"I am glad to have you back." Axia smiled, relieved.
Heaven was still staring at this fascinating woman.
"You had me worried. They were saying you moved on to the next life after we found out about what happened to your family. But I knew you didn't."
"You always know." Zamiel smiled at her.
"You should have told me. Just given me a word. I would drown every witch in this ocean. I would…"
"Axia." Zamiel cut her off then turned to Heaven. "Meet Heaven. The woman I love and care for the most."
Love?
He said he loved her!
He loved her!
She looked at him, but he didn't seem to realize what he said. Or perhaps he was very well aware.
"And Heaven, this is Axia. She is a dear friend of mine. We rarely meet, but our friendship remains the same."
Axia turned to Heaven, her mesmerizing eyes gleaming with distrust. "You are a witch." She said with realization.
Then quickly she turned to Zamiel. "Zamiel, don't tell me…"
Zamiel put his arm around Heaven's shoulders. "I trust Heaven." He cut her off. "She saved my life."
Axia turned to Heaven and then came to stand in front of her. Her aura was intimidating and her gaze threatening. "If you ever hurt him, I'll feed you to the sharks." She threatened.
"I have no doubt." Heaven replied.
Axia's lips curved into an amused smile. "I like her so far." She told Zamiel.
He smiled proudly. "What is there not to like?"
"I am glad to see you happy. But never disappear like that again!" She warned.
Heaven had expected a formal relationship between them from the way she had kissed his hand, but they spoke comfortably to each other. She had never seen Zamiel smile this much before, and he even touched her bare shoulder while assuring her he was alright.
That she was almost naked and had the most enticing body did not make it easier.
"I think your Lady is jealous." Axia told Zamiel before turning to Heaven. "Don't worry. I have a mate who looks better than this." She said pointing at her body.
This woman knew she was magnetic.
Zamiel looked at Heaven, amused. Was her jealousy visible? She did not want to show it.
"I am guessing you came here to spoil your woman. I have kept your property safe with me."
Zamiel chuckled. "Thank you. But Heaven doesn't need that kind of spoiling. She is a princess." He said.
"Oh." Axia nodded.
"I came here to show Heaven who I trust my wealth with and she gets to see a water demon."
So that is where he got his wealth. He had a water demon keep it for him in the ocean.
Axia had that distrustful look again. "Let me know when you need it." She said. "I need to get back to my duties. Come by some other time."
Zamiel nodded. "I will."
She turned to Heaven. "It was nice meeting you, Heaven." She said curtly. Then she turned and went back into the ocean.
Zamiel and Heaven stood there and watched her until she disappeared completely.
Heaven had so many things going through her mind. So many questions. How come he was friends with a water demon? He seemed to have known her for a very long time.
"Do you keep all of your wealth under the water?" Heaven asked, breaking the silence that followed Axia's departure.
"Most of it. As an ancient demon or an older demon, it is important to have a trustworthy water-demon friend. Because we sleep for long periods, we need to store our wealth somewhere safe from humans and other demons. No place is safer than under the water."
"I thought water demons, and other demons were not on good terms." Heaven said.
"You mean the water demons banning the other demons from the waters? That is their home. When the land demons caused corruption and bloodshed on land, they tried to hide in the waters. The water demons were only protecting their homes." Zamiel explained.
Corruption and bloodshed? Now Heaven was curious.
"Is she your only water demon friend?"
"I have a few in different places. I divide my wealth and they keep it safe for me. If something happened to one of them, I still have some of my wealth stored in other places."
So he had more water demon friends whom he trusted.
"Why did the land demons cause corruption and bloodshed?"
Zamiel slowly sat down on the sand and Heaven sat next to him. "Did no one tell you the history of demons?" He asked.
Heaven shook her head. "Tell me!" She urged.
And so Zamiel began to tell her everything. From the beginning.
"Long before humans existed, djinn lived on this earth. Just like humans, most of us had homes and families. But the peace did not last long. In all of us there is good and evil, but djinn are more drawn to evil because of the demon inside of us. Most of us let our demon control us. We got prideful and greedy. We became ungrateful to all the good we had received. A war broke out. Demons wanting more power, more wealth. Some of them acted like Gods. Others preyed on the weak. This went on for a long time, and the earth that was once beautiful became a dark place ruled by the powerful and ruthless. Eventually the weak had enough, so they built and army against the ruthless rulers and another war broke out. This one lasted for many years, and demons became almost eradicated. But the war still continued until an army of angels came down and wiped out the corrupted demons." He stopped, but Heaven wanted to know more.
"What happened after that?" She asked.
"By the time that happened, only few demons were left. Many children and women lost their lives. This is how the demon species became mostly male." He turned to her. "That is how cruel we had turned."
It sounded frightening.
"That is also how the marking began." He continued. "Before we almost became eradicated, just like humans, we fell in love and got married. But after the war there were far more males than females. The females became almost hunted by the males. So when a man found a woman, he would mark her so other males would that she was taken. The mark would also connect them and when she is in danger or other males are harassing her, her mate knows and comes to her rescue."
Heaven was surprised by how the marking began. She never thought it was to protect the female.
"But what happened to those without a woman?"
"They waited for a female to be born."
"That sounds lonely." Heaven said.
"It was for many. But things changed when humans came to existence. For many years of their existence, we never mixed with them. We did not even think it was possible. But one demon was brave enough to explore. To see if humans and demons could interbreed, and that is how demons began to mate with humans as well."
So it was never a sure thing that humans and demons could interbreed. Heaven wondered who this demon was that dared to explore without knowing the outcome.
"You know that demon." He said. "It is your grandfather."