by Lola StVil
© 2016 Lola StvIl
This is dedicated to: You.
You cared enough to
Stalk and threaten me,
until I finished this book.
Thank you: )
Lola St.Vil
Sixteen years ago…
The human bartender pours the whiskey into my glass for the eleventh time. I wrap my hand around the shot glass, turning it into Coy Dark. I drink, slam it down on the bar, and signal for him to pour me another. He looks at me with a mix of concern and admiration. According to the others in the Portland bar, his name is Matt. Matt is five foot nine, flabby, and has a long scar on his right cheek. He also has a full beard and a low buzz cut.
“I’ve never seen a gal handle her drink this good, but maybe you should slow down,” he suggests.
“Thanks, but I got this,” I reply as I signal for him to line up the shots next to each other. He lines up six shot glasses and looks on in wonder. I blow on the shot glasses and they all turn to Coy Dark. Matt is too busy looking at my cleavage to notice that the whiskey has turned a deep red. I down them in seconds and laugh at Matt’s reaction.
“It might be easier if you talk about whatever is bothering you, darlin’,” he says.
“Is that so?” I ask.
“Well, yeah. Tell me, what’s got you in here drinking my place dry at two in the afternoon?”
“Everything, Matt. Every damn thing,” I reply as I signal for him to set up the next lineup.
“You’re hot, and judging by your clothes, you got money. And you also have a wedding ring. You should have no troubles at all.”
I don’t reply. I simply laugh ironically and down the latest round of shots.
“I think that’s your last round, darlin’. You should go home. I can call you a cab,” he offers.
“Can’t go home. I’m meeting someone here,” I reply.
“Who?” he asks.
“Matt, what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”
“Well now, I don’t know you. I can’t just be spill’n secrets.”
I look at him and signal that if he’s not talking, he should be pouring. So he inhales deeply and leans in towards me. He whispers in my ear and tells me that he’s been doing some “light” meth and that his girl doesn’t know. He says he plans to stop taking drugs.
“You plan to stop today, huh?” I ask.
“Maybe not today but sometime soon. You know how it is,” he says with a suggestive smile.
“Yeah, Matt, I do.”
“So what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” he asks.
“I’ve killed, I’ve broken rules, and I lied to my husband about where I am today. But the worst thing, the absolute worst thing, is about to happen in about three minutes,” I reply, mostly to myself.
“You’ve killed someone? Okay, sweetheart, no more shots for you.” He laughs.
“Sometimes good people have to do bad things. It’s just the way of the world. Right?”
“Well, yeah. So how bad are you and I gonna get tonight?” he asks as he places his hand on top of mine.
“I told you I’m waiting for someone,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but you ain’t told me who yet. So I think it was a lie,” he counters.
“No, it’s not. I’m waiting for her,” I reply as a figure enters the bar.
“Wow…” Matt says when he spots my guest.
I wave my hand casually, and everyone in the bar loses consciousness and falls to the floor except Matt and the guest. Matt is gripped with terror as he takes in the scene. He stammers as he speaks.
“What the—”
“Well, guess my three minutes are up,” I tell myself.
“What happened to them? Oh shit! You were serious? You really do kill people? You some kind of terrorist or some shit? Did you spray some kind of bioweapon in my damn bar?” he says as he gets out his rifle and points it at my guest and me.
“DON’T MOVE!” Matt shouts. We do as he says and we stand still.
“Good, now tell me what the hell is going on. Did you kill my customers?” he demands.
“No, they’re just sleeping. They will wake up in about two hours or so,” I reply.
“No, wake them up now!” he shouts.
“Can’t. Remember the ‘worst thing’ question? Well, there’s the answer. I’m about to form a very unholy union, and I’d rather not have an audience. Besides, it’s safer for the humans to be asleep,” I reply.
“Then why am I not sleeping like all the others?” Matt asks, still shaking.
“Remember the ‘light’ meth you have been taking?” I ask sadly.
“Yeah,” he whispers.
“Well, Matt, there is no such thing as ‘light’ meth,” I tell him as I wave my hand. Like the other humans in the bar, Matt falls down to the ground. But unlike the others, he will never get back up.
I look across the bar to the figure standing by the door. Any angel who had as much to drink as I had would be drunk and senseless. But I’m not any angel. And even if I were, seeing the figure before me would sober me up immediately.
“Hello, Death.”
“Hello, Redd.”
“Well, don’t just stand there. After all this time, I’m sure you could use a drink. Omnis knows I can,” I call out. The figure saunters over to the bar and stands next to me. Redd looks like Miku, but her expansive wings are black and have red-colored tips. Her eyes are a dark swirling void of hate and rage. Miku’s alter ego is as wicked as she is beautiful.
I pour both of us a drink.
“I can feel your friend inside me,” she says.
“Is Miku okay?”
“The weakling is fine. But something tells me you didn’t ask her permission to have this little chat with me, now did you?” Redd asks.
“No, Redd, I didn’t. I am betraying her and most likely ruining our friendship.”
