Devilish Mate

22

“It’s like examining the light around us in a different way, and bending it to our will.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant but I tried again. Nothing worked. It was like I was blocked somehow.

After a few minutes of failure, he sat back and stroked his chin while he considered me. “I suppose we could try a trick they use to teach the new Ofanim at Seraphim Academy, though it seems rather silly to me.”

“I’m open to anything at this point,” I said.

He let out a sigh, as if the idea was distasteful to him. “Very well. First, close your eyes. Then imagine you have a pair of sunglasses, perfectly shaped for your face.”

“Sunglasses?” I asked with a laugh, but I did as he said, picturing a pair of black shades in a slightly retro style, the kind you’d wear while sitting at the pool and sipping a margarita.

“Yes. Now hold them in your hands and pretend to put them on your face, imagining that lens going in front of your eyes and how it changes the way you see the world.” He spoke slowly, and I did what he said. “When you open your eyes, you will now view the world through the lens of truth.”

The whole thing felt ridiculous, and I was about to laugh it all off, but when I opened my eyes, everything had changed. It was as if my eyes had relaxed behind the pretend lenses, allowing me to truly see.

Bastien’s bright aura circulated around his body, the color predominantly ice blue, like a frosty winter morning, with a ring of white light shimmering around the edges. Other colors swirled throughout the aura too, but there wasn’t a speck of darkness there.

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.

“Yes, most of them are. Can you see the bright light around my aura? That tells you I’m an angel.”

I nodded slowly as it began to come back to me. “Demons have a ring of darkness.”

“Indeed. And do you remember what the other colors mean?”

“They give you a hint about personality. Yours is predominantly blue.” I spoke faster as I remembered. “You’re calm and thoughtful. Intellectual. But there’s a thread of red throughout too—you’re in love.”

He cleared his throat and looked away. “Very good. Now I want you to tell me if I’m lying solely by looking at my aura. My favorite food is broccoli.”

His aura didn’t change, just continued to swirl with bright beautiful colors, and I had to laugh. “True. But seriously? Broccoli?”

“It’s versatile,” he said with a slight shrug. “My right hand is dominant.”

“Also true.”

“I grew up in Georgia.”

His aura became murky and dim as he spoke the words, and I nearly jumped out of my chair. “False!”

“Correct,” he said with the faintest hint of a smile.

The success emboldened me, and we continued on for a few minutes, before Bastien decided we could move on. Since I was having trouble controlling my powers of light, we worked on that next. My emotions seemed to trigger it, and Bastien helped me remember how to summon light when I wanted, and how to keep the power contained when I didn’t.

We kept going until lunchtime, and by the time Bastien stood to leave, I was well along the way to being able to control my Ofanim powers and feeling a lot more confident in myself as an angel. He promised we’d meet again tomorrow, when he’d help me remember some other Ofanim powers, and I found myself looking forward to it.

A

fter my session with Bastien ended, I got a text asking me to meet Olivia at the Ambrosia Cafe, one of the restaurants in the hotel, and I headed down to join her for lunch. I hadn’t seen Lucifer all day, but that suited me just fine at the moment, although my pulse raced when I thought about what might happen tonight.

Olivia looked as gorgeous as she did when I saw her yesterday, even in casual jeans and a black t-shirt, and her innate succubus allure made numerous heads turn as she waited outside the restaurant for me. She greeted me warmly, and then the host seated us in a private booth in the corner, which I had a feeling was reserved for VIP guests. Like the owner’s woman.

“Thanks for inviting me to lunch,” I said, after we were seated and had ordered some food.

Olivia smiled at me across the table. “I thought you might like to talk about what it’s like to straddle both the angel and demon worlds. Kassiel told me a bit about what you’ve gone through, and it sounds like you might need a friend who knows about being stuck in the middle.”

“I would love that. This is my first life as an angel, and I’m not sure what the demons will think of me being Lucifer’s mate. Especially since as Haniel I fought in the war on the other side.” I played with my fork idly as I thought back on all my lives. “Although I also fought on the demons’ side as a Fallen, and spent many lives as Lucifer’s mate in Hell. But I’m not sure if the demons will see it that way.”

“I understand. Both angels and demons had a hard time accepting me at first too. Even now, I’m constantly torn between both sides, never fully belonging on one or the other. My loyalties are always divided, because that’s the essence of who I am. Half angel. Half demon. And in a way, you’re the same. You may be in an angel’s body now, but you remember being other people in the past.”

“Yes, that’s exactly it.” I let out a long sigh, feeling a little lighter. “It’s nice to talk to someone who gets it.”