Broken Butterflies

by Stephens, Shadow

  She finished her breakfast and wiped Dena’s kitchen down until it was spotless. She kissed Dena goodbye and got in the car and headed back to her house, but hesitated and flipped a U-turn.

  She drove down the long driveway leading to the barn. When she got out of the car Bram appeared in front of her, looking worse for the wear. His eyes were enclosed in dark circles and his hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed. Across his jaw line was a thick five o’clock shadow.

  “You came,” he said swallowing hard.

  “We need to talk.”

  He looked down and nodded. As he lumbered up the stairs Ilisha followed.

  She sat down in one of the chairs and he sat across from her.

  “Of all people, you were the last person I thought would deceive me,” she started.

  “I handled it wrong and I’m sorry.”

  She chuckled under her breath. “You handled it wrong?”

  “I told you the truth when I said I love you and I didn’t want to lose you.”

  “You don’t lie to people you love. And you certainly don’t trick them into marrying you.”

  “I didn’t trick you, I asked you.”

  “Bram you manipulated me. Admit it.”

  “I should have told you about Damon, but I honestly didn’t think it was relevant; he was in Heaven and we were here. We both loved you and fought for you. He chose to stay and I chose to be with you.”

  “And what did I want?”

  “Before you came into this life you wanted him.”

  “Were you really my guardian angel?”

  “Yes.”

  “So you interfered with fate and now I have a whole army of demons after me. Thanks Bram, that was so respectful of you.” Her voice was filled with sarcasm and anger.

  His head hung down. When he looked back up tears rolled down his cheeks. “If it makes a difference the army is after you because Azriel couldn’t reach Damon. He could have just stayed away and this would be over.”

  “It doesn’t make a difference Bram. Don’t change the subject. You deceived me.”

  “What do you want to do?” he barely whispered.

  “I feel betrayed and I’m not sure I can trust you. I think we should break off our marriage. Is that possible?”

  “What else?”

  “I’m not saying I’m walking away from you, but I need space.”

  He nodded. “I...” He choked on the words. “Break you of your bond.” His body convulsed as he cried.

  Ilisha could feel the part of his soul that was fused with hers depart. She choked back her emotions and held back her tears. Standing up, she walked over and kissed him on the forehead.

  “Just give me some time,” she whispered.

  She left him then and didn’t say another word.

  Ilisha put on sweats and a tank top, with a zip up hoodie. She tied her running shoes and headed out the door. She refused to let herself think. Letting her mind contemplate the last few days would bring her to a breakdown.

  She hit the trail that led through the forest and turned the music up on her MP3 player. There was a chill in the air, which felt good against her skin. Her pony tail swung back and forth and she dodged rocks and stumps.

  The corner of her eye caught a movement. She turned her head to see Damon jogging through the woods toward her.

  “Great.” She pulled her earbuds out and waited.

  He stopped in front of her, causing her to realize just how tall he was. Her face met his chest. He wore a black jogging suit, which made the blue of his eyes blaze.

  “Do you want some company?” he asked.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Of course.”

  “Uh-huh. So, if I said no you would just let me finish my run and leave me to it?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “That’s what I thought.” She rolled her eyes and took off. Damon kept up with her easily with his long legs and she could tell he was struggling to keep her slower pace.

  She pushed herself into a sprint. Damon followed her, smiling, and she rolled her eyes. His teeth were a brilliant white. She caught herself staring at him, despite the irritation burning inside her. As hard as she could, she moved her legs and gained speed. Damon fell behind for a second, but flew past her. Even with Damon running at human speed he was ahead of her. No matter how hard she tried she would never be able to run that fast.

  He stopped further up the trail with his hands on his hips looking up at the sky. When she caught up to him she bent over and put her hands on her legs, taking in huge gulps of cool air.

  Damon unzipped his jacket and tossed it on the ground. “You were always competitive,” he said.

  “I hate you telling me about some life I don’t remember.”

  He smiled. “Well you were certainly a lot faster then.”

  She sat down on the ground and leaned her head back. Damon sat down beside her saying, “I can help you remember everything, but it’s up to you.”

  She thought for a second. “What other trouble will that bring me?”

  He looked confused by the question.

  “Ever since that day on the train my life has been filled with strange occurrences, a psycho that wants my head on a platter, and things I never thought were possible. What will remembering my other life do?”

  “Allow you to know the truth.”

  That was the one thing Ilisha desperately needed right now.

  “How would you help me remember?”

  “I will take the veil from your eyes. I’m not saying it will all be pleasant. It will overwhelm you.”

  “My whole life is overwhelming me at the moment.”

  “It will come to you in bits. I would never just open you up and dump it in.”

  “Why?”

  “The mind is a very fragile mechanism. To have it invaded with information, images, horrors, and blessings could cause you to go insane.”

  She understood what he was saying. Witnessing fist hand when people’s minds shut down, she knew the dangers.

  “Let’s do it.”

