by Amy Sumida
“I gotta go, Cer, the Gargoyle is getting grumbly. Thank Raphael for me.”
“Sure thing, Ellie-Girl. And tell the Gargoyle; I said hi.”
I pulled the charm out and let it drop on its chain. It clinked against the traveling stone I wore on my necklace beside it.
“I don't want you anywhere near that fucker,” Slate declared. “Neither do the other guys.”
“I know, but I need to learn how to control my Light,” I reasoned. “If I get my Fire under control but not my Light, I could wreck all my hard work in one moment.”
Slate sighed deeply. “Why does it have to be him?”
“Because he's the only other god awake, and he also happens to be the God of Light. The fucking Morning Star. Lucifer can help me, and he's willing to do it.”
“Fine, but we're going with you,” Torin said as he stepped into the room with the other men.
I sighed deeply and fell back against the pillows. “Fuck my life.”
Hey, at least we stayed out of that cluster-fuck conversation, RS pointed out.
Yes, that makes it all better, I drawled.
Chapter Eight
Shavalina was still sleeping when we left for Heaven. Heaven is the name of a continent on planet Angelus in the Eden Realm, and it's also the name of the only city on that continent. We were headed to the city; the seat—or throne, rather—of Lucifer's power. Odin stayed behind to look after Shava and let her know where we'd gone.
“We'd better do this together.” I held a hand out to Darc. “Raph said I have a standing invitation, but I'm not sure if that extends to all of you.”
“In other words; Lucifer's wards may be set specifically to allow you in and keep us out.” Banning sneered, showing a bit of fang.
“Try to keep in mind that I need his help,” I said calmly.
“We won't let our anger get in the way of what you need, little bird,” Torin promised. “Go ahead; take us to Heaven.”
Gage grinned lasciviously at me. “We don't have to go anywhere for that.”
Oh, you naughty boy! Let's go to your room, RS exclaimed.
If any of the others had said it, I would have rolled my eyes but from Gage, it was adorable. I winked at him before I clasped my traveling stone. With the men extending out in a line down from Darc, I pulled them with me through the Veil and onto Angelus. We came out right before the pearly gates.
In case you're wondering what “pearly” means exactly, the gates are constructed of a gold frame with a core of gleaming, pearlescent material that Lucifer can saturate with power to use in defense of Heaven, the city. I'd seen him do the trick myself, back when my friends and lovers had come to rescue me from his evil—at the time—clutches.
Currently, the pearly gates were quiescent; completely benign but still utterly beautiful. They were also manned by a small retinue of Angels. The angels gave a start when they spotted us; their feathered wings whooshing open in aggression and their golden spears angling our way. Then they realized who we were. Spears and wings both lowered and the gates glided open. Then an angel did appear unto us—sorry; I couldn't help it—floating down to land before us on the golden street.
“Goddess of Fire,” the Angel said before he bowed, “Lucifer has been waiting for you. I've sent for a carriage; it shall arrive shortly.”
“Thank you.” I smiled politely.
The Angel bowed again and as he straightened, his gaze slid warily over my men. They grinned at him. He lifted his chin and glanced up. Six more angels landed behind him. They all set the butts of their spears casually on the ground and had a staring contest with my guys. I sighed deeply and strode forward.
“Really?” I asked the angels. “You're going to welcome me and then block our way with antagonizing looks?”
Yeah, step aside, don't you know who my girl is? She will fuck you up! RS shouted.
You are getting out of control, I muttered in my mind. Bring it down a notch.
No fun. She pouted.
The angel in the center of the feathered barricade, the one who had greeted me, grimaced and inclined his head before he nodded to his friends. The other angels parted into two groups of three and moved to line the road.
“My apologies, Goddess,” the Angel murmured. “It's difficult to forget what your... friends did during the battle.”
“My husbands and consorts,” I offered the preferred terms. “They're here to support me, not attack Heaven.”
“And if your god hadn't been holding my wife hostage, we wouldn't have attacked you then either,” Torin added.
“Oh, look; here's the carriage,” I said brightly before there was bloodshed.
A pair of snowy horses clattered to a stop after they had pulled the carriage in a loop to face back the way they'd come. The driver had his wings put away and looked almost human. He jumped down and opened the door for us.
“Fire Goddess,” the driver murmured respectfully as I climbed in.
It was a little unsettling, the continued usage of an inaccurate title, but I didn't feel like correcting them all. And respect is never a bad thing. So, I simply thanked him and settled inside the spacious coach. I was grateful that angel carriages are extra large. If they hadn't been, we would have needed two. As it was, I ended up sitting on Gage's lap. Not that I minded.
The trip wasn't long. Heaven's alabaster homes and posh stores rolled by, interspersed with verdant parks. Angels roamed the streets, glancing curiously at our carriage as we passed. They were dressed in all manner of costume; from the most casual of human clothing to the most elaborate alien designs.
