53. Olivia

Olivia

S pencer’s little arms circle me, and he buries his little face into my neck as I sit in my grandparents’ car. A few seconds later, his breath evens, letting me know he has fallen asleep. My emotions are all over the place. The day I find out my son is alive, his entire life blows up because of me.

For a moment, I thought I could be happy. I thought I could have a family with my men, Spencer, the baby, and my grandparents. But life has a funny way of reminding me that everything I love will be taken from me sooner or later.

I don’t even know why I keep trying.

Because there’s no other way for me, I have to keep fighting, or die trying.

Mose puts his palm on my thigh. His touch offers me some comfort.

After Grandpa Jon took us to the airport, Mose remained with me in the car while the others were arranging things so we could leave Malta tonight, if possible. Grandpa Jon has copies of all the important documents in a small safety box in the car, and they are trying to find out if it is enough to let them and Spencer board the airplane.

I glance out the window. Valletta is quiet compared to Veross City—no wonder my grandparents moved here.

Jasper returns with a bag full of snacks. He looks lost in thought. Learning the truth about Ansel took all of us by surprise. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. For better or for worse, I know that Ansel is not the enemy. He’s nothing like Azael or Carlos. He even bought us time to get away from the other Nephilim. He tried to warn us, but we didn’t listen.

I turn my attention to Mose. “We should have listened to Ansel.”

Mose’s shoulders tense. “Ansel is not even his real name. It’s Samael. He lied to us for years about who he is. He even tricked you into believing he is your Guardian or some shit like that.” He almost sounds like he hates Ansel.

Jasper opens the front passenger door, and without saying anything, he enters the car.

“Ansel or Samael, it’s the same to me. Names are irrelevant. What is important is that we know who he is!”

Mose scoffs. “But do we know, Olivia? He is a Nephilim! He is the general of Ophyr’s army. Think of how many he has killed. He will destroy this world as well. He will kill Spencer.”

My hold on Spencer tightens. I will never let anyone harm him. Thinking of what Ansel said earlier, I ask, “So what if he’s a Nephilim? You are wrong about one thing, Mose. Ansel loves us and would never do something to put Spencer in danger.”

“For fucks’ sake, he broke your ribs,” Mose reminds me.

Jasper takes out a bottle of water from his bag and starts drinking.

I chew my bottom lip, thinking of the events of the night they found me. I took all my frustration of what happened back then out on Ansel. “Malaky kicked me several times before Rueben punched me. My ribs were already hurting by the time Ansel kicked me. He didn’t even do it to hurt me.”

Jasper chokes on his water before turning around to look at me. “I forgot about Malaky and what he did to you.”

My body tenses for a moment. Mose wraps his arm around me. “It was horrible,” I whisper. “Ansel and you,” I say to Jasper, “were patient with me.” To Mose, I say, “So how can I hate Ansel when he loved me when those around me loathed me?”

“I liked you from the moment I saw you,” Jasper corrects me. “Why else do you think I fought so hard to keep you alive? I even made Rueben think I wanted you around to make… tapes with you.” I can tell he is being careful with his words in case Spencer wakes up and hears us.

A crease appears between my brows. “So all the talk about using me to take down my father was a lie?”

Mose sighs. “Rueben took it seriously.”

Of course, he did. Not that I blame him. I would have done anything to ruin my father’s career. I still feel the same.

“I was just going with the flow,” Mose adds.

Suddenly, pain ripples through me, knocking the air out of me.

“What’s wrong?” Mose asks, worried.

I shake my head. “I don’t—” Another wave of pain hits me hard. “Ansel. We need to go back to the house.”

“There’s no way we are going back,” Mose refuses.

Can’t he feel Ansel dying? “Fine.” I give Spencer to Mose. “I’ll go by myself, then.”

Before Mose and Jasper can stop me, I get out of the car and start running. I was never a fast runner, but the need to get to Ansel is so strong I force my legs to move faster. Jabs of pain make my stomach churn, letting me know that I need to get to Ansel now.

“Olivia!” Mose yells behind me. I won't stop. I can’t afford to waste time. We should have never left Ansel alone with Asa. The bond with Ansel begins to fade away. Tears blur my vision. Mose catches up with me and grabs me by my arm, forcing me to stop. “Wait!”

I try to keep calm, but my voice cracks as I say, “He’s dying!”

“Do you love him? Truly love him despite what he is?” Mose inquires.

I jerk away from him. “And what do you think he is?” I ask while I walk fast. I try to think of which direction I need to go, but everything looks the same.

A feeling of uneasiness and helplessness grips my heart, and I almost collapse to my knees.

Mose rushes to my side. “You shouldn’t be doing this in your state.”

