by Debra Dunbar
“The next up for sale is this lovely Mexican girl. Just look at that ass. Turn around so everyone can see how perfect your ass is. Beautiful, isn’t it? Just begging to be spanked or whipped, or gripped tight as you take her from behind. Who’ll bid a thousand for this one?”
I’d failed. I’d failed Kitten. I’d failed Leethu. I’d failed them all. I stared sightlessly at Baa, her back toward the buyers, her lips trembling although she had them clenched tight. I’d failed.
“You have to choose, Uri.” Marax’s wings snapped close to his body. We were on a beach, the surf roaring and smashing against the rocks. We could speak privately down here without fear of being overheard. And increasingly, Marax and I discussed things that should never be overheard.
“I can change his mind. Just give me some time,” I pleaded, taking a few awkward steps toward him. He was more comfortable in corporeal form than I was. These legs were like moving about on foreign objects. They didn’t feel like a part of me. I struggled to make them do what I wanted. Marax always told me I needed to embed myself further into the cells, drive my spirit-self into the very flesh of this form I’d created.
This is what we wanted the humans to be. Like this. It was a step in their evolution—an evolution we would carefully manage. They’d been chosen. It had been voted on. The Ruling Council had already begun to form the committees who would present the gifts of Aaru to the humans over the next three billion years. Slow and steady evolution. We had high hopes for them. We hoped they’d even surpass the elves in what they could attain.
Well, some of us had high hopes for them. Others felt we were making a terrible mistake, that we shouldn’t be meddling in the evolution of these beings, or any beings at all, that we should leave their future to fate, to an increasingly chaotic universe.
“It’s not me who needs to be patient, Uri, it’s your brother.”
Samael. It had started as a disagreement. They always disagreed, but this time the argument had taken on a life of its own. Samael had some valid points, but Michael had been increasingly intractable over the last few million years. He wouldn’t budge. Now it was a matter of pride between two angels who had never managed to rid themselves of that sin.
Samael had said Michael just needed to get laid, to assume corporeal form and indulge in sensation for a glorious moment or two. I tended to agree, but was sure I was one of the only Angels of Order who would.
They told me I was corrupted by my mating, by this Angel of Chaos that stood in front of me. I felt my lips curl up as I contemplated the things Marax had talked me into doing. Being corrupted was fun, especially with someone you loved with every bit of your spirit-self.
“You need to make a choice,” he repeated.
“I can’t. I have family on both sides. I have you. I’ll continue to try and talk sense into the pair of them. That’s all I can do.”
“It’s war, Uri.” He let the words settle around us. “Michael declared war. You need to pick a side, to make a choice.”
“I’m an Angel of Order,” I whispered, suddenly afraid.
“And I’m an Angel of Chaos.” His eyes were dark as they met mine, the irises bleeding outward to swallow everything in a glossy black. “We’re more than what they label us, Uri. Where is your heart?”
With him. Always with him, and with Haka, the child we’d created between us.
“I can’t just break with Michael and the others. I’ll be in a better position to stop this madness if they don’t think I’m a traitor.” It wouldn’t come to war. And if it did, it would all be over in a few centuries or so. Micha and Gabe had the human project to occupy them. Rafi would go along with whatever his elder brothers said. Samael had the attention span of a gnat. It would all blow over.
“Is that really your decision, Uri?”
It sounded so final, like a life-or-death choice. It would be fine. It would all be forgotten soon enough. I’d convince them to stop arguing and it would all be fine.
“Come with me, Uri.” His voice was so full of love…and a sharp edge of desperation.
“I’m an Angel of Order,” I repeated. I’m a coward. I always side with Michael. Marax would forgive me, but Micha never would.
“I love you,” he told me as he turned away. “I’ll always love you.”
It was the last time I’d ever hear him say that.
There was a roaring noise like a freight train was rushing by inches from my head. I felt the broken flesh that sat below me, felt the beginning stages of its decay. I grabbed hold, seizing each molecule, each atom, each particle. Light. Power. Breath. Life.
