Scathe

by Chacelyn Pierce

  Himself.

  VIII

  "Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts."

  ― Voltaire

  Andrea's body pulsed from their lovemaking and she stretched like a lazy cat. After their rendezvous in the garden, they commenced to lying under the dark tree. The leaves provided a golden umbrella from the warm sun. Rays of light danced along their skin as the wind blew the branches in a soft breeze. The sun was overshadowed by silvery clouds moving in from the distance.

  Andrea couldn't fight off the smile Luc had put on her face. Still, her head spun about everything that had happened between them and what she'd learned. It was still hard to swallow that she was the woman Luc loved reincarnated…twice. No, she wasn't. Her soul had been. She was the body holding it now, she wasn't Eve and she wasn't the Venetian woman at the masquerade. Luc couldn't love her, he didn't know her. No matter how he claimed he did. He wanted her for the past loves. Kind of a bundle deal is what she felt like. That was a sobering thought. She sat up and looked at Luc still relaxing in the grass. He had a devil-may-care attitude as he rested with his arms behind his head.

  "Won't we get in trouble for being here?" She glanced at the sky noticing the imminent clouds brought a veil of gray with it. Those ominous storm clouds were rolling in. The wind seemed cooler, and the sweet smells of Eden seem to dissipate at little at a time. She couldn't help the rising feeling that she'd worn out her welcome.

  She turned to Luc, and his features softened as he met her gaze. "Don't worry, I doubt anyone pays attention to Eden anymore. The garden has been deserted for some time." He snorted softly as if his pun was something she'd find comical too. "So long as the fruit of the two trees remain uneaten you should be safe."

  Safe, sure. She didn't like risking it but Luc was her only way out of there. Maybe if she seemed eager to leave he'd take them back. Asking might hurt his feelings. He looked so peaceful, and she hated to put a damper on their good vibes.

  Andrea rose to her feet, brushing off her rump and straightening her toga. It really was time this whole fiasco came to a close. She'd somehow lost herself and allowed Luc to take her on the most crazy rollercoaster ride she'd ever been on. She wasn't sure she believed his post-sex admission of being sterile and STD-free. He'd sworn demons and devils were immune to human illnesses and the angels made him sterile after they learned he fathered Cain. Of course he seemed really open to talk about his past, but Andrea still felt like shit for not remembering an inch of common sense in the moment. She'd been so caught up in his rapture she hadn't even considered the precautions.

  Just one more thing to deal with when I return to the real world.

  All good things must come to an end. Plus she still wasn’t sure she bought the whole reincarnation of Eve thing. As tempting as it had been to fall into his fantasy, she was a realist and shit like this didn't happen. A nagging voice in the back of her mind said she had to believe in the paranormal to search it out on a regular basis. She shut the voice out by surveying their location again. Andrea tried to ignore the rumbling dark clouds and how they seemed to be getting darker each moment, and she could've sworn she saw Luc's eyes narrow in their direction before turning to gaze up at her.

  "You look beautiful."

  Andrea halted, caught off guard by his sudden compliment. Andrea beamed as his words warmed her from the inside. It seemed like too much of an intimate thing for an evil being to say. How could she ever wrap her head around sleeping with the Devil in Eden? In fact, he was the one that should be considered beautiful. His ankles were crossed, his softened cock cradled between his thick thighs. A sigh slipped past her lips as she gazed down at his abs flexing with each breath. She saw no creature of evil, no soul shredder, but she knew she fell for his unnatural charm. No matter how normal it felt to be with him, it was time to leave this weird realm behind and return to reality. She needed to do some serious thinking about her future expeditions into another person's fantasy world.

  Turning away from the tree, she started trekking back the way she came. Luc caught up with her as she hesitated by the stream. His loin cloth was back, covering his cock, and it was a pity he put that small scrap of cloth over himself. He silently moved up beside her, gazing toward the direction she'd travelled from when she first arrived. She almost told him to step away; he stood too close for her to think straight. She needed to have all her wits about her to get through this. Andrea had been well aware of her heated desire rising the longer she stayed with him. Perhaps it's the old soul reattaching itself to him. And perhaps she lost her damn mind. One thing was for certain, his partially nude body and prideful stance wasn't helping.

