The Virtue Of My Dark Angel, Dark Angels of the Apocalypse Book 3

Chapter Five: Two Sides

Bethany..

Over Barbatos’ shoulder, Bethany saw what was contained in the lighting strike that hit the tree overhead.

If she thought Barbatos looked ordinary, then this thing looked absolutely monstrous.

Spikes stuck from its skin like the lightning itself had become flesh, and its eyes…

Bethany knew she would see those eyes in her nightmares.

Worse, as it met her gaze, she felt as though it glared right through her. And then dismissed her, as if she were completely unimportant, yet somehow in a way that poisoned her soul.

Like it searched her out, found her, and hated her, for reasons she couldn’t fathom. What had she ever done to this thing?

“Bar-Barbatos!” Bethany could barely get the name out through her teeth, they were clenched so tight, and when it did slip past her lips, a surge of some unfamiliar thing sang through her blood. Barbatos groaned.

“Don’t summon me, I’m right here, damnit!” Barbatos growled, yanking her from the ground and tossing her over his shoulder. Was that what that was? She wondered dazedly as Ginger barked and Bethany dug her fingers into the leathers Barbatos wore. “Shut him up, he’ll draw attention to us.” Barbatos snapped, and then barked something at Ginger she didn’t understand. Ginger bared his teeth and snarled a reply, but Bethany shushed him, looking upwards in terror.

“What is it?” She asked breathlessly. “A Demon? It’s a Demon, right?” She couldn’t hold the position she was in long, twisted slightly to the side, trying to see above her to the sky, braced using Barbatos’s slick leathers for support. The rain certainly hadn’t helped any. Or maybe it was her sweaty palms. And Barbatos’ shoulder jarring into her ribs made it even harder..

“Not only Demons to fear out here, girl.” Barbatos replied, and suddenly dropped to all fours. His body elongated under her, and the leathers he wore melded into his skin, sprouting fur. Bethany couldn’t suppress her yelp of fear, which made Ginger react with an angry snapping bark of his own. Before Bethany could do more than look for him, Barbatos had slung her around his neck, so that she practically lay across his shoulders with her head hanging by one ear and her legs draped over by his other. She felt like a side of meat. Then Barbatos’ size rapidly expanded as he bolted through the trees, and she was glad for the position, because she barely had time to grab hold and blink before the forest around her became a blur. She clung as tightly to Barbatos, or the thing that had been him, as she could, and tried her hardest not to move too much in case she should fall. She had a unique view of the ground beside one of his muscular shoulders as his hands? Paws? Claws? Ate away at it, and it was simply pulled out from under them like they were in some sort of dizzying fall instead of traveling along a flat surface. If she turned her head, she could watch the trees rush past so quickly that her stomach rejected every bite of food she’d had earlier. She felt the nauseous pressure at the back of her throat and slammed her eyes shut, trying to breathe deeply and evenly.

But that only made it worse, all that movement without sight.

The contents of her stomach came spilling out over Barbatos’ shoulder and front.

The Barbatos thing made what could only be described as an outraged yowl, and Bethany groaned between breathless gasps of hysterical laughter.

“I’m not enjoying it myself, you nightmare monstrosity.” Bethany complained, then fell silent as talking made her want to keep vomiting. Something overhead cracked loudly and the smell of ozone was accompanied by a fallen tree limb. “I think it’s caught up to us.” Bethany murmured, then was forced to concentrate on not losing more contents of her stomach when Barbatos increased his speed yet again.

Flashes of fur out of the corner of Bethany’s eye let her know Ginger was struggling to keep up. She wished she could do something, but a bolt of lightning hit the ground within inches of them, completely blinding Bethany, and causing a boom so loud, Bethany was sure her eardrums burst. Something rained down on her. It struck with the force of hair, and she could only assume it was dirt, pebbles, and bits of growth from the forest floor. It stung like Hell and she yelped. She couldn’t hear the noise Barbatos made, but the vibration of his shoulders reminded her of when Ginger growled.

