I open my mouth to say something, but I close it back up. She really believes there
is hope for Benjamin and so does Daniels, and that’s exactly why we are where we are
today.
I face Xavier. “Are you ready?”
He nods.
“Please let us know if you find him, Irene,” says Xavier.
She nods then looks at me. “I’m glad my daughter has found a protector like you.”
“Yeah.” I look down, avoiding her gaze. “I’m not that great of a protector considering
that she was taken while I was in the same room as she was.”
“There are times when you help others in ways you can’t even imagine. I see it all
the time. Humans live for one another because there is someone out there to give
them strength and hope to fight for better days. Wherever Kayla is
right now, I’m sure that she is trying to fight her way back to you for that exact
reason. You give her that strength.”
I nod. I want to believe that is true, that I’m that person for Kayla, but I know
I don’t deserve it. Nothing will ever change the fact that she was taken away and
I couldn’t do a thing to stop it from happening.
“As I said… I’ll look for Ben, but I have already searched through several of the
places where I know he used to hide. I’m not sure if his dad uses the same places,
but a handful of those could use another look. They were full of wards and trap doors
that led to illusions. Maybe I missed something.”
“Tell us where and we’ll go tonight,” says Xavier.
She hands Xavier a piece of paper. I look over his shoulder at the paper and see
that it has a list of addresses from the human world.
“Thank you for your help in finding her, Xavier.”
Xavier nods.
“You too, Hunter.”
SAMAEL
We are in Hell, and I mean that literally. The house where the demon—Ezra, left us,
is dark and there is never any light, except for what comes in through the windows
because of the fires outside, and from the few lanterns on the wall. In the room
where Kayla stays, there’s a mattress on the floor, which is about the only clean
thing in here, and that is the extent of it all.
Out of all of the mistakes I’ve ever made, none were as bad as this. Now we’re both
trapped by the incubus. I know what he wants. Power. But no matter how many times
I offer to serve him, he always declines. All he says is that he needs both Kayla
and I and that once he achieves his goal, he will let us go and will make me human.
That was our deal. I always hated being a nephilim, son of a fallen angel with a
human. All I ever wanted was to be all human and he told me if I got him Kayla, he
would erase every trace of nephilim in me.
I just don’t understand why it’s taking so long for him to do whatever it is he wants
to do. He hasn’t even bothered to get near Kayla. In fact, he’s gone most of the
time, leaving us locked in here where most of our abilities are blocked by wards.
I know it’s been about a month now and I’ve been trying to find a way out, which is
the reason I’ve been using one of the few abilities that I can use to keep Kayla trapped
in illusions. It’s easier that way. Every time she comes out of them she fights
like crazy to get out. Hell, I don’t even know what she would do to me if she was
awake and aware of her surroundings for more than a few seconds at a time.
I’m looking for a way out, when I hear a crashing sound and run down the hall until
I get to the room where Kayla’s kept. I stand in front of the door, frantically looking
around and waiting for the worst… whatever that may be… but nothing happens. I open
the door to check on her and she’s still trapped in the last illusion where I put
her in. I contemplate once again whether this is where I
should stay. I have my own room, but at this point, I’m in damage control mode. If
I can get her back unharmed, the consequences for my mistakes won’t be as bad.
I hear another crashing sound followed by footsteps and I open the door. I see Ezra
coming down the hallway so I step out of the room, blocking him. He stares at me
and smirks, a response that is so human, yet gives me the freaking chills inside and
out. I’ve yet to see Ezra outside of human form… even here, in Hell, and that makes
it looking at an average built human with peaceful brown eyes, and imagining a demon,
even more disturbing.
“How sweet of you to think that you can protect the other nephilim.”
I stand there with my chin lifted and look right into his eyes. One thing I learned
is not to show weakness, especially around beings like him.
“I’m not stupid, nephilim. I know you have been keeping her trapped in illusions,
but it’s time to wake her up. My plan is shaping up nicely, and I need you to train
her. I need both of you trained. I need you to share your knowledge with one another,
because if something happens to one of you, I will need the other to know it all.”
“Why?” I ask in a cold tone.
“It doesn’t concern you. Do as you are told and do it now. And trust me, I’ll know
if you’re not following my instructions.”
He turns around and walks down the hallway in the opposite direction of where he came
from.
I walk back into the room and close the door behind me. I then stand in front of
it because I know that once Kayla is out of this illusion, she’s going to want to
kick my ass and storm out of the room to go after the demon.
I take a deep breath and cut out the illusion completely. Her eyes fly open. Alarmed,
she sits up and stares at me.
“You!” she gets to her feet and launches at me. I let her. She pushes me against
the door and in spite of the situation; her tough girl attitude makes me smile.
“Ugh! You’re so infuriating!”
I try hard not to laugh.
That is when she stops and looks around.
“Where am I? Why is it so hot in here?”
I shake my head. “About that… we’re in Hell.”
Her eyes widen even more. She rushes toward the open window and looks outside.
“Benjamin’s father got us here.”
I decide to leave out the part where I helped him get her here. She doesn’t need
to know that just yet… or ever, for that matter.
She turns around to face me and she looks scared, but she tries not to show it.
