Divinity: Immolation: Book Three (The Divinity Saga) (3 page)

Was she trying to put me to sleep? Or was I finally succumbing to everything that’s happened up to this point and my intense love-making with Cam? Speaking of, he’s been silent since we last spoke. I hoped that meant that he would stay away from the vicinity of the hall until I filled him in on what was happening.

I reverted back to her original question of wanting to know what happened to me in my own words, assuming she was politely still waiting for my response.

“When I tried to save Jamie, the fallen dropped her and held onto me instead. Then…she eventually dropped me. Next thing I know, I blacked out. I was able to return because I still had some portal gems on me.” I continued on, reconstructing the events carefully.

“Dropped you? And you survived the fall?” She was impressed.

“She didn’t get that high up.” I quickly added, already feeling guilty for telling that lie.

“Ah, I see. Well, thank goodness for that. I hear hallowed fire saved your life too. I’m honored to provide aid to one who is gifted with such an incredible power.” She said softly.

Her hands were gentle and soft as she examined my neck. She gingerly pressed on several pressure points that immediately took away all of the knots and kinks. Wow, the touch of a succor was like the hands of a magical masseur.

Her hand then wen
t to gently rest over my heart.

“So far, so good.” She said. I guessed that she was either listening or counting heartbeats. She was right though, I felt remarkably soothed and much better than when I first arrived.

“Did you run into trouble at all? With any dark being?” She then asked.

My pulse began to beat rapidly. She was still holding a hand over my heart. I think she was trying to gauge my reaction to her questions while she worked.

I shifted slightly and sighed to play off the sudden acceleration of my erratically thumping heartbeat.

“None that I wasn’t able to defend myself against.” I answered simply.

“Hmm. Spencer said he was told that you arrived through the portal pretty banged up, with a dislocated shoulder and broken arm.”

I sighed and nodded.

Her hands went to examine and stroke my shoulders, elbows, forearms, and then my brandings. She took a moment to admire them.

“Well, you’re right. You seem absolutely fine to me so far,” She then chewed her lip as her hand traveled to my torso, pressing gently to spread the healing warmth emanating from her hands and fingers de
ep into my tissues and muscles.

Her hands continued to slide further, taking care to barely touch and apply a small amount of pressure to specific areas that made me flinch a bit. I was very aware of the powerful yet soothing energy coming from her palms and fingertips.

A sudden vibrating shock made us both gasp simultaneously and I automatically jack-knifed upwards into a sitting position. A faint, tickling spasm flitted inside of my abdomen as I recovered from the strange reaction. The look on Ilka’s face worried me.

She gaped, transfixed on my abdomen and unable to meet my eyes.

“What happened? What was that?” I asked first.

Her eyes were as wide as saucers and she rubbed her fingertips together slowly.

Had I hurt her? What the hell had I felt inside of me?

She slowly shook her head, finally snapping out of her momentary stunned lapse and looked at me. “I’m…I’m not sure.” She said as she swallowed hard. “Lay back. I’m going to try again.” She said.

“Try what again? What did you do?”

“Nothing that I haven’t been doing. I need to be sure though so please, lie back down.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Is everything okay in there?”

It was Spencer. No doubt, he had picked up on the sudden change in both of our bio-rhythms just now.

Ilka shook her head and sighed, frustrated that Spencer was even still around.

“Everything is fine, Spencer. If I need you I’ll get you, okay?” She called out.

Though he didn’t reply, she was sure that he was still lingering.

“That means that I don’t need you hanging out by the door either. Go bother Rubie!” She called out to him.

After another moment, we finally heard Spencer retreat. He was really getting on my nerves now.

Ilka turned her eyes back to me. There was a serious edge in them this time.

“Starling,” She was whispering now and I wondered why.

“When you came to, did you feel different in any way?” She then asked me.

My heartbeat began to pick up speed again and I didn’t care if Spencer could sense it or not.

“Different in what way? Of course I felt different. I was knocked unconscious.” I told her.

She knew something. Something that she wasn’t telling me but she didn’t have to. I
already knew what that something was.

