by Lola StVil
“Yeah, but he went out of his way to inform us that he’s not with her, he’s just helping her get past her dad’s death.”
“So basically he forgave her and isn’t ready to say it out loud yet?” she says.
“Basically. RJ has done a great job of helping Jay and Miku heal. They are really good at the whole grandparents thing. Although Swoop had to intervene when Jay tried to give RJ driving lessons.”
“A toddler behind the wheel sounds very much like Uncle Jay.”
“He’s not a hundred percent, but he’s better,” I assure her.
“And Randy?” she asks.
“He’s still beating himself up for buying into Malakaro’s crap, so he’s trying to make up for it. He’s now a walking angel history book.
“I looked over his shoulder while he pored over a stack of books and I said, ‘It looks like you haven’t found anything.’ He turned to me and said, ‘Your eyes can deceive you; don’t trust them,’ in this deep strange voice.”
“That’s Obi-Wan Kenobi—Star Wars,” she informs me.
“Okay, Pry, you and Randy seriously need to stay away from each other more. Or get new movies.”
“Actually, the franchise is starting to grow on me. Is Randy still talking to his mom?”
“He’s trying to forgive her, but he thinks she’s holding out on him. He’s not sure about what, but he keeps saying something feels off.”
“Are we sure she’s not the butterfly that he will encounter that leads him to become the Alago?”
“So far, she checks out. But we’re on it, Pry.”
“How’s Diana and Nix?”
“That kid gets smarter every day. East was playing chess with Diana in the park and he won. So like any grown-up, he started taunting her about what a bad chess player she was. Nix mind-controlled about two dozen pigeons into shitting on top of East’s head,” I reply, and we share a laugh.
“Did you guys tell Nix to stop?” she asks.
“Hell no!”
“That’s so wrong,” she says, still unable to stop laughing.
“The more pigeons joined in, the more we laughed. We had to hose him down at a car wash nearby. Swoop posted the pics and it went viral in minutes,” I reply, enjoying the memory.
“I’m so sorry I missed it. How about your dad? How is he?” she says.
“Your mom thinks my dad is really in love with Winter but that it scares him. So she’s threatening bodily harm if he doesn’t make a solid attempt at getting Winter back.”
“If my mom’s involved, you can bet there is a Winter-Rage reunion in the near future.”
“I think she’d be good for him. Take away some of his loneliness.”
“I think so too. Besides, I know he loved your mom, but he has to move on, right?”
“It’s easy to say, Pry, but being with someone else when you’ve already found the love of your life…that shit sucks.”
“Yeah, it does.”
“Pry, why didn’t you call me to pick you up?”
“I owed it to Bex to talk to him before I talked to you. It’s only been a few weeks since we were together. I wanted to tell him how sorry I am I hurt him. I wanted his forgiveness.”
“Did you get it?”
“No. But I didn’t think I would. I just know I needed to try again.”
“Why did he give you the list?” I ask.
“Because he knows as well as I do that adding more tension between the Noru and the Paras is a bad idea. And I promised him that if we found the Maker, we’d only take action after talking to him.”
“Guess that’s fair.”
“Now, can I ask you something? Who is Belle, and what the hell did you do to her to make her so gaga over you?”
“Bex told you?”
“Yes.”
“I really hate that guy.”
“He just wants me to be careful. And he doesn’t want me to get hurt again.”
As soon as the word falls from her mouth, my chest tightens. I try not to go back to that day in Blue Dove when I broke up with her. Seeing the broken look on her face and hearing her sob as I left was beyond difficult. She stood by me when Diana and I had a kid. She loved me despite all my issues, and I left her.
“Aaden, hello?” she says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Sorry, you were saying?” I mumble.
“Let’s not talk about it,” she replies, reading the expression on my face.
“No, we should. Do you think I’m going to hurt you again?”
“I don’t know, are you?” she asks reluctantly as she lowers her head.
I reply by handing her the small white velvet pouch I’ve been secretly keeping with me.
