The Nephilim Universe Read online

  Angels of London Saga

  Episodes 1 – 3

  L.L. HUNTER

  Copyright © 2021 L.L. Hunter

  Angels of London Saga

  Angel of Hope

  Angel of Song

  Angel of Night

  All Rights Reserved.

  * * *

  ISBN: 978-1005185510

  Rogena Mitchell-Jones, Literary Editor

  RMJ Editing & Manuscript Service

  www.rogenamitchell.com

  * * *

  This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The author and editor have taken great effort in presenting a manuscript free of errors. However, editing errors are ultimately the responsibility of the author.

  Contents

  ANGEL OF HOPE

  Episode One

  ANGEL OF SONG

  Episode Two

  ANGEL OF NIGHT

  Episode Three

  Also by L.L. HUNTER

  About the Author

  ANGEL OF HOPE

  Episode One

  Chapter 1

  Gabe couldn’t take his mind off Melody.

  He knew he should be thinking of something other than her. Like maybe his schoolwork. He had taken a long enough break from school after accompanying Eden to Rome to kill Lucifer and save the world. There’s something you don’t say every day, he thought while staring down at the blank page of his notebook.

  His chin slipped off his sweaty hand as his head bobbed in his body’s attempt at staying awake and stimulated during the very boring lecture his history professor was giving. But he was failing miserably.

  The professor slammed a book down hard on the wooden desk. Gabe’s head snapped up, and suddenly, he was wide awake.

  “Mr Daylesford, would you like to tell me your opinion on the topic of blood chemistry?”

  Gabe faltered and glanced around the room. The words on the whiteboard grew blurrier the more he looked at them.

  “Um… blood chemistry? Sure.”

  Uh oh.

  What was he going to do? He was stuck. Was the professor picking on him simply because he had dozed off? He didn’t have the faintest idea what the professor had been talking about. He simply hadn’t been listening. His mind had been elsewhere.

  Blood chemistry? Sure, he could give his opinion on the matter. He could talk about the unexplainable pull one had toward another individual. He could talk about how one’s chemistry make-up could determine an angel’s trait, an angel’s power.

  But he wasn’t sure that was even what they’d been discussing.

  So, Gabe chose to simply not say anything—because feelings, relationships, and love were not something to be discussed in a classroom. That topic was strictly forbidden, at least in his professor’s eyes.

  “If you’re not going to answer me, Mr Daylesford, you can pack up your books and take your daydreams to the headmaster’s office.”

  That was fine with him. Gabe silently packed up his stuff and left.

  He was making his way down the corridor toward the headmaster’s office when he heard a noise, a flutter of wings. He scanned the halls, and that’s when he saw her.

  “Melody,” he whispered.

  He hadn’t seen her since that night at the nightclub at the end of the previous semester. She looked more glorious and radiant than he remembered. This was probably due to the particular way the sunlight came through the glass dome overhead and illuminated her light brown hair turning her locks into molten gold as she made her way down the stairs toward him.

  The school bell had sounded moments before, and other students had joined them in the hallway.

  But no one was moving.

  It was as if time had stilled, and he and Melody were the only two people in the universe.

  They were the only ones still moving in real time.

  He looked around at the faces of the students. Unlike the nightclub, he no longer had to push through clusters of people to try and get to Melody. He walked tentatively toward her outstretched hand. It was like that chemistry lesson all over again but in real life.

  Her eyes widened as she watched him. Her lips parted in anticipation. He knew she felt the same. When they were within touching distance, Melody took the last step, closing the distance between them. She smiled. And God, she had the prettiest smile he had ever seen. Gabe’s heart faltered. She was so beautiful, more beautiful than he remembered. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. It’s not because he had nothing to say, but because he couldn’t. He literally couldn’t speak. His voice box seemed to be frozen. Then her finger touched Gabe’s lips, and he knew it was her who had frozen his words.

  “Shh, you cannot know what I am, but I couldn’t stay away. I had to see you again.”

  Those were her words, not his.

  He wanted to ask her why, but he still couldn’t speak.

  “I’m risking everything just by being here. You’re not supposed to know I exist. That’s why I ran away at the nightclub. I lied.”

  Her image flickered like a breeze hitting a flame and extinguished.

  Then he woke up.

  He was still in class. The professor was still droning on about blood chemistry, and he had drooled on his notebook. Perfect.

  “Mr Daylesford?”

  Gabe looked up, and the professor was glaring at him, quite unimpressed.

  “Mr Daylesford, if you’re going to fall asleep in my class, I suggest you go to bed earlier. Headmaster’s office. Now.”

  He sighed and packed up his stuff.

