by L. M. Brown
Michelle frowned. “Like what?”
“Your mother, Ardat, is the leader of the succubi.”
“The suck you what?”
“Succubi. Specifically, she’s a demon who feeds from sex. It’s highly unlikely you’ll need to do that, but some of her powers will manifest in you over the next few years.”
“What sort of powers?” For the first time Michelle appeared scared, and Michael couldn’t blame her. Finding out she was part angel was one thing—discovering she was part demon was another matter entirely.
“We’re not sure, but we think you’ll be giving off an aura that will make those who come into contact with you desire you. In fact, we believe you already are. Your dads tell me you have a lot of boys and girls following you around these days, and while part of that is probably because you’re a bright, pretty young woman, some of it could be because of your demonic talents.”
“Can I control these powers?” Michelle sounded panicked.
Michael took hold of her hands and used his own ability to calm to help her. “In time, you should be able to, yes, but I’m afraid I can only help you with the angelic ones.”
“Can Uncle Luc help with the demonic ones?”
“We’ll ask him, but he’s not a succubus, or the male equivalent, which is an incubus, so he may be as ignorant about them as I am.”
Michelle sighed. “And to think, a few hours ago my biggest worry was whether my dads were going to go to Hell.”
“At least now you’ll believe me when I say they’re coming here,” Michael teased. “Your dad had a home here, and it’s ready for the three of them when they reach the end of their mortal lives.”
“I can’t wait to tell Paulo he’s wrong.”
Michael shook his head. “I wouldn’t recommend that.”
“But he’s…” Michelle sighed. “He’ll just think I’m crazy, won’t he?”
“I’m afraid so, but at least you’ll know he’s wrong, and when the time comes, you’ll be able to visit your dads here.”
“I’ll be able to come and go from here whenever I want?” Michelle brightened considerably and Michael didn’t need to read her mind to figure out where her thoughts had gone.
“Yes, you’ll be able to come here, when you’re older and you’ve learned how to travel from one realm to another, but it’ll take many years to accomplish that.”
“Years?”
“Yes. So, you won’t be able to sneak here while you’re grounded.” Michael smiled. “At least not all the time.”
“Maybe I’ll just ask Uncle Luc to let me hang out with him,” Michelle suggested with a smirk. “Having the devil for an uncle has to have some advantages. He should support me when I get in trouble.”
Michael laughed. “Good luck with that. Let me know how it goes.”
Michelle stuck out her lower lip in a fake pout, but she threw her arms around Michael’s neck and hugged him hard. “I’m glad you’re my father.”
Michael hugged her back. “And I’m glad you’re my daughter.”
They had one more stop to make before they returned to Earth. Michael took his daughter to the chamber containing the pool of visions. At the very least, Michelle should be able to see what her mother looked like. As she gazed into the pool Michael realized in a few more years she would be able to see her mother simply by viewing her own reflection. She already shared her mother’s pale skin, her white-blonde hair, and tall, slim figure. Michelle would be a great beauty and a heartbreaker. Michael hoped her own remained intact, though he suspected life would have a few more surprises in store for a girl born to an angel and a demon.
Chapter Fifteen
The relief that his daughter had taken the news of her parentage so well was enormous. Michael had been dreading her reaction for years, but her angelic nature had shone through. Perhaps it helped that Michael had been such a large part of her life, even though he hadn’t raised her. Whatever the reason, the revelation didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Michelle’s day to day life. She went to school, did her chores and homework, and socialized with her friends, at least when she wasn’t grounded.
Michael and Machidiel helped her to come to terms with her growing powers, ensuring she knew what needed to be hidden from the rest of the human race.
The demon powers were a little harder to deal with. Lucifer, whose powers weren’t of a sexual nature, despite the almost supernatural allure Michael felt from him, couldn’t help much.
Ardat, who had been watching Michelle for so long, was now conspicuously absent. Michael even tried asking Lucifer to track her down in the Underworld. As worrisome as it had been when she’d been lurking around on street corners, not knowing what she was up to had to be ten times worse.
“She’s been partying hard,” Lucifer reported. “Rumor has it she and Irdu are traveling and recruiting personally in Scandinavia. Don’t worry about her. I’m sure she’s lost interest in Michelle.”
Michael couldn’t shake off his worry. “Why, though? Michelle is just coming into her powers, this is when I’d expect her mother to be watching.”
“The powers your daughter inherited from you are far stronger than her demonic powers.”
“Because I’m helping her hone her angelic powers.”
“Well, you keep doing that, and if Ardat resurfaces, we’ll deal with it. In the meantime, how about you come back to bed? It’s been far too long since we had sex.”
Michael smiled at Lucifer, who had been patiently waiting for him to finish pacing. He supposed he had been neglecting his lover a little. Between his duties as an angel, an increasing number of angels forming relationships with demons, and spending time with Michelle, it didn’t leave Michael much time for Lucifer. A twinge of guilt hit him in the chest and he climbed onto the bed, and into Lucifer’s welcoming embrace.