  Damon smiled and positioned himself in front of her. Taking her legs and placing them on either side of him, he slid close, his face inches from hers.

  His fingers clutched both sides of her head. “This will feel a little strange.”

  She braced herself for pain, instead a weird sliding feeling entered her head. The things around her became brighter and more vivid. The sounds of birds were louder. The bark on the trees around them became more focused. She could see every fissure and crack, every hole, and every drop of sap.

  She looked straight into Damon’s eyes. They were so bright and so dark at the same time. Her eyes moved to focus on his hair. She could see each strand and the different highlights. Strands of red, copper, gold, and yellow all mixed together. Ilisha noticed the muscles in his arms were flexed from shoulder to fingertip.

  A picture formed in front of her eyes, blocking the view of Damon. She was running through a field of wheat and sunflowers. The yellow and gold hues shimmered as they blew in the breeze. She realized the breeze was caused by her, not the wind. She was running at great speed.

  There was a waterfall in the distance and she ran for it, laughing, looking back over her shoulder. She was looking for Damon. He was a few feet behind her.

  The waterfall started a hundred yards up a cliff face. Palm trees and moss covered the rocks all the way down to a pool at the bottom. The green of the moss was bright emerald. The water changed from purple hues to blue and it was perfectly clear as it tumbled down the rock face.

  Ilisha leaped, mid stride, and caught a bent palm tree and launched herself into the pool. She pulled her shirt and pants off as she fell. As she soared through the air she twisted her body into a swan dive and made a perfect slash.

  Damon followed her example and splashed, naked beside her as her head came up from under the water.

  He took her face in his hands and she wrapped her legs around his strong
body. His tongue traced her bottom lip. She smiled and rolled hers into his mouth.

  Feeling his urge, Ilisha gasped and Damon’s fingers left her temples. The vision disappeared.

  She stared, eyes wide. “Everything was so beautiful.”

  “Yes.”

  “You picked that vision on purpose didn’t you?” She accused.

  “I don’t pick what you see, you do. That was a good one,” he said smiling.

  She shifted uncomfortable. Watching her past life made her feel like it was happening now, in the present.

  “If you liked it so much why did you let it end?” she asked.

  “I could feel you getting tense. It’s been a while since I saw you naked, very nice.”

  Why would I pick that to remember? Ilisha’s head crinkled.

  “Maybe because you wanted to know if we were really together.”

  Her eyes bulged. “Don’t do that.”

  “Sorry, can’t help it.”

  She looked around, untangled her legs from his and stood up. “You’re in my head all the time?”

  “Only when you let me.”

  “What? What the hell does that mean?”

  “Whenever you’re stressed or in trouble your walls come down and you let me in. Apparently horny counts in the stressed department.”

  “I’m not—” She cut herself off knowing it was a lie. “Were you in my head before you fell?”

  “First of all I didn’t fall, I came as myself. And yes, our connection can’t be broken by time or space.”

  “This is so f’ed up.” She paced back and forth, kicking at pine needles as she went.

  “Sorry, I know it’s a lot to take in. We can take it slow.” He stood up and dusted his butt off. “I’ll leave it up to you when you want to try again.”

  He took her hand to stop her pacing. “Let’s get you home.”

  Bram knocked on Ilisha’s door. She answered smiling, and his shoulders relaxed.

  “I need to get some stuff,” he said as she held the door open.

  She followed him upstairs to the bedroom and sat on the bed while he sifted through the dresser and closet. He shoved clothes into a duffel bag not saying a word.

  “Bram, say something.”

  He turned and dropped the bag to the floor. “I’m so sorry, Ilisha. Nothing I did was out of malice. I did it all because I love you more than all the blessings I would have gotten had I not fallen.”

  “I know you didn’t intend to hurt me. That’s why I asked you to give me some time.”

  “Can I kiss you?” he asked leaning in.

  “Sorry, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t think we will ever be together again, friends maybe.”

  Disappointment filled his face and he looked down. Ilisha stood and hugged him.

  Her hair was spread out across her shoulders and he picked up a bunch and smelled it. “Lilac,” he whispered as he breathed in. Bram left her embrace. “I better get going.”

  “Don’t think just because I wanted you to release me from our marriage I don’t love you. I will always care what happens to you, but you broke any trust I could have.”

  He leaned into her again. “I released you from the marriage, but I kept our bond. I need to be able to protect you.”

  Bram picked up the duffel bag. His boots hit the stairs.

  “Bram!”

  He spun around and she met him at the bottom of the stairs.

  Ilisha wanted to take the pain from his eyes, but she couldn’t. She knew that trust and connection she felt for him would never return, and she could think of nothing to say. He spoke instead.

  “I love you more than you can ever comprehend.” He closed the door behind him and left her to the silence of the house.

  She turned and walked to the couch and turned on the TV. As she flipped through the channels the control dropped from her hand and she gasped. She ran for the door and threw it open, causing it to hit the wall.

