Chapter Eleven
CAM
Cam’s head was full of Thea as he made his way back to the Angel Realm to see Zak.
He debated whether he should have forced her to come with him, or at least stayed in the human world with her while she saw her friend, but she seemed to want the time alone. A bitterness roiled in his gut about the fact that she could no longer feel for him the way he felt for her, but if she wanted to return to the human world, that was at least one good thing, because when he Fell, they would both be in the same place. He wouldn't have to hope for a glimpse of her every time she came to the human world. He would be living in the human world just like she was. He would be able to see her anytime he wanted to.
At that moment, he decided he would spend the rest of his fractured life ensuring that Thea had a happy one, that her life was full of joy and that he would protect her to the best of his ability. The idea of her finding love without him was unbearable. He wouldn’t allow it to happen even though he wouldn’t be a Power angel anymore. He couldn't expect her to want a life with a fallen angel, even her father hadn't wanted that, but he also couldn’t let anyone else touch her.
Cam found Zak in his office. After knocking on the door, Zak called him in.
"Elyon just left," Zak said. He gave Cam a disapproving glare. "I'm not happy that you both left Thea in the human world on her own, Cam."
"She wanted to spend time with her friend," Cam mumbled, as he dropped into the chair opposite Zak's desk. "She hasn't seen her for ages I couldn't exactly say no. Her friend's apartment is Nephilim accommodation; it's protected."
Zak exhaled harshly. "Adonai just came to see me," he said irritably. "He wants to know why the assignment is taking so long."
"He doesn't like me," Cam said, matter-of-fact "He'll try to get my sentence actioned as soon as possible."
"It's not just you he doesn't like. He questioned me at length as to why I didn’t go to the human world with you." Zak’s jaw worked. "He’s fucking annoying."
Cam barked out a laugh. "Yes, he is. You’ll get used to him."
Zak leaned forward. "What happened with the demon? Elyon couldn't tell me anything."
"He wasn't in the room. Why didn't he stay for the briefing?"
"The Dominion League had an assignment for him and he wanted to get back to work. He saw this as a babysitting assignment." Zak shrugged. “What did you find?”
“Apparently there were lots of Legion demons in the neighborhood after Thea's mother around the time that Thea was born,” Cam told him. “I thought it seemed unusual.”
“It is,” Zak said, concern passing over his face. His eyes lowered as he fell into his thoughts. “What did they want with her?”
"I don't know," Cam said, frustrated. "The demon didn't know."
“We should talk to the Dominion League,” Zak said. “They might be able to tell us something.”
Cam groaned. Talking to the Dominion League was the last thing he wanted to do. They clearly and undoubtedly despised him and only petitioned him to get out so he could stabilize Thea.
Zak watched Cam for a moment, taking meaning from his reaction. "Okay, we'll go to Asteroth. We might not need to talk to them if he knows something."
“Asteroth,” Cam agreed. He respected Asteroth. Although he was part of the Dominion League, he had shown himself to be a good man; one who treated Thea kindly and watched out for her, one who had been worried about her recovery, who had gotten her the room and treatment at the healing temple, and who was sympathetic to the circumstances around her attack. Talking to him would be much easier than going to the Dominion League.
Zak hesitated. “You know, once we give this information to the Dominion League… I don't know what will happen.”
“I understand,” Cam said, quietly. The Dominion League only gave them three days and who knew how they would treat this information? They could decide at any time that his work on the assignment was over. Thea was pretty confident handling that demon on her own. “When will my sentence be carried out?”
Zak was silent for a moment. “There’s still the petition.”
Cam didn’t respond. There was no guarantee the petition would go in their favor and he would still be detained in the meantime. His mind turned to his relationship with Thea. His most enjoyable memories of being in the human world were with her; training her, staying in her apartment, and making love to her. He wished he could go back to that time.
“Do you have any idea what you are going to do in the human world?” Zak asked softly, after a few minutes of silence
Cam shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“I’ll send someone to look in on you.”
Cam nodded. Zak wouldn’t visit the human world and it wasn’t advisable for angels to stay in communication with fallen angels anyway, but at least they could still communicate through someone else.
“But Camael, it will be dangerous,” Zak added.
“I know.” Without access to his angel-form, Cam wouldn’t be able to use his Power skills and abilities. He would hardly be able to sense whether another angel or demon was even close by; and with his previous status as a warrior, as a formidable Power angel, he would probably be targeted by demons wherever he went. They would know who he was and be able to get to him easily. But he wasn’t really concerned about that. A large part of him didn’t care—life didn’t seem worth living, not for eternity, not without Thea. “I’ll get by. I’ll keep moving.”
He wouldn’t, though. Cam was going to spend the rest of his life wherever Thea might be in the human world. He didn’t want to tell Zak that, however, as he knew that it would be akin to admitting that he wanted to die. He didn’t want to worry Zak any more than he already had. He had never seen Zak look so worried as he was now.
“Will you keep an eye on Thea?” Cam asked, his gaze unwavering. “Will you make sure she’s happy if I can’t?”
Zak nodded. “I will. I’ll do everything I can, Camael. You have my word.”
“Thank you,” Cam said, somewhat relieved that Thea would always have Zak if anything happened to him. If demons managed to kill him, he wanted her to move on, to enjoy her life without him. A fiery ball burned in his chest. He had gotten himself into this and he regretted every minute, every instance of rage he’d ever had against the demons. It hadn’t been worth it to lose her, to lose his wings.
