by Aya DeAniege
“You’re probably used to people saying no to drugs, but yes to caffeine,” Sera said.
“I am,” I said with a nod. “They get annoyed when I continue my smoke, but then they sip their mocha latte frappuccino with their high fructose corn syrup muffin that’s got dark chocolate bits in it, and they try to tell me that they’re so special because they aren’t addicted to anything.”
“Women.”
“Those are the men,” I said. “Don’t get me started on the addictions of the modern woman.”
“You really go both ways?” Sera asked.
“I go all ways, not two,” I purred out. “I’ve got a bridesman waiting in a guest room to ravage me.”
The pair of us shared a look as I flicked the end of the smoke in habit. One of Sera’s eyebrows rose. As it did so, I saw the question bubbling up and wondered if she would have the courage to ask it.
“Why you, why not him?”
Imagine that, a human with courage.
“You’re the one who brought it up,” I said in my own defence.
“True,” she said with a little nod.
We were quiet as another car passed us. I watched the luxury town car drive by and wondered who that one was for. Most of the guests were gone, there were only a few stragglers left behind. We hadn’t tried to chase anyone off, but the bartenders stopped serving at a certain time, and that was about when everyone began leaving.
I think they may have found our private liquor stash, however, but that was fine as well. It would be a wedding reception to talk about for decades to come. The party had gone on to well past midnight.
“How are you getting home?” I asked.
“I was going to call a cab,” she said. “But then I saw you and figured you might be more fun than going home alone.”
“Oh?”
She made a little sound and glanced around. I followed her gaze, wondering what exactly she was looking for. After looking around, Sera made a motion with her head toward the estate. It was an offer, I knew, but I also didn’t want to put out my smoke.
Sometimes there were things I wanted to do and had to see through for my own sanity. Finishing that smoke was one of those things, strange as it might have sounded.
“I’m going to finish this,” I said.
“Can you finish it on the way?” she asked.
“That’s a fair enough compromise.”
I turned, making a motion to her before I walked down the way I had come. It was one of several rarely used cutouts in the hedges up the drive. They had been created to allow us to make a quick getaway if we had visitors at the house. It was little more than a hole cut in the hedges, and an invisible path up to the estate. The path was one that Michael had wound through the grass.
If the estate ever went up in flames, or there was some other emergency, our guests would follow specific escape routes to safety. They would never know what had drawn them that way, but they would get free.
As long as Hell didn’t spill out into the physical world.
“Your dad rich or something?” Sera asked. “Four boys from different backgrounds, huge estate, lots of money. Might even be landed wealth?”
“Or something,” I said as Sera paused on the lawn, looking up at the estate.
That was a question that we always eluded. No one quite knew how we made our initial pool of money and we liked to keep it that way. Until we developed a name for ourselves, we were untraceable. A few had tried to delve into that period of time in our lives, and we had done what was necessary to keep our private lives safe.
And private.
“Everyone knows about the Angelica brothers, but no one talks about where you came from or the fact that you all look different.”
I shrugged and played with my smoke as Sera continued to look up at the estate. She glanced at me through her long lashes. When she saw no give in my stance, she gave the barest of shrugs, as if there was no harm in asking the question.
Uncertain whether she was attempting to alienate me, or if she merely was trying to figure out where she would stand the next morning, I remained silent as she continued.
“Or why the big boss man, who used to bed vain whores, settled for someone who papers describe as humble.”
“At best,” I added. “They describe her as humble at best. Homely, definitely a wifely figure.”
The gossip columns had been very unkind to Grace and the so-called figure she painted. Thankfully for us, Grace couldn’t be bothered with those columns. She read the newspaper on a daily basis, but only for the news and to try to wrap her head around the business sections. The lifestyle and gossip bits she tossed at me.
“Kind of mean of them to say,” Sera added.
“She’s not one of his models,” I said, taking a drag off the smoke. “A lot of people were surprised by that. Especially his models. They think he’s looking for a mistress on the side, to, you know, but he’s not.”
“They’re in love, which is supposed to see beyond everything else,” Sera said. “Certainly, Sam could get a model, but if he wanted one, he could have one. Or ten or twenty. Just because Grace isn’t starving herself to death, doesn’t mean she’s unworthy of him. They have their happily ever after and everyone else is jealous.”
“That’s complete bullshit. They fight just like anyone else.”
“About?”
Him stealing the blankets, her insisting on keeping a job, him only paying minimum wage to most of his workers until just last year. When Grace found out that last point the fight lasted four days before Sam relented and put it to a vote.
So we made a million dollars less last year in profit. We couldn’t take the money to Heaven with us, and our workers needed it more.
I wouldn’t say that to Sera, however. What happened in the estate between Grace and Sam was no one’s business but theirs, and whoever they dragged into the fight.
Sometimes literally.
“Oh, that’s getting you randy?” I asked.
“It’s like Cinderella marrying the prince,” Sera said. “She’s the exception to the rule, but I don’t want her to be. I want it to be the rule. You know?”
