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For two nights in a row, she dreamt of Sach and heard his whispers. Broken, agonized words, I’m sorry, echoed around her in a gray space where there was nothing but fog and shadows that seemed to move in her peripheral vision.
“You set me up!” Bella yelled into the nothingness, her voice echoed. “I believed in you, no matter how much I defied you and the guild, I still trusted you.”
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, forgive me.
“Never, you hear me, never!” she screamed and she heard the flutter of wings.
She sat up in bed, eyes wide open and anger burning through her. Bella squinted, it wasn’t her room, it was too bright. The down-stuffed blanket that covered her was pure white and weighted, like a warm hug. She kept forgetting this was her second day staying with Abeona, who in forty-eight hours seemed convinced she could change Bella’s bad habits with fresh food and comforting words. There was no vodka in the damn place. Abeona had wine, that was it, wine.
Somehow as much as Bella grumbled, she still seemed to flourish under Abeona’s attention. It was good to see Abeona had a girlfriend, no matter how much she flirted with Bella.
“You’re what southern people would call a hussy, Abeona,” Bella teased. “Flirting with me and having someone in your life.”
“Say the word, Nightshade, and she will be gone,” Abeona laughed. “Don’t tempt me with a good time.”
Bella shook her head. “No ma’am, please hold on to this one, Trista gives you goo-goo eyes. I think she’s really into you.”
Abeona looked pleased but played it cool. “Hmm, is she, now.”
After the betrayal by Sach, not knowing if Ose was truly in her corner had soured Bella on anyone being in her bed. She got out from between pristine white sheets, wearing sweatpants and a sports bra. There were a pair of soft blue fuzzy slippers there that weren’t by the bed when she went to sleep.
“She’s taking this hostess thing seriously, isn’t she?” Bella murmured to herself as she shoved each foot into the slippers and went to the bedroom door.
The living room was empty and she walked into the kitchen to see Wheeler stuffing his face, and the door to the rooftop was open at the top of the stairs.
“She out there?” Bella asked Wheeler, who ate like a linebacker even thought he was skinny as hell.
He nodded as an answer and Bella ruffled his shorter dreadlocks, making him slap her hand away and glower in her direction. He was a mixed- race child like she was, except now his hair had been washed and twisted, no doubt by Abeona herself. It had to take a few hours, Bella knew how long it took if she didn’t practice her hair regiment nightly, the tangles came quick and were hell to comb out. She patted his head sympathetically and he swatted at her hand.
“You’ll talk to me eventually,” Bella said backing towards the stairs with a grin. “I’m wearing you down, Wheeler.”
His response was to roll his eyes before she bounded up the six steps that lead out to the rooftop. Abeona had made it into an oasis, with a garden of herbs and smaller fruit trees in huge pots that all seemed to be in various stages of bearing fruit. There was also a bench or two and a wooden trellis with grape and passionfruit vines.
“Half of these trees shouldn’t even be bearing fruit or surviving in this climate,” Bella commented.
“Call me a green thumb,” Abeona answered as she clipped fresh herbs.
“With a little magic to help it along.” Bella’s voice was amused. “How long before I can go back to my house?” Bella asked, sitting on the bench.
“Are we getting on your nerves already?” her hostess asked.
“Not at all, but I like my space and...”
“Your vodka,” Abeona finished with a laugh.
“No, my weapons. I need to go out and get a handle on why it was imperative for the angels to try to kill me, for one.” Bella caressed the thin stalks of lemongrass. “And we sill have to talk about that door that’s cracked enough that something like Lumia could get out.”
“I may have a way to find that out.” Abeona moved to put peppers in her basket. “I can scry for the place that has enough dark energy, and dowsing rods charged with some hoodoo can act as a compass.”
“You keep surprising me with your help,” Bella admitted. “What do I owe for all this?”
Abeona sat on the grass that she managed to grow like a lawn on the roof.
“It stands to reason, if those dark things leave their lair to come topside, it does not bode well for any of us,” she explained to Bella. “That kind of darkness even I couldn’t control and I’ve found some of my clients seem unusually dark in their requests lately, which tells me it’s already affecting humans and unnaturals alike.”
