He fell asleep on the couch when he was left alone and drifted in a sea of wet dreams and freezing icebergs. Crale's hurried steps saved him from becoming another drowning Jack.
"Hariiel! Come here, now! We have problems, serious problems!" Crale shouted. Two minutes later, the three were gathered around a pile of old notebooks and blood samples.
"Doky, I love you man, but what the fuck am I looking at?" Hariiel said, annoyed. Locious was too consumed by worry to feel disgust; he only hoped one of those little bottles contained an antidote. Before falling asleep, he had checked on Rose. The only sound that came out was a guttural "fine." That was likely the reason he dreamt of cold, puncturing words being exchanged. And entangled bodies.
"I went to the Demon Association, and then I went to see Kiizary." Crale stopped talking and looked at Hariiel. Hariiel's eyes darkened, and they locked gazes. None of them were intimidated by the other, but the situation was too dire to be worried about past sensitivities. Locious was about to snap, but Crale, sensing his growing impatience, sighed and went on ta
"Kiizary checked on her blood and said that there is a special trait in it that wasn't active when she formed the pact with the Society. I won't explain all the details, but in simple words, she now possesses a mutation of the Tracker Skill." He paused and evaluated Hariiel's reaction again. Hariiel flinched, and a frown appeared on his face.
It was surprising indeed. Only a few people had variants of the tracker skill, and only one person had completely dominated it. Now he understood Crale's doubtful look; the situation was literally bringing the past back to life.
"Kiizary says that this variant allows her to synthesize energy flows. That's probably why you couldn't use your camouflage or ethereal flight, so—"
"But how did we miss it before? As you said, you and Kiizary examine their blood and DNA. How did you just forget to check for special abilities?" Locious asked, interrupting him. He was about to lose it. They were supposed to not make mistakes. Why were so many things being overlooked?
"We didn't miss it. It wasn't active. We talked with Theleon, too. He said that it could be two options: Option number 1: her skill was dormant, and the danger activated the skill. Option number 2—and this is the really scary one—is that someone used the Compedire, tied her power, and the surge of survival instinct broke the shackles." The silence that followed was as dense as the air of the North Pole in the middle of winter.
It would be better for everyone if option one was the reason. The Compedire was something just a few were allowed to know about, and fewer were willing to perform the Rite.
"That's for oddness number 1. Now, number 2. I visited Dexaryz and the demon girl. They found out the reason you could use your skills on her is that her demonic essence has been completely subjugated. Right now, she is just a human with demon blood. However, when the girl woke up, she went on a violent rampage. They had to tie her up because she hurt herself trying to... well, quench the heat. That was the reaction to the aphrodisiac that Rose inhaled, too." Crale explained and Locious was still not getting it.
"But how was Rose fully rational? How is it possible that I can still feel her energy and even the new lingering essence in her?" He inquired. There were too many uncanny things for him to feel secure.
"Well, that gives way to the third point of the night. We don't know what the plant or the main component of the powder is. I will continue investigating, but here is what I can tell you: I think she synthesized the first component because she sensed it was dangerous. However, she did not synthesize the aphrodisiac. That is likely because the aphrodisiac affects her body—not her soul or essence. It was a streak of luck that she managed to do that. She probably doesn't even know what she did. Oh! You told me about the Angel Aura thing, so that might be due to her skill, too."
"What happened with your Angel Aura? Why didn't I know anything about this?" Hariiel blurted and Locious could tell , by his tone, that he was feeling left out and hurt.
Most of the time you are not in your right mind, Locious thought, keeping the words to himself. Sometimes you are not even here, despite your body being next to us. Why would we burden you with things you can't help with?
"Because you spend seventeen hours inside your room, six hours drinking or making out with strangers, and the rest of your time is used to simply exchange hellos and goodbyes with us," Crale said somberly and Locious held his breath. Crale was not the kind of person to say hurtful things, but he wouldn't sugarcoat what needed to be said. And he wasn't wrong about Hariiel's lifestyle, either. Still, Locious pitied him. What had happened wasn't his fault. He knew that what he was doing was just his way of coping with the past.
"Anyway, to summarize, she went through the Angel Aura in about three days. I suppose that her skills were triggered by it first, but as she didn't see it as a real threat, the skills remained mostly dormant until tonight." Crale concluded and they all pretended his sharp rebuke never happened.
"Okay, so where is the antidote? She is driving me nuts with her smell. I hate it!" Hariiel demanded.
"That's the difficult thing. As I said before, we have no idea what the component is or its origins, so there is no antidote." Locious felt his soul left his body and all his hopes shattered even before Crale delivered the final piece of bad news. "However, if not treated, she will have episodes every few minutes until her body, even with her new skills and enhanced strength, fails."
"So you said no antidote exists, but you mentioned a treatment. What would the treatment be?" Locious asked, his heart in his throat. He would do anything to save her life—even travel to the deepest kingdoms of hell to look for a cure.
Crale looked at him, dead in the eye, weighing whether he should reveal the rest. He finally made up his mind, sighed, and said:
"There is one thing most of these plants have in common. They are usually used to stimulate sexual appetite and induce pregnancy. So, if she attempts to relieve herself, it won't do her any good. She needs... a real person. She needs to have sex."
The whole room went silent once again, as Locious felt his worst fear come true. He looked at the closed door, considering the depth of his feelings for the person inside and the terrifying scope of their Angel existence. He told her just days ago that he would never take that risk. And now, he was forced to choose between her life and his future. Would he be able to jeopardize everything for her?
