Maiden of Midnight

Days were passing now - Seth and Destiny had never emerged from the area where Jason had calculated the Archangel had sunk beneath the ground. He had done numerous tests on the sight, checking for magic levels, spells, even technology that would only exist in Korath and perhaps Karmona and came up short-sighted. We’d returned to our home, knowing that if they returned to the surface, they would send a letter, at least. I sat in the living-room with Adriel and Emmett at my side. Adriel shot me another glare as I sighed.

“What?” I snapped at her.

“You could have at least saved Seth!” she hissed. I rolled my eyes. Adriel was beginning to become tiring. She was infatuated with Seth and all she’d talked about was saving Seth and getting rid of Destiny.

“What was I going to do Adriel? Throw a throwing star at an Archangel? I didn’t even see them disappear! They were moving too quickly! How can I attack something I can’t see?”

Darcie was pacing back and forth, listening to Jason’s reports from Karmona about a mysterious pair of teenagers who had turned up at the city and were supposed to be staying at a Seaside Inn. One female, with dark brown eyes and one blue-eyed male - both of around the same age.

“It’s definitely them, but my friend has also reported that she last saw her diving off a boardwalk and into a rip tide. Sounds a bit more suicidal than usual…”

“Do you think she’s alive?” I asked, making Adriel cry out “I certainly hope so!” I turned to look at her appreciatively, until she added, “Because if she’s not, Seth won’t be. Since he’s all head-over-heels for her. That boy would do flips for the brat if given the chance.”

“Adriel, I’m beginning to think you like Seth,” Emmett teased. She flushed, shaking her head.

“I don’t! I’m just angry that a Demonic-being came into this family and tore us apart! It’s been two weeks since we met her and she’s already gotten your brother killed and maybe even Seth now!” she pointed a finger wildly at Darcie, who stiffened.

“Destiny was innocent in my brother’s death.”

“Right… She’s half DEMON! Or did that fact escape you?”

“It didn’t. Believe me, I wanted nothing more than to throw her out. But she’s Seth’s Connected. If he wants to be with her, then he deserves to be.”

“Connected doesn’t mean soul-mates! She’s not good enough for him!” We couldn’t put Seth on a pedestal. He was still Seth. Just because he’d gotten a Connected didn’t mean he was heavenly. And he wouldn’t want us to think that either.

“And I suppose you are? Cut the theatrics, Adri,” Emmett sighed and she stalked off, tears running down her face.

“Jason, how quickly can you send a letter to Destiny and Seth?”

“I can send it quickly, but it could take weeks to get there. The only reason why I got this letter so quickly was because it was sent by my Fae assistant using magic. She’s already using more than her daily quota to spy on Destiny and Seth unnoticed.”

“If it even is them…” Darcie said.

“If they’re even alive,” I sighed, shaking my head.

“I like Destiny, I really do. Seth and her are a good match.”

“They are…” Darcie mused with a small smile and Jason nodded his approval to me from behind his back. I acknowledged it with my own smile.

“Jason, send a letter to Seth and Destiny and tell them that we need them back here. My spy that was monitoring Zeella overheard a conversation with Lilith. In which they talked about the Divider and preparing to use it in a month’s time.” He looked like he wanted to add something else, but as he turned towards Darcie, he closed his mouth. Why was he hesitating?

It was at that moment that Karla, Seth’s mother, rushed in with a pale Lucy in her arms.

“Please, she’s sick!”

Darcie, Jason and I rushed over and I recoiled back in horror, gasping. Lucy’s skin had gone an ashy grey, small flakes of it beginning to peel off, revealing the edges of Demon scales. Her eyes were bloodshot, her lips pale.

“How did this happen?” Jason asked, immediately falling into his ‘Shaman’ side as he placed two fingers to Lucy’s wrist.

“She was kidnapped and the Shaman thinks…the Shaman thinks she was used in the sacrifice for the Blood Moon Festival, but they didn’t get the time to kill her. They were interrupted by a band of Demon-Hunters who had somehow gotten passed the pentagram using a Witch spell. They rescued Lucy, but they’d already injected her with Demon blood. The Shaman says she has less than a year to live at the most!”