by Maya Daniels
“Get him out, warlock,” I tell Thomas.
He waves his hands. I can see the straining of his muscles and his face, but nothing is happening. No one is coming through the portal. I can see that Meda can’t hold it open for very long, so I do the only thing I can think of, and I’m pretty sure you can already guess that it was stupid. Yes. I step through the portal myself. My plan? If the warlock can’t pull him out, then I’ll push him out and follow right behind him. Well, that was the original plan. As soon as I walk through the portal, while hearing Remi and Jezzinta scream “No!” on the other side, I realized my first mistake. I thought Derik would hang around the portal waiting to be rescued. My second mistake, if you were wondering, was forgetting that this is a realm of a fallen angel, as they call him, and it never occurred to me that he would take an interest in a human, or a witch in this case, because I’m staring right at him, standing there in all his beautiful, powerful glory with his arms folded across his chest. Shit! It looks like we’re in a sleeping chamber, because it’s a huge room with a big bed in the middle, and on it, Derik is sleeping while Lucifer looks like he was standing there, watching Derik. Well, until I decided to pop in, because right now he’s observing me with narrowed eyes.
“I came to take the human back,” I say stupidly, and point at Derik as if there were a bunch of them running around in this realm. Well, what else should I say? His power rises and crackles in the air like electric whips, but I don’t dare move or make another sound.
“Is that so?” he asks.
Up to this point, I’ve been in the presence of gods and goddesses, as you well know, but this is totally different. His power feels different as does his presence. It feels, hmmm, well, it feels more powerful, for a lack of a better word. It feels stronger.
“Well, yes. He was pushed through the portal, not of his own choosing but only because he was trying to help me. I came to take him back.” I try to explain. “It’s a good thing he’s still unconscious. He won’t remember anything,” I add helpfully.
Lucifer throws his head back and laughs. It’s such a joyous and beautiful sound unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, so I giggle a little. What? I couldn’t help it. You would’ve, too, in my place, trust me. At my giggle, he looks back at me.
“You are either too smart or too stupid, witch,” he says casually.
“Yeah, I wonder at times myself, to be honest,” I tell him truthfully. That makes him laugh again.
“Come.”
He starts walking away as if I have no choice but to follow. I’m contemplating grabbing Derik and bolting to the portal, but I don’t think I’m strong enough to do it fast. So, I follow behind him, praying Meda will be able to hold the portal a little bit longer. We walk through hallways made of stone like some medieval castle and I haven’t seen or heard anyone here so far.
“Do you live here alone?” I ask him. I don’t know why I asked, but I don’t like the silence around the angel. It feels like it’s choking me.
“Yes.”
That’s the only thing he says, and he looks at me over his shoulder. We keep walking and I’m hurrying my steps. He walks fast. I have long legs myself, but he, with his 6’ 8” height, has much longer legs. We enter a big hall-like room with a long wooden table and lots of carved armchairs around it. He sits at the head of it and points at the seat next to him “Sit.”
It’s an order, not a request, so I obey. I sit down, fold my hands in my lap, and stare at him like he is staring at me. He looks, well like an angel. What did you expect? I guess as messed up as my life is, at least I can look at all these beautiful creatures and admire them. I’m wondering if he can read my mind, because his eyes narrow while he is studying me. I raise an eyebrow in question, and he bursts out laughing again.
“I find you fascinating, witch,” he tells me after his laughter stops.
“Thank you,” I reply and I’m thinking, look at me, all proper and lady-like. I need to get out of here, like yesterday.
“I do apologize for coming here unannounced, I truly am sorry. I want to say it was not with ill intent, but I honestly need to take the human back. He never asked for any of this. He saved me once from thugs and this time tried to save me from a warlock. He only got thrown into a different realm as a reward.” I say the last part almost as a whisper. Poor Derik, nothing but bad things have happened to him thanks to me. “I do not mean harm and I do not wish to anger you. I just want to take him back to where he belongs.” I look up at Lucifer and I’m angry at myself that tears are pricking my eyes, but I can’t help it. He is studying my face while I speak and as I stop, his eyes soften.
