“I’m not a person.”
“Yes, yes you are. You live among us. You feel pain. I see it in your face right now. You’re more human than you are Phoenix or whatever you called yourself. Being good or bad isn’t determined by our birth. It’s determined by our choices. You’ve chosen to be good.”
His words send a chill through my body. He’s right. No matter how many times Darwen and Arwen have said it to me, hearing it from Beau finally makes me realize it’s true. I’m not an evil monster from Hell. I’m simply me.
I feel his hand slowly run down my cheek. I look into his eyes and see that hunger I’ve seen before. I know Beau wants me. That’s never been deniable. “Now, do you truly see me for what I am?”
“I’ve always seen you for what you are, Nala. It’s never been about not wanting you. It’s always been about not feeling as though I’m good enough for you. There’s a difference.”
I lean forward, pressing my lips against his. I feel everything about him. I can count his heartbeats. I know they are increasing. I feel the hesitation that I’ve always felt, but this time it’s less than before. He’s still not completely ready to open himself up to me, but for the first time, I know it will happen.
I pull away slowly and lean my forehead against his. “They’re here. They’re on Earth and they want to hurt me. They’ve already taken my Darwen. I have no choice but to fight this time.”
“Sometimes the fight is all we’ve got,” he answers gruffly. “But you’ve got more than that. You’ve got Arwen, Sebastian, and well, me.”
“You mean...”
“Don’t let anything happen to you, Nala. I’d hate to bust Hell wide open to get my girl.”
I chuckle slightly. “Oddly enough, I believe you would.”
“I’ve been to Hell and back. Another trip doesn’t scare me. Not seeing you every day does.”
“When this is over?”
“I’ll be waiting for you.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
Chapter Ten
Sebastian
I’m beginning to wonder how I get in the situations I get into. I’m normally the kind of angel who sticks to the plan, does what I’m told, and follows directions well. Since meeting the Phoenix and her demon family, that’s simply not been the case. The present situations show that to be true.
“You’re an angel. Do you not walk faster than this?”
Arwen’s annoyance is similar to Anala’s after our first trek together. She has also become accustomed to life on Earth and doesn’t see the benefits of using the powers we possess.
“Let me guess,” she continues, “you don’t like walking?”
“It’s slow. Redundant. Annoying. Boring. What more would you like me to say?”
“You are truly an angel through and through,” she huffs. “You do know each time you magically disappear and reappear they know it, right? We sense that kind of thing.”
I hadn’t taken that into consideration. Then again, my kind has never worried about being detected by the dark underlings of Hell. However, given the current situation and the company I’m now keeping, I can understand how stealth could be to my advantage. If Lilith or Belial were to detect us, Arwen would stand no chance.
“Perhaps we should’ve stayed at the house,” I comment as I continue to follow her. Night has now completely fallen, and her drive to find the demons who took her sister from her has intensified.
“I’m not sitting around and doing nothing. They killed my sister.”
“She is in a far better place.”
I see her gait faulter. “Is she really? Or is she simply sitting on a cloud somewhere wishing she was still with us?”
I can’t help but laugh. The look she gives me when I do so makes me continue, only harder.
“Is that what you think heaven is? You think people are sitting on a cloud, watching the world pass by beneath them wishing they could be part of it again?”
“Well, is it?”
“No, dear Arwen, that’s not what Heaven is like. Heaven is peace. They aren’t pondering away wishing they were still alive. They are in total bliss. Each person or soul has his/her own vision of what peace is. That’s what they experience while they wait. When the Father returns, they will all dwell in his grace. It will be beautiful. Until that day, they are in the most beautiful place their hearts can imagine. She isn’t upset that she died. She doesn’t even know she’s dead. It’s pure perfection for her. That I promise you.”
I feel a weight lift from her. As twins, sisters who have shared their entire lives together, even burned at the stake together, the idea of Darwen upset about their separation is understandable. I can see how hard it is on Arwen.
“I can take the pain of being without her. I still have Anala and, in some fucked up way, you. I just didn’t want her alone and upset. That’s what it’s like in Hell. You know what happened. You know what you lost. It’s part of the torture you go through every moment of your existence there.”
“I’m sorry you had to spend time there, Arwen. I truly am. I feel sorry for any soul bound for the pit.”
“Honestly, I wasn’t there all that long. I mean, time moves differently there. A minute feels like an eternity. There is no timeline. Look at Anala. Darwen and I saw her rebellion. By the time we clawed our way out, she’d already lived two lifetimes alone. To us, it was merely hours. To her, it was decades.”
“You could’ve gotten out of Salem and saved yourselves from dying as witches. Many did that. Most of those burned weren’t what those people thought they were.”
“Oh, I know. We were though. The idea of abandoning our homes and lives didn’t sit well with us. Honestly, we would’ve fought back and won had it not been for another member of our coven. She only cared about saving herself, so she turned my sister and me over to the authorities. She was smart about it though. She bound our powers, so we couldn’t use them to prevent our deaths. It gave her the time she needed to get herself and her family away to safety.”
“What happened to her?”
“She’s still out there. She’s still living her life. She’s aged, of course, but the powers Lucifer granted her keeps her going. She helps garner souls for the pit and is considered off limits to demons. People go to her for magical help, but it comes at a price. Each price is different, and each debt must be paid.”
“Who is this vile woman. An angel should step in and put an end to her madness!”
“The last name she went by that I knew was Marie LaVeau. Once her voodoo queen persona had to die, she continued on, but I have no idea as to where. Trust me, I’ve searched.”
The name of the witch is known to all in the heavens. Many angels have fallen at her hands. Her spells and incantations often use our power, our essence, as ways to grant darkness to those lost in their plights on this Earth.
“Perhaps, after all this is over, I will help you find her. She deserves to meet her fate, which is a one-way ticket to Hell where she will remain at Lucifer’s side.”
“I’ll take you up on that one, angel.” The words barely escape her mouth before she freezes in place. “Do you feel that?”