by JK Ensley
First, I felt extreme heat on my face. Then a rumbling beneath, growing louder. Dust filled the air, choking me.
I heard Vittorio’s mighty growl as his spell was broken. He leapt upon my tormentor, knocking him off me. I rolled onto my side, coughing and gasping for air. The heat intensified as if a raging fire were only inches from my face. I could hear Vittorio and Shabriri wrestling on the ground, snarling and snapping and biting.
I got to my knees, crawling away from the raging inferno I couldn’t see… and the mighty battle I couldn’t help but hear.
Oh, Vittorio. My heart wept…
I reached for the feathered pinions, scooped them up, holding them tight against my chest. The cacophony of horrific sounds was overwhelming. I could no longer distinguish one from the other. I buried my face in my brother’s silky wings, rocking back and forth on my heels as I released control and cried my eyes out. My strength and rage were gone, the demon had drained them from me… broken me. I sat upon the ground now, a scared little girl again.
“My love?”
I felt the gentle hands upon my shoulder and heard the soothing voice near my ear. I smiled at the comforting memory.
“My love? Anicee, can you not hear me?”
“Yes, dear husband. I can hear you.”
“Are you well? Did he hurt you?”
I could hear the tears in his voice and I wished nothing more than to look upon his perfect face.
“He tried to hurt me, but I promised you… I promised not to betray you.”
“You could never betray me, loveliest of Angels. Now, come with me.”
“If only it were so… I should never have left you. If I have the chance again, I will cleave to your side and you will never be free of me.” I laughed through my tears. “You would tire of me being constantly underfoot.”
“I could never tire of you, my beautiful Anicee. I’m only sorry I couldn’t come to you sooner. Will you not stand? Can you not? Are you injured, my love?”
“I-I can st-stand.”
He laughed. “Why is it when I’m near you, your tongue forgets its duty?”
“Near me?”
I slowly stretched forth one trembling, bloodied hand toward the voice that could not possibly be real, could not possibly be here, and felt the silky metallic hair of an Angel.
“Vindicus? Are you real?”
He laughed. “There are legions upon legions who wish it were not so. But, yes. Yes, I’m real, my love. I have come for you. Now, take my hand and let us leave this place.”
He took hold of me, helped me stand. I willingly followed him. Dream or no, this was better than anything I could have possibly hoped for.
“If I am dreaming, may I never wake,” I whispered.
“If this be a dream, then I am blessed beyond measure to spend it with you.”
I halted my feet, pulling back against the tugging on my arm.
“What about Vittorio? I won’t leave without him. If he remains, then so do I. Dream or no, I will never leave my treasured brother.”
“If I were a wise man, I would leave him to rot simply because he loves you too much, and I am an exceedingly jealous creature. But I am neither wise nor am I a man. So I will take him with us.”
“Aye, wee rabbit,” Vittorio rasped.
My giant Guardian was already draped across the Hell Prince’s shoulder. His voice was like sweet music to my ears.
“Ahh, beautiful brother.” I smiled. “I love you.”
“Aye, an’ I love ye more.”
“And that will be the last I wish to hear upon the subject,” Vindicus said through a growl. “Jenevier, hold tightly to me and be careful. The ground is uneven here.”
Honestly, I still wasn’t sure if this was real or if my mind had simply snapped and I went where my heart was… while my body still lay upon that filthy ground being mounted by the Demon of Blindness. I held tight to my brother’s mangled wings, buried my nose in them because they were real. I could trust that fact.
“Vindicus?”
“Yes, my love?”
“I don’t understand how you’re here. How is it you are freed from hell? I do not wish to shatter the dream, but I’m struggling with the reality of it.”
“I know you are. I promise to explain everything when I have you safely back in Vanahirdem.”
“In Vanahirdem? So… you’re leaving me again?”
I only received silence as his answer.
“Vindicus, I don’t belong there. I am too changed, too different. I went back to Ashgard, but I’m even more out of place there. I can find nowhere to call home, nowhere I can be normal and happy.”
