Chapter 7

 

 

 

“Eden Hall?” I repeated. I half expected to teleport to Heaven, judging from the golden rays emitted in the new space through the gaping gate. The glow filled the air, charging it with majestic grandeur.

“Do you like the name?” Damian turned to face me. I noticed the sparks gleaming in his blue eyes. They had somehow enlarged, more beautiful than ever. His magical signature came to my senses stronger than ever. A small set of golden wings cloaked his shoulders, shimmering in their place. The magic from all around—his included—cleared my mind. My body relaxed, and joy fluttered in my heart. I could see then why I was drawn to his divine energy in the first place. It was the reason I found him so attractive and irresistible.

He marched forward into the golden space, and I hurriedly followed him. Once he set foot into the room, his wings popped out, twinkling like diamond snowflakes. A mix of silver, gold, and green feathers, they floated in the air as he moved, nearly kissing his buttocks. I shook my head and fired my question, trying to catch up with him.

“Wait! In what language did you chant the password? You know, the one you used to open this place?”

“Sanskrit, of course.”

His reply caught me by surprise. I expected it to be old Angelic or some archaic dialect of Latin, maybe even in Celtic, but not Sanskrit: it wasn’t any of the common ancient languages we used, at least not in our Academy classes.

As I stepped into Eden Hall, its divine energy mounted, erasing all my thoughts. Golden, sparkling rays of light showered upon a magnificent hall with a high ceiling. Purple, blue, and pink glyphs floated, shimmering in the air, charging the atmosphere with potent magic. As I passed by one such glyph, the center in my thread ignited, giving me a boost of happiness and joy. The walls had paintings from mythologies and legends from all over the world. I was drawn to one depicting the nine planets and what looked like gods standing in a circle. Inside the circle, I recognized a human being. Nine columns were spread across the hall covered with runic carvings and symbols. They imbibed the space with their unique magical powers, too. As I passed near one of them, a quick vision of a long-lost time came upon me, overwhelming my senses. The scene was the entire earth flooded in light. A great many unicorns roamed freely in nature, butterflies flapped their wings, and happy people danced around golden floating temples. The vision died as I moved quickly toward the end of the room. There, a round cherrywood table stood and nine imposing people were perched on wooden chairs.

As we approached the gathered people, Damian turned to me. “This is our humble group, the Council of Nine.”

“Humble, huh?” I said with light sarcasm. He could have fooled me.

“Namaste, Damian,” a tall, dark-haired woman said in greeting. Dressed in a traditional Indian sari wrapped around her fine features, she had a red point, a bindi, in between her eyebrows. Her hair was chestnut brown, and her eyes were blue as the ocean, drawing me in. I realized I could get lost in no time if I stared at her for more than several seconds.

“Namaste, Ma Durga,” Damian greeted her back. “This is the girl I told Michael about.” He pointed at me, and I’m sure I must have blushed because a rush of heat warmed my cheeks, spreading fast down my neck and behind my ears.

A blond man with turquoise-green eyes let out a whistle. “You never mentioned she was hot. You should’ve brought her earlier.” He licked his lips and leaned toward me, sparks gleaming in his eyes. Umm, no. If I knew this perv would be here, I wouldn’t have come in, I thought, but I said nothing. I’d put him in the list of “walk away straight after being served,” if he was in McManus’ Pub.

“Shut up, Loki. This is not your local tavern,” a tall, blue-skinned man scolded before turning his gaze to me. “Welcome, Miss Aiyana Carter, to Eden Hall. I hope you like it here.” He flashed me a broad smile, which dissolved quickly, substituted by his stern look. His hair was braided. A dark chocolate-brown rosary hung loosely on his bare chest, adorning his blueish skin. It was the first time I had ever seen a person or supernatural with such blue skin. “This is an emergency meeting. We’re the Council of Nine, and I am Lord Shiva. These are my colleagues.” He raised his hand, pointing at the others gathered around the table. “At the far right you can see the archangels Michael, Raphael, Uriel and Gabriel. Next are Enki, Loki, and this is Goddess Durga.” He nodded with a slight smile to the only woman besides me in the room, the beautiful lady in a sari to whom Damian had spoken first. I studied the bunch of people more closely. Light yellow, shimmering halos adorned the archangels’ heads, resembling crowns. Archangel Michael’s clothes glowed in red and orange colors, while Raphael’s color was purple and blue; Uriel vibrated in green and brown and Gabriel in blue and green. They each represented one of the four elements, I recalled from my classes—Michael, fire; Raphael, air; Gabriel, water; and Uriel, earth. The archangels’ wings were massive, much bigger than Damian’s wings. Each of the high angels—the name we had for archangels in our schoolbooks—glowed in colors characteristic for his element. Their feathers sparkled in orange, purple, green, white, and blue, mesmerizing my eyes, putting me in a state of trance. I held my breath, trying to steady my beating heart. Next at the table sat Enki, a medium tall guy with striking emerald eyes. Upon locking eyes with him, my magic fluttered in my chest, coiling at my base. I sensed he could shapeshift into a snake, maybe into a larger serpent, too. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he could turn into a dragon. His inner animal watched me intently from beneath his human exterior, and judging by the flames flickering in his eyes, he was trying to form a judgment of my character. The last touch of his physical appearance was a necklace that hung, adorning his chest. It was of a snake coiling around a rod.

