+1+

“What’s with this place anyway ?”

The automatic doors close behind me  and I turn to face the the private table that is propped up on a small platform.  Even up here The Spindle, The Metronome Hotel's top floor dining room, featured the same blue-violet lights and quiet blood pumping music. 

The 10pm dinner service at The Spindle was a much more subtle affair that I would have thought. The dining room featured a neat row of tabletops and along the side were a dozen private tables hidden behind long black curtains and sliding glass doors.We were currently situated in one of these private rooms. Sliding glass door, black curtains and all. The private rooms were discreet, there was button at the side of the table that indicated to the waitstaff when they could and could not disturb the parties behind the doors.

“The Metronome has a long service of providing discretion”, Sera answered adding a silver chair she had taken from another table, "Perfect for secrets."

For some reason I kept expecting to see Helios over my shoulder. I just kept expecting her to double cross me. Especially after the disagreement we had at Helios' Birthday. After a week apart , all was forgotten or maybe just buried under the surface.

“Discreet how ?”, I ask.

“There are more things in heaven and earth, dear Prince”, she says, “And those things don’t like to draw attention to themselves. ”

Things like Angels and Demons plotting ?

“Hmm”, I check the sliding doors to make sure they are closed, then I place my arms low around her waist, “I love it when speak Shakespeare to me.”

A part of me wants to test just how good The Metronome Hotel is at keeping secrets.

She was dressed in black as a show of comradere with the Brotherhood. Unfortuanlty the tight black jeans and black leather top that show off all of her midriff makes it very difficult for me to concentrate at the moment. I run my hands over her bare stomach and wide V shaped muscles at her hips.

She relaxes a bit and tilts her forehead down to me, her eyelids are dusted in a dark blue eyeshadow. The curled ends of her hair teasing at my neck. I move her hair back and kiss her, and even though the table is curtained off I get a buzz realizing this is as close as I've gotten to kissing her in public. Stairwells don't count.

“Good ?”, I inquire

She nods brings me to her soft lips again, she moves to sit  on the table to find a more comfortable angle . This no good. Every time I was close to her like this my mind started to wonder to a future we could never have. This is just, physical. Just simple endorphins just feeling good.

I know this isn't good for her either. She know how this is for me, she knows I am in love with her. I don’t say this, At least not with words. I just think it when I look into her eyes, when I hold a door open for her or when I tell her she’s beautiful.It didn't make sense. Isobel had loved me for me and Helios wanted Sera for her body. So why couldn't we just go back to what worked. Who worked.

I jump back when I hear the sliding doors swoosh open, the curtains pull back and I'm expecting to see a waitress. Instead Jona walks in looking bleary-eyed at me with a raised eyebrow. I struggle to seem impassive. Sera doesn’t even move from where she is still sitting on the table.

“Really ?”, he says, "Is this still going on."

“Just--ah--drop it”, I finish.

“You know”, he says, “At the rate you're going you're probably going to spill your own little secret.”

“Let’s deal with one thing at a time. ”

"You are lucky you are my Brother. That's the only reason I'm not selling you out. You have no idea how hard it is for me. It's fucking disgusting--"

"Jona, you're so-"

"Drop it", Seraphina says to both of us. And for some reason we do. I make a point of handing Sera her jacket, which is unusually heavy.

“Right”, says Jona looking at Sera “ I hope you are ready to impress me with more than your ability to French kiss my brother.”

She gets up from the table and grabs a leather folio from the booth and holds it out towards him. Her still and stoic expression never falters.

“Oh”, he says flipping through, “ A press release.. . . for SGI. This is really helpful.", He's mocking her.

I glare at Jona. It's obvious Callum is rubbing off on him.

“It’s a dossier on SGI.  It’s what Helios gives his clients. Everything you’ve every wanted to know about Helios and SGI members. He has profiles, auxiliary inventory, skills, experience. Know thy enemy and all.", she explains.

