Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen (41 page)

             
“Perhaps so.  But you’ve offended my creation far too many times.  The most treasured creation I’ve made in my existence.  I told you a long time before this that I would tear you apart and make sure we’d never meet again if you crossed me, and you’re coming very close with this.  Besides, your creation there has also pledged his loyalty to Ariana on his own free will, just as this other one has.  So if you’re thinking of taking him, then you'll have to go through me first.  I have plans for these two, and you will not ruin them.” Saffron informed him in a low voice.

             
As I watched, the black tattoo crawled back up onto his neck and cheek, and his hands transformed back into black claws.  All at once, he was becoming extremely dangerous again.  Will took a few steps back with me, still holding me tight and close.  “Be ready.  This may get very bad.” he whispered in my ear.

             
I nodded, not taking my attention away from them.  Astaroth himself let Zane go, jumping back as more shadows moved down the stairway, shredding the wood right down the middle.  Thankfully, Zane regained his senses quickly and jumped out of the way as well, doing a back flip and landing on his feet a good distance away.  The shadows that had come to life had missed Astaroth, but just barely.  “So you’ve shown your true colors.  You are no different from the rest of us.  You play harmless, but you are more vicious than most.” he said, his own shadows flying out from all around him as he turned back into a dark figure.

             
Will quickly pulled me against him, his wings coming out as he flew off of the porch and over to the nearby woods.  Near us, Zane did the same.  As we watched, two dark shapes quickly flew into the woods across from us after each other.  Zane breathed hard, holding his throat for a moment.  “You doing okay?” Will asked him cautiously.  He was breathing hard himself, but trying to hide it.  I halfway wondered if the healing wound in his chest was causing him more pain because of his sudden movements.

             
“I’m fine.  That grip is like a vice when he does that.  But it looks like I don’t have to worry too much this time.  Saffron will be fighting him instead of me.” Zane replied.

             
“Do you think Saffron will be okay?” I asked them.

             
“I wouldn’t worry too much about him.  He’s very dangerous himself.  And he’s pissed now, so it’s only going to be worse.  I have the feeling that Astaroth may come out of this in pieces again.  It doesn’t really matter that much though.  It’s in their nature to tear each other apart in fights, then allow themselves to heal again for the next big grudge match.” Zane admitted.

             
Will let me go, rubbing his chest again.  “Maybe it’s better that way.  It’s bad enough that he’s staying here and trying to dictate everything.  We’re not the type to just bend, even to one like him.” he said.

             
“Yes.  But we need to be careful about all of this as well.  Having Saffron is a good thing when we consider what may come from Jade.  No doubt he’s got it out for us now after what happened, whether Chris is alive or dead.” Zane reminded him.

             
“Well, Saffron does seem to think that he’s alive.  He was able to tell me that much before Astaroth showed up.” I told them.

             
"See, what did I tell you?  Chris is tough.  It would take a lot more than that to kill him.” Will said.  He looked very relieved now.  Not that I blamed him.  After all, he’d been pretty torn up when he’d thought that one of his closest friends had been killed because of his mistake.

             
“No kidding.” Zane agreed, although he didn’t seem like he was half as happy as Will.  I wondered why.

             
At that, I thought about the meeting with Kinsley again.  I hadn’t gotten the chance to tell either of them about it.  “Hey, by the way, there’s something else I wanted to tell you both.  Apparently, I got to see one of those clan leaders this morning.” I said.

             
Both of them looked at me then with shocked expressions on their faces.  “You saw one of the Seraphs?  How?” Zane asked.

             
“It was through my dreams.  It was weird, but somehow, I was transported to where he was.  Even he said that he didn’t know exactly how it happened.  But he talked to me, and he said that they were trying to make it so that Judiel and those other angels couldn’t hunt us anymore.  It was never right for them to do so, and with the clans being around now, there was no reason for it as long as we weren’t doing bad things.” I told them.

             
For a moment, Will and Zane were quiet.  But they still looked shocked.  Will rubbed his chest where his wound was finally healing.  “So they’d actually want to help us now?  Took them long enough.” he muttered.

             
“I don’t believe it.  What good would it do to help us now?  They know that we’ve been hunted for centuries.  And on top of that, they know that our own fathers may cause us harm.  What good would this do aside from perhaps giving the Fallens a shallow victory against them?” Zane complained.

             
His words surprised me a little.  “You really don’t think they’d help us?” I asked him.

             
“Not at all.  It’s ridiculous to even entertain the thought.  It’s been far too long, and like I said, with our own fathers hunting us, there’s no point.” Zane replied, crossing his arms and looking away.

             
“Come on Zane.  I get what you’re saying, but there is still a chance.  You and I both know that.  Those clans really changed the playing field for all of this.  Think about it.  They’re never waited this long to resume the hunt before.  And even Lucifer himself is interested in an outcome this time.  There must have been something with all of this.  Maybe there has been from the start.” Will reasoned.

             
Zane shot him a nasty look then.  “And you would continue believing everything he tells you, wouldn’t you?  You’ve always been willing to follow whatever Lucifer says, even though you try to call yourself good at heart.” he said.

             
“I’ve made my mistakes.” Will growled back.  “But these angels are different.  They aren’t hunters.  And the tides are changing.  I told you before that I sensed it, and I’m never wrong about those things.”

             
“They’re still angels.  And must I remind you that you almost got yourself killed because you underestimated things?  Not to mention that now Chris is gone as well for that big mistake you made.” Zane argued.

