I leaned against the pillar, glass in hand, staring down into the crimson liquid. That was the good thing about Sheol, human blood was plentiful. Tonight, it was served in crystal jugs from a particular table. It was good quality, rich and delicious, and somehow, it remained at body temperature. Normally I would be taking advantage of guiltless drinking, but I had no appetite.
I raised my gaze and stared out into the throng of people that filled the immense ballroom of the palace at Dis. A full orchestra occupied a large podium on the left side of the room, and the centre was filled with a flurry of skirts and suits from every era, both on Earth and here and Sheol. Colour filled the space, contrasting with the pale cream walls and pillars. The polished marble floor was a similar shade, shot through with veins of brown and copper, though you couldn’t see much of it for the people. Tall, arched windows would normally let in the soft grey light from outside, but now it was after nightfall, so they stood in dark juxtaposition against the pale walls. Bright flames flickered in ornate torches that hung from every pillar, and huge ones on vast chains lowered from the edges of the golden dome that crowned the very centre of the room. Mainly clear, they had panels of coloured glass that threw rainbow patterns across walls, floors, and faces. I had been here before, but the beauty of the place still left me awed.
I wondered what Faith would think of the palace. I knew she had seen enough to know that everything about Hell was not what she had been brought up to believe, but it had taken me a while to accept that this wondrous city was the centre of what I had been taught was a dark, tormented place of endless flames and screams of agony. The orthodox priests who had taught me my lessons would be horrified to find their place of torture was a place of joy and celebration, of families and friendships, and love. My stomach twisted as I thought of the first time Amadi had brought me here. He’d laughed at my wide eyes and open mouth, and had taken me from room to room, insisting on a kiss for every room we saw together. My heart ached and raged in my chest as heartbreak and anger warred for dominance. I felt helpless, like I was abandoning him by being here in the midst of dancing and music and feasting when he was being tormented by a cruel master. I took a drink and swallowed it down, feeling the warmth and sustenance spread through my body, calming me slightly. I reminded myself we weren’t abandoning him. We were here to talk with Samael and Lilith to get more information about Cain, and I needed to deliver my own to Deliah, and to Cas and Faith as well. We would get him back.
I took another drink, draining the glass, and placed it on a nearby table, then I straightened my tailcoat and ventured into the crowd to search for Cas and Faith.
It didn’t take long. I felt the buzz go through the people around me, and I followed the upturned faces to the top of the huge, split stairway that led down into the centre of the ballroom. Cas and Faith stood in the middle, looking out over the crowd to where Samael and Lilith sat on their ornate golden thrones at the opposite end of the hall. Cas bent into a respectful bow and Faith dipped in a somewhat unsteady curtsey. I could tell by the expression on her face that she was not impressed by the situation, and judging by the daggers she shot at Cas as they both straightened, I had a feeling a certain fallen angel had not told her about Lilith’s liking for large, extravagant affairs, or that she would be expected to attend in full formal attire. I grinned, half wishing I’d been in the room when she’d found out.
I watched as they slowly descended the stairs, as did others around me. Cas always drew attention in Sheol, and tonight was no exception. Clad head to foot in a black suit, shirt, and tie, his oil slick wings folded in tightly but visible behind him, he looked every inch the high-ranking denizen of Sheol that he was. As one of the original fallen angels, he had some of the highest status in Sheol, and that, paired with his devastating looks, made him a highly desired target among the demonic females. I wondered if Faith knew about that.
I watched with a smile on my face as she slid deftly between Cas and a purple-skinned demon who had reached out with two of her six hands to stroke his chest. From this distance, and with the music and the chatter, I couldn’t hear what she said, but I saw the demon pull a face at her and then stomp off through the crowd. Grinning at the look of self-righteous pride on her beautiful face, I moved towards them through the crowd.
“My lady,” I greeted grandly, sweeping into a rather flamboyant bow. I straightened to see her staring at me, her lips parted.
Cas grinned. “Yes, he does clean up rather well, doesn’t he?”
I laughed. Faith’s eyes travelled over my navy brocaded coat, and she reached out to brush her fingertips over the gold embroidery.
Her emerald eyes reached mine, and she smiled. “You look amazing, Alex.”
I took her hand in mine and pressed my lips against her slender fingers. “As do you. You look downright…” I stepped back, still holding her hand, and ran my eyes slowly up and down her body. The bloodred strapless dress clung to her curves, contrasting gorgeously with her pale skin, and flared out from her knee to dust the floor. Silver beadwork looped in patterns over the bodice and down into the folds of the skirt, accentuating her breasts and hips and sparkling as it caught the light. I stared too long at the creamy expanse above her bodice, where a glittering diamond necklace dropped gracefully between her breasts and the long matching earrings fell nearly to her shoulders. Her dark crimson hair was pulled into an elaborate braid that trailed over one shoulder, leaving the other side mouthwateringly bare. I finally dragged my gaze back up to meet hers and found an amused smile playing about her ruby lips.
