Son of Secrets

by N. J. Simmonds

‘See? You returned to me, too,’ he said, smiling.

  She sat up and pulled his face down to hers, her lips speaking the words she was unable to say. She reached down for his belt buckle, and this time he let her.

  Today was meant to be the first time she made love with Josh. But it was Zac’s fingers unclipping her bra and his mouth kissing along her collarbone, his tongue gliding over her bare breasts. She arched her back against the window as he pulled her dress down further until it lay crumpled in a heap at their feet.

  His smile disappeared, his eyes near black.

  ‘I love you, Ella. Nobody could ever love you as I have, and no one could ever take your place. This is it. This is forever.’

  She wrapped her legs around his waist, her hands grasping at his short hair, his lips never leaving hers. She no longer had to close her eyes to think of him. He was right there with her at last, and this time nothing would tear them apart.

  ‘MY DRESS IS ruined,’ she said as he zipped her back up again. ‘Good job I have no intention of wearing it again.’

  She sounded flippant, but he knew she was far from comfortable about breaking the news to her friends and family…let alone Josh. Zac shut out all voices of doubt in his mind. He’d promised himself he would follow his heart, not his head, and this was the right thing to do. It was.

  ‘Want me to come with you when you tell him?’ he asked, pulling his black T-shirt over his head. The blood had dried and was no longer visible.

  ‘I don’t know. Oh God, Zac, I’m going to break his heart.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I told you I can make him forget. Your parents, friends, none of them have to remember the last few days.’

  Ella thought about it and shook her head.

  ‘No. That’s gutless and cruel. It would certainly be easier, but Josh deserves to know the truth—no matter how much it will make him hate me. We need to go downstairs right away. They’re all probably still sitting in their room after your mother… Wait, what about Luci?’

  Zac sighed. ‘She’ll be fine once you get to know her.’

  ‘Does this mean I now have the original mother-in-law from hell?’

  He laughed and kissed her. ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to have a wonderful future together. I promise.’

  ‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep, my friend,’ a voice said from the doorway. ‘Not interrupting, am I?’

  ‘Gabriel!’ Zac crossed the room and put his arm around his friend’s neck, a big grin on his face. ‘I found Ella, no thanks to you. I thought you were going to tell her I was coming?’

  Would Ella recognise the archangel? Gabriel had been working behind the bar at Indigo the night they’d both been there, the night she was meant to have got together with Josh. He’d also been one of the angels who’d accompanied Mikhael when they’d come for Zac. Ella and Gabriel had stood side by side and watched the one they both loved die. By the look of horror on her face, she recognised him.

  ‘I was going to tell her,’ the archangel said. ‘I came last night, but she was already with her fiancé. Now, where is that nice young man of yours, Ella? Because you looked ever so happy together the last time I saw you.’

  Zac’s jaw tensed, and Ella bit down on her lip.

  ‘You should have told her I was coming, Gabriel.’

  ‘Oh, come on! What could I do? You know I keep people on their path, Zadkiel, not lead them astray. I can still feel her, even if you no longer can.’

  ‘So tell me what she’s feeling now. Does she love him more than she loves me?’

  Gabriel raised one eyebrow and smirked at the blush rising on Ella’s cheeks.

  ‘Oh, I think we can both see what she thinks of you right now. You don’t need angelic magic to know that.’

  Zac beckoned her over and kissed the top of her head. ‘It all worked out in the end, right? Path or no path.’

  ‘Please tell me you two didn’t just…?’

  ‘No!’ Zac lied. ‘I only just got here. You think I’d do that here, in an old library, while she wore her wedding dress and her fiancé waited downstairs?’

  Gabriel raised his eyebrows again and looked at Ella, who turned her head away.

  ‘Whatever. I need you to listen to me. You know I’m the archangel messenger, right? Well, I’ve come bearing crap news. Sit down.’

  The door behind him opened, and Luci stepped in.

  ‘Did someone say bad news? That’s normally my cue.’

  ‘Come in, why don’t you!’ Ella muttered. ‘Join the fucking party.’