“Don’t fret, witch, I’m not angry. I, too, am misunderstood,” he says with a sigh.
“Alexia,” I tell him.
“What?” he raises both eyebrows.
“My name. It’s Alexia,” I repeat.
“Defender,” he says thoughtfully.
“I would love to sit and talk to you, but I don’t think my friend will be able to hold the portal open for much longer. I need to go back,” I tell him sadly. “With the human,” I add in a rush. He smiles.
“She is not holding the portal open any longer.” Well, damn. I’m stuck here. My heart starts beating wildly.
“I am,” he adds, and my jaw drops while I stare at him. He laughs again. “I’m not the evil creature the humans make me out to be, Alexia.” He says my name with a lilt to his voice and makes it sound exotic.
“I am forever grateful for your kindness,” I tell him truthfully, at which he cocks his head to one side and looks at me strangely.
“How did you come to the conclusion that it’s kindness? I might ask for something in return.” At his words, I think of Sin and I shiver, which he notices, of course.
“Calm down, Alexia, I mean you no harm either,” he says.
“Well, that’s good to hear,” I say, more to myself than him.
“As you asked earlier, I live here alone, so I have a proposition for you.” He leans back on his chair. I hold my breath and wait. “I’ll hold the portal open and you will have dinner with me. After that, in return for your company, I will let you take the human back to your realm.”
“That’s it? I keep you company, have dinner with you, and you’ll let me and the human go back?”
“That is all. It gets lonely here sometimes, and rarely do witches decide to just visit,” he says ‘visit’ sarcastically, and I get the point. I did barge in here, after all.
“Okay, it’s a deal,” I tell him. “Can I at least let my friends know?” I don’t want them to worry and destroy the house in the process.
“They already know.”
I look at him. Is he telling the truth, or is he playing mind games? Well, it’s not like I can do anything at the moment, so I sit back as well and look around the room. There are tapestries hanging on the walls with intricate designs of scenes showing fights between angels and demons, gods fighting each other. Human armies, too. It’s like everywhere I turn, someone is fighting someone else.
“You don’t like the décor?” Lucifer asks, and I’m about to say it’s nice when he stops me. “You scrunched up your nose while looking at them,” he waves his arm, gesturing at the tapestries.
“Well, it’s rather gruesome, to be honest. It’d lighten up the place if you put some pictures of Aphrodite relaxing on a seashell, for example.” I laugh a little, trying to be funny since I just insulted his taste in decorating his home.
“She’s not exactly my type,” he says, and I jerk my head up to look at him. Shit. I really had to go there, didn’t I?
“Relax. Neither are you,” he adds, and I realize I’m clutching the chair with my hands, so I pry my fingers open one by one.
“Sorry, I’m a little jumpy,” I tell him.
“Yes, I can see. Who has frightened you so?”
I’m debating whether I should say anything, but at the last second, I figure why not? “Tiamat is looking for the potions so she can find t
he Tablets of Destiny. She killed my grandmother to find them and thinks I know where they are as well. She and her warlock have been after me,” I tell him honestly.
“Tiamat? She hasn’t given up yet, I see. I thought Sin hid those potions,” he says thoughtfully.
“Yes, he did,” is all I say. I’m not telling him that I know anything.
“There is something different about you, Alexia.” He is studying me again. “I can’t place it yet, but you are definitely different than any witch I know.”
“Well, maybe because I’m Inanna’s vessel,” I supply helpfully.
“Mmmm, I don’t think so,” he answers, shaking his head. I need to change the subject.
“When are we eating?”
He laughs at that. “You are that hungry, huh?”
