Page 20 of The Human Element (The Human Element Collection #1)

Lorelei

Lorelei felt a warmth surrounding her; it brought with it a sense of peace.

She thought she could stay in that place for all time; to luxuriate in this moment that made her feel safe and loved.

But a searing pain originating from her arm evaporated that feeling of tranquility, pulling her away from the coziness she found herself in. She opened her eyes and found Daemon.

Her heart fluttered at the initial sight of him.

He was holding her to him, cradling her gently while propping himself up against the car.

His wings, which she hadn’t seen up close before, engulfed her like a warm, living blanket of inky silk.

The black feathers were soft against her skin and when light caught them, an iridescent green pulsed throughout.

The feathers shifted and stirred with Daemon’s breathing, like they were an entity all their own.

She looked again at Daemon’s face and he was smiling from ear to ear at her; but he was different than she'd seen him before—absolutely exhausted.

He seemed on the verge of falling over if not for how tightly he clung to her.

Dark bags were under his eyes and she could feel his heart beating furiously.

“Oh Lorelei, thank goodness!”

Exasperation lingered in his words as Daemon hugged Lorelei tighter to him and bent down to leave a gentle kiss on her forehead, one she could feel even after his lips pulled back.

She tried to sit up from his lap, placing her arm down to reinforce herself when she was reminded that this arm was still injured, and a wave of pain shot through her that was so intense, she yelped and lost her balance, falling back into his arms, sweat forming on her brow from the exertion.

Daemon helped her sit up slowly, shushing her to not move much as he leaned her against the side of the car to sit upright beside him.

He carefully held her arm out for him to inspect, and Lorelei did her best not to show on her face how much it hurt.

“I would usually be able to heal this for you, but under the circumstances…”

Lorelei saw that his eyes betrayed a feeling of guilt, and she did her best to buck up her strength and reassure him.

“It’s okay, I know you need to rest and heal yourself. I can manage until then.”

Although she didn’t see the end of the battle, having been knocked out cold by the monstrously large demon, she only imagined how difficult it had to be for him to defeat all of those demons on his own.

His eyes weren’t glowing as brightly as usual, and she felt the tremble in his hand when it held her wrist to better see the lassoed burn marks encircling her forearm.

Even though they were both hurt, they were alive.

They made it through their first major fight which was a victory in itself.

But as she looked into his eyes again, she knew he was worried about how much trouble they were both in, and whether or not he was going to be able to protect them enough to see them make it to their end point.

The night turned severely quiet after what was such a tumultuous and near-death incident.

It felt odd; like this was only the calm before the real storm, and that things were only going to get more difficult and more dangerous from here on out.

Daemon stood up and rummaged through the car that was badly banged up, and pulled out her suitcase from the dented trunk.

“Is there something in here you don’t care too much about for me to use as a bandage for your arm? We’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way.”

Lorelei nodded and was able to get herself up, bracing herself against the car for support caused more pain to radiate throughout her arm, making her feel a little dizzy.

Breathing through it, she felt the dizziness subside and returned her attention to where Daemon stood.

Worry etched his face and she put on a reassuring smile to ease his mind.

Walking over to him, she unzipped the suitcase and pulled out an old t-shirt she usually slept in, quickly covering the lacy underwear that lay beneath it with a sweater, hopefully before Daemon had time to notice.

She sat in the back seat while Daemon crouched by her knees and began ripping up the shirt into smaller pieces, before tying them tightly around her arm.

His face was focused and when he finished, he stood again and let his wings stretch out; the look on his face suggesting doing so was more painful than he previously thought; letting them fold up once again against his back and finding the hoodie he'd thrown off him earlier laying in the grass, he brushed it off to put on, and stood quietly looking around at the carnage before them.

She wanted to say something to him; about the battle, about whether he was alright, about the conversation they were having just before the demons showed up; but she was afraid to.

Afraid to disrupt the singular moment of peace that might vanish in a blink of an eye if she did.

She got up from the seat and closed the door behind her.

Daemon was standing a few feet away, staring up into the sky; the stars were blinking softly against the velvet black backdrop of night.

She was almost to him, opening her mouth to finally speak, when she heard a rustling sound off to their right.

Daemon was immediately in front of her in a protective stance before either had the chance to see what or who it was.

Lorelei peeked around his broad shoulders and watched as he scanned the grassy area on the side of the road in front of them.

When a pair of red eyes meets her own, Daemon was zooming across the field before she has the chance to stop him.

A shadowed body popped up from behind a tall patch of grass and raised its long arms into the air above its head.

“Wait! No, please! Don’t hurt me!”

The voice wavered with fear and Lorelei took several steps forward in its direction.

As she got closer, she finally saw him. It was a tall, slender boy who looked to be in his teens.

His red eyes blinked, but before she could respond, Daemon rounded up on the boy and put him in a headlock.

He was squirming under Daemon’s hold, but impulsively Lorelei ran to stop him.

“Daemon! Don’t hurt him! He’s just a kid!”

Daemon looked at Lorelei in shock and furrowed his brows making no indication of any intention to loosen his grip on the boy.

“Lorelei, he’s a demon. He must’ve been skulking around, hiding during the fight. We can’t let him live. Not after what happened earlier. Not after what could have happe–”

Shame crippled Daemon’s usually flawless features, the heart-wrenching reality that Daemon was unsuccessful in keeping Lorelei from being harmed, was written all over his face.

She felt for him, and wanted nothing more than to reassure him that he saved her, but an unsettling feeling that doing so would bring about no comfort for him—not here when another demon was in his grasp and she was clutching her maimed arm close to her body.

Lorelei was only a couple of meters from them both and caught the eyes of the boy. He had curly, bright red hair that matched his eyes, and freckles splattered his face. His eyes were pleading; he was nothing more than a scared kid. She looked back to Daemon who tightened his lock on the boy.

