+1+
“You’re not going”, I yell but she acts like she can’t hear me. She just keeps her eyes locked on the raging rainstorm below. We hit a bit of turbulence and we both grip the inside hatch of the helicopter to keep balance. The harness tug against my chest, threating to snap under the tumult. The helicopter dips from the punishing rain and the torrential down pour sprays us with cold water. It’s dark. The sun is hidden behind thick angry clouds far below the rain and flooding had wiped out the small island town beneath us. I didn’t care what our new lead had said, if our informant was still down there he has to be dead.
Down below I can see the last of the RescueNet aide boats heading towards higher ground. Refugees desperately cling to the boat trying to escape the monsoon’s torment, the RescueNet boats are way over the 35 person limit but they could maybe make it. The tides are changing fast and I turn away as one of the boats capsizes spilling refugees into the water. When I look back I see the aide workers and refugees scrambling to set it right. I had to accept we were to faraway to help.
Besides Seraphina and I had a mission of our own.
I turn back to Seraphina, her hands are covered in blood from where she’d cut herself while cutting her harness off. The pilot, probably some kid who didn’t have a hard enough trainer at the Coast Guard boot camp, screams at Seraphina to clip back in
“We got to get back to the base, Sera”, I roar over the storm, “It’s over… we’ll get another lead. We always do.”
“He knows something”, she says bracing her hands on either side of the door. The harsh rain plastering her hair to her face. She leans out the hatch, her fingers tensing.
“No he doesn’t. No one ever does, Sera. We need to get back. Let me—“
I’m hoping to goad her into a fight long enough for the pilot to get us the fuck out of here, of course both of us would have had to be talkers for that to work. Instead Sera lets go. She gracefully lets herself fall out of the helicopter and the pilot screams.
“Take us closer to the water.” I demand.
“No way. It’s too dangerous we need to get back to the base.” The pilot snaps back.
“Fuck it. Unclip me”
The pilot unclips my automatic harness and I head to the open hatch. I didn’t see Sera hit the water, but I did see our man--the informant--floating on a makeshift raft. He thought he could hide here, thought he could run and hide in his small Pakistani village. He didn’t count on a tropical monsoon hitting his village while we were chasing him, it was a fucking disaster but the chaos made it easier for Sera and I to get into the country.
I went to the back of the helicopter, then I ran forward and took a running leap out of the helicopter. My wings expanding and bursting through my shirt. A torrent of cold rain pelted my body when I reached open air. From my position I could see the informant’s raft had toppled over and he begins swimming toward the tide.
I finally spot Sera in the water a few feet behind him, she wasn’t a strong swimmer and the water was filled with debris and remains of an entire village’s life. I lower myself to hover just over the informant, then I make a grab for him. He was heavy and I couldn’t lift him that high, the wind was fucking with my equilibrium.
“The Legion says fuck you”, the informant says. The informant twists out of my grasp, I try to grab him but he smacks face first into a floating car. His blood darkens the water and his body is gently carried away. Beneath the sound of rushing water, I hear Sera cursing at me.
“Fuck you”, she shouts, “You dropped him. You fucking idiot what were you thin—“
Sera’s curses are swallowed up by the rushing water. I hover with my boots skimming the surface of the water. I take in the devastation around us. It was all so futile. I watched the water waiting for her to come back up, “Come on, Sera.”
She’d pushes herself up to the surface reaching for something to float on. I grab her hand leverage her weight and pull her from the water. I heave her onto my shoulder and began to ascend. Luckily the pilot mets me halfway.
“Get us out of here”, I say to the pilot once we were both inside. The pilot stares at my wings with disgust and horror. I instantly fold them back and pull on a jacket. It was time to go.
+++
Sera was knocked out cold. She doesn’t come to until we were at the Bengal Military base. The small U.K base was flooded with refugees and aid workers. The pilot got off the helicopter to a ring of applause. Well-deserved even if she was a mercenary we’d paid to fly an unauthorized mission that had shit to do with saving refugees.
Sera and I waited on the helicopter for the hanger to clear out, we didn’t need the attention. Our being here was less than noble and we’d helped no one. When it is finally quiet Sera braids back her chin length hair into a messy French braid, then slowly picks herself up. I follow.
The hangar is empty except for a few mechanics. After observing this she turns and throws a fist in my face, I saw it coming and duck. I grab her wrist to throw her off balance but she knees me hard enough and manages to flip me. I get right back up ready to hit her in her pretty face but she weaves and lands a right hook in my nose, then I get an unexpected left hook to my jaw. I wipe the blood from my nose just before the bitch knocks me out cold
+2+
Berlin, Germany 24 hours later
I was fuming but I was damn good at hiding it. I watch from my seat at the end of the conference table as Nolan Fincher, a former U.S Senator turned private security contractor CEO, signs a half million dollar defense contract with the German Defense Secretary.
I congenially nod my congratulations like the other half-assed security contractors who’d also just pitched and missed out on a damn good contract. Fuck it. That job should have been mine, should have been SGI’s. My pitch had been perfect. It was short. Concise.
