Chapter Six

Abby was riding with Brax that morning instead of Dante, and his sheer size made it more challenging to hold on to him. It required her to sit even closer to wrap her arms around him in a way that felt secure. He didn’t seem to mind her proximity, and she wasn’t complaining either. As they rode, she found herself imagining how it would be to kiss him as well. Were those normal thoughts? She had no idea, but it didn’t feel wrong, so she decided not to worry about it.

They had been riding for a while when Brax started to slow the motorcycle, lifting a hand in some sort of signal to Mal and Dante, who rode behind them. Abby clutched him as he maneuvered the bike to the side of the road, looking over her shoulder to see the other two dismounting their bikes to approach.

Brax had put a foot on the asphalt, but he didn’t seem inclined to ask her to move, so she stayed where she was. She supposed she could have scooted back a little or released her hold on him, but she didn’t want to.

“What is it?” asked Mal as he arrived, with Dante trailing behind.

“We have a call.”

Abby watched over his shoulder as he reached into his shirt and extracted what looked like a plain cylindrical crystal hanging from a chain. It was glowing in a pulsing pattern, and it continued to do so until Brax took it into his hand and spoke a word. She didn’t recognize the word, but somehow, she knew the language was Latin.

A disembodied voice with a gruff edge filled the area around them, loud enough that the cars continuing to pass by did nothing to drown out the communication. “Brax, how are you and your band of misfits?” asked the voice.

Brax winced at the sound, and he seemed reluctant when he said, “We’re fine, Zephael. We haven’t heard from you in fifty years or so.”

“I haven’t needed your skillset, have I?” There was a chuckle of amusement, though he didn’t sound truly amused.

“Like we told you last time you called on us to do something—we’re not part of the war and we’re not in service anymore. We just want to be left alone here on Earth.” Brax wore a scowl, though his voice sounded reasonably neutral as he said the words.

“Relax. I’m not tasking you with a mission per se. Rumor has it there’s a lone angel running around in your dimension. I’m just alerting everyone on Earth to keep an eye out for her. If you find her, contact me so I can arrange to pick her up.”

Abby was aware of the way the three men stiffened at the words, and a hint of dread crept over her. She could feel the sharp embrace of fear enveloping her, and instinctively, she realized she was at risk.

“We don’t work for you anymore, Zephael.”

Zephael chuckled, but it had a dark edge. “You’re a demon. You never leave service entirely, Brax. All I’m asking is for you to keep your eyes open. Got it?”

Abby didn’t miss the hint of warning in the voice’s tone. She shuddered slightly as Mal scowled, and Brax frowned. “Of course. We’ll report to you if we see anything suspicious, or if we find an angel wandering around.” His tone made it sound like that was unlikely.

“That’s all I ask… For now.” Without another word, the voice stopped speaking, and the crystal returned to an opaque state without any hint of light.

“This is bad,” said Dante, looking nervous.

“What does he want with the angel?” asked Mal. It was difficult to tell if he was concerned in a personal way, or if he was simply curious in a more academic fashion.

“I don’t know, but we haven’t seen her,” said Brax decisively as he put the crystal back in his shirt. “We should get back on the road.”

Abby wanted to ask more, but the other two had already returned to their motorcycles before she could figure out a way to broach the topic, and with them on the road again a few minutes later, conversation was mostly impossible.

She was surprised when they stopped in the next town, parking in front of a small diner. She realized it had been several hours since breakfast, and they were all likely hungry, but she had no appetite at all. There was a sick, sloshy feeling in her stomach that came from fear, and she could taste it like an acrid scent in her mouth.

Apparently, she wasn’t good at hiding it, because as soon as they were seated in the diner, Brax put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed in a reassuring fashion. “You don’t have to be afraid. We aren’t going to turn you over to him.”

She bit her lip for a minute as he confirmed what she’d feared. She tilted her head slightly to look at him before glancing at the other two and looking down. “So, I’m the angel he’s looking for?”

“We think so, but your sol is badly damaged.”

She looked up at Mal’s words with a frown. “What is sol?”

“It’s your essence and the source of your power.”

Abby shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean. I have no power.”

“Not right now, not while your sol is damaged. Unless it’s repaired, you’re human for all intents and purposes.”

She felt overwhelmed, and she was glad to have a reprieve to gather her thoughts while the waitress arrived with coffee and water and took their orders before moving away. When it was just the four of them again, with hardly anyone else in the restaurant, she leaned forward to ask, “If I’m not human, then I guess I’m an angel. What is that?”

“You’re just a different species from the humans and from us…kind of,” said Dante, as though it was no big deal. “Our species started out from the same origins before following different evolutionary paths.”

She frowned. “Where did I come from if I’m not human?”

