by A. J. Norris
With perfect understanding of his reaction, Berus stepped down without looking and followed the once goat-legged demon, Jeremiah. A loud horn sounded, followed by a squealing noise. Pain hit his leg and he flew up and landed hard. Twice. Gasping on the ground, he stared at a white metal contraption’s front wheel. Someone screaming was the last thing he heard.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Virgil
“Why would you rather not look at me?” Evie stared at him with those dark gray rimmed silver eyes. She blinked slowly.
“I think you already know the answer.”
“I’m sorry I don’t know you. I can see this bothers you.”
“You could say that.” The only thing that mattered was that she was free of her prison for the last two centuries. He told himself this, but the forest closed in on him. All the oxygen had been sucked out of the air. Evie didn’t know him. His own mate didn’t remember the life they once had together. The laughter they shared. Their love.
On his knees in the water, he clasped his hands together and prayed. When he opened his eyes, Evie was kneeling in front of him.
“Who am I to you?” she asked.
Virgil’s eyes snapped opened. His hands trembled as he ran water through his hair. “Why do you keep asking me? It’s obvious you’re my mate, isn’t it?”
“No.” His female glanced away. “I don’t remember you.”
He sniffled. “I know. Do you remember what happened when you fell?”
“I remember Elliott. Grabbing him and flinging him away from the ground. But it was too late to save myself.”
“Abaddon—”
“I know and I think you do too.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I was always sad, even after he wiped my memories, but I didn’t know why. I never knew why.”
Virgil nodded and stood. Water dripped off his wings and down his legs. “Earth’s different than you remember.” He wanted to change the subject. She didn’t remember their mating and talking about that fact depressed him. Her memories should have returned with all her others. Had Abaddon been so thorough she’d forgotten him completely? Did the Demon Ruler possess the ability to eradicate him from her mind altogether? Or was more time needed to unlock her memories? Was there a key? He rubbed the back of his neck. A large knot formed between his shoulder blades.
Virgil held an empathic ability and he opened his mind to hers. Emotional pain was what he could feel the strongest. She wasn’t feeling the agony he was experiencing and a small part of him was grateful. A large part was angry, although not at her specifically.
“Will you come someplace with me?” he asked.
“If that someplace is Arcadia then I’m there.”
“I’ll take you there, I promise. But I need to see my friends first. Will you please come with me?” He hoped Elliott could help with her memories. If that didn’t dislodge anything, they’d see Max the Healer next.
“Can’t you do that on your own?”
Virgil sucked in a breath and rubbed his chest. “Yes, but—”
She touched her forehead, felt her horns and winced. “I’m sorry, that was insensitive. I just—where do you want to go?”
“Where I live here on Earth. Elliott’s mate is probably about to give birth soon. In a few days or so.”
She cocked her head to the side and stared at him for a pregnant moment. “All right. You go and I’ll follow. I might need your help anyway.”
He didn’t care what she needed; he’d do anything for her. Virgil concentrated on the crappy apartment with the water-stained ceiling. He teleported—weightlessness and the buzzing in his ears became the only sensations he knew for five seconds, then he appeared inside the flat. The living room was as he remembered. Same ugly couch and recliner. Same pass through to the tiny kitchen behind the chair. Elliott’s light snoring coming from the bedroom down the hallway was a welcomed relief.
Evie reformed next to him and Virgil breathed again when he saw her. She looked around, settling on the ugly yellow carpeting. “Wow. I really love the rug. What color would say that is exactly?”
“Mustard seed.”
“Well, I guess vomit yellow is better than terra cotta any day.” She giggled. He grinned when she looked away.
“I think it’s rather quaint.”
“What, vomit?”
“Smells better than the sulfur stench of Netherworld.”
“Uh, I’m not so sure about that.” The light from the table lamp next to the sofa glinted off her eyes.
