“Thanks.”
He put his hand on the small of her back and led her to the kitchen. As she sat at the table she thought of Bram. They had eaten meals together at this table. A sick feeling filled her as she felt the deceit that was the reality of their entire relationship. It made every moment they spent together seem like a joke.
“When do we go get Bram?” she asked grabbing a piece of toast.
“We need to go soon. I don’t think they will wait long to drain him.”
Ilisha swallowed hard.
“Eat. We go tonight.”
Tonight? “What’s going to happen once we get there?”
“You will do whatever I tell you to do. Since you’re insisting on going that’s the only way you’ll be safe. We’ll make a surprise attack. I wanted some extra man power, but we’re going alone.”
“Why couldn’t you get help?”
“Bringing anyone here from my army would alert every angel and demon around to my presence. For the moment I want that kept a secret.”
Damon stared at her from across the table.
“What?” she asked taking a bite.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
“I doubt that,” was all she could think to say.
His blue eyes pierced her. “I’ve never lied to you and I never will.”
“Look, I’m not going to lie. You seem so familiar to me, yet on the other hand you’re a complete stranger. I’m also not in a good place mentally right now.”
“I’m also not here to trick you.” He leaned forward on the table and looked in her eyes.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know you don’t trust me. I also know you love him.” Damon’s voice went quiet, almost to a whisper.
“Don’t try and make me feel guilty. I knew nothing about you or this other life.”
“No, but you do now and I intend to have you.” His eyes went up and down her again.
“Nice fantasy,” she said mocking him as she removed her plate to the sink.
Damon was across the kitchen in a blur, and was leaning against the sink before she took a step. Ilisha jumped in surprise.
“I also know what burns inside you for me; I feel it coming off you.” He stood so close they were touching.
“I’m not just going to jump in the sack with you. I don’t need another guy on my record that I had sex with and it didn’t work out.”
“Look at me.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her body to face him. Ilisha looked up into his eyes. “I am not just another notch on your belt. We are in fact married.”
“You can’t expect me to fall into your arms and be all lovey-dovey just because you say we’re married. I don’t remember any of this. You blocked my memories of it.”
“Not yet, but you will.” Damon smiled and walked to the living room. “Dress warm,” he shouted over his shoulder.
As night fell Ilisha grew more anxious. She began to pace waiting for Damon to give the okay to go.
He stood looking out the front door. As the sun hit the line of the mountains it caused bright orange and yellow rays to spread across the sky.
“Let’s go,” he said smacking his hands together.
He held his hand out to her and Ilisha reluctantly took it.
“Remember you agreed to do whatever I say tonight,” he cautioned.
She nodded.
Damon wrapped his arms around her. His body was firm and solid as she buried her face in his chest getting ready for the flight. She closed her eyes and heard his wings extend.
Just as before, he flew fast and hard, diving sharp into the mountain, and landing silently. Damon stood stock still and closed his eyes.
“There are lots of guards.”
Ilisha’s eyes darted around her, but saw nothing. “How do you know?” she whispered.
“I can smell them. Demons have a rot to them that permeates.”
“They rot?” Ilisha asked astonished.
Damon turned quickly toward her and she jumped back. In the dim light he looked ferocious. His six foot four inch frame of pure muscle was formidable. “No more questions. We need silence.”
“Sorry.”
He took her hand and they crept through the woods toward the building. Damon was silent in his movements. It was like he floated across the ground instead of walking on it. Ilisha on the other hand made leaves crunch and twigs break.
Damon’s arm swung around and made contact with her chest, pushing her back into a tree. He held up his finger telling her to stay there.
A shadow crept along the ground and Ilisha sucked in a breath. As it got closer Damon stood in its path. The shadow became a demon, just like the one Damon had killed in Ilisha’s hallway. Damon pounced on the creature and with one arm lifted it into the air by its neck. The demon began to kick.
“How many guards?” Damon growled as he glared at the demon.
The demon didn’t answer. Damon shoved his small body into a tree. “How many?”
“Thirty,” the demon scratched out.
“Thanks.” Damon still held him by the throat with one hand. He twisted his fingers and snapped the creature’s neck. Ilisha’s mouth fell open. He just did that with one fricken hand!
When the creature fell to the ground, Damon dragged it under some thick underbrush. As he walked back to Ilisha she looked down.
“What?” he whispered.
“I don’t know whether to be scared or in awe of you.”
He smiled and gave a little chuckle. “Shh.” Damon’s finger went to his mouth. He stood in front of her and gently nudged her back into the tree. His fingers traced down her neck and she felt her skin rise. His lips barely brushed hers as he spoke. “I would like nothing more than to take you to the forest floor and have you.”
She didn’t reply. Her body was stiff with tension and her mind conflicted. No logical reason presented itself as to why she wanted him. She hardly knew him, yet she burned for him. The fact that he was well aware of it unnerved her. Ilisha knew she had never been one to sleep around. She only felt this way when she was deeply in love, but how could that be?
“I think we need to get Bram,” she finally said.
