‹ Prequel: Ethereal

Purgatorial

Chapter 1 - Birds In A Gilded Cage

"So, partners?" Cain asked, his purple eyes shimmering with glee.

With a flare of raw Power, the ceiling lamps short circuited in the entire hallways. Glass shattered raining down. On reflex, I lifted both arms to shield myself, but firm fingers grasped my forearm, whirling me. Next thing I knew, I was being carried somewhere at neck breaking speed. I tasted electricity hovering Cameron as he ran. The roads were nothing but blurs, mashed colors and blobs. My mind willed us to get far from where Cain was, until the threat about Dawn's life hit me straight in the chest.

I yelled Cam's name, when that didn't get him to stop, I did my best to punch his shoulder. Once didn't work. I tried again. When Cameron hit the brakes I saw stars doing a little dance around me, for a while, at least. He steadied me, claiming my face between his hands. They were hot and soft... Blinking for focus, I braced my palms on his chest.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, glaring straight into his pitfall gaze.

"What do you think? Getting us the hell out of here." He bit on edge. He pointed the way we'd come. "That guy back there isn't... right. There's something wrong with him. Besides the obvious fact of him being a psychopath." It was then I noticed where we were. We were standing no more than five feet from Haven Hills' boarders. Seriously, the sign saying 'you are now leaving Haven Hills, West Virginia' was firmly planted behind us.

Enraged, I pushed at him.

"Yes, he's a psychopath. So your first instinct is to run and leave our friends to die? What the freak, Cam? You heard what he said about Dawn—you saw how she was acting! Like a... a... lovesick puppy." The thought of Dawn moving on from Zeke like he never existed was bad. Watching some sick weirdo play with her like a puppet, stripping her of free will, was horrifying.

Seizing a wrist, Cameron kept me in place. Anger flipped through his face along with annoyance.

"If I have to pick between you and Dawn, my choice is very clear. I'll gladly let Dawn die if it means you're safe and far away from that lunatic."

"Cameron!"

"Don't act like you wouldn't make the same choice."

I closed my eyes breathing sharply, an attempt at staying calm.

"This isn't a matter of life and death..."

"Did you inhale toxic fumes at the chem lab? A guy with supernatural abilities just confessed to being a psychopath. He's not Lucifer, Nina. He doesn't want our help finding some girl he loves. There are no redeeming qualities because the dude's incapable of emotion."

"I know the definition of psychopath thanks to him. You don't need to spell it out."

"No, apparently I do. Because you're asking me to let you stay here with a psycho."

I tugged violently and, thanks to surprise, his fingers slipped.

"No. I'm asking you not to let anyone else die for us. My parents died so Helena—Cain—" I threw up my hands. "Could drag me into Hell. So they could use me to find Etna. Rory died to save Phillip. Zeke died because of a Demon Phillip let out. Phillip almost spent the rest of his life in Hell. No one else should die or sacrifice themselves because of me. Or for you." I edged my fingers around the leather lapels. "We're together in this. It's okay for us to sacrifice for each other, but it's not okay to let others do it. Not if that means their unhappiness or worse, their deaths."

A brief surge of understanding swam in those dark pupils. It was simple to see Cameron didn't want anyone to suffer or die for him. He didn't want to lose what little people he considered friends, no matter how annoyed Cam got at Dawn sometimes—okay a lot of times—I knew he liked her and was just as disturbed as I was with what Cain pulled.

"I'm getting you out of here."

"Cam—"

"Let me finish. I'm getting you somewhere safe and then I'm coming back. I'll save whoever you want. Dawn, Vanessa, the lunch lady—doesn't matter. But only after you're safe." I was on the verge of stomping my foot like a six year old when he opened his mouth again. His big mouth. "Not to relive old fights, but you can't go up against him."

Oh no he didn't.

"Are you kidding me?" I yelled. "You promised no matter what happened we were in this together. You promised yesterday."

"I remember every word and detail from last night," he assured with a brittle glare. "And we would be together if you weren't so hell bent on sticking around, playing the martyr hero."

"She's my friend. This is our home."

Cameron snapped forward, grabbing my forearm. He began pulling me to the boarder.

