Ian above.
Jeremy was lying face down on the ground. I flipped him over gently as the others came to my side.
"Someone get some water and ice please," I said.
Sophia was on it in a flash.
"Jer, are you ok? How badly did they hurt you?" Karli asked quietly kneeling down next to him. I gestured for her to sit down, and she listened while I laid Jeremy's head on her lap. I sensed that it was the right thing to do considering that it still seemed like she had feelings for him.
"They ripped off my wings." He said quietly. "It hurt pretty bad but the black ones grew in really fast. It was more painful than getting the white wings ripped off."
"Can you move much?" Leo asked.
"I barely got down here in one piece. I'm exhausted." Jeremy said hoarsely.
"Dude... you look bad," Blake said. Karli shot him a glare as Sophia gave Jeremy some ice and water.
We were all silent until Rem spoke up. "Sophia and I will get the vans and bring them here so you won't have to move Jeremy."
"Thanks. I could use all the rest I can get."
Sophia and Rem took off.
I watched Karli wipe the sweat from Jeremy's forehead and looked around at my friends. "And this is where I really feel like we are starting some shit. This is hurting you. All of you. You don't have to be here for this. You can opt-out, and I won't take offense. I just don't want to see anyone else get hurt... Or worse."
"Liz... we are all in this together. We were meant to be here and help you set things straight. You wanted this to happen, right? I mean why else would you be drawn to all of us?" Leo asked.
"I don't know. I just don't want anyone else to get hurt. Jeremy, you went through too much and I don't know what I can do to make this better." I said, squeezing his hand.
"You can start by continuing on to find Athena and Poseidon," Jeremy said looking up at me.
I nodded.
"And together, you will all enforce free will." Larson chimed in.
***
I sat in the car thinking about who the hell this Hannah chick was. How could she fit into this story? Did I foresee this? Is she on our side? Is she even relevant?
Jeremy turned his head to look at me as if to tell me he heard me but didn't have an answer to any of it. This whole confrontation with Hannah had me second-guessing who Leo really is. It wasn't like I was one to judge. I just found their relationship odd and I found her very sketchy.
"Hey, you ok?" Leo put a hand on my shoulder from the seat behind me.
"Yea. Peachy." I lied but turned to give him a small smile. He smiled back and leaned back in his seat.
I sighed and noticed Jeremy's eyes on me, but I refused to look at him for the time being. Knowing about Hannah made Leo seem sketchy, and I just couldn't make myself comfortable around him.
My phone buzzed again. I looked at the screen.
Betrayal is in your future.
I rested my head back on the seat and looked out the window. Jeremy grabbed my phone and stared at the text.
Seth? I thought.
He was still for a while, studying it until he finally half nodded and I knew that meant maybe. I mean who else could it be?
"Hey Sophia. Have you gotten ahold of my dad yet?" I asked.
Sophia looked over her shoulder back at me then focused back on the road. "No. Not yet. Would you mind?"
I texted my dad and waited for the rest of the car ride for him to respond, but he never did.
***
"Look at the view!" Karli exclaimed, pulling back the curtains to the room that we were sharing with Becks and Shelby. The boys got their own room as well while Sophia and Rem went off to try and contact my dad.
I know it's exciting being in a new place, but my main priority was finding my dad and Athena... not exploring the city.
"We should totally go shopping." Becks squealed. "And pick up some hot Spanish boys!"
Shelby and Karli seemed interested.
"Why don't you guys go ahead? I'm going to get some rest." I said sitting on the bed.
"You sure?" Karli asked.
"Yea. I'll catch up with ya later. I'll text one of you." I said.
They all nodded and headed out.
Seth instantly appeared with a face I couldn't quite define.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's Leo."
"Well..."
"He's not as honest as you think. He went out once he got here."
"Speaking of honesty... I heard some things about you from Larson." I crossed my arms and stared at him with a slight smile. "My lover?"
Seth chuckled. "He said that? Well he's not entirely wrong. Whatever he said, I couldn't hear. I can't go that high in the sky or they'd sense me."
"I thought you were undetectable."
"To a certain extent. That's why I'm so cautious." He chuckled. "I like that Larson kid. Nice guy. I've met him a couple of times." Seth looked out the window. "You know... you never took away my memories... we were in love... for real. It wasn't the stones. You made that lie to see if people would attempt it. You told me the day I gave you all of the stones. At first, I was disappointed but then you told me that you didn't mind falling in love with me. Our romance went on for quite a while before anyone caught on. But of course, God came in and said you were only allowed to be with another God. Not an angel. You know how it goes from there. Soon after, I fell and you and Athena disappeared. No one knew of your whereabouts... except those with stones." Seth paused. "Jeremy is coming."
