Legions (9 page)

We made it to the car
without incident, but I was shaking intensely and was so nauseous
that I needed to lay down in the backseat. The coolness of the
leather helped calm my nerves immediately. It shocked me back into
reality, which at this point I wasn’t really sure what that
meant.

“Let me guess, this hasn’t
happened before.” I blurted out.

“Not that I know of.” Arie
began situating my hair so she could slide in next to
me.

“I think we need to do this
sooner than later. Actually, I don’t think, I know.” I began
letting the anger build into its normal productivity. My mind was
zipping all over, playing as many scenarios as possible, weighing
the different outcomes, and constantly pushing out the jealousy
that was attempting to cast itself in all of my
thoughts.

“What if they…” My voice
trailed off. There was no way I could utter the words.

“They haven’t.”

“We don’t know
that.”

“Yeah, we do. Don’t think
like that. Athen never lost hope in you.”

“Well, was there a demon
always trying to get with me?”

“That one time.”

“Uh, yeah, but I was
already with you guys, and you knew to expect it. This is
completely different. Thanks for trying to make me feel better
though.” I rolled my eyes.

“We can tell it helped.”
Cyril quipped.

“Come on let’s go home and
figure out a plan B.”

***

None of us had appetites,
but Arie took care of us and made sure we at least downed some soup
while we devised our plan of attack. There was no longer the
leisure of waiting until we were sure he was ready. The situation
was now such that we had to get to him before they did, regardless
of whether he recognized me or not. We had to ensure that he was on
our side, and when it happened it happened. We had to protect him.
This plan was going to make it excruciatingly painful for me.
Everything about it was constantly playing with my emotions. It was
as if I had to be alongside of him, and he knew nothing about me,
could care less really. I had to hope for the best, that he would
recognize me soon, and we could reunite. But after seeing her today
I wasn’t so sure of myself or my situation.

“So this thing… You think
she’s part of the bigger picture? I’m guessing, yes.” I asked as I
picked at my bread.

“Without a doubt. Now, in
addition to getting Athen back, we have to figure out a plan to
communicate to everyone the latest snafu. I’m sure we won’t be the
only ones this is going to happen to. I’m really curious to know
what he has been feeling from her to make him research what he was
at the library. Seeing her at the Starbucks might be the sole
answer, but why he would be able to pick up on anything so soon is
odd.” Arie was rinsing the soup pot as she spoke.

“Do you know who she might
be? Is she a major player?” Watching Cyril and Arie look at each
other as they both began to fidget told me everything I needed to
know.

“Her name is Lilith. She’s
truly the epitome of evil.” Arie took a deep breath in. “Her type’s
been around longer than any of us. She’s part of the Lamiai. They
have the ability to seduce men by luring them with their beauty.
She knows what she’s got, and she knows how to use it, both with
mankind and in the underworld. As you saw, she can encompass beauty
in a blink of an eye. Her true form, though, leaves her with a
serpent tail and fiery red hair. Unfortunately, when she’s in one
of her other forms, no one can see it including us.”

“I could feel it. That’s
gotta count for something. Obviously Athen can feel it too, judging
by his recent reading selection. So, what’s her goal?” I inquired.
It seemed odd that all she would care about is seducing mankind and
the underworld.

“Her goal is to reek havoc
– create distractions. Throw her into the mix of any situation, and
you’ve just added an unpleasant element. But you don’t need to be
told that. You’ve seen it firsthand.”

That last shot was like a
nail gun aimed directly at my soul.

“It seems so peculiar that
someone with her clout would be involved in something to do with
us.”

“Well, our lineage is such
that...” Arie stopped herself. Her green eyes looking as if they
lost some of the usual glow I was used to seeing.

“What? It takes one to know
one? Or are we so super powerful it takes someone like her? Come
on. I can’t take much more of this. Why don’t you just tell me
everything all at once.” I was full of contention and spite, my
eyes wouldn’t stop darting around the room, I was about to explode.
I was tired of knowing half-truths. It seemed the last three months
had been full of almosts and not quites, and I was tired of it. I
needed to know what I was facing. What we were facing. What or who
Athen was involved with. The last thought truly making me
nauseous.

“Actually, yes.” Cyril
snarled.

My heart started to pound -
missing a beat between every three. I had never seen this side of
Cyril. He was usually so laid back, and now he looked like he was
about to come apart at the seams, possibly at me.

“Our family is partly
descended of Remiel, which makes us pretty damn important. How does
that sound for pompous?” Cyril’s voice was getting louder by the
second. “This isn’t just about you getting your dear Athen back,
Ana. It never has been. Plainly, without us all as a unit we can’t
defeat the demons, and we need to defeat them. They are preparing
for something that the world isn’t ready for. We aren’t ready for.
The last century has been them gearing up to defeat all things
good- including us. The longer they keep us distracted, the better
their odds. Do you get it, Ana? The world would change forever. We
would be destroyed. They would control it, and all of humanity. It
would be hell on earth.” He had calmed down now, realizing I’d have
no way of knowing these things on my own. I understood his
frustration. Athen and I had been causing quite a distraction for
over half a century, if unwittingly, and we seem to be the least of
the problems. Yet we seemed to certainly be defining the course of
how it could possibly end.

