Broken Butterflies

by Stephens, Shadow

  “Are you okay?” She gripped his head in both hands.

  “I will be,” he mumbled.

  John propped himself up against the wall and Ilisha handed him a kitchen towel to cover himself.

  “Thank you.”

  She went back to Damon, who was passed out. Slapping his face gently, she got no response. Ilisha turned and picked up the dagger. She wiped it clean and looked at her reflection in the gold blade. Running her hands along the flat end, her fingers jumped up and down along a pattern of ivy. The hilt was made of dark cherry.

  “Do it,” John said behind her.

  “Do what?”

  “Give him your blood to strengthen him.”

  She dug the dagger into her wrist and placed it over his mouth. His lips didn’t move. Ilisha pried his mouth open with her fingers and let the blood run down his throat. Damon’s blue eyes flew open and his hands pressed her wrist tight to his lips. When he began to moan her face flushed.

  She bent down to his ear and whispered, “I think that’s enough.”

  Damon got a hold of his senses and let go. Subtle teeth marks lined the cut. Ilisha wiped it clean and watched any traces leave her body.

  Damon shot up from the floor. He walked in the bedroom and she followed. He kicked the demon’s limp body with his boot. It flipped over on its back with the force. Damon leaned down and took the demon’s chin in his hand.

  “You tried to kill my wife, why?” he said, forcefully letting go. The demons head wobbled back and forth.

  “John, can I borrow a shirt?” he yelled out.

  “Of course, Majesty, although I don’t think they will fit.”

  Damon flipped through the hangers in John’s tiny closet. The best he could find was a t-shirt. He slipped it on and was annoyed that it was way too tight and short.

  “Help me get this thing out of here.”

  Ilisha nodded and yanked a blanket off the bed. They laid it out and rolled the demon onto it. Carrying it out stretcher style, Damon paused and picked up his dagger and thrust it between his belt and jeans.

  “Over there,” he said.

  They dumped the body on a fire pit. Damon went back to the house and got lighter fluid and matches. He doused the creature and ran the match across his pants, throwing it. Flames burst from the demons body.

  Ilisha backed up expecting an awful smell and she was glad she did. The smell of rotting flesh and infection lofted up with the smoke. The creature burned for all of five minutes and was a pile of ash.

  Damon took her face in his hands. “Thank you.”

  She looked up into his eyes and planted her lips on his.

  “Careful, I just drank your blood. I’ll take you right here.”

  “Sorry.” Ilisha licked her lips savoring his taste.

  “John’s going to need a place to hide out,” Damon said.

  Ilisha thought. “How about my mom’s.”

  Damon cocked his head. “I don’t think your mom would go for that.”

  “She may be uptight, but she also knows about angels and seems to have a liking for them. I think it’s perfect.”

  “Okay, you know your mother better than I do.”

  John had managed to get up and dress himself. “Thank you, Majesty.”

  “Now I know I can trust you.” Damon sat at the table. “We need to get you out of here, they’ll be back.”

  John nodded.

  “Do you think you can pack some things,” Ilisha said.

  “Yes, of course.”

  John dragged his feet to his bedroom.

  “Tell me about this dagger,” Ilisha said reaching around Damon and pulling it out of his belt.

  “It’s infused. It can be lethal or save a life. My grandfather made it for me before he died, though my father tried to take it.”

  “So how does it know what you want to do with it?” Ilisha ran her finger down the ivy on the gold blade.

  “It’s linked to me. When I stabbed John it knew I wanted him to live and sent protection through him.”

  “I used it to cut my wrist for you. How did it know what I wanted?”

  “Because you are also linked to me; your soul is part of mine.”

  “You’re a pretty lethal guy.”

  “What’s your point?” He leaned toward her and took the dagger stuffing back in his belt.

  “You’re hot and scary at the same time.”

  “I would never hurt you.” His blue eyes smoldered.

  Ilisha’s teeth ran over her bottom lip. “I…”

  “I’m ready, Majesty.”