I fumble to collect my laptop, one of the assistants jumping up to help me disconnect it from the projector. I manage to slip out without anyone noticing and storm down the hallway.
In the hallway a panicked New Aeterna Guard follows behind me as I head towards the hotel connected to the convention center. Sera and I were private citizens but the New Aeterna Guard, a cushy branch of the military, protected New Aeterna’s public figures and spaces. And since she was still married to the fucking former king of the country she was technically a public figure in need of protection. Right now, from me.
“Where the fuck is Seraphina?” I ask turning to the guard, “She was supposed to be at the meeting. You were supposed to make sure she made it.”
“I. . .last night… she said she was going out for just one drink in the hotel bar. . . er . . .I think she picked someone up. She made me leave. Sir, I--”
“Fuck it”, I curse, “You were supposed to watch her.”
“I tried.”
“How many?” I ask the guard… his name was Micah?
“Huh?” Micah says.
“How many did she pick up?”
“One . . . . I think…”
“I told her. I fucking told her. Keep it fucking professional. Is that so fucking hard. --”
I stop, realizing that when I got angry I talked too much. I didn’t like talking too much. I take the stairs up to the 20th floor, I lost Micah somewhere on the 10th floor but he could catch up later. I use my copy of Sera’s hotel key and shove the door open.
It is pitch black in the room except for a sliver of light from one of the curtains. I could barely make out a body on the bed.
A still body. To fucking still.
“Fuck”, I manage to slow my breathing down and toss the laptop aside and stride to the bed. The hotel was crowded but I could make anything disappear with a good plan. The skylight above the bed slowly started to open illuminating the slightly muscular form on the bed. Dressed from head to toe in onyx black.
“Boss…Paris?”
Paris’ hands are clasped to his middle, his legs apart and a serious brooding look on his face. He squints and keeps looking at the skylight, the remote for which was in his hand.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask.
“What else do I have to do? Not like I have a country to run.” He smiles weakly twisting the red and black scars that stretched across his pale face. A face that was all sharp angles and deep set eyes. He has the kind of soft black hair that falls into his eyes in that way women seem to like. He was also a Demon and therefore my mortal enemy.
Truthfully, Paris Prince and I had been enemies a long time ago. Maybe we still were.
Demons and Angels, you know how it is.
For lifetimes we Supernaturals lived in secret among the humans after a war destroyed our Homeland. We weren’t really Angels, but Angels was the best word for what we were. I’d come here a long time ago with a company of 100 elite soldiers, The Seraph Guard Infinite, on a scouting mission to find weapons to destroy the Demons who had invaded our Homeland. Those Demons were destructive creatures that killed and slaughtered; they were lead led by a blood thirsty King, who took pride in torturing villages full of women and children. That King was Paris’ father.
Somehow during our mission the Seraph Guard Infinite had gotten swallowed up in this world by what some saw as a ripple in time or maybe a portal to another world. We never found our way home. Not that it mattered because there was no home to go back to.
The war ended with a brutally strategic gendercide that had decimated everything except for a couple hundred children, both Angel and Demon. Like us they had escaped to this world (or timeline depending on who you ask) and survived. Among those children included Paris Prince, the cherished son of the vile Demon King and Seraphina a disturbed little girl with a dark past.
In the years that followed Helios Thantos gained power of the Seraph Guard Infinite in ways I’m not proud of. Under Helios we became SGI. We were warriors in our world and soldiers for hire in this one.
15 years ago we discovered female Angels living in this world and suddenly there was hope for our kind. We scouted the women out for a year. Helios had a vision. A vision of a land for Angels to live in peace, out in the open, no longer binding our wings. Of course Helios had to get the Demons out the way first. There was no room for Demons in his new world. Especially the King’s son.
Of course Paris Prince was no great Demon King like his father. He was a fucking tailor who moonlighted as an accountant, he was scrawny, barley 5’6, a sarcastic jackass and a pacifist who’d done whatever his elder told him.
I don’t know the whole story exactly but something (I think the suspicious death of the Demon’s leader and some rogue experimentation on humans?) had forced Sera and Paris together. It was a brief encounter, but the connection they made changed everything. It left an impression.
Seraphina couldn’t help but to make an impression. She was beautiful for starters. She was striking at 6’4 with strong chiseled features. She had an athletic build with thick toned muscles, giant sea blue eyes and thick light brown hair. Her voice was deep and smooth like smoke; she was cold, deadly and calculating but when you could get that bit of warmth from her…it was everything. There was also a part of her that was gentle, empathetic and a little shy.
Helios said it was love at first sight for him. Sera was enamored having never met a man as charming and commanding as Helios. At first she and Helios were inseparable. She loved the potential he saw in her as a solider and he loved what she represented. In retrospect it was easy to see why; Sera was as shrewd, strong, deadly cold and as handsome as he was. A version of himself he could fuck.
She was good with guns and Helios taught her to be better. She was good at killing and Helios taught her to slaughter. She could be fucking ruthless and not feel anything for days and Helios loved that. She was his perfect solider and lover.
