Lucy, Fallen (4 page)

It made me feel... Bad.

“Have you seen the tips? “he asked as I stood there relishing the moment.

I folded a wing partially underneath me and saw the golden orange colors of dawn fading into dusk and my heart skipped a beat. They were absolutely beautiful.

“Just like you,” he said shyly.

“Deveraux, I... We have too... Now that I have wings...”

“I know Lucy. Let’s get cleaned up and then we’ll sit down and think of how we get Keilyn back and where your brothers and sisters might be. Though I do want to apologize. I didn’t want our first time together to be like this,” he said as he wrapped spare cotton around me then himself.

“Our
first
time?” I asked curiously.

“Oh yes, there will be many more times like this Lucy. I have an eternity to be with you and I intend to use every spare moment I can get,” he said grabbing my hand and kissing me once more before we walked out of the room and back up to the world above.

D
everaux had insisted that I bathe alone for fear that he might take me again and we’d never get around to saving anyone.

As I washed the sin away, I thought about my new wings and wondered what had he and Kei communicated to each other that morning. It had to do with me obviously because they were the exact colors she had drawn and blended the same way.

Keilyn, I will find you. Please don’t be afraid wherever you are.

I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. I reached for the denim fit jeans that he had given to me to wear and the pulled my sleeveless, backless shirt over my head, tying the back of it behind my neck to be held sternly in place. Now that I had these wings, I wouldn’t be able to wear anything that would cover them or they would just tear through them.

The room was empty when I emerged but I could hear someone bustling about.

It was the same devil woman that Kei had fought with to be able to hide me.

“The Master is waiting for you downstairs, I will take you to him,” she said staring at my wings.

I held up my head proudly and followed her.

Pride. Great.

I was picking up a vast variety of sins and it had only been hours since I had given myself to him.

The devils throughout the house stared at me quietly as I walked past them. Row after row of deep purple eyes followed me as I walked through with my wings exposed to them.

They knew I was the ultimate enemy but they also knew that I was now Deveraux’s so they couldn’t do anything that came naturally to them when one of us was near them.

But the feeling was more mutual than they could ever fathom. My natural instinct told me that when a devil was near, they were to die. I had harbored such hatred for them already for the mocking and unkind words when he had me on display, but I had to let it go for now. There were more pressing matters at hand.

I entered a large round room in which Deveraux was bent over a table examining a map and speaking to a few man devils with interest.

The devil woman I was with cleared her throat and waited patiently.

Deveraux smiled when he looked up and smiled at me.

“Thank you, Arissa,” he said nodding at her.

She bowed slightly and retreated from the room as he waved me over to where he stood. The man devil that stood to his left eyed me suspiciously.

“Lucy, this is Braxon. He is one of the Elders I spoke to you of. He’s the Elder of the Eastern Province,” he said motioning to him.

I smiled at the Elder who smiled back at me unsurely still staring at my wings.

“Is it... Safe to talk about such things in front of her?” Braxon asked Deveraux.

“Yes. We are bound. She to me and I to her, as such I would hope we won’t have any issues,” he said looking at him pointedly.

Braxon looked at my wings one last time before smiling at me and extending a hand.

“Then it is a pleasure to meet you, Lucy,” he said.

Taking his hand I shook it firmly in mine, “Likewise.”

“Good,” Deveraux said looking from me to Braxon and back again.

“This is where we think the Thunderbirds are hiding,” he pointing out a small colony at the peak of a mountain. “Only we can’t reach it because we’re not sure to get up there.”

“Is that where Kei might be?” I asked fluttering my wings.

“If that’s where they are then that’s where she’ll be,” he said with a sigh.

“Then that’s all I need to know,” I said quietly.

I turned and ran from the room with Deveraux swearing behind me. With a burst of angelic speed, I held up a hand to the doors in front of me and willed them open. In a matter of seconds I was up in the air, flying freely and soared toward my destination.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply the air from the altitude I had reached. It had been so long since I had smelled it that I didn’t realize something was wrong.

