The Angel Side (6 page)

“I know. Getting nervous yet?” I asked as we
both
walked out to our cars.

“Heck no.
I’m excited and
still
shocked. Who would have
thought I’d be getting married?
”
Gabriel replied with an ear to ear grin
.

It had been good to see my brother so happy breaking his vow to never wed. Too many times Gabriel had to tell a spouse, a mother,
or
a father their loved one had fallen to the depths of Hell or Purgatory. Not wishing the same message to be given to someone close to him, he gave up his attempt to court his lifelong crush
,
Charoum
,
and denounced any socialization outside the circle of Arch
e
s. Females practically
threw
themselves at him, but the man wouldn’t even bat an eye their way. The
one
thing my brother
,
Gabriel
,
looked forward to with any ounce of excitement
had been
the next battle.

A
ll of that changed when he met Amy a few months ago.
Her lively personality, quick wit, tall
yet
plump build, round hazel eyes, curly blonde hair,
and
coy smile had been too much for Gabriel to resist.
As if he’d been
a rescued dog, he clung to his savior, Amy, showering her with affection and begged for attention in return anytime she glanced his way.
And as if Amy
hadn’t been
perfect for Gabriel
already
,
it had been revealed that Amy was the vessel carrying the soul of the
A
ngel Charoum. The same one he had been in love with since puberty.

Though he had finally found his mate for all time and eternity
,
and truly seemed happy, it didn’t take a genius to see the upcoming nuptials had been weighing on him. As each day passed it seemed an inner battle left more and more wear on his already aged appearance.
I didn’t need the rumor mill
to tell me
that he
had been
thinking about stepping down as an Arch
.
Being in love meant he now had something to lose, or worse yet, Amy
could
lose him. Being an Arch increased those chances a hundred fold.

“It’s a shocker al
l
right. Rumors have it you might be stepping down as an Arch.”
I asked with a raised brow.

If Gabriel had planned on stepping down, I wouldn’t blame him. The thought ha
d
crossed all of
our
minds at one point or another, some more than other
s
lately.

“I’ve been thinking about it. I
haven’t
quite decided yet. I enjoy battle
,
but I love Amy more. I
just
don’t know if I can put her through what I see the other
families
go through.”

“
I
get’cha
.
It’s a hard life. Always having to leave at the drop of a hat and never knowing if
or
when you’ll make it back.
But, s
ay you do step down. You’ll need to nominate a replacement. Any thoughts of who
you would choose
?”

When the Great Circle of Arch
e
s had been created, it seemed to have a revolving door on who served
,
as the members constantly changed.
We had all become Arch
e
s by nomination and
election
when our predecessors decided they
had
served their time
or
could
no longer
bear
the responsibilities
.

Young, inexperienced, and known troublemakers, gossip flourished that none of us would be able to handle the burden that came with the job
,
and most believed we would be unable to last a week as we each took our place in the Great Circle of the Arch
e
s. It had been difficult at first as we all put more time into attempting to set our dominance
over
each other rather than training.
With nothing being accomplished due to our fighting one another more than our enemies, Father stepped in, quashing the battles over leadership. It had taken a while to get used to the pecking order but once we had worked out the kinks, we had become a great force to be reckoned with. More than simply
harbingers of justice, we had become a family all of our own; brothers beyond blood.

So deep had been our bond and loyalty that even after I fell, my brothers refused to have another take my place. For centuries my chair in the war room remained empty until I returned. But that had been an entirely different case than what we would be facing if Gabriel left the Great Circle of Arch
e
s. The Arch
e
s would be at a great loss if Gabriel chose to give up his shield and sword.
My brothers and I would have no choice but to accept and break in
a
new member.

“No.
As
I said
,
I haven’t decided.” Gabriel replied.

“Well think long and hard before you do. Don’t want to nominate someone who can’t handle it
,
or us
.”
I chuckled
,
giving Gabriel a wink
.

“Do any of us handle it
, Ra
?” Gabriel said
,
dropping all expression
as he
stood with the door to
his
minivan open
.

