47. Mose

Mose

O livia’s wet cheeks and red eyes break something inside me but I’m so happy to be back, to have control of my body, that all I want to do is hold her in my arms and promise her the moon if that’s something that she wants.

“Mose?”

I nod vigorously while I say, “That’s right, Beautiful.”

Wanting to feel her warm body against mine, to fill my lungs with her sweet scent, to kiss her lips until I’ve had my fill, I go to her and snatch her from Ansel’s arms. I expect her to push me away after what my demon did to her, but all she does is cling to me as she cries. If I had known that my demon would hurt her this way, I would have never allowed him to take control of my body. He tricked not only me but her and my blood-brothers by making them believe he was a good guy. Fucking demon!

While I was his prisoner, I had access to his memories and learned that he was Azael’s twin. There’s no way to get him out of my body without destroying myself in the process, but I’ll make sure he never harms anyone ever again.

Ansel stands, grabs my shoulder, and says, “It is good to have you back,” but he doesn’t sound happy. He and my demon became really good friends, and they have shared many secrets in the past three months. He waits for a few seconds for me to say something. When I keep quiet because I only want to bask in Olivia’s presence, he adds, “She needs reassurance now more than ever,” before leaving Olivia and me alone.

Ansel doesn’t realize that I heard everything he said to my demon. More than that. I know his deepest secret, a secret that once revealed, will put so many in danger.

While the wise thing is to tell the others about him, it is not a simple matter of going to my blood-brothers or the Elders to reveal the truth. I fear that I’ll put Olivia in more danger than she already is. I’ll keep an eye on him while I pretend not to know anything.

I sit with Olivia on the armchair and gently rock her back and forth, as my mother used to do with me when I was little. My brows furrow. It’s been a while since I thought of my parents. I’m still bitter that they discarded me so quickly when I refused to do as they wanted. They haven’t even tried to contact me since we had our fallout. Over the years, I had hoped that they would forgive me, but they haven’t. Not that it matters anymore. Olivia and my blood-brothers are my family.

Olivia keeps crying, and I rub her back. “I won’t let my demon, nor anyone else, hurt you ever again,” I promise, trying to calm her. While I hated being at my demon's mercy, I learned more about Olivia than I expected. Her former life as an archangel who fought fiercely against the Blight until her world was destroyed fascinates me. She had to become human to enter this world, but she did so because she thought it was her only chance to end what she started—kill Samael, the Nephilim who commands the entire army of Ophyr. Samael and Olivia became mortal enemies a long time ago. She had to fight him many days and nights before she could escape his clutches.

Her body shakes with sobs while she keeps crying.

How can she have so many enemies?

I keep rubbing her back until she stops crying and she finally looks at me. Earlier, she looked at my demon with anger and disgust and I half expected her to give me the same look, but I can only see sorrow in her eyes.

“I thought that you were gone forever,” Olivia says.

She has been worried about me all this time? She seemed so happy with my demon that I never suspected anything. “When I allowed my demon to take control of my body, he almost consumed me. It was your bond that saved me.” First Rueben. Then me. Who will be next? “My demon took advantage of my weak state and made me his prisoner. I could hear you but I couldn’t communicate with you.”

Olivia chews her bottom lip before saying, “I blamed myself for your soul being consumed by your demon. He never told me that you were still in there.”

My demon planned to take total control of my body and eventually consume my soul. It was only Olivia’s hatred for what he did to her that made him realize what an awful creature he really is.

“I hung on only because I hoped that one day I would take back control of my body.” I press my forehead to hers. “I love you, Beautiful. You have no idea how much I missed talking to you.”

I try to kiss her, but she pulls back her head. “I’m sorry, it’s just that…” Olivia puts her palm on her stomach. Even if my demon was in control of my body when he was with Olivia, the baby couldn’t be mine since he used his divine power to get her pregnant. “Everything is happening so fast. I need time to think.”

I put my palm on top of her hand. “If you want to get rid of the baby, I’ll help you. I know just the place.”

Olivia seems to consider it, but in the end, she says, “Ansel is right. I am not alone anymore. There’s no need to make rushed decisions.”

“But you don’t want the baby. Right?” I insist.

“I just need a few days to think things through. In the hospital, I panicked, but now that I’m home, I might see things from another perspective.”

While I don’t like her considering keeping the baby, the choice is hers in the end. If she wants the baby, he will be mine as well. In time, I will learn to love him because it came from Olivia.

“I just want you to be happy,” I say.

Olivia and I spend a few hours together until she says she is tired and wants to take a nap. I tuck her in and go to the kitchen. The smell of spices makes me realize I missed cooking just as much as I missed Olivia.

I open the fridge and rummage through it. There’s mostly junk food in there. That won’t do. Olivia needs a healthy, balanced diet, especially now that she’s pregnant. I take out vegetables and fruits before looking in the freezer for meat. I end up finding chicken and fish.

