"Without a doubt. Now, in addition to getting Athen back, we have to figure out a plan to communicate to everyone the latest snafu. I'm sure we won't be the only ones this is going to happen to. I'm really curious to know what he has been feeling from her to make him research what he was at the library. Seeing her at the Starbucks might be the sole answer, but why he would be able to pick up on anything so soon is odd." Arie was rinsing the soup pot as she spoke.

"Do you know who she might be? Is she a major player?" Watching Cyril and Arie look at each other as they both began to fidget told me everything I needed to know.

"Her name is Lilith. She's truly the epitome of evil." Arie took a deep breath in. "Her type's been around longer than any of us. She's part of the Lamiai. They have the ability to seduce men by luring them with their beauty. She knows what she's got, and she knows how to use it, both with mankind and in the underworld. As you saw, she can encompa.s.s beauty in a blink of an eye. Her true form, though, leaves her with a serpent tail and fiery red hair. Unfortunately, when she's in one of her other forms, no one can see it including us."

"I could feel it. That's gotta count for something. Obviously Athen can feel it too, judging by his recent reading selection. So, what's her goal?" I inquired. It seemed odd that all she would care about is seducing mankind and the underworld.

"Her goal is to reek havoc create distractions. Throw her into the mix of any situation, and you've just added an unpleasant element. But you don't need to be told that. You've seen it firsthand."

That last shot was like a nail gun aimed directly at my soul.

"It seems so peculiar that someone with her clout would be involved in something to do with us."

"Well, our lineage is such that..." Arie stopped herself. Her green eyes looking as if they lost some of the usual glow I was used to seeing.

"What? It takes one to know one? Or are we so super powerful it takes someone like her? Come on. I can't take much more of this. Why don't you just tell me everything all at once." I was full of contention and spite, my eyes wouldn't stop darting around the room, I was about to explode. I was tired of knowing half-truths. It seemed the last three months had been full of almosts and not quites, and I was tired of it. I needed to know what I was facing. What we were facing. What or who Athen was involved with. The last thought truly making me nauseous.

"Actually, yes." Cyril snarled.

My heart started to pound - missing a beat between every three. I had never seen this side of Cyril. He was usually so laid back, and now he looked like he was about to come apart at the seams, possibly at me.

"Our family is partly descended of Remiel, which makes us pretty d.a.m.n important. How does that sound for pompous?" Cyril's voice was getting louder by the second. "This isn't just about you getting your dear Athen back, Ana. It never has been. Plainly, without us all as a unit we can't defeat the demons, and we need to defeat them. They are preparing for something that the world isn't ready for. We aren't ready for. The last century has been them gearing up to defeat all things good- including us. The longer they keep us distracted, the better their odds. Do you get it, Ana? The world would change forever. We would be destroyed. They would control it, and all of humanity. It would be h.e.l.l on earth." He had calmed down now, realizing I'd have no way of knowing these things on my own. I understood his frustration. Athen and I had been causing quite a distraction for over half a century, if unwittingly, and we seem to be the least of the problems. Yet we seemed to certainly be defining the course of how it could possibly end.

I looked at them both with nothing to say. I was so sad, I couldn't cry. I was so angry, I couldn't yell. I grabbed my iPhone and vowed to myself that I'd do whatever it took to make things right. No more senseless emotions getting in the way - even if that meant forgetting what he meant to me - what Athen was to me. On my way back to my room, I grabbed all of the photos in the hall off the wall. I didn't need any more constant reminders of what I was missing, especially if I was expected to figure out a method to control myself in Athen's presence. He could no longer be the one to provide me with the love I yearned for. I couldn't allow myself to be distracted by him. I'd find another. Athen was just a he and a him to me - no more personal ident.i.ty and nothing special. We had to be finished for the sake of mankind. The lump in the back of my throat actually felt as if it would explode, possibly close off my windpipe. I could barely breath. I didn't care.

I threw all of the framed photographs onto the floor of the linen closet with a crash, vowing to get my towels out of another closet. Life was much simpler working as a waitress up in Whistler. I think I actually missed it. Less complication, no heartsick nights, and no world to save that didn't know it needed saving.

