Sleeping Redemption (Feathers of Darkness Duet #1)

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

T he man seated across from me in this waffle house hadn’t been a stranger at all. His inability to succumb to my powers should have been obvious. How hadn’t I seen through the facade before now?

The last time I saw his face, it was contorted and twisted in excruciating pain as my sword drove through his side before Nicodemus shoved him off the cliff of St. Cassius Mountain where he plunged to his gruesome death.

Tiny flakes floated down from the sky above all around us, sticking wherever they landed.

“Look, that’s nice and all, but Lucifer’s Second in Command position has been filled.” By me, and I wasn’t planning on retiring anytime soon.

“We can arrange something, I’m sure of it.” Nico inched forward, seeming intent on not taking ‘no’ for an answer. “If we formed a partnership we could lead Lucifer’s efforts together. Let me show you how I can fulfill all your needs.” His eyes cast a judgmental glance at the man to my right.

Atlas defensively put himself in front of me, always looking out for my safety. “Back off.” The warning was clear in his tone as he flexed his hands at his sides.

Drawing my Divinity Sword from the sheath strapped to my back, there was a dull glow to the steel weapon, etched with various inscriptions and symbolic blessings. It was the one thing that could be my undoing if ever used against me; not that I’d ever allow that to happen.

Things unfolded so quickly that it was difficult to determine who made the first strike from my stance behind Atlas. Nico traded blows with Atlas, knocking him back into a boulder harshly where he dropped to the ground.

I took a swing at the demon who had just rendered my soulmate unconscious, nicking him as he dodged at the last moment. It was a mere graze to the body-jumper’s arm. I made the backswing, interrupted by Nico’s shoulder driving into my gut as I was tackled to the ground.

My sword was knocked from my grasp, skittering across the firmly packed snow. Wrestling with Nicodemus to break free from him, he threw a fist at my temple, scrambling my brains long enough for him to make a run for my blade.

By the time I was just barely onto my knees, my own weapon was being thrust toward me, a sure-to-be fatal blow. When the tip of the blade never found home inside me, I was simultaneously relieved and horrified. Between me and certain death, Atlassian had dived in front of Nico’s attack.

Every part of my being was shattered as my truest love sacrificed himself for me, the look of agony on his face scarring every part of what was left of my soul.

“NOOOO!” My scream pierced the air much like the pain piercing my heart.

Nico smirked and yanked the sword back, removing it from my savior before tossing the bloodied blade down onto the snow at his side. The crimson made its mark on the bright blanket covering the ground, the visual unable to be washed away from my mind.

My body trembled with rage and desperation, fighting me as I tried to push myself up onto my feet. Before I could pull myself together, in one swift movement, Nicodemus kicked Atlas forcefully. The contact was so brutally hard that his body rolled when it hit the ground, picking up momentum toward the sharp decline that led to the cliff of the mountainside, ensuring Atlassian’s demise.

Cambions were a hearty breed, but not durable enough to survive being impaled by an angel’s Divinity Sword and tumbling down thousands of feet onto the jagged rocks at the bottom of a mountain.

It all happened with incredible speed, leaving me powerless to intervene, and yet my brain processed it all in slow motion as Atlas’s body disappeared over the edge. My head snapped as I looked back at Nico. Tears rolled down my windburnt cheeks, likely to freeze to my flesh.

A surge of hatred filled me as I lurched at Nicodemus, throwing him to the ground with nothing but raw power fueling my strikes. My fist came crashing down on his face, and a powerful gust of wind escaped from the body underneath me. The vessel went limp in my grasp with lifeless eyes.

“You motherfucking coward!” I yelled in frustration as Nico jumped the figurative ship, leaving behind just the corpse of the host he had been filling.

Retrieving my sword, I worked my way back down to the foot of the mountain where Atlas’s body lay. I slipped and slid several times, trying to rush my footing on the treacherous terrain. The snow and wind intensified, heavier flakes of snow thrashed around me.

Arriving at the grisly scene of impact, his form had already begun the advanced decomposition as his demon side began to wither away upon the death of his human half.

Not deterred by the rot and decay that lay before me, I came down to a knee and laid a kiss on the exposed section of his bloodied skull. “You will forever own my heart, and I will not rest until I have my retribution,” I murmured to him as the frigid air seemed to permeate my mind and the diminishing humanity inside me.

Standing up, I looked off in the distance at the small village. Nicodemus couldn’t have gone far, he needed to occupy another vessel and quickly. My eyes darkened as I focused on my target, and black flooded my irises, eradicating the natural ocean-blue hues. I’d burn every last soul if it meant destroying the demon that had just fractured the last of my light.

“There will be no redemption for the things I am about to do.” I looked down at what remained of Atlas, knowing that my soul could never be saved from the emptiness quickly consuming me.

The memories came back aggressively. While flames consumed every structure, the screams of all the villagers echoed as I tore them limb from limb; the act bloodying my sword over and over until there was no part of it left clean. I had drowned all the innocents and tortured those who failed to repent. Everyone in between? Burned. Even after the last soul was ejected from its mortal casing, I could recall how the silence rang loudly in my ears.

