6

T he drive had been quiet.

Jarmiel kept a watchful eye outside. Something seemed to put him on edge but that could just be his personality at this point. Volhold wouldn’t be much farther. It had taken hours. I thought boredom would knock me out for most of it, but the scenery preoccupied my focus. We drove through parts of our small world I’d never seen before.

The buildings, parks, and gardens were shown with more care. Not littered with gum or crumpled wrappers. Based on my shallow observation, it didn’t appear that anyone struggled financially. No homeless either.

“So… What should I expect when we get to EXO?” I asked.

“You sign a contract. The standard two years of service that you can renew for a longer term,” he said, “Zakiel will give you a tour of the facilities upon our arrival. Then, you’ll join the others for training in the morning.”

Two years? Would I even live for that long if I hunted monsters every night?

Jarmiel’s words were clear but slowly spoken. It had been a long twelve hours for me too. He stopped to run a hand over his face. “Tell me more about your aunt, Naomi. She seems too advanced with magic to be a mere merchant.”

“She studied basic magic,” I said. Or at least, she did until very recently when I saw what she did with that portal. “We’ve always done pop-up shops and lived off of that.”

Jarmiel flattened his already short, dark curls against his scalp with a wide palm. “One of ours gave us a report on what happened. What he claims occurred in your home sounds beyond basic magic. You two were planning to disappear, but only she got away.”

So he already knew the answer. I thought he’d left the baited questions back in the interrogation room.

“That’s what happened, yeah,” I said, “Is there a reason Zak wants me at EXO? Does he just collect who he can?”

“Zakiel has his reasons…” Jarmiel opened his mouth like he had more to say, but shut it again. I didn’t expect a warm welcome to a demon-hunting corporation but at least I wouldn’t be alone.

“Are there others like me?” I asked, truly ignorant of the existence of other, well-mannered half-demons. Most supernaturals were treated like demons anyway.

“Miss Winters, I must confess, we’re not entirely sure what you are.”

Stunned, I turned my whole body in my seat. “You were bluffing?”

His golden eyes seemed to glow in the dim, evening light. “I’ve met many hell-beings in my time. Your aura doesn’t match. Very strange.”

“Why is it strange?” I asked. Wouldn’t that have been a good thing?

“Lesser demons are bound to a master or a painful hunger; both of which govern most of their existence. That’s why when tasked with hunting demons, it usually ends in their death.”

It would make sense as to why demon attacks ended so violently. My choices only ever felt restricted because I had to hide, not because a devil told me what to do. Naomi didn’t count.

“Demons also can’t stand the presence of angels,” Jarmiel continued. He drew out each word, watching for my reaction. I saw the driver’s eyes through his rearview mirror.

“Strange,” I said just as carefully.

“Indeed.”

More silence, until I caved. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“I’m not sure. It could be that whoever your second parent was, or is , has rather resilient DNA that counters your demon ic traits. Or, that medicine your aunt concocted is stronger than we realize. This is something we could explore with a few blood tests.”

I pressed my back into my seat and sighed. Needles. Fantastic.

We passed the same billboard advertising a new pharmaceutical movement at least twice. I pressed my nose to the window to read it in its entirety. It claimed that they’d found a cure-all for humanity. The black and silver logo of an R and B posed just as striking as the man beside it. Roman Blaxill.

The poster made him look like a giant; broad and chiseled. Every edge of him seemed sharp from his chin to his shoulder pads. His red eyes met any onlooker no matter the direction. The fact that he’d gotten a board in Volhold at all should be impressive.

My aunt would make comments about vampire-made drugs as a scam to get people addicted. Something about it creates codependency between humans and them. Blood and drugs. She could be right, but humans ran plenty of scams and were already addicted before vampires came to light.

The driver spoke up. “It’s slower up ahead. Sorry, Jarmiel.”

Cars honked at one another, desperate to get around whatever clogged up the streets. I scoped out the scene through our windshield and saw multitudes of people around a crosswalk. Behind them, was a squatty building shaped like a white, mountain plateau. And behind that, towers of equal elegance and silver, pearly window frames.

“Is that..?” I started.

“The court halls,” Jarmiel said, before motioning to the driver, “Take us around, please.”

“Yes, sir.”

Court halls were established in many major cities quickly following the conclusion of the war. I’d never seen one up close. They replaced our court systems from years past. The Angel Council, who all but claimed rulership, used the halls to conduct their New Peace order and properly punish the guilty.

