Stuck With You

Part 19

Chapter 19

Aidirian stared at her, unable to understand her relief completely.  He had thought that she viewed her position as an angel as sacred, something she would never chance, but here she was, smiling at the others in the room, her black wings branched out for all to see.  Was it honest though?  Did Celeste honestly feel that this was what was best for her, or would it all come crashing around her once she realized that life was harder as a fallen? 

“What will you do now?” he asked, the question slipping from his mouth as thoughts flew through his head.

She glanced at him, her smile wide, making him feel as if he were the only person other than her in the room.  “It doesn’t matter what I do; I’m free.”

“Correction,” he mumbled, hating the fact that he would be the one to bring her back to reality.  “You are not free.  You will always have a leader, there will always be those above you, that part has not changed.”

“True, but Uncle Luc would not send me on pointless missions that may get me killed.”

He wanted to smile at the tone she used, but didn’t.  The woman honestly believed in her uncle, a man who led all the demons of the world.  He could never be fully trusted; he could never fully protect Celeste, which meant Aidirian was back on the job.  “He may not, but are you forgetting something?”

“No,” she said in confusion while glancing at the other three in the room.  Antonio glanced away from her as if he could not help her.  Daryn sent her an apologetic grin, while Luc stared in her eyes, refusing to look away but not willing to talk.  “What is it?”

Aidirian stepped towards her, his hand curling around her necklace.  “This.”

“What about it?”

He tugged a little, but he knew the chain would not break.  It was made of tougher stuff.  “Queen Tanya gave you her protection with the thought in mind that you would deliver the Nephillim on a platter.”

Celeste’s hand rose, and he began moving his hand away from her necklace, thinking that she wanted him gone.  To his surprise though, her hand wrapped around his instead of pushing it away.  “Which means I still have to complete my mission.”

“Celeste,” Luc said in his deep tone that sent Aidirian’s nerves off kilter, “there is a lot on your shoulders at the moment, but you have a lot of people counting on you.  I am counting on you to stop the Nephillim.”

She turned her eyes towards her uncle, hurt deep in them.  “You are ordering me?”

He shook his head at her.  “No, but if I did, it would not be a suicide mission.  I would send my best warriors, my personal guard, to help you.  I may be cruel, but you are my family.”

“Hard to believe there is another, soft, side about you,” Daryn said in a joking manner.

Luc’s eyes turned towards the incubus, his eyes pitch black.  Luc waved his hand, sending Daryn flying into the wall.  Plaster fell all around him, but Luc didn’t make a move to see if the man was okay.  “I am not soft.”

“Not soft,” Daryn mumbled from the ground.  Standing wobbly to his feet, he dusted some sheetrock from his clothes before down casting his eyes.  “Definitely not soft.”

“Uncle Luc,” she said, a sigh in her voice.

The man just smiled at her, the black in his eyes lightening slightly.  “No one will question my power.  Once one starts, there will be uproar.  I am quite tired of uproars.”