Maybe it was not getting the closure I wanted or the way she had let her knowledge of the dream slip out. . . or maybe it was because I’d slipped onto her balcony that night only to find her balcony door locked, the blinds opened to reveal Helios in her bed. I hadn't been expecting a pang of worry and for a second I considered she may have been playing me the whole time.
I'd told Ashe everything when I made it back to St. Lilths, except for the nightmare. He'd heard me come back and found me working on an item for one of our oldest clients. Working was what I did in the limited spare time I had. I just had to keep busy
"It's for the best", Ashe said, "She should stick with her own kind."
"Can you believe those old wives tales are true ?"
"Paris, she wanted to die in a cave just to avoid falling for you. That's really messed up."
"Is she right ?", I ask smoothing out the white silk on the Van Husen dress, "What does it mean that I chose Isobel when I wasn't supposed to. Am I fool to ignore that. ?"
Ashe raises his eyebrow realizing I had ignored his comment., "Personally, I think you choosing Isobel is more romantic. A nice fuck you to destiny."
"It doesn't matter. None of it matters. I've got to focus on Helios now."
"We have to focus on Helios", Ashe clarifies, "Although that is a record."
"What ?"
"Two women broke up with you in less than 3 months. I'm not liking your track record."
"Fuck you", I say as he makes his way out, I can hear him laughing down the hall.
Later I pull Jona aside and tell him Sera and I are done for. Jona had been a good sport about not telling Callum and the others about the relationship or using it against me. Jona didn't say anything but when he gave me a silent nod, I knew we were back to repairing our relationship.
Finally I tell Callum, Damien and Lysander that Seraphina wouldn't be our informant anymore. I tell them she had done her job and given us a heads up on New Aeterna and that she was sticking with the SGI rebels instead. There is an audible sigh of relief on Callum's face. I
Over the weekend I finally open up Hmjeu's journals and really read them. Seraphina was right. He never really saw her as a daughter. Ge saw our fate as a tool he could use. To Hmjeu Sera was someone who would love me enough to die for me, someone to protect me until we could return to our Homeland. He'd purposely dropped stories and hints to make a lonely Angel dream about this perfect Prince.
I started to scan some sections where he talked about how slow she was, how she would never be able to outsmart me. He talked about how she aged and how beautiful she was. He was never explicit but it didn't read as fatherly as it should have. I close the journals and lock them away.
I still need answers from her though, so I refused to stay away.
+2+
Brooklyn is unusually warm, making it the perfect day to watch and wait for Seraphina to leave Queen Anne's. The previous weeks snow had prevented Helios from going on his late afternoon jogs, but on Saturday it seemed he had other things planned.
I peer down from the roof and hear the rhythmic clicking of Seraphina's heels on the pavement, it appears Helios is taking his fiance out on a date. Sera has one hand on his arm, keeping herself steady as they walked along the uneven pavement like two models out of a magazine. Most people who looked liked that took cabs, but Helios wanted people to see him with her. Leon walked behind them, his eyes sweeping the area.
Sera's white coat fluttered open and I recognized the dress she was wearing. It was formal and pale gold, cut short in the front to show off her long legs and flowed in the back and sleeveless to show off her muscular arms. It was the dress I'd tailored for her at Queen Anne's last year.
Sera turned her head slightly and looked up in my direction, I ducked but I knew she had seen me. She stopped walking and Helios went on guard.
"What ?"
"Helios" , she said, "We're being followed."
Well fuck, you Seraphina.
She dropped the sparkly clutch she was holding and reached into her white coat and had a small automatic gun, probably loaded with white gold bullets.
"Seraphina--", Leon starts
She ignored him and started shooting at the chimney I was hiding behind, forcing me to run for new cover. What the hell was she doing ?
"Get him", Helios yelled.
He was talking to Leon but Seraphina started for the fire escape, climbing in her heels to reach me. I jumped to the next building and scrambled down the back fire escape. I thought she hadn't see me switch buildings, but when I start down the escape I see her waiting for me.
"Sera, what are you doi--"
She shot at me
"Seraphina"
"I told you I'm not on your side anymore. I told you to stay away."
"Now I die ?"
"Now you get maimed", she shot again I realized she was aiming for my upper thigh or my--
"Seraph--"
She shot at me again and missed. Cursing she tries to steady herself.
"I warned you. Stay away"
"When the hell did you warn me ?"
