Chapter Eight

They were in a new city a couple of days later, waiting for Dante to check them in at a small motel, when there was a flash of white light. It happened faster than Abby could track, but she knew she was in danger. Something in her mind recognized the flash even if she didn’t know why it was a risk to her. She reared back instinctively, barely missing the kiss of a sharp blade against her throat. It nicked her collarbone instead, and she stumbled back with a cry that alerted Mal and Brax.

They surged forward, their wings temporarily appearing as they retrieved their swords before they phased them out of visibility again.

Abby stood back, feeling useless as the two men fought with the other two. The ones who’d appeared in the flash of white had a different kind of light emanating from their chests. She could see a small glow with a red tint when she looked at the demons, but the light coming from these two was so bright it almost seared her eyes, though she was certain she had seen it many times before. It reminded her of the two angels she’d seen at the diner that first day of traveling with the demons.

She wondered if they were angels, and it seemed like it since they were trying to kill her. If they had been demons, they would’ve taken her without trying to kill her. They certainly weren’t human. That was easy enough to determine by how quickly they moved, not to mention their unexpected entry with a flash of light, and their bright white auras.

She pressed against the building, watching the fight take place. She managed to tear her gaze away long enough to look around, seeing a couple at the other end of the parking lot watching with their mouths agape. For her part, she’d yet to see a sword fight during her time on Earth, so she imagined it was uncommon to the humans nearby as well.

The woman who was part of the couple screamed, and Abby looked back in time to see Mal driving his blade through the glowing chest of one of the attackers. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but the body simply vanished with a spark of white light. Seconds later, Brax dispatched the second one as Dante came running.

“What happened? Are you all right?” Dante was beside her, appearing frantic.

Abby managed to blink and clear away some of her fear. “I think so.” She touched her shoulder, and the wound was deeper than she’d realized. She winced both at the pain and the way her fingers came away wet and slightly sticky with warm blood.

Dante was scowling now, his gaze focused on her wound. “What did they do to her?” He asked that question of Mal.

“The angels appeared out of nowhere. If she hadn’t moved as quickly as she did, he probably would’ve cut her throat.” Mal sounded enraged.

Abby was enraged herself, along with shaken up, and she glared at the place where the two angels had been. “I don’t understand why they’re coming after me. I don’t remember anything.” She was uncertain if she had done something wrong, but that didn’t feel right to her. Abby was reasonably certain she wasn’t the kind of person who would’ve done something to end up on an angels’ hit list, but clearly, she must have.

“We’re going to try to figure that out, but in the meantime, we need to keep you safe.” Brax returned his sword to his scabbard as he spoke, moving closer as he darted a glance at the couple who’d witnessed the whole thing. The woman seemed almost in shock, but the man was on the phone.

“I know you just checked us in, but I think we’d better go elsewhere.” He jerked his head in the direction of the couple. “I’d imagine he’s calling the human authorities right about now, and if they believe his story of sword fights and two people appearing and disappearing in a flash of light, they could come at any moment.”

“I think they have to investigate either way,” said Dante, still sounding a little shaken himself, though he had missed most of the action.

“Come on, Abby.” Mal put a hand on her uninjured shoulder, directing her toward his bike. She found it awkward to cling to him with her collarbone injured.

“Hang on.” As he spoke, Dante came over and put his hand right on her wound. He ignored her gasp of pain as she tried to wrench away. “Hold still.” There was more than a little bit of impatience in his tone, and he continued to focus on whatever he was doing.

She yelped at the sharp sting of pain that went through her, followed by a wave of heat. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but it wasn’t something she’d want to experience again. He lifted his hand just before she insisted he do so, and she looked down in surprise. The fabric of her blouse was still cut and covered with blood, but the skin underneath was completely healed. She frowned at him. “You healed me?”

He shrugged. “It’s something I can do sometimes.”

She was feeling doubtful. “It doesn’t seem like an evil power.”

“We aren’t evil, and not all angels are good.” Dante seemed to think that was the end of the matter as he shrugged and turned away from her, soon mounting his motorcycle.

Abby clung to Mal, finding it much easier now that her shoulder was healed again, and they soon merged onto the main street. Traffic was bad, but they were able to make some progress by darting through with their motorcycles, and they found a new hotel within the hour.

They had two rooms, but they were all in one, waiting for a pizza Dante had ordered, when Mal reached into his pocket and pulled out a communication crystal. This was a different shape and color than the one she’d seen him answer before, and she inferred it had come from one of the angels even before he said, “I managed to snatch this off the winged bastard before dispatching him back to Caelum.”

