“Everett! You mouth-breather. You never, never do this to a body! And guess what? God’s back, bitch.” She dug her hands into her thick hair in frustration.
The Devil took another pull of his sweet-smelling drug.
Emma stood and held her hands out, palms up. “God, please. I was wrong. I want my wings back, please!”
Emma bit her lip and kept her faithful gaze on the sky, which clouded up with a fast-moving front. Tiny snowflakes began shaking down from the heavens. But no wings bloomed on Emma’s back. She hung her head. She’d received her answer. The Devil clicked his tongue, and Emma looked at him across the expanse of white.
His voice was intimate and sexy, despite the distance. “He said no?”
Dean and Seriana, who had gathered around Emma, looked confused about what the hell this smoking, leather-clad entity had to do with any of this.
She looked angrily at the Devil. “My wings are busy right now. Thanks for that.”
She knelt by Jason’s side again, rearranging her jacket around him. “Jason, as soon as God takes care of Everett, I’ll appeal to Him. I’ll beg Him to fix you. The power Everett used against you was never meant to do anything other than purify a soul for Heaven. It hurt so much because you have a physical body, not just a soul. He’s a bastard. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll bring you back to your family.”
It wasn’t her words that moved Satan, but the hand she kept on the half-breed’s cheek, as if he could really hear her. Everett’s fluttering had become agitated. The news that God was free must be burning his ass.
Then he called down. “Satan, what brings you above? Delivering Emma to me? I guess I get a Christmas present. Thanks a lot.”
The Devil ignored Everett. He needed to end Emma’s suffering, and he had a way. He wasn’t proud of his weakness, but Emma’s kindness was hurting the Devil’s heart.
She stroked Jason’s hair. She was busy thinking — trying to think. Jason’s hands curled and trembled. Emma grasped one of them. “God, I know you’re busy, and you have a lot of love going on up there, but I can’t do this by myself,” she prayed aloud. “Save him.”
Dean hugged Seriana as the two stood a polite distance away, not wanting to disturb the scene.
Satan took a deep breath and held his hand in Jason’s direction. He concentrated and pulled the suffering out of him, healing him in the process, closing his wounds. Satan absorbed the death that had Jason at the brink.
The Devil took a breath, hissing with the influx of agony. His hand holding the cigarette began to shake — the slow, steady stream of smoke breaking into Morse code for torment. To protect Emma. To find Claudette, he told himself.
Everett began to rain lightning bolts down on the clearing.
Satan dropped to one knee. He couldn’t believe how much torture the half-breed had endured before succumbing to Everett. He glanced over again at Emma and found her looking back at him. He had to rally, and quickly.
For a moment Emma was afraid the Devil had been hit by something Everett had thrown. But when their eyes met, he gave her a saucy look.
“What I wouldn’t give for my wings!” Emma shouted, drawing Dean and Seriana closer. “If I begged the Devil to give them to me, I could let the soul they’re protecting in Hell be damned,” she reasoned, looking up to find Jason’s siblings staring blankly, unable to follow her argument. “With my wings I could do work. I could kick ass.”
Emma looked down at Jason’s beautiful face in repose, so innocent and young — or young-looking at least. “He wouldn’t want that,” she said, ending the debate with herself. “He’s too good to punish even an anonymous soul. Crap!”
Seriana squeezed her shoulder.
Finally the Devil was able to close his fist, sealing the death he’d pulled from Jason inside his own body. Satan stood back on both feet, trying to find a place for the pain so he could think clearly. He had no time to ponder the irony that his healing power had been used for good this time. It was usually one of his most effective tortures in Hell. He’d resolve pain, only to reintroduce it tenfold. But he’d never kept the pain within himself before. Normally he held it just long enough to flame his anger and implement more viciousness.
But in this clearing — unbelievably, here on Earth — he’d rather have his hands shake with pain than see the pretty child cry. The Devil resolved not to let on that he’d healed Jason. Let her think her God answers her prayers.