I wash my hands and get to work. Chopping, slicing, and dicing food always calms me and allows me to focus on my thoughts. I put the chicken and then the fish to defrost in the air fryer.

It doesn’t take long for my blood-brothers to come to the kitchen. They each hug me, which is more than awkward before they sit at the table. I quickly explain to them what happened between my demon and me.

“You’ve been trapped in your body for three months, and the first thing you do is cook,” Jasper comments.

“What else am I supposed to do when you are slowly killing yourself with the food you’ve been eating so far? Order takeout?” I wonder.

My blood-brothers laugh.

I finish cooking the fish and set it aside. I will save it for Olivia and put it with a side of vegetables.

“While we liked your demon, we are so happy you’re back,” Tyson says.

I finish seasoning the chicken. “You missed me, or my kimchi?”

Jasper chuckles. “For sure your kimchi. Tyson had to buy from the store, and he hated it. He was bitching about it all the time.”

“I wasn’t bitching,” Tyson denies it.

Jasper interlaces his fingers with Tyson’s and kisses his cheek. It’s strange to see them together. “Right. That’s why you have been searching the internet for a recipe close to Mose’s.”

I grin. “My recipe is a family secret.”

“Like my mama’s meatball spaghetti,” Jasper rubs it in my face because he knows how much I want him to tell me how it’s made. There’s one or two ingredients that I can’t identify no matter how many times I eat the damn dish.

We might talk about food, but it’s only to avoid the main subject—Olivia’s pregnancy. So, I break the ice. “What are we going to do about the baby?”

Four pairs of eyes blink at me. “What do you mean?” Rueben asks.

I shrug. “Olivia wants an abortion.”

“We heard her, but the baby is also ours,” Jasper mutters.

I fold my arms across my chest. “So are we going to force her to keep the pregnancy if it’s not something she wants?”

Ansel drums his fingers on the table. “She’s scared that she will have the baby early and he won’t make it. I think she’s only trying to protect herself from more pain. She still mourns Spencer’s death.”

Tyson turns pale. “I don’t think I’ll ever be over the death of my child.” His throat bobs and Jasper gently squeezes his hand. “I understand Olivia’s fear, but I’ll never let anything happen to her and the baby.” The others quickly agree with him. “I’ll find the best doctor to look after her, no matter the cost. Hell, he can have all my money. I just want Olivia to be happy. If that means she won’t keep the baby, so be it. But she’s too agitated to make decisions right now. Once she is calmer, we can all sit together and discuss our options.”

I start putting dishes on the table. “Back at the hospital, Olivia had a PTSD episode. I’m worried that if she chooses to keep the baby, her mental state will suffer. She might even lose the baby or enter premature labor because of the stress.”

We start to eat. The food tastes like ashes. Probably because of everything going on.

Jasper takes a bite from his chicken and chokes on it. “I forgot how spicy your food is,” he says before going to the fridge and grabbing the milk.

I taste the chicken. “I don’t know why you are complaining. It’s not even that spicy.”

Jasper rolls his eyes at me before asking, “What if we take her on a vacation? Do you think it could help her?”

I see what Jasper is trying to do.

“Proposing to her now will only add to the pressure she’s feeling.”

Ansel takes a bite from the broccoli and grimaces. He has always hated it. I don’t know why he keeps forcing himself to eat it when there are plenty of vegetables to choose from. “Olivia wants to get married. I don’t see why we should postpone our plans. The ring is ready, the tickets have been bought, and the hotel suite has been reserved. Wasp has agreed to take care of the animals in our absence.”

Because you are keeping secrets from us, I want to say, but bite my tongue. “Fine,” I agree because it is useless to protest when the others have already made up their minds.

“We should start packing today,” Rueben says.

After we finish eating, we clean up after ourselves and wait for Olivia to wake up from her nap, but to everyone’s surprise, she sleeps for the remainder of the day and the entire night and wakes up in time for breakfast.

She still looks tired when she sits at the table next to Ansel. The others are out video chatting with Wasp and explaining things to her about the animals. “I can’t believe I slept so much.”

Ansel pulls her into his lap. “I’m not surprised. You barely rested at the hospital.”

“I was too stressed to sleep,” Olivia says. “Are you making pancakes?” she asks me.

I put a plate in front of her. “Do you want maple syrup?”

“Do you have the spicy kind? Since I woke up, I’ve been craving something spicy like crazy,” Olivia says.

My eyebrows shoot up. I thought she couldn’t eat spicy stuff. “I have kimchi if you want that.”

“Yes,” Olivia says. I give her a jar of the quick version of kimchi I made yesterday, and she spreads some on a pancake and starts eating it. Then another and another until all the pancakes are gone.

Ansel laughs. “This is irrefutable proof that the baby is yours,” he tells me.

Maybe Ansel is right, but even so, I won’t force Olivia to keep the baby.

Olivia finally notices the half-packed suitcases in the living room. “Are we moving again?”

“No, we are going on a vacation to Malta,” Ansel replies.