Fill Your Soul with the fear of losing
The man that you love, Your reason to war
Become the hero which you've been destined
And fight with all that you are.
—Cassandra Elizabeth Collins
New Orleans (Present Day)
Despite the warm, muggy night air pressing against her red leather jacket with the weight of southern humidity, Charlie hugged her arms tightly and shivered. Even her fierce demon blood couldn't shake the unsettling worry that made her tremble.
Her eyes stung from dried tears, and the little makeup she had was smudged into dark lines across her alabaster skin, merging with her flushed cheeks. Her life had fallen into a chaotic mess that needed fixing, much like her blemished face. She longed to wash away both the mess and the makeup.
Sniffing to clear her nose, she gazed to her left, where Cassie stared intently as a Falcon 8X aircraft made its landing approach. The jet's navigation lights blinked steadily against the darkening sky as it descended toward the New Orleans Lakefront Airport.
Brute had called them that morning with news they were en route and due at the airport in under two hours—quicker than expected. So Cassie called Charlie into her bedroom to help move a couple of heavy trunks from her closet to the living room couch, their contents rattling mysteriously.
"What's in these?" Charlie asked while struggling with the brass corners.
Cassie smiled slightly at her sister's curiosity and opened the first one with a satisfying click. "The shop didn't have all my inventory. I stashed some of my powders and crystals, along with some of the more dangerous magical items I'd collected over the years, into these trunks and kept them up here." A real smile flickered across the witch's face. "Rygen fucked up."
Charlie was amazed by the various items nestled in protective cloth—crystals that seemed to pulse with inner light, vials of shimmering powders, and amulets that hummed with barely contained energy. Cassie explained a few of the items while cautioning her that they were the magics she had used the night she worked on Angel. With what they were about to face, she needed to protect herself. Charlie agreed and told her that no matter what happened, she understood.
Opening Angel's duffel, Charlie took out the last tranquilizer darts he had prepared for her, their silver stems catching the lamplight. After reloading the dart band, she secured it to her upper arm, patting the Velcro strap closed. She stared at it for a moment, when an idea struck her. Before, she'd checked her watch by making only her arm appear. Could she use her magic in reverse?
With eyes crinkling, she commanded her armband to vanish, and it faded from sight almost immediately, leaving only the faint pressure against her skin. Then, with another thought, it reappeared. A wave of pride and relief washed over her as she practiced the trick several times. This was sure to come in handy.
Charlie let out a low whistle when Cassie stepped out of the bedroom dressed in dark green, brown, and black army fatigues. Her hair was piled up in a bun under a field patrol cap, with a large duffel bag swung over her shoulder. Cassie blushed slightly at the attention, admitting she hadn't been in uniform since she left the service with Angel.
Now, standing on the tarmac as Brute's plane taxied toward them with the whine of jet engines slowing down, Cassie spoke up while handing Charlie a couple of tissues from her breast pocket. "They'll obviously be curious about who you are, but I don't want to introduce you or reveal what you are until we're in the air and away from prying eyes out here."
"I won't fully transform." Dabbing her messy cheeks while the plane's landing lights swept across them, Charlie said, "I saw the fear in Amanda's eyes when I revealed myself, and I don't like seeing those eyes on my friends."
They both went silent, thinking of Amanda, before Cassie continued with renewed focus. "Good idea. Just enough so I can drive home the point of the mission—that you are not to be babied or protected. You're leading."
"I'm no leader, Cassie." Charlie's voice barely carried over the approaching aircraft. "I've never been in a war, that I know of anyway. I don't know if I'm ready for this."
"No one ever really knows when they're ready until destiny calls upon them, sweetie." She saw that Charlie had missed a spot and took one of the tissues to gently wipe her dirty cheek. "Though, I do have to ask you: I know what you said before, about Samedi especially. But this is the real deal now. Can you take a life if it calls for it?"
The thought of taking any life nauseated her, but the idea of losing the man she loved sickened her even more. With a deep breath, Charlie nodded slowly. "Yes. Because I can't lose Kevin."
