Surrounded By Flames (The Flames Trilogy Book 2)

  Gazardiel scrunched his lips together. “Hmm. Since there are no people like you, I’m not sure, but I believe the Big Guy used to call you Nephilim.”

  Jasmine made a face as if she just sucked on something sour. “Yeah, I don’t like that. How about we just call me a halfsie. I like that better.”

  Amon chuckled beside her.

  She turned to him, glaring, and placed her hands on her hips. “What?”

  He wiped the smile from his face. “Oh. Nothing. Nothing at all.” The smile came back. “Just sometimes you come up with the funniest words to use.” He laughed.

  “Hey, mister. I don’t think it’s funny. I think it’s convenient. I mean, think about it. Can you imagine me in a fight with a demon and I shove some of my power into you, causing blue lightning to shoot from your hands?” She tilted her head. “The demon asks, ‘What are you?’ and I answer, ‘I’m a halfsie.’ It’s short, sweet, and to the point. Not like Nephilim, which I can barely pronounce, and certainly not half-demon, half-angel.”

  Gazardiel clapped. “Okay. Brava. You’ve come up with a name for yourself all on your own. Now, let’s get back to business. Join hands again.”

  Jasmine hadn’t even realized she’d released Amon’s hand, but since she’d put them on her hips, it made sense. She weaved her fingers with his again and faced Gazardiel. Concentrating, she pulled her power out and it responded with glee, moving through her like a snake after a mouse. When it reached her hands, a tingling spread through her, starting at her fingertips and stopping at her shoulder. She looked down and Amon’s hand started glowing neon blue, but only in spots, like the power hadn’t spread through him fully yet.

  Gazardiel placed his hand around their joined hands. “Now, Amon, accept what she has offered. Let it in.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Just open your mind and your heart to her. Trust her completely.”

  Jasmine winced. “That might be a problem since I did just recently try to kill him.”

  With a set jaw, Amon stared intently at her. “That is not the problem. You have my trust, and I have yours. I have told you, it wasn’t you in there. Bael changed you. We know now that can never happen again, so please stop bringing it up. Leave the past in the past and focus on the future.”

  Jasmine nodded, but knew it wouldn’t be that easy. It didn’t matter what he said. Not when inside she’d become a ball of insecurity. She barely trusted herself. Her heart felt like it shrank, like someone wrapped it in cellophane tight enough to make it smaller. Her stomach clenched over and over again too. Is this what extreme disappointment feels like?

  Amon couldn’t understand because he hadn’t gone through what she had. Hopefully he never would. She would do everything in her power to make sure he didn’t. She would also do her best to stop feeling like she did. Nothing that happened had been her fault. Bael had known what game to play to come out the winner. He had always been prepared for the attack. Until now. Because now, things were different. Amon and she were linked, and the minute they figured out what that meant, she’d march their small army right across the street and give Bael a taste of his own games.

  They continued training into the afternoon. By the end, Jasmine and Amon had figured out how to transfer her power to him so he could use it without holding her hand. They’d also learned how to lend each other strength.

  She had thought nothing had changed, but learned just how much had. She didn’t feel the same any longer. A small part inside of her could feel if trouble found him and if he needed her help. This might just turn the tables on the demons and give the good guys the advantage they needed from the start. She had a good feeling about it. A really good feeling.

  Bael didn’t know what was coming for him. And Jasmine couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized what hit him.

  Chapter 25

  The Gloves are Off

  Bael

  Bael wandered through the home he’d picked, the florally decorated, pastel filled home. He ran his hand along a lavender vase, grabbed it, and threw it as hard as he could into the pastel green wall, shattering it into a million pieces.

  They’d somehow found a way to save her. He could no longer get into Jasmine’s mind. He could no longer control her, which meant he no longer had a hold over her. The bottom line: she wasn’t evil. And if she wasn’t evil, she wouldn’t be on his side any longer. She’d never be his queen.

