Michael

Valentina:

“Aren’t we a little too old to be doing stuff like this?” I ask my friends as we gather around the fire pit in the forest outside of our apartment. It’s a ritual we do when our school year is coming to an end. It’s fun, and it makes us feel like we’re bonded.

Everly winks as she draws a circle of chalk around us. “Come on, it’s fun, Val. Don’t you want to know your future? Maybe who the love of your life is?”

Everly has been my best friend since we were fourteen, and Samira, Everly and I met a little after my arrival to the United States from Columbia. I had barely gotten my citizenship and living with my American grandmother.

Before that, I was living a hellish existence with my abusive uncle and his gangster buddies. My mom had passed away the year before, and I was stuck with Fernando until my grandmother could find a way to get me out of the country. It was the worst year of my life.

Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away a couple of months after my arrival, leaving me to become an orphan. I was living in the streets, trying to find something to eat, when I saw Samira and Everly fighting off a group of men. Apparently, Everly’s foster dad was trying to pimp her out to a bunch of creeps at a shady New Jersey nightclub.

After we beat the crap out of the guys trying to rape Everly, we became fast friends. We pretty much stuck together until child services caught us and sent us to live at a group home where we stayed until we were accepted to Arizona State University.

After years of living in the group home, we chose to move as far away as possible, and Arizona State was the place we chose after throwing a dart at a map. It was cheap, and the school offered us all full scholarships. It was our only escape from our wretched lives, and we took it. Over the years, we protected each other from a range of predators and have become closer than sisters. However, we’ve all been sensitive enough to give each other space and have not infringed on each other’s painful pasts or secrets.

There are just some things that we’re uncomfortable sharing.

My biggest being that I’ve I have unexplainable supernatural abilities that I mistakenly discovered. My powers are almost too scary; I discovered, can make people turn on each other. When two girls in the group home tried to start something with me and turned on each other after touching them, I noticed it. Thankfully, no one else did. Or if they did, they never commented on it.

I tried to find out why I had these abilities, but I never found concrete information. Most of the stuff I discovered where from myths that didn’t quite fit my capabilities. For example, one said that emotional vampires could drain people's lives or make them attack each other. But they also changed shapes, and it would take their victims a long time to die. Since I didn’t fit the criteria, I gave up my search. There were no myths about people who could make others fight each other, so where I got my abilities remains a mystery.

Everly rolls her eyes and shrugs her shoulders at my question, “Hey, at least it’s not a Quija board.”

Samira simply shrugs her shoulders, “Sure, I’m in.”

Everly has long red hair, green eyes, and a willowy frame; I have dark ebony hair, hazel eyes, and a curvy body, while Samira has light brown hair and a boyish figure. All of us are average - sized. However, Samira has the oddest feature with her multi - colored eyes. One is green, and the other one is blue.

While Samira is the spontaneous and open one in the group, Everly is the brassy one in our group who takes chances, while I’m the one who is suspicious of everyone.

I puff out a patient breath and wave my hand toward the fire, “Alright, so what are the rules?”

Everly tosses her red hair behind her ears and hands us each a piece of paper and a pencil, “So, we each tear out a piece of paper, write a question on it and toss it into the fire. Once we do, we’ll dream of our answer. It’s as simple as that.”

I look at the pencil and limp sheet in my hands, “How many questions can we ask?”

Everly grins gleefully, “Only three. Like three wishes.”

Samira arches a dark brow and looks at the sheet incredulously, “Seriously? Are we really basing this off some Disney - type thing?”

Everly places her palm against her chest, feigning offense, “Come on, girl, you know me better than this.”

I glance at Samira, who snickers, then look back at Everly, “If that’s not where you go it from, then where did you get the idea?”

Everly narrows her eyes at me and wags her index finger as if I’m a naughty child, “I read it in one of my books.”

“Are you telling me that you got the idea from one of those fantasy romance novels?”

I ask, knowing my best friend’s penchant for reading romantic fictional books about vampires and werewolves. The girl is crazy about them and is obsessed with the idea that there might be a supernatural subculture, and she might have a soul mate waiting for her. A werewolf mate, to be precise. For a while, I believed she might be right. But after researching underground supernatural clubs, all I discovered were a bunch of cosplay wannabes. I gave up on the concept of supernatural existence after that. Everly still persists.

Everly’s eyes gleam with mischief as she begins to write, “Ugh, come on, Val. What will it hurt? Just do it. Samira’s doing it…” she waves at Samira, who gives me an amused smile, “I say, what the hell? It sounds like fun.”

Sighing with exasperation, I look at the sheet and think about what I’m going to ask.

Samira leans close and mutters, “I asked if I’ll get laid on our trip to Paris.”

I choke out a laugh. Everly, Samira and I signed up for a travel abroad experience. In a couple of weeks, we finish our Junior year at ASU. Sami and I leave for Paris, and Everly will be working on the early stages of a dig with our renowned archeology professor, Dr. Cranston, in Israel. She will be at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City, where the curators of the tomb found a previously undiscovered cavern. It was pretty exciting. We plan on joining her a couple of weeks after we go to Paris. Sami and I agreed to help with the research after our trip.

