VERITY
My heart stopped beating as I watched Kokabiel thrust his sword again into Cain’s chest, the blood arcing through the air. I felt something deep inside me snap painfully as Cain’s body stilled. My chest grew tight and something bubbled up from deep inside me, forcing its way out of my mouth in the form of an ear piercing scream that wouldn’t end. As I watched Cain’s mark light up, his body coming back to life before me I couldn’t stop myself, the noise continuing to spill from my lips. Finally I could clamp my mouth shut as I watched Cain rip Kokabiel’s wing off, throwing it to the ground and then spitting on it; the blood in his saliva staining it red as it landed and splattered on the feathers. My body refused to move as I watched him brutalize the angel. Kokabiel laughing the whole time, as if he were enjoying this, the sick fuck.
SHAMSHIEL The son of Baraqiel had Verity in his arms, and he looked like he had quite literally been to Hell and back. His clothes were tattered and wings bloodied, he had been out here prior to our arrival then I gathered. I wanted to trust him, but he was Baraqiel’s son; and to be honest I wasn’t sure. Yes, he had gone up against me when I had taken Verity but that wasn’t enough for me to trust his intentions were good. Yet I had no time to stop him, my opponent greater than me in strength. I was holding my own, but it wouldn’t last much longer. I scanned the battlefield and was horrified to notice humans fighting humans, which meant The Officials had sent their army. The ground was covered in blood as the battle raged on, Nephilim on Nephilim, brothers and sisters divided. My own children divided. It had come to this. We had always known it would, and the thought upset me; and most of us on this side. The others, well, if Kokabiel was any indication, they probably didn’t care. I
VERITY Shamshiel flew off, his beautiful wings stained with blood and beating hard. His sword was drawn and in his hand as he headed toward the large archangel. Cain stood a little ways in front of me, his back to me; as he faced off with Kokabiel. Blood was running in fast rivers down his back, his sides, and arms, his hands clenched in fists as he circled the angel. Kokabiel looked a lot worse for wear, his shoulder slumping where his wing had been torn off, the stark white of his bones showing there, his mouth pulled back in a feral snarl showing pointed teeth. His nails were long, and I immediately knew they were the reason for the scratches all over Cain. Kokabiel’s beautiful face was marred in blood and grit, and I noticed he had one less eyeball than previously, no doubt a result of Cain’s anger. The two were evenly matched, but I wasn’t sure how damaged Cain would be when all was said and done. As I studied them, a shout rose up from our tired ranks and I saw the sky begin to
TRIGGER: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, FETAL DEMISE, STRANGULATION, AND GENERAL BRUTALITY. AS IN HOLD THE HELL ON, THIS CHAPTER ISN’T NICE. REMEMBER THIS ISN’T A HAPPILY EVER AFTER BOOK. CAIN A feral roar pierced the air, like no sound I had ever heard. It took a moment to realize that sound was coming from me, my throat burning and my chest rapidly rising and falling with exertion, my feet hitting the solid Earth again while Verity was rapidly born away, as I watched unable to do anything. My chest heaved wildly as I looked around, Kokabiel still a threat I hadn’t negated yet the fucker. Penemue had taken Verity but I saw Baraqiel closing in fast on them, where the hell was Shamshiel? Then my eyes found him. He was slumped over, his head hanging down, hair covering his face. His wings were pinned to a tree with several swords, his light whip was stuttering at his side; a clear indication of his waning strength. The ground around him was stained red, with what I instinctively knew was angel blo
SHAMSHIEL Cain slumped over, his body falling forward, arm outstretched to where Verity’s body lay. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing it to be a nightmare, but I knew that wasn’t the case. Angelic tears leaked around my lashes as I forced my eyes open. Cain’s eyes were closed, his mouth pressed into a thin line, the rise and fall of his chest steady. For a fleeting moment I was jealous of him, that he was missing some of this hell on Earth. A scream simmered in my chest, bubbling up and up before forcing its way out of my mouth unbidden. Throwing my head back it burst forth, a scream like none I had ever heard before. It thundered across the barren battlefield and those remaining froze in place at my cry. I was powerless to stop it, this vocal manifestation of my pain as my heart broke into shards and stabbed at my very soul. “Any last words, Shamshiel?” Baraqiel asked, the sword in his hand dripping blood. Verity’s blood. The crimson color trickling down the light metal in slowly r
