Chapter Eleven

 

CAM

 

Cam took Thea out the next night on an excursion. He wanted to test her, to see if she was any good at identifying angels and demons out in the real world. It was one thing to train to fight them, it was another to be able to know who she was supposed to fight, and who she could turn to for help if she needed it. She had a confidence that both surprised and alarmed him—she would likely be ready much sooner than he expected. She was talented and eager, but he didn’t want her to think that she was ready for hunting just yet. It was best that she go with him at first, that she get experience while he was there to assist her if need be.

Cam didn’t tell her this. She was too proud, too stubborn and would only argue with him that she was ready. So he decided they would go out looking without engaging any of the demons.

They went to a busy square downtown that teemed with humans, angels, and demons on a regular basis. There would be plenty to spot. He found a place out of the way on the rooftop of a short building and they settled in, Thea, of course, choosing to perch almost dangerously on the edge, her legs dangling over.

“You should be able to see them all,” Cam said, after explaining why they were there. “Both angels and demons. Humans cannot see them unless they want to be seen, which is rare.”

“Why?”

“It suits them all to blend in. Many demons tend work in the shadows, through stealth. The angels also don’t want to alert humans of our presence. It wouldn’t benefit any of us.”

Thea made a noise in her throat. “Don’t you think humans would want to know angels exist? So they can have a little hope in their lives?”

“No, it would be mayhem. They would become obsessed with us instead of living their lives freely. And what about when they find out that demons exist? All that hope would be thrown into turmoil.”

Thea nodded, eyeing the interactions below. After a short while, she asked, “So how come the demons and angels aren’t fighting now? They can see each other, right?”

“Yes, but not all angels and demons are warriors. And it’s not feasible for us to be constantly trying to kill each other or to wipe each other out,” Cam explained. “It would take too many resources and probably damage the human world beyond repair. We only really take them on when there will be serious implications for humans or the Angel Realm.”

Thea was silent for a while. “So humans can’t see you?”

“They can’t see me unless I want them to.”

Thea made a face. “So I’ve been running every morning, complaining and whining to myself for the last two months?” She groaned. “People must think I’m mad.”

Cam turned away so he could grin without her noticing. This little Nephilim was something else.

He pointed to the far end of the square, diagonal from where they were sitting. “Do you see that angel over there? With the light hair?”

Thea nodded. A number of people surrounded him; he seemed to be shouting at them.

“That’s Amriel.”

“Who is he shouting at?”

“Nephilim.”

Thea leaned further forward to peer at them. No doubt she would be interested in her own kind, even if she was nothing like them.

Cam prepared to drag her back from the ledge if she shuffled an inch further forward. “Amriel is who you’ll go to for assignments. He can also give you guidance and signal other angels if you need help.”

“Assignments?”

Cam nodded. “It’s when you’re given a particular task to complete, usually the location and description of a demon to vanquish. It tends to be one causing trouble. You’ll be paired with another Nephilim should you choose to go out and fight.”

She lifted her chin up. “I’ll fight.”

“I know,” he replied. Her eyes shone bright in the dark, and that familiar desire rose. He dragged his eyes away and looked out over the street.

“Demons,” she murmured.

He turned to the direction of her attention and saw several Furies glowing scarlet in an alley off the street. They seemed to be talking to each other, maybe organizing themselves in some way. Cam and Thea watched the Furies spread out and head off in different directions down the street. Large and bulky, they looked almost deformed with horns twisting out of their heads.

“Furies,” he said. “They’re a lower-class type of demon.”

“What were the ones that attacked me?”

“Spectras, also lower-class.”

“Are there any others?”

Cam dipped his head in a nod. “Two others, both higher-class. Asmos and Legion. The high-class demons are harder to see. They blend in more to look like humans but also have a demon-form. The lower-class demons are not as powerful so they permanently twist themselves into horrible looking beings to shock those that can see them. You can vanquish the lower-class demons, but probably not kill them. Only Power angels can kill Furies, Asmos and Legion.”

“Like you?”

“Yes, like me.”

They continued observing the area in silence for a while. Amriel moved to a different spot in the square and a couple of angels took to the air, flying through the high buildings, heading over to a different part of the city.

“Do all angels look so… handsome?”

Cam snapped his head at her. Who the hell did she think was so handsome? She seemed to be staring into space. He forced himself to take a breath, pushing down the uncomfortable feeling that had risen. Was he… jealous?

“What do you mean?” he asked, watching her to see whom she was fixated on in the scene below.

She glanced at him, flustered. “I mean, do all angels have halos?”

An exquisite twist of desire, fear and awe coiled in Cam’s gut. “Who’s halo can you see?”

Thea pursed her lips. “Yours, of course.”

Words left him. She could see his halo? That wasn’t possible. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was staring down at the scenery before her, lost in her thoughts, seeming to have forgotten the question. He decided not to respond. He needed time to process it.

