Once I saw Tei kneel down with a maniacal expression, I knew I had no time to think. Just react.
Protect Colby and Megan.
He was prepared to get on all fours like an animal, just like when he murdered Sachiel. He fully intended to annihilate them all. I can't let that happen! I forced myself out of my fear paralysis and threw my arm out, grabbing Tei's wrist. His orange eyes darted onto mine temporarily before he looked back at Colby and Megan, who were merely seconds from reaching us.
It was all or nothing. I adjusted my hands so both of them were gripping Tei's arm. "Please don't kill them." I begged with everything I had.
"Lynn!" I heard Colby through my ears, but my gaze didn't turn and I know it looked bad. Tei's eyes darkened and went empty. His shoulders rounded before he shot out his other hand to blast Colby and Megan back. Now I turned to make sure they didn't die. Colby landed on the brick ground while Megan landed on a bistro table, snapping it nearly in half as she fell through it.
"Megan!" Drew yelled, whipping forward his cane so he could get to her as fast as he could.
Okay, nobody was near Tei. I have to get away.
He clenched his jaw at my thoughts since I was still holding onto his arm. "Have you learned nothing?" He asked me lowly.
"I'm too stubborn," I admitted, letting go of his arm. As quick as can be I zapped away, reappearing across the plaza by Colby. I knelt down to try to shake him awake. "Colby?"
Bright blue eyes appeared to me with a painful groan. The same eyes widened upon recognizing me. "You came back to me?" He asked as I sat him up.
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" I asked back, but there was no time to receive an answer.
"Lynn," Tei called from across the way, seemingly ignoring all the panicking civilians behind him trying to to flee. "Return to my side immediately."
Any other time in the past I could have told him no. In this moment however, I felt compelled to listen to him. I started getting up when Daimon roared, "Sister, I will hurt you if you take one step towards him."
This was impossible in every way. I managed to gulp and remain in place. Colby got on his feet and took my hand. "You can do it babe. It's the imprint," he seemingly reminded me. "You feel like you can't help but obey, but I promise you can fight it."
"I've been trying to fight it my entire life," I muttered. "It always ends the same."
Tei sighed in annoyance, snapping his fingers. Three people appeared behind him on the left. I recognized one of the three as Drew's mother Jane. She had duct tape over her mouth and her hands seemed to be tied behind her back. A young lady around my age perhaps was keeping Jane's tied hands secure. The third person was a tall and angry looking man with eyes as green as my own. His hair was brown and loosely styled like Drew's so that was creepy.
"Mom?!" Drew yelped in near hysteria, leaping up from Megan who was still knocked out.
"Rylie?" Mel spewed in horror upon seeing the angry looking guy. Wait, Rylie? The demon who killed Colby when he was an angel; the demon who made Megan and Drew's lives awful but was also possibly Daimon's pai?
Colby seemed to share my shock. "You?"
Rylie widened his eyes. "No way. I killed you. I watched your wings burn into the ground after I gutted that little prophet whore you failed to protect."
He didn't say her name, but I know now from Balthazar and Ciar that he was referring to Adrie. Ciar called Rylie, 'Angry Rylie'. Everything from then on started happening all too fast for me. Colby seemed to forget I existed since he left my side to run right at Rylie.
I sensed Daimon walk forward. "Pai?" He spoke, his voice almost cracking. I heard Mel scuffle from behind us.
"Let me handle him." Rylie told Tei, looking at him briefly before looking back at Colby, promptly smacking him with a backhand. Rylie must have precise aim because he landed on Drew, knocking them both down. Drew's cane went flying away.
"Come on Goldie... wake up." Mel used her demon strength to pick Megan up bridal style from the broken table and onto the brick ground. She laid her down but kept her head up.
"Pai?" Daimon repeated. He hasn't moved and neither have I.
Jane whimpered at Drew getting knocked over. The girl guarding her raised her eyes which let me finally see them through her heavy brown bangs. They were blue but held deep sadness.
"My years of babysitting you are long over boy," Rylie finally spoke to Daimon. "I'm not your father. Shut up."
Mel grumbled several cuss words while trying to tend to Megan. What Rylie said to my brother angered me. Him working with Tei angered me even more.
Tei could somehow sense my anger. A look of confusion befell him but then he blinked, his orange eyes somehow glowing naturally. "Lynn," he called out again. "Return to my side right now, or Drew's mother dies in front of her son."
Not wanting Jane to die is a perfectly good reason to not resist the imprint, right? I gulped and took one step forward against all but one's wishes. Daimon disappeared and I guessed he was about to hurt me like he promised. To my surprise he reappeared next to Rylie, lifting up his arm and attacking in a karate chop motion on his shoulder. The force of his power reminded me of my own as I watched Rylie get blasted several feet into the ground.
