by J F Cain
“Am I powerful enough to protect you?” he asked, doubt threading through his voice.
“Yes, you are!” Aranes assured him. “Besides, we’re not alone. Michael came to see me.”
A small spark of hope flared in Abaddon’s heart.
“Did he have a message?” he asked, not showing his eagerness for a positive reply.
“No, but I don’t doubt at all that his eyes are always on me,” Aranes answered, both to hearten her partner and to discourage her would-be persecutors.
“I didn’t imagine that he would do anything else,” said Abaddon, hoping others got the message. He trusted her judgment, and her conviction about Michael’s stance eased his anxiety. However, he didn’t know what to expect from the Celestials. “Let’s go inside,” he suggested, putting an end to the discussion. “It’s too cold for you out here.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they headed for the bedroom. All of a sudden, he stopped and his eyes darkened. Lyla had appeared in the garden among the shadows of the tall bushes and pinned her gaze on the couple’s backs, but when she realized that the Dark Angel had sensed her presence, she disappeared at once.
Aranes turned to look at her partner.
“Who is it?” she asked, understanding from his reaction that a dark entity had appeared.
Abaddon moved forward again, gently urging her along.
“No one. False alarm,” he answered reassuringly.
As soon as they had entered the bedroom, he gave a mental command for the balcony door to close while scanning the area for miles around the mansion in search of any ethereal presence. There was none.
Aranes felt his worry and understood what he was doing.
“If it was no one, then why are you scanning the area?” she insisted, trying to draw the truth out of him.
“To make sure I wasn’t wrong,” Abaddon replied, accustomed to answering his sharp-witted partner’s questions on the spot.
He switched off the light—maybe this way he would evade her probing gaze—and the room was illuminated by the yellowy-red flames from the logs burning in the granite fireplace opposite their large bed.
“You won’t protect me with lies,” Aranes warned him softly. “You have to tell me who appears, whether we’re together or you’re on your own, and also what they say and do.”
Abaddon groaned inwardly. His adversary could see his emotions in his aura and his partner could read him like an open book. How was he going to hide from them? He knew the answer where Lucifer and the other Ethereals were concerned: with self-control. But when it came to the brilliant Superior, there was no solution.
Seeing that her partner didn’t intend to share what was troubling him with her, Aranes tried a more effective approach to draw out what he didn’t want to say. She moved closer until she was a hairsbreadth away and wrapped her arms around his neck in a gesture of tender familiarity that said the two of them should share everything.
“So, are you going to tell me what happened today and who appeared a moment ago?” she asked, smiling with a sweetness that could only exist on an Angel’s face.
Abaddon stood motionless, as if any movement he made would betray her effect on him. Her power to arouse him with a mere touch hadn’t faded. He had simply learned to control himself just enough.
“Nothing happened and no one appeared,” he insisted blankly. “I’m just worried about your safety.” A lie and a truth in one answer. This way, he had a better chance of convincing her.
“Alright. I won’t insist,” Aranes said, still smiling, but her expression told him she wouldn’t always be this accommodating.
“That would be good. I’m not in the best of moods,” Abaddon admitted.
“I can see that. That’s why I tried to help.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist. Under the fine silk fabric, he could feel the warmth of her body.
“There’s only one way to make me feel better, and it’s not by interrogating me.”
“You’ve given me a good idea. I can do both at once,” she teased.
“Do you want me to prove you can’t?” he replied in the same vein.
Aranes shook her head.
“I’m smart enough not to accept that challenge.”
Abaddon’s smiling countenance showed how proud he was of his extraordinary partner.
“My love, I never doubted your intelligence.”
He lifted her in his arms, took her to their bed and, after depositing her gently, lay down beside her on his side.
“Aren’t you going to get undressed?” she asked.
The Dark Angel arched an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Without saying a word, he instantly dematerialized his clothes, underwear and shoes. He then dragged his index finger down her chest. As soon as it touched her nightgown and robe, they vanished.
“Are you using your powers to undress me? That’s not proper angelic conduct,” Aranes said with mock severity.
“I’m a Dark Angel. I conduct myself differently,” he replied, kissing her neck as his hand traveled upwards from her waist to her breast.
“You’re still a Celestial … and Celestials don’t do such things,” she breathed. His scorching breath on her skin and his touch always brought to her body the sweet tingle of erotic anticipation. That was his power over her.
Abaddon lifted his head. Desire made the fine silver lines in his irises undulate gently like waves in a deep blue sea.
“They don’t make love either, but we do,” he said huskily.
Aranes caressed his face as she gazed at him with eyes that shone with love.
“I’ve nothing to say to that.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have the last word with you. But I do have something else up my sleeve,” Abaddon said and sealed her mouth with a passionate kiss.
Aranes put her arms around him and returned his kiss. Her response always affected him powerfully. It was a complete, unconditional surrender that assured him of her feelings and made him want her even more.
Abaddon took a deep breath and crushed her against him.