  The plan had backfired. Bael walked to the front window in the family room, tearing the flowery curtain from it, which, in turn, tore the rod right off the wall. The good guys won again. He couldn’t catch a break. They always won and he always lost. He was tired of it.

  He narrowed his eyes as he stared out the window.

  “Master Bael. What was all that noise?” Moloch scrunched the broken glass as he walked through it, stopping to look down at the mess on the floor and the curtain sprawled across the oversized pink sofa.

  “The noise, as you can see, came from me. Jasmine is lost to us, at least for now. I do not know what the angels did to save her, but they did something.”

  Moloch stepped closer, standing beside Bael at the window. “Perhaps we don’t need her.”

  Bael dropped his arms to his side, clenching his hands. He turned to Moloch with hatred in his eyes. “We. Need. Her.”

  Moloch moved away from him, leaving a small gap between them. “She is surrounded by angels, Angel Blessed, and fallen angels now. How do you suppose we get her this time?”

  Bael’s breath came more slowly as he tried to control his anger. His clenched fists shook at his sides and he tucked them behind his back to keep from hitting something else. Moloch didn’t understand the situation. If Bael didn’t have Jasmine at his side, he would never be able to overthrow Lucifer. And if he couldn’t take the throne, he’d be stuck in this position forever.

  He wouldn’t have that.

  He couldn’t stand that.

  So, he had to develop another plan. Hopefully, this one would work a little better, so long as the angels hadn’t done something to ensure Jasmine could no longer surrender to her evil side. He could see them sticking their nosy minds into situations they’d never understand. It would be just like an angel to do something so drastic. They didn’t understand because their livelihood wasn’t at stake. No, only his was.

  Well, they might have livelihood issues too, now that he thought of it. The demons had left Heaven in a pretty nasty state, and if they conquered Earth, they wouldn’t leave any of the angels alive at the end of this war. Bael figured they knew that already. That could be why they were making sure to keep Jasmine safe. There would come a time when they left her alone, though. Or she snuck out. And when that happened, Bael would be ready for her.

  “Master. What would you have me do?” Moloch asked.

  Bael turned and smiled at his second. “Absolutely nothing. We will wait. Eventually, Jasmine will be alone and unarmed and we will be ready to snatch her.”

  Moloch went to stand behind the sofa, gripping the back of it. “Forgive me for saying this, but don’t you think kidnapping her has become a little redundant? Especially since it hasn’t worked, not once?” His low voice turned almost to a whisper, as if afraid of Bael’s reaction.

  Bael snickered in his head. Moloch should be scared of him. “You leave the plans to me. I will make sure they work.”

  Moloch nodded, saying nothing else.

  Bael was glad. He didn’t need his second questioning him. Somewhere along the lines, Bael had begun to lose himself. No more. He’d always been ruthless, cunning. From today until the end, he wouldn’t forget that again. No more Mr. Nice Demon.

  The claws would come out this time. The real ones. If the good guys thought they’d seen him at his worst, they had another thing coming.

  Finally, Bael felt like he was on the right path.

  He stalked to the window, staring across the road to Beau’s house. Then he peered over his shoulder to glance at Moloch.
“You can do something, actually. Find Evangeline and bring her to me. It’s time to get everything in order, and I need the angel at my side.”

  Moloch nodded. “I will return with her.”

  “Good.”

  As Moloch left, Bael rubbed his hands together. Things were about to get ugly. Bael was ready for the fight, but he had a feeling the good guys weren’t.

  This is going to be fun.

  “What is going to be fun?” Lucifer asked in his mind.

  “Giving the good guys what they really deserve.”

  “It’s about time you got your head in the game and your mind off that stupid girl.”

  Lucifer clicked off, just in time too because Bael really wouldn’t have wanted the leader of Hell to hear his thoughts on that matter.

  Jasmine would be his. It didn’t matter what he had to do to make it happen, he would do it. Then he would give Lucifer a taste of who Bael really was.