“What is it?” she asks.
“Open it,” I reply.
She loosens the satin thread and pulls out a platinum wedding band. There is a stream of light encased in the band. It swirls and sparkles in the shape of the infinity symbol.
“Aaden…”
“Traditionally, I would give you my Rah, but I placed that in my daughter’s coffin. I gave her my Rah because she really was my heart. But you, you’re my soul. So that’s what’s inside of your ring—my soul—well, a piece of it, anyway.”
“Aaden, it’s gorgeous, but you can’t take your soul apart for me. Didn’t it hurt? Should we put it back—”
“Pry, yes, it hurt like hell. No, I don’t want it back. I want it to be with you, forever. So, will you give me your Rah? Or as the humans say, will you marry me?”
“Really?” she says, barely able to get the words past her lips.
“The fire was extensive at Roslyn, but I was able to save it. Our house is ready, and now so am I.”
“You fixed our house?” she says in disbelief.
“Yes.”
“Wow…” she says, mostly to herself.
“Pry, being half angel and half demon sucks because I’m always walking the line between good and evil. There’s darkness inside me that started as a small flame, but after being in the Center, it became a raging inferno. I was sure there was only darkness in me, certain the demon half was now a whole. There was no light, no love, and no hope inside me.
“Then a few days after I rejoined the team, I watched you and Randy having a conversation. He said something to you and you laughed. And just like that, I found it again. I found the light, the love, and the hope I thought had vanished.
“Pryor, I get it now; everything that’s good in my life comes from you. You’re more than the woman I love. You’re my salvation, my redemption. You are my ‘angel’ side. I love you. Pry, say yes; save me. Save me.”
She studies my face but doesn’t say anything.
Shit, she’s going to say no. What do I do then? She’s always been my way out of the darkness. She’s always illuminated my way so that I could find my path. How do I keep going without Pryor, my light?
Finally, I can’t stand it anymore. I ask her again, bracing myself for what her answer will be. “Pry, will you marry me?”
“Aaden, I asked my dad once when I was about six, ‘Dad, don’t you ever get tired of fighting evil? Don’t you ever want to give up?’ He picked me up, put me on his lap, and said, ‘I get tired. I get weak. I lose focus. But that’s when I use my secret weapon.’
“I was instantly taken by the thought of a ‘secret weapon.’ I asked him a hundred and one questions about his weapon. He said it was the most powerful thing Omnis ever created. It renewed him, made him stronger, and gave him more hope than being in the light ever did. I begged him to let me see his weapon, to take me to it. So he took my hand and we walked into my mom’s office.
“He said, ‘There is nothing this world can do to me that your mom’s love can’t fix.’ I didn’t get it then, but I get it now. And whenever I look in your eyes, I see what my dad saw when he looked at my mom—shelter, security, and sanity. Aaden Cane, you’ve always been my secret weapon. And I know if my dad were here, he’d be happy to know that I’m marrying the love
of my life, just like he did. So, yes, yes, I will marry you.”
It’s an hour later, and Pry has already given me her Rah, the crystal casing that symbolizes her heart. Normally angels put it inside a cave, but she wanted to shape it into a ring. So, we went to Tuscany, where an angel friend of hers could design it for us. When he was done, she then placed the ring on me, like she would a human. We both liked that because it honored our parents and their human past.
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell anyone yet?” I ask as we step outside the specialty shop.
“No, it’s kind of nice that it’s just between us right now.”
“I agree, but if your mom or my dad finds out before we tell them, we’re both dead.”
“I promise as soon as we get back, we will tell everyone,” she says with a big grin.
“You’re worried about Bex?” I offer.
“Yeah, I just want to tell him in person. It’s not fair that he should find out when everyone else does. Is that okay?” she says as she stands on the tips of her toes and kisses me.
“I can’t think when your lips are on mine,” I protest.
“That’s the idea.” She laughs.
