Rise of the Fallen Read online

  I opened my mouth slightly to warn him, but he cut me off. He spoke in a low, humming tone in an ancient language I didn’t understand, but one that I was certain I had heard before. The child understood, she stepped back suddenly. Her gaze shifted to me, then back to him and her form began to flicker. The winged man started to speak once more, then stopped, creating a piercingly dead silence.

  “Yes master.” The young girl breathed in and disappeared with a final flicker.

  He had complete control over her, I longed to know how. The red eyes on his wings seemed to be glued to me, watching every breath I took, the smallest movements of my hands and even the changes in my facial movements. It would be unnerving if it weren’t so intriguing. He started to speak to me. I shook my head to tell him I didn’t know what he was saying. He said nothing more, disappearing into a dark surge of smoke, which dispersed quickly into the air.

  I heard arguing outside on the other side of the cabin door and looked out to see Soul furious with Markos. He had reason to be, Markos had completely lost it and was trying to kill everyone, even Savine. Markos’ expression was passive. If he was angry or pleased with himself he didn’t show it. I pulled the desk away from the door and let them in. Soul walked in first, hesitating as he leaned forward and kissed me quickly on the forehead. Markos pushed past him, followed by Phebe and Bato.

  “I find it rather funny that you haven’t caught on to his powers yet,” Markos said.

  Soul turned and shot him an icy glare, but said nothing.

  Phebe looked around the room and noted that something felt strange.

  “Was someone in here?” Soul asked.

  I didn’t have a chance to answer, as Dorian chose to materialise just outside the door.

  “Emilie, my dear, would you please allow me to enter this oh-sohumble abode?” he said with a devilish smile.

  I looked back at him in confusion, “Why can’t you just come in?”

  “Old lore prevents me from entering another demon’s dwelling without the permission of a resident. Luckily, for certain others, that rule doesn’t apply,” Dorian said.

  He gave me a meaningful look with the last sentence, leaving me wondering how he knew about the winged man.

  “Come in, Dorian?” I offered.

  He walked into the room and Soul sighed loudly. “What on earth do you want, Dorian?” he asked, placing an overprotective hand on my shoulder.

  “Samael paid Emilie a little visit, and attempted to have a conversation of sorts with her. However, I’ve been led to believe that there was some miscommunication,” Dorian said, looking at me with a somewhat serious look in his eyes.

  Oh, so that was Samael.

  “Excuse me?” Soul asked loudly. The others’ eyes were glued to the two of them.

  “It appears our fallen angel has a soft spot for Emilie. He saved her from one of Lilith’s children.” Dorian smiled.

  Phebe’s eyes flashed to Soul, “I think it’s time you were completely honest with her. With all of us.”

  “Easy, sweetheart. I think you have more to worry about than Soul not being completely honourable in his intentions,” Dorian said, reaching forward and taking my hand in his and pulling me to him.

  Soul advanced on Dorian and I whispered for him to calm down. His jaw clenched and he reluctantly nodded. He took a step back and exhaled sharply.

  “Well, Dorian, what should we be worried about?” he all but hissed.

  “Well if you and your little band of ruffians,” Dorian squeezed me tighter, “had thought your plan through better, you wouldn’t have been ratted out by Andre. He’s already talked to Lilith.” I glared as he gripped harder and continued, “Looks like the cat’s out of the bag now.”

  Phebe turned on Markos. “This is your fault! I was content with how it was. You had to be a disgusting vampyre incapable of controlling your blood lust. I hope you know it’s your fault if we all die now.”

  “Enough,” Bato said, pulling Phebe back.

  “I agree. Phebe and Dorian, go check if we’re still safe here. Markos, go and pull yourself together,” Soul said. “I’m not leaving Emilie.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Emilie will be fine with Bato; I’d trust him with my own life.” Dorian said, rolling his eyes and stroking my upper arm with his hand.

  “Fine,” Soul said with disdain, walking out of the cabin.

  Phebe followed silently as did Markos, who disappeared into the woods.

