Page 46

To Forget is Human

“I s he gone?” Agent Sophia gasped. She looked a mess, her neat little bun half undone as she leaned against the concrete wall of the s mall room.

Agent Archon wavered on her feet at the edge of the smoldering lines of the summoning circle that they had just sent the demon back through. She brushed a hand over her own disheveled hair. It came back with a streak of blood on it. There had been countless moments she could have acquired a wound, but that was fine. “We did our job,” she said w ith pride.

“What?” Agent Sophia asked absentmindedly, her gaze still held by the smolderi ng circle.

Clapping a hand on the younger agent’s shoulder snapped her out of her daze. Archon helped her back up to standing. “The answer to your question. Yes, we did it. We did our job. Our duty. That demon is gone. And everyone in this building is safe.”

For a second, it didn’t seem like Agent Sophia understood what she was hearing, but then, she nodded and straightened, her head held a little higher, her chest puffing a little fuller. “Yes, ma’am,” she said resolutely w ith a nod.

The older agent patted her partner’s shoulder. “Good girl, but we’re not done yet. Never done yet.”

“But we can count this one a win today?” Sophia asked as she fol lowed out.

Agent Archon didn’t get the chance to answer that when she spotted their informant talking to a pair of other agents on the other side of the loa ding dock.

“Ms. Kovacs,” Agent Archon said as she a pproached.

The other two agents straightened up as their leader a pproached.

“Five with serious injuries, ma’am, they are already on their way to the hospital,” one of agents reported without her asking. “A doz en minor.”

“And no deaths? We got lucky,” she noted, then nodded a dismissal to them so she could speak to Ms. Kovacs. “Ms. Kovacs…”

“How are you doing?” Agent Sophia interrupt ed on cue.

Agent Archon paused, but she just didn’t have the energy to be annoyed. Her partner shot her the usual apologetic puppy eyes, but she simply chuckled a sigh and smiled. “Yes, how are you?”

“I’m fine,” the young-again socialite said, pulling her shoulder wrap tighter around herself. “Though I doubt there will be any way to keep this out of the presses. It won’t take anyone long to blame all th is on me.”

Agent Archon blinked at that statement, then furrowed her brows. “Why would anyone think that? If it wasn’t for you, we would never have caught th is demon.”

Ms. Kovacs opened her mouth to respond, but then a pinch appeared between her perfect eyebrows as well. She blinked many times, stopping and starting. “I… I can’t remember,” she said, hugging her wr ap closer.

Sighing, Agent Archon reached into the inner pocket of her coat and pulled out a tin of mints. She opened it and offered one to the socialite. “It’s not an uncommon effect from an encounter with a demon. Confusion and even guilt happens, but trust me, you have to realize that it is coming from outsid e of you.”

Ms. Kovacs’s face didn’t change as she stared at the mints. She obviously didn’t be lieve her.

Agent Archon sighed. “Look, if you need to talk to someone, I can recommend some people, but honestly, you probably have access to some better people than I can suggest. But please, get checked out. I can assure you that the BDI stance on the events of tonight is that you are a hero who protected all the people during your event from trouble.”

She nodded at that. “Thank you. That is… good to hear. I’m glad I could help. Now if you excuse me, I need to talk to my…” Her eyebrows pinc hed again.

“I imagine you need to speak to Ms. Rhodes,” Agent Archon said, supplying her the name of her protégé. It was amazing how people forgot things very quickly. Demon attacks, while sensational in the moment, were forgotten just a s quickly.

Ms. Kovacs nodded. “Yes. Yes, I need to talk to Helena. She put so much work into this event, she must be de vastated.”

“Then I’ll leave you to it,” Agent Archon said, and she walked away with Agent Sophia coming up beside her. “These wealthy socialites, thinking everything revolves aro und them.”

“She’s so young to be so successful,” Agent Sop hia noted.

Agent Archon pinched her eyebrows together. That didn’t sound quite right. “She’s older than s he looks.”

Agent Sophia blinked. “Well, how ol d is she?”

“Thirty? Thirty-five. Something like that. Do we have a suspect for who summoned th is demon?”

Her partner looked at her questioningly. “Well… Yosef… What was his l ast name?”

“But…” Then Sophia stopped, and that strange pause that Ms. Kovacs had done passed over her. “Right. Right, I’m sorry. I remember now. He was eaten and…” Then she brightened and sighed. “Right, cas e solved.”

“Right. Case solved. No need for further investigation,” Agent Archon agreed, then rubbed her ear. It felt like someone’s breath had been blowing on it, but when she looked to the side, nothing was there.

“I’m going to take a long bubble bath when I get home tonight,” Agent Sophia said, stretching her back. “And maybe spend the day at my chir opractor.”

“Works for me,” Agent Archon agreed, and buttoned her coat to go back out into the cold. “There will be more to do tomorrow.”

Neither of them saw the small, winged creature fly away and out the wide-open doors of the loa ding dock.

“Oh wow, that’s the Wrightwood Ballroom, isn’t it?” Cindy asked as she set down her cup of tea to lean forward as Charlie turned up the volume on the new s program.

“It is currently reported that no lives have been lost at this time, but the incident is still under investigation,” the reporter said, then paused a half second. “And I’m hearing now that we are going to bring you an exclusive interview with Scarlet Kovacs, the CEO of Scarlet Promotions who was running th is event.”

The screen changed, and Helena’s boss appeared on the screen standing next to a reporter.

“Oh my gosh, she looks fantastic,” Charlie said, but Cindy hushed hi m harshly.

“Thank you for speaking with me tonight, Ms. Kovacs. Now my understanding from speaking to law enforcement is that in a twist of irony, tonight’s demon attack occurred during an event whose goal was to raise awareness for demonic ac tivities?”