“We’ll have to discuss that later,” Bella said firmly. “How does the magic feel when you’re crafting?”
Abeona frown. “Darker, sweet, almost addicting, trying to pull me to the side of evil. It’s so tempting, it whispers about things I could have, pleasures and power. Even a small taste is like an orgasm arcing through your body. It takes everything inside you to resist.”
“Well, fuck, what happens if you do give in?” Bella asked. Worry ate at her core hearing those words. “If you can’t resist, what about unnaturals, witches, or brujas that don’t have a quarter of your skill?”
“The temptation is great but I have never once accepted the offer,” Abeona said firmly. “I hope my good deeds eventually outweigh the bad. I’ve been around a while and I’m not looking to dance with demons when I pass from this place on to the next. As for any others, I can’t speak for them, but you should be ready. It’s going to be very bad if this goes unchecked.”
Bella frowned. “I need to know how to close the damn door, and find out who the fuck opened it.”
“It has to be something angelic,” Abeona played with the grass under her fingertips.
“Angels?” Bella felt her heart thud in her chest. “The demon attack might have been about taking me out of the equation.”
“Angels can break a godly seal, they need someone close enough...between heaven and hell.”
“Like a Nephilim—me,” Bella murmured. “They wanted me under their thumb so badly and I didn’t toe the line... I’m the only one, aren’t I?”
“I have never felt another power like yours, but if one was hidden well enough...” Abeona paused. “Control is a powerful thing and for a child whose identity was warped in creation and then taught to obey...”
“Shit, there might be another one like me,” Bella murmured.
“Or something created... we just don’t know until we find it,” Abeona admitted. “Tonight is a perfect night for me to scry. When you come back, we should try to find its origin.”
Bella nodded. “Sounds good, I’m going to head out to see what I can find out. I have a few leads. I want to beat the bushes to see what they know.”
“Beat the bushes, sounds very safari, even though you take the word ‘beat’ literally.” Abeona got up and dusted her faded jeans off. “Yan put breakfast to warm in the oven, eat before you leave.”
Bella stood with a grin. “Between you, Yan, Henri and Wheeler, I feel like I’m in a weird version of a nuclear family.” She passed behind Abeona and impulsively squeezed her shoulders. “Thanks for being here.”
“Go on with you.” Abeona’s voice sounded emotional.
“Are you crying?” Bella teased. “You, the most powerful bruja, who makes unnaturals tremble in their shoes, with a soft side.”
“Only for a very select few,” Abeona answered and as she walked away added, “I was not crying.”
Bella grabbed two waffles and a glass of fresh juice that Yan had placed on the table.
“Thanks, Y,” she said around the bite in her mouth.
He nodded and smiled as she left the kitchen.
“Are the only people who actually talk just me and Abeona?” she wondered to herself.
Bella finished her breakfast on the run and in ten minutes was on her bike zipping through traffic. Who should she hit first? Bella was already in a mood with those who inhabited Heaven so she veered the sleek machine to the left and took the highway out of the city limits. From where she was right in the center of Capitol Hill, it took about thirty minutes for Bella to cross into Mercer Island.
She went by civilization into area that was just long grass, trees and open expanse of land. In the eighties, bunkers against nuclear fallout were the rage, and there was one here. She parked on the gravel outside of said bunker. The metal door led to a simple concrete room that was akin to a mausoleum. The outside was sprayed with graffiti, sigils and a few pentagrams to scare anyone curious who came upon the building.
Bella shook her head. None of that meant shit, but with her gifts, her eyes could see the actual protection sigils that were all over the plain gray concrete. To keep angels out and stay off the radar, of course. He wouldn’t care about demons, but for an angel who wanted to stay hidden from other heavenly hosts, this was a necessity. She stuck her hand in her pocket and the fucking charm from Sachiel was there again. She’d thrown it away a dozen times and somehow it found its way back on her person.
Russell had been gone for so long, Bella wondered if they still considered him a threat. To keep his protection protocols in place, she took the Sharpie from a small metal box hidden by tall grass and drew the appropriate sigils on her arm, which was basically like if her cell phone dropped service in a bad location.
