The Forsaken(25)

The human-demon grasped Izzy by the hair, hauling her up until her legs were suspended at least a foot off the ground. Kicking him in the nuts, she wondered for a second if he still had any. When he dropped her instantly to the ground, she grinned. Guess you’ve still got your jewels. Not for long though. Yanking her last knife out from her boot, she turned around and knifed him in the belly. He roared and then thankfully evaporated. “At least one of you is acting demon-like tonight.”

The rush of minions coming at Izzy made her want to flee. Heart galloping like a Pegasus, she stupidly stood her ground, wounded and bloodied, but she’d fight them all. Probably not a long fight, but she wasn’t one to run, ever. Taking on demons was real work. Better than sitting at the apartment, thinking. Izzy wanted to avoid examining the emotions Nathanael evoked in her for the place that had been at one time her loving home. The had been part knifed her still.

*

Nat heard Isabella scream. His heart stopped beating but thankfully his legs picked up speed. Rounding the corner of a large office building, he stormed into the darkened alley. He balked at the scene.

Isabella struggled in the middle of at least a dozen minions. Nat did the only thing he could think of to get them off her. He swung his heavenly Kita hard, slicing through the minions with ease. They might appear shadowlike, but the minute his heavenly blessed sword came into contact with them they were sent back to their Hell realm. Every time a minion punched him, searing pain burned his flesh.

Isabella was too wounded to do anything but lay on the filthy ground, and it took willpower for Nat to ignore her when all he wanted to do was grab her and flee. Seraphim do not run from battle. While his skin burned from the direct contact from the minions he kept swinging his Kita. His shoulder muscles ached but he’d be damned if he’d let on. Mowing down minions wasn’t easy and with only two left to confront, he prayed no more materialized. Sweat dotted his forehead and he longed to swipe it but he couldn’t afford to be distracted.

He lunged the sword straight into the heart of one of the last minion that came at him. In quick succession he took care of the last one. For a second, Nat could have sworn he saw another minion in the darkest part of the alley, but when he looked again, nothing was there. Isabella moaned. The sound, a desperate plea, brought her fully to his attention. Her golden life essence flowed freely around her, so much yellow it could have lit up the alley. Nat scooped up Isabella, running with her in his arms back to her sisters. He prayed he wasn’t too late. He prayed he’d be granted time to make amends.

“Did we defeat them?” Her voice was weak, so unlike the commanding Isabella persona he’d grown accustomed to, and it almost made Nat stumble.

“We certainly did,” he said. “Isabella, keep your eyes open. Stay awake.”

“Why? It’s so nice when I close my eyes. You know what I see?”

He knew what she saw. “What?” Nat would talk about anything to keep her awake. Terror, if she truly closed her eyes for good she’d slip from him, made him quicken his pace. Two more of these cursed blocks. He noticed for the first time how the humans didn’t offer assistance, not that he’d take it, but their total lack of humanity and morality struck him like a blow.

“What do you see?” repeated Nat, his voice choked with emotion.

“I see the lovely orange-red sands of my homeland, Mount Ch’rb. My heaven. Let me go, Nathanael.”

“You will live.” He would resort to commanding her to do such, if forced.

Her eyes fluttered open once more. “But I want to go home, Nathanael. Please…please let me go.”

Nathanael’s heart and soul broke. He was a selfish bastard, having learned that human expression the other night, he now fully understood the phrase. “You would leave your sisters to mankind without you?”

She cursed him in ancient Hebrew and hissed in pain. Her breathing shallowed, her form went limp, and she struggled to keep her eyelids open. A second later she was unconscious.

“I will take all your damning, but you must first live. I beg thee Mistress, with my soul…please let her live.”





Chapter Nine


“What do you mean, you can’t do anything else for her?” asked Nat to one trembling, tear-stained Meredith.

“I’ve done all I can. I made a promise to Izzy never to call a human doctor for her again. I can’t go back on that promise.”

A gasp from Isabella’s sisters made him realize he was acting irrationally. He was Seraphim, and they looked to him now for guidance. “But what if that doctor can help?”

“She would rather die.”

Nathanael knew Meredith spoke the truth but he didn’t know what else to do. “I know you are trying everything. What about if you all sing to her?”

Shea moved forward. Pleased he was learning some of their names—more importantly, their trust—he beckoned her closer. “You have something to say, Shea?”

“Nathanael, we have sung to her most of the night. There is no change. What I am suggesting is not the normal way of things, but maybe you should try singing to her.”

Nat fought not to laugh. Me, sing? Obviously she hasn’t heard me attempt to sing, and that’s a blessing. “Seraphim do not sing.”

“Actually, some do,” countered Shea, bowing her head, her hands nervously folded together.