  “Until I see you again, my love,” Dorian said, kissing the back of my hand and closing the door as he left the cabin.

  Bato dragged two chairs to the displaced table and gestured for me to sit. We sat in silence, not making eye contact. I decided to break the silence after goodness knows how long.

  “So, what’s Lilith’s deal? I mean, when will she give up?” I asked.

  “What you don’t seem to understand is that this isn’t about Lilith.” Bato said, shaking his head and tapping the table impatiently.

  Soul had made it fairly clear that it was Lilith who was the problem, Samael just tagged along for fun or whatever. If Soul had left something out, there had to be a reason for it. Dorian couldn’t be right, I couldn’t let him be. There was honestly no reason to think that he was in any way more trustworthy than Soul. Markos had begun to show his true colours; that was clear from his actions in the graveyard, the ruthless way he slaughtered those demons, even after Soul had told him to stop. It seemed like he was more interested in a massacre than helping Soul to free us.

  “If it isn’t about Lilith then what is it about?” I asked, leaning forward.

  He looked up at me and sighed. “Power. You see, it’s what she’s doing that gives him cause to do this – he honestly thinks he could do a better job. Who’s to say he’s wrong? Maybe he should have mentioned that a little earlier. Then again you probably wouldn’t have helped.”

  All of a sudden I felt as though I was being pushed off a skyscraper. Soul had lied to me to get me to help him, and I was only finding out about it now. It hardly seemed fair. Life isn’t fair though, not at all. I wanted to call Dorian to find out what he knew, but for all I knew he was still under Lilith’s spell. He would do anything for her; maybe he would kill for her. If Dorian was telling the truth about wanting to protect me though, he wouldn’t have left me with Soul if I wasn’t safe. There were some assumptions that I didn’t want to make anymore.

  The door opened behind us and I felt hands gripping my shoulders.

  “What’s going on?” Soul asked gently, leaning down to kiss me on the cheek.

  I couldn’t speak. I just stared at Bato. He shook his head discreetly. “Nothing, Soul. Just chatting.”

  “Hmm, Emilie, it seems Eric has been hanging around. Phebe has him outside. He wants to talk to you.” Soul seemed rather amused by this.

  I felt sickened as Soul’s hand stroked the side of my face. I didn’t speak or look at him as I rose from my place and made my way down the front porch steps to stand across from Phebe. She was holding Eric by his upper bicep, which was quite amusing to see – such a small woman having complete control over a man. Phebe pushed Eric away before running up the stairs to embrace Bato. Eric smiled at me. He had a cocky look in his eyes, the look that says “I told you so”. It made me want to punch him in the face.

  “What do you want? I have more important things to do than talk to you.” I asked breathlessly.

  I didn’t want to hear any more about the angels and how they were going to save us all. Holding onto something as stupid as that would break me. Soul had to have a good reason for lying to me. He would change things and I would stand by him.

  “You do realise that once your boyfriend takes over, millions of humans are gonna be killed,” Eric said, looking at me in desperation.

  I shrugged, “It’s a small price to pay, it doesn’t really mean anything to me. I’m not human.”

  I inwardly cringed at the cold tone of my own words. To make matters worse I was actually star
ting to believe what I had said.

  “I hate to break it to you, but you are human. Just because they can’t do what you can doesn’t make them any less worthy of living. I don’t care what you’ve been told to think, it’s not true. You’re pathetic.” His eyes were fierce as he spoke the words and I could do nothing.

  I looked down to the ground for a moment. “What is it that you want from me?”

  “The angels aren’t gone, and they won’t give up yet. I was going to ask you to come join me, but I can already tell it’s pointless. You’d rather get yourself killed for someone who doesn’t even care about you.” Eric turned and walked toward the woods.

  It probably would have been nice for me to call for him to stop, to call him back and tell him that I’m not a completely lost cause. Once he reached the thicker trees, he turned back and looked at me. In his eyes I could see that he didn’t want to leave me there. I didn’t know why he would even care, it’s not as though we had known each other at all. He was staring at me with a pained expression on his face, before he disappeared from view. I froze, then I ran to where he had disappeared. But he wasn’t there any longer.

