Blackthorns of the Forgotten

by Bree T. Donovan

  “Yes, senhor. I will make sure he remembers from now on.”

  The well-meaning guitarist mussed Gillean’s hair with his hand. “You mind your pai, Gilberto.”

  Gillean would have gladly traded his formal and demanding father for the passionate, gypsy musician, if only he had the chance.

  “See you soon, Ernani!” Gillean called out. “Save my place!”

  The man had taken up his guitar and was moving on.

  “Your place is with me and your family,” his father reproached. “You must learn that family and respectability always come first. That is the true measure of a man. No matter what else is in your heart.”

  Gillean jerked away. “Voce nao me compreende, pai!”

  “I’ve asked you to speak English to me, Gillean.”

  “You don’t know me, or my heart!”

  The rebellious Gillean translated the statement only in his mind. To further anger his father would only bring unwanted repercussions.

  “I forget where I am sometimes, father,” he said. His expression was both innocent and shrewd.

  “I shall have to remind you. Starting tomorrow, you will be working with me on the dig for the next week.”

  “Why don’t you hear me? Why don’t you know me?” Gillean shouted after the man who had started the walk back to their home.

  Gillean turned his head from the window, and away from the hurtful memory. He wondered why he could muster the nerve to stand in front of strangers, night after night, baring his soul to them through his music. But he never found the courage to ask his father the one simple question that besieged him day after day.

  “Do you love me, Da?”

  Payment

  “Nothing could have kept me from you tonight.”

  Gillean kissed her face and neck while she unbuttoned his shirt, running her fingers the length of his chest and sending shivers down his spine.

  “I’m so glad. I was afraid you might have changed your mind about me,” she cooed.

  He brushed her hair with his hands. “Just forget what I said earlier. I don’t doubt you, Ciar. I need you, so much.”

  He unlaced the front of her dressing gown.

  The golden guitar vase crashed to the floor, sending water and shards of gilded glass to the Persian carpet. Gillean jumped back, releasing Ciar from their half-dressed embrace. The CD player spontaneously began to fill the room with music; an artist of legendary status. Gillean had idolized the American singer-songwriter like most teenage boys of his generation. Oddly, the voice was familiar enough to Gillean, but not the words.

  I know you can feel me

  I’ve long since realized.

  You know I can read you

  Cause you’ve seen me in your eyes

  “What the hell?” Gillean spun around the room.

  “You didn’t come alone, did you?” she yelled at him over the music.

  “What? Of course I’m alone! Who did you think I would bring with me, the Queen of England?”

  He fumbled with the player, but had no success in shutting it off.

  Who is this mystery that stands before me?

  A beggar, a fool, a fantasy?

  You hide in the darkness

  Afraid of the light

  But you are not free

  Until you make it right.

  The singer continued his musical accusations. Ciar pounced on the CD player sending it smashing like the vase to the floor. Gillean didn’t have time to react as she furiously crossed the room and took him into her arms, squeezing him with the twisting and irresistible grip of a python.

  His eyes widened as her grip tightened.

  “You brought the angel with you, didn’t you?” she spat.

  “Ciar…please, let go…” He feebly struggled against her. “I…can’t…breathe.”

  “You brought Sully here to trap me.” She squeezed even harder.

  The pain in his chest was excruciating. His knees buckled. His voice was little more than a gravelly whisper. “No…I didn’t…Look around, he’s not here.”

  She relinquished her powerful grip only slightly, just sufficient to enable the interrogation to continue. “You fool. Who do you think tipped that vase and set off the music? Who else would be so determined to put a stop to us being together? I tried to warn you about Sully, but you wouldn’t listen.” She pulled him to her again with the force of a vise.

  The pain became even more extreme.

  “No…” he begged.

  “Shut up!” she screamed.

  A third voice cut through the air. “Stop it, Ciar! NOW!” Sully materialized like something out of a dream.