“Caelum. It’s a different dimension, and Earth is a nexus point. We don’t know for sure, but we assume you traveled with a damaged sol that couldn’t protect you during the transit. Or something happened to your sol during your trip. Either way, you’re not at full capacity, but there’s enough differentness about you for anyone like us or the angels with full functioning sols to know you’re not quite human.”

“And what are demons? Are we allies?” She was certain they weren’t, but she had to ask the question anyway.

Mal and Brax traded an uncomfortable look, and Dante shifted in his seat.

It was Brax who answered. “Our people have been at war for so long no one can remember exactly when it started. We once all shared Caelum, but our differences drove us apart. Angels attacked us without warning and killed many of us before expelling the rest. This was before we had discovered Earth was a nexus point, so we ended up in a dimension that’s barely habitable. Infernum is nothing like Caelum, but we’ve adapted. That doesn’t mean most of the demons are happy to be there, and they’d like to return to Caelum. It’s caused never-ending war that we’re all sick of.”

He waved his hand to encompass the table. “At various times, we all walked away and came to Earth to live here. We met up along the way and decided to stick together. We aren’t your enemy, Abby, but there are other demons who would be.”

She frowned, struggling to absorb everything he’d shared. “I’d like to know more.”

“You can look on the Internet when we get to our campsite for the night,” said Mal.

She rubbed her forehead, feeling the beginning of a headache. “If I’m an angel and demons are my enemy, is that why Zephael wants me?”

Again, the men traded glances before Brax shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t really know. Whatever his intentions or purpose, we aren’t going to hand you over.”

If her people were really at war with his, she supposed she should doubt Brax’s word on the matter. Maybe she should suspect this was all some sort of trap, or they were taking her somewhere to turn her over to the one they called Zephael.

Yet she couldn’t bring herself to believe that. They had been so kind to her, and she was certain there was more than kindness between the four of them. Maybe she was foolish to trust them, but they seemed the only ones she could under the circumstances.

***

Her mind had whirled with questions all afternoon, and when they finally stopped for the evening, she sped through helping set up camp as fast as she could before borrowing a tablet Dante took from his saddlebags and showed her how to use. She’d just entered in the search terms angels and demons when she saw a flash of light. She looked up in time to gasp as a glowing circle appeared from nowhere in the ground near Brax’s feet. When he stepped into it and started falling, soon disappearing from view, her mouth dropped open in shock. “What is he doing?”

“He’s gone to Infernum to see if he can learn more about why Zephael wants you.” Mal told her that without looking at her as he stirred beans in the Dutch oven. “That’s why we came to this park. It has one of the few nexus points.”

“Will he be okay?” She couldn’t stop the surge of concern for him, and it was strong enough that she could barely breathe for a moment.

“He should be,” said Dante with a hint of carelessness. “Brax is wily, and it’s not like anybody knows he’s coming, or that he’s wanted for anything. He’ll be in and out before you know it.” He seemed to be making an effort to sound reassuring.

“I…okay.” She sighed, realizing she was unlikely to get anything more from him. Maybe there was nothing much more to tell, so she bent her head and focused on research.

What she read was grim, painting an even grimmer picture of demons. It was difficult to reconcile the accounts she saw on the Internet with the actions of the men she knew, and she was more confused than ever. When she came across an especially lurid picture of a bright figure propelling a black-winged man downward toward the Earth, she trembled. “This is all so confusing.” With a sigh, she turned it off and handed it back to Dante. “I don’t think I want to know more.”

“Maybe that’s for the best. You can take some time to wrap your mind around what you’ve already learned.” He took a moment to return the table to his bag before rejoining her.

“Keep in mind both sides have manipulated humans to our advantage. We were using the nexus point long before modern hairless apes appeared and started to exert dominion over the planet. Interacting with them was inevitable, and both our species are far superior, particularly when contrasted with early humans. They were easy enough to influence. They even learned our basic language—Latin—and adapted it. They couldn’t handle Enochian.” He grinned. “It’s harder than hell to master even for us.”

Her head was buzzing. “But what about the pictures, and the man shoving another out of the clouds? Why do humans believe angels are good and demons are bad?”

“I imagine it has to do with who peddled the most influence. Plus, humans liked to have answers, so they invented whatever made sense to them, no matter how crazy, and convinced others to accept it. Human lore would have you believe it’s all a matter of black-and-white—angels are good, and demons are evil. It’s far more complex than that, and when you’re ready, we’ll delve deeper into it.”

She nodded her agreement at the suggestion and leaned back in the camp chair. She stared into the flickering flames of the fire as she waited for Brax to reappear, longing for the return of her memory as well. She was certain she knew the truth about everything, if only she could remember it.