by Dahlia Lu
But had he really loved her?
Part of her was upset with him. If he loved her, he should be able to recognize her. If he loved her, he should be able to tell. Kali felt the sudden urge to cry, but refused to let the tears slide down her coral cheeks. She was so confident when she had told Arvin to his face that Lucifer will be able to recognize her. She spoke loudly of love and trust, but look where she was now. That woman was probably wrapped in Lucifer’s arms at this very moment.
Oh God, the thought was hard to bear! She squeezed her eyes shut. If they took her body from her, took her family from her, what did she have left? If they took Lucifer from her, she had nothing. She felt a twist of pain in her heart.
“Fey,” a distant voice became clearer. “Fey. Are you okay?”
When she opened her eyes again, Chevalier was in front of her. He took off his helmet, put it on his motorcycle, and came to her side. When she saw his face, she could no longer control the tears. She felt weak and vulnerable whenever she was around him. Deep inside, she knew he would always protect her from the world.
She wrapped her arms around his body and buried her face in his chest. Chevalier was taken by surprise, but it was reflex that placed his hand on her shoulder and another on back of her head. She began to sob.
“He’s with that woman,” her soft voice murmured against his chest, “He doesn’t know, Chevalier, he will never know. I thought he would, I believed that he could, but - not even you could, so what can I expect from him?”
“Fey?”
She looked up at him and saw his expression. It was only sympathetic, nothing like the Chevalier she knew. No, this was not the Chevalier she had loved. She felt like one among his many women, the ones he only dated out of physical need. Sadness turned to anger. She let go of him and slapped him across the face. His head snapped to one side. He turned back in shock. He grabbed her wrist before she managed to slap him again.
Before he could say anything, his eyes caught the pained expression on her face. The tears soaked her skin. It was as if she felt the slap herself, and the tears that she now cried were for him. He had broken up with many women, but none ever came close enough to slap him. This time, he let his guard down.
Since when did he ever let his guard down?
She yanked back her hand and ran in the opposite direction. He should run after her, but his body refused to listen. All he did was stared at her back until her silhouette disappeared into the horizon.
“Chevalier,” a familiar, yet strange, voice called out to him. He turned back to see who it was. Hana stood a few yard away. She had a surprised expression on her face.
“You…” She couldn’t find the words anymore.
Chevalier took a moment to think. “Hana?”
Hana looked in the direction Kali had run off in. “I can see that you’re still breaking hearts.”
“I didn’t break her heart,” Chevalier replied. If anything, she would break his one day.
“And your face,” Hana began to laugh. “You haven’t changed one bit. They say that men age slower than women, but this is so unfair!”
“Are you the ‘Hana’ Fey was referring to?” Chevalier thought about it. “She told me she’d paid a friend, well, you a visit yesterday.”
“Fey?” Hana blinked. “I have a student in my class named Fey, but we’re hardly friends. We only met yesterday, and I didn’t get a visit from anyone.”
“Are you sure?” Chevalier asked. Something didn’t fit. Fey told him…
He paused.
She told him it was her old friend. It was also his old friend. If Hana claimed she never met Fey before, and he had only met her recently, how did she know about his former relationship with Hana? She knew his name before he even introduced himself. She knew his favorite dishes. She also…
No, that is not possible, Chevalier told himself. Who ever heard of such a thing? He hurried back to his motorcycle and put on his helmet. Who was he kidding? Look at what he was now, and what he used to be. It was not possible. But then again, who was he to say what is not possible, now that he had seen so many impossible things?
†††††
Grant opened the door to his apartment when he heard the bell ring. Kali gave him a polite, forced smile. “I’m not late, am I?”
Grant looked to the clock on the wall. She was only an hour late. “No, come in.”
“I’m sorry, I…” She didn’t feel the need to explain so she stopped.
“Change into that,” he pointed at some something on the sofa. “I’ll be waiting.”
Kali grabbed the clothing and went into the bathroom. She held the orchid purple baby doll dress up and pressed it against her body. It was a little too short for her taste. After she changed into it, she returned to the living room. Grant had already set up the background. When he saw her, he gestured for her to get on the bed he had set up. She quickly complied.
As he worked with the lighting and fixed the focus of his camera, Kali was busy trying to cover some more of her legs with the satin sheet.
“You’re not comfortable with this kind of photo shoot, are you?” he asked without looking at her.
“Not exactly, no.”
He grabbed a basket of violet petals and spread them on the lower half of her hair, then returned to his camera.
“What am I supposed to do?” she asked.
“We’re shooting for a perfume commercial called Deepest Desire. Be desirable.”
“How?”
“Just think desirable.” He began to take pictures.
