+1+

I found Sera in the basement.

With the mission drawing closer everyone was starting ramp up. More people came in and out of the safehouse carrying messages, weapons and supplies. At one point The Prince spent the entire afternoon talking to an artist. Somewhere in the constant motion I found Seraphina alone in the basement sharpening a shit ton of glinting white gold knives.

After learning the boy was her son I made an effort to spend time with him. Only Isobel seemed to take care of him. Everyone else seemed to just ignore the kid. Not me. I wanted to show her that I could deal with a kid in my life, even though I was just a kid myself. If Paris’ secret plan went through, there would still be time for her to escape from him.

The boy was hard to find. He was always out with the dust picking up rocks or hiding in various small corners where he piled up rocks.  When I did find him we played with Legos in the garage or I showed him cartoons on TV.  I tried to get him to talk but he never did.

He had to be at least 6 or 7 but he was a lot more helpless. He and Sera hardly crossed paths but I’d stated to notice that he would eat her food. Not that I saw her and Callum eat anything but  steroids and vitamins, but if she had a protein shake he’d climb up on the counter to reach it. Either she was immune to it or ignoring him because she always carried on, even when he got into her spiked orange juice

Anyway, when I found her in the basement. She was of course drinking. The ice in her highball glass was melted and she’d taken to drinking from the bottle. When she saw me—us—she didn’t tell me to fuck off. She gave the boy a passing glance.Her perfect ivy league hair was a little to long and unruly, her exposed arms and neck covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

I almost blanch when I see a dead pig on the counter.

The knives are so shiny I can see my reflection in them. I can also see the giant dead pig on the table reflected in it too.

“What do you want ”, she starts

She brings the flat side of a knife to her mouth kissing it.

“The boy”, I ask my voice shaking, “What’s his name”

“. . . Arrow”, she studies her reflection in the knife.

“I thought he—“

“You thought nothing. . . leave him alone.”

She takes another knife and starts to butcher the pig with it. Blood spills on to the table. I try not to look grossed out.

“I’m trying to help I think he—“

“He won’t matter when the mission is done”, she picks up another knife and goes for the insides of the pig, “He won’t exist once we change the timeline.”

“He exist now.”

“He’s the son of jealous weak opportunistic rapist.”, she said, “That’s all that matters.”

 “You said when you were taken to Guantanamo that there were other Helions there. . .was it one of them ?”

She nodded

“I’d been in isolation at Guantanamo for 2 years and didn’t even know there were other captured Helions. Titus and 'Memnon were caught during the 10 day war. They’d been tortured, starved,  stripped of their wings and left in a cage like me. I was actually happy to see my own kind again.

Which was so fucked up because the last time I saw them they... fuck, I was just glad to know I wasn't alone there.

The humans said they were transporting us Helions to a more secure camp. We should have stood together and fought the humans, but Titus and 'Memnon  still wanted to kill me for falling in love with the Prince. Idiots. During transport they left them unshackled in the van--"

I couldn’t help but to smile, “and you killed them first."

“Just not fast enough”, she studied  a short knife, “The guards heard me screaming and they just let it happen, I'd been raped and beaten since I'd arrived so what did they care ? Afterward they thought I was pure evil. . .killing my own kind. Nevermind Titus died with his dirty cock rammed into me.  That bastard always hated me and I guess he really got the last word."

"Sounds more like you did."

She doesn't smile.

"I just knew what would happen. Where we are from Angel women are designed to be little more than breeders and wives. Something snapped in me and I saw this vein pumping beneath his neck and I just lunged for it. . . .survival of the fittest . . . I guess."

She runs her hand over her mouth

“You uh, don't treat him like your son.” I said trying to veer the subject

“He’s more my former cellmate.” She takes another sip of whiskey, “There might have been a top secret congressional hearing on what to do with a child born in U.S detainment but he was as fucked as me in that teeny tiny cell.  No one cared about Helion, the camp commander and his men were so cruel.

The things that boy watched me do just so they would give me food. I used to let the guards take him to the commander over our camp. Commander Fountain. . . liked him. He didn’t hurt him . . . he just took pictures, that’s all. I guess they were popular--A sweet angel boy. I mean. . . If they were hurting him he could have ran or. . ."

