"Any excessive hair growth?"
"No."
"Any craving for blood?"
"No."
"Any unusual tingling of senses?"
"Again, no."
Kade sighed with frustration and covered his face with his hands. We had been at this for almost an hour, him trying to figure out what kind of supernatural I was. But any of the symptoms he tested me for always came back negative and led us farther away from our goal.
Forbes, the old guy that was behind the bar when Kade and I arrived a few days ago, handed us both glasses of water quietly and continued on with his next customer.
"You'd think you'd exhibit some type of behavior, especially with the mixture of presumed supernatural DNA," Kade mumbled to himself. I nodded in agreement and feathered my hair back slowly with a deep breath. When I did, Kade suddenly reached forward and grabbed my wrist before I could put my hand down, and studied it with wild eyes. He ran his thumb over it, making me flush slightly and resist against his hold.
"Where did you get this?" he asked harshly, meeting my eyes and forcing an answer. I looked down at my wrist and studied what he was talking about, finding only a burn mark just below my right palm. It was diagonal, not very long but not too short either, and was intersected by another burn mark shaped almost like a crescent moon. The two formed a crooked 'X', something I had gotten used to ignoring.
I squinted in confusion and shrugged slightly. "I don't know. I asked my mom and dad about it a long time ago and they were just as baffled as I was. Said it was there when I was born," I answered carefully. Kade continued to scrutinize the mark, seeming to ignore me, and stayed drifted in his own little world. His thumb rubbed over it a few more times as his grip tightened.
He called Forbes over suddenly and held my wrist up for him to see. "Forbes... do you recognize this mark? Or am I just going crazy?" he asked.
It took a few seconds for Forbes to react and when he did, the glass in his hands fell and shattered on the floor, making me jump and the people around us go quiet. His eyes widened with either shock or fear, maybe both, and his mouth fell open.
"Why... t-that's the mark of Heaven!" he stuttered breathlessly as another man, who happened to be another Freelancer named Erik, came over. When he saw the mark, his eyes widened too.
"Oh my," he breathed. "I can't believe it." The three men exchanged glances as I began to realize what they said.
Mark of Heaven?! What the hell?!
"I've only seen it in books! Only heard legends!" Forbes exclaimed as he also grabbed my wrist and pulled it to his eyes. I leaned back uncomfortably on my stool when all three men started taking closer looks. But something in my stomach started to twist. Reluctantly, I turned over my other arm and put it under their gazes.
"Well what is this one?" I asked, examining the the 'V' shaped burn mark on my left wrist. The end of each line was curved outward and then downward, also forming near crescent moons. Down the middle was a straight, vertical line which made the whole mark appear as some sort of trident.
Both burn marks always scared the crap out of me when I was young and was the reason I always preferred wearing hoodies and long sleeves. People would stare at them and make me feel awkward (I also have my eyes to thank for that), so I felt that the only way to fix that was to cover the marks, hide them from the world. Mom and Dad had continually asked doctors about them but even they were speechless; no one knew where the 'burns' came from, especially since I was born with them.
Kade and the other two shot their eyes to the left mark, seeming to hold their breaths as they took in the sight. They exchanged glances again and I knew for a fact that whatever it was wasn't good.
"How is that even possible?" Erik mumbled as he rubbed the brown stubble on his chin.
"A soul... a body marked by both Heaven and Hell. I don't understand..." Kade added quickly to himself. I suddenly snatched both my hands back with terror and looked down at my scarred wrists, taking in their words once more.
"What? A mark of Hell?" I questioned. "Of Heaven?"
"Eliza only had a mark of Hell," Kade informed, talking directly to himself. "That's because the Abominations tried to get ahold of her at birth; they knew about her blood before she was even born. But to have both a mark of Heaven and Hell... it's completely absurd. It's either one or the other, not both."
"Does this mean Hell's not the only one after the girl?" Forbes asked, his voice barely a whisper. The three men exchanged nervous glances again before finally turning back to me.
"Bella, are you sure you've never displayed any type of unusual behavior? Nothing... supernatural?" Kade questioned.
I shook my head slowly.
He looked back at Forbes and Erik, a frown set on his face. "Is it even possible to have multiple supernatural DNAs? I thought the baby would inherit the dominant identity of the two parents."