I looked at them both with
nothing to say. I was so sad, I couldn’t cry. I was so angry, I
couldn’t yell. I grabbed my iPhone and vowed to myself that I’d do
whatever it took to make things right. No more senseless emotions
getting in the way - even if that meant forgetting what he meant to
me - what Athen was to me. On my way back to my room, I grabbed all
of the photos in the hall off the wall. I didn’t need any more
constant reminders of what I was missing, especially if I was
expected to figure out a method to control myself in Athen’s
presence. He could no longer be the one to provide me with the love
I yearned for. I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted by him. I’d
find another. Athen was just a
he
and a
him
to me - no more personal identity and nothing
special. We had to be finished for the sake of mankind. The lump in
the back of my throat actually felt as if it would explode,
possibly close off my windpipe. I could barely breath. I didn’t
care.

I threw all of the framed
photographs onto the floor of the linen closet with a crash, vowing
to get my towels out of another closet. Life was much simpler
working as a waitress up in Whistler. I think I actually missed it.
Less complication, no heartsick nights, and no world to save that
didn’t know it needed saving.

I fell onto my bed, staring
at the ceiling, looking at all of the little endless grooves and
trails, trying to match up a path for the quickest way to an end.
Anything to get my mind off the decision I had just made. The pit
of my stomach was churning nonstop, and I doubted I could do
anything about it.

I started looking up some
items on my iPhone. The least I could do was figure this out on my
own, without feeling like a complete burden to Arie and Cyril. As I
typed in the letters R-E-M-I-E-L, I prayed for an answer that would
need no explanation, just the plain text the web had to offer.
Unfortunately, that was exactly what I got. It wasn’t them who was
related to Remiel. It was me. I was his daughter. I had to stop
this. I was the only one who could stop this, stop her.

Chapter 12

The sun hadn’t even made an
introduction to this part of the world yet, and I was fully dressed
and ready to execute my plan from the night before. It came to me
in one of my dreams. I had thought about it long and hard, granted
with very little sleep, but I knew it was solid. This was the only
answer that I could come up with.

If I had to give
him
up, then I at least
wouldn’t let anyone else have
him
either. Especially her. The evilness that
permeated the air around that woman, or more pointedly, demon, made
my skin crawl, and only made the world that much worse to live in.
I knew I could dispose of her, even if it was only to have her
wake-up on the other side of the world. At least, she wouldn’t be
in my world any longer or
his
. I was no longer on the
sidelines.

I should have the
protection of my father. That’s what I told myself. What’s the
point of lineage, if it doesn’t come into play at some point? There
is no way Remiel wouldn’t give me the strength that I might be
missing to defeat Lilith, even if he was stuck in the otherworld as
punishment.

I grabbed my jacket and
snuck down the hall, grabbing the keys on the way out. I quietly
closed the front door and headed to the hospital.
He
was still there, but
I didn’t care about that. I didn’t care about him. I was only going
there to destroy her. He was long gone out of my world. He had to
be. I only hoped I wasn’t fooling myself.

The streets were dark and
the city still sound asleep. Puddles from a recent rainfall
glistened from the streetlights’ reflection. The old-fashioned
streetlamps provided an especially haunting element to my journey;
something that was needed. There wasn’t a sound to be had on the
paved streets. I was thankful for that, until I turned up the
street leading me to the hospital. The towering concrete building
looked as if it was waiting for me – as if the structure itself was
possessed. Part of me hoped that she wasn’t there, but I knew she
was. She was smart enough not to leave her prey. Little did she
know, it wasn’t the prey I was after - it was her. If he got
damaged in the scuffle, that wasn’t my issue. I had to remove her
so she wouldn’t continue to interfere in our pilgrimage for what
was right.

I slid my car into the
parking stall that was closest to the street. I looked up at the
hospital and saw a soft glow coming from most of the windows. Just
enough light on in the hospital rooms so the medical staff could
perform their procedures without waking up their patients. At
least, that was the goal. Nine times out of ten, I’m sure the
patient was jolted out of whatever low-grade sleep they were in as
they got poked and prodded. I scanned each floor, window by window,
until I landed on the one that they were in. My heart sunk as I
envisioned her by his side, holding his hand. Her ability to run on
little sleep giving her the appearance of a saint, rather than the
true beastly self that she was.

I proceeded up to the lobby
as the sliding doors opened to greet me like a monster welcoming
its latest victim. I quietly coasted past the daytime reception
desk turned nighttime guard desk that was completely vacant. Maybe
luck was on my side tonight. I took a deep breath in, shocking my
senses that, indeed, I was in a hospital as I turned to step on the
already open elevator.

The button for floor three
was already glowing a fiery orange, and the metal doors closed
swiftly. I never pushed the button. She knew I was coming. I wasn’t
prepared for this.

My heart ached as I tried
to fool myself into believing that I magically turned the switch
off on my heart for Athen when truthfully, I couldn’t even bear to
utter his name without possibly breaking down. I needed Athen. The
elevator ride only going three stories felt like an eternity. As
the doors opened, I knew, now, that I was the prey.

I instinctively moved
closer to his hospital room. Once again, passing by empty nurse
stations on my way to my destination, his hospital room. I could
feel the chill of defeat slowly creeping up along my spine. How
could she have made everyone vanish? What reality was I in? It was
as if time stopped, and we were in another universe. I didn’t know
that was even possible, but it obviously was judging by the look of
things.

I was now only two rooms
away, I peeked into the room next to his and saw an elderly man
with slight breaths, eyes closed. Guess she didn’t feel he would
notice. I hoped my next actions wouldn’t end him prematurely. My
world turned dark. There was no stopping the chain of events that I
had started by pulling into the hospital parking lot. I looked at
the elderly man one last time and hoped his next breath wouldn’t be
inhaling the spirit of Lilith, turning him to the darkness of the
underworld. I said a little prayer for his soul and continued on.
Now wasn’t the moment to get distracted. It was now or
never.