“You do not belong in hell.” His words carried an eerie finality to them.
“Do you love me still?”
“Yes. If I cared nothing for you, I would beg you to stay with me. Jenevier, listen. Hell will never be your home. We cannot allow perfection to taint our miserable world. Hell is a place of darkness and destruction. Where shall I place a lovely rose so its petals won’t be singed by the flames? You tell me, my love. Where shall I place the golden throne needed to hold your glory where it shall not be sullied by filth? Where in hell is such a place?”
“By your side,” I whispered through my sobs.
“I only wish it were so. I have freely surrendered all the power and status that defined me. I subjected myself to any curse, any punishment fit to my millennia of sin. Yet, you were denied me. The only thing I have ever truly wanted… I cannot have.”
“Who would deny you? Who would be able to keep me from your side if you did not will it to be so?”
“God.”
“God? I don’t understand. You asked God for me? Why do you tease me so, my love? Can you not feel the pain weighing down my soul? And now you would jest with me?”
“I do not jest, tiny Princess. Not about this. Now, no more words until you can see my face once more.”
His grip upon me did not falter as we made our way through what I presumed by the sounds and smells to be hell, and out the portal. I instantly knew when we stepped into the woods of Vanahirdem.
“How is it I feel you and the sunlight at the same time?” I asked.
“Shhh, not yet,” he said quietly. “Grab hold of me. I will wing you to the healing pools. They await us now.”
I could hear all the familiar voices as we entered the training dome, someone tried to pry the broken wings from my bent arm.
“No! Don’t touch them!”
I burst into tears and released Vindicus’s hand so I could use both arms to hold them tightly to my chest. My husband tried to reason with me, yet, I would not be dissuaded.
“Jenevier, they do this for your friend. Please, let them heal him.”
“I no longer trust my ears. I no longer trust my mind. I cannot release such a treasure as this unless I can see Vittorio with my own eyes and he ask them of me himself.”
“Then take my hand once more and I will lead you to him. They have taken him to the sacred waters. He waits only for you, my love.”
I smelled him before I even heard his throaty, strained voice.
“Aye, beautiful sister, ye’ve saved me.”
I fell to my knees and reached for his face. Vittorio took my searching hand, placing it upon his cheek.
“Come closer, wee Angel. I wish tae give ye something I took from ye long ago. Close yer eyes.”
I leaned forward. Vittorio gently kissed me on each closed lid, and then blew his sweet breath upon my face. My eyelids flickered and the glorious sunlight caused them to shut again.
“Be healed, my love,” he whispered.
When next I opened my eyes, my mangled brother was before me.
“Aye, there ye are. Can I have those back now?” He smiled and pointed to the billowy treasure still locked tightly to my chest.
Vareilious tried to gently pry my arms away from the bloody feathers. I could only sit and stare at my broken, beaten friend. My tears would not cease. I reluctant
ly loosened my grasp, took a shaky step back, and was received by Vindicus’s strong arms. He picked me up and carried me outside.
My loving Prince of Hell held me there upon his lap… and let me cry until the tears would no longer come.
Chapter 46
Vindicus
(VIN-dah-kuss)
I gasped for air when my head popped up out of the steaming water of the hot springs.
“Ugh, I feel I will never be able to wash the demon filth from my skin. I should have brought soap for my hair as well. I was in too big a hurry to get in the water.”
“Mmm, I can see why. I never knew how you would glow in the real sunlight. I’m mesmerized by how it catches the place where I touched your scarred cheek. It sparkles like magic.”
Vindicus’s voice was that of an amazed child as he washed my back and kissed my shoulder.
“You should just stay with me here,” I said.
“My love, you know I cannot,” he whispered.
“Tell me what happened. How did you come to me? How was it you got to leave hell? I want to know every detail.”
“I have been able to feel your every emotion since the moment we parted. Tell me. What brought you so much joy after I left you crying by the portal?”