"Stop it! Cameron... Stop!" I ordered in a fit of rage.

He stopped inches from crossing over the town's limits. With a closed off expression I hadn't seen in a while, Cam whispered, "She's my friend, too. But you're the love of my life. Don't ask me to choose her over you, Nina."

The frigid grip on my forearm loosened giving my blood room to flow. The mask Cam so carefully pieced together started cracking and through those tiny fissures I could see anger, fear, desire and despair. It all made sense once I got past Dawn's issue.

Cain said he was the reason the twins' parents were dead. He'd ordered the attack. Said attack had been the catalyst for Cam's ability to emerge, unfortunately, his emotions had been too wild and, as an accident, Cam had killed his father. Cain was now the reason why he'd lost everything. A family. A childhood. His innocence.

Phillip wasn't here. He couldn't lose Phill to Cain. But I was. He could easily lose me.

He was on the verge of panic and I was yelling at him to let me stay, because I didn't care about dying as long as my friends didn't. I hadn't stopped to see, to feel, what Cam was experiencing. I hadn't stopped to rationalize how scared he was, because he too realized Cain couldn't have been more than fifteen when he tore Cam's family apart.

If he caused such big damage at such a young age, what could he do ten years later?

"I didn't say those things to hurt you." I whispered, eyes softening.

Cam's lashes lowered.

"Let me take you somewhere safe. Fairmont isn't far. It'll take me minutes to get you there and then I'll run back here, round up Dawn and V to do whatever you want me to do..."

"Okay." The word dropped soundlessly between us.
Relief flourished inside Cameron. He slid his hand down my arm, a gesture that caused me to shiver, and twined his fingers with my sweaty ones. I hid a grimace. Next, he took a step forward and his face collided—or so it seemed—with an invisible obstacle. I looked to the front, seeing absolutely nothing.

Releasing my hand, Cam stringed several F-bombs.

"Cam?" he beat his fist angrily on what seemed like an invisible barrier. Fear gripped me as a cold, unforgiving hand.

We'd seen something like this before. When we'd been held captives in the Wastelands, a witch named Lyra, had cast a spell so Cameron couldn't leave a room.

"Damn it to hell..." he hissed under his breath.

An obnoxious laugh came from the other side of the force field. My eyes popped. I involuntarily took a step back.

"Looks like someone cast a boundary spell over Haven Hills to keep you from leaving." Cain said, mouth open, he looked appalled. "Who would do such a thing?"

His mouth slowly formed an O as if he'd reached a hard thought conclusion.

"Oh wait. Me." He sputtered a laugh. "Now, no one with Power can leave. Except for me. They can get in, but once they're in..." Cain held up his right hand horizontally and his left vertically, he lowered the latter slowly until both palms were together. Like he'd just put a lid on a box. "They stay trapped like you are now. Little mice caught in a trap."

Cain grinned sinisterly.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want from us?" I couldn't believe that just this morning things seemed a little less deadly and frightening. Of course we couldn't have that. Our lives had to be constant injections of adrenaline.

He sighed with exasperation, "I told you. I want to know where to find Etna and don't bother lying again. I know you know who she is. What she can do. You played a hand in freeing her in Devil's Cove."

So much for playing the denial card.

"We're not telling you a goddamn thing." Cam spat standing right beside me. "You can crawl back to wherever it was you came from."

Cain frowned, twisting his lips to the left.

"I put a whole spell over Haven Hills. Alone. I didn't need any other Witch." He nodded to a glinting quartz crystal next to his feet. "I just needed these here crystals to anchor the boundary spell." I was guessing this was Cain's way to back slap Cameron into seeing how powerful he was.

Wait.

"You cast a spell?"

"I'm beginning to think you're deaf."

I ignored the jab.

"I felt you using Power. You... can't have Magic and Power..." I turned to look at Cam, who looked as stricken. "Right?"

"Whoops." Cain shrugged, hands shoved deep into his khaki shorts. "Didn't I mention I was a true hybrid? Kind of a freak."

"It suits the rest of your personality."

"Ooh, right in the feels." He boosted, mocking Cam.

A muscle in Cam's mouth jumped. Cain smiled widely—crazed.

