by K L Rymer
I grab the bowl beside me and throw up my tequila and fancy Chinese noodles (vegetarian).
I can barely remember a darn thing, and I desperately claw at my memory, knowing I’m forgetting something important. Very important.
There’s a bad feeling in my stomach, and it’s not just the tequila. Eli was in trouble, and I can’t remember how or why.
The dream had felt so real. For a moment, it felt like he were right beside me, the gentle brush of his lips sending chills down my neck, and I search the room for him again.
“Eli?” I call out, my voice scratchy.
No reply.
Something’s not right.
Slowly, I stagger to my feet, my head spinning, and it’s as if I’m still drunk. I still wear my summer dress. Someone had taken off my shoes, placing them by the bed, but I leave them and decide to search the house for Eli.
That’s when my eyes fall on the note on the bedside table, and my heart leaps to my throat.
With a shaking hand, I pick up the note and read. It’s from Eli.
Crystal, I am sorry.
I couldn’t stand the thought of you dying all over again. So I have decided to go up against your father alone and end this once and for all.
I hope you understand.
Live a long life for me, Crystal, and don’t mourn for me. This world needs you more than it needs me. There’s no one more beautiful than you, and I know your shining beauty will be enough to restore peace to this ugly world.
Thank you for teaching me how to love again.
Eli.
Heavy gasps leave my lips as the note drops to the floor, and I stagger back to the bed, gripping my forehead.
Oh no oh no oh no.
Eli... he’s decided to sacrifice himself and kill my father on his own.
Orange rays break through the sky, and I shoot my head up, staring out the window in horror.
I never thought I’d be so horrified to see the dawn of a new day.
My father was about to enact his Blast. I have to stop him and save everyone. I have to save Eli.
I summon an image of Eli next and close my eyes, and I burst with a light, flying miles across the city.
But he’s not the only person on my mind. I hope to find my father too and put a stop to his tyranny once and for all. Besides, there’s only room for one White in this world.
When I open my eyes again, a powerful, cool wind fills my lungs, and I stumble, falling against a large block of crystal.
There are others, scattered around the rooftop like glistening trees, and I move at once, searching for Eli and my father.
A tortured scream splits my heart in two and I run towards the sound, drawing a breath.
Eli and my father’s powers collide in an epic battle of dark and light, their polar energies clashing like thunder.
My father looks emotionless, barely a sweat on his face, but Eli... he’s losing. It was his scream I’d just heard.
And he was about to become dust... just like his father...
Eli holds off my father’s powers with as much strength as he can muster, the force sending him closer to the edge of the roof. His face contorts as he grinds his teeth, his face dripping with sweat.
Neither one of them has noticed me yet. If I don’t act now, Eli will be lost to me forever.
And my father will win.
I focus all my power on my father, bringing my palm up in the same fashion as he does, and channel my light.
The hair rises up on my arms when that energy courses through my body, and I close my eyes, imagining myself expanding like a star.
If I concentrate hard enough on one target, my light becomes a deadly thing.
As my father taught me himself.
Beams shoot out from my fingers and straight towards my father, and his eyes settle on me at last.
“Crystal...?” he whispers, his face as white as a ghost.
My eyes brim with tears.
All my life, I wanted nothing more than my father. To hold him in my arms, maybe even walk me down the aisle one day.
But it was never meant to be. For my father was a monster all along, and for that, he can’t live.
At least then no one will get hurt. Everyone will live to see another sunrise.
“I’m... I’m sorry...” I choke, dripping with tears.
His blue eyes expand, and once again it’s like looking into a mirror. We even look the same when we’re scared, and I release a sob, sending that last wave.
He soars off the roof, crashing down to earth, and when he spreads his wings, they’re blacker than the night.
A symbol of the evil my father has become.
I pinch my eyes shut, burning hotter until I’m almost blinding, and then I hear my father’s agonising screams.
And then he screams no more.
I drop to my knees as my father’s ashes rain down from the sky, covering my hair.
He’s... he’s gone. Nothing more than dust blowing in the wind now, and something clogs my lungs.
Next, a haunting wail leaves my lips, and I bury my face into the concrete, howling at my loss.
He may have been evil, but he was still my father. And I’d killed him like a cold-blooded murderer.
Would my wings become just as black?
Eli steps towards me, lifting me back to my feet, and now I gaze up into those storm cloud greys.
The sun hovers over the city skyline, reflecting off his eyes, and now they burn with fire.
We’re free at last.
Finally, his frozen mask breaks, and then he presses me against his chest, holding me tight.
We stay that way for a while, and I keep my face to his shirt, my howls muffled by his strong muscles.
He smells so good, and I breathe him in, never wanting to part from him again.
No one can keep us apart anymore.
27. Eli
I hold little Elijah in my arms, gazing out at the city from my office window.
The young cancer survivor has come to visit me in Black HQ for the third time after his miraculous recovery, and we’ve become best friends ever since.