“I swore never to tell of it, but… Vittorio, the one you just saved, he saw our farewell and took pity on me. He tried to cheer me by playing games and laughing. Finally, he winged me to a secret grove no one else knows about. It’s on layer one, hidden by mountains all about. He gave it to me. Named it after me. Swore never to tell another soul. It has been my little paradise, my happy place. That’s where we were when the demons tracked me down. They snatched me out of my own heaven.”
“Then I owe him a great debt,” he said, his lips tickling the side of my neck as he spoke. “The joy you feel when you’re there is gloriously intense. I would love to look upon your face while you were in your happy place.”
“Oh, I wish you could, too. If I could be granted but one wish, it would be that you and I could live there together… untouched by the seen and unseen worlds alike.”
“Yes, that would be heaven,” he whispered in my ear. I could hear such sorrow in his voice.
“How did I come by the good fortune of seeing you this day? Tell me, please.”
“I will. But first, I wanted you to know I received your message. The one you sent by Cashiel. He told me your words. He was furious, as were Jago and Decimus. I must say, all of hell froze when they heard my roaring laughter. You are one vicious little Angel, my love.”
“When need be, yes. Especially since we blended, you and I. I credit you with my new… darker side.” I blushed then. “I will admit, though. I was a bit dramatic and theatrical with those fallen wretches. Can you imagine? They wanted to sacrifice me. I took offense to that.”
Vindicus laughed. “Like I said, I feel what you feel. I knew before word reached me that you were terrified beyond reason. As soon as I got the news about Shabriri and his ransom demands, I went to God and pleaded with Him.”
“God? You can speak to God? You can see Him?”
He gently stroked my sodden curls. “I may be a dark Angel, but I am still an Angel. Yes, I spoke with Him. I pleaded with Him. I even tried to bargain with Him. I offered myself in exchange for your safety. I promised God anything He wished of me. Any deed He would have me do, good or evil, I would gladly obey.”
“So, what did He say?” I wanted to know but was terrified to hear the words spoken aloud.
“He denied me.”
“What? But how then did you come to me? I don’t understand.”
“I pleaded not only for your safety alone, my love. I bargained for you. I wanted you to be with me for all eternity. I wanted us to be together, anywhere. But He said no. He has other plans for you, tiny Angel. You’re not meant to be tied to one such as me. Nay, you’re not meant to be tied to anyone, it seems. God asked nothing of me… but offered me a reward, with conditions.”
“Reward? For what?” I searched his enchanting face for answers.
Tears filled my handsome husband’s spectacular sapphire eyes. “For finally learning how to love. It seems the power was within me the whole time. I just chose to ignore it, chose to be cold of heart. After meeting you and tasting your sweet innocence, I allowed myself to love you. And I did. A love so strong, so powerful, I feel at times it will consume me.”
“I know how you feel,” I whispered.
He laughed. “Of course you do. We are part of each other.”
“So, your reward was being able to come to me?”
“Yes.” His smile was breathtaking. “The greatest reward since the dawn of creation.”
“But what were the conditions?”
“That’s the hard part,” he said, sorrow and pain darkening his lovely eyes.
“Please tell me,” I begged.
He gently rubbed my scarred cheek. “I could leave hell for a whole day,” he said with a smile. “I could spend it any way I chose. Of course, I chose to spend it with my heart, with you. But I only get this one day, this one moment in your life. And then I must leave.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, I will never see you again. Not in this life or the next, only today. Then I had to promise to let you go forever. I would have gladly paid the price just to save you from Shabriri and see you safely here. My reward was the rest of the day in your lovely arms.”
“Wait. What do you mean, let me go?”
“When this day is at its close, I will return through the portal, alone… with my manacle upon mine own hand.”
“No! No, I won’t let you have it. It’s mine! You promised me eternity,” I cried.