  They both straightened up when John interrupted them.

  “Do you think you can fly?” Damon asked John.

  “I don’t think so, I need to transform for a while.”

  “Okay, just a second.” Damon was out the door and took flight in a blur. He was back a few minutes later with Ilisha’s car.

  Damon pulled up to the curb at Dena’s home. When they closed the car doors she looked out the curtains.

  “Ilisha, it’s late. Is everything alright?” She wrapped her robe tight around her and stood on the porch.

  “Yes. Go inside, I need to talk to you.”

  Damon helped John through the door and sat him down on the couch.

  “Ilisha, you look different.” Dena looked deep into her daughters eyes and gasped. “How?”

  “I promise I’ll tell you all about it, but not tonight.” Ilisha’s eye’s pleaded for Dena to drop it for now.

  “Mom, this is Father John. He needs a place to stay for a while.”

  Dena’s eyes looked over to the worn out angel. They held pity for the broken man. “Of course, we can set you up in the basement.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” John replied.

  Damon wrapped his arm around John and followed Dena and Ilisha down the stairs.

  Dena spread sheets and blankets across the old couch and tossed a pillow on it.

  “Mom, he’s worn out. He’ll…need to transform to regain his energy.”

  “Transform?”

  “Angels transform into butterflies to rejuvenate. I just didn’t want you to see this and freak out or try to kill him with a fly swatter.”

  “Yes, let’s not kill him.” Damon looked at them with a stern look, which made Dena take a step back.

  “He’ll be fine,” Dena said with a little nod toward John.

  Damon nodded. “I’ll see you when you get your strength back,” he said to John as they walked up the stairs.

  When Dena closed the door Damon turned to her. “Nobody is to know he’s here.” His eyes were stern.

  “I won’t tell anyone.” Dena promised.

  “He knows that, Mom,” and Ilisha gave Damon a cautionary look as they left.

  Damon opened the door for her and she flopped on the couch.

  “We need to transform too.” He slid the small shirt off and tossed it on the living room floor.

  She stood and slid her clothes off. Damon sat on the couch watching her with a lustful grin. He took her in for a second and followed.

  “Why did a king of the underworld attack John?” she asked.

  “That’s the big question. He also went after you when the fight was between us. This is a thought for morning.”

  Ilisha’s body was overwhelmed with the urge to shrink, so she leaned forward and bent her knees, placing herself in a balled up position. Damon mirrored her movements and within the next second both were butterflies.

  Looking out through butterfly eyes was different than she was used to. She needed to rotate them in her head to have the view a human eye would have. Damon flapped his wings and landed on the top of the table and she followed.

  His wings were opal colored. Iridescent colors of purple, blue and green splashed across his wings. Ilisha looked over at one of her wings. She was bright red, with purple spots.

  They woke the next night, sleeping longer than they intended. Ilisha concentrated on becoming larger. She stood in the middle of t
he floor feeling strong and refreshed. Damon landed on her toe and she wiggled it because his tiny legs tickled her. He stretched up, becoming himself again and met her lips. She wrapped her fingers in his hair and sucked in his flavor.

  Damon put his hands under her butt and lifted. She wrapped her legs around him, and he took her to the floor.

  Instead of grabbing on to things around her she grabbed onto him. When her hands dug too deep into his back he took them and held them over her head, pinned to the floor. Her hands white knuckled his as they both finished.

  He slid down her body and laid his head on her breasts.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said.

  “I can say the same thing about you. I love the color of your wings.”

  “Unless corrupt, all royals have opal colored wings in both forms. It’s from the power we hold.”

  “What a bragger you are!”

  She felt him chuckle. “Really, that’s why,” he solemnly tried to explain.

  “We need food,” she said as her stomach growled.

  “If you get dressed I’ll kill you,” he joked and stood holding out his hand to help her up.

  They walked to the kitchen and Ilisha stuck her head in the fridge. “Hhmm.”

  “We need protein,” Damon said pulling a bag of frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer.

