Divinity: Transcendence: Book Two (The Divinity Saga) (13 page)

I was beginning to get the idea
. I didn’t want to make her feel bad or upset. Though I wanted to know, I shouldn’t have asked.

“I’m sure it wasn’
t your fault.” I whispered, wanting to give her more comfort than mere words.

She swallowed and nodded, still not meeting my eyes.
It was apparent that she didn’t believe that.

“Hey, you wanna play a game of that paddle ball thingy afterwards?” I asked her, remembering the game that Anthony wanted to challenge Gabe to.

She shook her head no. Then her face beamed cheerily once again, which had been my intent.

“I know something that’s way more fun though.” She grinned.

V
II. Cam`ael:

             
            
 
I
wanted to go somewhere out of University range, and get away from the filth that was beginning to creep in behind the wake of Morning Star. Glory still lingered, from having conversed with the angel, and though it humbled me, it left me a bit perplexed.

I
bypassed the Bagel Company, seeing that it appeared to be teeming with a ratio of fifty percent University students and faculty patrons. It was during this visit, that I wished Rahab were here to run his diner. I guess I could summon him but I didn’t want to create a big deal over this. I simply meant to check things out, and make sure that her friend China remained safe.

After making a complete circle around several blocks,
I finally settled for a café that served cafeteria-style food. The people in here seemed oblivious to the recent school shooting for the most part. There were a few hushed conversations about it though, as people browsed their smartphones for the latest news updates.

Most
of them were already jaded by yet another tragedy of random violence. The act followed a string of so many similar ones taking place all over the world lately. It didn’t count the recent deadly fire that Morning Star had unleashed, via the dark divine and demon infested rock concert, not long ago.

His intent had been
to lure Starling into his waiting portal, but I had thrown a wrench in both his and Drakael’s plans, by trusting my own gut. Unfortunately, he still managed to successfully gather and pull in a huge mass of young human souls and bodies by the end of the concert. It was a nice consolation prize for all of his elaborate trouble.

D
rakael’s delayed fall from the kingdom took me by complete surprise. Even though Starling was immortal now, he was certainly not going to be the last fallen to attempt claiming her again.

There would be much
worse things to come, here in the mortal world. Those of us in the spirit realm already knew it.

As always, all eyes
turned towards me once I entered the cafe. It was hard not to notice the amount of dark energy in the vicinity. Even more so, the prominent signatures of Succubus’ that were in here right now. Being my counterpart, I knew the scent well. I panned the entire café, zoning in on them automatically. I wasn’t surprised to see that they had already homed in on me as well.

Despite the fact that they had claimed the extreme interest of the table of frat boys behind them, they continued to stare me down seductively.

There were three of them, two blonde-haired women, and an ebony haired one. They were all sultry and beautiful of course, with light lunches of salads and grilled chicken sandwiches spread before them, to perpetrate a sense of normalcy. I instantly thought of Berith for a fleeting moment—unsure of why.

As I made my way to the counter to sit, I kept them in my periphery. I
moved past women who were mimicked by their children, with mouths open, in awe of my height, the badge, and the gun —or all three more than likely.

             
              I removed my hat and slid onto a stool. Grabbing a menu, I pretended to peruse the specials. Desire and dark lust magik, began to slither against me like an affectionate cat. It curled around my body like liquid stroking fingers, through the layers of material that I wore. The gentle sensation of probing fingers were seeking out all of my sensitive parts on purpose and it was beyond maddening.

I instantly stiffened,
painfully confined to the snug fit of the uniform pants. I was throbbing with an ache that could only be satisfied in three ways. I had to work hard at keeping the lust that I was emanating corralled—or every capable human in the entire café, would be on the verge of orgasm shortly. It was an automatic response to the powerful assault of their seduction.

Damn.

“What can I get you?” The young waitress whisp
ered. Her words dripping with desire.

She was a
college student, thin and perky. Cute, but not the kind I typically siphoned pleasure from. She was way too—loose.

I shifted myself
again in the confines of the uniform pants. Heat was rising rapidly in me, slowly igniting the familiar carnal craving that I was trying to avoid.

It was difficult, because
I needed it— I wanted it.

I tried to block it
but it didn’t matter. For all the lust energy that I was forcefully getting from all of them simultaneously, they may as well have been under the counter, each taking a turn in sucking me off.

I suppressed a moan
, and immediately glanced over my shoulder to eye them annoyance— only because this was the human world and a public place. That notion brought me back to the task of finding out just why there were so many dark fallen in and around this city all of a sudden. What Morning Star had wanted to happen, had already taken place. Starling was no longer here.

N
ow, I was suspicious.

“I’ll just take
a coffee and fruit Danish, to go.” I ordered quickly, with another irritated glimpse at the trio.

             
Two of the frat boys were turned around in their booths, obviously engaged in pathetic attempts to flirt with and compliment the dark-haired Succubus. Her glamour made her appear to be either Asian or Spanish. If only they knew.

The other two
Succubus’ maintained their steady lust assaults on me. It was irking, more than arousing me now.

I felt a
sudden, light tapping on my elbow.

“Excuse me
officer sir, there are two men beating on a young man outside. I think they may be trying to rob him.” An elderly man, with an expectant look of shock on his wrinkled face, pointed back in the direction of the café’s front window. Several other patrons were also looking out of the window with anxious expressions. Then, they all turned to look back at me with the same expectation as the old man— for me to do something about it.