Cassie gripped her hands and looked at her with eyes reflecting the runway lights. "Then, fill your soul with that fear. The fear of losing the man that you love." She laid a hand on her shoulder. "He's your reason to war." Then she tapped the amulet under Charlie's black T-shirt. "Become the hero you're destined to be, and you will fight with all that you are."
Squeezing her hands in return, Charlie offered a lopsided smile despite the tears threatening to spill again. "That sounded poetic."
"Did it?" Cassie tilted her head thoughtfully and chuckled as the plane's engines began spooling down. "I suppose it was rather lyrical."
"I've been singing on the roof the last few nights," Charlie admitted shyly over the decreasing noise. "It felt like a core part of who I am."
"Maybe some of your memories found a way to surface through your songs."
Charlie blushed softly. "I know I've said it before, but I feel like myself even if I can't remember my past. It's helped me feel more in control."
"I failed you." Cassie sighed. "If it had been within my power to give you your memories—"
With an uh-uh, Charlie interrupted her. "You didn't fail me." Placing a hand on her cheek, she smiled warmly. "You did your best, and it's more than I could have ever hoped for. I've come to accept that I may never remember all of who I was, and I am okay with that as long as I don't lose my family."
"You won't," Cassie swore. "Brute's as skilled a tactician as Angel, and we'll devise a plan to get him out and stop Bible once and for all."
"Then I think I'm ready for this." Charlie nodded firmly.
"That's my girl." Cassie held her hand out, palm forward. "High five!"
Charlie gave her a quizzical look.
Cassie grinned with a genuine, unbridled sense of humor. "It's a show of camaraderie between teammates. Here, let me show you."
Quickly, she taught Charlie the different ways to high-five. In a teasing moment, Cassie pulled the 'too-slow' slight and received a demonic growl with glowing red eyes in response.
The response sparked a sudden thought, and she took the sunglasses nestled on the rim of her cap to hand them to Charlie. "Here. Wear these for now."
Accepting the glasses, she gave Cassie a curious look. "Why?"
"While it's subtle, and most of the time no one notices or says anything, your human eyes are unique. Snapshot would quickly notice—he has an eye for pretty ladies." The last statement held a tone that Charlie didn't quite understand. "And if you get upset, your eyes pulse with your demon power, as they did just now. I'd rather they not ask questions until we're ready to reveal you."
Charlie slipped the glasses over the bridge of her nose as she adjusted to the tinted view. "I understand." She then added with a playful growl, "And I'm not too slow."
Cassie chuckled lightly and gave her shoulder a nudge as a tall figure appeared in the doorway.
"Come on." Picking up her duffel bag, Cassie motioned for Charlie to follow her toward the aircraft.
As they drew near, a man nearly 6'8" and built like a tank, his appearance resembling that of a professional wrestler, waved. His smile, however, was genuine and inviting as he shouted over the still-whining engines, "Bug! I've got clearance from the tower to get us back in the air. Get on board and buckle up, buttercups!"
"Brute! All business as usual," Cassie laughed while climbing the stairs.
"We got an angel to save; get your asses on board now!" His tone was gruff and commanding, but he gave her a wink along with the order.
As they ascended, Brute gazed at Charlie curiously but stepped aside in silence to let them pass before pulling up the stairs and securing the door with metallic finality. "Go through the galley and get seated. Once we're in the air, I'll put it on autopilot, and we'll get the briefing underway."
"Yes, Sir," Cassie agreed, then guided Charlie through the cramped galley past coffee makers and small refrigeration units into a larger area with big, comfortable chairs arranged facing each other. The cabin smelled of leather, aviation fuel, and dry air. There, Charlie saw three others already seated. She quickly looked over the group when the nearest man raised a camera and took a picture, startling her.
"Charlie, this is Snapshot, our elite sniper." Shaking her head at the man while tossing her duffel into an empty seat, Cassie continued, "Today, he uses his keen eye as a photographer for model shoots." Again, the odd tone seeped under her words, and Charlie raised an eyebrow.
