“You, too? You are as much a traitor as Lucitari! And here I thought you both worthy of trust. You were family! But you are no more! Traitors! Just like Lore, both of you! Worthless traitors!” He gathered the lightning and thunder and attacked the home again, this time from all directions.
Lucitari and Terrus were ready. They defended without fail, throwing all he had attacked with back at him.
Acaelo was filled with rage. He threw his head back, bellowing to the winds and sky. Everything shivered in his wake. He focused completely insane eyes on his sister. “You will pay dearly.” Then he was gone, leaving behind a brutal, vicious storm.
Terrus left the ground and alighted on the deck. “Do you fear his retribution, Lucitari?”
“No. He can rage all he pleases. Without us all, there is no world, there is no life. He cannot destroy us.”
“But look what he’s done to Lore.”
Lucitari smiled sadly. “Which is exactly why I have bound to no one, and no one to me. He has no avenue through which to harm me.”
“It is time his reign was over. He is no longer capable.”
“I agree, brother. But, as with Lore when Acaelo sought to punish him, he cannot be destroyed. We need his power to balance us.”
“We must find another way. He cannot continue to harm innocents. He has lost all reason.”
Lucitari nodded.
“Will you be staying here tonight?” Terrus asked.
“I will. I have safeguards around this home and those who live in it. I can sense when Acaelo approaches. But he is too angry to depend on them this night. I shall be here until the sun arrives.”
“As will I.”
Chapter 13
Lily slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her mother. It’d been hours since the worst of the rain had stopped. Now there was just a light tinkling of raindrops on their roof. She made her way to the living room and unlocked the door. She peeked out in the still dusky light of predawn. Someone was there, she knew it.
Lily slipped outside and padded to the back of her house, where the largest part of their deck spread before her. She smiled when she saw the lady reclining on her mother’s favorite rocking chair.
“Hello!” she whispered excitedly, rushing toward her.
Lucitari was filled with joy to see the little girl running toward her. “Hello, Dan… Lily! You should be sleeping!”
“I was, but the storm was scary tonight. I like to watch them most times, but tonight it was very scary.”
“Yes, it was. But it’s alright, I was here to protect you.”
Lily noticed the lady looking behind her, so she turned around to see who it was. There was a man standing there, tones of warm light brown and pale green swirling around him, and he had soft green eyes like a fern in the woods. “Hello.”
“Hello. I’m very happy to finally meet you.”
“Who are you?” Lily asked.
“I’m Terrus.”
“Hello, Terrus. Do I know you?” she asked, feeling as though he was very familiar.
“He’s my brother. And my name is Lucitari.”
“Those are strange names.”
“They are very old names.”
Lily got sad. She looked up at the lady, Lucitari, her eyes filled with tears. “Do you know where my Uncle Lore is?”
“I do. Remember? You took a message to him for me.”
“Yes. I remember. But then he went away. He didn’t say goodbye or anything. And it’s been a really long time. And his Angel is gone, too.”
Lucitari reached out a hand swirling with deep blue mists. “Perhaps he didn’t say goodbye because he plans on being home very soon.”
“You’re kind of like him,” Lily commented.
“I’m very like him. And so is Terrus,” she indicated her brother still standing beside the railing watching them. “And so are you.”
Lily lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers, causing a light purple mist to waft away from her hand. She smiled sadly, then looked up at Terrus, who waved his own fingers and caused a pale green mist to waft away.
“When is he coming home?” Lily asked.
“I’m not sure, Lily. He has to find his way back, and as of yet, he’s not done that.”
Lily looked at Lucitari with tears in her eyes. “I miss him.”
“I do, too.”
“And do I,” Terrus added.
“Rest assured, he will find a way. He always does,” Lucitari promised.
Lily nodded, then started walking dejectedly back toward her front door.
“Sleep well, Lily,” Lucitari called softly.
Lily stopped walking and looked back at the pretty, blue lady. “You, too, Lucita…” She couldn’t quite remember the woman’s name, so she improvised. “Luci.”
Lucitari smiled widely at the name Lily’d called her when she was known as Danae. “I will.”
When Lily had made it all the way to her door and was preparing to open it and go back inside, Lucitari called out. “Lily, I will keep watch. There is no need to fear the storms, nor anything else. It is my responsibility to be sure you are safe with your parents here.”
“Thank you,” Lily answered.
After she went inside, Terrus turned to his sister. “Do you think she knows that it was you who placed her here?”
“No. She has no memory of us, nor what we are. Lore is an Uncle to her. And it is best that way. There is no reason for her to remember all the suffering Acaelo put her through. Had I had the courage then, I’d have stood up to him. I regret that I was not strong enough.”
“We were all intimidated by him. But you’ve more than made up for it,” Terrus said.
“Not even close, brother, but I will.”
