Page 235 of Crimson Promises
“And that was the only piece of you I ever had,” I whispered, tears spilling over. My mother had kept that part of my identity from me, and now the last piece of her, which was also tied to Michael, had vanished. I felt cheated, robbed of moments, memories, and now, of protection.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to steady myself and make sense of the deluge of emotions and the revelations. “You have no idea how many nights I cried, clutching that necklace, feeling close to her.”
Michael reached out, perhaps to comfort me, but I pulled away. Too many emotions, too much information. I needed time and space. But above all, I needed to understand everything—about the necklace, Michael, and me.
“There’s more.” Michael braced his hands on his hips.
“More?” I responded. My spine straightened and my shoulders squared themselves as I braced myself for whatever else he might throw my way.
“The night you were born, I was there. Concealed, but I was there. I held your mom’s hand through it all right, alongside Stephen, until the last breath of oxygen left her body just as you took your first. I knew the necklace would protect you, but it wasn’t enough. You needed a guardian who could watch over you and ensure you never found out about your angelic parentage. That way, when the time came, you could remain a mortal and safe. If you embraced your angelic heritage, you would be a piece on the board that even I couldn’t protect you from. I selected a fallen angel, one who was no friend of the Originals, one who thirsted for revenge and power. He had waited centuries, a few more years, and I could give him the power he so desperately sought in exchange for watching over you.”
Ben.I felt the room spin around me as the puzzle pieces fell into place. The strings invisibly controlling my life finally began to make sense. Ben, my parentage—it was all interconnected in ways I hadn’t even started to understand.
As he spoke, I felt the warmth drain from my eyes. They felt cold, like two impenetrable glacial pools challenging every syllable he uttered.
“You…” I breathed, struggling to find the right words, my fingers balling into fists at my sides. “Ben? You chose him?”
Michael nodded slowly, his expression somber. “Yes. I chose him to watch over you, to protect you. He was perfect for the role. He wanted something from me, and in return, he was to keep you safe without revealing our world to you.”
A flash of pain sliced through me. The weight of deception, of all the lies, pressed down on me. “He knew? He knew this entire time?” My voice rose with every word, echoing off the courtyard’s stone walls. “Ben knew who I was and never told me because of you?”
Michael hesitated for a moment. “It was the best way to keep you safe, Aurora. I thought I was doing what was best for you. He never knew my true connection to you, that I was your biological father.”
I felt hot tears stinging my eyes. “You thought? You thought wrong. Because of you, he'sgone.” My voice cracked, the pain of the loss still fresh, raw, and bleeding. “I loved him, and he's gone because of your games, because of your damn secrets.”
“I never intended for that to happen, Aurora.” Michael's voice trembled, a hint of anguish creeping through. He reached out, attempting to bridge the chasm between us, but I stepped back, keeping my distance. His cerulean eyes, so much like mine, shone with regret.
I threw my hands in the air, exasperated. “You put him in the path of danger. By assigning him to me, you painted a target on his back! Because of you, he’s not here, and I am left alone again, trying to figure all of this out.”
Michael's brow furrowed, and he clenched his jaw. “Aurora, please try to understand. I wanted to keep you away from this world, away from the dangers of being adimidium. The only way I knew how was to keep you ignorant of it all.”
“By pushing him into danger? By having him lie to me every day? That’s your idea of protection?” My voice dripped with bitterness.
He took a deep breath, the weight of his long years evident in his posture. “I know it’s hard to understand, but I did it out of love for you.”
I scoffed. “Love? This isn’t love. This is control. All my life, I felt like a piece in someone else’s game. Now I know it was your game.”
He looked down, avoiding my gaze. “I just wanted to keep you safe. I thought if you never knew about your heritage, you would be protected from those who would want to harm you.”
“Instead, you threw Ben into the line of fire. Because of you, he vanished, and I have no idea what happened to him. Because of you, I had no choice but to choose this.” Finally, I let my wings unfurl from my back. The burning eased. The truth I was so reluctant to see was plain on Michael’s face. “All of your efforts to keep me from this life have failed. I am an angel now because I had to make an impossible choice. And now I have no idea how to move forward. Another consequence of your lies.” My eyes searched his, looking for any sign of remorse.
He finally met my gaze, his eyes filled with pain and guilt. “I am so sorry, Aurora. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to protect you, to keep you safe.”
“You have a funny way of showing it.” My words were cold, cutting.
Michael's voice cracked, “I know I've made grave mistakes. I wish I could change the past, but I can’t. All I can do now is try to protect you, to make things right. To be the father I never got the chance to be.”
I took a shaky breath, attempting to calm my racing heart. “Maybe it’s too late for that. And as you said yourself, I already have a father.”
Silence settled between us, heavy and suffocating. The weight of revelations and the anguish of loss was all too much to bear. And in that silence, the chasm between father and daughter grew ever wider.
Michael extended his hand, offering me a gold coin. I stared at it a moment before accepting, noting the sun and clouds etched on its surface were of the same style and resembled the engravings on theilliciumdagger I had claimed in the Threshold of Whispers. The coin felt heavy, more so than its appearance suggested, settling into my palm with a gravity that matched the mood.
“Just whisper your name into the sun," he began, his voice a gentle plea. "I'll come, no matter where you are, especially if Lucifer makes his presence known. Again.”
"Lucifer," I said. I tilted my head back, the raw disbelief in my voice evident. "You knew. You knew he took me. What he was doing to me and Ben, and yet you did nothing!"
His response was quick, almost defensive. "I cannot enter Hell, Aurora. But I did everything I could to send Bennett to aid you."
