Angel's Curse

3. Sharing a Bond

3. Sharing a Bond

I’d wanted to spar with Danny on more than one occasion during the past week. Each time he refused, citing that I didn’t need any practice, at least not against him. It would have been nice to see if I could come close to whooping his arse. A few times I thought maybe he was worried I would, and that’s why he wouldn’t fight me, even playfully.

I was itching to get into some sort of a fight and was beginning to go stir crazy, yet I was still frightened, to some degree, about what the outside world held for us. Danny told me the cabin fever would pass, and that after some years — decades or centuries — I wouldn’t notice it at all. If I had to put up with it for that long I’d really be a total nutter, worse than I was now.

On day eight, with the sun shining down, I had to get away from the cottage. Danny was delighted that at last my pig-headed fear had given way to reason — no one would be expecting us to be alive. Therefore we were relatively safe.

I retrieved my knife and good luck charm from the bedroom. I’d decided to nickname the knife Death, as that seemed as befitting a name as any for a weapon wielded by me, she who kills. The good luck charm was a feather that Danny had given me, when he’d let me see what he would have looked like with wings. I’d always thought all angels had wings, but it turns out that only archangels do.

Danny helped me strap on the knife. I could manage the feather easily by myself.

“Where do you suggest we go?” I asked.

“Nowhere near the corridor, fall, temple or underground tunnels,” Danny cautioned, counting off on his fingers the areas that were out of bounds. “Anywhere that you didn’t frequent on a regular basis should be fine. I can always pick up a trail for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well if I’m going to take us there, I need to know exactly where there is.”

Danny produced a map and pointed south, to an area along the edges of what used to be the border of the territory he’d patrolled for aeons.

“We start there and work our way north.”

“Okay,” I said, offering him my hand, “grab hold.”

As soon as Danny slipped his hand in mine I transported us to his chosen destination. We landed in a very small clearing, big enough for about eight adults.

“It’s a bit of a squeeze,” I said. “What would’ve happened if I missed?”

He chuckled. “We would’ve ended up inside a tree.”

That sounded like a bad thing to me, ending up inside a tree — landing in anything really — so why was he laughing about it. I folded my arms across my chest.

“And that’s funny because?”

He grinned. “I would have liked to have seen the expression on your face when you either broke through the tree in a flap, or transported us slightly to the left or right.”

I was somewhat miffed. Considering I hadn’t been doing this since the dawn of time like some people, and I’d never been given proper lessons, I thought I was doing okay.

“I don’t find that humorous at all,” I replied through gritted teeth.

I turned to walk away. Danny grabbed my arm to stop me.

“I’m sorry,” he said, continuing to laugh softly. “I shouldn’t tease. That’s your domain. There’s a trail — a single vampire — heading north-west. You were going in the wrong direction.”

I pressed my lips tightly together to prevent my mouth from running away with me and giving him what for, though my eyes betrayed I was furious with him. Danny was smart enough to realise that he shouldn’t push it and took off at moderate pace. I ran after him. I’d found running was a great way to improve my mood and burn off anger and frustration.

Within an hour we’d caught up with the solo vamp, just as he was about to disappear down the entrance to a tunnel. I transported the three of us to the ranch — an abandoned copper mine that the vamps steered clear of because of a stench only they could smell. I drained the vamp dry in the lights, on the journey there — the lights were part of the in-between place when we travelled from one location to another.

“You really need to add all the entrances to the underground tunnels we’ve found so far to your map of the region,” I said. “We could then get a good idea of exactly how large the vamps underground network is. If ever we need to smoke them out we have to know how many entrances to target.”

“It’s done,” Danny said. “When we get back to the cottage you can take a look. The map will be waiting for you.”

“I love it when you get things done straight away,” I cooed happily. “Most men procrastinate when a woman asks them to do something.”

“We need to dispose of the body. Did you want to venture into the mine for a look?” Danny asked. I nodded my head. “Shall I carry it or will you?”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll take care of it,” I said.

I slung the body over my shoulder. It’s amazing how much lighter a bloodless body is. Even if I hadn’t drained it dry I would’ve easily managed. It was one of the advantages of the new and improved Helena. Besides, Danny didn’t really like the smell of vampires. While this body carried the same sickly-sweet base note distinct to all vampires, it didn’t bother me in the slightest.

Danny led the way. We walked for a good two hours before we found a large, natural, underground cavern, near the bottom of the main shaft, partially filled with water. It looked like the shaft continued under water. Unless I wanted to go diving I wouldn’t know exactly how far down it went. What had probably happened is that they’d hit an underground water table and as a result the shaft was declared a dead end. Being the only shaft at the time, the water would have been the reason the mine was abandoned. Maybe they didn’t have enough funding to sink another shaft, or create an offshoot from the main shaft. Not that it mattered now. What did matter was that this was an ideal dumping ground for bodies — loads of them! I could easily dispose of them here. When a bit of housekeeping was necessary, a small fire, or some sulphur injections for the vamps and it’d be roomy once again. That was another plus. As the cavern was quite large I shouldn’t accidentally find myself enclosed within a prison of rock. I didn’t know how I’d react if I found myself trapped, even temporarily, in something solid. The worst that could happen here is I’d get my feet wet. I could live with that.

