Purgatorial

Nina's POV

The next days after Romeo dumped Lucas' on us were strange. I think the why was self-explanatory. Lucas was human. No longer mighty powerful and indestructible. On the first night, I'd stayed with him, sitting in the arm chair, hoping he'd wake up. Serena hadn't been able to do much for him that night, she didn't have herbs to make healing potions and the spells for healing took talismans she didn't own. He'd stayed pretty still throughout the night, though, wheezing and groaning whenever he spasmed—jolting his injured shoulder—for whatever reason. Cameron hadn't bothered with telling to sleep, he knew I couldn't, not that night. He'd sneered while leaning on the door frame, sighing when I hadn't gotten up and left Lucas' side. So, he'd strolled in and laid down on the floor, where he'd been sleeping since Phillip turned.

"You'll get cold," I'd commented. The only thing he had was a pillow under his head.

"If you didn't insist on being here and came to bed with me, I wouldn't be sleeping on the floor." He'd deadpanned. I'd smiled and he'd blinked. "What?"

"Thanks for not leaving me alone and... for respecting my choices."

Cameron's shoulder had hiked in a shrug like it wasn't a big deal.

"Human or not, sick or not, I won't leave you alone with him." I'd stretched down and ran my fingers through his hair, he'd shut his eyes and sighed. "Nina?"

"Yes, darling?" I'd whispered.

"This is going to sound... strange. Coming from me." I'd tilted my head, running my fingertips along the edges of his face, watching him relax. "I don't want to be alone, either." I'd been speechless for a few seconds, startled by how small and sincere he'd been. "I haven't been lying to you. I'm okay, but... I feel different."

"Different how?"

"Lighter?" he'd opened his eyes and they'd been warm black suns. "More powerful. But it's a little confusing why. In the Cube... I told you the hex made me live through things... Some happened in real life. Some It conjured from fears and nightmares I had. But the one It put me through the most was... me killing my Dad."

"Cameron..."

"It's alright. Strangely. I don't feel... guilty. I feel sad, but I don't hate myself. I relived it so many times. I watched it over and over. I don't know how many times I felt it—that I deserved to die. But... the more I watched, the more the hex taunted me, the more I fought against what It said. I hadn't hated my Dad. I'd... loved him. I know that, I've always known that. But since that day I didn't think I deserved to think I'd loved him or that I'd been worthy of how he'd... how he'd loved me." Cam had clenched his jaw, meeting my eyes. "One time, though, I stopped and thought about what Cain said he did to his family. How he murdered them all and gloats about it. He did it for fun. Then I thought about what he told me once, about us being the same? And in that moment, I just thought: I didn't kill my father because I didn't like him or because I wanted to, it was accident."

My lips had parted at the words. I'd never heard say that. Phillip and I had said it, even others at some point. An accident. But never Cameron. I'd clamped my mouth shut and given him a proud, wobbly smile. He didn't blame himself anymore. Oh, God.

"Oh, sweetie, that's wonderful. I'm... I'm so happy you finally see it, not just because we say it, but because you see it's true for yourself." I'd said softly, cupping his cheek and stroking it. "Wait. What does this have to do with you not wanting to be alone?"

Cam had hesitated before deciding he'd come too far not to tell me. He'd been right, this was unusual for him. Normally, we had to pry things out of him.

"Because it doesn't feel like I have to be keep away from people anymore. So... I don't want to." That had done me in. One silent tear had tracked down my face. He'd sat up, reaching to wipe it with a soft smile before kissing me tenderly. "You're such a crybaby sometimes. One minute you're all fierce, breaking up a fight before it even starts, the next you're all..."

"Shut up. If you ruin this moment I swear I'm going to kick you somewhere we'll both regret." I'd smiled, looping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer, as much as the chair's arm allowed us. "I'm so happy, darling, I'm so very happy." The Cube hadn't broken him. It had healed a piece of his soul. That's how strong he was, stronger than I'd believed.

