24.

My bare feet touched the hard concrete path as we finally descended onto the ground, my gaze landing on the large, modern mansion now standing tall and imposing right in front of our eyes.

Taking a glance around, I observed the vast space, entirely covered with freshly trimmed grass and the tall stone walls at each side serving as a fence.

“Father, where are we?”

“Somewhere close to my undying heart,” He warmly answered, keeping his gaze trained on the giant house right ahead of us as he still gently held me in his arms.

Failing to understand those words I turned my attention back to him, but just as I was about to ask he gingerly grabbed my forearm, coaxing me to start walking.

“Come on.”

Suddenly noticing Rem’s beast form approaching to walk right next to me I reached to caress the side of his muzzle with the tip of my fingers, right before I heard my father say,

“I’d advise you to take human form again, if you don’t want to get shot.”

His wolf form stared upon me for a sole moment, those glowing orbs seemingly increasing their intensity, small flecks of light surrounding him, right before he swiftly turned back to his human form.

Giving me a warm smile he then held my hand in his as we started walking towards the entrance.

“Together.”

“Together,” I whispered back, a small smile gracing my lips for I felt so grateful for being blessed with his love and care as I briefly remembered how he tried to protect me from Hades’ unmerciful claws, his recently disclosed to me, unusual ability to change himself into a beast still raising so many questions inside my mind. But before I could dwell any further on that my attention was suddenly distracted as a young, seemingly human male now made his appearance, his built form calmly advancing towards my father.

“Go and announce your boss that I’m here,” My father ordered before he could even say a word, his curious gaze now roaming all over Rem’s lightly bloodied form and I making me feel a little nervous, instinctually pressing myself even closer to my brother.

“Oh and, be kind and give this man some clothes,” My father then added, motioning towards my brother, remembering that he was still completely nude after that unpredicted shift, feeling his warm hand slipping from mine as the human male kindly asked him to go with him.

“I will be right back,” My brother assured, giving me another warm smile before walking away and then disappearing behind the large wooden double doors, after which we soon passed too.

Taking small hesitant steps on the cold patterned marble I then stopped for a moment to gaze around at the large, imposing hall, right before I suddenly noticed my father walking past me then swiftly turning to his left, like a baby duckling quickly trailing after him as I felt so afraid to be left to wander all by myself in this place.

“For how long have you known?” I suddenly heard Raphael ask from somewhere close by as he followed my father too, remembering he was still with us too, followed by my father’s quick answer,

“From the moment I firstly approached her. She is my daughter, Raphael and that vicious thing living inside her is one of MY playthings.”

I lightly flinched at the sound of those last words as I briefly remembered about the thing living inside me, right before I heard Raphael bitterly retort,

“And yet you let her go, with me.”

I watched my father’s suit-clad shoulders lightly slump as he entered what appeared to be a large living room, blowing out an audible sigh as he answered,
“I knew you wouldn’t hurt her. That wretched Sin had you clutched in its claws from the moment you two firstly met.
And it’s been feeding off of you ever since.
I can see that. I can feel it. It only became even stronger and stronger, so that’s why-”

“LUC!”

The sound of a feminine voice echoing across the whole house briefly interrupted my father’s discussion with Raphael, also making me startle, like a scared cat quickly moving right next to the one who contributed at my creation as I could still hear the voice loudly ringing,

“WHY IS THERE A NAKED DUDE WALKING AROUND OUR HOUSE?
And why didn’t you tell-”

The voice abruptly stopped as the owner finally revealed itself, a young girl now standing completely still right in the doorway, her forest green eyes quickly filling with unshed tears as she stared somewhere close to my right, so I followed her line of sight, finally noticing she was actually staring right towards Raphael, whose features remained completely still as he held her gaze. And within the very next moment, she ran straight towards him, her slender body slamming against his as she wrapped her arms around him, not even caring that he was half covered in blood.

I curiously watched their exchange, noticing how he stood completely still as she lightly sobbed in his chest for a while, numbly staring somewhere past her, seemingly forcing himself to ignore her presence.

Pulling back her now smeared with blood body she intently stared up at him for a few short moments, her naturally beautiful features contorting into an angered glare and with a quick swing of her arm she harshly slapped him right across the face, that unexpected action making me escape a small gasp.

“That was for running away from us,” She harshly bit out, angrily staring up at him as he simply ignored her this whole time, seemingly angering her even more.

“You’re an asshole!” She loudly shouted at him, breathing fast and hard.

Turning her attention towards my father, she took a few calming breaths, tempering herself a little bit as she asked,
“How did you find him?”

I watched my father let out a loud, tired exhale, right before he answered,
“Long story...”

Noticing how her reddened eyes finally landed on me, I watched how she wiped the lingering wetness off her cheeks, swallowing a sob as she then calmly asked,
“Who’s this?”

“Blake, I want you to meet my daughter, Daya.
Daya, this is Blake, Archangel Michael’s first and only child.”

“Well hi there, cuz,” She casually said, seemingly almost amused as she boldly approached, giving me a warm smile.

“Welcome to the club,” She then quickly said and before I could even realize what was happening she had already lunged at me, crushing me in a warm hug.

I blinked a few times, failing to react as this form of approach seemed so foreign to me for I have never been hugged by another before -besides Raphael and my brother but only the times when we were children, of course- my breath stopping in my throat as I stupidly stood there, stiff as a wooden board.

