Ethereal

Phillip's POV

I hadn't made it through the whole day.

Before fifth period, I was mounting my bike and getting the hell out dodge. Nina wasn't in real danger with the fucker. He needed her and all that jazz.

On the way home, I pushed out how she'd been looking pale. Because for once I didn't want to care about Nina. Or my brother.

I wanted to care about myself.

If I'd stayed longer at school, with the douche sitting next to me on every class, I would've set the whole place on fire. Burned it to the ground.

The ride didn't do much for the anger brewing within. Snow crunched as I headed up the porch—my muscles stiffened. A laugh came from inside. It was soft, impossible for any human to catch.

It was Serena's.

I didn't know how I knew, because our time together hadn't been about giggles and chuckles. My gut twisted, though, and I just knew.Like knowing mixing Mentos with Diet Coke equaled geyser.

I moved from the hall into the parlor, catching Jade and Serena on the couch, watching TV.

I frowned.

"Cinderella?"

Serena twisted back, slower than the fifteen year old. The girl looked like a deer about to be plowed into.

"You're home," Serena stated. "I thought you said—"

"Couldn't stick around longer." I cut her off, knowing what time I said I'd be back. "How's it going Jade?"

Dealing with kids had never been my forte. Jade was three years younger, but her head seemed to be a lot younger. I should tread lightly.

The ebony haired girl nodded at me, sinking a bit deeper, causing the leather to squeak.

Serena put a hand on her shoulder, getting up, coming to stand in front of me. Sparing a last glance at Jade, she asked, "Did something happen?"

"Detention on Saturday," I filled in. Her mouth gap almost ripped a laugh out of me as I prowled into the kitchen, opening the yum-yum cabinet. "That was my day. How's yours going?"

"It's been okay. Why did you get detention?"

"Well," I got my hands on a box of glazed doughnuts. "My brother, whom I went to Hell for, is now a vessel for the Devil. The guy who tortured the crap out of me." My actual uncle. "He was sitting in my classes like nothing was wrong. Like he was Cameron."

Serena blinked at me.

"I turned the room into a greenhouse and left class without permission." I wrapped things up.

"You lost control of your ability?"

"No—"

"Yesterday you did. Why would today be any different? Sure you turned up the temperature, but it could've gotten out of hand. It could've caused major problems." She tucked a piece of straight hair away, facing me with crystal eyes.

I got a sudden rush to lash out. Say I deserved a fucking outlet for everything going on, everything that had happened since Christmas break. I stomped on the anger once she cocked her head, blue orbs shining sympathetic, concerned.

"I know you're in shock with what happened, with what you found out, but you can't let anger get the best of you. I know how it feels like. It feels really good to give in, for a minute or so, before you realize what you've done." Serena let out a tender sigh. "Your brother is in there, Phillip. You may not know what can happen to his soul—I do. Lucifer is older, immortal, if he wants he can destroy Cameron's soul. Turn him into someone different, someone—"

"Broken?"

She sucked in a breath. Clipped.

"Yes. Someone you wouldn't be able to recognize."

Serena was a Witch. I didn't know tons about Witches, but I knew they liked knowing every detail. Their race studied all races. From A to Z. They were curious little things, that's how she knew about Souls, I guessed.

So much for not caring.

"Is there any way you can break the seal and drag Lucifer out?"

Her head shook fast.

"Among Witches there are common spells. The ones Gabriel taught our ancestors—" My dad. "And the ones created by Witches. Any Witch can undo a common spell, depending on whether she or he is strong enough, but personal-made ones? No can do. Only the person who created it—or from their bloodline—can undo it."

"That seal is personal spell?"

"Yep."

Wasn't that just dandy.

"Cinderella?" I asked again, diverting conversation.

Serena crossed her arms as I took a bite of sugar-goodness. Her eyes squinted. I went for the best innocent puppy eyes.

"Have you been sleeping?"

Damn. Was the skin under my eyes that bruised?

"Sometimes," I fessed up, finding it difficult to lie. "Most times I dream about..."

Her cerulean gaze dipped and a weight fell on top of my hand. It was like someone punched me in the throat. I couldn't breathe.

Maybe I should punch myself. With a hammer.

This was boarding on ridiculous.