“Camael, I want you to know something,” Zak said, his voice deep. “I forgive you. It has been a great honor to work with you. I consider you to be a fine angel and a good friend.”
Cam stared at Zak for a moment, regret and gratitude expanding in him. He gave his commander a brief nod and embraced his arm in a warrior’s clasp. Zak’s grip was firm and respectful, and Cam held his eyes as he pulled his arm away.
“But, it’s not over yet. I’m still going to push the petition.” Zak stood. “Let’s go and see Asteroth.”
Zak and Cam made their way to the training center to find Asteroth, hoping that he wasn’t in the middle of a session. The angel spent most of his time training other angels for battle. They were lucky to find him in the common room of the training facility, where he was talking intently to a Power angel trainee. When he saw Zak, he nodded at him, putting his finger up to indicate that he would join Cam and Zak in a moment. Not long after, he beckoned them and led them out into the hallway and up the flightway to a small office.
Cam explained to Asteroth about the Legion demons.
"Legion are attracted to power," Asteroth said, thoughtfully. "They must've felt Thea's power and flocked to the area."
"What for?" Cam asked, a dense feeling of dread climbing within him.
"I have never known of a Nephilim as powerful as Thea. They could have wanted to use her for anything; they could have planned to infect her with demon blood and used her as a weapon against angels. They could have drained her of her unique energy. Or they could have wanted to mate her to a demon."
"Never!" Cam bellowed, unable to control himself. He snarled at the thought, fury rising within him. Thea being forced to go against her very nature, to do something destructive and wicked, especially against angels was akin to a type of slavery. "She was unborn at the time. How could they have such plans for her?"
Zak placed a hand on his shoulder, calming him somewhat.
"Power is power, Cam," Asteroth said. "If she existed, and they could feel her, then they would have wanted to capitalize on her."
"Why wasn't anyone there to protect her?" Cam ground out. "If Legion knew about her, why didn't the Angel Realm?"
"Oriah was a fallen angel," Asteroth explained. "No one knew she could even get pregnant, let alone that she conceived. The demons could have shielded her from being detected by angels so that we couldn’t get involved."
Cam began to pace back and forth in the office, his jaw tense. Thea had been in so much danger from before she was born and yet her mother still left? He stilled. "Why didn't they pursue her after Thea's mother left?" he asked, almost to himself.
"I don't know," Asteroth said, his voice troubled. "Where is Thea now?"
"She is visiting her friend in the human world," Cam replied. "She hasn't been feeling well lately and she needed to see someone from her old life."
"What do you mean? Is she ill?"
"No, she's been having trouble sleeping."
Asteroth straightened, a strange look filtered into his face. "Have you noticed anything strange about her?"
Cam frowned at odd question. "Not really…" He thought back to their conversations. “She told me she no longer has feelings for me.”
Zak’s head snapped to Cam, but Cam ignored him. He hadn’t felt like talking about it, but it was worth mentioning now.
“That’s absolutely not true,” Asteroth stated, his expression tense. “I saw how she was in the Dominion League meeting. She still has feelings for you. What else? Think.”
Cam thought back. "Actually, she seemed more vicious than usual when she was questioning the demon earlier." He glanced at both Asteroth and Zak. "But it's not like I'm the best judge of that."
"But Elyon is with her though, right?" Asteroth asked.
"No," Zak said. "Elyon returned to the Angel Realm. But her friend’s apartment is protected from demons."
"Camael," Asteroth said, sharply. "You shouldn't have left her. You need to go and find her immediately."
"What's wrong?" Cam's entire body tensed on high alert at Asteroth's tone.
"Thea has recently been infected by demon blood," Asteroth said. "And not just any blood but Legion blood. If she has been suffering headaches, sleepless nights, changes in mood, lack of feeling or intense anger, it could be an indication that a Legion demon has been trying to infiltrate her mind. Coupled with the fact that there were a lot of Legions in the vicinity where and when she was born, she could have been marked for demon possession all along. She needs to be watched closely."
“Why didn’t you tell us this was a risk?” Zak spat. “You let us take her on an assignment without telling us this was possible.”
“There are many risks when an angel is infected, Zak,” Asteroth said. “We cannot guess them all. I knew Thea was having headaches but as far as I know they stopped when she started going to the human world to heal. She should have been letting her healer know if she was suffering symptoms of any kind.”
“But no one has been watching her consistently,” Zak shot back.
"Hang on, what do you mean 'infiltrate her mind'?" Cam growled.
"I mean, feed her mind with their own thoughts and take control of Thea's body and her powers."
A stunned silence filled the room.
They all moved at once.
"I'm going to talk to the Dominion League," Asteroth said, as he took to the air. "Go find her and make sure she is still herself."
Cam didn't say another word. He shot down the flightway and out into the Angel Realm, heading towards a portal. He hoped nothing had happened in his absence. He cursed himself for leaving her behind. Of course, he couldn’t have known about the possible connection between her and a Legion demon. Still, he had sensed something was wrong—he had been distracted by her rejection of him. He should have been more worried, considering how sick she was after she'd been infected with demon blood.
He arrived at the portal and noticed Zak was behind him. He threw him a quizzical look.
"I'm coming with you," Zak said, his voice hard. "I should have come the first time."
Cam didn't bother to respond, there was no time. He stepped through the portal and immediately sent his focus to look for Thea. He sensed Thea's general location, but it was interrupted by a strange feeling surrounding her that was so strong it distorted her energy. His heart sank. Something was definitely wrong.
He and Zak took to the air. He didn't know what he would find when he found her, but any demon that fucked with his mate would regret it.