That is until I started to drop like a rock. My wings had folded underneath me and I was hurtling toward the Earth.

This is my punishment for joining sides with the devils.

I
never hit the Earth as hard as I thought I would. Instead I fell on
someone
instead of
something.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Deveraux said in an angry tone.

How did he find me so quickly? And up there?

“We’re bound, Lucy. I’m not sure if you understand what that fully means, but I can sense where you are at all times and if you tried, you’d be able to do the same with me. I was able to catch you because I can teleport anywhere I please. Just because I don’t have wings, don’t think I can’t catch you wherever you are,” he warned.

I rolled off of him and pulled out of his grip. I was angry.

Anger. Check.

“We’re wasting time,” I shouted. “Let me go! I can get to her and I can bring her home!”

He stood up and looked at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Do you know how to kill a Thunderbird?”

I... Never thought about it.

“No.”

“Then you don’t go alone and you don’t go until I say you do,” he said holding up a finger.

“Don’t presume to speak to me like I’m a child,” I said stomping my foot.

He raised an eyebrow at my gesture and then sighed.

“I know you love her already. I love her too and we
will
get her back, Lucy. I promise you this, but you must know what you are up against instead of flying in there headstrong. You won’t be of any use to Kei if you’re dead,” he said gently.

“I don’t care. I need to get to her, I’ll figure it out when I get there,” I insisted angrily.

“But what about me then?” he asked softly. “I’ve only just gotten you and to lose you so quickly...”

My head dropped. I had made a bargain with him and here I was trying to break it in my own way. If I were dead because I went after Kei, I knew she would be able to save herself, but then where would my part of the bargain be? Lost forever swimming in oblivion and that would damn my brothers and sisters because he would be too stricken to save them.

“I’ll give you three days,” I said to him in a slightly mocking tone. “If you haven’t figured it out by then, then I am
going
to get her myself.”

“Agreed,” he said pulling me close to him.

“Hold on tight,” he said as the wind picked up around us with tornado wind force.

I let out a small scream as the world fell away below us. Deveraux laughed and held me close to him, enjoying my obvious fear.

“What’s wrong?” he yelled over the wind.

I just let out another little scream as it felt as if though we were falling through eternity. The world turned red, the bright orange, and then a burning white color as he continued to laugh. I held onto him so tightly I was surprised that I hadn’t broken him in half yet.

“You know, you should really learn to start trusting me,” he said with a little smirk as he placed grabbed my hand and walked me toward the main gates of his property.

“What... just... happened?” I asked trying to catch my breath.

“That’s how I make my way around. Of course I only ever do that if it’s necessary because it makes me very tired,” he explained with half closed eyes.

I felt him squeeze my hand and look at me searchingly to see if I was upset with him. I couldn’t help but smile at how his hair was still in place even after what we had went through. He smiled back and I felt my heart flutter for some reason. I let go of his hand and stopped walking. I felt myself shaking now for another reason.

“Lucy?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I gripped my stomach with one hand and bent slightly.

“I’m okay, just a small pain,” I said taking a few deep breaths.

He came back over to me and straightened me up slowly and placed his fingers gently on my chin and looked into my eyes. I don’t think I would ever be able to get used to looking into those gemstone colored eyes them for eternity, but then I couldn’t imagine not looking in them. Instinctively, I reached up on my tip toes and pressed my lips gently against his. I felt his body tense up for a moment under my kiss before he wrapped an arm around my waist and returned my kiss.

“Well isn’t that precious?” one of Braxon’s man devils mocked.

“Mind your tongue, devil. Or I’ll have it as a trophy,” Deveraux said approaching him dangerously.

“My lord,” the man devil mumbled, bowing to him.

“They’ll never get used to me,” I said quietly as we walked through the front doors. I didn’t know why it made me sad. Most likely because where I was from everyone was welcome. No matter where you came from or what you were, if you needed help all you had to do was ask.