Aria told me she thought Helios took advantage of how impressionable Sera was. I’d picked up that Sera had been mute until puberty, she read all the time but had never been able to complete any schooling and empathy was difficult for her. You live as long as women like her do and I think it just grinds you down.
Anyway. Helios fucking loved her. He wanted her to be his Queen in his new kingdom. Seraphina just wanted a new life and she thought Helios was the answer. It didn’t take long for her to experience Helios’ infamous temper and the mindfucking he used to subjugate SGI for centuries.
Sera rebelled in the worse way possible. She turned her back on Angels and began working with Paris to take Helios down . . . and had an affair with Paris. I don’t know for sure if they were really in love back then or what. I later heard there was some old world mystical bullshit about her and Paris being soulmates might have clouded their judgement but…I don’t know. Don’t care either.
Helios moved full force with his plan to create his own nation. He set his eyes on the island of Manhattan. It was industrialized and if he could blow the bridges he could isolate the island long enough to conquer it. He’d run a few name for his new civilization by me back when I thought it was just bar talk. New Eden, Paradise, Seraph Gates….just real biblical bullshit
New Aeterna is what stuck. A city-state where we Angels could live what felt like our eternal lives.
New Aeterna was a new beginning. The only story that really matters anymore.
In 2013,Helios started a brutal 10-day war that decimated the human troops. On the same day he slaughtered all the Demons to keep them from helping the humans .This was how Angels turned into Helions and revealed ourselves to the world; as dangerous war mongers. I went AWOL the night he blew the bridges. Me and few other Angels defected and escaped to America with stolen cash.
The U.S Armed Forces surrendered and Helios had the island, thousands of human subjects and a captured Paris Prince. The Rise of New Aeterna was the single most horrific man-made tragedy in the history of the world.
I’d ran as far as I could from New Aeterna and pushed it all down. I’d gotten good at playing human. I took a job as a truck driver and I left the horror of New Aeterna for an 18 wheeler and a cross country route; for greasy dinners, wide roads, expensive truck stop sex and 14 days on 10 days off in a motel room drinking like a coward. Alone.
That’s how Isobel Charter, Lysander, Callum and Ares found me. They were forming a resistance to take down Helios. They were going to fight back against Helios and I wanted in. All we needed was to rescue Paris Prince, for reasons that still aren’t clear to me now.
Paris was in bad shape when we joined the resistance. Helios had been experimenting with him. According to Helios Demon blood had unusual properties that could be used for healing. I remembered the bulging black veins on Paris’ arms and his crazed mumblings from the botched brain surgery Helios had performed. Plus the hallucinations. He couldn’t stop hallucinating about her.
Paris had two goals once he was freed. Take down Helios and find Seraphina who’d been missing for years.
Because Paris always got what he wanted, he found Seraphina. She’d been with the Demons the night Helios slaughtered them. She run and had been captured and held as a terrorist by the U.S government. The U.S government used her and a few other captured Angels as science experiments at a hellscape prison camp to figure out how to take down Helios.
It was inhumane mismanaged fucking shit show. When we found what was left of Sera she was soulless and bloodthirsty and wanted to bring New Aeterna and America to its knees. Paris took advantage of her vulnerability and made her his wife, but I think maybe he was no better than Helios.
It took ten long years but we did it. We liberated New Aeterna with Paris at the helm. He was such a fucking visionary such an idealist that he became New Aetena’s King and Seraphina became his Queen. Much to Helios’ chagrin.
It was literally to Helios’ chagrin, because Paris had taken mercy on Helios during New Aeterna’s fall. He’d spared Helios’ life and kept him locked up hundreds of feet underground while the public believed Helios to be dead.
It had all gone pretty smooth until people started rumbling about wanting to joins the U.S again. The Unification Party, they called themselves. There was days of political unrest and violent protest. Paris was almost assassinated and shit about the unethical way money moved through New Aeterna surfaced. The reports barely scratched the fucking surface of Paris’ corruption (“It was always for the greater good”) but he’d been stripped of all his power but kept his title because it was great for tourism.
During the violent protest Helios managed to escape. He’d gotten help from some not so reformed Helions who had been pardoned but lived under strict rule and regulations.
Somehow the most notorious dictator and war criminal had just…walked out. He’d come into the world left a bleeding stain on it and got to walk free. Fuck that.
After Paris was ousted New Aeterna was reconstructed into a Democracy. There were five districts with elected District Secretaries who served the elected Prime Minister
Or so it’s been drilled into my head.
The first Prime Minister election was held six months ago. The campaigns were a fucking slog and Paris had set his eyes on being elected. Paris Prince’s 18 month Prime Minster campaign against Edwin Bless was old news now. Paris had lost spectacularly. He couldn’t beat a clean cut veteran in his 50’s with a nice wife, three kids and a spotless military record with years of government experience.
Paris still had the few diplomatic duties and was one of Bless’ senior advisors on paper. He just couldn’t fade into generally obscurity without being a brooding asshole about it. The world had moved on. Oblivion was coming for him. And people still hadn’t realized he wasn’t an Angel--except for a few theorist on internet forums.