"The first time I shot you",
The gun clicks empty and she reloads it, I take the moment to run back up the fire escape and to the roof. I kick open the roof access door and find the stairs in what appears to be an outdated apartment complex. I made it to the 6th floor before I run smack into a solid figure.
Leon.
"You aren't as slick as you think you are", Leon says.
He's in a gray cut suit, with nothing but his large body to intimidate me
"Please, don't kill me. I'm on your side. Look, I know you want Helios gone too. I --"
". . . I'm not going to kill you. and I don't want to be your next informant. I told you you aren't as slick a you think you are."
"What ?"
He gave me an off putting smirk. Like he knew something.
"I know you've been sneaking into Sera's bedroom. What ? You think you just got away with that ?"
"I. . . uh. . . "
"She doesn't know I know. I don't like you, Demon. I don't trust your kind, but this thing with Helios is bigger than all of us, so I let you carry on if it meant it would slow down Helios.. . . and it made Seraphina was a lot less grouchy."
Grouchy ? I gathered he was being polite.
"Yeah, well Sera has broken things off. I mean what's going on ? Is Helios brainwashing her ?"
He shook his head.
"Leon, I love her. I can't stay--"
"Listen. Helios and I grew up with a man named Ares. When Helios bombed your shops Ares saved a Demon--"
"Oh, Lysander. He saved Lysander"
"Well, Helios hung Ares for it. His best friend. No questions asked. He will not hesitate to hang Seraphina if he finds out about you two. We will handle Helios."
"You aren't going to let New Aeterna happen are you ? You can't. . . reveal yourselves."
"I don't know. . . just stay out of it."
He adjust his jacket to show the shiny guns at his sides then turns down the stairs.
"Ten minutes", he calls back, "Then go."
+3+
I don't wait the ten minutes though. I leave seconds after Leon, enough to overhear Helios' destination for the day. The Gershwin Theater
The theater is running a matinee of an old Spanish language opera. It doesn't seem like Helios' scene but he quickly makes friendly with a group of foreign nationals, Columbian maybe ? They seem to be exchanging more than pleasantries. I see Helios not so smoothly hand over a check. .Leon had blended into the crowd and Seraphina stayed next to Helios, as both his date and his bodyguard.
Helios was smart. He was making friendly with he kind of unsavory people who ruled the streets of inner city New York. Areas where people wouldn't be able to afford to move when Helios took over Manhattan. I wondered what he told them ? Judging by how normal they acted he obviously hadn't told them he was an Angel.
I guessed Helios was stocking up on illegal guns, for when the seige for New Aeterna takes place. I'd managed to read in the files that his first step was to take out all the bridge and tunnels. No one gets out no one gets in.
I noticed all this from the Gershiwn's lobby bar. It was one of those rare moments where walking out the house in a nice jacket came in handy, because I was able to easily waltz into the lobby without looking out of place. I also managed to grab a flashlight from on of the ushers. The lights in the lobby dimmed and Helios and the men went inside the theater.
I took the stairs to the balcony, watching for where they sat. I found them in the back center, They were all in deep conversation and Sera along with the other men's dates were decidedly left out.
I took out the flashlight and shined the light in Sera's eyes. She blinked and looked away. I did it again and she blinked and looked away, keeping her temper. I flashed it in her eyes again and this time she followed the light. I flashed it one more time and she stared up at me.
I gestured for her to meet me outside in the lobby. I hoped she knew better than to pull a gun on me in a crowded theater.
I slipped off the balcony as the usher came to ask for tickets. I braced myself in the lobby waiting for the doors to open. She would either come alone or with Helios. Or not at all.
I smiled.
She came out alone.
"I told you to leave me alone", she says, "Don't make me hurt you."
"We need to to talk."
“Paris, stop this nonsense”, she says, "Call your girlfriend."
“I’m not here about that”
She rolls her eyes
“ I mean I’m not here for the Brotherhood, or for Demon kind, or for Hmjeu or to talk about Helios and New Aeterna. I’m here for me."
“Paris”
"Tell me about the dream", I say
"I don't know what you are talkin-"
"Tell me", I said a little louder than I wanted.
"Paris. Go"
"Are you playing hard to get or would it be easier if we fucked first, maybe that's all you ever wanted from me. Somone who'd fuck you just how you want it ?
