17
Sucks to Be aNephilim
“Once upon a time,” Meph began, “there were a bunch of stuck-up angels protecting Earth, floating around with their thumbs up their asses. Then, a few of them got a little too interested in humans, if you know what I mean, so they got the boot from Heaven because sex is bad for sanctimonious douchebags.”
“They became fallen angels and did the nasty with the humans, and all was right in the world. Except they still felt the need to fulfill some boring heavenly mission, so they took it upon themselves to be protectors of humanity from the evil forces of Hell plotting to corrupt their innocent souls. The angels were called Grigori, Earth’s heavenly Watchers.”
Bel growled in annoyance. “This is the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”
Ash was inclined to agree.
“Shhh, bro.” Meph held up a finger. “I’m not finished. Eventually, the Grigori knocked up their humans, and lo! A race of human-angel hybrids was born, called the Nephilim. The Nephilim had special blood, and demons, being the weird, perverted fuckers we are, discovered that if they drank that blood, they would become untraceable, among other cool things. So if a demon wanted to, say, escape Hell, all he had to do was take a hit of blood, andta-da. He’d be invisible.”
Eva looked part overwhelmed, part revolted. “So you guys just found one of these Nephilim and drank its blood?”
“It’s not that simple,” Belial cut in. “Nephilim are ceaselessly hunted by both Hell and Heaven. Hell, because demons want to use them for their abilities. Heaven, because angels don’t want demons to have the blood, and consider human-angel hybrids an abomination. If a demon gets its hands on a Nephilim, they’re looking at a life in captivity, being kept alive solely as a blood source. If an angel finds one, they kill that sucker faster than you can say, ‘Have mercy.’ Which they don’t.”
“Sounds like it sucks to be one of these Nephilim guys,” Eva said.
“It sucks a lot,” Meph agreed.
“Okay.” Eva took a deep breath. “I think I’m nearing the point of information overload. No one talk for a second while I put this together. You guys drank the blood of some poor creature, and now you’re untraceable. Or something.”
They nodded.
“You can travel through gate thingies, and wherever you end up, Mist won’t be able to track you. But the catch is that somebody on the other end has to draw the same sigil in order for us to be able to travel through it, which means we have to find someone we trust.”
“Bang on the money,” Meph said, grinning. “You’re smart for a human.”
“You’re dumb for a demon,” Raum shot back.
“Hey, that was unwarranted.”
“Look, while all this sounds very scary, I can’t just leave Montreal indefinitely.” Eva was starting to sound more like herself again, which was such a relief to Asmodeus that he felt light-headed. Or maybe that was from blood loss. Yeah, that was more likely.
“I have a job, and I have to pay rent and get the window in my apartment fixed. And I have a gig in two weeks.”
Had he thought he felt relieved? With those words, that fist around his gut clenched nice and tight again and the feeling evaporated. It was his fault Eva’s life was being upended. That kind of thing had never mattered to him before, but suddenly, it did.
He wanted to promise her he’d keep her safe and disembowel anyone who touched her, but he was using up all his focus staying upright and keeping his eyes open. His heart pounded in his temples, and he was so damntired. The tile floor at his feet was starting to look really cushy.
“It’s either come with us or let the Hunter get you,” Meph pointed out bluntly.
“So what, you guys can never return here?” Eva’s voice rose like she was starting to panic again. “And what about me? Am I going to be in danger for the rest of my life?”
Ash tried to drag a hand through his tangled hair again, but his arm felt heavy, and when he lifted it, his head spun. He gave up on that and focused on speaking. “All of us want to find a permanent solution, but we’re more concerned about immediate survival at the moment. There’s no point worrying about the future right now.”
She looked at him and took a breath. “Fine. But I’m beyond pissed at you for dragging me into this. Before you came along, I was a clueless human living my life with no knowledge of any of this. And I never would’ve had to have that knowledge if you had left me alone in the first place.”
His fingers clenched around his bloody T-shirt, sending a fresh trickle of liquid down his side. Hearing her say that made him feel more uncomfortable shit. This emotion settled like a lead weight in his chest and made his skin crawl. For once, he could actually name this feeling because he’d experienced it before.
Guilt.
The last time he’d felt it had been when Miguel was killed. Now, he felt it for upending Eva’s life. Mist had said it best:If you really cared for her, you would have left her alone.
“Don’t blame Ash, sugar,” Meph said, flashing his customary devilish grin. “You’re the first woman to be into him in thousands of years. What would you expect him to do? He’s a lust demon, after all.”
“Wasa lust demon,” Ash grumbled. How many times did he need to make that goddamn clarification? “And don’t call her that.”
