Demonic Angel (A Touch Of Magic) (10 page)

ELEVEN

The next two weeks are pretty uneventful on the demon front apart from the fact Tessa, mum and I have been getting our powers under control. Within the first two days, I managed to be able to touch Tessa without harming her. Ana can now hug mum without being killed or hurt. It took over a week to get that under control though. Tessa got her powers under control instantly. Guess being a good witch runs in her family and it turns out Tessa has her grandmother's mind reading ability which gets very annoying at times. There is one succuba ability I haven't figured out how to use yet. Teleportation. According to my mum, succuba can faze in and out of places, mainly at night when their prey is sleeping; which I find extremely creepy might I add.

Mum said that she will teach me how to do that when I am less tired. She said it takes a lot of energy and mind power to do it.

Dad was a bit upset when he discovered I had inherited my birth fathers wings but I guess that is expected. Besides, can he really moan? It was his idea to have the potion too. I have managed to keep the wings hidden from Ana so far although we had an extremely close call three days in. I was in the bathroom with Tessa while she brushed them and Ana came bounding in asking if I could do her hair and she saw the wings. We were able to convince her I was going to a fancy dress party as a bird though. She bought it. After about ten days, I figured out how to open and close the wings, after twelve, I was able to flap them. Today, fourteen days after gaining my wings, I am going to learn how to fly.

I have to admit, after all of the training we have undergone, I am absolutely exhausted. Jaxon remains silent despite from one or two dream drop ins here and there. One of my dreams he came in and said I 'felt' different and that he wished he could see me. Another dream, which was last night, he dropped in and shouted that he was in pain and instantly disappeared again. I haven't seen him though, just hear him each time. I could have sworn I felt him watching me two nights ago however, I couldn't see anything and I know it must have been my imagination as the house still has the hex on it to keep our scents hidden.

So right now, my mum, Tessa, Lorraine and I are standing in a desolate field, hidden by another hex and I am preparing to fly.

              “Right, make a run and jump and then flap your wings.” Mum says. I scoff. She makes it sound so easy. I take a deep breath and narrow my eyes. “Ready, steady, go!” I take off into a sprint and as soon as I have a decent, inhumane speed going, I close my eyes and jump. I think the worlds highest jump is around two and a half metres. Me? Yeah, try nine. The second I am in the air, I flap my wings as fast as I can. At first I feel as if I am falling but then my hair whips around my face and I open my eyes. I am most definitely
not
falling. I am soaring. I am floating. I am one with the clouds. This feeling is incredible. No wonder birds do this all of the time. It is surreal on so many levels. I grin like a Cheshire Cat as I fly around the perimeter of the field and then land, astonishingly, gracefully in front of my mum. Who by the way, has the look of a proud parent in her eyes. Score!

“That was awesome!” I shriek with glee as soon as I tuck my wings back into my back. Oh yeah, I learned how to make them vanish too. Tucking them in as far as I can makes my bare back look human again with giant wing style tattoos on my back. It's like they shrink, flatten and turn invisible. I can't even feel them when they are tucked away though I do know they are there. I CAN FLY!!!

              “Owwww. I wanna fly.” Tessa pouts and I giggle. “Mum, why couldn't my dad be an angel too? Why did he have to be
him?”
Ooh. This is the first time Tessa brings up her dad in over two weeks. He hasn't bothered ringing her or anything and she hasn't bothered contacting him either. Lorraine has contacted Tessa's sister, Christina, a few times and Christina said that she hasn't heard from her dad either but she drove past his house and saw the TV on one night and the bathroom light on another. So, he is still alive, much to Tessa's dismay. She seems so much happier now that she isn't living with him. There is the spark back in her pretty blue eyes, that practically vanished a year and a half ago.

