by D. N. Leo
He heard Jael’s voice say, “You’re destined to be together, Arik. Treasure her.”
29
Arik awoke on a comfortable feather bed. Xanthe smiled down at him.
“An angel brought you here.”
He bolted upright. “Where’s Dinah?”
“In the adjacent chamber.”
He scrambled out of his bed and rushed toward the door.
He made his way into the chamber, pushing his way through many doors and dangling curtains.
There he found her, with a knife in her hand. She had cut off half of her long white hair.
“Hey, no, no, hold on.” He tried to pry the knife from her hand.
“What is this?” she growled as she gestured at her white hair.
“You know how much it would cost to pay for this beautiful white hair? If you want a haircut, I’ll take you to a hair salon, okay?”
Tears streamed down her face. “Something happened to me, Arik. I’ve turned into something else.”
He put the knife away, looked her up and down, and turned her around. “Your limbs are the same, you have one head and no tail, and you’re still short. Except for the white hair, I can’t see anything different.”
“There was blood all over my hands.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. She resisted for a bit and then was still.
He tilted her chin up and looked into her dark eyes. “We fought a monster. Yes, something in you changed, and because of that, you killed Roallix. Otherwise, we would have died. You don’t remember any of that?”
She shook her head, and a tear rolled down her pretty face. Then her eyebrows shot up. “Cooper and Jenny! Where are they?”
“Roallix threw them off the cliff.”
“They’re dead? Oh no, did they die?”
“Look at me, and you tell me if they died, Dinah.”
She scrambled toward the pile of her belongings on the floor and pulled out a small device. “Silly Cooper, give me a signal.” The device stared back at her, a blank screen. She waited. Arik sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Together, they waited.
One moment passed.
Then two.
Then some more.
Suddenly…a happy ping.
Dinah grabbed the machine. “A signal, a positive signal. This was triggered, not automatic. We can search for them using this.”
She hurried to her feet.
Arik held her shoulders.
“It will keep. Cooper and Jenny are very capable. They can take care of each other. We need to talk.”
“All right. What do you want to talk about?”
“You don’t remember what happened on the hill?”
She shook her head. “It just felt wrong. I don’t know what happened.” A tear rolled down her face.
He wiped it away with his thumb. “It might be better that you don’t remember.”
“No, I want to know what happened. If you saw something, tell me, please.”
“I fell.”
“What?”
“I fell in love with the beautiful woman in front of me. Whether she’s human or alien, I don’t care. White hair or not, I don’t care. I do care about the fact that you don’t know how to love. But I’m going to fix that.”
“But you’re married.”
He locked his lips with hers and could feel her body vibrating with emotion. When he finished with the kiss, he traced his finger along her jawline. “I’m not married to Grace if that’s what you mean.” He traced his lips down her neck. “I was discontented in my life. So when I figured out the aperture, I thought it was just lightning, and I jumped. Grace followed me. The Yellow Shield tribe picked us both up. Grace’s dying wish was to be a perfect woman, and to be my wife. So that’s what they made her.”
He lifted her up, and her legs spontaneously wrapped around his waist. He carried her to the bed and put her down, placing her on her back. His hands roamed over her body, and she let out a little moan.
“You thought I was married, and yet you fought the monster in front of me. I asked you to go, but you protected me and helped those strangers…unconditionally. You’re full of compassion, Dinah. More than any human I’ve known.”
“Compassion is a—”
He locked his lips on hers to stop her from talking.
“Open your eyes. I want you to look at me,” he said, and she obeyed. “This is lovemaking, Dinah. I want you to feel it the way I do. And I want you to see what I feel.”
Then he penetrated her.
She grabbed the sheet, a sound of pleasure escaping her lips.
He looked into her eyes and brushed a stray white strand of hair off her forehead. “I don’t care what you are or what you’ve become. I love you, Dinah Greenwoods.”
He could see that what he said registered in her eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek. He kissed it off.
“Love is sacred, Dinah. Being able to love isn’t a uniquely human ability. You can love more than anyone I know. You can feel it.” He picked up her hand and placed it against his chest.
She traced her finger around the position of his heart. She felt the heartbeats. She smiled at him as another tear rolled down her face. “I love you, too, Arik.”
“See, it’s not that scary.” He kissed her. And then they brought each other to the peak of pleasure.
Arik pushed his face into the soft feather blanket, searching for Dinah’s skin. He couldn’t find her. He sat up. It had gone dark outside. Her scent still hovered in the air, but her side of the bed had gone cold. He pulled the blanket away.
Blood.
Drops of blood left as a trail.
He scrambled off the bed.
On the floor, white feathers were scattered everywhere. They weren’t feathers from a pillow or the blanket. These were huge feathers from the magnificent wings he had seen on Jael. These were feathers from angel’s wings, pulled out at the skin, leaving traces of blood.
Dinah’s clothes were on the floor. Her weapons were on the bedside table. Her needle pack—the one she would never leave home without—lay next to her weapon, accusing him of letting something horrible happen to her.
