---Nate's POV---
We had been searching non-stop for hours on end now and still no trace of Caitlin. I knew the others were getting restless and worried for my behavior but I couldn't help it. It felt as if my whole reason for existing had been taken away from me, yanked out of m chest and leaving me behind to crumble under the pain and weight of the loss.
For a moment, I could understand how it would feel to have to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders. You were forced to hold on because of the people around you, while your body and soul were begging, crying and pleading to just stop and let the weight crush you.
Losing Caitlin was all my own fault. I shouldn't have let them take her. Her parents could have stopped them if I had thought ahead like Zadkiël and contacted them before the council could gather. Maybe I could have seen that Marcus had been tainted by a Demon's blood and could have warned the others. Maybe-
"Nate..."
It was just my name, but the sound of my shortened nickname caused an explosion of pain and sorrow in the depths were my heart once was. I looked op at Zadkiël, knowing that he had called me out of my dark thoughts. He flinched though, undoubtedly not knowing how much pain that nickname would cause.
It was Caitlin's. She was the only one who ever nicknamed her friends. I was Nate, Zadkiël was Zeke and Gabriël was Gabe. All of her friends had a nickname, except for Michael. She dared call him Mickey once but quickly called him by his full name again when he half jokingly threatened to smite her if she ever called him like that again.
A chuckle slipped from my lips, though it sounded tired instead of joyful. Gabe and Zeke both looked at me before sharing a look filled with worry and sorrow as they pushed themselves to fly a bit faster.
"She has passed through here. I call feel her energy, though very faintly." I muttered suddenly, feeling shocked that I had founded a trace of her on this planet. Both Gabe and Zeke seemed overjoyed at the news but I felt confused.
"Why is the trail so faded? We left just two days after she was...Fallen. But the trail feels as if weeks have passed." I stated aloud, looking at the others as we followed the trail swiftly, afraid to lose it.
Gabe sighed and shook his blond hair out of his eyes, the piercing blue's looking straight at me with compassion. "In your grief, you seem to have forgotten that our realm is one of the slowest ones in existence. One month in our home is a full year in the human world Nate."
My hand flew to my chest at the burning pain in my heart when I processed that news and shook my head slowly. Off course; all the angels with a charge had to live in the charge's realm so they could interview when necessary. They would visit our realm for a day or two but only when they knew that nothing was going to happen with their charge in a few months.
Zeke swallowed and looked from me to Gabe and back. "But Caitlin isn't on Earth, she's here, on Dayomir. We've been gone for two days, one in Paradiso and one in Earth, so that means..."
Gabe sighed and folded his wings to land as he lead us to the source of the trail we were following. "That means that over three weeks has passed since Caitlin had been banished. She could be anywhere on this planet, which is why we need to work swiftly and concentrate."
Three weeks. Caitlin had been forced to take care for herself for three weeks now. Anything could've happened during three weeks and my mind was already conjuring up every possible detail of what could have happened.
Vampires found her and drained her on the spot. Demons found her and dragged her unwillingly to the depths of Inferno. Or maybe they worked together and were torturing her right at this very moment.
No! I couldn't think like that! I would only get more and more depressed and like Gabe said, I needed to focus. I was the closest link we had to Caitlin and sitting in a corner and brood wasn't going to help anyone. We needed to find Caitlin and the faster the better.
I crouched down in a long and shallow crater, my hand touching the chattered earth before I closed my eyes. As soon as I did, Caitlin's pure white and blue energy shimmered behind my closed eyes before they snapped open.
"She crash-landed here." I said, pointing at the deepest end of the crater, where the energy was still fluttering wildly, sparking through the air. "Her wings took the full brunt of the impact." I added with a winch, being joined by both Zeke and Gabe.
Our wings were very strong but also very sensitive. A broken wing was one of the most painful sensations we could feel because of the sensitivity of the feathers and hollow bones. We gave our feathers to the ones we would protect, so in turn, they needed to be ultrasensitive to pick the charge's distress up when they needed us the most.
Zeke looked rather pale as he stared at the crater, crouching down slowly to investigate closer up. His expressions pulled in a grimace as he pointed at a dried in fleck of blood. "Her wings must have been shattered on impact; there's blood everywhere."