“You were saying?” she prompted.
I stepped closer to her, taking her into my arms and brushing my lips down the side of her perfect neck. “You look downright delicious, Faith,” I murmured in her ear.
“Do I really?” she purred, her voice low as she turned and touched her lips to mine. “Are you going to eat me up?”
I raised my eyebrows, and my heart beat a little faster as the blood rushed to her face.
“I didn’t mean… I meant…”
“Oh, I think you did,” I murmured quietly, moving behind her and sliding my hands over her hips. I pulled her back against me gently, feeling the delicate beads under my fingers and picturing them scattering everywhere as I tore the dress off her body. “And I’d be more than happy to oblige…”
“As would I.” I looked up as Cas moved forward, slipping his hands around her waist so she was trapped between us. He bent down and kissed her softly. “In fact, we could take turns.”
“Take turns?” she echoed.
I smiled at the quiver in her voice. “That’s an idea. We could take turns kneeling between your legs, worshipping you like the queen you look like tonight, making you come over and over…” This time the quiver was in her legs, and I tightened my grip as she swayed.
“Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?”
The scent of pine trees laced with saltwater drifted through the air, and I looked up to see Sam watching us with a knowing smile on his face. Not usually one to dress for the occasion, he’d made an effort tonight by wearing a pale blue open-necked shirt under a linen jacket with dark blue chinos. I heard Faith’s heart speed up even more, and I grinned.
“Oh, I think Cas and I would be happy for you to join in, and I’m fairly sure Faith would enjoy it too,” I remarked.
She elbowed me in the stomach and pushed out from between us to wrap her arms around Sam’s neck. “You’re back!”
Sam smiled down at her, sliding his arms around her in return. “Couldn’t keep me away from you, baby girl, at least not for long.” He looked up at me and reached out to put his hand on my shoulder. “How are you holding up, Alex?”
I shrugged. The pain hit me in the chest again. I had brief moments where I almost forgot, and then pain and guilt would slam into me when I remembered Amadi.
Sam gave me a sad smile, then looked at Cas. “Do we know any more?”
Cas scanned the crowd before taking Faith’s hand and moving across the room. There were small spaces off the main room with long, silken curtains that could be pulled across for privacy. Cas strode over to one that was half open. “Out.”
A group of demons with assorted skin colours and numbers of appendages cleared out, some grumbling loudly until Cas spread his wings to reveal what he was. We all sank down onto the plush velvet sofas as Cas pulled the silken drapes across, concealing us from the main room. Faith lowered herself gracefully down next to me and leaned back, then, with a small squawk, disappeared into the pile of cushions that adorned the back of the sofa. I grinned and pulled her out, drawing her onto my lap. She leaned her head against my shoulder and smiled at me, but I could feel the sadness radiating off her. She didn’t talk much about feelings, and neither did I, but I knew Amadi had come to mean more to her than she had let on. The thought comforted me somewhat. I knew Cas and Sam thought of Amadi as a close friend, a brother almost, but knowing Faith felt the same way about Amadi that I did somehow made his absence easier to bear.
Cas sat down, and Sam stretched out lengthwise next to us, his head propped up on one hand. Faith reached out and ran her fingers through his tousled blond hair, and I watched him lean into her touch.
“So, basically what we’ve got is a watcher, who has somehow managed to be summoned out of Tartarus, that has possessed Amadi and is keeping his body alive by devouring humans. A lot of humans,” Cas summarised.
“Oh… jeez.” Sam looked up at me with sympathy.
“We need to figure out two things. The first is why he isn’t jumping bodies,” I said, trying to remain professional even at the thought of Shemyaza abandoning Amadi’s body to its fate. “Amadi is strong, but his body is clearly under pressure, otherwise he wouldn’t be feeding at the rate he is. It’s risky every time he feeds, so why doesn’t he just jump bodies?”
“Maybe he still wants to possess Faith,” Sam suggested, sitting up. I felt Faith shudder and tightened my grip on her waist.
“Sorry, Faith,” Cas murmured. “But he was fairly adamant about possessing you, and we know it wasn’t because of the honour for Rose bollocks I fed Euriel.”
“He knew what I was?” Faith said, fiddling with the beads on her dress, her eyes lowered to her lap. “Phillip—Phanuel must have told him that I wasn’t a witch, that I wasn’t even nephilim. Maybe he thought there would be a benefit to possessing me? Though I couldn’t tell you what.”
“Well, the burning wings were pretty cool, as were the angel blades. Plus, he would get to climb into bed with that gorgeous body every night,” Sam teased, grinning. Cas gave him a shove, as did Faith, and he fell backwards into the cushion pile.
“That’s gross, Sam, he’s probably boning my—Rose. Eww, and with Amadi’s body too! That’s so fucked up.” She screwed up her face, and I touched my lips to the tip of her cute wrinkled nose.