He grinned and backed off, looking amused.
“What’s so funny?”
“No matter how you try to deny what you feel, you and I both know you’ll be mine. Our destinies have always been one.”
Before she could respond he took her hand and led her closer to the building.
A concrete door frame jutted out of the mountain side. On either side stood two guards, they were staring right at them. Damon rushed forward and annihilated them the same way he had the demon in the brush. Once again he dragged their tiny bodies and hid them.
I’m married to Rambo, Ilisha thought to herself as she went forward.
The door was equipped with a touch pad. Ilisha stared at it wondering how they would be able to decipher the code. Damon yanked the keypad off the cement wall like it was nothing more than a piece of gum. Concrete crumbled to the ground and wires exploded from a hole the size of a softball. He squeezed his hand around the box, turning it into a pile of plastic and wire before he tried the knob. At first, the doorknob stiff from being locked and then spun under his forceful grip. And he can disable alarm systems with brute force.
Once inside, a long hall was lit by a single light bulb overhead. Everything looked foggy and it was hard to see any distance. Ilisha clutched Damon’s hand as they walked.
The hall curved and Damon peered around the corner. “Stay here,” he whispered bending to Ilisha’s ear.
She pressed herself to the wall, but leaned forward and peeked around the corner. Two more demons were blocking another door. For the first time she noticed their legs resembled that of a horse’s hindquarter. Hooves clapped against the concrete floor as they moved. With arms as thin as bones, their legs looked out of place with the huge bulge of muscle.
As Damon ap
proached them they spun around. A feral growl came from one. It bore its teeth like a dog and leapt. Ilisha flinched as the sharp daggers dug into Damon’s neck. He didn’t scream or flinch, rather he looked mad as hell. He grabbed the demon by the patch of white hair on its head and yanked it off. Silver blood ran down and soaked into his shirt. Damon turned his head at the stain and glared. Swift and silent he broke the creatures neck. The second one quickly met the same fate.
He motioned for Ilisha to come to him. She looked down at the creatures, trying not to step on them.
“You have a thing for breaking necks.”
Damon smiled. “It’s quick and silent.”
She couldn’t argue.
They pushed another door open. What lay before them made Ilisha want to vomit. The room was filled with cots, each had an angel tied down and hooked up to machines that drew out their blood. Some looked weak and on the verge of death. Canisters collected the silver blood. It dripped at a rapid rate, quickly filling each container.
Ilisha made a move forward. Damon grabbed her arm. “We aren’t here for them.”
“I can’t just leave them to die.”
“Yes you can. If you want to get Bram we need to leave them. If you unhook them most will die anyway and every guard around this place will know we’re here.”
“But…”
“Listen to me.” He took her head in his hands and forced her to look up at him. “The angels that run this place are very powerful and know lots of people. If you think Bram is in trouble now there will be hell to pay if we cause them to lose out on their profits. They also have no idea I’m here. We need to keep it that way, for now.”
Ilisha nodded. She didn’t like it, but had no other choice.
They walked through the rows of beds looking for Bram. Every angel had string laced through their lips, ensuring they could not scream. Their eyes widened when they took in Damon. It was a mixture of fear and surprise.
None of the beds held Bram.
“He’s not here. We need to go.” Damon took her hand, but she planted her feet.
“What else is in this building?” she asked looking around.
“Angels that will kill you. We need to go. If he were here he would be tied to one of these beds.”
She still resisted so Damon picked her and carried her out. He was much stronger, so fighting was a moot point.
When they reached the door in the hall he shifted Ilisha to one side and grabbed the two demon bodies he left. He gathered their clothes in his fist and dragged them as if all the weight had no bearing on him.
Once back at the house Ilisha drilled Damon.
“Why do you say those angels don’t know you’re here? I’m sure Azriel told them.”
“Even Azriel wouldn’t be that stupid.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just spit it out.”
He smiled crooked and cocky. “I’m more powerful than most angels because of my rank. Azriel knows he would die.”
“So why haven’t you killed him for coming after me. Apparently you can just snap his neck.”
He sat on the couch and placed his long arm across its back. “There’s a slippery slope I’m walking on. You’re my wife and he wants to kill you, so yes I could easily kill him. On the other hand he has every right to kill you. Bram interfered with fate and he has the right to get justice.”
“You’re mind boggling.”
“Like what you see?” He raised his eyebrows at her.
“That wasn’t a compliment. You’re basically saying if it benefited you I could die and that wouldn’t be a problem.”
He slid off the couch in a blur. Standing close to her he said, “You think I would let someone kill you?”
“Yes. I do.”
“You have never been more wrong in your life.”
“Oh please do explain.” Her hand was on her chest as she spoke, giving her best breathless expression.
He grabbed her by the waist and tossed her on the couch.
“Hey,” she said forehead crinkled in irritation.
Damon came over her. “Don’t resist me,” he whispered in her ear.
She pushed against him to no avail.
“I won’t have sex with you, trust me.” His breath brushed against her neck giving her goose bumps.