Gabe glared at him as I fell silent again and I heard him hiss, "Way to go and be sensitive Zeke." I ignored their whispered argument, which quickly escalated to a mental fight as I walked further to where Caitlin must have grinded to a halt.
My eyes scanned the surroundings before they darted back to a small indentation in the soil. I crouched down instantly and traced the footprint with my fingertips, focusing to try and find out what race the person, or people were. Judging from the amount of footprints, more than one person had stumbled upon Caitlin.
"Please don't let it be a Demon, please, please!" I mentally chanted like a mantra while closing my eyes. The energy that greeted me was very feint and very weak but it gave me hope. Without opening my eyes, I asked Gabe, "Are their humans in this realm?"
A shocked silence filled the air as they were both stunned out of their silent battle of wills and I could feel both their eyes on me. "Uh... Yes, there are, though not many of them are free. Most of them are brought up in slave houses in this realm, very few walk freely and ever fewer are from Earth."
I nodded slowly, feeling the anger coming from Zeke at the injustice of people being forced to live as a slave. Poor humans. I sighed in relief and opened my eyes before waving them over. "Check this out, the signature is too weak to be Vampire or Demon, so I guess this means Caitlin was found by a bunch of humans."
Zeke rushed over and spread his hands over the footprints while Gabe just closed his eyes and focused. He was the strongest one from the three of us, so he didn't need the contact to sense the energy. For sensing Caitlin's energy though, I was the most sensitive, since she is, or rather was my mate.
"We need to be careful." Gabe said at last, breaking the silence that occurred soon after they both agreed that Caitlin had been found by humans. "We can only fly when we are absolutely sure that there aren't any Demons around. When we're not sure, we run, got it?"
We all nodded before Gabe sighed. His body was enveloped in a golden white hue before he appeared in some normal clothes. "Best to remain as inconspicuously as possible. We don't want to attract any attention to us." Zeke did the same and I shrugged before following their example.
Soon enough, we were on the road again, tracking the humans who had found her while I hoped against all hope that nothing bad had happened to Caitlin during those three weeks.
It would break my heart if I would find her too late.
---Ethan's POV---
I huffed and stretched myself out in my seat before standing up, my feet easily drawing me through the mansion towards where Caitlin was entertaining my daughter. When I arrived in the doorway, I couldn't help but chuckle as I leaned against the door, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
Caitlin was busy explaining what kind of angel she was, revealing several of her powers in the process. At the moment, she was displaying her elemental powers, creating a small orb of twisting water in her hands, making Lilith squeal as she was drizzled from time to time.
"Just a month, maybe even more and yet...She had won Lilith's trust with ease." A glance at Lilith's planner on the wall told me that two weeks had passed since Caitlin had revealed her secret and about a month and half since I saved her from that slave-house. Almost everyone was captivated with Caitlin and her soft nature. She helped where needed and didn't act like she was above anyone. Nothing like Deidra at all.
A snort escaped my mouth as I shook my head. Why would I compare Caitlin with my former mate? That didn't make any sense at all. My eyes followed Lilith as she chased the small whirlwind through the room and I chuckled before looking back at Caitlin.
Her bright-green eyes were soft and an indulging smile curved her lips upwards, her hands guiding the whirlwind through the house until Caitlin jumped on top of it, spinning and twirling around. Her giggles filled the air, drawing the others to the room.
"Why don't you make a move?"
I raised an eyebrow and looked at my friend with an amused glance before shaking my head slightly at Leo's antics. He was observing me closely before he grinned stupidly and wagged his eyebrows teasingly.
"You're already falling for her you know." He added dryly, making me huff instantly. "Don't be stupid Leo." I grumbled, pushing away from the door to allow the others in as they all started cheering and laughing with Lilith, who was slightly dizzy from the whirlwind but tried to walk in a straight line.
"Stupid huh? So that smile on your face has nothing to do with a certain angel playing with your daughter. Might I mention the fact that Lilith has taken to her as well? The kid is practically welded to her hip!"
A snort was my only reply because I was busy to choke back the laughter that wanted to break through. But when I realized what I was doing, I felt slightly shocked.
