Tainted Wings: Book Two (18+)

Chapter 16

Envy: Mothertrucker, dude! That hurt like a buttcheek on a stick!

VIRAGO

Cali and I spent the rest of her time here playing video games my kids have in their personal arcade. She helped out with training and we also talked until the late hours of the night. Lucifer didn't like that I was sleeping late. But he understood that I just wanted to spend enough time with my bestest friend. I was having so much fun that I didn't realize the day she had to leave came too soon.

"Say hi to Drac for me," I said, hugging her by the exit. Since she was a full fledged Vampyre now, Hell's atmosphere didn't affect her anymore.

"Of course, babe!" She squeezed me tight. "By the way, I've been meaning to give you this."

Pulling back from our embrace, she reached into her wide purse and handed me a sketchbook. Chuckling, I turned it over. "You know I could barely draw a stick figure, right?"

"Open it, silly," she giggled, punching my shoulder playfully. "Consider this as your Christmas present."

Opening the cover to the front page, I read the little note she wrote before looking at anything else. "To Virago, mother, wife, and sister."

I smiled at her and she motioned for me to continue. Flipping to the next page, I gasped at the beautiful drawing of me. Not just me, the first time I breastfed Pride.

I flipped through the rest and my chest overflowed with euphoria.

All of these drawings...every single one of them were from my past-life.

My voice cracked as I spoke. "You kept them all?"

Cali nodded. "I couldn't just throw them away. I wanted to give them to Lucifer but...he would've been too depressed and also...you know...he never wanted to see me."

I dragged a finger down a drawing of me hugging Wrath when he was a toddler. Cali really preserved these for thousands of years. The old parchment paper she glued into the sketchbook still looked brand new. Flipping to the next page, a drawing of me holding Pride and Wrath in my arms stared right back. My belly was practically ready to pop. I was pregnant with Lust at the time.

I held the sketchbook close against my chest. "You're the bestest friend ever, Cali. No, the bestest sister."

She smiled. "I'm working on another one. I spent most of my time sketching and drawing you guys so I have enough to fill like twenty other sketchbooks."

Holy nuggets I'm so glad I met this girl.

"I'm...I'm speechless."

"Girl, you know I'm gonna have your back till the day the world ends." Her smile widened. "If you need anything, call me."

Hugging her again, I held her tighter than before. She wasn't even gone yet and I missed her already. "I love you."

"I love you too, sis."

Cali blew me a kiss as she opened the castle's front door. Once she left, I looked at each page one by one. Every single image played like a movie in my head.

Cali drew me when I held Sloth in the air while laying down. When I breastfed Envy. When I ran around trying to catch Lust to put his adorable clothes back on him. When Lucifer carried Envy in the air. Gosh, so many drawings of me and my family, she even drew herself with us here and there. As she should!

I gotta show these to Lucifer. Turning around to head upstairs, I continued looking through the pages. Maybe I should wait to look at them all with Lucifer. Yeah, I'll do that instead. I wanna share this moment together.