And the last guy was Loki, the prettiest of the gods. With his blond, curly hair, turquoise eyes, and tall and muscular body, he was perfect for a Hollywood movie role. The gods’ magic infused the space, intertwining and intersecting, multiplying the vibrations tenfold. This combined magic came to my center, carrying the strength of a stormy sea tossing roaring waves from deadly hurricanes. In a heartbeat, I realized Damian was the lowest in rank among those immortal beings. He was the only one who was neither a god nor even an archangel. From my head teacher’s lessons at the Academy of Mysteries, the differences between high angels and angels were that angels could heal and help humans mostly but supernaturals too, whereas high angels could fight and wage wars on demons besides helping others. The archangels were immortals, while angels usually lived for several hundred years, having to incarnate on a regular basis. I couldn’t find information about my own kind though. All the censorship compounded with the hanging threat of death or imprisonment left an unclear path to me as to whether we were immortals or lived for a thousand years. Don’t ask, don’t tell was my daily motto for survival in the supernatural world.

I sensed Damian’s watchful eyes locked on me, and I gave him back a stare. He nodded slightly and straightened in his chair. He cleared his throat and turned to the Council members. “I’m glad to see you. I talked to Aiyana and explained the rudimentary details of our mission. You can take over from there and initiate her into our project.” Damian slid onto the closest vacant chair. Lord Shiva motioned at me with his hand to sit down too, and I complied, perching on a chair next to Damian and the archangel, Michael. I had barely done so when the archangel’s magic invaded my thread and gave me a boost of fresh powers as if I’d drunk one of Dara’s energy boosters. His magic smelled of cinnamon and banana along with the scent of wood burning in a cozy fireplace. A wave of strength surged into my blood and body, invigorating my whole being.

“We have heard a great many things about you from Damian,” Durga began, her voice clear and powerful. I’d managed to recall why her name rang a bell to me: she was the fierce Hindu goddess of victory, famous for overcoming the ancient demon, Mahishasura. She was a protector of the weak and helped her devotees against any kind of adversary. This remembrance was borne out of my history of mythologies and ancient religions class at school where we covered Asian as well as Pagan gods and deities. Basically, we were taught all gods and deities from different religions represented the same forces, but different tribes called them different names. Some were younger gods, whereas some were the primordial gods.

“We’re at a crossroads in this precarious time. The scales are unbalanced. They’re swaying and shaking; the timelines are jumping, altering the world’s fate. Aiyana, we need you on our side as the forces of darkness are closing around us. Especially on humans.”

“Poor buggers, they don’t even know what’s coming for them,” Loki, the blond guy chimed in. “They believe the plague is the real threat.” He chuckled. Durga shot him a deadly stare, and he shut his mouth and went into silent mode.

She let out a sigh and continued. “Yes, humans are facing this plague, this insanity, but the real threat is another matter. These dark angels, these rogues, these…Nephilim are and have always been the parasite, threatening the very existence of the human and supernatural races.” My heart tightened by her mentioning the forbidden word “Nephilim.” Did she suspect I was one? Did Damian relay to her what he thought I was? I hoped he hadn’t, and that she mentioned Nephilim in another connection, unrelated to me.

“Make no mistake, dear, magical beings are endangered, as well. God knows what they’ll come up with, but we’ll suffer, too, especially the White Court and those supernaturals who live among humans. The Black Court could suffer also, but we suspect some of their high-ranking members are aware and a part of this conspiracy.”

Conspiracy? Again, that word. Damian dropped it earlier in his office. But hearing the goddess utter it made the knot in my chest tighten, and a strange pulsation rang in my ears.

“What do you know of the Nephilim?” Archangel Gabriel asked me, turning his attention to me. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were wary. Every pore and blood cell of his were on high alert, probing me and measuring my merit to the mission. Sweat broke out on my neck, and I had to gather all my courage to muster a sensible reply.

“Nephilim were once immensely powerful angels. Much more so than regular angels. They’re also known as fallen angels. They became corrupted, and the Magic Council declared their kind an abomination. I think there are no living Nephilim currently. Well, at least not out in the open,” I quickly added as one of the gods who sat in the middle of the table arched his brows when I mentioned there were no living Nephilim. I think his name was Enki. He struck me as a quiet guy with his big, emerald eyes, watching me intently…like all the others did. I again had the feeling I was some curious type of exotic animal on public display.