Her hand hovered above his back, but she didn’t touch him. He had wings. . . he could have flown away. I started to realize maybe Sera was to broken to figure out the real reason why he hadn't left.

“Anyway . . .this hacker who owed Paris a favor found the pictures and traced them back to the Commander Fountain. That’s how Paris found me. When the U.S decided to extradite me Paris made his move.

They transported us in separate shipping crates on a military cargo ship. The resistance broke me out first . . I made the choice to leave Arrow behind. I left a note on him,   I figured he’d have a better chance in New Aeterna because of who his sick father was, he could live in Helion City as a king. . . maybe Helios would take him in or a Helion family. . . one of my Sisters.”

“How could you let him go to New Aeterna alone ?

She takes another shot of whiskey

“It was better that way. I. . .I… . we weren’t living we were surviving. I hated having to share my body and food . . . I hit him once for eating my rations even though I knew he was starving too. No one gave a—cared about us because of what our kind had done. I mean Helios killed an entire fucking U.S army with his daemons. I'm not even innocent. I enabled Helios the day he came to town. ”

“How did Arrow get here ?”

"When Arrow arrived in New Aeterna  Helios decided he would serve his. . . parents punishments. 100 years for my treason and 200 years for Titus capture and cowardice. I thought the boy was living well, but Arrow went right into Helio’s child prisons. Aria discovered who he was and lost her life helping us save him.

He wasn’t a very smart boy. We broke into Helion Castle.. . Callum and Leon went in for Arrow and I was going after Helios. Leon found Arrow but he wouldn’t move, he wouldn’t let Leon take him out the prison. I had to abandon my search for the General and went to find Leon. That boy ran right towards his evil Mama. He’d gotten so big . . . "

She’d finally drank enough to make eyes contact with the boy. I felt sick when I realized rocks and bugs were the only toys he’d ever known.

Shit

“He’s a survivor, we all are. He’s not mine. He’s not my son, he has a village here to raise him and Isobel loves him. I’m not. . . really even supposed to be alone with him. I should be locked up for some of the things I did.”

“Sera—“

“Look I’m telling you this so you’ll understand why I do what I do. Why I hold little value for the lives of  Helios' followers.”

“I get it. I lost my sister.”

She scoffs and pushes the bottle towards me.

“The thing is Paris and Isobel had close to real lives while I was locked away. They built a legacy for themselves. Paris has manged to defy Helion authority better than any nation. He gives people hope, he brings people home and has the scars to prove it."

She shakes her head and continues.

"This war built him up. Money was thrown at him, he had girlfriends, power and respect. No, They don’t see this war the way I do and neither do you. For me it never ends. It just haunts me at night."

She puts both hands on the table and her voice starts to shake. She tries to catch her breath and she starts crying. When she wipes her face it leaves a smear of blood. I try to comfort her and carefully ease her down to the floor. Arrow sits next to me and organizes his rocks.

I grab a cloth when I turn around I see her sitting there and I get a glimpse of what her life must have been like for all those years. I carefully wipe her face.

"Sera, you don't need Paris. He doesn't understand this like we do."

She just stares at me, her gaze breaks for a second when Arrow drops a rock into her lap. She doesn't react when the little boy kisses her on the mouth. She takes the rag from me and I never find out what she was going to say next.

"What's your--", she starts

“SERA”, Isobel screams from upstairs, “Get up here.  .  . I think someone’s trying to break in.”

Sera curses quietly, wipes her face again and runs up the stairs. I turn to follow. Upstairs everyone is crowded around a TV and Isobel and Callum are working two different remotes. Ares and Leon are standing on either side of The Prince. Finally a security feed cuts on. I see  every single room in the house. Shit. No one had told me that.                                                                                                                                                           

“Are we expecting someone ?”, Leon asks.

Izzy zoomed in on the front door, there was a thin anxious girl at the door, she was crying and her clothes were dusty and torn. She looked kinda familiar.

“Fuck”, Izzy and Seraphina said at the same time.

Both women raced to the garage door. I watch on the feed as they let the girl in. I recognized her as a waitress from Diana’s club. . . Marie.

“What the hell are you doing out here, Marie”, Seraphina demanded then she thought better, “Did someone hurt you, did you bring someone here ? Were you followed ?”