Now Paris Prince; assassination survivor, titled royal, former resistance leader, revolution hero, failed politician and diplomacy darling sat up casually on his elbows and took out his phone.
“Do you mind” he says directing me to move aside.
I turn around and realize Seraphina is behind me. She is doing a handstand balancing on her forearms with her knees bent. She has a white eye mask over her eyes that matches the lacy white underwear set she is wearing with a pair of white headphones.
“Yes, I mind”, I bark at him, “Sera just missed our meeting with the Germans. SGI was this close to getting a museum security gig at the Berlin International Art Show. Having her at the presentation would have helped.”
“.. . Is that what mercenaries do? Museum security?” Paris asks brushing the lint off his shirt and inspecting the pictures he’d taken on his phone.
“It would have paid well. We have to do something. I need to get SGI a real contract job so I can hire some guys. If we don’t start doing some legit contracts, it might become obvious that were only two employees strong and that we’re actually---”
“Looking for Helios Thantos”, Paris says steepling his hands.
“Yeah.”
Paris smirks and slips on his shoes.
“What did the former Al-Qaeda Informant tell you?”
“Don’t know. He died while we were in pursuit.”
“Bet he wished he didn’t brag about doing fake ID work for runaway Helion soldiers.”
“He can’t wish anything now.”
Paris pushes himself up from the bed and slowly circles Seraphina, his clothes are neat and there were only a few pink lipsticks marks on his pale skin. He must have found her in the bar last night after she’d gotten wasted. Had he really been so bored he flew half way around the world just to sleep next to her? Or did he want something?
Sera is as still as a statue except for the slight movement of her chest. Paris grabs her ass and she startles and topples down from the forearm stand. She rips out the earphones and takes off the eye mask.
“Paris what the—“
She stops when Paris points to me. She turns to face me and the first thing I notice are her bloodshot eyes, she’d started breaking out again on her right cheeks and the dark spots that formed under her eyes had reappeared along with fine lines. Her dark roots where showing and mixing with the blondish brown color she’d dyed her hair.
“You left me hanging”, I said taking off the stupid tie I was wearing, “I’m mad, but notice I’m not throwing any punches.”
That was if she remembered punching me out in the Bengal hangar 24 hours ago.
“Don’t act like this is the same. Don’t act like your precious company is the same as you dropping our informant. He was going to give us Helios.”
“Our”, I said, “Our company. And that guy wasn’t’ going to get us to Helios. None of them ever do. ”
Sera tugged on a robe and rounded on me.
“Look Leon, no one is ever going to give a former Helion and the wife of a disgraced leader a security contract.”
“Fuck you”, I said stepping up to her, “I wasn’t ever a Helion, sweetheart. Don’t ever fucking go there.”
Sera had agreed to go in with me to start up Helio’s old mercenary team again, only because she knew she couldn’t keep up in the New Aetnerna military for too long. She was to fucking insubordinate for rank and file. I’d sunk my savings into making SGI a legit mercenary operation. It had been almost two years and I needed a return on my investment
“Whatever”, she bites back, “You losing a government contract and me losing a lead on Helios are two very different things.”
Paris seems to be considering getting between us.
“No they aren’t”, I remind her, “If we don’t get a real contract, we can’t use SGI as a cover to look for Helios. We pissed each other off. Fuck this. Let’s just call it even, sweetheart.”
“I don’t do even, baby”, she says opening a fresh pack of cigarettes. I didn’t even see where Paris pulled the lighter from as he carefully light it for her.
“Whatever. Let’s call it a truce. Let’s go home. I want to get out of here.” I say. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I look ridiculous in the constricting button-up shirt and jacket.
“You know”, Paris said sharing a glance with Seraphina, “While you are here, we could make this whole situation a lot more interesting. I think Aria would understand…”
Sera ran a slim finger down the smalls scar on my face, “Aria and I did share everything growing up.”
I narrow my eyes and Sera flicks her cigarettes aside and kisses me. Her soft lips pulling and biting at mine, the taste of tobacco on her wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Paris settles comfortably in one of the chairs watching with a satisfied smile on his fucked up face. I take a sturdy stance and lift Sera, picking her up so her legs wrapped around my waist. Her skin is pulled taught over her hard muscles but surprisingly smooth to the touch.
She was still kissing me as I took a few steps forward and unceremoniously deposit her into her husband’s lap.
“All yours”, I say, “You two fucking deserve each other.”
+3+
Being back in New Aeterna felt like being home. Like home home because when I was here I didn’t have to hide who or what I was. When Helios had created New Aeterna, he had been right about that part, we had been hidden for to long. When Humans saw me and they knew what I was about. And fuck maybe when they saw me they saw a Helion instead of an Angel but things were slowly changing.
I had Sera drive me back into the city in my new car. We’d ditched out commercial flight for the private plane Paris had chartered. He’d spent the entire flight in meetings where no one asked his opinion, while watching out the corner of his eye as Seraphina flirted and later disappeared with one of the flight attendants.
I had one last mission for the week and I needed Sera’s help.