Emma’s brain and human body were almost spent. She couldn’t imagine absorbing any more unhappiness. I should really apologize to his family for getting Jason involved in this mess. But just then, Jason’s hands uncurled and his eyelashes fluttered a tiny little bit. Emma gave a cry of joy and turned to Seriana and Dean. “Did you see that?”
Immediately the half-breeds flanked her sides.
Jason’s green eyes blinked open and took in the faces above him. “No, get out of here! That thing’s too dangerous,” he blurted the moment his pupils focused.
Dean gave a sigh only a relieved brother could make and patted Jason’s hand. He looked at the snowy sky and its ominous attacker as he spoke. “We know, Jason.” Dean grinned. “Seriously, brother, what do you think we’ve been doing while you napped?”
Jason smiled at Emma. “You’re back? How was Hell? I wish my family could see you.” He reached a hand up and stroked Emma’s cheek.
Seriana hugged Emma’s shoulders. “You mean this girl, here? We can see her.”
Jason laid a hand on Emma’s chest and felt the sweet, steady heartbeat. He sat up with his surprise. “You’re human?”
Emma put her hands on his cheeks and gave him a tender kiss on his mouth. “It’s a long story, but yes. I’m back, and I brought a souvenir.”
Emma looked pointedly at Satan. She noticed the Devil’s hand shaking slightly, the smoke from his cigarette inconsistent. His eyes met hers and for an instant, less than a blink, he let her past his hard exterior. She saw the soul beneath the swagger and sex. He was tortured, but he cared for her deeply.
Jason helped Emma up. The Devil looked at him and squinted. Emma felt a flare of alarm. Jason nodded and cocked his head, listening to words the Devil wasn’t saying out loud. Then, grabbing Emma, he quickly rounded up his family and pulled them all out of the clearing into the trees.
He began talking immediately. “That is truly the Devil. He wants us out of here, the faster the better. I guess the angels are coming to get Everett, so we’re going back to the house.”
Emma followed as they began to move, but she shook her head at Jason. “You know I have to stay.”
Jason paused. “I can hear his thoughts, like I was able to do on our trips to the past and future. Does that make sense to you?”
“Sometimes God gives us gifts,” Emma said, remembering the Devil’s observation before the battle. “I keep trying to convince you He cares.” Turning to Dean and Seriana she said, “God’s restoring angels as we speak, so I would expect them very soon — like, now.”
Even Dean, who always liked a fight, seemed to know it was more than time to run like hell. Emma leaned around the tree to look at the Devil. He was alone now, his smoke dissipated to who knew where. He took one last drag of his cigarette and flicked it to the ground.
Feeling more centered, Satan looked up to see Everett preparing another bolt, his eyes on Emma. The Devil gave a half-smile. His time as a bystander was about to end. He had to pick a side. Everett or Emma. Bad or good. His system accepted evil like a drug, but her blond curls had felt like home in his hands. And he hadn’t had a home he cared about in so long.
As he exhaled, he held his hands open. In his palms grew horrific, purple-red fiery orbs. He smiled in Everett’s direction while he tossed them like basketballs into the sky.
Dean and Seriana agreed to leave as Emma watched Satan fight, hardly able to look away. She finally turned and nodded at the pair while waving goodbye. Jason assured his family they’d be right behind them.
“You’r
e so important to me,” Emma said, returning her focus to Jason. “Thank you for coming back. I was scared I’d lost you.”
Jason smiled and a bit of relief peeked through his stress. “I feel exactly the same way. Tell me, who is that Devil to you? I see worry in your eyes for him.”
Emma wasn’t sure she could put her emotions into words. “He’s bad. I mean, obviously. But he might be a friend of mine. I can’t tell if I can trust him.”
Jason shrugged. “Right now, according to his thoughts, he just wants you and Claudette to be safe. Does that help?”
“I know I’m just human, but I don’t want to leave until this is settled,” Emma said. “You should go ahead with your family. I know where your house is. I’ll come there when it’s all done.” She patted his shoulder.
“If you think I’m leaving you, you’re crazy. Not again. Not after last time.” Jason took her patting hand and kissed it.