“Life sucks, and then you die, and you spend eternity alone in Heaven,” I said with a little smile.
“That’s not a nice thing to say.”
“What? That you could even be alone in Heaven?” I asked.
“No, that I might get into Heaven,” Sera said. “My history? I’m on a very steep road to Hell.”
“You’ve been murdering people?” I asked, then waited as she shook her head. “Torturing people or small animals?” another headshake. “Stealing, idolization?”
“No, but if we’re going commandments, then I definitely did not honour my father,” she said.
“Because…”
“He raped me when I was ten,” she stiffened, arms tightening around her shawl as she frowned at me. “Why did I tell you that?”
They attributed my power to the healing of flesh. While it did do that, and I was the one responsible for crafting the skin that we all walked in, my power extended to all kinds of healing, not just physical. In Heaven, we didn’t exactly have a physical body.
Or maybe it would be better viewed as we were all things in Heaven, emotional, psyche, flesh, all bundled into this thing that human language has no words to describe.
For that reason, sometimes I let out my power by accident. Like after drinking and then treating myself to a smoke.
“I have a face like that,” I said. “Though, I’m kind of curious how you didn’t honour him. Most people who say that, given the situation, don’t really care about the commandment.”
“I just ran away. It was my brother who took a frying pan to him and left him on life support,” Sera said. “I don’t talk to my family much so last I heard, he was in prison on assault charges for attacking his boss.”
“And you became a stripper who doesn’t sleep with her clients,” I said. “I feel like there’s a pro
blem with this picture. Somehow.”
“I don’t sleep with them unless I feel like it,” Sera said. “Though usually, you have to pay a lot for that service. Most get insulted like they think that I think I’m worth something. They don’t realize the price tag is there to keep them at bay.”
“Have you ever prostituted yourself?”
“Technically, yes, once. He said yes, it surprised me, he was attractive. So,” she shrugged. “I took his money. I would have slept with him if he had just talked to me too. He was a pretty good guy. Just didn’t have much belief in his self-worth which led to his offer.”
“How much did he pay?”
“Ten thousand dollars paid out under the table. I still have some.”
“Michael paid five for the evening.”
We had discussed how much he had paid at breakfast the morning after he made the offer. Grace had been horrified. She thought buying the services of a woman, even if one had no intention of sleeping with her, was wrong.
“He didn’t even flinch at the price.”
“How much do you usually charge?” I asked as she moved away from me, toward the estate.
“Six hundred to a thousand. I figured an Angelica brother could afford it.”
“Tricky woman, he would have paid ten thousand for the night, though, you should know.”
“I wasn’t going to have sex with him,” Sera said with a shake of her head as I rushed to catch up. “I get in moods, maybe others do too, but what I want tonight, he wasn’t willing to offer, so sex wasn’t going to happen. I’m not some loose woman just because I take my clothes off for money.”
“You mean, your situation.”
“I like what I like.”
“I know that, and I’ve only known you for a few hours,” I said. “But you surely knew he’d say no the moment you asked, so why ask?”
Most women who got up and close with Mike figured it out pretty quickly. It was hard for him to hide his distaste of them and everything they were. Something as simple as makeup choice could somehow take a woman off his imaginary list of what was and was not acceptable for a bed partner of one of the Heavenly Host.
“I did because I was giving him a chance to join me,” Sera said, coming to a stop at the estate. She turned to me, adjusting her shawl as she did so. “I find the man attractive. After deciding on you for the second body, I have to admit. I wanted to see him working you over. I’ve got this image that’s him holding you down and having his way with you, and when he’s done, he makes you pleasure me while he keeps his hands firmly on you.”
It sounded like a safety net. Like Sera trusted Michael to protect her, but was also using me as a buffer in that fantasy of hers. She likely kept a great deal of control over the men she slept with, and I didn’t blame her for that in the least.
Thankfully, I enjoyed when my partner was the one in control. For so long, I had had to lead, and take control and be the strong one. For once, I wanted someone else to do the work.
So I was perfectly fine with Sera tying me up and having her way with me, or introducing someone else into the mix. Within reason, of course.
Michael was not within reason.
I had to make certain that she understood that, but also so that she felt comfortable. If I jumped too quickly, she might think I was overly eager. Too eager was a bad thing. Agreeing too much would also be a bad thing. Men agreed with everything the woman said, usually to manipulate her. I had to be down to earth and normal.
As normal as I could be while wearing a flesh that made me feel like I was suffocating.
“I’m not into being tied up by strangers,” I said as I looked around us.
I was making certain no one else was around.
We could see the drive from where we were, and if someone paid close attention, they might have been able to see us despite the dim light, but the chances of that were slim. I made a motion to Sera and headed away from the front doors.
“I’m not suggesting tying you up,” she said. “You’ve agreed to the first part of my little thing, that’s usually as far as anyone agrees to.”
