Chapter 5
Betelgeuse found himself back outside of Vanth's door in the underworld, the exhaustion hitting him hard. He wasn't doing himself any favors stretching his energy this thin. He knew that it was because he had pushed all it to Lydia earlier.
He just hoped that he had stopped whatever had been affecting their bond. He didn't even want to think about what it had done to her. He started to wonder what she had felt on her end, but his thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt as he walked through the door and froze.
The utter chaos that surrounded him was impressive.
"Well shit Vanth, if you just needed me for cleaning house, I would have changed clothes." He said trying to not let show how drained he was.
He ducked quickly, narrowly avoiding a book sailing through the air toward a very harried looking Vanth.
"Oh, you have no idea what you've managed to wrap yourself up in." Vanth muttered and tossed the book to the floor after skimming quickly through it.
"But its you, so I'm not surprised really." She sighed and looked over at him briefly.
"Only you B would manage this." She shook her head turning back toward the bookshelf and pulling out another book.
Betelgeuse arched his eyebrows at the demoness and walked toward her dodging books and then leaned against the bookshelf. Crossing his arms over his chest he tried to pull off an air of nonchalance, "You going to tell me what it is that I've done that is causing you so much…" He trailed off waving his hand at the chaos around them.
Vanth slammed the book shut her eyes narrowing as she rounded on Betelgeuse. "You…" her voice dark and holding a growl to it that bellied how much this was getting to her, she poked her finger into his chest. "…Have managed to find the last of the Astarte line… and bonded yourself to her! Do you have any idea what you have done to yourself! What you have done to her!"
Betelgeuse nearly sank to the floor. "The Astarte line is a myth Vanth, don't fuck with me, my Lyds is no necromancer." He snarled, there was no way that Lydia was the from her line.
He would have known! He would have been able to feel that power in her… and he hadn't.
Had he?
Vanth rounded on Betelgeuse again and slammed a book into his chest.
"Oh you know damn well that it's as real as you and I are, Its just by luck that I found her name in the book of lost ones, her birthright came down from her mother's side, always makes it harder to track lineage. Probably why Astarte did it that way." she shook her head frustrated and worried for her friend.
"Now that the Arch's know who she is… they want to make sure that she dies by her own hand before she turns 18 and her powers are unlocked."
Betelgeuse grimaced, he knew that if she were the one to be responsible for her own death then she would be bound by the underworlds rules and would be stuck with out her freedom for eternity.
"That's why they sent Daniel… that fucking shit for brains is their best mental manipulator." He could feel a coil of panic starting to set in the center of his chest. He looked down at the book that Vanth had shoved into his chest and could see the dark silver lettering mocking him.
Astarte
Born of the Fallen and Mortal
Queen of the Spirits of the Dead
"What's this book going to do." He doubted it would give him the answers that were racing through his mind.
Vanth snorted. "Its not for you, you fucking moron. Think of it as a birthday present to your little Necromancer bondmate. It will be easier for you to explain it to her with something more tangible." She smirked.
"Be sure to bring her to meet me once you've found her."
Betelgeuse put the book inside his jacket sliding it into one of the inner pockets. He knew what Vanth was saying between the lines. Until Lydia turned 18, there wasn't going to be a safe place anywhere except maybe here in Vanth's sanctum.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." He said and with one last glance around the destroyed office he snapped his fingers and juiced himself back home.
Exhausted he dropped down on his bed and closed his eyes. "Just a few hours Lyds… just hold on for a few more hours and I'll get you out." He had to get his energy back up before he slipped into Daniel's territory. He would have to pull out all the stops to keep himself from being found out. He'd do Lydia no good being banished.
With those thoughts he slipped into a restless regenerative sleep.
hr
Daniel stood in his office looking out the window over the grounds seeing the reflection of the full moon on the small pond, waiting for his contact to show up. He glanced at the monitors that had been set up. The Deetz girl hadn't moved from sitting in the corner of her room for the last three hours. She had the letter opener in her hand though.
She just needed to finish it. He knew that his suggestions were strong enough to push her over the edge. He knew that the hesitation now was most likely the residual grogginess from all the sedatives they'd been pushing into her.
He felt a whisper of a draft and knew that he had company.
"It has taken you long enough to get here." He said not turning around.
"Is it finished?"
Daniel turned around to face the newcomer, he'd been expecting Azrael. "I wasn't expecting you Gabriel." He tilted his head to the side. "Has something happened?"
Gabriel walked toward the other Archangel. "There has been a bit of an issue that has been brought to our attention. You need to be aware that the Demon hasn't been found as of yet. He's not been in his usual places. His supposed exile has been too quiet. He's been able to get out of them before." He sneered. "but yet, he still remains hidden away. One would think that he truly lost his powers. But we know that he hasn't."
Daniel tipped his head to the side and nodded. "There is a bond between them, I've severed it as much as I could during our sessions, I have no doubt that he will try and find her. That would explain her non-human blood." He thought out loud.
