Chapter Eleven: Stolen
~ Evangeline ~
We were on edge, and we didn't know why. Maybe it was the daily watching of the calendar, hoping perhaps Lucifer would break his own rules again. Maybe it was the anticipation of seeing him again when we expected to but feeling like the days between were endless. Maybe it was the deepening ache for him both Gwen and I were feeling.
I hadn't loved that she told Sean everything. But I hadn't minded the way he'd been since; ever attentive, catering to even *my* desires a little. I kept it to myself that I loved the man. Not just because he loved us and kept us safe but simply for himself. He may not call me by name, or submit to my desires, but he didn't loathe me as I'd once assumed. And in his mind, he loved all of Gwen which meant he loved me also, as I was part of her whole. I didn't know if the extra devotion was because he was worried that we'd give too much of ourselves to Lucifer and he hoped to diminish that need, or if he was simply feeling territorial. In either case, I had to confess I loved it.
When the night of the full moon was upon us, there was relief in not to having to be concerned about what form my "date" with Lucifer would take. If it were in the astral realm, in my dreams, no worry. If it did manifest in the physical world, I no longer needed to worry about how the hell we were going to explain it all to Sean. That eased us both so greatly that it was a wonder I was in control at all; I didn't need to be.
"Didn't need to," Gwen said softly in our mind. "No. But I know you deserve your time with him, too, sister."
Sister. It wasn't often she called me that. It made me wonder if she had a better idea as to the traumas that spawned me in her mind; assuming I was, in fact, no more than a mere facet of her broken psyche. We lost a sister about the time I could first remember. Though we had another, who did NOT understand or see me at all, I remember the loss off our middle sister. Did Gwen create a sister in her mind to replace the one she lost? And should I not have then disappeared, three years later, when our youngest sister was born and and filled that void? Even I was not entirely certain.
But she was the compassionate soul that I was not, and I saw what all the people in her life loved about her. She cared, genuinely, for the hearts of others... even mine, which may or may not have been her own.
When the doorbell rang at sundown, I felt my heart flip. Thankfully, it was a Friday night, and our daughter was at her grandparents' house for the weekend. Sean arched a brow at me from across our living room and stood before I could.
"Sean," I said softly, holding a hand up to give him pause. "It could be anyone."
"I am still your husband, Gwen," he said, and I had to hold back the inner snarl that he didn't see me. Or maybe didn't care to acknowledge me, as usual. "God or not, I am not just handing over my wife without a handshake first." It was said with a smile and a wink and it almost amazed me he was so fearless and flippant.
I walked to the door with him and was at the same moment grateful, relieved, saddened, frustrated and confused to see a man in a black suit standing outside the door and a black limo in front of the house.
"Miss Gwendolyn?" Asked the man politely. Sean nodded to me and the man handed me a card. I opened it, taking in the gilt hand-written calligraphy with Gwen's full name on the envelope. Inside, in red ink was the note:
My Little Witch,
Apologies for not arriving myself to pick you up. Please allow Hermes to escort you to me this evening.
With Great Anticipa—
—Tion,
L.
I looked up at the man before me and for a sudden moment, he looked like Nathan Fillion in an expensive, well-tailored suit.
"Holy shit," Sean said in a low voice — clearly he had seen the sudden shift in our visitor's physical form.
Hermes almost groaned as he looked down at his own body and clothing. "Aren't you both a little old to be watching the Percy Jackson movies?" He said in a voice I'd heard a million times on old episodes of Castle and Firefly. "I swear to Zues, girl, if you give me the talking snakes, I am *leaving* you here."
"Um..." I could tell Sean was already picturing the caduceus from the aforementioned movie, complete with speaking serpents, and trying both to stop envisioning it and to hide his horror at being unable to. When the movie prop appeared in the man's hand, I couldn't resist and turned in comical horror to my spouse. "What did you *do*, Ray?"
Sean, never one to let a geeky moment of comedy to pass, immediately responded: "I couldn't help it. It just popped in there..."
Even Hermes broke into a huge laugh and shook his head, grinning. "Well played, Sir," he said and offered his hand to Sean. Sean responded as he would to any man who understood a well placed Ghostbuster joke, and shook the hand firmly with a lopsided smile.
"Thank you, Sir," he said, then caught himself with a small apologetic nod. "Lord Hermes." Hermes shook off the Fillion face, but retained the suit, and looked a little more like the man he'd appeared as originally; dark brown hair, with a delicate wave to it, classically cut and parted on one side. He had pale blue eyes, like aquamarine, as opposed to the deep sapphire of Lucifer's gaze. What made them remarkable were the generously thick, sooty lashes that framed the pale orbs and contrasted so beautifully with the crystal-blue clarity of his gaze. His features were otherwise classically Greek, with high cheekbones and a strong jaw. He stood a good ten inches above me, near six feet, and his form in the immaculately tailored suit appeared well formed and strong. On his feet, he wore basic black leather dress shoes and I was more than a little amused to see wings stitched into the side.