“Faith is right. He obviously thought there was something about her that made her worth all the trouble he went to in order to get her there, and we know she isn’t nephilim now.”
“So what is she?” I queried, sitting straighter. “Seriously though, we’re not going to discuss this? This is huge. I looked back over all the records I could find, and there is no documentation of an angel having a baby with either a fallen angel or a demon. Not only would it be a horrific crime, but it just wouldn’t be possible. After the watchers, all angels were sterilised just in case they ever gave in to temptation. So who fell for an inhabitant of Sheol? Who risked their eternal life to give birth to her? And who escaped the curse that took procreation away from angelic beings?”
“There’s no way we can know if her mother died giving birth to her, as Phanuel suggested,” Cas answered, lacing his fingers together as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Plus, how on earth are we going to find her father? Go around asking every fallen angel or demon in Sheol whether or not they slept with an angel twenty odd years ago?”
“And that still brings us no closer to the question of what she is,” I repeated. Faith wriggled out of my arms, and despite her towering heels, scrambled to her feet.
“She is right here, and she is getting sick of this conversation. What matters right now is getting Amadi back before we lose him for good and stopping Shemyaza from doing whatever it is he came here to do. We can figure me out later. As long as we hide my wings, surely we can pass the powers off as simple witchcraft?”
“Possibly. If you can refrain from riding off on a motorbike with flaming wings, using angel blades in front of people, or shifting parts of your body into some kind of animal to shred certain people…” Sam grinned up at her, and her face dropped.
“Sam, I am so—”
“Nah, I’m fucking with you, Faith. We’re all good, though I’m intrigued about the shifting thing. It’s like you said, it’s not the priority right now. The thing is, he hasn’t come after Faith, and I’m thinking they have no problem playing on the weakness that he’s possessing Amadi. They could have tried to take Faith anytime and they haven’t. Why?”
“Because they have someone more suited in mind,” I answered slowly, and they all looked at me.
“Who?” Cas asked.
“Don’t all jump down my throat, but… Cain.”
Cas frowned. “Cain? As in, Cain and Abel Cain? But he’s…”
“Very, very dead,” Sam finished.
I shrugged. “Is he? I mean, humans back then had a long lifespan, and Cain was one of the first.”
“Long lifespan, yes, but he wasn’t immortal,” Cas replied.
“Who knows if he was? Maybe he became a vampire. I know he has links to some cult. There are vampiric fanatics that worship him—well, maybe not worship him, but I’ve seen temples with statues of him—and I know he plays a part in their mythology. He’s kind of like a vampire bogeyman.”
Cas tapped his fingers against his knee. “Maybe, just maybe, if Cain is alive, Shemyaza needs him for something. It might not even be for possession. I mean, a vampire that old is still going to be ancient. Would his mind even be intact after thousands of years?”
“Well, I often question your sanity and you’re thousands of years old!” Faith teased, smiling at him. “He might not want to possess Cain, maybe he needs something from him, or maybe Cain knows something. If he had such a long life, he might have been around at the time of the watchers.”
Cas nodded. “I thought Shemyaza wanted to know something in the story, but maybe all the research they were doing wasn’t to learn about Cain, but to see if he was still alive somehow. Alex, what else do you know about this cult?”
I shook my head. “Not much. There’s not a lot of information out there. They’re really secretive. I might know someone who might know something… I can pay them a visit when we get back earthside. They owe me one.”
“I still think we should question Lilith, like Deliah said. There have been rumours since rumours started that Cain was actually her son, so she may be able to shed more light on the subject. Plus…” He trailed off and looked at Faith for a moment.
“What?” she asked, blushing as we all turned to look at her.
“No, sorry, I was just thinking Lilith might be the closest thing to what you are that we can get,” he said, standing up.
“I thought Lilith was human,” Faith said.
“She is… well, she was. No one’s quite sure what she is now, but she’s with Samael, another fallen angel, and they’ve had many children.”
“Children? So she might know—”
“Whoa, whoa,” I interrupted her, getting to my feet and looking at Cas. “Lilith is totally different. She was a human who was cursed by God to bear demon children in return for seducing an angel, and she’s become what she is over millennia. She wasn’t born that way.”
“I wasn’t saying they were the same, I said she was the closest thing, or her children might be, and we can trust Lilith and Samael.” Cas turned to Faith and took her hand. “They may be the only other people you can trust with who and what you are or might be. Even if you were nephilim, they wouldn’t give you up. In fact, I think they’d fight for you. But it’s up to you. Our main priority is Amadi and Shemyaza, but you decide. If you feel you can trust Lilith, then maybe she can help you.”
“Well then,” I said, slipping my arm through Faith’s, “I guess it’s time for you to meet the rulers of Hell. Friendly tip, don’t piss them off!”