I fell onto my bed, staring at the ceiling, looking at all of the little endless grooves and trails, trying to match up a path for the quickest way to an end. Anything to get my mind off the decision I had just made. The pit of my stomach was churning nonstop, and I doubted I could do anything about it.

I started looking up some items on my iPhone. The least I could do was figure this out on my own, without feeling like a complete burden to Arie and Cyril. As I typed in the letters R-E-M-I-E-L, I prayed for an answer that would need no explanation, just the plain text the web had to offer. Unfortunately, that was exactly what I got. It wasn't them who was related to Remiel. It was me. I was his daughter. I had to stop this. I was the only one who could stop this, stop her.

Chapter 12.

The sun hadn't even made an introduction to this part of the world yet, and I was fully dressed and ready to execute my plan from the night before. It came to me in one of my dreams. I had thought about it long and hard, granted with very little sleep, but I knew it was solid. This was the only answer that I could come up with.

If I had to give him up, then I at least wouldn't let anyone else have him either. Especially her. The evilness that permeated the air around that woman, or more pointedly, demon, made my skin crawl, and only made the world that much worse to live in. I knew I could dispose of her, even if it was only to have her wake-up on the other side of the world. At least, she wouldn't be in my world any longer or his. I was no longer on the sidelines.

I should have the protection of my father. That's what I told myself. What's the point of lineage, if it doesn't come into play at some point? There is no way Remiel wouldn't give me the strength that I might be missing to defeat Lilith, even if he was stuck in the otherworld as punishment.

I grabbed my jacket and snuck down the hall, grabbing the keys on the way out. I quietly closed the front door and headed to the hospital. He was still there, but I didn't care about that. I didn't care about him. I was only going there to destroy her. He was long gone out of my world. He had to be. I only hoped I wasn't fooling myself.

The streets were dark and the city still sound asleep. Puddles from a recent rainfall glistened from the streetlights' reflection. The old-fashioned streetlamps provided an especially haunting element to my journey; something that was needed. There wasn't a sound to be had on the paved streets. I was thankful for that, until I turned up the street leading me to the hospital. The towering concrete building looked as if it was waiting for me as if the structure itself was possessed. Part of me hoped that she wasn't there, but I knew she was. She was smart enough not to leave her prey. Little did she know, it wasn't the prey I was after - it was her. If he got damaged in the scuffle, that wasn't my issue. I had to remove her so she wouldn't continue to interfere in our pilgrimage for what was right.

I slid my car into the parking stall that was closest to the street. I looked up at the hospital and saw a soft glow coming from most of the windows. Just enough light on in the hospital rooms so the medical staff could perform their procedures without waking up their patients. At least, that was the goal. Nine times out of ten, I'm sure the patient was jolted out of whatever low-grade sleep they were in as they got poked and prodded. I scanned each floor, window by window, until I landed on the one that they were in. My heart sunk as I envisioned her by his side, holding his hand. Her ability to run on little sleep giving her the appearance of a saint, rather than the true beastly self that she was.

I proceeded up to the lobby as the sliding doors opened to greet me like a monster welcoming its latest victim. I quietly coasted past the daytime reception desk turned nighttime guard desk that was completely vacant. Maybe luck was on my side tonight. I took a deep breath in, shocking my senses that, indeed, I was in a hospital as I turned to step on the already open elevator.

The b.u.t.ton for floor three was already glowing a fiery orange, and the metal doors closed swiftly. I never pushed the b.u.t.ton. She knew I was coming. I wasn't prepared for this.

My heart ached as I tried to fool myself into believing that I magically turned the switch off on my heart for Athen when truthfully, I couldn't even bear to utter his name without possibly breaking down. I needed Athen. The elevator ride only going three stories felt like an eternity. As the doors opened, I knew, now, that I was the prey.

I instinctively moved closer to his hospital room. Once again, pa.s.sing by empty nurse stations on my way to my destination, his hospital room. I could feel the chill of defeat slowly creeping up along my spine. How could she have made everyone vanish? What reality was I in? It was as if time stopped, and we were in another universe. I didn't know that was even possible, but it obviously was judging by the look of things.