I laugh with him. “Well, I came back from the beach, and swimming does make a person hungry.” As I finish the sentence, he waves his arm and just like that, the table is full of all types of dishes, from baked pastry that makes my mouth water to meats, veggie and fruit salads and seafood dishes. Everything in front of me looks so good, I didn’t know where to start, to be honest. Fresh baked breads were set around, bowls of sauces and gravy with little ladles were placed around the mashed potatoes and peas while pitchers of wine and water sat close to us where we could reach them. Everything smelled and looked wonderful.
“Go ahead, eat,” he says.
“Am I eating alone?” I look away from the piles of food to look at him.
“No, I will join you as well.”
He starts putting piles of food on the plate in front of him. I guess to be that tall with all those muscles, you need a lot of food. I join in on the piling and just before I take a bite, which he is watching like it’s the most fascinating thing, I stop with the fork in front of my mouth.
“I’m not going to get stuck here and not be able to leave if I eat anything, am I?” At that he roars a laugh so loud that it makes me jump. “What? I’ve read mythology, thank you very much,” I tell him while half laughing myself.
After laughing for a few minutes, he stops and looks at me, and his eyes are shimmering. “Obviously you have, Alexia, but they are just that. Stories.” He smiles devilishly, and I’m not sure I trust him. He laughs again, shaking his head.
“Eat, witch, I will not hold you here against your will. I must admit, you are good company and I regret making that deal already.” He winks at me and attacks his food. I shake my head and follow his example. We eat in silence until we are both full and sit back in our chairs.
“Well, for an angel, you’re a pretty good cook, I must say,” I tell him, and he smiles.
“Yes, I have slaved in the kitchen for you, m’lady,” he inclines his head regally, and I can’t help but laugh. I truly like the angel, there is something about him that puts me at ease. As much as I like him, I do need to get myself and Derik back.
“I truly enjoyed this, and I have no words to describe how happy I am that I’ve had the opportunity to meet you and speak with you,” I tell him, hoping he can hear I really mean it. “But I need to go back now. I hope Derik isn’t awake already,” I tell him.
“He is not,” Lucifer says, but now it sounds cryptic. I look at him and he is avoiding looking at me.
“He is alive, right?” My heart is in my throat, and I think the food is going to come out.
“Relax. Yes, he’s alive,” he tells me, and I sit back, taking a deep breath. I think that was a little too soon. “He might be a little different when he wakes up, but he is alive.” He looks sheepish.
“Different how?” My mouth is dry.
“He was awake when he came through the portal, so I restrained him to find out who he was and what he was doing here. And if I’m to be honest, he’s lucky I was bored, or he would’ve been dead.” I don’t doubt him for a second on that. “So he told me what happened and how he ended up here. He is very fond of you, you know,” he adds.
“Yeah, I know,” I sigh. That’s why he almost died, because of me. I don’t like myself very much at the moment.
“You see, I understand love, Alexia. So I gave him something. It is up to him to tell you, not me, but I do find the human mind fascinating,” he says, looking into the distance.
I want to ask more but he stands up and I do the same. We walk in silence back towards his chambers, but this time it is not a bad silence. I enjoy it. As we walk in, I see Derik sitting on the bed, holding the back of his neck with his hand. He jumps up when he sees me and runs, grabbing me in an embrace.
“Oh, thank God you’re okay,” he says, and Lucifer laughs from behind me.
“It’s not your God that saved her, human, and you’d better remember that.” He’s talking to Derik, but as I look over my shoulder at him, he winks. I guess his sense of humor is as peculiar as mine.
“We need to go.” I pull on Derik’s hand, and he follows me towards the portal. I push him through it first, and before I go through, I turn to Lucifer.
“Thank you very much for everything.” I smile at him.
“The pleasure was all mine, Alexia. And next time you go for a swim in the ocean, go a few miles out and sing. You’ll be surprised at what gets attracted to a beautiful song, especially one sung by the gift of the sea.”
He smiles, and my eyes fill up with tears from the sadness I see in his eyes. He knew everything the entire time I was here. He could’ve held me here and used me to get the potions and the tablets, but he didn’t. He even helped me figure out how to find the merpeople.
