The Book of Azrael (Gods & Monsters 1)

“SERIOUSLY? YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THESE ANCIENT WARRIORS, FEARED BY ALL, AND YOU FLINCH? THE WORST PART HASN’T EVEN HAPPENED YET.”

I raised my fist once more, and it connected across his cheek this time. His head whipped to the side, the bones crunching beneath the force of my knuckles. Cobalt blue blood splattered across the wood floor of the upstairs office in this oversized mansion. The bound celestial in the center of the room shook his head once more before correcting himself. He stared at me, his face bloody and his brow furrowed with pain.

‘Your eyes,’ he said from between split and swollen lips, pausing to spit blood at my feet. ‘I know what you are.’ He had fought hard and his hair was matted to his head with sweat and blood. His hands were bound behind his back, and his muscles bunched beneath the torn fabric of a once decent suit. He slumped in the chair at the center of the once prestigious room. ‘But it’s impossible. You cannot exist. The Ig’Morruthens died in the Gods War.’

I hadn’t started my life as an Ig’Morruthens, but it is what I had become, and my eyes would always give me away. When I was mad, hungry, or when I was anything but human, they burned like two fiery embers. One identifier among many that reminded me I was no longer human.

‘Ah yes, the Gods War.’ I tilted my head to the side as I regarded him. ‘How did that go again? Oh right. Thousands of years ago, your world crashed, burned, and fell into our world, disrupting lives and technology. Now you and your kind pretty much make the rules, right? Now the world knows about gods and monsters and you are the great do-gooders who keep all the bad guys under lock and key.’

I moved closer, grabbing the back of the chair as he tried to tilt his head away from me. ‘Do you know what your fall did to my world? A plague swept through the deserts of Eoria, my home, while you all just rebuilt. Do you know how many died? Do you care?’

He didn’t speak and didn’t say anything as I pushed off the chair. I raised my hand, my knuckles coated in his blood. ‘Yeah, I didn’t think so. Well, you bleed blue, so I guess everything isn’t what it seems after all.’ I crouched in front of him, pieces of glass crunching beneath my heels. The only light came from the hallway, spilling through the door and illuminating the disaster of an office. Several pages from books and other debris littered the floor along with the broken desk I’d thrown him through.

The celestial was the reason we’d come, and it was a longshot that the one artifact Kaden was looking for would be here, but I checked nonetheless. My bound and beaten celestial made no remark as he watched me search through the ruins of the room. The stoic face he put on was a shield to what he was actually feeling.

Noise flooded the floors beneath us as the others living here with him screamed their last screams. Gunshots rang out and a menacing laugh soon followed. His eyes flickered with rage as I walked back to him and placed my hands on his shoulders. In one fluid motion, I threw one leg over his lap before sitting to straddle him. He whipped his head toward me, a look of pure disgust and confusion edging his features.

‘Are you going to kill me?’

I shook my head. ‘No, not yet.’ He tried to recoil, but I grabbed his chin, forcing him to face me. ‘Don’t worry. It’s not going to hurt. I just need to make sure you are the one we are after. Bear with me, I need to concentrate for this to work quickly.’

Blood trickled from one of the several gashes littering his face. I gripped his chin and angled his head before leaning forward to slide my tongue over the cut. In seconds, I was tossed from this office and thrown into his memories.

Blue light flashed across my subconscious as rooms I’d never been to appeared and disappeared quicker than I could account. Laughter from a woman years older than him rang in my ears as she brought a tray of food into a small living room. She was a mother, his mother. Images converged, and I saw two gentlemen talking about sports and yelling in a crowded bar. Glasses clinked and people laughed, trying to be heard over the several large flat screen televisions hanging on the walls. My head throbbed as I probed deeper. The scene changed once more, and I was in a darkened room. Waves of golden-brown hair danced around the edges of a woman’s small frame. Her moans increased, and her back arched off the bed as she squeezed her breasts.

Good for you, but not what I need. I closed my eyes tighter, trying to focus. I needed more.