“Virgil!” They both whirled in the direction of the shout. “I thought I heard your voice.” Amalya ran toward him then halted before she embraced him.
Elliott was leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway, smiling crookedly. “It’s all right, sweetheart, you can hug him,” he said to his mate while meeting Virgil’s eyes. Male angels weren’t allowed to touch a mated female without permission, which was rarely granted.
Amalya threw her arms around Virgil’s neck. “Where’ve you been? Oh, my Deus!” she cried. He returned her affection; her swollen belly kept their hips a respectable distance apart. “And you stink too.”
“I’m sure I—”
“We came from Netherworld,” Evie said from behind Elliott’s mate. She checked out Amalya’s black wings. Wow, she mouthed, looking at Virgil.
“Who’s your friend?” Amalya sniffled and went to her mate.
“Evie. My—”
“Evita.” She stepped forward and offered Amalya her hand.
***
Evita
When Amalya took her hand, Elliott stiffened and stepped back. Was Evita emitting a mated ward? His reaction suggested so. Evita had heard what Virgil said; she was his mate. Why couldn’t she remember him?
Amalya impressed Evita by not staring at her horns. Instead, her eyes traveled the length of her flowing bright red hair. “I like your hair.”
Evita felt her own tresses and blushed. She didn’t take compliments well. “Oh. Yeah? Really?”
“Yes. It’s beautiful. I mean, look at my hair.” Amalya grabbed a section at the ends. “So boring.”
Evita didn’t think so. “Your wings are magnificent.”
“Thanks.” Amalya placed a hand on her large baby bump and exhaled.
“Is something the matter?”
“I don’t think so…” Amalya squeezed her eyes shut and doubled over. Her mate knelt in front of her, pushing her hair off her face.
“When’s the baby due?” Evita asked.
Elliott glanced at her and answered. “A couple of weeks. Anytime…actually.” His expression surprised her and her eyes widened. Evita thought he would be happy, not look like an apocalypse was coming. Of course, if the baby was a boy she knew what Arcadian tradition called for: the couple would be forced to give him up. She shook head. It was so unfair; she hated it too.
“A-are you having a boy or a girl?” Evita bit her lower lip the second she caught sight of Amalya’s red-rimmed eyes. It was a boy, she didn’t have to be told. “Stupid traditions,” she whispered.
Elliott scooped his mate up and laid her on the couch. “Do you need Max? Is it time?”
Amalya shook her head. “No, no, I’m fine. Just my lower back aches sometimes.” Elliott’s forehead crinkled. Clearly, he wasn’t convinced. A moment later, he held a slim silver rectangle up to his ear and spoke into it.
“Um,” Evita looked at Virgil, “how long was I in Netherworld exactly?”
“A while,” Virgil said.
“How long is a while…roughly, would you say?”
Virgil cringed. “This side of two centuries.”
Her jaw dropped and her heart pounded. Looking at her surroundings when they first arrived in the apartment she figured some time had passed. The furniture was different, but styles changed.
Elliott placed the silver thing onto the low table next to the sofa.
“All right,” Evita put her palms up, “someone please tell me where I am and what that silver do-
hickey is.” She glanced at the males in the room then at Amalya, who spoke.
“A phone.”
“Oh, well that explains everything!” Evita threw her hands out to the side and smacked her thighs.
“Calm down,” Amalya said. “The where is an apartment in Detroit. Listen, I’m not going to give you a history lesson all right? Certain technological advancements have been made, including,” she reached over her shoulder, “the cell phone.” She tossed the silver thing at her, which Evita caught. “Good catch.”
Evita examined the smooth outside and turned it over. She ran her fingers over the black glass then pressed the circular button in the middle. The once black face lit up and a picture of Amalya’s smiling face presented itself.
Virgil loomed behind her. “Don’t worry. It took me some time to get used things. I’ll help you,” he said, cradling her hand from underneath with his.
