Runes of Truth (A Demon's Fall #1)(33)

“Thanks,” I tell Azi, and he smiles at me before going back to his bag.

“Spoilt already,” I say to Star, stroking her head, and sitting down next to her. I pull out what is left of my food, eating it and watching the protectors and Azi. They all sit near me, occasionally looking in my direction. I have the feeling they are protecting me, when I don’t need it. I finish off my food, waiting for Star to finish hers before putting everything back in the bag as Star goes off for the toilet. I copy her idea, walking to a nearby tree and relieving myself. I walk back to the guys to see Star on Connor’s lap, and he is doing something to her collar.

“What are you doing?” I ask, stroking Star’s head that she nudges my hand with. Fussy tiger.

“I found rope in the demon’s stuff, so I made a lead. It will be good for her to stretch her legs,” Connor says, lifting the thin rope he has tied to her collar and handing me the handle hoop he has tied.

“Thanks, I’m sure Star will appreciate it,” I say, walking away a little and gently encouraging Star to follow by pulling the rope. She jumps off Connor’s lap, after licking his face first, and wanders over to my side.

“How are there stars here?” I ask Azi as he tightens his straps on his bag and walks next to my side. Trex walks with Nix just behind us, and Connor catches up, coming straight to my side with Star in-between us.

“They aren’t stars,” he says.

“I’ve heard a rumour that the lights down here are the souls of angels,” Connor says, his words seeming to echo around us.

“Everyone knows angels don’t exist anymore,” I say, remembering the story Hali’s mum told me once. Humans didn’t always know demons or any supernaturals existed until an angel fell from heaven. Not just one angel, but five. The angels were evil and started killing everything they could find, so the supernaturals and demons stood in front of the humans and defended them. Working together, they killed the angels, but thousands lost their lives. Angels were more powerful than anything. The laws for supernaturals and demons were introduced, and the Protectors were the ones made to enforce the laws.

“My oldest brother told me something once about the stars, and he is so old that it could possibly be true,” Azi says.

“Tell us then, Az,” I nudge his shoulder, and he looks up at the stars for a second.

“He said that once this place and heaven were so very close together, that angels would come and spend many of their days living with demons. It all changed one day when an angel killed a demon, and a war erupted between them. Thousands of angels and demons were killed right where we stand. The stars were said to appear when an angel died here, and the darkness was the demons who were lost. My brother swore the sky was nothing other than blue before the war,” he says, almost sadly.

“That’s a beautiful story,” I say, looking up at the stars or lights. Or angels’ souls. Whatever they are, they are stunning.

“My brother died shortly after telling me that. He pretty much brought me up, and these stars remind me of him,” he tells us, and I look over, getting lost in his eyes for a second. You would think the redness of his eyes, the unnatural glow they always have and the deepness of them would be scary, but I can’t look away. His eyes are so different, and they suit him. They are him.

“Where are we heading, then?” Connor asks, snapping me out of it. Azi lifts his hand, pointing at the white building in the far distance, right in the middle of a big open grass field.

“There. My old home.”





Evie


We walk across the empty field, with Star in my bag, and both of my daggers out in my hands. I don’t trust the quietness of the place or the lack of guards surrounding the lands. There should have been someone here to stop us. I glance at Trex, who has both of his axes in his hands, and his eyes drift around us every few seconds. He doesn’t trust this, either. The house slowly comes into view, and it’s less of a house, and more of a stadium you’d expect to find in Greece. It’s completely white, with dozens of pillars on the walls outside, and only one large door as an entrance.

“This is too easy,” I say quietly. “Nothing should be this easy.”

“I know.” That’s all Azi replies to me, and the others are silent. Connor looks over at me, pulling his sword out, and stepping closer. I look to my right to see Nix has done the same thing as Connor, all of us are on high alert now. We walk faster up to the door, and Azi walks in first, with us all following him inside the dusty room.

“What is that smell?” I ask, holding my hand over my nose at the awful smell of rotting that is filling the room.

“I have a torch, one sec,” I hear Connor say, and hear him shuffling around in his bag.

“I’m sorry,” I hear Azi say in clear sympathy, as Connor flashes the light on, and the sight of two bodies on the floor greet us. Connor’s flashlight falls to the floor, as I hear him step back, but I don’t take my eyes off the dead women.

“No,” Nix says, his voice full of grief and horror. Azi throws a ball of fire up to the ceiling, lighting up the entire room after a brief silence. The women both have black hair, pretty faces, and long black cloaks on that cover all of their body except their faces and arms. Their arms are spread wide, both the arms are burnt but you can see where their runes used to be. They stare up at the ceiling with dead, empty eyes and I know straight away that they are the princesses from the reaction I see on the Protector’s faces when I look at them. I stand still as Connor walks to the side of one of the women, kneeling down, and closing her eyes with his fingers. Trex walks to the other woman’s side, doing the same, and unclipping his cloak. He covers her face and bows his head, whispering some words. Connor covers the other woman as I look around at the wall, seeing the writing in blood on the wall.