"I get that you people have morals or whatever, so... I'll give you three days. If by midnight on the third day you still won't tell me where Etna is I'll start killing off Haven Hills' population."

"You set foot back in here and I'll rip you limb from limb."

"What about your friend? You're welcome to kill her because that's the only way she'll stop obeying me."

I swear Cameron faltered a step, his lips parted a tiny bit. Someone had just rendered Cameron Leale speechless. Armageddon was upon us.

"Oh, by the way," Cain balanced his body back and forth like a happy six-year old. "A few hours back I unleashed three Cambions inside Haven Hills' bubble. Yep. They're not domesticated like the ones at the Quarter. They're wild. They like hunting. Biting." He made the word pop. His violet eyes flashing, holding onto Cam's laughingly. "The last Nephilim died about twenty years ago in Hell. To them you're a fat juicy cow. Too bad you guys can't leave town, huh?"

Cameron charged in an angry fit at the invisible wall keeping us locked. He was bounced backward from the impact.

"Sayonara." He bid, saluting me with two fingers, then... It was like he faded out.

***

We went back to school for his car, parked in the lot. A deputy was chatting with teachers and students were leaving, racing to their own vehicles. The double doors to Julian Ivory were wide open. The inside was pitch black, not a tiny light was lit. If you squinted, you could see little glass shards littering the floor. Looked like Cameron's Power outage hadn't been limited to the halls, it had spread through the school's electrical system, short circuiting and shattering lamps everywhere. School was out and from what Cam's extensive hearing caught, they were blaming it on old wiring.

We climbed into his Chevrolet and got stuck in line behind several students who wanted to get away.

"School's going to be out for a couple of days. I heard they have to replace the wiring."

"In the whole building?" he nodded. A whistle whiskered past my lips. "You fried those bad boys."

His fingers continuously tightened and slacked on the wheel as he stared ahead.

"I was angry." I looked at him pointedly. We both knew the use of past tense was incorrect. "All right. I was angrier." That was also hard to believe.

"What now?"

"I don't know. You got your wish. We're not leaving, we're together. Hurray."

"Can you try to think straight? Cain said three Cambions are here—in Haven Hills. Thanks to the barrier keeping people with Power inside, they're trapped here with us." I breathed deeply once he didn't speak. "The house is safe from Demons, not from Cambions. You're not safe there." I added the last part in a softer tone, reaching for his knee.

Cameron's eyes slunk to where my thumb was, rubbing circles across the jean-clad knee. Finally heaving a breath, Cam relaxed somewhat, leaning his head on the seat's headrest.

"I... There's somewhere we can go." Surprised, I cocked my head. "Remember when you found out what we were? I told you there used to be a church where my family's property is." I nodded, remembering. "The house me and my family lived in before wasn't protected from unholy beings. It was a lot like your house. My mother's family was wealthy and my dad didn't have a problem getting money either, so, they bought the old church grounds and ordered the house's construction. We were supposed to move there... But before it was finished, the attack happened." A jaw muscle ticked away. I squeezed his knee. "My father liked plans. He always had a backup."

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't just buy one property. He bought two."

I blinked stupidly, "Two?" Cam nodded, finally driving forward as traffic cleared. "You mean you have like... a backup safe house? On holy ground?"

"It's on holy ground." I waited for an elaboration. Cam sighed, "It's not actually a house, though. It's a two-level barn. A chapel was part of it until got too old and was demolished."

I was starting to wish Cameron had gotten his father's planning-ahead quality. Mostly he charged in blind. And wow. A barn built on holy ground. I wouldn't be surprised if Cameron and Phill also owned a beach house somewhere.

"We'll have to go there." He didn't sound too happy about it. I gave him a questioning look. Any place where baddies couldn't get in was good for me. "The place has furniture, appliances, bathroom, tap water and electricity—but no one has been there since last year."

"Last year?"

"Every year I hire people to clean it, you know, keep the place tidy just in case of an emergency."

"Which means it's going to be filthy?" I paled at the images of cobwebs and spiders along walls and ceilings.

"Pretty much." His nose wrinkled at the thought. "Nothing a little Nephilim speed can't handle." I honestly let go of a long breath. Cam chuckled lightly, chancing a glimpse at me. "See? Speed's good when you want to get chores done."

