Pure Soul Book 2
11

11. Azael

Walking back into my house I stop short as I see a shimmering purple-blue light coming from upstairs. This can only mean one thing; someone has just used a portal to come into my home. I don’t hesitate as I take the steps two at a time, getting to the landing in no time flat. The light is coming from the room I use for surveillance purposes. Cautiously I open the door before throwing it wide open. Asmodeus, Caim, Lix Tetrax, Ornias, and Belial are standing in front of me. “Moon above, you lot trying to kill me?” I ask exasperated. They all chuckle in response causing me to scrunch my nose up. “Asses,” I mutter as I walk into the room. “For real though,” I flop on the chair near the window before I continue, “what has you popping in here so late in the evening?”

Asmodeus crosses his arms over his chest as he peers at me; “we’ve stopped by to see how you are progressing with your assignment. Belial said you seem very distracted of late...”

My eyes shift to Belial’s so I can glare at her. “And why would you say such an asinine thing, hmm?”

She smirks at me, and I clench my fists in response. “All I said was I didn’t feel like you were focused on the mission.” She shrugs her shoulders as she finishes speaking.

I roll my eyes, “it’s all a ruse, I’m playing a part and I must be playing it quite well if I gave Belial that impression.” I turn my head back to Asmodeus as I finish my sentence.

“Alright son, no need for hostilities. Since I have you all here, I’d like to hold a brief meeting and go over some information that Lucifer has come across.” Asmodeus begins, “but first let’s go down to the living room that way we may all have a seat.” My teammates and I all nod our heads in agreement, and I push myself up from the chair to lead the way down to the living room. Once we are all comfortably seated, Asmodeus informs us that the leaders of the search team, i.e., Cass’s team, Zadkiel and Baraqiel had a meeting with the archangel Michael and that’s when it dawns on me as to why the rest of them had the day off. He tells us that the angels have been able to narrow down the search for the Astatine element and that the Mashhit group would be moving to South Carolina tomorrow. Shit! How am I going to explain to Cassiel why I’m in the same town as her yet again, I question myself. Wait, Asmodeus said that they are moving tomorrow, and I haven’t seen any portals come to life in the angels’ house so maybe Cass doesn’t know yet. And then I knew what I could do.

After the meeting wrapped up, everyone left but Belial and I released a heavy sigh as I knew what I was about to tell her wasn’t going to leave her in a pleasant state. “Belial, I need you to leave too. I don’t want to be with anyone while on this mission. My soul’s focus is to get and keep Cassiel loyal to me and from the sound of it, they will replace the element soon and I need her to be able to trust me enough to hand it over to me, okay.” She squints her eyes at me as though trying to read the pages of a book. The wall I have built around me though is impenetrable and I stay my ground as I stare her in the eyes. Her squint turns into a glare, “you’re lying. There’s something else going on with you.” Palm facing me she waves it around in a circle. “Your aura is different; the darkness seems lighter somehow.” Belial tilts her head to one side, arms crossed over her chest as she tries to determine what’s changed about me.

“Nothing’s changed with me,” I growl out and then run a hand through my hair causing a small portion to fall into my right eye. “But you need to leave, okay.” Giving me one more menacing glare, Belial turns on her foot and storms up the steps to go draw a portal open. After I see the glow of the purple-blue light diminish from upstairs I pull my cell phone from out of my back pocket and start a text to Cassiel. This is the only way to explain why I’m in the same town as her. I’ve got some terrible news and not sure how I should tell so I guess I’ll just be straight forward with you. I was just informed by my job that I am going to be on the first plane to South Carolina for a new job tomorrow morning. Promise me you’ll keep in touch with me because I meant what I said earlier. I truly have never felt this way about anyone like I have with you. Satisfied with the message I hit send and then place the phone on the charger for the night. Since it is after eleven, I decided to go to bed. I will wake up early and pack up my stuff before using a portal to get to South Carolina.

