Son of the Devil - Book I of The Higher Order

Chapter Five: An Introduction

I landed just outside a warehouse on the outskirts of the human city. The angel in my arms had passed out a few minutes ago. To me she was as light as a feather, but that might be because of my unnatural demonic strength. I set down the little angel on a couch inside. This warehouse had been a safe house for the demons and Crimson Guard members for quite a while. It had been adapted from the coal mine it used to be some two centuries ago to an inconspicuous warehouse as the times progressed. It was clean on the inside, with the somewhat organized layout of a house. Kirstengr had said that the safe house had been stocked before I arrived, so I would have everything I needed for the mission. That just so happened to include my entire wardrobe, all my possessions, and the bathroom sink. A little excessive? I think probably.

Darthoar had instructed me to contact him the moment I set foot in the safe house or found out the identity of the angel, which I actually didn't know quite yet. She had fallen asleep before I could ask. Either way, I wasn't planning on contacting them. Joining the Crimson Guard had been a means to an end and nothing more. I burrowed around in the kitchen, digging for anything remotely edible. It seemed they had forgotten to stock the kitchen or maybe assumed that my mission wouldn't take long enough for that to matter, I figured I had maybe two days before someone came looking.

So I was left to make coffee out of old coffee beans and water I had to heat with my abilities as I waited for the angel to wake up. Sipping at the murky brown water, I grimaced at the taste, it needed sugar—and a lot of it—but there wasn't any. The bitterness cloyed at the back of my throat, the taste less than ideal, but it was the only thing here to drink and I needed something like this to shock me out of what just happened.

I saved an angel—no, not just any angel, I saved the one I was supposed to kill, and twice at that. What the hell was I thinking? No, I knew what I was thinking at the time. That she was an innocent, regardless if she was an enemy, she had done nothing to me or those I cared about, she hadn't deserved to die, that was why I saved her. But why did I bring her here of all places? That one I put up to my own bad judgment, but to be fair, I had nowhere else to go (at least in this realm) and I couldn't just leave her on the streets. Humans could be far crueler than any demon I had encountered.

Glancing toward where she was passed out, peaceful in sleep, I couldn't help but notice her features. Even rain-soaked, she was beautiful with long golden curls that perfectly matched her wings, her skin so pale that she could've been made of snow, and those eyes—from what little I had seen—looked like they'd been taken from the clearest of blue skies.

As I watched, the little angel breathed in a cleansing breath and her eyelids fluttered open. Those blue eyes looked over the room and came to rest on me. I could only imagine what I looked like, probably a hot mess if I do say so myself. I was more than a little wet, a tad cold, my clothes were soaked through and rumpled from carrying the Angel through the rain, and you wouldn't know true discomfort unless you've felt your wings heavy and waterlogged.

Her mouth opened and she groaned, shifting onto her side to look at me and get off of her back. Her eyes squinted in pain as she stretched her burnt wing. The little angel's wing quivered and she gasped, retracting it, "ow . . . where am I?"

"Somewhere safe," I responded, "don't move, you'll only hurt yourself." I dropped my gaze as she lifted her head, refusing to look at her beautiful blue eyes. How could I? I knew the rumors that angels could see into your very soul, I didn't want her to look into mine and see a killer, even if it was accidental, it's not exactly something that would make her trust me. "What's your name, little angel?"

"Lucifer, my friends call me Luci, yours?" She asked.

"I have a hard time believing that any angel doesn't know the name of one of the Princes of Hell. But, I am, or—my given name . . . is Samael, my friends would call me Sam . . . if I had any." I said, sipping the cup of mud.

She looked at me with great empathy in her eyes, "That's really sad. I'm sorry, Sam." Her use of the nickname that was never used startled me enough to look up into her eyes. I froze as she held my gaze, then her eyes widened. I didn't know what she saw but based on her reaction it couldn't have been good. I jerked my head, severing the tie that connected our gaze.

"What is that?" She gestured to my mug, trying to brush off the slight awkwardness that hung in the air.

"Here, have a sip." I said, passing her the mug, "it's kind of old so it won't taste as good as it should, but you're welcome to try it."

Luci took the cup from my hands, her fingers brushing against mine. She sipped from it and nearly spit out the warm liquid, "what is this?"

"It's called coffee, I've heard it can cure all human ills."

"I'm not human, nor am I ailed." Luci pointed out.

I smirked a bit, "no, you certainly aren't, but you are tired. I've heard it cures that too." I sighed as a thought occurred to me, there was no way the Crimson Guard wouldn't figure out what happened. I had been here too long with no word to them, they would come, it was only a question of when. But we couldn't stay here without food. "You may stay here while you recover. Feel free to make yourself comfortable."

"Where are you going?" Luci called after me as I walked to the large window and threw open the glass doors.

"To get us some food, I'll be back within the hour." I called over my shoulder as I snapped my wings open and launched myself into the sky.

The flight was short and it was dark when I landed outside of a convenience store. Walking in, the woman behind the counter, a cashier the title was, was giving me mistrustful looks. Nothing stood out about the woman aside from green eyes that pierced through souls, it set me on edge, mortals weren't supposed to be able to see the divine, but this one made me question it.

I paid with this plastic rectangle Kirstengr had given me, saying that it was money and quickly left. Flying through the window and landing inside, it was a little too quiet. Granted, I had half expected Luci to leave while I was gone anyway, but the knowledge that she had actually left made my heart drop in an uncomfortable way. I called out for her anyway, "Luci?" My voice echoed through the empty space. I was met with silence, she was gone.

Then, I felt it. That wretched thing was here! Those idiots had brought it to the mortal realm! I tore down the hallway and slammed the door to my room open, hoping I got there in time to stop it. The damned thing must have called out to her, that was the only reason she would go for the crown. "Put it down!"

"What?" Luci asked, almost as if she hadn't heard me. She was holding the circlet in her hands, power thrumming around it. I would have been lured in too, had I not known what it was capable of.

"I said, put it down!" I demanded, more fury in my voice than I'd ever heard before. I was tense, my body shaking as I resisted its pull. Luci looked absolutely terrified as she lowered the red iron circlet back into the box and closed it. As soon as its power was sealed in the mahogany box, I relaxed, my shoulders slumped, and I released a breath I didn't even know that I'd been holding. "Thank you," I muttered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to touch it. It won't happen again, Sam." She muttered, her eyes downcast, looking guilty.

"No, it's not your fault. I'm sorry, that thing shouldn't even be here." I put a hand on her shoulder, trying to convey my sincerity, "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"You didn't. But . . . what is it?" She asked curiously, though her words were hesitant. I had definitely scared her. The knowledge made my heart sink in my chest, that was the last thing that I wanted.

I scoffed, "a gift from dear old dad. Don't touch it, please, and definitely do not wear it. That thing is a curse and I'd rather you not have it."

She smiled, hesitantly reaching out, "what does it do?"

My eyes drifted from her face to my feet in shame as I answered, "it gives power but it always comes at a cost."

"What cost?"

I didn't know why I was explaining it to her, she was an angel, she wouldn't understand the effect it had. But I told her anyway. "For me, it makes me a monster."