"Holy shit," the thick banged girl gawked. She gulped as she returned her attention to Jane possibly being murdered right in front of her. Why the hell was she just letting it happen?
Colby and Drew were back up. "Mom!" Drew yelled once more, stumbling as he attempted to walk forward without his cane.
Tei watched me as I took a second step. "Stop!" Colby scolded me. Tei looked evil as he turned and grabbed Jane by her neck. A brief reminder of what he did to my family washed over me. I watched him start squeezing with his fingers and I had to stop him.
I wasn't the only one feeling this way. Daimon went for Tei next since Rylie was in a hole. Drew tripped after just a few steps. Jane merely squirmed around to try to resist Tei strangling her since she was bound. The fact that he didn't just immediately snap her neck confirms that fetish of his I refuse to acknowledge.
While still keeping Jane in place with one hand, Tei prepared celestial energy in his other hand and shot it out at Daimon. My brother got sent so far back he went out of sight. "Daimon!" Mel shrieked in terror. I watched her long enough to notice a twitch below her.
"Ow," Megan let out as she finally woke up. "That hurt a lot."
I could hear Jane choking so my focus went back to her. She was probably seconds from death if I didn't get over there instantly, so I did. "Let go of her." I demanded when I reappeared on the right side of Tei.
Like before with Colby and Megan, he listened to me. He released his hold on Jane and she dropped down, trying to breathe through a closed mouth. The thick banged girl knelt down towards her and I reacted, now viewing her as an enemy. I grabbed the top of her head to yank her up straight so she was forced to look into my eyes.
"How dare you?" I uttered to her before I pulled her into a circle with me as I turned us around to throw her with more force without any regard. I looked back at Tei to see if anything changed - Colby was behind him and he stabbed him with an angel killing sword.
My eyes widened so much they felt burned. Tei just stood there, fully unaffected. He didn't start glowing, his wings weren't getting burned out. Nothing happened. "Crap." Colby managed to let out, actually taking a step back.
Drew finally made it to his mom to tend to her. Tei turned around and glared at Colby. "Nice try." He said as the blade popped out on its own.
I immediately lunged at them. Tei raised his hand and balled it into a fist, throwing the punch at Colby but he stopped mid-way due to me jumping right in between them. I proceeded to turn around and extend my arms out to shield Colby but my effort was wasted.
Megan came from out of nowhere with a full drop kick on Tei. I watched him hit the ground hard thinking I've never seen anyone injure him before until now. Megan must be stronger than I thought.
Colby grabbed my arm from behind and dragged us over to Mel, who was keeping an eye on the hole Rylie went in. "Hell of a kick, Goldie." She praised.
Megan was standing with balled fists and her legs evenly under her shoulders. She was waiting for Tei to get up.
"Having fun down there?" Mel called down the hole with a smirk.
Rylie started coming to and replied with, "Shut up Mel. That shit hurt."
"I believe you showed Daimon that little trick." Mel reminded him.
"Are you having a conversation with him?" Colby demanded.
"But of course dear," Mel replied casually. "Rylie and I are two peas in a pod. We can't seem to get away from each other, right?"
"Shut up, Mel." Rylie repeated irritably.
Colby was getting angry. "Mel, he killed me! He's why I'm a demon! He killed Adrie!"
"He's killed a lot of people." Mel stated, which just angered Colby further.
"Come up here and fight me, Rylie. We'll end it the way it should have." Colby threatened him.
We could hear Rylie trying to climb up through dirt and rocks. "I'm coming you stupid little zombie. I'll enjoy killing you a second time."
"What about Daimon?" I asked Mel. She didn't seem worried about him anymore even though Tei sent him somewhere.
"He's fine." Mel promised.
Tei captured everyone's attention when he called out to Megan after he got up, "Is that you, Gabriel?"
Why did he just say that? Megan lowered her head a little. "Nope. Just me." She told him before she went to attack him again. They went back and forth swinging punches. Sometimes they managed to hit each other but they didn't stop.
I went to help her as a hand came out of the hole, gripping onto crumbled brick ground. Then Rylie's head popped up. "Bastard." Colby spat at him.
Rylie sneered back at him before he yelled out, "Vellie! What about that idea I suggested?"
Tei dodged another of Megan's punches before he narrowed his eyes. "I haven't forgotten." He said, landing a successful punch in one of Megan's own eyes. That one made her groan and throw her face down, stumbling back.
"What idea?" Mel asked Rylie.
He snorted at her. "Mel we don't roll together anymore. I don't have to tell you a damn thing."
"Really?" Mel gave him a very familiar look - the same one she gives Daimon and Colby before you know what. In a matter of seconds Rylie was choking. "Have at him." Mel offered to Colby.