Unfortunately, Elijah never got to the US, even after my large pledge to his campaign. He had been too ill to fly in the end and had been given a month to live.
That had been six months ago.
Doctors were shocked. One moment Elijah was knocking on death’s door, and the next he was a happy, vibrant boy again, just like the one he’d been before his diagnosis three years ago.
News of his recovery got out, and many are hailing it a miracle. As if the angels themselves had come down to earth to bless the child.
Well, they wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Except the angel in question had been on earth the whole time, twenty-one years to be exact, and was currently living in my mansion as future Mrs Black.
Yes, Crystal can cure cancer.
What a shocker.
What can I say? The little boy had grown on me. Whenever I looked into his optimistic brown eyes, I saw my younger self. The way I had been before my mother died.
Unlike Elijah though, I had let my mother’s death be the end of me, burying myself a hole, and never coming back out again for another twenty years. Elijah was strong. Nothing fazed him. Not even death.
He deserved another chance.
I know. There are millions of kids dying all over the world. They all deserve a second chance. But Crystal was only one angel; her power still had limits.
If she cured too many people in a small time frame, she would only deteriorate and burn herself out.
Magic is not limitless. It’s like currency, and we need to learn to budget our powers, or we will die.
Elijah’s parents watch close by as I show their son the sights of London. News reporters had been outside the tower, bombarding me with all sorts of questions. My friendship with the little boy had not gone unnoticed by the media, and as always, there were critics.
Many conspiracy theorists think
that I had paid for some untested treatment with my billions and billions of pounds, hence why Elijah had got better.
And there are those chastising me for playing favourites, and not helping all the other millions of sick kids.
Trust me. I’d save them all if I could, but no amount of money (or healing power) will achieve that.
I’d wondered if there were others like me and Crystal in the world. As far as I’m aware, our families are the only angel and demon born in existence.
If there were others like Crystal, then sure, it may be possible to help all those other children.
But until that day, we will just have to rejoice and appreciate what we can do. One child will get to see adulthood. That’s more than enough for me.
It looks as if I’ve finally grown up. That party-loving playboy was long dead and gone, and it was about time. Four months ago, I’d finally said goodbye to my twenties and turned the big three O.
Father would be so proud... or maybe not. His idea of success was making others miserable, not happy.
I’ll just be my own version of success.
Elijah’s mother comes around to stand beside us, a warm smile on her face. She’s thirty, like me. Both of his parents are, and it got me thinking about having kids of my own.
I’d never had any interest to procreate. Only because that meant a life of suffering for the poor child I would bring into this world. Demon born children never have happy childhoods.
Yet...I’d love nothing more than to have a little version of me. It would be half Crystal too, so it was bound to be beautiful.
There have never been any recorded half angel/half demon-born children, well, as far as I’m aware, and again, I wonder what the child would be like.
Only time will tell. It’s still early days. Crystal and I are constantly up and down the country to even consider starting a family any time soon. She’s now the sole lady of the White Estate, having inherited it after her father ‘mysteriously’ vanished.
Leticia and Leila run it in her absence, and the teen girls have really come into their stride. You would never think they were ex-orphans.
When Crystal’s not up north, she’s in London with me, playing my ever faithful fiancée.
Crystal and Misaki have become inseparable, going on spa days and endless shopping sprees, and all that other superficial girl stuff.
Even Ashley’s still in the picture. We’ve somewhat reconciled our friendship (not that we were friends to begin with), and he’s a good guy. He’s even met Elijah and given him a signed copy of his latest album. Not that the little guy looked too enthusiastic.
Ashley’s still banging my cousin, but I’ve held my tongue. So long as they do it far away from me, then I don’t care. Though Ashley better not push his luck and hurt her.
Yes, I just heard how ridiculous that sounds. More like she will tear him inside out, destroying his very soul in the process.
That was Misaki for you. The demon woman who turns men into snivelling children.
“It’s time to go now, Elijah,” the boy’s mother says. “We will be late for our train.”
They’re going back home today, but they still had one hour. So they had plenty of time.
I’ll have a car arranged to pick them up.
“Say goodbye to Mr Black now,” Elijah’s father utters, and the little boy throws his arms around my neck.
“Goodbye, Mr Black!” he chirps, squeezing me with all his might, and I chuckle, hugging him back.
“Goodbye, Elijah, and remember to be a good boy for your mummy and daddy.”
He gives a wide, gap-toothed grin. “Promise!”
I smile back and hold on to him a little longer. He was a pure little thing, with a personality big enough to light up a room.
It certainly lights up my once austere office. Now it’s adorned in crayon drawings that the youngster had drawn for me, and I even had them framed.
I don’t care what anyone says, they are works of art; they certainly beat the paintings of scary faces that my father used to hang up. In one drawing, I have a red cape like Superman, and it still makes me chortle whenever I lay eyes on it.
