Pure Redemption (Tainted Legacy) (9 page)

“What the
hell
?” Molly demanded.

Ava grabbed her friends by the elbows and towed them back toward the door. “It’s a long story,” she blurted before they had a chance to bombard her with questions.

“Try to condense it,” Molly suggested. “Quickly, because I’m—”

“Because we’re really
concerned
,” Julia cut in, slicing Molly a look.

“Condensed version is that he showed up at the church last night. And,” she said, taking a deep breath, “he has no memory.”

“Of
anything
?” Molly nearly shrieked.

“Not of anything prior to yesterday,” Ava admitted
with a grimace.

“Including you?” Julia whispered.

Ava
hesitantly
nodded.

“Oh, sweetie,” Julia
murmured.

“So,” Molly said carefully, “he has no idea who you are but he’s staying with you?”

“Of course he is!” Ava exclaimed. “I can’t just let him wander the streets!”

“Um
,
” Molly said, frowning. “What about his family? Do they know he’s here? Shouldn’t they be taking care of him?”

Ava scrubbed her hand over her face. She was so unprepared for this conversation that it was unnerving. “No.”

“No they don’t know he’s here? Or no they don’t want to take care of him? But wait, how would you
know
they don’t want to take care of them if they don’t even know he’s here?” Julia demanded.

Ava groaned. “It is so complicated. Please, just believe me. He belongs here, with me. It’s the best place for him right now.”

     “I get that you missed him and you went through hell thinking the worst had happened to him but you can’t keep him here like he’s some stray puppy that you’re taking in!” Julia cried.

     “Julia!” Molly snapped.

     “Molly, I’m serious! First he was terminally ill. Now he’s back, looking like he still has one foot dangling in the grave. He’s suffering from amnesia and I’m the only one who thinks this guy might need some medical attention?!”

“I’m taking care of him,” Ava said, determinedly.

“He’s terminally ill!” Julia cried again.

“I’m
dying
?” Gabe, who had accidentally crept up behind them gasped.

“What are you
wearing
?” Molly demanded as she took in his ill-fitting clothes, similar to the ones he’d had on the night before.

“No, you’re not dying,” Ava said softly. She reached for him
but he jerked his hand away, the
mistrustful look flooding back into his eyes.

“I know my memory is trashed but isn’t that what ‘terminal’ means?” he snapped.

Ava stepped in front of him, taking his hands and looking him in the eye. “Yes, that’s what it means. But you? You are
not
sick. There’s been a huge misunderstanding but I swear to you, you are fine.”

“He doesn’t look fine,” Julia moaned.

Ava ignored her. She slid her hand across Gabe’s face, cupping his jaw in her palm as she tilted his head so he’d have to look at her. “I have
never
lied to you. I am not going to start now. There are definitely some things we need to talk about, though.”

“We sure do,” Molly said.

She and Julia sat on the couch. Gabe tossed himself between them. To Ava’s surprise, Julia took Gabe’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He gave her a questioning look before the three of them turned to face her. She sighed and settled herself into the chair, across from them,
hating how it felt like they were the jury and she was about to give false testimony on the witness stand.

“Soooo?” Molly prompted. “He looks terrible, but he’s not sick.”

Gabe scowled
at her words but didn’t say anything.

“Why did you say he was?” Julia asked. Her voice was curious, not accusatory.

“
I
didn’t,” Ava stressed. “Whatever you heard, you heard from Grier. No one ever asked me what was wrong with Gabe.”

“Of course we did!” Molly said, looking offended.

Ava looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Really? When?”

This got both of her friends thinking.

Julia slowly shook her head. “I don’t think we did. How could we not have asked?” She looked disgusted with herself at the thought.

Ava couldn’t bring herself to tell them it was because an angel had messed with their heads. This conversation was going to be complicated enough. “I thi
nk maybe,” she suggested, “
you were so worried about me, that you didn’t dare bring it up. You asked how I was doing
and if I had heard from him
. You never asked, specifically
,
where Gabe went
or what was wrong with him
.” 

They both nodded, seemingly grateful to Ava for giving them a way out of feeling like neglectful friends.

“
I
never said he was terminal,” she clarified. “Maybe Grier led you to believe that?  I never corrected you because it wasn’t my place. Actually, I’m pretty sure if you thought back to whatever her wording was, that Grier did not flat out say he was terminally ill. I don’t think she would’ve flat out lied.”

    “So you just lied by omission?” Molly asked, her eyebrows shooting up. Ava was the most honest person she’d ever met. For her to lie was a little mind bending.

     “There were things going on with Gabe,” she said carefully, “that he asked me not to speak about. I was honoring that request. I guess if you want to look at that as lying by omission then…what can I say? Yes, I omitted information about him because he asked me to. It wasn’t my place to tell.”

     “Such as?” Molly pressed, not looking particularly convinced.

