Page 234 of Crimson Promises
A pang of something strange, perhaps jealousy, gnawed at me. Here he was, speaking of a bond so intimate, so profound with my mother. A connection I could never have.
"She was strong," he continued, his voice laden with admiration. "She saw beyond our love, our desires, and straight to the heart of the danger our child could be in."
My heart ached at the mental image of my young mother, burdened with such an enormous decision—a choice no one should ever have to make.
"I was created," he whispered, his eyes distant. "I didn't know love in the way you mortals do. I had no family that held me close, teaching me the ways of the world. The Originals were like a family but were not born out of love or choice." His gaze shifted to me, eyes intense. "But you, Aurora, and Alice... you were my family. Created out of pure love, a bond that was mine by choice. A family I would stop atnothingto protect.”
I still had no words. This all felt like a dream, or more like a nightmare.
A tear escaped his eye, rolling down his chiseled cheek. The sight was startling—this powerful archangel showing vulnerability.
"We decided that our child would be safer in a world where they didn't know the true identity of their father. If you knew who I was, that I even existed, and tried to seek me out, the retribution the Originals would seek would be unfathomable.” He swallowed hard, clearly struggling with the emotions of that decision. "Alice understood the reality of whatdimidiumsfaced, especially one as potentially powerful as you. As parents, our duty was to protect you, to put the safety and well-being of our child above all else, even if it meant breaking our hearts."
I stood there, trying to absorb his words. The sacrifice, the weight of their decision, pressed down on me. Something told me there was more,lotsmore. Did I want to hear it? For months, all I had wanted from Ben was the whole truth. I knew deep in my gut I would always regret this moment if I didn’t finish hearing Michael out.
My sapphire eyes—I hadhiseyes —searched his, filled with anger, confusion, and the desperate need to understand. Stephen had always said my baby blues must have skipped a generation.Stephen. My stomach cramped.
I took a deep breath, willing my racing heart to calm, and signaled for him to continue.
“Your mother and I were deeply in love. But another held a deep affection for her that he never voiced. A remarkable man, pure of heart and soul, her lifelong friend. I could not have selected a better surrogate father to protect and raise what was most precious to me. His name was Stephen James. Part of your mother was in love with him, too. He knew her better than anyone else and had been an anchor for her for their entire friendship.”
My hands clutched my stomach. Oh no, please tell me, they didn’t trick him.
“Aurora, you should know what a fearless and brave woman your mother was. Not once since she found out she was pregnant did she ever consider not moving forward with her pregnancy, knowing the risk bearing adimidiumchild would have on her life. Even then, you were the most important thing in her world.” His voice choked, then quickly cleared his throat.
“When Alice and I had established we could no longer risk seeing each other, I suggested she get back to her life and hang out with Stephen. As much as it pained me, your mother deserved to be. It didn’t take long for the spark I sensed between the two to grow into a deeper friendship. Your mom confided in him about the pregnancy and told him that the father couldn’t be involved—not because he didn’t want to be, but because it would be safer for the child. Stephen was and still is an honorable man. Despite suspecting there was more to Alice’s story, he never pushed her.”
I felt my chest rise and fall unevenly. Every hitch in my breath betrayed how hard I grappled with the waves of emotion threatening to overwhelm me.
“I couldn't be there as I wanted to be, not without endangering you both,” he began, pausing as if trying to find the right words. “But every few weeks, under the cloak of the night, I would come. I would stand on the street corner or a nearby rooftop, just close enough to sense the life growing inside her but far enough to keep you both safe.”
Instinctively, I folded my arms over my chest, trying to shield myself from his revelations. It felt like a barrier, a way to stave off further pain.
A wistful smile played on his lips. “Your mother would leave me letters tucked away in hidden spots that only I would know to look. Each one was filled with updates, moments she cherished, and how you'd kick or respond to her voice. Stephen was with her every step of the way and already loved you as if you were his own. The kind of mundane details that meant the world to someone who was missing out on them.”
I could sense the delicate vein in my temple throbbing. My heart's rapid beat echoed my mounting anxiety and distress.
“Then came the day she wrote to me about finding out we were having a girl.” He blinked rapidly, clearing the moisture that threatened to spill. “Alice described the overwhelming joy she felt. How she had laughed and cried simultaneously, holding onto the ultrasound picture, imagining the kind of woman our daughter would grow up to be. I was...ecstatic, and yet shattered because I wasn't there to hold her hand during that moment.”
I could see the pain etched in the lines of his face, in the slight tremble of his fingers. It was clear that while he held onto the power and might of an archangel, he was not impervious to the anguish of missed moments and memories. He felt her absence as deeply as I did.
“And every letter after that, she would describe how you were developing. She named you Aurora because you were the dawn of a new chapter in her life.” Michael's voice broke, thick with emotion. “She said you were radiant, full of life, our little miracle.”
Listening to his story, a storm of emotions raged within me. Sympathy, anger, confusion... and underneath it all, a deep, unyielding need to understand. I stared at Michael, the Archangel, The Defender of Heaven, now also my father, and whispered, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Aurora, you are my flesh and blood. If anyone found out that you belonged to me, you would be hunted, used, and abused. If Azrael or anyone else found out about your existence, they would use it as leverage for the rest of time. Even with the protection I gave you, there was always a risk.”
“What protection?” I leaned forward.
“Right before your due date, in one of the spots where your mother always left letters, I left my last gift to her and you. A necklace. It was a circular gold pendant attached to a plain gold chain. It had the initials AM carved in. The A represented your mom’s name, Alice, and M, for anyone else would assume it was for her maiden name, Madden, but selfishly, it was the one piece of me I could give you. The M also stood for my name—Michael. It was constructed by one of the universe’s best blacksmiths, Hail. I poured as much of myauruminto it as possible. Should anything happen to your mom, it was strictly ordered to be passed along to you. The necklace grants protection to the wearer of the object. They remain undetectable to any that wish to cause them harm. Additionally, it renders the wearer untraceable to those with demonic origins or dark powers.”
The weight of Michael's words settled around me like a shroud. My heart stuttered as memories cascaded, images from the past weaving into Michael’s narrative. The necklace, the last tangible link to my mother, had been an anchor for as long as I could remember.
I felt the familiar weight of loss anew, the void left by its absence deepening. My fingers reflexively reached for my neck, recalling the cold sensation the night it was stolen—the night my world irrevocably altered.
All the misfortune and challenges I had faced since its loss could be tied back to that moment.
The room was thick with tension. Michael looked crestfallen, his features etched in anguish. I could sense he had not anticipated the depths of my connection to the pendant or the magnitude of its loss.