My brand new black SUV is inconspicuous and perfect for the job. I have Sera drive so I can get out once we reached a sunny residential neighborhood that used to be Greenwich Village. With everything going on my target doesn’t even notice me behind her. I pull my shades pulled down cause my black shirt and camo wasn’t exactly innocuous.
I shadow the target step-by-step and when I see an opening I grab her from behind. She screams and kicks like I’d taught her to, and before she bites my hand she turns and screams
“DADDY”.
I slide off the shades and glance over to the teacher who is leading the other kids to the bus stop, she recognizes me but doesn’t look pleased at my stunt. I take Athena’s hand and walk her over to my new black SUV. She stares wide-eyed at it and quickly climbs in the backseat which is already outfitted with several cars seats.
“Like my new ride?” I ask.
“It’s pretty. I wanna a car just like it when I can drive.”
“We’ll see, baby girl.”
Sera adjust the rearview mirror. Her mouth turns into a relaxed smile when she glances Athena in the mirror, her softness towards the girls always catches me off guard and scares me a little. After I take the cigarette out of her hand, Sera drives one-handedly through the narrow city streets before turning onto the Lincoln Tunnel.
Thanks to the new economic development plan, you’d never guess this narrow parcel of land that separated New Jersey from New York City used to be a DMZ. Paris and Minister Bless still fight over who gets credit for the idea of turning it into the New South Gate suburb.
Two years ago the abandoned gas stations, fast food joints and quick marts had been bulldozed for economy sized houses and multi-level mega-strip malls. In the six years since the Helion regime had fallen families had been growing and city housing was a bust, so they started building on the DMZ.
The houses were put up fast, most small one story cookie cutter copies of each other and shitty, structurally speaking. When Aria said she wanted to buy one for her and the girls I bribed the builder to make sure it was one of the good ones. I gave Aria some money for the four bedroom upgrade so the girls could have their own rooms. I’d miscalculated.
Athena babbles away in the backseat, saying more words than Sera and I had said all weekend. I pick up bits and pieces about Kindergarten and glitter crayons.
Sera drives through the neighborhood until we reach Aria’s house. It’s white and gray like all the other houses, but she’d put a giant New Aeterna and NADF flag out front. There are even a few brightly colored potted plants. The neighborhood was so close to the city I could almost see my apartment building to the south, on the other side I could make out the highly protected U.S border.
Seraphina and I both get out the car and Seraphina tosses me the keys over the hood. Athena runs into the house and Sera lights a cigarette.
“I’ll call you a car”, I offer.
“Don’t”, she says, “I’ll walk back.”
She’s not exactly dressed for walking in low heeled black boots, faded black jeans and the fake leather jacket Paris bought her for Christmas. The walk back is a couple miles and Sera had been fucking pensive lately.
“You okay?”
“Fuck no”, she says blowing out a column of smoke, “It’s due.”
“What?”
“Justice. It’s due for Helios. He’s been on the run for to long. Every day that bastard is free is another day that pisses me the fuck off.”
It was reaching the two year anniversary since Helios had escaped from the secret prison we’d held him in. Truth was we should have killed him the night the resistance took down the regime—but Paris and his fucking bleeding heart.
“Let it go, Sera. Helios is the most recognized dictator in the world and he is on the run. His life is probably shitty. He can’t hurt us”
“Everyone thinks he’s dead. No one is looking for him”
“Except us”
“Except us”, she repeats. She tramples over Aria’s neat grass and knocks on the kitchen window. She mouths something to Aria through the window before heading back to the sidewalk.
“Sera, don’t forget I’m recruiting vets as the base tomorrow”, I tell her, “Prime Minister Bless might throw a few contracts our way if we have a good team.”
Sera considers this. I knew what she must be thinking. Getting contracts included schmoozing. Being a people person---networking. It was what people like Helios and Paris did best. Sera and I were both ill equipped for that but I’d do it to support my family.
We don’t even say goodbye. She just starts out of the neighborhood. I shake off the tension in my shoulders and head inside the house. The TV is on a kid’s station in the living room, I notice Aria’s gotten a new navy carpet and a 60 inch TV is mounted on the wall. I make my way to the couch picking through the sea of toys and little girls.
Five-year old Athena is unpacking her book bag, two and a half year-old Helena points and name things she recognizes. 16 month year-old Hera who is just getting a handle on walking toddles over to me and I pick her up and take her into the kitchen.
The place is cozy meaning it’s too small for my big frame. I head into the kitchen doorway and peek in. Six month old Callista is sleeping in Aria’s arms. Aria is on the phone, her printer is propped up on the table underneath her laptop. A tablet mounted on the fridge streams a live feed of the girls in the living room. Aria carefully places the pages from the printer into an official looking leather folio. She’s still in her work clothes a somewhat professional looking red sheath dress that shows off her full sized figure and matching heels. Her long dark brown hair is curled on the ends and looks real good against her pale skin.
Aria points to her headset then she gives me a small wave and blows a kiss at me before returning to her call. I take Callista from her and carry her to the living room with her sisters. I get comfortable on the couch watching the girls, letting them crawl all over me.