  "Why am I here, Luc? Is this some sick twisted make-believe you've made up or are you putting me through mental hell for a reason." The wind kicked up a notch, swirling the tall grass to scratch against her skin.

  Luc twisted her around so she could meet his sharp gaze. "I want you to remember."

  "Remember what?"

  "Us." His finger caressed her chin, and damn it she couldn't think. She remembered what those hands did to her, of how they brought her to climax, touched her sensitive body, and set it a notch closer to feverish. He was so naughty, forbidden, but damn if she didn't care. Everything about Luc was illicit.

  "There isn't an us, Luc." Though, her words didn't sound as convincing as she wanted them to.

  Luc's thumb rubbed her chin, "Isn't there? Yes, I am to blame for the fall of man. I won't apologize for things I can't change. I can't make something up to you that you scarcely remember, but I will tell you that I've searched epochs for you. The angels said it would be impossible, but they underestimated me—us."

  "There's that pride talking."

  "No, no, this time it is love." His lips pressed roughly against hers.

  Andrea broke the kiss by twisting away. "You don't even know me."

  Luc smiled. "I know your soul. That's enough for me. Give me time to know you, for who you truly are, not the women you were in the past. Then perhaps you could learn to love me as your soul was meant to."

  "Then what? You own my soul for all eternity? I'll be damned to Sheol to rule by your side? Luc those are hardly comforting words of an exclusive relationship."

  He groaned and pressed his forehead against hers. "I wish you'd stop second guessing everything and give me a chance to prove myself to you." Something about his words drew her in closer and made her want to be the woman he called his own. There had been conviction in his words that he truly believed she was his better half. She'd been alone for most of her life. Being wanted by someone, even if he might be the tale of all horrors, was enough to scare anyone from ever loving him. Thinking of his prolonged loneliness caused the shield around her heart to crack.

  A flash of lightning had her ducking and nearly running. It was the holy bolt of you-fucked-up she'd been waiting for. In the next breath, Luc pushed her behind him. His body tensed and his posture protective. Once Andrea got her bearings, she understood why he sheltered her. A tall, beautiful angel with wings and hair of gold had his sword out and pointed it a few inches from Luc's jugular. The angel was almost too stunning to gaze upon directly; his youthful face hardened with anger. His pearlescent armor looked like a second skin on his bulky frame. A halo of light surrounded him and pulsed in his ire. Prismatic irises were focused on Luc and the angel's full lips curled back in a disgusted snarl.

  "Michael," was all Luc said by way of greeting.

  Michael's upper lip twitched. "The nerve of thee stepping back into this sacred ground. The gall of thee ushering her back to the garden. It is forbidden."

  "I needed her to know the truth, to see for herself."

  Michael snorted, wholly un-angel-like, and lowered his sword an inch. Closer to Luc's heart. "In hopes she shall remember it all? Most is obliterated from her memory. She will not remember everything no matter how hard thou try. Her soul will continue to see thee as the monster thou art. I have an order to smite thee and the Fi
rst Sinner from Eden."

  "Then do it."

  Whoa. Andrea stepped back from Luc, her hands up in surrender, but the angel didn't focus on her. Getting the beat down from an archangel wasn't too high on her lists of things to achieve. She could hardly believe Luc was who he said he was, but right before her very eyes stood an angel. She could believe that, there weren't enough special effect props in the world to make the mighty wings before her. They flowed through the wind like torn sheets of spun gold, and every once and awhile, when the light caught them just right, an outline of feathers could be seen.

