Spiritus Animalis (Empath #2) ✔️

Chapter Nine

Adam zipped up his bag and stood. Alex and Jennifer made their way over to him.

"Adam? What the hell are you doing out here alone?" Jennifer scolded. "You know Mammon wants us to prepare for his brother's appearance, right?"

"I wanted to see if there was anything else about that prophecy that we didn't know," Adam responded.

Alex scoffed. Adam glanced over at his friend with an evil glare. Even though Adam knew that it was important for them to bring forth another prince of hell, he couldn't help but worry about the animal empath and their ex-friend Peter. Something was off.

"Well, I hate to break it to you Adam, but we've already lost one hell hound," Alex said. "That bitch Abigail tamed it and now we don't have much left but another hellhound."

Thoughts circled Adam's mind as he started to realize that they were going to have to deal with a tamed hellhound and the Animal Empath. The best thing that he could think of would most likely involve sending someone to kill the girl. However, he remembered that Emily was part of the group now.

"If that's the case then we have to take care of her," Adam thought. "Jennifer? How about you take the lead on this one."

"With pleasure, I have a score to settle with that dumb broad," Jennifer responded. "Now you said that there was more to this prophecy than we know?"

The Angel and the Animal will grow.

And form an unlikely bond.

To defeat all evil before it gets stronger.

The trio glanced at each other, worry crossing their faces. If the prophecy was correct, then that meant they were in grave danger and if it wasn't stopped none of the princes will rise from hell. They needed to get that done as soon as they possibly could. The first thing they needed to do was get Abigail out of the way and then deal with both the angels, Althea, and their ex-friend Peter.

"I know exactly what you are going to be dealing with," a voice said from behind them. The Servants turned and saw Mammon stepping out from the shadows. In his hands he had two sets of golden chains. The objects were shining under the sunlight, and it emitted a strange energy. "These are chains given to me by my brother Lucifer, he has told me to use it on the angels."

"But how does it work?" Alex asked.

"Simple, you can chain an angel with this chain, and it will keep their powers at bay and over time it will weaken them," Mammon said. But he received a scoff from the Servants.

"News flash, we've done it before," Adam said. "But Ezra escaped."

"Ezra may have escaped but these chains will hold him down as well as Emily," Mammon explained. "Now, get to work instead of standing around here and talking!"

*~*~*

It was later in the evening and the group finally arrived at a hotel. It wasn't much of a hotel as the hotel was more like a bunch of cabins standing on the property. Each cabin had a singular light on aside from one in the middle of the property. Peter didn't think much about anything other than the fact that his ex-friends were now on the verge of trying to kill them. They were even willing to sacrifice each other to summon Lucifer.

Peter took in a deep breath and let it out. There was no time for him to think about the past now when people's lives were in danger. How would he even defeat the servants. He remembered that the girls were so close, but they were also too late. How Peter wished there was a way to change that. He stood outside for a few minutes as everyone including the angels stepped inside followed by the hellhound which he still didn't trust.

Peter snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone clear their throat. His green eyes glanced up and there standing before him was Althea Reyes. The young conduit stood there not saying much of anything. Peter could see the worried look in her deep brown eyes.

"Peter?" Althea said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Peter answered, even though he found her worriedness annoying it made her kind and the small smile that she had sent butterflies throughout his stomach. "Why aren't you going in with the rest of them?"

"Because I noticed you were troubled by something," Althea responded. "Come on let's sit on the steps."

Althea and Peter walked over and took a seat.

"Now? What's bugging you?" Althea questioned. She stared into his eyes almost like she'd been staring into his soul, and it did make him feel slightly nervous due to how close proximity they were.

"Something doesn't sit right," Peter stated. "I mean it couldn't have been that easy to escape, that dog your friend tamed was supposed to kill us."

"But she tamed it," Althea said.

"It doesn't matter, Althea," Peter warned. "That hellhound is not meant to be tamed; it's meant to be used as a weapon with the princes of hell. Those dogs know only how to fight and attack, if something goes wrong and that dog reverts to its aggressive state then we are in grave danger."

Althea scoffed. Shutting Peter down right then and there. Peter knew he hit a soft spot and he even guessed that Althea was nervous about the hellhound herself. Granted that she couldn't see it. Nothing in his mind would clear as he had a hard time trying to think about what he needed to do to stop his ex-friends from summoning Lucifer. But how the hell are you supposed to stop the king of hell if you can't even fight against your old friends?

"Well, we'll discuss that later, I'll meet you inside," Althea said. "Please don't stay out here too long. We don't know what's going to happen."

Althea pushed herself to her feet and walked toward the front door. Peter stayed in place deep in thought. Anything that spelled trouble was meant to be stopped.

"I'll stay out here for a bit."

*~*~*

Althea sighed unsure of what she could do to help Peter. At the end of the fall semester, Peter was nothing more than a villain determined to put an end to her world. However, somewhere down the line he had changed. It was almost instant, and she became suspicious of that when it first surfaced. But when they went their separate ways, she wasn't at all expecting him to come back.

She walked into the cabin, which was rustic with a cobblestone fireplace, to the left she saw the kitchen which amazed her that even the kitchen counters were made from wood. A beautiful red carpet with complicated designs was spread out on the wooden floor. Even the table was beautiful. The chairs and the sofa were all made of leather and when she glanced over at the fireplace, Althea saw Abigail tending to the fire. She and Ezra had started it and her as well as the angels and the hellhound were ironically sitting around the fireplace.

"Why isn't Peter coming in?" Ezra asked.

Althea snapped out of her thoughts and walked over to the fireplace before she sat down.

"He's kind of struggling right now,"

"Is it because he's not used to all these sudden changes?" Abigail questioned.

"More like he's too chicken to even set foot in here," Emily said as she rolled her eyes.

"Watch it," Althea narrowed her eyes. "He's still trying to get used to the idea that his original click doesn't like him anymore," she explained. "I mean come on wouldn't you guys feel the same way?"

"Yes, but at least we've moved on," Emily answered.

Althea started to say something when the door opened, and Peter entered the room. Despite everything, Peter still found the strength to sit down next to them.

"Okay now that we're all here, we need to figure out what to do about the Servants," Althea said. "Any ideas what their next moves are going to be?"