* * * *
A few more years passed, and still Ardat didn’t show herself. Michelle left school and went to university. To Machidiel’s delight she had decided to go into the medical profession, though she appeared to be leaning toward research. Her days were filled with studying and Michael took a step back, leaving her to live her life, and returning to his primary mission.
Michael wished his saving of Lucifer was going as smoothly as his relationship with his daughter. He didn’t believe he was any nearer bringing Lucifer back to the light now than he had been a thousand years ago. He didn’t doubt that Lucifer was capable of love, but it wasn’t enough to save him. His love wasn’t selfless and never had been.
Michael could sense Lucifer’s growing impatience with Michael’s continued refusal to join him in the Underworld. The quarrels Michael had thought were behind them returned and Lucifer’s barbed comments about Michael’s priorities became more frequent and more pointed.
As always, when he felt as though he had reached a dead end, Michael turned to Gabriel, hoping for some words of wisdom.
“I don’t know if I’m ever going to save him,” Michael confided. “He never seems to change.”
“I think he has,” Gabriel replied. “He clearly loves your daughter, and you.”
“But love’s not enough, is it?” Michael didn’t need Gabriel to answer the question. If all it took was love, Lucifer would have been living back in the realm of angels a long time ago.
“He’ll come back to us one day,” Gabriel said as he took Michael’s hand. “Don’t give up on him.”
“I’m not. I can’t.”
Gabriel tightened his grip. “I know you, Michael. I know how your mind works, and I can tell you’re losing hope.”
Michael sighed and released himself from Gabriel’s hand. Gabriel knew him far too well. “I just don’t feel I’m getting anywhere with him. If I could just see some sign I’m getting through to him.”
“There are signs, if you know where to look.”
“Like what?”
“Like the way his eyes follow you around the room. How he can’t be near you without touching you.”
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Michael snorted and shook his head. “That’s just desire. It doesn’t mean anything other than he wants to get me into bed.”
“What are you thinking, Michael? What are you really thinking right now?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired.”
Gabriel remained quiet for a minute or two, and Michael could tell he was poking into his thoughts. Normally he would have minded, but he doubted Gabriel would be able to make sense of his muddled mind anyway.
“A separation?” Gabriel asked. “You’re considering a separation?”
Michael frowned. He didn’t want to leave Lucifer, not even for a little while. Time apart hadn’t helped last time, and he didn’t think it would now either. He hadn’t even realized that the idea had been there until Gabriel had said the words.
“Have you talked to Machidiel about this?” Gabriel suggested.
“No, why, do you think he could help?”
“Perhaps. He is, after all, the only angel to ever bring a demon back to the light.”
“Two, if you count Tristan,” Michael replied.
“I think we can agree those circumstances were a little different. I’m talking about Alastor. He was a demon for centuries, and yet look at him now.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not likely I’m going to be in mortal danger at just the right time for Lucifer to sacrifice himself to save me,” Michael pointed out. “As an archangel I’m a little hard to kill.”
“The way you fought on the battlefield, I’d say impossible,” Gabriel agreed.
“It’s a moot point anyway. Lucifer might love me, but not to the detriment of his own life.”
“I disagree.”
Michael didn’t see the point of arguing. His life hadn’t been in jeopardy for centuries, and, as things stood at the moment, it wasn’t likely to be any time soon.
Unless…
“Michael?” Gabriel grabbed his arm. “What is it?”
Michael shook his head, banishing the thought that had popped into his mind so suddenly. “Nothing, I’m just in a rut. Next week Lucifer will no doubt do something to surprise me, and my faith will be restored.”
“I hope so. I hate to see you so defeated.”
“I’ll be fine,” Michael assured him.
They worked a while longer, and when Michael went home he felt a little better. Yet he couldn’t help glancing at the archway of reincarnation as he passed. Other angels had chosen that path, but never an archangel.
No. He turned away from the archway and pushed the thought aside. To be reborn wouldn’t help him. How could he hope to save Lucifer if he had no memory of what they had shared all these years?
Chapter Sixteen
A crash of thunder woke Michael from his sleep, and for a moment he felt disoriented. There was no thunder in the realm of angels. It never rained and no storm clouds marred the skies.
Yet thundering it was.
Michael leaped out of bed and pulled on his robes. He raced to the archangels’ chamber and summoned those who were currently on Earth, the rest already woken by the thunder and pounding rain.
“What’s happening?” Metatron asked.
“I think we all know what’s happened.” Raguel had to shout to make himself heard over the storm. “It’s exactly what I’ve been saying for centuries—no good will come from angels getting involved with demons.”
“You don’t know that’s what has happened,” Gabriel replied.
“Look at the sky,” Raguel snapped. “When was the last time you saw a storm in this realm?”
Michael shivered. The last time had been so long ago he had almost forgotten it had happened. It had been the morning after Lucifer had fallen, taking a third of the angels with him.
“I’m going to speak to Lucifer,” Michael said. “He’ll be able to confirm if an angel has fallen.”
