Angel of Retribution Ch. 00-05

Despair was the first thing that slammed into Remien when he finally gained full consciousness. She was gone; his mate, his love, his life. He felt hollow... he felt... someone touching his hair.

Remien opened his eyes.

Her hair was pure white, not from age. He knew she was barely a day over twenty-four Earth years. Angel's guiles sky-blue eyes opened to look into his, a tinge of pink warming her cheeks when she realized he'd caught her admiring him. Her fingers released the lock of his hair she'd been brushing against her cheek and straightened her shoulders, her pretty face hardening into a frown. Remien almost snorted. The little slip of a woman thought she was a warrior.

Then his eyes alighted on something else. With a confused frown he said, "Is it me, or are you getting fat?"

Her eyes widened, instantly filling with tears, rearing back as if he'd slapped her.

Oopsie.

Remien sat up and tried to grab her, but she just vanished before his eyes, leaving him open-mouthed. She'd learned how to teleport quite well in such a short span of time... unless... How long had Devon kept him unconscious?

Taking a deep breath, he looked around. He was in his quarters in alpha 7. His heart squeezed with mind numbing pain. In the ceiling to floor glass pane that stretched across one side of his entire suite of rooms, he saw his reflection staring back at him. His room still looked the same; the living area with its round seating area surrounding a fire pit was off to his left. A frosted glass wall divided the living area from his bedroom. To his right was another frosted glass wall, sectioning off his hygiene area. He'd redesigned his sleeping area like a mini dungeon. There were metal loops on the wall, perfect for tying someone up, an antique armoire with lots of whips, floggers, and paddles for play. Manacles hung from the ceiling off in one corner, bringing back the ghost of the memory of his first time with Rowie. His round bed still had the same burgundy satin sheets from that night, the soft scent of her body still lingering to torment his bleeding soul.

He closed his eyes, scraping his fingers across his chest, leaving red ribbons on his flesh. I need a blade—he thought, his body shivering in anticipation.

"Way to go, making Angel cry like that."

Remien turned his head to the annoying sound of Seth's voice. Normally he would have had a scathing reply for the weretigri, but he wasn't in the mood to so much as breathe.

Remien flopped back on his bed, his eyes staring at the pearlescent white ceiling with its sunken lights casting the dark grey room in a soft glow.

He ignored the sensation of the bed dipping to his left, and the crisp, citrusy scent Zak gave off when he appeared next to him. His mind pondered how he was going to find the two vampires that had killed Rowie, rip them to shreds and then... what was there to live for now? His family was gone; everything he knew no longer existed. All seven Alpha Angels had been imprisoned for three hundred years in a suspended animation ball thanks to...

Remien sat up again. "What the fuck happened on Megdoluc?"

Zak looked at Seth as the young were sauntered over and sat at the edge of Remien's round bed.

"I..." Seth looked pale of a sudden. His mouth hardened, chin drawing up boldly as he stated, "I killed Luke."

Remien's brow shot up. Holy shit.

"Luke was the one who'd plotted with the Utuduodian hunters to capture us in suspended animation orbs," Zak explained. "Dev thinks he just needed us out of the way to open the portal to Hell."

Remien stared slack-jawed at Zak. "Lucien was the dark prince all along?"

"It was supposed to be Devon." Seth spoke now. "Devon is the son of..." Seth's eyes darted to Zak's. They both gulped at the same time.

"The son of who?" Remien prodded with impatience.

"Davariel." Devon materialized to Remi's right.

Remien stared at his commander, standing at the foot of his bed. The man, dressed in his usual black Master Guardians' uniform, towered over all of them. Only Lucien was as tall as Devon. His glowing blue eyes stared at Remien, the pale, almost pure white of his face so at odds with the gleaming mass of shimmering black hair that fell just a little past his big shoulders.

"He was my twin, and Davariel was our father."

"Fuck me," Remien mumbled. Devon and Lucien twins? And the angel of destruction was their father? "The twins from Hell," Remi murmured before he remembered how sensitive Devon always was about how different he was from other normal humanoids.

Looking at his commander, he confirmed that he had indeed hurt him.

Devon bit his lip, bowing his head, a habit he had to hide behind his hair, but then he looked up and continued. "The Seraphs that guarded Edenia before us took me when I was only three weeks old." Again, his head bowed, shaking slowly as he walked around the side of the bed and sat next to Zak. "They only took me and left Luke behind. Our mother was human, so his blood was... untainted."

"Untainted?" Remien questioned with a frown.