Scarlet nodded. “Yes. Recently, someone very dear to me was lost to a demonic attack similar to what we’re experiencing r ight now.”

“That is a cruel twist of irony indeed. Can you tell us now what the public can do to help?”

Charlie turned the sound down. “Should we call Helena? She has to have been there,” he asked.

“They said no one was killed,” Cindy said thoughtfully, then got up to fetch her cellphone.

“Hey, we both promised no devices,” Charlie started to say, but Cindy swiped his words away with a hand as she pulled open the cabinet nearby to re trieve it.

“That was locked!” Charlie said, and he came over and ran a finger over the latch. “Okay, so that was a lot less secure that I though t it was.”

Cindy ignored him as she thumbed through her contacts and found Helena’s number. It rang and rang, but no one answered.

“Dammit,” she huffed as she hung up. Then stared at her phone screen, trying to decide what to do next. “Quick, what was the name of her boyfriend? Maybe he knows what’s going on?”

“Boyfriend? What boyfriend? Does Helena have a boyfriend?” Char lie asked.

“Yes, of course, you know… The chef guy… His name is…” Then s he paused.

Helena is single.

“No, she was dating him for the last few months… Rrrr… Raffff… Raphael? Rafff…” But the name wouldn’t come. “Oh dammit, we met him. He was there the night Chris s howed up.”

“Let’s not talk about Chris. That’s for me and my therapist,” Charlie grumbled.

“Whatever, but she has a boyfriend. I know I’ve met him.” She stamped her foot. “Why can’t I remember his name?” She stared at her phone, but it wasn’t being any more helpful. Finally, she hit a different number sto red there.

“Who are you calling now?” Charlie asked as he fiddled with the remote to get the closed captions on the TV.

“The ER,” she said.

Charlie flinched. “Wh ich ones?”

“All of them. Helena has to be s omewhere.”

A white creature chirped once and slipped away out the open back door while Charlie’s little dog barked his head off.

“Zip! Shut it!” Charlie shouted, but he never went to in vestigate.

The little white creature hissed at the dog, then pulled the door closed with her tail before fl ying away.

“Helena? Are you alright?” éliott sa id softly.

“I don’t know, something is happening,” she murmured. Then Helena seized forward, crying out. Her wings shivered, then disintegrated away, like sand being washed away by water.

Startled, éliott’s instincts urged him to reach out for her, but this time it was Honey who stopped him by seizing his arm. “No! Wait,” sh e ordered.

Helpless, the two angels watched as her horns, wings, and tail swirled away into motes of white, sparkling energy. The sparkles gathered above her into a small, tight ball, leaving Helena’s human form sitting dazed below. Once every mote had been gathered, the ball zipped away, disappearing through the wall, leaving the room darker than it had be en before.

“What the…” éliott breathed. He had never seen anything like that before. “Is she…”

“Revert,” Honey ordered, and she did so herself, her wings fading and the sweet face she usually wore ta king over.

éliott followed suit, rubbing the top his head as his halo disappeared. “Honey, please, what is happening? I don’t… I don’t sense her divine aura anymore.”

“No, I don’t either . She’s…”

Then Helena lifted her head, looking at both of them, but not seeing them. Then her eyes closed and opened, and she took a deep breath in.

This time she could focus on them. “Oh… I…” She looked around the room, pulling the quilt up over her shoulders. “Where am I? How did I get here?”

Honey beamed her award-winning smile at her and sat down on the edge of the bed. “It’s alright, dear. Take it slow. You’ve had a nasty shock. My name is Honey.”

Helena furrowed her brows. “Wait, I know you. You helped me in that clothing store. I was finding clothes for… a boyfriend I used to have.”

“Yes, that ’s right.”

Helena pressed her fingers to her temples. “I feel terrible. I was supposed to be doing something.” Then she sat sharply upright. “Oh my… the competition… the event… I… There was a demon there. I must have… gotten hit… or caught up in the attack.” She started feeling her head for bumps or bruises but not fi nding any.

Setting a hand over her frantic arms, Honey extended some of her calming aura. “It’s alright. You are whole, but I think you’ re right.”

“I must have been whammied by demonic magic,” Helena said, her words going monotone like something else was speaking th rough her.

The feeling of wrongness flashed strong, and éliott extended his own aura into a protection circle ar ound them.

Helena blinked again, as if waking up. “Sorry. I… Sorry. I feel like there is someone I’m forgetti ng about.”

“Someone named Rafferty, sugar bun?” Ho ney asked.

“Rafferty?” Helena wrinkled her nose. “That was…” She chuckled incredulously. “No. No, that is the name of an old boyfriend I used to have. We didn’t date very long. Wow, I haven’t thought about him in a l ong time.”

Even as she laughed and dismissed, a single tear traced down her cheek. She wiped it away. “I am so sorry, I know I’m a complete mess, but could I use a phone? I need to call people and let them know I’m okay. I should probably go to the ER or s omething.”

“Yes, of course. Wait here,” Honey said. “I’ll be right back.” She rose and left, giving éliott warning eyes that he di dn’t need.

He knew his duty. No interfering. Whatever was happening to Helena, she was mortal again. And whatever happened to Rafferty…

“Sorry about this, but I feel like I know you as well. Have we met before?” Helena asked, looking up at him.

“Oui, I was the one who found you and brought you here. You were wandering around lost. Don’t worry. We will take good care of you. Whatever you need.”

“You are both so kind.” She laughed again. “I guess guardian angels really are real.”

éliott laughed along with her, even as his heart ached. “Only if you believe they a re there.”