Zeev POV
The Demon's Blood. It burned through Harlee's, Ash's and my system. On my own, it might have been recoverable. With the human soul, the link to a human and the link to a Corrupted Human Demon, I couldn't drag us out. Harlee had the most horrifying hallucinations. Ash resorted to Demon Form, attempting to clear the poison, and curled in a corner, snapping at anyone that came near, and me, I just gave in and let the darkness have me.
"She had a miscarriage, is that really what you wanted?" Sands snarled through the darkness at one point.
"Just give us the antidote." Sam roared and there was a crash.
"I never bothered to create one." The Prince replied somewhere between joy and pain. I lost myself to Harlee's hallucinations once more.
Ash was coughing the next time I pulled myself out. I was lying next to Harlee, whose skin had paled, her breathing uneven. There were burst capillaries and veins standing out all along her skin in strange starburst patterns. In desperation, I tugged her to me, opening my Core, praying for a miracle. My shadow Form swallowed her whole, and as her newly purified soul touched my own Corrupted one, I thought the torment would never end, even with my soul being lightened with Sam's and Sands' recent bonds.
Harlee POV
I woke up screaming. Zeev was trying to join us, merge our Forms. We hadn't done this in forever. I wasn't prepared and had fought back, and now my body was melting away. I reached out one skeletal hand to touch Zeev's Core.
"I love you." I said before I lost consciousness.
Zev POV
When I woke back up, I was seizing. My Core had spat Harlee back out at some point. Rejected. We'd healed a little, but I didn't have the strength to try again.
"Don't do that.. again.." Groaned Ash. Shit, I'd forgotten about them. I bet that was a pleasant experience from the outside, being linked to us. "It was awful." Ash moaned. "But we all healed a little."
"And made a terrific mess." Sam growled. "That was an amazing spectacle though." There was a lustful shine in his eyes.
"Don't worry, not enough energy to try again." I croaked.
"Your son keeps asking for his mother. His demands have become quite insistent. We've kept him away until now. What do you want us to do?" Sam asked softly. I looked at Harlee, but her hallucinations dragged me under again before I could answer.
Harlee POV
"Cael" I moaned. Hadn't someone said he'd wanted me? Was that just a fever dream too?
"Hush now Harlee, I'll bring him to you." Sands sounded exhausted. Can Angels get exhausted?
"Where's Zeev?" I murmured. I felt a very hot hand on my forehead.
"He's next to you on the bed-can't you feel him?" Sam asked me quietly, distressed. I shook my head, tears were leaking from my eyes as I struggled to pry open the lids.
"We're.. dying." I sobbed. I felt Sam's hands on either side of m face.
"Not today." He snarled. Then a pair of very warm and soft lips planted themselves on mine. Sam breathed into my lungs, but it was more than that. I felt the fire racing under my skin and started to scream as the full power of a Fallen Arch Angel was unleashed in my body. I screamed, trying to fend him off, but I was too weak, and my struggles only sent me into a dizzy spiral into unconsciousness.
The wound was still burning when I woke up again, but there was a soft white light in front of my eyelids, bothering me, making me moan.
"No, don't open your eyes Harlee!" A hushed, awed voice whispered. It sounded like Sands.
"Why not?" I mumbled, but a soft brush against my mind said a single word.
'Sleep'
And I was gone again.
Zeev POV
I had Harlee in my arms, Cael clutched tightly between us. I couldn't remember when that happened, but I felt better, much better.
��Me too." Ash sighed, nuzzling their face into Harlee's neck. "It was your-our-son. That is some miracle baby you have gifted the world. I was only struck by the poison second or third hand, but I nearly lost my mind and my life. You two were goners for sure. Cael begged for days to see you, but Sands didn't want to distress the poor mite. I'm glad he finally caved to Harlee's begging." Ash hugged Harlee tighter, nuzzling closer. "Even Sam tried to save you guys, you know? And it looked like it was working, but... it turns out Nephilims are indeed a force to be reckoned with."
"What of the Prince who attacked us?" I asked Ash.
"I'm not sure really-I think they have him tied up in the bathroom." Ash giggled. "Sam does love his bondage. Hmm, I"m going to have to ask him for some things..." Ash looked thoughtful.
"Ash! Concentrate!" I snapped
"I'm trying! I'm so hungry Zeev!" Ash whined.
"Yeah.. me too." I was going to have no choice but to hunt for souls.
"Go on then." Harlee said softly, eyes barely cracked. "Even my body is drained, so I can imagine.." She commented. I grimaced.
"I'll construct a barrier." I kissed her gently and she nodded.
"Ash, you too. And tell Sam and Sands to go when you get back if they need to.. I... understand." Harlee's eyes drifted closed again.
"But Mistress! I much prefer your body to any other, must I really..?" Ash trailed off.
"I'm sorry Ash. I'd prefer you stayed with me too. I'm just so tired, I don't think I can do anything for you. And I need you well fed if that monster's still in this house." Harlee murmured.
"Yes Mistress." Ash said softly, kissing her temple. I could see the look of pain on their face, but knew Ash would sacrifice their own comfort for Harlee's every time. I clasped their shoulder and tapped my temple
"Barrier." I reminded, and Ash nodded once. I took one last look at my sleeping love and our son, now sprawled on his back with his mouth hanging open, held tightly in his mother's arms. A single, tiny feather was caught under his pajama top. I plucked the golden feather from under him. Had he manifested his True Form? I stared at him. I knew he had all my memories from before his conception, but I had still hoped to be there to see him through his first shift. Disappointment flooded me, until a hand on my shoulder startled me out of my thoughts.
"You were there. Maybe not in the way you expected, but he did it for you, and Harlee. For us all." Ash murmured and leaned up to give me a kiss on the cheek. The words and movement were so evocative of Harlee, that for a moment I wondered if Ash had not somehow pulled her consciousness into their own. "Now let's go so we can be back before Harlee wakes up. I miss her already." I nodded once and we both disappeared.
Harlee POV
The bed was empty except for me and Cael when I pulled myself from sleep again. I was so used to having my Demons around me, that my mind and body ached with loneliness. I traced Cael's angelic sleeping face, rubbing his soft, chubby cheek until he gave me a half smile.
"There it is-that's momma's baby." I cooed. He grinned again and I had to stop myself from squealing. "You're so beautiful Cael, inside and out. Thank you for saving your momma and your papa and zaza." I kissed his forehead. I would tell him again when he was awake, but I didn't want to waste a moment more.