Death In Her Eyes - Erin Bedford Page 0,9
to her, I stared hard. “What are you?”
Her crimson colored lips tilted up on one side. “Stay and find out.”
She had me there.
I contemplated for a moment between barging out of the room or satisfying my curiosity. The fact that my dad also couldn’t be read was what won out. Whatever this woman was, I had little doubt my dad was too.
“Fine,” I clipped, pulling my arm from her grasp. I didn’t sit back down on the couch but wandered around her room.
“Eleanor,” my dad started.
“Elle,” I interrupted him, my eyes skimming the books on the shelves. Book of Enoch. The Rise and Fall of the Morning Star. Encyclopedia of Celestial Beings. Frowning at the books, I turned back to my dad and the strange woman. “Are you some kind of religious organization?”
My dad gave an exasperated sigh. “If you would just sit still, I can explain.”
“Why don’t you let me, Batariel?” The woman placed a hand on his arm too familiar for my liking, her lips curving up at the edges.
“Very well, Azazel. You were always far better at these things.” He lifted his arm, shifting his suit jacket to look at his watch. “I’m needed back anyway.” They exchanged a knowing look before my dad turned his attention back to me. “I know you hate me right now, Eleanor. But please know that everything I do is to protect you. Please stay here with Azazel. She’ll explain everything and protect you.”
Anger boiled in my stomach and I stepped forward to shout at him for leaving me again, but he was gone a swath of shadows before I even took a breath to speak. Gritting my teeth together, I swiveled my rage onto the only other person in the room. Azazel.
The woman wasn’t affected by my glare in the slightest. In fact, she seemed amused by it. Sashaying across the room, she reached passed me, making me flinch, but she only plucked a book from the shelf. “Since you don’t seem too surprised by your father’s shifting abilities, I’ll spare you the magic is real lecture and get right down to the thick juicy center of things.” She opened the book in her hands, flipping through some pages before plopping the book into my hands.
I stared down at the page before me. A black and white image spanned the page. Bodies with wings fell around the edges with swords in hand. Several other winged creatures swooped in from the heavens lashing their swords out at the fallen, rays of light from the sky pouring down on them. I read the underlying subtitle.
The Fall of the Angels.
I glanced up from the book to Azazel and then back down. “You can’t really believe in this crap, can you? I mean, angels are cool and everything but to really believe they exist?” I puffed a bit of air and rolled my eyes, snapping the book shut to push it back at her. “That’s just crazy.”
Azazel didn’t even flinch at my words. Her dry expression reaching all the way to her eyes. “No crazier than a girl who can see the death of everyone she touches. Except for me and of course your father.” Her lips ticked up at the edges. “At least, not yet anyway.”
“What does that mean?” My brows drew together as I watched her push the book back onto the shelf where it belonged and walked over to her desk.
Leaning against the edge of the desk, she placed her hands on either side of her. “What it means, Eleanor, is that your father and I are angels.” My mouth gaped slightly at what she was saying not because I believed her but because of the stupidity of it all. But she didn’t stop there. “And you are a Nephilim. The daughter of an angel.”
I shook my head at her, wrapping my arms around myself as I stalked back and forth in front of the shelf. “That doesn’t make any sense. My mother was human. She didn’t have any abilities. And dad just an asshole.” I scoffed, muttering to myself. “Angels are supposed to be of light and kindness. If dad was an angel God fucked up somewhere.”
Listening to my rambles, Azazel laughed, a long throaty sound. “Oh, God doesn’t fuck you as you say. We are angels but not those who reside in heaven. At least, not anymore.”
I spun around on her, my eyes scanning up and down her form. “You’re a demon? Of course, you are. Makes sense.” I