Snapshot—6'4", muscular-built with short blond hair, blue eyes, and a thin mustache—chuckled while lowering his camera. "And I'm a talented wedding photographer! I did Panther's, and I'd do yours, too, if you'd ever settle down."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she quipped with the same odd tone that made Charlie wonder if anyone else was picking up on it.
Cassie motioned for Charlie to sit in a chair that faced Snapshot and the other two, then sat in a third seat while pointing to the next man. "This is Shrapnel, our demolition and munitions expert."
"A p-pleasure t-to meet you," Shrapnel stuttered. At 5'7" with scars crisscrossing his clean-shaven face and arms, he resembled a pieced-together puzzle—like someone who had survived many dangerous encounters, yet he remained strikingly handsome.
Charlie bowed her head slightly in greeting.
Cassie inclined her head toward the woman, an apparently fragile and modest figure with cropped red hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to look straight through Charlie. That icy gaze made her shift uncomfortably in her seat as she immediately sensed this woman's competence and danger.
"Charlie, this is Panther. She's our tracker and scout. She can disappear almost as well as you can."
"While it is good to see you, Chatterbug, we can do pleasantries later." Panther's crisp nod revealed nothing as her eyes continued their assessment. "Fill us in?"
"I will, but I want to wait until Brute's back here with us." Fastening her seat belt while the aircraft began to move, Cassie clarified, "There's a lot to explain."
"Very well," Her tone was stoic as the cabin filled with the rumble of the taxiing plane.
"I'm sorry to call all of you in like this," Cassie sighed.
Panther cut in while the plane taxied toward the runway. "Forgive me, Bug; I don't mean to sound cold and aloof about this. I'm here for Angel, but I've heard about Bible and the children he's holding captive. As a mother, it's hard to contain my feelings here."
"I know, but I don't want you to put yourself at unnecessary risk." The jet engines began to spool up for takeoff. "Charlie and I are leading the main mission. Yours is to cause a distraction and rescue the children."
When Charlie was mentioned, the three looked at her with intense curiosity that was almost palpable in the pressurized cabin.
Shrapnel glanced between them. "Her?"
Cassie held up her palm. "Sorry, I got ahead of myself. Once we're in the air, okay?"
The three nodded, but their impatience was apparent as Brute's voice came through the speakers: "We're clear for takeoff. Once we're at altitude, I'll set the autopilot, turn off the seat belt sign, and come join you."
Everyone acknowledged his announcement in silence while the casual atmosphere of introductions was overshadowed by thoughts of who Charlie was and the danger Angel faced. The plane's engines revved up with increasing intensity, pressing them back into their seats as they accelerated down the runway. Settling in, everyone remained quiet as they lifted off; the lights of New Orleans shrinking below through the small windows.
While they waited for Brute, everyone occupied themselves with personal activities as the aircraft steadily climbed through the night sky. Snapshot adjusted his camera's settings with deft fingers, while Shrapnel sifted through an explosives manual, taking notes occasionally with a well-worn pencil. Panther relaxed in her seat, eyes closed, meditating to the hum of the engines, and Cassie rummaged through her duffel bag, organizing the equipment in the likely order of use. Charlie, curious despite everything, pressed her nose to the window, watching the ground below fade into a carpet of scattered lights and darkness.
Soon, a chime sounded, and the seat belt sign switched off, prompting everyone to focus as Brute made his way from the cockpit and sat beside Snapshot with the weight of his large frame settling into the chair. "Okay, Cassie. Start the briefing."
"First." Holding up a hand while turning to Charlie, Cassie said, "This is Brute. The toughest, most formidable teddy bear you'd ever meet. He is the wall you want at your back and will be in charge of the mission on the outside while we're inside."
"Brute." Charlie nodded, her eyes wet again as emotion threatened to overwhelm her. "Thank you so much for coming."
