From out of nowhere I was knocked to my knees in the snow. I quickly turned around to defend myself, but as it turned out, I was only in the way of two other men scrapping out their differences. They were both bleeding from several different lacerations on their faces and upper torso areas, and I noticed the smaller of the two palmed the hilt of a short dagger in his right hand.
His opponent was struggling for breath and I assumed he had taken a stab to one or both of his lungs, and the organs were swiftly filling with his prideful blood.
“He will die soon.”
I turned quickly and observed the man standing to my right. He was watching the show intently, his eyes dancing with mute laughter. His dark hair was sticking out from the edges of a knit hat, and I didn’t miss the glint of the metal rings and studs through his ears, nose, eyebrow and the pointy spike below his lower lip. Just guessing, but I was willing to bet a metal detector would go off if it was waved below his neck, too.
Just above the black scarf wrapped snuggly around his neck, I caught a glimpse of the top half of a skull with red eyes. Everything about the male suggested ‘bad-ass’, but I wasn’t getting that particular vibe from him just standing there looking at two men beating the crap out of each other. His size was also something to take into account. What he lacked in height, he must have been able to make up for in other respects, or Lucifer wouldn’t have made him the prince over the Syde of Pride.
He turned to look at me, but seemed more curious than ready to take my life.
“Do you have something that belongs to me?”
“I might.”
I wasn’t sure what he expected of me, but as long as we were both being civil, I could continue to keep it going in that direction, no problem.
I heard an awful gurgling cough, then turned just in time to see the bigger man fall to his knees and spew bright red blood over the snow and ice. I noticed the audience the fight had accrued earlier had dwindled to only the fighter and the dead man at his feet. Everyone else had disappeared.
I remembered how frightened Pogo had been of my Abbi when I had only known her as the Princess of Gluttony, and how scared I was of Damien in his snake form. The royalty was to be feared. But I also remembered the passion in my woman’s eyes as we made love, and I recalled the respect in the eyes of the Prince of Sloth when I caught the spear he’d thrown at my head. They had emotions. I just needed to search for the good in them before they surprised me with the bad.
I cleared my throat as I turned my focus back to Velan. “I hope it’s a pair of thermal underwear,” I said, then smiled as Velan burst into laughter.
“Not hardly, angel. Lucifer is not happy you have so easily breezed through two of his sydes—”
My body flushed hot with anger and I took a step closer to him, crowding his personal space, forcing him to either look up at me or knock me on my ass. He chose to look up at me, but did not show fear. That was okay; I was fresh out, too. “You call what I did easy?” I growled, not caring whom I was talking to or what he could do to me.
There was no doubt in my mind he could kill me a thousand times before I could even move the four inches to touch him, but I didn’t care; I had gone through and completed two of Lucifer’s sydes, and the little prick in front of me thought it was easy? Oh, hell no!
Velan smiled cunningly. “You certainly made it look that way, and it hasn’t ever been done before. Not sure even he could do it. We all want to know what your secret is, angel.”
I didn’t even have to think about it. “Love.”
The demon studied me a moment more and then reached into the pocket of his coat, pulling out a pack of Marlboro reds and a matchbox. He offered me one, and when I declined, he stuck the coffin nail in his mouth, lit it with a match and returned the pack to his pocket.
He lifted the matchbox to his ear and shook it about. I could hear the soft rattle of the tiny wood bouncing around cardboard walls, and then he tossed the box at me. I caught it with one hand, then watched him turn and walk away.
“What’s this?” I shouted, and observed his retreating form with smoke billowing out from around his head.
“Your object.”
I looked down at the small box, then slid it open.
One match.
Malcolm
“Christ on the cross!” Malcolm shouted, and then cleared Isaiah’s desk with a quick sweep of his hand.
Isaiah only huffed and averted his eyes from the highly angered angel.
“This is all your fault, Isaiah!” he said, and pointed to the archangel. “And you need to figure a way to get him help. He’s going to bloody freeze to death before we can discover a way to get him into the next syde.” He held his index finger up for all to see. “One match! One damn match, Isaiah. I’m sure you don’t even remember what it’s like to feel pain, but he does, damn you, and you are the one that put him there!”
Isaiah was on his feet in an instant and swiftly in Malcolm’s face, but the angel didn’t budge. “You think I intended for any of this to happen?”
“You sure as hell didn’t prevent any of it from happening!”
Josselyn followed both angels with an intense and frightened stare. “Malcolm—”
“What!” he snapped as he turned to glare at her. “Why don’t you run along back down to Earth, so you can play footsie with the Prince of Lust while I save Rhyan’s precious soul? I sensed him in your mind the moment that demon was extracted from my body, and I can sense him there even now. Can you not make up your mind which male you want to be with? You can’t have Rhyan, so you move on to something even more damaged? Is that it?” His jaw set and the muscle along his jawline flexed a few times, daring her to deny his accusations. He blinked a few times, refusing to let his emotions betray him in front of her. He’d once thought she’d felt the same as he did, but it had only been the demon possessing him through the speculum, clouding his mind and filling it with untrue images. He would never be so naive again. His heart couldn’t take the breaking.