That had been four nights back and no matter how much I wanted to smile at Cameron while jumping onto his back, I couldn't. Because, well, that would be embarrassing and Lucas had woken up three nights ago, after Serena bought stuff and began feeding him potion with very strange colors and even worse smells. But they'd worked. In a couple of hours his fever had lowered, a few hours later, he'd opened his eyes for the first. He'd been out of it. Confused. Which he was still a little. Who could blame him? The guy'd been born as an Angel, an immortal being with Power. Now he was weak to human deceases. Not to mention his awful temperament about well... everything. But mostly about being human. Phillip kept away. Cam hung around when I was in the room, so, yeah. Cameron hadn't changed when it came to other matters, he stabbed at Lucas' with nasty comments. The first few times his now human uncle had pretty much ignored him as if he were a pesky fly, but once Cam bit out something about him being Powerless and it being Etna's fault, he'd thrown the plate of food I'd gotten for him and thrown it at Cameron's head. He'd dodged, of course. Thankfully, he'd also dodged the knife. So, Lucas' health was improving quickly thanks to Serena and his aim was still perfect.

Serena and Phillip weren't acting like randy teenagers or anything, but they were closer. Phillip didn't have a problem staying in a room with her anymore. He kept his distance and avoided too much eye contact, like a nervous child who had behaved badly and was still uneasy about the consequences. They spoke, though. At least he answered when she talked to him. She smiled at him a lot, too. I really thought Serena didn't blame him.

Cameron was cooking pasta. I was pretty much salivating next to him. I was so hungry, it felt like I hadn't eaten in two days.

"Stop drooling on my food."

"Wha—I'm not drooling anywhere!"

"Yeah, right. Go eat something else until this is finished. Jell-O or something." Cam shooed me sternly.

I squinted at him, "There is no Jell-O. Someone ate the last one this morning."

"Oh?"

"It was you!" I yelled at his fake clueless face. A grin took up his face, "You jerk! I'm starving. You ate my Jell-O..." I mourned. Not that Jell-O would've taken away my hunger. This morning I'd slept in a little later than usual and when I'd woken up there hadn't been any cereal left, any cookies, any Jell-O. I'd eaten a pear, like four hours ago.

Serena blushed. She'd finished the cereal.

"I'll go grocery shopping after lunch. I'll get whatever you want. I need to get more herbs, too." She added the last part as an afterthought. Yes! Food! My stomach growled loudly... I winced massaging it. It wanted food right now.

Cam glared down the distance separating us.

"Sit down before you faint and hit your head."

"You're so romantic."

"I'm cooking for you."

"You're cooking for everyone."

"Everyone else is lazy. Or, you know, only knows how to cook bacon." My eye twitched a little. The nerve. "Go sit down and in ten minutes you'll eat."

Sighing, I dropped my hands from the counter, sitting myself in front of Serena at the dining table. Phillip was sitting at the table's end. He was scrolling on his phone. Looking very focused.

"What are you doing, Phillip?" I asked resting my head on my hand.

Phillip's blue eyes blinked before lifting and meeting mine.

"I'm looking for reports on strange murders. Trying to figure out which are Cain's fault..." Hmm. Yeah, the promise Cam made to Phillip. Cameron confessed to me what he'd promised Phillip the night after Lucas got dropped on our doorstep. I couldn't say I liked it, but I didn't think we had a choice in staying out of whatever Cain was planning. "There have been a lot of deaths. Even in such a big city it's becoming exponentially weird. Doesn't help that they're grisly ones, like: two missing girls were found today. Their bodies were dismembered and drained of all blood." Huh, my stomach revolted at the forming image. "Either Cain drained these two or Vampires did and cut them up to cover their tracks."