“I . . . escaped”, she managed while Izzy bought her a blanket.  The girl kept sobbing, I could see blood on her dress it was pouring from her chest

“Marie”, Izzy said, “You’re fine. We want to help you.”

“They said it was a New Aetrnea raid, they were taking back illegals. Diana showed them her papers  but there some of the girls are illegal. . . and . . and they just started shooting everyone and. . .”

The girl, Marie was dying. I don’t know how I knew this but the way Izzy looked at her made it so plain.

“Paul, drop Marie off at the hospital. Just drop her off and go. Don’t stop if you can help it.  Damien go too.”, The Prince’s orders were being followed before he finished them

+2+

Seraphina let the Marie go, dropping her to the floor and ran to her SUV,  Leon and The Prince followed her but a spasm slowed him down. It happened so fast but I manged to get in the car. Sera tore out of the industrial park and down to the club. The parking lot was clear and the place was eerily silent.

“Diana”, she called running inside.

The place was empty. Glasses were smashed and there were small splashes of blood everywhere. The floor was littered with casings. No bodies though. Sera ran upstairs to the loft apartment and I searched the kitchen and backroom. All empty. The Prince had arrived and he looked so out of place here, he stood in the doorway with Ares close by him.

Leon muscled past them both.

“Sera”, was all he said and whatever emotion he used she understood it instantly.

Sera followed Leon out the front door and to the back of the club, past the dumpster and through the trees to where hills rolled off into a steep embankment. I could see tracks on the dirty mud floor, the Hudson river and New Aeterna in the distance. They’d probably rounded up the illegals and took them back via boat.

That wasn’t why Leon had called her out here.

In the distance was a small orange inflatable lifesaver and there was someone on it. Sera lunged towards the river ready to jump in but Leon stopped her, I helped.

“No”, Leon said calmly, “If you go to far you’ll be in New Aeterna waters. You could be seen”

“I don’t care”

“Just wait—“

“I can’t fucking wait. I can't. . .”

She scratched at Leons face and tried to push Leon over, Leon had a firmer grasp and they fought one another tooth and nail.   She finally slugged Leon right in his thick jaw and broke free. She slipped down the embankment and dove into the cold river

She wasn’t a strong swimmer today, her path dearailed but she kept going until she reached the orange lifesaver. Izzy and The Prince watched her. Izzy was wearing The Prince’s coat, his arms were around her.

Eventually Callum had to dive in and help her bring the lifesaver ashore. Diana was slumped over it. Her clothes and hair soaking wet. Seraphina dragged her to the dirt and flipped her over

“Come on”, she said to Diana, “It’s okay—I---I’m sorry--. Come on. Diana get the fuck up.”

She started giving her CPR, Diana’s body jerked slightly but it was obvious she was dead. She’d probably jumped from the boat, she’d lost her life escaping. Anything than being held prisoner in New Aeterna

It wasn’t that Seraphina had been to late. There were 4 gunshot wounds in Diana’s back.

Seraphina gave up and just held the woman’s cold bloated body and screamed.

“It’s all my fault… I’m so so sorry”, she started to cry and everyone turned away heading back to the cars. I noticed her husband kept the greatest distance

“It’s not your fault”, I said and everyone kind of looked at me, “The Helion government is just corrupt.”

“Shut the fuck up”, she yelled at me, “Don’t you dare speak to me like that. Helios is sending me a message.”

“Seraphina, the General is not sending you a personal message.”

“Get the fuck way from us” she screamed at me.

I headed back towards the others.

I felt The Prince's hand on my shoulder

“He is. Helios must have gotten intel after Sera killed his men. ”, Paris said, “Helios comes after her, I go after him."

“Really ? What are you doing all the way back here ? Some husband you are."

“I know my place”, he says and heads to the car, “And you should really learn yours.”

+3+

Diana was cremated against Seraphina’s will. She got into a screaming match with Damien,  and Leon and Ares had to pull her off of him.

The drive back that night was brutal. Complete silence with Diana’s wet body in the back seat. The way Sera looked at it and smoothed Diana's hair like she could bring her back. Diana had been Catholic but there was not place to bury a body in an industrial park.

