Demon's Daughter: A Cursed Book (35 page)

“You are still my brother, Rorikel,” he said. “As your brother, I am asking you to help us. We can stop Lucifer. But we cannot do it alone. Please, help us.”

Once again, Sephiel was sincere and honest enough to be completely convincing. His ‘please’ hadn’t been forced or half-hearted. He actually had hope that Rorikel would listen to him.

But once again, Rorikel didn’t care.

“Kill me if you wish, but Heaven shall hear of this, Sephiel. They shall all know of your falseness. That you chose the humans and Lucifer’s abomination over your own kind. You shall know no safety. The Heavenly Host shall pursue you just as readily as the fiends of Hell will. All you shall do is prolong the suffering of those you have chosen to protect.”

His words were so cold and heartless I was almost certain that Sephiel was going to kill him for them. If I’d had any strength, I would have done it myself. But instead, Sephiel lifted his sword from Rorikel’s chest and placed its tip on the dirt.

“So be it,” he said.

Rorikel scowled and quickly got to his feet. He hadn’t put any fear in Sephiel like he hoped. He looked at us, grey eyes scanning our dirty human faces. His eyes lingered on Dro for a long time, even when I hunched over her and protected him from his bitter gaze. Then he blinked out of sight, and was gone.

I remained tense, my eyes scanning the forest around me, ready to throw myself on Dro if Rorikel came back.

“He has gone,” Sephiel said, slowly making his way back towards us. “If he is to return, I shall feel it and forewarn you all.”

“You should have killed him,” I said. “He’s just going to try and do the same to us. Sooner rather than later, judging by how pissed off you made him.”

Sephiel stared at the ground, looking tired and sad. “It would not have given us time. The Heavenly Host knows both of the Gates are opened. We all felt the power Andromeda unleashed when Lucifer used her. Killing Rorikel would have achieved nothing.” His voice was filled with guilt. “And he is still my brother.”

I made myself understand. I was a sister who would never hurt her younger sibling.

But you did. You couldn’t protect her, and she nearly died.

I sighed heavily, slumping against Warrick’s shoulder. He hadn’t let me go since he pulled me from the collapsed tunnel.

“Sephiel, she needs to be healed,” Warrick urged, keeping me circled in his arms. “She’s lost a lot of blood and her injuries–”

“You are right, John Warrick. We shall leave this place. But I fear we cannot go anywhere safe.”

“Why not?” Max asked.

Sephiel looked at him seriously. “Because there are no safe places anymore.”

Chapter 19

Somewhere between Sephiel’s ominous reply to Max and our preparation for teleporting, I passed out. Warrick hadn’t been wrong. After Drake’s surprise attack, losing Dro, seeing her torture, surviving the trials, fighting Isabel, confronting Lucifer, watching him open the Gates of Hell and Heaven, then clawing my way out of a collapsed tunnel to save my sister, my body was spent. Exhaustion took over, and I welcomed it.

When I woke up again, I felt much better. There was no pain. Sephiel had probably healed me during my mini coma. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, looking at my surroundings. I was in a large bedroom with white walls, lying on a mattress with plain white sheets and a warm comforter. I pushed myself up, suddenly aware that I was in dark blue scrubs instead of my blood-covered clothes and jacket. I stretched my muscles then threw off the comforter and got to my feet, glancing over my shoulder at the sky beyond the window.

The clouds were heavy and dark. A big storm was coming. I frowned, wondering if it was a natural storm, or if Lucifer’s emergence into the world had something to do with it.

I padded out of the bedroom, used the bathroom, and looked around the hallway. There wasn’t anything to suggest someone else was living in it. Everything seemed too empty. I made my way down the stairs, not seeing any furniture. We must have been taken to a show home, or a house under renovation. I turned a corner and found Warrick and Sephiel in the living room.

Warrick was sitting on the floor with boxes of take-out food and pizza around him, aimlessly thumbing through his phone. My stomach rumbled loudly at the sight of the food. Warrick looked up at me, green eyes bright and shining. He chuckled at the noise my stomach made, and I felt my heart expand. He was a good-looking guy during normal times, but when he smiled he looked positively radiant.

“Please tell me there’s leftovers,” I said.

