Desire for you - ALPHA ILAY

NAEL

I had called Ragnol back to examine Delilah.

"What's the last thing you remember, Delilah?" he asked her, looking her in the eye. He had sat down in front of her and was waiting for an answer.

Delilah looked completely unsettled, frightened.

"I know that me and the others were at the black market with Leroy... What happened?" she asked, looking at us uncertainly.

Okay. This was a bloody problem - Delilah couldn't remember anything and Ragnol was just as baffled as I was.

"Delilah... Darling, a lot more has happened in the meantime... You fainted the other day when you tried to save Ryan... The power you used was very strong. You lost your memory," he tried to explain to her, which only confused her more.

I shook my head and looked at Ragnol "It's no use... We have to give her time," I finally said, feeling completely distraught... I was almost going mad.

I thought we had solved one problem and now I had a new one.

I was furious with Dimitri that that idiot had even dared to speak...

Ragnol looked at Delilah: "How about we go home to your father, Delilah?" he finally asked her. Her eyes widened and her mouth stayed open, "You know my father?" she asked incredulously, seeming to tense up.

It occurred to me that she didn't have a good relationship with him at this point. Damn.

"We know him, Delilah, and all is well between you again," I said reassuringly, but she seemed anything but pleased about it.

"And Zamiel... Where is he?" she asked, making me freeze with the question.

I couldn't tell her that she had shot him...

"I think we should talk about this another day..." Ragnol interrupted me and looked at me.

"Where are we anyway? How did I get here?" Delilah was preoccupied with this, who's surprised, in her case I would also be wondering how I got to a strange house, to Italy...

It probably had nothing to do with drinking coffee and eating pizza.

"We're in Italy, we were trying to find a solution for Ilay... Do you really remember nothing?" I asked her desperately and was on the verge of tears inside...

It hurt to know that she couldn't remember me. It was as if I had lost everything we had built up.

"I-Ilay Edevane?" she whispered softly, looking at me as if she had seen a ghost.

"My brother," I replied and watched her reaction.

Her breath caught in her throat - at least I couldn't hear her breathing.

"Prince Nael?" she whispered softly and lowered her head.

Her insecure, anxious manner broke my heart and I immediately shook my head.

"No Delilah... It's just Nael to you," I said, involuntarily biting my lower lip. Okay, her memory was gone.

I looked helplessly at Ragnol, who did nothing of the sort.

"I suggest we go now and take it slow," Ragnol said, nodding at me. She tried to sit up slowly, but the whole thing seemed rather wobbly, so I went to her and supported her by the back.

"Thank you," she said quietly and finally stood up.

I felt so helpless in this situation and wanted to grab her by the shoulders and talk some sense into her. It was like a slap in the face.

DELILAH

When I woke up, I realised that I wasn't in my cell like I usually was. On the contrary, I was lying in a warm bed, wrapped in blankets and everything seemed fine.

After everything Ragnol and Nael... had told me, I was confused.

Surely it couldn't be? The first question I asked myself was how I was allowed to call the prince by his first name. Oh God.

His eyes were on me the whole time and it seemed like he was angry and upset about it all.

We were back at his house and he walked me to my room.

I didn't even know what to say to him because everything felt so weird.

He looked at me and came towards me: "Can you really not remember anything?" he asked me quietly. I looked into his eyes and had to swallow, his eye colour looked familiar, but I didn't know where I recognised it from.

I shook my head and looked down as if I had done something I shouldn't have. I shrugged my shoulders "No... really not. I keep trying to organise my thoughts, but I just can't figure it out..." I finally said.

Nael nodded disappointedly and walked back to the door. He turned to me again: "Get some rest, maybe that will help you..." he finally said and disappeared from the room again.

Shit... What had got into me, why couldn't I remember? Even this room didn't seem strange to me, even if I couldn't remember how I'd got here.

Where were Leroy and the other girls? What happened after we went to the black market?

I dropped onto the bed and turned onto my side.

I looked out of the window and saw the birds flying around outside. I could just feel something tugging at my strength and making me weak. I let out a soft moan and pulled my legs towards me.

The silence didn't last long when I heard my father's voice: "Delilah!" He ran towards me and looked at me, startled. "Are you all right? Can I help you in any way?" he asked me, almost in a panic, which I didn't recognise from him.

