Chapter 17

Allie

When I thought about falling in love, I never dreamed I would fall for an angel. I lay beside Eve in bed watching her sleep. She lays on her stomach with her head resting on her folded arms. I’m on my side with my arm across her lower back. Her body is flawless except for the v-shaped scars on her shoulder blades. The wounds have healed but I know the wound inside of her remains raw.

I trace the marks on her back with my fingers. The spot where she is most vulnerable. The place that once made her feel unstoppable, now tears her down. I wish I could’ve seen her wings. I wish I could see the way she stood with them stretched out wide behind her. I can picture it but to see it in real life would’ve been something all of its own. I try to be gentle so she doesn’t notice but the moment I stop she opens her tired eyes.

“I miss them,” she says.

“We will get them back.”

She gives me a half grin. I brush her hair off the side of her face.

“I will be your wings, Eve.” I kiss her forehead. “I will keep you from falling and I will carry you when you think you can’t go anymore. I already know your true identity.”

The words rush from my lips before I can think about what I’m saying. I know Eve misses her wings but I don’t want her to think she is in this alone. I will be everything to her that her wings once stood for.

“You lost them because of me and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to get them back for you.”

“You’re wrong, Allie.” She sits up on elbows and kisses my lips. “I lost them for you.”

“I’m not convinced there is a difference.”

She kisses my neck and down my collarbone. “Do you want to argue with me?” Eve asks moving to my chest.

“Not when you’re distracting me… like this.” I hold her face in between my hands and pull her lips back to mine.

She kisses me back harder than she did at first. I hold her waist against mine and love the feeling of her skin against mine. Eve bites my bottom lip playfully, and I can’t help but love the slight aggression.

“I think we need to get out of this bed.” I smile.

“I disagree. We need to stay here forever.” She twirls a few strands of my hair around her fingers and kisses me once more.

I’d like to stay like this forever but I know we can’t. We need to figure out a way to get Eve’s wings back and this bed is prolonging that. A part of me feels she is still hiding something from me. There is a secret she hasn’t told me but it’s hard to focus on it when she has already divulged so much. She was a demon before she was an angel. She lost her wings for me. A third secret seems possible but it could just be my imagination.

A knock comes from the apartment door. Eve shoots up in bed. She grabs her shirt off the floor and throws it on as she leaves the room in a flash. I’ve never in my life seen someone move that quickly. Her body was a blur.

I slide out of bed too and pull my clothes back on before heading out into the living room. I hear her voice and a man’s arguing about something. It isn’t Logan’s voice, and I don’t have any other friends who personally know her.

I enter the living room and they both turn to look at me. He has the same fiery-looking eyes as Eve. I know he has to be an angel too. I take a step back at seeing them together. I don’t know if he means us harm or not.

“Allie-girl, this is Damion.” She smiles. “He’s a… friend of mine.”

“Friend?” He snorts. “Try ex-boyfriend.”

Eve shoots him a look that could kill but he laughs it off. Damion walks over to me and extends his hand.

I look at Eve and then back at his hand. I shake it but the churning in my stomach keeps me from feeling at ease about it.

“Why are you here, Damion?” she says, with anger. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”

“That’s just it, princess,” he says, sitting down on the couch. He kicks out his feet and makes himself at home. “I know something you don’t know.”

“What is it?” Eve growls. “Tell me and get the hell out of here.”

“Your wings were taken.”

“No shit,” Eve snorts. “I was there the entire time they cut them from me. I felt the blood pour from my body, and I saw the delicate black feathers fall to the ground beside me.”

“Easy now, princess.” Damion holds his arms out in defense.

“Stop calling me princess!” Eve hisses. “I’m not your princess anymore.”

“I’m not your enemy. At least not anymore,” he says.

“What do you mean?” I ask, crossing my arms in front of me. “At least not anymore?”

Eve walks over to me and wraps her arms around my neck. “Don’t listen to him. He’s a player.”

“A player who played you right into his hands,” he sneers.