“We will,” Terrus answered.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
~Lore ran his hands through his long dark hair for the thousandth time since he’d been wandering around in the endless hazy fog of colorless, tasteless, scentless, nothingness. The only breaks he had were sporadic clearings in that same fog, when he’d rush over to look below and hope to see anything familiar, anything to help him find a way home. Only each time he’d find Evangeline, another of their memories would be replaying itself. Those were the hardest times. Because he’d scream her name ‘til his voice left him, waving his arms maniacally, trying to get her attention. But it didn’t matter what he did, she was completely oblivious to him. Unbeknownst to her, she was reliving the past, day by torturous day.
Thankfully for Lore, they had all been good days, so far. He was watching their entire relationship play out before him. He’d watched the past version of himself going through the days, Evangeline at his side, wondering at her inherent goodness. Terrified that she’d find out about all he’d done. He watched himself drink himself into a stupor night after night, battling with insecurities that told him he should return her to her own kind. Save her from himself because he didn’t deserve her. But then she’d smile at him, kiss his lips. And he’d think, maybe, if I could just show her a taste of sin, she’d embrace it, understand it, and be more like me. He’d been wrong. So wrong. Rather than make her more like him, he should have been more like her. He knew that now. But it was all in the past — he was merely a spectator this time. No matter how many times he tried to shout at his former self to stop being a fool, his voice never carried far enough. So he’d just sat back and enjoyed the happy memories that were shown to him as Evangeline relived them. But he’d lived them, too, once upon a time. And he knew what was coming. He was dreading the bad memories, and he knew they were coming. He knew the night he left her to the impulses of the imps that lived to serve him was bearing down on them. And there’d be nothing he could do to stop it. He’d resigned himself to the fact that he’d have to watch it happen. But what he couldn’t accept was that she’d have to endure it again. No. He wouldn’t allow it. She was too fragile, her mind already broken just as her heart had been by his betrayal. He wasn’t sure how, but he was going to find a way.
He looked down at the crystals in his hand and gripped them tighter. He’d not let them go since he’d found them in his pocket. He kissed them, he rubbed them on his skin, he moved them from one hand to another, he pressed them against his heart, anything he could think of to keep them in contact with his body. Surely, some of the strength and magic captured inside them had to have rubbed off on him. He felt a slight breeze and snapped his head up to see where it came from. There, right there! He could see the fog clearing. He rushed over and fell to his knees to look down on whatever scene was unfolding for him this time.
He sobbed, screaming no, over and over again when he realized what day it was in whatever reality Evangeline was being forced to relive. This was the day. Tonight was the night. He would leave her just long enough for the imps to assault her. And he’d known they might. But he’d left her anyway. His selfishness at feeling inadequate had driven him to sacrifice the thing he treasured most — his mate’s love for him. He watched as Evangeline in her white cotton shift ran down the stairs of their fortress and into the yard that spread before it. He was there, working with a mare he’d decided to tame for her.
“Lore! She’s beautiful!” Evangeline cried, skipping to his side in the afternoon light.
“She is. Almost as beautiful as you!” he’d complimented.
Evangeline looked at him. Really looked closely. His beard was scruffy, his eyes bloodshot, his skin sallow and sickly. “Are you well, Lore? You look so tired. Perhaps you could rest a bit today?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” he snapped.
He didn’t want to tell her his appearance was the direct result of too much drink for too many nights on end. He’d not been able to claim her. He’d been able to, physically. But emotionally he was tied in knots. He’d not taken her as his wife. Bound her to him irrevocably. Each time he thought about it, he felt such an intense amount of guilt that he just couldn’t go through with it. He saw the way she looked at him, shielded her eyes from him, so he wouldn’t see her tears, her doubt. She doubted him. His love for her. Because he’d not yet claimed her. And if things continued as they were, he wouldn’t. And things would only get worse between them.
“You just look so strained,” she started.
“I’m tired. I’m strained. I’m always having to be conscious of the right thing to say, the right thing to do. Every damned thing has to be just perfect, or it may not be good enough for you! I’m not good enough for you! But I’m trying. Is it alright for me to be just a little tired, Evangeline, just a little strained? Is it?!”
Evangeline took a step back. His words were harsh, and she didn’t understand why they were directed at her.
Lore turned on her. “I said, is it alright that I’m a little strained?!”
“Yes,” she answered, on a whisper. “Of course it is.”
Lore sighed. He rested his head against the mare’s neck. He hadn't meant to snap at Evangeline. He raised his head and looked back toward her to apologize but she was gone. He looked around himself, but there was no trace of her. She must have run inside. He left the mare to graze on the front grounds of their fortress and went inside to find her.
He opened the massive door and looked around. “Evangeline!”
But she did not answer.
He ran the length of the great hall, then the entire bottom floor, kitchen, the keep, all of it. But she was no where. He ran up the stairs taking them two at a time, shouting her name, the fear in his voice now quite clear. But she was no where to be found.
He bolted back down the stairs and into the stables. He burst into the first stall he found. “Is my mate here?” he demanded of the imp there cleaning the stall.
“No,” he’d answered in a gravelly voice.
“Where is she?” he bellowed.
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Find her!” he’d demanded.