"So," Snapshot interrupted, his curiosity finally getting the better of him, "who is Charlie?"
All eyes turned to her as she looked to Cassie, who nodded back encouragingly. "You're up."
Charlie undid her seatbelt and stood up, walking into the space between the chairs that faced each other, allowing everyone a clear view of her. She turned in a slow circle as she spoke, her voice gaining strength with each word. "My name is Charlotte Morningstar. I'm Angel's partner and girlfriend. I have been working with him for the past few months, seeking out and saving children that Bible and others have taken." Licking her suddenly parched lips, her voice stuttered slightly. "I'm the reason he's been kidnapped. Bible and Samedi are using him as bait to lure me to them for a trade."
Brute eyed her up and down with the calculating gaze of a career soldier. "No offense, miss, but you're not a child or a soldier. What the fuck does Bible want with you?"
"It's more about what I am than who I am."
Panther's sharp green eyes fixed intently on her like a predator studying prey. "Meaning?"
Charlie glanced over her shoulder at Cassie, seeking reassurance in her steady gaze.
"I warn you all," Cassie addressed the group. "What you're about to see may frighten you. Please trust me that you're all perfectly safe."
This caused everyone to look at each other briefly—a moment of shared uncertainty—before turning back to Charlie, who had already shut her eyes.
She paused in silence for a moment, pondering what to share. What would be effective without being overly frightening? The solution came quickly and clearly as she grinned while removing her sunglasses and passing them to Cassie with a subtle nod. "I'm ready."
"Show 'em who you are, sis."
Straightening up, Charlie summoned her power, and a soft, white glow emitted from her chest, warming her skin. Everyone except Cassie gasped as a single pair of wings spread outward, brushing against the windows on both sides of the plane, filling the cabin with gentle, ethereal light.
"Oh, my God," Shrapnel gasped as his explosives manual fell forgotten to his lap.
"What…is…she?" Brute whispered while his body tensed for potential action.
Snapshot, eyes wide, lifted his camera and took a picture without thinking; the flash startled Charlie, causing her to snap her eyes open—now blood red with black, snake-like pupils. A demonic voice passed her lips with otherworldly resonance. "No pictures!"
Shrapnel and Snapshot slunk back into their chairs, sharing nervous looks while Panther's knuckles turned white as she gripped the armrest, though she showed no other signs of fear. Brute remained frozen, his tactical mind analyzing the situation for potential threats.
Charlie tempered her tone, shook her head, and spoke softly with her normal voice returning. "Please? I don't want to be discovered."
"Cassie?" Brute turned to her with controlled urgency. "Explain!"
"Charlotte Morningstar is the Princess of Hell and the daughter of Lucifer." Purposely, she held a beat then finished with clarity. "The Devil."
The cabin grew hushed, except for the constant hum of jet engines.
After a short pause, she continued. "Angel found her months ago, injured in the woods during one of his missions. She had been summoned to Earth by a spell gone wrong, trapped here without memory of who or what she was. Since then, we discovered enough information to discern who she might be, as well as many of her powers." She looked at her friends in turn, gauging their reactions. "She's been working with Angel, using her demonic gifts to frighten the monsters and rescue the children, and in the months that followed, they fell in love."
As Charlie listened to Cassie explain, she closed her eyes and reflected on those months. Her heart ached for Angel with such intensity that she felt physical pain.
"Bible somehow learned of her, though, and ordered his Vodou priest Samedi to conjure up a demon named Rygen to kill Angel and capture her. He failed to do either." Her tone had been flat, as if reciting a mission report, but now it turned angry. "Now, they've got him, and Bible wants a trade: Angel for Charlie."
"How will it go down?" Brute asked while leaning forward intently.
Cassie took a deep breath before the next part, trying her best to separate her pain from the information she needed to share. As she recounted the previous day's events—Davis's brutal murder, the shop's destruction, Amanda's death, Angel's capture—Charlie tucked her wings in and sat back down.
