Fractured Souls by Ava Marie Salinger

17

“What happened to your mouth?”Adrianne said curiously.

Morgan raised a finger to his lip and rubbed the small cut. “A mosquito attacked me.”

The ‘mosquito’ frowned at him from the other side of Strickland’s office. Morgan smiled faintly. He could heal the wound anytime he wanted to. He just got a kick out of watching the dark-winged angel glance at it guiltily from time to time.

“It’s mosquito season already?” Bailey said where he leaned against the couch Cassius, Julia, and Charlie sat on. The wizard looked at Adrianne, concerned. “Make sure you sleep with your windows closed. You bruise like a peach.”

Adrianne narrowed her eyes at him.

Bailey shrugged at the sorceress. “I’m just saying. Remember that time that mosquito bit you on your tushy? I had to buy you a hemorrhoid ring before a mage could heal—”

Luckily for the wizard, Strickland walked inside his office before the sorceress could kill him.

Despite Cassius claiming it would be faster for them to fly downtown, Morgan had driven them to the office. He preferred having a normal mode of transportation during regular working hours. Besides, he suspected news about Cassius’s presence in San Francisco would soon spread like wildfire, as would the angel’s involvement in the incident at the park in Mission District and Joyce Almeda’s murder.

Considering their otherworldly abilities, angels and demons were prohibited from using their powers outside approved situations or unless they were under extreme duress. Morgan saw no need to contribute to the unsavory rumors that were bound to circulate if Cassius were seen blatantly contravening the rules that governed the Fallen and flying around town without strict permission from Argonaut.

A frown wrinkled Morgan’s brow as he thought back to last night’s incident. That definitely fell under the ‘extreme duress’ category. Thankfully, the humans who witnessed the war demons’ attack don’t know what an Empyreal is.

“Is that a hickey?” Julia asked Cassius in a low voice as Strickland took his seat.

Cassius raised a hand to his neck. “No.”

He tugged his collar up, a telltale redness warming the tips of his ears.

Morgan met the angel’s irate glance with a steady expression. The fact that he was the one who’d marked Cassius didn’t at all weigh on his conscience. He wanted the world to know he intended to claim the angel as his.

Julia’s shrewd gaze landed on Morgan. “Those damn mosquitoes are everywhere, huh?”

Strickland leaned back in his chair and studied them coolly. “Report.”

Morgan gave the Argonaut director a breakdown of the incident that had taken place in Mission District the night before, his tone neutral and clipped. Cassius grudgingly recounted his own version of events from when he’d called upon Joyce Almeda to the moment Morgan and his team had turned up at the park.

Adrianne took notes while Charlie used a recording spell to put their conversation on file.

“You’ve never seen that man before?” Strickland asked Cassius.

“The sorcerer?” Cassius shook his head. “That was the first time our paths crossed.”

“The guy’s fingerprints have been erased by acid, so we can’t trace him in any agency’s database” Julia said. “The fact that even his face hasn’t come up during our searches means he’s likely had plastic surgery too.”

Strickland observed them broodingly before directing a sharp stare at Adrianne. “Any news from Lucy?”

Adrianne’s expression turned solemn. “She stopped the poison from completely destroying the guy’s heart, but he’s still unconscious. She said he would have been a goner had we gotten him to her ten minutes later.”

“Any idea what he used in the suicide pill he ingested?” Cassius asked. “It might give us a clue as to the identity of his friends.”

“She thinks it was a cocktail of Glitterfang, Nightshade, and—” Adrianne paused, “a third poison she hasn’t been able to identify yet,” she finished reluctantly.

Surprise danced through Morgan at that.

A frown marred Strickland’s brow. “Lucy can’t identify the poison?”

Morgan shared the director’s concern. Lucy was one of the best medical mages in the country. She knew her poisons inside out.

“If she doesn’t know what it is, then it’s not from this world,” Cassius said.

All eyes turned to him.

“You mean it’s from one of the realms?” Adrianne said, troubled. “Like Glitterfang?”

“Probably,” Cassius replied calmly.

Unease swirled through Morgan. The tear in the Nether had done more than just bring the Fallen to Earth five hundred years ago. It had ripped inter-dimensional doorways between Earth and the planes where the otherworldly existed, including the Nine Hells. Gods, angels, spirits, demons. Many could access the rifts and tread the Earth if they so wished. That most chose not to had to do with their distaste for the earthly realm and the fact that the portals were notoriously unstable.

Unlike the official, concealed gates between the worlds that were only accessible to a select few, one could easily get lost between the dimensions when using the volatile doorways that had opened at the time of the Fall. Those who did often ended up in the Abyss, the forgotten space beyond the Nether from which there was no escape.

But many dared to make the treacherous passage. Trade between the realms had grown strong in the centuries since the Fallen had arrived on Earth. Rain Silver, Dark Blight, and Glitterfang were but a few of the poisons and medicinal concoctions that had made their way into the human world in exchange for the manmade goods the otherworldly desired, for all that they disliked humankind.