She respected Russell and knowing what angels were capable of, especially now, he would take all the precautions he needed for his safety. Before she could even knock, Russell had the door open and looked at her with a huge grin on his face.
“Bells!” his voice was warm. “I’m glad you survived.”
Like Sachiel he wore his hair long and the blond caught the rays of the sun. His eyes were blue and twinkled merrily. Russell looked like a normal human twenty-something-year-old, possible surfer, down to the cargo pants and yellow Hawaiian-print shirt over a white t-shirt. With angels, looks were always deceiving. Like Sach, Russell was created long before Earth, but as the world evolved, he became disillusioned by the games Heaven played with humans.
“Since you knew about the attack, warn me next time,” she told him.
“I tried. By the time I got there, you leaving,” he told her. “I stayed hidden because there were angels watching.”
“Of course there were, they wanted to see if their plan had worked and I was dead.” Bella embraced him and he lifted her off her feet with his strong hug. It instantly made her feel better. “Russell, are you going somewhere?”
“Heading to Hawaii to catch some waves,” Russell answered.
“But you never leave...” Bella frowned. “You don’t want to be caught on Heaven’s radar.”
“Trust me, I’ve taken precautions.” He showed her a tattoo on the left side of his ribcage. “It goes down to the essence of me, my soul. It took a few dozen years for it to be all done and it finally is. Tested it out a few times and it works.”
“Jeez, give me one of those.”
Bella walked into the living room, decorated with warm colors even though there was only artificial sunlight. She noted his sad lamps were gone. Russell used them to imitate the sun’s rays, since he was a being of light, but apparently he didn’t need them anymore.
“I would, Bells, but even for you the pain would be unbearable and it quite possibly could kill you,” Russell explained. “I think your visit is because things are going to get a little hot around here.”
“Yeah, you know what’s going on?” she asked.
“Hence me taking a long vacation in Hawaii.” Russell gave her a worried glance. “Things are going to blow up, Bells.”
“Did you know that it was Sachiel who helped the guild break my protection runes so I’d be attacked by a hell of a demon horde?” Bella sat down.
Russell sat next to her. “Holy sh... hell, Bella, that I did not know. Sachiel has more than a tender spot for you, I hear the angels speaking about it and it causes them more than a small worry.”
“Well, it seems they made him choose and he chose them,” Bella heard the bitterness in her voice. “I can’t hear them lately. I think they cut me off. I’m staying with a friend until my house is protected again. I came to ask you what you know. Someone cracked a door between Hell and topside, and only an angel could open the lock. Have you heard anything I need to know about... was it Sach?”
“Something is there, being used for a purpose but I don’t know what,” Russell said. “My kin want it to tip the scales in their favor. But did Sachiel break the seal? I doubt it very much, the disobedience is not him at all.”
“It, what is it?” Bella prodded.
“They never say and I’ve been trying to find out in my own way,” Russell explained. “They call it ‘our key to salvation,’ and they want it in their possession badly. Gods know what they’ve done, or maybe he does. He doesn’t seem to be around much anymore.”
“So these aren’t orders from the big man who is running the show?” Bella asked aghast. “It it like archangels running the show?”
Russell sat back. “I don’t think what’s going on has reached upstairs yet, but I do think something is in the works and it could cause a war.”
“Well, fuck,” Bella said, shook to her core. “Maybe the guild wants more power than they have now. Sachiel was meant to kill me as a child and couldn’t do it. He couldn’t now. So instead he sent up demons to do the dirty work for him.”
“That doesn’t explain opening the gateway to demon land,” Russell pointed out. “The guild wouldn’t do that, they want less demons above ground, so this would be a chink in their plans. There is a two-fold scenario going on here, but the ‘the key to salvation’ is involved. I think when the lock was opened, they saw an opportunity to gain the key.”
“What kind of weapon could it be?” she wondered out loud. “Something of the light, that could be used to break a holy seal, but in the hands of demons?”
“Sounds totally off the wall,” Russell said. “Either way, I’m gone till this is all over.”