"Thanks," he scoffed as he went to pull Rylie all the way out of the hole before they started fighting. I had just made it back over to Tei and Megan.
"You okay?" I placed my hand over her right shoulder.
She looked at me with a painful smile. "Yeah." Her eye did not look good.
I finally looked at Tei and I think it was a mistake. A second later he was in front of us and he headbutted Megan very similar to the way I did to Colby in Balthazar's apartment. Tei must have picked up that memory just a little bit ago. Megan hit the ground. Tei grabbed my arm and yanked me back.
"Tei-" I started. He stopped me by touching my face again gently. I couldn't move or talk anymore. I felt I could only keep looking at him, so I did. His orange eyes began glowing dark which was different. He started speaking in Enochian but I couldn't understand it.
I couldn't look away, but I could almost feel Jane start tensing up from afar. "Oh no," I heard her say in growing hysteria. "Stop him! Stop Teivel! Don't let him finish!"
"Stop what?" Drew asked his mom. I heard at least one person start approaching us. It had to be Mel and I was right. She quickly sputtered out something in witch-language, but Tei simply narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers with his free hand, causing a horribly familiar angelic dome to form around the two of us.
Why couldn't I talk? Why couldn't I move? Why did it feel so awfully nice every time Tei touched me? Was it the imprint? Did it truly make me a slave to him?
"Vellie, please stop and return Lady Lynn to me!" I could hear Mel pleading to no end. "Drew, Drew! Break open the dome! Hurry!"
"How?" Drew asked. "I've never seen that before!"
"PLEASE, YOU'RE A NEPHILIM! HELP MY LADY!" I would lose my mind over Mel's panic right now if I had any control. Assuming Jane helped walk him over to us, I started feeling tension within the dome. I sensed anger from Tei, from Drew trying to break in but he wouldn't stop his little chanting.
I felt a small surge of energy that felt like my own and Tei's, as well as something unfamiliar but it seemed to match with our energies so it felt nice. After that Tei was done. His eyes returned to normal and he let go of my face due to the dome breach. I turned around to see that Drew had somehow opened a hole with his own hands. Impressive.
However the hole wasn't large enough for me to leap through, so I sadly stayed in place. "What did you do to me?" I asked Tei, who crept around me to watch Drew.
"I Blessed you," he admitted quietly.
"Oh?" I said curiously. "For what? Good luck? Good health? That I'd ever want to have anything to do with you again?"
"It's not that kind of blessing," Tei told me. "Now please stay back my love. I'm going to handle this situation."
In other words he probably intends to kill everyone. He undid the dome, startling Drew so much he fell backwards. "Useless," Tei uttered to him, grabbing him by his neck and pulling him up. "You can't even walk. You make us look bad."
"Fight him Drew!" Mel encouraged through Jane's screaming. Drew gripped Tei's arm with both of his hands and tried to force him off.
Wait a minute. I'm in control again. "Tei!" I screeched, going to try to stop him once again. Just as I reached to grab his free left hand he dangled at his side, Daimon returned to us miraculously at the same time Megan got back up from the headbutt. They were both grabbing Tei's arm that was hurting Drew, using all their might to pry him off.
"I don't have the patience for this," Tei scowled, releasing Drew. With his left hand he squeezed free of my hold and swung his arm over to punch Megan, then using his right leg to kick Daimon on the other side. Insane and eerily flexible.
I noticed Jane and Mel weren't in sight. Maybe Mel took Jane away to safety.
Tei looked over at Rylie, still fighting Colby and unfortunately winning. Joke's on me, I'm not in control at all. My family's in danger and I've been completely helpless. "Please stop, Tei."
"We're leaving," Tei decided. "Rylie, you know where to meet us." He called out. Rylie grunted in response, taking a punch from a very bloodied Colby.
"You aren't taking my friend anywhere," Drew yelled out, using all his strength to stand up on his own. His eyes started glowing as well as his entire body. Tei watched him too closely; the distraction allowed Daimon to tackle him to the ground. To keep me stunned he wrapped his hands around Tei's neck and squeezed with mighty strength.
"How do you like it?" My brother hissed at him.
Drew still appeared to be building up energy. Megan stood up yet again, this time with a nosebleed on top of her black eye along with the rest of her injuries. I admired her strength for just a moment.
Colby suddenly landed by my feet. I said his name in horror, immediately dropping down to him. I hugged him from behind, laying my arms over his bloodied chest. I buried my face in his curls.
"Give me that little zombie shit," Rylie ordered me, approaching us with slow and menacing steps. He too was suffering from his own injuries. Colby wasn't a weak demon.