Having been given the coordinates to the house I’ll be residing in, I sling a bag over each shoulder and with my duffle slung across my chest from one shoulder to the opposite side of my waist, I step into the light of the portal which looks more purple than blue when inside of it. A weightless feeling takes over making me feel like I’m floating for a moment before the portal pushes me through and I replace myself in a new house suddenly doused in sweat. It’s so hot in the room I’m standing in that it feels like I’m suffocating. I quickly make my way over to the cooling unit and flip the switch to turn it on.

Within a few minutes I can breathe better, and I look around the room taking in my surroundings. I walk into the kitchen/dining area and see a sliding glass door. As I go to open it, I can hear the crashing of waves and become excited. I can’t believe they secured a house on the beach! Freaking sweet. The house is one level and since I popped into the living room and I just saw the kitchen area, I go down the short hallway and see it’s a 2-bedroom house. The first room I would consider it to be a guest room and directly across from this room is a decently sized bathroom. After peeking into the bathroom, I move onto the other room, the master bedroom. Connected to that is a second bathroom. Quite a nice abode if I do say so myself. Dropping the bags off in the bedroom, I make my way back to the living room area. It’s barely five in the morning so I really had nothing to do for the next few hours. Taking my phone out of my pocket I light the screen up to see if I have any unread messages. A sadness has taken hold of me because I haven’t received a response from Cassiel.

Placing the phone on the coffee table in front of me as I sit on the soft brown leather couch I sigh. I lean against the cushion and prop my feet up on the coffee table as well. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose between my first finger and thumb. I want nothing more than to call Cassiel just so I can hear her voice. I wonder why she hasn’t texted me or called me yet? As the thoughts roll through my head, I manage to drift off to sleep. Dreaming isn’t something that often occurs with me, so I am surprised by the dream that assaults my mind. I’m not sure if it’s a foretelling of the future to come or not but it was horrendous. I think I would refer to the dream as a nightmare because I woke up breathing hard and feeling nauseous. I watched a Fallen run a sword straight through Cassiel’s heart! And somehow, I knew I was the cause of the blade sliding through her chest.

No longer tired I stand from the couch picking up my phone as I do. My heart pounds like a jackhammer in my chest as I see Cassiel’s name on the screen. Quickly I swipe the screen open and pull up the text message.

Aza, I’m so, so sorry I didn’t send you a text sooner. I honestly just saw it. I can’t believe you’re going to be in South Carolina because that’s where we’re headed today. As soon as I replace out exactly what town we’re going to I’ll send you a message. It would be amazing if we were in the same area again. Well, we’re getting ready to leave right now so I’ll text you later. She signed off with a heart emoji and if my smile grew any wider, I think I’d have jaw damage.

Quickly I respond back: It’s okay. I’m situated near an area called Myrtle Beach. Near a Boardwalk. If I can replace the name of it, I’ll let you know. The best part is my job got me a house on the beach. Thinking of going for a swim this evening. If you’re close by, maybe you can join me...

I see the bubbles pop up indicating she is writing to me. Oh, that sounds lovely, I’ve never been to the ocean before. Okay, as soon as we get situated, I will send you a message! My heart pounds at the thought of hanging out with her on the beach. I have to stop myself from telling her that she is once again my neighbor, this time our homes are right next to each other. I smile excitedly and walk back down the hallway and into the guest room so that I can watch through the window for when they arrive. Grabbing my surveillance equipment, I get it set up along the window and then get myself comfortable in a chair.

Three hours later, or there about I see the shimmering essence of the portal appear, and my heart rate triples. Deciding it’s about time to have a smoke, I go out to the front porch and light up a cigarette. There’s a small brick wall that is around the ledge of the front porch and I take a seat on it. Unfortunately, the angel that comes strolling out the front door isn’t Cassiel but the other female. She spots me right away and I act surprised to see her, giving her a little wave with just the tips of my fingers. Thankfully she doesn’t respond to me but does give me a glare to end all glares. I scrunch my nose, giving her a smirk and then laugh as she turns on her heel and goes back into their house.

I decide to go back in myself to retrieve my cell phone. Removing it from the charger I light the screen up and see that I’ve received a message from Cass.