The scene changed, and I was traveling the cobblestone streets of the city of Arariel in a large car with blacked-out windows. Sunlight darts behind buildings, the shimmering yellows and golds almost match the roads and scenery here. People hurried along the sidewalks, and bicyclists wove through the traffic. Sunglasses shifted against the brim of my nose as I turned my head, looking at my companions. Three men sat with me in the back, the inside of the car larger than I expected. Two others were up front, one driving and the other speaking on a phone in the passenger seat. They were young, clean-shaven, and wearing the same black-fitted clothes as the celestial mind I was currently in.

‘Have they heard anything else?’ I said, my voice no longer feminine but his.

‘No,’ the man across from me said. His hair was swept to the side and held there with so much gel I could smell it even in the bloodstream. He was lean compared to the guy next to him but I knew he was just as powerful. ‘Vincent is very tight-lipped. I think they know the attacks are not just frequent. They have a target. We just don’t know what it is.’

‘We have lost a lot of celestials, too many too soon. It is happening again, isn’t it? What they teach us?’ the man next to me said. His voice was quiet, but even in the blooddream I could hear his apprehension. He was shaped like a linebacker, but the twitches he made when he asked, let me know that despite all that muscle he was scared. His fingers intertwined and unclasped several times over before he turned toward me. ‘If it is, if it does, he will come back.’

Before I could answer, a short laugh caught me off guard. I turned to look at the man in front of me. His arms were folded tightly as he stared out the window and then back toward the others. ‘I think that scares me more than them.’ This guy seemed young, too. Gods, how many celestials looked like college frat boys? This was what we were up against?

‘Why?’ I asked. ‘He is a legend, a myth at best. We already have three of The Hand of Rashearim here. Anything that could kill them either died in the war or has been sealed away for centuries. It’s just another run-of-the-mill monster who thinks they have power.’ I paused, looking each one of them in the eyes. ‘We are fine.’

The man in front opened his mouth to respond but closed it as the car came to an abrupt halt. The driver placed it in park and we all, one by one, unbuckled our seatbelts. The sun glared down at us as we got out, closing the door behind us. Vehicles filled the curved driveway, and more continued to arrive. Celestials stepped out, a few holding folders and others empty-handed. They all appeared cocky as if they had a right to be there.

I adjusted my jacket and smoothed the edges down once, then twice, the nervousness seeping into my very core as I took the steps to the entrance. A large marble and limestone building greeted me, the golds, whites, and creams almost gaudy. Several large domed wings swept out on either side with large, arched windows lining every floor. I saw people walking across the stone bridges that connected the various buildings. They all wore the same style of attire and carried clips of papers and briefcases. As I watched, several people exited the building, talking and laughing. They headed down the street as if a fortress itself did not sit in the middle of the city.

The city of Arariel.

My vision blurred as I pulled myself from the memory. The beautiful streets of Arariel faded and I was back in the wrecked and dimly lit office. I had everything I needed now. A small smile curved my lips as I turned his face toward me.

‘See, I told you it wouldn’t hurt, but this next part will.’

His throat bobbed once as he swallowed, the smell of fear clouding the room.

‘What did you see?’ The voice, thick and heavy, came from behind me. A small thud sounded as he dropped something fleshy on the floor. Two strides and he was in the room, his presence almost as encompassing as my own.

‘Everything we need,’ I murmured as I stood from the chair. I spun it around in one fluid motion facing Alistair.

‘He is a celestial? We have seen plenty of them, Dianna,’ Alistair said as he rubbed one hand across his face. Blood stained his skin and clothing from the destruction he’d wreaked downstairs. His normally perfectly combed silver hair had a few strands out of place and was streaked crimson.

‘I saw Arariel. He was there. They spoke of Vincent, which means he,’ I shook the chair with our bound friend slightly, ‘works with The Hand.’

A grin, sharp and deadly, caressed his features. ‘You’re lying.’

‘I’m not.’ I shook my head, pushing the chair a little more forward. ‘I’ve tasted it. This is Peter McBridge, twenty-seven, second-tier celestial. His parents are retired and he has no other connections to the human world. The fortress is in Arariel. His colleagues talked about us and what we’ve done so far. They spoke about The Hand of Rashearim and even mentioned Vincent.’

The guy in the chair stuttered as he craned his head, looking from me to Alistair and back. ‘Wh— How, how did you see that? How can you know?’