  She glared at him. “You can’t ask me to stop what you have begun, Sully.”

  Sully strode heatedly forward, clearly intent on protecting Gillean. “I didn’t begin this, you did when ya caught him in yer black net of lies.”

  “Caught him?” she chortled. “He begged me to take him in. And now he will beg me for his life.”

  The pressure in Gillean’s chest was too much. He felt as if his ribs were going to push through his skin. He prayed for unconsciousness so the pain would cease. His strength waning, he looked with dilated eyes at the angel. “Sully, please…”

  Gillean was sure he was hallucinating when Sully took hold of Ciar. She was like an open flame. As Sully gripped her arms to pry Gillean free, the pungent smell of scorched skin stung Gillean’s eyes, but Sully refused to let go.

  “That will do no good,” she said coldly. “My power comes from Gillean, from all he has done to hurt those he has loved in his lifetime—most of all himself.”

  The words came to Gillean through a haze of agony. He couldn’t make out what was happening to him. One minute he was about to make love to this woman, and the next she was slowly torturing him. How could he not have known of her potent combination of cruelty and strength? Why had he not heeded Sully’s numerous warnings? And what was it she said about it being his own fault by his misdeeds?

  Their voices traveled down a long tunnel, far away from where his mind was receding. The pain was abating at last. He was no longer in the room with them, but traveling down the cool and shadowy passageway. Voices echoed off the opaque walls, voices from his past.

  Was that his grandfather he heard?

  “Come now, Gillean, and I’ll teach you how to fly that kite properly.”

  The lads at boarding school taunting him.

  “Look at the poor little rich boy. Not enough money to buy a few extra inches, eh?”

  The screams of unknown fans wanting his autograph; Adara vowing to love him as her lawfully wedded husband, the cry of his only daughter taking her first breath of life, and the seductive voice of Ciar promising pure pleasure.

  Finally, Sully’s profound question the night he gazed devotedly into Gillean’s eyes.

  “Do ya see it, Gillean?”

