Journee's POV
"How can this be?" I saw granny reaching out lovingly towards Montgomery, pulling him into a hug as she cried tears of joy. "Moe! Murphy!"
The two men were running down the steps of the mansion into the garden, stunned by the sight before them. I watched at how Humphrey had a hand on his waist, and another over his mouth. My father-in-law brisk walked towards his son and looked at him from head to toe.
"Did they have the wrong person?" Granny asked Montgomery Sr.
Instead of answering the old lady, he asked, "Monty, what are you doing back here? What happened in Paris?"
Montgomery stared from one person to another, seemingly confused himself.
What's happening? Did my wish wake Montgomery up and bring him home? Is that why he looks so confused?
Putting on a pair of sneakers, I headed towards the garden to join the family in welcoming my husband home.
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Ma'oz 's POV
I left the human's room and was heading towards the city when I heard her…I wish that everything in my life and Montgomery's will right itself and all will be as it should be.
My powers flowed and sparkled in the air. "Ah…this must be it." I headed towards the gate to enjoy some time at the famed Mykonos nightlife.
"Ahhhhh!!!" A scream came from my left and I turned, poised to fight.
A little old lady with snowy white hair stood, gaping at me. There are lines of worry on her weathered face, her aura is dim and frazzled. "How can this be? Monty, my dear dear boy." She shouted as her shaky hand reached out to touch my face and pulled me into a hug. I tried to free myself from her grasp without breaking any of her bones. She is however, much stronger than she looks. An iron grip that hooked on to me like a leech. She cried, staining my shirt with her tears. "Moe! Murphy!"
The two men of the family came running down the steps towards us and starred at me for a few moments. The older one spoke to me. "Monty, what are you doing back here? What happened in Paris?"
Huh? They can all see me? What is happening?
I glanced at myself in the glass reflection of the greenhouse. "What the fuck?!" I am not the splitting image of the human's husband.
Not wanting to alarm the family too much, I gently tore away from the old woman's embrace and dashed out the garden door, exiting the mansion. Placing a spell to keep the door locked, I walked a distance away to think.
What on earth happened? I willed my appeared to return to myself numerous times. But nothing happened.
Is my magic weakening? Maybe I need the Mirror of Truth. I called forth the magical artifact of my forefathers, the very mirror used by Snow White's stepmother.
"Mirror, Mirror. I command you to show me my true form." I said and saw the reflection of myself. Hair and eyes as black as midnight, standing over 6'3" with chiseled cheekbones and jaw. I am strikingly deadly.
Within a few moments, the mirror changed, and I saw the man, Montgomery Lewis staring back at me. I raised my right hand, and the reflection did the same. I jumped, and again I saw the man in the mirror jump.
"Montgomery?" The human's voice called out. "Is everything alright?" I looked at her, her brows knitted together with worry melted my heart a little. The emotions I have been keeping out have started to creep in again.
"How did you open the door?" I demanded to know.
"What are you asking…using the handle, of course." She tilted her head to the side, eying me with suspicion, then looking at the Mirror of Truth. "You're not Montgomery, are you?"
"How perceptive." I mocked. "Now…WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU WISH?!"
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Journee's POV:
Montgomery…I mean…Ma'oz's jaw is clenched, giving his jaw even greater definition then before. His glare is so hostile, that if eyes can shoot lasers, I would be dead now.
The air around feels like it is closing in around me. In my mind, I find him growing larger and larger, his rage enveloping me. I know that if I don't do something fast to get him under control, he will explode, and I will be in grave mortal danger.
I didn't do anything wrong, and I know it!! I screamed in my mind.
"What?!" He roared.
Balling my hands into fists, I took a bold step towards him. "I only wished for everything to be as it should be. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn't wish for you to become Montgomery, and I most definitely did not wish for you to stay!" I raised my voice with every sentence I uttered. The good thing is, he seems slightly taken aback by it all.
"I see." The stifling air had significantly dispersed, and I could once more breath easily.
"So…you don't know why you took his form either." I started the obvious.
"Monty! Monty! Journee!" We could hear the should and insistent banging on the garden door.
"What should we do?" I asked Ma'oz.
His brows furrowed together. Though it created some lines on his otherwise smooth forehead, Oddly, I found it a magnificent sight. This seriousness isn't vain or frivolous. It isn't pretend. I can feel its importance, the weight of responsibility that weighs heavily on his shoulders. Making this mask he wears broader as he looms over everything like a great oak tree. Providing shade and shelter to the forest animals and plants, a protective presence that can be both frightening and safe at the same time. Was Montgomery this attractive before?
My heart raced as I was drawn into the comforting abyss of his dark eyes. I found myself getting lost in its maze that seems to hold the universe in its depths while giving away nothing more than the acknowledgement of all the wonderful and horrible things they have seen.