The doors swoosh open again and Ashe’s cane swipes through the entrance and Damien follows. Callum is last lifting Lysander's  wheel chair onto the platform. Callum  eyes are so fierce I’m a little afraid. He hadn't been this close to Seraphina since she'd stabbed him for attacking Helios.

For the past few weeks, these Brothers had been a bit of a solace for me. As expected when I signed the Brotherhood over to Helios, I became a target among my own kind. As much as I wanted all of them to know this wasn't real, it was to risky.

These few were the were the only ones who knew I was doing something. . . that I had a plan. Telling to many people about our inside line could be dangerous. It would just take one man turning on us to ruin this entire operation.

I’m too busy watching Callum’s every move that I don’t even notice Lysander has wheeled in front of Sera’s chair. She doesn’t hesitate to look him in the eyes. His arm is still in a sling and the right side of his face is still swollen and puckered.

“Lysander”, I  warn him.

“Did you do this ?”,Lysander asks turning his wheel chair, “Did you help Helios do this to me ? Did you help Helios blow up our stores and kill all those people ? People who did nothing. Humans.”

“I-I”. she stutters for barley a second which is fascinating in itself, “I did not try to stop him and for that I will be forever--”

“Guilty”, Lysander finished, “Those lives will always be on your hands. People  died just so Helios could send a message. Did you see that ? Did you sleep well in his arms after that ?”

She looks at him, her lips in a solid line.

“I had my reasons for following Helios. I  have seen the error of my ways.”, she looked down,  "I will tell you everything I know, do what I can to wash myself of that massacre.”

“You’re hands will never be clean”, Lysander snaps at her, "And I'll always be marked by it."

"Ares. . .", she starts, "Ares was the one who dragged your body away from the fire. He swung for it. He was good . . .just so you know."

“Alright, sweetheart”, Callum says mockingly breaking up the moment between them, “Talk. Tell us everything”

--

And she does

And when I really think about it I can’t ever recall hearing her string so many words together. She starts with Helios life back in Homeland as a young foot solider in the Seraph Guard.How he used his natural charm and elegance to work his way up during the Seraph Guard’s return to Homeland and then their return to the human world. How Helios lead the way to making SGI in to reality. How he turned his men into obedient war mongers for profit.

She talked about SGI. How many weapons they had, what Helios trained them to be capable of. She talked about their body count. She talked about murder, guerilla warfare and brute force. How for the right price Helios would ensure victory for anyone.

SGI was doing good. Helios was doing better. He had unlimited funds, power and (probably) women. He kept a low profile and knew how to be discreet. SGI claimed no nationality or allegiance which made him and his men free agents, none of that diplomacy bullshit with him.

What she didn't know was why Helios had given it all up and decided to come to New York. Why he was staying. . . why he wanted us gone.My mind began to wander and the more I thought about the more I realized he wouldn’t sit her down and tell her this, it wasn't like SGI had orientation and it wasn’t like he trusted her. All these facts, figures and conquest. They were his way of bragging, things he said to impress her. Things he’d said to her in bed.

When she stopped talking. No one knew what to say.

“It seems obvious to me.”, Callum spoke up, “We get rid of Helios. They are nothing without him. Like us and Father”

I ignore the insult.

“Impossible”, Sera said,  “SGI is organized, his closest men are his loyal successors. two Alphas two betas. Then four others. You would have to kill half a dozen until you got to one we could trust.

Callum flinches when she says we.

“Who are they ?, Callums asks

“Leon is his Alpha. Titus is his Beta. He doesn't have a second Beta anymore. He said he didn’t see the need."

“You said there were two Alphas ?”

“The other is me, though I’m wise enough to know I am also ornamental.”, her eyes cut to me at that.

“So then what do you suggest”, Ashe whispers. even though he doesn’t look in her direction

“I am here to offer information not to solve your problems”

I let out a breath, give her a look that means “play nice.” She doesn't catch it. She can't read my breaths not like--

 

“I”, I started, “I don’t like this killing business. We need to cut Helios off. He can’t do anything without his guns, men or money.”