  The sight of the angel caused something deep within her to tremble. She felt unclean around him, she was sullied and her soul tainted. Michael did more than backup all of Luc's stories. His holy presence confirmed them to be true. A knot formed in her throat and made swallowing a difficult task. For a split moment she considered running, but where? She didn't know the first thing about Eden or how to even warp back to reality. She'd made love to the Devil. Was it even love? Could he love? He claimed to love Eve, which is someone she used to be back in the day. It wasn't who she was now. Luc knew that. She knew that. He still wanted to make something work between her. She placed a hand on her stomach, feeling the queasiness rise. She'd searched her whole life for the truth, and when she found it, the first thing she thought about doing was running.

  Her gaze locked on Luc. Could he be what she searched for all this time?

  "Oh, Lucifer, as much as it would please me to do so, my curiosity hath the better of me. What dost thy hope to achieve by gaining Eve's soul? She is protected against thee. Thou shall fail every time. Is this a pathetic endeavor at trying to disrupt Heaven?"

  "This has nothing to do with Heaven. You threw me out because you said I was prideful. You winged bastards think too highly of yourselves. Not everything I do is directed toward you."

  Michael gave a perfect-toothed smile. "I wonder what she shall express when she sees thou hast condemned her to Sheol." Michael stepped back and holstered his sword, but Andrea didn't miss the nervous shift in Luc's posture. She couldn't panic, even though she had a fear that being stuck in Sheol was exactly what Luc wanted for her. She'd be his personal slave for all eternity.

  Michael shifted his legs, his heavy armor clanking and scrapping against itself. "Will thou believe she'll be thine? She'll quiver in fear as she looks upon thy ghastly skin and face in Sheol." Michael raised his hand, a glowing palm faced Luc as if he was about to blast some unfathomed power. Andrea stepped back not completely unsure if it was meant for the both of them. "Back to Sheol, demon, bound in chains and pain."

  "Wait, Michael!" Luc's voice was a strained plea and it obviously shocked the angel enough for him to halt whatever he was about to do. He didn't lower his outreaching hand, though his reddening palm began to glow with small sparks of amber lightning.

  Luc reached behind him and found Andrea's hip. He gave a small squeeze for reassurance but Andrea was beyond baffled as she stared between two celestial beings. "Send just me and leave Andrea out of this. I ask you to leave her memories intact. I want her to remember me, even if she doesn't remember me in the past."

  Andrea knew the Devil was a trickster. Michael narrowed his colorless eyes as if he too couldn't believe the words coming from Luc's mouth. She had some knowledge of the past lives buried deep within her, but Luc was right, she wanted to keep her memories of tonight. It would be all for nothing if she returned to the newspaper empty handed. Of course, she wanted to keep every moment with Luc more than anything. There was no telling what cranium damage Michael could do if he wiped her clean. She didn't even want to know what it would mean for her future with Luc, or if there would even be one.

  Luc's hand slipped away from her, leaving prickling warmth on her thigh seemed eerily like a dreaded goodbye. The minute his fingertips left her skin, she wanted to grab onto him and keep him close. Safe. However, she knew better, their time together was forbidden, and it was up. Just like in the past, with Eve, the angels intervened and halted any further affairs. She remembered how they kept them apart.

  "Michael, I will take her sins into me."

  Michael cocked his head in her direction and fixated his pupil-less eyes on Luc. "Thou wished to be condemned for all her sins, Lucifer?"

  "Yes."

  Michael smiled like a snarling wolf and the worry that settled in Andrea's gut intensified. "All of them, since the Genesis?"

  Luc stood up straighter, but he seemed defeated. "Yes, I will take all of them, but only if you promise to leave her memories."

  Michael stood silent for a moment, probably considering Luc's proposal, something Andrea still wasn't sure about. Finally the archangel smiled as if he'd won the greatest lottery of Heaven. "I rather like thee in this enfeebled form, very manageable in thy terms and almost too eager to give it all away. It matters naught, the First Sinner cannot benefit you in damnation." Michael smiled malevolently.

  He sure doesn't look like an angel smiling like that. Of course, when it came to Lucifer, all angelic bets about being good were probably off. There was a balance between good and evil—like Luc mentioned—and the angels probably liked to torment the Devil just as much as he loved to torture them.

  Luc stepped forward, putting further distance between them.

