Rayline. I walked into the room and threw the towel on the floor, taking a deep breath before walking to the closet. I made it in time for dinner, but I did not eat as much as usual. My parents bombarded me with questions about Cole and how he was back, but I told them that I was tired and wanted to go to bed early, which was not a lie. I took a shower to wash off the sweat from training and also after spending time with Cole. It was much needed. I rolled up my sleeves a few times, to stretch the muscles that I thought would be sore in the morning. It was then that Nicolas offered to repeat the training lesson again if I wanted, and I agreed to it. I finally put on my oversized shirt and sweatpants to get ready for bed, and as I looked in the mirror, Nicolas's words came back to me. Maybe you should not have left. Cole might be upset... Letting out a sigh, I walked over to my bed, took a seat on the edge of it, and stared at my phone screen. He has not called me yet. Though he had
Rayline. My lips curved upwards as he reached for the opening of the plastic bag. He fiddled with it before pulling a large black box out, and when he realized its shape, his face dropped. "Is this ..." The bag fell to the floor, and he looked at the instrument case. "Is this the..." His gaze immediately met mine, while I held back my smile. "Open it," I said again. His hand grabbed the end of the zipper and traced it along the box before opening the lid to reveal a black acoustic guitar. His eyes roamed over the guitar's handle as he placed his hands on the wood, and his eyes lifted to meet mine again, shining with genuine affection. "You got me this?" I nodded with a small smile. "I know the last one meant a lot to you because it was from your mother. But since it was broken... I thought you might want a new one." His eyes flashed a magenta color as the corners of his lips tugged upwards. He then carefully grabbed the handle and took it out of the box to place the body on his
Rayline. "Cole? Cole, honey, wake up." "Hmm?" I slowly opened my eyes. The room was dark, but I could see a familiar face in the glow of the lamp. It was Aunt Spencer, Cole's mom. "What's wrong, Mom?" His voice came out of my mouth. And that was when I knew that I was in the depth of his memories. "I need you to do me a favor." Aunt Spencer said and Cole took a seat on the bed, his eyes still squinted. His mom then knelt down in front of him. "I think Jesse has more injuries than he is showing." There was a hint of worry that filled her voice. "Do you think you can heal him, just a little?" "He..." Cole trailed off while rubbing his eyes, "he won't let me." "I know. Though he is sleeping now, he is in pain." There was concern on his mom's face. "Do you think you can do it without waking him up?" Cole did not answer for a moment, as his eyes glanced toward the door. "I think I can. But won't he know?" He finally answered. His mom shook her head. "Don't heal him completely. Just e
Rayline. My eyes slowly open as a familiar scent tickles my nose. But then my vision is blocked, and I realize that my face is pressed against his hard chest. I looked up to find him peacefully asleep, then my eyes trailed down to his neck to see the various purple hickeys left over from the previous day. I flash a small smile and lift my hand to gently touch the marks. The moment my fingers touched his skin, for a split second I felt a throbbing pulse throughout my body, and my breath started to hitch. I pulled my hand back, and once again, I felt it, my body going numb. "Kill." An eerie voice echoed in my head. My chest started to churn violently as I stared at Cole who was sound asleep before me. "Kill." Once again that haunting voice rang in my head. I force myself to lie on my back, pulling myself away from him. My eyes stared at the ceiling, and I closed my eyes while taking a deep breath. "Kill. Kill. Kill." "No," I whispered softly, while my hands squeezed the sheets ti
Rayline. Cole went on and on about Rome and Italy, adding a few half-true stories to give my mom a reasonably satisfactory answer. Mom smiled and asked a lot of questions, but thankfully Cole was very good at coming up with answers to all of them. All the while, I started texting Darren on my cell phone to ask if he was at the Nephilim base. Not long after, Cole got to his feet to take his plate to the sink, and I followed behind him. "Oh, I can take that, honey." Mom held out her hand and said. "I don't mind washing it," Cole says, but mom shakes her head. "Come on, you are the guest." Then she took the plate. "Thank you." She throws him a smile and then takes my plate too with a little sideways glance. She started to turn on the water from the sink, while Cole leaned against the counter facing me, and I stepped in front of him. "Are you going to the Nephilim base?" he asked quietly, and I took his hand. "Yeah. Darren's already there." He hummed softly, while my fingers inte
Rayline. I lifted my forearm with the dagger sticking out, just as Cole and Nicolas had taught me. I applied their instructions and then got into a low stance. I watched Cole's stance before taking a breath and lunging. I swung the blade low, and he stepped back, dodging the attack before sliding to the side and blocking my wrist. I shifted my weight and twisted to try to shake off the attack from above, while he dodged again, ducking and swinging his leg to knock me down. And yet, I quickly rolled backward, moving faster than him. As he tried to reach for his blade, I did not waste the opportunity. Instead of going for a stab, I tried to elbow him in the side, but another hand caught my wrist. He then kicked out his leg and knocked me down on one knee. I tried to adjust myself, rolling onto my back to knock him down, but he had already anticipated this and managed to get back to his feet. As soon as I got up, I felt his hand grip my other arm. But instead, I twisted around and knel