I rolled my eyes, silently agreeing.

"We'll swing home to grab clothes, hygiene stuff, some food and whatever else we can think of. We do it fast and head out to the barn."

I toyed with the amber star sitting against my chest. We were going to be okay. We were going to pick up our things, move into a barn built on holy ground—where no damn Cambion could walk into—and we were going to be safe.

Inside those four walls. What about outside them? A tiny voice whispered, causing shudders to march between my shoulders. What about Cain? He'd used Power. But he'd... also used Magic? I didn't think Cameron knew what he was. A true hybrid? Cameron was a hybrid. A product of an Angel with a human. A Cambion was one, too, coming from a Fallen with a human—which gave them the very nasty ability of infecting Nephilims with one bite—but that was it. I didn't think there were more hybrids.

I tossed my backpack into the backseat.

"What are we going to do about Dawn?"

Cameron gave a shrug.

"I'm no expert on love potions. Or any sort of potion." Big help there. "I don't think there's anything in the library about potions. Maybe that book you got about plants has something?"

"Maybe. But do you think I should call V? To keep an eye on her, make sure Cain stirs clear of her during our "thinking time"?"

The Camaro picked up speed as we veered into the lone road leading to their house.

"Honestly? I think you shouldn't get Vanessa involved. Cain's nuts. If he wants to get close to Dawn, V standing up to him won't end pretty. It'll probably end with her in ashes."

I hugged my elbows close. Cameron was right. He didn't need to paint such a vivid picture, though. I meant what I'd told Phillip before going through the portal, I couldn't lose anyone else. My worry worm sense went off as Cam parked by the mansion's porch. From outside, you could see the broken library window from when Cameron's soul had been transferred into Lucifer's body. Cam hadn't been able to handle the amount of Power and it blew up as a storm. A female Angel had also been tossed through it, breaking a mahogany table.

Accidents happened.

I grabbed hold of Cam's arm before his hand latched onto the door handle.

"What if the Cambions find us while we're inside—what if they're already here? Or if..." Cam leaned close, touching his lush lips to my lip corner.

"They're not inside. Heightened senses, remember?" I blushed a crimson color. "They won't sneak up on us, little bird. If they do find us, they'll toy first. That's how hunters treat prey. Just chill."

"After you called us prey...?" I muttered and he smiled—it was a wee strained on the eyes, but it was better than all the vibrant anger and hurt swimming in them earlier.

"Trust me." He said, this time kissing me fully on the lips.

A hand reached between us, I wrapped fingers behind his neck, tilting closer. Cameron kisses were demanding, ardent and made me feel like I was jumping in a bathtub filled with bubbling lava. One of his hands swiftly vanished from my face, sliding down my blue sweater. His palm scorched my stomach, slipping under. Once I made a little sound, similar to those from our time under the meteor shower, Cam eased his mouth away. His totally kissable lips were darker and bruised from us kissing, my breathing was heavy and Cameron's finger still tracing around my bellybutton wasn't helping things.

He snatched away the hand only to wrap his arm around my waist. My head ended up resting on a broad shoulder. Cam stroke the short tawny hair, undoing tangles. It was then that I saw it—the great scheme.

We were trapped in Haven Hills with a psychopath who used both Power and Magic. We were under two threats. One, Cambions were lurking somewhere, looking for us—especially Cam. Secondly, Cain gave three days to come up with Etna's location or he'd start killing off people. Starting with loved ones, no doubt.

Worst of all... It sunk in Helena hadn't been responsible for my family's death, directly, at leas. It was Cain. He'd murdered them. All because he wanted me to find Etna. A girl who'd apparently turned into a nut basket.

And for what? What could he possibly want with her? Aside from redeeming Fallens?

"We'll figure this out." Cam assured, rubbing my back. Like he felt my doubts.
♠ ♠ ♠
Okay, first chapter for the fourth and last story done! I didn't write from who's POV it was, but it's pretty obvious it's Nina's. This last one will probably be only from her POV, like Nocturnal, so that's why.
I hope you guys enjoy this and let me know what you think of Cain and what he might be?