“Okay, we can hold off until you can tell the Kon in person. But we should be getting back to the team,” I reply.
“Yeah, but there’s just one more thing I want to do with you first,” she purrs.
“Well, if it’s what I’m thinking, we should do it twice,” I conclude as I nibble on her ear.
She laughs and playfully pulls away. “That’s not what I meant. I was thinking we should go inside there,” she says, pointing to the tattoo shop next door.
“You’re getting a tattoo?”
“No, we are,” she says as she takes my hand and drags me next door. She tells me the tattoo she wants to get, and I shake my head.
“Please,” she begs.
“Pry, if I get that tattoo, no demon will ever respect me again. In fact, no one will,” I inform her.
“Pleaaaaaaase,” she says, pouting.
“Okay, but it has to be small,” I reply.
“Yay! Let’s do it,” she says to the tattoo artist, who is enjoying the hell out of my predicament. The artist is human, and his name is Evgeni. He’s from Russia, and as it happens, he is obsessed with his homeland. He talks at length about growing up in Russia and why it is the best place on earth. He tells us he’s here for work, but his heart, his wife, and his mistress are all in Russia.
Pry and I try to act interested as he recites poems from his beloved homeland. Normally I would tell him to draw the damn tattoo and shut the hell up, but I’m too busy replaying the past few hours in bed with my wife.
My wife…
I can tell by the dirty look on Pry’s face, she too is having flashbacks. We are both so into the past, we neglect to pay attention to Evgeni’s work. He asks us where we want the tattoos. I tell him on my shoulder, and Pry gets hers on her lower back. When he’s done, we study the artwork in the mirror. It’s a silver-colored carrot with two words written above it: No Bullshit—and yes, it’s in Russian.
When we get back to the Guardian home, everyone is there except for Randy, who finally got the nerve to go see his mom and tell her how he feels. I know it’s been hard for him to be honest with her, fearing she may reject him. But he needs to just say that shit and see how it all plays out.
“How long has Randy been gone?” Pry asks.
“About twenty minutes. He should be at the restaurant soon,” Swoop says.
“We offered to go with him, but he wanted to do this on his own,” Diana says.
“Um…what’s going on with you two?” East asks as he studies our faces.
Pry and I quickly glance at each other.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You two are glowing. Oh…sex glow,” East replies.
“I know ‘sex glow’; this is more than that. Pry, what’s going on?” Swoop says.
“Well…I should talk to someone else before we…I mean—”
“Pryor, what is that on your finger?” Swoop says as she gawks at Pry’s ring. She forgot to take it off. Crap.
“OHMYOMNIS! DID YOU TWO GET MARRIED?” East shouts.
“Shhhh—yes, we did,” she says.
Suddenly, the entire house erupts in cheers. Even Diana can’t stop from grinning ear to ear. They are so happy and loud we almost miss Randy’s call to Pryor. He calls her on the video app on his phone. She takes the call and holds out her cell so we can all see Randy seated at the table, waiting for his mom to show up.
Randy is seated at a table for two in an artsy café with vivid paintings and bright-colored misshapen furniture and bookcases. On the right side of him are an elderly couple having coffee and reminiscing. On his left is a little girl and her dad. She’s filling in the animal coloring book in front of her. Her father tries to get her to finish her meal, but the little girl is too into the drawing to look up.
“Randy, guess what?” Pry says, more excited than I’ve ever seen her.
“Hang on, Pry. Can I have a vanilla latte, please? My mom’s on her way; she’ll order when she gets here,” he tells the cute dark-haired waitress. It’s hard to miss the pride in his voice. Although he’s still upset with her, he’s happy she is back in his life.
“Sure, anything else?” the waitress asks.
“Would it be too much to ask for a foam replica of R2D2?” Randy jokes or dare I say “flirts.”
“Um…I don’t know about that. But I will see if we can’t give you something pleasant to look at in your foam,” she flirts back.
Wow, okay…
“Do I look all right?” he asks once the waitress is gone.
