Harlee POV
"Please tell me you didn't let yourself be Corrupted by these Demons?!" A woman's voice spat halfway between pleading and hatred. "Oh it's you." She blinked at Zeev and then gasped. "Sir!" She bowed her head to Sam.
"When did you start having them call you Sands?" Zeev muttered.
"Shortly after you introduced me to Harlee as such." Sands replied. Zeev gave him a knowing look. "What? I like it!" Sands' voice sounded a little squeaky and I could swear he was blushing.
"Does this mean we can relax?" Ash questioned the Fallen Angels while stretching. I could tell Ash was picking up on the moods from them, and they all suddenly seemed less concerned.
"Ugh, what is THAT thing doing with you?" The Angel crinkled her nose and drew a blade.
"Hey" I yelled. "Ash isn't a thing! They're a lot more human than you are." I pulled Ash back next to me, hugging Ash around the waist. The Angel gasped again.
"What is that creature, and is that a.. Nephilim?.." The Angel took several steps as if to flee and my boys were on her in seconds, holding her down. Ash scoffed, watching the action with me while hugging me back.
Zeev POV
We managed to restrain the Angel with some restraints Sam happened to have on hand from his good ole torture day, but the Angel was none too happy with us.
"I was sent here to see what happened to you Sands. If you were Corrupted, you were to die. We could not have any more of Death's Angels in Hell." She spat
"We can't afford to lose any more Reapers either." Sands snarled back.
"A plan is being devised." She replied smugly.
"Somehow I don't like the sound of that." I muttered. I heard scattered agreements throughout the room.
"Like you have room to talk-you what are you even now? A Fallen with a soul? How? And you've fathered a Nephilim? With this human? How is she alive.. wait the soul-it's split between you-what have you done? Lord in Heaven, save me from this threat, you're the Abomination!"
"Where've you been for the past two years?" Ash asked dryly. I laughed. I couldn't help it, and I heard Harlee snicker as well. The Angel sneered at Ash.
"I have nothing to do with such things, so they do not concern me. I am merely a Messenger between Death's many servants." She retorted.
"So you're a gopher for the Reapers and things? A carrier pigeon?" Ash drawled, sauntering nearer the chair we had tied her to.
"Ash, don't tease the poor creature, she didn't get to choose her lot any more than you did." Harlee said softly. Ash looked like they'd been slapped and the Angel looked triumphant for a moment, then angry, then confused.
"Well as you can see, I'm not Corrupted." Sands brought the topic back around to its original purpose with a soft flumph of his wings and brief shift in Form. I saw Harlee flinch and cover her face.
"No. But you are Fallen. How have you managed that?" The Angel asked. She was trying to maintain a hard tone, but she was softening and as Sands tipped his head in Harlee's direction she said "That? That's impossible! What.. are you?" Her voice got softer as she stared at Harlee, who was currently humming quietly to our son as she breastfed him, patting his bottom.
"Not quite the danger you were led to expect, is she?" Sands asked softly. The Angel sputtered again, but I could see doubt in her eyes.
Harlee POV
I woke up in the armchair to a dark, empty room. The house was completely still, quiet. Somebody must have put Cael in his room because my arms were empty. The Angel was no longer tied to the kitchen chair. I hoped that meant Sands had figured out a way to get around whatever her issue was without killing her. I didn't need the deaths of any more Angels on my conscious. I stood and stretched, headed for the baby's room, reaching out through our link for Zeev and Ash. I was dimly aware of them somewhere nearby.
"Sands? Ash? Zeev? Sam?" I called in the empty house as I peeked around the corner of the baby's door. No one was there. This house was small there's no way I passed them. I backtracked through the kitchen and checked the bedroom. Nothing. Into the living room to the bathroom, still nothing. Trying not to panic, I thought maybe they'd gone outside. I raced back through the kitchen again and opened the back door. Nothing in the backyard either. Why would they be out front? I raced to the front door and threw it open. Still nothing. What was going on?? Cael, Ash, Sands. Zeev, Sam, where could they possibly be? I didn't have a phone! But the Marks should still work right? I reached to brush the silver cuff and it was gone. As was the gold armband. I raced to the bathroom to check the mirror. The Marks on my collar and jaw were gone too. I could feel my heart breaking. Where had they gone? The only reason for their Marks to disappear would be...
I jerked awake, panting, heart racing. Cael was looking at me with wide eyes, like he'd shared my nightmare. I cupped his head and clutched him to my chest tightly, rocking and murmuring to him words of comfort to sooth us both.
"You really love them, don't you?" The Angel asked. I jerked, still jumpy, and looked at her.