Forbes shook his head. "That's what I thought. Eliza claimed to have multiple DNAs, a 'twisted bloodline' is what she called it. I don't think that's correct, considering Bella here hasn't displayed any type of supernatural behavior. Eliza didn't display any type of behavior I've seen before, though. Her abilities... what she could do with her mind... there's only one thing I've heard of being able to do that; and it's said to be extinct now."
We all looked at him expectantly.
"A god."
The word seemed to freeze time and make the air grow cold. It surely did that to my blood, at least. I was to the point of losing my mind and laughing hysterically because all of this seemed a little absurd. A god? Really? Haha... he's kidding, right?
"In this case, it'd be a goddess," Forbes continued. "But anyhow, gods and goddesses use to be able to control stuff with their mind, you know like telekinesis and what not. They were always compared to demons, who are also able to do that, but were considered far more powerful. Some of them would work for Hell, others for Heaven. Legend has it, years and years ago, the two sides went to war... but nobody came out alive. All of those heavenly and hellish beings lost their lives. Both sides were devastated of course, obviously because they had lost the greatest warriors ever to exist. But anyways, I remember what Eliza could do with her mind; how powerful she was. And if my studies are correct, she was a goddess. Somehow, in some way, her family's genetics weren't wiped out and she was born with the power of her ancestors."
Forbes looked at me, deep in thought. "But some gods and goddesses had further abilities, not just things dealing with their minds. Some could heal people, raise the dead, or just kill someone in the snap of their fingers."
"But I've never been able to do any of that!" I mentioned pointlessly because none of them looked convinced.
"Are you saying she's a goddess?" Kade questioned quietly as he looked back at Forbes.
"It's possible. Apparently she hasn't unlocked her full potential. Maybe with enough practice we can get it out of her," he answered with a friendly smile. Erik silently smiled too but Kade continued to frown.
"That explains why Heaven would be after her too," he mumbled. "But why didn't they go after Eliza?"
"Maybe they didn't know about her," Erik volunteered. The answer seemed to convince Kade as his eyes studied me carefully.
"A goddess... how even...," he whispered.
When I opened my mouth to retaliate against the whole crazy idea, the air suddenly grew very thin and the people around us vanished. No... everyone vanished.
I looked around, and so did Kade, Forbes, and Erik. The morning sky which had been bright and beautiful was suddenly painted with eerie dark clouds, and there was a thick layer of fog spread across the bar's tiled floor.
I was beginning to gag for oxygen until the air evened out and a familiar, deep voice startled me.
"A goddess, huh? Now isn't that something to get excited over?"
I shot my gaze to the bar stool a few feet away on my right and froze, swallowing hard as I stared at the silvery, black hair of the bar's visitor. He sat casually drinking a glass of a dark red liquid; I didn't even want to guess what it was, and a smile was spread across his lips as he drank. He twisted on the stool to look at us four, more specifically me.
"Great to see you again," he said with a slight bow of his head in obvious false admiration. I leaned back on my stool, feeling Kade's reassuring hands set on my shoulders so I wouldn't fall off. I peered over my shoulder at him and noticed the blue of his eyes beginning to spark with orange, and felt his hands beginning to grow warm.
"Good news...well for me at least," Salazar said as he took another sip of his drink. "New intel says I don't have to get just your blood. Your whole body's going back home. Old arrangement of the Boss's wish. I'm sure he thought it'd be easier that way." He sounded pleased, too pleased actually. His smile only made the situation worse and just caused my blood to grow colder.
"Boss?" Kade questioned. His eyebrows furrowed at the word as if he wasn't ready for the answer. Salazar sat his glass down and stared at him wide eyed, seeming surprised that Kade didn't understand.
"Why, my father of course," he said plainly and innocently, his red eyes gleaming. I swallowed hard at his statement. I couldn't imagine how bad Salazar's father could be. His son was already bad enough.
"Your father?" Forbes repeated with his tone displaying his thoughts. He, too, obviously knew it wasn't a good thing.
"Oh, what's the point of acting stupid?" Salazar chuckled as he took another sip from his glass. Suddenly, his red eyes grew brighter and when he smiled, his teeth had sharpened into pointy canines. "You know my father is the greatest of them all. The man you all should be bowing down to. Because if you displease him, when he rises once more, he will strike you down and torture your souls in Hell. He'll make you pay for what you've done to me and my kind. And he'll make sure you suffer greatly." His pause in speech made my breathing uneven.