  “You cook.” Ilisha sat on a chair and propped one foot up on another. She watched him walk around and grab a pan and spatula.

  He threw a few breasts in the pan and covered it. Damon lifted her feet from the chair and took their place.

  “You need to fly.”

  She sighed.

  “What are you so scared of?”

  “Plummeting to the ground.”

  He put her legs on the side of his and slid the chair closer. “This isn’t an airplane; you’re the pilot, so you have total control.”

  “What about the heights?”

  “If you’re in control why does that matter?”

  Ilisha thought. “I don’t know.”

  “After we eat, we fly.”

  Ilisha cut her chicken into tiny pieces and chewed slow. Damon eyed her. “It doesn’t matter if you take four hours to eat that piece of chicken, you’re flying.”

  “Fine, let’s go. I’m getting dressed first.” She pointed.

  “Well that sucks.”

  She sifted through the closet and found an old shirt. Damon ripped some openings in the back and slid it over her head. While she finished getting ready he dressed.

  He held her hand as they walked out the back door. Ilisha blew out a breath, and shook her hands loosely at her side.

  “You got this,” he said as his wings burst from his back.

  Ilisha concentrated on hers. She could feel movement and a twisting of muscles. Feeling her skin open without pain was an interesting sensation. Slight pressure spread across her shoulder blades and her wings burst from her back. She stretched the rest of her body out, smiling. Bram was right about one thing, her wings felt cramped.

  “My gosh, you’re beautiful,” he said kissing her.

  She inhaled deep and flapped her wings. Damon hovered in the air above her. When she felt her feet leave the ground she looked down.

  Even with having the gift of flight her entire life, Ilisha hated it. Damon has always tried to get her to fly, there were only a few times he succeeded. She knew this was necessary with an army of demons coming, and she needed the practice.

  Damon clasped his fingers in hers. Her wings swiped at the sky in long strokes and they shot across the sky. The cloud cover was thick and swirled around them.

  “Ever see Steamboat Lake?” he asked.

  “Of course I have,” Ilisha said.

  “But, I bet you haven’t seen it from the sky.”

  He tugged on her hand and they drifted through the clouds. The moon was full and reflecting across the lake. Damon dove down and she squealed as the speed hit her. They leveled out and Ilisha looked down at her reflection drifting across the still lake. She let her hand fall and skim the water. It was ice cold, but exhilarating.

  “Having fun yet?” Damon asked.

  “Oh my gosh, yes,” she replied smiling from ear to ear. Something had changed in her. She no longer felt fear of heights, but she couldn’t pinpoint why.

  As they rose in the sky their bodies twirled with each other like a dance. Damon took her higher and higher, above the weather and cloud cover and kissed her.

  “Now look down,” he said.

  Ilisha saw the world below her from thirty thousand feet. City lights twinkled and puffs of white lumbered by.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  When they landed in the yard Ilisha’s cheeks tingled from the speed and cold. “What happens if someone sees us?”

  “Ever watched the news when a town calls in a cryptozoologist? Strange, large, flying birds have taken over?” He exaggerated with his hands.

  She laughed.

  “They never find anything of course. We could always go invisible, but it’s dark and I think we’re okay.”

  She rolled her eyes and walked inside. When she flipped on the light to the kitchen Bram stood in the middle of the room. Ilisha took a step back, shocked. Damon rushed in and hit him in the chest with his body. They slid across the floor, Damon on top. Both angels knocked over the table and came to a stop when they slammed into the wall. Pictures rocked back and forth and fell on top of them, glass flying. Damon’s hand flashed back to his belt and grabbed the dagger. He held it to Bram’s jugular.

  “You don’t need that to kill me.” Bram said.

  Damon stood and placed his boot over Bram’s face, pressing it against the floor. “Why are you here, Bram?”

  “Azriel has an army of fifteen hundred demons and he’s coming for you.”

  Damon bent down and yanked him from the floor and shoved his back to the wall. “How do you know this?”

