Son of the Devil - Book I of The Higher Order

Chapter Four: The Night We Met

I was an idiot. Why did I decide to come down here early, again? Oh, right. So I could do a little planning for how by the Goddess I was going to actually succeed in killing the Prince of Hell and stealing his crown. This was a terrible idea. Why did I accept this mission again? Oh, right. Because when dad calls, all must answer. It was times like this where I wish I wasn't so disciplined, the woes of being the First.

Rochelle was right, I was having a very hard time with this. I didnt even know why, it was a simple order really, its not like I hadnt followed difficult orders before. But this one was different, father ordered me to kill someone. It didnt even matter that it was the Prince of Hell—well, it did to my mission, but even so, I had never killed before. Angels had been clipped for less, becoming wingless and part of the Fallen, unable to return to our heavenly home or even associate with those who werent Fallen.

I couldnt refuse an order, especially not one from father, but it was proving very difficult to find the motivation to go through with the order—even if it was the Prince of Hell. It was a very strange concept to wrap my head around. I wasn't a murderer, I never wanted to be. Father specifically created some of the other Angels to be his personal murderers, that's why there was an Angel of death and fire and destruction and all those ungodly things. That was a terrible pun on my part, I thought. But all those 'ungodly' things were always contained, nothing happened without reason.

But honestly? I didn't see a reason for the Prince of Hell's death besides the fact that he was alive. To my knowledge—without believing the ludicrous rumors—he had never done anything to deserve my fathers ire aside from existing, hadnt so much as broken a commandment. It was his father who deserved the punishment, he was the one who had stolen the crown. I would wager a wing that Prince Samael didnt know the crown had been stolen from Heaven and that if he did, he would want to get rid of it instantly—unless he was as crazy as his father. I really hoped he was not as crazy as his father. I really, really, hoped.

This was what I was thinking about as I strolled down the street of some big city, wings and other divine features hidden from the mortals who walked around me. The city was strangely comforting, reminding me of home, though smelled in a way that was distinctly different from the Silver City. It was raining, but I enjoyed it, it didnt rain in Heaven.

That was when a hand shot out of the darkness and wrapped itself around my mouth, preventing me from screaming as the figure pulled me backward into an alley. It was a mortal of some kind, likely human, and that meant I could do nothing against them to defend myself. The figure relaxed his grip long enough for me to shout, "Father! Help me!" Before they covered my mouth with their filthy hand a second time and pressed my body against a brick wall. I expected a lightning bolt or the rain to turn to poison around us or maybe even Matthias to come flying down to save me.

Instead . . . God does nothing.

Or at least I'm pretty sure he wouldn't send a mere moral to save me. That human came barreling out of the dark alley and threw my attacker off me. He punched my attacker across the jaw and kicked him in the stomach, "Get outta here, punk. If I ever see your face again, I'll put my boot so far up your ass you'll wish you didn't have one." The human who had attacked me got up and looked as if he was going to fight again, but one look into the face of my rescuer and he ran without looking back.

"Thank you." I said, reluctant to speak to—let alone thank—a human.

"My pleasure, did he hurt you?" the man said, avoiding my gaze. His voice was deep and rich with an almost melodic tune to it. It was too dark to make out his features and the rain certainly wasn't helping.

I shook my head, "No, I don't think so."

"Good." He said, lifting his face to me. I gasped when I saw his eyes, they were the most vicious red I'd ever seen, it looked like someone had taken a knife to his pale skin, that's the shade of red they were, and they glowed like a fire in the night. This was not a human. His ruffled black hair was matted to his face and neck, the rain dripped steadily down his face. I was backing into the wall, stiffening instantly . . . and I was afraid. More afraid than I'd ever been in my many hundreds of centuries. I was unprepared for such a confrontation.

I stuttered, "Y-youre the-the . . ."

"Yes, I'm the Prince of Hell." He confirmed. I was paralyzed, I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. He broke eye contact and air suddenly flooded through my lungs again. "Whats the matter? Didnt think youd find someone like me in the mortal realm?" The prince walked to the mouth of the alley and black wings spread from his back. Looking back, his glowing gaze was penetrating, "or maybe thats exactly what you were hoping for. I shouldnt have come. Goodbye, little angel." Then his wings unfurled, and he powered into the air.

I snapped out of my daze the moment he was out of my sight and against my better judgement, I chased after him. I lifted myself into the sky. His figure was so dark in the storming grey night that I couldn't see him. I shouted, "Samael, wait!" I did my best to follow him as I haphazardly weaved through the buildings, avoiding the dangerous whips of lightning. "Wait!" I called again. I couldn't see him, and I didn't see the lightning whip toward my wing either. I screeched as it fried off my feathers and I fell, plummeting towards the ground.

From seemingly nowhere and with a sudden whoosh of wind, the prince of my enemy—the one I was sent to kill—wrapped two strong arms around me and pulled me from my battle with gravity. In that moment, I didn't know what to feel. I was afraid of him, I'd heard some of the rumors of what he'd done, but I was also grateful to him for saving me twice now, yet there was something I didn't understand about him either. He knew we were enemies and yet he had chosen to save me . . . twice. Furthermore, he was now a member of the Crimson Guard, his sole purpose as a member was to defend his realm from all enemies, topmost among them were Heavens Angels.

He was a paradox, this princely savior of mine, and I needed to find out why, especially if I was going to kill him. I studied the pale, smooth contours of his face. There was no doubt that he was handsome, devilishly so, in fact. Previously, his red eyes had been vicious and startling in their anger, but now? They were bleeding an almost delicate warmth.

I should have stayed away from the Devil's heir, but at this point, I was better off sticking with him. I couldn't go anywhere, after all. I had a job to complete, and like it or not, I was going to complete it, even if it meant killing the man that had saved me.

Everyone always says that it's dangerous to play with fire. If it was, I was already ablaze. So let me burn.