  Luci ignored her. ‘My two favourite boys in the same room!’ She squeezed Zac’s hand and then stroked Gabriel’s cheek. ‘My, my, you haven’t changed a bit. Still as gorgeous as ever. I always said I chose the wrong archangel. So, have I missed anything interesting up in the clouds lately?’

  Gabriel gave a loud and hollow laugh that reverberated off the stone walls of the library. ‘Lucifer, you little minx. Look at you!’ He gave her a big hug. ‘You’re still one goddamn sexy lady. Is that blood on you?’

  ‘Yes. I impaled a man on a giant crucifix about an hour ago. He’s gone now. What’s this bad news you’re bringing us?’

  Us? Zac looked at Ella and tightened his hold on her. She, in turn, stepped closer into his embrace. He’d only been with her an hour and already they were surrounded by angels, the Devil, and impending bad news. He’d promised her all the drama would be over, and yet here it was.

  ‘Mikhael knows Ella is getting married to her life path partner today,’ Gabriel said. ‘He’s on his way to make sure it goes ahead as intended.’

  ‘What?’ Zac said. ‘How does he know?’

  ‘He’s had a spy here, an angel who’s been working with Ella. She rushed back to us a couple hours ago and told him.’

  ‘That’s not possible,’ Ella cried, her eyes round and pleading with Zac. ‘I think I’d know if I had an angel in my hotel. I haven’t had anyone new working here lately…except…Paloma? Wait. She’s an angel?’

  ‘Was she really pretty and mysterious and unable to use a computer?’ Gabriel asked.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Well there you go,’ he said with exasperation. ‘Big clue: if a person can’t work electricity, they’re not human. Anyway, Mikhael is on his way, so Ella has to marry Josh and you two fallen ones need to get the hell out of here.’

  ‘No way!’ Zac said, standing in front of Ella. ‘No. I’m not going anywhere without her.’

  Luci put her hand on Gabriel’s arm and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him.

  ‘He’s right, Zadkiel,’ she said, still looking at the archangel. ‘Mikhael can’t sense us. He doesn’t even know we returned, but he can find Ella whenever he wants. Let her marry Josh and walk away alive. Being with her is putting us all in danger.’

  ‘Excuse me!’ Ella cried. ‘I am here, you know? And I don’t want to marry Josh anymore. I want Zac. I love him. Mikhael can go fuck himself!’

  Luci raised her eyebrows at Gabriel, and he laughed. ‘Yep, I’ve met this feisty one before,’ he said. ‘She actually said that to Mikhael’s face. The girl was seconds away from having his sword shoved right into her pretty skull, and she was mouthing off like that. I like her, Zadkiel, but you’re not keeping her. Let’s go.’

  ‘Zac! Don’t listen to them,’ Ella said. ‘We can deal with Mikhael. We’ve done it before.’

  ‘No, we haven’t,’ he said. ‘I killed myself to stop him from killing you. What am I meant to do now? Kill myself again? Gabriel and my mother are right—he’s too powerful with that sword of his. We can’t fight him, and I’m not going to let him murder you. Death at his hands means not coming back in another life. Not ever.’

  ‘Well there must be something we can do!’ she said, her voice shaking with anger.

  He put his arm around her and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. Ella was right; there had to be a way out of this mess.

  ‘Gabriel. Please!’

  ‘There’s nothing you ca
n do. We need to get out of here before dusk; that’s when Mikhael and the Choir will arrive. Plus, someone needs to sort out those wall-staring zombies sitting in their bedrooms downstairs.’

  ‘Oops, sorry about that,’ Luci said, shrugging at Ella. ‘I’ll deal with it.’

  ‘And kid, you need to do your magic voodoo on this girl as well. She needs to forget your sorry arse. I’m sick of this star-crossed-lovers nonsense. You’re going to get your mother caught, and me too, and I’m not losing my sexy wings for any of this crap!’

  ‘But Gabriel, this isn’t just any woman—this is Ella. She’s everything to me. Without her, I have nothing.’

  ‘You have me now, son,’ Luci said. ‘You have me. You won’t be alone. Do the right thing; let her live her life as she was always meant to. If you don’t, then all of us will die. Including her.’

