Angel Incarnate: Second Sight (5 page)

Chapter 5

After Hope was bathed
and changed, Lucifer had her brought back to his chambers.

Wearing a pale blue knee-length
cotton dress with a wide white sash, her black patent leather shoes had been
polished and she was donning clean white stockings.

Her hair, combed and
washed, was secured in a single braid with a matching blue ribbon. Lucifer
hoped the young girl would be good company for Mehri, who had just returned
from the healers.

Lucifer introduced the
child to his wife, and directed both of the girls to a round table in the main
room.

A pair of stout elderly
women, dressed in plain grey gowns, brought trays of chocolate truffles, cakes,
candies, roasted vegetables, and whole baked chickens, and laid them out on a
side-board along the back wall.

Still afraid, but not
wanting to anger Lucifer, Hope didn’t hesitate when he pulled out one of the
wooden chairs, and motioned for her to sit.

She could see a line of
black thread woven into the woman’s right arm. She wondered what happened to
her, but wouldn’t dare speak until she was spoken to. Instead, she bent her
head, and clasped her hands in her lap.

“This is my wife,
Mehri,” Lucifer said. “She will be your new mother and will take good care of
you. When we have finished our dinner, I will introduce you to my young
friends. I must warn you not to get too close to them; they prefer to keep to
themselves, and rarely interact with strangers.”

“Are you Mortriel’s
mother?” Hope asked Mehri.

“No – my son’s mother
was killed during the war in Heaven,” Lucifer responded. “Mehri has only been
with me for a short time.”

Hope turned her
attention back to Mehri. “Do you have other children?”

“I have a son who lives
in Europe. He is a baron.”

After Mehri came to
Hell, she and Lucifer didn’t speak about the boy, who later married Lucifer’s
sister, Loralei. They had one daughter, Meredith who later went on to marry the
governor of Utopia, one of the angel-blood colonies. Lucifer knew Byron had
been dead for almost forty years, but Mehri wasn’t aware the Guild took her
son’s life.

Lucifer also failed to
reveal he had another child, but kept her birth a secret.

Nathali was well-hidden
in Utopia. As far as her family knew, she was the daughter of the governor’s
son, Richard, but it was Lucifer who impregnated Richard’s wife, Genevieve,
wanting to strengthen his blood line.

The rest of Lucifer’s
Nephylim children had been killed by the angels, but he was determined to keep
Nathali alive. Though she wasn’t aware Lucifer was her father, he knew the
girl, who was nearing her eighteenth birthday, was well cared for.

No one knew Lucifer’s
secret; not even those closest to him.

When Genevieve
discovered the truth, Lucifer arranged for a fatal accident. Richard inherited
her sizeable estate, and then allowed his mother, Meredith, to raise the infant
girl, while the fallen angel watched her mature from a distance.

Seeing the blood stains
on her dress, Lucifer suggested Mehri put on a fresh gown. “You’ll both have
plenty of time to talk. I suggest we eat before the food gets cold.”

Mehri excused herself,
and a few moments later, she returned wearing a dark blue velvet gown; the
sleeves covered the scar on her arm. Taking a seat next to Lucifer, she helped
Hope place a napkin on her lap.

The servant women, who
had been silent, prepared three large platters and placed them in front of the
trio. A decanter of red wine and two goblets was set in the center of the
table; a chocolate milkshake was prepared for the little girl.

Except for some small
talk, the meal was relatively quiet. When they finished, the women cleared the
table and placed the leftovers and trays of dirty dishes on a wheeled cart.
Without addressing Lucifer, they rolled the cart out of his residence.

“Before we meet your
new friends, I have a gift for you,” Lucifer told Hope. He handed her a package
wrapped in gold with a red bow.

The gesture brought a
smile to the little girl’s face. It was the first time she had felt comfortable
since being taken by Mortriel.

Obediently opening the
box which contained a beautiful doll, Hope cringed when the edge of the paper
cut her finger.

Before she could put it
in her mouth, Lucifer grabbed her hand.
 
He assumed the child was mortal, but her blood was laced with tiny
specks of gold glitter. “You’re an angel-blood.”

“I don’t understand.
What’s an angel-blood?” she asked.

“Haven’t you ever
noticed that your blood isn’t completely red?”

“I’ve never seen my
blood before,” she admitted.

“I must know more about
your parents. What were their names? Where did you live?”

“I was raised by my
mother; her name was Violet. I never really knew my father,” Hope replied.
 
“He came around once in awhile, but he wasn’t
part of our lives. We lived on a plantation in Savannah, Georgia. Do you know
where that is?”

“I’m somewhat familiar
with the area. What was your father’s name?”

“I think his name is
Josiah. My mother didn’t talk about him much.”

Josiah – I wonder if he is the angel who once led the Elite
Guard. Knowing Malakiel hates angel-bloods, it would make sense for him to keep
his wife and children hidden
.
 

“Did your mother ever
tell you how they met?”

“No, but I know she
loved him. She said his job kept him away, and that’s why he couldn’t live with
us.”

“Tell me more about
your home. Your mother must have had some help raising two daughters alone.”

“We had servants to
take care of the cooking and cleaning, and there was a gardener who kept the
lawn mowed. There were a few neighbors who visited sometimes, but mostly, my
mother liked us to stay to ourselves. My grandmother lives in Brooklyn, New
York. We were on the way to her house when Mommy had the accident. It was
raining really hard. We were driving on some back roads, and it was dark. I
tried to get her to pull over, but she kept driving.”

By now Hope was sobbing
uncontrollably.

“The car skidded out of
control and hit a tree. My mother wasn’t wearing her seatbelt.
 
