Her Archangel: Chapter 6

I N F A T U A T E D

________

The woman worthy of my love.

________

"Hellhound" wasn't an actual place in New York. Rather, it's a dimension filled with them. Underneath the busy streets of New York lay the subway, or train system. And underneath all that, is a space entirely for the pets of higher beings for maximum security. You could call it a dog pound. Except it's for hellhounds and it's underneath the entire city.

Adiona knew that it was not going to be an easy task to find Cleo, because really, New York is huge and Hellhound Pound is packed with hellhounds. If you haven't guessed what a hellhound is yet, google it and good luck sleeping tonight.

It took her less than half the time it usually takes for her to arrive, and her wings gave their final flap as she landed in a dark alley where there were no people. Heaven forbid they see a woman floating on the ground in the middle of traffic. The archangels would have a field day.

She took hurried steps to the entrance of the Hellhound Pound, which was located right underneath where people never think to look at; the trash. After shoving the large, green trash containers with one hand to clear the way, the black ground liquified under Adiona's mental command. She stepped through and vanished.

She bent her knees to absorb the impact of the ten-feet-drop. Almost immediately, she was greeted by a low, guttural growl. The place was pitch black, but as a being of heaven, getting light shown wasn't hard. However, Adiona didn't summon any light. The dark called out to her, and for a reason she was ashamed of, she had missed having the dark. She faced the beast head-on, fire burning behind her crystal green orbs. The growl was a deep bass that reverberated into her bones and it almost made the hairs on her arms stand up. Almost.

She could smell and feel hell in its breath, mere inches from her. She stayed in her crouched position, unmoving, as she let the hellish beast smell her while prowling around her. As an archangel, it would have been easy for her to rip its head clean off its shoulders, but that would take effort, and she was surrounded by thousands of them here. Two or three hellhounds could already rip her wings into shreds and leave enough damage for her to go into healing for a few months.

Nope. Fighting a hellhound in the midst of thousands of others? Bad idea. She was here for Cleo, and Adiona knew she had to get them both out with as least a damage as possible. And staying as still as her limbs could hold, until the hell dog would deem her harmless and allow her to pass was the safest way she knew. This could take a few minutes, but that's better than months in the Angel's Ward for healing.

Suddenly, Adiona heard a whimper. She knew immediately that it was Cleo. She could sense her mate's mind, and found intense panic and fear. Whatever bastard that kidnapped Cleo had given her poison that was making her paralyzed. It wasn't long before the poison hit her heart, and made it stop beating forever. To Adiona's surprise, her inner demon growled in possessiveness. She reminded herself that she didn't care, she just knew she had to rescue Cleo or she herself would get hurt too. They were already connected.

She had about five minutes before her mate was dead. And this procedure she's going through could take about ten.

She took a deep breath and let it out through her nose.

Just do this once, Adiona, she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut. Just so you can get Cleo out. No one is going to find out.

And in a split second, she had made her decision.

Archangel Adiona's eyes opened to reveal burning ember. Green flames flickered within her irises and she directed it towards the hellhound. Red fire orbs met with green ones and a battle of dominance came between. Adiona could feel her body changing, and she ground her teeth to try to stop it from going too far. She couldn't let Cleo see her in her other form; no one could.

The hellhound sensed something change within her and it snarled, suddenly detecting something foreign yet familiar. Adiona growled back and the fire in her eyes danced with glee at the beast's hesitation. In the pitch blackness of the pound, two pairs of eyes burned. Then a low, ground-rumbling growl was heard, and one of those eyes closed and backed away.

There is a rule for hellhounds that are instilled within them from the moment they are born and that is this: to defy the master is to welcome death.

__________

Cleo was panicking. She couldn't move and couldn't feel anything. It was like being trapped in a body that wasn't yours, and it was the scariest feeling in the world. It was getting harder for her to breathe with each breath she took and the only thing she could feel was her heart pounding. She couldn't talk either because the bottom half of her face was paralyzed. She could frown, and move her eyes, but that didn't give her any reassurance at all.

She thought back to everything she did in life and how many bananas she had thrown in the trash bin, half-finished. She regretted not finishing them, because now she was going to die. Maybe if she had take the time to finish them each before throwing them away, the seconds and minutes she spent meeting an archangel and getting paralyzed would have been spent on eating those bananas instead.

"It will be alright, my dear," the voice was back and Cleo's heartbeat trippled. "All I want to do is test your angel's strength. Can she withstand a thousand hellhounds?"

Hellhounds?! Cleo screamed in her head.

"If she can, then maybe she's worthy of me," the voice chuckled. "If she's not, then I'll have to keep looking." There was a sound of mock disappointment in the voice and Cleo wanted so badly to bite whoever was talking.

