Just about all of the others had made it into the living room; we were just waiting for Alasdair and Nalani. I was quiet and majorly upset because I hadn't even been allowed to try to help Camden, though I was trying to hide it. Niall and Seoras had taken him and locked him up somewhere I had never ventured, or even been allowed to venture, before.
"So," Kian said, dragging the word out, and attempting to break the silence. "When are we gonna talk about this? This silence is nearly deafening," he muttered the last part.
"And what exactly is there to talk about?" Seoras asked, glaring only slightly at him.
Kian returned the glare. "Oh, there's plenty to talk about, Seoras. How about we start with what in the hell is going on with Aurnia and that new Angel, Echo?"
I shook myself from depressing thoughts as his revelation. Maybe they were actually going to clue me in on something for once, even if it was unintentional. "And what is there to say about that?" Niall said. "We know basically nothing about her."
Kian ignored him, continuing, "and what about the other two that were supposed to have fallen with her or around the time she had fallen? What about them? Did she just leave them in Hell? If she did, she's one hell of a bitch."
When the words left his mouth I felt the anger rushing through me like a bonfire, roaring and angry. But, very unlike me, I decided to keep my mouth shut. Not getting myself in any more trouble would probably be the best thing to do. But Kian glanced at me, as if expecting some kind of outburst.
When I didn't say anything, Kian shrugged and turned his full attention back to the, basically, one-sided conversation, or argument, whichever way you wanted to look at it. "Plus, she took all of us down without a problem. How is that safe? How can we allow her to be around us, let alone be around humans, Aurnia and Jethro included?"
When he said that the fire that was taking over my mind roared even fiercer and angrier and I could feel my hands begin to shake as I struggled to contain it. I could now feel eyes beginning to turn to me as they sensed my fury at what Kian was saying. I felt a comforting hand on my knee, but I shook it off; it was more irritating than anything.
"Aurnia. . .?" Jethro said questioningly. "What's wrong?"
I forced myself to turn to him, though I could feel my face heating up in my annoyance. "Kian. He's. . .being a major jackass right now," I said through my teeth, trying not to go completely insane and make an attempt on his life.
I could almost hear Kian roll his eyes at me as I fought against the urges to kill him and I turned my gaze to him, digging my nails into my knees. "Oh, and how exactly am I being a jackass, Aurnia? I didn't say anything about you." He shrugged, nodding his head to the side briefly. "Okay, I did mention you and Jethro, but that's not the point."
I just glared at him, where he sat on the couch across the room, next to Seoras and Valor. Jethro and Naois sat on either side of me. The other two, not including the ones currently not in the room lounged on the floor-Jakori-or leaned against a wall-Niall.
"If you're just gonna stare at me, you might as well enjoy the view," Kian said as he leaned back, stretching his arms up over his head.
I started forward, ready to go kick Kian in the face, not caring about the consequences, no matter how high the price would be. Jethro's grip on my arm somehow helped to clear my head and I managed to-just barely, mind you-hold myself back.
I glanced at Jethro and nodded, barely perceptible. Jethro sent me a sympathetic smiled and I forced myself to inhale deeply several times in a pathetic attempt to calm myself. I knew how hard it was for Jethro to hold me back, because he hated Kian a hell of a lot more than most, though it did make sense. I mean, he was my brother, after all.
I turned my gaze back to Kian, though his cocky smirk almost did me in, almost driving me over the edge. I barely felt the pain as my nails dug into my legs, just above my knees, as I struggled against the urge to claw Kian's face into shreds, though I was sure that plan wouldn't work out very well for either of us.
Kian continued to grin and I could feel Jethro tensing up beside me. "Are you enjoying yourself there, honey? Or would you rather I took my shirt off?"
I heard a growl and realized it had come from me. Or rather, from the inside of my head. I jerked back, shocked at her fierce reaction. Vision never really had any violent reactions-at least, never towards Kian.
Kian sat up suddenly, staring at me in surprise. "What was that? Did Vision really just. . .growl at me?"
I stared at him, unsure how to respond to that. I had absolutely no idea how he could even begin to know that. I didn't even know what was going on. "I believe. . .that you pissed her off. Majorly."
Kian narrowed his eyes at me, nodding his head to the side as he mocked me. I smiled at him sarcastically, fighting the urge to throw something at him. Like. . .a car. Or a. . .bus. A really big, really heavy bus. Maybe even something a lot bigger and heavier.
Kill him, Vision growled, her Voice even stronger and angrier than was usual, even for her. Kill him now.
I turned inwardly towards her Voice. What's wrong with you? You never react like this. I thought you liked Kian.
She just growled in reply, surprising me. There was definitely something wrong with her. She never reacted like this. I'd never seen-well, heard-her look like this. She had never even been like this towards me. And most of the time she couldn't stand me, even though she was possessing me, so to say.
"Aurnia," Jethro's voice broke through my concentration. "Aurnia, what's wrong? What is it?"
I blinked, forcing myself back to the present. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. It's just-Vision-anger-freaking out-Kian-kill him."