“To the sun and sea,” Bella said dryly. “I would say take me with you, but this is tied to me and I don’t want them tracking me to you and ruining your life.”
“Thanks for that, Bells.” Russell patted her hand and stood up. He went to a desk and pulled out a set of keys and took one off the link, handing it to her. “Mi casa es su casa. If you need a place to go ghost and hide, this would be it. Until I come back, of course.”
Bella stood and took the key. “Of course, now don’t go over there and get too much sun and have so much of a good time you don’t want to come back.”
“Me, never,” Russel grinned. “Eventually I’ll get bored and return to my books, peace and quiet. But the sun calls to me and the water, the beauty of this majestic world that I watched being created.”
“Enjoy, my friend.” Bella embraced him again. “Hopefully when you get back I’m still here and they haven’t managed to burn me at the stake.”
“Ah Bells, if they did that I certainly would need to come out of hiding to return the favor to them all.” Russell cupped her cheeks and his face was serious. “I mean it, you didn’t sign up for this, and I know you can fight for yourself. But the day they harm a hair on your head, they’ll remember who I am.”
Bella swallowed the emotion building within her. “I know... I know.”
He kissed her forehead and tapped her temple three times. “Good, I’m tapped into you, call me and I’ll be there.”
“One more thing.” Bella pulled the silver charm from her pocket. “Why won’t this thing leave me alone? Sach gave it to me and I’ve thrown it away over and over again. It keeps coming back. I’m going to melt the shit down if it doesn’t stop it.”
“Wouldn’t do any good, it would reform and do the same thing,” Russell said jovially. “I thought you could read our language.”
“Since I was cut off, I can’t anymore it seems,” Bella said.
“It’s a kind of beacon, for him if you’re in danger or vice versa,” he told her. “Unless Sach takes it back, it’s with you.”
“Of course it fucking is. I’ll get out of your hair,” Bella said. “So you can pack for your trip.”
Russell held out his hands and turned around. “I already am, baby!”
“Use the cell phone I taught you to use. If you hear anything I need to know, text is fine,” Bella grinned at his antics. “And stop watching Magnum P.I., I know that’s why you’re going to Hawaii.”
“You got me, but I’m okay with it,” he answered.
Russell walked with her to the door and with a wave he closed it as she got on her bike. The key tucked in the pocket of her jeans felt like a security blanket. Not even Sach knew that Russell was one of her connections and one she could trust. Everything he said ran through her mind while the gravel kicked up under the wheels of the Ninja and she left Russell’s secure home.
* * * *
Bella barely made it a few feet on the asphalt when a piercing headache blurred her vision and her Ninja skidded in the gravel and to the ground. Bella pulled off her helmet, trying to take a deep breath of air while her head beat like a drum and her vision became long points of light. The trees bent and warped and the world turned topsy-turvy. She could smell sulfur in her nose, taste acidic ash on her tongue, there was laughter, deep and dark, and she could feel each thud of footsteps vibrating through her body.
“The lock is open and ready for my return,” a voice deeper than thunder gloated.
“Who are you?” The words were screamed in terror. Was it her, or was it someone else?
A large, dark hand held Lumia struggling over a pit with black stone that seemed to be lava-hot. Bella had let her go back to her husbands and now the terror on her face was palpable as her tail whipped in a frenzy and her hands clawed at the large hand at her throat.
“Who are you!”
The words echoed, bouncing off the walls, and combined with the laughter from this entity, Bella covered her ears hoping to drown out the sound, the pain.
“Malphas.”
The ending of the name was drawn out until it sounded like a hiss and Bella struggled to breathe, the name literally took her breath away. He snapped Lumia’s neck as if it was nothing and then dropped her into the pit. Bella felt like she was peering through someone else’s eyes as she stared into the pit. Lumia’s body fell into the impenetrable darkness and was swallowed up.
“I found you.”
This voice was feminine, soft, but before Bella could try to see more, the pain stopped suddenly and she fell to the gravel. Drawing cool, fresh air into her lungs as deep as she could, it tasted like clean water, so she gulped at it eagerly. Soon she was able to get up on shaky legs and three words rocked through her mind. What the fuck!