“Pizza’s getting cold.” I said
,
ignoring the depth of his question, hopped in my car
,
and took off
to make my deliveries
.

I had hoped the
first
day of my internship
at the Prince William County Mental Health Department
would go off without a hitch
.
H
owever, my mother
,
Persephone
,
had
somehow
been able to pass the message that she desperately needed to see me through my first patient, a 65 year old indigent who suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and rapid–cycling bi-polar disorder. Fortunately enough, I had been able to play of
f
the odd message relay in front of my co-work
ers by making it appear as though I had simply been
patronizing the elderly man in a polite and professional way. It
had been
a strange
and unexpected
way to receive a message
,
but
it was the only
way my
mother
,
being a Demon
,
had
to
contact me
in public
.

My mother had been diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic
shortly after my ninth birthday
.
Similar to my first years as a mental patient
, pills had been shoved down her throat to make the
d
emons fade away. Unfortunately, the
d
emons she saw were real. Physically and mentally exhausted from trying to make her distant marriage to a grunt
m
arine work, raise a daughter the devil had tried to lay claim to
,
and fight off the soldiers he sent to take me, she saw no other option than to make a deal with Lucifer in exchange for my safety.

With a kitchen knife, my mother slit her throat with the assumption that if she
died
, Lucifer would leave me alone. Lucifer claimed my mother’s soul and
found ways
to dance through the loopholes in her deal. Well, that had been no surprise to me. The phrase ‘the devil is in the details’
had been
coined for a reason... a warning to those who thought they
would outsmart
one of the greatest politician
s
and lawyer
s
any world had seen.

Under close watch
,
by armed guards
,
my mother
had no choice but to stand back and
witness the torment I suffered
at the hands of Lucifer and his soldiers
. It hadn’t been until
the return
of Ra and the Arch
e
s in my life
that she had the ability to step forward, aiding me against the dark forces
.
With e
veryone in H
ell greatly distracted, her guards were pulled from her detail to focus
on
greater threats.
No longer under g
uard, my mother helped
me keep to
the right path and warned
me of any unforeseen dangers whenever safely possible.

Of course, this
wasn’t
the history my dad
,
John
,
shared with me. I grew up
on the lies that forced me to
believ
e
my mother
had been
killed by a drunk driver. I didn’t find out
the truth
about my mother
’s death
until
she began speaking to me in my head six months ago.
At first I thought she
was
a voice my sick brain made up, desperate for someone, anyone
,
to listen to me. It
hadn’t been
until I finally got to meet her
,
face to face, that I knew she hadn’t be
en a figment of my imagination.
I hadn’t seen her after she helped me defeat
Vetis and Pyro three months ago
,
but
we
talked
every day
since
that night
.

All of our conversations had been normal mother-daughter catch up and girl
talk
. I’d tell her about my life with dad and Ra. She’d tell me about her life with her new husband and her three step-children. At first it had been weird thinking that I had a human family, an Angel family
,
and a whole Demon family but after a few conversations with my mom
,
it just became normal
in its own twisted way
.

What hadn’t been normal was my mom insisting on seeing me
after work
. Leaving Hell to see me
had
be
en
a seriously risky move on her part, so whatever she had to tell me I knew had to be
of the utmost importance
.
Once I got off work I raced home
and
bolted up the stairs to my room only to find Ra passed out on my bed.
Protective a
nd paranoid, Ra insisted I sever
any and all
ties
with my mother after I told him of the few conversations we’d had. Bored with the bickering, I ignored his ultimatum and quit telling him about my mental visit
s
with Persephone. However, if my mother appeared while Ra was in my room, I’d be hard-pressed explaining the
d
emonic visit.

Thankfully, today
,
being the day before Gabriel and Amy’s wedding
,
gave me plenty of believable excuses to get Ra out of the house.
After waking Ra up, it took forever to get him
on the road
.
With
him
stalling at
every turn
, I
’d
been
running
out of time
to make sure it
was
safe for my mother
.
A twinge of guilt fluttered for wanting to get rid of him
,
since I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks but thinking back to the severity of my mother’s tone had been enough to shake off any shame I
carried
for deceiving Ra.