“What if”, offers Ashe, “We take out Helios. You take out Helios and this Leon guy. That’d leave you in charge, right ?”

“Titus and the others would never let that stand”, Sera replies, “I’d be dead in seconds.”

Callum smiled and leaned in. He apparently liked that idea.

“ Let’s start with getting rid of his weapons. He keeps them in his cars right ?”, Callum moves on.

“Yes”, she answers

She doesn't question how Callum knew this. She doesn’t act like she knows Callum has been watching from the roof.

“Rig the cars to explode. Just like you did the shops. That will send message and if Helios' not armed. . . he can't retaliate..”

She grits her teeth but relaxes

"Fine."

“Make sure no one get hurts when you destroy the cars”, I remind her.

“Remember”, Callum says, “Loyalty isn’t just earned around here.”

He smirks at me. How many times had I said that line to Dante.

“Consider it done”, she says.

Callum smirks at himself and it doesn't even register when the door swooshes open and curtains peels back. A  tall, thickly broad man with lights eyes and close cropped hair surveys the scene.

“You bitch, I knew something was up.”

The man has a gun and the entire table eases back. Or should I say this Angel has a gun. Callum stands but I motion for him to stand down.

“We want no trouble, Brother” I say. I say to this Angel which might as well be an insult.

At that, he turns to face the barrel of a gun at me. I back down, Self preservation is funny like that.He moves the gun from my face and follows the barrel until it lands on Sera. He motions for her to stand and she does so very gracefully.

“Titus was right”, The man said, “ I always knew there was something wrong with you.  Knew you were up to something. You are nothing but a traitor. You will hang for this"

“Don't be reckless, Faust. ”, her voice is calm.

“Did Helios send you ?”, I interject

"Helios, is to blind to send me. Titus sent me.", Faust says.

"So", she says, "Helios has no idea you're here."

The man lunges froward and the others dive out the way. If any of the diners on the other side of the doors and curtain notice a disturbance, they do nothing.

“Seraphina", Faust says, "Helios is going to ring your pretty little neck for this--”

Seraphina reaches for his hand and he grunts following the loud crack of his wrist, his gun clatters to the ground, before he can  even register that she has broken his wrist. He goes to hold his wrist and she forces him down--back to the table table, Callum grabs his shoulders to keep him down. In seconds a knife is dug so deep into his heart that he is pinned to the table, each beat of his heart causing him to bleed out. Then she twist it.

He’s dead instantly.

Seraphina watches his eyes intently for the moment as the life blinks out of him. Callum slowly lets go. Whatever he was expecting her to do it wasn't that.

“No”, I started, “No, no no. Sera you didn’t---”

“He would have reported back to Titus and then Helios, we can’t have that--.”

“You killed him, Sera. You just took his life.”, The words feel thick and wrong in my mouth.

“Wake up, Paris. It would be death for all of us if Helios knew about this. We've only just begun. It had to be done.”

Damien gets up and checks Faust;s pulse, then he starts cleaning up the blood.

“You cannot go around killing people, Sera. I won't have it. What the hell is the matter with you--”

“You're dead without me”, she say towering over me, the bloody knife still in her hand, "I”m all you have right now, I won’t  be hanged by Helios because of one man. I won’t, so I did what I had to."

Self-preservation is funny like that.

She sits the body up, Damien is trying to stop the bleeding, I'm sure The Spindle is discrete but they may object to dead bodies being dragged through their dinning room.

Seraphina turns to Lysander.

“I’ll need your  wheelchair.”

+++

The meeting is cut short as Damien and Seraphina disappear with the dead Angel Faust slumped in Lysander’s wheel chair , Seraphina’s shades over his eyes. My jacket over his fatal stab wound.

“Found it “, Callum said leafing though the packet he had be given, “I found her.”

He sets down a headshot with chilling blue eyes on an beautiful face.

I flipped it over.