She amended her task list. Her next stop would be an urgent one back in Seattle, and this wouldn’t be such a pleasant visit as the one she just had. Bella steadied herself on her bike before increasing her speed, heading to the demon’s lair. Of course it had to be a penthouse in an affluent area.
Denny Triangle was an up-and-coming neighborhood where the rent was an absurd amount and the residents acted like their shit didn’t stink like the rest of the world’s. Typical of wealthy people, it didn’t shock Bella in the least, nor was she surprised at the demon who lived there.
Ose liked the finer things in life, and living within heat and sulfur never whetted his appetite. He claimed she was the only one that he could stand being around, but she highly doubted that was the case. With his looks, the women that walked the streets outside his penthouse were like a candy chain that he could pluck at whenever he wanted.
They would drop their panties willingly for his charm and he would accept, not that she could blame him. She had her own dalliances with Sach under her belt, and whoever got into a committed relationship with an unnatural had to be mad. Bella parked her bike on the pristine street and away from a parking meter so they wouldn’t expect her to pay to be in Denny Triangle.
Of course when she walked into the building holding her helmet, the looks from residents leaving told her exactly what they thought of her. Bella was wearing jeans with holes that retailers called distressed, akin to how the doorman’s face was when Bella walked up to the desk.
“Mr. Ose, please,” Bella said politely.
“Is he expecting you?”
The haughty reply came from a man dressed in an immaculate dark blue suit, with a nose lifted so high in the air he could probably tell her what bread special Johnny’s Bakery at the corner had for the day.
Bella didn’t even try to temper her words, she’d almost had her brain melted by some kind of vision, something she’d never had before, and she was not in the mood for people like him.
“Okay, dude, you know you work here, right, and you don’t actually live here, hence, taking airs with me is more than a bit pathetic?”
“Is he expecting you?” The reply was snapped.
“You do know I could buy an apartment in here and make your life a living hell,” she shot back.
“I’m sure.”
The drollness in his voice made her grind her teeth. Bella pulled out her phone and made a call.
“Ose, are you at your place?” Bella asked in lieu of hello.
“Behind you,” he answered and she turned to see him coming through the chrome and glass door that led to the foyer of the building.
His face was devoid of a smile, more than likely still sore that she went home with Abeona instead of him.
“Don’t brood with me, we’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Bella chastised.
“You’ve been warned about showing up unannounced. What if I had other guests, the ones that you wouldn’t like?” Ose asked bluntly.
“Do you have those types of meeting here?” Bella asked.
“No, they don’t have respect for other people’s property,” he answered. “Still, you made a choice...”
“Could you please stop sulking over that,” Bella rolled her eyes. “I needed a safe place to sleep, not to spend every waking hour naked and fucking.”
The doorman gasped and seemed to choke on his saliva.
“Could you tell your bellboy that I’m on your list of guests that can see you at a whim?” she asked.
He wouldn’t crack a smile. “I have no such list.”
“Uh-huh.” Bella looked him up and down and took her helmet off the front desk before turning to leave. “I guess I came to the wrong person, I’ll see myself out.”
“Gavin, this is Belladonna, no last name, kinda like a rockstar, but better,” Ose said mildly, stopping her steps. “If she comes here, she is to be given access to my private elevator at once.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Ose,” Gavin the doorman gave her a sour look. “She was rude and claimed she could buy an apartment here... despite her manner of dress.”
“Being rude is one of the things I like about her,” Ose answered. “And yes, she could buy several apartments here. Ready to go, Bella?”
“Yep, sure am.” Bella beat a small tune on the desk and spoke in a smug voice. “I hope that teaches you not to judge a book by its cover.”
She followed Ose to the elevator and he only spoke when they were inside and the metal doors closed.
“I didn’t expect to see you for a while, since you have a new bestie,” Ose commented. “Has your preference turned to your own gender now?”
“And if it did, would you care?”
“Not particularly, an invite to be a third in such a party would not be refused.”
“Of course,” Bella snorted.
The elevator doors opened to his immaculate and lavishly decorated apartment. Ose took off his long leather coat and draped it over a stool next to his bar before going behind it to mix a drink.
