by Holly Hunt
I spread my wings from one edge of the building to the other. It was hard, as they were built to have the weight of gravity spread evenly across their frames, not dragging them toward my feet. Whenever he made to pass me, I hit him with a wing and threw him a few feet closer to the edge.
Jason took a step back and his heel hit the edge of the building, catching on the six-inch rise around the roof. He stumbled for a second and fell backwards, plummeting over the edge.
With a sadistic smile, I flapped my wings and sprang after him, hanging back until I saw his body slam into the pavement a hundred floors below. I snatched his soul from the ground. His screams didn't let up as I adjusted our course, streaming out across the city's streets and heading toward one of the local Portals to Hell.
"What the fuck!" Jason screamed, hitting me. "What the fuck are you?"
I noticed the markers for the Portal and spiraled up into the air. "I'm the Devil," I said darkly, grinning at him, "and I am Death."
I threw him from me, following him down. I kept him on the right path, and he was sucked into the Portal, screaming blue murder in the dead of night.
I laughed and darted through the air after him, pulling my wings in three feet from the Portal. I laughed as I was sucked in, and used my magic to keep me from scraping along the sides. Ahead, I could hear Jason hitting every turn in the Portal, and I smiled to myself in satisfaction
~ * ~
I snapped my wings open as I emerged in Hell, taking a deep breath. The air felt clean and fresh, better than the air on Earth, and lighter as it rushed past me.
"Hey, the boss is back!" I heard Beelzebub cry, pointing up at me.
There was a disco happening out behind Throne Hill, and I headed for it, dragging Jason along behind me with my magic. I wasn't as careful with him as I would have been with Clarissa, or even my new friend, Jayce. He plowed into the ceiling, smashed into the ground and bounced off my
throne.
"Hey, Bee. I've got a new inmate for you."
Bee frowned as I landed beside him with a couple of flaps of my wings. Jason collapsed on the ground next to me, crying, broken and bleeding. He caught sight of Bee's red skin and his glowing red eyes; he even sported horns, for the effect on new arrivals.
Jason screamed, trying to scramble away from Bee. I grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him up, holding him by me. He was terrified out of his mind.
"Inmate?" Beelzebub asked, surprised. I didn't usually bring the dark souls down to Hell in person.
"Yeah. He's earned a thousand years running with Levi."
"What'd he do, boss?"
"He dared to slap my Clarissa and hurt her best friend repeatedly." I picked Jason up and handed him to a couple of Demons who were standing with Bee.
Jason screamed louder and more hysterically when he saw all the Demons around him.
"No, please!" Jason begged, "God sent me to do His work! I was doing His sacred work!" He struggled. "No! Please, listen to me! God sent me to do it!"
I bared my teeth at him. "If you knew what was good for you, you wouldn't mention Him here, boy. Throw him to Leviathan," I ordered the Demons staring, disgusted, at him. "And tell Levi that he's to prolong this pervert's suffering as long as he can."
The Demons bowed, forcing Jason down between them. They dragged at his shirt and hair, and his screams echoed around Hell again. I watched with an evil smile and a sense of satisfaction as they carried Jason out to the middle of the Frozen Lake and forced him under the ice.
"You're becoming very...devilish, boss," Bee said, watching the Demons head back to the party. "What made you decide to turn to the ways of the Bible's Devil?"
I frowned, looking at Bee. "Am I taking it too far? I mean, I've pretty much ignored you all for five thousand years, and now I'm stepping in on you."
Bee relaxed. "I'm sure that no one will mind, boss, as long as you don't do that—" he pointed to the Lake "—to any
of us."
I laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "It's great having a nephew like you, Bee. I can always depend on you."
Bee laughed, pretending to be embarrassed. "Aw, thanks, Luce. Tell you what, though, you'd better get back to your missus."
I frowned, and a clock appeared in my hand. "You're right. The lasagna might burn if I don't leave now." I smiled at Bee, shaking his hand. "Keep up the good work, mate. Oh, and when I phone, lower the volume of the damn music! I could barely hear myself talk last time!"
Bee laughed and waved as I flew up to the Portal.
"Don't forget to bring Clarissa next time!" he yelled as I vanished into the earthy ceiling.
Twelve
Clarissa Avario
It was harder to calm Jayce down than I thought it would be. Her hands shook and her teeth chattered. She stuttered almost every second word. Jayce was terrified of Jason and how close he'd come to her again.
She had good reason to be terrified of him, though. He was more abusive than a football player called on a foul, and he even scared me with the damage he did to the woman he supposedly cared about.
His Hellraisers were no better, modeled after him and claiming they were on speaking terms with God.
Jayce was far more terrified now than I had ever seen her. I thought I knew what had caused it, too. Jayce had seen Lucifer's wings and tail.
Seeing the Devil standing in my living room, threatening the man who had been assaulting her for the last three years, was too much for her shattered nerves. She'd freaked completely, and I was trying to talk to her as she hid in the corner of my room farthest from the door.