"I know," her voice was barely above a whisper, and once our gazes met, I remembered meeting Serena.

It'd been after going through the Portal with the Fallen, after Romeo staked a claim on me as the Empire's property and I got taken there—thrown into a cell with Golden cuffs. Of course I hadn't gone willingly. By the time I was locked up, I'd had a cut under my left eye, my chest ached like an elephant had used it as a trampoline and two of my left hand's fingers were broken.

Serena had been in the same cell.

She'd been there longer, her lips had been cracked. Until this day I hadn't seen a girl with such an ugly blemish on her neck—or anywhere else. Her clothes had caked blood, especially on the back.

Her eyes had been downright scared. And yet, she'd jumped from her corner, falling beside me. She'd helped me onto my back, so I could breathe.

Her fingers had weaved my hair away.

"It's okay," her voice had been raspy, sweet sounding, nonetheless. "What's your name? I'm Serena."

I'd blinked at her, wondering why the hell she was being nice.

"I'm... I'm Phillip."

Right off the bat, she'd said, "My favorite Disney Prince is Phillip." It had hurt like a bitch—laughing—but it'd been worth it. Because she'd smiled. "You're hurt pretty bad." She'd winced, sweeping a finger under my bad eye, wiping oozing blood. Then her hand had found my wrists, curling over one of the cuffs. "What are you?"

I'd figured what the hell? Shit couldn't get any deeper.

"Nephilim," her eyes had given a satisfying widen. "You don't... have cuffs. Are you human?"

Serena had shaken her pretty blond head, carrying on with caressing my cheek.

"I'm a Witch."

"Wow," I'd mumbled. "Never met a Witch before. Weren't you supposed to... be old and wrinkly?"

Her lips had twitched.

"Not unless we're eighty-somethings, mister. I never met one of you, either." Her finger had run along my jaw, relaxing my muscles. "If you weren't all banged up, I'd risk saying you're hot."

"Gee, thanks." I'd breathed. "How... aren't you doing some Witchy-mojo... to bust out?"

"You don't know a Witch's kryptonite? That's... cute. Really cute." Two minutes in, and the girl had made me blush. "See those? All the cells here have iron bars. When a Witch is surrounded by iron, her Magic is no good. We can't grasp the energy around us, something in the iron disrupts our connection to it."

"Oh,"

"Yeah," she'd grimaced. "I'm going to clean this. You could get a bad infection until they allow you to heal. Who knows how along that'll take. Hold still," she'd reached for a bowl of water, ripping a piece of my shirt. "You'll be okay, Phillip..."

A hand waved in front of me.

"Phillip? Earth station to Phillip?"

I blinked, coming out of memory-land. A very clean kept Serena was leaning on her hip, watching me.

"Sorry, I was somewhere else." Like a dumb idiot, I blurted, "I was thinking about the first time we met. You called me a Prince."

It could've been my overactive imagination, but I think I saw a flush.

"I did not," her brows slammed down. "I said Phillip was the name of my favorite—oh, stop." She crossed her arms as I kept grinning. "I can't believe you remember that."

"I remember every minute." We knew I wasn't just talking about our short-happy times. "Want a bite?"

Serena glanced at the doughnut. I edged it closer to her lips. She pursed them.

"No, thanks. You know, I should probably get going. The airport is still an hour away and I'm not sure what schedule—"

"The airport?" It hit me. "You're leaving."

Lips parting, she let out a silent yes. The doughnut nearly dropped from my hand.

"I came here to tell you about Lucifer—and I'm sorry for being too late—and to bring Jade to you. Nina told her where you lived. A town called Haven Hills. So, a few days after getting back on my feet, we looked it up and guess what? There aren't a lot of towns called Haven Hills—actually, there's only this one. I booked a flight from Vancouver and—"

I grabbed her wrist.

All the time she'd been babbling, she'd also been walking. Picking up her bag and keys to the rental sitting outside. Now, she'd flaunted down the porch and was two feet from the damn ride.

Somewhere along the way my precious fat-sugar combo had gotten lost.

"Serena—hold up." Her lips stopped running. Thank God. "We were just talking and suddenly you decide it's time to leave?"

"I did what I came here to do."