"What?" Kian said, clearly bursting with anger at my unintelligible answer. "What in the hell is going on?"
"Well," said a familiar voice, "that's something I'd certainly like to know, too."
I barely noticed as Alasdair, Nalani, and a somewhat familiar woman entered the room. Kian immediately glared the the other woman. "Necrosis? What in the hell are you doing here?"
She placed her hands on her hips, smirking at him. "Yeah, love you, too, Kian." She stalked into the middle of the room, her long black hair swishing around her. "And it's nice-I suppose-to see the rest of you lot, too."
I noticed most of the others in the room all started glaring at her. Even Vision growled at the sight of her. I sighed, wishing again that I could smack her. Necrosis glanced at me. "Oh, and I suppose you're. . .Echo's little whatever?
I glared at her, fighting an even stronger urge to kill her than I'd had to fight against when I'd wanted to kill Kian. She smiled, seeming to know how much I wished she was dead. "Yes, I can see I guessed correctly. Cearbhall thought as much." She paused, crossing her arms and tilting her head to the side, tapping one finger on her arm. "He's probably fighting with her at the moment." She shrugged. "Well, you know, whatever. It's not like it matters."
I continued to glare at her as she began walking all around the room. A few of the others, namely Jethro, Niall, Kian, and Valor, glared at her as she stalked. I glanced at Alasdair, just to find he was already staring at me. I met his gaze, unsure what to say.
He crossed his arms over his chest and said "Necrosis, stop baiting her and stop pissing the others off" while never taking his gaze from mine.
Necrosis stopped and turned to stare at him. "Oh, come on, now. It's like you're telling me to stop being myself."
"What, a superficial bitch?" Kian muttered, just loud enough for all of us to hear.
Necrosis barely spared him a glance, though I could barely contain my laughter. I completely agreed with him, though I would never voice that opinion, especially not when Vision was still urging me to kill Kian. Though it wasn't like killing him wouldn't be fun. . .
"Necrosis," Alasdair said, turning his gaze to her cold blue one. "Just stop."
She pouted, crossing her arms. "Oh, come on. You know how much I love to play with my. . ."
"If you say 'food', I swear to whoever the hell I will kick you in your pretty little face, you stupid bitch," I said, standing to my feet and staring her down.
She just smiled as she turned to me. "Oh, come on. As if you could even begin to pose a threat to me." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Please. Don't make me laugh."
I glared at her. "Uh huh. And you really think I couldn't kick your ass if I really wanted to?"
She moved closer to me, getting almost into my face, hers only a few inches away from mine. "Oh, I know you couldn't. Few people could actually kick my ass." She moved back a little and looked me up and down, as if checking out a piece of meat. "And, honey, believe me, you are definitely not one of them."
I just continued to glare at her, knowing she was right, and also knowing that I would sure as hell kick her ass if she didn't have the damn advantage of being a fallen Angel. Of course, I didn't know what her Demon was. . .
After glaring back at me for a minute she turned back to Alasdair. "See? I told you she wouldn't pose a problem? She's not even relatively a threat to me, or to Cearbhall." She shrugged. "Of course, no one really poses a threat to him. Not even you, or that new bitch, Echo."
"Oh, really now?" A strange voice said, as a woman materialized out of thin air. "'Cause I think I'd definitely have to disagree with you."
Necrosis whirled around, eyes flaring in anger. When she caught a good look at the woman she stood back, hands on hips, and snorted."Wow. I'm honestly surprised to see you here. Well, alive, at least. I figured Alasdair had you for sure. I mean, after he kissed you."
She laughed. "Please. Spare me. He never had a chance. I'm stronger than him. In every way."
Necrosis laughed, hers harsher and shriller than the other woman's had been. "Sure you are honey. But I'm sure Alasdair, being your. . .well, your little errand boy,"-she giggled annoyingly at that-"would know all about that. Now, wouldn't he?"
"You'd do best to keep your nose where it belongs." She said, resting her hands on the hilts of two blades that were sheathed at her hips. "And out of my business."
Necrosis snorted. "Uh huh. I'll be sure to remind myself of that if I ever decide to give a crap."
"Oh, is that so. . .Necrosis, is it? I'll be sure to remind myself if you ever have the bad misfortune of meeting me in battle."
Necrosis just stared at her, not saying anything, just staring. The woman crossed her arms, arching a dark eyebrow. "Really? No witty comeback? Nothing?"
Necrosis ignored her, turning back to Alasdair. "Well, I'd best be going, now that little miss"-she glanced at the woman, moving her hand up and down to indicate who she meant-"whatever is here now."
"Yeah," she said, "you go back to Cearbhall. I'm sure he's still licking his wounds."
Necrosis glared at the woman over her shoulder before glancing at Alasdair. He nodded and she started to walk out the door. "Yeah, you'd better get back to him. I'm sure he's missing his bitch."