“How did you do that? He just disappeared.”

He looked up at her. “That wasn’t me. When an angel’s sol is destroyed, and they’re on another plane, the remains automatically return to whatever dimension they’ve been anchored to. It’s part of their magic.”

She frowned. “Is it the same for demons?”

“Nah,” said Dante with a grin. “We like to be more inconvenient and leave a body behind that someone has to dispose of if they want to hide that they killed us.”

His grin was contagious, though it wasn’t particularly funny. She managed a small smile before scooting her chair closer to look at the crystal Brax was holding in his hands. “Will it tell us anything?”

“Maybe. It depends on if we can access it.” He surprised her by passing it to Dante. “You’re better with this kind of thing, kid.”

The younger demon took it, sliding his fingers over in varying patterns before making a soft hum that sounded like, “Aha.” Seconds later, a familiar voice emanated from the crystal, and it appeared to be a stored recording. She didn’t know how she knew it, but she’d certainly heard that voice before, and it terrified her.

“Be on the lookout for a rogue angel on Earth. The damaged sol might make it difficult to find her, or it might help you in the matter. She is to be eliminated on sight. She’s a collaborator and co-conspirator with the demons. Get rid of her if you see her.”

“That’s the end of it.” Dante played around with it a bit more before laying it aside with a shrug. “If there’s anything else stored on it, I can’t access it.”

“So, you’re a demon conspirator?” Mal scratched his chin as he stared at her. “You don’t seem like the type, princess.”

“I don’t feel like the type either.” She frowned as she mulled it over, wondering if perhaps it could be true. After all, she’d fallen into companionship with the demons easily enough, though that had been because they had been kind to her and tried to protect her.

Hadn’t it?

She couldn’t imagine she was out to betray her own race, but what if she was as sick of the war as the demons around her, and those and others who’d defected to Earth to avoid the conflict? Was she part of some grand scheme to bring it all down? That theory didn’t feel right to her, but she couldn’t rule it out either. “I must’ve done something really bad if they want me dead.”

“Or you know something you shouldn’t,” said Brax. “Sugar, people kill people for all kinds of things. I highly doubt your leader was being honest with the angels when he instructed them to kill you. You probably don’t have to worry about being a traitor.”

She nodded her agreement, tilting her head slightly. “I confess, it doesn’t feel much like being a traitor even if I find out I have been aiding demons, unless maybe I’m doing something horrible like allowing them to kill the innocent ones of my kind. Maybe it’s because I can’t remember anything, but the idea of fighting with another group of people for longer than entire generations can remember seems insane to me.”

“It is, but you have to understand just how wonderful Caelum is, especially when compared to Infernum. It was our original home, and there are some who are strongly passionate about returning there. They don’t care the cost, or how many generations are dragged into the conflict. They won’t stop until they’re home and have ejected the angels. They’re the ones who want to invert the status quo, sending the angels to Infernum and reclaiming Caelum.” Mal looked sad for a moment. “I don’t think it will ever come to pass, and I got tired of fighting for a cause I wasn’t sure I believed in any longer. Maybe it’s the same for you, Abby.”

She shrugged. “Maybe so.” A yawn escaped her before she could smother it, garnering three looks of concern. She managed to put them off and ignore their bossy suggestions that she should have an early night at least until after she had eaten her pizza and watched a little television. It was fascinating, particularly since humans were cooking something that looked decadent. “I’d like that.”

The three of them looked up from the table where they’d been quietly talking to glance at the TV. “Chocolate cake,” said Mal in a dismissive tone.

“It looks amazing.” Abby felt like she might drool, but a yawn escaped her instead. She stifled it and surrendered, saying, “I’m going to sleep.”

“Don’t lock the connecting door,” said Brax. It was issued with a note of tender authority rather than as a harsh order. Knowing he was just looking out for her, she nodded her agreement as she stood up to cross the room, moving through the door adjoining the rooms and into the shower moments later.

She was drying off after bathing when she heard Mal mention sol. He was saying it in a quiet and furtive way that suggested he didn’t want her to hear. With a frown, she tucked the towel more firmly around her and crept over to the door. She hadn’t locked it, and it was still slightly ajar. She eased it open a couple more inches to hear better, not wanting them to realize she was eavesdropping while they were openly discussing something she was certain concerned her.

“I’m just saying, I don’t think we’ll figure out why they want her until she gets her memory back.” Mal sounded frustrated.