"You came all the way here to warn us about Lucifer and drop off Jade?" She nodded stiffly. "You live in Vancouver?"

She let out a groan, tugging her wrist.

"Hey," I held strong, gently. "Calm down. You don't have to leave."

"Oh, come on." Serena shook her arm. Very poor attempt. "Phillip, let go."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like being manhandled, that's why."

"No, that's not what I meant." I released her, though. Quickly moving my body in, I trapped her against the silver Kia. Her breath caught. "Why are you leaving like... like... you have somewhere else to go?"

Dick-move.

Anger piled up inside her eyes.

Do something, say something—

"It's true. You know it is. You told me about what they did do your family, there's nothing for you to go back to, Serena." Okay. Not exactly what I wanted to say. Serena's hands collided with my shoulders, I budged a step. "I'm not saying this to hurt you..."

"Could've fooled me." She snapped.

All the time we spent locked together I should know better. Better than to mention her family. Like she knew not to bring up mom and dad. Invisible rope knotted around my lungs and heart.

Just apologize, I chanted. But... I couldn't.

"Look," she shrugged, holding up her hands. "I can't help you. Your brother will be free when Lucifer wants him to be. It doesn't matter how powerful my lineage is—"

"I don't care about that," I swallowed, and my eyes dropped to her lips in the space of a heartbeat. "That's not why."

Shaking her head, Serena managed to turn her sweet, tall legs and body in the small space between us. Before her hand got on the car handle, I snatched it.

"Stay here," my heart jumped a beat. Christ. "Stay with me." Head turning, her eyes were wide as the open sky—it made me believe that after everything we'd been through in Hell, that we were out.

Like I was seeing the sky for the first time.

"Phillip..."

I let her hand slip free, breathing in.

"You know the girl from yesterday?"

She looked thrown by the change in subject. Had to say so was I.

"She's been possessed by a Succubus. It was my fault it happened, when I called the Fallen... the Demon got out. Nina doesn't want to kill her. So we need a Witch."

Her expression changed. She no longer reminded me of a trapped bird. Her face was much cooler.

"And I'm a Witch." I nodded. "You want my help pulling the thing out?"

"Please,"

Mouth lines softening, and forehead creases vanishing completely, Serena twisted around. Smiling timidly.

"I can't say no when you say please." Her fingers brushed mine, coming up my hand and arm, until she was cupping my face. "I was right."

"About what?" Surprise, surprise! My voice still worked.

"You are hot."

For eighteen years, I'd been on the receiving end of all kinds of compliments. At fourteen, a junior said she could eat me for desert. Even then, I hadn't batted an eyelash. But here I was, four years and much experience later, stone-still.

Because a girl called me hot.

Plenty of dumb here.

"Thank you," why was I feeling the urge to squeal like a girl? "So, does that mean you'll, hmm, stay?" Serena had on a growing grin.

"For now." For now was good. "We'll see what happens, okay?"

Her thumb swept over my cheekbone a final time.

"Okay—"

My body tensed live wire style.

There was this immense blast of Power. Humongous flare, gone too soon. It meant an Angel had arrived somewhere around here.

Not Raphael.

That Power explosion had a different signature to it. Like, Cam's was frenzied, mine was destructive, Raph's was crowding. This one... it was strong—thick. Deep-rooted?

"There's someone out there." I murmured, knowing Witches couldn't sense Power. "An Angel."

Her sweet nose scrunched.

"Friend of yours?"

"No," my hands balled up. "Raphael's the only Angel who comes here. And when he does, it's because shit's bad. For us."

***

Nina's POV

After keeping my remaining sanity in check, and doing my best not to bawl like a toddler every time I saw Cameron—Lucifer—I'd made it through the day.

Avoiding Dawn. And Zeke. And dancing around Vanessa's questions.

All in a day's work.

Imagine my surprise, when we're less than a mile away from home and this woman steps out of the woods, onto the road. Better yet, she doesn't move.

The red Camaro hadn't stopped on purpose. It was forced to. By an insane quake.

Being born and raised in Cali, I wasn't too spooked. Earthquakes weren't that uncommon.

It took Lucifer getting out of the car for me to jump out, too. And now, I was really hating the idea.