     Ava looked to Gabe, he looked as curious as the girls he was sitting in between. “Well?” he finally asked.

“You don’t want me to talk about this in front of them,” Ava told him. He didn’t look convinced. “Gabe, trust me,” it was a gentle plea, not a command. “I’ll tell you everything I know but it’s best if we’re alone.”

His eyes took her in. He nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“What have you gotten yourself into?” Julia muttered.

Molly shrugged but looked disappointed. “It’s none of our business. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”

“Ava, with his memory gone, do you really think this is a good idea?” Julia wondered.

“Probably not,” Gabe agreed. “I’ve probably been enough of a bot
her already. I don’t want to be any more trouble.
”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Ava
said to him
in a warning tone
. “You told me you would stay. It’s no trouble. It’s the opposite of no trouble. It’s what I want. I was thinking we could drive through town today. Maybe something will flicker in your memory.”

“While you’re at it, get that boy a decent razor,” Molly
commanded
. “Although,” she said, her face scrunching in confusion, “you can’t even tell you nicked yourself.” She leaned closer. “That’s odd, your face—”

“Well!” Ava cried as she jumped to her feet. “Gabe’s breakfast is getting cold. He and I have a lot of talking to do so you should probably…”

“We should go,” Julia finished for her.

Ava nodded and Molly finally pulled her attention away from Gabe. She stood, going to give Ava a hug. “For whatever it’s worth, I’m glad he’s back.”

“Thanks,” Ava said, returning the hug.

When Ava
released
her, Molly
took hold of Gabe and tugged him to the door.

“You need to listen to me. I know that you have no reason to believe me when I say this, but Ava? She’s the most genuinely kind, sweetest, most honest and caring person I have ever met. She loves you and everything I said? When it comes to you, you can multiple it by ten. By a hundred. You can trust her. She would do anything for you. This past month,” Molly shook her head, “I can’t even put into words how hard this was for her. She was devastated.”

Gabe said nothing, raptly listening to Molly as she spoke. His eyes did dart to Ava. His heart tumbled in his chest at the sight of her speaking softly with Julia and he quickly looked away.

“It’s obvious you need her right now. What I’m not sure you understand is just how much
she
needs
you
,” Molly informed him.

Chapter
7

Gabe nodded slowly, mulling over the story of his past.

Ava’s body was a burning bundle of nerves as she waited for his reaction of disbelief. She was preparing to do something trite such
as utter a “just kidding.” But
to her relief, Gabe didn’t look all that skeptical.

He had eaten his reheated pancakes and then they had settled onto the couch where Ava told him as much as she’d dared. She didn’t want to overload him with information. Just the realization that his dad was a demon and that he—along with his estranged brother—was a Nephilim, Ava had been sure, would be more than he could handle.

When she had told him that his father had been locked in a mystical cage and was now sa
fely entombed in the depths of
Hell, he had not even flinched. He had, however, looked upset when she’d told him what little she knew of his past. She tried to be gentle when she’d told him he had done things that were so awful that he would not even admit them to her.

She wouldn’t have told him that much but she didn’t know how else to explain how he had ended up choosing repentance in The Abyss without giving him some kind of background. So, she’d told him as little as possible.

All in all, he had taken it well.

Meaning he had not jumped off the couch and called her crazy, insane or a raving lunatic.

Yet.

Then again, with his memory gone, perhaps he didn’t remember that something like that would be very, very out of the ordinary.

“It doesn’t sound familiar but it doesn’t…it doesn’t sound impossible to me either,” he finally admitted.

Ava released the breath she’d been holding hostage.

“How do you think I ended up here?” he finally asked. “I mean,
I chose The Abyss? H
ow did I come back?”

It was the one thing he’d questioned that she didn’t have an answer to.

“I honestly don’t know. But after I met you, so many things happened that I never thought would be possible. This is the one thing, the one twist that has been thrown at us that I’m grateful for. I don’t know how the floor of the church opened up. I don’t know how it closed back up again. This,” she said as she fingered the cross around her neck, “I thought was gone forever but somehow, you got it back for me. I didn’t question it. And I’m not going to question how
you
came back to me.
The important thing is that you’
re here.”

“Is that everything?” Gabe asked.

She sighed. “I covered the important things. There are a million little details, things I didn’t get to. It’s not that I’m trying to keep anything from you. It’s just that it’s a lot of information. I can keep trying to explain?” she offered.

“I think that’s enough for now,” Gabe decided. He was clearly busy enough trying to assimilate what he’d already been told.

“If you have any questions, about anything, just ask. I’ll do my best to answer. You were pretty private about your life before me but I’ll tell you what I do know,” she promised.

He was quiet for a long while. His eyes would settle on Ava only to dart away again. They finally, cautiously landed on her and stayed there. “I must’ve really loved you. I mean, if I did that.”