“I’m ok, I just got pelted with rocks!” Bethany yelled, in case he was worried she’d been struck. What was she thinking? It almost seemed like he hated her.

“I don’t hate you.” Snarled Barbatos, and that’s how Bethany found out that not only was her hearing coming back, but that Barbatos had some special mind-reading ability.

“f**k’s sake, I can’t read minds either. Look, it’s difficult to talk in this form, give it a rest until later, you’re distracting me.” Barbatos snapped.

Bethany now had more questions than she did before, but she pinched her lips together and bit them in an effort to keep the questions in. Barbatos growled louder, but kept running, and Bethany’s vision fought to beat back the dark spots blotting it out.

Barbatos..

He couldn’t see around her! She was taking up every part of his fractured sight, and the strikes were getting closer and faster! That last one nearly hit them! Plus, his head felt like it was splitting in two as the two aspects of his nature dueled with each other.

How was he supposed to get them out of his, if all he could see was her?!

Too late, he saw the lightning heading straight for him. It would hit them both the way it was currently aimed. Desperately, he turned, trying to get Bethany out of the line of fire. Shielding her with his body, he dropped her to the ground, ensuring they no longer touched so that the full force of the electricity was absorbed by him. If he could time this right, he could hold onto it all, make sure it didn’t jump.. Right into his side, searing into his ribs, it burned to the bone, and he screamed in pain and rage. No one got the upper hand over him! No one!

There was a reason his name was spoken with whispers and fear!

But as his body fell, and he tried to angle it to be sure he didn’t land on the girl, his Bethany, he had to admit to himself a fatal flaw.

Perhaps he’d been relying on the gift of the Virtue for too long.

And now it had caught up with him.

Bethany..

There was still too much of a mess of dark shadow over her vision to see what was really going on around her, and maybe that’s what saved her.

Barbatos collapsed across her body. She could feel his fur prickling her uncovered skin, his weight making it hard to breathe. She froze at the sound of footsteps approaching above them.

“How many times must we have this argument, brother?” Sneered a voice. Barbatos groaned, and Bethany tried to struggle to free herself. What if he needed help? Sharp claws dug into her leg and she sucked in a shallow breath. It was all the air she could get with him lying on top of her.

“That gift doesn’t belong to you. The status of Virtue doesn’t belong to you! You stole that gift from our Home, and I want it back!” Barked the voice.

“Not.. my home..” Panted Barbatos, there was a strange whistling sound to his breaths, like the tea kettles Bethany had seen in the colonies. “No.. anymore.. You saw to that.” Barbatos stirred weakly, and Bethany again tried to move, trying to help him, but the claws dug into her leg even deeper, and she bit her lip to stop herself from whining.

“Why brother, I can’t believe you’d say such a thing.” One of the clearer spots of Bethany’s vision was suddenly blotted out by a darker shadow, and she realized something huge was squatting by her head. “Aw, did I kill your pet? You shouldn’t have run from me. You know it always gets messy.” Tsked the voice.

“f**k you.” Spat Barbatos, and if Bethany wasn’t busy pretending to be dead so she wouldn’t draw any more attention to herself, her expression would have definitely registered shock, and then probably amusement. But mostly shock. The shadowy being hunching over them tsked again.

“Such a mouth on you. Hunting these baser creatures did have a lasting impact. One that led to your downfall.” The word was stressed as if it had more than one meaning, and if Bethany understood or followed the conversation in any way, then the type of Demon she was dealing with.. Was one of the originals. One of the ‘big boys’. A Fallen.

Bethany’s head swam, and she thought for a moment she might pass out.

She’d been playing a game of chicken with a freaking Fallen.

Her breath truly did catch in her throat, resisting any attempts to expel it or draw in fresh air. She lost all track of the conversation around her until Barbatos’ shrill scream tore through the air. It went on for what felt like forever, and truly did sound like an injured animal.

Even though Bethany couldn’t clearly see what was happening around the streaks and blobs of shadows on her vision, she could tell Barbatos was being tortured, somehow, someway.