Kali blinked. The more she thought of the word desire, the stiffer her expression became. She thought of those women in fashion magazines looking ‘desirable’ with pouty lips and half closed eyes and tried to mimic it, but that only frustrated Grant further. Just when she thought he was going to yell, he started to laugh. He laughed so hard he had to sit down on the sofa.
“I’m trying my best.”
“No, you’re trying too hard.”
“I don’t know how to be desirable.”
He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “I usually just take pictures. I’m not really into prep talks. Most models know what to do.”
“I’m not a model.”
“I know that,” he said. “Maybe I’m approaching this all wrong. Show me your flirty face.”
“That’s even harder.”
“I thought most high school girls like to flirt. Quite a few came to me, actually.”
“What do you usually do to get your models to make the expressions for you?”
He shook his head. “That won’t work with you.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “If you can’t express desire, think of love.”
“Love?” Her expression changed.
He nodded. “Give me love.”
Her love was now with another woman. How could she express love when she no longer had it? She was in love once. Her thoughts dripped back to her memories.
†††††
Kali could still feel his touch on her skin. His lips were caressing every inch of her. She thought about the gentleness of his touch and the power of his body. It was enough to make her feel weak inside.
“Fey,” another man’s voice faded in. When she remembered where she was, Grant was only inches from her lips.
She pushed him back and he fell on the ground.
She felt anger climbing up her spine. “I’m not like those women! Don’t treat me like I am!”
He couldn’t blame her for being upset. He didn’t know what he was doing, either. The look on her face, the alluring power of her eyes made him want to kiss her. No, she was right, he wanted more. He was going to treat her like all the other women in his life. He should know better than that. Her eyes were very powerful. Sometimes he got caught in those amethyst gems. It took every ounce of control to get his soul back. This time, he hadn’t been able to control himself in time.
She was right to be angry
, for many reasons. The first was his professional ethics, the second was the fact that she was a minor, and the third was because she was a respectable girl. He felt the guilt crawling into his guts. He needed to avoid being alone with her from now on.
†††††
Skye held the pinkish vial in her hand. She had been pondering the entire night whether she should carry out the plan. If she succeeded, Lucifer would be hers. At least he would not be so cold to her anymore. However, if it should fail, if he somehow had the ability to detect the potion, her life would be in jeopardy. There was no telling what Lucifer could and could not do.
That worried her deeply.
She felt bitter when she thought about spending another night alone. She may have Kali’s body and her life, but it came at a price. She was stuck in the body of that weak human. She needed to sleep when night came, feed several times a day, and worst of all, she could not do a thing. She felt powerless and helpless. She gripped the vial in her hand tight. The price she paid was too high to give up now. Tonight, she said to herself. Tonight, Lucifer would be hers.
She opened the cap of the vial with her teeth and poured it into the blood red wine bottle. Lucifer could never resist a glass of good red wine. She put the cork back in and shook it up.
Trent stood right outside in the hallway. As Skye exited the kitchen, he melted into the shadows before she discovered him.
†††††
“Chevalier, you’re home,” Bi smiled. “Just in time. Dinner’s ready.”
Chevalier closed the door behind him. “Ah, thank you, Bi.”
“I wonder when Fey will come home,” Bi wondered out loud. “Should we wait for her?”
Chevalier did not reply.
“Chevalier, I’ve been meaning to ask.”
“Yes?”
She sat down on the table facing him. “Is there something going on between you and Fey?” When he did not give a response, she realized she shouldn’t have asked.
Chapter 10: The Other Woman
She stood in the crowd of people, but felt like she was standing there by herself. When the pedestrian light blinked, she followed the crowd of people across the street. She remembered walking hand in hand with Lucifer and how that feeling still lingered with her. No, it wasn’t over yet, but it felt like she had lost.
She did as much as she could to start her life over again. She had returned to school and even got a job. Aside from the fact that she didn’t look and feel like she used to, she did have parts of her life back. It was just as though Lucifer had never been in her life.
If she had never met him, she would have graduated high school and gone on to college. If she hadn’t met Lucifer, most likely she would have married Chevalier and had a big family with him. If she hadn’t met Lucifer, she could have continued to live a normal life. If that was what it took to forget about him, then she would do just that. It was as if he had never been there in the first place. Everything was just a nightmare. A beautiful nightmare that had lasted twenty years.
She felt someone’s hand on her shoulder. When she looked back, she saw a pair of lucid blue eyes that contained the vast ocean.
“Trent…”
“I need you to come with me.”
She didn’t need to ask where. She trusted him whole-heartedly. With a forced smile, she nodded.
†††††
He sensed her presence in the dining room. Lucifer walked down the hallway in search of her. When she saw him, she smiled. The dining room table was well-organized and lavish with sumptuous foods. She came to his side, took his hand and walked him to the table.
“Do you like it?” she asked. “I had it prepared for you. It took me the whole evening.”
“Kali, I don’t eat,” he reminded her.