              “Come on then.” I hold out my hand for her and expand my wings again. She looks up at her mum for permission. Lorraine smiles and nods her approval. Tessa squeals and hops over to me and takes my outstretched hand.  I tell her to wrap her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. This image would be a male's perfect dream. Ha! “Hold on tight and do
not
let go.” Tessa nods against me and I wrap an arm around her waist and start running. I go slow at first because there is extra baggage of course, not that I can't handle it with my new found strength and then I sprint. As soon as I am ready and I know Tessa is still gripping onto me for dear life, I jump into the air and flap. Tessa's screech pierces my eardrums and if she wasn't holding onto me so hard, I would have let her go. I wrap my other arm around her and continue to fly. I look down at my best friend and she has her eyes scrunched closed. My body shakes with silent laughter. “Open your eyes Tess.” I mind think to her. I know she can hear me. She freaks me out with that power of hers all the damn time. She slowly opens her eyes and turns her head to that she is facing the same direction I am.

              “OH MY GOD!!” She laughs. I fly her around in a large circle and then to the edge of the barrier Lorraine put on the field. I am just about to turn around when something catches my eye. The Jaxon double. He is heading directly to the field. I know Tessa hears my thoughts because she tenses up in my arms. I make a sharp turn and go back on myself until we are hovering a few feet above my mum. When mum sees the panic on our faces, the smile she is wearing disappears almost instantly.

              “Jaxon double. Coming this way.” I all but yell. I slowly sink to the floor and Tessa releases me. “Sorry it got cut short Tess.” I bite the inside of my cheek and tuck my wings away.

“Don't worry. We may have bigger fish to fry.” Her face turns serious and I turn into the direction Jaxon number two was walking towards. Lorraine stands with her index and middle fingers to her temples while my mum tries to stand in front of me. Tessa is beside me, clutching onto my hand. I know it is for support but I don't really need it right now. I panicked when I saw him and now I kind of want to test out my Supernatural powers.

              “The barrier is down ladies.” Lorraine says. “I haven't got the energy to keep it up. All of the hexes this past fortnight have ruined me.” She sighs. I look over at her and she does indeed look drained. “Tessa, if this Jaxon double is a threat, I want you and Calissa to run. With Calissa's speed and your abilities, you will be back at the house in minutes.” She turns to my mum. “You okay to teleport with me Serena?” Mum nods and keeps her eyes focused on the route Jaxon number two is coming from.

It takes a while but soon, he emerges from the bushes and heads straight for us. I tense up, as does Tessa who is pressed against my left arm. He gets around thirty feet away from us and stops. A small smile plays on his lips and he takes a few more steps towards us. He is soon close enough for me to see the differences between him and Jaxon. Yes his hair is longer and he wears gothic clothes but its his eyes that astound me more than anything. They are red. Not green or hazel or blue. Red. My heart rate picks up. I think this over to Tessa who gives me a confused look.

              “No they aren't.” She whispers. “They look brown to me.” Now I am the one confused. Why do they look red to me and not her?

“Mum?” I hiss in a low voice so he can't hear me. “What colour are his eyes?”

              “Um. Red.” Oh so it must be a succuba thing. Or a demon thing. Tessa shrugs to herself and then focuses back on the Jaxon double who is still slowly approaching us.

“Bonjour.” He says with a smile. “
belle journée.” (Beautiful day).

              “Bonjour. Parlez-vous anglais?” My mother asks him with a forced smile.

“Yes, I do speak English.” Jaxon double replies in an American accent. He looks the four of us over and his smile grows as soon as his eyes land on me. “I have been following your scent for weeks. I haven't been able to find you but today, I could smell you from a mile off.” He is talking to me. I gulp.

              “Excuse me?” I ask, playing dumb.

“I do apologise. Let me introduce myself, my name is Crillin.” He gives an expectant smile and I force myself not to laugh at his name. Mum clears her throat.

“Yes well, I am Simone, this is my daughter Clara and my cousin Lorna and her daughter Talia. What did you mean about following my daughters scent?” She raises an eyebrow and though it looks stiff, she means business. I love how she uses the fake names Tessa and I would give us all when we were children and playing with our Barbie's. How mum remembered that I have no idea. Crillin shuffles on his feet and frowns.

