I have no idea what you are talking about. Ace sounded perfectly perplexed.
I AM SATAN, THE GREAT DECEIVER. LIES DO NOT WORK ON ME ACEREZEAL. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
I am protecting the one who gave me the chance to live again. She stared down the Angel of Death and protected me. Have you lost your sense of honor, Lucifer? Have you fallen so far?
I WILL ASK AGAIN, MY BELOVED AND ONLY ONCE MORE. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
The temperature in the room dropped suddenly, and Lux was on his feet in front of Luc, a sword that appeared from nowhere pointed at the Devil’s chest. Luc still had his hands on my stomach and I was frozen in fear.
“Holy fuck, is that a sword? Did it just get cold in here? What is going on?” Clary asked, her voice high pitched.
I felt Ace rise up, and like last time, she possessed my body and pushed me back until I was just a passenger.
“I am feeding my life force to the infants. I will continue to do so despite you disagreement. Feel them Lucifer, see their futures. Because I know you will sense what I do, that their lives are important.”
Luc was silent, unperturbed by the sword at his throat or the tension in the room. “You will die!” He burst out into the silence, and Ace’s voice, my voice was gentle. “I will not die, my beloved. Not after everything you have accomplished to save me. I have thought this through. Cady means the world to me, she is your Redeemer. These babes are as much mine as they are hers. They must live, and they will. And then I will come back to you. We will be together again, one way or another.”
The look on Luc's face broke my heart in two. Such a mask of tortured pain that my eyes welled. But then the moment was gone, and back was the rage. “You will do what you will, Acerezeal. You always have, and losing your immortal soul obviously hasn’t taught you anything.” He stood, the point of Lux’s sword drawing blood from the hollow of his neck. He looked at us all, and I’d never felt so small, so fragile. “But know this. If Acerezeal fades into oblivion, you will all promptly follow her.”
Flames burst up from his feet, smoke swirled around his body and with a crash of thunder, he was gone. All that remained was a scorched glyph on my favorite rug.
Ace shrunk back into my body, swirling around the babies. I could sense her exhaustion, her torment. That show of defiance had cost her. I left her to her pain. She didn’t want to talk, and I wouldn’t know what to say anyway.
Clary was muttering the Lord's Prayer, and the guys looked tense and confused.
“Well, it's not a good dinner party until someone storms out, right?” I said into the silence, and Valery gave a startled smile.
“Can you please tell Ace that the whole possession thing is really not cool?” Oz said weakly.
I shook my head sadly. “I don’t think she will be doing it again anytime soon.”
Tolliver rolled up the singed rug and put it outside the door. Out of sight and all that. Sam began putting the food out on the table. “We should eat. We can figure this all out over a nice meal. No need for all this hard work to go to waste.”
The guys all glanced between Val and Sam. “I think they’ve been body swapped,” Orion muttered, and Oz laughed. “Maybe Valery has possessed Sam?”
Valery just rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, guys. But Sam is right. It’s time to eat.”
Clary slammed a hand down on the table. “Eat? How can you guys even think of eating? You were just threatened by the Devil. Cursed by Satan himself. How can you even think of eating?”
Sam shrugged. “Happens every time Luc visits. It's just the way he likes to end his conversations. Though the flames were new. I’m pretty sure that Cady and Ace’s little gambit has really pissed him off.” Standing across from him, I could tell Sam was more concerned than his light tone conveyed.
The front door opened and everyone tensed again, only relaxing when Eli walked through. His eyes took us all in. “I'm going to assume from the look on everyone's face and the fact there's a burned rug outside the door, that I missed something big?”
I ran over and hugged him tight. His arms came around my shoulders and held me close to his chest.
“Ace told Luc about her plan to ensure the babies are delivered healthy. He didn’t take it well. There were swords and flames.”
“So just another day at the ranch?” He squeezed me tightly.
