by Brea Essex
“You certainly never acted like it. You were too caught up in your own little world and your own guys.”
Maybe that was true. I had been distant, especially after I returned from the Shadow Imperium. It had changed me.
“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. “Can’t I do anything to make it up to you?”
“No, you can’t. It’s too late. I gave you chance after chance. There’s no going back.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“See? Even your so-called best friend doesn’t want anything to do with you anymore,” Sera’s voice came from the door.
I whirled. “Why are you doing this?” I asked her.
Her eyes narrowed. She murmured something under her breath and everyone froze except for the two of us. “You stole Andrei from me. You need to pay.”
Was she serious? “What? You’re in love with Andrei?”
“If you must know, yes.”
“If I must know? You just flat-out said that you’re in love with him.”
“Still, you stole him from me. You took the love of my existence from me, so I’m taking yours.”
“Look, you can have Andrei. I don’t want him, at least not like that. He’s my friend, that’s all.”
“But he’s in love with you.”
“He knows that I love Logan. There can never be anything between Andrei and me.”
“He still tries for you. I know he pledged himself to you.”
Uh-oh. How did she know about that? “That’s not true.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you’re a terrible liar? Don’t worry, I won’t tell the Queen.”
“Why are you being so cooperative?”
“Oh, I have my reasons.” She left without another word. Everyone unfroze as soon as the door swung closed behind her.
I looked back at Cady and Bianca. “Stare much?” Bianca sneered.
No way could I stay here and put up with both of them. I’d have to call my manager later and give her my apologies. I fled the store.
****
Logan
I looked up as Sera climbed into my car. “Hey. Did you get the bread?”
She leaned over and brushed her lips across my neck. Her breath felt hot against my skin. “Let’s go back to your house,” she whispered.
I gripped the steering wheel. “I don’t think so.”
She sidled closer and slid a hand up my thigh. I jumped, my head hitting the roof of my car. Grabbing her wrist, I moved her hand to rest on her own leg. “What are you doing?”
She reached for me again. “Don’t fight it, Logie. Come on. Your parents aren’t home, are they?”
“Actually, my mom is.” I pulled as far away from her as the car door would allow. The window was rolled down and I leaned out of it slightly. I didn’t want this, did I?
“That’s okay. We can be quiet… maybe.”
What was going on with her? “Sera, cut it out. This isn’t funny.”
She started running a hand through my hair and placed a hand on my hip. I pushed her hands away, hitting the car horn in the process. The noise startled me, as did a voice outside the car, saying, “Oh no…”
I whipped my head around to see who had spoken. Raena was walking past my car. “Raena, I…”
Even from this distance, I could see the tears filling her eyes. I felt bad, even though she was a little crazy… wasn’t she? I couldn’t remember anymore. “Raena, it’s not what you think.” I had no idea why I was trying to defend myself to her. Sera was my girlfriend. Raena was practically a stranger, for all she claimed… wait. Hadn’t Raena once said we were dating? Was she telling the truth? Was I cheating on her with Sera? My thoughts were a jumble and I couldn’t make sense of what was true.
I tried once more to push Sera off of me. I kicked my car door open and fell out, collapsing on the ground. I stared up at Raena. “Forgive me,” I whispered to her.
“Logan?” she asked incredulously. “Is it really you? Do you remember?”
“I-I don’t know what I remember. Something’s wrong here. Help me,” I begged.
The tears rolled freely across the planes of her cheekbones now. I could feel tears streaming down my own face as well. My head felt like it was in a vice. I clutched at my temples, rolling into a ball on the cement. Was I dying? The pain was unbearable.
Sera’s voice invaded my thoughts. I could hear Raena yelling, but I couldn’t make out any words through the excruciating haze invading my body. I strained to hear, even though it intensified my misery. “I told you to stay away from Andrei, Raena. You stole my man, now I’m stealing yours.”
Andrei was hers? What did this have to do with him? I was losing consciousness quickly, but I felt as though I needed to hear what was being said.
“Look at what you’ve done, Raena,” Sera continued. I tried to look up. She was pointing down at where I was currently writhing on the ground. “It’s because of you that Logan is in misery. This is your fault.”
Now a fire was taking the place of the pain in my brain. Sera still spoke, but I could no longer hear. I slipped closer and closer to the edge of consciousness, but I didn’t quite tumble over. This was Raena’s fault? All this pain? Was she a witch?
The fire finally died down and I began to feel normal again. Instead of fire and pain, I was filled with a fury that was directed entirely in one direction — at Raena. A litany of her fault, her fault, her fault… ran over and over through my head. I dragged myself up from the ground and glared at Raena. She was crying. “Stop the tears, Crazy. Don’t pretend like you didn’t do this to me.”
“Wh-what?” She hiccupped.
I gestured toward the ground. “You did this to me. You tried to get me all to yourself. You tried to take me away from Sera.” I moved closer to her. “Admit it. You’re a witch.”
Her tears stopped, but a look of fury replaced the feigned anguish on her face. “Me? A witch?” She laughed. “She’s the witch!” She pointed at Sera.