He darted outside the chamber.
“Dinah!” he called out but was answered only by the darkness, the empty air, and the echo of his own voice.
30
Arete didn’t like the underworld much, regardless of how much potential its creatures had and the support they had promised him. But beggars couldn’t be choosers. He could only do his best and play the game well as possible. But not everything was a game to him. Sometimes he did take things seriously. He just couldn’t always recall when that was or what he took seriously.
Being immortal sucked.
The gothic door swung open. From a dark room inside came a stream of eerie white smoke, followed by a blast of cold air and then some soft footsteps. Looks like a stage show of some kind. Should I be clapping? he thought but then put that sarcastic stream of thought away.
A tall figure that looked like a skeleton with a small amount of loosely hanging flesh walked out. Arete shuffled through memories in his mind, trying to recall the name of the god he was about to talk to. When nothing came to mind, he gave up. He bowed respectfully and said nothing. It was a lot less risky to remain silent than to speak an incorrect name.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” the skeleton man said.
“You previously dealt with a friend of mine—Asana.”
“Oh, I remember him. Is he dead?”
“No, he had a little incident and couldn’t come. He sent me instead.”
The stick figure scratched his jaw with his bony fingers. “I didn’t wish him to die, as he owed me so much.”
“Whatever he owes you, I’ll pay. But we need a little extra help.”
“I’m not willing to invest any more.”
“You would, if you’d hear me out. I know Asana had a deal with you to take out
a human president of a country called the United States of America because he is opposed to the dark side of the magical world.”
The skeleton chuckled. “You don’t have to be polite. That president, whatever his name was—”
“Abraham Lincoln.”
“Yes, whatever. He wanted to hunt vampires. He wanted to hunt my people. You see the problem? He’s from the material world. We are from the magical world. We have nothing to do with his world. So why would he want to hunt us?”
“See, that’s where you have it wrong.”
“What?”
“With all due respect, you’re wrong about the president. It wasn’t him. It was his son, Robert Lincoln. You ordered Asana to possess one of the stage performers to kill Abraham. He was successful in this in the past. I, on the other hand, as a gesture of goodwill, manipulated one of my subjects to time travel there to stop the killing of the father and kill the son at the same time.”
“I don’t believe you’d do anything from goodwill. But let’s say that was the case…then why are you here? As far as I’m concerned, Asana was successful. The father died. I couldn’t care less what the son did.”
“No, because Asana was successful, the son lived a full life and had a family. The child grew up to be the most lethal vampire hunter.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“In my material world, there is a thing called technology. We can time travel to the past and future. I can simulate the future and see what the hunter will do to the vampires. Xiilok is an Amalgam world—I trust you know that. My friend in a tribe there can foresee the vampires’ future, and it is consistent with the result from my time traveling simulations. If this isn’t convincing enough for you, I can fetch you a crystal ball.”
“So what’s the solution?”
“We traveled to the past and tried to kill Robert Lincoln. Our attempt failed for unknown reasons. We burned that bridge, so that leaves us only one option—that I travel to the future and kill him for you. The hunter lives in the material world, so there is no other way to handle this.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“I really don’t want to have to deal with this. But he lives in my material world, and he has messed up some of my business. I don’t like that. Taking him out is going to be good for both you and me. I need someone to take care of the magical world.”
“I don’t believe you haven’t placed a contact in my magical world who can do that work for you.”
Arete chuckled. “Very good. You’re cautious. The higher caliber entity I have in the magical world is Roallix, a dark angel. But he was killed for eternity.”
The skeleton chuckled. “My condolences.”
“No need to be polite. To kill the hunter in the material world, I need both the magical world and the Amalgam to be held steady. Someone has to be in control. Asana will handle the Amalgam. But you must help manage the magical world. Otherwise, there will be too many moving parts. And that’s a formula for disaster.”
The skeleton tapped his bony finger on the armrest of the chair, thinking. “All right, what exactly do you want me to do?”
“My major concern in the magical world is a couple—Jael and Charmine. They’re angels, so you should be careful—”
“I’m not afraid of angels.”
“Okay, all right. I need you to handle them. The best solution is to kill both of them. At the very least, one of them should be killed. I’d go for the wife. It will be easier to kill her than him.”
“How long do I have to complete this task?”
Arete shrugged. “Well, it should be done as soon as possible.”
The skeleton nodded.
Arete almost giggled on the way out. His largest problem had just been solved. He had no resources in the magical world. Now, with Roallix dead, it would be impossible to close the magical circle. Asana was right. Why not let the magical world circle sort themselves out?
Asana was now committed to Amalgam because he had been kicked down the well of second chance and hadn’t been able to hold his breath long enough to not drink the water. He was now officially a Xiilok citizen. Asana didn’t like the idea that he had no option. But Arete was pleased because he would never have to worry about Asana taking his part.