The imp scuttled away to gather his kin and search for the mistress of the fortress. They all watched her from afar. She was kind. She was beautiful and good. The times she came across them, rather than pull away in revulsion, she greeted them, gifted them with a smile. They couldn’t wait until their master finally claimed her, and then perhaps gave them a little taste as he was wont to do as a reward for their services to him.
Lore was combing the woods that surrounded their fortress when his servants finally came to him. “Sir, she is no place to be found.”
“She can’t have just disappeared!” he shouted.
“Why not?” the imp asked.
“What do you mean, why not?” Lore demanded.
“She’s an Angel, sir. Surely she can come and go as she pleases,” the imp answered, shrugging.
Lore was stunned. He’d never thought about it. She’d placed her hand in his and asked him to take her away, and he’d just assumed that she was like all the others, depending on him for everything, even transport from place to place. But his servant was right — she was a supernatural creature, just like he was. She could likely move about of her own free will. And had! “Son of a bitch!” he muttered and gathered his mists about him.
Moments later he was rushing across the tops of the tall grasses in the field he’d originally found her in. When he arrived, there was no one there. But still, he had the feeling he wasn’t alone. “Hello?!” he called. “Is Evangeline here? I’m looking for Evangeline!”
He waited, but there was no answer. He stomped closer to the tree line where the Angels had sheltered when he and Evangeline has first visited. “I’ll come back here every day until I find her! No! I’ll stay here! I will not give a moment’s peace until someone tells me where I can find Evangeline!” To make his point, he plopped down on his bottom, right there among the trees, crossing his arms across his chest.
Gradually he became aware of a soft glow approaching him through the trees. He focused a little more and realized it was an Angel, a very young one. And she was edging ever closer to him.
“She was here earlier. But she’s returned to your home.”
He jumped to his feet, startling her and making her move back from him. “Are you sure?”
The Angel nodded and faded from view.
“If you’re lying to me, I’ll be back! And I’ll bring imps!” he shouted. He waited only a second longer, and when met with total silence he misted back home. He misted straight to the great hall of his fortress. And there she was, standing before the huge fireplace they used to warm the stone walls and rooms of the fortress he called home.
He stalked toward her. “Where were you?!” he snarled.
Evangeline did not step back from him. Her heart pounded, she was a little intimidated, but she didn’t believe for one moment that he’d hurt her. “I went to visit my friends for a while.”
“Why? Why did you leave me? You do not ever leave me! Do you understand me?!” he shouted, grabbing her by the arm.
“Because I needed to hear a kind word. I needed to smile for a while.”
“And I don’t give you kind words? I don’t make you smile? Is that what you say?”
Evangeline hesitated. She looked down at her clasped hands in front of her. “Yes. It is what I say.”
“So nothing! Nothing I have done for you has been good enough to prove myself to you?!”
“I didn’t say that. You’re just so unhappy of late. No matter how I try, I can’t make you smile anymore. I can’t make you happy anymore.” She let her hands fall to her sides. “I can’t make you want me.”
Lore had lived a life of selfishness. One of women falling at his feet, glad for just one night. Males honored to drink at his side, be they human or not. Throngs of people spouting his name with joy. And this one, small female had him all undone. He’d never had to consider another’s feelings. Except for Danae, and she was a beautifully independent girl, even when she’d been a little child. But she was no longer a child. And she loved to spend time with her Aunt Luci, which freed up Lore’s time to do what he chose, now that she was older.
; “Can’t make me want you? Is that what you said?”
“Yes! It’s what I said,” she shouted back at him. “You told me you wanted me. You said we’re mates, that we belonged to each other. And when we first got home, I thought, how sweet, he’s taking his time with me so that I won’t be frightened. Only now, it’s apparent that it’s much more than that. You’re miserable. You don’t want me. And you don’t want me here. Yet here I’m stuck because I can’t go home. And I’ve no place else to go! Because I believed in you! I trusted you! And now I’m stuck being a burden to you because you’ve changed your mind and have to look at me every day!” she screamed. Her frustration spilling over in tears and anger.
Lore was angry. She’d questioned his love for her. She’d questioned the fact that they were meant to be together, and she’d inferred that she’d believed in him only to have him let her down.
He threw his head back and roared. Then he reached out, grabbing her by the arm and throwing her over his shoulder. His mists swirled angrily about him as he moved them to the bedroom he kept locked at the end of the hall furthest away from all the other rooms.
“You want to mate?! Let’s mate!”
He threw her down on a mattress covered only with a single sheet. As she bounced on the mattress, her beautiful white wings lifting up behind her to try to control her fall, he was already on her, reaching for her hand to hold her arm above her head while tying it to the bedpost with the ropes that were permanently fastened there.
She was crying, not sure what was going on.
“Lore, please,” she begged.
But he was too far gone. “I tried to protect you from me! I tried to be the best me that I could possibly be. But do you appreciate it?! NO! You appreciate nothing!” he bellowed, while reaching for her other arm and tying it securely as well.
“So, now, you get it! All of me! Everything you want! When you can’t look at me again, remember, you asked for it!” he screamed, reaching for her leg, though she tried to kick him away. He tied her very tightly in place with the rope that was attached to the bedpost at the foot of the bed.
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