  Michael's outreached hand curled into a tight fist and Luc crumpled to the ground, a groan of agony slipped past his lips. Sparks sprang from the clinched fist and rained down on Luc, scaling his tan back like lasers. Andrea went to reach for him as he doubled over, clutching his chest as if having a heart attack. His deep raspy breaths were guttural, monstrous and it caused goosebumps to prickle down her arms. Still, it was Luc. He shared something beautiful with her, and she was tied to him no matter how much she tried to fight it. Andrea stepped forward to comfort him but pulled up short when he turned to focus on her.

  Flames.

  Blazes dangerously licked across the whites of his eyes and turned his irises a shocking crimson. This was nothing like the flames Ciana saw that night in Venice. His gaze burned bright amber and swirled like a tumultuous sea of wrath, and his face seemed to twist with agony and rage.

  At her hesitation, he hid his face against his palms and Andrea gasped as she noticed the scarred, burned skin consumed like a charred piece of paper. A nauseating, blistering red bled through the lesions and caused her stomach to twist in knots.

  Her heart broke as a wave of pain hit him and he growled out, "Michael, send her away!"

  The burns travelled slowly down his back like flowing lava. He shook so violently that Andrea threw all other logic out the window and stepped forward to comfort him. She spared a glance at Michael and his smug gaze left Lucifer to focus on her.

  The archangel raised his palm toward her, his voice echoed in her mind. "Remember First Sinner, one touch of love weakens; a touch of weakness and you will be trapped by flames."

  All the air from her lungs left on one harsh breath, stealing the words of her plea away. The white light blinded her as ends of lightning tickled across her skin. A jolt had thrown her back and kicked her out of Eden, and the angel's fire sent her spiraling into oblivion of serenity. She had a sense of falling, and before the panic could set in, a feeling of calm assurance washed over her. Michael. She hated that the angel's touch had been blissful to her when it burned Luc from the inside out. It didn't seem fair. She shouldn't worry about Luc, she should take this clean breakaway and continue on with her life. Luc was an immortal entity that would never die. She was a human woman way out of her league. He could take care of himself, and continuing down this path would surely lead to her ending up in a dangerous place, possibly one with a lake of fire.

  Perhaps the angel's warning was right. Staying away from Luc might be the best thing. For once, ignoring her curiosity, she'd keep her head down, and not cause a single wave. Besides, she had everything she needed for a good article, and the only thing she needed would be the guts to write it. A small part of her wondered i
f she could write the story now after she learned the truth of their past. It wasn't about discrediting him anymore. He was the real deal, and second guessing herself proved how deep he got under her skin. She had to write the piece on Luc. It's what she came for and what the world needed to know. Nothing should change that. Not even a spurt of romance shaking the foundations of her beliefs and personal goals. Yet, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself, the lie was too big to believe.

  IX

  "Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied."

  ― St. Jerome

  Three days later…

  "He's on the line again." Amy had a sympathetic look in her blue eyes that revealed her deep worry. It would mean something deeply if the call was a pleasurable one, but the demon wasn't letting up. Her avoiding him didn't seem to be working anymore; he threatened to come to her place of work. Andrea rubbed her temples and stared at her computer screen, Luc's article wasn't even halfway done. She couldn't concentrate with all the thoughts, worries, and the damn lust swirling around her. Every time she reminisced of how Luc's tongue slipped across her skin and how his soft hands explored her depths and her breasts, a thrill of desire shot right between her thighs. The ache there made her miss the one thing she should never do again.

  Then she remembered him screaming in pain as the angelic flames scorched his body.

  At times she found herself tempted to ignore Michael's warning and drive back to Luc's mansion and throw herself at him. Those thoughts disgusted her because she couldn't tell if the feelings stemmed from the new lust or particles of the awaken memories that swarmed her mind since the interview. However she wasn't going anywhere or doing anything that concerned Luc. The angel's words had been a clear red flag, and the whole thing scared her more than what she had going on with Luc. That said something. She didn't want to mess with pissed off angels.