CAINI let my rage wash over me as I roared my fury to the sky, hoping that God himself would hear it. Verity’s dead body lay not too far from me, and when I came to, her glassed over eyes had been the first thing I had seen. As I stared into their depths I felt my heart break all over again, my teeth grinding in rage. I sprang up and searched for the first enemy I could find. It just happened to be Penemue, Shamshiel currently busy with Baraqiel. With a shout I rammed into the asshole, taking him to the ground easily. He kicked me off him, the blunt force to my gut causing my breath to burst from my lungs. I rolled onto my side before struggling up, I knew I was in bad shape, but my adrenaline was pumping and my anger simmering just below the surface; so I kept going. The monster in me was out for blood. Like a wraith my dark soul shrouded me as I sized the angel up. Penemue was no weakling, but he wasn’t me. I was physically stronger than most, and had a huge advantage. After all, t
CAIN The fucking angel was heavier than I had anticipated. Or maybe it was that I was just that weakened. Whatever it was hauling his feathered ass across the desolate landscape to the nest was a bigger undertaking than I had imagined. I could feel his life beating out of him in time to his heart, the bond between us slowly growing fainter. Castor would be our only hope, but I had to get him there first. Shamshiel was trying to hide the extent of his injuries from me, and he was succeeding; at least outwardly. If it weren’t for the bond I wouldn’t know how bad they were, but I did. I also knew he had no interest in living anymore, something I felt as well. At least he could die. Jealousy tore through me at the thought. Never before had I hated my curse from God as much as at this moment, wishing that I could die. With Verity, for the first time in my ridiculously long life I hadn’t viewed my immortality as a curse. Instead I was happy to be able to spend all of Verity’s days with h
CAIN Never in my stupid long life had I anticipated feeling so many emotions at once. Sadness, panic, fear, anger; it was all boiling inside of me in a cacophony of emotions that was about to erupt. Yet it couldn’t, as I felt Shamshiel’s life end Liam and Cassie attacked, yelling at me to run. So I did. I ran until I thought my chest would explode, as fast as my battered legs could move, while hauling the newly dead body of an angel. I remember back then, back then before my world ended. Before Verity was in my life, when I thought I had nothing more to lose. When the worst thing that had happened was that God had cursed me, how naive to think that things wouldn’t get worse. It would have been funny if it hadn’t been true. While Shamshiel and I didn’t see eye to eye a lot, and were opposites down to our bones, he had been the first one to give me a home to go to. As my chest tightened I remembered my time wandering the Earth, what I had endured for centuries. Always on the fringes o
LIAM Cassi and I had seen Cain make off with Shamshiel. While the fighting had slowed as most everyone was either dead or in no condition to fight. Cassi and I weren’t exactly in stellar shape ourselves, but we were managing, barely. However when we saw Cain gently place the angel on Kokabiels bloody wings and head off we knew we had to follow. Shamshiel looked bad, hell he made bad look good; and Cain wasn’t far behind him. We decided to tail them at a distance to ensure they arrived safely, we knew they had a target on their backs. Thankfully that had been the right choice as Cain was stopped by two Nephilim, a male and female. Both the Nephilim had clearly not been part of the battle, they looked fresh and way too clean; and Cain was definitely no match for them. Not in this state at least. Cassi looked at me and I nodded, we would have to intervene; it was the last thing I could do for Verity. “Run Cain!” She yelled as we surged forward from our hiding place. Cain’s eyes went w