“I told you.. It’s not within my power.. To give up..” Barbatos finally panted when it was over. There was an outraged roar and then Barbatos’ body was ripped straight off of her.

Barbatos..

All he could think before the trees began impacting with his spine, was that he hoped Bethany and Drew remained safe.

The fact that he was going to die, well, that was a given. None of the fractured pieces of his vision wanted to share any other more positive outcome with him. There were only variations in the length of time he could hold off his death, and even those were not encouraging.

And then his shattered vision filled with her again.

Past, present, future-she was all he could see. He struggled, trying to free himself from the embrace of the Angelic Being holding him down. He was tossed to the ground and held there, a foot across his neck. Electricity built in the air around him, he could feel his hair rising, the fur of his borrowed Form standing on end. This was it.. This was how he died.. But instead of the fatal arc of electricity pouring unceasingly into his body like he expected, something impacted the Angelic Being above him from behind. His head jerked forward with a snarl, but over it, Barbatos could hear Bethany’s litany of “Please be the right one, please be the right one..” And then a muffled squeal as the limb she’d held shattered around the Being above Barbatos.

Still, it gave him all the time he needed. Because everyone had forgotten about the third member traveling with Barbatos and Bethany.

“Now, you ridiculous Beast! If you wish to save her!” Barbatos ground out, and from behind Bethany came a stretch of reddish fur, leaping straight for the Angelic Being turning on Bethany. Without thought, strong jaws latched around nearly translucent flesh that sparked and fizzled. The smell of burnt fur surrounded them, and Bethany called Ginger’s name, but the wolf refused to let go. Barbatos swung himself around and kicked off with all the power he possessed, driving the Being to the ground. He had to pry the wolf off, but in the next instant, his own blade was at the Being’s throat.

“You’ve lost this round. Yield, or I will kill you this time.” Barbatos snarled, but then his voice became pained. “Don’t make me kill you.. ‘Ziel. We used to be friends..”

“You know what your problem is, Barbatos?” Hissed the creature beneath him. “You’re too proud.” Lightning arced outward from the Being, and Barbatos felt his whole body twitch and jump sporadically. The smell of burnt hair was accompanied by Bethany’s gasped scream. He felt more than saw the moment his old friend traveled the path of the lightning to escape.

Moments later, a tree limb whistled by, within inches of his face. He barely had the energy to throw himself to the side with a barked “Hey!”

“Oh! Oh my God! Is he gone? My vision’s still royally f****d up. Ginger? Ginger honey?” The girl, Bethany, turned a circle, then sank to the ground with the tree limb in hand. “I can’t.. Stupid eyesight!” She cursed to herself.

Meanwhile, Barbatos lay, breath heaving, on the ground a few feet away.

He desperately needed to heal. He could practically feel the vitality flowing from the girl.

“You.. human..” He rasped, but she continued to mutter to herself, ignoring him. “Bethany!” He barked, and her head swung around, eyes wide, expression full of surprise.

“You know my name..” She whispered. Barbatos blinked, eyelids closing for too long as exhaustion overtook him.

“Of course I know your name.” He muttered with exasperation.

“You always just call me ‘girl’ or ‘human'. I can’t believe.. Have you known my name the whole time?” Bethany was babbling before he’d even finished. The next blink nearly sent him into the land of dreams, but he couldn’t do that. Not to Drew, not to Bethany. Not even to himself, what little care for himself he still had. Too many dangers here. Too many enemies. No protection.

“Come here, girl.” His hand barely made it off the ground, and something in his tone must have scared Bethany, because she wasted no time getting to his side.

Bethany..

She could still barely see around the weird leftover blobs from the lightning strike, but Barbatos’ weak whisper worried her.

Worse, a sense of urgency, almost fear, suddenly assaulted her, roiling at her and hitting her smack in the middle of the chest. Then she heard it, like an echo carried on a breeze. A trickle of words, not very coherent, skipping things, danger for her, somebody named Drew. Barbatos. The pure panic had her moving as if tugged by an invisible thread, her feet tripping over themselves, falling to her knees beside what she suddenly knew was Barbatos’ injured body, even if she couldn’t see it well. Her hands reached out, patting at the air anxiously.

