Guardian Of Fate (Fate Series) (18 page)

"Cassandra, stop!"

My hands were stilled by a force that I assumed came from the same person. I felt a breeze in the room that came from behind me. It was filled with the sweet smell of roses. I turned my head and gasped as I looked upon one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She was only a few feet from me, dressed in a simple, black flowing dress. Her pale skin was amplified from the stark contrast of the dress and her long, fiery red hair. Her shape was that of a model's dreams, perfect in all the right places. Her eyes were magnetic, a green hue so light, it seemed tinged with a touch of cerulean blue.

Those beautiful eyes were on me, penetrating me, controlling me. There was a familiarity in them that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I stared at her, mesmerized, as she came towards me. My hands relaxed on Caleb and, for a second, I feared he would use the reprieve to escape, or worse, turn the tables back on me, but when I quickly looked down, he seemed to be just as hypnotized by the woman as I was.

"Anael," I heard him whisper under his breath.

My head snapped back up towards her. Could it really be her? The angel, herself, had come to stop me from hurting Caleb?
But why?
Wouldn't this be a win on the side of good versus evil?

"Yes, Caleb, it seems I've come just in time to save you. Take heed to remember that. Once Cassandra lets you go, you will move on and never visit her again. I have a special interest in her, and I will deal with her alone. Do you understand?" Her steel resolve was such a contrast to her soft, beautiful air, but it held a force that left no room for argument from him. However, I was not so ready to give in, angel or not.

"I'm sorry. Anael, is it? Nice to meet you. But I have a big problem with this whole scenario of letting him go. See, I've been through hell with this demon, and I'm not about to let him go so that he can come back and torture me again. I'd rather just end it all right now, if you don't mind." Holy shit! Where did that backbone come from? But it felt good. I felt strong and in control for once in my life. I continued straddling Caleb, my hands now pushing against his chest to keep him down. I was surprised to know that my strength in combat was still pretty powerful.

Anael looked at me for a long moment, as if considering my situation, but then she turned her attention back to Caleb and said, "Caleb, you will obey my orders or suffer the consequences." Without waiting for his answer, she waved her hand at him and I fell to the floor as he disappeared from underneath me.

"What the hell?!" I yelled as I scrambled to sit back up.

"I'm sorry, Cassandra, but there was no way I could let you kill him. If you had, you would have turned the Devil himself on you, and no one could protect you then. Believe me. As it is now, I can protect you from Caleb. He has his orders. He will obey," she said, convinced in her control over him.

Confused, I asked her, "Why would Caleb obey the orders of an angel?"

"Because I'm not an angel anymore, Cassandra. I live in Sheol now - Hell. Caleb has to obey me. I am technically his Queen."

I fell back against the wall as if I'd been thrown at it. Anael, my ancestor, was some kind of fallen angel? I swear the hole I'd been sinking in couldn't get much deeper. Or so I thought.

CHAPTER TWENTY

"
I don't understand, I thought you were an angel? They told me I had your blood, angel blood," I argued as if I could convince Anael that she was wrong.

She sat on my bed and motioned me over, but I stayed where I was, leaning against the wall.

"I was," she said, "but a long time ago, I betrayed a powerful angel. Because of my betrayal, I was banished from that world, and forced to live eternity in Sheol. I've been the Queen of Sheol for many generations now."

I stood quickly, panicked. "So you're a demon now? You're here to take me yourself aren't you? That's why you got rid of Caleb?"

"No, Cassandra. I'm here to protect you as much as I can. You are my last descendent, and I will do everything in my power to keep you mortal. My bloodline must not end with you. If they turn you, it will die along with your soul. You must keep the line going. The fate of Heaven and humanity depend on it. You are more important in this war than you realize."

My body started to tremble as she continued to tell me of the huge responsibility I was to assume in a war I didn't even know existed. How had it come to this? "But I don't want any of this! I don't want the fate of the world on my shoulders. I can't possibly fight this war. I'm just... me."

"You're stronger than you think you are. Look at what you just did to Caleb. It's in you to fight against evil; you just have to let it out. I will help you as much as I can, but you must know, that the King of Sheol is a much stronger force than I. If he finds out I am betraying him to help you, he'll... Well, I won't be able to protect you anymore. So you must go to the Elders as quickly as you can. They will help you; they'll know what to do. Do you understand, Cassandra? Do you understand how important you are?" she asked, as she walked slowly towards me.

"No! To be honest with you, I don't understand any of this! In the last week, my life has been turned upside down. People have been after me, to take me to Hell and use me as a lethal weapon. There have been so many lies told to me I don't know whom to even trust anymore. I just... I..." I broke down and finally cried. It was all so overwhelming. Placing my hands over my face, I bent my knees and slid down the wall, until I was on the floor.

