by Riley Hunt
“My head,” I groaned.
Attempting to take a nice, deep, relaxing breath, I rubbed circles over my temples to dampen the echoes of pain. It didn’t really help. I needed to stop thinking about who I used to be.
I was Vex. No one else. I chanted the words over and over in my mind.
As I took three deep breaths in, the pain subsided, but a cool sweat rolled down the back of my neck. There were too many strange things happening. I didn’t know how the Helius we were going to get to the bottom of it. Every single step we took, we hit a boulder.
“Are you okay?” Ana placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Do you get these headaches often?”
I nodded but kept my eyes closed tightly. “Sometimes, when I try to remember who I was. But it’ll be okay.”
The pain died down to only a flicker, and I could think properly again.
I focused on her hand on my shoulder. Then, my eyes lingered on her mouth. That kiss had been intoxicating. I wanted to do it again, but this wasn’t the time nor the place.
“We need to go see Eve,” I said, holding Ana’s hand tight within my own. “Maybe we can figure out a way to restart them from Heaven.”
“I don’t think we should do that.” Ana shook her head, her ponytail swinging back and forth.
The scent of her hair was sweet and clean, not like my own, which had the smell of sulfur. Why did everything in Helius have to smell like shit? Wasn’t it bad enough that they had forced us into the bad place? Why did they have to punish our senses as well?
“Are you trying to stop me from going there?” I ask. “Aren’t you a little curious to see if Eve is the perfect creation everyone says she is? You forget she was the one who convinced Adam to eat from the apple.”
“Please, Vex. I think this has gone far enough. We had our fun, and now we should just go back to our everyday lives.” She tried to pull away from me, but I wouldn’t let go.
“Don’t you care that one of the perfect creations isn’t working properly? You haven’t seen the havoc acid rain causes, and these are only things we have noticed. I’m positive there’s more going on than we know.”
She wouldn’t look at me with her cerulean eyes.
“You’re a Reaper,” I added. “They expect you to be neutral and not in favor of either side, Heaven or Helius. Or is that another bullshit Angel lie?”
Ana sighed. “I guess that’s right. But… “
“Then it’s settled.” I tried to keep my voice as neutral as possible.
A part of me didn’t want her to know how excited I was. I was enjoying this adventure, and I wanted to solve the mystery of what was going on with Adam. It allowed me to forget about myself for a minute, and I didn’t have to obsess over my lost memories. Maybe I could even atone for whatever I had done to be shoved in the bad place.
“If we get caught, I’m blaming everything on you.” She didn’t have even the slightest hint of remorse in her voice, and I had a feeling she was telling the truth.
I nodded. “That’s fine. What are they going to do? Send me back to Helius?”
“Or banish you into oblivion,” Ana said, looking up at the red and yellow sky. The fat, fluffy clouds threatening to pour sulfur rains on us.
“Well, as long as oblivion has no bloody rivers and Daemons who want to eat your eyeballs, I’ll be happy with that.”
My heels spun away from Ana and headed back to the train station. I didn’t want to talk anymore. Too many things flailed around in my head. Ana seemed distracted as well. It looked as though there was a war of thoughts brewing in her mind.
The only sound I could hear was the horrific squawking coming from the vile black crows that flew above the forest. They weren’t like the crows from Earth. These ones had acid dung and were known to snatch an eye or two when hungry.
By the time we returned, a group dressed head to toe in black armor and gas masks blocked the train tracks. Each of them held either a gun or sword. They were interrogating the Daemon we had run into on the train. One of them shoved him when he shook his head. The Daemon didn’t answer the question, and another slapped him with the butt of the gun, sending him flying to the ground.
I pulled Ana behind an ashen tree and out of sight.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered.
This was not a good thing. It only meant one thing: they were looking for me. I wondered if Davos had sent them. That impatient bastard had ratted me out.
“What is it? Who are they?” she asked.
“The DOD, Helius’s version of the military.” My nose curled. They were the Angel snitches, and we couldn’t trust them.
“What do they want?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I really don’t wanna find out. Can you summon a portal in Helius?”
“I have no idea,” Ana whispered. “I haven’t tried it.”
The group of agents scattered. One masked man cuffed the Daemon and pulled him through a portal, disappearing into thin air. Another went back onto the train. The last one headed down the dirt trail toward us.
I grabbed Ana’s hand.
“Do it, now!”
She squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched her face. She took a deep breath in and whispered, “This better fucking work.”
A bright blue door with peeling paint popped up before our eyes, and even though I thoroughly didn’t enjoy the last portal, I hurried through this one. I had heard whispers about the DOD and how they had power like Lucifer to transform people into dung beetles or different variations of Daemons. I liked my face the way that it was. I wasn’t about to risk it. Not to mention Ana. I couldn’t let anything happen to her.
She was… interesting.
Chapter Thirteen
Ana
“That was a close one.” I swung around to make sure no one was chasing us.
“No one is coming.” Vex twisted his neck as if it were sore and swayed, like the jump through the portal had caused him more anxiety than the scary-looking soldiers of the dark.