Seraphina  Grigori, 31

Height  : 6’4

Weight : 170

Status : A

Count : 21

Then in Helio's handwriting

"30”  27” 36"

manic, anti-social, borderline personality disorder

Then in Helio's scrawling handwriting :

My perfect lady

+++

Lysander, Callum , Jona and I sit at the table in silence for nearly a half an hour, waiting for Damien and Sera to come back. Callum has turned the photo of her face down. I don't think she knew it was in there.

“This is good. She’s on our side.", I say reading Helio's assessment of her.

“That could have been one of us”, Jona said looking at the photo of her,”She could have stabbed one of us through the fucking heart. 21, brother. She killed fucking 21 people for Helios in less than a year.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. That Angel could have ruined everything. I don’t like it, you know I don’t. . .but maybe it was a necessary evil.”

“What does she want ?”,Callum says, “She is going to want something when this is over.”

Everyone gets silent when they hear the click of her boots, She smells like antiseptic and soap.  Damien follows behind with gin martini.  Without a word Seraphina finds her jacket and heads for the stairs.

I can feel the others glares when I turn my back and follow her. I feel Jona's glare the most. I don't say a word until we exit the The Spindle dining room and start down the spiral stair case to the elevators

“That can't  happen again”, I say, “If Helios thinks we are killing his men, he won't like it.”

“He won’t find Faust.”, she says, “Ever. Helios barely notices him as it is.”

My mind ponders what the hell she and Damien did with the body.  We stay silent in the elevator and I don't know why I'm still following her. Once outside I realize I need to say something. . .anything.

I follow behind for one block, deciding I can't leave things like this.

“So”, I start, “Look I. . .

My voice trails off when she stops in front of a white motorcycle, sliding smoothly onto it, sitting up to pin up her hair. Not at all noticing the questionable expression on my face.

“I knew it”, I said, “Helios put you up to this whole thing didn’t he ? He’s paying you to seduce me and act all my teenage fantasies to use against me later.”

She pauses and thinks for a moment. I hoped she knew I was joking.. . kind of.

“Motorcycles where invented after you were an adolescence.”

“Well--okay, that one is a new fantasy.”

I clear my throat. I need to stop flirting with her. This is just business. Business. I just can't flip that switch like she can.

“I don’t know if I can keep this up, Sera. I keep thinking you have some endgame with me.”

“Now, you don't trust me ?’, she realized.

“You say you don’t care about me, fine.  But, There are millions of bachelors and bachelorettes  who would be more than happy to indulge you. Why me ? Do you have thing for short men with small cocks ?".  

“Must you be so hard on yourself”, she says , “You’re a nice man, Paris. Hmeju though so well of you. Is it wrong to want to be in the company of a nice man.”

“You should always be in the company of a nice man”, I say. She tilts to the side to kiss me.

“Let me take you home.”, she offers.

“Ah, no. Everyone's opinion of you seems to be mixed at the moment. I think it's best I'm not seen alone with you. ”

“In that case”, she says, “Let's not be seen”

Damn Damn Damn

The cloud creature screams and a bolt of lighting makes the night temporarily day.  The Angel faces the creature head on in the middle of the road. The smoke spherical shaped thing barrels towards her at a remarkable speed.

I jolt out of my haze and rush towards The Angel, using all my strength to shove her out of the path as the creature rolls over where she was just standing. We collapse under an awning being blown and whipped by the wind.

‘“Is that it”, I ask. Cold sharp rain whips around us., “Is that the creature that you are running from ?”

“Yes”, she says

The cloud creature undulates on the edge of the town, almost like it is peering down over the cliff. The wind and rain beat against the awning we are under, threatening it to break. I hope. I pray that the creature will tumble off the cliff and kill itself.  The rain picks up and the Angel’s hair and veil cling to her face.  

“We need to go”, I say

“We kill the beast”, she her voice sings, “It was your will.”

