Natalie Yacobson - Demon mentor. Crypt of the Seven Angels

Translator Natalie Lilienthal

© Natalie Yacobson, 2021

© Natalie Lilienthal, translation, 2021

ISBN 978-5-0053-4805-0

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

She expected to see a miracle anywhere, but not in this place. Not among the gloomy ruins. In a gloomy corner of the world, where it seems as if the world itself has long collapsed, and only heaps of rubbish remained, small creatures like rats crawling right under our feet and dirty peeling walls, on which raindrops and mold glistened. Not a good place to see an angel, but she saw him here and… was dumbfounded.

It was not that dark angel, as in the pictures in the crypt of her family, but it was also impossible to call him light, although the sloppy hair around his head seemed absolutely etched, like modern guys. And he was dressed in black leather clothes, just like a modern guy, but she knew for sure that he was… an angel? Or a demon? Well, in general, an unearthly creature. She was well versed in such things, because she was from the Rosier clan. And who is better than them able to know the nature of the supernatural creature. They are damned, and they themselves are able to summon such creatures as this. But he came uninvited. Blaise narrowed her eyes in hostility as she peered at him.

And he was handsome, too handsome. Bright blonde hair, as if in a mockery of the futile efforts of mankind, to become like angels with slightly grown black roots, blue-green eyes, like two precious stones gleaming from under long eyelashes, transparent skin, so transparent, as if it is about to begin to shine through inner essence. And yet on the cheeks were slightly noticeable stubble, thin and prickly. Thorns on the rose! The comparison came to mind by itself. No spirit whispered to her. Still, Blaise was alert. She wanted to touch these thorns. For the first time since those monstrous things from which she fled were done to her, she wanted to touch someone. No pain, no disgust, no fear… She just wanted to touch him to make sure he was real.

He jumped down from somewhere above. She managed to notice this out of the corner of her eye. From somewhere from the high gables of the gloomy buildings that surrounded the small dead end in which they both now stood. There was nowhere to go. If he was sent to kill her, then she will not be able to fight back. Not now, when she feels so bad after all she’s been through. She simply did not have the strength to fight or defend herself. But he was in no hurry to attack.

He looked at her for a long time and expectantly, as if communicating something without words, and sometimes the reflections of hellfire flashed in his eyes. But that didn’t scare her. Nothing could scare her anymore. After what happened to her, she just didn’t care, but inside her it was as if a sucking void was unfolding.

The place around them in itself looked like hellish, an island of garbage dumps and brothels left far outside the city, it was worth looking around, and the feeling was as if the whole world had already collapsed, and only these dirty debris remained. As well as inside Blaise herself. She thought that even if the world outside of this place still exists, then her apocalypse has already happened.

«Hello, baby,» an unfamiliar voice burned her like a hiss of fire. Not. It was not at all unfamiliar. Somewhere she had already heard it, but she could not remember exactly.

A handsome guy, who seemed to her a little insane in appearance, walked around her like a demon, fancifully circling over the victim. He was looking her over so appraisingly. She wanted to ask what he wanted, but the words themselves stuck in her throat. He tried to touch her cheek with his hand, the same thing she had wanted to do to him a moment before, but for some reason she was dumbfounded by his impudence.

«And you are not afraid to wander alone in such a dark place?»

The question was clearly rhetorical. The stinging tone burned and at the same time flirted with her. Blaise didn’t know what to do: get scared, get angry, start bickering with him, or try to escape. For the first time in a long time, she suddenly felt completely safe with this stranger. Although the language for some reason did not dare to call him unfamiliar. She knew him for sure. I’ve seen it somewhere before. She could not call him an ordinary person, but he was definitely not an angel from the crypt. If one of the family statues had come to life and came to her, Blaise would have understood it immediately. Then the family curse would finally overtake her. But contrary to expectations, the angels from the crypt did not come to life. Didn’t come for her. They left her alone with her enemies, like a frightened animal.

And this strange guy seemed to have fallen from dark skies to entertain her. He walked around her in circles, examining every detail of her appearance. And it seems that what he saw, he really liked. The worn-out boyish clothes on her could not hide the fabulous beauty. A pity, that meant that those who would persecute her would immediately recognize her.

«And you’re very cute,» he said, as if playing. «So cute that many creatures are happy to declare a hunt for you.»

He kicked the squealing rats away with his leg, and Blaise shuddered.

«And not only them.» The shadow that darted in the alley so quickly that Blaise did not have time to see, completely caught his attention. It was a man, apparently an armed man, heading towards her. Did he see the guy talking to her? Even if he saw it, he underestimated it, because he immediately remained lying in the alley with a broken neck.

Blaise shivered at the crunching of other people’s bones. And this guy is really crazy. Only a psycho can deal with someone so quickly, and as if playing. Mentally, she figured that even a few well-trained orderlies could not tame such a psycho. He is too clever, strong and cunning. If he wants to kill her now, he will easily do it. But for some reason she was not afraid. On the contrary, she looked at him somehow arrogant, as at someone who was too much interested in her and was ready to fawn on her. It’s like he’s an evil spirit who has come to tempt her.

But what beautiful blue eyes he has. Now, in the reflections of distant lanterns, for some reason they began to seem exactly blue, such a rich color as the sky or the sea. The thought that one could drown in them for a moment distracted her from her own troubles.

«Who are you?» the question broke by itself, but it meant much more than she could convey in words.

«Not the one you were expecting,» the guy replied, still looking at her appraisingly.

Well, there was an instant recognition between them, as if they had known each other all their lives… no, or rather all eternity. And beyond eternity. He should have known about the crypt and those she was waiting for. Blaise could tell from his face.

It’s strange that she didn’t even think about the corpse he left a couple of steps away from her. The rats had already begun to eat it, but Blaise paid no attention to their feast. In a place like this, the smell of decay and refuse will easily mix with the stench from a rotting corpse. Unless they eat it whole before.

In addition, lately she had seen enough of murders that another one did not bother her. Unless there was only one plus. This time they killed her enemy.

And he did it.

«What’s your name?» the question was asked instead of «thank you».

«What?» he seemed astonished.

«Your name,» she tried to explain to him as stupid.

«A name?» playing with sounds, he held out. «Such a banality!»

«But it must be, since you’re going to spend some time with me.»