“When we get back to the cottage I’d like a backpack full of lighter fluid, waterproof matches and sulphur syringes, please. I may as well store some supplies here.”

Danny bowed with a flourish. “Your wish …”

I laughed and gave his arm a whack. “Stop it or I’ll start to develop a power complex. Then I will be a nightmare to live with.”

We returned to the small clearing we’d started out from, courtesy of me. I didn’t bother recreating the lights if it was only the two of us. Danny found the brief flash that was inherent in my form of travelling — I didn’t have to move in order to travel — refreshing.

My lights paled in comparison to the brilliance of a heavenly angel’s lights. There were some differences between the earth-bound variety of angel — me, common as muck, as usual — and the heavenly variety — Danny, brilliant and dazzling in every way.

There were no other trails to follow from the miniscule clearing. We decided to head north and see what we could find. After a couple of hours of walking, and talking along the way — we were in no hurry, had nowhere to be at a certain time — and with no sign of any new trails, we decided to call it a day.

Somehow we always seemed to end up in what had become my bedroom. I was determined, today, for something different — Danny’s old room. After leaving the bathroom, wearing only a towel — we’d had a long hot shower together — I walked past my door. Danny grabbed my arm and gently pulled me back.

“No,” he said.

“Why not? Why always here?”

He pulled me into the bedroom and sat me on the bed.

“That room,” he sighed, “was shared with another.”

My heart sank. I felt hurt and betrayed, though exactly why I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Had he lied to me all those months ago about not having had s*x before? But wasn’t it true that angels couldn’t lie?

“I thought you’d never had s*x before,” I blurted out.

“I hadn’t,” Danny replied calmly. I hated it when he was the calm to my maelstrom of emotions, “until you. But I never said I hadn’t been in love before.”

My head started to spin … been in love before. I’d never thought that Danny might have been in love before. Never thought that someone might have held a place in his heart. There were far too many questions flying around in my head. I tried to gather my thoughts, calm down and be reasonable about this.

I spoke softly and slowly, trying to remain calm. “Then what did you do? How did you express your love? You’ve already told me angels don’t need to sleep. Why the beds then?”

“We bonded our minds, not our bodies.”

That didn’t sound like much fun to me. Certainly not the way I’d want to express my love, apart from verbalising it. Maybe I’d overreacted. What had gone wrong? Why wasn’t she here, at the cottage?

“What happened to her?”

Danny ran his hands through his hair. I’d noticed he did this when I asked questions he found difficult — or painful — to answer. It was his way of ordering things in his mind — of gaining precious seconds to determine what he would say and how he would phrase it.

He sighed and let his hands fall to his legs, lightly drumming the sides, apprehensive and nervy about having to respond. That it was an uncomfortable topic was clear.

“She was cast out of heaven, with Satan,” he whispered.

“It was Amy, wasn’t it?”

Amy was the name Danny had called out often during his fevered state. When I asked him about her, he simply told me that she was a fallen angel whom he’d had to kill. I knew there was more to it than that. Why else would he call out her name again and again?

Danny nodded his head. Perhaps his tastes ran to those who were predominantly evil. Did that mean, after all this time, he really did think I was evil?

“I don’t understand.” I shook my head a couple of times. “You’ve only been here, in the cottage, for a few centuries. How could she have been here?”

“The cottage is a recreation of our heaven, before Inigrael fell.”

Great. I was living some other angel’s dream.

“And when she fell?”

“I deliberately sought her out. After an aeon I found her.” Danny looked at his hands. “I begged her to repent. I told her that He would forgive her and she would be welcomed into heaven again.”

I could hear the pain, the bitter emotion, in his voice. This was still a fresh wound to him, no matter how long ago it had taken place. I lightly touched his hand.

“And?”

“She wouldn’t. Instead she tried to convert me, of all angels. I killed her. I had to.” Danny sounded like he was trying to convince himself that he’d chosen the correct course of action. “There was no other choice open to me.”

I stroked his cheek lovingly. “And you’ve been punishing yourself ever since.”

“Yes.” He really was beating himself up over it. “I should have known. I should have known she’d choose the wrong side. I failed Him.”

I took his face in my hands and kissed his lips.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” I said.

“Not angels.”

“Even angels,” I replied.

I kissed his lips again, trying to distract him. The idea of bonding fascinated me, though it didn’t sound half as much fun as the way we bonded. I wondered what they shared via the bond.