If Zak and Jarmiel hadn’t swept me away, I might’ve had to stand in a room of angels and await their holy judgment. Not everyone loved the system, but following blindly came easy when another war with Hell frightened so many. Call me a hypocrite or a traitor but I didn’t like demons much either.

The falling sun reflected off of the building’s pearly exterior. I had to squint to see the painted symbol on the entrance. A handsome, winged angel thrust a fiery sword into the chest of a monstrous demon. A cheery welcome to all visitors.

Just below, marking the grass, were elegant, gold-plated tombstones. A monument from the war. Each plate listed the names of those who died. You’d think that grounds solemn in nature would be trodden on with care, but I couldn’t find reverence anywhere.

Protesters held up their signs, chanting something I couldn’t quite make out. I pinched the fabric of my pants and migrated toward the middle seat. Our driver managed to turn down another street and avoided the hungry mob, but we passed a few newcomers with signs that read, “ medicine worshiping devils ” and “ vampires tainting the health of citizens. ”

“You’re frightened,” Jarmiel said.

I saw how close I’d gotten to his side of the car and scooted back over to mine. “It’s true, then? Angels can read people.”

“It doesn’t take more than a pair of eyes to see how troubled you are and the readings aren’t always clear.”

“Is that what Zak was trying to do before?” I held up my hand, still uncomfortable not wearing my gloves. “Do you also have to touch people?”

Jarmiel eyed my palm like an opened diary he fought to not read. “It helps. It would be like asking you to look through a window and tell me the scene. Standing too far back makes it difficult to see. Dirty smudges on the glass might distort or hide the details. If you’re close enough to touch, however, the picture becomes clearer… No, I can’t read your mind.”

I lifted a brow. “Then how did you do that just now?”

“I was guessing.”

The possibility still made my heart quicken, but we soon pulled into a gated area hidden in the forest of tall buildings. A single building sat guarded inside, mirroring the clean city that surrounded it. Its purpose confused me at first; business or religion? The formal finish at the bottom didn’t quite compliment the stained-glass window at the top. A mural had been painted of the angels at war like it had been a place of worship. A church? The barrier of iron bars gave it a sense of great importance. Or a warning.

Guards, more peacekeepers, ushered our car in. My back stiffened at the sound of the gates clanging shut behind us. I felt sick. The adrenaline finally wore from my body and let me feel the full extent of my fear, like dreams after the sensation of falling.

Jarmiel’s hand on my shoulder kept me grounded. “We’re here.”

That seemed obvious but I hadn’t made the effort to move. How long had we been parked? I stepped out after him and took a good look at my new “home.” Too cold and polished. Even the groomed greenery, planted in uniform lines, hurt my eyes from their vibrant leaves. The only personality came through the mural, and even then, you had to look up to see it.

Zak returned, dropping down on us from the sky. His wings sounded like sails blowing in the wind, which followed him in step and tousled my hair. “ Whoops . My bad.”

He chuckled while I fixed my face. “Welcome to EXO, Jess. Our largest facility,” he said, “Volhold is a popular place but unfortunately, that includes crime. After you’re officially a peacekeeper, you’ll get to explore several cities, depending on where your mission sends you.”

He made it sound like we were on vacation.

Peacekeepers greeted us, all of them darkly clad in their combat uniforms and with the same brass badge as Zak’s. I watched them like a hawk. Even if I’d arrived as one of them, their appearance triggered my need to flee. It shook me when they broke out of their stony character to make jokes with Zak.

“New recruit?” one of them asked and his lip twitched. I must’ve looked entirely out of my element, walking around with stiff legs and shifty eyes. He stared a moment too long and I crossed my arms, sensing his eyes traveling downward.

Not to make assumptions but that had been weird… right ? Was everyone going to be that brazen? It reminded me of Peter’s friends and how they’d greeted me. Never hostile exchanges but certainly bewildering.

Zak’s golden-brown head rotated to me, and he winked. “Yup. You remember your first day here. Be kind.”

They nodded and extended a polite enough welcome. I held my breath when I thought they would try shaking my hand, but thankfully, no one released them from their belts.

It came as no surprise that Zak was popular. I watched him get along with every single person we passed, reminding me a bit of Peter that time at his house party. People were just drawn to them. Although Peter was human and Zak had an otherworldly level of charisma.