“I don’t know what to do.” She whimpered, and a limp hand gripped her wrist.

“Your..” Mark. Show me the Mark. Only the first word was spoken, but Bethany heard Barbatos’ voice. That same echo on a breeze carried his words to her as if they came from everywhere and nowhere.

“How are you doing that?” Bethany wailed as she yanked at her clothes, baring her shoulder. Barbatos’ hand had fallen back to the ground, and his eyes were closed again. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she did. But how was she supposed to see anything? For that matter, how did she know his eyes were closed? She couldn’t see, and how was he supposed to see with his eyes closed?

The Mark.. our bond is forming.. I stopped fighting it.. Barbatos’ whispers seemed to surround her. I’m not really speaking. You’re just hearing me.. In the only way you know how.

“That makes no sense.” Griped Bethany, reaching out and patting up his chest to try to find his face. She followed his chest with both hands, seeking in both directions, only realizing she was heading the wrong way with her right hand when he grunted and a wordless exclamation sounded in her..brain? at the same time. Blushing, she reoriented herself and rolled on her side in front of Barbatos. “IS this good? Can you see it?” Bethany pulled her hair out of the way and wiggled slightly, trying to lift her shoulders off the ground to bring her Mark a little closer to eye-level.

Then it was like a snake struck her. Or maybe that she’d been stung by a thousand bees.

Bethany yelped, but the sensation faded swiftly. She felt Barbatos’ lips move against her skin and it folded into a soft mellow draw that seemed to tug not only at the skin on her shoulder, but all the way to her clit.

Bethany was swiftly moaning and rocking herself backwards against Barbatos, who grabbed her hip with a gasp to still her.

He was hard. Hard hard. And it excited her. The power she had over a Demon.

Sorry for the pain, I missed the Mark the first time. Barbatos muttered in her mind. He seemed to be almost embarrassed. I tried to compensate with pleasure, but I might have overdone it slightly. He continued.

“I don’t mind.” Bethany mumbled, shoving herself backwards against him. Her rear brushed his erection again, which practically throbbed in his leather breeches. “I really don’t mind.” Bethany gasped, as Barbatos grabbed her again, his hand wrapping around her hip to grip her mons. This time it was her body throbbing. So deeply it was almost painful. She just wanted him to touch her clit. Why wouldn’t he move his fingers just a little and touch it?

Deciding she wasn’t waiting any more for him, Bethany unwrapped her fingers from the arm Barbatos had clamped around her shoulders, determined to do things for herself. But she didn’t get far before his hand snapped out and grabbed her wrist.

“Mm-uhh.” He uttered against her shoulder, and Bethany wanted to scream in protest. As she felt the rage bubble up, Barbatos groaned, trapping her hand against her chest, which just enraged her more. There was a sudden hard spike of something, like all her rage became light and raced towards her shoulder, and then just.. Disappeared.. Bethany felt deflated, empty. Or maybe, drained.

Barbatos gulped and gasped, nearly choking behind her. Oh that’s good, the words were half spoken and half that strange form of reverberation she could hear, but not with her ears. I.. Oh.. Suddenly, Barbatos was the one grinding up against her, and then he just froze completely, his fingers mid-way towards rubbing her clit from outside her clothes. She struggled, absolutely done with it all, when his voice rang out clear as a bell, startling her.

“You’re injured!” He barked. Bethany found herself being manhandled, her body flipped over and her face cupped between two warm, calloused hands. She couldn’t see well enough to tell what was going on, but she felt his gaze. Somehow, as he searched her face, then patted her down, looking for other injuries, she knew exactly where he was looking. She grunted as he found a few small wounds, but her eyes were the most concerning thing, the residual afterimage of the lightning strike still burned into her retinas. Calloused hands soon cupped her face again, and Barbatos began muttering to himself.