Cam’s essence clung to me like another layer of flesh that wasn’t my own.

She shook her head, “That’s not what I meant. I need to check again just to be certain.” She said as she forced me to lie back once again.

I wanted to resist because she was making me even more nervous but I knew that if I continued to act suspicious, she’d probably figure it out.

I acquiesced as she rubbed her slender, soft hands together first and then closed her eyes as if concentrating. Her hands hovered over my abdomen briefly and then she slowly lowered them.

There! The tickling zap responded immediately at her touch and we both gasped once again. I was more surprised because it confirmed the first strange spasm that I felt, and that meant that there was truly something going on inside of me.

Was it the source of darkness that was tainting my aura?

I began to worry.

Ilka’s expression conveyed deep concern. Then her eyes went from mine, to my lower belly, and then to the door.

Great. She found my affliction and now she was either going to announce it to Spencer and the other two seraphim, or she was debating it and thinking of going straight to the elders.

She briskly walked to the door, opened it and peered out to scan each end of the small corridor, then she closed…and locked it this time.

Now she was freaking me out.

“What’s going on, Ilka?” I sat up and asked her.

No more examinations.

She put a hand to her mouth, pinching her lips together with her index finger and thumb and her other was hand fisted at her hip. Finally, she took in a brief inhalation of breath, “Starling, I’m going to say something that I want you to remain calm about because it can be fixed, understand?” She then said softly.

Calm? Fixed? So something was wrong after all! What would I flip out about? Maybe an accusation? An accusation that was true. My heart was in my throat now.

I nodded once. I couldn’t lie about anything else. I didn’t want to.

I wanted to call out to Cam but that would only make him angrier about what was happening to me, and then he’d do something that could end up getting himself hurt or killed as well as many other divine warriors in defense against him.

I swallowed, remaining silent in my anxious dread to await her question.

She paced for a moment, looking down at the floor as if thinking hard about how to phrase her words, which worried me even more.

Finally, she looked up at me and spoke, “I think that…I mean, I know that—you’ve been sexually assaulted.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my skull. I felt nauseous and light-headed. There was no way that she could miss the burning red hue that was giving away my obvious reaction to her diagnosis.

Assaulted though? I supposed that would be the natural assumption.

She nodded. A fearful and sympathetic look was present in her eyes.

“How…w…would you…” I couldn’t form any words even though I knew what I wanted to say. How was she able to tell?

I expected her to tell me that she was sensing Cam’s essence in me. I expected her to tell me that she knew my story wasn’t adding up to an extent. I expected her to confirm that what Spencer sensed about the black that had become fused with my aura had been accurate. I even expected her to have to report it to Sean
, Diana, and all of the elders.

It wasn’t as if I’d have no place to go. I would be with Cam or back in t
he city of Indianapolis, like what it had said on my drivers’ license. Or I could settle in any place that I wanted to. Either way, it would have to be someplace isolated. However, I would no longer be considered a divine warrior, maybe just a warrior, if that. Would I become an enemy to everyone here then? I didn’t know what to expect.

“Because there’s definitely another life force emanating from inside of you. You aren’t open to possession as a divine warrior, which leads me to conclude that—you’re pregnant.” She finally whispered as if it were a deadly taboo statement.

Her words echoed in my ears, not really making sense to me right away. I could feel myself growing tingly and numb all over as my body swayed, threatening to topple over.

I did not expect her to tell me that.

Words were forming in my head and my mouth was moving but nothing coherently vocal came out.

“We’ve never had to deal with something like this before but we might just be able to.” Ilka said, briskly walking over to the large wall of cubby shelves and perusing what was contained in the glass jars.

I slowly brought my hand to my abdomen, resting it there to further take in the revelation.

I’m pregnant? How could it be detected already anyway? My thoughts repeated themselves over and over. I’m pregnant with Cam’s child.

There’s a life in me right now.

What kind of a child would it be? Cam was a supernatural being. Who was it going to look like? What was it going to be? More importantly, how was I going to both hide it and continue my physical training as a warrior?

Maybe that would no longer be an option that I’d have to worry about.