Rayline. I looked closer and noticed that they were history and mythology books, dozens of books. "Are you..." I reached out and picked up one of the books. "Are you researching the lore of angels and demons?" "Yeah," he said as he flipped through the pages, and my jaw dropped. He then turned to me. "You guys said that I would get in the way in the field, so I did my best." He put down the book. "Reading."I flashed him a smile and moved closer to rest by his side. "So," I started, "what are you researching?" "How to get these runes off of you." "What?" I looked up. "Mrs. Parker said you had to kill the spellcaster, so all the supernatural beings are looking for Silas to find out who cast the spell, right?" He asked. "Supernatural beings?" I raised an eyebrow. "What? They need some kind of name," he said and I rolled my eyes. "Well, that was exactly what she said." "But!" he cut me off. "She also said that if you use the angel relic, it can be eliminated." "Yeah, but she sai
Rayline. "Wow, is this..." As I handed a piece of paper to all of them, they all immediately looked at the paper on the table. "Yeah," I said as I took a seat near the counter. "And he found all this out just by doing some research?" asked Taylor in a surprised tone. "Yeah. Just give Darren a task, and he will dive in head first." "Does any of this really exist?" Jesse asked as he pointed at the paper, his eyes meeting Chase's. "From what we have learned, everything he listed is already known to exist," Chase nodded. "I'm also shocked that he was able to find myths and legends that can be traced. There are so many religions and beliefs that could be possibilities. I'm surprised that they're all true." "Well," Cole broke in, "among all the beliefs and stories, you can see the similarities..." His finger traced the list of words on the page. "And among those similarities, that's where you can find the truth." "Never really had it looked at like that." I raised both my eyebrows.
Rayline. The meeting went exactly as I had expected it to go. Harvey briefly explained the entire situation and what he knew. Basically, all the causes of the riots and rebellion are related to years ago, and the roots have been resolved and dealt with. However, there would be unresolved loose ends and there were still ropes to be tied. Lilith most likely still has more allies and connections in places they have yet to discover, and they need to be sought out and dealt with. It may take a long time to clear things up, maybe even years, and the impact could be catastrophic. Harvey then asked everyone to share their stories and their connections. Cole spoke in front of us all, sharing everything. He talks about how he was first sent to Earth, and how Lilith gave his mother the disease out of spite and revenge. He spoke about the recent attacks, and how they were done as hatred towards him when they were actually related to the rebellion. He then spoke about me, how we met, how he bec
Rayline. As I lay nestled against his chest, I playfully drew small circles on his chest, the warmth of his skin keeping me wrapped in his arms, his wings spread out around me. The morning light sneaked in through the bedroom curtains while the two of us were still snuggled together on the bed, the sheets tattered messily. He ran his fingers through my hair, fiddling with the strands as I listened to his heartbeat, hearing every breath he took. "Did you fall asleep?" he asked softly, making me smile. "I should be the one asking you that." Spinning around to face him, my hand came to rest under my chin. "You were so busy as soon as we got back, and it doesn't seem like we got any sleep last night... or this morning." His lips curled up mischievously and his hand slid down my bare back, giving me goosebumps. "I'm doing okay. It was all definitely worth it." "Mmm...hmm." I tilted my head cheekily. Right now I was in his room at his father's house. As soon as the chaos died down, h
Rayline. He placed his hand on Cole's chest. There was light... a glowing white light that emanated from the archangel's fingertips, covering Cole's body. The light grew more and more, wrapping everything around him, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut because of the blinding light. I clutched Chase's hand as a wave of power pulsed through the room, shaking everything around me. I could feel my heart beating faster, my breath catching in my throat as the tension continued to rise in my chest. The light was retracted back into Cole's body, clinging to his skin. As I opened my eyes cautiously, I saw the light fading away as the archangel got to his feet and stepped back. Without holding myself back, I jumped forward, rushed to Cole's side, and with trembling hands, placed them on the side of his cold face. A few moments passed without anything happening, waiting. I gently brushed his hair aside. Then all of a sudden, his chest heaved, catching a deep breath that sounded so sharp, and