Her ashes were spread in Newark Bay at dawn, because through and through she was a Jersey girl.  I’d gone to the funeral because the woman had fed me. I was severely under-dressed though. The Princes were dressed virtually the same in dark shades and black suits. His sported a shiny tie clip and handkerchief, hers had a long jacket and open vest.

No one stood up or said anything and Sera turned away when Callum opened the vase and let some of the ashes blow into the bay.

Afterward there was a repast/cookout in the backyard. I’d settled on an patio seat, still trying to get a feel for where I fit in. General comments were made about Diana but mostly the night just seemed like a somber social occasion. Still, people coming and going always stopped by The Prince first before moving on to Sera.

Izzy, the constant hostess bought over a tray of shot glasses, she was still in her black and white rose dress from the funeral. I snagged one and took it neat. I was getting good at that. Everyone sat outside and drank past midnight.

“Hey, I think you’ve had enough”, The Prince said softly reaching taking a glass from his wife. She’d been knocking back shots all night. He hadn’t left her side.

“Don’t”, she said

“What”

“That tone.”, she clarified and I handed her my half full glass, she accepted it quietly. If she thought she needed it, I’d give it to her.

“Sera, I know she meant a lot to you but—“

“That tone. That oh so nuanced--tone”, she shrugged and  stood up so he couldn’t take the glass fro her, “She wasn’t just a she and she didn’t mean a lot to me, I loved her.”

“I know—“

“No”, she slurred a bit, “You don’t know. I loved her long before you begged me to marry you. You might have rescued me from fucking Cuba. . .but she saved me after years of being locked up. ”

The Prince looked into his glass

“That was her job, Seraphina. Take in the fugitives and prepare them for a new life. She was doing her job. She forever has my respect for that, and I didn’t beg you to marry me. I resent that implication.”

“Like I could really say no to the man who rescued me. That's why no one ever says no to you.”

He smirks a little.

“You didn’t want to say no. ”

She took another drink from someone, stood up and stumbled.

“You are so fucking condensing.  Diana was the first person to take care of me for nothing in return. None of that ‘Save me, Sera’ ‘Marry me, Sera'  '‘Protect me, Sera’ ‘Let me fuck you up the ass,  Sera'  bullshit you always pull—“

“Okay, Seraphina. ”, he said nervously pushing his hair back, “I don’ t mean to discount anything. I know you loved her. You’ve had to much to drink, baby. We're all testy. Just please sit down you’re—“

“. . . we were in love, I should have taken care of her I should have married her. “

“She a resident of New Aetrnea, that would have been a death sentence for her”, Paris reminded her

“How fortunate for you.”

“Look”, he said quietly, “You had a choice—“

“I never had a fucking choice. I have never had a choice in my entire life. Ever”, she says quietly and holds onto a chair to stand,“I spent five years in that hell and then--”

“We were all in hell because of New Aeterna”

“Of course you were, love. With all these people healing you, taking you in and propping you up. All the traveling, deal-making and parties. Sounds like hell. You loved every minute of it.”

“Sera, that’s enough.” The Prince said, “I couldn't enjoy anything not knowing where you were. Look, we’ve all lost someone. It's the toll we pay for fighting Helios. I mean Isobel and Lysander—“

“You and that precious ex-girlfriend.” she cut in.

She steps threateningly towards him, sloshing the content of the glass on him. She turned a few times to get her bearings before sliding a black band off her finger and throwing it at The Prince. None of his guards caught it as the solid black band hit his shoulder.

“Wrong ring—“, he started but she pulled a gold band off her other hand and thew it at him

“I should have been with my partner instead of standing by trying to protect you from being killed, day in and day out. Her death is not in vain. We’re going after Helios and the Tempest tomorrow, if anyone has a problem with it just come upstairs and I’ll shoot you now. Even you, husband.”

He sat up in his chair and reached for the sleeve of her jacket.

“Love, we’re not prepared. We need more time. Sit down  . . . get yourself together. ”

She pulled her sleeve away and after readjusting her stance she slapped him. He didn't react at first and kept his eyes averted.

“Shut up, Paris. I’m through being your submissive wife. Five years of fucking torture.  A decision has been made. We go after New Aeterna now.”, she took a moment to catch her bearings and fought to stay upright.