“Nobody’s disagreeing with that, but how are we supposed to help her get her memory back? We can’t just wave our fingers and snap it back into existence.”

“I could try a little something,” said Dante, though he sounded hesitant. “I might be able to coax some of her memory forth with healing.”

“Or you might damage her more.” Brax sounded annoyed. “You can’t go poking around in her mind and risk doing more damage.”

“I’m extremely gifted with healing,” said Dante, his tone snappish. “I’m not going to hurt her.”

“You wouldn’t deliberately, but you don’t know what kind of damage is going on in there. Unless her sol is healed, I don’t think we’re going to get the answers we need.”

“Then let’s heal her sol,” said Dante, sounding like he was tossing out the idea spontaneously.

Abby frowned as silence stretched for a moment between the three of them. Mal was the first to respond, and he sounded dismayed. “We can’t.”

“We can. I’ve heard of it before. We just have to give her a piece of ours.”

“There’s only one way to do that,” said Mal, almost like he was warning his friends. “At least, that’s the only way I know how to do it. I know there must be another way, since the angels have perfected it to create more angels, but they’ve never shared the secret with the likes of me.”

“Well let’s do it then,” said Dante, clearly undeterred.

“It’s obvious her sol is severely damaged. It wouldn’t be safe for just one of us to try to heal her. We’d probably all have to work together, and the mere idea would almost certainly send her running away screaming.”

Abby had heard enough, so she boldly opened the door and stepped through to face them. “Don’t speak for me or discount my courage. If you can help fix my sol, I’m asking you to. Please.”

The three of them were silent for a moment, all sharing guilty looks as though they hadn’t expected to be caught talking about the subject without her around. She had no guilt for eavesdropping and made no apology. They had a tendency to try to protect her from the truth, and it was maddening.

She moved closer to the table where the three of them still sat, arms crossed over her chest. Water still dampened her skin, and she tightened the knot she had tied in the towel to hold it up sarong-style before moving her hands to her hips. “If you know something that’ll help, tell me.” There was an unmistakable sound of confidence in her voice, though she was moderately surprised when the three of them stiffened as though they were finally paying attention.

“It’s possible to share sol with someone, but you have to be very physically close to them.” Brax looked a little awkward as he said that.

Abby covered the rest of the distance between them, reclaiming the chair she had sat in earlier. “Okay, I’m closer. What do you need to do? Is there any risk?”

“The only risk I know of is it might not work,” said Dante when neither of the other two answered after a long pause. “I don’t think we’ve lost anything by trying.”

“You have to get her to agree to it,” said Mal, sounding like that was the end of it. He seemed somewhere between pleased and annoyed as he spoke the words.

She frowned. “I need answers, and I’d like to feel whole again. I want to know what’s going on and who I am. I’m willing to do anything to fix this, so how do we do it?”

“It requires physical closeness,” said Brax as he rubbed his neck, his gaze darting from hers.

She frowned. “You’ve already said that. What are the particulars of the method?”

“Sex,” blurted out Dante. He seemed a little ill at ease as well, but not as uncomfortable as Brax.

They both looked positively relaxed when compared to Mal, who wore a grumpy expression and made no effort to hide his reluctance.

Abby didn’t remember everything, but she instinctively knew what sex was. She was also certain she’d never done it before herself, but she must’ve observed it sometime in the past. She quirked a brow. “You’re saying I’ll have to have sex with all three of you to repair my sol?”

“It would ensure we give you enough to repair you without weakening any of us.” Brax met her gaze with an air of challenge. “You can see why we haven’t brought it up before.”

She frowned. “No, I really can’t. If you could have helped me days ago, I don’t understand why you didn’t.”

“He means you have to have sex with all of us,” said Dante. He flushed. “At the same time.”

Abby arched her brow higher. “Yes, and?”

Brax barked out a startled laugh as Dante’s eyes widened. “You mean you’re okay with that?”

“Like I said, I need to be healed… And I don’t think it’ll be any hardship, will it?” It didn’t occur to her to lie about how she felt for them. “I like kissing all of you, so I’m certain I’ll like anything else we do as well.”

“To hell with this.” Mal practically snarled the words as he pushed back his chair and got to his feet. Abby’s mouth dropped open as he slammed his chair against the wall and marched from the hotel room, spine stiff and eyes focused straight ahead. He didn’t turn back to look at her or even hesitate as he disappeared through the door, and she stared after him in shock and bewilderment at his sudden abandonment.