“I don’t think he’s dangerous. Don’t you think he would’ve tried to attack us by now if his goal was to do so? The fact that he’s been hiding here the entire time and hasn’t, should say something.”

Daemon let out a huff, clearly frustrated.

“This isn’t some normal kid, Lorelei. He’s Lucifer’s son, Samuel. I can smell it on him. The same scent of his father. He’s literally the closest person to one of our enemies! There’s no way we could trust this kid.”

For the first time since he was spotted, Samuel spoke up.

“Please, yes...I am Lucifer’s son. But I never wanted to come along on this mission. I never planned on hurting you two! I swear!”

Lorelei walked to Daemon and placed a hand on one of his arms.

“Daemon, please. Let’s at least talk to him. He’s young and obviously terrified. I think we will find he isn’t a threat.”

Daemon met her eyes and she watched as he wanted to fight her on this, but instead released the boy and walked to stand beside Lorelei, glaring at the boy in front of them.

Samuel rubbed the back of his neck; Daemon’s hold on him had obviously been uncomfortable.

He kept looking at Daemon, clearly terrified of him.

But Lorelei moved a little closer, which Daemon was not okay with.

He quickly grabbed her arm, attempting to pull her back to him.

Lorelei turned and raised her eyebrow at him, and he begrudgingly released.

Lorelei gave the boy a smile. He couldn’t be older than 17, and from his demeanor and the fact he looked nothing like the rest of his demon buddies, being so much smaller in comparison, made Lorelei curious why they sent him on this mission in the first place.

And if Daemon was right, and this was the son of Lucifer, why would he risk losing his child in case something had gone wrong?

“Samuel, was it? I’m Lorelei. Do you mind explaining to us why you didn’t attack us?”

Samuel stood nervously, one arm holding onto the other.

“I…I am sure it will be difficult to believe me. But I am not like my comrades. I have never understood the fight between Heaven and Hell and humans. It all seems pointless to me, which is why my father sent me on this mission. In his eyes, I am a failure and a dishonor to all of my people. He told me I would be killed if I didn’t go on this mission, that you had to die, and it was my duty to make sure of it.

I couldn't do it though, the moment we arrived and the others were busy, I hid.

I couldn't bring myself to do anything.”

Samuel’s voice caught in his throat, and Lorelei’s heart wept for him.

This boy grew up in a place he didn’t choose to be; in a life he didn’t choose to live, to a father who would willingly sacrifice him for his cause; cried out to her in that moment.

It wasn’t a cry she heard with her ears, but a cry she heard and felt with her heart.

It ate away at her insides, a mixture of sadness and resentment.

This war was destroying lives; even the life of Lucifer’s own son.

How could this be what was meant for them all?

Lorelei heard Daemon behind her, which irritated her greatly.

“He’s probably making all this up. I bet you he was hiding there to attack when we were at our most vulnerable.”

Lorelei spun around and she let her irritation show through her next words.

“If you truly think that, isn’t it one of your powers to discern whether a demon is lying? Why not put that to the test. I think he will pass with flying colors.”

She watched Daemon’s look of astonishment at her tone, but she held firm as his eyes narrowed in the boy’s direction and he began what she assumed was his method of seeing into him; of knowing whether his words were truth or if he indeed was deceiving them.

After a moment, Daemon let out a gruff groan.

“His story checks out.”

Lorelei was elated and smiled at Daemon, who in return attempted to give a small one back; but she could see he was still untrusting of the kid. Lorelei walked slowly towards Samuel, whose expression was full of relief now.

Lorelei gave a broad smile and reached out to pat Samuel on the shoulder.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Samuel. Welcome aboard our crazy ride." Lorelei giggled and Samuel joined her. Daemon, however, was quick to interject.

“Welcome aboard? Lorelei, I have agreed there isn’t a need to kill him. But we can’t possibly bring him along with us.”

“Why not? He said he never understood the fight or supported it, which suggests he is on our side. And, he also said if he returned from this mission without accomplishing it, he would be killed. We can’t let that happen, Daemon.

He cannot die because of me. Please…I can’t have that over me… weighing on me. I can’t, Daemon.”

She swallowed; tears sat beneath the surface begging to come forward and take her all over again, her heart overwhelmed with the prospect that anyone being around her meant death for many, and the thought of another death— a kid's death— was too much to take; even if he was from the enemy side.

Daemon sighed, finally turning his back to Samuel and walked to Lorelei, cupping her face, his thumb running along her cheek gently.

“Okay, Sunflower, okay.” His voice was hushed in reluctant understanding.

The pet name sent a thrilling sensation throughout her.

Before, back at Camden Market when she mentioned her love of sunflowers, he joked calling her that.

Now, he spoke it with only affection and warmth, no sarcasm, no cheek—and it felt right; his velvet tone softened just for her, and it caused the flutter of her heart to intensify as his lips grazed her cheek ever so slightly.

Lorelei saw this was hard for Daemon to let his guard down like this, so she grabbed his hand, intertwined their fingers and gave a reassuring squeeze.

This seemed to lift him a little and he squeezed her hand back; Samuel would come with them.

Lorelei looked around at both of them, their strange crew against the end of the world, and couldn’t help but smile at the absurdity.

A human girl, a Fallen angel, and the son of the actual Devil against Armageddon?

It sounded like some ridiculous comedy movie.

Yet, here they were, climbing into a beat-up car after a fight scene from Hell, literally, off to face who knows what, as the most unlikely trio imaginable—it wasn’t hard to find the comical effect it created.

She strode behind them, a playful hint in her tone, shrugging her shoulders as she spoke.

If this was her destiny, she might as well embrace it head on—insane or not.

“Alright, boys. Let’s save humanity, shall we?”