“Seraphina. Are you okay ?” I finally piped up

“I-- Whose with me.”, she raised her glass and looked around

Leon nodded his head in comradery . The other Helion followed Leon’s example, followed by the Demons. The Prince and Izzy shared a nervous glance.

Fuck, even drunk and on an emotional rampage these guys were ready to follow her. I wasn’t sure if I was but I stood up next to her. I placed a hand on herback to steady her. I didn’t want to be the guy who followed her I wanted to be the guy who was next to her.

“We leave in 36 hours”, she decides. A few somber cheers go up.

It was partially ironic that after such a strong stand that Sera dropped the glass and passed out. She fell forward and Ares and Leon jumped up to catch her, slowly lowering her to the floor.

The Prince looked down to where she is laid out at his feet, the side of his mouth quirks up into a half smile.

“I told you you had to much.”, he said to her unconscious body, “Take her upstairs. I’ll be there in a minute”, he said to Ares and Leon.

That got my attention.

“She said she didn’t want anything to do with you.”

“She’s drunk”, He said not looking at me, “Doesn’t make her very attractive does it . . . or does it ? I can't decide.”

Ares and Leon threw her arms over their shoulders and with a collective effort picked up her legs and carried her upstairs.

The Prince got up and followed them, so I followed him.

 “This is good for us, I think”, The Prince said with a smile. He touched the red mark on his face where she'd slapped him

“Uh. . . what.”

“Sera’s anger” he said shaking the rings in his hand, “When we get to Helion Castle and we tell Sera the Tempest doesn’t work she now has more of  reason to go with our plan  We can use The Tempest to bring past Diana and Lora back."

“. . . you’re okay with bringing Diana back ?”

“I told you”, he said, “I love my wife very much and she loves Diana. I want her to be happy. I don’t want to lose my marriage or my chance at a future family."

“What about Arrow ? He in your future family ?”

The Prince shrugs.

“In a way. He’s troubled and. . . I can’t touch him. Literally. You’d be surprised how much that strains a relationship.  ”

Holy shit. He was a crazy bastard.

“His name, you know,  comes from the weapons Angels used in our world---er time. A good defiant name if there ever was one. She always said that if we failed to stop the Helion that perhaps he would become the Arrow in Helio’s Achilles’s heel. I second that motion.”

He smiled at me and headed upstairs.

I was quick on my feet and found a can of ginger ale in the fridge.I stopped remembering the orange Rx bottle of pills Sera put in the Prince’s tea.

I see the bottle hidden in the back of a cabinet, it looks like it had just been refilled. I turned to read the label.

Flunitrazepam (5mg)

1 tablet via mouth at bedtime

Sara Prints (Insomina)(Refill twice a month)

I stare at the bottle for a second and then drop three into the ginger ale and they dissolve in seconds. I try to put the pill bottle back exactly where I found it.

I head upstairs and push the door to her room open and find that the Prince was still with her. Ares and Leon were by the door looking down and pretending to not notice the Prince violating her. He’d  placed her on  the bed and  taken off  her clothes except the underwear he was tugging off her.

“What the fuck, Theo”, he says.

“Fuck me, fuck you.You bastard. Get the hell away from her”

I pulled my gun on him. He laughed a little and Leon and Aries looked up and then back down.

The Prince held his hands up.

“Calm down. I can change my wife’s clothes. I really can’t let her vomit on a suit this nice."

“Get out.” I say.

“Are you forgetting this is my bedroom, my safehouse, my wife, probably my gun too--

My hand slips and the gun fires. I keep a steady hand on it

“Shit”, Sera sits up and anything else she says is incoherent and she slumps topless against The Prince. A plume of feathers goes up fro the pillow I'd shot.

“What the fuck” Paris waves a hand at Leon and Ares who had done nothing to protect him.

“Um. . .didn’t think it was loaded”, Leon says with a shrug, “. . .maybe we should go, boss”

“You’re taking orders from him, now ?”, The Prince asks.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should give her some space, let her sleep it off. It’s been a rough few days. People are still downstairs.”

The Prince considers this. He pulls the covers around her and stands up, smoothing down his expensive suit jacket. He gives me a pointed look before heading out the door. Leon and Ares follow behind him. I go to the second floor terrace and see him take a seat next to Izzy.

