The Kiss of Death

by Auryn Hadley

  Feet thundered on the stairs. "Thank god, you're..." He stopped in the open doorway while I was still clasping the bra, my bare back facing him. "Sorry."

  "Are you ok?" I asked, quickly putting everything into place before turning around.

  His eyes were on the ground. "I'm fine. Uriel's a friend. He's been saying he's neutral for a long time, but he helps us when he can. He didn't try to stop me from leaving."

  "He kinda shoved me through the veils and onto the front yard!"

  "Yeah." Luke took a step into the room. "Can you please get dressed?"

  "Right. You talk, I'll find clothes." Comfortable ones, like the yoga pants, I decided, remembering the weather on Daemin.

  Luke dragged a hand down his face as he turned to look at the far wall. "He pulled a few feathers from my wing to leave evidence. The plan is to make it look like I was the one who trashed their forest, and there's at least one Malakim who will confirm it. It will make the other archangels think Uriel and I are at each other's throats, which will give him more reasons to seek me out without raising suspicions."

  "So why doesn't he just come help the demons?"

  "He is. How do you think we know what the enemy's doing? Someone has to be the spy, and Uriel has enough reasons to enjoy his life on Angelis." He paused. "Sia, he threw you out because he was trying to protect you. Uriel's the one who contacted Azrael. He says the story is true."

  I pulled a babydoll strap tank on and turned to face Luke. "How would he know?" When he kept staring at the wall, I added, "I'm dressed, Luke."

  "Right." Slowly, he turned, letting his eyes move from my feet up to my face. "Sia, Uriel knows your mom. She's not dead."

  Not what I expected. Not at all. "She's alive?"

  He nodded. "And on Angelis. He said her name is Kacira, after her father's mother, and her eyes are as blue as tropical water."

  "Kacira," I breathed, thinking about the fairy. "The guy who helped me with the tree thought I was her. He said I looked just like her except for my hair."

  "Uriel said the same. He said you got your father's hair, but I didn't get the chance to ask more. Cherubs were moving in, trying to hide from your sprites. He said he sent you back to Earth, so I came here first."

  "So why did he tell Azrael? Why didn't he tell me?"

  "I don't know," Luke insisted. "Sweetheart, we need to get back to Daemin before those angels find a reason for us to spend all this aether. Pack what you need and let's get Nick back on his feet."

  "Right."

  In the closet, I still had my backpacks for school. I dumped one on the floor and started to walk away but saw my sketchpad. On impulse, I put it and a collection of colored pencils back in my bag, then went back to pile underwear, socks, and more comfortable clothes on top of it. There wasn't room for much, so I didn't bother with makeup. I did, however, toss in a handful of hair bands.

  "You want to drive?" I asked, offering Luke my hand. "I've only been there once."

  "Sure."

  He clasped my fingers and pulled, tugging us both into the corridor I knew so well. Interestingly, we weren't on the second floor. It seemed this almost-plane of existence didn't care about things like that. Before I could ask, Luke shifted his arm around my waist and stepped back.

  Twelve seconds. I counted, this time. It took twelve seconds before we appeared under a dark crimson sky on the rocks of the Daemin ravine. It was night, but a large red-violet moon in the sky proved that wherever this place was, it was definitely a planet, just like Earth, and yet nothing at all like Earth. I'd have to ask about that later. Right now, I just wanted to know one thing.

  "Why did we come back out here?" I pointed up to the faint glow in the distance where the demon statues should be. "And not inside there?"

  "Warded," Luke explained. "They set it up that way a long time ago, and I will never be given the keys to just step through the veils and into their house. We have to fly."

  I tightened the straps on my backpack so it fit snugly. "Think you can carry me?"

  He laughed. "Sweetheart, you're still from Earth. I promise you're not heavy at all." Grinning, he scooped me into his arms to prove it. "Hang on."

  Unlike the demons, Luke's takeoff was smoother. Still jarring, and I still squeezed my arms tight around his neck and shoulders, but I think it was the feathers. Where Nick and Sam caught all the air against their leather wings, Luke's had a little give, like a shock absorber. I kinda liked it. Just like I really enjoyed the view from way up here.

  "You think we'll get another welcome party?" I asked, yelling over the wind.

  "Probably," he called back. "The veil will alert them that someone came through. The problem is going to be your glow."

  I glanced at my arm. "I'm not glowing!"

  "Yeah, sweetheart, you are. Your aura's a lot more vibrant than normal, and it doesn't take much to guess why. Mine's the same. Outworlders can all see it."

  "Is that a problem?"

  He shook his head. "I'll make sure it's not, but it pretty much announces that you're a Muse. Hope this is worth it."

  "Fixing Nick will be," I assured him. "And Sam, he's not much better."

  "Well, the trick will be, once we're inside, not stopping until we make it to their rooms. Time to hang on again."

  The words were barely out of his mouth before he tilted his body and changed the angle of his wings to prepare for landing. I was actually starting to get used to this. Tucking my face against his neck, I closed my eyes, shielding them from the dust. Then we were down. As if we'd practiced it a million times, Luke eased me to the ground and stepped around me, catching my fingers in his hand.

  Without a word, he started walking farther into the mouth of Hell. People had arrived, just like I'd expected, but they were all staring in shock at the pair of us. Not a single one tried to stop us, some ducked their heads in an almost nod of respect, but I wasn't sure I liked the look in their eyes. Granted, I could just be projecting, because the swirls of space they looked out of weren't exactly the most expressive things in the world.

  Just when I was sure we wouldn't have a problem, my least favorite demon came jogging up from one of the side halls in the throat. "What have you done?" Mammon demanded.

  "Get out of my way," Luke snarled at him.

