Chapter 53: Chapter 53

Dinner was punctuated with lively conversation, mostly from Rider with the rest of them finding a way to add a word or two when he paused to shovel lasagna into his mouth. Ivy really was an excellent cook, and Ru finished the entire piece she’d been given, despite the fact that it was pretty large. She also had a couple of pieces of Cutter’s exceptionally buttered garlic bread.

“I made tiramisu for dessert!” Ivy called, a large smile on her face.

“That sounds delicious,” Ru said, setting her napkin aside, “but I might have to wait a while. I don’t think I have anywhere to put it.”

“Why don’t we go chat for a little while, and then we’ll see about dessert?” Cutter offered.

Ru wasn’t sure who “we” was, but she knew she wasn’t going to be able to eat one more bite, so she nodded. He stood, and so did she, following him out of the room. When no one else got up, she realized they’d already planned it this way. He’d talk to her first, and then the rest of them would come in, if she made it through the entire conversation, which she hadn’t last time.

Cutter led her back into the parlor where they’d been the time before, which was a bit cozier than the formal living room. She noticed the walls were painted a bright coral color and knew Rider had been working in here, though she still couldn’t recall what the wallpaper Cutter had mentioned before might’ve looked like. He sat down on the couch, and she took a spot a few feet away from him.

“Man, that was good,” he said, rubbing his belly, which Ru was certain was still at least a six pack beneath his blue flannel shirt.

“It was,” she agreed, straightening her black knee-length skirt. She was uncomfortable again, just sitting with him, but she was doing her best not to let him see it, though she was fairly certain he could.

“How was your, uh, date?” he asked as if it was somehow painful for him to say.

Surprised at the question and his tone, Ru wasn’t sure how to reply. “It was good. Thanks.” She hoped that was sufficient, but there was something in his eyes that caught her off guard. Just as he had seemed upset when she’d first told him she was busy and couldn’t come over the night before. Perhaps he just didn’t want her spending her time doing anything other than fighting evil.

Cutter nodded and then cleared his throat. “Well, uh, I have something I want to show you. Someone back home sent it to me. It took a lot of searching, but I think it’ll be worth it.”

Ru was extremely interested in whatever it was he had to show her. He reached over the arm of the couch and dug around in something she couldn’t see for a moment, a basket or bag perhaps, and pulled out a large manila envelope.

“What’s this?” she asked, taking it from him hesitantly.

“Open it,” he insisted.

Ru took a deep breath and stared at the package for a moment. It was unsealed. She had no idea what it might be, but she needed to know, even though she had a feeling in her gut nothing would be the same after this, no matter how badly she wanted it to be.

She reached inside and pulled out a photograph. It was a bit grainy and a little yellow, which told her it was aged, but the face staring up at her instantly filled her eyes with tears. “Oh, my God,” she whispered, her free hand covering her mouth.

Bright blue eyes, a smile that radiated kindness, blonde, curly hair that framed her lovely face. The light was behind her, illuminating her crown so that she truly looked like an angel. Ru had seen this face before, a thousand times, in her dreams. All those years, whenever this image would conjure itself up in her mind’s eye, she had assumed it was only what she wanted to see. But she really did remember seeing the face of her mother.

It took her a moment to compose herself. Cutter handed her some tissue, which she used to swipe at the tears cascading down her cheeks. When they wouldn’t stop, he slid over and put his arm around her. He didn’t speak at all, only gave her as much time as she needed to get her emotions back under control. Once she began to be able to breathe again, the tears tapered off. She set the picture on top of the coffee table in front of her and continued to stare at it for several minutes. Eventually, her voice still trembling, she asked, “Where did you get it?”

“From your grandmother,” Cutter replied, softly. His hand was still on her shoulder.

She turned to look at him. “My… grandmother?”

He nodded. “She didn’t think she had any of her as an adult. Things weren’t exactly good between the two of them. Sera was always a bit of a rebel. But she finally found it.”

“I have a grandmother?”

“Yes.”

Ru could hardly believe it. Somewhere out there, a woman existed who had the same DNA as her. “Is she… human?”

Cutter smiled. “She is. Your grandfather was not.”

Though she nodded, a thousand questions clouded her mind. “He’s a Keeper?”

“Was,” Cutter corrected, his voice filled with a hint of sadness. “He died when Sera was young.”

Ru couldn’t help but be disappointed to hear that. She’d hoped to meet both of her grandparents on her mother’s side if it was possible. “So… even though he was only half-angel, and my grandmother was human, Sera was still a full Keeper. Not diluted or anything?”

“No. Once you have angel blood in your system, there’s no diluting.”

“Right.” She did her best to process that, but at the moment, everything seemed a bit hazy. She shifted her gaze from Cutter’s eyes back to Sera’s face, her mother’s face. “And… my father’s parents? His father is a Reaper, too? But his mother was human?”

“Yes.”

Again, she nodded. “Is she still alive?”

Cutter took a deep breath. “Yes, but she’s in an institution. Larkin’s father is an incubus. Do you know what that is?”

Her first answer was a rock band, but then Ru remembered what it actually was. “So he took advantage of her in her sleep? And my father was a product of that?”

Once again, his answer was a sympathetic, “Yes.”

“That’s awful.” Ru couldn’t even imagine something like that could happen, particularly since she hadn’t even thought demons or angels were real until a few weeks ago, and even now there were times she wasn’t sure.

“Ru, there’s a strong indication that Larkin revealed the location of the remaining three portals to your mother. We don’t know for sure, but we need to find out. If your mother can help us locate the portals, we can banish the Reapers who are traveling back and forth to Hell once and for all, and they won’t be able to get out or we can track them down and destroy them here, leaving only those who are claiming marked souls and are mandated by God.”

Lost in thoughts of her poor grandmother, Ru hardly heard him. It took her a moment to process what he was saying. “And my father would be trapped down there forever?” She couldn’t help but wonder if somehow it had been a huge mistake. How could someone as lovely as Seraphina fall in love with a demon? Larkin couldn’t be all bad, could he? What was it Thanatos had said? “A villain is only a hero whose story is yet to be told.”

“What’s that?” Cutter asked, leaning toward her.

Ru hadn’t even realized she’d spoken aloud. “Nothing,” she replied. “Cutter, if I agree to help you find my mother—and that’s a big ‘if’—I haven’t decided anything yet—but if I do, you have to promise me you’ll let me meet him before we close up all of the portals.”

“Ru, that would require you to travel to Hell, you realize?”

“Is it possible?”

“I don’t think you understand what you’d be getting yourself into…”

“Is it possible?” Her question was more forceful this time.

“Yes, it’s possible,” Cutter assured her.

“And you’ll do it?”

He held her gaze for a long moment before slowly nodding. “I will. I promise.”