Ilka spoke to me over her shoulder, “I’m not sure how this will work. This is a first for me so I may need to seek additional counsel…”

“No.” I suddenly blurted out, almost mechanically.

Ilka was silent and still for a brief moment. Then the sound of her soft footsteps slowly began to approach me. When she stood in front of me, her eyes appeared confused as she searched my face for understanding.

“What do you mean?” She breathed.

“I mean, I don’t want to get rid of it.” I then said softly.

My mind was still struggling to accept the possibility. Does Cam know? Of course he doesn’t. How would he take the news? Would he be just as dazed and stunned as I am?

Ilka’s expression turned into surprise and then softened
with understanding. She sighed.

“Starling, I understand why you feel apprehensive, believe me. It is a life and it’s a part of you too but it was brought about by something that should have never happened. A dark being took advantage of your defenseless state. It wasn’t your fault.” She said with a consoling hand on my shoulder.

I closed my eyes at her words and bit my lip to choke back the tears that began to blur my eyes.

“I won’t speak of this once it’s done if you wish. I understand your fear of what it would mean to the others if they knew.” She then said.

I sniffed, swallowing the dry lump in my throat and turning my eyes down to look at the floor, so I wouldn’t have to look at her when I clarified my response. “It didn’t happen…while I was unconscious.”

Ilka was speechless at first.

“You were beguiled when it happened then, right?” She then assumed. When I slowly shook my head no, it looked as if she were going to faint this time.

IV: Cam`ael

D
usk was approaching, spreading like spilled dark violet and royal blue ink across a cloudless sky that was now littered with millions of stars and galaxies above. The moon was a pale pink, casting a rosy hue over the tops of the now dark trees; filtering through the cloudbank below the mountain, and spreading sparkles of pink light across the soft rippling surface of the Eternal waters in the far distance.

Even Morning Star’s domain seemed obscenely quiet and peaceful for a change, though that didn’t mean that nothing sinister was going on over there either.  A line of black crows shot upwards from the stone forest, instantly making me wield my sword and ready to infuse it with light. The flock arced upwards, forming a ‘V’ that hovered for a few seconds, before flying back into the direction of the desert lands.

It was hard to tell if they were truly just birds or if they were a part of the whole demon named Xyn. I had forgotten about him for a moment and seeing the crows reminded me that Edanai was out there somewhere on her own. Even with Rahab not far behind her, I was still worried about them.

I hadn’t heard a word from Starling since her non-reassuring reply of, “Nothing yet.”

It took every bit of my self-control to remain silent and maintain patience, knowing that I had no other choice as long as she was behind the walls of the hall. Yes, I was glad that Aliks and Aon assured me that she would be able to return to the hall but at what cost? I was going stir crazy inside of my own maddening rage. It threatened to boil over into destructive and out of control, and dark, wild lust began to weave and work its way through me on top of everything else.

I needed Starling again but not just to satiate my lust. Dark lust needed to be released in a dark manner, through use of power, fighting, or doing something malicious. I hated it. I felt the need to cut myself again in order to get some relief but I didn’t want to go back to that habit and place again.

I needed her because she calmed me and made me forget about what I am. I feel genuine love with her, one that I’ve spent thousands of years wishing and wanting to have with a female since being cast down. With Edanai, it was comfort, which only stopped at a close friendship for me.

Starling had my
interest even before I knew her and the longer I watched her, the more I fell in love with her. It didn’t matter to me that she was still a child at the time I first took notice of her either. I’d never touched or did anything of a sexual nature to her, which was why it was so devastating to me when I thought that she had died in that torrential storm and flood. Knowing that she was chosen, meant that she would be here and off limits. Never in my whole existence did I imagine that she’d be here now and that I’d have a chance to be with her at all. Now, she was pregnant with my child.

Elohim has allowed all of this to happen.

Starling, as a human being and a divine warrior, gives me hope and a reason to exist; believing that I’m more than just a condemned, evil, untrustworthy fallen, incapable of receiving or giving love.

