Chapter Thirteen
CAM
Cam headed to Amber's apartment first. He had a feeling that Thea wasn't there—his connection to her kept dropping out, and even when he did feel her it was too distorted to pinpoint her exact location. Something was wrong with her energy and it made him almost wild with panic. If Zak hadn't been there, Cam probably would have torn down the entire neighborhood. As it was, Zak's calm and focused nature, even in a situation like this, rubbed off on him and he logically thought things through. Thea had been at Amber's; whatever happened, started there.
They arrived at Amber's and hovered in front of her window, peering inside. Cam was shocked to see Amber lying on the floor in the hallway. Thea was nowhere to be seen. They forced the window open and climbed inside.
Zak went to check on Amber while Cam searched the apartment for Thea. The couch had been made up into a bed as though Thea had been staying there. What had happened? He searched the bedrooms. One of them looked like the bedroom of a kid. Cam frowned. Where was Amber’s child? He made his way to the other bedroom. Nothing seemed out of place and yet something wasn’t right. He stood for a moment, trying to pinpoint what was making him uncomfortable. And then he suddenly realized that the energy in the apartment was off. Nephilim apartments usually felt energetically clean and pure, but this one was contaminated.
He made his way back to Zak who was still leaning over Amber. "Something feels strange in here, don't you think?" He walked around the living room and the kitchen again. The strange energy was everywhere. He glanced back at Zak. "Is she okay?"
Zak didn't answer.
Cam returned to him, approaching slowly. Zak knelt over Amber staring at her, his hand on her head, fingers buried in her hair.
Cam frowned. "Zak. is she okay?"
Zak seemed to come out of his daze and glanced at Cam. "Is this Thea's friend? Amber?"
"Yes, is she okay? What's wrong?"
Zak returned his gaze to Amber and stroked his fingers through her hair for a long moment. Then in one swift move, he scooped her up into his arms and cradled her as he carried her to the living room. He laid her out on the couch, gently adjusting her clothes and smoothing her hair.
Cam watched him, bewildered. "Zak!" This was no time to be fucking around grooming Amber.
"She's been drained of her energy," Zak said. "Like what Asmos demons do to human souls."
"So there was an Asmos demon here?"
Zak shook his head but didn't take his eyes off of Amber. "I don't feel any Asmos energy, do you? Something else happened. And… I'm not sure she is going to survive. Her soul already has severe older scars."
"Yes, an Asmos demon was draining her soul since she was a young girl. That was the demon Thea killed that caught the Dominion League's attention."
"Fuck," Zak muttered under his breath. He ran his fingers across Amber's cheek, lingering there for a long moment before brushing his palm across her forehead.
Cam watched him, unsure what was happening. He had never seen Zak touch anyone like that before, not even when he was healing Thea. "Can you heal her?"
"I'm going to fucking heal her if it kills me," Zak ground out, with a harshness that surprised Cam. "My guess is that Thea did this. The energy on the entry points is strange; it’s Thea's energy but it's tainted. I think she has already been taken over so be careful."
Cam swore in frustration. "How do I find her?"
"The strange energy in the apartment is from Thea, I think. Just follow it. Don't try to look for your normal connection with her; seek out the strange energy you can feel." He leaned over Amber and placed his hands on both of her shoulders. "As soon as I stabilize her I’ll come and find you."
“Her kid’s not here, so she might come home. Be prepared for that.”
Zak swallowed, glancing at Cam. “Is she… married.”
“I don’t think so.”
Zak breathed out. “I’ll stay visible in case she shows up, and explain that her mother’s ill.”
Cam dipped his head in a sharp nod, and without further hesitation jumped out of the window. He searched out the strange energy from the apartment and followed an erratic trail across the neighborhood. In its wake were a number of collapsed humans that had been shielded with demonic energy so that non-warrior angels and other humans couldn’t see them.
Cam's concern intensified. Thea did not have demonic energy, even if she was possessed. That meant demons were helping her. His fists clenched at the idea of it. What the hell was going on? What were they trying to do to Thea?
He finally came upon a busy part of the neighborhood where Thea had been. Again, collapsed humans lay in the street shielded from human view by demon energy. And then he saw her.
