Guardian Of Fate (Fate Series) (23 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When the light finally faded enough for me to see comfortably, I had to blink several times just to make sure what I was seeing was really there. It could only be described as an army of men, their skin radiant with light. It was as if their bright souls were transcending their bodies for all to see. While each of them differed in appearance, they were all beautifully alluring; each and every one of them. Their only common attribute was the color of their eyes. Resembling the color of emeralds shining under a shimmering white light, they were mesmerizing.

Powerfully built, they appeared as angelic warriors standing on the street before Nergal and his demons. All were strong and at attention, as if assigned, their swords and shields positioned for battle. They wore steel armor over their tunics to protect their bodies.

One stood out in front of them all, as if he were the leader. While he shared the fierce green eyes, his other features were sharp, more powerful looking, and different from the rest. He had long, dark hair that was pulled back from his face and held in place by a very regal headpiece, etched with an emblem, which spanned his forehead. His silky white tunic was partially covered by gold armor, molded to his muscular build. Massive arms matched his bare shoulders, one of which held an intricately carved sword at the ready. His presence exuded respect and compliance and, right now, he seemed to be demanding just that from Nergal.

Nergal continued to hold Anael ruthlessly by the back of the head, but it seemed the intimidation of the men before him was enough to drop his arm, dropping the damning Sword to his side.

"Hadraniel," he spit as if the name left a bad taste in his mouth. "Why do you presume to care for Anael now? You gave her up when you tossed her soul into the depths of Hell with me long ago."

Holy shit! Was this the angel that Anael told me she had betrayed? He'd come back for her after all this time? But why? And why now?
The answers didn't really matter at the moment, however. Standing before me was, in essence, good versus evil. The good guys against the bad guys. Realizing that the next few moments could potentially change the universe as we knew it, I held my breath while I watched.

"The reasons for my actions are no longer of your concern, Nergal. What you need to be concerned about is if that Sword scratches even the smallest pore of her skin, I will consider it a challenge to war. And I'm quite certain you do not possess the strength in numbers or power to make that move yet. I've made sure of that. You are also forbidden to take another of my
descendents to your putrid underworld. Cassandra is not to step foot in Sheol," Hadraniel stated with tenacity, his eyes boring into Nergal.

I placed my hand on the car door to hold me up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Hadraniel had just said I was his
descendent. But how?

"But she is of our blood too now," Nergal argued. I couldn't believe it. Here I was, standing in the middle of nowhere, and I had Heaven and Hell fighting over my blood. This was something you read about in horror books, it didn't happen in real life.

"She has shown no tendencies as a demon or Seeker. Her Guardian blood seems to be overpowering the poison of your kind. We've watched over her since coming into her bloodlines," he explained.

I looked at Nora and she put her head down, a telltale sign that she had to be their source of knowledge.

"She will remain in our world, with our rules," Hadraniel continued, "unless she starts displaying her evil lineage."

Talk about fate, I thought. Mine was dependent on whether I let the tiger out of the cage that inhabited my body. It was a terrifying awareness of what I was capable of. It was even more frightening to think about what the consequences would be if I were to change.

"You really have no choice here, Nergal. Pick up your dregs and take them back to Sheol, or we fight here and now," he said with finality.

Nergal looked to the demons surrounding him, which seemed like a small circle of friends compared to the army standing in front of him. He motioned the guards near him towards Caleb's body, "Pick him up and take him back to my quarters," he said dejectedly. "This isn't over, Hadraniel. We will face off again."

"I look forward to it," Hadraniel answered.

"You can be sure next time, we will be ready for war. And we will win. Humanity will be ours and all of your angels will be our slaves," he finished with a sneer.

"We shall see."

Nergal looked to Anael then, adding "Useless bitch. I'm glad to be rid of you. I'm even happy I didn't go through with your final death. Now you can torture your old love for the rest of eternity."

Anael met his gaze, probably finding new ambition from the fact that she would finally be shielded from him. She was, after all, an angel at heart.

He motioned for the guards handling Hunter to follow. As they walked, Hunter turned his head towards me. All of the feelings I'd had for him came rushing back, knowing I'd probably never see him again. I ran up and stood in front of them, blocking their path.

"Stop!" I told them. "I have something to say before you take him away." The guards looked over my shoulder at Nergal. I turned towards Nergal as well and told him, "You have nothing to worry about. I don't want him. I just have a few things I want him to remember me by." Nergal looked like he was going to protest, so I quickly got closer to him before he had the chance.

I was so close I could feel Hunter's breath on the tip of my nose as I looked up at him. With every inch of resolve I had in my soul, I glared into his eyes. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to think I'd fallen in love with you. You lied to me and used me for your own pleasure. I despise you, Hunter. I may have demon blood in me, but I will never be as ugly as you. You truly are a demon from Hell, and I hope you rot there."

I heard the guards quietly laugh at his side, but I continued to stare at him as he slowly closed his eyes and let out an aching sigh. When he opened them back up, there was no angry response, as I expected there would be. There was almost understanding and resolve reflected in the liquid blue orbs.

"You may hate me now, Cassandra, but someday you'll realize that I kept those things from you to protect you. If you think I'm ugly for being a demon, how would you have felt about your father, or yourself? I know now, after loving you, how hard it is to accept who I am, and feel the way I do about you. I'm a demon. I'm not supposed to love anything, feel anything, but lust for evil. But I love you, Cassandra. I lust for only you."