"Wait what?"
Jeremy knocked on the door and Seth let him in and closed it quickly behind him. "Hello to you too." Jeremy laughed.
"You saw it right?" Seth asked.
"Saw what?" I asked confused.
"Leo," Jeremy answered. "And yes, I did. But that doesn't mean anything right? He used to live here so maybe he's just gone out or-"
"I don't think so..." Seth interrupted.
"A betrayal..." I murmured. "Just like those texts you've been sending me."
"Hold on... what? Texts? I haven't been sending you texts?" Seth said confused.
"Then explain these." I pulled the texts up on my phone. Seth studied them and his eyes went wide.
"Those aren't from me. Someone else is watching you."
"But who? I can literally sense everyone." Jeremy said.
"Same here."
"Apparently not this person," I mumbled. "It could be a god?"
"Hmm. I don't think so. It has to be someone everyone else thinks is dead." Seth answered.
"Why?"
"Because they are probably here right now and we can't sense them. They know their way around being detected, and they've probably been at it longer than I have." Seth mused then he suddenly froze. "Ian. It's Ian."
"But you said you killed him." I said confused.
"With Ares blade," Jeremy added. "No one survives that."
"Think about it. The black stone is missing. It brings life and death. We thought he was dead but he's alive. I don't know how he did it, but it must be because of the stone." Seth said. "He was on the original council of 12 with me..."
"I thought there were 10."
"There are now. They subbed in Sophia for Lucifer." Seth said.
"Make that council of 7." Jeremy said quietly.
"What? Why?" Seth asked confused.
"They demoted Sophia because she hasn't been doing her strict council, duties but she's not breaking angel law. And Raguel fell alongside me."
"No... He couldn't have. He is a friend of God."
"But he wants vengeance... something an angel should never desire."
"Then what about Gabriel. He's been breaking the law for thousands of years and he's not in trouble?" I asked.
"No one catches him directly. The council requires evidence against the person." Jeremy said.
"So it's the council that's been throwing people down?"
"Yes... and God gives the OK."
Jeremy nodded then froze. "The next to fall from the council will cause mayhem in heaven."
"Why?" I asked.
"There has to be more than 6 originals. If half fall, that means they have all lost faith in God." Seth answered.
"But you haven't... right."
"Well..."
"You have?"
"Yea. His methods of rule aren't exactly how I thought it would be."
"And Jeremy."
Jeremy sighed. "I haven't lost faith, but the majority of us have thought his ruling was off."
"Why not speak up?"
"Then you would just get thrown down."
"That doesn't sound right."
"Exactly. And that's how things work in heaven." Seth answered.
"What about the other gods?" I asked.
"Without all of you teaming up together, Zeus will fall."
"And Ian... when did he fall?" I asked.
"Practically the same time as Lucifer."
"Lucifer is also Hades, right?"
Jeremy nodded.
"How can a god fall?"
"Zeus does as he pleases. Hades is still a God. He's basically the father of the angels. Zeus made them to be like him." Jeremy said.
"Demons are molded after him too."
"Exactly. We are all similar." Seth said.
"That makes Ian the first angel to fall. That must mean something."
"Why would that mean anything?" Seth asked. "I killed him for a reason. He was going crazy."
"But if he was crazy and evil, why would I give him the stone?"
"I'm not sure. No one trusted him. He was the loner type. And I'm not sure why you had originally given him the black stone, but when I gave you all of the stones collectively, he was already dead. He didn't have the stone. But now the stone and his body are missing..."
"Because Artemis chose to save me." A voice came from behind me. I turned and was instantly pulled behind Jeremy and Seth.
I could hear a deep chuckle as I tried to peer over Seth and Jeremy's shoulder. A tall man with many similarities to Seth stood there with a wicked grin on his face.
"Little brother... still in love with the same girl I see." Ian's eyes darted from Seth to Jeremy. "Still hanging out with the same people..." He chuckled some more. "And to think that I thought I was the most trustworthy, yet I get the worst position ever!" He burst out into deep laughter. "You see, I had to wait for her to turn mortal and be on her last little lifeline before I could make an appearance. That adds up to a whopping grand total of 400 fucking lifetimes..." He chuckled again. "Only to find that my murderer is part of the same plan I am. You should've died when Gabriel wanted to kill you but that fucktard was too stupid to figure out you had to bind the angel and demon blades together. So now I'm here stuck with dumb, dumber, and dumbest." His eyes looked to me, Jeremy, then Seth.
"Ian... How-" Seth started to speak but I think he was still in shock.