However, she chose to emphasize her point by keeping her eyes glowing with a red tint against the warm yellow of her sclera, creating an aura of electrical energy around her that made the hairs on the back of everyone's necks stand up.
Cassie concluded the briefing while observing their exchanged glances, filled with wonder, awe, concern, and, most importantly, determination for the task ahead. It was quite a unique situation for a team of skilled soldiers to receive a briefing on incidents involving demons and magic, especially while seated closely with the devil's own daughter.
They took it pretty well.
"So," Brute clarified while rubbing his jaw thoughtfully, "if Bible gets his hands on Miss Morningstar here and binds her, he'll be almost untouchable."
"Yes, and he'll have her kill Angel, no doubt."
Charlie visibly shivered at those words while biting her lip and silently pleading with herself not to let that happen.
"Then why are we letting you and her go in alone and unarmed?" Panther's voice was accusatory, challenging their plan with the sharp edge of maternal protective instinct. "You'll just be giving her to him."
"His orders were clear. Come alone." Cassie answered while the plane hit a small patch of turbulence. "Of course, he's smart enough to expect me to disobey that order. He's sure to have eyes on the airport when we land."
"I'll have to take off and find a secluded place to land in the desert some distance away." Brute surmised while calculating logistics. "We won't have transportation. It'll take time to haul it back and secure a truck."
"I might have an answer to that," Charlie spoke up, attracting his attention and causing her to blush under his intense gaze. "One trick I can do is teleport. Once Cassie and I are underway, I can pop back here and fetch each of you in turn."
"Charlie?" She looked concerned as she touched her arm. "Can you do all that without running out of power?"
"Yes," Charlie spoke with all the confidence she could muster, though uncertainty crept into her voice. "I can do it because it has to be done. If you all will trust me?"
"T-teleport?" Shrapnel swallowed nervously.
"Mmmhmm." She smiled softly while nodding. "I've done it three times already, and I'm getting the hang of it. I just don't want to teleport more than one at a time."
Snapshot's eyebrows creased, intrigued. "Have you ever teleported to and from a moving object?"
"Well…no." Her certainty began to wane under their scrutiny.
"So you might be risking our lives on an untested ability?" Skeptical, Panther folded her arms.
"I don't see another way." Brute sighed heavily.
Cassie put a pin in their worry by resuming the briefing with renewed authority. "She can do it, and it means we can keep you four out of sight for as long as possible. Plus, Angel is our responsibility. Yours is distraction, elimination, and rescuing the children he has locked up. We're both going to create diversions for each other's missions."
"I still don't like it." Panther countered while shaking her head. "If she's as powerful as you claim and Bible takes her, all this will be pointless."
"I have something cooked up for that," Cassie assured her with a mysterious smile.
Charlie looked at her with sudden concern. "What?"
She shook her head. "Trust me, sis, for this one, I need to play it close to the vest. Okay?"
Charlie nodded, accepting her word with complete trust despite her curiosity.
"Very well," Brute shrugged. "We'll do this your way. Did Bible tell you where to go?"
"Yes. And I looked up what I could on the net. Unfortunately, his complex isn't listed anywhere, so I could not get any architectural plans."
"Then it'll be up to me," Panther spoke up while already mentally preparing for reconnaissance. "How much time will we have once we arrive?"
"A few hours, at the most. I have to contact him when we land. I will stall that, so by the time we arrive, it'll be well after dark."
"Excellent." She smiled with predatory satisfaction. "I'll scout the perimeter and see what I can gather for intel. I won't have much time, so it'll be a dirty scout."
"I will have a GPS tag on me." Motioning between her breasts while explaining the plan, Cassie continued, "So you can keep track of my movements, and if we get a chance, we'll deviate from the path so you can get an idea of where rooms are."
"That'll help if they don't search you thoroughly." Brute nodded while his tactical mind worked through possibilities. "Once Panther has given us the intel, Shrapnel will lay ordnance at three exit points. We'll set the rendezvous, and the other two will be decoys. Snapshot will eliminate the sentries on guard as quietly as possible so they're not alerted to our movements."