I laughed at the truth of the statement. “Pretty much.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I was restless. There was only so much online shopping and nesting a girl could do. I missed being able to leave the house without an entourage. Or having thirty-four pee breaks between my front door and the garage. I missed alone time. I missed not needing three naps a day.
Oz had assembled all the baby furniture, and Sam and Tolliver had bought every stuffed animal they could lay their hands on until the nursery resembled a plush zoo.
I stared sightlessly at the television, my head on Lux’s lap. He stroked my hair with one hand, the other resting on my protruding belly and one of the babies kicked at his hand. Oz was coding on his computer, sitting on the floor in front of us.
“I want to go on a date.”
“We can go out to Epicurean if you like. I’m sure Val is itching to check up on the new head chef,” Oz offered, his eyes not leaving the screen.
“No, I mean I want to go on a date date, with each of you.” I tried to sit up, and failed. Lux put a hand under my back and helped me up. I used to have core muscles, kinda, now they were 80% infant. I was beached without assistance. “We all kind of fell into this weird romance thing. I never got to go on a real date with any of you. I want to have one perfect night alone with each of you before…” I died. But I couldn’t say that. Everyone was firmly in denial for people who were essentially the reanimated dead. “Before the babies are born.”
Oz closed his laptop and turned toward me. “Eli says you are meant to be taking it easy, especially because they want to start you on chemo next week.”
“So we won’t climb any mountains or run a marathon. I’m sick of being cooped up in this house.” And then I burst into tears. Again.
Lux pulled me into his lap and held me close. Even though I cried all the time, Lux responded like my heart was breaking every single time, though it was mostly hormones. I cried harder.
“Hey now, we will go on hundreds of dates as we all grow old together. But if you want a special date with each of us now, then that’s what you’ll get,” Oz said, wiping my eyes with a tissue. “I’ll start. We’ll go to the baseball, or the gallery or whatever you want to do as long as you stop crying, okay?”
You should totally milk this, make them take you somewhere fancy. Or S&M night at Dante’s. Ri owes you one.
I look like the old lady who swallowed a cow. I’m not going to an S&M club, I scolded Ace half heartedly. I was just glad to hear her voice. She’d been so faint lately, I was almost alone in my own head.
Are you kidding? You are like a fetish dreamboat right now. Look at those cankles. The foot fetish guys will crawl through hell to get you to tie them up and dip those chubby little tootsies in their mouths.
I screwed up my nose. Not to kink shame anyone but ew.
I think I’ll pass.
“Let's do something you want to do. Take me on a date to your favorite place in all of NYC.”
Lux stroked a hand along my back. “I’m already here.”
Ace sniffed, I think your hormones might be contagious. Damn, that guy looks like sin personified but he has some seriously sweet lines.
I snuggled in closer to Lux, kissing his chin before tucking my head beneath it. I was exactly where I wanted to be too, but a girl needed to leave the house once in a while.
“I'm with Lux on this one. Before you came along, I rarely left the house. Hell, I rarely put on pants.” I was failing to see a problem with that last part. “So I don’t really have a favorite place in New York. But we can go somewhere I’ve always wanted to go?”
I nodded, my
spirits already lifting. This would be fun.
I stood hand in hand with Oz in front of a store in the Rockefeller building. “This is where you’ve always wanted to go?”
“Yep.”
“You want to go on a date to the Lego Store?”
He began to look a little uncertain, so I smiled. “It sounds perfect. Let's go.”
For an hour, Oz whirled around me like a satellite, always within arms reach but he wanted to see everything at once. The stupidly big grin on his face made my heart lift. I had to admit that some of the large LEGO sculptures were amazing.
The store was filled with tourists, but I didn’t mind. It was just nice to be out amongst humanity again. Oz decided he wanted to build the babies a two foot tall LEGO sculpture of a unicorn for the nursery, and set about finding all the bricks he’d need. I sat down on a chair, thankfully not made of LEGO, and rested. My belly was so big that I’d gotten a few curious looks, but so far no one had stopped to ask questions. That was probably thanks to Oz’s looming presence. He wasn’t nearly as terrifying as Lux, but he was still tall and built and had a big ginger beard.
