Grounded ~Book Four of Winged~

Conflicting Interests

"You summoned that... Great job!" I cross my arms across my chest and his eyes slip back up to my eyes. "Sorry." He turns and waits for me to get dressed. I pull one of his shirts off of a hanger and slip my arms into the sleeves before buttoning it up. None of Eli's pants are going to fit me and as if he read my mind. Eli turns around and holds out a pair of black shorts for me to wear with his dark blue button up shirt. I remember something and walk out of the closet before turning back to Eli.

"You never asked about the Mark of Death from Sammael." Eli tilts his head and smiles.

"Yeah I did." I look at him confused and he gently grabs my hand, showing me where the Mark of Death should be, but it's not there.

"What... How?" I look up at Eli and he gestures to his head. "You guys had a conversation in your thoughts with no one knowing?" I question and Eli nods, holding my hand still and pulling me closer with it until my chest is against him.

"Are you sure we can't have sex?" Eli smiles and leans down, resting his forehead against mine. I roll my eyes and pull away from him. I feel his eyes follow me across his room to a table with books on it. Two short knocks sound on the door before it opens and Belphegor strolls in. Eli watches him walk up to me.

"Wanna have fun?" He questions and begins to play with a strand of my hair.

"Fun?" I question, figuring that he is either talking about killing people or having sex. Which seems to be the only things they do. He smiles and laughs slightly.

"Neither of those." He responds and I become confused.

"Belphegor can read your mind and thoughts without even trying." Eli says from across the room, watching us while leaning against the wall.

"Really?" I question and Belphegor nods.

"So... Fun?" Belphegor questions and I think about it for a second.

"Sorry, but... uh... no thanks." Belphegor tilts his head slightly and reaches out to me, playing with a piece of my hair.

"Okay, later then." Belphegor lightly kisses my lips and I pull away startled. He leaves, softly shutting the door behind him. I turn and look at Eli.

"I want to see Etheriel." Eli tilts his head.

"I can't take you to the mortal realm. It's too dangerous." He replies and leans away from the wall. Dangerous? What is going on there?

"But you'll be there to protect me so it should be fine, right?" I question. He slowly walks across the room to me.

"No, even I can't protect you from an army of Angels and the Demons who are still after you. Just because my family are okay with you now, doesn't mean that all the Demons are okay with you. Only the ones under our order are not going to try and kill you on sight." He explains and stops right in front of me.

"Then we'll be careful and secretive." He shakes his head.

"I can't protect you with what is going on there so I can't allow you to go there. Until everything gets better or resolves itself, you should stay here, in Hell."

Etheriel

"Any word on Dominic? Or has anyone seen a sign of Trinity?" I question Azrael, who has been out looking for Trinity ever since Zerach showed up suddenly telling us she was gone.

"They're both in Hell." He responds and brushes off some dust off of his shoulder. I figured.

"How'd you find that out?" I question and glance in the window of the convenience store at Malachai. He stands in one of the isles and is looking down at beef sticks before looking up and at the clerk.

"I know a few Demons." He replies and also looks in the window at Malachai. "Do you want me to take care of him?" I sharply look back at Azrael. Is he offering to kill Malachai? He obviously understands my thinking. "I can take him back to Barzakh and let him dwell there to reset." He offers and I look at Malachai again who is slowly strolling down the isle watching the clerk, watching his soul.

"Trinity would be mad... She found him and brought him back. Let's wait." I reply. "Where is she in Hell? Is she okay?" I change the subject back to Trinity.

"King Sammael's palace... with the family. She's fine. She... brought Mammon back from the Pits and in order to thank her he has accepted her into his family." I look at him confused and tilt my head slightly.

"She brought Eli back from the pits? She actually did it? It worked?" I question.

"Yeah, it's like he was never dead. Good as new." He responds and looks back at Malachai again.

"You need to get her out of Hell." I demand and he scoffs.

"I'm an Angel of Death, aka Angel not Demon. I can't go into Hell unless its directly through the doors and I'll get sick. Souls that come to me and go to Hell I hand off to a Demon to deliver, I don't go there. Additionally, she's safer there than here where there is fighting everywhere happening and people are still out to get her. Down there she is protected by that entire family. Etheriel, if you don't know this, your fucking stupid. They're strong and they can protect her."

Trinity

"I want to see Etheriel though. I want to know that he is okay. That all of them are okay, even Azrael although I really don't know him! I want to know if Nathan found them okay. If he is even still alive if it really is as bad as you are saying it is!" I say loudly to Eli who is right in front of me.

"It's not safe, Trinity! And that's that!" Eli yells back and walks off toward a bottle of alcohol sitting on a table.

"Mammon!" He spins around and stares at me. "Take me to Etheriel!" I demand and he suddenly steps out of a passage in front of me before gently grabbing me, pulling me through it. He pulls me out of the passage and into the middle of a road. He pulls away from me suddenly and looks around confused and then down at me.

"Fuck." He whispers and looks around.

"Where are we?" I question.

"Northern New York." He responds and spots something behind me causing me to turn. In the distance approaching us is a car. "There's Etheriel..." Eli comments. As the car approaches, it begins to slow before the driver slams on the breaks about fifteen feet from us. Etheriel gets out of the driver's side door and runs over to me, bringing me into a tight embrace.

"Trinity..." He mumbles and continues to hug me tightly. He pulls away and immediately looks behind me at Eli. Etheriel opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off.

"Look out!" Azrael yells from his position beside the car. Eli suddenly yanks me away from Etheriel and spins us around. His whole body goes tense and a pained expression fills his face. Eli mumbles something in a different language before reaching back and yanking something out of his lower back. He tightly clenches a silver arrow, staring down at it before rapidly looking around.

"I have to get her out of here." Eli says to Etheriel and opens a passage.

"No!" Etheriel yells and pushes Eli out of the way; he stumbles slightly because of the arrow that hit him. Suddenly, we are surrounded by Angels with their wings out and I don't know how they surrounded us so quickly. Azrael and Zerach suddenly appear within the circle. At the sight of Azrael and Zerach, a lot of the Angels shift back slightly.