“Stop making ridiculous accusations. Now leave us alone.” I slung my arm across Sera’s shoulders. “Let’s go,” I told her.
“I’m going to help you, Logan!” Raena shouted after us as Sera and I walked to my car. “I promise I’ll break this spell.”
I glanced back at her. “You’re the only one that can.” I reached for my door handle, wondering why I had said that. I shrugged it off. If she was really a witch, then it was true. She could end whatever spell she was trying to put on me.
I looked at Sera, who was shutting the passenger door behind her. “Seatbelt.”
I started my car and we drove off, leaving Raena watching after us as we left the parking lot.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Logan
The wings had come out again. The excruciating pain began, and then there they were. I had to figure out what was going on with me. I hunched over my computer, wings spread wide, typing furiously on the keyboard. Books were spread all across my desk and strewn around my room. All my research seemed to be pointing to one of two possibilities: I was either an angel… or a devil.
I hoped sincerely I was the former… although the idea of being a devil was intriguing. Devils were strong, powerful. They lived in a dimension all their own, yet some were still able to walk the earth. But they were made out to be the bad guys. I didn’t want to be a bad guy… did I?
I felt like there were gaps in my memory. I called Raena crazy, but maybe she was right. Maybe I should go and try to talk to her. Not that I would want to talk to me, if I were her—not after the way I had treated her. Something was definitely strange. I felt off, like I wasn’t myself. Maybe I should try talking to the priest again. Perhaps threatening him had been the wrong idea. He had said he wanted to help. Maybe I should take him up on his offer.
“Logan?” a voice called from the door.
I whirled, standing as I turned. “Sera!” In my intense focus on the books and my computer, I hadn’t heard her come in. I thought she had le
ft a while ago. What was she doing back?
“What’s going on?” she asked, gesturing at the wings flaring out from between my shoulder blades.
“I-I don’t know. Just come in and close the door, would you? I don’t want my parents hearing.”
She complied, entering my room and closing the door behind her. She stood leaning up against it, her arms folded behind her back. “When did this happen?”
Should I tell her? Should I make her leave? She was my girlfriend. I needed to trust her, right? “About an hour ago, but this wasn’t the first time. It happened once before. I think the other day? I don’t know… everything’s kind of a blur. I’ve been researching, trying to figure out what’s happening to me, what I am.” I gestured at all the books and notes spread haphazardly across my room. “Maybe I should go back to the priest?”
“The priest?” Her voice held a warning note, but I ignored it.
“Yes, the priest at this Catholic church in Capitola. He seemed to recognize me, although I can’t imagine why. I don’t go to church and I don’t think I’ve seen him before.”
“So you went to him instead of coming to me.”
It wasn’t a question. “I didn’t know what you would think.”
“Logie, you can always come to me. I’m the only one you can trust.”
“What?” I started to protest, but she placed a finger softly against my lips, shushing me.
“What did this priest have to say to you?”
“Nothing,” I mumbled, my lips still held partly closed by her finger. She removed it. “We fought. I don’t know what came over me. He wouldn’t give me answers, but told me to come back if I wanted help. What help? Help with figuring out what I am? Do you think I should go back to him and be nicer this time?”
“I think you should sit there like a good boy and do what Serafina tells you.”
“Huh?” Why was she acting so weird?
“Shhuck dek kelen jurs peskl...”
For some reason, I almost understood the language. “Sleep, oh waker, and rise…”
“Mjolk faj ritl wug dek shhucken.”
I knew nothing more as she finished her chant. As my consciousness slipped into a black void, I wondered in the back of my head if I would remember anything upon waking.
****
Andrei
“Well, Andrei… I hear that my eldest son has turned traitor,” the queen informed me.
I tried not to show any external reaction. The slightest tick would give me away. Now was the time to do what I had learned so well — lie. “Are you speaking of me, My Lady?”
Her icy stare bore into me. “Of course. You are my eldest son, are you not? I am certainly not speaking of Logan. No, I am quite satisfied with Logan’s progress at the moment. You, however, are an extreme disappointment. What do you have to say for yourself, Abaddon?”
I cringed inwardly. She was calling me by my true name. That was a bad sign. “I have no idea what you speak of.”
She slammed her fist down on the throne, half rising out of her seat. “Address me properly! You may be my son, but I demand some respect.”
“I have no idea what you speak of, Queen Asura.”
Settling back into her seat, she said, “That’s much better. Now, you and I both know that is a blatant lie. Have you not sided with the half-breed?”
I bristled. I felt my eyes begin to heat. The smirk on my mother’s face showed that she noticed. I reined my emotions under control and the fire flaring in me began to cool. “If you speak of the Nephilim girl, I have only done what is necessary to bring her to our side.”
Her fingers drummed a staccato rhythm against the aged wood of her throne. “It is not necessary that the halfling be on our side anymore.”
“I thought we needed her blood to open the gate to Heaven?”
“We do. But her coercion is no longer needed.”
“May I ask why, my Queen?”
She offered me an evil looking leer. “Because Serafina has succeeded in bringing your brother over to our side. The little trollop half-breed has a thing for Logan. He can bring her to us… by force if necessary.”
