“It’s Angelic for fallen angel, not for the Devil. As Damien is the only fallen angel known on Earth, it is easy to mistake the two words for each other.”
He grabbed a pen and corrected the words. “Touched by the fallen angel, they rise. An offspring with the power to unite darkness against light.”
“And light against darkness,” I said. “That part is missing from your translation.”
He nodded, writing. “The fallen angel’s cursed passion tumbles the kingdoms of heaven and hell with equal force.”
“No. With equal will, not force.”
“All right. The Child of Gloom—”
“The Fallen Child,” I corrected. “Also known as the Darkborn as well as the Lightborn.”
“Darkborn and Lightborn?” Alec exclaimed.
“Darkborns are children like Legend’s babies,” said the witch.
“Touched by any fallen angel, not only by Damien” I added. “If their parents and conception are dark, and the fallen angel is, too, they are Darkborns.”
“What about Lightborns?” Kayden asked.
I took a moment before I responded, a sudden new meaning to the prophecy I had learnt eons ago forming in my comprehension. I stared at Belle as it tumbled upon me with its exhilaration and hazard.
“What are Lightborns, Zavariel?” Kayden repeated.
“They are…the opposite of Darkborns,” I whispered.
That was no lie, but it was not the whole truth. Why I had not explained further when I had promised to tell Belle everything eluded me. I gazed into her eyes, my breath catching, a flutter to my heart.I shall tell you the whole truth one day. Only to you, Isabella Ferro. Perhaps sooner than I anticipate.
Chapter 23
Belle
I hid my face in my hands, having screeching nails and banging hammers for a brain.
“Belle? Baby, are you okay?”
My face lifted to Alec, who was rubbing my back, his eyes dark, even the eternal strikes dimmed in them. “No.”
“It’s going to be all right, my love.” Joshua held my hand. “We have all the data now, and we’re all here. Let’s focus on the positive and get a better understanding to find a possible solution.”
“The prophecy might be confusing to you, but it’s crystal clear to me. Touched by the fallen angel, they rise. An offspring with the power to unite darkness against light and light against darkness. The fallen angel’s cursed passion tumbles the kingdoms of heaven and hell with equal will. The Fallen Child builds and destroys until there’s chaos, no dark or light. Whose side they take shall have the power to again rise.
“Vixen’s babies are obviously the offspring that will unite darkness against light. That’s why Damien designed their birth the way it happened, so they will be his Darkborns, the Fallen Children that will take his side. And I, the woman Damien loves, cursed, barren by Heaven’s orders forever, can bring down heaven and hell by will, whichever kingdom I’m going to choose. That’s why Damien never forced me to be his queen. He’s always insisted I take the throne willingly.
“He’s always known I’m barren, too. The babies he tried to take…are two birds with one stone. The bait that will make me turn on everything, become his consensual queen and favor Hell over Heaven with my full will, and the soldiers that will raise Hell after I do his bidding and tumble down Heaven.”
The cabin fell in deafening silence.
Again, I found that my life had never been mine. No matter what I did, I was always a pawn in a greater design, having to make a choice in disguise.
I never chose anything. I was being used. Forced to make a decision everyone else was too much of a pussy to make.
Sure, lay it all on the doubleganger—it’s a valid spelling variation of that German origin. Look it up!—voodoo reincarnated slut the devil loves so much. Add some serious attraction to darkness in her cursed soul to spice it up a little. And make her barren so she’d lose her shit because the best sacrifices come from real suffering, and for the past two hundred and fifty years, she hasn’t been abused or suffered enough!
I set my elbows on the table, clasped my hands together and rested my forehead on them. As I closed my eyes, I heard the sound of a calculated applause.
Well done, Professor. Well done, darling.