Damon waited until her body relaxed and his lips covered hers. They were soft and urgent. She could feel that he was more than ready to take her clothes off, but she trusted that he wouldn’t. His fingers rested on her temples and he continued to kiss her. As his body pushed her into the couch a vision played before her closed eyes. “This time I show you my memories.”
Once again she was with Damon in her other life. He was telling her he didn’t want her to go and live a human life, but she had to. “It’s the only way I can protect you.”
“I’ll have Bram with me. I’ll be fine.” She smiled despite the fear she felt. “Why is this happening?” She took his hand and pulled him down to the cool, green grass.
“My father is a fool to think I would marry anyone but you.”
“Maybe she would be better for you.”
He took her chin. “Don’t ever say that.”
“Sorry, but…”
Damon’s hand pushed against the center of her chest, and she laid on her to the ground. He removed her shirt and placed his mouth over her bare breast. She moaned in the vision and in real life. Ilisha felt his lips curl in a smile.
When he entered her Ilisha’s eyes bulged. She didn’t think he was actually going to let this play out. Damon chuckled and let the vision change. Ilisha knew he only showed her this to get under her skin.
In the next vision, she wasn’t with him. He stood in a stone building facing a much older angel.
“Father, don’t do this.”
“She isn’t the one for you. That girl must not come back.”
“You’ll curse her with an earthly immortality to spite me?” His eyes flashed anger.
“It’s best for everyone.”
“No, it’s best for you!”
Damon lunged at his father and brought him to the ground. The two men punched and kicked each other, moving fast as lightning. Damon broke away and stood.
His father scrambled to his feet. “You dare disobey me!” he screamed.
Damon’s neck veins popped out and his face went red. He gripped his father’s shirt and shoved the old man into a stone wall. His hands pulled something out of the back of his father’s pants. Damon knocked his father’s feet out from under him. With the old man down on the ground Damon held a large dagger to his throat. “I love you father, but I can’t let you take her from me.” Damon shoved the blade deep into the angel’s trachea. Silver blood poured out of the wound and the old man gurgled before his eyes closed.
Damon rose. His hands were shaking and he wailed. Tears drenched his cheeks. He extended his wings and picked up the limp body and he flew quite a distance carrying its weight. He landed in a forest of giant pine trees, their strong scent laid heavy in the air. Utter silence filled the forest as his hands dug into the earth. Once the hole was deep enough he placed his father inside. He took a large ruby ring from his father’s finger and began to sob again. It was several minutes before he could compose himself enough to fill in the hole.
Meticulously he evened out the dirt and covered the spot with pine needles. It looked as though the ground had never been disturbed.
The vision shifted again. Damon bowed before a woman.
“Mother, here is his ring. It’s over.” He reached up placing the ring in her palm.
The woman fell to her knees and took the ring into her shaky hands. She held tight to her son and cried onto his shoulder.
Damon’s fingers left Ilisha’s temples and the vision faded. He was still kissing her. Losing herself in the vision, she didn’t realize their lips were still locked. Ilisha was kissing him back with tons of passion. Forcing her mind to focus, she pulled away.
“You killed your own father?
” she asked softly.
“I had to in order to protect you. So, please don’t tell me I would let you be killed by some psycho like Azriel. If you were coming back to me because of your fate from Azriel’s hands, then yes I would. He messed the contract up, so this is a completely different situation. I came because I saw what Bram was doing and was enraged. He put you in danger, not to mention the fact that he’s banging my wife.” The last part was said with such venom, spit flew from his lips.
“Why would you risk so much for me?” Her hand went to his cheek and she rubbed it with her thumb.
“My father was wrong. There is no limit on love. He was also very corrupt, it was better for everyone if he died.”
“Couldn’t he just be cast out?”
“Yes, but he was still loved by some in the kingdom. Killing him was the most merciful thing I could do. Our kingdom was being turned into a corrupt state, those that followed him would seek revenge if I cast him out. I just wanted it to end.”
“Who did he want you to marry?”
“He wanted me to marry the daughter of Duke and she only wanted me for the power she would gain as my wife.”
“Who was my family? Why didn’t your dad like me?”
“Your father was my dad’s biggest enemy. He had more power and a larger kingdom.”
“How do you and Bram still have wings and powers and I don’t?”
“Because I sent you here to live as a human to protect you. I put the veil across your eyes. That’s why only I can help you remember. Bram chose to fall and come to live in this life. I didn’t need to fall. I came in all my glory.”
“Can you go back?”
“Yes, if I chose to. My kingdom is still mine. As far as I’m concerned I came here to take care of Bram, who betrayed me.”
Ilisha fidgeted with her shirt. “Are you really going to kill him?”
Damon pushed himself up from her. “I don’t know what will happen yet. Why, do you love him?”
The question caught her off guard. She sat up and turned to face him on the couch, crossing her legs. “Because for the first time in my life I felt like someone truly loved me and genuinely cared for me.”
“The first time in this life,” he corrected.
Broken Butterflies Page 15