My eyes blinked. My hand stirred. My skin shimmered, alabaster white, clean, whole. Baa froze, her eyes huge as she stared at me.
I stood. The boss stopped his auctioneer routine, fumbling at the gun in a holster at his side, but my attention was elsewhere.
“Take your hand from my sister,” I commanded, pointing at Miller. At the words I felt huge wings snap from my back, extending outward with the crack of thunder.
The room erupted into chaos. People dove for the floor, some ran for the door. Miller let go of Kitten and slowly edged away, his hands raised.
Shots rang out, tore into my body. I laughed, thinking it funny that the boss had finally managed to get his pistol out of the holster. I turned to him and smiled, healing wounds as the metal fell from my flesh. I stepped off the stage, hovering with my wings outstretched for a moment before slowly lowering myself to the ground.
“Kill her,” the boss shouted, backing away from me. “I command you to kill her.”
Leethu shook her head, squinting at me as if she were staring directly at the sun. “An angel. You expect me to kill an angel?”
“Yes, kill her,” the boss screamed, stumbling against one of the metal chairs and nearly going down.
“No.” There was a flicker of something in her eyes—awe, and an emotion I hadn’t seen in a very long time. “No. I will not kill her.”
“I command you to kill her. You have to. The summoning. You have to.”
“Nothing in my summoning says I need to kill an angel.” Leethu turned to look at the boss, a smile curling the edges of her lips. “Nor does it say I need to protect you from one.”
He bolted.
“Leethu, can you make sure no one hurts the girls?” I followed at a more leisurely pace, knowing he’d never get that stupidly slow bay door up enough to get out before I got there.
There was a deafening clang noise at the door. An amplified voice informed us that the police were there, with a warrant, and that they were coming in. The boss was halfway across the warehouse, but quickly reversed, running back around to the stage. The buyers who hadn’t already fled raced about in a state of panic, searching for an alternate exit.
I sprinted for the boss, dodging the buyers and around the chairs. Was he going to try to grab a hostage?
A door flew open and hit the rack that held the chairs, shoving it forward and knocking several onto the floor. Two humans pushed their way in, wearing protective gear and sporting some rather large firearms. The banging noise from the bay door grew louder, combined with the squawk of metal being cut and bent.
The boss reached out, but instead of grabbing one of the girls, he grabbed Leethu. The succubus wound back her fist to hit him, but her arm stopped, as if an invisible cord held it in place. The boss laughed and slapped her face. “Get the cops out of here. Do what you’re supposed to do and get the police away so we can get out.”
“I’m going to kill you,” she snarled. “Maybe you won’t die directly by my hand, but I swear on all the souls I Own that I’m going to see you dead in the next few hours. I’m going to dance on your broken body, devour your flesh, torture your soul for all of eternity.”
Her eyes glowed gold. I felt the heat of her anger, but she did as he said. The banging stopped. The two guys with their rifles hesitated, lowering the guns and looking toward her.
“There’s nothing here,” she told them. “Nothing for you.
Leave now. Don’t make me harm you. Leave now.”
I saw it—saw the calming blue of her words, felt her compulsion. Just as the two officers turned to leave, I reached out and sealed the door shut. The boss snarled, and pushed Leethu aside, grabbing Pillow instead. I should have had the girls run and hide, but instead I’d kept them all together, counted on Leethu to protect them. But Leethu couldn’t do anything against the man who’d summoned her.
I could. And a hostage was no impediment to me.
The ground trembled underneath the warehouse. The stage shook, chairs fell over. The buyers still running around the warehouse looking for an exit screamed and cried “earthquake” as they dove for shelter.
Narrow stone monoliths shot up from the ground, blocking the back door. The boss turned to run, shoving Pillow in front of him as a shield. “I’ll kill her.” He pointed the gun at Pillow. “Back off and let go or I’ll kill her.”
