Her smile was wide, her eyes starry. “I know what you’re thinking, Cadence, and no, I’m not crazy. Sometimes two people are just meant for each other, don’t you know?”
No. Not really. Not my friend and a rogue dark angel whose pirate forces murdered and raided. They were the last two people on Earth who were made for each other.
“Hugo is so misunderstood. He’s really, truly a gentle soul,” Eva cooed.
Tell that to the hundreds of people he’d killed in cold blood.
“You just have to give him a chance. I want you to come to the wedding, Cadence,” Eva told me.
“When is it?” I asked, humoring her.
Maybe if I played nice, she’d convince the guards to let me out of the cell. There wasn’t actually going to be a wedding anyway, what with the bride and groom stuck in prison cells, being grilled by the Legion’s Interrogators.
“The wedding is happening right now!” she said unexpectedly.
I blinked. This was so unreal. I felt like I was trapped in some alternate reality, a reality where my friend was suffering from delirium. Eva had never been this bubbly.
“Now? Ok…sure.” If her wedding was my ticket to getting out of this cell, I’d play along. “But I want to bring a date.” I glanced at Damiel.
“Of course.” She was grinning from ear to ear. “You’re both welcome.”
The guard standing in the open doorway to the cell block opened his mouth to protest, but Eva was faster.
“Their magic has been neutralized,” she said. “How much of a threat can they be, surrounded by hundreds of highly-skilled armed guards?”
“I’ll have to clear it with Darkstorm,” the guard said gruffly, like that was the response expected of him. In truth, he looked rather bored. Babysitting magic-muted angels couldn’t have been all that exciting for him.
“Hugo won’t deny me this small favor, I know he won’t. Not on our wedding day!”
She beamed at me as the guard muttered something into his phone. Without the enhanced hearing my magic usually provided, I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
“See you in a few minutes!” Eva sang, then happily skipped out of the prison block.
I looked at Damiel in confusion. “What just happened? What the hell is wrong with Eva?”
“She’s been bewitched,” he said quietly as the guard followed Eva into the hallway.
“Yes,” I agreed.
They said true love could change a person, but Eva was acting like she’d had a complete personality transplant. And I had noticed a odd starry sparkle in her eyes.
“We need to reverse the spell,” I told Damiel.
“Without our magic, that will prove difficult. Before we can reverse the effects, we need to identify the spell Darkstorm used on her.”
“So that’s what we’ll do,” I decided. “When the guards release us from our cells to escort us to the wedding, we’ll figure out how Darkstorm has bewitched her and reverse it.” I pounded my clenched fist into my open palm. “Before Eva makes the biggest mistake of her life.”
13
Love
Reversing the spell on Eva was easier said than done. As she’d promised, the guards allowed me and Damiel to leave our cells for the wedding ceremony. Problem number one was the pirates had confiscated all of our weapons. Problem number two was Beastman. The mega-monster of a guard was our new shadow.
And to top it all off, we still didn’t have our magic back. That meant no superhuman strength and speed, and no spells to hurl at the two-hundred-and-fifty enemy pirate combatants in attendance.
The wedding took place in the airship hangar. Someone had drawn back the curtains from the overhead windows, showcasing a gorgeous red-and-orange sky. Beams of glittering natural light streamed in through the windows, lighting up the gold accents on the airship.
And so Eva and Darkstorm were married under the sunset sky. As they spoke their vows, my heart clenched up, thinking of what my friend was doing under the influence of the dark angel’s spell. I took consolation in the fact that once we freed Eva’s mind, the Legion would annul the marriage right away. Then things could finally go back to the way they were supposed to be.
As the wedding ceremony seamlessly transitioned into the after-party, the guards carried in trays of food. My stomach growled. I was famished, but this was no time to snack. I had to focus on what Damiel and I were trying to do: figure out how Darkstorm had bewitched Eva, a powerful soldier in her own right. Whatever magic he’d used on her must have been really potent.
I watched Eva hang on Darkstorm’s arm, fawning over him with stars in her eyes. Dressed in a graceful gown—a silver bodice and white feather skirt—Eva looked like a swan. Silver bracelets jingled on her arms, and beaded slippers sparkled on her feet. Her platinum-blonde hair was pulled up into an elaborate twist.
“She is a beautiful bride,” I commented to Damiel.
His response was a subtle nudge into my back, directing my attention to the guard who’d just walked up to Beastman.
“I have the package,” the guard said.
There was that package again. What the hell was in this package they were all so worked up about?
Beastman took the mystery bundle, lifted up the packaging paper to peek inside, then quickly rewrapped it. I didn’t catch a glimpse, though I was sure I’d smelled something. Oh, what was it? My nose was so human right now, so weak. Was it flowers that I’d smelled?
“Did you get a look inside?” I asked Damiel. He was standing closer to Beastman than I was.
“No.” He frowned. “He moved too fast.”
I had a feeling that being human again—if only temporarily—was even more aggravating for Damiel than it was for me.
Beastman closed the two steps to us. “Don’t try anything,” he said, leveling a hard glare on us. “Or they will shoot you in the head. Even an angel will go down if you put enough bullets through them.” He pointed at the two guards who stood on the upper level, looking down at us with the same hard, humorless eyes. Both pirates had their guns aimed at us. Fantastic.
Beastman walked off with the mystery package, disappearing into the airship.
“The magic bewitching Major Doren is not siren magic,” Damiel said as soon as our chaperone was gone. “It’s a potion.”
“I think it’s this ‘package’ Darkstorm’s men are fussing over.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t see it either, but I did smell something flowery. Lavender, I think.”
“And rose petals,” Damiel added.
“Something metallic too.”
“Gold,” he said.
“Strawberries too. And something rich…” I frowned. What was it? Damn this human nose!
“Dark chocolate,” Damiel told me.
“Yes, chocolate. That’s it.” I mulled it over. “We’re not looking at a confounding potion. This is something far more powerful. And far more dangerous. A love potion.”
Damiel chewed absently on his lip.
“What are you thinking?” I asked him.
“I’m considering Darkstorm’s motivation for making Major Doren fall in love with him.”