Anael was at my side instantly. I felt her arm come around my shoulder. "Shhh... Cassandra," she comforted me. "I know this feels overwhelming to you, but you're a fighter and you will get through this; it's in your blood. Trust your heart, it will help you find the way. You can do this, I know you can."

I looked up into her soft, green eyes, and realized we both carried a heavy burden that neither of us had asked for. She was forced to live in a world she didn't belong in, enduring an eternal punishment. Was this her way of righting that wrong?

"Anael, are there others like you? I mean, is it possible that some demons can actually be good?"

She looked at me with kind eyes, and I knew that she understood what I was really asking. "You're talking about Hunter, aren't you? You want to know if a Seeker can truly fall for a Guardian," she said, reading my mind.

"So it's true, he really is a demon," I said, hanging my head in disappointment. My heart ached from the betrayal. I wasn't ready to let go of the feelings he brought out in me from the times I'd spent with him, especially the time we made love in the park. "Was Caleb telling the whole truth then? Was Hunter only protecting me so he could turn me himself?" I felt sick even thinking about it.

"Yes, Hunter is a Seeker, Cassandra. He's actually the highest ranked Seeker in Sheol, second only to King Nergal." My heart sank even lower hearing how important he was to Hell.

"But, not anymore," Anael added.

I jerked my head up, confused. "What do you mean?"

"He broke the rules when you two were together in the park. That is why he was summoned back to Hell. He's being punished for his betrayal."

Oh my God, they knew we made love in the park? Embarrassed, I asked, "But how? How did they know? And why is it such a big deal to them? I thought that's what Seekers do. They seduce the Guardians and then turn them."

"Yes, they do, but the seduction cannot involve being intimate the way you two were. It can never go that far. There have been other Seekers that have gotten too close and went, how do you say it nowadays? AWOL. Nergal realized what was happening and forbade it. The punishment was severe enough that it prevented the loss of any more Seekers that way... until now. Caleb was watching you, he saw everything and reported back to Nergal." I lowered my eyes from Anael, utterly horrified that Caleb had watched everything that happened in the park. It was such a beautiful thing to me, but the thought of him watching, made me feel dirty about it. But I couldn't worry about that. I had to know what was happening to Hunter.

"What is the punishment?" I whispered, holding my breath.

When she looked back to me, there was sympathy and maybe even a little bit of remorse in her face.
Was it remorse for having any association with their world?
I was even more afraid of the answer, but I urged her on. "Hunter is being held in a Sheol prison. They will torture him there for the rest of eternity."

My hand shot up to my mouth as I gasped. Images of him being restrained, bloody, and in pain tore through my mind, making me tremble. Bile came up my throat, but I held it back. "No!" I cried. I didn't want to believe it. It was incomprehensible to me. He'd actually risked this kind of eternal punishment to be with me? It felt like there was a knife in my heart as I thought about the torture he was suffering over all of this.  My eyes teared up as I breathed out, talking more to myself than anyone else, "It's not fair. He doesn't deserve it. I should have never let it happen! This is all my fault!"

"He knew what the punishment was," she confirmed.

"But why would he do that? Why would he risk it?" I asked, knowing she couldn't really answer.

"Sometimes fate cannot be controlled, Cassandra, even by us immortals." The irony of her words did not go unnoticed by me. Here I was, bound by my blood, trying to change the fate of countless lives, only to be restrained by the fate of my own heart.

"Will you help him? I cannot go on knowing that he is suffering. You must help him, Anael.
Please?
" I asked, not knowing whether it was even possible. I was still mad as hell at him for not telling me what he was, but how could I deny what he'd risked to be with me. I didn't want him to suffer. It killed me to know he was.

Anael put her arms around me again and held me tighter this time. It felt good in her arms; safe. "I'll do whatever I can for him, Cassandra. He helped protect you, and that means more to me than you know."

I wasn't sure how much power she held in Hell, but it helped to know that she was there with him, and would try and help ease his suffering.

"Thank you," I said quietly, as I held her tighter.

"I must go now. I don't want to stay away too long and draw attention to myself. It will make it that much harder to come back. You go to the Elders like we talked about. Get your mom and Nora right away and go, Cassandra. Be careful, and remember, you have a power within you that is very strong. Find it, and use it, when you need it most."

I nodded, but was scared out of my wits of what lay ahead for me. We stood together and hugged once more. Before she disappeared, she kissed me on my forehead and whispered, "Goodbye, my child. I'll be back again for you, until then, remember I am a part of you, here," she put her palm over my heart. I could almost feel a heat from her touch, but wasn't sure if it were real or just imagined. Either way, I felt her there. 

***

I remained against the hallway wall after Anael disappeared, dreading my next move, imagining what Hunter was going through, and knowing that I'd probably never see him again. But I also knew I
had
to go on, if only to spare the lives of those I
did
have around me. And there was that whole fate of the world thing too.