Deveraux didn’t reply. He knew it was true so he couldn’t say anything to make me think different. Instead he told me that he was going upstairs to his floor to rest for a day or two and that Arissa would be my guard and guide if I needed anything.

I left him at the base of the first staircase with a small kiss on the lips and I watched him as he struggled to walk up the stairs.

“It’s only because he didn’t travel alone this time, My Lady,” a soft voice said next to me.

Glancing over, I saw Arissa with the long, beautiful raven colored hair, and the same precious amethyst eyes standing next to me watching Deveraux climb the stairs slowly. She was a bit taller than me, but her face ... her face could deceive the wisest of men. She looked like an angel, not a woman devil. Her eyes were large, but not like Kei’s, and her nose was straight with a slight upturn at the end. Her lower lip was slightly fuller than her upper lip, and she had them covered in blood red lipstick. Her black leather jacket hugged her body showing off her hourglass figure, with a white shirt peeking out underneath. She wore dark red denim jeans which matched her lipstick and an exquisite pair of black heeled boots.

She smiled at me.

“I think it’s nice to have a Lady in the house. We’ve never had one.”

She pushed my hair off of my shoulders and glanced at my wings.

“You’ve healed nicely,” she examining my shoulders.

I have to stop thinking that they’re all staring at my wings.

“Was that you?” I asked suddenly realizing that her voice sounded familiar.

She nodded with a small smile. But the smile faded after a moment and she grabbed me by my arm and started to lead me down the eastern wing. I wasn’t sure why she suddenly looked so serious, until I looked over my shoulder and saw the man devil that had mocked my bond with Deveraux standing near an open door staring at us with an odd look on his face.

“Pay no mind to the Eastern Province devils,” she said quietly. “They are very old fashioned and believe that a Lord and Lady should be of the same creation. I’m sure he will have a talk with the Elder of that faction soon enough.”

“He already has,” I said quietly.

Arissa looked at me for a moment with a small crease of worry on her beautiful face.

“Then stay close My Lady. Stratus reeks of ill intention and I’ll protect you with my life should the need arise. I don’t trust that one in particular, but it is not my place to tell Master Deveraux such things about his guests,” she sighed.

“Promise me that you won’t sacrifice yourself for me, no matter what the situation,” I asked of her.

“But you’re our Lady. We must,” she said in disbelief.

“As your Lady, I ask you to not do this. Protect Deveraux and Keilyn; that’s all I’ll ever ask of any of you.”

She nodded but I could tell that she would still jump in front of danger for me by the look on her face. It was nice to have a family again, even if we were sworn to be eternal enemies.

Maybe I can put in a good word for her and Kei.

Maybe I can get them transferred.

Maybe I should go check on Deveraux.

––––––––

I
looked at Arissa who was standing in front of the open door waiting for me. I shook my head slightly and turned to walk back in the direction I came in. Like his room and hallway, most of his home was dimly lit with only candles lighting the way. I walked quickly and quietly not knowing where Stratus might be lurking and made my way up the first staircase. I looked around trying remembering which way to go before proceeding. After getting turned around a few times, I finally found myself on Dev’s floor. I squinted down the long hallway and saw that his door was slightly cracked. I also noticed a figure propped up against the wall, half slouched and half sitting. I quickened my pace and the figure stirred when I got closer.

“Hello Pet,” he said in a very tired voice.

“Dev, are you okay?” I asked worried.

He nodded slightly with his eyes still closed.

“How did you know it was me?” I inquired as I leaned down and helped him off the floor.

“I can smell you.”

I immediately became self-conscious. I didn’t know if that was because almost a day had passed since I had cleaned myself.

“You smell like sweet alyssum in bloom and you intoxicate me,” he whispered.

My body shook and my mind raced. The scent of him so close and so prominent in his room seemed to have such a strange effect on me.