Chapter 17 — Steady

Mathias:

Everything went very well today. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to handle loving Cassia, but she makes it so easy. Touching her is like an out of body experience. She makes everything better. There still hasn’t been any news in regards to Lukan, which makes me wary. All I know is that whatever Lukan is doing, it’s not going to be good for the rest of us.

I pull Cassia close as we relax in the balcony’s lounge chair. My wings are straining to be let loose, but I have to wait until nightfall. Sometimes Cassia and I fly over the skies together and enjoy the rush of the air in our wings. Kissing Cassia’s head, I pull her closer to my chest and run my fingers through her hair while she caresses my hand.

We’re both locked in a bubble of contentment and basking in our closeness when my cell phone rings. It’s Mikhail. “Mikhail?” I answer.

“Mathias, you have to come here right now.” He responds urgently. My body stiffens at the urgency in his voice. “Is something wrong?” Mathias answers. “I can’t talk about it over the phone. Just get here.” He disconnects the call before I can reply.

Cassia must sense my distraction because she quickly turns to me. “What’s wrong?” I shrug my shoulders. “Mikhail asks me to come over. It sounds like it’s urgent.”

She rises from the chair and extends her hand to me. “Okay, then, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Not saying another word, Cassia retracts her beautiful white wings and flies away.

As soon as we land, Mikhail and Nevaeh meet us at the door, looking frazzled. We step into the hallway, perturbed by Mikhail and Nevaeh’s appearance. Mikhail moves in front of me, holding me by my shoulder. “Listen, Mathias, maybe you should come in here alone. Cassia, why don’t you go upstairs with Nevaeh.”

I want to ask more, but Nevaeh interrupts. “I’m not going anywhere, Mikhail, and neither is Cassia.” Mikhail gives Nevaeh a pleading look, but Nevaeh ignores it.

Frustrated with all the cloak and dagger, I hold my hand up in frustration. “Alright, you two. What is this all about?” Mikhail and Nevaeh look at each other speechless. Before I can say anymore, a voice interrupts our conversation. A voice that I have not heard in over twenty years. Marael moves from behind Mikhail and Nevaeh. Before I can say anything, she throws herself in my arms and says.

“Mathias, my love.” She pulls me close, wrapping me tightly into her arms. “Oh, Mathias. What is happening? One moment I’m readying for a bath, and the next I’m sitting on a rooftop over the city.”

I stand there, stunned. “Marael? Is that really you?”

She smiles at me through tearful eyes. “Of course, it’s me. Why are you asking me this?” She points to the people around the room. “Why am I here? Who are these people?” That’s when I notice the stricken look on Cassia’s face. She looks from Marael to me.

I’m about to say something when Marael diverts the conversation again. She grasps my hand with pleading eyes. “Mathias…” I look back, completely at a loss for words. Mikhail must see my predicament because he steps forward to say. “Maybe we should let you talk alone.”

Marael laughs heartily. “Thank you? Mathias seems a little confused. I’m sorry for disappearing on you. You know I love you.” She turns to me. “Right, honey? I was thinking of making you your favorite dinner and surprise you with my favorite dress.”

Cassia turns to me with anger in her eyes. “Tell her, Mathias.” She gives me an expectant look, but I don’t know what to do. Marael gives Cassia an angry glare. “Who are you, and why are you talking to my husband that way?”

Cassia waits for me to say something, but I don’t know what to say. I’m at a loss. Turning back to Marael, I gesture to Cassia. “This is Cassia.” Marael shrugs her shoulders as if saying, “so what?” I know I should say that Cassia is my mate, but I’m not sure how Marael will take the information. By some miracle, Marael is alive. My wife, the woman that I loved, is alive. I’m beyond stunned, standing there gazing into my wife’s vivid eyes, and I’m at a loss.

Frowning, she turns towards Cassia and says. “Who are you?”

Cassia’s brow furrows as she gazes at me and waits for me to claim her. She must notice that I’m not going to say anymore because she blinks her eyes and backs away. “I’m…I’m, no one.” She says before she turns around and walks out of the loft.

Giving me a look of disappointment, Nevaeh shakes her head and follows her out. Snapping out of my haze, I try to halt her progress. “Cassia, wait…” but she refuses to listen, and I know I really messed up this time.

Mikhail sifts his fingers through his hair and exhales deeply. “I’ll go check on her,”

I want to run to Cassia, but I’m rooted to the floor. How is it possible that Marael is here? I know I should run after Cassia, but I need to know.

Licking my dry lips, I give myself time before I speak. “Listen, Marael, let’s have a seat,” I say, gesturing for her to take a seat on a nearby chair.

Marael smiles widely and takes a seat. “Listen, Marael, I don’t know how to say this but, you’ve been dead for over twenty years. Do you have any idea how you got here?”

Marael shakes her head with a confused frown. “What? No, I told you that I was home waiting for you.”

