Pregnant by the Prince of Lust(BL)

Azriel

I could not believe anyone possessed enough power to erase my memories without my ever knowing, but having seen Master Paziel, and how close he stood to my brother, it seemed entirely possible he had slipped into Luceriel’s mind as well, without Luceriel ever suspecting a thing.

"I am going to kill that bastard," I repeated, my fists clenched tight enough to ache. "Since you have shown me this much, does it mean something has befallen Elysium?"

Castiel inclined his head. "Elysium has fallen into Pazuzu’s hands, which means the Demon King will soon wake."

Hearing that only tightened my fists further. I wanted nothing more than to find Paziel, or Pazuzu, whichever name he wore now, and drive my fist into his face until it bled. I had heard of him before, of course.

My powerful cousin, born of demon royalty just as I had been through my mother’s blood, though we had never once crossed paths.

During the great war, centuries ago, Elysium had turned against the demon realm and sealed away Draca, the Demon King, and in that same hour Pazuzu had fallen into a dormant sleep beside him. And now, because of him, because he had woken, the demons had begun their return.

"Your concern does not lie with Pazuzu," Castiel’s voice cut through my thoughts. "The true evil is Draca."

I shook my head. "I care little for that. That Demon prince erased my memories and had his hands wrapped around Seraphel’s throat. I will kill him."

"Anger, when it moves faster than thought, builds nothing but ruin," Castiel said, his voice heavy and even. "It scorches whatever stands in its path, friend and foe alike, and leaves you standing in ashes where victory should have been. If you wish to protect your mate, you must become something greater than what you are now. You carry nobility in your blood, after all. Your mother was a princess of the demon realm herself, and yet looking at how little of your demon power you have cultivated, I confess I am disappointed. I expected far more from you than this. Seeing you now, I see nothing that sets you apart from being powerless.’’

I frowned at his words, at how little he seemed to care that Pazuzu had laid hands on Seraphel at all. ’’I am powerful enough! I will Kill Pazuzu again when I meet him.’’

"Ophaniel thinks before he acts."

I frowned harder still at the mention of my father’s name. "I do not think he thought very much at all, when he lay with countless women, broke Elysium’s law, and brought sins into this world."

Castiel sighed. "You are just like him in that. So rigid. So unwilling to lose an argument."

"Do not compare me to a man who vanished and left his children to suffer at the hands of his own realm. I have no wish to hear about a pathetic man who—"

"He did everything within his power to protect all of you," Castiel said, sharper now. "You should show him that much. He sacrificed his power. He sacrificed everything he had."

I laughed, sharp and humorless, at how easily Castiel spoke in defense of a man I had met only twice in my entire existence. I cared nothing for what he claimed to have sacrificed. It had proven nothing, not after the years we spent suffering under the gods of Elysium before we were finally cast out to claim our own realms. "I will never call abandoning his children a sacrifice."

Castiel opened his mouth to argue, but I gentled my tone before he could. He might not be Seraphel at this moment, but I would never speak to him harshly while he wore that face.

"If you would, let us leave the man out of this. I need to know what lies ahead. You were once a great seer. Tell me what the future holds, how we are to defeat Draca, and what ruin he intends to bring upon this world."

"I fear my visions no longer serve me," Castiel said. "They vanished the moment I fell, and the memory I showed you came only through the power Seraphel carries, not through any gift of my own. I have no more sight left to offer you. But understand this: the future is often uncertain in its shape, yet it never changes in its course. No one has ever managed to alter the world’s path, not even Solmira, who was born with the greatest vision the realms have ever known."

I let out a long breath, my fists still clenched at my sides. "Then how are we meant to fight an enemy we do not even understand?"

Castiel smiled faintly and raised his hands. "It seems my time here grows short. I am fading, and soon I will be gone from this place entirely. But remember this well, the prophecy I foresaw centuries ago, before Seraphel was ever born goes like this, Blood shall rise against blood, and kin shall fall beneath kin’s own hand. From the wreckage, new alliances shall be forged, not by choice but by necessity. A single light shall stand where all else has gone dark, and that darkness shall spread until it swallows even the horizon. Terror shall reign unchallenged over the land, until the final hour comes to pass, and in that hour, the world shall either be unmade, or remade. "

I stared at him, uncertain what he meant by any of it. "What are you trying to tell me? Who falls? What is meant to happen?"

"I do not have those answers. That burden belongs to this generation to uncover."

"I—" I tried to speak again, but he cut me off, turning his attention instead toward Seraphel.

"I know it was hard to learn that I am your father, and this may well be the last time we speak. Should you ever wish to visit, your father and I kept a cottage near Cave Gadona. That is where our graves lie, side by side." He paused, releasing a slow breath. "I hope you make whatever decision feels right to you, should you choose to visit us. I am proud of you, for breaking through the first stage. There are still stages ahead of you, and the fate of this world rests in your hands, and in the hands of others besides. Take care of yourself, Seraphel, until then..."

The moment he finished, he turned to look at me, smiled once, and Seraphel’s body began to fall toward the bed as the lights around him vanished.

"I still have something I need to ask you," I shouted.

"In time, you will come to understand what the world holds," he said, spreading his arms as the light around him faded, but before Seraphel’s body could strike the bed, I was already there beneath him, catching him against my outstretched hands.

His eyes closed, then opened again, deep blue now, staring up at me. His hair shifted back to its familiar dark blue as well, and he finally spoke.

"I heard everything."

I nodded, laying him gently onto the bed. "I know. How does it feel, knowing Castiel is your father?"

A long pause stretched between us. I expected him to have a hundred things to say, but instead he only let out a slow breath and spoke again.

"We have to go find Luceriel and Grandmaster Paziel. Castiel told me, inside my sea of consciousness, that Pazuzu holds the answers to stopping this war."

A frown formed on my face at once, and I could not hide the distaste that came with hearing that name again. "That madman," I muttered under my breath, then nodded. "Yes. Once you are fully rested, we will go."

Seraphel closed his eyes, nodding in response. "All right."