+4+

Sera’s coughing catches my attention and I see her sitting up and reaching for the ginger ale I brought. I hand it to her and she seems better already.

“You okay”,  I ask down to her, “He’s gone. He can't hurt you.”

She sits up and pulls on a vintage t-shirt from the floor. She rubs her eyes and gives a passing look to the bullet casing on her pillow. Her eyes then focus on the reality tv show playing quietly on the TV.

I sit down next to her, the show is too quiet to discern what everyone is saying, but it look like it’s following around some celebrity family. They are at a photoshoot and look to be opening a restaurant.

“Are you okay”, I ask again as she finished the ginger ale. The bed feels like it’s made out of feathers.

“This taste awful”, she says

There are wedding photos on their nightstands that I’d never noticed. They are on the beach. In the photos the Prince is dressed casually in blue, but Sera is unrecognizable. Her hair in the photo is slightly longer and much thinner, she looks pale and gaunt.  She is so thin I can see her bones. A plain white dress ankle length dress is hanging off her.

The photo on Sera’s side is a candid, but the photo on his side doesn’t look right. It’s of them from the chest up but they are equal heights. Seraphina sees me looking and turns the photo on her side down.

“You okay”, I ask handing her the ginger ale to finish

“I was angry”, she said finishing the glass, “When I got out I was. . .  cold. Diana ? She was so kind, she knew what I’d been through and treated me like a human. She didn’t pity me. She took care of me and I let her, something I never did.

Diana treated everyone the same. She was always. . . feeding people.  Literally and physically . She knew I read and bought me books. I wanted so much to protect her, to be in her warmth always.“, she trailed off. It was useless giving a eulogy now.

“I’m sorry”

“It’s over.

“But. . . the plan. I mean if we go back in time and reset things she’ll live.”

Seraphina but her head down, tossing the empty glass into a corner.

“We’d never meet. she was in New Jersey I’d never go there.  . . I just. . . when you do the mission. . . maybe you can leave a note for me or her. I mean”

“I’ll try”

I agree. .  but only because I know I’m going to betray her.

We fall into a comfortable silence.

“I’m sorry you have to be with such a jerk. He’s not the one who should be the face of this, you don’t need him”

“You’re new here”, she said rubbing her eyes, "New Aeterna needs Paris. He helps people, he undermines a dangerous regime in the shadows. Most don't know how sick he is. I knew when I married him that I'd be his subordinate.. That's what I do. Leon and I were Helios' lieutenants. I was loyal. . . I was his woman and now I'm his. "

She gestures to The Prince's side of the bed.

“Your probably not legally married. You don’t have to take this.”

She laughed and struggled to pick up the wedding photo from the other side of the bed,  She was stretched out across the bed, showing off her pale pink underwear. I take a second glance at the intricate Arrow tattoo on her back.

“Look”

“Huh”

I realized she  had a piece of paper from the back of the frame. It was a New Jersey marriage licenses, with their aliases. She accidentally drops the frame and license on the floor. Then after a minute starts to talk again.

“He made me consummate our marriage at the cheapest hotel on the boardwalk. These Helion bounty hunters snuck up on us. Paris wanted to run but.  . . it was just easier to shot them on the motel steps.  When he realized I’d kill for him, just like that without hesitation. . .  that really turned him on.”

“That’s fucked up”

She shrugs his shoulders and nestles against a king sized pillow with ‘Seraphina’ scrawled on it. She brings her hand to her mouth, her thumb just barley between her mouth. Her eyes move lazily to the television. She looks like something out of a magazine.

By the second commercial break the restaurant grand opening had been ruined because the menus had a typo. We’d both fallen back on her bed, there had been some laughing over  . . . something, maybe the TV. I’d started to test the waters and touched her. She didn’t reject me and laughed when I’d wake her whenever she fell asleep mid-sentence.

We’d kiss

Her lips were soft and full, she’d bought her hands up then put them down, her eyes were lidded and  black with a hit of blue irises along the edges. I kissed her again and she relaxed beneath me.

Her shirt rose when she reached up. I could feel the cold hard abs as she reached for my shirt. I tugged it off, while unbuckling my pants. Her lips parted and I kissed her.

“Sera”, I whispered

I felt her hands skim along my back, I turn the TV off and there in the dark for one moment it’s about me and her.