His words melted my heart, despite me wanting to hate him for what he'd done. I really never thought of him as anything else but a demon, once I knew. He was right, I couldn't get past it. I'd pegged him as evil from the beginning and when I found out he'd lied to me, I thought it all fell into place, that he used me for his own evil intentions. The times we were together, those beautiful moments when we were alone, I'd gotten past it and even thought that he'd somehow overcome the blood that ran through his veins. But he'd never overcome it; he merely waged his own war with it for what he felt for me. I blinked back tears, not wanting to show him how he'd affected me, but I knew he caught it. He caught everything about me.

"When that someday comes, I promise, I'll be back for you," he told me. "And when I come back, you won't doubt me; or this
—"

Suddenly he was out of the hands of the guards and his own hands were capturing my face hard, pulling it towards his lips. There was no time to fight him off. His tongue was in my mouth, desperate to taste what he could, before being pulled away. As quickly as he had assaulted my mouth, he was back in the clutches of the guards. I felt empty, as I watched him surrender to them. It was as if he'd ripped my heart out as he was pulled from me. They tried to maneuver him around me, but before they'd passed, he leaned towards my ear, just close enough for me to hear him quietly say, "I'll be back for you, Cassandra, my love."

***

As the demons disappeared into the night, I stood in the middle of the street, immobilized by my emotions. Hunter's words twisted around my heart, circling like bloodthirsty sharks. The cage I shielded it with after hearing about his deceit, threatened to break open and allow them to feed on it. I knew the love I felt for him was real, because it penetrated through the pain of knowing he'd kept those life-changing things from me and overpowered it. My heart heard his reasoning and loved him all the more for it. The only pain now was that he was gone, probably forever. I would need to force my heart to beat again without him.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and slowly, lifelessly, I turned around. Anael pulled me into her arms, and I rested my head on her shoulder, allowing the tears to flow freely. She didn't say anything; just held me there while my tears turned to racking sobs. Everything that had transpired in the last few weeks came crashing down on me, crushing me. I felt a gentle hand on my face and smelled my mom's familiar scent on it. Opening my eyes, she appeared before me, concern and love on her face. Anael handed me off to her, and we hugged for a long time, crying together over everything we had learned.

"Dad..." I started, but couldn't find the right words to express the shock I felt, as I'm sure she did also, about him not being alive, but most importantly, that he'd been a demon all along.

"I know, I know. I can't believe it either. All this time I thought he was a Guardian. I never would have guessed - I mean, how could I not have known for all those years?" she asked more to herself. "I thought we were in love, but how could he have loved me if he was a demon?"

Pulling from her quickly, I looked into her eyes, and said through tight lips, "I'm going to find him, Mom. I'm going to find him and make him explain everything. I swear it."

"No, you won't," came Hadraniel's voice from behind me, deep and with powerful authority.

I whirled around, prepared for a verbal battle of wills, but the intensity of his eyes melted my resolve. He had a power over me that I couldn't explain and couldn't resist.

"I can't just let him suffer like that," I said.

"Cassandra, your father's fate was decided long ago. He was turned, so he belongs to Sheol now. I cannot help him; his blood is not ours anymore." He glanced at Anael, who was now at his side. "Nor can you, if you wish us to protect you. There will be many more Seekers they will send after you. You are the last of our line and very powerful. The only way into Sheol is to allow your demon blood to overpower your Guardian. If you allow that to happen, we will consider you fallen from our graces and deem you as our enemy."

The realization of my demon blood hit me. Part of my soul belonged to Hell, just as my father did. But I wasn't forced to drink the blood of a Seeker, I was born with it. My fate seemed to be at war all on its own, at any point in time going in a different direction. What I wanted to know now, was how much control I had in changing the course of that path.

"You mean I can get into Sheol? How? I mean, I don't even feel like I'm a demon. Shouldn't I have some evil thoughts going on or something?" Probably not the best thing to be asking one of the most powerful angels in Heaven, especially one that just sent the Devil back where he came from.

He looked at me for a minute as if contemplating what he should or should not tell me. "Our blood in you is strong, Cassandra. You will be wise to keep it that way. You have the powers of both worlds. The Seeker is also in your blood, but you must not acknowledge it. If you do, there is no telling where your soul will lie. Live your life as you had before all of this happened. Continue to serve the angels as a Guardian and we will watch over you. You can live the normal life that you've always wanted."

I nodded my acknowledgement of his wishes, but he wasn't finished. "This includes staying away from Hunter, Cassandra. If he does manage to escape from Nergal's tortures again, he will come back for you. The bond that you created with him is strong, almost as strong as your bloodline, but you must sever it. His fate was sealed long ago and it does not include you. You are forbidden to be with that demon again, just as you are forbidden to enter Sheol. The consequences will be the same."

I wasn't about to argue with him, not after all he'd done tonight. He'd been my Guardian and I was surrounded by the people that I loved because of it. It was time to concede to the path he was pointing me towards. I'd follow his direction... for now.

Before they all disappeared, Anael explained that she still had a special connection with me and she'd always know when I was in trouble. She wasn't sure what Hadraniel had in mind for her, but she promised that no matter what, she'd come to help if I ever needed it.

Nora ran up to Hadraniel and Anael as they began to walk away from the car and I watched as they talked. My heart felt heavy, knowing she'd probably go back with them since her job with me was done. Or was it? I saw her walking towards my mom and me until the brilliant flash of light from the angels forced me to look away. As soon as my eyes adjusted back to the darkness, Nora was in front of me, smiling.

"They let me stay," she said, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "I asked them and they said I could stay as long as
—" she stopped, afraid of speaking what I already knew.

"As long as I don't get all demon on you, I get it."