“May I sit too?”
I looked up at a pleasant looking man in his late forties.
“Uh, sure.” I scooted over a little, and the man sat down.
“You’re just a wee little thing, aren’t you? All baby belly.” He smiled. It was a nice smile, one where you couldn’t help but smile back.
Holy shit! Ace roused herself for long enough to say.
The man tsked. “Acerezeal, such bad language.”
I scooted away a bit more, my hands protectively around my stomach.
Apologies, Michael.
“Michael, as in Archangel Michael.” I had to work hard to control my own expletives.
Michael laughed. “Yes.”
How can we help you? I’d never heard Ace so cordial to anyone. She basically spit it the face of Azriel.
“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see what all the fuss has been about. Azriel has been quite vocal about your situation. Although, I do not know what he thinks I will do about it. It is the Father's will after all.”
Azriel is just a whiner, Ace replied and Michael laughed and it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I wanted to cry and laugh and fall at his feet.
“Well, perhaps, but we all have our strengths and purposes. You are even causing a stir in the depths. Word has gotten around that the fallen Acerezeal is not dead, but alive in the body of a mortal. I see you are protecting the infants even now. From me.” He sounded amused.
“No disrespect, Sir, but we have learned to be cautious,” I said. He just inclined his head.
Have you come to heal her? Ace asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“No, Acerezeal. That is not the Father’s will either. I am merely here out of my own curiosity.”
Angels don’t get curious.
“And Fallen don’t protect the innocent. But all things change, do they not? Not even angels stay in stasis forever.” He stood, briefly touching my belly. “Ah. I see now. Good luck, Arcadia. Acerezeal, give my love to Lucifer.”
Ace scoffed. I probably won’t do that. He still hasn’t forgiven you.
Michael laughed again, and between one breath and the next, he was gone.
Oz appeared next to me, three bulging bags of LEGO in his hands.
“Hey, are you okay? You’ve gone a little pale? Maybe we should head home.” He lifted me from the chair with ease. I shook my head. I went to tell him about Michael, but changed my mind. I didn’t want our date to end. I wanted to cling to this little piece of normalcy for a little while longer.
I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’m just hungry.”
Oz wrapped an arm around my waist. “Well luckily, I know the greatest diner where they sell the kind of food that would horrify both Eli and Valery.”
“Are their shakes green?”
Oz leaned in and kissed my temple. “Nope. They make the best Blue Heaven milkshakes in America, though. And the best chili fries and their hotdogs are orgasmic.” He moaned.
“Sounds perfect.”
Normal.
I stepped into the rowboat, Eli’s hand steadying me. Maybe maneuvering would be a better word. It wobbled a little but we were still close to shore, so I wasn’t worried about tipping. I sat down, taking the picnic basket from Eli as he stepped off the dock and onto the boat with nimble ease that made me jealous. The kid who was working the boathouse pushed us away from the dock with a heave, and we drifted to the middle of the lake in Central Park.
Lux had informed everyone of my desire to have a serious date while I’d been out with Oz the day before. Obviously Oz didn’t get the serious memo. But serious isn’t his style and I loved him just the way he was.
Eli had had today off, so it was decided he would have the next date. And here we were, Eli rowing a boat to the center of the lake, and I perched on the seat with a large hat. We were like a picture from a nineteenth century photo album. I loved it.
I’d even brought a book, so we could just drift around and relax in the sun. All that was missing was my parasol.
Val had packed us a picnic of baguettes and sparkling grape juice and chocolate fudge brownies, and the thought made me hungry for the first time in weeks.
Eli rowed us to a place where the branches of a large willow tree shaded the edges of the lake shore.
“This is bliss,” I sighed leaning back on my hands. My back was beginning to ache, but I didn’t care.