"Ash and my boys are my life. They're my family. I love them with everything I have left." I answered her.
"But they're Demons." She answered, scrunching her nose.
"Sands is not. Cael is not. They're riding a fine line, and I'm aware of that, but don't tell me that you, an Angel, can't tell their power stems from a Divine source rather than the Demonic? I'm just a human and I can tell." I shrugged, holding Cael a little tighter. The Angel shook her head with disgust.
"Look, I'm not trying to convert you to our cause, pervert or Corrupt you. I've never once asked any of my family to change for me except to stop attacking humans unless absolutely necessary. Other than that, they make up their own minds. It was Sands' decision what he did. He said he'd found love, and though it wasn't as pure as a human's he didn't wanna lose it. And he didn't wanna be Corrupted for not giving it up. So he asked if I'd accept him, and I was gonna try to talk him out of it, but he had already made up his mind, so.." The Angel's expression grew more and more incredulous as I talked and I shrugged again.
"What are you?" She asked me.
Zeev POV
I had cringed at Harlee's nightmare, but Ash and I were so used to them after Harlee's abduction that we were able to block out her calling our names, which would probably lead us to trouble later. Ash grimaced.
"Do you have to be like that?" Ash asked grumpily.
"Sorry, I'm a pessimist." I held up my hands in a helpless gesture. "I'm a Demon, what do you want?"
"Rainbow farts and elf giggles." Harlee replied as she passed.
"I thought you were entertaining our guest?" I whispered harshly.
"I was, then she started creeping me out!" She stage whispered back.
"I can still hear you, you know!" The Angel called from the living area.
"Caught that didja?" Ash deadpanned and Harlee shook her head with a small smile. Sands and Sam had taken their argument to Hell, quite literally, about what to do with the troublesome Messenger Reaper.
"Food preference?" I asked Harlee as she came back into the kitchen from putting Cael in his room and she looked thoughtful for a moment. Then all Hell broke loose.
Between Harlee and I a figure appeared, a tall blond with a ponytail, casual jeans and a tee. He wasn't facing me, but I knew if he turned he'd have that scruff facial hair women found so charming. Harlee was stunned. I could tell through our link that it was for more than one reason-this was the original charmer, and as soon as she set eyes on him, he began to try to seduce. He paced towards her with a seductive roll of his hips. His frame was tall, broad shouldered, thin hips, I could feel Harlee taking note of it all even as her mind screamed at her to run.
"I finally found you." The Prince purred. I looked at Ash and fingered both silver and gold bands. Sam and Sands better get their butts back here now.
Harlee POV
This was like Ash's power, I realized. Only stronger. So. much. stronger. I was pinned in place, unable to move as the Demon Prince prowled towards me. I recognized who he was through Zeev's thoughts and I was trying to break my body free from this spell. The smell that rolled off this guy as he neared was pure, unadulterated male musk. No Demon sweetness or trickery to be had. No he cut right to the chase, smelling of sex. My body reacted even as my mind recoiled. I had to get to Cael! I knew the Princes were after him because he was Nephilim! The Demon Prince circled me.
"Mmm, you smell delicious." He purred, sniffing my hair and licking my earlobe. I tried to jerk away, but my body was completely frozen. I missed the ability to shift! The Demon Prince wrapped his arms around my waist, a hand placed flat against my abdomen. "Mother of Nephilim." He cooed. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this wasn't going to be good.
Zeev POV
'"Untie me." I heard the Angel's murmur from the living area. "Unbind me and I will help you." She repeated. The offer was tempting. Ash and I had a quick mental argument about it as we watched the Prince circle our Harlee. There was a sudden snap of his fingers.
"You there-you're one of mine! Come service your Mistress before me. I wish to see her pleasured before I take her myself." Ash looked at me with anguish as their body moved to obey, unbidden.
'Can you get him to turn so he's not facing me?' I shot at Ash and Harlee. There were mutual helpless responses of unsettled uncertainty. I could feel how their bodies were outside of their control. That was this Prince's talent after all...
"Untie me." Hissed the Angel again. I shot a look in her direction. I would if I could, the distraction would be welcome. I fought the chains binding my own body. Surprisingly, they were easier to slip. Apparently, the Prince didn't consider me as much of a threat, or at least found me less interesting. Ash's body continued to move towards Harlee unbidden, a slight saunter to their hips. Ash was cringing internally and I could feel it, but I could also feel the venom welling up in Ash's mouth. So much of it that Ash had no choice but to let the venom spill out to prevent choking themself. Harlee's eyes grew wide.