Chapter 5

 

“Well, that didn’t go that bad,” I noted while Raphael and I, together with Tarrence were waiting for the arrival of Ares and Mayatri in a smaller room right beyond Inferno Hall. The Greek and Egyptian gods—Zeus, Hera, Isis, and Anubis—had to teleport back to their respective homes and call their officers and instruct them about our current mission. The room we stood in looked more like a waiting room than a meeting place; paintings of Lucius in all possible poses and places on earth hung on the walls. In some of the paintings, the Dark Lord was clad in a conservative business suit, standing on Wall Street, Manhattan, or the Tokyo stock exchange. In others, he was almost naked with a towel hanging loosely on his waist, lying on some lavish beach either in LA, the Maldives, or some other exotic place. I had taken a good amount of time to study all the pictures. Tarrence hadn’t said a word regarding them, and Raphael had borne a bored expression on his face in the meantime. The other interesting object that drew my attention in here was a giant snake sculpture, which adorned the far end of the room.

“I agree,” Tarrence replied all of the sudden, startling me. I had expected Raphael to pick up my earlier comment about how the meeting had gone and start a conversation, but certainly not the demon. I turned my eyes to Tarrence and studied his features. Dark-haired, brooding, tall and muscular, he looked like a supermodel. His eyes were chestnut dark, together with high cheekbones. One thing was certain, the guy was smoking hot! I could see why Lucius had chosen him for his lover. I caught myself wondering if the demon, too, played for both teams. Not that I was interested in him, oh hell, no! I had my archangel, and didn’t need anyone else, least of all a high-profile demon.

“Are you anxious?” Tarrence asked me, startling me again. His seeming friendliness made me suspicious. I crunched my nose in thought, partly trying to banish my distrust in him—if we partnered to defeat Drogo, disrupt his ritual, and capture him, I had to somehow trust this guy. Not entirely but at least over the mission.

“Pardon?” I replied. I had forgotten his question in my attempt to dispel my doubts about him.

“Are you worried about the coming battle?” He clarified, a slight chuckle adorning his voluptuous lips. I again caught myself staring a bit too much at him. Raphael, next to me, furrowed his brow in displeasure at my interest in the demon.

“Ah, that one,” I mumbled. “Oh, no. I’ve already dealt with Drogo before. Twice at that. Fighting him doesn’t scare me.”

The demon looked at me meaningfully, his dark eyes locking with mine, making my legs weaker. Triple hell, I was such a sucker for pretty boys. I cleared my throat and clarified.

“I’m used to all this. After all, I’m the only Nephilim here.” I omitted telling him about the other good Nephilim who was living in a monastery in Tibet. He’d opted out of the supernatural world into the spiritual one.

To my great surprise, Tarrence laughed out loud, amusement gleaming in his beautiful, yet dangerous eyes. “Oh, dear, you’re definitely not the only Nephilim here.”

Before I could ask him what he meant, he added, “I’m myself a half Nephilim, half-sorcerer and demon.”

I gulped in utter shock, gawking at him wide-eyed. I didn’t expect the two of us to have the same supernatural blood running in our veins.

Raphael proved to be more prepared than me. He exclaimed, “You don’t say!”

Tarrence grinned, obviously pleased with the effect his information had on us.

“This is how I can get past Drogo’s protective charms. First, I have the same magic as him, but also I have chosen Lucius for my master and Lord.”

I realized I kept staring at the Nephilim for longer than good manners deemed appropriate, and sheepishly averted my gaze back to my boyfriend. Was this why I couldn’t dissolve Drogo’s protective charms? Because I wasn’t working for Lucius? Probably. Sensing my inner turmoil, Raphael wrapped his arm around my waist, bumping our hips together. He didn’t mind, judging by his grin, and the glow in his eyes. Already soothed by the archangel’s serene and potent powers, I turned to the newly revealed Nephilim Tarrence.