Nora came out of her room just as I had finally gathered myself together. "Oh hey, Cassie
—"

The front door burst open and we both screamed as Eric charged in. "Cassandra!" he yelled before noticing me standing in the hallway. Nora continued to scream as he bounded through the room towards us.

"Nora, it's okay," I told her. "He works with Hunter." I could tell that she was still leery though and I could understand why. Eric was a big bear of a man to begin with, but to come stomping after us with his clothing torn and bloodied cuts was quite terrifying.

"Eric, are you okay?" I asked when he was near enough. I put my hand out to touch a cut on his face, but he flinched away from me quickly.

"I'm fine," he told me, and I stared in awe as the cuts slowly receded as if being sucked into his skin. "Caleb's gone? What happened?" he asked with murder in his eyes.

"What?" Nora asked, confused. "Caleb was here? Cassie, what the hell is going on? And who is this guy?" She looked Eric's massive frame up and down.

I was still recovering from all of the information I'd just received from Anael, so the flood of questions had me reeling. I took a deep breath in an effort to calm my beating heart enough to answer them. "Yes, Nora, Caleb was here. He probably used his powers again on you to make sure you didn't come out, but he's gone now," I said as I looked back and forth between her and Eric. "Anael came and sent him away... hopefully for good."

Exhausted, I walked between the two of them and headed for the couch. Looking over my shoulder I said as an afterthought, "Oh, and Nora, this is Eric, he's a Seeker watching over me while Hunter is being tortured in Hell for the rest of eternity. Nora, Eric. Eric, Nora." I sat down on the sofa heavily, defeated.

"Holy shit! What?" Nora exclaimed at the same time that Eric asked with the same amount of intensity and confusion, "Anael was here?"

They came around and sat with me as I explained everything that had happened with Caleb and Anael. I could see that Nora went through a lot of the same emotions that I had during the events that had taken place in our apartment. Eric, on the other hand, showed no emotion at all. His calm demeanor reminded me of Hunter's.

After all of their questions were answered that I
could
answer, I stood up from the sofa and looked down at Nora. "We need to go get my mom now, Nora. We've got to get to the Elders as soon as possible. I have a feeling that even if Caleb won't be back, others will. Apparently, I'm pretty high up on Hell's hit list, and by association, so are you."

She nodded her head blankly, got up, and walked to her bedroom. "I just need to pack a few things," she said.

"You coming?" I asked Eric.

He stood so close to me that I was forced to look up at him, noticing that he was a handsome man with dark, thick hair and features, aside from the familiar blue eyes. His strong build was just as intimidating as Hunter's.

As he looked at me, his calm expression changed to one of humbleness. "I'm sorry, Cassandra. I have failed you. Hunter will surely kill me himself for letting Caleb get near you." He broke the eye contact and hung his head in humility.

"I don't think you have to worry too much about that. You knew where they were taking him, and Anael confirmed that he is imprisoned. He won't be back," I told him sadly, my heart breaking having to say the words.

His head came back up quickly and he grinned at me, "You don't know Hunter very well then. If he wants something bad enough, he will do everything in his power to get it, and no amount of metal in Hell can keep him from it."

My heart skipped a beat with the hope that what he said was right. Remembering one of Hunter's lessons, I said, "Yeah, I've heard that somewhere before."

***

The three of us rode in Nora's car in silence, each of us in our own world of thoughts. When we arrived at my mom's room, the man that Hunter assigned to watch over her was still standing in the same place he was when we left. He nodded my way and I returned the acknowledgement. Nora and I went into the room, while Eric walked up to the man and began talking to him.

My mom was sitting up in her bed and a look of relief swept over her face when she saw us. "Oh Cassie, Nora. I was so worried about you two when I woke up and saw you were gone. I tried to get that big Neanderthal to come in and tell me what was going on, but he just stood out there the whole time."

I looked back out at the guy in amazement. He must have some kind of patience, I thought to myself. I wondered if he already knew what had happened to Hunter. I was sure Eric was filling him in if he didn't.

Mom looked much better. The color had returned to her skin and she seemed to be moving around with much more ease than before. I hugged her and her arms felt stronger around me. I was relieved, knowing we were getting her out of here. When I pulled away, she searched my face. As much as I tried, I was horrible at hiding my distress from her.

"Cassie, has something else happened? What's wrong? Did you get rid of that Hunter guy?"

Her words stung, even though she didn't know how close she'd gotten to the truth about Hunter, and how much it hurt me.

"Yeah, Mom, he's gone," I said quietly, dropping my eyes from hers. I didn't want to answer any more questions. I just wanted to move on and get all of us to the Elders safely. "We're getting you out of here. Today. Now. We have to get to the Elders. You think you're strong enough or should I send Eric in here to help you?"