Whatever I was going to say died when another person entered my old kitchen. Lucas was wearing one of Cameron's largest hoodies and a pair of jeans. His boots had been the only thing I'd managed to wipe blood from. Even haggard from not eating the past days, Lucas still was the most handsome, otherworldly man I'd seen. Starting with his awestriking carven features' and ending with full coral hued lips. His throat still had a purplish bruise, since we didn't have any Burdock sap, I'd used it all on Serena's injuries. Cam had popped his uncle's shoulder back into place when he'd been knocked out and, in his feverish hell, Lucas hadn't made a sound. Maybe his pain tolerance was still high.

It was his first time coming down. The three of us were looking at him, Cam kept working. I heard him reach for plates.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, hoping to break the ice.

"Fine," the word sounded like a death sentence, filled with coiled anger and a hint of… It couldn't be. Even human as he was now, Lucas was too old, too proud, too used to being a powerful immortal to show something akin to fear.

Cameron chose that minute to whirl around, facing the table and Lucas.

"Good. Call your lapdog to come pick you up." I almost face-palmed myself. Cameron set a plate full of pasta in front of me and I sorta forgot why I wanted to scold him. "We're not your babysitters."

"Cam—" he gave me a fork. Hmm. Not what I'd been about to ask for. But... So hungry. No, food could wait. I set down the fork and pinched the back of Cameron's knee. He gave me a discrete dirty glare. "Don't listen to him. Sit down and eat."

Whether to spite Cameron or not, Lucas plastered a sly smile sitting beside Serena. Cam gritted his teeth at me and I knew how hard this was for him. He really didn't enjoy Lucas' presence after all he'd done to Phillip and how he'd used his body, keeping us away for months. But he was trying. For me. And because I'd told him Lucifer might have precious info on that strange book I'd dreamed of. My gut burned when I thought of the book.

Cameron placed Lucas' plate down with a sinister friendly smile, "Here, I didn't have time to poison it."

I huffed, digging into my food without waiting for another argument. Serena lifted a shoulder just before picking up her own silverware. I smiled internally. Serena was as nice and kind as she was strict and bossy. I liked her. We were eating in silence and the air was heavy with Cam's constant anger towards Lucas, but at least no one was yelling or throwing plates. Or chairs.

"Hey!" Phillip hissed suddenly, almost dropping his phone into the untouched pasta Cam had placed in front of him.

"Put that down and eat."

"I... don't need to eat. Remember?"

Cameron didn't like that answer one bit. Vanessa was a Vampire and she ate food like we did. She didn't need to, but she enjoyed it.

"Eat the damn food."

"I already ate." Phillip leaned back into the chair. He was talking about blood. Cameron had been getting him a steady supply. From where? I wasn't sure and hadn't been too worried over it. "Nina can have my plate. She almost fainted after someone ate her Jell-O like an inconsiderate jerk."

Huh, well... I choked on my food. Don't dare drag me into your mood swing, Phillip. I reached for my glass of orange juice, helping the food down.

"When Vampires turn, their appetite takes time to come back. The first few weeks all smells and tastes, other than blood, are bland to them. That's why he doesn't want to eat, it'll just taste like sand or gravel." Lucas said easily like some shrine of knowledge. Cameron's eyes flickered from an annoyed Phill to his uncle. "What? You didn't know that? I thought your friend was a Vampire. Oh, I forget. You didn't actually help with her transition."

Choosing to ignore Lucas' taunt, Cameron turned to his brother, skeptical. Phillip and Cam had one of those "mental talks". Whatever Cameron understood softened his eyes and he went back to devouring his food. Phillip's eyes fell on his cellphone like glue. He was determined to find Cain any way he could. Lucas ate slowly, lost in his thoughts. His face looked scary. Even without any Power he looked imposing. When lunch was done, Serena left to buy groceries and herbs. I cleaned up and Cameron dragged Phillip somewhere upstairs. Probably to talk. Lucas was still sitting at the table, watching me.

"Why did you help me?" I put the last dish away in the cupboard. Slowly, I turned around to look at the former Devil, at the former Morningstar. "I didn't help you with Cameron. I refused to. I said..."

