MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) (20 page)

Beleth stands as I walk
into the room, “Ah, here you are. I thought you would be hungry. Join me.”

In acknowledgment, I take
my seat at the other end of the table as the guards leave through a door beside
the bar I hadn't noticed before.

“How did you sleep?” he
ventures.

“Fine.”

“Is something bothering
you?”

Really, dude? You fucking
kidnapped me and made me kill my friend!
“What’s going to happen to Trey?”

“What do you mean?”

“Trey's a demon. You can’t
kill a demon with a dagger. His essence will continue on. Exactly, how does
that work? What happens to him now?”

Beleth nods and taps his
fingers on the table, “Yes, this is true. Trey's essence will move on. It will
return to its rightful place in Sheol. I am positive The King has great plans
for him.” A smile spreads across his face without reaching his eyes.

“Torture.”

“Expected. And if or when The
King sees fit, Trey may be released back to the surface to serve in my legion
once more.”

“Oh.”

I jump in my seat at the
sight of a raven diving into the room and landing
next to
Beleth’s
chair
. I can’t believe my
eyes when I
witness
the bird shift into a
Fallen angel with his black wings tucked behind him. His head's bowed, and I
can only see his black hair tied into a knot on the crown of his head. Beleth
looks over his shoulder to address him, “Solas, are they ready?”

“Yes,” Solas’ voice is deep
and corresponds with his heavyweight kickboxer physique.

“We will be there
directly.”

Solas nods once and rises.
I'm stunned and can’t look away. Something about him seems familiar. He has a
short, and his eyes are the clearest blue glaciers locked with mine, freezing
me in place. The scar through his left brow adds to his Viking-like presence.
What I think is recognition passes over his expression before it falls, and he
pivots away to leave through the same door my guards had left through.

I swallow the lump in my
throat, “Is there someone waiting for us?”
Please don’t be Lucifer. Please
don’t be Lucifer.

“Yes. If you are finished,
they are ready to meet you.”

“They?”

Beleth is at my side before
I can blink and offers me his hand, “Come.” I look at his hand and stand
without letting him touch me. I don’t want to feel his emotions run through me
again. We exit the Dining Hall and walk further down the corridor
,
away from my room. I follow my captor to a set of
massive mahogany doors. He pauses and glances over his shoulder to me with a
smirk. I jump at the sound of a deep horn vibrating the stone walls. It reminds
me of the sound of impending war—deep and foreboding—making my eyes go wide
with fear. The doors swing open without Beleth’s assistance. He walks forward
with his hands behind his back and his head held high. I hesitate, but follow
him between two angels guarding the doors as Sentries. I recognize them as
Cassius and Beckett.

I refrain from wrapping my
arms around myself from the chill of the room, refusing to show any weakness
before my enemies. Dozens of eyes follow me as we enter an extravagant
throne room
. Pillars line the walls behind the army of fierce,
shirtless Fallen angels. Their wings are all resting behind them, and I hear
the rustling of their feathers twitching every few steps we take. Beleth stops
in the middle of the room and whispers without meeting my eyes, “Stay here.” He
paces forward and sits on an ornate black throne made of obsidian crystal. I
feel vulnerable standing in the middle of the room, expecting my execution.

That's the same throne from
my dream. This is the same room. This is the same legion who bowed to me. Oh,
God! What's happening?

“Brothers!” The Duke
bellows to the angels around us. “As you can see, our guest has arrived. It is
now your duty to protect her from our enemies. She will remain with us as she
prepares for the last phase of her transition.” The angels around me are as
still as statues as they observe me. “You will now take your ranks and give
respect to Ivy, daughter of Lilith.” Feathers bustle and flutter around the
room with either excitement or aggravation
.

Beleth stands and descends
the steps to stop before me. My hands are fisted tightly at my sides,
my
nails digging into my palms at the tension of not
knowing what to expect next. All eyes are upon us as their leader raises his
hand towards my cheek with intent. His smoldering red eyes bore into mine as
electricity reaches out from his fingertips hovering over my skin. I feel his
intensions without coming into contact with him. A gentle, erotic sensation
builds by degrees in anticipation. His fingertips trace a path of air over the
planes of my cheek as I hold my breath.
No, Ivy. He's evil. This is just a
show. He’s trying to lure you in. Don’t fall for his shit.