"For my father is Satan."
"Curse you and your wretched father!" Forbes shouted immediately as he and Erik stood challengingly. Kade's eyes were that fiery orange again but his hands hadn't yet ignited. He sat surprisingly still.
Salazar started laughing as he also pushed away from the bar and stood to his feet. "Oh please! Why do you think we're after Bella? If she's truly a goddess, then her powers can help my father rise from his cage. He can be free at last!" He was becoming psychotic, absolutely terrifying. But I couldn't move. I couldn't blink. I couldn't breathe.
I wasn't even scared.
"You're waltzing on our turf, thinking you can just overtake anyone you want. I must say, I don't know if you're brave... or stupid." The words slipped out of my mouth unintentionally, almost like that time I challenged Xur. But I didn't regret this one. I wanted to challenge this guy. I wanted to show him who he's messing with.
No, I didn't have my powers yet, but just like before, I was getting that tingling sensation and knew for a fact it wasn't coming from Kade.
This was me.
"Quite charming, I must say," Salazar said as he studied me with a surprised smile. "But challenging the son of Satan isn't very wise."
He walked so close, I had to look straight up just to meet his eyes. "I don't think it's very wise to challenge a goddess... especially one that doesn't work for Hell," I retorted boldly. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't goddesses stronger than foolish fallen angels? I mean, that's all your 'daddy' is anyway, a fallen angel who stood against his father. What, was he just going through that rebellious teenage stage and stepped out onto the wrong limb? Typical for a low life scum." I paused and wrinkled my nose at the demon. "And look who he decided to create to do his dirty work for him. Another ignorant fool who can't even finish a fight. He probably just created you like his other pets, minions set out to hunt for pointless prey."
Before I could barely get the last word out, something smacked against my cheek and I fell to my knees, hissing in angry pain. It stung, obviously a slap from Salazar. I glanced up at his snarling face which had grown red with anger, and growled. "Watch your mouth... or I will make you suffer for your words," he threatened with a bark.
My gaze suddenly grew tense and my eyes focused on his; purple vs. red. Something channeled inside me and made my temples grow sore with something weighing heavily behind my eyes. I could almost feel them gleaming brightly at the demon, and before I knew it, he was down on his knees, crying out in pain and cuffing his hands over his eyes.
His cries grew hoarse, like an actual inner demon releasing built up yells, as literal smoke streamed from between his fingers and spiraled into the thin air. When he uncovered his eyes, my adrenaline almost gave out when I saw his eye sockets completely hollowed and pitched into black. Inside, flames were beginning to fade and die out. And just as I thought it was over, blood started oozing from his sockets and down to his jaws in steady streams, steaming as if they were boiling water.
I scooted away and began to realize this was my doing, it had to be. When that thought sunk it, I stood to my feet and felt the tears stream down my cheeks, horrified and traumatized tears. Salazar's lifeless body fell to the floor in a useless heap and lay steaming, as if his innards were also boiling. But in this case, I wouldn't be surprised if they were.
I nearly lost my balance as I stared wide eyed at the demon and the damage I had caused. No way I could've done that. No way I could actually be a goddess capable of doing something like that with my mind! All I did was glare at him!
Kade caught me before I fell and pulled me into a tight hug, allowing me to bury my face into his chest for comfort. His eyes were blue again so I let myself fall into his warmth, already soaking his shirt with tears. He brushed my hair down soothingly and shushed me gently, as if knowing the painful trauma I was feeling. I couldn't help but shake in his arms, unable to get the sight of Salazar's burning, hollow eye sockets, and the blood pouring from them out of my head. And the fact that I did it was even worse.
Kade's arms tightened around me when I heard Forbes clear his throat.
"She's more powerful than I thought," he whispered. "That is absolutely the work of a goddess."
Kade took in a deep breath and placed his chin on top of my head. I was still crying but not as loudly.
"Salazar's not dead," he mumbled which made my stomach twist. "He's going to recover soon, and when he does, none of us will be safe, especially Bella. She needs to get out of here... back to her own time period." He paused and took another deep, thoughtful breath.
"We leave in search for Galendale tomorrow."