Her head went through the windshield and my
little sister was thrown from the backseat. I climbed out of the car and saw
that Gracie was hurt. That’s when Mortriel came. I thought my sister was going
to die, and he promised he would save her if I agreed to come with him. But he
lied. I don’t even know what happened to their bodies,” she whimpered. “Gracie
was only four years old.”

Mehri pulled the child
into her arms, trying to comfort her. If her sister was alive, she hoped
Mortriel would not abuse her too. It was better not to speak to Lucifer about
his son; he would deal with him in his own way.
 

“We should leave now. I
want you to meet your new friends,” Lucifer said. He placed his arm around his
wife, who put Hope down, but held tight to her hand.
 

Mehri had only seen the
angel children once before, and found them pitiful to look upon. Hopefully, the
little girl wouldn’t be reminded of her sister when she visited the angels.

Lucifer didn’t have any
trouble maneuvering through the dark tunnels, but Hope stayed close to Mehri.
Clutching the doll against her chest, her body trembled with each step. She
couldn’t tell which direction they were moving, but felt like they were going
down.

The sounds of screams
and laughter filled the caverns, but Mehri didn’t pay any attention to them, so
the young girl continued on in silence.

When they finally
stopped, Hope found herself in front of a large glass room. Nothing could have
prepared the five-year-old for what she saw.

A frail looking young
man – in his twenties she guessed -- lay on a straw mattress in the middle of
the room.

The long brown hair
that shrouded his bruised face was matted and unkempt. A button-less,
once-white shirt stained with dried blood, hung off his shoulders – rips and
tears in the sleeves revealed deep red welts. Black, thread-bare trousers did
little to cover the marks on his legs.

As bad as he looked, it
didn’t compare to the two small beings that were huddled in a corner on the
dirt floor, next to two smaller mattresses.
 

Without hesitation,
Hope moved closer, pushing her nose against the glass. That’s when she realized
the dark and dingy clump of feathers protruding from their backs were wings.
They were angels.

Lucifer didn’t rebuke
the pair of females who were standing watch at the open door. Instead, he
remained calm.
 

“I told you they were
to be bathed and dressed.”

“Forgive us, Father. We
tried to clean them up, but they threatened to burn us if we touched them,” the
red-haired girl responded.
  

“Leave us,” he
commanded.

Both of the women ran
through the tunnel without looking back. They failed in their duties, and
suspected a severe punishment would soon follow.

Two basins, filled with
clean water, were on the floor next to the man, who heard the voices and looked
up. Despite the injuries to his face and body, his azure eyes brightened when
he saw the little girl.

A pair of blue dresses,
similar to the one Hope was wearing, were hanging over the back of an old
wooden chair. There was a tray of fresh fruit and bottles of water on a round
table in the other corner of the room.

Both of the little
girls lifted their heads. They were twins.

Like the man, their
blonde hair was dirty and uncombed. Hope had never seen anyone with violet eyes
before, and imagined what they once looked like.
 
She suspected the thin grey cloth covering
their small forms had been worn since they arrived -- however long ago that
was.
 

Will I look like that one day? There is so much sadness in
their eyes; I can barely stand to look into them.

It was then Hope knew
the extent of Lucifer’s cruelty. Determined to help them; she began to walk
through the open door when Mehri grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“It isn’t safe to go
inside.”
 

Ignoring her warning,
the angel-blood broke free of her grasp, and ran into the room.
 

A smug smile crossed
Lucifer’s lips. He would leave the little girl with the angels, hoping to get
some much needed information about their mother.
 

“Come, Mehri -- if she
wants to stay here, I’ll allow it.”
 

Even though she was disappointed,
Mehri didn’t dare argue with him. It was better not to become attached to the
little girl. Lucifer could change his mind about her in the blink of an eye,
and then, she would become another plaything for his son.

“Enjoy your time
together,” Lucifer said.

He clasped Mehri’s
hand, but when he turned to leave, one of the angels spoke. “Mommy’s
coming.”
 

Lucifer hesitated
momentarily, but didn’t answer the young girl. Instead, he continued to walk
down the corridor until he and Mehri were both out of sight.

So – they know Avriel is alive? I wonder if they have seen
Bree and Tercia in Aeden. I haven’t decided how I’m going to deal with them
yet. With any luck – they’ll all be together again; maybe sooner than they
realize
.

Hope remembered her mother
speaking about angels, but never imagined meeting any. Of course, she never
imagined she would ever be taken to Hell either. Even though she was only
seven, she tried to be a good girl, and help with her little sister.

“She’s alive,” one of
the angels said.

“How did you know what
I was thinking?”

Both of the angels
started laughing. Hope couldn’t help staring at how white their teeth were.
Everything else about them was filthy, but they smelled like springtime.

“We’re seers.”

“I don’t know what that
means.”

“We see past, present
and future. We can talk to each other without speaking. My name is Alorrah, and
this is my cousin, Alexis.”

“Your cousin – aren’t
you twins?”

“Alexis’ father, Nyael,
was my mother’s brother. Her mother, Rutha, was Michael’s sister. They were
both killed in the war.”

Alorrah told Hope the
story of how they came to be there; everything from Lucifer’s attack, to them
being taken by Samhael, to Fionn’s capture, and their mother’s reincarnation.

“You said our mother –
I thought you weren’t sisters?”

“Since my parents are
dead, Avriel will be my mother now,” Alexis said.

“She calls herself Aura
now,” Alorrah reminded her. “She doesn’t remember us yet, but her memory will
come back when Alannah goes to Aeden.”