The woman wasn't suicidal. She wasn't even human.

There was Power riding the air and a tattoo symbol marked her throat.

The Triquetra.

It was the mark every Angel carried. Unless they became a human or a Fallen.

The Angel was beautiful, as per usual. Her skin was latte-toned, her hair—black coal—fell in ringlets down her shoulders, shining with a blue tint. Her face had the authority of a powerful queen.

I couldn't tell which color were her eyes, but I knew she was eying Lucifer like she wanted to eat him for breakfast. Slice him open, rip his insides and have a good meal.

Holy Camoly.

"When Michael got word about what you'd done he couldn't believe it. He thought there was no way around that Witch's curse. I always told him, 'there's always a loophole'." Her voice was a tangle of feathers, soft. But her tone was aggressive-aggressive. "I was right."

I saw his lips curl.

"Did you come here to congratulate me, Uriel? Roll out the welcome mat?"

She smirked coldly, "Not quite." Leaves began rustling impatiently all around us. The strangest thing? There wasn't a single breeze. "I came here to finish what I started half a century ago."

I stumbled. It wasn't from clumsiness either, the ground was shaking again. I didn't understand why, until a branch came at me.

"I don't care what Michael says. You made a mistake taking that Nephilim's body." I was sent back by the growing uproar underneath our feet. "Gabriel's treason will be wiped out along with you. It's a fitting end." Uriel finished.

I faltered, dropping low, watching Lucifer make use of Cameron's Power, feeling it break out as he sped from the incredibly fast growing branch's way.

We were in the middle of the road. A tree branch had nearly tore our heads off. It'd been the size of my arm moments ago, now, it was swinging left and right like a giant whip! Soon, more of the trees branches grew anaconda-size, smacking against the road.

Like they were alive.

I was still on the snow-covered ground once a tree tentacle's shadow fell over me. A shriek made it out. For no good reason.

It never touched me.

Peeking open my eyes, I hurried to my feet. The whip-like-branch had caught fire. It was burning to cinders fast.

A hand grabbed my arm causing me to jump.

"Nina," Phillip whirled me around, tugging me close to him. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I..." I looked over my shoulder. The Angel wasn't in the same place and Lucifer was nowhere. "There's an Angel here."

"I sensed it. What does he want?"

"It's a she. Uriel." I bit my lip. "I think she wants to kill him." Phillip cursed under his breath. "What?"

"Uriel is an Archangel, Nina. I never met her, but she's one of them."

Oh no.

I'd bet a dozen baby kittens on how Lucifer normally didn't have a problem writing enemies off, but he was in Cam's body. Using Cam's Power. Gabriel had been an Archangel, but his Power had gotten split between the twins.

My stomach lurched.

A body hurtled through the air, hitting center on a tree trunk.

It was Uriel.

Lucifer walked from the forest's edge, wiping a blood trail off his brow.

Dear Lord.

Another shake up had me holding on to Phillip. One of his arm wrapped me up, and the other was braced on Cameron's Chevrolet.

We saw Uriel get up. Bones snapped back into place.

My heart squeezed tight as asphalt cracked, stone and dirt flew everywhere as thick, old-looking roots emerged. I half expected mole-men to bust out. The roots were sneaky fast, latching onto Lucifer's ankles and pulling—hard.

I bit back a scream when he fell on his back, was lifted up and slammed back down—the road cracked. White snow mixed with a pinkish color. Blood—his head was bleeding.

"She's going to kill him," I breathed, sounding somewhere very far up. Like I was floating and watching the scene unfold. "She's going to kill him. She'll kill... She'll kill both of them."

Uriel was the kind of fighter who didn't like her hands dirty. She relied on Power instead of fighting hand-to-hand.

She looked like a badass chic leaning on a pine tree, feasting on her chaotic mess.

Like the she'd already won.

"Phillip..." I started, because Cameron's body wasn't moving. But then... Then I stopped.

Because the sky turned the color of smoke, and the air tasted like an electric wiring gone bad.

Thunder opened the quickly drawing clouds. It lit the road, woods and everything else for the next mile.

It roared. A live beast.

"...Raphael calls her The Reaper..." I caught Phillip's whisper in my ear.

A forked bolt clawed its way from the sky.