Tempest’s POV

I nervously chewed my bottom lip as I pressed my body all the way back into the blue velvet throne Pandora insisted that I sit in. I just wanted to disappear in the oversized chair. I couldn’t take all those eyes looking at me in such an unfriendly manner. Why were they staring at me? Was there something wrong with me sitting here?

I anxiously looked over toward Pandora with pleading eyes but she seemed too busy looking over the faces in the room. I guess I never realized how scary the rest of the fallen angels were, especially with the one staring back at me with one eye. He just blinked at me in slow motion, over and over again with a disapproving look on his face, while the man next to him looked like he wanted to eat me alive. Would a fallen really eat an angel? The thought was completely barbaric and I shuddered at the idea.

As I looked around the table, the look of hate etched across every face made me start to panic. My chest constricted and I struggled to pull air into my lungs, feeling suffocated by fear. Never before had I been forced into a room of people who seemingly wanted to kill me or rip me limb from limb. The term terrified didn’t even begin to cover the emotion flooding my veins.

“Relax,” Gates’ breathed in my ear, his hand landing on top of mine under the table. The shock from his touch instantly forced the air back into my lungs and I turned to look at him with a stunned expression. How did he do that? And why did I feel so calm all of a sudden? Did he feel it too? Syn looked back at me with a small smirk on his lips, his dark orbs almost begging me to trust him. What was he trying to prove?

I gave him a small nod as one of the fallen started to speak. I had always been taught to never trust the Devil, but there was something about the way he looked at me that allowed me to see the good inside of him. Was that even possible? Did the Devil actually posses good qualities? It was against everything they had taught me in the Silver City, but I wanted to believe it more than anything, especially after what I’d read in his diaries.

Did I completely trust him and want to turn my back on from the light? No, of course not. I still loved God and knew deep down he had all of our best interests at heart, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit I was a little more than confused after all of my research last night, and angels couldn’t lie. Well, at least I couldn’t. But I quickly discovered that nothing between Heaven, Earth, and Hell seemed to line up and I honestly didn’t know what to believe anymore. All I knew was that somewhere along the way, something between the realms was misinterpreted, or someone wasn’t telling the truth. But who? That was the real question—who to trust, the Devil and his minions or God and his prophets. It had always been an easy answer before, but now I wasn’t so sure, and that thought crushed me inside. Could they both be right?

“So I guess it’s all settled.”

“I have indeed decided.” I looked back up at Syn with a raised brow. What had he decided? Had I missed something? He simply flashed me a small smile and squeezed my hand, sending a wave of goose bumps down my spine. Why did this keep happening? Or better yet, why couldn’t I look away from those hypnotizing brown eyes. It was like he sucked me in with one glance and I was trapped as his prisoner. Did he know he had this kind of power over me?

„Well?” A voice demanded, forcing me to look away from him and back at the men and women around the table. They all were leaning forward with an eager anticipation.

“I’m not going to participate in this war.” Gates stated and my head snapped back around to him so fast that it actually ached a little bit. He really listened to my plea to save the lives of the innocent and listened? I couldn’t help but let a small smile fall over my lips as I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. Maybe Syn really wasn’t as bad as the archangels portrayed him to be.

“So you’re saying... you’re not with us...”

“Gates,” Another chuckled, “You have always been one hilarious son of a bitch—”

“I’m not joking.” Gates glared back at the man and I ducked my head to hide my growing smile. I just couldn’t believe my ears. Maybe I was fulfilling my purpose! Maybe I was making a difference down here on Earth! Samael was finally starting to see the light again! Wouldn’t God be ecstatic to welcome his favorite son back into the Silver City! Oh… I could just see it now!

Suddenly a hand slammed down on the table with a loud bang, and I let out a light gasp. I looked up to see the man from Syn’s study pointing directly at me with a deadly look in his eye. “It’s because of the angel!” he shouted and I shrunk back into my chair even further. All those menacing eyes were on me again, and they look mad…really mad.

I swallowed thickly and looked down at my lap, only to feel Gates give my hand a reassuring squeeze. He really had my back in all this didn’t he? He was going to protect me against his people and for that I was thankful.

“For once maybe the junkey is right,” the man at the end of the table frowned, “why is there an angel in the throne of your deversis?” There was that word again. What did it mean and why was everyone referring to me as that?

“That’s none of your fucking concern,” Gates hissed angrily, squeezing my hand tighter.

