They arrived at the Demon Association and Rose felt as if she had entered a parallel dimension. Where the Society looked pristine and upright the Association looked… wicked. The walls were painted a deep gray and the sign above the door was made of neon gold. The Society looked inconspicuous and blended in; the Association was eye-catching, designed to lure people in.
They stepped inside and the scene that greeted them was even more decadent. The walls matched the dark gray of the outside but the floors were pitch black. They shone so cleanly that they reflected the dim lightbulbs from the ceiling. The whole place was illuminated with a low glow and the massive desk at the back was made of black stone with small red lights embedded in its surface.
Two women wearing black leather suits stood behind it and beside them a young man in a sharp black suit. They looked professional but at the same time there was something about them extremely alluring. Any other person would be engulfed by the dark surroundings but they stood out as if they owned the hedonistic vibe. All of them wore dark eyeliner and mascara, their hair loose and carefree.
"Welcome… Oh it's you," one of the women said, the disgust evident on her face the moment she recognized Locious. Even though Rose wasn't under the Angel Aura effect anymore she still felt a pinch of jealousy at the sight of such beautiful people. However, when they showed no interest in him she smiled internally. Not that she thought Locious was only attractive to her, but thinking about his strange Aura made her feel somehow uncomfortable. Despite the jealousy there was something that told her Locious felt more like himself when people weren't drooling after him.
"Yeah, where is your boss?" Locious asked in the same dry tone the woman had used.
The man, who didn't seem affected by the unfriendliness between his colleagues and the Angel in front of them, smiled and approached them. "He is waiting for you in his office. Please follow me," he stated, guiding them through a hallway to a lift. They stepped inside and Rose noticed all the numbers on the panel had a minus sign beside them. She looked at the panel wondering why they had a lift when she hadn't seen any other floors from the outside when Locious turned to her as if he had felt her confusion.
"His office is underground. It's a security layer and they… well, they just prefer it that way," Locious said, looking her up and down. She stared back at him. There was something in his eyes that made her heart beat faster—a strong, almost bestial hunger. She squeezed her legs together and tried to compose a professional look, but to no end. However, when he saw her take a deep breath he quickly turned around. That move was a relief; her body's reaction was embarrassing and extremely inappropriate given the situation, but once again she had no control over her response to his proximity.
The boy, feeling it was his chance to shine, went on to explain. "On the top floor we receive the people. We filter requests and the security team is in charge of dealing with any shady characters—"
Locious scoffed as if the term were funny and Rose focused on his rigid back. Her mind wandered and she stopped listening. Memories of the last two days inside that room filled her head: the awkward looks they shared that morning when the full weight of what had happened finally dawned on them.
He had left her to take a shower and brought her a set of new clothes. He had bathed as well and was wearing a new pair of black trousers and a white t-shirt. They didn't exchange many words on their way to the office. Even sitting behind him on his motorcycle felt weird. She had tried not to touch him, still vividly remembering how she had clung to him when they were running from the demons.
When they arrived at the office she mumbled a goodbye and rushed to look for Sandy. She needed someone who would understand her—someone who wouldn't judge her—but Sandy was nowhere to be seen. She didn't want to be near any place she could bump into Locious, so with nowhere left to run she went to look for Mila.
Mila was at her computer. Rows of strange symbols filled the screen and she was taking notes. Apparently she knew exactly what they meant but Rose had no idea if it was even a language. Rose pulled up a chair and sat next to her but Mila didn't even notice; she was too focused on her work. Rose didn't dare interrupt. After a while of being ignored as if she were a wall she wandered off in search of Sandy again.
Oh God! I would be happy even if I found Ben and listened to his rambling. Anything that makes me forget about what we did the last two days and how good it felt, she thought.
She was walking through the hallway when she heard muffled sounds coming from one of the offices. Thinking it might be someone in trouble she stepped inside. What she saw shocked her. Mike was there crouching with his hands covering his face. His shoulders were shaking and she could hear him whimpering. He was trying his best to cry silently but he couldn't manage it.
"Are you all right?" she asked, unsure of how to proceed. He always seemed so stoic—more like a robot than a person. He had said plenty of hurtful things to her in the past but when he looked up at her, face covered in tears, the vulnerability in those red eyes made her heart hurt.
She approached him and pulled a handkerchief from her jacket.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. Even though he tried to sound composed, his voice was too thin and lacked his authoritative tone. "Thanks," he whispered when she offered him the cloth. He wiped his tears and stared at the handkerchief in his hand.
"I was looking for Sandy…" she answered and he nodded.
"She is with Locious. You will find her in his office."