All the angels were gorgeous but Zak stood out like a sunflower in a bed of roses…

Okay. So, he’s hot.

So was every other angel. What wasn’t there to like about a flawless, handsome face or a blindingly bright personality? The goldish brown crystals of his eyes promised more summer heat that my body suddenly craved. Beauty like that had to be dan gerous, like the pull from a siren’s song. I shouldn’t trust him right away.

As we traveled further from the entrance, my skin buzzed like we were passing through an unseen force field. Zak noticed my frazzled state. “Our security system can detect when abnormalities pass the barriers, big or small. Or invisible. Can’t be too careful.”

“Do people often break in?” I asked.

Did that mean Naomi could get me out?

His eyes narrowed for a split second like he heard the question I’d kept to myself. “Not often. Under normal circumstances, you’ll go as you please, so long as we don’t have you on a job. Since your circumstance is special , plan on sticking around. We need to earn each other’s trust first.”

Zak continued to stare at me over his shoulder but after a moment of me not budging, he smirked. Was he messing with me? How cheeky, for an angel.

A small courtyard connected the mural building to two smaller ones; one flat and rectangular, and the other made with bricks and reached three floors. They formed an uneven triangle with grass and cement path down the middle. Behind the squatty building was an extended path that led to a track. Freshly raked lines had been dragged through the dirt.

It wasn’t “jail” but still felt like a prison. Albeit a nice one. I took in as much as I could but Jarmiel and Zak kept a steady pace. Just to be sure that neither could actually read my mind, I shouted some choice profanities in my head and watched the back of their heads.

Nope. No jerking of alertness. Words in my head were safe.

Zak’s walk changed into something more loose and jovial. For someone who preferred flying over driving, I hadn’t ex pected him to feel content in a cage. I felt something off while watching him. Jealousy, maybe? How could he be so annoyingly happy all the time?

“Let’s get that pesky paperwork out of the way first,” Zak said, “We have an educational video for you too. Apologies ahead of time. Everyone has to watch it.``

He chose the main building for that, opening a pair of glass doors for Jarmiel and me to walk through. I would meet the commander of EXO. Or one of them. What would he, or she, be like? I imagined a godlike being ready to strike me down after sensing me in the hallway.

We ascended to the second floor on steel staircases, bumping into a few more faces Zak knew. They either halted completely like statues or inquired about our day. Even with Zak at my side, I could feel the peacekeepers studying me.

I knew what I looked like and still worried they’d notice something strange. My eyes were a shade of blue and green, not black like the demon’s of Hell. My dirty-red hair desperately needed a trim. The essence from my summer tan still clung to my skin. All human-like camouflage.

For a while, I thought Naomi hated how I looked or secretly hated me and did everything while holding a grudge. My appearance had been a recurring argument between my aunt and me. She discouraged anything flattering, especially when I worked in the shop. Nothing could hug my curves, of which I had much. No makeup beyond tinted balms, until I turned about fifteen and demanded mascara. I figured her choice in my bizarre style helped to disguise me, although I could argue that it had the opposite effect.

In a single day, I’d felt more eyes on me than I had in my lifetime. I wanted to crawl inside my shirt and hide, except that it actually fit me correctly and left little room for such cowardice.

Zak stopped at a door and knocked, but didn’t wait for a response before swinging it open. “Here we are. Your great leader… Me!”

He spun on his heel with his hands tight behind his back. I leaned around him to see if he was kidding. He wasn’t.

The walls were bare and hardly anything decorated his oak desk, save for a few loose papers, clips, and an old foam cup that had to be days old. I had a feeling he spent little time there.

“Wait, really?” I asked.

Zak held his pose a while longer. “What? What’s wrong?”

“I just thought it would’ve been Jarmiel…” I heard a snort from behind me and Zak’s smile deflated. “I-I just meant he seems older?”

Older, serious, and mature.

Jarmiel stepped around me. A new glow emitted from his face. “Perhaps, if you behaved accordingly, Zakiel, no one would question your authority.”

“She said you look old, ” Zak said, sounding like a sassy child, “Ancient. Wise.”

Jarmiel sifted through a filing cabinet behind the desk and removed a large folder. From within, he drew out a white sheet of paper with gold lettering. “Let’s get this over with. Bring up the video.”