“Our prince is getting hitched and it’s none of our concern?” Getting hitched? As in married? I bit my lip as I looked back over at Pandora, who was now glaring around the room. She said she thought Gates had called me his wife before, so what this what they were talking about now?

Oh, God… Was I the Devil’s wife? How and when did that happen?! My eyes darted around the room in panic as my heart fluttered nervously in my chest. I never agreed to that, and I surely didn’t have any romantic inkling about him… or at least I didn’t think so. I didn’t really know what any of that was or what it felt like. All I knew was that I was an angel, and he was the Devil… and we could never be married. That would be a sin, right?

“It is our fucking concern, Gates.”

“She’s a pureblood,” a woman on the other side of the table piped in, pointing at me with her long slender finger. I swallowed thickly, trying to resist the urge to bolt from my chair. Gates’ thumb carefully caressed the top of my hand, sending a wave of calm through my body, which alarmed me even more. What was this feeling between us?! “I’ve seen her fucking marks! They glow!”

I closed my eyes, my stomach sinking with her words. She knew about my markings? Did that mean they knew what I was supposedly a weapon too? I had no idea what was running through all the fallen angel’s minds, but I didn’t really want to find out. They appeared to be out for blood and I was the one standing in their way. God…please help me!

“Really... Well, shall we take a look then?” My eyes snapped open to see the man to my right standing up, his arm reaching toward my forearm. I quickly pushed myself against the armrest of the throne, ready to climb into Gates’ lap. Thankfully in exact moment, Pandora stepped between the beastly fallen and I.

I could hear my heart thundering in my ears as I watched the man reach for his dagger. No! There didn’t need to be any violence! I would show them my marks if it saved someone’s life! I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!

“Move!” the muscular fallen barked.

“You’re getting to her only over my dead body.” Pandora hissed and never in my life had I been so thankful for her protection. She had literally been my guardian angel my whole time on Earth, which was surprising considering she was a demon. But maybe, some of the light was still inside her from the war, making us more alike that anyone knew. I just hoped she didn’t get hurt trying to protect me because I would never forgive myself.

“We can arrange that.”

Within a blink of an eye Pandora hit the massive Fallen, pushed him to his knees, and held his own dagger at this throat. My hand shot up in front of my mouth as my chest moved up and down rapidly with each breath. How in Gods name did she do that? She was half the man’ size! I was in complete awe of Pandora skills and somewhere deep down; I wanted to learn how to do that too. I wonder if she could teach me how to do that too?

“So...” Gates spoke up, though my eyes were still glued on Pandora who was smirking down at the fallen in her grip. “If I let my commander here kill the single person who rules over forty of my legions, who do you think would win? The rest of you together have twenty legions at best. You really think you would win?”

“This is fucking bullshit and you know it, Gates!” the man at the end of the table raged, standing up and slamming his fits down on the table. “You can’t turn your back on us just because the angel told you to!” He glared at me from the other end of the table, his eyes glowing silver. That’s it, I’ll never sleep again! Oh, the nightmares this meeting will give me… “If you turn your back on us now, mark my words, Gates, you will regret it.”

Gates gently let go of my hand and stood up, his throne scrapping against the floor. He leaned forward on the old wooden table, his knuckles turning white and his eyes glowing red. “You really think your empty threats scare me?” he laughed, glaring around the room.

“Don’t be a fool, Gates,” another fallen said, looking up from his seat with a disapproving look. “This is our chance to strike especially when you have inside information about the happenings in Silver City.” The man gestured toward me again and I shook my head. I didn’t know anything! Honest! “If she’s a pureblood we can use her to our advantage. They wont see what’s coming—”

“My answer is no,” his tone was cold and the tension in the room made me shift uncomfortably in my seat.

“Gates if you would just listen to reason then—”

“The topic is done,” Gates snapped. “Now get out!” With on gesture of his hand, Pandora released her captive but instead of heading for the door like the rest, he stepped right up to Gates.

“You will regret this Gates,” the man hissed, inches from his face. “No one turns their back on us and get away with it. You will pay.”

“Your threats mean nothing to me, Amon,” the pure confidence in the smirk on Syn’s face was a little unnerving, but I was glad to see that he was actually holding his ground. “Especially when my commander has the final say in the orders your legions follow. When she says no, you will be left powerless.”