She poured him a glass of red wine and sat on the opposite side of the table. “I know. I just wanted us to have dinner together like other married couples.”
He picked up the glass of red wine and gave it a twirl before taking a sip. She watched carefully as he drank it. She let out a sigh of relief when he placed the empty glass back down on the table.
There was an awkward silence in the room. Skye could only offer a polite smile. She had never used the potion before, so she didn’t know how long it would take to be effective. She never had the need to use such a potion. Men flocked to her, whether they were demon or man.
She brought her hand to her forehead and winced.
“What is wrong?” he asked.
“I have a headache,” she replied. He got up from the chair and came to her side. “Please help me back to my room.”
He swept her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom upstairs. He laid her down on the sofa in the sitting area. “How do you feel?”
“I feel dizzy,” she replied. “I haven’t been feeling well since this morning.”
“Lie down a little while,” He placed a hand on her forehead to feel the temperature. “Why do you have to be so fragile?”
She placed her hand over his. “Stay with me tonight?”
He hesitated for several moments. “I must find the other parts of you. I grow weary and impatient when you are not completely by my side.”
“But I am complete,” she assured him. “I am. There is no need to look, I am here.”
His expression softened. “I am greedy, Kali. I need all of you, every bit of you.”
“Is it so important?” She searched his eyes. “Am I not good enough?”
“There was not one day in the last thirteen years that I stopped searching, and I will not stop now. I will call for a doctor.”
“I don’t need a doctor.”
“Wait here,” he instructed. Before she could protest, he had already left the room.
She felt like someone was standing behind her. When she turned around to have a look, she was immediately rendered unconscious.
“Trent, what did you do to her?” Kali demanded when she looked up at him.
He picked Skye up in his arms. “She’s only sleeping.”
“Where are you taking her?”
“Somewhere,” He didn’t even know. “I couldn’t let her plan succeed. This is the only thing I can do for now, Mother.”
“Trent …you know?”
He nodded. He and Skye melted into the shadows and disappeared. She sensed Lucifer’s presence coming closer and her heart skipped a beat. She didn’t know why she was so afraid.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. He didn’t look surprised to see her.
“I was…I was taken here.”
“Trent has been acting strange lately,” Lucifer came to the window and glanced outside. “Where could he have taken her?”
“He won’t harm her,” Kali assured him.
“I know,” Lucifer said as he sat down on the chair by the window. “The question now is why he brought you here.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“What about?”
“I need to know,” She took a couple of steps closer to him. “I needed to know before I move on. I just need a couple minutes of your time…”
She looked into his eyes, “In my eyes, what do you see?”
“You have very beautiful eyes.”
“No. No, look deeper,” she said as she came closer. “Can you see me somewhere in them?”
Their eyes locked. She repeated what she had wanted to say in her mind a thousand times. She wanted her eyes to say what she could not. There was a tiny bit of hope that he would recognize her. Regardless of how small it may be, it was still hope.
When his lips touched hers, she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. Could it be that he recognized her? It must be! It had to be!
His soft and warm lips were as she remembered. She could taste the salty tears that trailed down to her lips. The kiss became fierce and aggressive. When they broke the kiss, she was breathless. He was looking at her with his intense eyes. He was searching her until he could no longer stand not kissing her. S
he kissed him back with matching passion.
She missed his touch, his scent, and the feel of his silky hair between her fingers. She realized now how much she had taken this for granted before. He picked her up over his shoulder and placed her down on the bed. He climbed on top of her. His hand turned her face to one side so that he could kiss her neck. His approach was completely different than usual. At least, he was much gentler than in her memories.
†††††
Chevalier couldn’t get his mind off Fey. He had his suspicions, but there were no solid proof. If Fey was Kali, then who was the Kali beside Lucifer? That didn’t make any sense. Was it possible that someone had switched their souls?
He didn’t know what to think.
He needed to feel. He closed his eyes to remember Kali. He saw her smiling at him and a smile appeared on his face. When he saw her cry, his heart felt sore, as if someone was setting a fire beneath it. When she was sad or upset, even if he was with friends, he couldn’t feel joy. Yes, that was his Kali.
He had been so blind.
†††††
They lay in the bed together, but neither said a word. Kali had a tight grip on the sheet covering her. He didn’t need to say a thing, she could feel it. He had never treated her like this before. The Lucifer she knew would never have treated her as he did. She felt hurt, but more disappointed than anything else. When he kissed her, she thought that he had recognized her, but she was fooling herself.
“Leave this place,” he finally said. His tone was cold and indifferent.
“Why?” her little voice asked.
“This is-”
“Why? Why did you have to give me hope?” her voice was breaking as she tried to control the tears. “Why did…why did I have so much faith in you?”
She took in a deep breath and got up from the bed. “I will leave as you requested. I promise you, you’ll never see me again.”