Warrick grinned and motioned to the boxes. “Take your pick. After the last two days, we thought a buffet was a good idea.”

I raised my eyebrows as I sat cross-legged on the floor next to Warrick. “I was out for two days?”

His smile faltered and he nodded. “You really damaged yourself, Constance. Sephiel healed you, gave you new clothes, then put a sleeping spell on you so you could get undisturbed rest. You needed it.”

I quickly turned my head to Sephiel. “You changed my clothes while I was sleeping?”

“I assure you a great deal of modesty was afforded you.”

A frown came over my lips. “That isn’t really comforting.” I suddenly looked up. “What about Dro? Is she awake? Is she okay?”

“She still rests,” Sephiel said.

I looked at him carefully. He stood by the window with his hands clasped behind his back. He was staring at the blackening clouds. From the reflection on the window, I could see his grave expression.
So not natural clouds then.

“I gotta go see her,” I said, starting to stand up again.

Warrick quickly grabbed my hand. “She’s all right, Constance. Max is with her. You need to eat something, and we have to talk.”

“Warrick is right,” Sephiel said. His eyes lowered. “There are pressing issues we must address. Once Andromeda wakes, we will leave this place.”

I lowered myself back down, pulling my hand from Warrick’s. I sighed, then rummaged through the boxes, finding a slice of barbecued Heaven. I devoured the pizza in about four bites, then moved onto another piece. When I started on my third, I looked at Sephiel.

“Is it true?” I asked. “Is Dro Lucifer’s daughter?”

The angel closed his eyes for a long time. “Yes.”

My heart dropped to my stomach. I was still starving, but I had lost my will to eat. “Why would her mother do something like that? Be with Lucifer? Didn’t she know what he was?”

“Of course she did,” Sephiel said. “What happened to Everiel was of Lucifer’s accord. Not her own.”

Oh.
Oh.

“He…” I didn’t want to say or suggest it, but I needed to be sure. “He kidnapped her?”

Sephiel nodded. “Everiel was captured by a demon and brought into Hell as a prize for Lucifer.” His fists clenched tightly at his back. “For decades, she was his. He had been trying to birth a child of both angel and demon blood. He thought she would be another failure, but his plan finally worked. Everiel became pregnant with Andromeda while she was prisoner in Hell.”

“Jesus Christ,” Warrick said under his breath.

“Why did he let her go?” I asked carefully.

“He did not. Everiel escaped. She birthed Andromeda on Earth, but the process was too intense, even for an angel. She carried Lucifer’s child. She was never meant to survive the birth.” Sephiel lowered his head. “She died before I could heal her.”

Grief deeper than anything I could imagine filled Sephiel’s voice, mixed with enough guilt to fill an ocean. The angel slowly turned toward me, sorrow making his vessel looking a thousand years older.

“I cherished Everiel for centuries. Even now, my heart still yearns for her. That is why I shall not see harm come to Andromeda. She might be born of Lucifer, but she is of Everiel’s blood as well. Everiel wanted me to protect her, and that is what I shall do.”

I looked at Sephiel carefully to see if he there was any hint that he was lying. We were sinking in deep water, and if an angel betrayed us again, we would all drown. I believed what he said about his love for Everiel. But for all his talk of caring about Dro because she was Everiel’s daughter, deep down he must have had a secret revulsion for her because she was Lucifer’s child as well. Sephiel must have hated the King of Hell, but he wanted me to believe that he was on my side.

The problem was that I needed as many supernatural allies as I could get. Max’s gifts were sporadic at the best of times and Dro’s powers were virtually out of control. My first instinct was to not trust Sephiel, but I didn’t have a choice.

The angel probably read all my thoughts as if they were plastered on my face, but he didn’t seem to be offended. After a long time, I spoke again.

“What happens now that we know what Dro really is?”

Sephiel took a step towards us, sighing heavily. “It shall not be easy. There has never been a hybrid like Andromeda before. She is still growing into her powers. It will be easier for supernaturals to sense her now that Lucifer has fully awakened her powers. I believe he shall hunt for her again, and use her to get into Heaven.”

“Couldn’t he just do that on his own?” Warrick questioned. “I thought you said the Gates were open.”

“They are,” Sephiel answered. “But the entrance to Heaven is guarded against demons, just as the entrance to Hell is guarded against angels. It will take an army to enter either.”