The nose and cheeks, while well-formed as I had previously observed on the plane with Montgomery, there seemed to be a pleasant glow emitting from his skin. Something that wasn't there before. Like an ethereal glow that has been dimmed to protect my eyes. I can't describe it. Only that it just leaves my heart with a warm fuzzy feeling.
"So?" His deliciously husky voice resounded in my ears again.
"What?" I asked.
"Didn't you hear my thoughts? My plan?" He threw his hands in the air, a flippant action but on him, it looked more like an invitation to fight.
"I didn't hear anything!" I defended. Was I truly so deep in my own thoughts that I didn't hear his?
"When I discovered I look like your human husband, I tried to change back to my own form, but I found that my powers don't work that way."
"…did your powers disappear?" I was surprised. Don't tell me his powers weren't supposed to be his?
"I have everything else under control. Only my physical form."
"Okay…so what's the plan?" I queried him.
"Pretend that you believe Montgomery has returned for now, but since he was in a coma, I will pretend that I have no recollection how I returned. Which is partly true." He finally announced.
"I thought you said demons can't lie?" I wonder if all he said in his mind earlier was a lie now.
"I can't. But you can."
"Oh…so you are passing the buck to me, huh? What are we going to do about the real Montgomery?" I whispered, hoping the wind doesn't carry my voice back to the garden.
"I'll get my Minister, Damon to handle it. He is the master of disguise."
"You…have a master of disguise…uhm…cool."
"Better now than ever. The plan is you tell them I have no recollection of who I am, only that I returned and that you believe I should rest before being introduced to the family again."
"Ma'oz…can you access Montgomery's memories?"
"No, I cannot." He folded his arms, tilted his head to a side and waiting for me to continue.
"Let's say you have retrograde amnesia. That would make the most sense. I read that sometimes those who have had head trauma have this." I clapped my hands, proud of my analysis and solution.
"What's retrograde amnesia?" He raised a magnificent eyebrow.
"Basically, you forget everything before the accident and can only form new memories. You can never access your past memories ever again." I explained to the mount of a man before me. As clueless as a babe, but with the strength of an army.
"Perfect!" His voice came like the rumble from a volcano.
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Ma'oz 's POV:
I am always for a good solid plan. The one this human and I have does leave much to be desired. So many loose ends. But it'll have to do for now.
I removed the locking spell on the door and both the old lady, and the head of the house burst out from it.
"Monty!" The old lady came rushing out towards me, but to my relief, Journee has a handout towards her "Wait granny. He doesn't remember anything!" She cried out.
"What do you mean my dear?" The old lady looked at both of us.
"He doesn't remember how or why he came here." Journee explained.
"Impossible!" The head of the Lewis family boomed. Almost as tall as me, he squinted his eyes, appraising me from head to toe.
"But sir…papa, he didn't even know he is Montgomery Lewis until just a few moments ago." I kept silent, allowing the little human to take charge.
"What's the meaning of this, boy? Did you lose the investment? Did you gamble away all the earnings and now you're too ashamed to admit it?" The oldest male Lewis demanded, trying to intimidate me with his form.
Oh, if only you knew, human to whom you speak. You would cower in fear. But his alpha male ego didn't threaten me. There was no way I was allowed to harm him. Besides, it would be unwise to overpower the one I am to call father, even if it's just temporary.
I hunched and slumped my shoulders in fake submission. "No, sir. The last thing I remember was leaving this house then this…Journee came after me, calling me Montgomery." I said sincerely.
"Is that so. Then you won't object to me checking with the hotel and putting you through a quick CT scan."
"Not at all, uhm, papa." I answered with mock humility.
"DAMON!" I mind-linked my faithful demon Chief Minister.
"Has it worked, my Lord?"
"Get to Paris this instant and find a Montgomery Lewis. Hide his identity and make it such that he miraculously woke and took a jet to Mykonos." I barked the order.
"Yes sir. Any details I should add or omit?" Damon knew better than to be a smart alec, or to question my motives when I used this tone.
"Leave it uncertain in all their minds." I ended the mind-link.
The years at demon court at been grueling. Before I was made Crown Prince, my father had taught me the game of politics. How to play the victim, to whom to portray the humble servant and when to exert dominance.
Prying further into the Montgomery Lewis Senior's mind, I found that Montgomery Lewis Junior was meant to broker a deal with Toussaint holdings' Chairman, Luke Toussaint. Quickly filling Damon in on the plans that should have happened, I allowed myself to be subjected to a series of human medical tests.