"Like I said... Your girl here saved me. She returned my stone to me after you had given it to her. I'm just following her plan."
"My plan?" I asked quietly.
"Yes. Your plan." Ian rolled his eyes.
"How could you know the plan? She didn't trust you. She-" Seth began but Ian cut him off.
"Because she completely didn't trust me!" Ian almost shouted. "No one did." He said a bit quieter. "That's why she told me. No one would have believed me anyway. Besides, the best part of her plan is that every movement she's done in a past life, she can remember things that happened. I happen to be her demon as well." Ian grinned.
Seth growled. "Impossible. I would've been able to feel the connection between you two when you entered the room."
"I'm technically dead, brother. You will never be able to sense me."
"How did you come back to life?" Jeremy asked.
"That's confidential. You'll have to ask Artemis to reveal that information to you... though, I doubt she remembers right now." He gave a slight grin.
"That's impossible. You can't be her demon unless you saw her when she was human. We've been around her 24/7. There's no way you could've-" Jeremy said but was cut off by Ian.
"Like I said... she brought me back to life. She let me keep the black moonstone and my job has been to keep her alive ever since. Once her soul starts to go to heaven, I intercept it and throw it back down to Earth." Ian chuckled some more. "And of course you both wouldn't know how I became her demon because I did it in a dream."
"That's impossible! Only I can go through dreams!" Seth exclaimed.
Ian rolled his eyes. "Obviously not if I did it. Now my job is to show her past memories."
"That's my job." Seth glared.
Ian sighed. He looked extremely annoyed. "I shouldn't have to explain myself to you. You give her memories with your stone. I give her memories by touching her the same way I did in the exact coordinates in order to remember the next part of her plan. Trust me... nothing has been off course. She has predicted all of this." He said with sort of an amazed look on his face.
"You're not getting near her. I don't trust you." Seth glared.
"And I don't trust you." Ian stared back blankly. "The point is, I need to touch her arm in this exact location to figure out the next steps in her plan."
"But this hotel wasn't here that long ago... how could I remember something that wasn't here." I said.
"Latitude and longitude, sugar," Ian smirked.
"I don't like this," Jeremy said.
"It doesn't matter if you do or not. If you want to know what to do next you will let her come over here." Ian glared.
"How do we know you're not an assassin Gabriel sent?" Seth stared Ian down.
"You really think I'd follow orders from that low life?" Ian scoffed. "And if I were to kill anyone here it'd be you. Not her. She saved me. Remember."
"Liz, what do you think?" Jeremy asked, turning to me.
"No. Don't let her go over there!" Seth hissed at him.
"If she thinks she can trust him, we should let her go," Jeremy said.
I nodded slightly and Jeremy stepped aside, giving me a straight path to Ian. He turned to face Ian. "But I swear to God-"
"I won't hurt her." He promised and outstretched his hand to me. I looked between Seth and Jeremy. Seth refused to meet my gaze. He didn't want me to go anywhere near Ian, but he wasn't stopping me. Jeremy gave me a nod of encouragement. I slowly reached out to grab Ian's hand. He pulled me closer to him and let go of my hand. He reached his hand up, hesitantly hovering it over my arm.
"Ready?" He asked quietly.
"Yes."
He placed a hand on my arm right below my shoulder. I felt the reality around me morph into some beachside view with the sun going down.
"Why so tense, goddess?" Ian asked, dropping his hand.
"I sense betrayal in the future," I said. It's not like I meant to say it. It was a memory. I had no control over what I was doing... much like the dreams Seth gave me.
"Who, my lady?" Ian asked curiously.
"I can't say, but it doesn't seem right. Though it will lead me to other plans as well as leading me to my eventual death."
"No! But you can't die! I won't let you! You just saved me so I can save you!" Ian cried, gripping onto his black moonstone necklace.
"Don't worry. I won't actually die. I will become a Goddess again. Remember what I told you. I can never die. Gods cannot die. Our souls are protected by layers and layers of spirit energy. There is no way to penetrate it."
Ian sighed. "Artemis, how many people are a part of this war you're starting?"
"Why every one of course."
"But why? This is the war to end wars. Why involve the innocent? Isn't that contradicting yourself?"
I chuckled. "You have to fight for what you want. It's not just handed to you. If you want free will, you have to get it. That is the point of this war. No one is truly free, and I need people to realize that. Once they realize and start making their own decisions and not following behind a dictator that shields them from the outside world, then everything will be alright."
"But you are a woman. Not all men respect women."
