Purgatorial

The day after our very first date was going... Well, I wasn't sure what other couples did after first dates, but Cameron and I were in a small, nearby clearing to the barn, training. Or Cam was whooping my ass trying to teach me fighting skills. Now that I was more durable, I could stand up for myself some. Besides, all the times I'd managed to save my skin or Cam's I'd gone staby with knifes. While effective, they'd been lucky shots due to adversaries underestimating me. I didn't have super-human strength, nothing we could do in that department, but I could learn some ass-kicking techniques and learn weak spots in a body to fatally stab someone.

Cameron flipped me to the side. I landed with a major grunt. The air got knocked out of me and bruises were already forming along my right arm, I could feel them. If this was Cam going easy on me... God, I kind of felt sorry for the bastard who took him on full force. It also made me wonder just how much Power Cain's blood possessed. He'd knocked Cam on his back with punch, while Cam hadn't dented him.

"What are you doing lying there? Get up. If I was your enemy you'd be dead." Cameron wasn't playing around today. When he suggested teaching me ninja skills, I thought it was going to be playful—a little, anyways—like it'd been on the first weeks we got back from Hell, before I found out the ritual had worked. But he was a drill Sargent.

Murmuring with irritation, he extended a hand when I sat up, my face contorted in pinching pain. I took his hand and he hauled me up quickly, so much so, I nearly fell over again. I had to throw out my hands, steadying myself on his shoulders.

A sigh left me.

"Come on," Cam said. "Let's try again. Remember, I'm bigger than you and stronger, you want to outbalance me. What do you do?"

He'd been asking this for over thirty minutes. In that half-hour, I found out answering was the easy part. Going through with unbalancing him and throwing him down was the impossible part.

"I have to attack your legs. The easiest way is to hook a foot behind your knee, kick it in and push your shoulders. All in one move." He nodded. Great. Now came the aching part.

I stood back a bit, preparing for him to make a move. Cameron was standing perfectly immobile, wearing a wife-beater and sweats. It was mid-afternoon, we'd survived another school day without surprise attacks. The sun was beating down powerfully, it burned my neck, shoulders and arms. Cameron's shoulders were getting a little toasty from being exposed so long...

He moved faster than a cobra striking. I barely saw his fist coming, I felt a faint change in the air, though, I dodged. Cam didn't stop because like he said, people who wanted to kill me wouldn't. This time he nicked my forearm. I winced, stumbling two steps. It was only at the fourth swipe he made at me that I found an opening in his stance. As fast as I could, I snuck around him, crashing the ball of my foot into the back of his left knee. The first time he only balked, I did it again reigning in every frustration and this time his leg bent. Launching my full weight into his back, Cameron went down, with me on top of him.

Cam began shifting his head when he felt something sharp pressing against the left side of his back, right where I knew his heart was. He stiffened once I leaned down, mouth next to his ear.

"Bang, you're dead."

A gruff chuckle got cut off once I licked his ear shell. Cam eased his eyes shut.

"Being dead doesn't seem half bad." He uttered. I was about to reply when he braced both hands on the grass, pushed himself up causing me to tumble backward like a weightless tumbleweed. The Azure Dagger flew from my grasp. "Don't get cocky, Rapunzel. That's the last mistake you might make."

If my head wasn't buzzing from hitting the ground, I would've laughed. Loudly. He got cocky all the time! And he baited enemies in fights, especially ones that could rip him apart with a look. Talk about hypocrisy. Once stars stopped dancing around me, I reasoned that he could be cockier because he had more Power, much, much more. It didn't mean he should do it, the idiot.

Cameron shook out his hair. It had grown over the months I'd known him. At the sides, it reached just below the ears and in the back it almost reached his shoulders. Cam needed a hair cut.

"Let's do it again."

My eyes shot open, "But I just did it!"

"Once," he snorted. "And I knocked you off."

"But I knocked you down and I could've killed you." I fumed, sitting up. Rubbing my head, I squinted against the strong sunlight to stare angrily at Cam.

My not-so-lovable boyfriend shrugged with a stony expression.

"We've been at this move for half an hour. Nonstop. Can't we take a break?" He hadn't broken a sweat, but I was sweating like a stuck pig.

Cameron crossed his arms looking stern. I was too tired to copy his deep frown, it was hard just lifting my arms. Man, I was a wimp.

"Do it one more time and we take a fifteen minute break." He declared, wiping the strands littering his forehead. "Don't get cocky this time."