Another sonic boom knocked them both flat, into the soft snow. Emma landed with her face turned toward the clearing. She saw Satan on his knees, holding his chest.
Jason’s hand reach for her waist just as she noticed her wrists wrapped in snow-covered spider webs. She left the breath she’d been taking behind as her body was jerked to the sky. Everett was attached to the opposite end of the webs that held her, and before she could orient herself, she was cradled against his bare chest. He smelled of crisp snow.
He buried his nose in her hair and murmured, “Sweetness, I thought I’d lost you for good. Please tell me Jack kept his dirty hands off you.”
Emma tried to wriggle free, but her body had relaxed despite the alarm in her head. He was using the ability angels have to put the dying at ease before their transition into Heaven against her.
“Who the hell is Jack?” Emma tried to bite Everett’s finger as he affectionately touched her nose.
Everett leaned down and kissed her lips. She found when he lifted his mouth from hers she couldn’t talk anymore.
Asshole.
“Jack is Satan, of course. Didn’t you ask him his name? No matter. I need to change my plans. You, baby girl, may not live through this, but I would like the angels to side with me when they get here.” Everett cuddled her like a teddy bear.
She looked down on the clearing from her psychotic new perch. Jack was still clutching his chest, and Jason stood directly beneath her, talking into his cell phone. The beat of wings in the distance whipped the sky into a blizzard.
The angels were coming in a flock.
“You see Jack? He’s finally getting his due,” Everett said with a smirk. “I’m making his heart turn any sin he has into poison. It’s the first step to Hell, as you well know.”
She could see the leaders of the flock. Seraph Gabriel focused on Everett, his eyes furious and righteous in their anger. But Emma knew there was one man Gabriel might hate even more, and he’d just fallen face first into the snow.
Chapter 13
Seraph Gabriel was handsome and furious. And he had eyes only for Everett. Emma was immobile and hating every second of it. At least Jason is fine, she told herself. Satan, on the other hand, was twitching in the snow. Jack, her mind corrected. Her heart softened as she remembered he once had been a man.
The angels’ wings fluttered in unison, and each righteous face was etched with justice about to be delivered. Everett turned his back slightly to change his outfit, and in a heartbeat he’d replaced his tux with a crisp, white business suit when he once again faced the virtuous army, now gathering in a semicircle around him in midair.
Gabriel made the sign of the cross while the other angels surrounded Everett. Emma tried to plead to them with her eyes. Then Everett leaned down and tenderly kissed each of her eyelids. They were sealed shut. She was in complete blackness, but she could hear Everett’s deception start on a course of no return.
“Brothers, sisters, it pleases me endlessly to see you,” he began. “I have fought a hard, lonely battle. Many of you have been hurt by me, and for that I extend my deepest apologies.” Everett repositioned Emma so her face nestled deeper against his chest, as if she was a resting babe. “God and I worked together to bring the Devil to the surface. It seems Jack was working with our beautiful Emma to bring destruction to our fair land.”
Seraph Gabriel’s deep, authoritative voice claimed the air. “Brother Everett, you would have us believe that tearing our wings from our backs and scattering us far from our home was part of a larger plan?”
Everett took a deep, pretend breath. “I know, kind Gabriel, my actions were drastic, but the implications were dire. God was trapped, and I had to save Him the best way I knew how.”
Emma knew Everett’s buttery words were supported by his glistening wings. The angels’ desire to see good in their own kind made them easily blinded — and quick to find fault in those not from Heaven. None of them had made a move to rescue Emma, or even ask about her condition. “Of course, you all know about my affection for Emma, so I made sure she was not ended. She can start her life again, as a human, if the Council agrees. Every seraph deserves another chance.” He began petting her hair like he would a cat. “Of course, she has lain with the Devil. Maybe she’s even pregnant with his spawn, but I could no sooner condemn her than I could spit on God’s feet.”
The angels tittered amongst themselves, distracted by Everett’s smooth demeanor and the scandal of another’s sin. The proof was before their very eyes. Satan was reeling on the ground below. And they were now fully restored angels again, despite their brief, uncomfortable banishment.
