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---Ethan's POV---
My stomach churned at the thought of Caitlin in the hands of demons, not knowing what they could do to her. All I could think about were those bloodied feathers that fluttered in the wind, the three male angels frozen like statues.
Now we were standing in my study, Nathan momentarily missing as he joined the warlocks that were questioning my former mate. No doubt that he'd kill her after getting the information we needed.
But still, that thought didn't hurt me as much as it should. All I could feel was the fear and worry for Caitlin as I took in a calming breath, feeling the nausea burn in my chest. My fingers brushed against my lips for a moment, pressing an instant to get a hold of myself before I turned at the other angels.
Zadkiel nodded as he caught my eyes, observing my stance for a moment, a glimpse of reassurance in his eyes. I was glad that I was getting better but my health wasn't important right now.
"Any idea where she is right now?"
Gabriel scoffed slightly, shaking his blonde hairs slightly as he glared at the wall. "Inferno. What we need to know is which circle...if she hasn't been drawn beyond the borders."
I frowned, lips flattening in a thin line as I turned fully towards the stoic angel. "What do you mean by that? Isn't Inferno just another word for Hell?" As soon as I asked, Gabriel snorted, icy blue eyes piercing me from across the room.
"Really vampire, I would've thought the Royalty of your species was properly informed." He sneered but as Zadkiel lifted his head with a warning, "Gabe...", the blond male rolled his eyes.
"Inferno is the section that the Fallen Angels and their demonic spawn claimed when they were cast out of Paradiso. Hell is the original underground full with dark and nasty creatures, all of them foaming at the mouth to get a hand on an Angelic entity."
My stomach dropped at the serious look they shared, but I knew enough. "You're suspecting that she's been dragged to Hell..." At their solemn nod, I swallowed heavily before glancing at my daughter, fast asleep and holding onto the necklace Caitlin gave her.
"Is there any way to retrieve her?"
The door slammed open just as both Zadkiel and Gabriel's head flew up, astonished that I wanted to help. Our attention was drawn to the loud newcomer before we tensed slightly as Nathan stood in the doorway, his wings completely out and a dark look in his eyes.
"There has to be and I might know a way." He spoke in a dark, tormented voice as he slowly stalked into the room. Nathan's eyes cut to me, cold and calculated before he dully stated, "Sorry about your mate, I couldn't control myself after she spilled the fact that she wanted Caitlin gone simply because she felt threatened by her natural beauty."
I nodded, feeling the smallest pinch of pain in my chest; it saddened me that I couldn't care less that my true mate was gone but I figured that after our bond had been stretched and fractured for so long, I wouldn't experience the usual backlash of her death.
What did worry me though, was the hopeless expression that bordered on insanity as Nathan's eyes hollowly stared into the room. He was mumbling to himself, shaking his head as he paced the room, ignoring us when we repeated our question; How are we going to get her out of Hell?
The answer came from an unexpected source. A shadow filled the opened doorway and as my eyes landed on the man, I instantly recognized him. "Leviathan." I cursed, stumbling backwards as Zadkiel and Gabriel positioned themselves so they protected my daughter and I.
Levi smirked, though his eyes lacked that mocking air from our last encountered. My jaw slacked when I noticed another demon stepping up behind him, one that I didn't know but judging by the hisses coming from the angels, we were in big trouble.
"Why are two princes of Inferno here?" Gabriel cursed, making Levi smirk slightly before glancing behind him. "Me and my brothers want to apologize for Ash's mistakes. Honestly!" he added when both Zadkiel and Gabriel glared at him in disbelief.
The man behind him lazily turned to the angels, raising an eyebrow at their distrustful looks. "Unlike what you all believe and what you've been told, all attacks from Hell on any Angels haven been carried out by the primal part of hell, the true hellions. Neither my brothers or our minions had anything to do with it."
Slowly the angels relaxed and it was odd to even think about it but I had Angels and Demons in my room.
"Fallen angels to be precise, the true demons are the ones after Caitlin." My mouth nearly dropped as the unknown male spoke up before Levi rolled his eyes. "Stop bragging and showing of your mindreading skills Beelzebub. People will start to think you're Lucifer if you keep it up."