“You didn’t reply to my question. What do you think Ansel is?”

Mose pinches the bridge of his nose. “The enemy. Think of how much suffering he has caused.”

I understand what Mose is saying, but I’m not being logical right now. “He's changed. He’s one of us now. Imagine how much we can learn from him about the Nephilims.”

“If you trust him so much, why didn’t he say anything about who he is?”

Why are we even arguing about this? “That’s something only he can tell us. But if we don’t hurry, he will die. Losing him will break me.”

There’s a moment of hesitation before Mose says, “I can’t believe I’m doing this. The house is in this direction,” and guides me to my left.

We walk in silence for a few minutes. The pain is fading away, and the bond between Ansel and me is almost gone. He is still alive, but barely. My darkness is as agitated as I am. Mose doesn’t understand that I need all five of them. I never thought I could love again, yet it happened, and now, I can’t be without any of them.

Mose sees a bike parked next to a fence. It’s not chained, so he grabs it. “We will get there faster this way.”

While I feel bad for the bike’s owner, I am ready to do anything to save Ansel. I get behind Mose, and he quickly speeds away.

It seems to take forever to reach my grandparents’ house. The front door is open and the moment Mose stops the bike, I jump down and run inside. He yells for me to stop because Asa might still be inside. While I know he is right, I go directly into the study. If Asa is still around, my darkness will shield me from him.

Ansel is lying on the floor. His stomach is torn open, a pool of blood around him. A sword is in his right hand, his fingers gripping the pommel tightly. I kneel next to him and take his free hand into mine. He is cold to the touch, but his chest rises and falls, letting me know he is still here.

I kiss the top of his hand before pressing it to my cheek. “You are not allowed to die.”

Trashing sounds come from another place in the house. Asa must still be around.

Mose enters the study. “Olivia, it’s not safe for us to be here.” He looks around nervously. “We need to leave. Tyson will kill me if he finds out I let you come here.”

If Asa is still around, he might finish what he started.

“Help me get Ansel out of the house,” I say.

“Leave him and let’s go.”

I grit my teeth. “Leave him? I made the impossible decision to get you out of the facility. I will do the same for Ansel!”

My body starts to glow, my darkness healing Ansel.

Mose stares at how Ansel’s wounds are slowly closing.

“I should have guessed you have fallen in love with him. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. Then, you wouldn’t be here, putting your life at risk for him,” Mose mutters.

A cold chill runs down my spine. “Mose, what did you do?”

He groans before responding, “My parents joined the Bringers of Doom some years ago. It was before they stopped speaking to me. When I realized what Ansel was, I panicked and contacted them. I only wanted to prevent Ansel from—”

I punch Mose right in the mouth, splitting his lip. My knuckles hit his front teeth. “Ouch!” I yelp in pain before I snarl, “You fucking idiot!” Hitting Mose won’t fix anything, but I’m so angry, I want to kick his fucking ass.

Mose presses his forefinger to his bottom lip. He looks stunned. “You…hit me.”

One of my bondeds is a Nephilim, and another is a cunt from a cult. At least, his parents are.

Did I accidentally enter the Twilight Zone?

“Be grateful that I’m not making you inhale your teeth!” I hiss. “You dare complain about Ansel when you are worse than him? You put my son in danger!”

Mose puts his hands in the air. “I only let my parents know about Ansel a few days ago. Asa befriended your parents and son before that.”

Ansel’s wounds are almost healed.

I blink. “What do my parents have to do with this?”

“I mean grandparents,” Mose rectifies himself.

I don’t have time for Mose’s bullshit right now. I focus on healing Ansel.

“Won’t using your powers harm the baby?” Mose asks.

I almost give in to the urge to punch him again. “You should have thought about the baby before you went to mommy and daddy to tell on Ansel.”

My darkness finishes healing Ansel, but he looks pale. I’m pretty sure he will need a blood transfusion or some medical care. How the fuck will I get him to the hospital? In my haste to get here, I left my purse in the car. I didn’t even grab my phone.

Mistakes get people killed, Olivia!

“I might not have thought things through as I should have.” Mose starts to realize that he has put all of us in danger. Even if Asa learned about Spencer before Mose contacted his parents, he will be lucky if Jasper doesn't tear him apart. Mose knows how much Jasper suffered when he lost his first blood-brothers.

“We need to get Ansel to the ER,” I say.

Mose glances at Ansel’s clothes. “How do we explain all the blood?”

“You should have thought about that before you decided to be a snitch!” In a softer tone, I say, “Can you carry him on your back?”

“I can try, but Ansel is heavier than me.”

Mose is trying to get Ansel up when the lights around us turn off, leaving us in total darkness.