ForsakingEternity (7 page)

“Cat and mouse, of course.”

He spun around, choking on a gasp of surprise. “What are you
doing here?” The proprietor glanced up from her television to give Ren a
questioning look. Only then did he realize he could see her wings.

Demon wings. The batlike appendages were too small to allow
for flight. Delicate skin stretched over bone, nothing more than a shriveled
remnant of the angelic wings she’d once possessed.

If they were visible to him, that could only mean she was
invisible to the humans.

She’d come just to torment him.

He turned back to the shabby display with a scowl.

Meela materialized in front of him, perched on the edge of
the table, before he could so much as blink.

“Now you didn’t really think I was going to lead him right
to it, did you, Ren? Where’s the fun in that? I want to give you plenty of
time.” She flashed him a calculating smile.

“Time for what?” Knowing the demoness, he wouldn’t be able
to avoid her machinations. He needed to figure out what she had planned before
she had him trapped.

“Time to Fall, of course.”

“You speak as if it is a foregone conclusion. This will not
happen, Meela. I will not Fall.”

“Of course. The mighty Renatus is above temptation. You
cannot be tempted because you know nothing of love. You never did.”

Her words held a hint of a ring, a faint resonance of truth
that chilled him. “I have loved. I do love,” he denied.

“Do you? Tell me, angel, when was the last time you visited
the welkin?”

The welkin. He was enveloped by a pain so acute he couldn’t
breathe. He’d never set wing inside the Heavenly Vault, never once visited a
single soul, not even his own daughter’s. How could he? She’d been such a
vibrant child. To see her as nothing more than an essence was unconscionable.

No. His child was dead. Gone. The past could not be undone.
He could not allow this demon to use Michani to taunt him.

“Your words are half-truths at best. I will not Fall,
Meela.”

“You will. Time is ticking away and soon you’ll have to make
the choice. Will you go back to Heaven and spend eternity alone? I don’t think
so.”

She leaned over the table and cocked her head to one side,
her expression knowing. “The flesh holds too much appeal. But the soft, sweet
cherubim don’t look as attractive anymore, do they? All sighs and coy giggles.
So feminine. So different from Adam. Look at him, Renatus. Just look.”

Ren’s eyes were drawn to Adam. He’d found a treasure of some
sort and stood at the counter, paying for his purchase.

Adam turned to him and smiled, blissfully unaware of the
demon standing at Ren’s shoulder.

An unforeseen consequence of this trip to Earth hit him, and
Ren’s chest clenched in fear. Heaven help him, what had he done? He’d led Meela
right to Adam. Ren’s mouth felt dry, his tongue thick as he listened to Meela’s
taunts.

“He’s a handsome human, isn’t he? How did it feel last
night? His hard, male body against yours, his lips kissing, his hands touching.
Did he put his mouth on you or did you suck him off? Did you bend over and let
him ram his cock in your tight little angel ass?”

“You have a vile tongue, Philomela.”

The fallen angel recoiled at the sound of her Heavenly name
and Ren hesitated. Names held meaning and truth, the essence of what one was.
Could she no longer bear to hear the truth of her own name, to be reminded of
who she had once been?

She was a friend once, long ago, before Lucifer had seduced
her and many others. Before the rift tore the Realms apart and Hell was
created. So many good souls, lost forever to damnation. The thought tempered
Ren’s anger with sorrow.

“Why do you bedevil me? Surely there are other things which
could occupy your time.”

“But nothing so amusing as you, Ren.” The words held a dull
resonance. She lied.

“Be gone, Meela.”

“You have no claim to this place. You cannot banish me.”

“No, I cannot. But I can send you from my presence. Leave me
now.”

Her face contorted with anger. A sheen of inky scales spread
over her skin and her hair darkened, tawny curls giving way to gnarled black
ropes. The false beauty of her disguise melted away until only the demon was
visible. Then she vanished with a hiss and a flick of her forked tongue.

The damaged plastic angel in his hand wriggled. He looked
down to find its features replaced by the demoness’s.