             
My initial and natural reaction was to shrug, because I honestly didn’t give a shit, but then I remembered what I was wearing. I groaned internally. He did address me as Officer.

I hesitated
, until I scented an unusual and powerful energy, much different from that of the Succubus’, and even Morning Star. That was enough to engage my caution and curiosity. The dark power in me awakened and began to stir.

             
The smell of strong black magik, laced with decay and wicked, foul smoke; hit me like a spiked fist.

Without
question, I headed outside with a quick glance back over my shoulder at the three demonesses, who didn’t seem at all alarmed by the damning scent.

O
dd.

             
I shifted my sight into that of my spirit form, in order to see what normal man couldn’t. There were dark beings flitting all around this area. However, it was the tall, lean, dark-cloaked figure of a being, whose face remained hidden in the dark recesses of his hood, who stood out. He was gliding along slowly as if simply sightseeing.

T
he presence of hands and feet were a mystery. There were literally hundreds of large, black crows flapping and rustling all around him— seeming to be coming from…the inside of his long cloak. It made me picture the image of filth being swarmed by large black flies. The actual metaphor wouldn’t have been far off.

Their beaks
were sharp, glinting with metal even though they were alive— well, at least given life through some form of elemental dark magic no doubt.

I’ve
never seen this being before. Though I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was looking right at me too.

             
There was no friendly aura or intent coming from him, nor did I expect there to be one.

I
readied myself to dive back into the spirit realm, and prepared to fight.

With my eyes on him, I extended
my periphery to search for the original fight that the elderly man told me about, and then I spotted them.

Them
, being a male and two female dark divines, going by their prominent blackened tattoos. They were surrounding a being on the ground that I couldn’t physically make out right away. The aura was faint and weak, but it was definitely a mortal. However, there was an immortal either trapped, or hiding out— inside of him. A void? No, not this being. Though weakened, it was more powerful and intelligent.

             
The black hooded immortal stood poised, as if it was waiting for me to do something, in challenge. I adjusted my sight to see what humans were seeing in the mortal realm.

He wore all black. A
blazer and slacks, with a small square of white at the collar of his black shirt. Appearing hunched over as a small, elderly, white-haired, male priest wasn’t original, but given what he truly looked like, it was a clever disguise for him.

Black, cursed feathers floated
and whirled all around him, as if they were a part of his inky black, near non-existent signature and aura. I couldn’t distinguish if they were actually coming from his own wings, if he had any, or the crows. Maybe both.

             
I couldn’t cloak myself, at least not out here in front of so many mortals, not to mention the ones who were pressed against the café window, or those now gathering around on the sidewalks. I guess I had better do something or attempt to do something before the real police showed up. I really didn’t want to turn my attention away from the mysterious, crow-bearing demon across the street though.

             
I stole a quick glance at the mortal on the ground, in the middle of the dark divines. He was being jerked around spasmodically, as if they were electrocuting him. Initial low whispers of feverish chanting began to escalate in pitch. They were trying to exorcise the immortal entity out of him and the entity was fighting against it. This wasn’t my business or issue, but it was too late. I couldn’t walk away now, especially since none of the dark divine cared who was witnessing this masked beat down.

Though something told me this may have been a possible set up
, I acted anyway. I began reciting a curse that rendered the dark divines immobile. They would see me coming but they would not be able to attack or run.

I took off at a jog towards the fight.
A lone siren began to blare a few blocks over. Great, someone somewhere else must have called the police already.

“Get down on th
e ground now!” I yelled, just so I could appear to be handling this as normally as I could—for all the onlookers.

             
A vortex of strong, electric heat pushed over us with a rush, and before I could even see where it had come from or who had done it, the three dark divines had been siphoned through it, back into the spirit realm. I was stunned. Whatever the energy was, it had released them from my own magikal hold on them —right in front of so many mortal eyes.

Morning Star?

I turned back around to see the avian contrived fallen, gliding swiftly over, and then diving towards me. Crows emerged in screeching hordes, pouring out of each large sleeve of his robe; like flapping missiles, all aiming for me. No— they were aiming for the other being that took possession of the young man. He was still lying unconscious on the ground, beside the open door of his car.

             
I threw a wall of light up to shield the oncoming demon, and though it slowed him down, it didn’t stop him.

“What the…” I didn’t have time
to question why it didn’t stop him, other than my light hadn’t been strong enough against his power.

There was no
time to worry about rules now. He wasn’t playing by them anyway. I cloaked myself and willed my sword. With a quick spin of the hilt in my palm, I held it firm and steady; waited— and then slashed.

My obsidian blade was
nothing more than a blur, as it sliced across the front of his dark robe, ripping it clean open. Hundreds of crows scattered and dispersed in storm of deafening caws and screeches. Not for one moment did I think I killed him, but I sat dumbfounded, seeing the robe fall limp. The birds continued to fly and twirl dizzyingly around me in a wild, yet controlled, black, uniform tornado. For a split second, they moved to form what I was sure were two glaring, red embers, burning with loathing.

I continued to slash
and swing at the slightest movement, unsure if I was actually hitting anything amid the confusion. I wondered where the hell the robed demon had gone. Finally giving in, I called light from within and brought it up to my fingertips in the form of lightning. It crackled with electric heat, and I formed it into a ball in my palm. I was ready to throw it, just as several of the large crows moved swiftly once again and reformed themselves into separate, sophisticated, deadly homing missiles. This time, they were aiming straight for me.