“Well, God told us to listen to our hearts and make the best judgment we could,” said Seraph Gabriel. He seemed to be weighing his options.
“He has infinite wisdom and loves all His children,” Everett said, nodding. “I’ll need your assistance to handle Satan. I’m surprised my heart-poisoning technique has contained him this long.”
Everett shuffled Emma again anxiously and went for the killing verbal blow. “I know we all considered Emma to be an unconventional angel — maybe a little unworthy. If I’m to be brutally honest, as I feel I must be, her fall reflects poorly on all of us. But Gabriel, you would forgive Claudette any sin, and this is how I feel toward Emma.” He paused dramatically. “Look quickly, the half-breed vampires are assembling. I’m sure hoards of them are on their way. They move so quickly. They’re practically his children. We all know how evil the minion’s spawn are.”
Jason was reassured when his family reappeared in the clearing after his cell phone call. He had no idea how to help the writhing Satan, or even if he should. He looked up to see the angels in their impromptu sky gathering. How can they ignore this pain here on the ground?
Seriana held a hand to her mouth when she saw the Devil’s torment.
Just then a small, brown-haired angel fluttered down softly and slowly, leaving the group above. She looked reluctant as she approached the Devil.
Jason motioned for Dean and Seriana to stand underneath Everett. Softening Emma’s fall, were she to have one, would be their main job.
The small angel crept closer to the Devil and reached out a tentative hand.
Jason couldn’t read the angel’s thoughts, but the Devil’s were one long, sure word as he endured Everett’s torture: Nooooo!
“I’m here, Jack. Please allow me to pray over you.” The little angel stroked his face. “Heavenly Father, please hold Jack in the palm of Your hand. Heal his pain, both real and imagined. He may no longer be in Your flock, but I know he’s in Your heart. Let the truth shine through him and create the peace he craves. Amen” She smiled on the Devil and his muscles relaxed. She took his hand and Satan opened his eyes.
Jason expected a warm rush of pleasure to fill Satan’s mind. Having an angel smile upon you was amazing — Jason knew first hand.
Claudette. My Claudette…
The Devil’s thoughts were strangely tempered. He was warmed by her attention, but there was no rush of feeling, which seemed to confuse even him.
Jason’s jaw tightened as Satan then pictured Emma instead.
Now that he was no longer convulsing, the Devil propped himself up on an elbow. He scanned the sky and found Emma nestled in Everett’s arms. Only then did he return his attention to his long-lost angel, now before him.
“Claudette, are you okay? Did that bastard hurt you?” The Devil pulled his metal flask out and took a healthy swallow. “I’ve missed you,” he added thoughtfully as he wordlessly offered the flask to Claudette.
She shook her head. Satan shrugged and slipped the flask out of sight.
“If you’re referring to Brother Everett, no. He did not hurt me,” Claudette said, exasperated. “I find it hard to believe you would try to taint the face of Earth with your evil, Jack. I thought you were a better man than that.” She sat back on her heels. Her gorgeous wings gently pulsed, sweeping the snow with every pass.
“I’m not a good man, cupcake. That’s why I have the job I do. Is that Gabriel’s pansy ass up there? Is he going to play tiddlywinks with the mutiny maker? That sounds about right for him.” Satan stood and offered his hand to help Claudette. She took it, like Emma never would.
“Please, Jack, Seraph Gabriel’s a good man. He’s very fair.” She hovered a bit above the Devil.
“Yes, he was very fair. I think he shared his dick with every willing female in Heaven.” The Devil pulled out a cigarette and licked the end to start its fire. It became an easy extension of his hand.
Claudette looked down and crossed her arms. “I couldn’t see you in pain. I don’t like that. I never did. But I also refuse to lie to you. I love Gabriel. We’ve been lovers all these years.”
The Devil took the news like a slap and quickly looked up at Everett before returning his gaze to Claudette. It’s not love. It’s never been love. His thoughts were sharp as they came to Jason. Satan shook his head, arguing with himself. At least she never loved me…
Crushed Seraphim Page 14
