“Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell.
It was love from above, that could save me from Hell.
She had fire in her soul it was easy to see,
How the devil himself could be pulled out of me.
There were drums in the air as she started to dance,
Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands.
And we sang…
Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay.
And the voices rang like the angels sing.
We're singing…
Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay.
And we danced on into the night.”
Chapter Eight – “Into The Night”
BALT
Staring at the white palace in front of us, I sighed. I didn't want to come here. I didn't want to see them, I didn't want to see her. I could feel myself getting drawn to her. The more I rejected the idea of being with her, the more my body wanted her, the more my mind was feeling less repulsed by the idea. To say: “it sucks” was a real understatement.
I didn't feel good about the contract with the angels. Somehow, I felt like they'd attempt to find a loop but I suppose that was the way I'd been taught. Don't trust angels. The same way they'd been taught not to trust us.
Nothing was like the books. Angels were supposed to be hunters of the damned – of us, but so far, none of those angels have attempted to hurt us. I knew there wouldn't be an attempt now. Not with Harmony or Gustav, and it seemed they were the ones ruling the roost.
The only way they'd be able to attack us was if we broke the contract. We wouldn't though. The Court were malicious and fierce. Break a rule, get sent to them. They were like Hell for demons and Hell was somewhere no-one wanted to go... well, no humans. We demons could be in Hell safely, humans couldn't. It was a torture chamber for them. Some people were given chances to turn into demons, most declined. We demons wouldn't go through that. No way. Wouldn't risk eternal torture.
“Whose Bernadette?” I asked Marcus, seeing if he'd give me an answer today. He hadn't told any of us, no matter how much we'd asked. He would just walk off with some sad, distant look in his face. It unsettled me because I'd never seen Marcus like this, ever. Not since we first met anyway.
“No-one you need to know about.” He replied glumly.
“Saria's not here.”
“I know.” I sighed – he didn't get what I meant.
“Means she won't take the piss. Means you get the freedom of speech.” I tried to urge him on.
“Balthazar, leave it.” Marcus snapped at me. I growled at him. These angels knew yet I couldn't? He barely knew that Harmony woman, yet she knew! How was this fair?
“Why? If you mentioned it in the contract, it must be important.” Everything that was mentioned in the contract was vital, nothing went on it as a joke. If you wrote on the contract that you would eat a thousand jelly babies, you'd have to eat a thousand jelly babies. Not a fraction less.
Marcus' head snapped my way. His eyes were full of anger and annoyance. There was also a small bit of envy showing but it disappeared quickly.
“It's not important to you. If you won't accept her, then there's no point in having this conversation. You wouldn't understand it.”
“Accept who?” I asked, trying to act like I didn't know who he was talking about. How did he know I was connected to her? How? I hadn't shown anything towards her... had I?
“You know who. I'm not going to force it out of you.” I glared at Marcus. He didn't have the right to act like this.
“It's none of your business what I do with Immi. I don't even like her that much.” Lie! You know you're lying, Balthazar. I heard my subconscious mumur.
“Sure. Well, until you learn to appreciate what you have, don't ask who Bernadette is. You don't deserve to know who she is and you don't deserve Immi. Not with this attitude.”
Ignoring Marcus' passive face, I stormed out of the Jeep. Who was he to tell me what I deserved? My attitude was fine! It had always been like this!
Slamming open the door, I ignored the look from the human maid and carried on walking. I needed to cool myself down before I talked to any of the angels. I wasn't up for the 'righteous' bullshit they were going to be preaching about. Or the sarcastic comments from the blonde bimbo.
“Sir!” I ignored the annoyingly high-pitched sound I could hear behind me. “Sir!”
I carried on walking before I felt someone grab my shirt. Turning round, I watched as the woman flinched back slightly. I was sure I looked pretty!
“What?” I snarled, I wasn't in the mood. If Gustav wanted to see me, he could come get me himself. Lazy bastard, acting like he knew everything.
“Could you please keep the noise down?” I noticed she stood up straight, acting as if my presence didn't affect her. I knew that she knew what I was. Gustav would've warned her. Even if he didn't tell her we were demons, he said something that would've made it seem like we were worse than what people originally thought. “It's only eight in the morning, and Master Gustav and his guests are asleep. Please do not disturb them.”
“Whatever.” I turned around and kept on going where I was. Did I care that Gustav and the angels were sleeping? No. I couldn't give a shit about what they were doing.
I ignored everything on my walk. Didn't know where I was going, didn't care. It wasn't like Marcus needed me. He obviously knew where he was going. He'd probably been here before if he knew Gustav.
I only noticed where I was because I felt someone run into me. Ready to shout at the person, I suddenly stopped when I saw a familiar mop of auburn hair. Her shining sapphire gems stared at me in disbelief.