“Yes, and I must break that solemn promise. Forgive me. I would rather see you safe from harm and save you from the millennia of torture Shabriri would most certainly have bound upon you, than to keep my promise, dear one.”
“So… never? Not even at the end of all things?” I couldn’t contain my tears. They were silent, burning, and constant.
“Not even then. He could have asked for no greater sacrifice. But He could have offered no greater reward in exchange.”
“Then, we only have today,” I said numbly.
“Yes, my Princess. Only today.”
“Then I shall not waste a moment more.”
I smothered my angelic husband in passionate kisses, and he returned the favor a hundred fold. I couldn’t get him close enough, couldn’t hold him tight enough. I was determined to squeeze an eternity’s worth of love out of the next few hours.
Vindicus pulled back from me and smiled. “I see my Princess still desires my touch.”
“I desire nothing more in the whole universe.”
“Mmm, then I will fulfill your every desire, my love. Your wish is my command.”
I laughed at how free he was with me, how different he was than all the horrible stories everyone was so quick to tell me about. I loved his gentle side, his childlike fascination, and his unconditional devotion to only me.
“Do you have any idea just how much I love you?” I whispered.
He lightly tapped my nose as he spoke through his smile. “Yes. I feel what you feel, remember?”
“How could there be any two more perfectly matched creatures than we?”
“There is not, nor will there ever be.” Vindicus lifted me out of the water and laid me upon the soft grass. “Now, let me get a look at those wounds.”
He lay upon me, propped himself on his elbows, and just stared at my face. I could see absolute admiration sparkling clearly within his eyes. It made my heart race.
I giggled. “And just how are you planning on looking at my wounds like this?”
“You are so beautiful. I want to drink in your image so it stays with me forever. I refuse to let time fade you from memory. I did this, did I not?” He fingered the only blue curl upon my head as he spoke.
“Yes, my Prince. It’s my favorite one.”
�
��Mine too. I couldn’t make it grow back, so I wanted to make it special. It does go the best with your enchantingly magical eyes. Shall I leave more of me upon you?”
He slid off me and began inspecting me proper. Each place he found even the tiniest scratch, he licked it. I gasped as I felt the skin knit back together and watched as the new scars turned the same sparkling blue as my cheek. Tiny sapphires were left upon my arms and stomach, my back and legs. He started with the smallest and worked his way up to the more significant gashes. The healing tickled and I couldn’t help but giggle each time his tongue touched my flesh. Vindicus meticulously attended to my entire body, all but my chest.
“I saved the best for last,” he whispered.
I had a couple little places on my chest and a bad cut on my left collarbone, going halfway around my neck. But the worst injury by far was upon my left breast, around one whole side of the nipple.
Vindicus growled. “Teeth marks.”
I could feel his anger and jealousy. He licked the wound until only his glittery azure mark remained. But the erotic sensation of his tongue pulled a deep passion from within me. I knew he felt it. I could see the fire of it glowing in his heavenly eyes.
“You make me burn, Maiden,” he rasped.
“As you do me, sweet Prince.”
His kisses were no longer strong and passionate. Vindicus now kissed me with tender adoration and lasting commitment. These kisses were the most intoxicating I had ever known.
“Do not hate me, my love.” His whisper seemed so tiny.
“For what?”
“I can sense your womb is ripe,” he said, an apologetic smile barely lifting the corners of his mouth. “I cannot give you what you desire.”
“But… you said my wish was your command.”
He growled. “Do not tempt me, little one. I am almost to the point of no return. I want nothing more in the entire universe than to have you right here.”
“I want nothing more than that myself. And I’m already past my point of no return. You are my husband. Are your pleasures forbidden me now?”
“I am only still your husband but for today, and you know I will forbid you nothing. I only think of you and your life. You are the only important thing in this whole universe. If I make love to you this day, I will leave you with child. A child I will never get to see. A child who won’t know his father. A child you will have to raise on your own. I cannot burden you so. Not simply to fulfill my own carnal desires. I love you too much to do that.”