Stuck With You

Part 34

Chapter 34

A reluctant smile formed on Aidirian’s face as they left the theater.  The meeting had gone strangely smooth, but with Celeste doing the talking, he shouldn’t have been surprised that everything had worked out.  Aidirian now saw why Celeste was assigned to this job.  The woman seemed to be able to rally unlikely forces together.  She allowed them to look passed their differences and focus on their similarities. 

“You’re looking at me funny,” she mumbled as they reached their vehicle.

With a sigh, he reached out and ran a finger over her necklace.  “You’re an amazing person.”

Her hand covered his, stopping his movements.  “I’m not a person,” she whispered before smiling at him.  “Plus, you’re just happy that I have a new addition to the necklace.”

“Very true,” he replied with a chuckle.  “I like knowing that you won’t get hurt by them.”

An expression of unease ran across her face, and he knew what she was thinking before she even said her next words.  “What about you?  When this battle takes place, what about you?”

“I’ll be safe.”

“No,” she snapped.  With a deep breath, she closed her eyes as if blocking the pain that was etched onto her face.  “I don’t want you there when we fight.”

He eased his hand out from underneath hers.  “You can’t stop me, Celeste.”

“How do you know?”  Her eyes opened, showing off a little bit of her power.  “How do you know that I can’t stop you?”

Bringing his hands up to cup her face, he pressed a small kiss to her lips.  “Because I love you, Celeste.  That’s more powerful than anything you can do.”

Her nose scrunched up, but only happiness radiated from her expression.  “I hate when you do that.”

“No ‘I love you too?’” he joked as he opened the passenger’s door of their vehicle. 

Celeste just smiled at him as she settled her seat.  “As if you need me to say it.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of her door closing stopped any words he may have told her.  Sure, she could probably still hear him talk, but he could tease her easier if he were sitting next to her, not separated by a car door. 

Running around the car, he stood at his door.  Just as he was about to open it, a voice stopped him. 

“Wait,” Innocence muttered, “I wish to speak to you.”

Releasing the handle, he smiled at her.  “What is it?”

She shifted on her feet as if she were uncomfortable.  “What you did in there, cloaking who you are, it means you’re more powerful than we thought.”

A pang of worry flew through him, and he fought to keep it from his face.  It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to know how powerful he truly was, it was that he didn’t want anyone but Celeste to know.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Hmm,” she mumbled as her head tilted to the side.  She studied him through darkening eyes.  “I find that hard to believe.  You’ve been keeping secrets from us.  I know you cloaked yourself.  If you didn’t, why did the Fallen only comment on the fact that there was a fae on Celeste’s side?  Jinn are just as frightening.”

“Innocence,” he sighed, but when she shook her head angrily, he closed his mouth.

“Other’s think that I am slow because of the way that I act, that I do not see things that others may.  They are wrong.  Just because I am Innocence that does not mean that I have not experienced deception.”

He stared at the fae, and for the first time, he saw more than just a desire to kill etched onto her face.  Could it be that Innocence hid behind her demeanor, that the fae was more than she let on?  “I should explain, but I would prefer to do it elsewhere.  Somewhere were there aren’t so many ears on us.”

“As you wish,” she said with a small bow of her head.  As she reached towards the back door, it was her turn to pause at his words.

“What you are doing for Celeste is very kind.”

She smiled at him, showing off jagged teeth.  “So, you do know a little of our kind.  We do not like to be thanked, but you word it in a way that is a simple statement.”  Her smile dropped as she pulled her door open.  “I will do anything for our angel.  She has more in her,” Innocence mumbled, “something that cannot be tarnished by the darkness in the world.”

“Something innocent,” Aidirian whispered as the fae jumped into the back of the car. 

He stood there, staring at the roof as if it would give him answers.  Was that why Innocence had stayed with Celeste even after her duty was over?  Could the naïve part of Celeste that scared Aidirian be the part of her that kept Innocence on their side?  He didn’t know, but he was sure of one thing.  They were lucky to have the fae on their side.

Shaking his head, he opened his door and jumped in before something else could happen.  He was already on edge being so close to the theater.  He didn’t want to chance their luck any longer.  The door slammed with a bang and was only punctuated by the sound of the engine roaring to life.  It was a good thing that they didn’t have to leave quietly, because Aidirian doubted the flashy vehicle knew what quiet was.

“So,” Celeste started as they turned onto a new road.

“Let’s talk,” Innocence finished, making both Celeste and Aidirian smile a little.  The fae was slowly showing them how normal she could be.

Stopping at a red light, Aidirian shrugged.  “What do you want to know?”

“You cloaked yourself,” Celeste said, “meaning that they saw you, but could not see what you are.  Why didn’t you tell me that you had that much power?”

“It seemed irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant?” Innocence spat.  “The woman loves you, and you find that irrelevant?”

The fae shifted slightly in her seat, causing Celeste to quickly turn in her own seat.  “It’s okay,” she soothed, but he could hear the anger in her voice.  “He was just waiting for the right time to tell us how powerful he is.”

“Like when?”

“When this mess is finished,” Aidirian answered with a small smile at the fae’s protectiveness.  “It’s good to have a secret weapon.  Everyone knows that the majority of creatures out there cannot harm Celeste.  She now has protection for Nephilim, making our worries ease there.  Everyone knows just how powerful Innocence, Daryn, Antonio, and all the others who are with you are.  No one knows about me though.  They don’t know how powerful I am, and I’m hoping that they’ll make the mistake of coming unprepared.”

“Do you think that will work?” Celeste asked as she settled back into her seat.

Aidirian shrugged as he continued to drive towards her home.  “I’m not sure.  As far as your sister knows, I’m not very powerful at all.  I didn’t even have the ability to see true forms.  I’m hoping that she’ll be just as stupid when it comes to me as she was with the Fallen we just visited.”

“Which brings me to another topic,” Celeste said with a sigh as they pulled into her driveway.  “There is still one creature out there that can hurt me, one that I do not have protection from.”

Slamming on the brakes, Aidirian stared at the house in front of him.  Black wings swirled around it, making the place seem as if it was pulled from a horror movie.  With a sigh, he changed the gear to park before turning the vehicle off.  “I hope that your sister does not know exactly what creature that is.”

“The Fallen.”

***Amazing new cover by Platypus1987!***