Sentinal's Tear (Book #1 in Requiem Series) [formally titled Lacrimosa]

Chapter 11

Aydan

I jam the key into the lock of my apartment, unable to think of anything but Elle. My home, nothing more than a studio, feels even smaller tonight. The walls close in as my mind continues to spin. Every feeling I'd abandoned, every moment I'd locked deep inside has been released by Nesy. But why? How?

If she's human...don't trust her...she almost had you...

Azza's voice bellows through me, silencing my own tortured musings. Not human. I never considered that possibility. Nesy's image fills my mind. The smell of her hair, so like Elle's. The curve of her waist. The life in her eyes. Nothing about her is off. She is human. Completely human.

Which means she can't be Elle. Elle's dead.

I cast aside my fantasies and focus on my anger. Nesy has awakened more than just my memories of Elle. She's rekindled my hatred for Azza. I've committed too many heinous acts at his bidding. Paid too high a price for one choice made so long ago. Each thought stirs the Beast inside, a reminder that I will never escape my fate. Never escape my choices.

I plop on my couch-bed, weak from hunger and guilt. My entire body aches for the one thing it can never feel again—the feel of Elle's touch on my skin.

The Beast screams for food. I know I won't be able to stave off the hunger much longer. But I can't continue this charade either. I hate everything I am, everything I'll soon become.

I close my eyes, my head in my hands. I need to get it together. Need to find a way through this hell. I look up, staring at the only piece of art I've ever owned. Michelangelo's Fall from Grace. Not an original, of course. But something I've kept with me for decades.

The picture screams of my life: Adam and Eve, their fall from Eden, the human-faced serpent.

The Beast again stirs inside, begging to be fed. Disgust and rage surge through my cells. The picture begins to change as my torment increases. It morphs into a replica of Nesy, Azza, and me. The figures dance across the paper, highlighting the end of everything I was, everything I wanted to be.

Mesmerized, my eyelids grow heavy and my eyes begin to close. I drift away, into my past . . .

I run toward the screams that rip through the dark forest. My humanity slips away with every step. Mikayel, Sariel. Keep her safe. Please.

"You're too late." Azzaziel steps through the trees, standing in shadow. His laugh fuels my rage.

"What do you want from me, Dark One?"

"You know who I am. I'm flattered. Most humans don't recognize me, even when I'm standing right next to them." Azzaziel steps into the filtered sunlight, his black hair, solid black eyes and tangles of Celtic markings burned into his neck giving away his true identity. "But then, you aren't like most humans, are you?"