The Impact (Book II)

200 Years Later

Lucifer and his demons ascended upon the Human World, openly declaring war on God and his angels. The fighting raged on for two centuries, eradicating most of the human race, leaving only their cities as skeletons of what once was. With their main purpose—protect the humans—destroyed, some angels turned traitor and joined the demons, where their fates were left unknown. Most angels remained faithful to God and fought for a new reason: survival.

The Human World was but a shadow of what it used to be. The Angel of Darkness had deserted Heaven early on and joined Lucifer. He created eternal darkness so demons could remain up in the Human World for extended periods of time. The darkness was so thick the Angel of Light and her siblings could not pierce it, no matter how hard or often they tried.

The bar I sat in might have been nice under human occupation but was now in shambles. I took a sip from my glass. Whiskey became my best friend and no longer burned my throat. Raucous laughter grated my ears and they swiveled back, catching every sound from the heartbeat of the demon beside me to the scraping of hellhound claws across the tiled floor. So far, nothing caught my interest. Hound lay beside my stool, his head resting on his paws.

As soon as the demons invaded, he found me. At first, I was wary of him, uncertain if Tavor would use him to track me. When nothing came of it, I assumed he somehow got away from them and greeted him tearfully. I had missed him so much. I changed his name, too; any who knew me would know his name. It took some doing, but he learned his new name: Belua. 

"...bounty increased for the capture of the princess!"

My ears stopped swiveling and I subtly turned my head in the direction of the gossiper.

It was a group of Human-Turned-Demons, their heads bowed and close together as they tried to keep their naturally loud voices down to a hushed whisper. It was more than likely most of the bar's patrons heard them anyway; not much got past demon ears.

"Didn't she willingly run off with some angel?" one of them rumbled.

"No, no, I heard 'e raped 'er an' kept 'er as 'is slave," another disagreed.

"You idiot, that isn't how it went at all. She's supposedly with the Queen's sister's family, y'know the one who ran off with an Archangel a while back? Anyway, the sister's holding the princess hostage and the king is offering her weight in laminas if you bring her in."

"The princess?"

"No, the Queen's sister. Alive."

The largest one chortled, slamming his meaty fist on the table. "Maybe we should sniff 'er out."

The one who had gotten the story straight sneered, "We don't even know what she looks like, let alone smells like."

It was strange hearing about Orlene after Zane ran off with her unconscious body all those years ago. She must have escaped at some point and now Lin and Mikayla assumed she had run off to join me. I wondered where she was, if she was safe, or even alive. I should tell the angels to look for her and bring her to me for safe keeping...

A body sliding onto the stool beside me on my left. Belua lifted his head and chuffed. I looked over to see who it was before smiling slyly. "Hey, there, handsome. Why don't I buy you a drink?"

Green eyes stared back at me, unimpressed. He was a Non-Ala who went by the codename "Dust Cloud." He was rumored to be part demon, hence the narrow pupils, and effortlessly blended in with the demons. Stiffly adjusting himself, the wingless angel sighed. "Why you insist on meeting here of all places is beyond me."

"Crowded, full of witnesses. Why wouldn't I want to meet you here, Non-Ala?" I leaned against him, whispering.

He swatted me away and ordered a beer. I took a large gulp of my whiskey.