  Ella looked like she was going to say something, but Luci started talking to her softly, their faces inches apart. Ella’s eyes were locked on those of the fallen angel, and she began to nod in agreement at everything his mother was telling her.

  Zac tried to pull her away, but Gabriel stood in his way.

  ‘What are you doing, Mamá?’ Zac shouted, trying to get past Gabriel. ‘Leave her alone!’

  ‘I will let you say your goodbyes, son,’ she said. ‘In the meantime, I’ll go back to the hotel and release the others. I need to make sure I’ve wiped their minds from before the ceremony. I’ve told Ella that, in ten minutes, she’ll forget we were here. She’ll still think you’re dead, she won’t remember me killing Sebastian, and she’ll have forgotten everything that happened after she got ready this morning—even the part where Paloma gave her the jewellery back. I’m keeping it. I doubt the angel spy will return to the hotel anyway.’

  ‘Mamá! No! I can’t have her think I never came back. What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m saving all our lives, Zadkiel. Now say goodbye. You won’t see her until she’s born again in the next life.’

  ‘But if she goes back to her path, she’ll die. She only has eleven years left. If I’d taken her off her path, we could have avoided that. I could have helped her live longer. You’ve just killed her.’

  ‘She’ll die a lot quicker, and for eternity, if you stay with her.’ Luci walked over to Ella, who was already in a stupefied state, and wiped a speck of blood off the side of her mouth. She frowned and then smiled a little. ‘She’ll be OK, son. You’re doing the right thing.’

  His mother left the room and Gabriel followed.

  Zac stared at the closed door. How could this be happening? It had all been going so perfectly. How could he let Ella go after fighting so hard for her? Gabriel and his mother made everything sound so simple, but it wasn’t. Ella was going to die now. Her and Josh would be dead within eleven years if he left now and by tomorrow if he stayed. He turned back to her, pushing down the ache in his throat.

  ‘Ella, look at me.’ He stroked her hair and blinked slowly. She mustn’t see him cry. He stared into her eyes, her deep brown eyes that swallowed him whole. He was never going to gaze into that beautiful face again. He rubbed his own, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand. He knew she would return as someone else in the future, but for the first time ever, he wasn’t prepared to accept it. He didn’t want the next version of her; he wanted this one, the one who’d fallen in love with him.

  Since their first life together, he’d never had his love reciprocated…until now. In this lifetime they’d made love, slept in the same bed, and enjoyed normal couple things—things like watching movies and talking about trivialities. He’d been back with her for just over an hour, after three years apart, and already he was being dragged away. Exactly as she’d feared.

  A sob escaped his throat. Gabriel and his mother were right—it didn’t matter how he felt about her, not if it was going to get them all killed.

  Ella was in a deep trance now. Luci’s magic had begun to take hold.

  ‘You need to love me less, Ella,’ he said, his hands trembling as they held her face.

  ‘How?’

  ‘By letting fate take the lead and returning to Josh. Will you do that for me?’

  ‘Yes. I will do anything for you.’ She was struggling to focus on him now; he could see the confusion on her face. ‘Your eyes, Zac. They’re fading. They’re grey now. Why can’t I see the blue anymore?’

  ‘It’s going to be fine,’ he whispered. ‘You’re going to be so happy without me.’

  ‘Zac! Where are you going? I can’t see you properly.’

  ‘I love you, Ella. In aeternum te amabo.’

  He gave her one last kiss and stepped out of the library. Luci and Gabriel were waiting at the top of the stairs. He’d thought this time would be different, that in this lifetime he wouldn’t be walking away. But history was good at repeating itself.

  He hesitated in the doorway, but his mother shut the door behind him.

  ‘Don’t look back, son,’ Luci said. ‘Looking back hurts too much. The past is nothing but pain.’

  Roermond, The Spanish Netherlands

  1613

  I.