You want her too? she briefly thought and then mentally cringed at herself when she let the word 'too' slip in her mind. Wait, can he or she read my mind?

"Tick-tock Archangel," the voice chuckled. "Your dead heart for this juicy one. Priceless."

I guess not, Cleo thought again. That can only mean...

"What on earth are you frowning so hard at?" the voice said slowly.

Bitch, bastard, son of a mouldy doughnut, Cleo cursed at the voice in her head, imagining its face right in front of her. It couldn't read her mind, so cursing at it wouldn't hurt. Ugly, bucktoothed, pussy. Stupid, pathetic, puny orange, you mothe-

Stop it, you're giving me a headache.

Cleo's eyes widened suddenly, Adiona?!

She could feel her presence even before she stepped into the room. Even in the dark, she knew her angel was nearby, and she had never been more relieved.

My angel? Hell, no. Get a hold of yourself Cleo!

"Adiona," the voice purred. "The woman worthy of my love. How did you get through the hellhounds without the devil's mark?"

"I'd like to take Cleo now, please," the Archangel's voice was eerily calm, and Cleo shivered at the slight rasp.

"Ah, but you have just arrived," the voice sounded a lot closer. "I want to know how-"

"I'd like to take Cleo now," Adiona repeated, this time standing right behind her mate. "Please." The authority in her voice could make the mountains bow.

"Unless..." the voice trailed off, as if thinking of something.

Then it laughed.

Adiona took hold of Cleo's arm and the moment she did, her limbs could suddenly move. Relief like nothing she had ever felt before coursed through her and she didn't hesitate to get closer to Adiona after she heard the laugh. Something was wrong.

"An abomination," the voice cackled. "Even better! Oh, Archangel, I know what you are now."

Adiona stiffened and Cleo could feel her jaw clench against her head.

What's going on?

"This is,"

Suddenly, a blinding bright light flashed before them, making Cleo shut her eyes tight and cling to Adiona

"going to be,"

Pain exploded through her bones and Cleo screamed.

"fun."

The pain intensified and she felt her body dissolve in a thousand particles.

All she could see was darkness and an ember of green.

__________

"Thank you so much New York!" Cleo yelled through the microphone and her fans screamed even louder. "I'll see you again!"

She bounded off the stage with the sound of thunderous applause sounding behind her. Her assistant handed her a bottle of water and another wiped off her sweat with a towel.

"Let's go," Adiona said as she leaned against the wall, waiting for her.

Cleo rolled her eyes and walked in the opposite direction, away from the object of her anger for the past month. It's been two weeks since the shocking turn of events; since she found out about Adiona being an angel and half something else, since she met the creepy annoying voice underneath this city, and since she saw Blaire. She missed her, immensely, but didn't know where she was. She couldn't call her, didn't get a single email, or any form of message that would insinuate where on earth her best friend might be. Adiona wouldn't tell her either.

And that's another thing. Adiona refused to talk to Cleo about what she really is and about what the hell just happened down there. Heck, she refused to talk to Cleo in general except to command her or to tell her necessary things. It pissed off Cleo to no end.

But the image of her bodyguard leaning against the wall almost made Cleo's jaw drop. Adiona had chosen to wear a white shirt that she had lifted as she fanned herself from the heat in the stadium. The action ended up showing off her lean, taut abs that was glistening with sweat from being in the stadium with thousands of hot, sweaty people. Her black pants fit her perfectly, just enough to hint at the muscle in her thighs and legs. Her large, black wings were spread out to cool themselves, the large span of them taking up the entire side of the brick wall. Every single inch of her was pure, perfect feminine beauty, and Cleo was suprised to find out that what she was currently feeling wasn't jealousy at all. It was something else. Something she was afraid to admit.

"Cleo, wait," Adiona said. "Please do not run off like that."

Cleo rolled her eyes again and stuck out her tongue at the archangel and kept walking. Very childish, but she didn't care.

Adiona's black wings ruffled and Cleo knew she was getting impatient again. She noticed that she was showing a hint more emotions in the days, and this was one of those moments.

Cleo heard Adiona's boots walk away and into the snacks area, which was just a large room with food and tables where the band and crew socialized. No one was there at the moment and Cleo turned her head to see the green-eyed beauty standing inside, her wings stretched behind her. She briefly wondered how the angel was able to get them through the door.

"Come here," Adiona voice had gone an octave lower in command and Cleo shivered as she felt unexpected tingles at her rasp. Her back was still turned to her. Cleo shook her head, indignant and trying to ignore the throb she was starting to feel between her legs. What the fuck? "No thanks, I'm going to bed."

"Now, Stone." A growl.

The growl got to Cleo because it was so menacing it scared her. The popstar's legs ended up betraying her as she walked towards the enticing beauty.

"What-"

Then she was slammed against the wall with Adiona's body pressed against hers.