She turned her head toward him. His beard tickled her cheek. A flicker of heat rose between them. The angel still smelled awful but looked so good. He curled his wings around her. A protective, caring move that snuffed out the tiny fire. She grabbed her horns and pulled away.
Turning around proved to be a mistake. The wounded look on his face punched a hole in her stomach. His feelings for her weren’t going to fix her amnesia. Perhaps the will to unlock her memories didn’t exist and never would. Returning to Netherworld crossed her mind. Not because she wanted to live an eternity where she didn’t belong, but because seeing Virgil’s brokenhearted suffering every time she looked at him without true recognition killed her.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Berus
For a moment, Berus thought he heard Shadow-demons wailing. He blinked several times before focusing. Where the Netherworld was he? Two humans, a male and female, hovered over his prone form, one speaking commands to the other in a hastened tone. Something covered his nose and mouth yet he breathed fine. He glanced down the length of his body. Straps had been fastened over his legs and torso. His leather jacket had been removed. He struggled against the restraints, jerking his big body left and right.
The humans lightly pressed down on his chest. “Hey, easy…easy…what’s your name?”
He didn’t answer. Mainly because every time he tried speaking, his brain couldn’t keep up with his mouth. Or was it the other way around? Either way, talking sucked. Berus assessed the situation. Obviously, they were all inside something moving at a high speed, turning from time-to-time, and the loud shrilling sound continued. He kicked. The bands around his legs creaked but held fast. Bending a knee, he bucked, and the padding he lay on jumped with him, pushing the humans back. Their arms flailed.
His Earth guide sat near his head. The reeling humans no longer blocked his view of her. She studied her fingernails.
The other female in a white shirt and navy pants leaned over and banged on a narrow door. “Step on it, will ya!”
Berus pulled the mask off. “G-Guide. Out,” he stammered, but only once. He kept his demands simple, and hopefully understandable.
“I have a name, you know.”
“O-Out!”
“It’s Lilyana.” Berus wrenched and kicked. “Your arms work, dumbass.” He stilled. “The buckles. Just grab the release.”
“No! What are you doing?” the humans protested when she reached over and pulled on his chest strap lever. The two halves slid off his body. Berus sat up and finished freeing himself as the male fought him. Berus shoved him by the throat and he struck his head on the wall. He fell onto the floor and the female screamed. Lilyana silenced her with one punch to the jaw and the human female face-planted on the padding next to Berus then slumped onto the floor.
Berus snickered.
“When the ambulance stops. We make a run for it,” Lilyana told him.
He searched for his jacket and found it shoved into a cabinet. The ambulance halted and Lilyana flung open the doors.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Virgil
Virgil used Elliott’s phone to call Max. He arrived at the apartment a few minutes later.
“Evita?” Max squinted at her.
“Max the Healer!” She smiled. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah it has,” he said, examining her horns.
Evita shrunk in on herself. Virgil cleared his throat and the Healer eased back on the staring contest he was having with her horns.
“Those have been in there a long time. I dunno, Virge,” Max shook his head. “It’s gonna hurt a lot to remove them.”
Virgil rubbed a circle on the small of Evita’s back and she pulled away. He closed his eyes for a moment. She went over the couch and sat down at Amalya’s feet with her face in her hands.
“More than stabbing her in the back with them?”
Fallen angels’ wings were removed and turned into horns. To get their wings back, the angel had to endure the horns being shoved into their back, where they reseeded and grew into wings again. The process was excruciating. Virgil looked over at Elliott. He was the reason his mate was in this position. He wondered if it was possible for the white-haired angel to bear the pain for her. Probably not. Too bad, because Virgil would enjoy that.
Elliott kissed Amalya’s belly through her dress. She smiled at him even though his attention was focused on her stomach. Virgil ached inside. Elliott’s emotions and his own were all over the place. Elliott was happy for the impending birth and worried about Amalya’s mental well-being for when she’d be forced to give the baby up. Virgil and Evie hadn’t conceived before she fell. He glanced at her flat stomach, wondering if they would ever get the chance.