Beleth leans forward, and I
think he's about to kiss me. I close my eyes, and his breath brushes my ear,
“Do not fret, darling. This is your destiny.”

I open my eyes as I feel
his warmth leave me. He returns to his throne and nods to me once as he takes
his seat. One by one, each dark angel takes a turn to bow before me on one knee
and repeats, “Ivy, daughter of Lilith, I give my loyalty unto thee until my
essence is eliminated from existence.”

What the fuck's going on
here? Loyalty until death! Is this what my dream was about?
I look to Beleth for answers to my unspoken questions.
He
remains
impassive
.

The very last warrior in
Beleth’s legion to pledge to me is Solas. Our eyes lock again, and I get a
sense of sadness from him as he drops to one knee with his wings spread out
behind him. He repeats, “Ivy.” His voice falters before he continues, “daughter
of Lilith, I give my loyalty unto thee until my essence is eliminated from
existence.”

All of a sudden, I feel
guilty for the lives they may lose because of me. It dawns on me they're giving
their lives for a creature they've never met.
Why?
Solas stands, keeping
his eyes on the floor between us. “Thank you,” I whisper.

Solas’ head pops up, eyes
wide, “Your appreciation isn't necessary, Princess. It's my honor.” His words
harbor a stoic loyalty, providing a feeling of safety. He bows his head once
and turns to march back into the formation watching us.

Beleth erects in explosion
with eyes blazing brighter, and the legion bows to him. He glides to my side
and pauses without a glance in my direction, “Follow me.”
God! So fucking
demanding! Would it kill you to say ‘please’?

The Sentry guards, Cassius
and Beckett, accompany us back to my quarters. Beleth opens the door and lets
me enter as he waits outside of the threshold with my guards again. “I am
afraid I must leave you. I have some business to take care of. Cassius and
Beckett will stay guarding you wherever you go.
Let
them know if there
is anything you need.”

“Wherever I go?”

“Within the confines of The
Keep,” he adds with a faint chagrin twitch in the corner of his mouth.

“How long will you be
gone?”
Maybe this is my chance to find a way out of this hell hole and plan
an escape.

Beleth steps so close to me
I have to tilt my head up to see his face. His hands hover and sweep over my
arms as I feel the electricity spark between my skin and his palms, “Are you
afraid, Princess?”

“No. I just don’t know what
to do with myself. I’m a prisoner here.”

His hands drop, and his
smirk falls, “This is for your own protection. It may be best to use this time
to hone your new abilities.” With that, he disappears before my eyes in a black
cloud of smoke.

Great.
I take in my confines and rummage through everything
within my chamber, trying to find a weapon or anything to help me get through
this. My guitar's missing. I could have used one of its strings to strangle someone
if I had to. I find my iPod on top of the dresser where my clothes are kept. I
need an outlet and need to run until my lungs and legs can’t take anymore.

Changing my boots out for a
pair of sneakers, I notice faint scaring on my
right forearm
. It has a twinge of black within its crevasses, and I shrug it off as
an infection I'll be able to heal from.
What the hell is that? Must have
been from the shackles.
I open my door to find Cassius and Beckett leaning
against the opposite wall, chuckling at their quiet conversation. I decide to
be cordial since they
did
just pledge their lives to me. I clear my
throat. They jerk to attention, erasing the amusement from their faces. “Uh…
hey guys. Um… you can relax. There’s no need to be stiff.”

“Is there something we can
do for you, Princess?” The question comes from my previous punisher standing
resolute to my left.

“Please
,
relax. It seems I'm going to be here a while
,
and if you’re going to be guarding me, I don’t want
it to be awkward.” I hold my hand out, “Call me Ivy.” The guards look to each
other with worry and question.

They nod to each other in
silent agreement, and the Sentry on the left hold his hand out to me,
“Cassius.”

“Nice to meet you,
Cassius.” His handshake's brief and light, afraid to be firm with a woman so
much smaller than him.
Pain, regret, sorrow.
Cassius releases my hand,
and I turn to the other guard, “And you must be, Beckett.”

“Yes,” he croaks, grasping
my hand with firmness, then clears his throat to repeat himself with clarity.
Attraction,
pride, guilt.

I looked between the two
Sentries, “Are you guy’s twins?”