“No good at taking care of humans.. Can't’ believe I didn’t see this. Why didn’t I see?” He gripped her shoulder again, strong fingers digging painfully into the Mark while his other hand tilted her face this way and that. Gradually, Bethany noticed the afterimage of the lightning fading, and Barbatos’ disgruntled face came into view. He looked terrible.

“I don’t have a choice.” He sighed. “I’m going to have to take some time to heal.” He tossed a look around, especially above them, almost angrily. “But not here.”

With a groan that sounded almost painful itself, Barbatos dragged himself up from the ground, and pulled her up with him.

“I need.. My bow..” He reached around himself, searching blankly, and Bethany suddenly understood how very injured he truly was. Without a word, she patted his chest so he’d release her, and began searching for it, not realizing how dizzy she was until she had tottered away from him. But luckily she found the thing swiftly, and bet to retrieve it, nearly falling headfirst when the dizziness swamped her all at once.

Breathing hard, she dropped into a crouch, only to discover Barbatos mirroring her actions with a worried expression.

“Took a lot out of you. And I need more. Be careful. You’re sustaining us both right now.” Bethany had never heard him be anything but gruff and rude. This gentler voice he was using disturbed her in ways she didn’t understand, and she shuddered.

“You’re not dying on me, are you?” She retorted as she lifted his bow with a grunt. It was surprisingly heavy. He hefted it around with such ease, but the thing had to be at least half her weight and nearly her height. Barbatos stood as well with a grimace.

“Not this time, apparently.” He suppressed another groan of pain, but Bethany could still see how he winced and how gingerly he moved.

“That.. thing.. Really beat it out of you, huh?” She murmured. Bethany couldn’t stop herself when he stumbled a step, she placed her shoulder under his arm, wedging herself under his shoulder, determined to help support his weight.

But again, she was surprised by the weight Barbatos seemed to heft around.

He looked so average, but his own body seemed strangely dense and heavy to her. She found herself releasing a quick huff and bracing herself on the bow.

“Damn. You’re not light.” She grumbled.

“Hey, don’t lean on it like that!” Snapped Barbatos, making a sudden lunge for the bow, which upset them both and sent them toppling to the ground.

“Well that helped,” Bethany snarked between her panting breaths. Barbatos himself breathed heavily for a few moments, then yawned so widely his jaw actually cracked, and Bethany thought his face might split in two. Sharp canines stuck out from his straight rows of pointed teeth that Bethany once again found herself comparing to some sort of wild cat.

“Forget it. I can’t get back up again. We’ll stay here then.. An..” The rest of whatever Barbatos had planned to say was lost in drowsy mumbles. Bethany immediately panicked. Was this normal Demon behavior? She was always led to believe they were invincible, not so.. Normal and..vulnerable.

“Hey! I thought you said it was dangerous here! Hey!” Bethany jerked and wiggled in his strong grip, but Barbatos wasn’t releasing the bow, or her. A soft yip grabbed her attention, and she looked up to see Ginger stretching out on his belly, slowly crawling towards them. There was an expression she wasn’t sure she could identify on the dog’s face and in his body language, but all she cared about was the fact that he was unharmed.

“Ginger!” Bethany exhaled in relief, and he bolted towards her, only to lick her face twice and turn promptly and pace away a few steps to sit with his back to them, body posture alert, like he was scouting for danger. “Well I’m glad you’re ok too.” Bethany grumbled, and Ginger’s tail wagged, sweeping along the forest floor, but his head only turned to follow some noise in the forest. He studiously ignored her, as if he was taking his job incredibly seriously, giving her permission to rest, or do what she had to. Barbatos mumbled something behind Bethany, pulling her into the curve of his body and wrapping himself more tightly around her. She was shocked at first, but then relaxed. She fit like she belonged, and when his mouth finally came to rest on her Mark, and that familiar surge of desire shot through her, she leaned into it, hardly aware of the world fading out around them while Barbatos pulled them from time and space.