“We need to go to my boss,” I said. “We need to warn them. This could be bad. This could be terrible.”
The Angels needed to know if someone in Helius was messing with Adam. They wouldn’t stand for any sort of Daemon fucking their expensive celestial shit up.
My mind was racing, my thoughts jumbling together in a clear rush of adrenaline. Adam was broken, corrupted. If Helius was run by a broken machine, one that was supposedly impossible to corrupt, there was some serious shit going on.
“First, I need a drink. All this running is making me die of thirst,” Vex mumbled, his hands clenching and unclenching.
“I know a place.” One where I knew all the faces and the names, even if they didn’t always, at first, remember me.
Vex followed me silently.
My thoughts churned. Would the DOD know I’d portaled directly out of Helius? The thought worried me. I was on thin ice. Gabrielle could not save me if this got out and I would be sent to Michael for an evaluation, and Michael was, for lack of a better word, a complete dickhead.
“What are you thinking about?” Vex asked.
We had been silently walking toward Babes, the bar I liked to hang out in. It was already turning pitch black. Helius, like Limbo, was on a different time schedule. Sometimes, time sped up, but then sometimes, it was slow, and it was different for each soul. For us, apparently, time went by quickly. I peered through the window of a pizzeria that had a clock on the wall. Ten-fifteen. Perfect time to hit up the bar.
“I’m thinking I’m in a shit ton of trouble,” I mumbled as we arrived.
“Maybe your bosses won’t even notice that you’ve been gone?”
“Fat chance.”
Babes was the only bar in the small, dull town. Only people who lived there frequented it, so it was normal for uncomfortable stares as I first walked in. It made things worse that Vex was an actual newbie, but after a few minutes, the cold indifference or suspicion they shot our way with furti
ve glances and tight lips warmed to familiarity and acceptance.
“Who’s the hot guy?” Beth leaned closer to me, her frizzy, tangerine locks brushing the side of my face. She reeked of booze and nicotine, but I made an effort not to wrinkle my nose with disgust. I liked Beth, even though she was full of sadness. The woman happened to be at the bar every single time I visited.
“This is my friend, Vex.”
“Is he your new boyfriend?” She kept her hungry eyes on him, licking her lips unconsciously. As she parted her mouth, she revealed uneven, yellowed teeth, and the same bright magenta lipstick smeared on the top front ones.
“I’d love to claim that honor,” Vex announced, mock-clutching his chest, “but, alas, she does not accept my attempts to woo her.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, Romeo. You want to play darts?” I glanced to the darkened back, where it was empty. The bar was kind of packed, which meant there were ten to twelve people scattered about, so there was room for privacy.
“Dale, can we get two whiskeys?”
Dale already had them poured and was placing them on the bar. This was also one of the reasons I loved this place.
“You’re the best.” I winked, getting an affectionate smile from Dale, and followed Vex, whiskey in hand.
“Which color?” Vex offered a hand full of darts, one set of green, the other yellow.
“Doesn’t matter.”
I snatched up the green ones anyway and took my place in front of the dartboard. Then I lowered my voice to a whisper. I had already surveyed the bar upon entry, but there were those who could easily disguise themselves, and as a result, suspicion was a constant companion to my daily life.
“What’s our plan, buddy?” I asked, throwing a dart and letting it sail through the air. It hit dead center, and I cringed. I would have to pay more attention so I wouldn’t hit it center every time.
“I still think we need to check Eve.” He leaned in close to me as if affectionately nuzzling my neck. “If Adam can break, then so can she. And maybe we can bring some proof to the Angels. You might get a promotion, and I could get out of hell.”
I aimed to hit the three but hit the center instead, my attention forced back to him at that moment. Then, my mind went back to that time in the cave, and a warmth spread through my body, starting from my lady parts. Damn lust.
After not-too-gently pushing Vex back, I threw the last dart. There was a wickedness to the curl of his lips and the glint in his eyes. Either his body heat or the warmth now raging inside me made it stifling in the bar.
My last dart hit the three. I moved to pull them out.
“That’s easier said than done,” I murmured as he replaced me in front of the dartboard.
I waited, watching. As expected, his first dart hit dead center.
Retribution was in order. The smell of lust was thick in the air, I bent over to whisper in his ear, letting the heat roll off my body. “We’d have to get inside first.”
He hit the ten, close to the center. My attempt didn’t work. Or did it? He let out a groan, and his body went rigid as if he were fighting something invisible.
“You’re playing dirty.” He breathed faster, almost audible to listening ears.
“You started it.”
“Fair enough.” He took a deep breath, and with it, his demeanor changed. He squared his shoulders and focused intently on the dartboard. “We need a plan. How do we get to Eve?”
“Eve, like Adam, is near the Reaper headquarters in Limbo. She is open to all who seek her out, which makes checking in with her harder, and it’s less likely that there is an issue with her since someone would have already said something.”
“Not necessarily. In my experience, women are wonderful at hiding things.” His eyes met mine directly. Their lack of warmth and tightness spoke volumes. Had Vex had his heart broken before?