“You can send me away, but I’m not the one you have to
watch,” it warned, pointing a clawed finger at him. “The sin within you will be
your downfall, and when you give in to it, I’ll be at the gates of Hell to
welcome you.”

Chapter Five

The third shop they visited was just across the street from
the little café where they’d met. The bistro seating area was full of people
taking advantage of the unusually pleasant fall day, just like they had the day
before. Had that really just been yesterday? Adam shook his head. More than a
little amazed to realize he’d only known the man beside him for a day.

Adam’s heart swelled with something he didn’t want to name
as Ren moved to the window. Was he looking for their table? Not the one they’d
used yesterday, when the shop was crowded with men and every pair-up was
observed and noted. No, that wasn’t the table that mattered. Their table was
the one they used last night, when the darkness had given them privacy and kept
their secrets. That was the table where he knew he’d fallen.

Renatus already held part of his soul.

The thought that should have warmed him chilled instead.
He’d waited so long to find a man with whom everything felt so easy, so
natural. A soul mate. Now it had happened. Adam finally felt that heart-deep
bond. He should have been happy.

But Ren wasn’t staying.

Tom would call him every kind of idiot if he knew just how
hard and fast Adam had fallen in love.

Adam tried to swallow the lump that threatened to suffocate
him.

“Are you going to help me look this time?”

Ren turned from the window with a tight smile. “You make it
sound as if I didn’t help you look in the other stores.”

“You didn’t. You wandered and joined me when you were done.”
His teasing tone seemed to soothe that line of tension between Ren’s eyes. What
was he thinking that had him so worried?

“And you found one spot to study and never saw the rest of
the stores’ treasures.”

“Ah, but that just gives me a chance to come back and look
some more.”

“Do you need an excuse?” Ren asked as he moved away from the
window.

“Sometimes we need a reason. What we want and what we will
allow ourselves are not always the same.” What excuse did Ren need? If Adam
knew, he’d give it to him, then they could move past Ren’s resistance.

“I suppose you are right. Humans rationalize.”

That pensive look was back, marring Ren’s beautiful face.
That wouldn’t do at all. Time to offer a distraction.

“Come on. Let’s go see what we can find.” Adam started down
an aisle. The back corner looked particularly appealing today. Ren’s hand on
his arm stopped him.

“No, not there.” The expression on Ren’s face was strange,
almost scared. “Come walk through the store with me instead.”

Adam glanced back at the corner, struck by a strange
certainty that something wonderful awaited him there.

Another look at his companion assured him something
wonderful awaited him there as well.

He turned and followed Ren.

“So, what treasures have you found while wandering the other
stores?” he asked, picking his way through the crowded displays.

“Angels,” Ren answered, stopping to examine some archaic bit
of kitchen equipment.

“Do you collect them?”

“You could say I have an interest. What is this thing?” The
item Ren held had a large wooden knob, with long grooves leading the way to a
point on one end and a sturdy-looking handle on the other. Adam’s mind was
flooded with pornographic images that had him snickering like a
twelve-year-old.

“There’s a tag,” he said, fighting back the laughter. “Does
it say anything?”

Ren caught the slip of paper between his elegant fingers.
“This is apparently a juicer.”

“Oh, yes. That’s one of the best juicers you can buy.”

They turned to face the sturdily built shopkeeper picking
her way through the clutter toward them. She moved between the men and took the
tool from Ren. Adam did his best to stifle his amusement.

“A juicer? I’ve, ah, never seen one quite like this before.”
Adam rubbed a hand over his face to cover his grin.

“Oh, they don’t make them like this anymore, but I promise
you, nothing reams out a fruit like this baby.” She brandished it like a sword,
thrusting it in front of her and giving it a savage twist.

Adam choked.

“Are you okay, sir?” The shopkeeper stared at him, wide-eyed
behind her thick glasses. Behind her Ren bore a similar puzzled expression.

“F-Fine,” he sputtered. He forced a cough and tried to clear
his throat.

“If you need anything just let me know.” She placed the
juicer on a table and wandered toward the front of the store, throwing a glance
over her shoulder as she went.