“Your little thing is a hot little fantasy,” I said. “And I’m not into being tied up because…”
“Because?” Sera asked as I trailed off.
“Something happened that wasn’t to me and isn’t for me to share. Suffice to say, one of us was once tied up and their innocence was taken from them. The rest of us learned the hard lesson.”
“Okay, don’t offer to tie Michael up either, I’m guessing,” she said. “That’s too bad. Another fantasy of mine is tying up a man and performing oral.”
“That’s a weird one,” I said. “Normally it’s something about having them perform oral on you.”
“I know, but I’d like to try oral and have trust issues. At least that’s what my therapist says. I’m a very sexual person, but I have trust issues. Blah, blah, blah. Don’t burn down another house, typical therapist stuff.”
I paused for a moment, then forced myself to move again.
“Whose house did you burn down?”
“An ex’s and it was a very small fire. He cheated on me and then got engaged to the skank two days after breaking up with me because she was pregnant.”
“Does this story involve…” I trailed off as Sera glanced at me.
“I’m sorry, rape, brutal assault, arson, and possible kidnapping from you is okay, but you come to the word ‘abortion,’ and you hesitate?”
“These are some dark topics for a woman who ten minutes ago said she wanted sex,” I said.
It was my face. Or more of my power, but most humans stopped at one thing, they didn’t divulge every little secret that they might have had.
I found myself worrying that if that was what she was telling me, she might be holding back something darker and more sinister.
“True, but you asked, and yes, it did,” she said. “You’re the one who asked, so don’t you get that judgemental look on your face.”
What she was referring to was not my judgemental face, it was my surprised and concerned face.
Usually humans only talked like that when they were possessed, but she showed none of the signs, at all. Unless she had been possessed by some new type of demon, which I would have to make certain I excised before reporting it to Sam.
Which means the plan hasn’t changed at all.
“I just wanted to know if you were crazy, or if he had pushed you to that point,” I countered.
“Still want to have sex with me?” she asked.
There was a moment of silence as we rounded the side of the estate. I didn’t know how to tell her that I had been with men and women possessed by demons before who were spewing some pretty nasty stuff, or had tried to scare me off with racism or embarrassing things from their pasts.
“Raphael?” she asked as I walked around her rather than answer.
I sighed as I went. Then I stopped and turned to her, slipping my hands into my pockets as I did so.
“You call me Raphael.”
“You don’t like being called Ralph.”
“Even Grace calls me Ralph.”
“Have you told her that you don’t like the name?”
“No, but I’ve said it so often, for so long, that I simply stopped telling everyone,” I said. “You’re weird. We kind of expect that of women who want to sleep with us who aren’t after something else.”
“And the other guy?” Sera asked.
I took that as meaning she was asking after the third to our little adventure, and answered in kind.
“Toby’s… weird. Not like you’re weird, but in a different sort of way.”
“Okay,” she said.
“It’s this way,” I said with a motion over my shoulder.
She didn’t feel possessed, but she was all over the place. There was something about her that kept drawing us back together, something that I could not deny was there. It wasn’t the wings on her back, despite how pretty the details were. N
or was it her beautiful looks or her odd interactions with myself and Michael.
It might have been her being so close to Michael, or her suggestion to me for the ending of our night. But I couldn’t help but feel that there was something drawing me to her beyond all that. Like our fates were intertwined.
Could she be my Grace?
I walked to the sliding glass door and slipped inside, holding the curtain to the side of Sera. She walked in, then a little deeper into the room as I slid the door closed and locked it. I then closed the curtain, making certain that no one could peep inside.
Turning away from the sliding door, I found Toby and Sera watching one another.
“Toby, Sera, Sera, Toby,” I said.
“Right, that guy,” Sera said.
She almost sounded disappointed in finding Toby in the room. Since I knew she wasn’t expecting Mike or Sam, I made the next logical assumption, that Sera had been hoping for Gabe, who she hadn’t quite been introduced to.
Gabe had gone to the wedding without a date, which was why Mike and I both had to bring dates because there could only be one single brother at the wedding, to keep things a little more balanced, Grace had said. Unfortunately for us, Gabe had called it as she was saying the words.
“Black guy is Gabriel, if you were hoping for him,” I said.
“Is it bad of me that I was kind of hoping?” Sera asked.
“Not at all, I wouldn’t say no to that hunk of a man either,” Toby said. “Shall we discuss the rules of this interaction?”
Sera glanced at me. I gave a little shrug in response.
When I had talked Toby into spending the night, the ‘interaction’ as he put it had been a completely different setup. He had every right to ask what was happening, though I was very certain that Toby wouldn’t say no.
“Sera wants to join us,” I said. “I hope that’s all right.”
“More than all right,” Toby said. “But two men and one woman, there are a couple of ways that can go, which way would you prefer Sera?”
Sera turned back to me and frowned just slightly. She looked me up and down, eyes narrowing just slightly as she considered me. Whatever conclusion she came to, she said not a word as she turned back to Toby.