  When Gabe stepped into the corridor, time slowed down, and the weirdest sense of déjà vu hit him like a wave…

  It was just like his dream. Was he still dreaming? The hallways were the same, from the black and white marble floors to the oak doors and the iron railings on the stairs. Gold also trimmed every picture frame and decoration. It all looked the same. The hallways were still crowded, with students rushing to get to their classes. The headmaster’s office lay ahead, so he started to walk toward it. It was at that moment he saw her. Melody. She was standing with her back to him, this time at the end of the hallway. He was sure it was her. He started making his way to her, but unlike his dream and the nightclub, he didn’t have to push through people to get there. There weren’t as many people here as there were in his dream, so he reached her in no time. When he reached out and touched her, she turned, and he saw that her face was different. Gabe’s heart raced. It wasn’t Melody.

  Gabe cleared his throat. “My apologies. I thought you were someone else.”

  The girl gave him a small smile. “It’s not a problem.” The more he studied the girl in front of him, the more he saw the similarities between her and Melody. Could they be related? This girl had a darker shade of brown in her eyes and little steaks of blonde through her copper hair, whereas Melody had light brown eyes and hair.

  “Mackenzie!” someone shouted, and the girl, Mackenzie, looked back over her shoulder and waved. She glanced back at me and gave me one last smile.

  “Excuse me. It was nice to meet you.” Mackenzie then skipped off to join her friend. Feeling defeated, Gabe made his way to the headmaster’s office.

  While he waited for the headmaster inside, his mind drifted to thoughts of
Melody and his run-in with Melody’s doppelgänger in the corridor. It wasn’t until the door to the headmaster’s office opened that he was alerted to the papers on the headmaster’s desk. He could just make out one of the titles upside-down.

  “The evolution of Nephilim,” he read aloud. Nephilim? Why would the headmaster have a paper about Nephilim on her desk? He then noticed a book sitting next to the headmaster’s computer mouse.

  “Understanding Angels: A Michaelite study of Nephilim and Other Angelic Species.”

  The headmaster looked up at him and smiled. Gabe’s heart gave a start. The middle-aged woman reminded him of his mother.

  “Hello, Gabriel.”

  “Hi, Ms Abigrine. I don’t understand why I’m here. Well, I do, but I can explain.”

  The headmaster laughed and shook her head. She sat down at her desk and folded her manicured hands neatly in front of her.

  “Relax, Gabriel. We’re not here to talk about that. I have something else I need to discuss with you. Gabriel, I am your grandmother.”

  Chapter 2

  Gabe’s mouth fell open as his jaw dropped.

  “Wait, what?”

  It was one thing to be sent to the principal’s office for falling asleep in class, but finding out the principal is your grandmother was far more embarrassing.

  “I know it’s a lot to comprehend, but there’s a lot I have to tell you. Gabriel? Are you listening?”

  He blinked. “Sorry. There have been many strange things happening lately. It’s a lot to wrap my head around.”

  “I know. And that’s why you’re here. I don’t want to overwhelm you, so I’ll try to start at the beginning.” Ms Abrigrine had shoulder-length, straight blonde hair, grey eyes, and a pale complexion. She cleared her throat and slid one of the books on her desk toward him. He blinked and looked down at the book. It was the Michaelite book about the study of angels. He wrinkled his nose and squinted up at her.

  “I don’t understand. Why are you showing me this? I already know I’m part Nephilim. My cousin showed me how to use my trait.”

  “Yes. I heard about that and how you used it to dull Lucifer’s power. You are strong, Gabriel. And it’s going to get you killed.” Ms Abrigrine, his grandmother, got up from her chair and quickly ran to shut the door and then locked it before retaking her seat.

  “What are you talking about? Eden and I saved the world. We captured Lucifer’s soul and destroyed it. The demons disappeared.”

  “Exactly. Disappeared. Free, not dead. They are still out there looking for souls to possess and seeking revenge for their master’s death. Lucifer’s son is also still alive. You are in grave danger, which is what brings us back to this book. I need you to remain hidden.” She tapped the cover of the textbook with her manicured finger and looked him directly in the eyes.

  Gabe diverted his gaze. It felt like his grandmother was looking into his soul. The eyes were the window to the soul, right? He studied the gold lettering and embossed golden angel wings on the book cover. And that’s when it clicked.

  “You want me to pretend to be a Michaelite? Human?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “But how? Almost everyone knows what I can do. And I can’t just stop using my trait. Besides, I have these really bright green eyes that kind of don’t look human—”

  “Gabriel. It’s okay. You’re protected. As long as you don’t leave Michael Academy and don’t use your trait.”

  He stood and stared down at the book.

  “Okay, so you just want me to pretend not to be what I truly am so that Lucifer’s son and demons don’t come to kill me?”

  “Gabriel, you don’t have to pretend. You are half human, as well.” He met her gaze. She smiled like she had a secret she was willing to share with only him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and smiled back at his grandmother.

  “I can do this.”

  “I know you can.”

  As he walked toward his dorm, holding the Michalite textbook to his chest, Gabe started thinking about his life thus far and what he now had to do. Lucifer’s son and demons were after him because his trait could harm them. His trait was their weakness—a weapon against them. He’d had a part in killing Lucifer. He had barely discovered he was part Nephilim, and now his grandmother was forcing him to stop using his trait.