“No, you won’t.” I teleported Pillow away from his side to the others, turned the gun in his hand to dust, then I raised my hand. Stone shot up from the ground, blocking his flight, caging him in. The only way out was toward me, and it was clear from the look on the man’s face, that was a direction he didn’t want to take. I flew up to the stage, cornered him with his back against the stone. Then in spite of his pleading, I reached out and wrapped my hand around his neck. He fell apart, grains of sand raining down onto the stage as his body disintegrated, setting his soul free for a judgement that wasn’t mine to give.
His death liberated Leethu, and she immediately dropped the compulsion.
The bay door burst open, and dozens of armed men ran in, shouting that they were police and that everyone should be kneeling on the floor with their hands on the backs of their heads.
“Do as they say,” I told the girls with a reassuring smile. Lacy’s cavalry had arrived. She’d done it. Without knowing one word of English, the girl had managed to bring the police to the rescue. Even if I had died as the boss had intended, my girls would have been safe.
I looked over at Leethu. She smiled at me.
“Should I be down on my knees as well?” Her eyebrow arched with the absurdity of the suggestion. I saw her power, saw her spirit-self glowing inside her corporeal shell and felt something I hadn’t felt for over two-and-a-half-million years.
“No, you should be in my arms,” I told her.
She glided toward me, elegant and beautiful, my equal in every way no matter what she might think. And it was into her outstretched arms I went. My family. My new family. The family I would never fail to put first.
Chapter 23
“Damn, Red.” Sugar coughed, her face gray with the dust my monoliths had stirred up from the warehouse floor. “Could you have smited that guy without a damned earthquake? For a second I thought I was going to be buried alive. And what’s with this Easter Island shit here?”
Kitten walked forward, reaching out a shaking hand to touch my wings. I felt the touch of her fingers through every nerve in my body—deeper than my body, right down to my spirit-self. “Are you…are you an angel?”
It seemed presumptuous to say “yes” when I knew that her definition of the word didn’t exactly match what I was.
“Yes, she’s an angel.” Pistol gave me a tired smile. “Even better than a mermaid.”
Kitten smiled. “Yes, even better than a mermaid. Can we still call you Red? What’s your real name?”
Uriel. My name was Uriel. “To you I’ll always be Red.”
The other girls clustered around, tentatively touching my wings and exclaiming over their softness. We all talked at once, relieved, excited, thankful that we’d be going home. Well, some of us were thankful. Sugar looked at my wings, then glanced over at Leethu before staring out the broken bay door.
“Family,” I reminded her. “I’ll not abandon you, Sugar. Having wings don’t make me any less your sister.”
A voice cleared behind us and I turned to see an officer who was not wearing a helmet, although he did have a protective vest on over his uniform.
“Excuse me. Your…holiness? We’ll need everyone to come down to the station and give statements on what happened. Do we need to take anyone to the hospital? Does anyone need medical attention?” He glanced at my wings. “Probably not.”
I’d take care of anything Leethu missed. “None of the girls need medical attention. I’ll accompany them to the station and give a statement if you wish, but there’s someone I need to find first. One of the girls who managed to escape.”
He grinned. “Lai? From Laos? I was going to say that you owe your lives to her, but I guess not.” He looked around, eyes lighting on the pile of sand in an alcove of tall slabs of stone. “We were hoping to take in David Brunell. The FBI has been trying to get enough on him for an arrest, but he’s a slippery guy. I’m assuming that’s who was heading this operation.”
“If you have photos of David Brunell, we can verify that, but I’m afraid there are no remains to identify. And no living man to arrest.” I felt a bit of guilt at that. These humans deserved to deliver their own justice. I’d need to remember in the future to be less quick to act, to work with these beings and not assume their laws were the same as ours.
“Who killed him?” The officer waved a quick hand. “No, I don’t want to know that. There’s not a prosecutor in the state that would want to bring murder charges against an angel. How could we ever find a jury of your peers? Or attempt to hold you in a human jail? I guess these sorts of things would need to be turned over to whoever handles that in heaven, or wherever you’re from.”
“Aaru,” I told him.
“Aaru. It would be like an extradition, I guess.” He looked up at me and shook his head. “Dragons and unicorns and trolls. Elves. Demon and angels. It’s crazy. It’s crazy, and we don’t know how we’re supposed to deal with all this. But I guess you know that already.”