While bending down to retrieve the Dagger, I nodded, teeth clenched. I strapped the Azure Dagger inside my knee-high boot. Cameron said I should always wear it on me from now on, so today, during study hall, I'd snuck out and sewed a secret pocket on the inside of my left boot.

Cameron didn't wait for me to be on my guard. Luckily for me, he had a shadow. I saw him getting close wickedly fast and all but threw my body aside, just in time to avoid being put in a choke hold. Gasping, I fought to my feet urging the new ability to quick in. My body was bruised in places I couldn't see from all the throw downs, but I could sure feel them.

"Nice," the compliment came from in front of me, but when I got eyes on him, he vanished. A hand brushed up against my side. I jolted, whirling around. "Too late."

Cam's arm snuck around me, turning me over and my back banged against his front. My eyes shut tightly at the stinging pain. I didn't have time to suffer though, Cameron's other arm was inches from my neck. I knew Cam wouldn't snap it, it would kill me, but others wouldn't hesitate. I let that panic soak my bones, sharpen my muscles.

Cam's hold became suffocating all of a sudden. I lost rational thought, struggling in his grasp for an opening. The more I kicked, the more afraid I grew. While I trusted Cameron with my life, my brain knew I needed air, it told me to fight for it. In a few more seconds, my lungs were burning with fear. I couldn't free myself.

Why wouldn't he let go?

Images from my fight with Tyler surfaced. His hand around my throat. Him squeezing my airways tight, so tight it hurt just remembering... The air leaving me. My vision blurring.

Helplessness reared its head, engulfing me in a web of despair I couldn't seem to breach. Stop, I wanted to say. I couldn't get words out. I couldn't breathe in. I... The clamped pressure in my chest dissolved some as I felt myself fall. There was no hitting the ground, though. Hands took my face and I focused on seeing, everything looked blurry. And the skin around my eyes burned.

"Nina," Cameron called, voice strained. "Nina, look at me. Focus. Look at me." I was doing that, wasn't I? His features were pinched. "I'm sorry, I took it too far. Please, don't cry."

Crying? I wasn't crying. My eyes hurt something fierce but there was no wetness running down my cheeks. My chest was on a heaving fest. I took as many lungfuls as possible. No matter how much oxygen I sucked in, I couldn't seem to stop hyperventilating. I was free but... but I still couldn't breathe.

A hand landed on Cam's wrist. My nails clamped on flesh, breaking the tanned skin. Obsidian eyes didn't tear away from mine.

"Little bird, calm down. You're here with me, it's just you and me. I'm sorry—" My hand closed on his wrist harder.

"I..." it came out rasped, like I was a sixty-year old cigar smoker. "...can't... breathe..."

Cameron's eyes became wild. In a rush, he snatched my other hand, placing it over his beating heart and he slid closer.

"It's a panic attack." Cam explained. "You can breathe, little bird. You just need to slow down. Slow your heart." He crushed our hands together on top of his chest, heart beating firmly. "Feel my heartbeat. Close your eyes and tune everything else out. You can breathe," I let out a particular disturbing gasp. It sounded too much like being asphyxiated. "Trust me."

My brain was telling me to gasp more, force in air. My heart and soul knew I should follow Cam. And where Cameron was concerned, they normally kicked my brain's ass. Which was exactly what happened. Shutting my eyes, I felt the heavy thump of Cameron's heart. It worked as an anchor, and with each passing second, I relaxed enough to feel our bond. Sometimes when our emotions were too intense we felt them—I felt his, he felt mine. Right now, Cameron's heart was heavy with remorse. For me. For causing me discomfort.

When I opened my eyes, I was grounded. I no longer struggled for breath, my lungs hurt from being deprived and purple stains along my body throbbed, but it was pain I could endure.

Cam's own eyes fluttered open to watch me. Worry overflowed them.

"What happened?" it dropped from his lips, in a pained voice.

Before answering, I shifted, becoming aware of my nails digging into Cam's flesh. Horrified, I pulled back. Tiny, ruby beads slid along his skin.

"Cam, I hurt you..."

A dark, sullen laugh rang about the clearing. My golden gems pinned him.

"Little bird, I cut off your air supply—for so long you went into shock. You're worried because of this?" Cam lifted the wounded wrist... only we both saw the lunar-shaped cuts easing closed as the skin pulled together. "You're really amazing."

Swallowing hurt. I tried not to show it, for his benefit.

"I know it's... It's nothing for you. But..." I paused from both physical and emotional hurt as brief memories from my time under Lyra's spell bashed me in the face. "But me hurting you reminds me of when... Of when we were at the Wastelands."