"I know what you said." I cut him off. "I helped you because no one else would. Cameron wanted..." I stopped myself from saying 'dead'. They were still family, I wouldn't widen the gap. Though, not sure if it was possible. And Lucas didn't care, did he? "He wanted you gone. I helped because I saw what Cain did, I felt your pain and I know you like Etna knows you. I saw what she saw when she reached for your soul. That's how... I know your real name." I crossed my arms, eyes half lidded. "Why did you tell her your true name? If it has that much power over you, why did you...?"

"Because otherwise, it would've been a lie. I have never lied to her. Omitted, yes. Let her think what she wanted, yes. But I never lied." It was true. "I don't need your pity."

Taken aback by the sudden twist, I scoffed.

"You're a piece of work, you know that? I didn't help you out of pity. I'm hoping to get some answers out of you. Unless Cain stole your memories along with your Power? In which case, you're useless and more than welcome to leave." He wanted to play rough? I could do that.

I watched him get up and walk along the kitchen floor soundlessly, his boots didn't make a squeak. Looked like his stealth was an acquired skill, just like his slender touch and wicked smirk. I cocked my face away from Lucas' fingers, fixing him with an angry look.

"I might be a bag of meat now, little star, but I'm not defenseless." His other hand withdrew an Azure Dagger from underneath the hoodie and in a swift motion it was pressing under my chin, the ice-cold blade teasing my skin. "Wondering where I got this?" he read the question in my eyes, keeping me against the counter. "I hid this one under a creaking floorboard in the attic, just after Etna and I came to live here. I retrieved it yesterday. None of you heard me, did you? It just goes to show how not useless I am, even as a lowly mortal with no Power."

I breathed a little deeper and my breath caught when I felt the sharpness dig a little further into my neck. Lucas gave me one last meaningful glance, dropping the Dagger, dragging it lightly across breakable skin and tracing the tip along my clavicle, before he hid the deadly weapon from sight.

"I wouldn't hurt you," he started as a matter of fact, as if he'd offered me a chocolate gelato instead of pressing a knife to my throat. "You've done too much for me. I make a habit of keeping those who help me alive. Haven't I done so for centuries with your family? There's a Veil covering the entire city of San Diego for that purpose, little one. I just wanted you to understand you shouldn't underestimate anyone, especially someone whose been killing, torturing, conquering and destroying for as long as I have."

"You lost to Cain," I said very quietly, legs a little shaky. "Twice."

"You're scared." He stated plain as day. Monotonous. Dismissing the fact how rage had lit at the name Cain.

"No," I whispered. "I'm… I'm terrified." There. I'd said it. Ever since that horrible premonition I'd been suffocated by fear. Seeing what Cain did to Lucas only made it fester. "You lost to him—he took your Power. He… He's… freaking twenty-five-years old and he beat you. And he's got some crazy-ass view on the world and—"

"He beat me the first time because I didn't believe you or Cameron. He took Etna because I was too stupid and didn't force her to stay here—hidden. Safe. Being as powerful as I am—" he winced, pursing his lips like he'd tasted bitter pain. "As I was, it made me blind to threats. Etna only intensifies that. She makes me predictable, she makes me have a blind spot. And that's why I lost the second time. Because she knew my name. When Fallens are summoned they can't leave the circle. The one who summoned them is the only one who can release them. Cain summoned me. He stepped into the circle, but didn't break it. I couldn't kill him, I'd be stuck inside that summoning circle."

"Are you saying you lost on purpose?"

"No," he hissed quietly. "I'm saying we fought when he came in. Maybe you don't know this, but the more Power someone has, the harder it is to use Power on that individual. It's why Cameron couldn't hit me with his electricity the day we met, in the throne room?" Yes, I remembered. Lucas had absorbed Cam's attack like a sponge. But I'd chalked that up to them both having electrokenises. "He started using Magic and well, Magic trumps Power if the user's that strong. It trumped mine." I gripped the marble edge tighter. He was only fueling my fear. "But that's not why you're so afraid of him. Not only," I averted my eyes, groaning. "What were you going to ask me?"