  IT WAS NOT yet morning, and the sky was a smudge of lilac on a canvas of charcoal. Only one solitary starling greeted the day in song. Hailstones danced on the surface of the canal as Luci crossed the wooden bridge, lifting her hood against the sharp, relentless wind. The streets were empty save for a young girl running on the opposite bank, a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders and her blonde hair flying in the wind. In the distance, Luci could just make out the huddled form of a man sitting in a doorway. She paid no attention to either as she gathered her hood tighter and silenced the howling weather.

  Her whisperers had told her the house she was searching for had a curved roof and many windows. But in the end, it wasn’t the architectural features that made it stand out from the others, it was the marks carved onto its door: perfect concentric circles created a pattern of flowers scratched onto its surface. They’d been painted over, but in the faint light of dawn, Luci still recognised the witches’ marks protecting the town from the supposed evil that lay within. She was in the right place—she’d reached the House of Fire and Water.

  Luci banged on the door and waited. It was early, and she didn’t expect anyone to be awake yet. Drapes hung at the window, but all was quiet inside. Through a gap in the curtains, she could see a large hearth at the back of the room with a healthy fire burning. Inside, the entrance was laid out like a shop with a long counter, jugs and buckets sitting on the shelves. Every town had a shop like this, a place where one could purchase a flame or burning coals should they be careless enough to let their fires burn out. There was also a natural well in the back where fresh water could be found, for those not willing to use the water from the filthy canals. Fire and water—the two elements that sustained humanity. Except what really resided within that pretty house was much more sacred than earthly elements, and it was possibly more dangerous.

  She knocked again, and a shadow passed by one of the windows upstairs. Perhaps a maid had been alerted and was scurrying to greet her.

  The door creaked open and an aged face met hers, eyes narrow and brow furrowed.

  Luci lowered her hood and smiled.

  ‘I’m looking for Marisse.’

  The woman peered at her through the crack in the door, refusing to open it any further.

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I’d like to come in. This weather is frightful.’

  ‘The shop is not open yet. Try again in an hour.’

  She went to shut the door, but Luci stopped it with her foot.

  ‘I’ve been told that you are one of the strongest there are. You can’t feel me, can you? That’s why you won’t let me in.’

  The shopkeeper pushed Luci back and slammed the door shut, making the fallen angel laugh out loud. A key turned in the lock, as if that would keep her out. Luci had travelled from Germany to the Spanish Netherlands to meet this woman; she wasn’
t going to let a mere door stand in her way.

  She laid a hand upon the lock, turning the key on the other side. Let’s see how the old lady reacts to that sight. She pushed open the door, stepped into the room, and closed it behind her with a wave of her hand.

  ‘I take it you’re Marisse and that you weren’t expecting me,’ she said to the woman, who was now standing beside the hearth.

  She was older than Luci had imagined. Her hair was coarse and greying, and no matter how much she attempted to tuck it beneath her bonnet, it kept springing out in wiry locks. Her dress was billowing and a drab brown, her eye colour completely nondescript. Not what Luci had expected at all. Her only redeeming feature was the rings covering her fingers. They were made of gold and inlaid with semiprecious stones interwoven with intricate designs of leaves and feathers. The jewellery sparkled in the weak winter light, which hardly illuminated the dim shop. Was this really the Marisse Luci had heard so much about?

  The woman glared at her, still and silent.

  ‘Confirm your name,’ Luci said, making sure to look the shopkeeper in the eye.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Interesting. You won’t do as I command.’

  ‘I’ve never followed orders. Why would I start for you?’ She squared her shoulders and stepped closer. ‘Who are you, and how did you get in?’

  ‘You know what I am,’ Luci answered, ‘or you wouldn’t be so eager for me to leave.’

  The old woman scowled in response and flicked her fingers, sending Luci flying backwards. She landed with a thud on the tiled floor in the corner of the shop.

  ‘Tell me who you are and why I can’t feel you,’ the woman snarled through gritted teeth. ‘And then we’ll talk.’

  Luci laughed even louder this time and shook the dust off her skirt as she stood.

  ‘Oh, I like you, Marisse. So fierce. So fearless. It appears you are exactly what I hoped you would be: half of what I am—or at least half of what I used to be.’

  ‘Used to be? I don’t understand.’

  ‘I’ll explain everything in good time, but first we need to talk about your father.’