Page 108 of Greed

“No, don’t apologize to me. I shouldn’t have been so quick to run. I could’ve saved you. I could’ve….”

“Riker, what you fail to see is that this was going to happen. If not today, then tomorrow or next month, but this was always my fate.” Her lips touched mine, the taste of salt from our tears mixing with her sweet flavor. Standing straight, Minetta looked around again. “Please don’t ask me to stay here, I love you, but I don’t belong here, and….” She stopped and looked off toward the direction of Heaven. “I want to see my dad again.”

I sucked in a ragged breath, my wings drooping to lay on the black sand. She lifted my chin with one delicate finger. “Look after those that follow you with loyalty. They love you wholly. And please look out for my mom until she passes, I know she doesn’t have much time, but I don’t want to see her alone. I hate to ask this of you, but you’re the only one I can.”

“You’re leaving me alone. I don’t want to be alone anymore.” My hands gripped the dark sand, and I was tempted to throw myself into the river and be lost forever.

“No, Riker, I will always be with you.” She looked toward the fork in the river again. “I can hear the gates calling. I need to go.”

She kissed me then, hard and passionate, filled with all that was between us—the touch of her lips lingering long after she walked into the water. Our fingertips held on as our eyes locked.

“I love you,” she whispered as she lowered herself back into the water. “I’ll always love you, Riker. Always.” And then she was gone, below the surface and drifting away once more.

The grief and sadness turned into a white-hot rage that blinded me as I knelt there and watched her disappear. Bursting from the ground, I bellowed, shaking the walls of the cavern. Jumping in the air, I burst out the opening and veered toward my palace. My fist met the golden gates, the impact busting them wide open. The frenzy only increased with the pain that exploded in my arm.

“Ahhh!” I screamed as I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on and threw it across the courtyard. Worse than any raging storm, I tore at the doors, the walls—my fists beat the side of the black onyx. Large chunks of the expensive rock and gold inlay ripped away from the building that I’d poured so much into—gone. I didn’t care. Nothing mattered anymore. I didn’t stop when I couldn’t feel my bloody hands any longer, and I didn’t stop when I could no longer stand.

Exhaustion and the overpowering grief had me stumbling back and landing on my ass in the middle of the rubble. I looked up as someone squatted down beside me.

I stared into Skye’s grey eyes. “I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” she cried and pulled me into a hug. “I didn’t know what she meant to you. I didn’t understand. I’m so sorry.” Neven gripped me from the other side, and I just couldn’t cry anymore. All that was left was this aching numb sensation that filled me and left me feeling like an empty shell.

I hated my Father and yet understood him more at that moment than ever before. The only thing that kept me from taking my own life, and ending the pain, was my promise to Minny. I wouldn’t break that. It was her last wish, her dying wish, and it was all I had left. After that, I had nothing.

I’d been born a powerful archangel, and reborn a prince, the sin of greed, but my fall was from a woman's touch that showed me the meaning of love.

I’d never understood the power of immortality, nor what it meant to have such a delicate life, what it meant to wake up each day and be thankful for the gift of life. Being an immortal, I had no concept of time. I never valued the time we shared, the moments we made or even appreciated those in my life. Not the way I was supposed to, not until Minny had come into my life and showed me what it was to really love and long for more. What it was to experience loss.

Me, Mammon, longing for more of the one thing I couldn’t have. More time with her. It had been two months since her death, and every single day was a struggle. I struggled to breathe, eat, or even sleep. I’d lost all motivation, and my will to continue on weakened with each passing day. Simply getting up or doing simple tasks like getting dressed was an effort that took everything out of me.

I did keep my promise to my little bird. The plans for the hospital were well underway, and now the sign read in both her and her father’s memory. I’d also moved Shelly Johnson closer, making it easier to take care of her. I’d hoped that Minny would be okay with that, but when Shelly cried with joy as she stared at the ocean, I figured Minny would’ve been happy. Sitting with Shelly, we spoke about Minny, and I learned stories of her youth. It was the single highlight of my day, and those couple hours were the only reason I pressed on.

Minny’s funeral had been small but beautiful, just like the woman herself. I’d never attended a funeral before. A group of people standing around an open grave, dressed in black as you cried over a loss. I’d always wondered what kind of peace doing this brought to people?

But, as Minny’s shiny casket was lowered into the ground and Shilo read a poem about everlasting love, I understood while Penny cried and Skye and Neven hugged. For better or worse, I was forever changed by the short time she’d been in my life.

I sat on the edge of Shelly Johnson’s bed, her frail and boney hand lying in my own. It wouldn’t be long now, and mother would be reunited with daughter. The corner of my mouth lifted in a small smile as I pictured their reunion. I sat with her until she took her final gasping breath and then laid a kiss upon her brow.

“Tell her I miss her and that I love her,” I whispered in her ear. Turning my attention to the nurse in the room. “I’ll have the funeral home call with the details.”

Walking outside, I stared at the bright blue sky and took a deep breath, and yet it never felt like I could take in enough air. The ache in my chest was an old friend now, one I took everywhere. I had to hand Neven the reins of my company. I couldn’t even look at the building, let alone walk inside.

“Are you alright, Sir,” Shilo asked.

I nodded and walked toward the angel that I now thought of as a father.

“Yes, she passed peacefully.”

“Very well. What would you like to do now?”

“Just take me home. I’m feeling tired today,” I said and slipped into the car’s passenger seat. Laying my head against the window, I watched the world go by. My penthouse had suddenly turned into a commune, or at least that was how it felt with Shilo living there and Penny, Neven, and Skye all taking rooms and proceeding to stay.

They all said that they didn’t want me to be alone, and each took turns trying to get me to engage in meals or conversation. I thought they were ridiculous, but I let them do what they wanted. I didn’t have the energy to fight them. I wandered past the kitchen, where I could hear their voices laughing.

“I’ll be in my study if you need me.”

“You should eat something, son,” Shilo called.

“Later, Shilo, I’m not hungry.” I didn’t bother to look at the angel. I didn’t want to see the concerned look in his eyes. Closing the door, I tossed my jacket on the rack and grabbed a whisky before sitting down. My great sword shined like the day it was made. There was not a scratch on the golden blade that hung on the rack behind my desk, but I couldn’t’ say the same thing for my soul.