“Come here and sit with me,” Eli said, and I shifted slowly from one bench to the other, sitting between his thighs. “You can rest against me.”
I leaned back into his chest and sighed. I didn’t know how he always knew when I was uncomfortable, but he did and he inevitably had a solution to make it better.
He leaned forward and kissed my hair. “Now, this is bliss.”
We sat in silence for a while, appreciating the sounds of laughter from the shore and the butterflies that seemed to make their home in the middle of Central Park. Everything seemed brighter, better.
We drifted on the water, the slight wind drifting us back toward the middle.
“Is this what courting was like in your day?” I asked, taking a deep inhale of his fresh, clean scent. Eli didn’t wear expensive cologne like Sam, Tolli and Ri. He didn’t smell like sugar cookies like Val or that sexy musk of Lux. Eli smelled like new beginnings. Like soap, and crisp mountain air and maybe a touch of antiseptic.
“Somewhat. Mostly we would take chaperoned strolls through manicured gardens. Or carriage rides, that kind of thing.”
“Did you have a wife?”
Eli shook his head. “No. I was married to my work. I was determined to be the Da Vinci of my age. It didn’t quite work out like that, though.”
I rubbed my stomach. “I guess not. You must have died fairly young.”
“Thirty-six.”
I wanted to ask why he was sent to hell. I was desperate to know. Who wouldn’t? I knew the rest of the guys stories, but Eli kept things closer to his chest.
He gave a chuckle, but there wasn’t a lot of humor in it. “Ask your question, Miss Jones.”
“Why were you sentenced to hell?”
“Because I sold my soul to the Devil to save my home from the plague. Well, the whole County actually. Lucifer was fairly generous with his definition of home.”
I watched a dragonfly land on the water, skimming the top as if gravity did not affect him. “You went to hell for saving people. That hardly seems fair.”
His hands reached down to stroke my stomach. “When it comes to the affairs of Heaven and Hell, things are rarely ever fair.”
I tilted my head back for a kiss, and Eli happily obliged. His lips were firm but there was tenderness there, such caring that it made my eyes water. He pulled back and stared into my soul. “I love you, Arcadia. You will live. I will save you.”
My body felt tired. My mind felt
tired. My heart was exhausted. But Eli said it with so much self assurance that I was almost certain I would. “I know you will.”
We sat in silence again, lost in our own heads. My eyes lulled with the gentle rocking of the boat. My body was more relaxed than it had been in months, even given the uncomfortable bench seat. I was safe in Eli’s hands.
“Want to hear the strangest case I ever had as a young physician?”
I nodded. I was desperate to hear anything and everything about this man.
“They brought me a boy they pulled out of the frozen lake, much like this one, in the middle of winter. It was bitterly cold that year. I’d amputated so many toes from frostbite that I could practically do it in my sleep. The kid came in and was blue, the same shade of blue as Sam’s eyes. I placed him on my table, and did my checks. I took one look at him and pronounced him dead. No heartbeat, no breathing noises. The men that had brought the boy to me then went in search of his parents and I went back to staring into my microscope. Two hours later, they still hadn’t found the parents, but the boy sat up and told me he was hungry. I screamed like a maiden who’d seen a mouse. I checked the boy over and other than a bad case of frostbite, he was fine. I, however, learned not to assume anyone was dead until they were warm and dead. I had to convince his parents that he wasn’t a demon, and that it was actually a miracle. It was a tough sell but he went home and grew into a fine young man.”
I giggled at the image of Eli jumping and screaming. And the irony that Eli himself would actually come back as the reanimated dead from hell made me laugh harder.
We ate our small picnic, and we talked in a way we rarely go the opportunity to talk. We talked about his life before and after he went to hell, and his family. And I told him about my parents, and the hospitals stays and my adventures with Clary while she was in college. This is why I had wanted these dates. I wanted these perfect memories, this closeness, with all of them.
By the time we were rowing our way back to the dock to return the boat, I was warm, relaxed and exhausted.
Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset Page 21
