From Despair Comes Hope (The Strange Case of Devin Sola Book 1)

Concrete Angel

***Tia's POV***

I can't move. I can't breathe. I can't think. Then I do something that any self-respecting angel would never even dream of doing. I pass right the fuck out.

***Ryan's POV***

I rush to Tia's side, easily scooping her up and carrying her from the room. I used to wish that Death was my mate, but I know that our mates are our opposites. I carry her up to Charli's room and lay her next to her twin. She is simply overcome by the shock that someone knows where her mate is – and who he is.

As I wander the hallway, I ponder what this means. None of us can even remember Life's face, yet apparently Devin is Life?? Well, that accounts for the sense of déjà vu that seems to follow him around. I figure I'd best get Love and War out of their rooms and to the library, so I head for their rooms.

First I bang on Balz' door. "Get your ass to the library Balz! We've got a situation!" I step back and wait for Balz' characteristic reaction. He comes barreling out of his room and down the hall toward the stairs. I snicker, shake my head, and go to bang on Ricky's door.

"Ricky! Road Kill!" I yell. "Get your ass to the library. Situation critical!" A sleepy Ricky comes out, his red-tipped white wings still visible. Ricky always sleeps with his wings wrapped around himself like a bat. It is fucking weird if you ask me, but as long as he doesn't hang like a bat, whatever.

"Hmmm?" He asks, not quite fully awake yet. He is always the hardest one of us to get awake. "What's going on?"

"We have a situation. Library. Now." I repeat. I laugh as he shuffles down the hall to the stairs and promptly tumbles down them. Every time. He never learns – wake up, then go down the stairs.

"Road Kill! You ok man?" I hear Balz ask him.

"Yep." He is almost awake now. I head downstairs and to the kitchen knowing that to keep him that way, coffee is going to be a requirement.

***Chris' POV***

Balz and Ricky enter the library. At the sight of Hades, Balz bright yellow-tipped orange wings immediately appear, looking like twin flames. I laugh. Every time. For some reason, my father scares the shit out of him.

"War, put your wings away. For the millionth time, I am not going to hurt you." Hades smirks. "Why would I when your incitement to start wars brings so many souls to the Underworld?" Balz grimaces, but makes his wings disappear. Ricky on the other hand, has his wrapped around him and I know if coffee doesn't appear soon, Ricky will be sound asleep again. "Love, still using your wings as a blanket I see." Ricky nods sleepily.

Ryan comes in holding a tray with cups of coffee on it and stops in front of our father first. I 'm surprised when he takes one. Ryan's next stop is Ricky, then Balz who demands to know if this was "that Starbucks shit." I grab a cup, rolling my eyes.

"All right." I say. "We've gotten ourselves into quite the situation. It seems that not only do we need Hope to get Devin out of the Styx, but we also need Love, War, Death, Hate, Peace, Darkness, Light, Despair, and Life."

"That's great. We don't know where Peace, Light, Hate, or Life are." Balz glares.

"Actually, we do know where Life is." I say, gesturing to Hades.

"Life is in the Styx. Well, his soul is." Hades shrugs.

"But that means..." Ricky thinks for a moment. "Devin is Life?"

Hades nods. "Devin is Life."

"You can see our problem." I say. "As Balz pointed out, we've no idea where Peace, Light, or Hate are. Plus we have the added issue that Charli is the Angel of Hope, my mate, and currently powerless."

"Wait. Charli is your mate? How did you not know who she was when she arrived?" Balz asks.

"Because Andy never mentioned she was an angel and Tia never bothered to tell me that it was her twin that I was getting." I reply. "I also was unaware until just now that she's been deaf since the twins were three!" I glare at my father, who I'm sure is aware of this fact.

"Why the hell do you think I stole Tia?" Hades shrugs. "I wanted to take Charli too, but..."

"But she's incapable of living in the Underworld, like I am." Ricky states flatly. His mate, the Angel of Hate, is mostly likely hiding in the Underworld. If she is, it is likely she was hiding from Ricky, knowing he can't be down there for more than a few hours at most before his powers will fade. Life is, unfortunately, the only "light" angel who can survive in the Underworld – an anomaly no one can explain.

"In any case, we have to find those three – and get Charli's powers back." I sigh. "I'm in charge of getting Charli's powers back as it has to do with our needing to acknowledge each other as mates."

"How do we not remember Devin is Life?" Balz asks. I look to my father.

"Hera stripped him of everything but his immortality and threw him down here to live as a human. Then she cast a spell that took away most everyone's memory of him. But... my helmet actually kept her spell from working on me. When Devin attempted suicide, I'd sent Tia to collect his soul, hoping she'd recognize him. I thought she had when she didn't bring his soul back. I don't think she quite knew why she recognized him though."

"So what do we do first?" Ricky asks.

Ryan speaks up. "Chris makes damn sure Charli knows he's her mate. That's what we do first."