“Do you mind telling us who your Nephilim parent is?” I summoned all my composure so that my voice would come out steady and even, and not betray my raging emotions. How come I was only now discovering there was another Nephilim? And not only that but he was Lucius’ “golden boy.” All these years I’d spent in fear and horror that the Magic Council would kill me if they learned about my existence, and now it turned out, things hadn’t been that bad for every one of my kind. Were there other Nephilim who served either court in higher positions? The only consolation I had was that my species stood higher on the food chain.

“It was my father.” His face twisted in disgust as he spoke. “My mother, a demon, was one of Drogo’s many mistresses.” Anger laced Tarrence’s words, and he subconsciously balled his hands into fists. “But that asshole, Drogo, killed her eventually, all due to a minor mistake she once made.” As he spoke the last words, uneasy silence fell over the room, and I glanced at Raphael; he gave me a silent sign not to speak up.

Tarrence went on, “This is why I chose to partner with the Dark Lord, going on board with his court and the other hellish creatures.”

“Do you mean, you weighed in joining the White Court?” I asked him.

He gave me an odd look. “No, of course, not. I belong to the Black Court, but the desire to avenge my mother’s brutal murder was the sole reason why I put myself in Lucifer’s path. Now he wants Drogo taken out of the picture as much as I do.” An evil smirk danced on his lips and shivers ran down the back of my neck. I had thought the Council of Nine and me had been wanting Drogo eliminated the most, but this guy hated Drogo’s guts even more than I did. I also couldn’t help but notice, he’d used Lucius full name, obviously not afraid of the name’s magical effect. And why would he be? Tarrence belonged to The Black Court. Not only belonged, he was sleeping with their leader.

“And you? Who was your Nephilim parent? Your mother, wasn’t it? Oh, no, let me guess—both?”

I shook my head and was about to tell him about my father, but I had second thoughts. Why in magic’s name would I even trust this guy? The fact that he was a Nephilim or that he hated Drogo didn’t change the fact he belonged to the Black Court and was very intimate with Lucius. I decided it was best to keep my mouth shut about my Nephilim lineage.

“I don’t want to talk about my family. I’m sorry.”

“As you wish,” Tarrence shrugged.

A new awkward silence fell over the waiting room. Why the hell did Ares and the Egyptian soldier take so much time? Were the gods present at the meeting filling them in?

“Anyway,” I said, trying hard to sound cheerful, “my bad I didn’t know you last year when the Council of Nine recruited me to thwart Drogo’s masterplan. With our combined powers, we could have stopped Drogo so easily. And faster,” I added. Perhaps all that was happening right now wouldn’t be manifested? Who knows? My crystal ball was silent, as usual. My sister, Dara, could cast some complicated spells to read into the future, but as she always liked to point out, “predicting the future is a shady business.” We, people and supernaturals, altered our destiny by our intentions, thoughts, and emotions.

Tarrence shrugged. “The universe has its own laws on how things proceed. If it happened that way, it must have been best for you. Besides, back then the Master didn’t want to intervene in Drogo’s affairs. He actually didn’t believe he posed a danger to us until you publicly shared your last escapades with Drogo.”

“With Hades, too,” Raphael corrected him, but Tarrence ignored him.

I turned to Tarrence. “But didn’t Shiva and Durga try to convince your master of the dark Nephilim’s agenda and the threat they pose to all of us?”

Raphael’s grip on my back increased, the fingers of his left hand playing with one of my jacket’s buttons.

Tarrence scuffed. “The Dark Lord is the most stubborn person I know! Yes, your gods tried to knock some sense into his head, but he refused to believe them. Besides, I must admit, the Master did enjoy the fear and panic the world experienced, too, due to the magical plague.”

How typical of demonic nature, I thought, but said nothing.

“Come now, boy,” Raphael said, turning to the demon. His hand caressed my back, his circular movements soothing me. “It wasn’t just your chief who enjoyed all the fear and panic, you did too. Admit it. If not to us, at least to yourself.”

Tarrence chuckled and abruptly went to the far end of the room, stopping at the giant snake sculpture. His fingers slid on the snake’s surface, caressing the reptile’s tail, then worked his way up to the snake’s head.

