The Apocalypse of the Damned

Chapter Fourteen: Hotel California

Zion's body was weak. All of his energy seemed drained and everything felt heavy. Of course, this could just be an effect of nearly dying. The demon would never show it, but it terrified him to be so close to death once more. The first time had affected his mate so much and he never wanted his angel to go through that ever again.

"You are not dying anymore," the angel stated. The trio let out a sigh of relief together. The potion had worked. Ellette's mate could be trusted which could help later. Having a powerful witch on your side could be useful especially when dealing with the last horseman.

From the look on their mates' faces, the fae knew they wanted to be alone so she excused herself. There was still one more horseman to find, and she knew where to look. The internet held all the information anyone could need, including strange and unusual events. Hopefully, she'd find the last horseman: Death.

"I was worried about you, Zye," Malak whispered, holding his mate's hand tightly. Even though the demon was exhausted, he pulled the shorter being on top of him and protectively wrapped his arms around the angel's waist. Both of them needed to be as close as possible right now.

He sighed, "I was too, Angel. I was too."

***

"I found the next horseman!" Ellette exclaimed, startling the angel. Thankfully, the demon reacted fast and grabbed him before he fell. Malak beamed up at his mate, pecking his lips as thanks. "Sorry, Malak. I didn't mean to scare you," she said with a frown.

"It is okay," he assured her with a small smile. It wasn't his bright smile, but it was still progress. The angel was slowly trusting the fae and though he was still hesitant, he was less afraid of trusting her. Zion was proud of his mate for this. He knew overcoming such fears, especially when something so traumatic happened to him. His angel was strong even if Malak didn't know it.

Sighing, the demon kissed his mate's forehead, causing the angel to hide his red face on his chest, and asked, "What'd you want to tell us?"

"I found death. At least, I think I did," she stated. "While you two were resting, I went to the library and saw that there's been an increase in strange deaths recently. Perfectly healthy people are dying, and the police can't identify a cause of death. They think it's a serial killer, so they aren't giving many details; however, after looking at a few articles, I think they're heading to California."

The demon loudly groaned causing the angel to look up at him with a tilted head. He had no idea what California was. All he knew was that his demon definitely didn't like it. Zion hated anything to do with socializing, beaches, people, noise, fun, people. Basically, anything to do with California. Though he knew his angel would love it and truthfully, that's all that mattered to him. No matter how annoyed he got, he knew that seeing his angel happy would cause him to relax.

"Zion, what is California? Why do you not like it?" Malak inquired.

The demon sighed, not wanting to take the angel's fun away. His mate was like him. The angel would never want to do anything that made the demon uncomfortable. Rather, he'd prefer to do things they both enjoyed. The demon held onto his mate's waist and sat up, so Malak was straddling him. It made it easier for them to all talk.

"You know how I don't really like anyone besides you?"

"And Saleos!" Malak chirped.

Chuckling, Zion continued, "Yes, and Saleos. Well, California is filled with a lot of people and they are really loud. But California is still nice, I guess. There're beaches there which people enjoy for some reason. They play in the sand and water."

"I have never been to a beach before. If we go, can we stop by one?" he inquired. His big, beautiful, green eyes looking at him. If only Ellette wasn't in the same room, then he could make out with his angel.

The fae noticed Zion was too memorized to answer so she did it for him: "Of course we can, Malak. I doubt Zion will mind."

It was true. His demon didn't mind. At least, not that much. One thing he minded was driving. The drive would take around forty hours and he didn't have enough patience for that. Besides, Malak wouldn't last in a car ride that long. Of course, they could always fly. Well, everyone but the fae could. Faes had to be at least a thousand before they could fly, and Ellette seemed to still be in her hundreds. Zion could carry her if he wanted, but he didn't. He didn't like anyone touching him who wasn't his angel. But Malak could definitely not carry her. He wasn't the best at flying even with the practice he'd been doing. There's no way they'd make it if Malak carried Ellette.

Malak could tell what was going through Zion's mind. Both of them constantly forget to use their mind link; nonetheless, Malak remembered when he saw the demon's concentrated face and thought to himself, I wish I could hear what he was thinking. Zion made a few good points. No matter how they got to California, there'd be some issues along the way. Unless a certain witch could help them.

"Ellette, do you think your mate could have anything that would allow you to fly to California?" The angel asked, still not knowing that much about witches.

"Mate?" The demon said in confusion. "When'd you find your mate?"

Ellette sighed. She didn't want to think about her mate anymore. It only caused her more pain, making the separation harder. "She made the potion to help you, and I have no idea, Malak. She might though," the fae answered. She hoped they wouldn't go back to the shop, but she knew they would. It was obvious.

The angel bit his lip, thinking about what they should do. The hesitation in the fae's eyes was obvious, but they needed a way to get to California. From the conversation they had earlier, he figured seeing her mate again would be incredibly painful for the fae. He wouldn't do that to her. He couldn't. So, instead, he came up with a better solution: Zion and he will go alone.

Together, they walked to the store. It was nice to have time alone, even if neither of them talked. All they needed was to be together. Once they were in the shop, they were greeted by Madison, who was surprised to see the demon instead of the fae. Honestly, she preferred the fae instead of the glaring, intimating being.

Zion bluntly stated what they need, ignoring the witch when she inquired who he was. Clearly, he didn't care about small talk. She quickly grabbed the things she needed, hoping to get done as fast as possible, so the demon can leave her store. Once she got done, she informed the pair exactly how to use the enchanted feather. If used correctly, the fae would be able to make it all the way to California and back if she wanted. But they could only use the feather twice, so hopefully, they didn't need any breaks.