“I’m not that blind anymore, Damion.” Eve turns away from me and blocks Damion’s line of sight to me. “Tell me what you came here for and get out.”

Damion gets up and stands in front of Eve. He places his hand on her cheek, rubbing it with his thumb. I start to stop him but Eve grabs my arm from behind. Keeping me behind her.

“Man, how I miss your body near mine. The only thing that felt right in our relationship.” Damion looks at me with curiosity. “What are you doing with a human? She isn’t as strong as us.”

“Get out of my house,” Eve spits.

Damion grabs ahold of Eve. Her face in his hand. “Now, is that any way to speak to your authority?” His eyes turn to black. “You don’t want to anger me.”

“Let go of her!” I yell, jerking my arm out of Eve’s clenched hand.

I shove him to the side. His eyes darken more and the evil grin he wears only pumps my adrenaline more. I hear Eve’s voice but I don’t know what she is saying. My entire focus is on Damion. He charges at me. The apartment floor shakes beneath my feet or is that me trembling? Eve dodges in front of me. Damion grabs her around the neck and hurls her across the room. She lands hard on the floor. He focuses back on me.

“Look what you made me do.” A smile still rests on his face. “Now, I had only come to warn you but now I see why they want the two of you apart.”

“What do you mean?” I try to keep myself from shaking at his words.

“Oh, she hasn’t told you, has she?”

“Eve was never meant to be a guardian. Her angel creator picked her to be a demon angel. The first of their kind. All the good you see in her is just a show. That’s why her eyes are like mine.”

I look over at Eve, knocked out and lying on the floor.

“Yes. You’re putting it together now.” Damion laughs. “Your girlfriend and I weren’t just lovers. We were the first of our kind and together we were the most powerful angels.”

“That’s not true. Eve is good!”

“She’s good right now.” His eyes glimmer back to the fiery ones I see in Eve. “But they won’t let her stay that way. They’re coming for you. They’re going to destroy you before you destroy her.” He touches my cheek with his hand. “Such a pity.” He smacks the side of my cheek enough to make it sting and turns for the door. “Tell princess my message. It seems she’s gone soft. We used to tussle day and night and she never tired. Now look at her.”

The door closes behind him and I rush over to Eve.

“Eve. Eve.” I shake her. “Eve, wake up!”

Her head rolls side to side from my violent attempts to wake her. It isn’t working so I try something else. I lean down and tilt her head up towards mine, kissing her lips. My tears land on her soft cheeks. In a second her hand holds my arm and she opens her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I whimper.

“I’m fine. Just help me up,” she says.

I stand on my feet and take Eve’s hand in mine. I pull her up but she groans and lurches over in pain.

“Eve, are you sure you’re all right?” I ask, holding her around the waist.

She gives me a thumbs up.

“I’m just a little rusty when it comes to taking impacts like that.” She stands straight up and winks. “Don’t worry Allie-girl.”

“What are we going to do about your creator?” I ask.

“How do you know about my creator?” Her eyes widen. “Did Damion say something?”

“You were created to be a demon angel.” I stare at the floor in front of me, unsure if the words are true. “They’re coming for us, Eve.”

Eve remains quiet. I look at her holding her head in her hands.

“This has gotten out of control.” She shakes her head. “All because I fell in love with you. I wasn’t supposed to fall for a human. I was created to do ugly and terrible things. I was used by the demons because they saw me as easy prey and I was used by the angels because they saw my strengths.” A tear falls from her fiery eyes. “I’m sorry Allie-girl. It’s not fair that I have dragged you into this. Into a mess that just keeps growing.”

“I thought you said you were my guardian and you lost your wings because of that.” I stand with my hand on my hip. The way I always do when I’m upset.

“That’s just part of my story. This is the rest.” She pulls my hand from my waist and holds it over her heart. “Do you feel that? It only beats for you. Who I used to be isn’t who I am now. You changed me, Allie. You made me choose the good part of me.”

She takes my hand in hers.

“I was not hired as your guardian. I was supposed to kill you.”