He watched as her wide eyes filled with tears and immediately felt like a horse’s ass.
“Jossel—”
She started to run from the room and he grabbed her arm.
“Josselyn—”
She raised her hand back and slapped him across the face, then jerked away from his hand and ran.
Malcolm slowly raised his fingers to his hot, stinging cheek in shock, then turned to look at Isaiah. “We’ve got bigger problems than we thought. That…hurt.” His other hand came up to cover his chest, and the heart that was beating erratically within his ribcage.
He took off after Josselyn. He couldn’t let her leave now; it was too dangerous. Something very serious was happening and he didn’t want her out of his sight until it was resolved.
“Josselyn, wait!” he shouted, but she never looked back before she popped to Earth.
Malcolm followed her.
Chapter 34
Thoros
Thoros flashed to the royalty quarters of the Syde of Wrath, then took the three remaining steps and put knuckles to steel.
“Enter,” Murry said.
He took one last steady breath before turning the handle and stepping foot inside the room of one of his least favorite demons.
Murry didn’t bother looking up from his fountain as Thoros grew nearer. He seemed to be totally engrossed by what was taking place within his newly acquired syde.
“Something wrong?”
Murry shook his head. “Just doing a little planning. It looks as though I will have a new visitor soon.”
Thoros brow furrowed. “The angel?” he asked nonchalantly.
Murry nodded, then touched the liquid in several different locations, intensifying the severity of the weather on his minions.
He grinned.
“I doubt he even makes it to Wrath. He is scheduled to visit your syde last.”
“Yes, well, I want to be prepared for when he surprises the rest of you. I’m no fool. This angel
is like none other I’ve ever met. He will beat you all, but not me. I have a plan.”
Thoros brushed off the insult and took a step away from the demon. The visit wouldn’t turn out in his favor if he snapped and choked Murry to death right then. “The reason I am here is to inform you that I visited your human subject again.” That had Murry’s head jerking up in interest, but Thoros continued. “The whole lot is running scared, waiting for your arrival. I think you can take care of business here a little longer,” he motioned at the fountain, “preparing for Abigail’s boy-toy. I have the spare time to keep them on their toes in your absence. The guardians under me know what I expect of them. My syde will stay strong if I’m not around to tend to it.” He looked Murry in the eyes and willed the demon to buy the lie.
Murry smiled, then stood and slapped Thoros on the shoulder, squeezing it briefly. He nodded. “I will be in debt to you if you could carry out such a favor for me. I won’t be too long.”
Thoros hesitantly imitated the gesture with his hand on Murry’s shoulder. “It’s been tough for me. Lucifer has still not allowed me to have a meeting with Baddon, but I realize I need to move on. You are a prince and deserve to be called my brother.”
Murry smiled and pulled Thoros into a quick hug. “I feel the same—brother.”
Thoros stiffened, then forced his body to relax. Brothers would embrace.
Murry stepped away, seemingly in a much better mood than when Thoros had shown up.
“I bet you have that female eating out of your hand.”
You have no idea, he thought.
“Is she scared?”
“Terrified.” But not in the way you think.
Murry looked back at him and grinned. “I knew I could count on you.”
~ ~ ~
Thoros walked out of Murry’s chambers with a little bounce in his step. The meeting had gone so well, that he was elated and ready to visit Josselyn again. No better time than the present, he thought. He had some major work to do for his plan to work, but there was no doubt in his mind he could pull it off. Murry had been right. She was practically eating out of his hand.
He took two more long strides, then smiled as he popped to the Chamberlain residence.
With his presence and aura hidden from the two angel guards that would be able to detect a demon, he stepped out from behind the big oak and froze.
His eyes locked onto Josselyn and another male angel in a heated conversation. She was so irritated that she didn’t even seem to notice that he was there and watching them shout at each other in the human’s front yard.
He leaned against the tree and eavesdropped. The argument could possibly prove valuable to him.
Malcolm
“You have to listen to me, Josselyn. It’s too dangerous for you to be here. Something is terribly wrong and we need to fix it before you go off by yourself like this.”
“I’m fine, Malcolm! I’m not a little kid. Besides, you were the one that told me to come here, and now you’re demanding I go back to Heaven because it’s too dangerous? I don’t think so.” She poked him in the chest with her finger. “You go back to Heaven and let me do my job.”
Malcolm grabbed her finger and the hand it was attached to, spreading her palm wide across his firm chest. “Just feel…please.”
She tried to pull away, but he stubbornly held her in place.
“Feel,” he demanded. He knew the instant she realized there was a heart beating behind her hand. Her eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.
Malcolm shook his head and rubbed over the softness of her skin. “I don’t know the reason why, but I feel pain, too.” He chuckled lightly. “The slap hurt.”
She swallowed and managed to find her voice. “Good—you deserved it.”
Malcolm daringly took a step closer to her and brought her hand up to the red welt adorning his left cheek. He took in a deep breath and sighed as she took the sting away.