Gabriel's face remained impassive. "She's getting closer to her awakening… it's to be expected."
Daniel nodded his head in acquiescence.
"Azrael will be here to dispose of the body, send word as soon as it happens. It can not fall into the wrong hands." Gabriel said severely.
Daniel bowed slightly. "It will be done." He said just as Gabriel disappeared.
hr
Lydia was fighting the sleep that was threatening to overtake her, relying on the coldness of the floor and wall seeping into her skin through the thin hospital garb. Her hand still grasped the letter opener afraid that if she put it down, it would be used against her in some way.
There hadn't been anyone coming to check on her for the night check. She wondered if this was intentional, she was afraid of what would happen come morning and they found her still alive.
Swallowing past the rising bile that threatened to come out she let herself zone out, retreating into memories. Her mother came to the forefront of her mind now so much easier, as if learning the truth of how she had died had released a block against them. She thought back to all the silly things that her mother used to tell her… although now. They weren't all that silly. She remembered her mother telling her that she had a destiny that would move the heavens and the earth.
She didn't want that destiny, she only wanted to get out of there and run. She'd go back to New York City, it would be easy to get lost there. Change everything about her… become someone new.
She had a sinking feeling though that she would be found no matter where she was at, what she looked like.
The tears had long since stopped falling as she felt the wash of desperation hit her. It reminded her of how she had felt when the doctor had tried to get her to think about killing herself. She was not stupid, as much as she wished that mind tricks and brainwashing wasn't real… the fact that she could remember now that her mother had been killed by an archangel, and that it was obvious now that her doctor was one as well… she couldn't trust any of her thoughts as her own.
The only thing that she was going to concentrate on, was surviving.
The one thing that they didn't want her to do.
There was just one thing that kept nagging at her, in the back of her mind. The black and white stripes… the meaning of three times.
She knew, that she had more memories that had been blocked… taken from her. There was a whole two month period of her younger teenage years that she had no recollection of.
She let herself fall into her memories, pushing through the cobwebs and haze. She could feel her lips moving, whispering something.
Raising her hand gently to her mouth she felt them moving, making the same sound over and over again.
Pushing herself harder to concentrate she could almost hear what she was saying. I was like trying to dial into an old radio station, just catching snip bits of a sound.
"Bee… Bee… Bee… "
Was it a word…. A sound… a letter… the questions continued to overwhelm her and she was no close to remembering.
hr
Vanth slumped down into her chair looking around at the mess of her office. She would have to prepare a room for when Betelgeuse brought the girl. She knew that she would be in bad shape mentally as well as physically.
They would have little time to help her prepare for what was to come.
"You seem to have rearranged since the last time I was here." A male voice slid through the darkness.
Vanth looked up sharply holding her breath as she watched for voice to make itself know. She narrowed her eyes.
She knew that voice.
"Semayza"
A tall figure stepped out of the shadows and moved to sit across from her, a wave of his hand and her office was back to the way it had been before she'd been tearing through it looking for information.
Vanth watched the way that he moved… the way that he spoke, it reminded her of someone. "What brings you to my side of the underworld… don't you have your rebellion of Fallen to lead, unsuspecting mortal women to seduce?"
"I do… but felt that it was necessary to find out what you had discovered." He asked picking up the book from her desk and flipping through it.
Vanth swallowed hard knowing that this could go two different ways. Betelgeuse would either be happy to have someone as powerful as the leader of the Fallen or be pissed off beyond that he had another faction against him and his bondmate.
"I guess it depends on the reason you ask for the information." She said steeling herself for the wrath that would be brought down on her if this was to go badly.
Semyaza chuckled darkly. "Be at ease Vanth, I hold no ill will for the child of Astarte, after all. It wouldn't do to be trying to kill my son's bondmate." He said and sat back.
"Does he know?" Vanth snapped out, suddenly overwhelmed with anger toward the Fallen Angel across from her.
"Does he know that his father is a Fallen!?" she stood up and started to pace. The ramifications of everything started to pile up. There were too many things that were starting to fall into place… her eyes narrowed not liking where it was going.
Semyaza shook his head. "No, he doesn't. He was never to know… but things are happening that are changing the way the rules are… he will know in time, just not as of yet. And you are not to tell him till he gets his bondmate here to safety. I will make sure that they are not able to be found once they are here in your realm." He stood up. "I will tell him once things are settled Vanth, I can't risk him losing focus on what he has to do."
He waved his hand and a stack of books appeared on her desk. "These will help her harness her powers after her awakening." He said softly knowing it was a poor gesture for what he was asking her to do.
"I will return when they arrive." He said and then with a wave of his hand he sank back into the darkness of the shadows and disappeared.
Vanth rubbed her hand over her face suddenly overwhelmed but everything. Things were changing… and fast.
She had a room to prepare.