She wouldn’t possibly be able to conceal her growing belly for long. Have they discovered that she was pregnant yet? She would have said something to me by now. Maybe after the discovery, she was both angry and in shock. She could be upset with me for getting her pregnant, maybe even disgusted and horrified at the thought of what was growing inside of her. No, I didn’t want to believe that about her, not Starling. After all, the child is a part of her too. It was still half human— half superhuman, actually.

The very thought of anyone harming her let alone our child brought my anger to a whole other level. My teeth began to gnash together the longer I fixated upon the structure of the Divine Hall in the far distance. All the while, I calculated all of the possible fractures along the circumference of the impermeable, indestructible, invisible wall. It was made up of runic symbols and it surrounded the entire acreage of sanctified land, in order to keep the dark ones out. I began to estimate just how close I could get to either break through or cause some serious damage without being detected or hurt in the process.

I’d keep my promise to her. I wouldn’t kill any divine warriors outside of self-defense but I sure as hell would seriously maim a few in a heartbeat to get to her.

“Starling, what’s going on? Talk to me.”
I called out, not meaning to sound gruff. It was the darkness rising in me.

Silence.

I didn’t like this. Something wasn’t right.

“Starling!”
I called out with more intensity once again.

“I’m pregnant, Cam.”
She finally answered softly. The shock was evident in her tone.

Words left me. They had indeed discovered it. My anger and lust was instantly suppressed into chagrin and consolation.

“I know.”
That was all that came to mind as my reply.

“You…know?”

I couldn’t tell if she was upset or what and that bothered me.

“Yes.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry.”
I whispered, as heart-breaking as it was for me to say because I really wasn’t.

I was beyond happy to finally have what I’ve always wanted. If I had to exist forever on Earth in imperfect flesh form, this made it all worth the mistake of my original sin.

“For what?”

Her reply surprised me.

For putting you in a position that would ultimately result in your banishment from the hall, and leaving you an open vessel. For knowing that I’d impregnate you when we made love and not bothering to tell you that it was a high possibility. Those were all of the things that I wanted to confess.

It couldn’t have been avoided anyway. Fallen don’t have or use any form of birth control. No material exists that would serve as a strong enough barrier against our seed.

“For selfishly getting you shunned before you’ve even begun as a warrior.”

“You didn’t force me, Cam. I wanted you as much as you wanted me. All things do happen for a reason, right?”

She was right. It happened because it was allowed to happen. Her words made me happy and consoled my pain but I didn’t want her to have to suffer for it. I wasn’t bound to anything but she was.

“Many instances, yes. Who discovered it?”

“The succor. She seems trustworthy but I don’t know for sure. Either way, I’ll let you know when I see you.”

“Blame me. Tell them that I took advantage of your unconscious state.”
I then urged her.

“That’s what she automatically assumed but I’m not going to tell her that and give her a reason to think that I want it taken care of.”

I sighed helplessly.

“If you don’t then they’ll know…”

“I know. I’ll see you as soon as I can get away.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting.”