He opened his eyes and realized he’d been moving closer to her as she healed him. The feeling had been amazing and he wanted more of it. He wanted more of her.
“Malcolm?” Josselyn whispered as his hands came up to frame her face. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing, Jossel?” He rubbed the pad of his thumb slowly over her full bottom lip and watched carefully as her lips parted and she inhaled nervously.
“You’re, uh…” Her tongue slipped out to quickly wet her lips and then she swallowed. “Um…”
Malcolm moved closer, his breath drifting sweetly over her skin. “The answer to your question? You are.”
“I am what?” she asked in a whisper.
“My weakness,” Malcolm said, then touched his lips to hers.
Thoros
Rage filled the empty place where his soul should’ve been, and he struggled not to race to them and rip the male angel apart, limb from limb.
Blood pounded in his ears and he felt like he was something else, something monstrous and worse than what he’d become after losing his human life. He stepped behind the tree where there was no possibility she would see him.
He didn’t want to leave her there with the other male.
She is mine. She will be mine. He corrected himself. But not if I leave her here with the angel.
He certainly hadn’t noticed her refusing the gift the male was giving her.
He growled in frustration. Anger was consuming him and he didn’t like the feeling at all.
Thoros started back around the tree and saw them still locked at the lips. He nearly lost his mind. His plan would be ruined if he confronted them. Coming back after his temper had cooled was the smart thing to do. He would make the male pay later.
Josselyn/Malcolm
Josselyn heard the familiar pop and broke away from Malcolm’s embrace. She enhanced her senses and desperately tried to seek out any other being, but all was silent. She felt nothing.
“What is it?”
She glanced over to where Malcolm stood, waiting. She shook her head. “Nothing, I guess. What was that, Malcolm?”
He smiled, relaxing a bit, now that she didn’t seem to think Lucifer was about to jump out of the bushes and steal their souls, and he walked over to stand by her side. “I don’t know. Maybe we should try it again to see if the—”
She took a step back and he stopped. She sighed and looked down at the ground, moving a weed back and forth with her foot. “I don’t think we should. I mean, at least not now. My head is a jumbled mess and we don’t need any more distractions. Rhyan is why we’re here. He’s freezing while we are up here making out like two high school kids. If I was in his shoes I’d want someone to—”
Malcolm took her hand gently and brought it to his lips, placing a feather light kiss on her knuckles. His brow furrowed in thought, but he eventually nodded. “I get it, Jossel. I just wanted to let you know, that’s all.” He turned and looked as a woman, man and child walked out the front door, flanked by the two male angels he’d sent to protect Josselyn. Malcolm sighed, then nodded to them before looking back at Josselyn. “Look, I can’t use the speculum any longer. Isaiah closed the portal and swears it is safe, but after what happened I don’t trust it. I can’t keep an eye on you, so check in often so I will know you’re okay.” He placed his hand on her cheek and made her look at him. “Promise me.”
She nodded. “Of course I will check in. I have to know what’s going on with Rhyan. He needs your help. Go on. I’ll be fine. You need to find out why you have a heartbeat again.”
He stared at her for a long moment, not bothering to hide how scared he was. He closed the distance between them, kissed her forehead and then popped back to Heaven.
Chapter 35
Rhyan
I thought I had been though torture before. I was seriously mistaken. Nothing bad that had happened in my life could ever compare to the Syde of Pride. Not to mention, I was severely underdressed for the occasion.
Struggling to keep
the circulation flowing in my hands and feet proved to be an impossible task. Frostbite and hypothermia were bound to get me soon; the feeling had already gone, and then I would lose my first life and probably many more after that if I couldn’t find a way out. I was nearing desperation.
It seemed the more people I met in the syde, the ruder they all became. I had actually been flogged by an old lady with a stick for getting too close to her fire pit. Nobody else was willing to share their warmth. I had found help in the Syde of Gluttony and Sloth, but everyone in Pride seemed to lack enthusiasm in the sharing and helping others department.
“Hey, I’m back. How’re you holding up?” Malcolm said, and I was relieved just to have the company. I would plead with him to stay with me until I got into the next syde if I had to. I wasn’t above begging at that point.
“Like a popsicle,” I chattered. “Your feet toasty warm up there?”
There was silence for an odd amount of time for him to just be giving me a yes or no answer. My mind wanted to panic, but it had gone into some sort of hibernation mode when my appendages began to freeze.
“Please tell me that everybody is alright. I seriously don’t think I could handle bad news right now.”
“We’re all good. Chill. I was only trying to figure out a way to get you out of there.”
I chuckled sarcastically. “I’m chilled enough. Anyway, I thought that’s what you’ve been doing the whole time you’ve been gone. I’m freezing to death down here and nobody wants to be my friend and cuddle so I can warm up.”
I stopped walking and looked to a fire pit where a pretty young woman was standing, warming her hands. She glanced up at me, but didn’t go into a raging cussing fit that I was even looking at her. She glanced down at her fire and took an uneasy breath, like she had been trying to make a difficult decision, and had finally made up her mind.
“I’m going to try this one.”
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