  I heard the cabin door open behind me and felt the presence of someone.

  “Where are you going, Emilie?” Phebe’s feminine voice asked.

  “I think I need some fresh air,” I said.

  I just needed to go for a walk; I needed to think about everything. Why hadn’t Cael come back for me and taken me away from all of this? I’d clearly been around these demons for far too long.

  “Don’t go too far. If you need me just say my name.” Soul said from the dining table.

  I said nothing and began to walk into the trees opposite to where Eric had gone. I wasn’t going to chase after him, things were complicated enough without having to deal with a puppy who thought he knew everything. I took my time, walking off the path, noticing how the moss at the base of the trees seemed to spread along the ground in an endless sea of green. There was a constant sound of leaves blowing and rustling above me. I couldn’t hear any wildlife around, which was odd. I sat down at the base of a giant tree.

  Up ahead I could make out a small form. I stood and moved hesitantly towards it. Once I was close enough I saw it was a gate. There was a dark wooden picket fence, with flowering vines snaking their way between each post. The gate was shut, but didn’t seem to be locked. A few metres on the other side of the fence was a wide brick wall with a single archway in alignment with the gate. The bricks looked ancient and had moss in the cracks, giving the stones a permanently wet and dark look. Beyond the archway was darkness.

  I jumped over the fence easily and approached the archway. I stretched my neck to see if I could see any further, but I couldn’t. I knew I should turn back, Soul would be furious if something happened to me. At least, I hoped he would be furious if something happened to me. I didn’t know what to think anymore. I walked forward into the darkness, only to discover a few metres in that I could hear the bubbling sounds of a stream. I walked straight ahead for another minute, then stopped. The moss that covered the ground was reflected in the water of the stream, bathing the area in a bright green light. It was truly beautiful. I spun around full circle to take in the sight around me.

  Wild rose bushes speckled the courtyard, the trees were especially vibrant and had brightly coloured fruit hanging from their branches. This place was so beautiful it was almost eerie. There were two stone benches beside the brook that flowed through the courtyard. Beside the furthest bench I saw him. He was kneeling in front of something, his usually neat black suit was speckled with leaves, and his hair was in disarray.

  “Markos?” I asked softly.

  He froze and looked back to me, his burgundy eyes glimmered dangerously. Neither of us moved; I held my breath, waiting for him to launch into attack and once again become the dangerous animal that he had been in the graveyard.

  “Emilie,” Markos responded. His calm was unnerving.

  He gestured for me to come closer, and I did, close enough to see what he was doing. To his left was a pile of ashes, and in front was a coffin of a peculiar colour.

  “It’s blackwood,” Markos said offhandedly, reaching for more of the ashes.

  I frowned, “What are you doing?”

  His eyes met mine, then returned to the coffin in front of him. He seemed to move quicker, placing the rest of the ashes into the coffin with little care, then shut the lid.

  “Putting my dear Savine to rest properly. She deserves that much respect,” Markos said, reaching behind the coffin and retrieving a hammer and nails.

  “What are you doing now?” I asked, dropping my hand from my face and kneeling down beside him.

  He hammered three nails into the rim of the closed coffin and turned it around, then did the same to the other side.

  “Vampyres are incredibly difficult to kill, so just to make sure she stays this way I’ll make it impossible for her to get out. A weak vampyre can do very little.” Markos stood up, kicking the coffin away.

  I sat on the stone bench. Markos joined me.

  “So what brings you to my little hideaway?” he asked with a laugh.

  I shrugged. “I needed to think. Obviously I haven’t been told the truth.”

  “Ah, what would you like to know? Maybe I can answer some questions, I’m not just a pretty face you know,” Markos said with a smirk.

  “Okay, why were those children the way they were?” I asked.

  Markos looked thoughtful. “Lilith created them. She sees them as her children, though none could compare with her own blood.”

  “What do you mean, ‘her own blood’?”