I waited a bit longer, my heart aching for what Starling would have to face alone. I had to be ready to go in and get her if worse came to worst. After a while, I reluctantly created a personal portal for entry into the familiar abode that I had chosen once before, and wisped through.

~~~~****~~~~

I immediately heard voices and laughter once I ghosted into the living area of the farmhouse. It was daylight and cold. Winter had begun to settle in judging by the bare trees and large piles of dead, dull-colored leaves scattered about the ground outside.

The television was on but set to a low volume. One of the voices definitely belonged to Berith and the other was a fallen male. The aroma of many different dishes filled the interior, all coming from the kitchen.

The clatter and scraping of metal utensils floated out from the kitchen. I silently peered around the edge of the arched wall and saw…to my surprise—a smiling Atiro, stirring a bowl of something thick and chocolate scented. Berith was barefoot and wearing comfortable looking yoga pants, tank top, and a food-stained apron with chocolate smeared on her nose and chin.

They both stopped and looked at me as if caught in an embarrassing pose.

“Hey Cam`ael, I…we ah —didn’t know that you were coming.” She then said as her eyes shifted to Atiro.

I’ve never seen him smile let alone heard him laugh, which I found interesting and refreshing if this was what I was thinking.

“Just checking in. I see you’ve grown accustomed to your new habitat.” I joked with Berith.

She pursed her lips and lifted her chin as if she didn’t want to admit my observation, given her rampant complaints and whining when I init
ially offered the place to her.

“It’ll do. If anything, being in this body has made me more creatively resourceful in many ways.”

I looked her over. She had actually managed to thin out a bit. The original body she had taken was a cadaver of a young girl who was a little on the pudgy side. Berith has been working it out but maybe a little too hard.

“Good to hear but remember, you can only handle so much physical exertion before you’ll have to change again and Edanai won’t assist this time.”

“Yeah, yeah I know and I’m actually fine with that. She’d probably give me a hunched back and a clubbed-cloven foot anyway.”

I chuckled a bit at her remark and catching sight of the slight rise in Atiro’s yellow-tinted cheek. I never would have thought that any being, other than Morning Star and his moronic mob, would have found Berith…interesting or desirable past her looks—of which she didn’t have anymore. From what I could ascert
ain so far, Berith was actually tolerable to be around. Amazing what two people of polar opposites and pasts can sometimes bring out of each other. It instantly made me think of Starling.

Berith was hiding out, having been on the run since Morning Star stripped her of her flesh and power in his childish rage against her meeting and sharing information with me.

She came to me for help and if it hadn’t been for her saving me when Xyn nearly killed me, I wouldn’t have bothered.

“H
ow are you, my friend?” I nodded with a smirk.

“I’m well Cam`ael, and yourself?” He returned the curt nod.

“No need to complain and no worries.”

That was a lie.

“Atiro is an amazing cook and an even better teacher. I had no idea.” Berith complimented him with a wide grin.

An array of dishes and brand new cookware was spread out on a few of the counters. There was a whole roast, a
whole baked chicken, quail, duck, several different cakes, pasta dishes, cookies, breads, and potatoes prepared in several different ways.

“I can see that. I didn’t know either. Expecting guests?” I pointed to the buffet of food.

Berith chuckled. “I guess we got a little carried away.”

“Well, Berith did most of the cooking actually. I simply offered to assist.” Atiro said.

“Oh don’t be modest, Atiro.” Berith smiled with a playful nudge.

Was Atiro blushing?

“Well, just mention the word ‘food’ and put it out there. I’m sure Mac, Ry, Nay, and several others would promptly respond and be more than happy to oblige in helping to sample this spread.” I commented.

Atiro l
aughed and nodded in agreement.

Hearing Atiro laugh at all was a strange sound to my ears. I’ve never seen him so engaging, let alone speaking since our meeting at my place.

Was he becoming smitten with Berith of all beings? Apparently so.

“Is there any news? Something happening?” Atiro then inquired seriously.

I shook my head. “Not really, no.”

Berith looked at me. “Nothing here either, so far.”

“That worries me too. Don’t let your guards down.” I told them.

“Well, I don’t have much in the place of defense but I do know a few spells,” Berith pointed a wooden spatula at me, “Did you know that there are several underground organic spice stores here in this city?” She then said, making air quotes when she mentioned ‘spice stores’.

I raised a brow with low interest. “Really?” I said, perusing the tableau of culinary arts and picking up an herbed baby potato to sample. That didn’t surprise me at all.

She nodded. “They’re all over the place, if you’re of the supernatural plane and you know where to look. Which means, there have been a lot of special shoppers in and out of there. Females gossip and I happened to pick up on several conversations.” She grinned as if she held a juicy secret.

I looked up at her as she joined me, standing across from me on the other side of the kitchen island.

“There’s a haven of dark divines right here in this city, in the shadier district of downtown.”

My gaze fixated on her with interest now. “Gossip or you know this for sure?”

“Both. I haven’t ventured over there to verify it for obvious reasons but it’s a tip. In fact, there are more and more dark ones coming through from a rift somewhere nearby. I don’t know where it is but I’ve heard that these dark divine’s are being protected by a legion of fallen aligned with that schizo-bastard. There’s also a group of succubus’, para- demons, and high level voids that seem to be focused on both you and the girl too.” Berith warned.