“Right, but you haven’t been taught in school that there are two major types of Nephilim, the dark and white ones, have you?” Michael asked me. I turned my head to him, too dumbfounded by his question and the statement he made to be able to respond anything.

“We thought so,” Uriel said, nodding with his head. He gave me a compassionate smile. The thread in my center fluttered, and the building anxiety in me fell as if commanded by a magical wand. They knew something about my kind and probably about me, too.

“There’s no need to be afraid of us. We’re on your side,” Shiva said with a surprisingly soft voice for his physical appearance. He stretched out his hands, joining them together above his head. “The Nephilim we’re after are the same people responsible for all the current chaos. Actually, their malicious plans date way back in time.”

“We’ve tried to kill them numerous times, but they always survive,” Durga added. “We learned the hard way that only a Nephilim can kill another Nephilim.”

My heart skipped a beat, my throat going dry. They wanted me to kill a Nephilim? Did I hear that right, or was I hallucinating? With some dose of good luck or help from my fairy Godmother, I might wake up in my bed and figure out everything had been a bad dream. A big, bad dream. I pinched myself lightly on the upper arm, but nothing happened. I was still in Eden Hall and those imposing gods and archangels encircled me. If it wasn’t a bad dream, it was reality, and I wasn’t sure which one was the lesser evil.

“And that is the reason why they’re the most feared supernaturals,” Raphael said. “The Magic Council couldn’t take another risk after WWII, and the Nephilim continually attempt to destroy the current world order.”

Michael turned to me. “The mission we need you for is the following. About a year ago, according to our sources, the Nephilim had obtained the Scroll of Lies from the Underworld. Lord Hades himself had given it to them. We believe through this unholy scripture, they have cast this global spell, leading to the rioting, protests, and maybe even the fires. But the worst is yet to come,” he said cryptically as he arched his brows.

“Worse than it is already?” I asked skeptically.

“You have no idea what this cult is capable of or how bad things can play out,” Michael said ominously, dark notes lacing his voice. I gave up inquiring.

“This book must be destroyed, but in a very specific way.” Enki’s voice cut the momentary silence that had fallen over everyone. “You have to get the book, preserving it at all costs. Then bring it back to us. Make sure no one damages or destroys the book. That is crucial.”

“We trust and believe you can defeat this ancient evil,” Durga said with a smile, radiating warmth and motherly love.

“To be honest, guys, we don’t have a choice, do we?” Loki said. “You’re the only white Nephilim, or watcher, we’ve discovered so far.” He shrugged.

They knew who I was. Would it be wise if I kept playing dumb and denying any ancestry with the Nephilim? Would it be better to admit it since we played for the same team, i.e., the forces of light?

“We’ll tell you all the information and details you need to accomplish Mission Fallen Conspiracy,” Shiva said. “In exchange, as Damian already told you, we’ll pay you half a million dollars and talk to the Magic Council about you and your kind. They need to know you’re not the enemy, nor is anyone else who is a watcher or white Nephilim.”

I cleared the lump that had formed in my throat and asked, my voice hoarse, “how can you know what I am? I mean, how can you determine if someone is a dark or white Nephilim? Watcher or whatever?”

Durga’s lips curled into a smile. “We can feel it, love. Right Shiva?”

He curtly nodded. “Damian told us you accepted our offer.”

I nodded, and he went on, beaming, “Great. I wanted to hear you confirm it because you have to sign a contract.”

“Please be aware this is not something you’re doing only for us. The spell and the Nephilim conspiracy are affecting everyone. You’ll help us save the world,” Raphael said, his halo shimmering in purple-blue colors. His wings fluttered in confirmation, and the air rolled off his scent of vanilla, sulfur, and strawberries. His scent intoxicated my senses, my body longing to bathe more in his magic.

At Shiva’s stern look, a lump formed in my throat, growing larger, and my voice came out more hoarsely than before as I said, “your offer is quite tempting, I confess. I couldn’t say no to such an opportunity. I doubt anyone could. But I have to warn you, you have mistaken me for someone else. I am not a Nephilim,” I said slowly, emphasizing every word. The risk was too high. What if all this was a giant set-up for me to confess my magical legacy? Nah, I’d rather continue playing dumb than be executed—or imprisoned, in the best-case scenario—along with my family. They didn’t deserve such a fate. It was only I who was a Nephilim, not them.

The gods and archangels exchanged glances at Damian, who until that moment had remained silent, but finally, he chimed in. “I told you she wasn’t willing to come out. Yet.” He flashed me a half-accusatory, half-pitying stare. I pretended I didn’t see it.