"I'll die before I let you have him," I growled, strengthening my hold over my love. If Rylie was working with Tei then I fully believe Tei won't let him do anything to me.
"Then you'll go too. Another of the zombie's lovers killed." Rylie remarked, closing in on us. In defense I shot my hand out to blast him back, but I didn't focus enough and he was somehow able to evade me. "I know how to work you just like your annoying brother." He continued, reaching us. He grabbed my arm that was still draped over Colby and tried to yank it off.
I heard a horrifying grunt from Daimon followed by a thud. Megan croaked his name. A second later Tei appeared behind Rylie and stuck his arm though his gut. Rylie grunted similarly to Daimon and let me go. Tei pulled his arm out and used the same bloodied hand to grab Rylie at the back of his neck before he fell down. He pulled him up hard and fast close to his face.
"Never lay a hand on her again." He uttered to Rylie with darkening eyes.
Through my widened eyes I watched Rylie actually pout before he grumbled, "Yes Vellie."
Tei knocked him backwards just as Drew finally unleashed a massive wave of celestial energy he'd been building up the whole time. He managed to direct it at Tei as it hit him successfully. It launched him up into the air and then right back down with such amazing force the aftershock lifted us up and backwards, separating Colby and I.
For several seconds I couldn't move. I felt too stunned. Was the battle over? "Colby?" I rasped, forcing myself to turn over and look for him. He was laying face down, still knocked out from the fight with Rylie. Several feet behind him was Megan, the only one left still standing but she was kneeled down and panting heavily. Drew had collapsed after his super attack.
A small crater had formed where Tei ended up. I simply watched it, waiting for Tei to climb out with a vengeance. I started crawling towards Colby which seemed to prompt Tei to come back. Megan sighed when we could hear him start coming out of the crater. She stood up as straight as she could and mustered enough energy to trot towards Tei, still able to fight.
She formed a fist and made the first swing but Tei didn't seem interested. He managed to grab her wrist and keep her in place. "That Grace doesn't belong to you." He muttered to her, sticking his other hand into her chest, making her groan. He was going to try taking out her Grace I think. OH NO.
I stopped crawling towards Colby and forced myself up, but only got as far up as kneeling when something incredible happened. Megan screamed but not for long. Jane appeared out of nowhere wielding Drew's missing cane right behind Tei. She held up the cane over her head and used all her strength to bash it into the back of Tei's head.
The cane snapped in half and Tei fell, completely unconscious. His hand came out as Megan fell too, also unconscious.
"Bastard," Jane spat at Tei with a deep breath.
Mel came into view. "My Lady!" She screeched. "Can you stand?"
"Yeah," I mumbled, completing my stand up. "Jane... that was awesome." I admitted.
She nodded and sighed, instantly going over to Drew. "My Lady, help me get everyone." Mel requested, going down gently to lift up Megan right over her shoulder. For a little woman she was so strong. While carrying Megan she stepped over to Daimon who was also face down on the ground and not moving.
I lifted up Colby over my shoulder similar to Mel and Megan. Thanks hybrid strength. "Lynn?" I heard Jane call out.
"Yeah?" I said, walking towards them.
"Please go get that girl who was with me," she almost begged.
"What?" I wasn't expecting that. "She's with them, isn't she?"
Jane merely gulped and looked at me with sad eyes as she held her son. "She needs help."
I wasn't going to let her down. I sighed and walked over with Colby in the direction of where I threw the girl. As I crossed the street I could finally hear police sirens nearing us. Took them long enough. I found the girl on a sidewalk by a fire hydrant. I'd really done a number on her, she looked like hell. "You awake?" I asked her.
"I wish I wasn't," she replied lowly. "Please-"
"Shut up." I told her, kneeling down with a slight struggle since I carried Colby over my shoulder. I touched her head to put her to sleep so I could get her over my other shoulder with less struggling. Now I slowly walked back over to Jane and Mel.
Huh. Instead of having an angel and a devil on your shoulders, I've got a demon and a human on mine. "What now?" I asked.
"We escape this vicinity before Vellie wakes up," Mel instructed. "He knows about the house, doesn't he?"
"Nobody Blocked it. Nobody expected him to wake up now." I explained with a sad nod.
"He knows where our apartment is." Jane admitted, glancing down at Drew. I stared at Mel in horror. What the hell do we do? Where is safe?
"Is there anywhere you've been he doesn't know about?" Mel inquired, and it was like a light bulb went off. "We can try to Block your presence there from him."
"There is a place," I acknowledged. "I think... I think it'll be safe." It's a big chance, but I'll do anything to protect my family.
"Take us there now my Lady." Mel said hurriedly. I nodded, looking over at Tei before I snapped my fingers.
He always looked so peaceful asleep.