Zuriel sat up on the armchair he had been reclining on; his placid expression belied his turbulent thoughts.
The flash of longing that had crossed his features when Damien had mentioned his dead lover was completely gone.
"I said Olywn looked exactly like the lover you lost," Damien repeated, enjoying the fact that he had gotten under Zuriel's skin at last.
Damien knew Olywn was nothing like Itzel; Zuriel lost love, but he just had to poke the wounded wolf.
"You don't know what you are saying, or perhaps, you have a short memory, as Itzel is that of Amber, while the witch was said to be made from water," Zuriel replied calmly, and both Tristan and Damien stared at him.
That was the longest speech he had uttered since they had been together in the human realm.
"The dumb has finally spoken," Tristan said gleefully but stopped when Damien sent him a withering look.
"Believe what you want to believe, Zuriel; I was just stating my observation." That was Damien's parting words before he headed for his office, leaving Zuriel to think on his words.
The seed has been planted; he knew Zuriel wouldn't be at peace with himself till he sees the witch for himself. That time he would confirm if Zuriel truly wants nothing to do with the witch.
To Damien, Tristan was like a stake he could pull out anytime; he held no threat to Damien, but Zuriel was another issue entirely.
If Zuriel wants the witch, then there would be war between them, so he wants to make sure that such won't be the case.
~~~~
Dahlia paced back and forth in her apartment, her hair in disarray, her blue eyes dimmed with worry.
"Dahlia, have a seat; you are making me dizzy," Julia complained, her head thrown back against the sofa.
"Should I take a seat, Julia?" Dahlia asked incredulously, "How can you say that? With everything that has been happening to me these past few days, I feel like Alice in Wonderland!" Dahlia yelled with frustration before collapsing on the floor in front of Julia.
"But does pacing make it better? What we need now is a plan. We need to figure out who exactly you are and if it is possible that that man could be saying the truth."
"Are you implying that I could be any of those things he said?" Dahlia asked, her voice colored with incredulity.
"That's not what I'm saying, but if you are, it can't be that bad; we can start by robbing banks with your power," Julia said mischievously, and Dahlia grabbed the nearest throw pillow and aimed it for her head.
"You are maltreating your helper; that doesn't look good on you," Julia complained, throwing the pillow back on the floor.
"That's because she was being an ass," Dahlia replied, her sense of humor restored as she got up from the floor. "So, my helper, what do you suggest we do now?"
"The internet—let's go to the internet and find anything we can about that rude bastard and the possibility of who you could be, and then we will revisit your past."
Dahlia's face grew weary at the mention of her past; she would never be ready to unearth that, but she'll take it one step at a time.
"Okay then, and the man is not that bad; he reminds me of someone I keep seeing in my dreams. It could be him, but I'm not sure," Dahlia replied, and Julia gasped in horror.
"Dahlia, you like that bastard?"
"I never said that; there was just this man that has been appearing in my dream..." Dahlia tried to explain, but Julia looked at her with mock disgust before heading for her laptop.
"It's alright, I don't blame you for trying to lie your way out of that; being sex-starved can do that to a person," Julia reasoned as another throw pillow landed at the back of her head.
"Get over here, and let's figure out who you are, and I swear if you hit me one more time, I'll throttle you," Julia warned, but Dahlia just glared at her.
~~~
Two hours later, after a series of printouts, lots of typing, unchecked coffee consumption, and swearing and cursing at each other, Dahlia and Julia were finally done with their little research.
Finally, Julia turned her chair away from the worktable to face the sofa Dahlia was sitting on.
"So according to this research, Damien Valendy is indeed equivalent to Captain America; he has money, lots and lots of it, probably more than both of us combined will ever make in our lifetime."
"He has a god-like appearance, is famous, and is a known face across the entertainment industry, but in America and everywhere else, what does that tell you, Dahlia?"
Dahlia looked at her friend, her face confused. Was she supposed to figure out something from what her friend just said? "Nothing," Dahlia replied instead, and Julia shot her a pitiful look.
"Of course it's nothing to you, which is why you need me by your side," Julia said, feeling superior, and Dahlia snorted before smoothing out her expression.
"Anyways, what it means is that the man has a lot to lose and absolutely nothing to gain by coming to you, so do you think a man with his wealth and influence will risk all that for nothing?"
"No, I don't think so, except he is mentally deranged," Dahlia replied, finally seeing Julia's train of thought.
"Which means it's one of two things: either he is telling the truth, or he is insane, and although I admit to his rudeness, I don't think he is insane."
"And another reason why he might be telling the truth is because of his past; I looked up his past." Julia said triumphantly, knowing Dahlia wasn't expecting that.
"Did you find something?" Dahlia asked eagerly, her heart beating a little bit faster at the thought that she might not be human.
"No no, I didn't find something; what I found was nothing."
"What do you mean by nothing?" Dahlia knew Julia was enjoying the sense of conspiracy, but Dahlia was too strung up to share her enthusiasm.
"What I meant was that he is like you; he showed up two years ago and has been soaring since then, but anything dating back over two years ago, there is no record of him, no past, just a vague picture of a boy that looks remotely like him."
"It's like he has no past, and what's even more strange is his family connections; he has no family background. I found no one related to him; the internet did not bring anyone who looks remotely like him, which means that he has been looking for you for the past two years." Julia concluded her explanation and settled back on the chair.
"So, does that mean I'm truly a witch? He could be mistaken; I'm not the only one who looks like this in New York City," Dahlia ranted with fear of the unknown.
"No no, there are many that look like you, but most of them have artificial hair and fake lenses, like Kayla, but he found you anyways," Julia reasoned, and Dahlia buried her face in her hands.
"But if I am a witch, what is he, and how did I come to be here? Why have I not exhibited any witch attributes before?" Dahlia ranted on while Julia looked at her with pity; she had never seen her friend this shaken.
Julia stood from her chair and went to sit beside her friend, wrapping her arms around her. Julia hugged Dahlia tight; she knew she should be afraid of all this, but Dahlia is her friend, and she couldn't see her as anything else.
"Aren't you afraid, Julia, of what we'll find?" Dahlia asked as tears streamed down her face to soak Julia's cloth.
"I am Dahlia, but whatever it is, you'll always be Dahlia Winthrop to me," Julia replied, and when Dahlia's emotions had been brought under control, she disentangled her arms from Julia's back and sat straight, a determined look in her blue eyes that had returned to their vivid color.
"So, what do we do next?" Dahlia asked.
"I think we should visit your past."