Rose's heart skipped a beat. Her mind, like a reel of old film flickered with images of him and her body reacted instantly. She sat down next to Mike and he looked at her, baffled by the sudden invasion of his personal space.
"You aren't going? I thought you would run the moment I said that," he asked, his usual formal demeanor gone, replaced by a casual attitude. Now he really looked like a young easygoing man.
Rose opened her mouth and closed it. She wasn't sure what to say. Her heart wanted to see Locious but she wasn't prepared to see him yet. She needed a break to process her own feelings. What am I going to say if I see him? I want to ask about what happened but I fear his answer. I want to hug him. I want to go back to that room where reality was far away. She got lost in her own mind and doubts until she realized Mike was still looking at her waiting for an answer.
"I… it's complicated. I can't tell you because I don't even know the answer. Anyway… can I ask you something?" She hesitated. Maybe it wasn't the moment for asking but she blurted the question before she could stop herself. "Why do you hate me? Do you have feelings for him?"
His eyes bulged and he opened his mouth. But then he closed it and sighed as if he had changed his mind at the last minute. He was probably going to use one of those sophisticated insults. She grinned internally but didn't show a reaction. If he decided to be honest instead of offending her she wasn't going to complain.
"First of all, it's not that I hate you per se. It's just that I… I can be quite possessive and overprotective of Locious. I try to keep his life as free of problems as I can. And you, sorry, but you came here with the word nuisance hanging on your chest," he said and she scoffed. It was not Mike if he didn't find a way to gag her. She was about to ask him to explain himself when he went on with his response.
"As for your second question: if you mean in a romantic way, definitely not, even if most people think I'm weirdly enamored with him. But if you meant to ask if I love him, I do." His eyes shone and a weak smile appeared on his face. Rose was astounded by the resemblance to Ethel. If she hadn't already known that they were mother and son, she would have found out at that very moment. When he was not being pretentious and condescending, he had the exact same doll face and warm presence as his family.
"He saved my life, you know? Not many people know this, but my dad was an awful person. He never hit my mum, but he used to hit me while she was at work. When my dad was drunk she would bring me with her to the office. I thought it was just a normal workplace. Even if I saw the boss at the time or any of the Angels, I would forget them as soon as they were out of my sight, so they allowed her to bring me as long as it wasn't a regular thing.
"But then my mum got pregnant and my dad went crazy. He said the baby wasn't his—that she just wanted to force him to feed two mouths. Most of our things were paid for with my mum's salary, but he still had the nerve to say she wanted to use him for his money. And you know what the worst part is? My mum was so happy when she was here. I didn't know at the time but everybody treated her so well. She was part of a loving work family. But she used to change her whole appearance just to be with him."
He breathed hard as if he couldn't contain his anger. Rose didn't interrupt. Actually, it made sense. Emissaries learned to disguise themselves for their everyday lives too. Once the training year was over and they formed the pact with the Society, the aging process would stop for as long as they worked for them. If she wanted to keep a human family, she must have had to disguise herself as an aging, busy woman. After a brief pause he went on.
"One day he had been drinking and I arrived home from school. When he was in that state he would get mad about anything, so I used to try to become invisible and hide in my room. That day, unluckily, I was running upstairs when a photo on the wall fell, making him notice me. I dashed for it, but I was still small. I hadn't even reached my bedroom door when he grabbed me by my backpack and threw me against the wall. He started shouting that I was a piece of shit for trying to break our family apart—that I was the one who threw the photo of him and my mum on purpose."
"Why did he blame you?" she mumbled, her words low due to the tears stuck in her throat. Imagining Mike as a little boy, bruised and scared, was a stab to her already tumultuous heart.
"Because he heard me tell my mum once that she should leave him because he was a bad person and good for nothing," he grunted and his knuckles lost color. Rose understood. That little boy was trying to protect his mother, but who would believe him? And he must have paid the price for what he had done with hurtful interest.
"Anyway, my mum was scared of being alone with me and a baby on the way, so she put up with all his shit. What she didn't know was how bad he really was. That day he almost killed me. He left me on the floor bleeding, and I'm sure I had a few broken bones. The last thing he said was that he was going to wait for my mum and 'fix' her finally, as he had done with me. He told me to forget about having a little brother; he didn't want another burden like me.
"I got so scared that with an inhuman effort I ran to warn her. I ran for blocks. People who saw me tried to stop me, but the only thing I could think of was protecting my mum. When I was almost at the door I slammed into a man who was getting off a motorcycle. I ended up sprawled on the floor, hitting my head. I was so stunned that I just stayed there looking at the huge mountain covered in black leather, standing in front of me."