"My father was a reaper. When he fell from grace, the demons replaced his black wings with devils wings. They kill a devil, rip its wings off, and implant them on a person's back. There are glands within those wings that secrete a toxin..." He took a shuddering breath. "It just makes you evil. Very hard to resist."

"Is that what happened to you?" Seth asked now.

Devon nodded. "And my father. I think the chemical your body secretes when you're in love counteracts the toxin. If it hadn't been for Angel... or my mother, Lucifer would have been free, our existence would have been wiped out."

Love. Oh, God.

Remien closed his eyes as another jolt of agony pierced him to the core. Rowie. What happened to her body?

"She isn't dead, Rem."

His eyes shot open, staring at Devon. "What the fuck did you say?"

"Devils attacked her. She lost allot of blood, but her brothers managed to... save her."

Remien scrambled across Zak, uncaring of his nudity as his fingers gripped Devon's shoulders.

"Geez, dude." Zak protested when Remi's naked body slithered over his.

Remi ignored him, staring into Devon's glowing blue eyes. "Why can't I sense her?" Even as he asked the question, the answer was obvious. "They turned her didn't they?" He released Devon to rake his fingers through his hair. "Son-of-a-bitch. I'll kill 'em."

"They felt they had no choice." Devon argued. "She'd lost too much blo-"

"Any one of us could've healed her." Remi seethed, clenching both fist, his body shaking with rage.

Devon frowned. "Calm the fuck down. You're going to ignite."

Remi looked at his hands and, sure enough, there were blue flames dancing along his skin, beginning to curl up his arms.

He took a cleansing breath and tried to reign in his fury. Not an easy task. He knew he was a hothead. "I'm going to find her, and the two blood suckers that screwed her over are as good as dead."

"They're her brothers."

"I don't give a fuck. They're still going to pay. She wasn't a vampire-"

"She was half-"

"She was human." Again, the flames danced on his skin. Remi was never very good at controlling his temper. "Where?" He gripped Devon's arms this time. "Where is she?"

Devon took a deep breath, his teeth nipping the corner of his lip--a dead giveaway he was nervous. Remien scowled at him. "I can't tell you where she is."

"Like Hell you won't," Remien snarled, digging his fingers into Devon's meaty biceps.

Zak and Seth jumped off the bed when Remien's dragon wings popped out of his back. Devon just blinked, never breaking eye contact. "She's still considered a newborn vampire. She can't control her urge to feed. If you find her, she'll kill you, drink you dry. That's why she left. She didn't want to hurt anyone."

"She can't hurt me," Remien spat. "Where is she?" He shook Devon. Seth took a few steps toward them, but Zak held him back when Remien turned and bared his newly growing fangs at him.

He knew he was losing control, but... he didn't care. If he didn't find Rowie, he'd die without her.

His face snapped back toward Devon, and snarled through clenched teeth, "Where the fuck is she?"

His face was mere inches from his commander. Those glowing blue orbs went over every inch of Remien's face, with nothing but love in them. "Remi, please," his voice beseeched, barely above a whisper. "Give her time to adjust to what she is now."

Devon's face blurred and Remien cursed the tears that sprang to his eyes. Pulling his wings back in, he shook his head, his breath coming in gasps. "Can't." He broke down as Devon's arms went around him. The sobs were uncontrollable. Remien Fyre didn't cry, that was for pussies, and yet he let Devon hold him close while all the agony bled from the gaping hole in his soul. Another hand touched his back, a second, his shoulder. Remien sagged against Devon, his face turned into his shoulder, weeping like an inconsolable child.

I need her—he projected into their minds what his voice could no longer utter.

Time, Rem—Devon answered, his arms almost crushing Remien against him. When the time is right, we'll all go with you to get her back.

You can count on that, bro—Zak seconded rubbing circles against his back.

Me too, Fyre—Seth added, surprising Remien by stretching his arm over his bare back and hugging him. Zak followed suit, until all four men locked in an embrace.

Warmth; he let their affection soak into him, for only a moment, before he pulled all the hurt back inside and shook them off with a growl. "Fuck. Enough of this gay bullshit." With a sniff, he looked up at Devon, belatedly remembering that his commander was bisexual, and grumbled "sorry."

Devon scowled with an indignant snort. "I'm not gay, asshole." Remien felt his face turn scarlet, but then Devon burst out laughing, curled his hand behind Remien's neck, and gave him a loud kiss on his horrified lips.

"Dude. Enough with the man-love," Remi snapped wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

Devon only laughed at him, along with Zak and Seth.