  He clenched his fist and called his power to his hand. His hand pulsed with bright green energy. He threw his hand up toward the chandelier hanging from the glass dome ceiling, and just as he was about to wrap the green electricity around the light source and suck the energy from it, someone screamed. No, not screamed. It was a sound so high pitched the glass in the dome cracked. The chandelier dropped a couple of inches and wobbled precariously above him. Gabe glanced around for the source of the banshee. And that’s when he saw Mackenzie standing at the other end of the corridor. He could tell it was her because of the streaks of lighter shades in her hair. She looked more human than Melody did. Melody was an angel—of that, he was certain. What was their connection, though? He had to find out.

  He blinked, and Mackenzie was gone, lost in the sea of students as the bell tolled.

  Later that night, as he tossed and turned in bed, a dream snaked its way into his brain. Gabriel’s mind should have been safe within the walls of the London Angel Academy, but not even the magical wards could keep Lucifer’s son out. He was an Archangel, after all. He was strong. Samson smirked as he inserted an image of Gabriel and himself alongside another figure. They stood shrouded in shadow as an army of demons washed over the world like a tidal wave and poisoned every single person and angelic being with darkness. He laughed wickedly as Gabriel tossed his head from side to side but didn’t wake. Slowly but surely, he had a hold of Adam’s son and Eden’s cousin. It wouldn’t be long before he was fighting alongside him.

  Chapter 3

  The next day, Gabe had a new perspective on life and his role in it. He threw himself into his new role as a Michaelite student, focusing on switching off his angelic side. It was the only way to keep Samson out of his head. He didn’t want to admit that he was being hunted, that he could be found behind the wards of the Academy, but the truth was, he had been found. Samson had crept into his dreams last night and tried to poison his mind. And he wasn’t going to let Samson win. He was going to do everything in his power to lock Samson out. He was going to focus on being a good student and a good human.

  He walked down to breakfast with a skip in his step that morning. He got himself a large bowl of chocolate rice puffs and sat down at the long table. He was stuffing a second heaping spoonful of cereal into his mouth to join the spoonful already inside when Eden and Asher sat down opposite him. He paused in his chewing as they met his gaze. He gave a small smile, letting a dribble of milk escape from the corner of his mouth. He turned away, swallowed, and quickly wiped his chin. He swallowed too much, and some of the dry rice puffs got lodged in his oesophagus. He coughed.

  “Gabe, are you okay?” Asher asked in his thick London accent. Asher had grown up not far from here at the Sanctuary, a boarding house for Michaelites. He grew up thinking he was human, but as it turns out, he had been Nephilim all along. He met Eden when she was sent there for her protection and everyone else’s. Her trait was dangerous—she could kill someone with a mere touch. She had ended up accidentally killing Asher and harvesting his soul. They were soul mates in more ways than one.

  He nodded and tried to smile at them. Eden was also his cousin. Gabe had met her only a few months ago when she’d come to London to find him. She was the one who had shown Gabe who he really was. And now she and Asher were here, not only to learn how to be Nephilim but to protect him.

  Eden smirked, then her lips squeezed into a tight line when she saw Gabe’s book. She reached across the table and grabbed it before he had a chance to process it. He tried to speak, but his throat was still raw from having a piece of cereal stuck there.

  “Why do you have a Michaelite textbook, Gabe?” Eden aske
d, almost judgingly. He coughed and cleared his throat and stood, reaching for the book, but Eden held it away from his grasp.

  “None of your business. Will you please give it back? It’s… it’s not mine.”

  Her black-painted lips twisted into a smirk. “Whose is it then—that cute chick Mackenzie who’s been watching you?”

  “What? No!” His cheeks flushed, and he stuffed another mouthful of cereal into his mouth, but suddenly, the chocolate tasted like cardboard, and he had lost his appetite.

  He quickly chewed and swallowed, then slumped down in his seat.

  Why was he beat up about Mackenzie?

  He didn’t like her. She was a girl in his class. He’d only spoken to her once.

  “She hasn’t been watching me.”

  “Whatever. Anyway, aren’t you learning the Nephilim curriculum? I don’t know why you’re hoarding a Michaelite textbook like a damn secret,” said Eden. Gabe had had enough of her judgment. He pushed back his chair and snatched the book back.

  “Maybe I want to learn Michaelite curriculum too. I am half human, you know.”

  “Sorry, mate. If this is about your mother, we get it. It’s cool that you wanna learn about her kind too,” said Asher, a look of sympathy in his eyes. He gave a slight nod.

  “Thanks. It’s hard not really knowing much about them, you know?” He realised as he said this it was half the truth. He really did want to learn more about his mother. It was hard knowing they were criminal fugitives and living away for the rest of eternity lost in space and time.

  Eden looked down at her chipped black nail polish. The dress code was strict here at Michael Academy, but only someone like Eden would rebel against something like a uniform dress code. Gabe wished he had her strength.