Necrosis jerked to a hasty stop, not even bothering to turn around as she growled out an insult, before stalking from the room. The woman laughed as a door slammed, as she let her arms relax at her sides. "Well, that was definitely more fun than I've had since I got out of Hell."
Kian immediately jumped to his feet, walking over to the woman. He grinned cockily. "I don't know who you are, but you are awesome!"
She smiled. "Kian, right? I think Kate mentioned you. Something about a cocky bastard?"
Jethro chuckled and I glanced at him, though he didn't seem to have noticed. "Yep. That definitely sounds like Kate."
She glanced at him and her gaze settled on me for a second. She smiled and her dark eyes lit up. I immediately noticed she had a scar on the right side of her face, from her hairline-maybe even past-to her chin. "And you are. . .Jethro? I believe she mentioned you as well."
He nodded. "Yes, and this is my sister"-he glanced at me briefly-"Aurnia."
I glared at him for a second before turning my gaze to her. She watched me for a moment, eyes full of questions and amazement. She looked back to the other Angels, shaking her head. "Humans. So interesting."
Kian laughed. "Oh, just wait until you get to know them. They get a whole lot more interesting."
She smiled at him and, for some unknown reason, anger flared up inside me, curling my hands into fists. "I'm sure they do. I am actually looking forward to it."
Kian smiled again and that did it. I found myself taking a step back, resisting the urge to kick him in the face. The urge was stronger than was usual, even for me and my random violent outbursts.
She stiffened and turned to face me. "You're angry. Why?"
I stared at her, unable to grasp why she wasn't understanding my anger. Of course, I didn't even understand it, so how could anyone else, especially not some random Angel that I didn't even know? I didn't even know how she could know that I was angry. Though I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. I mean, my life was pretty much a freak show.
She seemed to see straight into my head. "You are. I can sense it. But I don't understand. What-what did I do?" She sounded genuinely upset and I wanted to comfort her, though I had no idea how.
Kian rested a hand on her shoulder and I felt myself straighten, my teeth clenching together as the angry fire flared up again, even fiercer than before. "It's okay. Aurnia tends to overreact to just about everything." He smiled. "You don't need to worry your pretty little head about it."
She turned to him, tilting her head to the side, hinting that she was curious, which didn't help with the whole "calm down, Aurnia!" thing I was trying for. "It's you," she said. "You're the cause for her anger."
Kian jerked back, seemingly doing a double-take. "What do you mean? I mean, I know she doesn't particularly like me a lot of the time, but I don't think I really did anything to piss her off. Not this time, at least."
"Well," Niall said, "you are hitting on her. Not Aurnia. I mean, you, whoever you are. I don't quite know, though I do have a faint memory of you handing most of our asses to us."
Her lips twitched up in a cute little half smile as she glanced at him, turning around so she was facing me and the few who were standing next to or near me; everyone was on their feet at this point. "Sorry about that. I was a little. . .confused, I suppose."
He shrugged. "Well, you had just gotten out of Hell. We all-well, most of us, anyway, know how that feels. We understand. And I know Aurnia and Jethro try to understand, though they can't really know," he said with a sympathetic smile for me and my brother.
She nodded, though her eyes showed how much guilt she was feeling. "I know, but I still feel bad. I don't know why. . .okay, I can't lie. I do know why I wanted to kill Alasdair. It's also why I nearly killed Cearbhall." She glanced down, muttering something that sounded a lot like "stupid bastard. Can't believe the jerk kissed me."
Somehow I knew I was the only one who had heard that. I wasn't sure why, but I did. When she pulled her gaze back up it collided with mine. Our gazes caught and we just stared at each other for a while. It felt like it was neverending, but it was probably only just a few minutes, if not just seconds.
She looked away, to Alasdair. "You should know that I remember what happened for that brief time when-"
She was cut off as he lunged forward and forced her into silence by kissing her violently. I felt myself moving forward, death in my heart, though I was aware of what I was doing until Naois grabbed my arm, grip painful, yet helpful. I glanced at him and forced a smile, mouthing "thank you" before turning my attention back to what was happening.
She pushed him away from her fiercely, eyes filled with fury. "What is it with you two? You can't keep your hands off of me!" She placed her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "First Cearbhall, then you! I mean, damn!"
Alasdair just stared at her, his expression blank. "Well, then, if we did the exact same thing then I'm sure we both have a reasonable explanation."
"Care to share with the class?" I asked, voice dull and monotonous.
They both turned their heads to stare at me at the same time. "No, not particularly," Alasdair said, at the same time the woman said "no, of course he wouldn't."
I just stared at them, arms crossed as I fought an internal battle: the logical side warring with the nightmares-are-real side. "At least you two agree on something."
They just glanced at each other before they both looked back to me. "Well, I'm sorry to interrupt, but who are you?"
The woman looked over at Camden, who had appeared in the doorway, looking slightly disheveled and majorly tired, though his eyes looked strangely bright and knowledgeable. She smiled, though I sensed it was forced, if only slightly. "My name is Echo. I used to be in command of a lot of the Angels in heaven, Alasdair and Cearbhall included."