  She paused on the porch as she watched a scene play out in her head. Bram was walking back to the barn. A car pulled up. Four large men got out and took a hold of him, shoving him in the back seat. They weren’t human, they were angels.

  “Bram,” she said running for her car.

  Damon met her at the driver’s door.

  “Someone took Bram, we need to go,” Ilisha said shoving past him.

  “You won’t find him in a car. I need to know what you saw.”

  Ilisha hesitated.

  “Trust me,” he said looking down at her.

  “Four angels. I’ve never seen them before. They were really big; like football players. They all wore dark suits.”

  “Shit,” Damon said running his hands down his face.

  “What, what does that mean?”

  “It means Azriel is getting smart.”

  He leaned his hands on the hood of the car.

  “What do we do?” Ilisha asked panicked.

  “If you want to save him, you’ll do what I ask you to do.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “You’re my only link to find him. He’s pushing images into your mind. Do you understand?”

  She nodded.

  “Come with me. You’re getting a crash course in hacking someone’s mind.” He took her hand and led her back into the house.

  “Who were they?” Ilisha asked as he pulled her to the couch.

  “Angels that not only fell, but they are evil. They’re a hit squad. They’ll kill anyone for the right price. I assume Azriel thinks it will save his ass to get rid of Bram himself.”

  “Azriel paid them?”

  “If he did, it was very handsomely.”

  Damon grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. He crouched in front of her. “I need you to concentrate on him. Not from a memory, but right now, in the present.”

  She closed her eyes and tried to think of him, but the only thing that came was seeing him shoved in the car. She shook her head knowing it wasn’t working.

  Damon bit his lip and let out a big sigh. “Our minds are fully connected.” He motioned between them with his finger. “I’m going to force myself into yours and show you what to do.”

  She leaned back eyes full of fear.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “When Bram did this to find me in the woods. The pain was so excruciating I thought my head was literally going to explode.”

  “He did it fast and swift. I’ll go slow. It won’t hurt, I promise.”

  She nodded.

  She gripped Damon’s hands as he knelt in front of her. He looked her in the eye and she felt pressure across her skull. The pressure turned to a dull ache and she squeezed his hands hard waiting for the extreme pain, but it didn’t come.

  “Still doing okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Good, let go of the finger breaking grip on my hands,” he said smiling.

  “Oh sorry.” She released the firm grip, knowing it would do nothing to actually harm him, but kept hold of his hands.

  His mind eased through her memories as he looked for specific images. The rolling waves of the ocean are all she could think to describe the sensation. Every move his mind made she felt it lap against her own. Damon sifted through tons of memories, stopping for a second on one because it caught him off guard. Ilisha felt him tense physically and mentally. It was the first night Bram made love to Ilisha, but Damon stopped at the point where Bram shed her clothes.

  “Could have done without that,” he said and continued.

  Knowing full well what he saw, Ilisha shifted, uneasy. Though she had just met Damon in this life she felt a loyalty to him that she couldn’t wrap her mind around.

  Damon went further into her memories and arrived at the present time, seeing himself crouched in front of her.

  “Do you see how I got past everything to get to the present?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, now expand yourself to find Bram. Use my mind to h
elp you.”

  Their minds moved as one collective, linked together. They left the house and were traveling at great speed down roads and past landscapes. Her mind was pushing toward Bram like a magnet.

  She caught up to the car; a silver Mercedes with black windows. Ilisha propelled her mind and breached the car, slamming into Bram’s head.

  He was bound somehow. She recognized when he felt her presence. Bram’s eyes scanned the area around him. They were driving down a windy road, through a mountain pass.

  “They’ve gone west,” she said still watching.

  The car stopped at a tall fence with a no trespassing sign. A guard came out of a shanty, with the same attire and stature as the angels in the car. He looked inside and smiled, then opened the gate. They drove up to a large concrete building that was built into the mountainside. Many armed guards stood outside, some of which looked like the creature Damon had killed in her house.

  Two of the men grabbed Bram, who was bound at his wrists and ankles, by the elbows and drug him across the floor. They threw him to the floor in a small room, laughed, then shut and locked the door.

  The room was pitch dark and Ilisha could no longer see anything.

  Bram pushed her out with such intensity that she fell back against the couch.

  “Why did he do that?”

  “Because he knew you couldn’t see anything and if you stay to long they will know what we’re doing. He’s smart.”

  “So how do we find him?”

  “I need to find out what that facility is.” Damon stood up.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “Let’s go.”

  He walked out her back door. It was dark now. Damon unfurled his wings and Ilisha gasped. His shirt was customized to allow this. His magnificent body glowed in the moonlight.

  Bram’s wings were pure white. Damon’s were pearl. Different colors shimmered and sparkled with each little movement of his body.

  “How do I know you didn’t have him taken?” she asked.

  “It’s true I’m not fond of Bram right now, but I’m also his prince and I have a responsibility to find him.”

  Ilisha looked in his eyes to see if she could see any sign of deception.

  “You can stand here all night, or take my hand.”