“Yes, and you unleashed a pretty terrifying evil, if I do say so myself.”
“I know what I did,” I assure her.
“You know my instincts were to flee and then gather an army—”
“Then you read my note.”
“Yes. The one where you informed me that I only have half an hour before the pill wears off, allowing my alter to take control again.”
“Yes.”
“Well, you council members have been busy, haven’t you? What’s to say that I don’t kill you?” she asks.
“You could try, Redd, but really, you’re hardly a match for me. In fact, I doubt you could take out a human.”
“Then why make them sleep?”
“Precaution,” I reply.
“Bullshit,” she says as she raises her hands high in the air to manipulate the ground beneath us. Nothing happens.
“I mixed up a lovely cocktail, Redd. It not only allows me to control how long you are here, it also allows me to control access to your powers.”
“You bitch!” she says, lunging at me. With a mindless wave of my hand, she goes flying backward into the wall.
“If you were going to strip me of my damn powers, what is the point of bringing me back?”
“I need your help.”
“I can’t help you with shit! I have no powers, remember, sweetie?” she demands.
“You don’t need powers for what I want.”
“And what the hell is that?”
“Advice. How do I force a member of the council to give me what I want?” I ask.
“Aren’t the three of you bowling buddies or something?”
“Fate knows something, and I need him to reveal it to me. You caused a lot of grief to the council members that came before us. I need advice on how I can do the same.”
“So little
miss goody wants to be bad, huh?” She cackles uncontrollably.
I sigh heavily, close my eyes, and think back to a few weeks ago, back when my family was happy…
“I’m here! I’m here!” I shouted as I burst through the door.
My husband looked up at me, smiled, and shook his head, indicating that I was too late.
“Argh! I really tried,” I pleaded.
He laughed as he walked over and tenderly kissed my forehead. “I don’t understand how you can be late. You work with Time,” he teased me.
“Well, I can’t ask Time to use his powers just so I won’t be late for family night. I mean, I did, but he said no,” I replied.
“I thought you were off early today.”
“I was supposed to be, but there’s a virus in Northeast Asia. I had to take out a whole village.”
“I’m sorry, babe. Is there an end in sight?” he asked.
“Fate is tight-lipped, but judging by his demeanor, the humans should be seeing some relief soon,” I happily reported.
“Good for humans and good for us. You’ve been working late every night this week. I miss you,” he said.
“I know, I’m sorry. However, I had some time last week, but someone was busy fighting a flock of Fire Swans in Germany.”
“Fair enough. What is it?” he said when he saw the look of concern on my face.
“Fate wouldn’t look me in the eye this morning. He usually does. Do you think it means something?” I asked.
“Fate has never been the fun type. I’m sure it has nothing to do with you,” he said.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right. And no more talk of work,” I replied with a smile.
“Yes, and I’m glad you are here now.”
“So glad that you will waive the rule? I was so close to being on time,” I begged him.
“Close doesn’t cut it, Em. You know the rules: whoever is late for family night is on cleanup duty,” he reminded me.
“If you agree to clean up, I’ll find a way to thank you.”
“What did you have in mind?” he asked.
“Maybe something like this…” I replied, then leaned in and kissed him slowly. He pulled me even closer to him and kissed me fervently. I forced myself to pull away, knowing we were not alone in the house.
“You’re such a tease,” he said ruefully.
“Later, promise. What happened with your mission?” I asked.
“Jay and Miku were able to subdue most of the demons, but a few got away and took human hostages with them. Rage and I followed behind, and together we were able to kill them and get the humans back safely.”
“That’s good, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, but the Paras had no business letting a stone that powerful out of their sights. I swear sometimes I think the Kon is sleeping on that damn throne.”
“In addition to being the king of Paras, he has two boys to raise,” I replied.
“At this point Bex or Hunter would make a better leader. Anyone but the guy we got right now.”
“Don’t say that. You know our kids play together,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, but I’m not sure he’s a big fan of Noru. In fact, I could swear he’s jealous of the kids. Paras don’t like to be upstaged in the power department.”
“I agree, but whatever goes on with the adults shouldn’t get in the way of the kids. Hey, does Rage have any plans this weekend?”
“I’m not sure—wait. Emmy, no!” he said sternly.
“What? I didn’t say anything.”
“No, but I know what you’re thinking. You cannot set Rage up on another date. You promised,” he said.
“Rage needs to be in a relationship.”
“Emmy, leave him alone.”
“He needs a girl.”
“He has one. And by one I mean a hundred. Per night,” he teased.
“He needs someone permanent.”
“You are not allowed to set Rage up with anyone anymore.”
“He’s my best friend, so why not?”
“Do you remember what happened the last time you set him up?”
“It wasn’t that bad,” I lied.
“An hour after going out with him, she tattooed his name on her—”
“I know where she put it.”
“Oh, and not to mention she called him a few hundred times. And when Rage wouldn’t pick up, she started to call the team. She stalked all of us for weeks, trying to get to Rage.”