              “Well I first smelt the scent in the flea market and I can say I have never smelt anything like it. I just
had
to find out what it was. I managed to smell it again on the boarder of Paris and then it vanished. It was like you disappeared off the face of the Earth.” Thank you Lorraine's hex. “Then today, I smelt you again. It was only for around five minutes but I had to check it out so came here and well, here you are.” He must have caught my scent before Lorraine put the barrier up over the field. Brilliant. Why couldn't I smell like a rose instead of an angel? Roses are common. Angels, not so much.

              “Okay, so what do you want with me?” I question. Not trusting him whatsoever.

“Nothing really. Just wanted to see what gave off that smell. I am going to guess and say you are half angel?” I don't respond. I just stare at him, expressionless. He chuckles and it grates me to the core. His laugh is nothing like Jaxon's. “If it helps, I can tell you what I am?” I lift my right shoulder a tad before dropping it again. “I am a slave.” My eyes bug out of my head.  I look to my mum and she gestures that she doesn't know what he means either.

              “Not a nice way to talk about yourself.” Tessa comments and I pinch my lips together to stop from laughing.

“An elf?” Lorraine answers for us all. I frown at what she calls him. Crillin nods. “Hmm... you do realise that the body you are imitating is another demon's right?” Imitating? I eye Crillin again. I thought elves were tiny things with pointy ears and curly shoes. Boy was I wrong. Then again, he is mimicking a demon so who knows what he really looks like.

              “Oh I know. You can only imitate those you kill.” My heart stops and I feel as if my stomach is about to fall out of my butt. I try to cover it up by forcing myself to breathe but it hitches. I clenched my hands into a fist. Jaxon, dead? Oh God, no. Tessa looks at me in the corner of her eye. She heard me. Stupid power! “So are you here on vacation or long term?” He asks my mother.

              “Um. Long term. I am sorry, did you say kill?” She squints her eyes at him.

“Yes. An incubus I do believe. This was a year or so ago.” He smirks as if the memory pleases him. I guess it must. Though what he says doesn't make sense. I was only with that incubus two weeks ago. He most definitely was not dead. I relax a bit knowing Crillin is lying.

              “Oh that is a shame. He was very attractive I see.” I look Crillin up and down. Tessa's eyes snap to mine.
Go along with it.
“What colour eyes did he have? Were they red like yours?”

“Um, yeah. Exactly like mine actually.” I nod and give him a soft smile that doesn't reach his eyes. “So, what are you lot then? Obviously she's a half angel. Are you human?” He asks my mum whose jaw ticks.

“No, witch. In fact we are all witches, including Clara.” She inclines her head towards me. Crillin's eyebrows shoot up and he looks kind of scared.

              “I had no idea.” His eyes flick between us all and then he takes a step back. It is then that I realise that Lorraine has a ball of fire in one of her hands and she is bouncing it up and down as if it is an ordinary ball.

“If you don't mind, we are on a family day trip.” Mum spits and Crillin gulps before he starts to walk backwards.

              “Of course. How rude of me. Have a nice day.” He gives us a half hearted attempt at a wave and then turns on his heels and dashes away. When we are all sure that he can no longer hear us, mum turns to me.

“This isn't good Cally. Most elves are personal pets to Underworld Leaders. If he has found your scent and now seen you...” She trails off and closes her eyes.

              “He will pass on his information and the army of Underworlders looking for you in England? Well they will be here. We need to move.” I nod at Lorraine's information and we make a head back to the house.

“If he can mimic anyone he kills. How is he looking like Jaxon?” Tessa inquires when we get inside the house.

“No idea Tess. He was over beyond creepy though. Anyway, I am going to take a shower.” Before Tessa can respond, I run up the steps, two at a time and slam my bedroom door. I enter my adjoining bathroom and turn on the shower before retrieving my phone from the bedside cabinet. I haven't felt the need to use it since I blocked Jaxon's number two weeks ago. I turn it on and wait for it to load while I try and steady myself. Once it has finished loading, I scroll through my contacts, find the number I need and hit dial.