Was that true? I knew the spell cast on Logan, the one I had ordered Serafina to cast, had brought out his devil side. His angel side was dormant, overshadowed by the now-dominant devil. I regretted ever taking my mother’s orders. I never should have put Rae through this. I really had no ties to Logan. We had grown up together before my mother had banished him to Earth, but we had never been close. The shining angel boy had been my antithesis. He was dazzling even in the dark, dreary wasteland that was the Shadow Imperium. He reminded me of home, of Heaven… and I hated him for it. He had always been everything I wanted to be. If only I hadn’t made the decision to side with my mother and the Morningstar in the first place.
If I had stayed loyal to the Creator, then I would still be in Heaven now, rather than in Hell. Granted, I wasn’t in the true Hell — that was reserved for the Morningstar and his generals, the ones who had led the attack against the Creator. I still wondered how my mother had managed to end up in the Shadow Imperium rather than Hell itself. You would think being the daughter of the Morningstar was enough to get her a one-way ticket to his new domain. I sincerely wished I wasn’t stuck here in the Shadow Imperium plane. At least I still had the opportunity to escape to Earth whenever I wanted. I did it often, even though I had to hide from the avenging angels every time I did. If they caught me, I would be stripped of my wings, and therefore, my powers…then I would be stuck here with her… forever.
Asura’s voice broke into my thoughts. “So will you leave the halfling to your brother?”
“Of course, my Lady.” I bowed formally, hand in a fist over my heart as was our tradition. “Will that be all?”
“No, that’s not all. There’s still the small matter of your supposed treachery. You haven’t given me an answer. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Oh great. Time to lie some more. “No treachery, my Queen. I was simply trying to make sure our mission was carried out correctly. Now that you have placed the girl in Logan’s hands, I can see I am no longer needed.” Hopefully that would pacify her.
“Very odd,” she mused. “I heard a different story.”
“From whom, Your Majesty?”
She crooked a finger and beckoned toward the shadows. A figured separated itself and stepped into the questionable light of the throne room. A small hiss escaped unbidden from my mouth when I saw who it was. I sent up a brief prayer to the Creator, if He even listened to such as me anymore. My very existence might depend upon whether Asura had heard the almost inaudible noise or not.
Serafina bowed to my mother, practically groveling on the floor. “You summoned me, oh most glorious Majesty?”
Wow. She was sickening. Logan must have to be pretty deep under the spell to put up with her. I had had little interaction with Serafina, despite the fact that she had been one of my subordinates. I had largely ignored her… until now.
“Yes, Serafina. I asked you here today to recount the story that you told me yesterday. The story of my son’s… redemption.”
This was not good. Had she seen something? I had checked around the church carefully when Rae and I had exited. There had been no sign of the witch anywhere. I needed to speak up before she began her story.
“Redemption?” I scoffed. “Please, my Queen. The girl has told you nothing but lies.”
Asura arched one slim brow. “You have not turned your back on your grandfather, the Morningstar, or me? You have not taken the side of,” here she shuddered, “the Creator?”
“No, I have not. There is no need for the witch to tell her story, is there?”
She sat silent for a moment. “No, I suppose not.” She turned to Serafina. “Tell me, girl… why have you lied to me?”
“I have not, Your Majesty!” Serafina swore. “Lord Andrei lies!” She turned accusing eyes on me. “Andrei, tell her the truth. Don’t make me take your puni
shment. You’re the one who sent me on this mission in the first place.”
“That I did, Serafina. And you’ve done a wonderful job, except for that brief moment when you lost control of Logan and the halfling was able to heal him.”
“It wasn’t my fault. The girl is stronger than we all realize.”
I carefully arranged my face into an uncaring mask, although I was grinning on the inside at her unknown compliment to Rae. “Then you must take your punishment and return to Logan’s side. You must make sure the girl cannot loosen your hold again.”
I turned back to my mother. “My Queen, if we are done here?”
She waved a hand through the air. “Yes, yes, you’re dismissed. As for you, Serafina...”
I exited the throne room to the sound of Serafina’s screams.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Raena
“It’s ready,” Ismene’s voice came over the phone.
“I’ll be right there.”
I rushed down to the shop. It hadn’t opened yet, and we were the only ones there.
“Here it is.”
“So, what’s in it?” I asked as I peered at the glass vial Ismene held in her hand.
“A special type of leaves. I’m going to make a tea out of them. Then you just have to convince Logan to drink the tea.”
“Well, that’s easier said than done. What makes you think he’ll do anything I ask?”
“You must get him here if you want to help him.”
I sighed. “I’ll try my best. But how are we going to bring him back once he’s dead?”
She held up another glass container filled with some dark powdery substance. “Charcoal.”
“Really? That will work?”
“Yes, combined with your healing magic.”
“Are you sure?”
“Trust me.”
I hesitated. I couldn’t handle the thought of killing Logan, even temporarily. “What if the charcoal doesn’t work? What if my magic doesn’t work? Why can’t I just use my abilities directly on him? It worked before.”