“My love,” he groaned inside her mouth.
He sucked on her lips for a while longer, savoring her fragrant breath, and then left her mouth to spread kisses all over her body. His hands and lips began their fascinating journey, which night by night became more magical, more surreal, as if the Power that had brought them together wanted to remind them who they truly were. Fanning each other’s flames, the divine lovers burned for ages in their fiery passion, together reaching the point of utmost pleasure, where rapture takes one’s breath away and beings are lost in glorious sensations.
When they had once again returned to the present and their breathing was back to normal, Abaddon lay back on the bed and took Aranes in his arms.
“Are you alright?” he asked her, filled with concern.
She smiled on his chest.
“Yes,” she replied, as she did every night when he asked the same question.
The Dark Angel lifted his head slightly—purely out of habit—and looked at the fetus in her belly. Aranes realized what he was doing and nudged his head back onto the pillow.
“And our son is also fine. Stop worrying,” she scolded him gently.
“Just making sure,” he defended himself with a laugh.
“I’m certain that you make sure constantly every night when I’m asleep.”
Abaddon sighed and smiled but didn’t speak. There was no point denying it.
Aranes shifted her head to his arm and looked at him.
“Did you say something?” she asked, her gaze challenging.
He raised his hands in surrender.
“Guilty as charged,” he admitted cheerfully.
“Does this apply to all the charges made against you?”
At her hint, Abaddon sobered and feigned ignorance.
“Are there more?”
“Making false statements and withholding information,” Aranes re
plied with a smirk.
The Dark Angel pulled his arm out from under her neck, raised himself on one elbow and caressed her breast with his other hand.
“If you carry on with the grilling, you’ll force me to put an end to it my way and, believe me, I’d really like to do it,” he warned, pretending to shoot her a threatening look.
Aranes shook her head disbelievingly.
“You won’t do it. Each time we make love, you’re scared you’ll disturb the baby.”
“Are you using our unborn child to blackmail me?” he asked, astonished.
Aranes’ smile dimmed with sadness.
“I’m using your fear, which Lucifer will also use to come between us,” she said, looking into his eyes.
At once the cheerfulness vanished from Abaddon’s face and his hand froze on her breast.
“I will never allow it,” he said, his voice suddenly harsh.
Aranes also raised herself on one elbow and turned to face him.
“Lucifer hasn’t appeared anywhere after his defeat. It is most likely that he has merged with his alter ego and is waiting for the time he thinks is right to make a comeback. That moment is not far away, but he won’t be the Demon you know. The part that had been separated is the darkest part of him, which means that he will be more vicious, slier and more dangerous than ever. He won’t try to clash openly with you; he will try to manipulate your emotions and above all your fear to distance you from me.”
“I don’t know about the Source, but Lucifer will never manage that,” Abaddon said, an utterly fearless and cold expression on his face.
“Believe me, he has managed it without lifting a finger,” Aranes retorted. “I’ve told you that fear is one of Lucifer’s typical effects. Right now, without knowing it, you are serving his interests. If you were thinking rationally, you would never do it. But without realizing it, you’re letting a useless emotion overshadow your reason. What is the point in lying to me so as not to upset me, when it’s obvious I know that something has happened? The way you’re acting is making me more worried and uncertain about the future.”
Abaddon snorted and smiled melancholically.
“That’s how I’m also feeling because of the way you are acting. You’ve had something very serious on your mind the last few days and you’re not telling me what it is.”
Aranes lowered her eyes. She had no right to ask him to tell her everything when she was keeping things from him. But if she revealed what was really troubling her, it would really upset him and he would most likely make mistakes that would make things worse for them.
“I am worried about what is going to happen,” she said, avoiding any details. She hoped he wouldn’t ask her to explain, because that would put her on the spot.
Abaddon sprang out of bed and walked to the fireplace. He rested his hands on the granite mantel and bowed his head.
“Why do you assure me that I can protect you when you don’t believe it yourself.”
Aranes sat up in the bed.
“I’m not worried about your ability to protect me, but about the way you’ll deal with the coming events,” she admitted sadly.
“Yes, I know. My human thinking,” Abaddon said with a scowl.
“You’re not responsible for that, but …”
“I’m the one who has to bear the consequences,” he cut in coldly.
Aranes stared at his back worriedly.
“Our mission is interwoven with tests.”
“Yes, you’ve told me … As if fulfilling the prophecy wasn’t enough,” Abaddon muttered through gritted teeth.
Aranes said nothing. His celestial memory was an especially sensitive matter. Being cut off from such an important element of his existence made him feel lacking and inferior to the other Ethereals. He often asked her why the Source was withholding his memory and she had no other answer to give him except that it was a test.
The Dark Angel stared at the flames dancing in the fireplace.
“Once, when I wasn’t a Celestial yet, I had asked you how the Source expected us to make the prophecy come true when we were both beings without power, and you had answered that love makes anything possible,” he said after a brief silence and turned to look at her. “If you cannot trust that I will act as you have taught me all these months we’ve been together, can you at least trust in my love for you?”