"We have no idea where the children are being held," Cassie added with obvious frustration. "For that, you'll just have to go in with 'brute' force."
"My favorite." He chuckled while cracking his knuckles.
"I'm still working out how to sneak in my earpiece and powder bag." She bit her lip as she puzzled out the logistics.
"I already have a solution for that." Wiggling her fingers, Charlie made the earpiece tickle Cassie's ear as it appeared, nestled perfectly in place. She reached up in surprise while feeling the small device.
"I didn't know you could be that precise."
"Lots of practice." Charlie beamed proudly.
She tapped the earpiece once more while testing its fit. "This will work as long as we don't get separated before reaching Angel."
"If they want you to believe the trade's legit, they won't separate you until you see him," Panther suggested. "I wouldn't."
"And while we are going in blind," Snapshot added while checking his camera's battery, "we're not blind to the risks. We won't fuck up like last time."
The team shifted in their seats as the past momentarily clouded their eyes with shared memories of failure and loss.
"I know." Breaking the tension while looking at each of them in turn, Cassie said, "So that's your mission, team: distraction, eliminating as many of his men as possible, and save the children. Charlie and I can take care of ourselves. I promise."
"And if you f-fail?" Shrapnel posed the question that hung in the pressurized air.
"No one's failing this mission. Understood?" Brute answered with firm resolution, his commanding presence filling the air between them.
A murmur of agreement came from everyone as they accepted the weight of their responsibility.
Satisfied, Brute announced while standing, "We're over twelve hours out. Take the next eight to relax. Get some rest. There's food in the galley, plenty of water and juice, and I have some card games in the overhead compartments if you'd like. I'll be up front if you need me."
"Do you have any chocolate?" Charlie glanced at the galley hopefully.
He looked slightly surprised by the question, and a small smile crossed his face. "Actually, I do."
Cassie grinned at his reaction and Charlie's happy expression.
As the others settled in for the long flight, Brute gestured toward the rear of the cabin, "Cassie? I want a word with you and Charlie, alone."
Nodding in understanding, she stood and signaled for Charlie to follow as they made their way to the back of the plane and the two bathroom doors.
When they stopped, Brute sharply turned on Charlie, his large frame looming over hers. "I don't trust you," he growled.
In response, Charlie shifted into her hybrid form, startling him as her tail swished behind her. She ran her forefinger claw along one of the seats, tearing through the expensive material like paper, glaring at him through goat-like eyes.
"Because of what I am?"
"Oh, come on. Not the seats!"
Cassie suppressed a smile as Brute whined.
But Charlie wasn't in the mood. "I don't fucking care if you trust me or not, Brute." Her demon voice rumbled through the confined space. "I love Angel, and I'm getting him back. You can trust that!"
His demeanor shifted, and his shoulders slumped as Brute bravely extended a hand that she viewed with suspicion. "I needed to know what you'd say or do if I challenged you." He gestured again, and she retracted her claws, allowing her hand to rest in his enormous palm. "Because I trust Chatterbug with my life, I'm going to trust you, too, Miss Morningstar."
"Charlie's fine." She folded her fingers around his hand, squeezing with her demon strength—enough that he winced slightly—driving home just how powerful she truly was.
"Okay, okay!" His eyebrows furrowed as he took his hand back and shook it to get feeling back in his fingers. "I don't doubt your strength or your determination."
"Good! Cause I need all of you to save the kids and get my Angel back." She bared her demon teeth in a cruel smile that promised violence. "And once I get my hands on those assholes, it's clobberin' time!"
Cassie and Brute exchanged a confused look before Cassie glanced back at Charlie, eyes crinkling, "What was that?"
Suddenly awkward, the princess shifted back into her human form and spoke in a timid voice. "Um, Catchphrase?"
Brute choked back a laugh while Cassie let hers flow freely. Placing her hand on Charlie's shoulder, she shook her head humorously and suggested, "Keep trying, sweetie. Keep trying."