Rose could almost see the scene playing in her mind: the small, hurt boy and the powerful Angel looking at each other at a loss for words.
"It was Locious, right? The motorcycle is a giveaway," she said and Mike nodded. Despite the painful memories, he smiled.
"It was. He took off his helmet and helped me stand up. In my mind I had never seen him before, but he knew me, of course. He noticed the bruises on my arms and the blood on my face. He asked me what had happened and I just couldn't hold it back. I told him everything in between tears and sobs. I remember that he was furious... I could see it on his face, his clenched fists, and I was sure I could even see his Aura exploding out of sheer anger. That just made me cry harder. But suddenly I remembered what my dad had said and tried to rush into the office to warn my mum, but he held me down.
"He told me that we were going to look for my father. I was scared out of my wits. My dad was a brute; he would fight anything and anyone and be the only one left standing—or at least that's how the little me saw him. This guy was at most twenty-five and he didn't look like a fighter at all. He looked like a model for magazines. I tried to stop him, but he assured me that everything was going to be fine. So I followed.
"My dad was at the door about to go pick up my mum. When he saw me he started shouting and came stumbling at me. He tried to launch another punch at my face, but Locious grabbed him with a swift and effortless move. My dad's hand went pale from the lack of blood. He tried to kick Locious, and Locious just slapped him, sending him five meters back. He landed on his back, unable to move.
"Suddenly I saw Locious's true form. His wings were a bright contrast to the furious halo that surrounded him. He looked at my dad dead in the eyes and told him to leave and never come back. My dad scrambled away, never to be seen again. Locious turned to me and said it was done—he would never come back for us. He said he hoped to see me again as an Emissary someday. I didn't understand what he meant, but suddenly I found myself back in my yard, alone with no idea how I got there.
"When I was called to the training camp and my memories returned, I remembered everything. It was right when the previous boss went nuts, and I hated that man. He was such a contrast to the one who had helped me. When they said a new boss was coming, I made up my mind to find the Angel who saved us. Imagine my surprise when that same Angel introduced himself as the one in charge of the Society. He literally saved my mum, my brother, and my own life. I owe him everything.
"But it's not just duty. Years later I found out what he really did that day. There is a special skill Angels have called the Voice of Command. It's a skill that completely crushes a person's will as the Angel's energy weighs on their mind. It's forbidden because it goes against the principle of free will. He was punished for using it. The Council decided he had to spend a whole year working in Hell and another year imprisoned in Heaven to reflect on his behavior. I don't know what he really went through, but when I found out, I asked him why he did it. And you know what he said?"
Rose couldn't speak, so she just shook her head. Both were in the same pathetic state, feeling for the same man. Two completely different feelings, but at the same time they were both the same. Locious was an Angel but there was also something extremely human inside of him. He didn't care about breaking a rule as long as he could save a woman and her family. Now she understood why when he talked about Ethel, there was a special light in his eyes.
"He said he didn't have a single regret. He told me the best thing I could do was live a righteous and free life. Such a stupid answer. I mean, how could he do that just to save us? But I understood that's just who he is. He is a hero. I've spent all these years by his side, paying him back for at least a little of what he gave me. So yeah, it's not that I hate you. I just don't want anyone to make him lose what he has earned." His glossy gaze focused on her and he gave back the wrinkled handkerchief he had been twisting between his fingers while he told her the story.
"My mum is able to live a comfortable life thanks to him. Now that both her children belong to the Society she doesn't have to disguise herself as an older woman and just wears the skin she is more comfortable with. That's the way he wanted it. I'm sure that he would have erased my own memories if he could. But I'm glad he couldn't, so I can remember why I am here. By the way, don't tell anyone about this; we agreed to never let her or my brother know about what had happened, so they are just living a quiet life, blissfully unaware," he warned and got up. He stretched his back and took a step toward the door. When he turned around, he was back to being the efficient boss's secretary. All traces of past fragility, gone.
"Listen, I don't know what's going on between the two of you. Just... don't hurt him. He may seem carefree and deal with things in strange ways sometimes. Today he said some pretty weird stuff, which is why you saw me like this. But despite all that I would still choose to be at his side. He is an amazing person, Rose. He is worth fighting for."
He left her there with those words burning like an iron inside of her and she couldn't agree more. He was worth it but was he really willing to let her fight for it? Was she even a contestant in the race?
"Rose! Rose!"
Locious's voice broke through her daze. She realized she had zoned out for a long time. The lift doors were open and three pairs of eyes were looking at her, dumbstruck.