Dinner in the kitchen is a tight fit but I fold my stocky frame in, sitting between Athena and Helena who sat in chairs while Callista and Hera are still in high chairs. I think they made these homes small on purpose to discourage Angels who were usually well over 5’8. The turkey meatloaf is pretty good, the kale and potatoes a little bland but the homemade bread makes up for it. The only sound over Athena’s talking is the small flat screen TV Aria has on the counter, she shushes Athena when the First family comes on TV.
The Bless Family are the media’s newest fascination. Aria jots notes down every now and then during their interview. We don’t talk much in-between clearing up spills and wiping face. Whenever I try to reach over the table I always knock something over which makes the girls laugh, which always makes Aria smile. I’m not sure how I went so long without their laughter or her smile.
After dinner, I take the girls out to the small backyard while Aria cleans up. I tried to get one of them interested in softball, soccer or football but so far no takers. Athena helps Callista practice walking and I break up a spat between Helena and Hera. I didn’t have any weights, so I lift some of Aria’s lawn furniture.
I tire the girls out on the swing set and when night falls I got all four of them cleaned up and ready for bed, after reading a story on the couch--which was a challenge with Athena on my back and the three little ones crowding into my lap. Luckily they all fell asleep pretty quick. It was a challenge but there was no mission I couldn’t accomplish.
+4+
I considered my options before gabbing the tablet from the fridge and turning on the feed for the security cameras in the girl’s bedroom. I turn down the hall and knock on Aria’s bedroom door. Her face is clean except for the permanent eyeliner and lipstick she’d had tattooed on her face. Leftovers from her days as a sex worker, making her the most notorious executive assistant in the New Aeterna government. Of course being First Lady Bless’ executive assistant meant no one dared say a word.
“Once I deliver the reports to Lady Bless’ Chief of staff in the morning I’ll have the whole day off tomorrow while she’s traveling with Prime Minister Bless.”
“Lucky you”, I wasn’t even sure what constituted as a day off for me anymore. I hadn’t made a fucking dime from SGI yet. The only money coming in was my military retirement check and my savings from my pre-Helion Regime days was down to 6 digits.
“I’m going to finish my Econ paper tomorrow and sleep all day long”, she says slipping her hands around my neck.
I finally notice the new dark pink nightgown she was wearing, it was short and silky with thin straps. I liked the way it clung to her. Even when she slept she was always so fucking well dressed. I should probably start spending more of my money on clothes. Aria moves back to settle on the bed, she gets up on her knees and turns down the volume on the annoying news channel she loves.
I kick off my shoes, take off my shirt and pants then join her on the bed. I get on my knees too so we are face to face. I slid my hand around her and pulled her closer to me. The well-formed five-month baby bump beneath her nightgown pressing against me.
I bought my hands to her soft hips and thighs.
“Tell me”, I whisper into her ear.
She brings her hands around my neck to steady herself. I lower my head to the hollow of her neck to kiss her and also so she couldn’t see my reaction to whatever she says next.
“It’s a girl”
Fuck
I don’t miss a beat cause I’d prepared for disappointment. I continue kissing her neck and down her collarbone. She presses herself against me, moaning as quietly as she can. I pull down the straps on her nightgown and watch material settle on top of her belly, watching the rise and fall of her engorged breast. I get up and stand at the end of the bed, spreading and wrapping her legs around my waist. I was still riding the adrenaline wave from my backyard workout, but I am gentle while massaging her pussy with the expensive sweetly floral scented lubricant she liked.
“Leon”, she whines swatting my hand away which means she wanted me.
She felt warm and comfortable once I ease inside her, I’d gotten good at finding the rights spots and don’t divert. I pull out and she whines a little as I get into bed with her.
I gently maneuver Aria so she is on top of me, with her back flat against my chest, I wrap one arms under her heavy bare breast and keep the other securely below her belly which she liked to keep covered--so I adjusted the nightgown at her waist accordingly. I concentrate and guide myself back between her open legs. I find a slow rhythm, gently rolling my body against her---letting the depth and ridges of my abdominals massage her back. Rolling against the smoothed over scars where her wings used to be.
The act of holding her and engaging my core feels like workout, I’m breathing hot and heavy in her ear and every time a noise comes out of her mouth I almost lose it. I look up to distract myself, the sunroof is open and we can see the stars. There is a full moon and taking a woman under the night sky feels ancient and sacrificial. I slow my pace making each thrust reverent. She sounds so helpless her breath catching sounds like fear but I know it’s sensory s overload. My arms start slipping, her skin is damp with sweat and one of her hand reaches for my hair the other grabbing the bedsheets. The full moon seems like a sign—it reminds me of my days being a warrior going into battle. When I bring myself back to the moment I realize she’s coming—her body goes still and her full weight gives on top of me.
“I—“, I start my arms still tight around her.
Aria laughs nervously and I see her lips pull into a simile because she never finishes first. I turn my eyes back to the full moon. She remains with her back flat against my belly and I continue to thrust into her overly sensitive sex. I close my eyes and listen to the blood rushing through my body, I picture the stars and the strength I’ll need for whatever comes next. My orgasm takes me by surprise. It’s not intense but satisfying as I exhale and release.