We were nearly to the palace when we passed Erotic Alley. I glanced down the lane where the most scandalous of Heaven's activities took place. Every desire could be fulfilled in Erotic Alley. Every type of pleasure could be had; from fine dining to the thrill of carnage. Slaves were bought and sold there as well as used openly for both sexual gratification and entertainment. There were businesses catering to specific tastes; some of which I shuddered to think about.
But the alley looked calm today. I didn't even notice any aerial sex. I looked away in relief; it's so much easier to ignore something horrible when you don't have to stare it in the eye. Lucifer had promised me that he'd work toward cleaning up the alley, but there were certain needs that the place fulfilled for his people. If those needs weren't seen to, the Host would look elsewhere for satisfaction; such as other realms. It was a delicate situation; one which I was grateful to not be handling.
Our carriage glided gracefully to a stop before the palace, and Lucifer himself strode down the gleaming steps with a brilliant smile on his face. His expression faltered just slightly when he noticed that all of my men had accompanied me. But he refreshed it just in time to open the carriage door.
“I'm so sorry; I didn't realize there would be so many of you or I would have sent two carriages.” Lucifer stepped back so we could emerge.
“It's fine; we made do.” I took the hand he offered and climbed out then immediately gave him a hug. “How are you, Lucifer?”
“I'm extremely well. Thank you for asking.” Lucifer stared down at me with a soft smile; his long lashes shading his deep indigo eyes from the sunlight.
Despite their thick cover, light still caught the glittering striations within the depths of his eyes, turning them into jewels. He towered over me, larger than I remembered. Lucifer is just as tall as Darcraxis but slimmer; an elegant form in contrast to Darc's brutal body. He had his shimmering wings out on display; pure white feathers sprinkled with stars. They echoed the look of his hair; spun starlight streaming over his broad shoulders. The whole of him made a serenely stunning picture but one that didn't affect me as much as it had once. Probably because he wasn't messing with my mind anymore. Great, here we go; the cycle was already starting.
“I'm glad to hear it.” I moved away from him. “You look good.”
“And you are even more beautiful than my memories have portrayed you to be,” he said smoothly.
Slate cleared his throat pointedly.
“You remember my husbands and consorts, of course.” I motioned to the men. “Darc, Torin, Declan, Banning, Gage, and Slate.”
“What a mouthful.” Lucifer chuckled wickedly.
“Ellie,” Raphael's voice came from behind me.
I turned gratefully to face him. “Raph!” I gave him a big hug. “You didn't have to come.”
“I wanted to see you,” Raphael said as he eased away. “I spend half of my time here anyway.”
“Only until he sells his business on Earth,” Lucifer amended as he slid the few steps over to us. “Then Raphael shall be spending most of his time here. I need my General in residence.”
“What he said.” Raph gave me one of his cocky grins.
Then he shifted away to greet my guys. Raphael had been the one to abduct me in the beginning, but only because he was under Lucifer's sway. In the end, he'd been the one who escaped Lucifer and went to help my men gather an army to attack Heaven. In light of that, my guys had forgiven him for his part in the debacle. Too bad their forgiveness didn't extend to Lucifer.
“Raphael has told me that you require my assistance,” Lucifer said as he took my hand, wrapped it around the crook of his arm, and led me into the palace. “Is it your magic? Is Fire still giving you problems?”
Of course, he'd guess what I needed. He had gotten to know me and my magic intimately after all.
“It is,” I confirmed then glanced over my shoulder.
Most of my men were fuming over Lucifer's high-handedness, though Gage and Declan were merely amused. But they all nodded at me to proceed as they followed us through the shining corridors.
“I've got a teacher to help me with Fire,” I went on. “But she can't help me with the Light. I was hoping you would try again.”
“You're separating them?” He asked in surprise. “But we saw immediate improvement when you used your Light to control your Fire.”
“My new teacher believes that's a mistake,” I explained. “She says that to use one magic to suppress another will only lead to dissension among them and resentment toward me. I need to accept them and learn to work with them individually before I can work with them together.”
“Interesting concept.” He went pensive. “Yes; I can see how that would occur. Very well, Elaria, we will try to work with the Light alone.” Lucifer lowered his voice and whispered in my ear, “But you do recall what happened the last time?”
“That was when you were manipulating my mind,” I said it with as little emotion as I could manage. I didn't want to upset him when I was asking for a favor. “I don't think I'll have the same reaction this time.”
Lucifer blinked, swallowed visibly, and then nodded. “I see.”
“Lucifer, there you are, darling!” A woman came sashaying down the hallway. Her expression flared with panic when she saw my hand on his arm. Then her stare lifted to my face, and she froze. “What the fuck?” She whispered.
“Ditto.” My jaw unhinged as I looked from her to Lucifer.
Lucifer's perfect, creamy-gold skin flushed into a beautiful rose-gold.