“If we find out which one it came from, we might be able to figure out what it is and get a lead on who bought it.” Cassius grew pensive. “We should also check if that poison was used in the rituals. Fracturing a human soul takes more than just Dark Blight, blood, and spells. It could be an important element of the process.”

“I agree,” Morgan said. “We should have Lucy and Maggie take another look at the bodies of the victims.”

“Do that.” A muscle jumped in Strickland’s jawline as he gazed at Cassius. “We have another, more pressing problem,” the director said bitterly. “Someone filmed your fight with the war demons last night.”

Morgan straightened in his chair, his pulse spiking. “What?!”

Cassius’s knuckles whitened where he sat on the couch.

“The video is already circulating online,” Strickland continued in a hard voice. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to keep your secret for long, Cassius.”

“What secret?” Bailey asked, nonplussed.

Adrianne’s gaze turned suspicious.

“You guys never did explain what exactly happened last night at the park,” the sorceress said slowly, frowning at Morgan and Julia. “All I got from the cops was incoherent babbling about some kind of bright light.”

Julia sighed. “That’s because it wasn’t something we could talk about without touching base with Strickland first.”

“Stop the recording,” Strickland told Charlie grimly.

Charlie hesitated and glanced at Morgan.

“Do it,” Morgan ordered.

Charlie swallowed and ended the recording spell.

A tense hush fell over the office.

Adrianne blew out a frustrated sigh. “Will someone kindly explain what the hell is going on?!”

Julia cocked a questioning eyebrow at Strickland. The director nodded his silent permission.

“Cassius is an Empyreal,” Julia said.

Confusion washed across Adrianne’s face. Bailey and Charlie looked similarly puzzled. Zach paled slightly.

“He’s an Empyreal?!” the demon mumbled.

“What the hell is an Empyreal?” Adrianne snapped.

“It’s the highest-ranking angel or demon in Heaven and the Hells,” Morgan said quietly.

Adrianne blinked. “I thought Fieries were the top dogs among your kind.”

“As far as humans are concerned, they are,” Julia said sedately. “Victor Sloan is considered to be the most powerful Fallen on Earth, by virtue of being a Fiery. There are some Aerials who match his abilities.” She glanced at Morgan. “But few humans know of the Empyreals. The class of angels and demons whose powers exceed those of the Fieries and the Aerials.”

“As far as we know, Cassius is the only one of his kind who fell to Earth,” Strickland said somberly.

“There weren’t many Empyreals around, even before the wars between Heaven and the Nine Hells,” Julia said pensively. “They are a rare breed indeed. And a highly dangerous one. Even Heaven and the Hells were wary of the battle skills of the Empyreals. They were considered to be on par with the Gods.”

Adrianne and Charlie blanched.

“Gods?!” Bailey mumbled.

Cassius grimaced as he became the focus of a battery of wary stares. “It’s not as if I had a choice in the matter.”

“You’re not just an Empyreal, though,” Julia stated quietly.

Cassius went still, his expression turning inscrutable.

“What do you mean?” Strickland said.

Morgan studied the Terrene angel with a frown. It seemed Julia had picked up on the same thing he had.

“Your soul core. It’s different.” Julia met Cassius’s enigmatic stare unflinchingly. “You’re not just an Empyreal,” she repeated.

A stunned silence fell across the room.

“Is that true?” Strickland said, more than a little shocked.

Cassius hesitated before nodding.

“What are you then?” Adrianne asked.

“I…don’t know.” Cassius raked a hand through his hair. “I can’t remember a thing before the Fall.”

“I’m old enough to recognize that your abilities far surpass that of an Empyreal,” Julia said quietly. “And your soul core is unique. I have yet to sense one like it in all the time I’ve walked the Earth.”

“Just how old is Julia?” Charlie whispered to Bailey.

The wizard shrugged.

“Is that why your wings are different?” Adrianne asked Cassius brusquely.

Zach winced. “Jeez, way to be subtle.”

Adrianne bristled. “Cassius is part of our team. We need to know this kind of shit, so that we can better protect each other.”

Cassius narrowed his eyes at the sorceress. “I never said I was joining your team. This case is a one-off collaboration.”

“Oh, please,” Adrianne scoffed. “It’s clear something’s going on between you and Morgan. You guys can’t keep your hands off one another.”

Strickland stared from Cassius to Morgan and back again. “Wait. You guys have a thing?”

“No,” Cassius stated vehemently.

“Not yet,” Morgan replied steadily.

Strickland’s expression turned thunderous.

“Relax, Francis,” Morgan said. “It’s not as if we’re gonna have sex in the bullpen.”

Cassius glared at Morgan. “Who said I’m gonna have sex with you at all?!”

Morgan’s slow grin had Cassius gritting his pretty teeth.

“Poor you.” Julia patted the irate angel’s knee. “Zach and I are here if you want to talk about our uncouth leader.”

“Hey!” Adrianne protested. “How come I’m not included in this little advisory group?”

“Yeah,” Bailey added, similarly outraged. “I can give him tons of love advice.”

“I somehow doubt that.” Julia grimaced. “You two are not doing so hot in that category yourselves.”