Immortal Fire - Book One

Climbing out of the cab at Central Park, we were blasted by the ice-cold wind. Damien paid the driver and stood next to me.

“Where did he say you should meet him here? This place is huge...” Damien asked, looking out towards the park.

“He didn’t say exactly where…” I answered. Clapping his hands together, he smiled.

“Looks like we have some walking to do; let’s go.” Following Damien; the cold night air bit my face.

“Don’t you ever get cold?” I asked through chattering teeth. Damien was wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of black leather pants. I never thought leather pants did anyone justice, but he wore them well.

“Nope, part of the perks of being an Angel…” he answered, smiling mischievously.

“You are nothing like how I imagined an Angel to be like. You even dress like a rock star.” He laughed at that.

“Why, because you know so many of us...?”

I smiled. He was always in such a good mood, and it rubbed off on me. We were deep within Central Park when Damien came to a standstill.

“What?” I asked whilst looking around.

“This way… there’s something near Ninety-Fourth Street...” Damien hooked a tight right and led us down a road that I had no idea where it led to.

Coming to a stop next to a lamppost, Damien was looking around with steely eyes. A bridge rose before us, and it was beautiful. The swirls of the design were mesmerizing, and I could not stop looking at it.

“This is the place.” He said, still looking around.

“How do you know?” I asked, hands in my pockets as I finally stole my eyes away from the bridge.

“There’s a presence of demon magic and Gothic Bridge is known as a crossroads to our kind...” Damien said.

Clap, clap, clap.

Both Damien and I turned and peered under the bridge. Out of the shadows strode Hunter and he had a sinister look in his eyes as he gave Damien a once over before turning his gaze on me.

“Well done, I see you have a new pet. Did my brother decide to drop you and go for Jesse after all?” Hunter taunted me.

“Don’t speak to her like that.” Damien had a deadly tone to his voice, and I could feel his Angelic powers building up as they siphoned off my own and returned some of his.

“Stop it. I need answers Hunter, and you said that you would help me if I came.” I said, trying to keep to the point of why we were here in this goddamned weather.

“I did, didn’t I? You see, the problem with that is that you came with him and not alone, so the deal is off.” Hunter said menacingly.

“Hunter, he can’t tell anyone, he promised me that he wouldn’t.”

“Bullshit. Christian scum is all that he is. Tell me, Angel, where is Daddy when everything goes to hell? From what I have heard, no one has heard from him in a long time...”

“Don’t you dare speak about Him. I’m warning you.” Damien all but growled at Hunter.

He was clenching his fists at his sides… I was getting worried. These two were getting close to beating each other up and I had no idea who would win. There was too much testosterone going around here.

“Guys calm down; this isn’t why we are here. I just want some answers…” My words were cut off as Hunter grabbed me and Damien immediately dove for him.

Damien pushed me aside and the two were going at it. They were both so fast that all I could see was a blur. A golden light flashed and the smell of burning flesh filled the air on the grass next to the bridge, beneath a lanky tree.

Rushing over, I saw that Hunter lay on the ground and his shirt was burnt away as well as most of his skin.

“Oh Shit. Did you kill him?” I asked almost on the verge of hysteria.

“No.” Damien was peering at the tattoo on Hunter’s chest and scrunched his eyes as if he could not believe what he was seeing. Looking at the tattoo, I saw that it was the same symbol that I had drawn earlier tonight, and my face went cold.

“What is that? I drew it tonight!”

Shit! Now I was hysterical. Damien straightened up and walked toward me. Placing his hands on my shoulders, I was still shaking.

“It’s nothing to worry about, just a premonition of tonight in a way. I recognize it too, but it is not of Christian origins, it is from a different Pantheon. Do not tell anyone about this until I find out what it means okay?” he said. He was still holding me and seemed to notice, dropping his hands.

“Okay…” I whispered. Turning around, both of us froze as we realized Hunter was gone.

“Ah c’mon...! Not again!” I shouted, throwing my hands in the air.

I could not believe that Hunter had just disappeared again! It was so frustrating; especially if one considered how many times, we had managed to get him down already.

“We have to leave. Come on…” Damien steered me in the right direction, and I was starting to become furious.

“Does nothing go the way it’s supposed to go? Everything is just one big mess after the other! I just wish we could get a break for once; just once!” I exclaimed whilst shoving my one finger in the air for dramatic effect. Damien turned toward me, and we were standing in the middle of the street.

“We did get a break Aria. That symbol is our break. Once I find out where it is from, we might know more about what is going on here. Don’t give up now.” Damien said.

“Why shouldn’t I give up? I’m just a little old Aria Silverton and the world seems to be out to get me… I’m fucked.” I said with a nervous chuckle, feeling the weight of everything.

“Fucked? I wouldn’t say that…” Damien scoffed at me.

“Oh...? Why is that, oh great one?” I could not hold back my sarcasm and Damien did not seem to be bothered by it.

“You are the Angel of Death. Maybe you should start accepting who you are and use it to your advantage.” I did not have an answer to that, which Damien noticed and smiled.

“Come on, let’s go before everyone notices that you are gone and then you’re in deep shit,” Damien said.

“You do swear a lot for someone who is supposed to be holy,” I said bluntly. He laughed at me

“Yeah well, times have changed, and being on earth for the past two-hundred years tends to make someone change and see things differently. Not that you can exactly comment…” We were nearing the spot where the cab had dropped us off and I kept going over what Damien had said.

“You’ve been on earth two hundred years?” I finally asked.

“Yeah, I have, and have another eight-hundred to go before I go home, and the next bunch of my brothers take over.”

“What! You’re, going to be here for a thousand years?” Damien nodded, but that joyfulness of his was now gone. He was hailing a cab as we stood on the side of the road; the Plaza Hotel was in view.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something?” I asked. Damien looked at me and smiled but it did not reach his eyes.

“No, it’s just a long time to be around here and be alone and watch while everyone and everything goes on…” I could not imagine having to exist like that. It would be torture.

“Can’t you have any form of a relationship?” I asked, curious.

“It’s against our laws. If we chose that, we would have to fall from grace.” He said matter-of-factly.

A cab pulled up then and Damien held the door open for me. Climbing in, Damien gave the driver the address of the warehouse and the cab pulled away from the curb.