They laugh raucous and
hardy before Beckett answers, “Triplets. We have a sister.” I raise my eyebrows
in question. “She’s a mean brute though. Acts more animal than woman.”

I chuckle at his openness.
“So, I was just wondering...” I rock back and forth with nervousness and bite
my lower lip. “Is there somewhere I can run?”

Their faces become stern,
and Cassius speaks up, “You cannot run. We are instructed to contain you to The
Keep.”

I put both hands up in
surrender, “No, no, no. I mean for exercise.”

“Oh! Um… There is a place…
but it is outside the caves. We would have to get permission.”

Crap.
“From Beleth?”

“No. From me,” a deep voice
announces. I turn left to see Solas strolling toward us with black wings tucked
behind him, tips inches from
dragging
the floor. He moves
with the determination of a soldier and oozes power.

“You?” I echo. His presence
is affecting me with attraction to his gorgeous features.

He stops before me, “Yes.
I'm Beleth’s Chief Commander. All requests go through me for approval in his
absence.”

“Oh.” Heat rushes my
cheeks.

“As for your request, I
think we can manage enough guards for you to be safe on The Common,” he grins with
the twist of his tight lips.

“Thank you,” I release a
long breath.

“There’s that phrase
again,” he smirks, and I return his sentiment. “Follow me.”

There’s
that
again too. Does no one say ‘please’ around
here?

Ambling down the corridors
from the direction Solas came, I'm squeezed between him leading the way and my
guards trailing behind me. The halls twist and turn a few times before we march
up a long set of stone steps onto another level and take another corridor to
our left. At the end of the passageway, Solas stops in front of a round iron
vault. The vault door is two stories high with smooth rivets around its
circumference. In the center of the door is an iron helm which turns similar to
a bank vault. As Solas twists the helm back and forth, the gears click in
succession. I try to see the combination he uses, but his black wings block me
from snooping. With a loud
clunk
, the
vault-like door hisses open. Warm sunlight shines on my face.
Outdoors.
I
breathe a sigh of relief.

Solas smiles and guides his
hand out for me to proceed through the vault in front of him. I notice a tattoo
on his forearm that's in the exact spot Alice and Eric has theirs. The shapes
of the tattoo are very similar as well. “The Common, Princess,” he announces.

“Wow,” I whisper at the
sight of an open field stretching at least a mile ahead of us and at least five
miles across. The land drops off on three sides with an ocean of water
surrounding us. I walk forward, spinning around to take in the view. Behind me,
I see the mountain which houses Beleth’s underground
Keep
. I catch sight of numerous
brown and
golden lion-like cre
atures
with wings perched
on different levels of the mountain as if they're guarding it from intruders
from the sea. One of them turns its head to look down at me
. It now appears to
be an eagle
. I step back, “What's that?”

Cassius steps up beside me
and crosses his arms over his chest. “You do not have to worry about them. They
are Sentries, like us. Griffins.”

“What? What do you mean,
like us?”

Beckett answers, “Cassius
and I. We're Griffins. We have the ability to shift into Griffins or only
release our wings.” His soft brown wings spring out of his back with pride.
“You'll find no better guard than a Griffin,” he wiggles his eyebrows playfully
before retracting
his wings
.

“That’s insane. I’ve never
heard of anything like that.”

“Well, now you have,”
he says.

“Yeah,” I respond in
contemplation as I pull my iPod from my pocket and unwind my headphones. I put
one earbud in so I can stay alert to my new surroundings and scroll through my
playlist. I start shaking my limbs out and bouncing on my toes, readying my
body to run. I settle on listening to something light to clear my head and
select Raury. Ironically, his song
“
Devil’s Whisper
”
starts to play.

I start off with a light
jog to my right. My strides are wide and carefree, giving me the sensation of
almost skipping. Minutes into warming up, I feel a surge of energy within me. I
start pumping my arms and legs faster. I sense a presence behind me and looked
over my shoulder. Cassius and Beckett are jogging behind me, so I spin around
and run backwards to face them. “What are you doing?” I taunt in a sing song
voice with a grin on my face.

“We are not to leave your
side, Princess,” Cassius reveals. Beckett backhands his brother’s arm. Cassius
corrects himself, “I mean, Ivy.” He smiles.

