Grounded ~Book Four of Winged~

Threats

Dominic

"Asmodeus!" I snap out of my daze and look around the state park parking lot. Etheriel and Malachai are nowhere in sight and the trunk is open. They must have already taken the body into the woods.

"Asmodeus." I remember the voice that originally snapped me out of my daze as a chill washes over me. My Father's voice. I open my mind up and respond.

"What?" I question with hostility. I quickly lean away from the tree as a passage opens up in front of me. Out steps Sammael with an amused smile on his face.

"Where did you guys put her?" He questions calmly.

"Somewhere safe from you." I reply, listening closely to any sounds in the woods to make sure that Etheriel and Malachai are not returning yet. "Where's Nathan?" I question and he smiles more.

"How about this... You help me, your caring Father, and I will take the Mark of Death off of your beloved Nephilim Demon mix girl." He takes a step back and leans against the hood of the car.

"I'm not helping you." I shake my head.

"Then I will continue my search for her until I find her and then I'm going to fucking take her life from her right in front of you or maybe I will lock her up in Hell again and torture her until that small Demon part merges and takes over for good. Maybe I'll just break her so that she will never be the same. She won't be the girl that you stupidly fell in love with." I clinch my fists and try to resist getting myself killed.

He narrows his eyes at me and tilts his head. "Maybe I'll rape her."

Etheriel

"Think it will work?" Malachai questions and slowly trails down the slope after me.

"I don't know, but I guess we will find out if he shows up." I respond and carefully step over a large fallen branch as I make my way down the incline going toward the parking lot. I take another step and it's like I stepped through a doorway to a different place. The air is filled with electricity and tension. I glance at Malachai before rushing down the hill the rest of the way. Malachai rushes after me as I try to keep myself from stumbling over uprooted trees and fallen branches. I break out of the tree line just in time to see Dominic slammed down onto the hood of my car, denting it immediately.

"You can't fucking win against me so you can either be with me and your little girl will be safe, or be against me and I will destroy everything you care about." Sammael says lowly as he jabs his Demon blade into Dominic's side, titled up toward his heart. Dominic stares up at Sammael, thinking about his choices.

"You're a liar. As soon as you get Eli back, I'm back on your most hated list. She will never be safe as long as you're alive." Sammael suddenly slams Dominic into a tree and the tree splinters and breaks with the force.

"I'm going to find her."

Trinity

"Careful, don't cut yourself." Zerach says from beside me as I slowly cut fruit. My slices are messed up and crooked. "No, no, no, you want to point the tip and then go down. Like this." Zerach goes behind me and wraps his arms around me. He places his hand over mine on holding the fruit still and then his other hand is around the other one of my hands, which is holding the knife. He tilts the knife blade forward until the tip touches the cutting board and then he brings the back of the blade down slowly. It easily and smoothly slices through the fruit. Zerach suddenly tenses behind me and his hand tightly closes around the handle of the knife. He suddenly whips around and throws the knife. I quickly turn and see Dominic, holding the knife in a clinched fist in front of his heart. Blood drips from his hand as he stares at Zerach.

"Asmodeus, what a surprise." Zerach says monotone and Dominic drops the knife, blood splatters off of the blade and Dominic's hand falls to his side as it drips a couple more times before quickly healing. Dominic looks at me and then uses a passage to get right in front of me. He brings me into a bone crushing hug and doesn't let go.

"You're okay." He sounds extremely relieved and it makes me confused.

"What's going on? Is Etheriel and Malachai okay?" I question with a worried tone. His hug begins to hurt from how tight it is.

"You're hurting her. Let go." Zerach says calmly although when Dominic finally does let go I can see he is tense and on guard.

"They are fine. I just needed to see you and make sure you were okay." Dominic looks unnerved and extremely worried. I look up at him concerned. His eyes shift to behind me at the cutting board with some tropical fruit on it. "Is Zerachiel teaching you how to cut fruit properly?" Dominic asks and takes a slice of papaya. He starts to lead me toward the couch as he eats the piece of papaya.

"Is he taking care of you?" Dominic asks quietly and we sit down on the couch.

"Yeah, of course." Dominic pulls me closer to him like he is afraid that if I am too far away something might happen to me. Thunder booms outside and Dominic finally notices that the windows are boarded up and that it is loudly storming outside.

"How long has it been storming?" He questions curiously.

"Uhm... It started in the middle of the day yesterday and has been going ever since." I reply and he nods. "Is this thing almost over?" I ask quietly and he gives me a sad look.

"No, it's not. It's not even close." He replies and Zerach shifts in the kitchen. We go silent and I stare at the floor as Dominic holds me closely to him. I look at Dominic and see that he is just staring at me with an extreme amount of worry in his eyes.

"Dominic?" I whisper concerned about what is going on. Dominic holds me tighter and doesn't answer my question.

"How have you been sleeping?" He questions and Zerach, in the kitchen, takes an interest. I shrug and Dominic randomly nuzzles his face into my neck.

"Nightmares still?" He questions and Zerach narrows his eyes at Dominic and I. He also looks more interested since he just found out that the nightmares I've been having are not a new occurrence. I nod in response to Dominic's question. "I wish I could stay and lay with you while you sleep so you wouldn't have nightmares." Dominic scans my face. Dominic suddenly stands up and pulls me up too, squeezing the life out of me.

"I should go back before Etheriel and Malachai think I ditched them." He squeezes me one last time before pulling away and taking a step back, staring at me. "Bye Zerachiel." He doesn't look back at Zerach once before flames engulf him and he is gone. An empty feeling makes its way into my heart as I am separated from my familiar life again. Zerach is suddenly in front of me and holds a piece of fruit out to me, trying to cheer me up. I look at the piece of fruit and then up at Zerach. I hold up my hand slightly.

"No thank-" Zerach puts the slice of fruit in my mouth while I am talking. I chew and stare at him confused. He is not really good at dealing with people, probably because he has been on this island for so long.

"So I should sleep with you." I choke slightly on the fruit and look at him as he looks at me slightly worried, wondering how badly I'm choking. By the look of his face, I get that he means that he should just sleep in the same bed as me. A water droplet hits the top of my head and causes me to flinch and causes Zerach to look up at the ceiling.

"I should patch the leaks and reinforce the roof." He mumbles to himself and disappears. He is so flighty. I go into the kitchen and begin putting fruit into containers. Loud hammering causes me to jump and turn. Zerach is perched on one of the beams that goes from one side of the ceiling to the other, keeping it sturdy, hammering some wood to the ceiling over one of the leaks. His wings are out folded close to his back. Since he is far from me I notice something that I've never notice before when his wings are out. He has a strange noticeable aura around him. It's barely noticeable, but its there and it reminds me that he is a full powered Angel and who knows what he can actually do.