He loved Eleni. Would always love her. But now he also loved Aurora. And his love for Aurora didn’t diminish his devotion for Eleni. The one love enhanced the other, as if they were entwined.
Tenderly, he kissed the ancient archangel wings before tucking it into Aurora’s bag. He hadn’t created this necklace, but in the end it was merely a symbol for the unending love of an archangel. Maybe when she discovered what he’d given her she’d understand how he felt.
Understand why he’d let her go.
She came into the bedroom and he dropped her necklace back into his pocket. Against his heart.
It was a poor substitute for her love, but it was the only piece of her he could keep with him for all time.
Chapter 32
Aurora
It had been twenty-four hours since Gabe had brought her home. His last kiss before he’d disappeared would haunt her forever.
She should have told him she loved him. But what good would that have done? He had never asked for her love. All that confession would do would make him feel guilty for being unable to return it.
A clean break was better for her heart. How could a human and an archangel ever have anything together? She’d cherish their memories, and not fall apart over their inevitable goodbye.
He’d shown her a hidden side of the world to the one that she’d always known. And while there might not be another trans-dimensional child in the universe, at least she no longer felt as isolated.
But my heart will never recover.
Curled up on her bed, she clutched her pillow tighter. She’d always love him. There was nothing she could do about that. But she still had to get on with her life, even if her driving force—to discover who she was and where she came from—had smashed into an impenetrable blockade.
I know who I am.
A shiver rippled through her. She had always known who she was. Just because she could never visit her mother’s world didn’t mean all her research and years of study had been in vain.
Gabe had told her the humans he had once loved had left evidence of their magnificent civilization. Beneath the surface of all the great archeological sites on Earth, was there another, secret, world waiting to be rediscovered?
She sat up, still hugging the pillow, as ideas swirled in her mind. She’d switch her focus to biomolecular archaeology, and even if it took the rest of her life, she’d hunt down and find that ancient DNA that would prove the great civilization, where Gabe and Eleni had found love, had once existed.
It was the least she could do, as a lasting testament for the man who had broken ancient covenants to save her life.
An hour later she was sifting through research on her laptop. It was so strange how quickly she’d become used to Gabe’s technology. Navigating the web, something she’d done her whole life, seemed so limiting, now.
“Aurora.” Her mum’s voice floated up the stairs. “Can you come down for a moment?”
She bit her lip and glanced at her bedroom door. When she’d arrived home, she had fully intended to tell her parents the truth. But it was harder than she’d thought, especially when her dad was convinced she’d been staying with friends and her mum didn’t give any indication that she even remembered Gabe’s visit.
Was it really worth upsetting them with the truth?
I once knew your parents. Zad’s voice whispered through her mind. How had they known an archangel? One day, she’d ask them.
Maybe …
She sighed heavily and tugged her hand through her tangled hair. That happened, when you forgot to brush it.
“Be right there.” She injected a cheerful note in her voice. How long would she have to pretend everything was just fine?
She scraped her hair back into a ponytail. It was easier than tackling the tangles, and she made her way downstairs to the living room.
What the fuck?
She clutched the doorframe. Standing in the middle of the room, flanked by her parents, was the Archangel Zadkiel.
“Hi, Aurora.” His voice was calm and soothing, but it didn’t calm or soothe her in the least. She was about to vomit.
“Is Gabe all right?”
“He’s fine.” Zad’s welcoming smile faded and his gaze sharpened, as though he was seeing far more than he’d first anticipated. “Are you?”
Relief flooded through her, but she still didn’t trust herself to let go of the doorframe.
“Yes,” she croaked. She didn’t sound very convincing.
Her mum came over to her and took her hand. “We should have told you the whole truth. But we were sworn to secrecy.”
“You can blame me,” Zad said.
“We weren’t supposed to let you know where your mum really came from,” her dad added as he came to her side. “But we couldn’t do that, could we, Aria?”
Her mum smiled at her dad, and their love glowed from them, a shining aura that seemed to enclose them in a translucent sphere.
Aurora blinked, and the illusion vanished. Except it wasn’t an illusion. Her parents’ love was a magical thing, and pain engulfed her heart.
It was the kind of love she so desperately craved with Gabe.
“We believed you had the right to know your heritage,” her mum said. There was no faraway haze in her eyes or dreamlike quality to her voice, and Aurora caught her breath as hope raced through her.
Had her mum returned to them?
“But we should either have done what Zad said or told you why it was so dangerous to try and cross dimensions.” Her dad sighed. “All we’ve ever wanted was to keep you safe.”
She glanced at Zad. “Why didn’t I meet you here before?”
“I haven’t visited your parents in twenty-five years. I thought a catch up was overdue.” Zad’s gaze lingered on her, and she had the strangest sensation it wasn’t her parents he was here for this time, at all.
“If not for Zad, I would have been trapped between dimensions,” her mum said. “He saved me.”
“He saved both of us,” her dad said. “I was trapped too, remember?”