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Journee's POV:
Ma'oz has been really complying towards my father-in-law. He said he is the King of Demons. As someone raised in Malaysia and who has been very much into Greek Mythology and folktales from around the world, I gather that he must be very powerful. Is he able to control the weather I wonder? Make gold appear? I burst into a fit of giggles imagining the ridiculous vision of Ma'oz creating a pile of gold that grows on its own day-by-day with my father-in-law swimming in it with glee.
I was getting dressed for dinner when Ma'oz entered the room. He may look like Montgomery, but his aura is far more imposing. Like a heavy pressure that forces the atoms in the air to move, it announces his presence before he arrives. How did I miss him those first two times we met? I'm such a muddlehead, getting lost in my thoughts like that.
"You're back." I walked out with a smile. "So? What happened?"
"Nothing a little magic can't do. Manipulated those machines to show that I have mild brain damage which causes amnesia." He said nonchalantly, stretching out on the sofa. "They are now convinced that I am Montgomery with retrograde amnesia. Besides, your father-in-law is happy with a few things I did."
"Tell me." I am genuinely curious with it all.
"You'll find out soon enough." He snapped his fingers and a change of clothes appeared on him. His hair looks freshly washed and combed neatly. Instead of the green suit he was in earlier, now he is dressed in a pair of jeans and a black polo tee that unbuttons just enough to see a mass of chest hair. I would have swooned at how good he looks in it, if not for the reminder that he ISN'T human.
"What will we do about this situation?" I asked him earnestly.
"For now, we pretend that I am Montgomery while Damon finds us a solution to this mess." He answered, his voice flat and monotonous.
Still, he held the door for me to exist and offered me his arm. Unused to the whole gentlemanly act, I ignored it and headed down the stairs on my own.
"The miracle of our family!" Granny cheered as Montgomery Senior and Humphrey raised from their chairs to greet us and lifted a glass to toast to their family's good fortune.
Phew! At least now they won't be broaching the pregnancy issue, at least for another few months.
"So," my father-in-law cleared his throat. "Since you are back, I'll give you the promised two weeks to reacquaint yourself with your wife. Tomorrow, you leave for your honeymoon. We expect many little Lewis children pitter pattering around soon."
I choked on my wine. A most undignified sight with bits of wine spluttering out of my mouth and even a little from my nose. It drew a half snot-half laugh from Uncle Humphrey. Quickly covered the lower half of my face and dabbed away the proof my unladylike behaviour. I excused myself "sorry."
"I fully expect the good news while you're still in Athens. In fact, I it is my wish that you two will get down to the deed even tonight." My father-in-law just said the words 'I wish' to a demon!! A demon who grants wishes! I felt bile rise my throat.
"Excuse me," with a smile, I got up and headed to the kitchen to recompose myself. Good thing the chef isn't there.
SHITT!!!!! I paced back and forth, shaking my hands in the air. Sure, I thought my wish would either solve my father's problems and have me back at home, OR worst-case scenario, I just need to sleep with my husband. No, no no…He wished on a wish-granting demon!
Thought paused in my mind. Wait…wish-granting demon…What if my wish overrides my father-in-law's? Maybe I could make another wish. I must ask.
Heading back to the dining table with a smile on my face, I sat down to a cheerful dinner which ended rather quickly. We had only a main course and hardly finished desert when Montgomery Senior chased us back to my room. "Off you go. Young people should make the most of an early night."
Bidding everyone good night, I cornered Ma'oz the moment he closed the door of my room. "Do I still have any more wishes since we're no longer bound to each other?"
"Why? Decided to have a chance of heart?" He smirked. "We're still bound. It isn't the three wishes trick that applies to Genies." Tilting his head to the side, arms folded, he smiled a devilish grin laced with a threat. "Ground rules. I do not come and go as you please. I am a demon and the king. You will address me with the respect accorded to me and this will be a partnership. A marriage of convenience of sorts. Agreed?"
A part of me wanted to say, 'And if I don't?' but I know better than to provoke a powerful being. "Agreed. We are business partners until we resolve this matter. Now, Demon King, would you please take the couch when it's bedtime?" I said as sweetly as I could.
He turned abruptly and pushed me against the wall almost immediately.
Fear crept up my spine as I felt blood leaving my face. His beautiful black eyes which gave me comfort were now ablaze with fire and danger.
Trying to turn and run, a pair of black wings unfolded from his back, completely blocking my escape. The room then started to spin around us, and I felt a darkness slowly taking over.
The handsome face before me now started to change. His teeth elongated and so did his face. His body twisted and turned, though his hand still firmly held my neck to the wall, its sharpness cutting in my skin a little at a time.
"Y…yo…you…you're" I couldn't string a sentence together. My fear of him had taken everything. My breath, my voice and soon I fear, my will.
"Say it! What am I?" He growled as me, his breath and the weight of his hand suffocating me as I struggled to keep my wits.