I was now only two rooms away, I peeked into the room next to his and saw an elderly man with slight breaths, eyes closed. Guess she didn't feel he would notice. I hoped my next actions wouldn't end him prematurely. My world turned dark. There was no stopping the chain of events that I had started by pulling into the hospital parking lot. I looked at the elderly man one last time and hoped his next breath wouldn't be inhaling the spirit of Lilith, turning him to the darkness of the underworld. I said a little prayer for his soul and continued on. Now wasn't the moment to get distracted. It was now or never.

The door was open into Athen's room, but the light grey-blue curtain was pulled closed for privacy. My veins spasming with grief in every part of my body as the blood was rushing throughout made it almost impossible to walk. Why would they need privacy? I saw her black boots right next to his bed. Just like I pictured, she must be nestled up to his hospital bed sitting in an uncomfortable sterile chair. The thought almost made me sick. I heard his voice, quietly speaking to her as any other couple would in this type of setting. I tried to push the pangs of remorse aside. My decision was set. This wasn't about him any longer.

"Oh, Athen." Her drawl hit me like a ton of bricks. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"My sister is here now. What a sweetheart. I thought for sure she would go to the hotel first." I saw her black boots get up quickly and swiftly move towards the curtain. I was frozen.

"Wow, she didn't have to come tonight. I'm getting out later today. You know that. I shouldn't even have been here today. There is nothing wrong with me. I told you she didn't have to fly in to greet me this way." His voice floated through the thick air, swirling around my body like a straight jacket. She knew I was coming and told him I was her sister to prepare him? I was completely at her mercy.

The curtain was thrown open with the metal beads sliding and clanking with the force of her toss and before me was Athen staring directly at me from the hospital bed that was inclined only slightly. The television hung in front of his bed and was casting a light blue hue onto the room, from what looked like a news channel, reflecting off of his white terry cloth looking blanket that was the only thing covering him.

"Hi, sis!" The demon of all demons exclaimed, as she was hugging me with her claws. She was good.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, as she squeezed me just tight enough to let me feel her strength.

"I thought you would go to the hotel first. You never cease to amaze me." Her eyes sparkling as if there actually might be a hint of life to them - too bad only I knew the truth in this room.

I felt the pull beginning despite my best efforts to ignore Athen. I had to use his name again. I had to acknowledge his presence in order to maintain mine. He was my destiny.

"So, is this the guy I'm hearing endlessly about?" I tried my best to not reach out and crush her neck. Instead, I moved over to Athen's bed as gracefully as I could, which doesn't ever count for much, even in this new form. I reached the side of his bed and was thankful for its st.u.r.dy sides to keep me balanced.

His smile was radiant, and I didn't know if it was because I said she was speaking endlessly about him, or if it was because he was looking at me. I tried to push the first thought away even though I knew the answer. I did the unthinkable and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"It's so nice to meet you in person. You're pretty outstanding if you can look this great after being hit by a car." I gave him a wink and felt the all too familiar electricity begin to run between us. I did nothing to remove my hand. I needed to be reminded of him. I looked down at him and saw the same look of recognition and confusion that I saw in the library. I just might be able to pull this off.

"You know, you look really familiar to me." His voice was soothing as ever, but very conflicted. "Do you come to the island much?"

"I think we've connected before. I was thinking the same thing."

He nodded his head and laid back on the pillow. I patted his shoulder and turned to Lilith. Realizing now that he never mentioned our encounter at the library, she had no way to know what this interaction could represent. I couldn't stop the smile from spreading.

"I should get going. Just wanted stop by for a quick h.e.l.lo... Want me to buy you something scrumptious from the vending machine?" I did my best to look over at her as innocently as possible.

"Yeah, that would be great. I'll be right back, Athen." She turned to Athen and patted his knee, but his leg jerked away from her.

I wasn't sure what was happening, but I hoped it had to do with my touch.