“You look fine. It’s not a date,” East reminds him.
“I know, but I just want to look nice,” he says.
“You look very handsome,” Diana assures Randy.
“Okay, here she comes,” Randy says as a meek, pretty woman with curly hair enters and walks towards him.
The waitress heads towards Randy and places the mug of vanilla latte in front of him.
“Guys, can you stay on video with me?” he asks.
“Randy, don’t you want to talk to her alone?” Pry asks.
“I do, but it would really help to know that you guys have my back—okay, here she comes. Wish me luck,” Randy says as he mutes the video so that his mom doesn’t hear us. He stands up and greets her with a somewhat awkward hug.
“I’m so happy we were able to make time for each other,” she says warmly.
“Yeah, me too.”
“How is Pryor? I’ve heard so much about her. When will I actually get to meet her?”
“Oh, soon. She’s been kind of busy. In fact, I’ve been helping her with a project,” Randy says.
“Oh, a project for school?” she asks.
“Not officially. Let’s just say it’s life-and-death stuff. I’ve been instrumental,” he says proudly.
“I’m sure you have. Your dad told me how bright you are. I really am very proud of you, Randy.”
“Thanks. Listen, I’ve been wanting to tell you something—” But before Randy can finish, she interrupts him and tells him she’s ready to come clean about everything. I have an uneasy feeling about this situation, to say the least.
“I have tried to broach this subject so many times in my mind, but the only thing I can think of is to come straight out with it,” his mom says as she hands Randy a small tattered manila envelope. Just as Randy reaches for it, I see the stamp on the corner of the envelope; it’s an orange and black monarch butterfly.
Shitshitshit!
“Randy, no!” I shout.
The rest of the team quickly spots the danger. We all call out to Randy, but he has his phone on mute. We hang up and call again, but he doesn’t pick up. Swoop texts him but no response.
“Randy, don’t open the envelope!” Pry begs into his voicemail. She takes to the sky at top speed, headed for the café. We are o
nly seconds behind her. We fly as if our lives depend on it; in truth, it’s so much more than that.
We get to the café within minutes and find Malakaro waiting across the street, with a sick smile on his face. We burst through the café door and find Randy standing up, looking at the content of the envelope—it’s a picture of his mother playing with a little boy—I’m guessing by the horrified look on his face, the boy in the picture is not Randy.
“Mom, who is this?” he asks.
“I’m sorry, Randy. I tried to find a way to tell you, but—”
“WHO IS THIS?” Randy demands hysterically.
“This is your brother. I have another family.”
“YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T WANT KIDS,” Randy howls.
“I know, but—”
“YOU LIED TO ME!”
“Randy!” she pleads.
“YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T WANT KIDS, BUT THE TRUTH IS YOU DIDN’T WANT ME!”
“Randall, lower your voice this instant!” his mother orders.
“YOU EVIL, DECEITFUL LITTLE BITCH!” Randy flips the table over, and instantly Malakaro appears with a vial in his hand. Without saying a word, he hands it to Randy. We rush to stop him, but he has created a shield that blocks us from entering.
“Randy, no! Please!” Pry begs.
The whole team shouts for Randy to reconsider drinking the mixture, but it’s no use. He brings the vial to his lips and drinks.
Chapter Twenty-Eight:
Rotten to the Core
The vial rips Randy apart before our eyes; it shreds his body, making way for gargantuan mountains of muscle and vein. Within seconds Randy becomes a beast who grows to heights never seen before by man or angel. His flesh is translucent, sallow gray, and has holes filled with flames where his heart, chest, and ribs should have been. The flames from within him burst through what were once his nose, eyes, and ears.
We call out Randy’s name in vain, knowing very well he’s no longer there. As the humans scatter and run for their lives, there’s a figure in front of Alago who isn’t running. She stands up to the enormous creature. She looks like a toddler as Alago towers over her. We shout at Randy’s mom to run as we help the humans find shelter, but instead she goes closer to Alago.