“Oh, this is fucking twisted,” Slate muttered.
You can say that again, hard stuff, RS muttered. What the actual fuck?
Great; now, you're mimicking Slate too? Kyanite grumbled.
I imitate genius; it's the greatest form of flattery.
“Elaria, this is Delilah,” Lucifer introduced me to the woman. “Delilah, this is Queen Elaria of Kyanite, a close friend of mine.”
Raphael stood to the side and tried to keep the laughter from escaping his lips by pressing them together. I vaguely recalled Cerberus saying something about Lucifer dating lookalikes. As in; women who looked like me. Like this one did.
“Delilah?” I asked and made an amused sound. “You're dating a woman named Delilah? Isn't that Sampson's thing?”
“That's what you're taking out of this encounter?” Raphael asked in shock. Then he glanced at Lucifer and cleared his throat. “I mean; yeah, it's funny, huh?”
“What's so funny about my name?” My twin growled.
Well, at least she doesn't have your brains, RS said.
Damn; the woman even wore her hair like me. Delilah's dark waves fell loosely around her shoulders, parted on the left. The only difference between us was the color of her eyes; they were a rich, chocolate brown. And they narrowed at me as if I were the seductress trying to cut off her man's hair.
“It's from the Bible and you're dating Lucifer,” my tone clearly implied that she should already know this.
“Whatever,” she huffed. “Luci, you wanna tell me why you have a woman who looks like me on your arm?”
“Luci?” I mouthed at my men over my shoulder.
They all snickered.
Please tell me you're using that? RS begged.
“I thought it was evident,” Lucifer used the same tone that I had with her. “I adore this woman, but I can't have her so I'm using you as a substitute. To scratch my Elaria-itch, as it were.”
We all went still. All except for Gage, that is.
“Brutal,” Gage whispered.
Oh, damn! RS hooted. Can I say “damn” in Heaven?
No one can hear you, Kyanite snapped. Except Elaria and me, and we don't give a damn.
Oh, now you've said it too!
“You what?!” Delilah screeched over the voices in my head.
I slid my arm out of Lucifer's grip and backed away as if he were about to be struck by lightning. This was not my business. I mean; it was sort of about me, but I had nothing to do with their relationship, nor did I want to be involved in a lovers' spat. My men quickly closed ranks around me as they watched the brewing battle with smirking lips and gleaming eyes.
“Save the harridan shrieks for when you're alone, Delilah,” Lucifer said calmly. “I was honest with you from the beginning; I told you that this would be a purely sexual arrangement.”
“Yeah, and I thought that was hot,” she snapped. “But I didn't realize that the reason it was purely sexual was that I was a substitute for another woman. I thought you just didn't want any emotional entanglements, not that your emotions were already given to someone else. Someone you made me look like! I went through facial reconstruction for you. I got a boob job and hair extensions. And it was all so I'd look like her?”
“Yes, of course,” Lucifer replied as if it was a ridiculous question. “I just said as much.”
“Facial reconstruction,” I whispered. “Well, that makes me feel a little better.”
“It does?” Darc asked in surprise.
“She doesn't like the idea that there are a bunch of women who naturally look like her, walking around,” Slate explained. “There aren't, sweetheart; you're one-of-a-kind.”
“Thanks, babe.” I kissed his cheek.
“You are unbelievable!” Delilah screamed. “You're a cold-hearted bastard! A snake!”
“You have no idea,” Gage muttered.
“And you are more beautiful because of me!” Lucifer sneered. “I've made you into the image of a goddess; you should be grateful.”
“Grateful?! I don't even recognize my own reflection anymore! And now I find out that it's because you wanted a living sex doll to work out some freaky fantasies you have about some other woman? Jesus Christ! The things I did with you!”
“I'm not Jesus.” Lucifer blinked in confusion.
“Ugh!” Delilah roared. “You make me sick! You know that?” Then she looked at me. “Do you know what a fucking deviant he is? Do you know what he likes to do to women? You're welcome to him; I'm done!”
My eyes went wide as I wondered just what kind of weirdness I'd escaped.
I'm going to say; feet.
What do you mean; feet? Kyanite asked, aghast.
You know, as in; a foot fetish. He seems like a foot guy. Or maybe he's one of those guys who likes to stick his whole tongue in your ear. That's so gross.
I...
I can't even... Kyanite stuttered.
“Raphael, please escort Delilah back to Earth,” Lucifer said calmly to Raph. “At least this one lasted a week.”
Raphael nodded as if he'd been through this scene multiple times before.
“Fuck you, Lucifer!” Delilah screamed.
“Oh, do shut up, Delilah.” Lucifer waved his hand at the woman, and she fainted.
Raphael rushed forward to catch her; again, as if he'd done so before. He lifted the woman in his arms and strode by, going back the way we'd come and pausing to smirk at me as he went.