For some reason, my mind can’t conceive that Marael is here. It also makes me suspicious that she is so calm about her death. Something just doesn’t ring true.

She moves forward and tries to pull me into her arms. “What does it matter, Mathias. I’m here now.”

I shake my head. “No, Marael, it does matter. Now, I need you to think back. When you woke up, did you see anyone? Perhaps a man named Lukan Garron?”

Marael gives me a slight smile and shakes her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please, let’s just go home.”

She moves forward again, but I take a step back. “Look, Marael, I have a mate now. What you and I had was in the past.”

Marael’s smile slips. “What are you saying, Mathias? You love me! How can you say you’re mated to someone else? What am I supposed to do?” I shake my head and glance around the room as if somehow, I can find an answer to this whole situation. “We need to go to the council and have our specialists look you over.”

But Marael resists and begins to cry hysterically. “No. What are you talking about? I don’t need to be looked over. I love you.”

My guilt surmounts, but I don’t let it take me over because I know that Cassia is the one for me. When I reach for her arm, she struggles. “No, Mathias, don’t! Who is she? Who is the woman that stole you from me? Was it that whore?”

Anger rages through me at her words. Trying to control my feelings, I take a deep breath and lead her to the door. I know that she is angry at my rejection, but Cassia is my mate, and it’s pissing me off that she refers to her in that manner. “Don’t!” I say, stalling her venomous words.

At that moment, the door bursts open, and Mikhail appears bloody and bruised. Shocked, I step forward to help him up when he stumbles. His expression is lost as he gestures to the stairs. “He has them…Lukan… has them!”

My heart stops at the news. Releasing Marael, I climb up the stairs to the roof, but neither Nevaeh nor Cassia is there. Bits of furniture are strewn around from their struggles.

Azazel appears in front of me, his eyes scanning the area with horror. “What happened? Where are Mikhail and Nevaeh?”

“I’m here!” Mikhail calls out. “They took her, Azazel. We were up here trying to calm Cassia down when out of nowhere, a horde of hellhounds appeared. I tried to fight them off, but there were so many, and they took Nevaeh and Cassia.” He ends his story with a broken croak as he looks on guiltily.

A thought strikes me at that moment. “Where’s Marael?” We all turn to see if she’s around, but she’s not there.

Suspicious of the day’s events, I run back to Azazel’s apartment. Marael is not there.

Mikhail and I come to a conclusion very quickly. “She was a decoy.” He cries out, enraged. Azazel arches a puzzled brow. “Who is Marael?”

Mikhail explains quickly as we search the apartment for any clue.

“Bloody hell, mate. We have to find them. Wait, how did she escape if the elevator is coded. No one can get in or out without the code.”

Mikhail and I move towards the elevator and check it. It’s still stationed on the apartment’s floor. “She didn’t, which means she’s still in the building. Let’s split up and search. She couldn’t have gotten very far since she has only been gone for a few minutes.

I clench my jaw as I process the possibilities of what might have happened. There’s no doubt that she’s the reason Cassia and Nevaeh were taken. We need to find her.”

Azazel takes his cell phone out. “I’ll call my security and ask them to check if anyone has left the building. If she’s still here or has left, they will know.”

We search the apartment and hallway, but there’s no sign of Marael. Azazel’s cell phone rings. “Yeah.” He answers quickly. We stop and wait as he talks to the caller on the other end. “You’ve found her. She’s trying to sneak out a second-floor window… No, don’t stop her; follow her instead. Turn the tracker on and see if you can find a way to attach it. We’re on our way.”

He disconnects the call with a satisfying sigh. “They spotted her; she’s trying to sneak out a window. I told them not to stop her. She might be heading to Lukan’s hideout. It’s the only chance we have of finding her.”

Thankfully, we were able to trace Marael with the information Azazel’s security gave us. We fly through the city, following her as she makes several stops along the way. It’s a delicate process because she’s constantly looking back to make sure she’s not being followed. Eventually, she stops at a cemetery. We watch intently as she surpasses several headstones until she stops in front of a large mausoleum. I know that the evidence pointed to her being involved, but I’m still shocked to see her knock on the mausoleum door before she enters.

Mikhail, Azazel, and I land in a secluded spot a couple of yards from the mausoleum. “This must be where Lukan is.”

Determined, I walk towards the mausoleum, only to be stopped by Mikhail. “Wait, Mathias. We just can’t barge in there without a plan.” A resigned breath escapes my lips as I gaze intently into the mausoleum door. “Okay, but let’s hurry.”

At that moment, a grief-stricken scream resounds through the distance. Mikhail, Azazel, and I freeze in place, our eyes widening with surprise. It’s the kind of sound that makes the hair in the back of your neck stand on end. “NEVAEH!” We cry out in unison as we break into a run. As we move closer, my vision hazes and my shatters because I know that nothing is okay.