“Who was she?” My eyebrows drew in and softened toward him. I had never experienced heartbreak and was careful not to fall in love. Love meant trouble, and trouble was something I was good at without adding in emotions.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I just know there’s a feeling there.”
“Ah, yes, you lost your memory.” I tried to hide the disbelief in my tone, but the way his mouth pursed told me I was unsuccessful.
“Look, let’s just focus on sorting this out. Both our realms depend on it.”
“Agreed. We need to portal into Limbo. I can get us directly there, but getting to Eve, while not hard, will keep us in the open. We’ll more than likely be seen, and you will be a problem. No offense, but you reek of Helius. It will not go unnoticed, since anyone assigned or sent for punishment isn’t allowed in Limbo without permission, which never happens. Well, unless you’re a re-entering soul, but even then, you go through a cleansing process. Limbo doesn’t want to take on the stench and negativity that comes with anything from Helius… “
“Of course,” Vex muttered, nostrils flaring. For just a tiny second, a toothy snarl changed his features to something wholly different, almost sinister, before it was gone.
“We’re going to need a distraction, and a damn good one. I think I know someone who can help.
Chapter Fourteen
Vex
I wasn’t sure about her plan to actually ask an Angel for help. All the whispers from Helius suggested that Angels weren’t as pure as they claimed to be, but that was coming from a whole bunch of condemned people. This was the part when I had to shove down that nagging little feeling inside of me and follow Ana blindly. She seemed to trust them with everything, but they had never given her reason not to.
We left the bar and went through another portal before I could even muster up an objection. The scent of honey and fresh air tickled my nose before my eyes caught up with the situation. We stood in the middle of paradise. A greenish blue river flowed to the left of us, surrounded by a magnitude of flowers colored like the rainbow. Birds chirped merrily, and not a single cloud intruded the never-ending blue sky. A marble staircase led up the mountainous hill, crafted in pure white stone.
Ana took a step forward. “Here it goes. If this doesn’t work, my time as a Reaper will probably come to an end.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue. Some part of me just wanted to stay right here and take in the surroundings. The temperature was perfect, mild but not too warm—not like Helius, where the sweating never stopped.
Once Ana hit the halfway mark, something inside of me pushed me forward. I couldn’t give this up. Both of us had already gone too far in this mini quest. I leaped onto the first stone, and it only took a minute for me to catch up. At the top of the hill, there were even more flowers and elongated blades of grass that a deer munched on. He looked up at us but didn’t even flinch and continued with his meal.
That was strange. The deer in Helius would attack on sight, but this one wasn’t scared that we were so close.
I wondered why we had come to this field. There was no house or structure, only plants and animals. A hummingbird buzzed past me, close enough for me to hear it flapping its wings. As I was about to swat the annoying bird, Ana shot me a glance that could’ve killed me.
“Ariel?” Ana called out toward the flowers. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I met you so many years ago, and you told me if I ever needed anything to come here.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “Did you know that a sign of being crazy is talking to plants?”
Ana hushed me. “She will come. Angels always keep their promises.”
Ariel stepped out of the flowers, materializing out of thin air. She wore an elaborate white ball gown with golden ribbons wrapped around the bodice and long white sleeves that flowed down to the lively green grass. Her black hair was curled and piled neatly on top of her head. Her lips were the color of the river Styx, a crushed vibrant red.
There was something that seemed almost familiar about the Angel, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. I didn’t want to dig around in my memories. A
mind-numbing headache wasn’t part of the plan. I pushed those feelings down and refused to let them distract me from the mission. This was the middle of the wasp nest, and I had to be careful to not get killed or unmade, like Ana claimed.
“Ana, it has been too long.” Ariel reached out and took her hands. “I see that time has treated you well.” Ariel’s golden eyes trailed off toward me, and she held an amused smirk on her ebony face.
Ana bowed her head. “Thank you. I am so sorry to bother you.”
Ariel laughed. It came out like a melodic, joyous sound. “When you are immortal, nothing can be bothersome. Tell me, who did you bring with you?”
“My friend, Vex. He’s from… “
Ariel finished the sentence. “Helius. How interesting.”
She let go of Ana and walked around me, inspecting me. I looked down at my clothes, but I saw nothing that would cause her to want to stare at me like I was some sort of failed science experiment. It had probably been a lifetime since this Angel laid eyes on anyone from Helius, and she was merely curious.
“Tell me… Vex, what can I help you with?” Her voice was very warm, but there was something hidden underneath that tone that made the hairs on my arms rise.
“We—” Ana started, but Ariel placed a hand in the air.
“I would like to hear it from him.”
Ana looked at me and shrugged. She mouthed the words, “Don’t mess this up.”
“It has come to our attention that Adam, and maybe Eve, have been malfunctioning.”
Ariel’s red lips formed a perfect ‘O.’ “Is that so? And how did you two come up with this theory?” She continued inspecting me.
I took a deep breath and settled my nerves. “We visited Adam and saw that he was freezing and losing time. He refused to run a diagnostic.”
“Maybe it simply isn’t his time to run one,” Ariel offered.
“That’s impossible. He’s supposed to be able to run one whenever he’s asked. Those are the rules.”