“Okay, Tina was…less than a great choice,” I admitted.
“Emmy, she placed herself in a Holder in front of his house and refused to leave until he agreed to be with her.”
“That’s romantic,” I replied.
“What’s romantic? The part where Paras had to come and break the Holder open or the part where the Kon had to issue what amounted to the first ever angel restraining order?” he said.
“Okay, okay. No more playing matchmaker. It’s just that I want him to find someone. He can’t spend his life mourning Ameana. She wouldn’t want that for him.”
“I know, Em. But we can’t push him. He has to do this on his own terms. I don’t know how long it would take me to get over you if you died—it might be…four or five…hours.”
Although I knew he was joking, I picked up the nearest pillow from the sofa and hurled it at him. He ducked just in time to avoid being hit.
“You are so gonna get it!” I replied.
“Mommy!” Pryor said as she flapped her wings and flew towards me from upstairs. She could fly, but when she was excited, like now, she wobbled in the air. Her purple eyes lit up as she reached out for me with her stubby little fingers.
“There’s my Carrot!” I replied as I snatched her out of the air and hugged her.
“The good news is her power to amplify fear is improving. The bad news is she used it on her babysitter,” Marcus said.
“Pry, did you scare Uncle Tony?” I asked.
She smiled and nodded. We wanted to show her that we disapproved, but both Marcus and I were taken by just how proud she was to have used her powers successfully.
“How scared was Tony?” I asked as I put my baby down.
“He was in the closet, shaking.” Marcus laughed.
“We shouldn’t laugh. She has to control her powers,” I reminded him.
“I know, but you should have seen Tony,” he said, laughing even more. I knew it was wrong, but I joined him.
“Who thought it was a good idea to let us become parents?” I asked him.
“Yup, big mistake,” he replied.
“Daddy, human,” Pry said sternly. Pryor’s favorite game was Angels & Human. When Pry shouted “human,” Marcus had to pretend to be human and be “in desperate need of help.” Pry then would find a way to save him.
“Okay, you guys play. I’ll get us some snacks and then we can start the movie,” I replied as I walked into the kitchen. I could hear them playing in the living room from where I was. Marcus complained about playing the game, but in reality, he had even more fun than Pry did.
I placed a series of snacks on a tray and prepared to watch The Little Mermaid for the millionth time. I think Pry loved it because the princess had the same red hair. We tried to get her to watch other things, but she was stuck on that one movie.
I didn’t care what we watched, I was just glad that once a week we got to be at the house, all three of us together. That was one of the rules Marcus and I had to have in place. So no matter what was going on at work, we all found a way to get home for family movie night.
Miku and Jay had the same policy about family night. When it was Jay’s turn to choose, he usually took the twins to the racetrack or a car show. And when it was Miku’s turn, she took the girls shopping. Jay liked to joke that his daughters, Key and Swoop, were secretly working with evil to destroy him and were using shopping as a form of torture.
“EMMY!” Marcus called out desperately from the living room. The urgency in his tone struck fear into my very soul
. I’d known Marcus forever and he rarely panicked, rarely lost it. I ran out to the living room, where I found Marcus kneeling on the floor beside Pryor. She wasn’t moving.
We took her to a Healer and we found out that she had the Marcola: a routine virus where a trace amount of darkness penetrated your soul. Omnis allowed the virus so that angel children’s bodies would grow a resistance to darkness and learn to fight it early. It was a virus that was common among angels. It was equal to what the humans called chicken pox. The Healer gave us a mixture and said it should go away in the next few hours.
However, a few days later, Pry could not get out of bed let alone run around the house like she normally did. Overnight the red veins had spread to her wings and abdomen. I was at work when Tony called me and said I needed to come home. I rushed home and held her in my arms. She looked up at me and there was no light in her eyes.
I took her back to the Healer. While she was being examined, I tried not to freak out. I called Jay, who was home with his twins, Key and Swoop. He brought them over right away.
“Jay, she’s gonna be okay, right?” I asked desperately.
“Yo, you know Pry. She’s stubborn and willful. She’ll be fine,” Jay replied.
“Jay, what if—”
“Em, don’t go there. She’s gonna be fine. I mean, you’re Death, so if she was going to…you’d know.”
“No, I wouldn’t. Death never had a family before. I’m the first and only member of the council to be a parent. The way it works is that I have no knowledge of death when it comes to Marcus, Pry, or even Julian.”
“Damn, I forgot. But that doesn’t mean anything. Pryor will be fine,” he said as he took my hand.
“Daddy! Chips!” Swoop asked as she tugged on the end of his shirt.
“Ain’t gonna happen. You two already had a snack. I won’t let you and your sister load up on junk giggle chips and stay up all night laughing,” Jay scolded.
“Just one bag, Daddy, pleeeeeeeease!” Key begged.
“Yeah, just one. Pleeeeeeease,” Swoop added.
Jay and I exchanged a quick look. I signaled to him that it was okay to let them go.
