Human (14 page)

"It didn't go well with Brian, did it?" I had to stifle a laugh.

"Don't mention him!" Italia rolled her eyes. "He kept trying to kiss me or get his hand where it wasn't supposed to be. Ariel, tell me you had better luck with my brother."

"Umm, I'm going to make sure Christina's date isn't around anymore," I said, and Italia's eyes narrowed. Handing Christina a paper towel, I went for the door.

"I'll kill him!" Italia said.

"Don't!" I yelled before I closed the door. Most of the people had left by now, except the drunks who either couldn't get themselves off the floor or didn't know they were supposed to leave. None of them was Devin. If I had known alcohol was such a powerful weapon against demons, I'd have used it immediately.

I put on my coat and went outside to check if Devin was around plotting how to jump my sister. It would be stupid to assume he'd gone back to Hell or given up. My last vision flashed through my mind. Those demons wanted my sister, and they weren't going to stop until they got her. I just didn't know why Devin had let her go. Not that I was complaining; I was simply curious.

Devin wasn't in front of the building, so I went to check the back door, carefully listening for any unusual sound. My eyes widened as I noticed dark spots on the ground that reminded me a lot of blood, but I wasn't going to poke at it to check. I followed the trail across the mud and mostly frozen grass until I realized I had gone too far from the bar.

A shadow caught my eye, not far from where I was standing. It looked like someone was lying in the grass. I hoped it was only some drunk who forgot where he lived, and not a dead body. Yeah, I was definitely watching too many TV shows. I took a step forward, afraid to even take a breath.

"Oh God." I put my hand over my mouth and ran over to the dark form on the ground. Devin's black eyes widened a little as he saw me standing over him, then he burst out laughing. There was blood dripping from his nose, and it had already ended up all over his shirt and face. He closed his eyes for a moment, his whole body shaking.

"What's happening to you?" I had to kneel down on the cold and dirty ground because of the stupid dress I was wearing. He coughed and more blood came out of his mouth. Was he dying? I panicked, unsure what to do. Was I even supposed to do anything? I didn't know. Devin's shaky hand reached for something under his shirt, and my knife fell to the grass.

"Kill me. Please," he whispered, his eyes flashing from black to blue.

"Tell me what's going on." I didn't dare to touch the knife.

"They want me back in Hell," he said. "They're ordering me to come back with the angel. But she's your sister. I can't... I can't do that to you. Kill me before the pain gets too strong... before I have to go back for her no matter what."

"I..." I didn't know what to say to him. He didn't want to take my sister to Hell... because of me. "If I kill you... will they come for me?"

"Yes." He bit his lip as another wave of pain hit him. Why did it have to be so complicated? If I killed him, demons would come for him, go find the person who did it and in the process discover my sister. I would be like an arrow pointing at her. And there was another thing that bothered me that I would never admit to anyone; I didn't want to kill him. What if he wasn't the bad guy?

"Why not?" I cradled his head in my lap, trying to make him more comfortable. His skin was feverish to the touch, his black hair sticky with sweat and blood.

"They're going to hurt you," he said. "You're a demon."

"What if I'm not?"

"Then you can't enter Hell if..." he choked out, and I had to hold him down as his whole body trembled. "...if you're not willing to go with me. The portal would... would be closed for a while. It opens every two weeks."

"Willing? So how exactly you planned to get my sister there? She'd never agree to go to Hell." I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering how many ridiculous rules demons had.

"She would... think she was going home with me," he said. "An illusion... Magic."

"Oh." So that was why he'd asked her to go out with him in the first place. Awesome. "Why did you get drunk then?"

"It silenced their voices in my head." He smiled and reached for me with his bloody fingers. I moved away, and he let his hand drop to the ground, his smile fading.

"And if I don't kill you..."

"I won't be able to stop myself... I'll take your sister straight to... illusion of your home. You won't even know..."

I still wasn't sure was he lying to me. There was something weird about the whole story. If he really had that kind of power to create illusions, why hadn't he used it before? Wouldn't I be able to see through it? He'd said once he didn't have that much power.

"Are you trying to make me kill you?" I frowned. "If you're so bent on dying, why don't you do it yourself?"

"Can't. Not allowed to."

"So, everything you've done... it was all because you were ordered to do it?" If it was like that, I couldn't kill him. I knew I couldn't.

"Doesn't matter right now." If he was trying to fool me to get
me
to Hell... well, it was working again. I'd made my decision. Taking my cell phone and texting Amadeo, I looked up at the starry sky above us. If this was my last day in the human world, then be it. I only hoped I would buy enough time so Amadeo could take Christina to another country, or continent... somewhere no one was going to find her. They would explain everything to my parents, and they would go far away from here, maybe to a city full of angels, where it would be hard to pinpoint where Christina was. Surely Amadeo could find something to block the visions.

"You're taking me to Hell." I said, helping Devin to get up. My cell phone started ringing, but I ignored it. There was no going back now.

"Ok." That seemed to be enough for him. I knew I should be scared, but I wasn't; I was feeling strangely numb. Maybe all that alcohol in the air in the bar got into my head. Devin closed his eyes, and his breathing slowed. It was like he was communicating with someone. And just like that, he could walk normally like nothing had happened.