“Wow you smell so nice! How is that even possible?” I suddenly heard her say as she pulled back, my now widened gaze darting towards my father, noticing how he and Raphael quickly exchanged weird glances to one another, seemingly having a silent conversation, right before I heard her only continuing,
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, but you look like you’ve been running through a freaking forest for days!”

My lips parted as I mentally struggled to form a coherent sentence but before I could even utter a single word my brother suddenly made his appearance, now wearing a simple white t-shirt and denim jeans, even with that dull attire still somehow managing to look ethereally majestic.

“Oh, by the way, who’s the hottie?” I then heard her quickly asking, noticing how she gave him a long, thoroughly analyzing look.

At least this I can answer.

“This is Rem, my brother,” I finally managed to say, watching how her head snapped in my father’s direction once again, quickly mouthing,
“Yours too?”

Followed by my father’s silent response, consisting in a simple shake of his head.
Seemingly thirsting for more answers her forest green eyes then darted back to my brother, once again wandering all over him as she rather boldly said,
“Sorry but I have to ask. Dude, why were you walking around flashing that cute ass?”

My cheeks lightly colored as a response at her blatant appreciation of his figure, faintly hearing someone in the background murmuring something that sounded very close to “oh if Azrael would’ve ever heard that”. However, she simply chose to ignore any other comments in the room as her gaze remained concentrated on him, both her and I watching how my brother let out a small laugh, lightly shaking his head as he ever so casually answered,
“I believe that is a story for another time.”

“Erick!” I heard my father suddenly exclaim, unintentionally drawing my attention as well, ultimately noticing the tall young man that now made his appearance as well in the living room, curiously eyeing each one of us, mere moments before asking,
“What’s going on here?”

“Oh, we’re in dire need of your help. All your help,” My father quickly answered as he approached him, the man apparently named Erick’s golden brown eyes darting right back to me, intently roaming all over, but before he could even ask my father had already beat him to it, briefly making the introductions,
“Erick, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Daya, and her brother Rem.”

“You have a kid? But how come you never-” The tall, also very intimidating man abruptly stopped himself once his piercing gaze landed on Raphael, his features instantly contorting into a frown as he practically seethed,

“Wait, what’s he doing here?”

“He’s-”

“What? Are you already done running, moron?” Erick quickly asked Raphael in a rather angered manner, my father’s words practically drowned by his increased in volume, blatantly accusing tone.

My brows also knitted in utter confusion for I couldn’t help but continuously wonder why were these people so mad at him, also why had he been running away from them. Until now.

Swiftly moving to reach him, Archangel Michael’s daughter quickly grabbed the man by the elbow, her tone ever so gentle as she pleaded,
“Ricky, please.”

“No! Just because you did what you did, that doesn’t give you the right to make us chase you like some goddamn fools, okay?
You don’t get to pull that fucking stunt on us, get that?”

My body jerked in a small flinch as his bellowing tone only increased, barely held back by the much smaller in comparison girl that now stood right in front of him, serving as a barrier between the two. Poorly, might I add since it looked pretty obvious that if he truly wanted to simply lunge at Raphael, he could.

Which is what scared me even more.

“Okay, Erick, I believe that is enough for now. We have got some more important matters to deal with right now,” My father’s calm, composed tone reached my ears as he finally stepped in Erick’s line of sight, drawing his attention back to him.

“Like what?” He then asked, a small hint of anger still lacing in his tone.

“Where is Azrael?”

My eyes widened after that simple question, that specific name ringing as an ominous sound in my mind as I briefly recalled everything I have read in the past, related to that simple, yet so meaningful name, one single thought now revolving inside my head, painfully slow, crushing my windpipe.

They are still planning to destroy it...

Unintentionally, my left foot staggered backwards, instantly losing balance, almost landing on the floor if it wasn’t for those strong arms now circling around my waist to swiftly catch me, that same warmth and spicy scent quickly wrapping around me like a comforting cocoon.

“Easy there, it’s okay,” His calming voice gently rang in my ears like a sweet lullaby as he held me so close, only now noticing the eerily silence surrounding us.

And before I could even blink, my creator was already right in front of us, something so dark swirling in his silvery eyes as he noticed Raphael’s arms still wrapped around me, that same darkness coating his tone as he rather demanded,
“Okay, that is enough. I strongly recommend you to step aside.”

But rather than giving him the time to let go he swiftly grabbed me by the waist and as gently as he could, he simply snatched me away from Raphael’s arms, my limbs failing to react as I could only blink, utterly astonished.

“Now I am not going to ask why is she wearing what appears to be your t-shirt, because frankly I don’t even know if I actually want to find out, but at least this I can tell you; from now on, I need you to stay away from her.
It is pretty obvious that you already are way too affected, and we cannot risk giving that wicked thing inside of her even more power. Because it could only cause damages of great length.”

A small, stray tear quickly made its way down my cheek as I ultimately realized that everything that had happened between Raphael and I, every moment we shared so far, in a single moment turned out to be nothing but a cruel lie...

It wasn’t real...It’s never been real...

Looking between the both of us, Raphael’s dark gaze turned so cold, seemingly hesitating for a few fleeting moments, giving me one last glance, right before he loudly bellowed,
“You know what? Fuck this! Fuck all of you! You can all burn in Hell as far as I care!”

And with a smooth flap of his lush, ebony wings he simply disappeared into thin air.