It had been the deal I made. I had said killing this creature could be good for both our Kingdoms. When I said that I was expecting some one-eyed giant or a rabid animal, but this creature was other worldly. It was like a living breathing storm.  It was a force of nature.

The contained storm moves turns, then rolls towards us. I can smell the blood, feathers and wind in the air.

We are as good as dead.

The Angel towers over me, flinging her wings open to block the blow of the creatures coming to consume us.  I keep my eyes open, watching her serene eyes closed in anticipation. It's a peaceful final image. I wait for death, but all I see is the placating Angel. Her eyes suddenly open  wide.

She slowly turns in her clockwork way, and with her wings withdrawn I see a wall of clouds just centimeter from us. The creature waits on the edge of the paved road as if there is a thin force field around us. It’s so close I can almost touch it. It see us, it knows we are there but for some reason it does not gather us up.

I look up and see a  decorative torch glows above me. It's a marble cup with a flame encased in a glass orb. I look to see the the other decorative torches lining the street had been destroys by the wind and raib. My mouth breaks into a smile.

“The light”, I realize, “It can’t stand the light.”

I remembered the rain before the monster appeared. It had rained out the Angel’s candles so it could come. The creature feared the light. I watched the rain slide off the flame, safe inside its glass orb.

I reach up and remove the glass orb from the marble cup and hold it out to the creature, the cloud  ebbs away and screeches at me. Suddenly angry, the cloud grumbles and shoots out the Angel's arrow it had swallowed.

“Gr”, I let out at grunt as the arrow sails into my side. The pain is striking and I fall to my knees The Angel is swift and catches the glass orb before it can break.

Black blood seeps from my wound. Something was certainly torn or ruptured.

She breaks the arrow, but thinks better of pulling it out of my side. She opens her hands around the wound and seems lost on how to handle it.

“I’ll be. . . fine”, I say but I can't be sure.

She turns her back to me and kneels down, prompting me to climb on her back. She wants to try and fly away. She holds up the glass orb, as if that little flame could protect us.

“No”, I say, “We can’t. The glass orb could break or fall. . . and the creature will eat us”

She looks at my wound again and puts the glass orb in my hands, the heat from the flame stings my palms. Her eyes are set and I realize there is no other way.  If we wait until morning I might bleed out. I climb on, my side burns in pain from the wound.

I hold onto the the glass orb like it's life itself.  I brace myself as she soars through the monster. The little flame does keep us safe. Inside the creature it smells like sulfur and rain. Parts of the creature break open when it senses the flame.

The air is clean when we come out the other side. She soars to the edge of town and when we reach the cliff, the wind causes the glass orb to slip and fall from my hands. The flame flickers out as the orb falls to the ground so far below.

The creature is still chasing us so the Angel dives straight down.  Rain beats across my face and my wet hands lose their purchase. I fall from her, she reaches for my hands but is to late. I scream while free falling towards the forest below.The Angel soars in a circle looking for me in the darkness.

When I look up I see is the stormy face of the creature and impending death waiting for me below.

+3+

I bolt upright and feel the wind fly out of me. I’m breathing so hard it hurts. I can't get my grasp, , , I can't steady myself. My hands are useless. I look down to see my side is unmarked. No wound. It was just a dream. Just a dream ?

Laying back down I realize my hands are tied to my bed. . .  are still tied to my bed.

I turn my body to  the empty space in my bed. It still feels cold. I can hear shuffling in Father’s office. My office. I squint as my eyes adjust to the dark. The double doors are swung open and from my vantage I see a flash of bronze hair.

"Um, forget something ?", I whisper.

I hear pages flipping and some more shuffling coming from the office.

“What are you doing ?”, I whisper louder.

Seraphina steps into view, running her hand along the spines of Father’s old journals, carefully she slips one back on the shelf and opens another.

“Reading”, she says scanning the journal.

“Oh”, I remembered how close she had been to Father. It seemed  like such a foreign thought to me, but the way she looked at those journals it suddenly seemed so real.