"Don't talk to me like'--"
"Don't even with that, Sera. You might wear white well but you aren't innocent. Things get to hard and you go running back to Helios. Back to your old ways of hurting me because you're afraid to love me. For the record you maybe done with me, but I'm not done with you."
"Paris--"
"We are going to talk about this dream", I step a little closer and motion for her to move around to a darkened corner of the theater out of sight. I let my hand fall to her bare leg and careful trace the tense muscles up, she didn't move.
"I don't know what--"
"Seraphina", I cut in, "We can either talk about this now or after . . ."
I decide to let my fingers finish that sentence, pushing aside whatever strip of material she was wearing underneath the dress. She shifts on her heels and I bring my other hand to her waist. She slowly brings her hand to her ear and I realize she is still wearing that clear ear piece
"Helios", she closes her eyes and she has a very faint flush, ". . .something is happening. . . no it's fine. I'll handle it.. . I'll be a while."
I can't help but to smile at her change of tone and to her chagrin I take my hands back to myself.
"Tell him", I say, "You'll be all night."
"How many ?", I wonder
"How many what ?", she asks hitting her head on the roof of the van again trying to sit comfortably.
"How many kings, emperors, royals have you fucked. How many powerful men have fought over your beauty."
"One. Apparently", she says, "Although this doesn't change me ending our relationship."
"I know", I say
She opens the back door of the cargo van to let the cool winter air in. I peer out and see the top floor of the parking deck is still empty and we are very much alone. Although she hadn't seemed to mind the thought of being caught a few minutes earlier, when she (considering the limitations of the space) let me on top of her and the the air had been thick and hot. I bring my hand to the cut on my lip from those few minutes earlier.
“So”, I finally say, “About the dream. Was it you. Did you put that in my head or something ?”’
She slumps against the car peering up at her dress. The one fun fact about stealing the delivery van from the tailor shops was there was always a place to put a dress.
"No", she says, "I thought it was just a dream. It wasn't until we spent the night together and that I realized we were having the same dream."
"What was it ? Was it real ? Did it happen in the past or--"
"I read in Anne's library that shared dreams between people with a connection or bond isn't unusual. I think it was a premonition."
"What ?'
". . . I mean like an Aesop or an old fable. It was a warning of what happens when Angels and Demons mix. A warning to come"
"That's not going to be us--"
"Paris. . . a storm is coming and it's my fault. Helios is that storm and he's going to destroy everything."
"That's not true."
"It is. I could have killed Helios the night I snuck into his rooms. Instead I saw those determined eyes and beautiful face and was glad to find someone who made me forget about you. Helios--the monster he is-- is going to be the death of us. I can feel it. I want to stay alive more than I want to die for us."
"This isn't a dream, Sera. This is real and we can prevail."
"There is no 'we' Paris. We are through. My heart has been telling me this is wrong for a long time and now this premonition seems to think so too. Let's heed the warning. It's a warning."
I bowed my head. In my mind I could almost see the Angel and Demon floating in the river, their blood mixing among the rocks and water. I shivered. I couldn't let that happen to Seraphina. I had to let go, in the very off chance she was right.
"I hope when this is over, we are both still standing.", I say, "Then perhaps we will have a chance ?"
She shakes her head
"I'd rather not tempt it. Paris I want you to find the place in your heart for Isobel again. The woman you chose to love."
I lift a corner of my mouth into a smile.
"Heaven's no. I'd only do that if it made you truly happy."
"Devil take you, Paris Prince."
She reaches up to pull her dress down and I climb into the driver's seat while she gets dressed. After a moment she climbs out the back of the van and over to the driver's window.
"I can drive you home"
She steps back and admired the tailor shops' logo wrapped on the van
"Helios would blow this van up the second you got on the Brooklyn Bridge."
". . . I never liked that bridge.", A slight smile tugs on my face.
"Even though that bridge bought you to Isobel ?"
"It also bought you to me, sweet Angel. Although sometimes I wish it hadn't. Good night."
"Good night--"
I lean out the window and kiss her good night, it's fast and quick but she seems to have forgotten what she was going to say.
I roll up the window and she puts her palm against the glass. She had Helios' engagement ring back on. I'd made her take it off in the van.
I wait for her to step back and drive away. I should have looked in the rear view mirror and watch her become smaller and smaller, but I didn't. I should have held on to the way she looked that night, because I would never see her again.