"I was trying not to laugh? Usually I only laugh so Lilith doesn't suspect a thing..." My eyes shot towards Caitlin with a pensive stare and I noticed Leo grinning smugly from the corner of my eyes.
Maybe...just maybe Leo's right. I could be falling for Caitlin like he said. I mean, I haven't realized before but ever since she was here, everything felt more like...home. It was nice to wake up, knowing that Lilith was probably giggling somewhere or listening attentively as Caitlin explained the world to her.
There were several of Caitlin's qualities that I loved. Like how she didn't differentiate herself from the others in the mansion; she treated everyone, human, werewolf, vampire and warlock alike.
Leo chuckled beside me and I looked questioningly at him, making him grin as he nudged his chin towards Caitlin, who was now talking to one of my warlocks. "You better hurry up before someone else swoops her of her feet."
A growl slipped from my lips, making Caitlin and several others glance at me in worry. Before I could say anything though, the cellphone started chiming loudly and I rolled my eyes before picking up, walking away in the process.
"Ethan here."
"Hey Ethan, haven't heard from you since you told the news about our little treasure."
I chuckled at my uncle's way of fawning over Lilith as I mentally reprimanded myself for leaving him in the dark. "Sorry, "I said whilst turning around to look at the room filled with a mix of humans, vampires and warlocks. Leo and his sister had already left to check the perimeter.
"Things have been quite hectic here. We've encountered some demons-" I continued but stopped when I realized that I would have to reveal what Caitlin was. It wasn't' something I would do over the phone.
"Demons?! Dear fates, is everyone alright? Were they lesser demons?" Uncle voiced worriedly, making me halt for a second. I haven't thought about that...maybe they were more than just demons.
"I don't know for sure uncle. Everyone is safe don't worry. We've increased our defenses as well." I stated, trying to reassure him that we were all safe. He merely sighed on the other side and I could imagine him sitting down at his desk, tiredly rubbing a hand over his worried face.
"Sure, sure. Just...let me know when something happens, okay?"
"Always Uncle. I'll call you back in a few days, okay?" I smiled and shook my head when he agreed and hung up after a while. He had more things to worry about than what happened here. My uncle was an important and busy man.
The room was silent for a moment before I realized that I couldn't hear any laughter close by. Lilith and the others must have went outside or upstairs because I heard them very faintly as Leo was recounting tales from when he was a mere pup.
I turned around and stared straight in a pair of concerned green eyes, who were watching me closely. "Is everything okay?" Caitlin questioned softly, her eyes flicking down to the phone in my hand and my hand clenching softly.
My mind stopped working altogether, except for repeating mine and Leo's conversation over and over until Caitlin frowned softly. "Ethan?" I smiled and shook my head slightly with an apologetic smile on my face.
"Sorry, Everything is fine Caitlin, thank you." I tried to sense if she might feel something for me, like I secretly felt for her. She would sense it though if I would use my telepathic abilities, so I needed to find a way to inquire without raising any suspicion.
Before I could voice my question though, there was a noise at the door, followed by several shocked shouts after the doors were opened. Thinking it was an attack, both me and Caitlin shared a look and rushed down the corridor and towards the stairs so we could see what happened.
When we skidded around the corner, I instantly asked Leo, "What's going on here?" He didn't reply though, only staring at the door with shock and suspicion while the silence was suffocation.
I couldn't repeat my question, since I was answered by someone else, their voice shocking me to the core as they chuckled softly. "My, what a nice welcoming comity you have here Ethan."
My eyes found the person who spoke, but I still couldn't believe my eyes. It was just impossible. My mouth dropped open and a weird strangled sound escaped me before Leo managed to find his own voice.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here? YOU are not welcome in this mansion, let alone Ethan's property." He was glared down as soon as those words dropped from his lips, the gaze in those golden browns deadly as they replied, "I don't have to explain myself to you, dog. I have a right to be here."
Small hands wrapped around my leg tightly as Lilith hid behind them, not wanting to believe that, that....that person was here. I growled lowly in my chest while Caitlin stepped up beside me, her face neutral as she eyed our uninvited visitor with caution.
What was she doing here?
So, who do you think our uninvited visitor is? Any thoughts?