Chapter 12
Serena drove like an old woman hunched over the wheel going a steady 15 miles an hour wholely focused on the winding road. From my GPS we were only 30 minutes away from Le Man's. Until we got closer to down it was nothing but country roads and silence.
"Does the radio work?"
"Oh no, that thing blew up years ago. I never thought to get it replaced".
"I have Spotify. What do you listen to?"
"I like anything".
"Umm, how about Pop?" I just put on top 40 and we awkwardly listened to Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. God, I've gotten too used to Damion. We couldn't shut up around each other. But I used to be able to talk to a brick wall.
"So do you have any hobbies?"
"O yes, I like sewing, painting, reading, singing---"
"You sing?"
"Yes, nothing professionally more just for fun". Not professional my ass if I had to guess it was her I heard singing Ave Maria. "What do you do in your free time?"
"Up until recently all I did was study for school. Now I'm really just focused on trying to help as many fallen as possible", damn I didn't really have a life.
"I admire that", Serena confessed."I miss being a part of the world, trying to better it".
"Nura, picked you for a reason. You better the world by carrying her".
"I mean I miss... being in the field? The way you help the Fallen".
If we were going to be friends I needed to start asking The tough questions the ones she may not want to answer. "Serena, can I ask you a personal question? And you can totally tell me to fuck off if I'm crossing the line".
"Please ask anything".
"So you live at the Abbey, you're married to Michael, you've carried and protected Nura for centuries. But what do you do; if you're not helping the Fallen find redemption?"
"I wish I had the answer for that. For a time, I did help the fallen. Now I mostly help Michael wherever I can. I can use Nura to do little things like find demons, sometimes I have dreams of the future but I tell my husband and he takes care of it. I'm safer at the Abbey and this arrangement has worked for years".
"But are you happy with it? It may be safer, but Do you feel fulfilled or has Michael just put you in a pretty gilded cage in the name of protection".
"He has protected me the best way he can. Michael was hesitant for us to even meet. I wanted to meet you 4 years ago. But we both decided it was best to give it time".
"You both decided or he decided?"
"We both came to the conclusion. It's rare to find another relic. And the last one I met was killed by hell. Of course an 80-year-old woman had no business carrying a relic. But she did. Michael had come to the conclusion that relics aren't supposed to be together. So I kept my distance. But You've accomplished so much in so little time it's honestly very impressive. I envy that".
"I promise you my life is nothing to envy", honestly after everything that happened in Missouri and then in hell a change was the best thing for me. Throwing myself into anything was better than working through my shit. "If anything I should be envious of you, you have superpowers!"
Serena giggled.
"Can I ask you an even more personal question?" I said wanting to test my luck.
"Only if I can ask you one".