“Summon him here to answer us all,” Raguel demanded, before Michael had even made it to the door. “I don’t trust you to report back accurately.”
Michael bristled at the accusation, but he did as Raguel requested, summoning Lucifer into the chamber to speak to the entire council.
“Good morning,” Lucifer said as he took the chair in the middle of the room. “Interesting weather we’re having, wouldn’t you say?”
Michael tried to read Lucifer’s mind, but he was out of practice and Lucifer seemed to be blocking him. He guessed they would have to extract the information the old-fashioned way. “Lucifer, what do you know about what’s happening?”
“Well, thunder is created when—”
“Lucifer, we don’t have time for this,” Michael snapped. “Has an angel fallen?”
“Yes, several, in fact.”
Michael felt sick to his stomach. “How many?”
“I’m not sure, somewhere between two and three dozen.”
Raguel cleared his throat. “And how many of those angels were sleeping with demons?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Lucifer replied lazily. “I have a policy whereby I mind my own damn business when it comes to who my demons are fucking.”
“Lucifer…” Michael made the warning in his voice clear.
“I don’t know,” Lucifer insisted. “I have better things to do with my time than poke my nose where it isn’t wanted.”
“Find out,” Michael demanded. “I want you to report back here within the hour with the exact number of fallen angels, as well as how many were in relationships with demons.”
“Things are a little busy in the Underworld right now,” Lucifer replied as he made a show of studying his nails. “There’s something of a party atmosphere down there.”
“I don’t care,” Michael snapped. “You have one hour.”
Lucifer glared from his seat, right before he transformed into his demon form. The last time Michael had seen him this way had been on the battlefield. It hadn’t scared him then, but it terrified him now.
“You don’t tell me what to do,” Lucifer snarled. “I’m not one of your precious recruits. I’m Lucifer himself and I don’t take orders, I give them.”
Michael rose and pulled his sword from the scabbard he normally kept hidden. He pointed the blade directly at Lucifer. “One hour.”
Lucifer vanished, and Michael began the long wait for him to report back.
An hour passed, then two. The storm lessened, though the rain continued to pour down. The sky darkened again, this time as night fell, and still Lucifer did not appear.
Finally, Michael could give him no more time. Raguel had been calling for the meeting to be reconvened most of the day, and while most of the others were content to give Lucifer a little more time, no one, not even Michael, could agree to wait indefinitely for the contrary fallen angel to return.
Michael and Gabriel talked quietly at the side of the room. Raphael joined them, his expression grim.
They had all been making inquiries throughout the day and their best guess was that thirty angels had fallen, most fairly new angels, all recruited in the last few decades. None were as powerful as those who had fallen with Lucifer. It didn’t make any difference to the seriousness of events.
Michael had called a meeting of all the angels currently known to be in relationships with demons, and while most had attended at his home early that afternoon, there were two absentees. A second summons to those missing had gone unanswered.
Now the archangels had to deal with the repercussions of whatever had happened to draw so many angels to the darkness.
“I think you should go to the Underworld and see what’s keeping him,” Gabriel suggested. “The fallen angels might be staging some sort of coup.”
“Even combined, they don’t have the power to take on Lucifer,” Michael replied. “As an angel he had more powers than any of the archangels. None of the lesser angels who’ve turned demon could overthrow him.”
“What do you think is keeping him?” Raphael asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I agree with Gabrie
l, you should at least try to speak to him, and bring him back here if you can, before we reconvene.”
Michael nodded. “Give me one hour. If I’m not back by then, start without me.”
Gabriel agreed and Michael announced his intentions to the rest of the archangels. Raguel and his supporters protested, before eventually agreeing to give Michael time to visit the Underworld.
When he arrived in Lucifer’s chambers, Michael found them empty. He didn’t enjoy venturing into the rest of the Underworld, but he had done so before and the situation certainly called for it tonight.
As he had during his previous visit to the main Underworld, Michael made his way to the throne room. He wasn’t surprised to find Lucifer there, along with a huge crowd of demons and the fallen angels. Lucifer, visible to everyone, lounged on the throne he had once relinquished yet had now apparently reclaimed.
Michael kept himself invisible from everyone, including Lucifer, as he made his way through the throng.
Unfortunately for Michael, while he could hide himself from most of the inhabitants of the Underworld, Lucifer had always been more powerful than a single archangel. The closer he got to Lucifer, the weaker his shield became, and by the time he reached his lover, Lucifer’s eyes were firmly fixed on him.
“Are we going to have another discussion about angels wandering my domain?” asked Lucifer, his words slow and slurred.
“Have you been drinking?” Michael asked, though the empty tankard beside him probably answered his question.
“Of course,” Lucifer replied with a grin. “This is a celebration. Join us, have a drink, loosen up a little.”
Michael rolled his eyes. He could count on his fingers the number of times he had ever seen Lucifer intoxicated. Alcohol rarely affected his lover. Power, however, went straight to his head. The boost the fallen angels had given him had reduced him to this state.
“We’ve been waiting for you to return with your report,” Michael said. “Or had you forgotten?”