  Yes, everything would be just as Bael had always wanted by the end. He would make sure of that.

  Chapter 26

  Tag, We’re Busted

  Jasmine

  The Angel Blessed could still combine their powers, but Jasmine couldn’t have any part in it. She’d figured it out during training with Gazardiel. They still had strength and something to fall back on, and so did she, so hopefully they could all figure it out. So many people surrounded her, all putting their faith in her, rooting for her to defeat the demons. She just hoped she didn’t fail them.

  Gazardiel still claimed her power would be the strongest against the demons, even though she’d seen Amber in action and had a feeling hers would be a lot more helpful. Plus, the blue lightning had been changing, shifting, ever since she’d linked with Amon. When she’d been evil, her power had turned black. It went back to blue when she’d been healed, but now, since she’d linked with Amon, it was golden. She didn’t know what the bond had done, but it had done something.

  Jasmine had changed too, perhaps becoming who she’d always been meant to be. Maybe more than that. She had been down this road before…thinking Bael had given her the right path. Everything had happened so fast. She sagged in the patio chair, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

  She couldn’t get comfortable, so she stretched out, plopping her feet up on the glass table, staring at the sky. Pinks and purples swirled through the blues as the sun started to set and the silhouettes of stars twinkled behind the colors, ready to sparkle in the darkness. Jasmine didn’t try to get up. She had so many things to do, but none of them mattered more than this moment of peace.

  She finally had time to think. And she did.

  Before Bael had changed her, she wouldn’t have taken the time, instead would have rushed head first into danger with no thought to herself or of the other people in her life. Her old plans always ended with her locked in a demon prison cell, it seemed. She wouldn’t act so rashly anymore. Her need for revenge would no longer fuel her drive. Instead, she’d think before she acted, something she was pretty sure Amon had tried to teach her many times before.

  Getting to Bael would be difficult. He didn’t care about anyone, at least not that Jasmine knew of. Even Moloch, his second, who did everything for Bael, he wouldn’t miss. Bael would just replace him the first chance he got. Look what he’d done to Belze, the poor stuttering demon who’d been loyal to his master and had paid the price with his head.

  Jasmine could easily deduce that she wouldn’t be able to get to Bael by using someone else. Wait. Maybe I’m forgetting about someone.

  What about Evangeline? Jasmine hadn’t seen or heard a single thing from the angel in question since the night Beau had died. She’d run off with Bael, so obviously there were some kind of feelings between the two. Hopefully, they were strong enough to get Bael’s attention.

  Jasmine sighed, tired of hiding and being scared to even turn a corner. She had to put a stop to it. All of it. She couldn’t kill every demon on Earth. Not all at once. She knew she’d have to work up to that, so for now, she had to aim smaller. She could capture Evangeline with the help of her friends. It might even be easy.

  Even though she should, Jasmine didn’t want to hurt Evangeline. Not if she could help it. If she still focused on her need for revenge, she’d go right for the jugular. Evangeline had tried to hurt her. She’d been the reason Beau died. But she’d only been acting out of love for Bael. As much as Jasmine wanted to, she couldn’t fault the angel for that. As warped and misguided as she’d been, Jasmine wouldn’t stoop to her level. Keeping her prisoner with the good guys would be punishment enough.

  Jasmine smiled, leaned back in the black chair, and stretched her legs out more. The night was cool, but not cold. Comfortable. The stars were getting brighter with every passing minute and the silence refreshed Jasmine more than she wanted to admit. This time, being alone didn’t scare her so much. Not like it used to.

  One thing had changed for Jasmine. She had friends now. And she had Amon, her strength when she failed to find her own, in the literal sense. She’d try to be that for him too. They were each other’s rocks. The ones who looked out for each other, above all else. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “Jasmine.”

  She jumped, slipping in the chair so much her behind almost slid off it. She righted herself and stood up, turning to see who had come out. Cole stood in front of Amber and Teeny, with Gemma at his side. Jasmine smiled, not sure when they’d all been together last.