“I know your mind was not on orange juice, but I think I’ve missed
the joke.” Ren picked up the tool once more and examined it with much more
speculation in his eyes.

“Maybe I’ll explain later. When we’re alone.” He took the
juicer from Ren and they moved on to the next booth, one done up with a
Christmas theme. Complete with a decorated tree. The Victorian angel on top
caught Ren’s attention and he moved around the tree, craning his head for a
better look at it.

Adam didn’t know what distracted him. A glint of light that
shouldn’t be there, a whisper of sound so faint he couldn’t even be sure he
heard it. Ren stepped in the booth to study a table of Christmas decorations
but Adam stood rooted, unable to move away from the beguiling call of…

What was it?

Something in the back corner drew him. A gleam, or maybe a
whisper. He couldn’t say for sure when he moved, when he left Ren, but he found
himself in the corner, surrounded by a mismatched collection of items.

There, on a low shelf, behind an old toy truck, another out
of place reflection.

Moving to the shelf, he knelt. Whispers grew inside his
head, hints of words he should know. They all seemed to be coming from the box.

He reached for it, and the voices fell silent.

* * * * *

Adam found the scroll.

The shock reverberated in Ren’s soul and for one brief
moment, the Earthly plane seemed to grind to a halt. The air thickened, pulling
him into the stillness, muffling the noises of human life around him. He fought
the tug of that stillness, forced his head to turn toward the corner where Adam
stood.

The item in Adam’s hands seemed to shine from within, its
holy light flooding the corner with a blinding glow. There, by the ceiling, he
caught a hint of movement, something shifting too fast for this strange,
distorted view of Earth. A creature clung to the wall, its skin coated with
inky scales and the red shine of hellfire in its eyes.

Meela.

She grinned in triumph, flickering her forked tongue over
wicked fangs, before her image shimmered and vanished into the shadows. The
light from the box swallowed the darkness and Ren had the strange sensation of
being pulled back, sucked through a hole in the fiber of the Earthly Plane.

With a strange pop, everything returned to normal.

“Look what I found!” Adam called across the store. He held a
silver box in his hand and his expression was filled with excitement.

You found my destiny, my downfall.

“Let me pay for these and we can stop by the coffee shop for
lunch,” Adam said, making his way to the front counter. “We can sit outside.
We’ll be able to see this box better in the light.”

“It’s raining.”

Adam stopped and looked out the front window, a wrinkle of
confusion marring his brow. Those who had crowded the café were scattering,
running to escape the downpour.”That’s odd. It was sunny just a few minutes ago
and the forecast said there shouldn’t be a cloud in the sky today.”

“Man cannot fully predict the weather, can he?” Especially
when a demon lurked nearby. Although he could not see her, Ren could sense
Meela. She did not even try to hide her presence from him.

She could only be waiting on the scroll and the sins it
would reveal. The only question was, did she come for him, or for Adam? After
being deprived of Maggie’s soul, would Hell demand Adam in recompense?

“I’d thought we could stop there for lunch, but maybe we can
grab something to go. We can go to my office to eat and check out this box. I
might have a small back office, but it has a big window and great light.” Adam
smiled and Ren felt a strange tug in his chest, a tug he hadn’t felt in nearly
seven thousand years. Not since Michani died.

Thoughts of his daughter stole his breath. His beautiful,
loving child. A wound he thought long healed tore open inside him.

“Renatus?”

Ren turned to Adam and blinked to clear his vision. Tears.
He was crying. Ren had thought himself long past mourning, but here he stood,
tears streaming down his face and his throat knotted with pain.

“I am sorry, Adam. I was caught unawares.”

“By what?”

“Beautiful memories.” Memories that brought with them
reminders of loss.

He took a deep breath and looked around at the handful of
other shoppers. He straightened his back and fought to push back his emotions.
The raw pain had him feeling too exposed, too visible. “Let’s get our food and
retire to your office. I’d rather not be surrounded by others at this moment.”

“You go ahead. I’ll be out as soon as I pay for these.” Adam
said, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to Ren.