             
I saw the red specks appear in Will’s eyes as he narrowed them at Zane, and quickly moved to get between them.  “Hey!  No arguing!  I don’t want another fight to start!  That’s the last thing we need right now!” I told them.

             
They both stared each other down, but thankfully decided to back off.  “Sorry.  But I can’t make myself believe such a thing right now.  Please, excuse me.” Zane said, quickly walking away.

             
I just stared at him as he disappeared into the shadows leading back to the house.  What in the world had that been about?  I’d never seen Zane act like that before.  But I reasoned that perhaps it was from his encounter with Astaroth too.  It may have shook him up, and hearing what I was saying probably didn’t help.  Maybe I should’ve waited until a little bit later to tell them about that…

             
Will quietly walked over and pulled me close to hug me.  “It’s all right.  This wasn’t your fault.  He’s just got a lot going on, and it’s always been hard for him to think about redemption.” he said softly.  His breathing was still a little bit labored, but seemed better then what it was moments before.

             
I felt myself smile, snuggling against him.  “Thanks Will.” I said. 

             
“Please, don’t be afraid of me, okay?” Will said softly.

             
“I won’t.  I trust you.” I replied, snuggling my face against his shoulder as I held onto him.  I couldn’t explain why, but I really was starting to feel comfortable with him now.  Even with what he’d done before, and knowing what he was, I found that I still trusted Will.  Was it because he’d saved my life before?  Maybe.  But a part of me also worried that maybe it was a little bit more too.  I’d felt a closeness to Will ever since we met.  He was always so friendly and inviting.  Oh, this wasn’t good….

             
A scream made us pull back and look over towards the house.  Even through the window upstairs, we could hear Mama screaming as she pounded on it.  Will sighed and shook his head.  “She’s getting worse now.  Maybe it’s time to let her go.” he suggested.

             
“You mean to finally let her die?” I said softly.

             
“For lack of a better term, yes.  I’m sorry to say that, but you know yourself that it’s probably for the best.  After all, she’s suffering terribly now.” Will told me.  He was trying to be gentle now.  But then again, I had the feeling that he’d experienced a lot of loss in his lifetime.  He probably understood all too well how hard it was.

             
“I know.  But I…” I started.

             
“You’ll let them do what needs to be done.  There’s nothing more to say about it.” Saffron interrupted, stepping out from the nearby trees.  He was dusting himself off, and didn’t seem hurt at all.  He’d also transformed back to look like a normal human again.

             
“Looks like you took care of things.  That was quick.” Will said, coughing a little.  He held his chest tightly as he did.  No doubt it was very painful for him to cough right now.  I actually found myself helping to hold him up a little as we stood there.

             
“Of course.  I have better things to do then put up with that arrogant duke.  He honestly thought I couldn’t take him again.  He knows better.” Saffron said.  He didn’t seem the least bit concerned about Will, but then again, that didn’t surprise me.  The only things that Saffron ever seemed concerned about were me and his interests.

             
“I think we all know that.  But what are you planning on doing about the woman now?  You know it’s almost over.” Will said, still playing tough.

             
“I’m well aware of that.  But I’ll let you and Zane take care of it.  It seems I have other things that need to be done at this time.  Make sure you both take good care of Ariana until I return again.” Saffron replied.

             
“Wait a minute.  So you’re just leaving again?” I said in disbelief.

             
“Don’t worry.  It won’t be terribly long.  A few weeks perhaps.  But until I return, I want you to remain with these two.  They will take you with them to a safer place and make sure you’re comfortable in your life now.” Saffron replied.

             
I couldn’t say I liked this at all.  I’d just gotten my father back, and now he was leaving me again.  But then again, what could I really expect from him?  I hadn’t seen the others stick around that much.  It probably wasn’t in their nature. 

             
Will nodded beside me.  “Fine.  We’ll make sure she’s safe until then.  But what are you planning on doing about that Seraph?  He said he wants to stop all of the hunting now.  Are you going to challenge him, or actually consider working with him?” he asked.

             
Saffron just smiled at us.  “That’s for me to know and you to find out.  Just make sure you obey what I’ve said.  If anything happens to her, I’ll make sure you and Zane both don’t survive to see another sunrise.” He said.  And with that, he turned back into a black shadow and disappeared into the woods once again.

             
“Trust me, we know to take anything you say seriously.” Will breathed.

             
I looked back over at him.  “Come on Will.  We need to get back in.  You’re not doing so good.” I said.

             
Will nodded in agreement, and we slowly walked back to the house.  Looking at the front though, I had to shake my head.  The stairs leading up onto the porch were all but destroyed.  Apparently, the clash of Saffron and Astaroth’s shadows had been a bit more massive then I’d originally thought.  The wood was all busted and splintered from the front door to the bottom of what was once the stairs.  Just great, I thought.  Of course they’d have to destroy a part of the nice house that may be mine one day….

             
We ended up going in through a side door because of this.  Allowing Will to sit down on the couch, I looked up at the ceiling as a heard a crash upstairs.  Mama was apparently throwing things now.  Looking around, I realized that I didn’t see Saffron anywhere.  He hadn’t come back to the house after all.  “So he’s really left already?  That’s just great.  Now what?” I complained.

             
“It’s okay.  We’ll just have to deal with things on our own.  That’s just how they are sometimes.  He probably didn’t want to kill her himself because he likes seeing her suffer.” Will admitted, keeping his head down.  He still looked like he was in terrible pain.