Rayline. A wave of cool air filled the room as the flames died out, leaving a trail of empty craters. No one moved. No one dared to breathe until the demon himself, Harvey stepped back. All the Nephilim watched his movements in awe, and some of them even bowed their heads in his honor. I leaned over Cole's body, my hands shaking as I brushed his hair, which had fallen to the side. Tears fell again, rolling down my cheeks without stopping. The sound of footsteps coming closer, got louder until they finally stopped right behind me. "Rayline?" I blinked slowly, turned my head towards the source of the voice, and saw Cole's father standing there. His expression changed as his gaze fell on his son who lay motionless in my arms. He swallowed, his gaze filled with such deep pain. "...Is there any other way?" I asked hoarsely. "Is there anything you can do?" He knelt beside me, pain filling his eyes. "I'm sorry," he says hoarsely. I look back down at Cole, and the sobs I have been holdi
Rayline. Seconds. In a mere few seconds, my entire world comes crashing down, shattering into pieces as the heart-wrenching pain rips through my soul. My lungs burned as I let out a horrifying wail, holding onto Cole's chest with all my strength, begging, pleading for him to come back to me. My hands are still clasped tightly in his now cold hands, while my tears are flowing freely. I clutched at his shirt, crying helplessly as if I could bring him back with the despair welling up from within me. Out of the blue, I felt a gentle hand placed on top of mine, and I jumped, before I froze at the sight of Jesse looking up at me, his tattered wings dragging behind him. Tears streamed down his face from pain and sorrow, and his eyes lowered to the motionless Cole. He bites his lip as he looks down, squeezing his eyes shut as more tears fall. A sob that sounded like it was choking his throat before he sucked in a deep breath, and his head lifted. He reached out his trembling hand over to C
Rayline. Chris lifted the sword back up with a solemn look, ready to chop his bones off, and started to swing. But before Chris could swing the sword, Lilith suddenly stepped aside, stopping him in his motion. "Hmm..." Lilith stepped forward, and Chris suddenly stopped in midair. "I think I have seen this before." He said, moving between me and Cole. "You are ready to give up everything, while the ones around you squirm helplessly." She went on, talking about the night Cole would trade himself... to let them kill him so that all of us could leave. Cole's head snapped up to meet her eyes, with a glint of hatred. "But there was something missing, something that happened afterward. What is it now?" She tapped her fingers on her lips, as if in deep thought. "Oh! I remember now!" She let out a maniacal laugh. "You lost the person you loved the most..." Then she lifted a sacred sword, the reflection of its light glistening down on the steel, as her eyes locked onto mine, and I felt a pie
Rayline. To my horror, I watched as the skin of his wings was ripped away from the bones that reached out below, leaving only shredded pieces of flesh. His blood spilled onto the ground, soaking the tiles beneath him. She did not stop. With an expressionless face, Lilith continued to shred her own son's wings... the most precious thing to them. "STOP!" Cole's shout echoed out, filled with pain. Tears flooded his eyes. In a fit of rage, he let loose a blast of power that sent the men flying across the room, crashing to the hard ground. Cole reached out his hand towards Lilith, trying to stop her. Lilith froze in place, while Jesse's screams stopped, his body falling to the ground with a sound that struck my heart. I rushed towards him, my heart sank as I made my way to his side at the sight of the remains of his wings in a pool of blood, and a sick feeling came over me, making me bring my hand to my mouth, trying to hold back the gasps. How could she do this? To her own son. "...H
Rayline. Cole let out a slow breath, as if trying to calm himself down. I hold on to his side, trying to provide support. "But I'm not done with you yet," Lilith continues with a sinister smile. "Cole!" I exclaim as his body abruptly slips out of my arms, throws onto the stairs of the dais, and lands hard on his back. A groan escaped his lips. "To think a half-breed like you could beat me." Lilith walked haughtily towards Cole, her smile full of disdain. "What happened to all those threats, huh?" she asked, her eyes flashing with cruelty as she lifted her hand, making his eyes widen and I could see her power take hold of his throat. "What happened to ripping me apart, hm?" She took a step closer. Cole remained motionless, his blood-red eyes locked on Lilith, full of malice. "What's wrong? Nothing left to say, mutt?" But then, Cole smirked. His blood-stained lips curled up, making Lilith frown, puzzled. Slowly, his hands opened, causing the melted pieces of metal to fall to the gr
Rayline. Chaos broke out in a split second. Before I could even see his movements, Cole was already whizzing over to Lilith. The blazes lining the entire wall burst with the sudden increase in heat, forcing me to lift my arms to protect myself. Screaming and roaring could be heard clearly as Cole furiously swung his claws at her while she quickly dodged out of his reach. Lilith sent a wave of fire that blasted across the room, scorching the air around her, which made Cole lift his wings and throw them off to the side. I ducked down to avoid the lick of flame that shot out when I heard my name being called. As I turned my head, I caught sight of Taylor staring at me, tugging on the enchanted chains that held both him and Jesse, and without thinking, I jumped to my feet and slid towards them. In another corner of the room, Levi and the other demons were too distracted with helping their leader to focus on me, in addition to the battle that was going on inside the room. Once I reache