Right now, I’m studying Russian, Japanese and Gaelic. I’m studying languages because I want to interpret old languages. Everly is studying archeology, and Samira is studying ancient civilization. We all have this uncanny ability to pick up languages and are fluent in French, Spanish, German and Dutch. I’m the quickest to pick up languages. It’s pretty impressive if I say so myself.

We’re all excellent fighters too. Considering we’re all orphans, we learned early how to defend ourselves. But we got better once we came to ASU. We took self - defense classes freshman year and continued to learn when we discovered we had an affinity for it.

I look down at the paper again and decide to write the first thing that pops up in my mind. Will I ever find my soul mate?

I know it sounds corny, but I’ve always dreamed of finding my true love.

I look at Everly, who is gazing intently at her sheet, “What did you ask?”

Everly shakes her head, “If I tell you, then it will not come true.”

Samira groans and tears up her paper before she takes another piece and writes something else. “Damn it, now I’ll never know if I’ll get laid!”

Everly giggles at her tone and folds her own paper, “Now, if you’re done, fold up your sheets and throw them into the fire at the count of three.”

Samira gives me a sideways look and folds her own sheet.

We stand before the fire, our eyes gazing intently at it as Everly begins to count, “Okay, one…” she looks at me and waits for me to continue. Sighing, I call out the next number, “Two…” and Samira shifts in her seat before she calls out, “Three!” and we all toss our sheets at the same time.

As if they’re connected, the sheets simultaneously fall into the fire and the fire bursts like a wave.

Everly giddily jumps and gives us an excited look, “Sweet dreams bitches!”

We chuckle at her antics and shiver when the wind picks up, making the branches on the trees eerily sway and the sounds of the night dim. I look up at the dark sky and smile when I see all of the twinkling stars. The best part of living in Arizona is that there is no light pollution.

Samira jumps over to the log we were sitting on and exhales deeply, “We should probably go to our apartment and get some sleep. Though classes are over, I still have to work tomorrow.”

Everly gathers our blankets and nods, “Yeah, I promised Dr. Cranston that I’d help her get the equipment we’ll need for our dig at cavern at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”

Samira and I clap our hands excitedly. We can’t wait to go to the church and see what was discovered.

“Oh my gosh, I am so curious to see what she found. The whole class was so excited when she chose us to go to the tomb. Who knew there was a hidden passage in Jesus’s tomb? It’s like an archeologist’s dream come true,” Everly beams as she jumps around excitedly. “I’m so excited. And I just can’t hide it!” she sings out the old eighties song. Samira and I sing along with her as we gather our things.

When we lived at the group home, the house mother loved to play eighties music, which stuck with us.

Without another word, we put out the fire and head back to our apartment. But, of course, we all pass out in our beds as soon as we get to our rooms and dream about things we never thought we would.

Michael:

“You cannot keep doing this to yourself, frère,” I tell my brother Gabriel.

Gabriel sneers as he pulls his fighting tapes off his hands. “I don’t know why it matters when I’m winning.”

I run my fingers through my russet curls as I gaze into my brother’s ebony eyes. “You know this is not what I’m speaking of, Gabriel.”

Gabriel reaches for a towel and wipes the blood from his face and neck without a reply.

“Don’t you think we’re suffering too, frère? After all, we’ve suffered, we now find that our mates died in that tomb. Every day, I awaken with this thought that my mate would be alive if I had done things differently. I feel this douleur profonde inside of me.” deep pain. I point to my chest.

Gabriel slams his fist against one of the lockers, his jaw ticking with anger, “It’s impossible, Michael. We lost them before we had a chance.”

I look down at my feet, trying not to let my desolation overwhelm me.

Many millennia ago, Le Créateur introduced me to Lucifer’s mate, Apolliana. Unfortunately, Lucifer had already fallen and had no knowledge of her existence. Because of this, Apolliana became insensée, and I had to kill her. Or at least I thought I did until I discovered that Le Créateur had actually turned her human and sent her to be born on Earth to become a pawn in his nefarious plans to end all existence. Once Apolliana was reawakened, we discovered that Le Créateur had also created other female archangel females who would have been our mates. However, to further his plans, Le Créateur chose to imprison our mates in human shells until he needed them to rise and become the four horsemen.

Apolliana set forth the world’s end and awakened her sisters, but regretted her actions and sacrificed herself to save the world. Unfortunately, her sisters’ disappeared, leaving us searching with very little knowledge about them.

For months, we explored several means to find them with no results. Then, a couple of months Kell Cross’s mate, Amara, performed a modified blood ritual that hunters used to find demons using our blood and Lana’s. Unfortunately, we found that the lines ended at the seal, which indicated that our mates were no longer living. Gabriel has taken it harder than we have. Not to say that it hasn’t been difficult for us. But Gabriel was always highly emotional and the most burdened by what Le Créateur did since he was so loyal to him. On the other hand, Lucifer, Rafael and I had no illusions because we had already suffered through Le Créateur’s betrayal. He betrayed me when he made me kill Lana after he let her suffer years of madness.