Who knew I’d become some child’s hero one day.
Finally, I drop the child back to his feet, and I tower over his three-foot frame once again. He pulls a face like a monster, and I pull a face back, my heart melting at his giggle.
He really was the cutest.
His mother steps towards me now and pecks my cheek, and then his father grips my hand, giving my back a hearty slap.
And then they’re off, and I’m alone in my empty cold office once again, releasing a breath.
It’s half past three. I have a meeting in an hour about company spends. So much fun...
But screw that. I have a sexy angel to return home too.
I click the buzzer on my desk, and Katie, my PA, answers. “Yes, sir?”
“Kate, I’m heading home. Let the others know I won’t be attending.”
“Should I reschedule?”
“No. They can carry on without me. In fact, you can get yourself home too. Take the rest of the day off.”
Katie had three young kids. One was currently in a school play.
“Thank you, sir,” she says, sounding surprised.
Yes, I’m the nicest CEO around. She’d been my father’s PA before, the poor thing. She deserved a break after five years of torment.
I rush through the top floor and enter the lift, yanking off my ugly black corporate tie.
Give me cravats any day.
Before long I’m in a car on my way home, and then I burst through the door, my heart pounding in excitement.
Crystal’s candy scent lingers everywhere.
“Crystal, I’m home,” I call out, tossing my tie onto the settee in the living room, and gaze into the mirror. Then I put my hand into my pocket and tie my cravat around my neck, just as Crystal comes through the door.
Our eyes meet in the reflection.
Crystal looks stunning as usual. She may be the wife of a billionaire, but she’s still as humble as ever, opting for sweet summer dresses instead of expensive gowns.
Besides, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t come into her own inheritance lately. White had been filthy rich too.
In fact, she currently wears an apron, depicting a cartoon picture of an angel and devil kissing, and I smile.
Flour dusts her hair, making her look like a ghost, yet I still pull her close, letting her cover my black suit in handprints.
“Have we been baking for the homeless again?” I ask, gazing down into her luminous blues.
Crystal often volunteers at homeless shelters, getting her friend Gerry to help her out (he’d once been living on the streets too, and now works alongside Crystal).
“Yes,” she says, wiping flour on my nose.
She giggles, and I lean down, planting a kiss on her lips. “You really are the perfect angel, aren’t you? You almost make me look bad.”
“Well, you could always join me. Next week, I’ll be baking cakes!”
I grin a little tighter, keeping my teeth clenched. “We’ll see.”
Crystal laughs and takes off her apron, then pulls me towards the kitchen.
All right. For her, I’ll do it. I like the way she looks at me when I do the right thing, and I’m always greatly rewarded after.
Crystal leads me to a tray of biscuits, and they smell as heavenly as her. She picks one up and holds it to my lips, and I bite, savouring the sweet taste.
You know, I never cared for sweet things until I met her. Chocolate, cookies, ice cream. Not my thing. I was more into my spicy food and salty snacks.
Anything bitter and hot, basically.
But then Crystal introduced me to a whole new array of food, and I swear I’ve put on two pounds since.
My angel, however, stays the same as ever, and my eyes wander over her round, curvy arse.
Now I’d like to take a bite from that.
I cup
her arse cheeks with my hands and yank her close, and she crashes into my chest. And then I just take that moment to appreciate her.
She really is the most beautiful girl in the world. And I’ve never felt so lucky to have found her. This girl who made my black, rotten heart beat once again.
Yet Crystal still hasn’t found her wings just yet, still struggling to remain aloft for long distances, and I pull her towards the patio doors, extending my wings once we’re outside.
They stretch out the holes in my suit and Crystal laughs.
“Really? Another flying lesson?”
“Yes. It’s the only way you will learn, Crystal.”
“But it’s daylight. What if we’re seen?”
“I can always erase their memories. Besides, it’s cloudy.”
As was the norm in England.
It was a new gift of mine since I awoke from the dead, and now I can erase the memory of every living creature within a three-mile radius.
We head out into our expansive back garden, letting both of our wings flap beside us, and then we break into a run, taking off into the air.
I grip tight hold of Crystal and fly us high into the heavens. The sun shines bright in the azure sky, a whole different world from the grey one below, and then I twirl her around.
Crystal giggles as we dance atop the clouds, and if you were to look up at the sky at us now, you may think you were seeing a pair of waltzing angels.
But you couldn’t be more wrong. Because one of those angels was in fact a demon, and he had fallen in love with an angel.
And his life had been forever changed from the moment he met her.
The light to his dark...
And the Black to her White.
End.
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Read on for a sneak peek on Tainted: A Prequel Novella, and see what Eli’s life was like before he meet Crystal. Click here to download the full book.
1. Eli
I sip scotch alone at the bar, staring at my reflection on the other side. My hair’s a mess, and the collar of my shirt’s loose.