“So he wants her on his side,” I said, wishing my voice hadn’t trembled.

“Yes. Aside from Michael, she is the most powerful being known to this world. Lucifer and Michael may be evenly matched, but with Andromeda on Lucifer’s side, even the Heavenly Host could be powerless against her.”

“What are they going to do in the mean time?” asked Warrick. “Why didn’t Lucifer just take Dro when he had the chance?”

“Perhaps it was because Lucifer needed to return to Hell to unleash his forces. He is more patient than you can imagine. Lucifer has been waiting for thousands of years to begin his reign.”

“How do you know that’s what he wants?”

Sephiel’s eyes darkened. “We have had traitors in the past who have since been cast out of Heaven. They told us after thorough interrogation.”

From the grave look on Sephiel’s face, I was guessing that interrogation meant torture, and he might have been part of it once.

I decided to switch the topic. “Are you going to be cast out?”

Sephiel thought for a moment. “Yes. But I would need to be reclaimed, first. I have no intention of returning to Heaven soon.”

I sighed. “So, what happens to Earth now? What about us?”

His lips formed a fine line. “Earth is now a stalking ground for all demon kind. I suspect we shall hear of their activities shortly. Lucifer thrives on chaos. He wishes to draw the archangels and the Heavenly Host out. If he kills them, there shall be no defense in Heaven. He shall command his forces to slaughter every human they can find, and increase the number of damned souls for his army.”

“How do we stop him?” I asked.

“I do not know. Lucifer is more powerful and cunning than even I can comprehend.”

“Is there any way we can plead our case to Michael? To the archangels?”

Sephiel shook his head. “They would kill Andromeda and me on the spot, and would bar you from Heaven. We are on our own.”

I dropped my head into my hands. “Shit.”

“I shall depart and gather information. When I return, we will leave this house. We are powerless against the forces of Heaven and Hell, and evasion is our best hope right now.”

Sephiel started to walk out of the living room, then stopped beside me and reached inside his jacket. He held out a new, silver hatchet to me.

“I was not able to retrieve your father’s hatchet,” he said. “This was the best substitute I could create for you. The blade is solid silver that I have blessed and washed in salted holy water. It shall be a powerful weapon against demons.”

I took the hatchet from Sephiel. The silver blade was wrapped in a black leather handle, the neck curved more to make it easier to throw. Despite it being made of solid metal, the hatchet was surprisingly light. Engraved into the hilt was the Latin saying Sephiel had used the last time he blessed my weapon.

Anima potentis, cor sororis.
Soul of a warrior, heart of a sister.

It was a beautiful gift and I was deeply honored. But I was sad to have lost the hatchet that originally belonged to my father. It was the last thing I’d had of my parents, something I could look at to remember when my life hadn’t been so violent and dangerous.

You used to have Dro for that too, but that went downhill fast, didn’t it?

I looked at the hatchet. “Thank you, Sephiel,” I said quietly.

I felt him watch me for a moment, and then the feeling was suddenly gone. I looked up to see he had vanished. I turned the hatchet around in my hands, quickly getting used to the weight and feel of it. Warrick watched me the whole time.

Why do people have to stare at me until I say something? Why can’t they just say what’s on their mind and get it over with?

I put the hatchet down, looking at Warrick. “So, you think the other demon slayers will throw a fit when they find out you were right?”

Warrick smirked a little. “Definitely.”

“Do you need to warn them?”

“Most of them probably know.”

“Hm.” I reached for another piece of pizza, picking off the toppings and nibbling on them. “Well, be safe.”

“What’d you say that for?”

I met his eyes. He looked genuinely confused. “You have priorities as a demon slayer. You don’t have any loyalty to us. The world needs heroes like you out there killing monsters.”

I grinned at him, but he still looked confused.

“You think I’m going to leave?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “Why wouldn’t you?”

Warrick’s eyes did their piercing thing again, and I forced myself to look away. I played with the hatchet, wishing I could think about something other than his eyes and the way he had kissed me before giving himself up so I could save my sister.

“You can’t do this alone, Constance,” he said. “Max isn’t a fighter, Dro needs you to keep her safe, and Sephiel can only lift the weight so much. You need more help. I’m choosing to do this.”