“Where’s my dagger?” she asks in a firm tone.
I laugh and that makes her even madder.
“What? You didn’t expect him to leave a weapon on you while he was abducting you,
did you?”
“Ugh. Shut up! How long have we been here?”
“About month. Give or take.”
“A month! How? How long have you been awake? Did you even bother to look for a
way out? How am I still alive? I’m still alive, right?”
“Calm down! Yes, you’re still alive. From the moment we entered this place, even
unconscious, our Nephilim instincts kicked in. We’re now more like the fallen in
the sense that we don’t need things like food to survive.” She looks like she’s in
shock and I feel like the worst thing I can do is give her time to think and take
this all in, so I keep talking before she can even say anything. “And I’ve been awake
for a while and yes, I’ve looked around but even if we get out of here, we can’t go
back. You don’t just walk in and out of Hell as you please.”
She actually rolls her eyes at me and I shake my head.
“Look, I’m trying to find ways out of here, and by here, I mean Hell and not just
this house. There are wards blocking a lot of what we can do but he’s gone from time
to time and we can maybe try something then. In the meantime, just do what he says.
Maybe he’ll get tired of us and let us go back.”
She steps back and looks around. She then walks back to the window and just stares
at the fire. Even from inside, we can hear the lost souls screaming from far away.
It all comes from a dark area, way ahead of where we are.
“What is over there?” she asks.
“The Otherworld.”
She turns to look at me then smiles like she just realized something.
“What am I missing?” I ask.
“We need to get out of this building and get into the Otherworld. That is our way
out.”
I laugh. “I doubt that. I’m not going to try and leave here to be trapped somewhere
else.”
“Once we’re there, Hunter can go get us out.”
I’m really laughing now. “Right!”
She gives me a pissed off look. “It happened before.”
“I’ve heard rumors, but I find it hard to believe that Hunter got you out of the Otherworld.”
“He did,” she says in a firm tone and I realize she is serious.
“Huh.”
“Are you in or out?”
“I’m in, but this is not as easy as you’re making it out to be. For one thing, those
lost souls are going to be on us like human girls are on me.” I smirk, messing around
with her and it’s actually fun that I managed to piss her off even more. “Look, we
can’t try anything until Ezra is gone and we should probably do as he says until we
figure out the wards.”
“I’m not taking instructions from a demon!”
“All he wants is for us to learn what the other knows about being nephilim. That
could actually help us.”
She gives me a doubtful look but doesn’t say anything.
She looks around again, taking in the room and her gaze stops where the mattress is.
She looks disgusted and she should be. This place is dirty as hell… no pun intended.
“And where do you sleep?” she asked.
“Hmm, right here.”
“I don’t think so. It’s bad enough we are trapped in Hell. I’m not going to be trapped
in the same room with you 24-7!”
HUNTER
We meet Chase outside the Academy and I tell him about Irene’s visit. Chase had been
traveling back and forth between the Academy and Kayla’s house, keeping everyone updated
on everything.
“How is Kim?” I ask.
He shrugs. She is adjusting well, but she still wants to help find Kayla.
“She’s better off where she is.”
“I agree. She also helps keep Kayla’s adoptive parents somewhat sane with everything
that’s going on.”
I nod.
The small talk doesn’t last long and I’m glad.
“Ready?” asks Xavier.
He transports us to the first location on the paper that Irene gave us.
There is snow everywhere and I’m only wearing jeans, boots, and a black shirt. I’m
shivering so much I can barely keep the dagger still. This should be fun.
Xavier looks at me and realizes that unlike him and Chase, I feel everything.
“Let’s just hurry up and get moving,” I say.
We move through a dark and cold forest. The trees are covered in snow. There is
a clear path surrounded by trees on both sides and luckily, the snow on the ground
is no more than an inch deep, so we can still move relatively fast. Xavier still
moves slow, careful with every step so he’ll be able to sense any demons before they
can sense us. Me, I can’t get there fast enough. In spite of the freezing cold,
the hilt of the dagger burns against my skin as if it’s hungry for demons’ blood.
At the other end of the path, there is a cabin. There are no signs that anyone has
been here in a long time. Still, we approach carefully. Knowing that adrenaline
rush should get rid of this freezing cold, I hope there are at least some
demons around, but we soon confirm there is nothing. Chase goes through the door
and into the house and within minutes, Xavier is transporting us to the second location.
This is also a wooded area, but luckily, without the snow. As soon as I take one
step forward, I know Kayla is close by. I can feel her. This cabin is right in the
middle of the woods. Xavier and I walk in slowly. Xavier can sense that one of the
fallen was here recently. Right now, there’s no sound, but I can feel her. I’m holding
on to her dagger, my heart pounding, and as soon as Xavier nods, meaning that he doesn’t
feel any demons here, I rush through the house opening every door, until I get to
the last door at the end of the hallway. Unlike the other doors, this one is metal,
and there are wards keeping me from opening the door. I slam against the door, trying
to break in, but my arm gets burned. The door is hot as if on fire, but there is
smoke and no smell of anything burning.
I face Xavier and his eyes are wide open.
“She is in there!” I tell him.