Nodding, Cameron reached around me, caging me against his chest. He buried the other hand in my short hair.

"I never blamed you for that. I know you'd never hurt me intentionally." The arm around me tightened its grip, forcing my face against his hard chest. I liked it a lot. "And you know I never..."

"You'd never hurt me on purpose." I finished in a raspy murmur. Yeah, I knew.

"Yes," he pulled me back, drinking me in. Eyes flying from bruise to bruise along my arms. "I was being too tough. We'll do it however you want it, I'll be less—"

"No," I pressed my hands on both temples, massaging them. The only way I'd learn was if Cameron was tough. Out here, training, I didn't need a boyfriend who'd put his life on the line to save me. I needed the cold, indifferent boy I'd met on my first school day. "It wasn't you. I want you to be tough, I need you to be."

A storm began building inside him. I could feel it.

"Tyler choked me." I blurted. "At school, when I tried fighting him, he... he choked me. It was violent and I guess this took me back. But it's not your fault. It's Tyler's." And he was dead, I reminded myself, still a shiver ran me through.

Cameron had gone absolutely livid. Sighing, I stretched out my arms, touching my fingertips to his cheeks. They were so sharp I honestly believed they'd cut through diamonds.

I stopped. My touch called out no reaction in him. Cameron's eyes weren't fixed on me anymore, I noticed suddenly. They were looking behind me. I threw a quick glance over a shoulder. An immense shudder shook me. The remembrance of Tyler quickly paled in comparison to the menace walking out of the circle of trees. Her hair was as long and silky as the last time I'd seen her; so black, that under the sun it shone with a blue tint. Skin between caramel and toasted coffee beans, Uriel, presented herself with the beauty and presence of royalty.

Experience from our last, and first, meeting dictated that her beauty was a trap. Because beneath her Angelic preciousness was an avid fighter.

I stood on impulse and so did Cameron. A hand latched onto my elbow, tugging me back, shielding me behind him. I was too stunned to protest. What was she doing here? Deep down I knew the answer. When we came back to Haven Hills Cameron said Angels wouldn't look for us here, for a while, but now they'd decided we were stupid enough to come home.

And we both knew why Angels were hunting us down.

Uriel stopped five feet from us. The charcoal hair was tied in a high ponytail showing off every sharp angle in her face. Skin pulled tight across her cheekbones as a smirk appeared.

"You're protecting her from me? How amusing." A small chuckle left her. "Gabriel used to do the same thing after the first time I met your mother. She and I never liked each other very much." A stab of fear grew in me. What did she mean by that? Uriel's eyes were on Cam's, stare unwavering. There was something in that stare... It wasn't the same as when she'd met Lucifer in Cam's body, it felt more dangerous.

If that was possible.

"Don't talk about my mother." Cam said in a quiet, deadly tone. Through our bond I felt anger raging, trying to break his skin. Stunned, I realized it was his Power.

"I wasn't planning on it," Uriel dismissed with a head tilt. Uriel's eyes weren't one color, I recalled from Etna's memories, they changed depending on light. In the dark, they were brown, out in the sunlight—now—they were flecked with vivid green. "You and I have never been properly introduced. I'm Uriel."

"I remember you," he stated. "I also remember kicking your ass."

The Archangel's face twisted like she'd tasted something bitter.

"As I recall, Lucifer was in control. Not you." Cameron's muscles swelled visibly, preparing for a fight. Uriel seemed to take no interest. "You look a lot like Gabriel. The black hair, the facial lines... Well, not the eyes. Your brother got those." The wife beater shifted as Cam's shoulder blades contracted with tension. "It has to bother you, looking so much like him... Everyday you look in the mirror and see such a great resemblance. Doesn't it remind you of the day you killed your father?"

Cameron didn't react. I did. I edged around his tight-wired body, eyes fiery, brazen with anger.

"Stop talking right now—"

Cameron grasped my arm, keeping me glued at his side.

"I will break your arm." He whispered from a mouth corner. It was an empty threat, but the glare in his eyes told me to simmer down. Lifting chilling eyes to Uriel, his lips pulled against his teeth. "I know what you're trying to do. Baiting me into a fight? I invented that trick, it won't work."

A languid pout stretched her lips.

"Fine, then, I'll just have to take drastic measures so you'll play with me."