The muscular brute narrowed his eyes at Gates before he turned his glare on me, a menacing smirk pulling at his lips. “We will shall see about that,” he warned before pulling away and heading towards the door, his extremely tall commander following in suit. Wow…he looked like a giant. Did they have those on Earth?

As soon as the door shut behind Amon, Gates let out a loud sigh and flunked back into his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. His chest heaved up and down quickly, almost like he was trying to get control over himself. Was he okay?

“Well… that went better than I anticipated,” Shadows said, breaking the awkward silence that had settled in the room.

“By Hell it did!” Pandora snapped, moving to sit on the table in front of me. I was honestly still in shock that I wasn’t sure if I could move. The look on Amon’s face as he left was ingrained in my mind, and I was honestly terrified. Why did he look at me like that? “What the fuck were you thinking bringing Teek in here as your deversis? Or have you simply lost your goddamn mind?”

Gates looked up, his brows angrily furred together. “You know how the fallen are with celestial beings! They would have ripped her limb from limb if I didn’t claim her,” he grumbled. “I was trying to protect her.”

My eyebrows shot up in confusion. Gates called me his wife to protect me?

“By putting her in the line of fire?” Pandora was now standing again, only inches away from Gates. She looked mad and after what she did to the Amon, I didn’t want to step in her way.

“She’s not in the line of fire, she has my protection now,” Gates waved Pandora off as he stood up and made his way over to a cart on the other side of the room. He pulled out a tall bottle of dark liquid, poured himself a glass, and downed it in one shot. What was that stuff?

“Protection from what?” I frowned but no one heard my question over Pandora.

“Either you’re really that dumb or you were looking for an easy out,” she said at the same time, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Easy out? There are no easy outs with the fallen,” Gates scoffed, pouring another glass of the mystery liquid.

“You used Teek as a fucking scapegoat! You knew bringing an angel into a room of God-hating fallens would focus the attention on someone her, giving you the excuse you needed to say no!” Pandora raged and my jaw dropped. He brought me in there to use me? “Why for once cant you be man enough to do your own fucking job!”

Gates slammed his glass down on the table, causing it instantly shatter in his hand, though he didn’t seem to notice. “I. Did. Not. Use. Her!” He hissed, glaring at his commander. “I was fucking protecting her! You know the fucking shit those assholes pull around angels, just look at Wormwood!”

“Either way, she is their next fucking target,” Pandora scoffed, moving over to my side and pulling me into her embrace like a protective mother.

Gates frowned and was about to reply when Shads stepped forward. “Dora has a point, Gates. Since you claimed her as your deversis, they might think they can use her to manipulate you into going to war.” I covered my face with both hands as a frown slowly fell over Shadow’s face. He seemed to be having the same realization as everyone else. I was now a walking target.

“So… again I’m a-a weapon,” I said sadly, looking up into Pandora’s grey eyes. Why did this keep happening to me? I just wanted everyone to be safe, happy, and to follow the light. Was that really so hard?!

Pandora shook her head and looked down at me with a reassuring smile, “Not if we can help it, but you have top stop this wandering off shit. You have to stay where you’re told, do you hear me?”

“Yes but—”

“No buts,” Gates said, looking over at me with an unreadable expression. “You will stay with me.” I looked up at Pandora and was about to ask where she was going to stay, but Syn beat me to that too. “Pandora will stay too.”

“Excuse me?” She carefully pulled away from me, squinting her eyes and tilting her head to the side. “You seem to be forgetting one little fact in the matter—”

“You will watch over my deversis,” Gates smirked as he cut her off before opening the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with another bottle of Laphroaig and some Drakorian.”

I gapped after his retreating form, feeling even more confused than before. I still didn’t know what unknown force was drew me toward him, or what to really believe. All I knew was that I couldn’t keep expecting everyone else to stand up for me, not when I was supposed to be a weapon.

“Teek, you okay?”

I swallowed thickly as I turned around to look at Pandora and Matt. They looked like they had just finished have some kind of wordless conversation. Something was gong on with those two, but I wasn’t exactly sure what. “I’m fine… it’s just…”

“Just what?” Pandora raised a questioning brow at me and I let out a light sigh. It was so embarrassing. “Spit it out, Teek.”

“Will you teach me to be tough?”

Notes

So will Pandora and Matt teach Teek how to be tough? What is going on with Mr. Gates? Tell us what you think!