"I'll do it," Hariiel blurted, but Locious could see on his face he really didn't want to. Maybe it was her smell, as he said, or maybe the past was too vivid after finding out she had the same skills his former partner had. Either way, Locious would never accept his offer.
"No, you won't touch her. I won't make you or her go through something like that."
"Locious, listen to me. I am already condemned; I am lost. You saw me. You have been with me all these years. Do you really want to endure the same destiny? And what? Are you going to force yourself on her?" Hariiel pleaded, his voice growing louder as anger and desperation filled him.
"She told me she liked me, and the only thing that calms her down is my smell. I have to do this. I won't let her die. She is my friend, and she is like this because of me. I got distracted in my own affairs and didn't see it coming. Hariiel, I'm sorry but I won't let you lose what's left of your soul, not even for this," he said. He could already feel the shackles and the pain wrapping around his neck, choking him, imprisoning him .
"Don't be a fucking hero, Locious! Why would you do something so stupid—"
"Enough, Hariiel. It's his choice. Let it be. What must happen will happen. I wish you luck, my friend," Crale said, and Locious nodded. He opened the door and, with one last look at the pitiful face of Crale and Hariiel's pained, contorted face, he got in the room.
****
The first thing he noticed upon entering was her moaning. It was a rusty, almost tortured sound. He could see clearly, despite the full darkness of the room, thanks to his heightened Angelic Senses.
The second thing was the fragrance filling the air. It was hers—a sweet, lingering scent—but it was mixed with something spicy. He had smelled that same scent on Hariiel a few times. It was the odor of pure desire, but while Hariiel's scent was revolting, Rose's called to him like a flower to a bee.
He took two steps forward when a third, distinct smell caught his attention. That one was... stimulating. It was pungent and made parts of his body react instantly.
She was so lost in her own business that she didn't even notice him approaching the bed.
"Rose," he whispered, careful not to startle her. She looked up, her hazy eyes momentarily lost. Her hands were busy, and sweat slicked her entire body. His t-shirt was wet and rucked up around her waist, leaving the skin exposed.
He swallowed hard. You need to keep it together, Locious. First, you need to check if she is still herself. He reminded himself, but his body wasn't as diligent as his mind.
"Can you hear me?" he asked when she ignored him and returned to her task as if he weren't there.
She suddenly moaned louder, and her hands fell to her side. Her breathing was irregular, and her eyes were tightly closed. What had just happened? he wondered. She had been so energetic a second ago, and now she was lying there like a bag of bones.
"I can hear you and I think I clearly told you not to get in unless it's an emergency. What are you doing here?" she asked, now annoyed.
The annoyance was probably just embarrassment, but to him, her state wasn't pathetic; she had been drugged. His state was far worse, and he was thankful to the Universe that she couldn't see him in the dark. His body had a mind of its own, and he couldn't blame any aphrodisiac—it was him, and the pure allure of the scene in front of him.
"Crale discovered something about the powder," he started, and she finally opened her eyes. This time, it was a completely different look. Her gaze wasn't cloudy anymore; she seemed to be in her full capacity. Crale was right: the problem wasn't her mind; it was just her body. "It's a pregnancy-inducing drug, or something like that. It makes your body need to have sex. Real sex with another person," he finished.
If she looked annoyed before, now flames exploded in her eyes. Evidently, she was furious. She sat up and started spitting a chain of insults—at the drug, the demons, and her "disobedient" body.
"Where the hell am I going to find someone to have sex with? I can't just do it with any person I come across!" she shouted, infuriated.
"That's why I'm here," he said.
Her eyes went wide, but her reaction wasn't what he had expected. She jumped out of bed, putting as much distance as she could between them.
"NO! There is no way in hell. No!" she refused loudly, backing down a few more steps.
Wait. What? What the heck is happening? Did she just... reject me? he thought, suddenly panicking.
She had said she liked him; it wasn't because of the Aura. It was because of him, Locious. And now, he had finally decided to bet his own future and sanity for her to just.. Say no?
"What are you even saying? If you don't do it with me, you will have to do it with someone else, but you have to do it! Your body will give up if you continue like this!" he snapped back.
I won't let anyone else touch you, anyway. He thought and a shiver ran down his spine. That was something he had never felt. The thought of someone else seeing her like that made him want to go on a killing spree. He was an Angel, but he wasn't all pure love; he had a killer instinct inside of him, after all.
"You don't like me, at least I know that. I may not recall the words but I clearly remember you shouting at me the day I got drunk. You don't even trust me. So, no. I won't force you to do it. You are doing this because you are my boss and feel guilty. But, forget it. Just leave me alone. I'll work it out," she said but her body started to shake, and tears fell from her face onto his t-shirt. Another wave was coming, he could see the signs. The distress had probably sped it up.
He walked and stood in front of her. He picked her chin up and they stared at each other in silence. Suddenly, he did something none of them ever expected: he lowered his head and kissed her.
She was surprised at first and showed no reaction. But then, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
The fire in his own body was ignited; his heart beat faster. His blood seemed to have gone all south. He grabbed one of her hands and placed it where the evidence of his own response was clear as day.
"I do want to do it with you," he whispered in her ear.
And when he mouthed those words, he felt a huge wave of relief fill him. That was the truth. He was frightened for the future, and he didn't want to expose Hariiel or Rose to do something they didn't want to. But behind all that, the truth was that his own desire and longing were overwhelming. He really wanted it. He wanted to do this with her. He wanted her.