I sit up and bring Aria with me. I slide my hands underneath her and gently pick her up and place her beside me.
“Leon”, she says reaching over to kiss me her thumb swiping away a tear from my check, “You’re so sweet, baby”
She’s smiling and using that voice she uses when she wants people to feel safe. We start making out a little and but I’m distracted and I hate her having to look at my ugly face. I kiss her down her neck, sliding my lips and tongues over her breast.
Aria turns up the dimmer and pulls her long thick hair into a ponytail then heads for the bathroom.
“You’re going to drive all the way back to the city?” she asks from the bathroom
I wasn’t far from my place, not really. One I crossed the bridge I was maybe 40 blocks down. It’d be nothing, but finding a parking space for my SUV would be a fucking headache. I couldn’t even really remember the last time I’d been at my apartment.
I looked over to the tablet streaming the cameras in the girl’s rooms.
A girl, I thought remembering what Aria had told me.
Another girl.
I wondered if the new baby would fight with Callista the way Helena and Hera did sometimes. What were we going to name her?
Our oldest Athena had been our surprise because Aria thought she was sterile after years of never conceiving with Helios. A year later Helena was the result of a rhythm miscalculation and Hera had been the result of a missed pill. Callista was a fucking classic
Aria knew I wanted a son and she wanted to wait until after finished her college degree to have another. I was cool with it since I was running interference on Paris’ campaign for Prime Minister back then. Aria had started volunteering for the opposition, Edwin Bless. The fuck did I care. I voted for Bless anyway.
Working the campaign was the first time she’d made friends with humans, she was passionate about changing New Aeterna. Aria was the one who asked to stay the night at my apartment after going out with some younger volunteers. She wasn’t breastfeeding so she’d been drinking more than usual since the girls were safe with one of her sisters. I let Aria stay at my place for the night so she could sober up. I’d just been home alone drinking beer, eating cold pizza and watching old UFC fights. Aria had been bored and before I knew it she was topless, on her knees blowing me. It was every bachelor’s fantasy. Secretly I liked it when she forgot to be a perfect student, an overworked mom. I liked it when she was just a slut in heat for me.
Later that night the fucking condom broke while we were tangled on my small couch. It took Aria a minute to realize what happened, she pushed me off and fumbled to put her dress on and punched me in the shoulder, I dodged her fist knowing it would hurt her more than me.
“What the fuck Leon.” she yelled.
“It”, I said realizing what happened, “It broke. Sorry.”
“Fuck you, Leon. You probably did that on purpose”, she hit me with her purse so hard I heard her phone crack.
“Lower your voice, I got neighbors. You think I’m that kind of guy Aria?”
“It was your fucking condom”, she said taking out her phone and swiping at the broke screen, “You say you don’t care but I know how much you want a son—
“Fucking kidding me? Who the fuck do you think I am”, I’d started raising my voice. I didn’t do this kind of shit on purpose. She knew that. If I was going to get her pregnant I’d prefer her on her back begging me to spill inside her.
“It’s like you don’t want me to succeed”, she hit me with her purse again, “It’s been nine fucking weeks since Hera was born, Leon. Nine. Oh my god. Fuck. Fuck. I just interviewed to work with Mrs. Bless publicity team. Fuck.”
“You are overreacting, sweetheart. We don’t know anything.” I’d said that but we both knew. I’d just wanted her to stop yelling. My neighbors tolerated me being an Angel cause I kept to myself and didn’t cause trouble.
“You’re just as bad as Helios. You both are war mongers who think woman are just walking incubators”
I went to fridge and gabbed a beer while still naked. I had to fucking think so I wouldn’t say something I’d regret. Something I didn’t like to think about was Helios and Aria. She knew that.
“You really wanna bring his name into this, sweetheart”, I didn’t even recognize the anger in my voice. The growl
“I’m allowed too”, she said slipping on her jacket, “He was my husband.”
I kept my feet plated to the ground, my anger war roiling inside me at the mention of his name. At the thought of him with her.
“Don’t fucking say that?” I eased my grip on the beer bottle before I broke it.
“It’s true. You want to run SGI just like him, you want a son just like him, you want sex just as much as him—“
“You’re pissing me off, Aria. You’re calling me a liar and comparing me to that bastard—“
“He’s dead. Leon”, she shouted, “Stop letting a dead man’s name get to you—“
“He’s not dead”, I snapped.
There was a thick audible silence.
“What? Helios is dead”, Aria said, “ He died the night of the revolution…he’s dead. He’s been dead for five years…Sera wouldn’t let him live--”
Aria thought about this, trying to remember if she’d seen his body. If someone actually told her he was dead. No one had. I mean sure the world had seen a body charred beyond recognition--but that had belonged to another Angel.
“Paris wanted to keep Helios alive. He thought Helios might know more about the Tempest ?”, I said finishing the beer, “We didn’t have much time so we smuggled him out during the liberation.”
“The. . .Tempest ?”
“It’s a . . . something Paris thinks he can use to fix shit ? I can’t really tell you its top secret.”
“Where is Helios?”, she asked slowly, “I will kill him myself.”