The sorrow in his eyes made her heart clench. She shuddered at the thought that from now on she would often see that look in his eyes. She hurried out of bed, went to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“If I didn’t trust in love, it would be like not trusting myself,” she said sadly into his shoulder.
Abaddon held her tenderly in his arms.
Why are you making her sad, he scolded himself. The Source’s decisions are not her fault. “Don’t worry my love, we’ll make it through,” he comforted her, even though he wasn’t certain himself.
“I know that we’re going to face great difficulties.” She drew her head back and looked at him. “You swore that you would do anything to stay with me for all eternity,” she reminded him, a touch of pleading in her voice.
“And you can be sure that I’ll keep my promise,” Abaddon assured her.
Aranes rested her hands on his bare shoulders and looked deep into his eyes, as if she wanted to imprint her words in his memory.
“Sometimes we are forced to do only what is required,” she said with the seriousness with which she had instructed him the last few months.
“You think that I won’t stop at what is required, that I’ll go to extremes. Right?” he asked, hurt by her doubt.
“I admit that your determination troubles me,” Aranes admitted.
Abaddon understood what was really concerning her.
“I’ve gone to extremes to be able to be with you. But no matter what happens, I’ll never align myself with Lucifer. I’m aware of my responsibility as your partner. I’m very well aware of what he is after and I have no intention of surrendering you to him. I will only serve the Source’s will, as I promised It. My place is at your side and I want nothing else save to be with you and our child.” He caressed her auburn curls that glinted in the firelight. “There’s a reason we’re having this discussion. So tell me. What are you expecting to happen that makes you worried I’ll go to extremes?” The question was eating at him.
“I don’t know what will happen, but I believe that Lucifer will try to distance you from me and the Celestials,” Aranes replied. “He is the one who invented the tactic of dividing and conquering, and he knows better than anyone how to make it happen.”
“I’ve told you before. Only the Source can take you away from me. But as long as I exist, I will search for a way for us to be together. And you can be certain I’ll find it,” Abaddon said, the intensity in his eyes a sign of his determination. Suddenly, he felt a fluttering in his chest, as if what he had said reminded or should have reminded him of something.
Aranes noticed his momentary surprise.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I think something about what I just said sounds familiar,” he responded, absorbed in his thoughts as he searched his memory for an answer.
“It’s probably part of your ethereal memory,” she deduced. “Perhaps you once said the same words or had the same thought.”
“It wouldn’t be strange at all,” Abaddon remarked and turned his gaze on her. “Have I ever said something like that to you?”
“No, but I don’t doubt that you looked for a way for us to be together.”
“Until I gave up the idea,” he said with melancholy, as if he regretted an action he no longer even remembered.
“Did you actually give up?” Aranes asked leadingly.
Abaddon frowned, feeling puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“Persistence was always a basic part of your character. I find it hard to believe that you had given up the idea of us being together.”
“
It’s true that it doesn’t sound like me,” he admitted. “I assumed I had done it because you said I had avoided you in Elether.”
“That doesn’t mean that you had stopped trying to find the coveted solution, and as you can see, you did find it,” the sharp-witted Superior who could see what lay behind events pointed out.
“And I’ll find it again if I have to,” Abaddon declared soberly.
He leaned forward and his lips met hers to seal the new promise. He savored her sweet mouth and then drew back in time so that he wouldn’t get carried away by his desire, but he didn’t let go of her. Totally in love, he gazed at her, bewitched by her surreal beauty. Her clear eyes shone in the semidarkness like moonlit lakes and her parted lips, still moist from his kiss, tempted him to overcome his reservations about the baby’s safety so that they could serve the god of love all night without complaint.
Aranes had more serious matters on her mind.
“When did you promise the Source that you would serve Its will?” she asked, interrupting his fantasy. She took a step back and waited for him to answer, curiosity written on her face.
Abaddon’s arms fell to his sides as he returned to the present and the discussion he would have really liked to have been done with. It wasn’t fair that his partner worried about his persistence. He should be the one worrying about hers.
“The second day after you arrived,” he replied reluctantly. He knew where the conversation was headed and would have preferred to avoid it.
The look on Aranes’ face said she wouldn’t be doing him any such favors.
“And what did you ask for in return?”
Now, if he asked her why she thought he had asked for something in return, he would be underestimating her intelligence and that would be stupid of him. And it would be even worse if he feigned ignorance. There was no way he was escaping the third degree, so he succumbed to his fate. The truth was the only road to salvation.
“You,” he said, giving in. “I asked It not to take you back and to let us live on Earth.”
“You were bargaining with the Supreme Authority as if you were dealing with a commercial enterprise, and you wonder why I worry about your human reasoning?” Aranes asked calmly. She wasn’t accusing him; she was drawing his attention to a crucial matter that would play an important part in their mission.