“Right.” Zak swooped around his desk and retrieved a silver laptop from a drawer. He flipped it open without having to do much clicking on the keypad.

When he faced the screen at me, I prepared to be brainwashed as well as informed. As soon as the music started, I recognized it right away. The same video was released to the public ages ago to give everyone the rundown about the war.

We called it the Unhallowed War.

“How can a world drowning in so much darkness ever find peace?” The narrator begged the question as images of Terra fifty years ago faded in and out of sight. Everything went black when the voice revealed that our previous leaders had been guilty of blood rituals. “In exchange for their leadership positions and riches, the demons demanded more blood until they eventually harvested innocent souls. The pure…”

I averted my eyes to a blurry photo of a body left on a stone altar. They didn’t reveal a face, but my chest burned with hate and pity for the human I never would’ve known. Only demons could be so cruel to ask, but were humans any better to deliver..?

Understandably, the crimes caused an uprising, but by then, it was too late. The demon had enough power to break the barriers between realms and invade Terra.

“Then began the fall of human civilization…” The narrator kept a solemn tune. Much of the calamity was captured on video too. Earthquakes tore down buildings and temples across the world. Monsters escaped the shadowy depths and ravaged anyone and anything in sight. The greater beings, demons of higher regard, rode in on their chariots of blood or captured the skies with wings from their backs. It would’ve been a spectacle if not so terrifyingly horrid.

The video didn’t reveal anything too violent. Just enough to make a point. Demons devastated the human armies. Countries were seized and cities were demolished. Humans still had their numbers but they quickly dwindled.

“Hope was lost,” the narrator said, “Until, a spark was lit.”

The heroic act from Heaven. Angels heard the mortals cry for help and sent their soldiers to Terra. Their numbers didn’t match the Demons so they took to natural means to repopulate the earth with angel children. More soldiers. That began the tragic period of demons, and even humans, hunting the children.

“A brave group, later given the name Hallowed Saints, preserved as many angels as they could to stand against the demons. Years of chaos, starvation, enslavement, torture, and death were finally brought to an end.” The screen got so bright that I had to squint. Angels flew from the skies, descending on Hell’s leaders. Their angelic light broke through the dark that tainted the land. It still took a year to achieve victory.

The original video usually ended there but that time, the narrator introduced the supernaturals also involved in rescuing the world. “Vampires, werewolves, people of the sea and of the woods, fairies, and beings beyond human imagination also wanted demons banished from Terra.”

No one had believed that the supernaturals would side with the humans. Before the war, no one could even agree that they existed, labeling them as myths and legends. Human history didn’t exactly glow with records of peace and acceptance.

I leaned in closer, listening to the words I’d never heard before.

“Theodore Blaxill, leader of a militant group of vampires, single-handedly rescued an entire underground group of humans and angel children. He’s remembered for his thirst for justice.”

Why would they remove any of this from the original video? Wouldn’t it help humans appreciate supernaturals better? I was about to ask but then, an angel captured the screen. “The answer is yes. Terra can overcome and find peace again. New Peace.”

I noted the casual name-drop of the angel’s recovery move ment. The man’s black hair reached past his shoulders, not a single strand separating from the other. His complexion was bright like white sand on a beach, but with a groomed beard that framed his lips and chin. With one slight tilt of his head, I caught the glistening of jewels from his ebony eyes.

I don’t even know why I thought it, but I knew I never wanted to meet that man.

“The only way to achieve New Peace is to strive for the light as one. I am Uriah. Welcome to EXO,” he spoke and my ears tingled. The EXO logo of the angel wing inside a circle spun around in the middle of the screen. “Peacekeepers can be today’s Hal lowed Saints. Demons have lost the war but the threat of Hell is never truly gone. We will defend the souls of Terra forever—”

Zak slowly closed the laptop before Uriah could finish his last thoughts.

“Wasn’t that lovely?” He removed it from the table, leaving me to question why he’d made me watch it in the first place. I watched him fiddle with a few pens from a jar while Jarmiel slid the paper across his desk. My eyes could barely process any of the words I looked at.

“This contract is binding, Miss Winters,” Jarmiel said, “Two years with the title of peacekeeper, under the command of Zakiel, The Angel of Mercy. This includes the three-month training period until your rank is achieved.”

I felt like a heavy stone dropped into my stomach. An angel’s full title was rarely shared; something to do with their own humility, I think. It all made sense why Zak had recruited me. He’d shown me mercy.