"You couldn't have done magical recovery before? Why?" I crossed my arms as we walked towards the dark woods, leaving the buildings and streetlights behind us. My cell phone rang again, and this time I turned it off. My eyes started to get teary when I remembered my family, my friends, my room... my life. No, I couldn't think about any of it, or I was going to change my mind.

"I got five minutes to get you to the gates before my head blows off," he scoffed. "You better hurry."

He led me through the trees and darkness like he knew perfectly where he was going. And soon enough, there was a big cave opening in front of us. He took my hand in his as we came closer to it.

"A cave?" I asked incredulously. "A cave is Hell?"

"Did I have to mask it for you so you'd feel better?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "The part of Hell Maliadades calls home is like a large cave."

Yeah, I'd had a glimpse of it in my visions. Now I knew why it was dark all the time and why there were torches to light up the halls. But there were also parts with tiles, marble,... so it wasn't completely like a cave. Hell was a
modern
cave. How lovely. I was sure I was going to love it there. Not.

"Just stay behind me. They will be pissed when they find out I lied to them," he said, and I felt the tingling of magic in the air, even though it looked like I was entering a normal cave. I took a step forward, and suddenly there was a large cave-like hall lit up with thousands of torches in front of us. There was no way for me to tell how long it was or where it was leading, but I had to trust Devin. The only thing that surprised me was the fact that I didn't feel different.

"Are we really in Hell?" I asked.

"Yes..." Devin turned to look at me and took a step backwards, his obsidian eyes wide. "You... you tricked me!"

"What?" I had no idea why he suddenly looked like I was the monster he was trying to run away from. Glancing at my hands, I couldn't see any claws. It didn't feel like I'd sprouted a second head, so I was clueless.

There wasn't time for chit-chat because we could hear footsteps echoing from somewhere in front of us. So, I was an angel? Ah, great.

"Stay behind me," Devin whispered as Leonard came into view. Leonard was even more beautiful in person than in my visions. His long blond hair was carefully combed and fell freely around his broad shoulders. His black eyes flashed with fury as he saw me, his face darkening. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans, a big silver ring gleaming on his left hand.

"What have you done?" Leonard said, stopping a few feet away from us. There was a tick in his jaw, which told me he didn't want to come any closer for fear he'd snap. What had we gotten ourselves into?

"Go report to your master," Leonard said. "I hope you'll find the words to explain to him why you brought a half-breed instead of what he'd asked for."

"Yes, sir." Devin started walking down the hall and Leonard focused his attention on me.

"Umm, hi," I said uncertainly. Were they going to kill me because I wasn't what they needed? I shuddered. But how was I supposed to know I was an angel when all evidence screamed demon? My eyes turning violet in Hell was really inconvenient.

"Come, Ariel." Leonard smiled and offered me his hand, all anger seemed to have vanished from his features. I took a step towards him, but didn't take his hand.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, even though I was almost sure Devin had told him at some point. So much about trusting a demon to keep a secret.

"The same way you know mine," Leonard said.

"You're the one who has visions too?" I stared at him in disbelief. He nodded, a smile stretching his lips.

"Having visions is rare among demons," he said as we walked down the hall. "I wonder which one of our kind tasted the forbidden fruit."

"What?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"You're a half-breed. Half angel, half demon. Your eyes should be black in here."

"I thought demons and angels couldn't..." My voice trailed off. So technically everyone had been right except me. I was everything but human. How was that even possible?

"Oh, they could. It's just considered to be extremely wrong," he said. "And repulsive."

Ouch. No wonder my
real
parents had to hide me in the human world. Wait, there was actually something demons considered wrong? Now that was just hilarious.

"Don't be afraid. No one's going to hurt you," Leonard said. He looked honest, but I wasn't going to bet my life on it.

"What have you seen about me?" I felt a bit uneasy as we reached a large door where two huge and dangerous-looking guards stood. Leonard nodded at them and they stepped aside, opening the door for us.

"Enough," Leonard calmly replied as we stepped inside. I froze when I saw the black-haired man from my vision, Maliadades, standing in front of a huge black chair that looked like a throne. His face was twisted in an angry sneer, and I flinched when his dark eyes raked over me. Then he turned his attention to Devin, who was kneeling in the middle of the room. Devin didn't glance our way, even though I was sure he'd heard us coming.

"Take care of the girl, my love." Maliadades' cruel face softened for a fraction of a second as he looked at Leonard, then his voice turned into a growl as he walked towards Devin. "Get up!"

Devin obeyed, and I felt my pulse speeding up. I must have involuntarily made a step towards Devin because Leonard was gripping my arm. Maliadades backhanded Devin so hard that he ended up flying across the room, his back hitting the rugged stone wall. I gasped, Leonard's hold on my arm tightening.

"Come. It will be fine," Leonard urgently whispered into my ear as he ushered me outside. Before the guards closed the door behind us, I could see Maliadades hitting Devin again, and again. Tears stung my eyes.

"Is he... is he going to kill him?" I choked out. Leonard led me down another hall and into a small room with only two torches as the source of light. There was a bed in one corner, and a wooden desk and a chair in another. I sat on the bed, which was covered with black sheets, and not nearly as soft as I'd hoped it would be. Leonard sat next to me, still holding my hand in his. I was too dumbfounded to try to pull away.