Hmjeu had often spent long amounts of time at Queen Anne's to discuss how our society would function in new and trying times. They once had a three day conferring about if a telephone might risk slipping our secret.Sera had told me last year Anne had sent her to care for father’s needs but instead of treating her like a silent servant, he treated her like a daughter.

“I always found his journals to painful to read.  It makes me miss him more.”, I said

She looks up detecting my wilting tone. She closes the office door, holding on to the journal. She climbs on the bed straddling me, raised on her knees. She's dressed but the button on her jeans is undone, the low rise makes it obvious she's wasn't wearing --

“He never spoke of me? Hemju. He never spoke of me to you ?”

“Uh, no. . .  but you know he was busy. Did he uh--speak of me.”

She fixes the button, it still doesn't help my concentration.

“Yes, almost entirely. The young prince. The surviving prince. He once wrote an epic poem about you. I'd fall asleep with him telling me story of what a mischievous child you were and the great future you had in front of you."

I blushed a little at that. I didn't want to think of what stories Father had told her about me. How much did she know about me anyway.

“Can I keep this ?, She holds up the journal.

“Of course. You can also untie me. I really like this tie."

"Get yourself out", she says. She isn't flirting with me. She's serious.

She leans down so her lips are almost touching mine, my hands instantly want to pull her down but are tightly confined to my head board. I try stretching to reach her but she moves back.

She gets off the bed and finds her jacket and helmet. I twist my wrist the best I can, but the tie is holding. I try to find the knot with my fingers. Something gives.

“I’ll send you a message when it’s done.  Helio's cars.”, She clarifies.

There it was with perfect execution., the change. The change from almost friends to just plain allies. The switch from pleasure to business.

                

“Can you manage ? Jona can help. He’s good at explosives.”, Something slips and the tie falls loose. I stretch and bring my arms down.

“I’ll manage ”, she says.

She heads out and I race to  grab her arm.

“Wait. . . I”

She shrugs me off.

"I want you to come to Boston with me, Sera."

It seems to mean nothing to her, then she remembers why I was going to Boston in the first place. And the second reason.

"Are you--"

"I'm not going to propose to you. Hell, no. . . It's just I have to see the lawyer. And the room I got  for--um-- it was non-refundable and you must want a reprieve from Helios. I don't know I just don't want to go alone and I--"

She seems caught of guard, but doesn't say no. . .or yes. She kisses me good bye again. Always again. For some reason the first good-bye kiss never stuck.

"You're so quiet.", I still have a hand on her wrist and whisper, "Oh, speak bright Angel."

She turns at my last words and after some thoughts kisse my cheek.

“What was that ?",  I say and her expression softens , "Speak again bright angel.”

She kisses the side of my scar just an inch away from my lips.

“I didn’t catch that, perhaps louder this time.”

Finally, she kisses my lips and opens her mouth. I slide off her jacket and take her keys, pulling her away from the door.

" Bright angel, I think we need to have a longer conversation"

 

+++

Author's Note

Hey. . . remember when Seraphina is quoting Shakespeare (because I thought them having a quote off would build tension) in Lux ?

[Seraphina] “O, speak again, bright angel. . . For. . . thou art as glorious. . . to this night, being o'er my head, as is a wingèd messenger of heaven--”

The Angel folded her arms and continued pacing. She sounded as if she was trying to remember the words. Her hollow and frustratingly deep tone butchering any attempts at poetry.

“As is a winged messenger of heaven. . . .”, she started and failed again.

I [Paris] stepped outside and spoke softly.

“Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds And sails upon the bosom of the air.”, I finished, “It’s not that difficult. Does Anne have nothing better to do than teach you  to recite Shakespeare”

Continuity High Five ™ ! Also, Paris got downgraded from the jerk he is in Lux.. . .that's a different progression for my male.

characters.

Also, the sweet prince quote from Hamlet is one of the reasons in Lux Seraphina keeps referring to Pairs as "sweet prince". Also becuase she thought he was soft, sheltered and spoiled.