Zak used his pointer finger to push a gold pen as close to me as he could before the thing could roll off. “Having second thoughts?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, filtering a few of my original, shrewd comments in my head. He knew perfectly well that I didn’t have other options. I picked up the cool metal with my, now sweating, palm. “Why me? You guys don’t know anything about me or if I’m even qualified for this.”

Zak finally lowered himself into his seat. “You mind if I have a moment with Jess?”

“Yes.” His colleague answered.

“Will you allow it anyway?” Zak asked.

Jarmiel didn’t bother. He took his leave. Zak leaned back in his chair, only to stand right back up again. He sidestepped around his desk, gliding like in a dance. “How do you feel towards humans, Jess?”

“Humans? They’re fine. I sort of envy them.”

“Really? They’re weak compared to someone like you.”

I flinched. “I don’t know. A simple life sounds like a peaceful one.”

“How do you feel about yourself then?”

I refrained from answering too hastily. There was distrust and loathing between demons and humans and for good reason. I didn’t love that I had demon blood, or the blood of anything that thrived off of the sufferings of others, in me. Aside from my irritating inability to touch others without causing them pain, I couldn’t understand what made me anything like them. “I wish I wasn’t what I am,” I said.

“You hate demons?”

“Don’t you?”

Zak rapped his fingers on his jawline but didn’t answer. “What about vampires?”

“They creep me out a little. I’m sure some are perfectly pleasant.”

My aunt and I had a hard time with vampires and shifters in the past. Their keen sense of smell along with my scent at tracted a lot of attention; yet another reason we chose a boring, human-populated city.

“And what about me?” Zak asked. He stopped his ceaseless wandering and planted both feet in my direction.

“You? You’re… I just don’t see you as someone I could relate with.” I gestured to his entire frame. Flawless. A beacon of light. Definitely not related to demons.

Zak found a spot on the wall to lean against. His luscious head of hair fanned against the white paint. “Angels relinquish half their power when they live on Terra. Did you know that? The same goes for demons. This seems to be the only realm where light and dark can survive at the same time, unlike heaven which is primarily light. I was excited to live in humanity. In imperfection. How else do we better understand something than to experience it?”

He paused. “I was ignorant at the time. I thought I was already perfect and above humans. After living another twenty-four mortal years, I realized that was never the case.”

Zak’s young face aged the more I heard him speak. The veil to his wisdom and pain lifted and I saw a spirit well beyond his years, which I guess was accurate.

He snapped back to his happy self. “I don’t think I’m better than anyone, just as I believe you’re not a lost cause. A demon with a heart like yours… that could change things.”

He finally said it out loud.

Demon .

I felt my brow pinch. “Change things how?”

He withheld his next words by pressing his lips together. It took another moment for him to release them. “I’d like to see the dawn of real peace, and that may look differently to so many species all living together. Your existence alone is enough to convince me it’s possible. I know we discussed demon magic but light comes from you too…”

“Light?” How could that be? Had that been what the golden sparks were in the dark cloud? My gaze dropped. I didn’t want to get my hopes up just to be crushed when I remained a monster. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either but we have time to figure it out,” he said, “Of course, achieving peace could take several lifetimes, but it can begin now. With you.”

“Is this the pep-talk you give all your recruits?”

Zak shook his head slightly. He returned to his desk where the contract still lay on display and set his fingers on the header. The gold pen had made a home in my palm but I finally lifted my hand to meet the parchment.

“I’m asking a lot of you to be here, but I promise to help you in return. You don’t have to live in fear of yourself.” He spoke so softly and out of character that I had to look up and see if it was still him. I felt the world slow under his gaze. “Can you trust me?” he asked.

“I can’t promise anything like peace…” I said, wanting to see if that would change his mind. “I’m not exactly a hero.”

“The best heroes are the ones who don’t want to be.”

“What does that mean?”

Zak shrugged. “The ones who don’t want the responsibility are the ones who understand the weight of it. I know you saved those kids from the party at the expense of exposing yourself or losing your own life. Give yourself more credit.”

I scoffed. I would do my best; my best to avoid jail or a death sentence.

The pen moved slowly across the line at the bottom of the page until my name was printed in swirls of black ink. Zak’s smile grew until it felt like we were sitting in proximity to the sun. “Welcome to EXO, Jess Winters.”