As was to be expected, to distract themselves from their circumstances, they ended up in each other's arms. The suffered such pleasure at each other's hands that release was both longed for and feared, but the end, they both gave in.
The next morning Azazeal woke to a disturbing sense of déjà vu as Cassie was not next to him. He body tensed and he sat up quickly, but was soon reassured by soft baby sounds coming from the crib, just as they should be. He looked on the bed next to him and there was a note that read "FOOD!!!," that brought a small smile to his face. He needed to eat and sleep to maintain this human form but he ate rarely and never at home. That's what restaurants were for. Besides, as with all things human, he always sought the best and most decadent. She was used to normal things and probably wanted toast or cereal or something and the only food in the place was for Malachi.
He rose, dressed, and went to look in on Malachi. As he bent down to pick up the child, a chill ran down his spine and he sensed a presence behind him. He stopped and turned around slowly and as nonchalantly as he could. When he turned, he saw exactly who he was expecting.
The man was dressed like Azazeal, but in all black with dark black hair and beautifully tanned skin. He dark eyes shined with a preternatural twinkle.
"How is everything going?" he asked, with a friendly smile.
"Everything is fine," Azazeal responded with characteristic arrogance.
The man suddenly became angry, "Do not let that woman ruin our plan. You must control her! She cannot be allowed to stop what we have started."
"She does not need to be controlled," he said through slightly gritted teeth, and then more casually, "She will have no impact."
"Good," the man said, now a picture of cordially, "I leave you to it then." He moved towards the door but disappeared before he took more than one step.
A few moments later Cassie entered the front of the church with the expected grocery bag and Azazeal wiped the annoyed look off of his face to smile at her.
Later that night as they settled down to bed Cassie said, "Who was that man that was here earlier today?"
"What man?" he said.
She rolled her eyes at him, " I can still feel the disturbance that he left in this place even now, who was he?" She was annoyed, but somehow the visit from a strangely powerful being was amusing because now she could believe just about anything was possible, so her face bore a smile she tried to control.
"Well," he began, "Mine is not the only group of fallen angels."
"And his name is…" she said raising her eyebrows with a look that said that she had an idea.
A smile touched the corners of his mouth and he made a little face, but before he could speak she said, "Wait, I don't think I want to know," in an amused tone.
His smile widened and he leaned in to kiss her. They both quickly forgot about the man but thoughts of what this man might do worried both of them in the coming days.
On Monday morning, Cassie returned to school and was immediately confronted by Thelma the second she entered her room.
"What the hell are you doing Cassie?"
"Leave me alone Thelma," she said, going through her things and getting some clothes together.
"I should have known that you couldn't resist a good shag," she said with a wry smile.
"It's more that that Thelma," Cassie replied, smiling despite herself, "I just couldn't let Ella kill an innocent child and now I feel as though this is truly the only way to stop this now, by using my influence over Malachi."
"Well let's hope it works."
Ella confronted Cassie later in the day after classes were over and she was not so friendly. She came out of nowhere and pushed Cassie up against a bank of lockers.
"What could you possibly have been thinking?" she hissed.
Suddenly, Ella went flying backwards and was flung against the opposite wall. Cassie's shocked expression gave away the fact that she had not actually intended to do that. Cassie was aware, however, that this was currently the limit of her ability and that she was not capable of holding Ella back.
"Well, well," Ella chuckled, "You've certainly developed."
"Ella, just leave us alone."
"I can't do that. Just let me help you. There's still time."
"I don't need you kind of help, Ella. I'm not lost. I know what I'm doing. Just trust me."
And with that Cassie left Ella to wonder how she was going to kill the child. She had originally thought that she would just wait until Cassie was alone with the child so that she could either convince Cassie to let her do the right thing or she would kill her. Now Cassie's new strength put that plan in jeopardy.
A couple of days later, when Cassie came back to the church as usual after her classes were over, Azazeal was not in a good mood. He had used the past couple of days alone with Malachi to think things over, but earlier in the day he had realized that he was done thinking and that he was now stuck here with this baby. He was restlessly pacing about the room.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I'm stuck here all day and I have business to take care of," he ranted.
"Well, you never mentioned that before," she responded annoyed, "besides babies need to be watched all the time and you're the one who got me into this. What did you expect?"
"That's why I had Jo," he said still annoyed, "Someone needs to take care of him," he gestured flippantly towards the crib.
Moving close to her and speaking more gently he said, "He needs his mother. He's much happier when you are around. Can't you spend more time here?" He smiled, lowered and tilted his head, and she allowed him to kiss her.
He was clearly in manipulation mode and Cassie was just about to fly off the handle when she realized that the only way she was going to set herself up as an influence over Malachi was to spend as much time with him as possible. She could not allow Jo or any other of Azazeal's minions to look after him. Azazeal was certainly not going to stay here and play the dutiful father any longer. So to keep the peace and maintain her plan, she agreed to drop out of school and stay with Malachi, for now.
One afternoon a few days later, when Cassie was getting ready to take Malachi out for a walk, she came back into the front room and found a man dressed in black leaning over Malachi's crib. He was taller and bigger than Azazeal, darker, and had a more imposing presence, even from behind.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh hello, I just dropped by to check in on you both," he said, turning with a friendly smile.
"And who are you?" she asked in her most self-important voice.
Cassie knew that this was the man who had been here before and she was terrified, but she would not allow this man to see how scared she was.
"You can call me…Uncle Larry," he said, still pleasant and friendly.
"Hi," she said moving towards the crib and between him and Malachi as casually as she could manage, making a show of turning her back to him as she fiddled with the boy. She picked Malachi up and turned back towards the man whose face was now an angry one.
"YOU will not be allowed to ruin MY plans. So don't get any ideas."
"Your plans?"
Then man smiled maliciously and grabbed her arm.
"Get your hands off me," her eyes flashed and she was no longer the least bit scared, but so angry that he would threaten her rather than reason with her that she gave him a shove with the arm that he had grabbed, but he held on.
They were locked in each other gaze and the man suddenly let her go, saying, "Ah, I see what he sees in you," under his breath. He too had now seen that this woman, with all of her fire and strength, would completely accept him if only he would stop being a threat to her and her world. The notion was seductive, but his heart was far more hardened than his "brother's." All any of them really wanted was to no longer be outcasts, but they were trapped and separated from humans not only on a physical level but on a spiritual one as well. They were never meant to exist as they did, outside of God's realm, but they couldn't simply become human either. Instead, they were trapped in-between the glory of heaven and the obliviousness of earth.
He had let her go and she begun to back away slowly when Azazeal entered the front of the church and tensed when he saw who was in his house. In an uncharacteristic show of his power, Azazeal was between them in an instant, glaring at the man.
"This is Uncle Larry," Cassie said sarcastically behind them. Malachi was giggling in her arms and was the only person in the room who found this amusing.
"I was just leaving," he said pleasantly and gave Azazeal a glowing smile.
"What a shame," he responded.
The man walked casually past him and stopped for a moment in front of Cassie. He put out his hand and she took it to shake, which seemed natural for some reason, but he deftly put her hand to his lips before she could protest. He then walked down the steps and out the front door with Azazeal watching him.
When he was gone, Cassie and Azazeal both relaxed a little and gravitated towards the couch.
"We need to talk," she said….