Subtle movement in front of me interrupted the recollection of my violent past. Atlas leaned forward in his seat, staring at me wide-eyed with concern.

“Angel?” he asked with a hope-filled voice.

Sharply gasping, I scrambled out of the booth and crashed right into a chair with a bucket filled with dirty dishes. The contents tipped and filled the air with shattering ceramics as the plates and glasses tumbled out.

“Y-you’re not real,” I declared, sure of my assessment.

The employees of the diner were all now staring at me, and I couldn’t help but think that maybe they were filled with jumper demons, too. All of them, lying in wait to destroy me over and over again.

Before that thought could linger, Atlas… or Alex…. whoever he was, got up from his seat in the booth we had shared. One slow step toward me, and I stumbled back several steps like a spooked doe. My head spun faster than an amusement park ride, blurring lights and all.

Where was my sword when I needed it? Turning, I sprinted out of the diner on shaky footing. I pushed the door open with such force it broke the closure mechanism at the top, sending it careening into the brick exterior and shattering the door’s glass.

Half jogging to the parking lot, one of the diner waitresses getting into her car caught my attention. With the opportunity presenting itself, I called out to her, “Hey! Excuse me!”

Thankfully, she paused while standing at the open door to her blue sedan. Her narrow-set brown eyes focused on me as I approached. “Is there something?—”

Grabbing her head between my hands, I swiftly jerked and tilted as I severed the connection with her cervical spine. Discarding her now lifeless body to the side, I searched for the keys she’d dropped to the ground the moment her neck snapped.

From behind me, a pair of hands grabbed my arms, hoisting me upright from my position close to the ground. Being spun around, I came face to face with the man who had brought me here.

“Shit, Kinley. Relax, angel. It’s me. Just calm down.” His words were gentle while his grip was firm. He glanced down at the woman who lay dead as a doornail at my feet. “Fuck.”

He brought his face down close to mine as he furrowed his brows together. “Please, let me help you. I can fix things.”

I jerked against his hold, finding more than human strength behind it. Trying harder, I realized that there was no part of this impersonator that was human. No wonder my persuasion hadn’t worked on him. How had I not seen it before now?

“Liar!” I stomped on his foot before headbutting him. It was the distraction I needed to finagle my way out of his hold. Summoning my unholy strength, I grabbed whoever this guy really was by the shirt and tossed him powerfully at the next car over. His body rocked the vehicle and left a massive dent in its passenger door, blowing out the corresponding window.

The imposter cursed after he hit the ground, visibly shaken and taken by surprise. Until I knew what he truly was and had my weapon on me, I didn’t dare stick around for this battle. So, I ran again before he recovered.

Damn the earthbound consequence of being a fallen angel, not having the ability to transport myself from one place to the other at will. It was a restriction that wasn’t normally such an inconvenience until this moment.

My heels slapped against the pavement loudly. Once I was around the corner and several buildings over, I was prepared to ditch the shoes entirely. Running on bare feet would be worth the cuts on my soles, as they would heal unnaturally fast.

As I tried to regain my breath, my chest heaved as I leaned back against the cool brick of the building. The only thing I could focus on was the flashing images inside my mind that were trying to erratically reconcile themselves.

“Love?” A quiet voice cut through the cool air.

I jumped at the sound of the accented voice of Rook. Stumbling away from the wall, I shook my head emphatically.

Rook stood there with a hand stretched out in front of him innocently, the black fingerless glove he wore leaving just his fingertips exposed. His eyes remained neutral as he waited for me to speak.

Swallowing hard, I tried to find my voice for several long moments.

“I—he’s dead. I should have killed more of them. Stupid fucking toys never staying dead. All of them are whispering, I can feel the blood…” All of my seemingly random words came spilling out rapidly.

Using his cane in his other hand, he gently pressed it against my lower back to draw me in close. He placed a hand on the back of my head, guiding me to rest my face against his chest. “Sshh, love.” He kissed the top of my head, smoothing my light blonde hair down with his hand afterward.

“We can deal with all that later, hm?” He squeezed me tighter to him, allowing me to be enveloped by his musky scent.

All my racing thoughts began to slow, seemingly in sync with the thudding of Rook’s demonic heart. It wasn’t until my mind began to come down from its frenzied state that I realized how tightly my hands were clenched onto his sides. My nails dug in so hard that it had to be causing him discomfort, though he didn’t show any signs of it.

Releasing some of the tension, I let go of him despite his arms remaining securely fastened around me.

Still feeling a sense of paranoia, my eyes remained dark and darted in various directions to look at our surroundings. My date hadn’t dared to follow me, and for that, I was both grateful and annoyed.

A finger came underneath my chin, gently turning my focus back to the trickster who was solely focused on me.

“Let’s get you home.” Before I could argue, he added, “I will provide all the entertainment for the remainder of the evening.”

My interest piqued by his offer, I nodded in agreement.

Finally, he smiled at me before he leaned forward and his gravelly voice whispered into my ear. “I’ve got just the thing to get you out of that pretty little head of yours.”