The Forsaken(23)

Within a minute, the door was opened. He didn’t recognize the Cherub or waste time with niceties. Racing past the startled Cherub he made it to the first landing. At the middle door on the second floor, he removed his shoes and socks and this time, didn’t bother knocking. Opening the door, the sight of five Cherubs in heavenly prayer, felt like a sweet breath of fresh air on his aching soul. At least they have not given up the light or forsaken the Mistress.

Taking a spot at the back, he didn’t dare interrupt the blessed choral chants. Trance-like, the sister’s voices worked in unison. The sweet burning scent of jasmine incense enveloped him. The room, barren except for the large wooden bowl of water, soothed him with its simplicity—a stark contrast to the Seraphim safe house, filled with Earth-born Seraphim who collected every type of electronic gadget man invented. Nat didn’t feel at ease in the safe house, but here, amongst the no-nonsense sisters, felt more like home.

He let the purity of their chant brush through his mind and it felt like a hundred wings softly beating against his skin. Their choreographed chant was as old as time. Nat felt time suspend as he gave into the bliss of prayer. He let their sacred chant, their heavenly voices heal his soul. Only when the light touch of a female hand tapped his shoulder did he awaken from the religious thrum he’d fallen into.

“She’s not here.” Meredith’s voice reached into his mind, forcing him into total-alert mode.

“Where is she?”

Meredith looked at the wooden floor, not wanting to meet his gaze. He suspected she did this more to evade him than to follow with her upbringing.

Nat slowly pushed his way from knees to standing. He’d learned to be cautious in his movements around the Cherubs. “Where is she?” he repeated, hating the nervous thread winding its way through his heart. Meredith’s hesitation annoyed him.

“Slaying demons, I think.”

“What?” Nat sounded incredulous, even to his own ears.

“She’s done this before when she needs to…to vent.”

Nat ran a frustrated hand over his head, feeling the short, spiky hairs. “And how exactly does she find these demons?” His gut twisted when Meredith raised her eyes to his. They were filled with tears.

“She cuts her body and her holy life essence acts like a beacon, drawing them to her.”

Her words sliced Nathanael like he’d been cut by the Kita. What had happened to him in the alley had been what drew the demons to him. He’d cut himself. His life essence, the purity of his own golden liquid, had been what caused the demons to come after him. Somehow, Isabella had found him.

“I will find her.” His strained voice filled with determination.

“And then what?” Meredith’s voice was a mere rasp of a whisper.

As a Cherub, she would have been taught not to question Seraphim. It pleased Nat to know she had the courage to ask and that she cared so much for Isabella. “Then I will punish her for leaving you all to worry about her.”

“You can’t say that to her. Remember what I told you, earlier?

Nathanael arched a brow at her questioning. Immediately, he felt guilty for his actions, but Meredith stood her ground.

“Oh yes, I can. And I will. It’s the one thing that will make her see the wrong of her actions.”

“But to punish her when—”

Nat broke proper protocol. Gently, he touched Meredith’s shoulder. “I would never lay a hand on her, Meredith, have no fear.”

Meredith gave him a tentative smile. “I’m glad you came for her. I believe in the ways of the Mistress and she still does too, in her heart. You are two souls meant to be together. I beg thee, be gentle.”

Oh I’ll be gentle all right, after I shake some sense into her. Nat didn’t say a word of what he thought, but by the growing smile on Meredith’s face she might have an inkling of where his mind headed.

He nodded, letting Meredith slip away. Nothing with Isabella was easy and tonight no exception. Knowing she purposely sought the demons, causing her fellow Cherubs to fear for her, was not her right. Making my heart race with anger is not acceptable either.

What is my heavenly wife thinking? She could be killed. His palms started to sweat when he realized exactly the danger she was facing, alone and on purpose. Nat raced out of the prayer room, and down the stairs, dread knotted like a twisting vine through him. That’s exactly what she is trying to do. If she couldn’t serve her penance to the satisfaction of the Mistress, her heavenly soul could be freed the minute she sacrificed herself attempting to kill a demon. If she died before he found her, Nat knew he would be alone for eternity, bound to the heavenly realm with no wife, doomed with the knowledge he shouldn’t have walked away two nights ago.

He hadn’t been Seraphim enough to understand he had hurt her when he’d left, refusing to talk about her hatred for the Mistress. Not Sera enough to realize he’d been blasted to his own version of Hell when she had told him who had cut off her wings. Nat raced against the darkness, fearing his time dwelling in self-pity would become his ultimate penance.





Chapter Eight


The fight, exactly what she needed tonight, pleased her aching heart. Nathanael had fled and she didn’t blame him. What Seraphim wanted a mutilated, imperfect Cherub? Obviously not him. She didn’t like how his leaving evoked emotions she didn’t want to examine too closely.