"Uh yeah, Athen. I'll see you too." I locked eyes with him for longer than I should have, and he felt it. Horror began to fill his eyes, for what reason I wasn't sure of, but then they became quickly replaced with another emotion. One I didn't recognize. I only hoped it would help me in my next endeavor in the visitor's lounge.

As Lilith and I walked out of the room together, she wrapped her arm around my waist doing her best to squeeze the last breath I had in me into oblivion. I swung around to take one last look at Athen, and his eyes were glued to me, so I mouthed to him the words that only seemed appropriate.

"I LOVE YOU."

Lilith and I reached the lounge in a flash, and before I knew it, my instincts kicked in. I was in the familiar crouch position that I saw Athen, Cyril, and Arie exhibit many times before protecting one of us or all of us, - never completely sure how it worked. A hissing deep from within began to roll out of my mouth as I leaned deeper into my stance. My arms were away from my body as if to steady myself. I felt my mere existence hovering above the ground as if I had done this a million times before. I was no longer in need of the ground to keep me steady. To the lame eye, it might even look as if I was on the floor, but that was definitely not the case.

To feel the level of emotion running through my veins that I witnessed so many times before as my family protected me energized me beyond belief. I began to see Lilith's form change. Her raven hair began its flaming transformation to a violent red that was unlike any red I had seen before. It was dirty. Her legs dissolved and spiraled themselves into a serpent like appendage. I wasn't sure if this development was about to hurt or help me. I chose the latter. Two legs were better than one.

She glided along the floor and up the wall in a blink of an eye. I felt a roar build up inside me that surely would unleash the fury that I'd been keeping quiet for so long. Her black and scaly tail whipped around to grab me. The movement was nothing I saw. It was what I felt, and within a heartbeat's time, I felt my legs rise up into the air missing the swipe of the tail as it landed onto the floor, shaking the tables that were so carefully placed. My heart was racing, but the adrenaline that was pumping through my veins was only helping me fine-tune my ability to see things before they happen. A skill I took for granted, but one apparently my father, Remiel had pa.s.sed on. Hopefully his attributes would help me through this.

I felt her next move and saw her slither down the other wall next to the exit sign. I spun around with my right leg jetted out, and my arm extended to reach for her hair. My world had become a slow motion version of instantaneous events as I grabbed her hair to bring me quickly to her side. Now side by side with this creature, I used my other hand to grab the knife out of my pocket, which I jabbed into her side, leaving a huge gash, oozing out nothing but a mist of poison into the air. I took my knife out of her and then penetrated the tip deep into her chest as the screech of wickedness entered the room. I knew the fight had only begun.

I flipped the knife back into my pocket while she slithered down to the floor, towing me alongside her with her free hand as she nursed her two fresh wounds with the other. I looked into her ugliness and was no longer threatened by her fraudulent beauty. She was pulling me along with her as she quickly slithered from one corner of the room to the other, not realizing she was creating an opportunity for me to break free.

I grabbed the metal chair closest to me and ripped off the legs creating stakes that I thrust immediately into her. I took the opportunity and grabbed her neck as I squeezed with an enormous amount of hatred that had built up since getting off the ferry. Her neck began turning to a silvery sheen. Before I could congratulate myself, her hand reached around, and I was thrown to the floor with such a crashing force that I wasn't sure I'd be able to move again. It felt like every bone in my body was shattered - until the images of Athen flashed into my mind. Pushing her away my legs filled with fury, I was ready for round two.

"Is that all you've got?" I hissed at her as my body began to spring to life again spiraling into action. Feeling the same energy as in the bog, my legs began to strengthen and p.r.i.c.kle, readying myself for my next move. I spun around on the ground before lifting myself to the ceiling, grabbing one of the stakes out of her chest as I went. My body was hanging from the ceiling like a spider, but my hand was outreached and ready to attack. She rushed towards me with her arms flailing as I fell back down to the ground, ramming the other homemade stake into her tail, letting another wave of shrill screams echo through the building. My arm began to feel as if it were on fire and before I could stop the pain from spreading, I realized it was her digging one of the lonely stakes into my arm that she removed from her chest. I saw bone - my bone revealing its' ivory self. I fell to the ground instantly wishing I had told Cyril and Arie what my plan was. I needed their help.