I was surprised by his behaviour because the last time we'd seen each other, we'd had a big fight and I'd run out of the house.

I left with Zamiel and then he rejected me....

"I'm fine," I said, turning my head towards him.

CHRIS

It was pure chaos. Nael had called me into the office and told me everything that had happened in Italy.

He seemed very upset and when he told me that Delilah had amnesia, he seemed very sorry. Maybe I was right in my feelings and he really had fallen in love with Delilah, because the way he looked at her, any blind man could see that something was going on in Nael.

At least I was able to recognise that after many years, and Nael was easy to read in my presence. He felt safe with me and actually trusted me with everything.

He was less bothered by the chaos that had ensued in Italy than by the fact that Delilah had lost her memory. He was visibly upset, a state I had last experienced when his partner died.

"Why didn't you ever tell me that your wife was an angel?" he asked me suddenly, giving me pause.

I frowned and shook my head: "You're wrong... She was a demon, just like you and me," I replied and he just shook his head.

"She's a Nephilim, Ragnol confirmed that..." he tried to explain to me "That's the reason for her massive power that she releases when she feels threatened and everything else about her.... Even after you forced her to shoot Zamiel, she just shrugged it off and practically forgave you," Nael insisted, tapping his fingernails nervously on the desk.

I was overwhelmed by what I was hearing, because it would also explain my wife's "death". She had disappeared from the face of the earth one day, the only evidence of her death was a written letter saying that she was overwhelmed and could no longer cope - that would of course explain everything...

"Damn," I muttered to myself and let out a sigh.

"Where's Delilah now? Maybe I'm trying to explain everything to her, maybe she'll take my words better than a stranger's."

"I took her to her room ... If you can somehow get her thoughts in order... Somehow," Nael whispered desperately.

I scowled at him and frowned, "You want to tell me what's going on?" I asked him, a smile flitting across my lips.

He shook his head: "No, I really don't want to talk about it now, Chris... Another time please," he said, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well, you know I always have an open ear for you," I finally said and made my way to Delilah.

I knocked on her door and entered her room to find her curled up in her bed.

She looked up at me and there was a kind of fear emanating from her. "Delilah! Are you all right? Can I help you in any way?" I asked her and I had to admit that now that I saw her, I panicked inside that something might be wrong with her.

She shook her head and looked at me "No... Everything is fine," she said, looking at me. Her answers were so curt that you would have thought she wanted to get rid of me quickly.

I sat down next to her on the edge of the bed and sighed softly "Delilah... Nael told me that you lost your memory on your mission," I began, not really knowing what to say.

"What kind of mission was that?" she asked me, frowning.

"It's a long story Delilah and I'm not sure if you'll believe me, but I'll answer any questions you have," I finally said, looking at her seriously.

"Do you remember Ilay? Nael's brother..." I asked her, to which she looked at me uncertainly and finally nodded.

"I don't know why, but I remember his name..." she said and tried to sit up. I shook my head and pushed her back onto the bed.

"No, stay down, you've been through a lot," I said, insisting she stay down.

"You were bought by Ilay Edevane on the black market of Daemon-Heaven ... Do you remember that?"

She remained quiet for a moment "All I know is that I was taken to the black market with Leroy and a few other women... That's all I know," Delilah replied.

"Good, then I'll give you a little help - you were taken from the black market to Ilay Edevane's house, worked as his servant ... Can you remember that?" I asked her again and saw beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

She shook her head: "No, not really... I'm really trying, but I don't know what's wrong with me..." she finally said, sounding desperate now.

"Delilah... It's okay, please take your time with it, I just want you to find yourself again. It doesn't matter if it doesn't work out today," I assured her and she nodded.

"Do you remember what Ilay Edevane did that landed you here?" I asked her to make sure we hadn't missed anything.

She shook her head again.

"Do you know how Zamiel died?"

Her face froze and she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Z-Zamiel is dead..." she whispered incredulously.

"Y-you didn't kill him, did you?" she asked me desperately and had already sat down on the bed to put some distance between herself and me.

I shook my head and looked her in the eye.

"No Delilah... It was you."