He turned to us. “It’s true, we thrive and feed off negative emotions. But we always give humans a choice: be smart and brave and don’t fall for our trap, or be stupid and bear the consequences for your cowardice. The choice is always theirs.”

I squinted my eyes at his comment, but Raphael’s hand slid down to my waist, his grip deepening, and I gave up trying to make a snarky comment.

“Observe and listen. No need to react,” the archangel whispered into my ear, his lips tingling my earlobe. A wave of heat rushed, setting my body on fire and I looked up at the archangel, desire mounting in my center.

And then the air in the room turned lighter, thunder flashing. Before I could react or even summon my magic, a magical bubble shimmered right in the room’s center, its waves sparkling in silver-blue hues. Next, the bubble snapped shut and a tall, fit, and lean man dressed in golden armor, clutching a golden spear in his hands stepped out of the bubble. His hair was blond, too, his features handsome and ferocious at the same time: Ares! Next to him stood a shorter woman with short, black hair, dressed in loose shorts and a white top, an ankh adorning her chest. Mayatri?

“Finally,” Tarrence said and strode to greet them. “What took you so long, guys?”

“I apologize for your waiting; we had some work to finish. Zeus and Hera instructed me to help you in your mission to capture Drogo Rothstein,” Ares said as he eyed Raphael and me suspiciously.

Mayatri nodded. “Isis gave me the same command. I’m here to assist you with whatever I can.”

“Cool,” the demon said, shamelessly ogling the Egyptian soldier. So, he was swaying both ways, too.

“I will teleport us all to Drogo’s castle, and once inside, we need to reach the castle’s bottomless pit. It’s where they’re about to conduct their nefarious ritual. They may have already started. Any questions?” Tarrence asked.

“Umm, who are these two?” Ares asked, pointing at us.

Tarrence didn’t even try to hide his grin. “These are the archangel Raphael, and Aiyana Carter.”

“Oh, the Nephilim?” Mayatri asked eagerly. “My mistress told me of a brave girl from the Nephilim linage who beat Drogo not so long ago.”

She stepped toward me. “Are you her?”

“The same one,” I replied dryly.

Ares squinted his eyes at me, his look saying he’d never heard of me and likely wasn’t interested at all in me. However, he regarded Raphael with the utmost respect, bowing slightly at him.

“Now, are we fine? Ready to teleport to Drogo’s castle? Let’s bust his crappy ritual and his ass,” Tarrence said and was about to cast a teleportation spell, but I cut him off.

“Wait! How do you know he’s performing a dark ritual? Who’s your source?” I’d recalled Lucius speaking of a trusted source. “How can we be sure this source is correct?”

Tarrence grimaced. “It’s your old friend, Augustine. You know the guy.” Bile rose in my belly. Was he speaking of who I thought he meant?

Seeing my confusion, Raphael chimed in, “He’s talking about the vampire, the one who told us about your existence.”

“Jason?!” I asked incredulously. “You can’t be…” the words died on my lips as I recalled how this same dude had been working as an informer for the Council of Nine for quite some time.

I turned to Tarrence. “He’s your informer as well?”

“He’s a member of the Black Court.” He shrugged and that fact signaled for him the end of the topic. I had to concede.

“Any other questions? I’m afraid we don’t have much time left. Augustine told us the ritual would start at 10:30 and culminate at 11 p.m., and now it’s past 10:30. We’re running out of time.”

“Teleport us there, right away,” Ares ordered as if we were his soldiers. “Any follow-up questions will be answered in the process.”

“I agree. Let’s do this,” Mayatri said, urgency lacing her words.

Tarrence nodded curtly and raised his hand. A web of dark sparkling glyphs shimmered in the space around his body, growing in size. They gradually engulfed us, too. The sensation of dread, bile and a soup of poisonous scorpions assaulted my senses. My lungs gasped for air, but Raphael put his arm around me, and I squeezed his hand. The dark magical vibrations mounted as a dark cloud rose before us, taking us into the void.