I opened another beer, “We were holding him in a secure facility beneath Riker’s Island. He escaped when all the Unification Party shit was going on last year.”
“Leon. No. No.”, Aria wiped her eyes. I wanted to tell her she didn’t need to be scared. No one was ever going to lock her up again as long as I was around.
“A few of the male Angels who call themselves . . . ‘The Legion’ helped him escape. They were supposedly rehabilitated t. He’s been on the run ever since.”
She gaped at me, maybe cause I’d lied about Helios being dead or cause I’d down three beers in five minute or because I was naked in my kitchen and hard as a rock again because I’d noticed her panties were still on my bed/couch.
“Leon, You let me live in this city when he was right here. The whole time.”
“We were doing a good job of protecting him. Sera and Paris--
“Are cold hearted narcissist. I expect that kind of self-serving deceit from them. But not you. You should have told me. You’re better than that.”
My erection was distracting me and I couldn’t hold it in anymore and started jerking off with a kitchen towel. Aria’s arms were folded and I could tell what she was thinking.
You have a fucking problem, Leon.
We started arguing again over little shit and one of my neighbors called the cops. I was a little drunk and Aria was having a meltdown. The cops made Aria leave with them and she and made it very clear she was breaking up with me and that I was to stay away from her and my girls.
We were both too busy with the election to really battle it out. Aria let me see the girls because I was paying for her house. She hid her pregnancy (because she did get pregnant with Callista) until after Edwin Bless won the election. First Lady Bless offered Aria a job as her executive assistant at the victory party. Despite not getting along, Bless and Paris spent a lot of time together working on the transition, which meant Aria and I were forced together .Seraphina was caught in the middle but the only thing she provided was eye rolls.
There were lots of charity dinner and public events. Seraphina had stopped appearing publicly with Paris, so it was always just me and Aria. Paris liked having me around as his bodyguard and Aria was always by Lady Bless’ side.
Since we were just “support staff” Aria and I spent hours in waiting rooms and green rooms while the big wigs were doing their thing. I just stood around a lot taking up to much space and always showing up under dressed to meeting and feeling like an idiot. I stated working out more, so I wouldn’t think about sex and wearing shirts with sleeves was a fucking pain--but I had a decent tailor.
Aria always managed to look put together. She looked professional and not like the notorious dictator’s wife turned whore reputation that was whispered about behind closed and opened doors. Lady Bless trusted Aria and I could see Aria glare at me whenever Helios came up in meetings. Biting her lip and forcing herself to keep the secret that he was alive. Paris on the other hand lied effortless through his veneers
Whenever I wasn’t tracking Helios with Sera, I tried to be around for Aria. Even if that just meant covering for her when she went to throw up, or helping her out of cars or carrying heavy shit for her or getting her ginger ale.
I volunteered to join the team that helped move Prime Minister Bless into his new Residence. It was a long process and I was there ever day moving furniture while Aria coordinated. Maybe it was because she was almost due, but she started to soften towards me. I knew she was still disappointed in me, but she still loved me and I’d never stopped loving her.
We were back together when Callista was born 8 months ago. I tried to bring up getting engaged or married or something, but Aria said she wasn’t interested and I never bought it up again. I took a break from searching for Helios to be there and Aria wouldn’t let my cock anywhere near her until she had some sort of birth control thing inserted. I don’t remember the name of the birth control company, but Aria was five months pregnant and currently suing the company
“So is that it?”, I ask turning up the fan as Aria climbs back into bed with me. I rest my head on her chest and I start stroking her warm curves and start feeling kind of restless.
“I think so, she says.
Fine. That was it. I had five daughters. It suddenly hit me that the only way I was going to die was if I was protecting them.
“And I’ll...you know”, I said, “If you are sure”
She laughs.
“I am sure I want you to get a vasectomy Leon.”
“Okay”
“How’s the Helios search going”, she whispers.
“Don’t have any new leads.”, I say, “He’s gotta know we’re after him though.”
Aria ran her hands through my cropped hair and turns off the lights except for the glow of the tablets on the dresser. I like this dark private place we shared. I’d bought her one of those anmntheyst and gold rings for Christmas, she’d cried and never taken it off. I figured a long she wore it she was mine. She told me it was the first time a man had bought her jewelry. I did some math figuring that had to be the night we conceived out 5th daughter.
We watch out daughters sleeping in silence for a long time. They are each so perfect and make my heart feel heavy in a way I can’t talk about.
“You have to kill him for me Leon, you have to promise. I don’t care if Paris wants to play with him. Helios needs to die for what he put me and my sisters through. He needs to suffer.”
I feel around for the gun I keep under the nightstand and check the thing for bullets like I could kill him now.
“I promise”
+++
Whew ! I can’t believe I‘ve posted this big achapter.
I just realized there is a ton of exposition in this chapter but we need to get
reacquainted with the world and the new stakes. Also I promise there are only like four more flashbacks and like one flashback-in-a-flasback. One of the things I also notice I do is have a character start a chapter recalling something that happened five minutes ago which puts one paragraph in past tense...and it's like..why ?