"That's true but by the time all of this happens, the world will be at the peak of being either intolerant or tolerant of every issue that arises. Sexual orientation, race, gender, class, education... you name it. There will always be someone for and against. I just need you to make sure the gods do not interfere. They will mess up everything I have planned. Gods are unpredictable and hard to manipulate. By the time the war starts, every god will be wise enough not to join this battle beside a select few." I looked down into the water. Ian's eyes followed mine and he looked down as well. Our reflections weren't there.
The scene morphed out and I was back in the hotel room.
"Woah," I said and blinked a couple of times, sitting down on the bed to collect my thoughts.
"What did he show you?" Seth asked, instantly moving forward and checking to make sure I was all right.
"I'm going to die soon." I said.
"Your mortal self? When? Who kills you?" Seth asked.
"I don't know. But someone will betray me before I die."
"Leo," Jeremy said. He had a poker face on so I couldn't read him.
"Look... it's been fun chatting with you people..." Ian said sarcastically. "But I have to go. Trust me, this is nothing. You're in for a lot worse. You put yourself in the center of a huge mess. I hope you figure out your plans without having me telling you." Ian faded away.
"How did he do that?" Seth groaned in frustration. He turned to me with tired eyes. "Why did you bring him back? I killed him for a reason!"
"Why did you kill him?" I asked.
"You know... well knew..." Seth paused. "Let's just say he tried to take advantage of someone who didn't love him." Seth paused and looked to the door. "Larson is coming. We'll talk later."
I nodded and Seth disappeared. A knock came from the door. Jeremy opened it and Larson looked confused then saw me standing behind Jeremy. His confused look turned into a smirk.
"What were you doing?" He asked.
"What? Are friends not allowed to talk to friends?" I asked, shoving my room key in my pocket.
"Well, I just didn't expect it is all." Larson shrugged.
"Where's Leo?" Jeremy asked.
"I don't know. I thought he was with you?" Larson's eyebrows furrowed again. "He left once we got here, and I thought you went to go find him in the city and do brotherly bonding stuff. I don't know."
"He's still gone? I wonder where he went?" Jeremy said, more to himself.
"Maybe he's met up with everyone else?" I asked.
"No. Just texted them. He's not there." Larson said.
"He's not with Rem and Sophia?" Jeremy asked.
"No. They're trying to find the coordinates of Poseidon's phone. He's not answering."
I sighed. "He's my dad. He does that sometimes. I hope he gets back soon. We really need to find him and Athena."
"I can't wait to meet her. I've heard nothing but great things from you." Larson smiled.
"Well she's my sister and I guess we are really close." I shrugged.
"Oh, Jeremy... Karli wants us to meet them in this shop or something in 5. Blake's already there. Are we good to go?" Larson asked, looking at his phone.
Jeremy and I both nodded and we headed out the door.
***
We walked in silence for a bit when Jeremy spoke up.
"Why do you keep thinking that, Larson?" He asked.
"Hmm?" He asked innocently.
"You keep thinking Seth is alive. Why do you figure?" Jeremy asked.
"He's obviously not dead. I've known that for a while. I keep wondering when he's going to show up. But... he probably already has, hasn't he, Liz?" Larson looked at me.
"What?" I said, fake confused.
"See! You're doing it again. Pretending like you don't know he's alive but he is. That's the first thing that gave him away. The second thing was when I told you that story about him I realized he couldn't possibly be dead. Fallen angels can't die. I'm not as stupid as you think." Larson sighed. "That's why you both hang out in secret, right? To meet up with him? Jeremy, don't pretend like he's not here. I know you were best friends."
Jeremy sighed. "Just don't speak of any of this to anyone. Seth would probably kill you if you did."
"Fuck yeah. I knew it!" Larson jumped up then settled down a bit. "And yea. I, of course, know not to share that information. He'd kill me." He laughed. "I'm on the inner circle again!"
We quieted as we entered the store Karli gave us the address to. We met up with them right away, but I couldn't help but feel nervous that Leo wasn't here.
Where are you? We are in the city trying to relax while we wait for my dad's coordinates. You should be here in case we have to go soon. -Liz
I texted him.
"He's not going to answer," Jeremy said. "I already tried."
I sighed. "I know. I just thought that I would try too."
Jeremy gave me a sad smile. "I'm sure everything will be ok." He gave me a side hug. I smiled sadly and watched the girls flaunt around, showing off some clothes they were trying on. They were having fun and Larson and Blake were laughing at the fake model poses they did. I wanted to have fun, but nothing but worry filled my mind. My dad wasn't answering. We didn't know where he was and Leo isn't answering. We have no idea where he is either. And everything I just heard from Seth and Ian didn't help. Everything looks to be falling apart and I'm growing anxious with what the result will be.