"You didn't think I'd let you win that easily, did you?" She wailed to the world more than to me. Her laughter was reverberating against the man-made walls.

I took in the spectacle that was before me. Her chest was seething with every breath. The gashes were continually oozing black mist into the air, but it didn't seem to accomplish as much as I'd hoped. Her strength wasn't weakening, at least that I could tell. I inhaled as deeply as possible to gather my strength as the pain in my arm began to subside.

"I saved my best for last." I uttered, not knowing where the strength came from, but welcoming it with every ounce of my being. I surged into the air landing directly in front of her. Her tail lifted from the floor, and I knew to watch for it. She grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. I noticed she had the same ugly nails that I had seen time and time again on these beasts.

My revulsion turned to deep seated anger, and I spun myself around escaping her embrace, while jumping on her back squeezing her as tightly as possible, attempting to crush her neck like I had seen Athen and Cyril do so many times before. I was out of her tail's way as long as I kept in this position. Her energy began to escape. The black mist rushed more aggressively out of her wounds. I could possibly win this. The excitement began welling inside of me. But then her face spun completely around, mouth wide open, exposing several rows of teeth ready to engulf me in my wildest fear. I slumped to the ground, afraid to move as the cavernous opening came to swallow me.

I sensed movement from the other side of the door and glanced over to see the familiar shoes of Arie and Cyril running in. Relief flooded my body. More hissing circulated through the air from all of us, and I knew that in order to defeat this monster, I was needed as well. I instinctively returned to my fighting stance and began to follow Cyril and Arie's move. Arie had jumped to the ceiling and was hanging in wait, while Cyril jetted through the air grabbing Lilith's neck. Arie fell from the ceiling to face Lilith so she couldn't apparently do what she attempted on me. I grabbed my knife and jumped on her tail slicing it away from her body. The shrill shrieks of pain rang through the air as her gangly body began to swirl away into oblivion. Cyril was crushing her neck with more force than I ever could have attempted. Lilith turned to nothing, the mist escaped. I could breathe. My family saved me, again.

Suddenly, I heard the metal from the door handle sc.r.a.pe and felt Athen's eyes taking in the unbelievable scene that was before him. I refused to look at him, and before I knew it the door slammed shut, and Athen was gone, long gone. The others did nothing to stop him either.

Chapter 13.

We quietly rode back to the house. The pain in my arm was beginning to throb more and more as the adrenaline wore off. I wasn't sure whether to fill them in on my earlier encounter before the fight just yet or not. I was leaning to the side of divulging everything but was afraid of their reaction. Cyril drove our Jeep into the driveway, and I decided to broach the idea.

"Thanks again for coming to my rescue. I don't think I'd have lasted much longer." I was rather blunt in my delivery.

"Don't be hard on yourself. I'm actually quite impressed. The fact that you held your own with her for as long as you did was pretty amazing." Cyril's tone was completely recovered from the day before, and I couldn't detect any hostility from my latest escapades either.

"You never know. You might have been able to finish her off yourself. You just got a silly little scratch." Arie's always optimistic spin made me feel instantly better.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I think we need to continue training with her ASAP since she insists on doing things her own way." Cyril spoke every syllable very slowly, as if that was my punishment in itself.

"Thanks for that, Arie... and yes, Cyril, I couldn't agree more with you. Training is a must!" I won. Finally, they were going to let me in on some of these secrets.

Looking down at the exposed bone on my arm reinforced how badly I needed combat training. I would finally learn how to fight. Because they gave me a little, I felt I should give them something too, honesty. "I saw Athen."

"We all did." Arie turned around to stare at me.

"No, I mean before that." My voice trailed off.

"How so?"

"First of all, last night I actually fooled myself into believing I could forget about Athen and valiantly save the world. In my panic, anger, whatever it was, I made myself believe I needed to detach from Athen start fresh, et cetera. Well, I got to the hospital thinking I'd get her away from him - make my attack, but to my dismay, she was expecting me. The elevator was even set to his floor. It felt like the entire place was frozen in time. None of the workers were around. She knew when I was outside of their room, and she pretended I was her sister once I entered. I went right in, and before I knew it I had my hand on his shoulder, and I felt the electricity between us. It was incredible. Something I know I shouldn't have done, but it was absolutely incredible. Not only that, when she touched him he retracted from her."