My only way of calming her down was Aspen. The cat was happy to be out of the bathroom, and was content enough that Lucifer was defending Jayce and me rather than being contrary to Aspen's wishes. When I'd looked out the window and seen Lucifer fly across the city, I found Jayce in my bedroom, cowering behind the bed with Aspen on her lap. He was purring, talking to her gently. I was sure she couldn't understand Aspen, or she would have been far more afraid than she was now.
"Jayce?" I called, crawling over the bed to her. "Jayce, honey, are you okay?"
She turned frightened eyes to me, hugging Aspen. My normally fickle cat was happy to sit in her arms, rubbing his head along her jaw. His ginger fur was shining slightly in the strong light from the bathroom.
"Clarissa?" she whispered. "What's going on?"
I sighed, lying on the bed by Jayce with my head over the edge, watching her. The apartment was silent around us. "Why don't we go out into the living room? Lucifer's getting rid of Jason for good, and the lasagna smells delicious."
She started to tremble. I sighed, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet.
"Come on, Jayce. Lucifer wouldn't hurt you any more than he would me."
"How can you say that?" she demanded in a whisper, fighting my pull. "He's the Devil, Clarissa! Even you bow to his will!"
"And he's saved my life, cooked me dinner twice, healed me, told me about Heaven, and defended both you and me from the man I repeatedly told you to run away from. He deserves your trust, Jayce."
"But trusting the Devil...Didn't you listen to the priest every time you went to church?"
I laughed, succeeding in dragging her out to the living room. The scent of the lasagna in the oven was making my mouth water. I was hungry.
"I've heard reports of the Fall from both sides of the Battle," I said, dragging her into the kitchen. My iPod was playing a soft piano piece from one of my favorite films, the sound unintrusive as I poured us drinks.
"And?" she asked. I was impressed. My first question would have been "Who?"
"The Fall and the Battle weren't as we were taught in church." I smiled at my best friend. She was someone who believed, with a fervent hope for the afterlife, in the truth of the Bible. She wouldn't find the real truth to be any comfort. "There wasn't even a battle. Lucifer and his friends were banished because they were different."
"How are they different?"
"Lucifer and his friends married into a family of Angels
that had the ability to reproduce. Lucifer's wife, Sera, became pregnant. God saw it as the end of His control on creation, and threw the men from Heaven."
"Even though she was pregnant, the way He must have designed them?" Jayce asked quietly.
I could tell she was flicking through her memories of church, connecting the lines that didn't quite fit together properly. Like the accounts of benevolent Demons and bloodthirsty Angels.
I nodded, ignoring Aspen, who was yelling at me from the counter beside me. "Sera wasn't turned into a Demon. She fell from Heaven the same way we would fall from an airplane, with the same result."
Jayce winced.
"Yeah," I agreed.
"So who did you ask on Heaven's side? I assume you asked Lucifer for his side of the fight."
I hesitated, wondering if telling her I was talking to my cat would aid my case at all. "Sera's brother, who blames Lucifer for Sera's death. He would say anything to turn me against Lucifer."
Aspen's head whipped around. Way to go, Clarissa.
Jayce stared at me for a minute, long enough for me to wonder if she knew who I was talking about. "So you got both sides of the story."
I smiled, relieved.
Don't get too cocky, the cat cautioned me. She could still call you insane and have you institutionalized.
I rolled my eyes at the cat, but trod carefully. "I did. And I believe they were both telling the truth. They told basically the same story."
"'Basically the same story?'"
"Yeah. Well, the Angel played up how much of it was Lucifer's fault, and I'm sure Lucifer was downplaying how much he was to blame, but they both said the same thing."
Yeah, right. Aspen rolled his eyes, and I casually batted him off the counter. I noticed the green bag on the counter and became curious, putting down my drink to check it out.
"Be careful, Clarissa," Jayce said, putting her own drink down. "He is the Devil. He could have put all sorts of
things in that bag."
I rolled my eyes at her as Aspen jumped up to investigate with me. "He wouldn't do anything like that, Jayce. And if you plan on staying here, you're going to have to get used to Lucifer being around here at all hours of the night." I pulled a complicated-looking roller-thing out and looked it over.
"Well, I just don't think—Wait, what do you mean, 'if I plan on staying here?'"
I shrugged, looking into the bag again and placing the tool on the counter. "Well, I didn't think you wanted to go back to that house now, so I was going to offer you the spare bed. But if you'd rather take the risk of the Hellraisers showing up—"
"No, no!" she was quick to assure me, joining me by the bag. "I'm never, ever going back to that house! I accept your offer!"
"Good." I spied something silver in the bottom of the bag and pulled it out. It was an iPod classic, one of the older ones, with quite a few dings and scratches in it. "Hey, Lucifer's iPod."
"We shouldn't listen to it!" Jayce hissed, looking over her shoulder. "What if it's got Demon-summoning spells on it?"
