Page 149 of Dark Shadow of Guilt

“Create another dimension.”

“I shall have to.” He stroked his chin with a thumb and forefinger. “Let’s put aside the problem of Scourges, mates, and progeny for the moment. What else do we have?”

“A tsunami slammed into the west coast of Angor. Violence Village took the worst hit. Repairs are moving more slowly than I’d like. We could use your help.” She studied him as if he might be too weak.

“I think I can get it up to repair the village,” he snapped. After a slight wave of his hand, he said, “Done.”

“Simmer down. I didn’t mean to question your masculinity. We still have the same line-up of suspects. The Feard, Beatrix, and Yosef. Michael and Lucian. And, of course, me.”

Harmony? A suspect? No.

Ignoring her name on the list, he said, “Beatrix has made her anger known for millennia. She was my sister Melodia’s frequent lover and has not forgiven me for my Sibling’s departure from OneWorld. The love-besotted female never realized she was just one of many. And Yosef is a sneak. He plasters on a smile in my presence, but beneath it is seething hatred for me since his adored Prima left.”

“Why do you keep him on?”

The OC worked around holes in his memory, the tangle of events. A few more had to uncoil before he could reply.

“He is an able supreme commander of my winged squadrons. But it is irrelevant. Neither Beatrix nor Yosef is powerful enough to cause these problems.”

“Unless new skills have spontaneously generated.”

“Without my knowledge?”Click. A memory untangled. Possible?

“Yes. You missed knowing about The Retreat. What else?” Harmony arched her brows.

He shrugged and explored other suspects. “For centuries Dominion was angry about Gareth, but he is not a male to seek revenge. Elysium worries me, but he is only a danger to himself. Eternity weighs heavy on his shoulders. He is too mired in his own problems to do this. My sister Lumia mentored and trained Remiel.” He paused, grinning. “For a time, they were lovers. Of course, she drew paramours to her like Vast sunflies to ambrosia. Then she rejected Remi for Cael, whom my bronze-winged assassin had to extinct later when he turned Scourge. But Remi never seemed to blame me for the troubles. Ohngel could be pissed because I put him in stasis. I doubt it. And none of my winged assassins can make a Scourge.”

“Unless new skills have spontaneously generated.”

“Is that going to be your answer to everything?”

“It’s a good one.”

“That leaves Michael and Lucian. And to borrow your explanation, Harmony, I ask whether they have developed gifts of which I am unaware?”

“To hide such strength takes willpower, planning, and malice.”

The OneCreator lobbed a leg over the arm of his chair, his most comfortable position for thinking. “Lucian has rebelled before.”

“Such is his nature, but beware the monster who hides behind an innocent, shining mask. The perpetrator could be Michael. He was hasty to extinct Malacour without getting answers from the Scourge. Perhaps he had good reason.”

The OC nodded. Was he forgetting something important? Michael. A memory twisted as he explored a path. He could not retrieve it.

Harmony shrugged, recrossing her shapely legs. “How did Malacour get through the gateway out of Angor unharmed? He should have fried. Another mystery. If only Michael hadn’t acted in haste.” Harmony tossed out a surprise question unrelated to the conversation. “Do you miss them?”

Again the OneCreator understood who she meant. He combed fingers through his golden hair, giving himself time to consider. “I do. Terribly. They are always in my thoughts. I miss Prima’s exuberant dances. I miss Melodia’s voice. I miss Lumia’s wit. I miss my brother Chaos, his grim but sage wisdom. His sly humor. They were my rocks. They were the only beings like me. When Kalia and Chaos were no more, my sisters provided solace.” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I am bone tired, Harmony, as if an infection runs through me.”

“Though you cannot be ill, you somehow are.”

“Indeed. Back to our list. No one on it can create a Scourge or a hybrid Scourge like Madeline.”

“Unless their powers have exploded spontaneously. And you refuse to consider me. I’m insulted. I should be on your list. Michael, Lucian, and the Feard are the most powerful Immortals in OneWorld. And I am nearly their match. In these many millennia, I have grown.” Harmony’s voice rose to punctuate his omission of her name.

“Have you gained gifts of which I am unaware?”

She tapped her chest. “Sometimes, I feel a strange vibration here, as if I am growing. As of now, nothing else.”

“Life is a gift, Harmony, whether it comes at my hand or from the love of two beings. Growth is part of that gift. You are not who you were eons ago. Neither am I. Joy has exited our lives, and sometimes has entered. Change is to be expected, to be treasured.”

---