“There’s no need to worry, girl. We know you’ve feared who you are and your magic all your life. We support and wish you only the best,” Durga said. Her magic intensified, and my thread ignited as small waves danced around my body, penetrating it. I was sure she must have sent tiny vibrations of her powers over me because of my nervousness and anxiety. The storm brewing in my chest dissipated as a wave of fragrant spring flowers wafted with each deep inhalation, easing my anxiety.

“If you want to deny who you are, no problem. We can play that game, too,” Loki said, smug satisfaction pasted on his handsome face. Clearly, he derived some twisted pleasure from my hide and seek game. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. If they were willing to gloss over the fact of who I was, then it wasn’t my business to divulge my blood ancestry.

“Now that everything’s been cleared, let’s proceed into finalizing our administrative business.” Shiva clapped his hands and added, “the contract. Are you in?”

It was the moment to take a leap of faith as I jumped at the chance. I recalled Grandma Onawah’s advice: listen to the universe and trust it. The right moment had come. My whole body ached with desire and anticipation.

“Where is it?” I asked. I hoped I wasn’t making a giant mistake. But I had already agreed to the mission to Damian, and I wasn’t one to be a coward or back away whenever I got cold feet. I couldn’t earn half a million dollars for being a couch potato.

A few of the gods exchanged happy glances. Damian fidgeted and gave me a strong pat on the shoulders. “Right choice.”

Shiva closed his eyes and concentrated hard. A slight breeze swirled around his curly, braided hair, and then there was a sizzle in the air as a glowing white parchment appeared. A flash of a second later, gleaming silver quill appeared in the air next to it. He opened his eyes, and merely giving them a glance, they floated toward me, straight into my hands.

“I suggest you read the contract carefully,” Damian said.

“Especially the fine print,” Loki added, giving me a wink. I furrowed my brow as I saw the insanely small font. Thank magic that my eyesight was fine. The parchment contract outlined my mission to get the said Scroll of Lies and preserve it intact, handing it over to the Council of Nine. My eyes spotted a funny clause, though. In case of unforeseen complications, I had to accomplish everything that could come up to further save the world from the dark Nephilim.

“What’s this?” I asked Shiva, pointing at that clause.

Shiva glanced at Michael and the latter said tentatively, “it’s a long story.”

“I’m willing to listen,” I said with no warmth in my voice. “I need to know what I am signing.”

“She’s got a point,” Loki said, but the others, especially Durga, glowered at him.

“Well, for starters,” Shiva began, “we don’t know exactly what the goals are for these Nephilim. We suspect the current chaos is due to their current ownership of the Scroll of Lies and using it for dark rituals, but we’re afraid there’s something even darker at play in their conspiracy.”

“If our suspicion proves right, then you have to destroy their next ploy, too, whatever it may be,” Raphael clarified.

Wow, it was truly getting better and better! Not only did I have to fight a bunch of supernatural outlaws regarded as abominations—a dark version of my own kind—but also get that Scroll of Lies and bring it to the Council of Nine. Additionally, I could also have to accomplish another feat. Only fate knew what it could be. Would I be pushing my luck if I signed that contract? I thought hard, my brain racing as to whether or not I could angle for a pay raise. In for a penny, in for a pound.

I finally said, “In that case, with all the uncertainty, I’m signing the contract but for one million dollars. Take it or leave it.” With that amount of money, I’d fully pay our mortgage and make my sister and myself independent from any banks and debts. That would be heaven.

I half expected the Council members to object at my greedy requisition, but they surprised me. No one said a word. I didn’t hear even a grunt or murmur. Lord Shiva didn’t even blink or flinch at my wish.

“One million. One million dollars. We have a deal.” He nodded and arched his brow, looking at the glowing parchment and quill in my right hand. I got the clue. I gripped the quill more tightly as I put my signature at the end of the parchment. The air sparkled, and a multitude of small fireworks sprang from the movement of my wrist across the parchment, twirling around the quill. The magical show died with a dozen runes and glyphs sprinkling down on my hand, sparkling and shimmering across my skin. Their touch felt warm and soft, but they bound me to the contract with a glittering golden thread. My throat went dry as I realized the great responsibility that was now lying on my shoulders. I vowed to myself to accomplish this Fallen Conspiracy mission. Besides, I needed the money.

“Great, now let’s move on to the practical part.” Shiva clapped his hands cheerfully once I signed the contract. Uriel stood up, stretching out his hand to me.

“Please, follow me for a Nephilim crash course.”

I hesitated for a moment, but Damian gave me a curt nod. I took Uriel’s hand. It felt warm and buzzed against my skin, a pleasant feeling of comfort and safety spreading throughout my chest and limbs. A glowing thread of white-pink danced across my hand, spreading up my arm. The air shimmered with golden glyphs, swirling around us, caressing my hair and clothes. The space went dark as the ether took us.