Gabriel joined my underground fighting ring and moved up quickly through the ranks to become my most powerful fighter. Unfortunately, the fighting has hardened Gabriel and made him take dangerous risks, which has worried my brothers and me.

I move around the smelly locker room with its souillé gray walls, old wooden benches and rusted storage bins and blow out a deep breath before I face my younger brother again.

“You have to reste fort, Gabriel.” Stay strong. “You cannot keep doing this.”

He shakes his head, his golden curls fluttering as he slumps down on the bench and rests his elbows on his knees. “Why shouldn’t I when all of the information we’ve gathered indicates that our mates vanished with the Creator? They’re gone, Michael. They’re gone, and we will never see them again.”

I place my hand on his broad shoulder comfortingly and shake my head, “You cannot live this way, Gabriel.”

Gabriel does not respond as he gazes forward.

The fight coordinator, Louis, walks in a moment later and hands Gabriel an envelope with money, “Look like l’ange de la mort,” The angel of death, “did very well tonight. You were almost as good as L’ange Vengeur,” he points to me.

Gabriel takes the money, “Was my brother truly that amazing of a fighter?”

Louis gives Gabriel a crooked smile, “Oui, many fighters would quake in fear when they’d see him stroll into the ring. For years, I begged him to return, but he’d rather sit in front of a classroom and teach supernatural children.”

Gabriel’s eyes fly to mine, “You teach supernatural children?”

I roll my eyes, “Let me correct Louis’s ignorance. I am a professor at Saint Ermitage - DeRoche college for supernaturals. It’s one of the few institutes that exist for non - humans. It’s a safe place for supernatural beings to learn about their powers without worrying about hurting others.”

Gabriel gives me a curious smile, “I did not know that.”

I shrug, “It’s not something that I speak of. Lucifer était amuse,” was amused, “when he learned about it.”

Gabriel nods, “I can see that. It’s not every day that the owner of an illegal underground fighting ring is revealed to be a professor at a Supernatural college.”

My lip quirks with amusement, “Exactement, frère. I am quite the puzzle.”

Gabriel snickers, “I guess you’re not as one - dimensional as I thought you were.”

I don’t reply as I rise from my seat and mutter, “Non, I am not. Do not ever underestimate me, brother. Thankfully, it’s summer break, and I do not have to worry about teaching, so I can help train you.”

Gabriel scoffs, “I do not need training, Michael. But anytime you want to test me out, I’m open.”

I smile, seeing my brother’s confidence return, “Oui, I would like that. Perhaps we can do some matches now?”

I challenge him, hoping that his mood will lighten.

Michael waves his arms challengingly, “Let’s do it,”

I smile as I move to one of the lockers, “I will see you at the ring in a couple of minutes.”

Slipping out of my clothing, I slide on a pair of old sweats and tape my knuckles. Angels heal quickly, but I like the idea of looking like a fighter.

Gabriel is already inside the ring, practicing some of his fighting moves.

For nearly two hours, we spar, and I have to say, I’m impressed by my brother’s ability to keep up with me.

“You are doing well, frère,” I mutter as I wipe my chest with a towel.

Michael gives me an arrogant nod, “I’m doing better than well, Michael. Even if all of you abandoned me in heaven, I did not slack off on my training.”

My eyes narrow on my brother’s face. Though Gabriel, Lucifer and Rafael are my brothers, we physically look nothing alike. Lucifer has ebony hair, pale skin and dark eyes, Gabriel has golden hair, ebony eyes and olive skin, and Rafael has toffee - colored skin and whiskey - colored eyes. As for me, I have russet - colored hair and emerald green eyes. We all are over six feet in height and fit from our life as Le créateur’s enforcers, and to Lana’s consternation, we are considered exceptionally attractive. I say this because Lana hates all of the attention that Lucifer receives from other females. She even threatened to put a bag over our heads when we’re out in public. Lucifer is quite amused by his lovely mate.

“Are you going to fight tonight?”

Gabriel nods his head, “Yes, of course. I’m looking forward to wiping the floor with the new fighters.”

I nod with understanding, “I look forward to seeing that too. Will I see you at Lucifer’s home next month?” I ask as we stride to the gym’s showers.

It’s a bit amusing when Gabriel’s eyes widen with trepidation, “I have to. The last time I was late, Lana showed up at my apartment and admonished me. She can be quite terrifying for someone so small.”

A chuckle escapes my lips at the thought of our diminutive sister - in - law terrorizing one of my formidable brothers. But, of course, I shouldn’t be surprised, considering she’s Lucifer’s mate.

“Très bien. Just be aware that Lucifer might be coming here tonight?”

Gabriel nods, “I’m sure he will.”

Once I’ve showered, I head back to my home, still feeling concerned for my brother’s state of mind. However, I know things will come to pass soon. I can feel it.