They sat there quietly for a little while, watching demons and angels alike moved through the streets.

“I used to come out here when I was a kid,” Thea said, almost under her breath. “Not at night, but during the day. I came to try and find small jobs to do.”

“By yourself?”

“Yeah,” she said. “The one and only parent I was blessed with couldn’t look after me properly. I had to make deals with people to earn money or get access to things I needed; food, medicine, care… I learned how to negotiate deals, become useful, and detect trouble.”

“So you’ve always been this way,” said Cam. Thea frowned at him. He decided to elaborate. “Proud and independent.”

A corner of Thea’s mouth curved and she returned her eyes to the scene before her.

A sadness welled up in him for her. It must have been hard for her growing up. When it came to Nephilim, their angel fathers were hardly ever around and the human mothers had to bring up the child mostly alone. It wasn’t ideal, which is why the Angel Realm didn’t encourage it unless the angel truly loved the human woman and would be willing to offer protection for her and their offspring.

Thea’s independence wasn’t a surprise to him but wasn’t always a given. Most Nephilim relied heavily on their fighting partners when fighting and hunting but Cam couldn’t imagine Thea being paired with anyone—another half-angel would probably just slow her down. It worried him that she would be out there fighting, and yet he could do nothing about it, not once she was out of his hands. The thought bothered him. Cam found that in the time he didn’t spend with Thea, he was thinking about her and actually watched her go about her day sometimes. He told himself that he was just interested in why she was so powerful but knew deep down that wasn’t the case.

“What’s God like?” Thea asked, her voice almost a whisper.

Cam glanced at her. “I don’t know.”

Thea stared at him. “You don’t know?”

“The Creator is very private. She enjoys watching her creations rather than interact—”

“She!?” Thea squealed, scrambling to look at him.

Cam put an arm around her and pulled her back from the ledge. “Careful, Thea.”

“Is God female?” Thea asked, gaping at him.

Cam couldn’t help but smile. “It is said that the Creator is neither male nor female and at the same time, both male and female.”

Thea wrinkled her nose. “How can that be?”

“None in the Angel Realm have met her, so no one can truly say,” Cam admitted. “However, when angels connect with the Stream there is a feeling that overcomes us. It is blissful and peaceful and… somewhat erotic.”

Thea giggled and Cam relished the sound.

“Male angels tend to think of the Creator as female,” he said, “while female angels tend to think of the Creator as male. There are those that think of the Creator as the same sex as them. It is a personal connection, so no opinion is wrong.”

Thea nodded, deep in thought. “So angels don’t require a lot of sex because of the Stream.”

Cam glanced at her. “Each angel has different needs.”

“So they do have sex?”

“Of course, Thea. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”

Thea rolled her eyes at herself and snorted. She fell into further thoughts. “Okay, so you feel she is female because of the eroticism you feel?”

Cam looked away and studied the scene below. “I do not use the Stream.”

Before she could question him further, he began to point out the differences between the different demon classes. He managed to get her to see the defining features of Furies and Spectras, although they did spot a higher-class Asmos demon skulking around. She listened attentively while he was teaching her, her eyes sharp as she scanned the crowds. Again, he was impressed by her eagerness to learn.

At the end of the night, instead of walking, Cam shifted, lifted Thea in his arms and flew her home. Her body pressing against him awakened a furious craving for her he had kept down, and his cock hardened like rock at the thought of what it might be like to take her into her bedroom and strip her of her clothes. In his angel-form, his attraction to her was almost unbearable.

Cam had been with a number of human women over the extensive period of his existence, but it had been mostly out of curiosity and boredom. Most Power angels were encouraged to seek relief from their burdensome duties in the arms of a human. He’d had brief encounters during which he’d learned much about the female form, but they always ended when the human became too possessive or found herself a stable human mate. All of them would get annoyed with his erratic visits—they were never a priority. He had never felt the strength of desire for any of them that he felt for Thea, had never experienced anything as powerful as his need to touch and please her. He looked forward to seeing her smile, hearing her laugh, watching her figure things out, overseeing her development in strength and ability. It satisfied him in a way he couldn’t explain. And her anger and smart mouth roused something almost carnal in him that he fought with all his might to resist.

He gently landed on Thea’s balcony and made sure she was secure on her feet. When she turned and beamed at him, her face glowing in the moonlight, he thought that she might actually touch him. She was flushed from the wind and her hair was mussed as if she’d just woken up. She looked so beautiful that he ached.

“So,” she said, hesitantly. “If you’re carrying me like that, in flight, can humans see us?”

“No,” he managed to say. The urge was rising in him to thread his fingers into her hair. “When I touch you, you are protected by my energy.”

She nodded thoughtfully and he took the opportunity to bid her a brisk good night before his angel-form made him touch her. Inappropriately.

He hated leaving, and yet he forced himself to.