“The usual?” Ose asked.
“Why not, but only one, I don’t want Abeona’s disapproving stare when I get back to her place,” Bella answered.
“She’s already changing you, I see,” Ose shook his head. “Such a pity.”
“Something strange happened on my way here,” Bella told him without beating around the bush. “I had a type of vision and it wasn’t a good one.”
Ose slid the frosted glass across the granite bar toward her. “Vision, that’s new, or have you had them before?”
“New and it hurt like a motherfucker,” Bella took a sip. “Only you would have a glass chiller.”
“I lived in Hell, darling, the cold entices me,” he replied. “Tell me about this vision.”
Bella proceeded to tell him exactly what happened and how she saw Lumia die.
“There was a female voice that said I found you,” Bella added. And the dark demon that killed Lumia was called Malphas.”
Ose choked on his drink. “Who?”
“Malphas, and I take it by your reaction you know him,” Bella concluded.
“Fuck, Bella, whatever is going on, leave it alone,” Ose said firmly. “Half angel or not, do not fight them on this shit, you will die.”
“Who is he?” Bella asked.
Ose took a long gulp, finishing his glass and making another drink quickly. “Malphas is the second to the dark lord himself and he commands legions upon legions of soldiers. If he is involved and he killed Lumia, a war is beginning and he is vying for the throne.”
“Great, a war in Heaven and one in Hell,” Bella shook her head.
“Wait, there’s a war in Heaven?” Ose asked in interest.
Bella pointed. “Don’t quote me on that, but both sides have some fucked up need to rule them all, like some D&D game.”
“D&D?”
“Dungeons and Dragons,” Bella explained. “It’s a game where people act out campaigns... never mind, it’s complicated to explain. Either way I can’t let this go, the female voice sounded like she knew me, what if she’s trapped or Malphas is using her to get to me? I still need to see if we can close the door...”
“I can tell you the answer to that, no, you can’t,” Ose answered. “I have an acquaintance versed in the lore who owns the ancient texts. And it seems the winged rats are the ones who did it, I suspect they did it in an effort to get rid of you. You’re becoming too powerful and it scares them enough to make them crack a door in hopes something nasty enough will come out and kill you.”
“My life is a joy to behold,” Bella muttered. “But no, I spoke to another friend of mine and he said the key of salvation is made of haven and welded by a demon and I suspect that is Malphas.”
Ose came around the bar to cup her cheek. “Belladonna, let me take you away from here, hide you, and they can fight until they wipe each other out for all I care.”
“I can’t do that,” Bella said huskily. “People, good people, could die in this fracas and they need someone to fight for them, even if they don’t know it. Angels, demons or maybe both want me dead, and I mean more than usual. I’m not going to hide from anyone.”
He pressed his forehead against her. “Why are you so damnably honorable, and good, after all this world has done to you?”
Bella wrapped her arms around his waist. “Because I have to believe that after all of that, I’m meant for something pure and to help. I can’t be just some abomination created by a human and an angel. My father said I was created out of love, and after all I’ve witnessed, if I don’t hold on to that, I’ll be lost.”
He tilted her head and kissed her gently. “I guess I need to protect you the best I can, since the angel turned out to be an entirely new level of cunt.”
Bella chuckled. “I thought it was your job to convert me to your side.”
Ose pinned her with his gaze. “None of them deserve you, Heaven, Hell, even me. You’re a treasure, I will make sure no one claims as theirs.”
“Wow, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you loved me,” she said lightly and her heart stopped when he didn’t answer for a long while.
“Enough of that,” he finally said. “Now where shall we eat?”
“I can only stay for a little while,” Bella told him. “Tonight, Abeona is going to try to help me find the location of the doorway.”
“Don’t do anything without me,” Ose demanded. “If you find that doorway, you wait for me. Malphas is not one to be trifled with.”
“If you help me it puts a target on your back,” Bella reminded him.
Ose shrugged. “I’m a demon, darling, there is always a target on my back.”
They began to discuss food, one of their favorite past times, but while she looked at him and laughed at his comments, in the back of her head, she actually wondered if the demon Ose had fallen in love... with her. Shit.