"Really?" Arie seemed genuinely excited about this news. Rather than scold me for this, she was more interested in hearing about Athen's reaction to the demon. Thank G.o.d. But, I definitely decided to leave out the part of me telling him that I loved him. "It seems like he's far more receptive than I'd have thought. Luck could be on our side."

"Except for the fact that he stumbled upon the scene and darted." I mumbled.

"Well, yeah. That's a definite complication. But, honestly, nothing is going as it has in the past; so I don't think we should think the worst. I mean, he has already felt that something was other than it seemed. There was something clueing him into the idea of Angels and Demons at the library. My guess is right now he's trying to come to grips with everything he has felt and most recently saw. I think oddly enough, he's intrigued, not scared."

"Intrigued? I'd guess suicidal. If I had stumbled onto something like that while I was working up in Whistler, I'd have locked myself away on behalf of society."

"Yeah, well you weren't even thinking that we existed. I doubt your coffee table books dealt with Fallen Angels either so things are definitely a bit more complex with good old Athen."

"I just hope he didn't split," I was wrestling with getting the key into the door as I spoke, "for good."

My arm was throbbing intensely.

"I'd be willing to bet he's at his place right now trying to figure out what his next steps should be and literally Googling every possible notion that he's coming up with."

"You think Lilith's gone from here?"

"For now, yes. I don't think we should waste time, though, to get him back. I know she'll show up again." Arie took the keys away from me and let us all in to our house since I couldn't apparently function.

We all piled our stuff on the living room couch and wandered into the kitchen. Cyril grabbed some Rockstar energy drinks out of the fridge and snapped them open for us all, shoving them at us. I didn't realize how thirsty or tired I was until I started gulping from the can. He grabbed some medical supplies and began working his magic on my arm.

Arie had wandered off to her MacBook and seemed to be intrigued by whatever it was that was sitting in her inbox. I was trying to fight the fatigue that was reaching every part of my body. I was hoping the drink would hit soon before I wound up crawling into bed.

"Ok, guys. Movement is pretty intense out there. Another family member was taken in Montana. They're getting ready to track them. It happened while their loved one was alone. We've got to take this more seriously, you two. That means you too, Ana. No more sneaking off to handle business. We are stronger as a team anyway." I could feel her eyes penetrating through me etching her seriousness into my soul. I knew they had been too kind to me with everything that I kept doing. She's been doing a great job of keeping it quiet.

"I know, and you're right. I'm really trying to keep everything in check. I even thought I could detach myself from Athen, but that action didn't even last 24 hours. I'm not in control like I think I'm, that's for sure. I apologize, guys, for putting you in harms way. I really do."

"Ana, you really need to start sharing more with us. No matter how big or small, honestly. The feelings that keep coming over you are normal, and we would understand. In fact, we've been through it with Athen and could probably help guide the choices you're making a little better. You can't keep everything bottled up. It's not healthy, and it keeps leading you in the wrong direction. There is no way you can undo your relationship with Athen. We saw you took down the pictures in the hallway, but that doesn't do it. You've got to be more willing to talk to us, Ana. It may not seem like it, but we can help." Cyril was crushing his can and tossing it into the recycle bin as he spoke his last sentence. "Athen wouldn't want you to go through this alone. He didn't."

Arie spun around in her chair quickly with her legs tucked in under her and had the typical Arie smile encompa.s.sing her lips.

"Ok, I just fired off an update to everyone. I think we need to get some things done around the house, possibly rest, and definitely put the pictures back up. Most importantly, though, we need to discuss our next moves. Let's get some great takeout for dinner and plan on a regrouping."

I was relieved at those words as I realized that the energy drink didn't quite do everything I needed, no fault of the drink. Cyril pressed some sort of oddly smelling compress on my arm, slowly taking away the pain. Thing were starting to look up.