  “I saw it.”

  “I’d say you picked the wrong side to be on.” Damon’s neck veins stuck out as he spoke.

  “I came to warn you, so kill me if you’re going to.”

  Damon’s lips curled in a snarl. He brought his knee up and kicked Bram in the groin. “That’s for sleeping with my wife.” Bram fell to the ground wailing. Damon wasted no time and his boot made contact with Bram’s nose. Silver blood coated the wall. “Whose side are you on?”

  “Hers,” Bram gurgled out pointing at Ilisha’s.

  Ilisha leaned against the counter glaring down at the man who deceived her.

  Damon drug Bram across the floor and threw him into a chair using one arm. “Move an inch and I’ll slit your throat from ear to ear. When are they coming?” Damon growled.

  “I don’t know.”

  “When are they coming!?” Damon screamed.

  “I told you, I don’t know. They’re waiting until she looks vulnerable.” Bram turned to Ilisha. “From what I can see, she won’t be.”

  “You look at my wife one more time, you’ll regret it.” Damon’s eyes could kill him with one look.

  “I’m here to help you. I’ll fight with you to protect her.”

  “You broke your vow to me.”

  “I can’t help who I love?” Bram asked weakly.

  “Aahh,” Damon screamed as he curled his fist and knocked Bram in the side of the head.

  Bram turned his face away from Damon and spit a mouthful of blood on the floor. “They don’t know you’re here.”

  “How’s that exactly? Azriel saw me when he attacked Ilisha.”

  “I heard him talking. He said she must have another guard since I failed.” Bram wiped his mouth. “Does that mean you’re going to keep me alive?”

  “No. You betrayed me and my wife, not to mention your allegiance is broken.”

  “I pledge my allegiance to you, Majesty.”

  “Bullshit.” Damon punched him again.

  Damon wiped Bram’s blood, which had spattered onto his face with the bac
k of his hand. “You’re going to go back where you came from and bring me more information.”

  “I’m not in league with the demons.” Bram’s eyes flashed to Ilisha, then back to Damon with a glare.

  Damon brought his foot up and kicked Bram’s chair. It shot across the floor in a blur and smashed into the counter, shattering the cabinets and the top. Bram’s body bounced forward from the blow, but Damon was standing in front of him before he fell. He took his chin in his hand and clinched it, jerking his head up. Damon pressed his fingers into Bram’s neck.

  “Did you send a demon king after John?”

  From across the room Ilisha could feel Bram’s heartbeat pick up. “Oh my gosh.” Her hand went to her mouth.

  Damon knew at the same time, as his fingers were on Bram’s pulse. “Why?” he snarled.

  “I knew you had gone to him and I knew that as soon as he knew the truth he would help you. I can’t be without her.” Bram gargled.

  “You unimaginable monster,” Ilisha said shocked.

  “You knew I would come to help him, and hoped the demon would kill me as well. That would leave you with the girl, right?” Damon gripped his neck tighter.

  “I’m sorry,” Bram said with his eyes on Ilisha.

  “Did you know that the demon went after her as well? You aren’t good enough for death. I cast you out!”

  Light burst from Bram’s chest and he bled from every pore. He screamed as his skin turned black. Ilisha stumbled back from him, fear filling her eyes.

  Bram shot up from the chair. “Majesty,” he growled, his voice no longer the same, and bowed.

  He turned and was out the open door in two bounds. His black wings stretched and he looked once over his shoulder at Ilisha. A loud scream echoed around the neighborhood as he took off.

  Ilisha stood there stunned. Damon was on his knees, his head hung low.

  She knelt beside him. “Are you okay?”

  He breathed as though he had just been sliced across the heart.

  Ilisha crouched in front of him and put her hands on his face. “Damon, say something.”

  “I trusted him with my life and my soul.” His words came out in a stream of tears.

  Ilisha knew his soul meant her. Damon casting Bram out was far worse than if he would have killed him, it was the ultimate punishment.