“Well, ok. If you have to.”
I turn back around and speed up. “Can you keep up?” I take off as fast as I
can. The edge of the cliff comes up quickly, and I round the corner, making my
own track. Glancing over my shoulder, my guards are a few feet behind. A giggle
erupts from my chest, and I change direction again.
They aren’t even trying!
Five mile stretch. Here we go.
I call behind me, “Is that all you got?”
I've never run so fast in my life, it takes less than a minute to reach the end
of the five mile stretch. I turn to run the mile width back towards the
mountain and see Solas standing with his arms crossed over his chest, his body
quaking with laughter. I veer back to the five mile stretch alongside the
mountain where I had started. Movement to my right causes me to look over just
in time to witness Cassius and Beckett fighting to cut across the lawn.
“Cheaters!” I laugh as I tease them. I slow to a stop in front of Solas, hands
on my knees as I bend over to catch my breath. His beatific laughter at my
guards causes me to laugh even harder. I collapse to the ground and roll onto
my back, clinching to the stitch in my side, but can’t stop laughing.

Cassius and Beckett come to
a stop beside me and hunch over me, heaving. “Are you ok?” they question in
unison.

“Yeah! What was that? I
thought you were letting me win, but when I saw you guys cheating to cross the
lawn… Woo!” I settle my breathing down and Beckett offers me a hand up, which I
take.

“Griffins are very
competitive. We’ve never been out run by another creature, and you're not even
fully evolved yet,” Beckett admits.

“Maybe you should stop
relying on your wings to carry you wherever you go.” They chuckle at my advice.
“You know what, I’m gonna start calling you Cassie and Becky!” They’re faces
turn serious and for a moment, I think I may have crossed a line joking with
them. But Solas is cracking up
,
and it makes me
smile.

“Let’s see
you
try
to keep up,” Cassius challenges the
ir
C
ommander. The Chief’s laugh dies down to a chuckle,
and I look to him mischievously.

“Ok,
Cassie,
” he
chuckles. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“No wings,” Beckett orders
with a stern countenance.

“Yeah, yeah,” Solas rolls
his eyes.

I ready myself next to
Solas as Beckett stands beside us with his hand up in the air. “Ready. Go!” he
yells for us, and we take off.

I thought these guys would
be scary, evil, torturing monsters. Look at them! They’re like a bunch of
jocks! Maybe it won’t be so bad here. With Beleth gone, it’s like we’re just a
bunch of kids trying to have fun since the parents are
out
. But I do miss Jack, and Evelyn, and Alice, and Eric.
They're probably worried sick about me. I hope they’re ok. I have to find a way
to get back to them. I don’t even know where I am. I never even saw Beleth
coming. I won’t make that mistake again.

Jumping out of my head, I
realize Solas hasn’t passed me yet, nor is he beside me anymore. Almost to the
third turn at the edge of the cliff, I turn my head to find him. He's inches
behind me.
He kept up!
My toe slams into something hard, and I tumble
over my feet. I can’t stop my momentum. I cry out as the ground leaves me, and
I roll over the edge of the cliff. I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for the
inevitable. A strong hand grips my wrists and suspends me in the air. I open my
eyes to see Solas hovering above me with his dark wings beat
ing
behind him.
He caught me!

Solas lifts me in the air
and carries me to the area in front of the vaulted entryway. He descends with
languid motion to let my feet touch the ground. He lets go, and my knees
buckle. Solas’ strong arms catch me again before I collapse to the ground. I
look up and regard the worry in his ice blue eyes. He hesitates, then raises me
to his chest with an arm around my back and another under my knees.
Concern,
shame, adoration, hope.

“Cassius, get ice and water
,
and bring it to Ivy’s chambers.” My guards leave
without haste, and Solas carries me back to my room, his emotions a continuous
flow into my core.

Gently, he lays me down on
the bed of red silk sheets. My knees are scraped and swollen, as well as my
left arm. My leggings are ruined, the fabric torn and matted with sweat and
blood. Blood runs down my forearm like a macabre spider web. My skin burns all
over.

“I’m sorry. I guess I
should pay better attention to where I’m going if I’m going to be running that
fast.”

His eyes meet mine with
more surprise, “You have nothing to be sorry about, Ivy. It was an accident.
Don’t worry. I'll get you cleaned up.”

“Thank you,” I whisper. I
find myself saying that a lot to him.