“I remember.” There was certainty in her mum’s voice that Aurora hadn’t heard in years. Then she turned to her. “When the other one collected your things, I recognized him as an archangel. He forced me to face the truth of my past. I won’t hide from it anymore.”
“Another archangel?” Her dad gazed at her before frowning at Zad. “You stayed away because you didn’t want to draw any possible attention to us from malignant entities. Did this other archangel put Aurora in danger?”
“No, Tom.” Her mum shook her head. “He saved her, the way Zad saved us. I think it’s time we told her everything.”
“I’ll see you in a few days,” Zad said, and she heard the simmering rage beneath his words, but it wasn’t directed at her, or her parents.
And then he teleported.
* * *
Gabe
“What is this, a fucking archangel retreat?” Eblis sounded disgusted, and Gabe glowered across the club as Zad and Azrael strode toward the dimly lit alcove.
As far as he was aware, neither of them had set foot on Eta Hyperion before.
“Gabe’s not the only one who can manipulate your security systems,” Zad said, but his gaze was fixed on Gabe and it wasn’t friendly. He took another long swallow from his tankard. For two days he’d been hanging out with the demon, and the hard knot in his chest was as suffocating as the moment he’d left Aurora.
He didn’t expect that to ease, but he’d hoped for some measure of oblivion.
Eblis cursed in the language that had once flourished on Earth. “You’re not welcome here.”
Zad gave a wintery grin. “Tough.”
“Are you here to drink? Because I’m not in the mood to talk.” To underscore his point, Gabe finished the last drop from his tankard. Eblis slammed another bottle of alcohol onto the table. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the stuff Mephisto had shared last week.
Zad gripped the edge of the chair opposite h
im and loomed over the table. He must be more wrecked than he realized, since the other archangel looked murderous and Zad never let his feelings show. And even if Zad was furious, why was he taking it out on him?
“I told you to look after her. Not fucking break her heart.”
Gabe choked on a mouthful of alcohol. “What?”
“Seventy or eighty years. That’s all the time you had to invest to ensure her happiness. But you just couldn’t fucking do it, could you?”
“What the fuck?” Az sounded shocked, which sure as hell made two of them. “We came here to make sure Gabe was okay. What are you doing?”
“All you archangels are the same,” Eblis said, but despite the derision in his voice, he sounded intrigued. “As crazy as our shit-faced goddess.”
Gabe surged to his feet. Zad was questioning his integrity and that stung.
“Whatever happened between Aurora and me is none of your fucking business.” Maybe the alcohol was stronger than he realized and this was a hallucination?
“It is when you just discard her without a second thought the moment you had enough.”
Had enough? If his entire chest wasn’t burning from the loss of her, he would have laughed in Zad’s face.
“What’s wrong with you?” Az glared at Zad. “Why would Gabe stay with a mortal if he didn’t want to? That’s never been our way. A clean break. It’s kinder.”
“Aurora isn’t just any other mortal.” Zad ground the words between his teeth.
“Sounds like you’re attached to this female yourself.” Eblis gave a mirthless laugh. “So much for the bonds of protection.”
Raw, primitive, possessiveness slammed through Gabe. It hadn’t even occurred to him that Zad might want Aurora himself.
“You touch her …” The words lodged in his throat, choking him. He hadn’t allowed himself to think of the future, but some day Aurora would find a man. Fall in love.
Bear his children.
His splintered soul corroded with the knowledge. But the possibility of another archangel having her destroyed him.
Wouldn’t happen. Couldn’t happen. He’d never allow it.
The hostility on Zad’s face faded.
“You care for her.” He sounded both thunderstruck and horrified. “You fell.”
It was the last thing he wanted to discuss. But he couldn’t deny the truth.
“Gabe.” Azrael’s tone was urgent. “She’s only a human. Nothing special. Right?”
Nothing special? She was his everything. And he’d let her go without telling her.
“When I said she could heal your soul, I didn’t expect you to fall.”
“Make up your mind, archangel.” Eblis sounded macabrely entertained. “You want Gabe to hook up with this woman until she dies, but only if he doesn’t want to. I fucking love your logic.”
Finally, Gabe found his voice. “Mind your own business, Zad. This has nothing to do with you.”
“You can’t have fallen. Not again.” Az glared at him. “Gods, Gabe. If it’s a human you want, there are plenty of them to choose from. And most of them don’t try and destroy the astral planes.”
So Az had figured out Aurora’s connection with the disruption in that realm. Not that it mattered.
“I don’t want another human.” He hadn’t wanted a human at all, had believed he could never love again, but it seemed he had no control over his heart. “Aurora is the only woman I want.”
“Then why did she leave?” Zad demanded.
“Don’t you understand?” Az grabbed his shoulders. “She’s mortal. She’s destined to die. No matter how many times you find her in the future, she’ll always fucking die. And each time your heart will die as well.”
It was the reason he’d fought his love for her. But it made no difference if he acknowledged it or not. He loved her, whether or not she loved him back. And he was a deluded fool if he thought he could have stayed away from her for the rest of her life.
