Fallen

Chapter Twenty-Two: "Demons"

"I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide"
--Demons, Imagine Dragons

It took almost no time at all for Riven to inform Raveena on everything I'd told him. The look on her face matched ours completely. It was a look of sheer horror.

"That's why Phillipe wants the Essence. They want to open up Heaven and release the prisoners." Raveena was murmuring quietly to herself as she paced in circles, her pretty face scrunched up as she thought to herself.

"What should we do next?" Riven wondered aloud, rubbing his hands over his face.

"We have to get her out of town," Raveena was saying, shaking her head. "You need to take her to Caine. He's the only one who would know what to do in a situation like this one."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait," I said, halting their conversation. Two pairs of crystalline blue eyes focused on me. "I can't just leave town. My parents won't allow it."

"Your parents will allow it if they want you to live," Raveena snapped.

I flinched and her eyes immediately softened.

"Siberia, I know you don't understand. But there are powerful forces at work here. That song you keep hearing in your dreams, do you know who's singing that? Lucifer. And if he's involved, you're going to want to get out of town. Not only to protect yourself but to protect your family and friends as well. If you stay in town, there's no telling what Lucifer or Kronos would do to get their hands on you. That's why you need to see Caine."

I could only be silent as I looked into their beautiful eyes and saw just how serious this was. I swallowed and because my throat was so dry, it was actually kind of painful.

"Do you mean Caine as in the Bible Caine?" I asked.

Riven nodded. "It was either Caine or his brother Abel. And Abel's kind of...." Riven trailed off, looking for the right words.

"Abel's a judgmental sock face," Raveena finished shortly, pacing again.

Riven looked at his sister, his lips twitching as he fought a smile.

"Exactly," he said, looking at me with humor etched on his face. "He's a judgmental sock face."

I wanted to smile so badly, but I couldn't bring myself to. I was so terrified about what was coming next, that my face felt frozen. Riven looked at me in worry.

"I'm going to call her parents. Then you get her in the car and drive to Miami. Caine's relocated there."

I was shocked that we were driving to Miami to meet Caine. Even that sentence was just too weird to me.

"Wait, wouldn't it be easier to travel by plane?" I wondered, looking at them.

"It would," Riven said slowly. "But Phillipe has a special ability where he can make planes go down just by thought. Not just planes either, birds, blimps, sometimes rain if he concentrates hard enough. If it's in the sky, he can bring it down."

I shuddered at that thought. Driving it was, then.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

I said goodbye to my parents over the phone and now I was standing in front of Riven's shiny Jaguar.

Riven opened the passenger door for me to step in. I was about to until I looked back and realized Raveena wasn't following.

"You're not coming?" I raised my eyebrows.

She looked over at Riven behind me, then back at me again, smiling kindly.

"Someone's got to look out for your friends and family, right. Besides, Riven won't let anything happen to you."

I pursed my lips. I knew that physically I would be safe with Riven, but mentally and emotionally, being all alone with Riven would be hazardous to my health.

I just nodded once and entered the car. Riven shut the door behind me and I was instantly assaulted by the scent of him. It engulfed my nose and it made me want to just close my eyes and take deep breaths.

It was ridiculous. Here I was, running away from home because Lucifer and Kronos wanted to kill me and use my blood to open up a gate to Heaven and release prisoners that only God could control, yet Riven's scent completely erased all of my worries. It's like everything paled in comparison.

Now, he was in the car, too. I could feel his body heat and for some reason, I could feel this pull between us. The pull had always been there, but I'd been denying it. And I don't know if it was because I was scared that I might die soon or what, but my body seemed to be sick of denying the pull.

Riven looked at me, his eyes holding mine in a gaze so intense, I'm surprised the car didn't just melt into liquid around us.

"Ready?" he asked. And I was pretty positive he wasn't just talking about going to Miami and meeting Caine.

I looked away quickly because if I gazed into his eyes anymore, I would jump into his arms and beg for him to kiss me. I didn't know what was going on with me, but I needed it to stop ASAP.

Riven started the car and began to drive and I could have sworn I heard him chuckle.

This was going to be a long trip.