I didn’t. And I felt bad about that as well. What had happened since I’d been gone? What had happened in the brief year I’d been alone in a cave, letting my guilt eat me alive? I was back, and that meant I’d need to resume my place on the Ruling Council. I’d be overwhelmed by all the stuff my brothers had, no doubt, set aside for my return.
Things would be different. I was back, but I was no longer the angel I’d been before. I’d do what was right, even if that meant facing down all of my remaining brothers. I loved them. They’d always be my family, but I had another family to think about now.
“Come on,” I told my sisters. “Let’s answer these questions the police have, find Lai, and then go home.”
Home. Our home. Because no matter how far apart we might go, we’d always be family, and we’d always have a home. I’d make darned sure of that.
Epilogue
Lai’s story
I’d followed the man out of the room, away from the safety of the other girls. I’d done everything that horrible guard had wanted me to do. Smiled. Been eager and obedient, even feigning enthusiasm. The whole time I’d been imagining killing him, sliding a dagger into his chest, lopping off his testicles one at a time before slowly carving his dick from his body.
I’d endure. Just like the woman with the red hair had endured. Just like the dark-skinned woman who had gone with them earlier had endured.
His attentions went on forever. He would climb on top, then when he was finished, he would play with me until he recovered. Often I was to help him recover, using my hands and my mouth. He was on top. Then I was on my knees with my face pressed against the bed, his hand firm on my neck. Each time I kept my eyes lowered, smiling and nodding, my hands calmly folded in my lap when he was done and fondling me. I thought it would never end, but finally he rose to put on his clothing, motioning for me to sit on the bed and stay.
He left, and I heard the door lock behind him. I was untied. I knew he was confident that I’d be right where he’d left me, that I wouldn’t move. And he was right. How long would he be gone? I was afraid to even put my cloth
ing on in case he returned and was displeased with me. I kept envisioning the other girl, the one who had come back barely alive. They’d beaten her almost to death. I didn’t want that to happen to me. I didn’t want that to happen to anyone else.
The lock clicked and the door opened. I lowered my eyes, my heart racing, thankful that I hadn’t gotten dressed or shifted an inch from where he’d told me to stay. Don’t hurt me. Don’t kill me. Do whatever you want with my body, just don’t hurt me.
But when I peeked up from under my lashes, I saw it wasn’t one of the men, it was the evil spirit. It was bad enough spreading my legs and smiling for some guard. Would this spirit expect the same? She was in the form of a woman, but I didn’t want to imagine what sorts of appendages a spirit could produce to cause me pain and humiliation.
She’d already caused great pain among the other girls. The red-haired one had been trying to win the spirit to her side, but I feared she was no witch and lacked the power to make this spirit help us, to turn her evil to good. I kept my mouth shut, holding very still and hoping she didn’t notice me.
The spirit ignored me, walking over to pick up a pencil from a table, then whistling softly as she left. The door didn’t lock behind her. I had listened carefully, but had never heard the sound of the bolt sliding closed. As I watched, the door even swung open a few inches.
I heard the shuffling sound of footsteps retreating and hadn’t hesitated. I slid off the bed and pulled on my clothing as quickly as possible. Carefully I eased the door open and slipped out, shutting it behind me. Hugging the wall, I looked around and saw no one—not even the spirit. But something odd caught my eye. There was a trail of flower petals on the floor.
Flower petals. The spirit had spoken to me in my language before the man had taken me away. She had said that I was to be obedient and that the flowers would lead me to freedom.
Was it a trap, or was this spirit not quite as evil after all? Perhaps the red-haired girl was a witch. Perhaps she’d convinced this spirit to help us. I was terrified that I’d find one of the guards at the end of this trail, that he’d beat me with the stick for not being obedient, that I’d die, but there was a greater fear in my heart. Whatever future these two men had planned for us, it was far worse than what we’d experienced so far. I was afraid, but I needed to get out of here, and I needed to help those other girls.