His eyes misted over. He prided himself in keeping his composure in front of people.
Max clapped him on the back, saving him from his own hell. “We doing this or what?”
“Yes. Just give me a minute.” Virgil wiped his eyes with his fingers.
“Uh…wait a minute. I’m not—I don’t know if I want my wings…” Evie said.
Virgil wasn’t sure he heard correctly. “What? Why not?”
“Because I’m not sure I’m staying.”
All the males threw a barrage of rebuttals toward her admission. Amalya whistled and everyone stopped arguing. “Hey, cool it!” She waited for them to quiet down. “Thank you. Now, Evita, are you saying you want to go back to Netherworld?”
“I-I dunno. It’s just that I’m causing so much pain being here.”
“Well I’m not in pain. Are you in pain, Elliott?”
“Nope. Extremely grateful you’re back,” he said.
Virgil kept silent. What was he supposed to say? He was suffering, although not because she was here. She didn’t remember him. The life they had together. The love they shared. It was gone for her.
Jeremiah appeared in the living room and surged forward, pale-faced. “I came as soon as I got the phone—oh, good I didn’t miss anything.” He knelt on the floor before Amalya. His wings were still grayish, but his dark hair was longer and hung over one eye.
Amalya giggled. “No, you don’t have a baby brother yet.”
“What did Deus say? Did you ask him?” Jeremiah asked his father. Elliott shook his head. “That’s so unfair. I thought…”
Elliott waved him into silence. “We will deal with it when the time comes.”
“But—”
A sob escaped Amalya’s lips.
“Jere…please stop,” Elliott said.
Jeremiah unzipped his jacket and pulled a teddy bear out. “Here, a gift for the baby. I had it made with extra soft and fluffy fur. It squeaks too.” He squeezed its belly twice then handed it to Amalya.
Her eyes watered. “Oh, his first toy. Thank you so much.”
The proud brother blushed. “You’re welcome. He glanced down and when he looked up he noticed Evie for the first time at the other end of the sofa. “Who are you?” he asked her.
“This is Evie,” Virgil said. “She and I escaped Netherworld together.” He thought about mentioning that she
was his fallen mate, but her mating ward was still powerful even if she denied it existed.
Jeremiah got to his feet and walked around the coffee table toward her. He halted about three feet away from where she sat. “Is she…is she your mate?” he asked.
Evie glanced at Virgil. “I’m not anyone’s mate.”
Jeremiah stood there with his mouth open. “Oh. S-sorry, I must’ve misread—”
“You didn’t misread anything. She needs a minute. She’s actually considering going back,” Amalya said.
“Oh, I see. And why would you wanna do that?” Jeremiah asked Evie. Confusion crossed his face.
Amalya smirked. “She’s having a pity party for one.”
“Well knock it off.”
Evie exhaled heavily. “Do you mind? That was my home for that last two hundred—”
“It wasn’t your home.” Virgil had heard enough. He spun on the ball of his foot and left the room. Walking down the hallway, he swayed and caught himself on the wall, dropping a couple of feathers.
Once inside the bedroom, he leaned his forehead against the back of the door.
My Evie, my beautiful Evie.
What happened to her? Tears welled and spilled over. Through his anguish, he didn’t hear someone coming down the hall. There was a soft knock.
***
Evita
“Virgil?” Evita whispered through the door. “May I come in?”
“It’s unlocked.”
She found the angel staring at the top of a dresser. He didn’t look at her, so she approached him. “How long were we mated?”
“Four millennia,” Virgil said.
Whoa. Her blood pressure dropped. Evita steadied herself against the wall. This wasn’t the answer she’d expected. How could she have known this male for thousands of years and not remember a single thing about it? Since when did Aba possess such a powerful mind manipulation skill? Maybe she’d underestimated the Demon Ruler.