After I finally got him out the door and on his way, I rushed back up to my room. Flinging open the door, I jumped back
,
releasing a yelp. Standing in the corner of
my
room had been one of the biggest, ugliest, Demon
s
I had ever seen. With the ripped and toned body of a legged sha
rk and
the
head of a bull, gigantic
glowing orange eyes, and long protruding blood stained horns. The Demon stepped toward me.
At that instant, a flood of memories crashed in my head.

I had seen this Demon before
.
The
beast went
by the name Nicor
, the
former ruler of the seas in Heaven. Next
to
Alastor and Ra, he had been the next highest ranking officer in Lucifer’s army. A rank well earned by his ability to connive in silence,
which ke
p
t
his friend
s
and foes guessing
.

Without reservation, he’d flash his rows of
razor sharp
teeth in a sorry attempt at a smile, pretending to be your best friend, while sticking a dagger in your ribs. Ruthless
ness
blended
with an insatiable bloodlust, he enjoyed killing more than the boundless perks of being a Demon
had
offered.
After his fall, battlefield
tales
spread across the
h
eavens, instilling dread in those who chose to believe the tales.
Instead of visiting one of the many brothels
in Hell
to find release, Nicor preferred the euphoria of watching the life
force
dim from
a
soul’s
eyes.
It had been those very reasons he had been removed from his celestial duties and damned to Purgatory. However, before the Arch
e
s
car
r
ied
out the sentence, Nicor ri
pped out his wings and fell to H
ell, taking his affinity
for
water
with him.

Whether it had been the headache
fro
m the sudden rush of memories
of
my life beyond the veil or the abrupt surge of adrenaline combined with too many energy drinks and lack of sleep, I fainted.

“Wake up
,
Etta.” A soft voice said
.

“I’m sorry
,
my love. I
didn’t
mean to frighten her.” a deep, gravelly voice added.

A gentle tapping on my cheek slowly brought me back to consciousness. Focusing my blurred vision, relief swept over me
at
the vision of my mother
,
Persephone
,
then horror when I saw Nicor standing over her.

“Mom, run!” I yelled as I scooted across the hardwood floor.

“It’s okay, honey. He’s not going to hurt us.”
My
mother said, helping me to my feet.

Nicor took a few steps back then leaned against the wall next to the window. He had been covering up the spot where Ra’s wings had
torn
into the sheetrock.
I
wanted to yell at
him to get away from a spot I considered sacred
,
but his lifeless orange eyes, predominate stature
,
and reputation had been reason enough to keep my mouth shut.

“Etta, this is my husband, Nicor. Nicor, this is my daughter, Etta.” My mother nervously glanced between the two of us.

Simultaneously, Nicor and I nodded each other
’s
way, offering no other acknowledgement as my mother went over to him, looping her arms through his.

When my mother told me she settled down with another Demon I never thought to ask who. The thought of her aligning herself with this monster turned my stomach. More so, the fact that Ra’s warning about
how
my mother being a Demon meant anything she said or did couldn’t be trusted, may have been correct.
If
I had been unable to
fully trust
her
then
I
would have to keep my guard up.
With
Nicor by her side, I wouldn’t stand a chance against an attack. A subtle fear of my mother rose within
,
but I
would be unable to allow
her
to
see my trust level in her dwindle. If she were conspiring against me, my best offense would be to keep her assuming I
wasn’t
on
to her.

“You’re looking good,
M
om. Did you change your hair?” I said, keeping up appearances. The truth
was
,
she
appeared
the same as the last time I saw her. If the crypt keeper from ‘Tales from the Crypt’ had a sister, my mother would be it, just with fuller
,
jet black hair and neon pumpkin
-colored
eyes.

“Thank you
,
but we don’t have time for semantics. A serious problem has come up
,
and we need your help, Etta.”