  “This is not how it ends.” Sully forced the words out, but no sooner had he spoken, when Gillean fell to the floor with a deadening thud.

  ~~~

  Sully dropped down beside Gillean, placing the back of his blistered hand over the man’s heart. There was barely a rhythm.

  He addressed Ciar keeping his eyes on the musician’s ashen face. “I know ya don’t have the power to do this, Ciar, not even you can take a life.”

  “You don’t think so, little boy?” She stood above him gloating.

  “No, I don’t.” He took his hand from Gillean and rose to face her.

  “Alright, I won’t play ring around the laurels with you.” She rested on the bed, uncharacteristically covering up with a robe. “I have the advantage now, as he made the choice to abandon everything for me tonight. But it gets even better, you see,” she sneered.

  Ignoring the throbbing of his severely wounded hands, Sully sat down defiantly next to her. He’d already seen the worst. He was resolved to do what he must in order to bring Gillean back. Sully surmised this was what Ciar had depended upon.

  He wasted n
o time. “Let’s have it then.”

  “It’s not so complicated really,” she replied amiably, swinging her legs over his. “Poor, desperate Adara tried to tell you what she had done for Gillean, but couldn’t bring herself to. Perhaps she was worried that she would disappoint you. She quite fancies you, Sully.”

  “So yer just gonna spin more of yer lies?” he snapped.

  “I’m not blind to the truth as others might be. You were the one who left Gillean. You were the one who forced him into my bed. You’re lucky I even want to help you now.”

  “Considerin’ ya ran me over, you’ll forgive me if I don’t take yer offer to help as bein’ genuine.”

  “Yes, that’s right, because you interjected yourself into my business and his life. You took my letter, remember? I was simply the means of your punishment. But maybe if you would have waited around for Gillean…”

  Sully was growing nervous the more time Gillean spent unconscious. “What is it yer after?” he demanded.

  “What is rightfully mine, of course.”

  “As if ya had a rightful claim to anythin’.”

  “But I do, free and clear. What Adara neglected to tell you, or her dutiful husband, was that she made a deal with me. She came to me of her own accord.”

  “Adara wouldn’t ask you for the time of day.”

  “You don’t know the lengths a needy woman will go to. But as I said, if you play your cards right tonight, you might find out first hand.”

  She stretched out her legs and threw her arms around his shoulders, as if she were about to begin an innocent bedtime story. “A long time ago, Adara came to me. I was a successful and influential French businesswoman. Once Mrs. Faraday got wind of what I could do for her, or rather for her new husband, she asked for my assistance in getting Gillean’s musical career started.”

  “That’s utter—”

  “Naturally, she wanted this kept between just her and me—didn’t want to hurt dear Gilly’s pride, you understand.” She placed a hand to her cheek, appearing deep in thought. “As I recall, her exact words were ‘I know you and Gillean were once lovers. If you help him, and he wants to be with you, I won’t stand in your way. I want what he wants, his success. He’s worked so hard for it. I’ll do anything if you would just give him a leg up.’” She sniggered, her black eyes dancing with mirth. “Can you believe Adara actually used those very words?”

  He fixed her with a stony stare.

  “I didn’t take her up on the offer at the time—to have Gillean, I mean. But I did manage to whisper in a few of the right ears and secure his first recording contract, signed, sealed, and delivered. He never knew who was behind it.” She tossed her golden head towards Gillean’s prostrate body.

  “Fulsome little man always believed it was his talent that opened the door.”

  “It was his talent!” Sully retorted over the relentless pain of his burned hands. “Ya expect me to believe yer little fairy tale?”

  “That’s entirely up to you. Didn’t you just claim that I don’t have the power to take a life? You’re correct, I don’t. Not unless someone offers it up.” She pointed to Gillean. “Well, look at him. There is your proof. His wife offered him to me, you rejected him, and he willingly gave himself to me, and now I wish to keep him.”

  She took a weighted breath before placing her trump card between them. “It doesn’t matter to me if I get him in this life or the next.” She eyed him with curiosity. “You really don’t know how strong the connection is between the two of you? You don’t know what you’re leaving did to him?” Ciar stoked his leg, her hand coming to rest on his knee.

  “Poor Sully. You don’t understand humans at all. They lack courage. They will do anything to fill the great void and evade suffering. I am so strong because they are so weak, and little twits like you get squished underneath my fingers.” She gave his knee a stiff squeeze.

  “Look at where your dedication to selflessness has gotten you. Gillean chose me over his wife and you.”

  He shook her off, rising from the bed, careful to keep his hands and face from her. “Right. Since I’m obviously of no use to ya, or Gillean, I’ll just be on my way then.”

  “Give my condolences to Adara.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Go ahead. But once you take your leave, there will be no second chances for your soul mate. He won’t be making any miraculous reappearance like you.”

  Soul mate. The words filled his heart with longing. A yearning he was certain no angel should harbor. He had to keep his wits about him. He could show no signs of weakness for Gillean’s sake.