 

+++

I'd woken up early in the afternoon feeling lighter on my feet. I went to change then head  downstairs settle for a bowl of cereal. From the counter I have a great view of The Prince sleeping on the couch, still in his funeral attire. His shirt is unbuttoned and his shoes are gone. Paul is guarding him but he’s paying more attention to a comic book.

I can’t stop smiling smugly, he thought he knew everything. He though the could control Sera.

Speaking of she jogs down the stairs in gray cameo and loose  black tank.

Sera doesn’t betray herself in the slightest. She’s good. She sits down next to his feet and he stirs.

“Morning”, he says, “I’m so fucking hungover, cupcake.”

".  .  . did you sleep down here ?" she asks.

He nods and starts yawning.

Sera reaches into her pocket and slips her rings back on making sure he notices. Isobel comes in from where she was sitting outside and takes a seat across from them.

“I’m so sorry”, Paris says to Sera covering his face with a pillow.

“For what ?”, she says studying her hands

“Most of what I said last night. I was out of turn and angry. I know Diana respected us and I had no right to be dismissive She was important to the resistance and to you. I should have done more to protect her. I should be able to do more.“

She takes the pillow from his face.

“I don’t really remember last night, I know we fought but. . . it all gets kind of blurry. I think I actually blacked out”, she leans down to kiss him and runs her tonugue over his lips.

“ Well I was a jerk.”, he says, “Well . . .you were a drunk jerk,  but I didn’t take it well. Also you bought up that thing I asked about during our last anniversary.”

“Oh." she says non-plussed.

“Eh, they probably thought we were doing it anyway.”, The Prince shrugs his shoulders

Sera stands and heads to the kitchen, to me. Isobel follows her.

“Sera you didn’t drink that much last night, how can you not remember ?“, Isobel asks

“It’s been a tough few days”, she says definitively, “I don’t know.”

“You never blackout. Did you take your medicine.”

“No. No. God, let it go. It’s probably stress”, Seraphina snaps.

Isobel brews up some black coffee and finds a pack of Alka-seltzer. The two women don’t even greet me as they move around the kitchen.

I jump when the chair behind me scraps and The Prince sits next to me. He’s smaller than me and he is fighting to control his facial ticks.

Sera pushes the coffee over to him and drops in two Alkta-seltzer

“Drink this, love and get dressed.  We need to get the entire resistance ready in.” She looks at her watch and squints her eyes, "Did I sleep half the day ?"

“Yes. Also I like how moving up the timeline you remember", Paris says into the cup.

“Things are different now. Helios knew what he was doing when he killed Diana. It’s time to end this. Tomorrow at Dawn New Aeterna is going to fall forever."

Paris looks at me and I nod my head.  I still plan to keep my promise to The Prince. I’m going to botch the mission and I only hope Sera can forgive me later.

“Well”, The Prince says into his coffee “ I need to get a shower and a better night sleep, first.”

“I-I slept terribly, too”, Sera tries to say casually.

“That’s because I wasn’t there to keep you company”, he hopped down from the stool,  wrapping his arms around her from behind, “I bet you curled up with my pillow and pretended it was me didn’t you ?”

“No. Stop.”, she said

“Admit it”

“No.”

“Sera. . .”

“Stop—“

I don’t hear the rest because he’s whispering to her. Then he starts to tickle her and at first she tries not to notice,  but she lets out a small smile and she starts laughing.

“Beautiful”, he says, “Fucking beautiful.”

She starts to say something again, but thinks better of it.

He finishes his coffee with an arm still around her  and has her escort him upstairs, Isobel eyes me while starting a new pot of coffee.

“You disappeared last night”, she says noncommittally

“Uh, it was getting awkward.”

“You disappeared like… right after Sera. Did you see her ? I’ve seen her drink a bottle of jäger like it’s water and drive across the New Jersey turnpike with a trunk full of illegal guns and a broken taillight like it’s nothing. So I'm suspicious.”

“Maybe it’s The Prince. You saw how he was being last night. I mean come on Izzy.”

 I'm curious how Paris comes off in this chapter.  I didn't change anything from the original draft, so I'm sure Paris' level in Jerkass has gone up considerably.

 

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