“How do you bond?”

I kissed his cheek and neck. My distraction was beginning to work.

“It’s very simple,” he sighed, enjoying the feel of my lips on his neck, not in the least concerned I might bite it. “We place one hand on each side of the other’s face, covering the temples, and open our minds to share what’s within.”

I drew him to me and we forgot our worries and concerns. When the time was right I took his hands in mine and placed them over my temples. I knew from experience he was too far gone to resist. I placed my hands over his temples, my fingers in his hair. I opened my mind to him, hoping he was doing the same for me. The emotion, the love, and the joy rushed through me, and washed over my entire body. I felt our bodies rise in the air as if we were ascending to a higher plain. In a way we were.

I could see how I looked to him. How he felt about me. I knew, without a doubt, that he loved me more than his own life and would do whatever was in his power, and then some, to protect me — keep me safe and alive.

He also shared with me some of his past, though I was too caught up in the tumult of emotions and pleasure to look closely at the gift he’d given me — that would be for another day, when I had time to look back and contemplate.

This levitating business associated with sharing a bond could be quite tricky, particularly if one of us removed a hand from the other’s temple or if we wanted to change positions. During that first night we came crashing down from near the ceiling onto the bed many times. That only served to make things more interesting.

Danny had said this ascending we did — as he called it — was something new. Perhaps combining the two ways of expressing love — physically and spiritually — was the reason behind it. But then he also thought that maybe it was me — that I brought something different to the bond.

We eventually collapsed to the bed, exhausted. That two immortals could wear each other out in such a short period of time surprised me. Danny said sharing a bond was a very draining, though extremely rewarding, experience.

I lay in Danny’s arms and closed my eyes. Sharing a bond was something I wanted to try again, but for now I needed to sleep.

When I woke in the morning, Danny was sitting on a couch in his bedroom, or what had once been his bedroom. He’d converted it to a library, complete with two couches and books of every description — fiction and non-fiction — as well as his obligatory bibles and the like.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

I trailed my fingers over the spines of the books in one of the six bookcases. Fantasy, science fiction, autobiographies, romance — I wouldn’t be reading any of those — mystery, true crime, thrillers … the list went on.

I walked over to Danny and, straddling his legs, tucked my calves under my thighs and leaned into him. I took the book he was reading, tossed it to the side, and clasped my hands together behind his neck.

“I do like it. There was no need to make the change for me, though.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” he replied smugly. “I did it for me. I don’t need what this room used to represent anymore.”

He ran his fingers through my hair and rubbed my cheeks with his thumbs before leaning forward to kiss my lips.

“In fact, if you want a palace, I’ll give you a palace. If you want a tent, I’ll give you a tent. If you still want a swimming pool, it’s yours. You have only to ask.”

“There is something I wouldn’t mind, if it’s not too much trouble. We are limited for space after all.”

“What?” Danny asked.

“Don’t laugh, but I’d really like a ballroom or dance studio,” I said excitedly. “Somewhere to dance, or train, or a combination of the two … and it needs mirrors, lots of mirrors.”

He did laugh, but I didn’t mind. I knew he’d find my request amusing, yet if it was in his power to give, it was what I wanted,

“Go upstairs and let me know if it’s what you were thinking of,” he said.

“What stairs? This is a single storey cottage, remember.”

Was he going senile? Was being effectively grounded finally sending him around the bend?

He grinned at me and winked. Oh my god, had he really added another storey? I ran into the living area, the only other room where a staircase might be located, and found the kitchen was gone. Only some of the cupboards — for storage — remained. It’s not like we used the kitchen anyway. It didn’t even have a sink.

I ran up the stairs two at a time and there it was, a ballroom exactly as I’d imagined it, covering the entire second storey. Danny came up behind me and hugged me. I stared in wonder at the detail he’d captured and recreated, all from my memories and imagination. The geometric shapes incorporated into the warm wood of the highly-polished parquetry floor. The crystal chandeliers with their delicate tear drops hanging down from a high ceiling. The ornate cornices, medallions, chair rails and detailed rosettes. The niches holding marble busts of women and men whose names I didn’t know, and the marble pedestals on which sat bronze plant holders, maidenhair ferns cascading over the sides. All around me on every wall, if there wasn’t a niche there were mirrors, floor to ceiling, separated a quarter of the way up by the chair rails.

“Come and take a look from outside,” he said.

We wandered outside and when I looked back at the cottage it was as if there was no second storey. The roof was where it had always been. Danny tugged on my hand, beckoning me to follow him back to the ballroom.

“Shall we dance?” he asked.

“How about a slow dance?” I suggested.

Danny clicked his fingers to turn on some music. He chose to play a gorgeous slow song from my memories, and held me close to him as we moved around the dance floor in time to the music.