A corner of his mouth turns
up. “Yes, well... we're not
all
scary, evil, torturing monsters,” he
cites in a gentle tone as he examines my arm.

I wince internally.
Can
he hear what I’ve been thinking?

“Yes,”
I hear him answer in my head. I gasp, and he looks up
to meet my wide eyes. Unblinking, I stammer, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that.
I mean… I did… I mean…”

Solas stops me from
embarrassing myself, “Ivy. It’s fine. It's expected. But I'm not here to hurt
you. You have my word.” Cassius and Beckett return with a bucket of ice, four
large jugs of water, a basin, and white cloths. “Set them here,” Solas points
beside him.

I look to my guards, “Thank
you, guys. I know it doesn’t look like it, but
that was
fun. I really needed it. I'm grateful.”

The three angels beside my
bed stare at me with unflinching silence.
Did I say something wrong?

“No,” Solas replies to my
unspoken question. I had already forgotten he can hear my thoughts. “It's just
we're not used to being acknowledged or appreciated. We're Fallen and creatures
of the Dark. ‘Thank you’ is not in our vocabulary very often. Especially,
coming from an angel within a higher order than us.”

“Oh. Wait. Higher order?”

“Yes. Lilith is your
mother. She's the Queen of Darkness. That makes you a princess. The Princess of
Darkness.”

Oh
,
my God. I know what she is. How could I have not put
that together? Princess of Darkness? Princess of Sheol? No wonder they're
pledging their loyalty to my safety.

Solas answers inside my
mind again, “
Yes.”

Solas pours the clean water
into the basin, plunges a cloth into the water, and squeezes most of it out. He
raises my arm and gently wipes the blood and dirt from the cut. I shut my eyes
and wince at the stinging laceration. He rinses the cloth and wipes my arm in
soothing strokes. His emotions start pouring into me like a soft wind kissing
my skin as I relax. A controlled desire of lust, itching beneath the surface. I
meet his eyes as he lays my arm back down slowly.
If he can hear my
thoughts, can he feel what I feel?

He clears his throat, “I
need to access the cuts on your legs.”

I sit up, propping myself
on my palms and look down at my leggings which have no hope of repair. “Um… Can
we just cut them away at my thighs?”

Without answering, Solas
rips the fabric with his hands on my left thigh, then my right.
Whoa.
He
soaks the rag again, but instead of wringing out the water, he squeezes it out
to drip down my leg. It drips with a soft touch on the tops of my thigh, over
the cut on my knee, and down my shin, streaming down like
a light
rain on a window pane.

When my legs are clean, he
wraps ice into a dry cloth and lays it across my left knee. It seems to have
taken the brunt of the collision. “Keep this here for about ten minutes. When
you feel you can stand on your own, you can take a bath if you’d like. You
should be good as new in the morning.”

“Thank you, again.”

Solas shakes his head, “Let
me know if there's anything else I can do for you. Cassius and Beckett will be
just outside. I'll send new sheets up for you.” He bends down to clean up the
bloody rags and water and leaves the ice for me.

When he turns to leave, I
call out to him, “Solas?” He pauses and glances over his shoulder. “I don’t
have much longer until my transformation is complete. I would like to continue
with my training tomorrow. Is there a space for that? Or may I go back out to
the cliffs?”

“You've been training?” he
twists his body to see me better.

“Yeah. Well, kind of. But
there's a lot I need work on.”

“I'll have the Griffins
escort you to the Throne Room in the morning, contingent on your body’s ability
to heal quickly.”

I smile. “Thanks, Chief,” I
tease him.

Solas turns and leaves, but
not before I catch the
grin
on his face.

I wonder if Beleth has the
ability to hear my thoughts as well. If that’s the case, I’m screwed, and I’m
never getting out of here. I’m so sorry
,
Jack. I need to get a message to him. I have no phone, and I’m out in
the middle of nowhere. The guys seem nice. Maybe I can get them on my side and
see if they'll let me go. I don’t know. Hell.

My lacerations appear to be
closing. I swing my legs over the bed and stand with slow deliberation,
expecting to fall. It still hurt
s
, but I can manage
the pain. I limp into the bathroom and fill the tub to take a bath. It takes a
while, but I manage to fill the stone tub enough to submerge my body. Slipping
into the steaming water, it warms the chill in my bones. It feels so good to
relax, and I fall asleep.