  “Ya won’t let him die,” he said coolly. “What purpose would that serve?”

  She stepped over Gillean, the lace of her robe brushing against his colorless face. “I dare say. I’m actually proud of you, little boy! Yes, why should you be the one to pay for Adara and Gillean’s foolhardiness? Save yourself. Good on you.”

  Sully tried to keep his voice from quavering. “And ya mean to do what with Gillean?”

  “His body may be mortal, but let’s not forget, not so his soul. Didn’t they teach you in angel school that if a human surrenders his soul, there is no going back?” She forced him to face her fixing him in a victorious stare.

  “Gillean never willingly handed his soul over to the likes of you.”

  “I beg to differ. Gillean sealed the deal himself.” She circled him like a druid’s fire. “More to the point, he disowned you, his soul mate, so he could have the freedom to be with me. It’s not my fault he was stupid enough to choose a demon to give himself to. I should think the question you ought to be asking is, why?”

  “Because yer an expert at distorting the truth.” His eyes didn’t leave her impertinent face.

  “Ah, you regard the truth so much, here’s a whole heaping of it for you to choke on, ignorant angel.” She all but spat at him. “You took Gillean to the precipice, and then asked him to jump, but you weren’t there to catch him. Even you can’t deny that is the truth of the matter.”

  She was correct; this loathsome, perfidious being had ensnared Gillean in a net not entirely of her making. The singer had provided her with rope woven from his unattended heart. Sully tried to save Gillean from a love he did not understand and grant him time, but instead he walked into Ciar’s trap.

  Sully glanced once more at Gillean—still as a stone, a tormented expression frozen on his face. Sully knew all about the shadowlands the musician now walked. He knew the place where the grainy earth shifts under one’s feet like quicksand, every step closer to nothingness. Where the stagnant air is weighted with the stench of decay and the infinite sky is devoid of all color or light. The only sound coming from the inner voice, screaming for help over the persistent din of the roll call of past sins.

  “Silver wings and steel guitar strings,” Sully considered. Sod Gillean for being so pigheaded. He turned his back on his charge—the man he was entrusted to guide and assist. Gillean had insisted on isolation so that he could be with Ciar. What action could Sully take now? Gillean had already made his decision. He no longer trusted Sully.

  Sully thought of Adara and how fragile her life had become. She had carried the awesome weight of her secret for so many years. She wanted to be free from it. Sully could feel that as acutely as the burns on his hands and his love for Gillean. He had his answer.

  “I suppose ya have an offer to put forth.” He dreaded her response.

  She sat down on the bed once again, speaking in the brusque tone of a businesswoman. “You will have to remain human once and for all. You will have no powers, no connection to anything other than your fellow human beings.”

  “Why this?” he asked.

  “Because Gillian has wished that you could know what it was like to be a real man. He believes that if you knew what it was like to live a life closer to his own, then you would have better understood him and judged him less harshly.”

  Sully looked at her askance. “And why would ya ca
re about what Gillean wants?”

  “Despite what you may believe, I do have my own limits. As I said, I derive all my power from the souls I encounter. My granting his desire is what keeps him tied to me.”

  “So, if I become human, you still have yer bond with Gillean. Where’s the pay off?”

  “I may exchange one life for another. You taking on humanity will restore Gillean his. That’s the deal. You want to haggle with me?”

  “And what kind of life will he have tied to you?” Sully dipped a toe in the water of her patience.

  She grinned generously. “Firstly, he will have no memory of what has taken place here tonight. He will wake in my bed, and will only remember what happened up to the point where he came through my door, nothing else. All the problems he has with his wife will still be present. He may not however, receive any help any intervention from you.”

  She paused, presumably to give him time to digest what she had said thus far. She seemed to feed off his pain. She continued her exposition. “He will have no memory of you whatsoever. And you must never communicate with him.”

  The clock struck eleven, its toll like an omen.

  “And one more thing,” she added lightly. “My women’s intuition tells me that Adara will be coming for you soon enough.”

  “Only because you will have manipulated her.”

  “No, not me, dear child, but you. You have her head quite turned round. You’d best be mindful in how you…how shall I say, handle her.”

  “Leave Adara out of this.”

  “That pathetic creature will come to you of her own volition, I’m sure.”

  “And I’m sure I don’t trust ya as far as I could throw ya!”

  Trying to maintain composure was growing more difficult. He feared he would soon pass out from the pain of his burns.

  “Listen to me, you piece of wasted energy. You think you can read people’s hearts so well? You think you understand the people you care about and can protect them? Your faith in those humans and your nonexistent capabilities will bring you all down.”

  “Spare me the histrionics, Ciar. What do I need to do to keep Adara safe?”