  “Hey, guys. What’s up?” Jasmine raised her eyebrows, thinking this looked like some sort of intervention.

  “We just wanted to check on you, make sure you were hanging in there.” Cole grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet, walking off the porch. “And since you are obviously fine, we decided a little fun is in order.”

  Jasmine ran along beside him, the others following behind. “Fun?”

  Amber opened the fence gate. “Yes, fun. It’s time we played a game.”

  “A game?” Jasmine asked, feeling a little silly for repeating their words.

  “Just hang on for the ride.” Cole chuckled. “It’s going to be a good one.”

  Jasmine wracked her brain, trying to find something to say, but she couldn’t so she pressed her lips together and breathed through her nose until they stopped running and wandered through the dark woods. The trees had once calmed her, but since she’d almost killed Amon in these woods, she didn’t like coming here. The others must have known that, at least they should have. She didn’t think they were being malicious, just overlooking the fact that something like this might bother her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and focused on her feet as she stepped through broken branches littering the ground and almost fell in a mole hole.

  Finally, she found some words. “What game are we going to play, guys?”

  “Tag.” Gemma touched her arm. “But a different version. We won’t be chasing after each other. Instead, we will use our powers to tag each other.” She brought her hand up as it glowed a golden hue, a little lighter than Jasmine’s color, which had turned into that of a dandelion. Gemma’s color reminded Jasmine of a baby chick.

  Then Gemma somehow shot it from her hand, tickling Jasmine’s skin. “You’re it.”

  Jasmine laughed as she ran after the others, using her power to tag Cole. Down the line each of them went, tagging each other, laughing, and just having a good time. They hadn’t been able to do anything like this since they’d all met up. It felt good to throw out the thoughts of demons and focus on themselves, even if only for a moment.

  Sanity could be hard to find in the midst of a demon war, especially when each one of them had just reached adulthood. If one could call an eighteen-year-old an adult. No, Jasmine knew adulthood came with experience, which she’d had plenty of lately. With hers, she might have bypassed adulthood entirely and skipped straight to old age. At least her body felt like that.

  She’d never admit that out loud, though. It would be insulting to the
people who’d actually reached old age.

  She chuckled under her breath and tagged Amber, running behind a tree to avoid Amber’s blue-green power tagging her back.

  “This is so much fun, you guys. Thank you, it’s exactly what I needed.” Jasmine peeked out from behind the tree and saw a myriad of colors painting the dark area. The sun had long since set, and even with the glowing stars, the trees didn’t let much light in, which made their own colors seem as if they were painting a blank canvas.

  These were her friends. These were the people who’d come to mean the most to her, and she was glad she had them. Next time she allowed herself to wallow in self-pity, she’d remember this night and it would make her smile. Even now, thinking about these Angel Blessed made her breathless and feel lighter than a feather floating through the air. Extremely happy she had come along with them, she ran out from behind the tree, but stopped as she noticed everyone had frozen like statues.

  “What’s the matter?” Jasmine asked, not able to see anything through the darkness.

  “I’ll tell you what’s the matter. You shouldn’t be out here. None of you should.”

  It was Amon. She could feel his shaky, barely controlled anger when she reached out for him with her inner senses. She sent him some peace. Jasmine could tell it helped, but it wouldn’t be enough to bring him down. She could feel it.

  Before she could send him more, he raised his voice. “No. Don’t do that. Just because we are bonded does not mean you can send your emotions to me whenever you feel like it. Now, everyone get back to the house. It’s too dangerous out here with Bael right across the street.”

  Jasmine’s shoulders fell as she dragged her feet across the ground, tossing leaves up around her legs. She felt like a child who had just been reprimanded for something she hadn’t done, and she didn’t like that feeling. Instead of responding and fighting with him, she decided to wait until they were alone to bring it up. That way, she wouldn’t make a fool of him in front of the others. See, progress had been made.