On cue, the ground began to shake where we stood. I stumbled into Cam's side, about to latch onto his arm when a yell broke free. From me. Something wrapped around my ankles with an iron vice-grip, whatever it was it cut off circulation just before tugging me backward. I fell flat on my face. My ribs screamed in white hot pain, not from the fall, but from being dragged across the ground. Cameron whipped around, eyes wide.

"Nina!" He yelled out, racing.

Trying to bare my fingers into the dirt, it fell away from me. As if growing too thin, slipping through my fingers—like sand. I wanted to slap myself. Of course. Uriel had control over earth. The force pulling on my ankles stopped and just as Cameron saw the opening to dive for my hand, something impossible happened. Well, not impossible. It left us dumbstruck with horror and fascination. Roots, thick and old with dirt and... and insects clinging on, sprouted from the ground, rising high above me. This happened all around me, forming a circle. The roots knotted above my head, caging me in. The space between the root-bars was filled with thorns. They simply showed up from the roots.

Because Uriel commanded them to. Good God. I was trapped in a makeshift cage of roots.

The pressure on both ankles vanished, though. I couldn't stand up, the cage was two heads shorter than me, so, I stayed on my knees afraid of touching the roots. Who knew what would happen? Maybe the thorns would jut, growing a long way, piercing my heart or some vital organ.

Cameron's stare grew from astonishment to murderous. As he turned on his heel, I could tell the calm collected mask had shattered, giving place to a pissed off Nephilim of epic proportions. Cameron closed a hand into a fist. Almost immediately, blueish sparks lit, jumping across his skin.

"If you don't let her go—unharmed—I will end you."

Uriel was unshaken by his threat. Rightfully so, because no matter how powerful Cameron was, he couldn't possibly defeat an Archangel alone. He didn't have Lucas' knowledge, he wouldn't dig so far into his Power. Risking being taken over by it. If only Phillip were here...

"Silly boy," she taunted, slowly crossing the distance between them. Cam stood his ground, towering above her by three inches. "You could never hope to kill me. Not alone. And you are alone." Her chameleon eyes swung around the clearing, dropping on me. "Even if she was free, Psychics don't carry much punch, do they?"

My pride stung and I wanted to show her just how much punch I carried.

"Now. Let's play a game."

"I don't think so." Uriel's eyes narrowed at the response.

Gasping, I wiggled to the middle of the root cage. The thorns had just thinned out, resembling deadly spikes from those ancients booby traps you'd trigger at an ancient temple. Doing my best not to panic, I took a long breath, feeling my lungs burning still. Obsidian eyes lingered a moment longer before piercing Uriel.

"In case I didn't make myself clear," a satisfied grin dawned on her. "If you don't play my game, Nina dies. If you play my game and make it last, I'll only kill you. I'll leave her alone."

Cameron's shoulders hunched only slightly. Anyone else would've missed it, not me. All the seconds, minutes, of quiet alone time between us served for us to study each other, learn one another in the most wonderful way. I knew when he was scared even when others thought him to be fearless. And right now, Cameron wasn't feeling too arrogant. That might be because my life hung in the balance.

Finding my voice, I gasped, "Cameron don't be..."

"Alright," he cut me off. An idiot, my brain finished. But it was too late. "I'll play your game—if she's left unharmed. Not a scratch on her head."

Nodding as a way to ignore him and move on, Uriel flicked her wrist. Archangels had more than one ability, Cameron had told me so before. I only knew his father's elemental one, the control over water—in its every state. So, what Uriel made happen came as a shock. Cam's clenched fist flew up. But instead of slamming into Uriel, it slammed into his face.

Bewilderment floored me. What... What had just happened?

Cam staggered, looking at his traitorous hand. I couldn't tell if he'd stumbled due to the punch or surprise, but his lip was split. He didn't notice, turning dark eyes on the Archangel.

"That was just a taste of another ability of mine."

"You mind-controlled him?" Because there was no other way Cameron would punch himself. Right?

She snorted and damn her, despite being a cray-cray Angel she managed to do it with grace.

"Mind-control is for weaklings, ignorant child. I'm one of the most powerful beings in Creation. My ability is much more complex and fun." The pale pink lips thinned into a kitty-cat smile. "Fun for me, at least." Delivering a heavy glare at Cameron's legs, I watched in utter shock, as my boyfriend fell on his knees.

"What are you doing to me?" Cam touched his legs, below his knees, where they'd seemingly given out. "I can't move my legs."