She was crouched over a human woman, who was on her knees while Thea's hands were around the woman's throat. Cam stared in horror as Thea began to glow. She was taking energy from humans! He watched, shocked. That energy could corrupt her and destroy all angelic energy that remained within her.
He soared down towards her and saw the small smile of pure satisfaction on her face. A wave of nausea rose in him and suddenly he realized what it must have felt like for Thea to see him enjoying the brutality of killing the Legion demons. She must have been horrified and sicked by the sight of him. He pushed those feelings away as he lowered a few feet from her.
The demons around her watched him but did not move to stop him. He noticed that they were shielding her from the other angels in the area, and they were Asmos demons, so they weren’t easily defeated.
The human woman dropped to the floor and Thea straightened, her smile spreading into a grin as she looked up to the sky and cracked her neck. When she lowered her eyes, she caught sight of him an expression of a rage crossed her face, as if the feeling suddenly boiled up inside of her. She turned towards him and he couldn't help noticing how fiercely beautiful she was, even though she looked wild and out of control—her pupils dilated, her nostrils flared.
“Thea,” Cam said, his voice low. “What are you doing?”
“Taking what I deserve,” she spat, her eyelids narrowed. "Taking what you could never give me. Peace, satisfaction, true power."
"Do you know how many humans you've hurt?" Cam asked, his voice hard. He took a step towards her, but she squared herself tilting her jaw upwards and readying herself.
"They're not hurt," she scoffed. "They'll recover. And I'm only taking from those that don't deserve it."
"They don't deserve their lives? That energy is their life-force."
Thea's amusement turned to a scowl. "They don't deserve more fulfilling lives than me. Why should I have nothing because you couldn't keep your promise?"
Cam took another step forward but she flew up into the air hovering above him, her expression ferocious. "This isn’t you, Thea. You've never wanted to hurt anyone."
"And what do you know?" Thea snapped. "You don't know me anymore. You've hardly spoken to me in nearly two years. People change."
"Not that much. Are you aware that Amber may not survive? Where’s her daughter?"
Thea's expression faltered but only for a split second. "Don't try to manipulate me. Amber has the life I should have had. She's ungrateful. I hate her and I hate you."
Cam let her words bounce off of him. This was definitely not Thea. He flapped into the air, hovering in front of her.
“Get out of my way, Cam,” she hissed, as numerous energy balls materialized around her.
Cam eyed them. They vibrated with energy more powerful than anything he felt from her before, but he was glad that she was still using angelic energy. He pulled together a shield. "Are you going to attack me, Thea?"
"I’ll do whatever it takes to get what I need."
Cam drifted closer to her. "And what's that?"
As he came closer, Thea growled. With a flick of her head, two energy balls shot towards him.
Cam braced himself. He would face her if he needed to in order to keep her safe. The more she fed off the humans, the more powerful she was going to get and the more she would become a shadow of her true self. If Cam didn't find a way to stop what was happening to her, she would grow completely out of control.
The energy balls hit his shield and the vibrations rocked him to his core. She was strong, stronger than he had ever remembered her being.
"You can't stop me," Thea taunted. "You might be the most powerful warrior in the Angel Realm, but there are more humans than there are angels. Isn't that what you told me once? I have all the power I need, right here."
No. He couldn't allow that. Cam flew toward her, intending to restrain her.
She closed the distance and threw a punch that he blocked. They exchanged a flurry of hard hits that didn’t connect, before Thea kicked him dead center in the chest. The blow knocked the wind out of him. He grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled her towards him, holding onto her tight. She struggled, eventually kneeing him in the stomach and he was forced to let her go. She twisted and slapped her hand down on his neck. Immediately, he felt energy being sucked out of him. He pushed her back sharply with a growl, and she laughed, her eyes bright and hungry. Flapping away from him, she drew on energy to form a spike, which she shot at his face. He darted to one side but still felt the energy sear his cheek. Blood trickled down his face as she flew backward away from him.
"I’m more powerful now, Cam," Thea called, creating more energy balls. "I'm not the weak Nephilim you trained. Stay out of my way."
Her energy balls pummeled him, seemingly from every angle. He expanded his shield and created another one underneath to absorb the shock waves, but he lost sight of her as he tried to deflect them. By the time they stopped, Thea was nowhere to be seen.