“Thank you.”
With one last look, I walk through the portal and it closes behind me.
13
I look around the basement and see Remi sitting there, leaning on Philip’s shoulder, both sitting on the ground with their backs against the wall. No one else is here.
“Where’s Derik? Actually, where is everyone else, and what’s Philip doing here?”
This feels like a twilight zone. Save one person and the rest go missing. My heart starts beating faster. Remi jumps up, runs and hugs me tightly while Philip gets up slowly, giving us space, I guess. Remi is shaking in my arms and crying now, I really am panicking.
“What happened, Remi?” I pull her back, looking into her eyes. Her eyes are full of tears, but she manages to speak.
“Derik went home and the girls are upstairs.” I stare at her. When did they have time for all that?
“And the warlock?” I give Philip a quick glance. I have no idea how much he knows or why he is here in the first place. “And why is he here?” I gesture with my chin towards him while talking to her.
“Thomas is gone. We tossed him off the property before he could get his powers back. We had no other option apart from killing him, for which I voted yes,” she says, daring me with her eyes to say something, but I wait to hear the rest. “But since I was outvoted, we tossed him out like the piece of trash that he is.” She finishes and rubs her eyes.
Philip comes up and rubs her back, and she leans into it. Did I come back to an alternate reality? Nothing makes sense. Derik probably couldn’t get away from here and from me fast enough. I can’t blame him. Any normal person would do the same. I look at these two, and I’m happy for them. If anyone can deal with Philip Stamelos, it’s Remi, and if anyone will have the balls to stand up to her fiery temper, that’s him. They really are a perfect match. I smile when they see me looking at them. I truly am happy for both of them.
“So how did everyone have the time...” I start, but Jezzinta cuts me off, coming down in the basement.
“Remi, you guys should go upstairs a little. I’ll keep watch for a while so all the good stays in da hood.”
She turns the corner of the steps, sees me standing there, and starts crying instantly, flying into my arms from the fourth step from the bottom. I catch her and we both almost end up on the floor.
“Easy, Jez, you’ll break me,” but she’s not listening to me. She’s hugging me tight and bawling her eyes out lik
e someone has died. Dread creeps into my stomach.
“Okay, enough with this shit. What the fuck is wrong with you guys? Is Meda okay?” And just like I’ve summoned her, she comes running down the stairs and repeats what Jezzinta did, jumping at me from afar. I’m confused as hell. Something is not right.
“If someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on, I swear, I’m going back where I just came from!” As I finish, all three of them yell “No!” and grab hold of me as if I really would walk through a nonexistent portal.
“Six months,” Philip says, and I look at him.
“Excuse me?” I wonder what he is talking about.
“You’ve been gone for six months, Alexia,” he says, and he looks tired. I look at my friends and they look like they haven’t slept for six months.
“How is that even possible?” I’m talking more to myself than them.
“I would’ve told you time is very different there if I had known you were planning on walking through the portal,” Meda says sadly, and tears are running down her face. Holy shit! I’ve been gone for six months. I’m so shocked, I don’t know what to say.
“And Derik?”
“He came through few days ago, waited as well, but we told him to go rest and we would call him to let him know when you came through. He thought we were lying because you were coming out right behind him,” says Remi. She’s changed, they all have. I can see it and I can feel it. I feel so bad, I have no words to tell them how sorry I am.
“Well, on a good note, I know how to find...” I stop and glance at Philip, “...what we need to find,” I finish lamely. I don’t know how much they’ve told him, so I’d rather not blab stuff out. See? I can learn!
“Let’s go upstairs and we’ll talk,” says Jezzinta, who is clutching my arm, cutting my circulation off, but I let her. I kind of feel like I want to do that, too, with all three of them, now that I know what’s happened. We walk upstairs and everyone spreads out to their usual places in the living room. It’s like our headquarters.