"My ability is very nifty. It consists in manipulating muscle tissue. I can decrease or increase muscle mass, which in turn affects stamina, flexibility, reflexes, etc. I can force muscles to move or keep them from moving, cause them to over or under-react to nerve-impulses." Uriel trudged happily to where Cam was forced to kneel. Fingers blazed down, catching a handful of silk hair. She cocked his head up, wrinkling her nose. Like the sight of him was perverse. "Here's my game. I ask you questions and you'll answer them, but if they're wrong I'll use my ability on you. If you pass out before I declare the game's end, I'll kill her. A spike trespasses her heart. Understand?"

I couldn't see his face, it was probably defiant. I knew his defiance would give way to agreement, because... If the situations were reversed, I'd accept the terms if it meant he had a shot at living when this was over.

"Good boy," Uriel cooed falsely, releasing the grip on his hair. She walked a step back, gazing down intently. "Let's start easy, I don't want you to break very fast. Slow is always my favorite way to go."

"Yeah, I'll bet."

I shoved the urge to bang my hand on the thick roots keeping me trapped. Him and his cocky, super-sized mouth.

"Let's start," Uriel forged on. "Who had the nickname Angel of Death?"

Angel history? Surely Cameron was a whiz. He once said Raphael used to teach Phillip and him, as part of training. Too bad he'd left out things like 'Cambions are still alive and kicking' and 'Possessor Demons can also be Succubus and Incubus'. Maybe a lot of what happened this year could've been avoided.

"It was my father."

My stomach churned. Cam kept his head tilted, facing her dead-on, but the phrase was quiet. The bravado from before stripped away.

She nodded, "Why was that?"

My molars grounded together so hard I thought they'd turn to paste. Cam hated talking parents. Especially matters concerning Gabriel, his father. Anyone with a soul could hear the change in his voice, the mournful, almost painful wince as he talked or the darkness that gathered on his expression as he recalled moments, details.

It was torture.

"If he wanted, he could... My dad could touch a person and temporarily leave them dead. In a rigor mortis state. Or he could kill them, if he was very angry."

"Very good. I'm curious, did he tell you that or was it Raphael?" The green specks burned bright, flashing with predatory glee at the discomfort she was causing him.

"My father told me."

Clapping her hands, Uriel did an elegant twirl. I longed to rip her swaying ponytail.

"Alright. Let's get to the tough ones." A bubbly smile breached her lips. Almost demented. Which wouldn't be a big surprise. "How did I find you?"

"What?" I barked. Against better judgment, my fingers shot for the roots, grazing the spikes a wee too much for comfort. "How is he supposed to answer that? You're setting him up to fail!"

Uriel threw a humorous glance at me, before blowing me a kiss, leaving me brain-dead for a minute or two. What in the name of Heaven was this Angel's mental affliction?

The wheels in Cam's head turned as Uriel impatiently tapped her foot.

"We have cloaking charms on us. We're invisible on the Virtue's radar. The only way you could've found us... was if you had a Witch stronger than Serena, do a locator spell. But then you'd need something of ours."

Uriel brushed invisible lint off her skin-tight gray jeans, paying little attention.

"That's more of a theory than an answer, but I'll take it." She'd just focused on her nails when one of Cam's thumbs twitched, then, it moved. Like Cam was testing out his thumb's flexibility, the thumb bent backward. At first, the angle was normal. But then... God, then it kept going. A loud pop and crack filled the deserted clearing and I saw him shiver, shoulders jumping from pain.

Cam made no sound whatsoever.

The Reaper, her own nickname, looked displeased. As if she'd expected a scream or, at the very least, a wince.

She took the step separating them once more, nudging the injured hand. Again, no sound.

"Mmm," Uriel intoned. "Let's add some new rules. If you answer the question wrong, I punish you." No change there, I grimaced. "I'll give you the chance of knowing the right answer, though. But if you want to know it, I'll break something else. Or tear something. That's so much more painful."

I was stunned into silence. This was... It was just insane. Yet, I couldn't stop my thoughts from wondering. How had she found us? Of course, the answer could be simple. She'd checked Haven Hills for us and got lucky. But... there was something whispering it wasn't it. Michael ordered Cameron be taken to Trial, not killed on spot.

Uriel had explicitly stated she was going to put an end to him. I was starting to think I'd been wrong before, when she showed up. We had no clue why she was here.

In a deep, solid voice, Cam said, "Tell me."

Uriel smirked, "With pleasure, but before..." a booted foot crushed down on Cam's injury, grinding bone on bone, ripping muscle apart.

He didn't make a sound, but I did. I screamed feeling the harsh bite through our link, and I screamed for him.