I rolled my eyes again, swapping my iPod for Lucifer's in the speakers. "He doesn't need spells, Jayce. He just uses the phone." I pressed "play" on the iPod and a song with an unmistakable introduction started playing, echoing around the kitchen. I laughed. "Oh, no way!"
"What?"
"Oh, this is far too good a piece of blackmail material to pass up!" I laughed again. "He's got My Heart Will Go On on his iPod!"
"What?" Jayce froze for a second, listening. "He does too!" She relaxed, laughing. "What other surprises does he have on there?" she demanded, reaching for the iPod.
~ * ~
Jayce and I were more than a little tipsy by the time Lucifer returned from wherever he'd gone. The knock on the door made me jump, spilling half a glass of vodka and orange juice. I stumbled to the door, muttering dark things about alcohol wasters, and opened it, smiling at Lucifer. He was alone, and I took the opportunity to flirt with him, forgetting about Jayce.
"Hello, handsome," I said, grinning alluringly at him. I leaned against the doorway and lifted my chin, trying to be sexy. "Can I help you with something? Or would you rather just follow me to the bedroom?"
"Very subtle, Clarissa." He smiled down at me, laughing. "What've you two been doing while I was gone?"
I grinned, stepping forward to wrap my arms around his neck. He stepped inside and shut the door, his arms curled around my waist. He lifted me with no effort, setting me on the ground when I was out of the way.
"We've been having a little liquid courage," I said with a smile. "It's delicious."
"Really?" He lifted an eyebrow at me, kissing me gently. "And what would you need liquid courage for?"
I smiled at him innocently. "We found your iPod."
His smile froze for a second, as though worried about something. Then he thawed. "Really?" he said again.
"Yep." I pulled him down for another kiss. "You have a very...interesting taste in music. Not very devilish at all. I was ready for some rock 'n' roll, maybe a little bit of R 'n' B, but all you have is classical pieces and some soundtracks."
He laughed, pressing against me. "Really?"
I turned up my nose at him as we rounded the corner to the living room. "You say that a lot."
"Really?" He grinned, looking dashing, and my heart jumped to my throat.
I laughed and pulled him down into another kiss. My hands unwound from around his neck to grab his ass, pulling him more tightly to me.
He laughed, using my arms to push me away gently. "I can taste—and smell—the vodka on your breath, Clarissa." He glanced at Jayce, and I frowned.
"So?" I demanded, trying to kiss him again.
"So, I think I should feed you two so you don't go completely silly on me."
He smiled at me, and I could have sworn my heart stopped for a second. Then what he said dawned on me. "Hey...We aren't going silly!"
He led me back to the couch so I could sit down next to Jayce. "Whatever you say, boss," he said with another smile, pulling his shirt back on but leaving the buttons open.
"And don't you forget it!" I yelled after him, and Jayce and I collapsed into drunken giggles.
Lucifer shook his head at us, checking on the lasagna. He opened the oven door to the most heavenly scent I had ever had the privilege to smell. My mouth watered so much I couldn't taste my vodka and juice anymore.
Lucifer had already split the lasagna up into three pieces, putting them out on plates. He grabbed some forks from a drawer and balanced the plates like a waiter, bringing dinner over to us.
"Here you go, girls," he said with a smile, putting the plates down in front of us. "Be careful, it's really hot."
He walked around the table to sit next to me while I sat at the edge of the couch, licking my lips. I cut off a bit of lasagna from my plate, putting it in my mouth. Lucifer laughed when I spat it back out, fanning my tongue.
"I told you it was hot." Lucifer smiled at me and blew on a piece of his own lasagna before putting it in his mouth. "Yum. You're an excellent cook, Clarissa."
I frowned at him, blowing on my own piece of lasagna. "I didn't cook it, though. You did."
He laughed, watching Jayce, who hadn't eaten any of her dinner. "I'm not going to do you any harm, Jayce," he said, and I suddenly got a sense of déjà vu.
Jayce was studying him. "It's not the idea that you would do me harm that is making me cautious," she said, and I looked at her, blowing on another piece of lasagna. "I kind of expect it, with you being the Devil and all. It's the fact that you would do harm to Clarissa that has me cautious."
I could feel myself blushing, worried. If Jayce couldn't trust Lucifer, then I didn't know what I would do. Jayce was my sister in all but blood. I'd patched her up enough times after her various encounters with Jason—and gone to jail twice for her—for us to be closer than sisters. I didn't want to break with her.
Lucifer a
lready trusted Jayce, simply because I did, so I had no worries about him rejecting her. But Jayce...Jayce was a Bible-thumper, no doubt about it, though she didn't really strive for the virtues of a good Christian girl. I didn't think she would trust Lucifer easily, seeing him as a threat to both our immortal souls. Maybe...
"I would not harm Clarissa," Lucifer said, continuing to eat. "I could not. If it came down to the choice between my death and Clarissa's, I would choose my own death every time."
I smiled at him, taking another bite of lasagna. It was past being tongue-scaldingly hot now, and I could almost inhale it, if I wanted to. "It's lucky you won't have to choose, isn't it?" I asked him.
