Diabolic Lover

Chapter 59

 Aleron let himself into Pharzuph's home, marching right into the foyer, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Bardhal!" He barked out.

Lucille wasn't in that house. He was certain of it. Anywhere she was she left a hint of herself, a whisper of her energy to call out to him and to ascertain him of her presence. When he first left her at Pharuzph's he could feel her right up until the moment he was materialized back in their home realm, and even then he could even pick up lingering traces of her energy left behind from her spending so much time in the mansion.

Now, he couldn't sense one bit of her.

Bardhal came from one of the halls, anger quickening his stunted gait.

"Why the hell are you yelling? Do you not realize that people are trying to sleep?" He shouted back.

Even though he wanted to snap, to yell at him and demand where she was. He put a great effort into keeping his voice level.

"Where is Lucille?"

Bardhal sighed and grumbled lightly before he responded.

"Come with me."

"Don't worry about it, Bardhal. I'll handle him." Pharzuph said, stepping out from the opposite hallway than the one he had taken Lucille down.

Rage was burning in Aleron's veins just at the sight of that damned angel. Whatever he'd done with her, done to her, if she was harmed at all he was going to kill him. In his time he'd never heard of a fallen angel dying, but he'd find a way to make it happen.

"I let Lucille have her privacy earlier. I figured she would be stressed from everything that had happened and might be tired, so I set her up in one of the guest rooms with the hope that she could at least relax a little bit while here." Pharzuph explained, turning back down the hall with Aleron following behind. "The other girls have their own rooms here for when they aren't with me, so I figured she might feel comfort in knowing they weren't far from her if she needed anything."

For whatever reason Aleron wasn't buying it. Hearing that should have been reassuring, it should have sounded caring and kind. Maybe it was the lack of her energy here, the sheer absence of her making him question his decision to leave her here and to trust Pharzuph with her care. He was certain she wasn't in this house, and if she wasn't, then where the hell could she be? And there was no way she could leave without Pharzuph finding out, so he had to be hiding something.

When they came down the hall, there was a single door ajar. That trepidation crept faster up Aleron's spine as Pharzuph walked towards that exact door. Every fiber of his being was telling him to screw formalities and to shove past him to look for her himself, but he held back, biting his tongue as he watched Pharzuph knock lightly and push the door open. A frown crossed his face.

"She's not in here."

"Well then where the hell is she? I think we both know that there is absolutely no trace of her in this home right now."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. She could just be somewhere else in the house, perhaps she is in Claire's room spending time with her." Pharzuph said, trying to sound cool but there was a crack in that countenance showing his worry.

Pharzuph steps down the hall a ways, to the green door. Aleron was seething. Did he take him for an idiot? Pharzuph had to be able to sense her too, seeing as she was a chip off his energy. But he followed him. With Claire's door, he didn't knock, he simply pushed his way into the dark room.

Just past Pharzuph's frame he could see the outline of Claire sitting up in her bed. Squinting, she glanced from Pharzuph to Aleron.

"What's going on?" Her voice was thick with sleep.