Chapter 25

*Devland's POV*

This is not going to be much fun. Yesterday Daeva was stuck in her own head, not because of her own emotions but figuring out how to use this information to our advantage. I had known of his betrayal but I had foolishly assumed that she knew and that he had regained her trust. She definitely won our fight last night, though, I was bloody and she was only half paying attention. Now we are headed to meet someone from the same dreams that wake her up screaming every morning. I was not happy to not be the one looking into his mind, she didn’t need more reminders of that, but we had a plan and I would stick to it. Unless she started losing her own control that is. 10 minutes later I was landing where we were to meet Adan while Daeva scoped the area. I landed in the clearing to find him already there, sitting on a stump looking nervous as hell. I landed as gracefully as I could in my irritated state but still caused the earth to shake. He stood immediately and bowed his head slightly in respect before walking over to shake my hand. I took his hand and gave him a quick nod. “Daeva will be here momentarily. We have a few questions to ask you.” I said. “Have you formed the counsel, sir?” He asked. “We have, and it seems as though we have a traitor in our midst.” I responded curtly. Just as I said that Daeva came free falling from the sky. No flipping or spinning, just dropping. She was maybe 10 feet from the ground before opening her massive wings to stop her but landing hard enough to shake the earth, blowing trees back and making a small crater. It was as intimidating as we had hoped.

Adan looked confused when I mentioned a traitor but now he looked terrified. He was staring at her wings looking like he was about to cry. I was avoiding his mind but it was almost as though he was trying to send a message to someone trying to thank them, over and over. They had met a few times in the course of hundreds of years, for no more than a few minutes according to Daeva, but he had never seen her new wings. Until today. Daeva cocked her head, whatever he was saying in his head had her interest. Adan dropped to one knee and lowered his head. “I’m happy to see you, Miss Daeva. Though, I am sorry to hear the reason why.” He still hasn’t made eye contact. Daeva let out a dark laugh. “So us asking if you’re trying to end the world again would surprise you then?” She snapped back. I have been on the receiving side of Daevas wrath and I don’t envy him. “No ma’am, it wouldn’t be unfounded. But I have pledged loyalty to you and I have not wavered.” “Mm.” Was her reply. Her eyes were swirling but gold was the most prominent, her demon was front and center.

She was clenching her jaw, seeing into his head I’m sure, trying to avoid some unwanted images. “Why should I believe you? You wanted to end humanity before. Why should I believe that you don’t want to try again?” She said between gritted teeth. “I never hated humans and I still don’t. I was a fool. I will spend my existence trying to make up for it.” Daeva took another deep breath, her eyes pure gold now. Adan had finally looked up at her but was fixated on her wings, he couldn’t look away. Her eyes were shooting daggers at him and she was close to shaking. “Do you like me new wings?” Her voice was low but powerful, then she gasped lowly. “You could feel it, couldn’t you? You can feel emotions” Adan flinched but nodded. “So you’re saying that I stood there and got beat or mutilated for EIGHT DAYS and you couldn’t take it so you ran? You only had one place you could go after leaving that group. You didn’t do it to save me, or to keep the world from ending, you did it because you had nowhere else to go and you could stand MY PAIN.” The trees were shaking with the power of her voice. I wasn’t looking at his mind, I wasn’t trying to at least. But I met his eyes and an image flashed like it was ingrained on his retina.

The buttons on my shirt popped like a damn cartoon from clenching my muscles. My demon and angel wanted to tear him to pieces. I took a few steps back from him by sheer will. He showed me a simple image, only one of Daeva chained up, blood dripping down her wings. They looked chared and worn. I was thankful that I couldn’t hear it. Daeva shot me a look and I was sure that she knew what I saw. I was also pretty sure that she had planned for this because she turned towards him again. “Give me ONE REASON to believe that you’re not the one trying to start an apocalypse again, Adan Servaas or you won’t just have my demon to deal with. You’ll have his'' she nodded towards me. “And you know what his demon is capable of. Don’t you?” Adan shuddered as she finished. “Miss Daeva, I have no way to prove that I have been loyal. I don’t talk to angels anymore. I talk to a few demons but I mainly speak to humans. Check my mind, please. I know that you can. Or you can lock me up in hell until you find who it is. I will not waver and I will not stop serving you until the end of my existence” He was down on both of his knees now. Daeva was watching him carefully and still reading his thoughts. Like she was going back his entire life. Then she cocked her head again and furrowed her eyebrows. She turned away from him suddenly and paced a few feet away.

I was focusing all my strength and energy into staying where I was and not destroying the supposed angel in front of us. “You know what I can do then?” Daeva said. Adan just nodded. “You told Lucifer what you thought I was doing, but no one else all of this time.” He nodded again. “Hmm.” She grunted again. “Stand up, Adan. You are forgiven.” Did she just say he was forgiven? “What!?” We both asked at the same time. “I know it will take time Miss Daeva, but thank you. I will earn it.” Daeva held her hand up at him. “I said it was done. Besides, I have a job for you. What would you like your payment to be?” She asked. I was shocked. And pissed. “I don’t.. I don’t want anything..” he stumbled. “Choose.” She stated. “Will you hire me? Let me out of Russian and let me work for you. Doing whatever you want.” Daeva's face remained stoic but she looked happy with her choice to trust him. “Deal.”

I knew that Daeva made the right decision but the image I saw in his eyes was tearing my soul apart. Nonetheless, I followed her to the stumps to sit with them. She was handling this so well, and she was by far the strongest being in existence. As we sat she began to tell Adan what we had planned. “There is a threat, but we are not sure by whom. It is why I acted so brutally towards you. In the spirit of honesty, I just found out why you were placed in my charge. I will trust you, but you need to continue earning it. Is there anyone that you worked with previously that is still alive?” Adan thought for a moment. “Honestly, I was the lowest man on the totem pole, just there to help protect the borders and… make sure that you..” Daeva held her hand up again and shook her head. “Yes, I know the other thing you were there to do. There was someone in your mind, I recognized his aura, but not his vessel. Do you know the names of all that you were with?” Adan shook his head, “No, we went by code names and their vessels changed often to make sure that we weren’t caught. Do you think that one of them is still alive?” He shivered as he asked. “I don’t know, but I will need you to hunt for me. See if any of them still live. Talk shit about me or the counsel. See if anyone is feeling like they want to betray us. Let me know of everyone that you speak to. The ones that are loyal will tell us. Then we will know who isn’t. Can you do this for me? I can promise to try to protect you, but I can not guarantee anything.” He nodded and bowed his head again. “It would be my honor. Can I do anything else?”

Daeva and Adan spoke at length about where he would start and who he would speak to first. “Do you think that others know of your gift? There are not many that know of the two of your powers. What do I say if I am asked?” Adan has been helpful in filling in what some of the other beings had been saying but since he didn’t speak to many, he didn’t have enough information. “Tell them only that I can tell if they are lying. That me being able to read minds was hindered after my capture along with my wings. Will you be able to say that convincingly?” Adan nodded again. “Good, then I will let you get to your work Adan, and when this is done, you will join my staff. Think of the job you believe you would like and it will be done.” Daeva paused for a moment. “Why do you think Devland was so close to losing control before?” I stiffened at her question, I didn’t think she was going to bring this up. “I.. umm.. I have heard of his control over his demon. I thought for a moment that you might be fated.” He looked afraid of her reaction. I didn’t even know what her reaction would be. “You are correct.” She took a deep breath. “In your opinion, from an outside perspective, what would our enemies think? Honestly, please.” Adan was stunned for a moment at her asking him for advice. He better say what I want him to.