Beelzebub's eyes rolled to the sky, as if he heard this being told to him countless times before. "Knowledge needs to be used and thought correctly, Leviathan. Don't think I can't feel that sharp little burst of envy rushing through your veins." The man teased, a wicked smirk on his lips while his brown eyes sparked sharply.
The two siblings argued on, Beelzebub with an air of superiority while Levi was getting more and more frustrated. I was more worried about what they told me about Hell though. I had always thought Hell was one realm, filled with all kinds of evil beings.
Now I had to realize that Hell was actually split in two, Inferno and Hell itself. From what Zadkiel had tried to explain me, Hell was the original cesspool of evil and malice. A natural birthing pool of demons and dark creatures, whereas Inferno was the realm of all the Fallen Angels and their minions.
"So... all the legends of you guys being princes of sins?"
Levi scoffed, rolling his eyes slightly while Beelzebub replied, "Lies to a certain degree. We might be referenced to a certain sin but that doesn't mean we feed on sins. Nor are we the embodiment of them."
Another eyerol from his sibling made me think otherwise but as Levi leaned against the wall, he grunted his agreement. "We started our own rumors of us being princes of Sin. It was our way to separate Inferno into different realms. Believers of the Christian God would be dumped into our realm."
A wicked smirk flashed over Levi's face. "Only the truly wicked end up in Hell."
His expression fell when he realized what that meant for Caitlin though. She, a being of light, purity and innocence was dragged down into a realm that was her arch nemesis. I sighed heavily and leaned back in my chair, my body still weak and shivering unconsciously.
How were we going to get her out? We didn't have a clue who or rather what kidnapped her. The room filled with silence as everyone was thinking of ways to find the Angel, when suddenly someone gently knocked on the door.
A young male entered and judging by the reactions of both demons and Angels, his arrival was rather surprising.
"Cain? What are you doing here?"
The young man rolled his eyes slightly as he pushed the door open and stepped in the room, hands in his pockets. "Lucifer heard about what happened through the grapevine and is looking for answers. Of course he sent me here while Abel is off to listen in on the murmurs in Hell."
As if on command, a puff of smoke clouded the living room for a mere second before a mirror image of Cain stood in the middle of the room. "Speak of the devil's spawn and they shall appear." Gabriel sneered, gaining attention from the twins before they both offered a lopsided smirk.
"Enough you two. What did you find out Abel?" Levi stepped in to prevent a possible fight. The twins turned as one before Able scratched his throat with a calculating gaze.
"Would it surprise you if you learn that you don't control your minions like you should, Levi? One of them decided to try and overthrow you and is working together with a few Hell spawn. The Angel is currently somewhere in your domain, close to the edges of Hell if they need to slip away."
Levi glared at the floor, shaking his head slightly. "Let me guess... the one spawn that Caitlin was forced to kill was part of this planned coop?" When Abel nodded slowly, Levi hissed and spat several curses under his breath.
"We need to put together a small team to retrieve her. If you go back to your realm right now, they will be alerted and over the borders of Hell before you can stop them Levi." Abel said wisely while his sibling simply grunted.
"Should've killed anyone that disobeyed you Leviathan. You've grown soft." Cain sneered in disgust, angering the bigger demonic prince as his eyes gleamed brightly. "That's your answer to everything right Cain? Killing things? You get pissed off and you go on a murdering spree without any thought of loved ones getting hurt."
Cain tensed and hissed venomously, showing off a dangerous pair of fangs as he glared at Levi. I imagined they spoke of the tale where Cain brutally murdered his own sibling Abel.
Surprisingly, Abel simply pressed a hand on Cain's chest, calming his sibling down before glaring up at Levi. "What's done is done. Unless you wanna remember old mistakes until Judgment Day, I suggest we make a plan right now. Who knows what those creatures are doing to the angel right now?"
Reluctantly, the demons agreed and as the angels gathered around, I was lying back in my seat. My mind was unable to wrap around the fact that both Angels and Demons were willing to put their differences aside and save Caitlin.
All I could do right now was hope and pray for a miracle. Because every second that slipped away was a second Caitlin was in the hands of Hell's spawn. And I had a sickening feeling in my stomach that every second wasted was one too many.