Anger boiled in my stomach and I stepped forward to shout at him for leaving me again, but he was gone a swath of shadows before I even took a breath to speak. Gritting my teeth together, I swiveled my rage onto the only other person in the room. Azazel.
The woman wasn’t affected by my glare in the slightest. In fact, she seemed amused by it. Sashaying across the room, she reached passed me, making me flinch, but she only plucked a book from the shelf. “Since you don’t seem too surprised by your father’s shifting abilities, I’ll spare you the magic is real lecture and get right down to the thick juicy center of things.” She opened the book in her hands, flipping through some pages before plopping the book into my hands.
I stared down at the page before me. A black and white image spanned the page. Bodies with wings fell around the edges with swords in hand. Several other winged creatures swooped in from the heavens lashing their swords out at the fallen, rays of light from the sky pouring down on them. I read the underlying subtitle.
The Fall of the Angels.
I glanced up from the book to Azazel and then back down. “You can’t really believe in this crap, can you? I mean, angels are cool and everything but to really believe they exist?” I puffed a bit of air and rolled my eyes, snapping the book shut to push it back at her. “That’s just crazy.”
Azazel didn’t even flinch at my words. Her dry expression reaching all the way to her eyes. “No crazier than a girl who can see the death of everyone she touches. Except for me and of course your father.” Her lips ticked up at the edges. “At least, not yet anyway.”
“What does that mean?” My brows drew together as I watched her push the book back onto the shelf where it belonged and walked over to her desk.
Leaning against the edge of the desk, she placed her hands on either side of her. “What it means, Eleanor, is that your father and I are angels.” My mouth gaped slightly at what she was saying not because I believed her but because of the stupidity of it all. But she didn’t stop there. “And you are a Nephilim. The daughter of an angel.”
I shook my head at her, wrapping my arms around myself as I stalked back and forth in front of the shelf. “That doesn’t make any sense. My mother was human. She didn’t have any abilities. And dad just an asshole.” I scoffed, muttering to myself. “Angels are supposed to be of light and kindness. If dad was an angel God fucked up somewhere.”
Listening to my rambles, Azazel laughed, a long throaty sound. “Oh, God doesn’t fuck you as you say. We are angels but not those who reside in heaven. At least, not anymore.”
I spun around on her, my eyes scanning up and down her form. “You’re a demon? Of course, you are. Makes sense.” I confirmed with a jerky nod. “It sure makes more sense than being angels.”
Azazel was up and off the desk in seconds, her face inches from mine as she gripped my chin in her sharp clawed hand. “Don’t ever lop me or the great Batariel in with those hell bottom feeders again.”
I snorted in her face. I didn’t mean to. It just happened. She said my dad was great. Right. Sure. Great at ditching his family.
Azazel jerked back from me, a look of disgust on her face. “Regardless of your belief or not, you are in need of protection and you are lucky that I owe Batariel my life.”
“What did he save your stock portfolio?” I rolled my eyes once more and sank back down on the couch, throwing my legs over the side. I really needed a cigarette. I contemplated how pissed of Azazel would be if I lit up right there.
Ignoring my question, Azazel went to the office door and opened it. “Ayden would you come in here?”
I sat up on the couch to watch a girl around my age walk into the room. She had hair the color of burnt coals and ember colored eyes. Her lips were colored a flaming red to go with the red of her eyeshadow. Those ember eyes found mine and narrowed in suspicion as she took me in. Well, look all you want, missy. I hadn’t let someone bully me since I turned twelve.
“Yes, my league?” Ayden peered up at Azazel with adoration and wonder.
It made me want to gag.
“Would you show Eleanor around? She will be going to school here for the time being.” Azazel locked eyes with me as if she knew I was going to argue the fact.
I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. Besides, the sooner I got out of here the sooner I could have a nicotine fix. Jumping to my feet, I walked up to Ayden. “Cool. Nice to meet you. Let’s go.” Before she could respond, I walked out of the office.
Chapter 4
I walked beside Ayden as she showed me the school. I used the word school loosely because the place looked more like an old castle renovated to be livable than any school I’d ever seen. Where were the stained hasn’t been white in years linoleum? Where were the florescent lights and ugly blue lockers?
The main theme of this school was stone. And lots of it. Gray stones lined the walls and the floors. The only color came from some large gold framed pictures of different scenes from the Bible and even ones I’d never seen before.
Noah’s Ark.
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
The Fall of the Angels which I’d already seen in the book Azazel showed me. The others were different scenes that featured angels and demons as well as one that had all the angels on one side and the fallen on the other side each racing toward a singular figure in the middle wielding a sword above their head.
“That’s the Watcher.” Ayden said over my shoulder, making me jump in place.
I twisted around to look at her curiously. “What’s a watcher?” It was the first sentence the girl had said to me since we left the office. I think she didn’t like me too much. Too bad. I wasn’t here to make friends. I didn’t want to be here at all.
Not making fun of me for my lack of knowledge, she seemed to shift into teacher mode. “A watcher is said to be the one who will bring about Utopia or the Apocalypse. Or whatever.” She waved her hand in front of her face and grinned. “If you believe that kind of crap.”
I snorted. “I don’t.”
“Good. So…” she trailed off walking back toward the center aisle. “I get the feeling you don’t exactly want to be here.”
I shoved my hands into my pockets and scuffed my booted foot on the ground. “What gave that away?” I was still wearing my funeral clothes. I’d have to find something else to wear soon. Though one look at Ayden’s plaid skirt and white button-down shirt with crimson colored necktie I was thinking my mourning clothes might be the better choice.
“Believe me, I didn’t want to be here either.” Ayden gave me a knowing look. “Not many of us do. But we don’t really have a choice. If we didn’t the angels would kill us all.”
I started at her words. “What? Why?”
Ayden gave me a confused frown. “Don’t you know?”
I shrugged my answer.
Pursing her lips at my utter lack of knowledge, Ayden asked, “You do know you’re a Nephilim, right?”
“Well, yeah. I got that part in there.” I pointed a thumb back at Azazel’s office.
“Hold on. Hold on, just one dang minute.” Ayden grabbed my arm and jerked me back.