was nothing but cuddles and crying for the few hours they visited.
Then it was the team.
Dias and Rey were sweet and concerned about my wellbeing. Enris wanted to lay down in bed next to me, which got him hoisted out of the room by the collar. But otherwise, the visits were heartwarming and a balm on a beaten-and-broken soul. Dias tended to my cuts and burns. He spent a good hour under the scrutiny of Cain’s unforgiving gaze. Even after the bruises faded and the broken skin mended, Cain didn’t seem satisfied, and Dias spent a half hour searching for things he may have missed just to appease my skeptical guardian angel.
As it was explained, most of the vials I consumed were ritual-based and wouldn’t really harm me. Their effects lasted a day at most, and much of it was already out of my system by the time the last person to visit left.
Many of my injuries were physical by nature and only required minor healing, nothing like what Cain needed after his ambush. Being half angel, I healed quicker than humans. I could still die in the traditional mortal way, but physical wounds were far easier to heal than magical ones. I hadn’t been torn open by cursed blades or cut down by dark magic, so my injuries would mend as if they’d never been there. I wouldn’t even scar. But I’d never forget the pain, not for the rest of my life.
Finally, the chaos settled down and I was left alone with Cain. He’d fussed over every injury on my body and bandaged wherever they’d let him—Dr. McAdams making a grand reappearance—so I was sure to look quite the sight.
“You should rest,” he said for the millionth time.
I rolled my eyes, already laid out next to him in bed. “Isn’t that what this is?”
Cain’s lack of amusement was clear with one chastising glance. “You know what I meant.”
I huffed and burrowed deeper into his side. “You feel more overbearing than usual. Didn’t Dias say most of my previous wounds were healed? And what wasn’t, he had no trouble fixing?”
“We can’t trust him. He’s not even a real healer,” Cain grumbled petulantly.
“Don’t let him hear you saying that,” I teased. Then my thoughts turned to the one person I was most afraid to ask about. “Charlie...he healed me the first time.”
Cain’s expression instantly changed and his body tensed against mine. “He healed you?”
“Yes. Is he...” I swallowed around the anxiety in my throat and steadied my voice. “Is he alive?”
Cain sighed, his breath in my hair as he curled his enormous body around mine. “He is. He’s partly why I found you so quickly. He surrendered himself to the angels and disclosed your location.”
My eyes shot up and I pulled away, not quite sure how to feel. “He surrendered?”
“Yes. His voluntary surrender and the vital information that led to your rescue will mean a lighter sentence, and I promised him a visit once you were well enough. Only if you consent, of course.”
“I consent!” I nearly screamed, sitting all the way up. “Was he injured at all? What sort of sentence are we talking? Did you ever suspect him?”
A bitter smile lifted Cain’s mouth, obviously not happy with my frantic worry over Charlie. “He had very few injuries, as far as I’m aware. In regards to his sentence, Nessa says it will have everything to do with how much corruption tainted his heart. But from what I gathered when I spoke to her, you had exorcised him and that was partly why he managed to escape Asmodeus’s influence.”
I exorcised him?
“Me?”
Cain’s reproachful glare answered me. “I thought you knew. Isn’t that what you’d intended to do all along?”
“I mean, maybe? I’m still really not sure how this all works. I just did what the voices told me to do.” I paused, then laughed to myself. “I sound crazy when I say it like that.”
“Not really out of the norm, is it?” I scowled with heat, clicking my tongue with irritation, and Cain’s repentant smile wasn’t the least bit convincing. “It’s not a bad thing,” he amended unpersuasively. “Even without really knowing what it would do, you did it. I’d like to be angry at Charlie for what he did, but I, better than anyone, know how clever Asmodeus was. From what I understand, he practically raised the kid.”
I grieved for my friend in a silent moment. “Seems so. It took a lot for me to even believe it was him in the first place. But yes, from what he told me, Asmodeus was like a father to him.”
Cain expressed genuine sympathy, his voice softer. “I won’t pretend I don’t dislike him greatly for the part he played in all of this, but I will credit him for the fact that it could’ve been a hell of a lot worse had he not been there.”
I nodded, heart conflicted for the friend who never really knew any better and still fought for me in the end. “He tried to let me escape when I first went up against Theron.”
Cain visibly reacted to Theron’s name, gold eyes flickering with anger. “And you say Asmodeus killed Theron?”
“I’d exorcised him, from what Asmodeus said. Theron was practically a burnt husk before Asmodeus impaled him with a blade.”
Cain hummed and gathered me up in his arms, tighter than before. “Then it’s just as well. Theron was a traitor of the worst make. Nessa didn’t know what to do when I told her. But what it means is that an overhaul of our forces is necessary, and we may need your power a lot in the future.”