“Balt?” Her voice was a whisper. I frowned. I could feel my anger simmering which annoyed me even more – why did she have this effect? What right did she have? Her presence should've made me feel even more angry!
“What?” I snapped. She flinched slightly. Her eyes widening with fear. I sighed, I didn't want that – as much as I hated to admit.
“Sorry. Um, do you know where we are?” She smiled sheepishly. Raising my eyebrows at her, I looked around and shrugged. Why didn't she know? Weren't ang- no, she didn't have her memory. Maybe that's why she didn't remember. She probably knew Gustav too.
“Don't you?” I asked lazily.
“No, I don't. I, er, only got shown around a little bit.” She seemed uncertain about something and looked to my side. I couldn't help but gulp at what she was wearing. Really, really short shorts. They barely covered her arse. And what a nice arse she had. Her top didn't help anything either. It was so small and just covered her perfectly rounded chest and her flat, toned stomach.
Thinking of anything but her, I managed to keep myself calm. Didn't need any sudden appearances. That would be great to explain! I had no idea if angels had shagged each other or what. Literally, no idea.
“Isn't everyone meant to be asleep?” I casually asked her.
“Uh-huh.” She whispered. So my Immi – no she wasn't mine – so Immi was a little rebel, huh? I wondered if anyone else knew.
“I'm, erm, sorry about what I'm wearing. It's not appropriate - I know - but I had a dream and...” she trailed off, shrugging. I noticed she hadn't been looking at me the whole time but staring at something else. She was fiddling with her hands. “Sorry. You wouldn't care about the story. I'm just talking about nonsense.”
“No, tell me.” I found myself curious. I didn't think angels dreamt, let alone slept. I would've thought they'd be researching ways to kill demons.
“It's nothing. I'd sound crazy anyway.” She muttered to herself, still looking down. It seemed that she was fixed on whatever she was holding.
Lifting her hands out of the way, her head shot up. Her face was frozen in a startled position before she relaxed. I looked at her confused before realising why. She had a piece of gold in her hand. Sighing, I slowly pried it out of her hands, making sure I didn't hurt her. I heard her whimper slightly. How did she manage to get some gold? I would've thought Gustav would've hidden it seeming as these angels were willing to stay here. Surely he'd know the effects of gold if he was a healer!
“Where'd you get this then?” I asked her, trying to slowly take her mind off the gold. I knew what it had done to angels. I'd used it against them before. I knew how their minds worked around it. To them, it was the most important thing. It was something they valued highly. I'd heard stories that most of their precious statues in Heaven were built of gold and that was why they loved it so much. I didn't know. All I knew was that gold was a weakness for angels. Their downfall. They'd probably steal it from a bank if they could.
“Found it.” She muttered, her eyes still on the rock. I shoved it in my jacket pocket so she wouldn't be tempted to grab it. She looked slightly surprised. I snapped my fingers in front of her face and she seemed to shake her head. When she stopped, she seemed normal again, less likely to snatch the gold from me.
“You alright now?” I chuckled slightly.
“Y-Yeah. Sorry.” Her cheeks were tinted with a light pink colour. “I don't know what overcame me.”
“It's fine. No need to apologise, so what were you doing down here anyway?”
I studied her as she looked around, trying to avoid any eye contact. Her big, bright sapphire eyes always shone but I wondered if they'd shine even brighter if she remembered who she was. She wasn't small for height either, maybe a few inches shorter than me? She wasn't too skinny either, she had the right curves in all the right places. Her hair fell straight down her back, no waves or anything. Perfectly straight. The corners of my mouth tipped up, resembling a small smile. She was perfect. Something an angel was – perfect. No flaws. Well, no visible flaws.
“Er, I was looking for the library.” She finally said.
“Find it?”
“No.” She sighed and her shoulders slumped. "The house is too big...." She looked as if she wanted to say something but at the same time, didn't. I found myself being amused at her expressions. The hate for her being an angel was slowly fading away – I could feel it. “Do you want to go up to my room? I mean, you seemed kind of angry when I bumped into you. I don't know if you wanted to talk about it, or if it was me. I mean you don't have to but it's probably not healthy to keep it bottled up... you know? But if you don't want to that's cool...”
I felt a grin drawing itself on my face. She was cute when she rambled. “No, we'll go up.” She gave me a dazzling grin of her own and grabbed my hand before dragging me with her. I only realised how innocent she was. She probably didn't realise how sexy she looked in her pyjamas (I don't think she'd wear anything that short in public) and how she was swaying as she walked. Nor did I think she realise what most people did in the bedrooms, apart from sleep.
Following her, I wondered what sort of lie I could come up with. I mean, I couldn't just tell her about the argument with Marcus without revealing what we were... could I?