He shook his head and sighed. Partnering and teamwork had always been a challenge for him. He was a loner and had worked alone for a long as possible. But this circles business was too big to be a one-man job. He’d had to collaborate. The next thing he knew, he’d worked with Asana for centuries.
31
Dinah looked down at her completely naked body. Then she looked up at the magnificent angel standing in front of her. She was standing in a round white stone room with arched stone windows.
“I don’t feel comfortable in this outfit, or lack thereof.”
“You should get used to it. You have a beautiful body. And you almost qualified as an angel.”
“Jael, Arik told me you told him you’re an angel.”
“You don’t seem to believe that.”
“It’s irrelevant. I didn’t apply for an angel position. And I’m really not interested in that job. I work for Ciaran LeBlanc, in Eudaiz. Can I at least have something to cover myself? Even a bikini will do.”
“You have your wings.”
She chuckled. “Well, I used to. Roallix ripped them off. Now I have to crawl back to Ciaran and beg him to make me another wing suit. But it’s okay—he can take it out of my salary. When he starts paying me of course.”
“You’re injured.”
“Tell me about it. I have bruises everywhere. Before he tore off my wings, the beast held them and whacked me on the ground like I was a sack of potatoes. I killed him in self-defense.”
“How did you kill him?”
“Weapons, of course. I don’t really remember. I was totally out of it.”
“You saw Ciaran kill Roallix with a king Sciphil sword. Roallix died but then came back to attack you. You killed him for eternity. How did you do that?”
“How do you know I killed him for eternity?”
“As I’ve said, I’m an angel. But not only that, I’ve never lost to anyone except for Roallix. I know how hard it is to kill him. And I would know if he is dead for good.”
She nodded. Jael gave her a strapless white dress. She immediately slid it on. “Not exactly my choice of color, but it’s better than nothing. Thank you. Why did you bring me here, at such an inconvenient time?”
Jael smiled. “By inconvenient, I take it you mean your intimate moment with Arik. He’s a very good man. I approve of him.”
“Approve of him? Excuse me? I don’t think you’re in a position to approve of anything I do!”
“Dinah, do you remember what happened when you touched my wife, Charmine, on the hill?”
“Yes, it still hurts.”
“That happened because you went against the laws of nature. No matter what world you live in, you can time travel, but you are not to contact yourself. You and the child inside my wife are one and the same. You were not supposed to make contact.”
She stared at the magnificent angel in front of her.
He approached her and wiped a tear that had rolled down her face. “Don’t cry, my child.”
“We met in 1864, and my mom was pregnant with me? So how old am I?”
Jael shook his head. “Age in the multiverse and the cross worlds is complicated.”
She nodded. “I know. How did I end up in Xiilok with my other parents? Am I an angel? What’s happening now? Why didn’t it happen before?”
Jael smiled. “You have so many questions I don’t have the answers for, Dinah. What I can tell you is that your mother and I had just gotten married. She was pregnant with you. Because our love for each other was so pure and strong, that made you a child of virtue that all devils and angels hunted for.”
She frowned. “I’m sure they didn’t intend to bring me up as a righteous and beautiful angel.”
; “No, you were mostly wanted for sacrificial rituals of dark magic.”
“Can’t you at least sugarcoat it a bit?”
“You can handle the truth because you are like your mother. She was a very strong woman.”
“Where is she now?”
Jael shook his head. “I don’t know. Back then, when she had just given birth to you, she was captured by her own tribe. But I’ll find her.”
“She was kidnapped? I’m a very good investigator. I’ll help you find her.”
“No, I’ll do it myself. The reason I’m here is because of you, and it’s urgent. Your Aunt Luna was one of the devils that wanted you. Before she was killed, Luna placed a curse on you, and she mixed blood with your mother. We didn’t know whether the curse had worked, or whether Luna would take you. But seeing how you killed Roallix, I can now confirm both.”
“What? That I’m cursed and possessed?”
Jael nodded and sighed. “It was a cold-blooded, heartless devil that ripped out Roallix’s heart. It wasn’t you. But it’s in you, and it’s strong.”
Dinah looked at her shaky hands and the strands of white hair left dangling on her shoulders. “Did Arik see me?”
“Yes.”
“He saw me turn into a devil? He saw how I could tear his heart out if I wanted to? But he just told me he loves me!”
“Now you know he really means it. And you didn’t turn into a devil. You’re possessed by it. You turned into an angel. That’s the part Arik hasn’t seen. Spread your wings.”
“I told you, Roallix has…” she trailed off. She looked at her bare shoulders and then spread her real angel wings. Two magnificent feathered wings expanded out from her shoulders.
Jael smiled and looked at her with pride. “Having the wings of angel doesn’t make you one. You need to be accepted into the house of the Gods. But I’d be willing to bet that, just like your mother, you wouldn’t want to go there.”
She grinned. He approached and kissed her forehead. “Now, go back to your man.”
“How do I know I’m not going to hurt him?”