  Markos smiled ruefully. “You ask far too many questions; you may not like all the answers.”

  I shook my head. This was one thing I wanted to know. I wanted to know exactly what Soul had brought me into.

  “The angels made sure that Lilith and Samael could never produce a child, they couldn’t risk something that strong ever being born.” Markos spoke while brushing some dirt and moss off his pants. “What they didn’t count on was Lilith’s … hold over men.”

  “So she made those children demons?” I asked, my disgust growing.

  Markos nodded absent mindedly. “However, one of the angels apparently got her pregnant. So she has a blood child.”

  “No way, who was the father?” I asked.

  Markos laughed, “Let’s just say it was one who should have known better. Anyway, killing off the other children will make it easier to get to Lilith’s daughter.”

  “So is her daughter powerful?”

  “She has the same amount of power as Lilith. Dorian is the only one who knows what form she’s in now. I believe Soul told me you saw her last form.”

  “Um, no I didn’t.”

  Markos remained insistent. “She passed herself off as an earth elemental to get close to you.”

  Holly.

  “No, I saw Lilith kill her.”

  “No, you saw Lilith kill her human form, the demon child can’t be killed that easily. It has to be done by Samael for it to be effective. Well, Samael or Soul.” Markos ran his hand through his hair.

  “What does Soul have to do with it?”

  “He could adapt the powers he has accumulated over the years to form one that works the same as Samael’s,” Markos gave me the isn’t-it-obvious look. The shadows in the garden deepened and a chill ran through my body.

  I shook my head. “So Soul can steal others’ powers?”

  Markos frowned. “I thought he would have told you that.”

  I sat in stunned silence. Markos mumbled something but I didn’t hear what it was. Dorian shimmered into view. He looked unimpressed with Markos but flashed me a flirty smile. Markos rose and walked to where the coffin was lying discarded. He picked it up in his strong arms and jumped across the stream and disappeared into the trees.

  “He’s a control freak, it was bothering him to have his unfinished work sitting in clea
r view,” Dorian said answering my unspoken question.

  My gaze returned to the ground, “Where’s her daughter now?”

  “Oh, she’s probably wreaking havoc on some humans,” he said offhandedly.

  I looked up at him, “So you don’t know where she is?”

  Dorian smirked, “Of course I do. And Soul’s worried now. She’s closer than he had thought. Now he might actually have to follow through with his plans.”

  I enjoyed hearing Soul being insulted; I knew it was cruel but it was true. Dorian seemed only too happy to see me amused by the suffering of Soul. Typical, Dorian probably thought we had just bonded some more. I could never pick him over Soul. There was nothing about him that appealed to me anymore, I’d seen the betrayal and cowardice he was capable of.

  “Well I best get you back to him, you’ll need to be prepared for tomorrow.” Dorian said, reaching for my hand.

  I took his hand and we were on the porch of the cabin once more. The door was wide open. Soul stood up and greeted us with a smile.

  “I’m glad you’re back, I missed you.” Soul’s voice was sweet, but he threw a look at Dorian.

  “Relax my friend, I was merely returning her. She had a good chat with Markos.” Dorian smiled down at me.

  I glared back at him. He had no reason or right to tell Soul where I was or who I was talking to. I gazed back to Soul, he looked a little uncomfortable.

  “Dorian, can you leave? I think I should get to talk to her, too.” he said softly.

  Dorian bowed his head to me and turned to leave, shimmering out of sight. Soul led me back inside and sat me at the table. The others were nowhere to be seen, which made me curious. Soul must have seen it in my eyes because he spoke quickly.

  “They went out for a little bit. So … I suppose you know about Zaida then?” Soul asked, reaching out and taking my hand.

  I looked down at our entwined hands and nodded, assuming that Zaida was Lilith’s daughter.

  “Good. I mean, I would have preferred to be the one who told you, but at least you know. Tomorrow we’re going to ambush her. It’ll be fine. I’ll make sure that you’re safe,” Soul sounded rather convincing.