We paused, looking at Peter as his eyes scanned ours. I lowered next to him and I leaned closer. ‘Well, you see Peter, every Ig’Morruthen has a little quirk. That was just one of mine.’

I patted Peter’s face as he continued to look at us in horror before I met Alistair’s gaze again. He gave me a slow mischievous smile and said, ‘If what you say is true, then Kaden is going to be very very happy.’

I nodded once more. ‘I found our way in, the rest is up to you.’

I stepped back from the chair as Alistair stepped forward.

‘Now Peter, do you want to see what Alistair can do?’ The celestial struggled, trying to break his bonds, but he was too weak, too beaten to muster the strength. I scoffed. Some warriors these were, taking this world for Kaden would be a piece of cake.

‘What are you going to do to me?’

Alistair stepped forward, standing in front of Peter. He raised his hands, his palms hovering inches from either side of Peter’s head. ‘Just relax. The more you struggle, the more it hurts,’ Alistair murmured.

He didn’t say anything else, but his eyes glowed the same blood red as mine. Black mist formed between his hands, running toward each other. It ripped and danced between his fingers into the celestial’s head and back. The screams were my least favorite part. They were always so loud. But I guess it was to be expected when someone was having their brain ripped apart and put back together again. Granted, Alistair had a few celestials under his control, but none with a rank as high as this, none that had been this close to that damned city. Kaden would be happy for once.

The screams abruptly stopped so I raised my head.

‘You always look away,’ Alistair quipped a smirk twisting his lips.

‘I don’t like it.’

I didn’t mean for that to slip. Kaden did not accept weakness, but I had been human before I had given up my life. I had been mortal, with mortal feelings, mortal views, and a mortal life. No matter how far I’d gone or what I’d done, my mortality sometimes snuck in. Many would say it was a failing of my human heart. It was just another reason why I had to be stronger, faster, meaner. There is a line you cross for survival. One I crossed centuries ago.

‘After everything you’ve done, this,’ he pointed to the now silent celestial, ‘disturbs you?’

‘It’s annoying.’ My hands flew to my hips and I let out an exasperated sigh. ‘Are we done?’

He shrugged. ‘Depends. Did you happen to see anything about the book?’ Ah, yes, the book. The reason why we searched the Etherworld here and there.

I shook my head. ‘No, but if he can get close enough to The Hand then that’s something. A start.’

His jaw clenched and he shook his head. ‘Won’t be good enough.’

‘I know.’ I raised my hand, cutting off whatever else he was about to say. ‘Just get on with it.’

A smile, cold and deadly, lit up his face. Alistair reminded me of ice, from the hard chiseled cheekbones to the empty stare he held at times. He had never been human, and serving Kaden was all he knew. He raised his hand in a silent demand and the celestial stood. No words were needed, Alistair owned his mind and body.

‘You will remember nothing that happened here today. You belong to me now. You will be my eyes and ears. What you see, I see. What you hear. I hear. What you speak, I speak.’

Peter mimicked the words Alistair spoke, verbatim. The only difference was the tone.

‘Now clean up this mess before you have company.’

Peter said nothing as he stepped around Alistair and started to straighten up the office. Alistair came to my side as we watched him. We weren’t even here to him anymore. He was a mindless puppet that Alistair controlled. Was I not the same to Kaden? Peter was long gone now that Alistair held his mind, and no power in the Etherworld could break that hold. As soon as he wasn’t useful anymore, he would be discarded just like the others before him. I had helped, just as I had for centuries. A part of me ached as I watched him go about the tasks instructed to him.

Damn human heart.

Alistair’s clap shook me from my thoughts as he turned toward me. ‘Now help me clean up the bodies downstairs.’ He stepped past me heading for the door as he shouted over his shoulder ‘Peter, tell me where you keep those heavy duty trash bags.’

‘Third cabinet on the bottom shelf in the kitchen.’

I turned on my heel, sliding a fraction on the glass beneath my sole as I followed Alistair out of the room and down the stairs. ‘What are we going to do with them?’

The smile he threw over his shoulder was purely wicked. ‘There are plenty of Ig’Morruthens at home who are probably starving.”