What? Oh, yeah. My question.

"I wanted to ask you about a book. I saw it in… in a dream. It was bound in leather and the letters on the cover were golden, it—it was Enochian, I think." Lucas had an unimpressed expression. Like what I'd described was all regular… "It caught fire. In my dream—I was cut—and when my blood fell on the pages it caught fire. Does that narrow it down?"

Lucas' posture went from slumped to straight, as an iron rod, in a finger's snap.

"Yeah—yeah, that narrows it done a lot. When did you dream about the Sacred Word?"

"The what?"

"It's what it translates into—the Sacred Word. When did you dream about it?"

"The night Romeo brought you. Why? It's important, isn't it? My Power said so. It said I needed the book or… or he'd win. I think my Power was talking about Cain because afterwards I saw… it showed me something that looked a lot like a post-apocalypse." Acting on impulse, I grabbed the dark hoodie's front. Lucas had to be stunned because he didn't jerk back or move a single facial muscle. "Do you know where the book is, Lucas?"

His lips parted at his name. The backdoor in the kitchen swung open and Romeo stepped inside, removing aviator sunglasses. The Cambion glanced between us with a curious tilt of his head. Hurriedly, my hands dropped, my fingers flexing as I took a step back. That must've looked very strange.

"You look like you're feeling better."

Lucas didn't grin or smile as Romeo was forcing himself to do. Instead, he asked—no, he whispered in a tone that chilled your bones, "Where did you go, Romeo?"

Grinding his teeth, dissolving the up-and-up smile, Romeo threw the sunglasses carelessly on the table. I heard the boys coming down the stairs, soon filling into the kitchen.

"I had to find someone."

"Someone I know?" Lucifer said, eyes narrowed, agitated. Romeo looked like he wanted to bite every person in the room and run off. "You don't need to say who. I've already felt him."

I frowned at Cameron and Phillip who gave a small shake of heads, saying 'no' they hadn't felt anyone with Power. They couldn't, even if someone used. Not while we were under the Veil and as Lucas reminded me earlier, it stretched over all San Diego.

"I had to. The compound at the French Quarter's been hit. But I had to leave because you went rogue on me—now you're… human! I can't deal with everything at once."

"So you fetched Michael?"

"Who else was I going to call? Azazel? He betrayed us—he betrayed you. And he isn't the only one who's gone over to Cain's side. The people I can trust are still scattered, either in Hell or on Earth. The ones in Hell are hiding—Cain's got the Demons all riled up. Word is, they're trying to break into Domain, obsessed with eating every bit of non-demonic flesh. Not to mention the Freeloaders living in the Caves or the damned Basilisks. About a hundred people have tried crossing both the lake and Caves and ended up becoming chow-food for them."

"Can't say I'm too broken up about it." Phillip stated bashfully.

"Yeah? Some were humans and Psychics, fang-boy." Romeo shot. "I had to find an Angel—Michael had to know what's been happening. What's happened to—"

I covered my mouth, trapping a yelp. The Azure Dagger's blade buried itself five inches into the wooden threshold, about an inch from Romeo's right ear. Absently, his finger tracked his ear shell, pulling back once it slid over the nick. He looked at the blood on his fingertip, rubbing it. Lucifer strolled up to his adopted son, stood face to face and while retrieving the Dagger, grey eyes stared intently.

"You can thank Michael for my good aim."

Romeo grabbed Lucas' arm when he tried going around, outside. Lucas must've thrown a deadly glare because Romeo's fingers unwrapped faster than a cobra going for the kill.

"He's not alone,"

"Fantastic," Lucas strapped the Dagger under the hoodie. "It's your lucky day, Nina. My brother knows everything about that book you were asking about. After all... He's the one who gave it away."