He’d let her go because he was so sure they had no future together.
No. Brutal honesty forced him to face the truth. He’d let her go because he hadn’t wanted to risk hearing her say she wanted her old life back—without him.
Hadn’t wanted to risk rejection. From a mortal.
From Aurora. The only woman since Eleni who had managed to intrigue and bewitch him with everything she said and did.
The only woman he wanted to share his life with. Even if her existence was as brief as the flame of a candle.
“It’s a small price to pay, Az.” Yes, it would destroy a piece of him every time she died. But the love would survive.
And he would find her again.
“How can a few fleeting years possibly compensate for that kind of heartache?” Az demanded.
“Shut your mouth, archangel.” Eblis stood and unfurled his wings. “Before any more shit comes out of it.”
“What the hell do you know?” Az said. “You’re a fucking demon.”
Eblis curled his lip. “And you have never fallen.”
Chapter 33
Aurora
Aurora was on her bed researching when her mum came into her room. It had been a whole day since Zad had visited, and her parents had shared the truth of how they’d met.
They hadn’t encountered the Guardians. But it hadn’t been as simple as her mum walking from her world straight into her dad’s arms, the way they’d always told her.
If not for Zad, her parents would have been crushed between realities.
Not that it mattered. She’d never try breaching dimensions again. And not just because it was too dangerous.
It was because her mum no longer denied her true heritage.
Her mum sat at the end of her bed and smiled at her. She’d given her parents an edited version of her missing week. One day she’d tell them the truth about Gabe, the archangel she loved, but she wasn’t up for that heart-to-heart just yet.
“Why aren’t you wearing your necklace?”
Instinctively, her fingers went to her throat. She hadn’t worn it since leaving Gabe. The urgency to feel it next to her skin had died. After touching the real archangelic token of devotion, she couldn’t bear the thought of an inferior, human-crafted imitation.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged, then wondered if her mum thought she had lost it. “It’s in my bag.”
Her mum picked her bag up from the floor and pulled out the glittering jewelry, and frowned, as though she’d never seen it before.
“What’s this?” She dangled the chain from her finger, and the wings sparkled in the early afternoon sunlight that spilled through the window. “It looks like yours, but it isn’t.”
“What?” She shoved her laptop onto the bed and went to her mum’s side. Her breath hitched as she stroked a shaky finger over the wings, and the ethereal pulse echoed through her blood. The magical rainbows and gold dust originated from a long-destroyed City of Archangels.
Gabe had given her his beloved daughter’s necklace. And kept hers for himself.
There was only one reason why he would have given her something so precious. Why hadn’t he said anything?
Why didn’t I?
“Gabe didn’t just save your life, did he?” Her mum’s voice was soft, and Aurora slumped against her. She guessed today was the day, after all.
“No.”
“I could feel how much he loved you, Aurora.”
Bittersweet pain squeezed her heart.
“I don’t know—” The words locked in her throat and she caught her mum’s steady gaze. “You felt it?” But she didn’t speak out loud. Her mum hadn’t spoken aloud, just now, either.
“Yes,” her mum said. “And that’s when I remembered everything. I’m sorry I left you for so long.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Her voice was husky, and she cleared her throat. “I’m just glad you’re back.”
“I was always so afraid.” Her mum’s voice was barely above a whisper. “That one day you’d find so
meone the way I did. That you’d leave this world, the way I left mine, and we’d never see you again. My mind tried to convince me none of it was real. Because if it wasn’t real, you could never leave, could you?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Guilt gnawed through her. By trying to help her mum regain her memories, she’d attempted to do the one thing her mother had feared above all else.
“You were too young. And then it was too late.” Her mum took her hand and dropped the necklace onto her palm. “You need to find him. However impossible you think this love is, it’s real.”
“How am I supposed to find an archangel?”
“The same way you did before,” her mum said, which didn’t make a lot of sense. And then she whispered with her mind. “He’s in your heart.”
The best chance of Gabe hearing her call was if she was in the exact same spot as when they’d first met.
She made her way to the other end of the village and halted just before the woods. She wasn’t going into trance or entering the astral planes. Gabe had initiated telepathic contact, and that was how she was going to try and reach him.
There were a few tourists wandering about, but she couldn’t worry about them right now. She took a deep breath and prepared her mind.
“What the hell are you doing?” Mephisto’s incredulous voice blasted through her head and her eyes sprung open. He towered over her, his moonlit streaked midnight wings fully extended like an avenging archangel of death. And instead of terror whipping through her, all she could think was why isn’t everyone staring at him?
“I wasn’t trying to cross dimensions.” Obviously, he was invisible to everyone but her. Which meant it looked as though she was talking to herself. Great. “I was just trying to contact Gabe.”
A tortured expression flashed over his face.
“If you love him, E, set him free. Don’t let him find out who you really are.”
Redemption: A Realm of Flame and Shadow Novel Page 25