  That only made Mammon more belligerent. He shifted to be directly in Luke's path and held up a hand. "Stop, angel. You're only here at our invitation, and it won't take much to rescind that."

  A chuckle came from the shadows. "Do not touch my friends, Mammon." It was Bel's voice. "I may have passed my title, but you've never managed to earn one. Back away from my Muse."

  "Bel!" I gasped, releasing Luke to rush to him. "Where's Nick?"

  The big guy bent enough that I could wrap my arms around his neck. "With Sam. You stupid girl, going to Angelis like that. What were you thinking?"

  "Shut up and hug me, Bel."

  With a deep rumble, he did. His arms went around my back, his wings around my shoulders, his tail across my legs, and his lips pressed hard on the top of my head. For a moment he just held me, then, with a heavy sigh, he carefully set me back on the ground.

  "When you didn't come, Nick had to check. He saw you on Angelis and nearly crawled out of the bed. I told him I would wait at the mouth for your return, and that our Muse was too strong to be stopped by angels, but he's not happy."

  "He will be." I tilted my head up the hall. "Show us where?"

  "And the rest of us?" Mammon demanded. "You cannot bring that much aether here and keep it for yourselves!"

  I held up a finger to Bel, then turned and stormed toward the grey asshole who'd become a serious pain in my ass. "Let me make this real clear," I warned him. "Those who hide far behind the battle lines in deep dark holes are the last of my concern. There's a war going on out there. I came back to raise a legion. My legion, and if you think you're going to stop me, then just know that Angelis is in chaos right now because they pissed me off. If there's any aether left, I'll
raise as many demons as I can. Now, do you really want to keep me waiting?"

  "Angelis is..." He looked over at Luke. "You went home?"

  "That is not my home," Luke corrected. "This is. Now, move."

  Bel chuckled when the other guy hurried out of the way, then he pushed himself off the wall. "Follow me, Lucifer."

  Without asking – then again, he didn't need to – Bel picked me up like a toy and took off. He didn't get a lot of height, but there wasn't that much space in here to do so. The hallway was just tall enough to let a demon soar over the heads of anyone walking, and only wide enough for one set of wings at a time. When we reached an intersection and he turned, I winced, expecting his wingtip to collide with the wall, but I should have known better. He'd been doing this for a few million years, I reminded myself.

  Luke followed behind us as Bel picked every road to take us lower and deeper inside this place. Down, always down, our path was almost spiraling. One block lower, turn left, at the next intersection make another left. Over and over until I lost count and swore I could feel the air pressure changing, but the light never did. Soft and yellowish, whatever microscopic thing grew on these rocks made it all too easy to see how fast we were going.

  Then Beelzebub clutched me tighter and put on the brakes. The air rushed from my lungs, my world tilted, and once we were back on the ground, my head was spinning at the sudden change. I grabbed Bel's arm to keep me from staggering.

  "Sia?" Sam asked, his voice coming from an open doorway.

  I hurried to him. "Where's Nick?"

  He pointed to the far wall where a bed was cut in like an alcove. "He slipped under when he used the necklace. It was too much for what he had left."

  "Does anyone know?" I asked, moving to kneel at Nick's side.

  "No," Bel said from the doorway. "I tried to tell Sam we should take him back to Earth. That's the only way he's going to refill, but it will take years. He said we had to wait for you to come back. That we couldn't leave you unprotected here."

  Right. We'd kept my access to Nick's wards a secret and Bel hadn't been awake when that happened. "Close the door, guys."

  Luke did, then leaned against the strange stone-like portal. "You want me to fill up Sam?" he asked.

  I shook my head. "I want you full just in case we have problems. Mammon isn't making me feel very welcome. Bel, don't let anyone in until I'm done."

  "Sia, he's..."

  Before he could finish the sentence, I pressed my palm over Nick's seal and relaxed. This time, I knew why this had been so difficult for me, and I ignored all those stupid worries that ran circles in my brain. It didn't matter if I hated asking for help. These guys were always there for me. I'd done the most ignorant things in front of them, and they still respected me. And when it came to someone to rely on, I knew that all four of them would have my back, but most of all, I could trust Nick.

  As I thought it, I began to feel the transfer. My demon. My Death. My lover. The man lying before me was everything I'd ever wanted and so much more. He'd always treated me as a friend and an equal and all he wanted was my happiness. All I wanted was his, and I'd give anything to make that happen. Even my life.

  Nick's chest began to rise and fall, then I felt his pulse pounding against my hand. I kept going until he sucked in a breath and opened his eyes, turning to look at me. A weary smile found his mouth and he reached up for my hand.

  "Sia?"

  "I was on Angelis getting aether and causing problems. Just take this, Nick. I have plenty."

  "Mhm," he said softly, but he tugged again. "It works better when you kiss me, Muse."

  Pinning my hand between our bodies, I did exactly that, not surprised at all when he palmed the back of my head. The kiss was slow, sweet, and lazy, but he was awake to give it, and growing stronger with each brush of our lips. I smiled against his mouth, just happy to know this had actually worked.

  "That's enough," he whispered. "Fill up Sam while Luke fixes my wing."

  "I can -"

  "No," he chuckled. "I'd prefer Luke does this. No offense, flightless one."

  "Ok." I pressed another quick kiss on him then leaned back. "But you're ok?"

  "Will be." He pointed to Sam. "It works better if you kiss her. Makes her relax."

  "Nick," Sam said, lifting his hands. "We've already talked about this."

  "And I was wrong, ok? She likes you, you like her, and we think it's hot, so shut up and kiss the Muse. You need the aether."

  I couldn't help but think about our conversation at the bar. Seeing Nick kiss Sam was hot. Clearly, that worked both ways. So, before I could chicken out, I stepped forward, cupped the side of Sam's face, and pressed my lips to his.

  For a split second, he froze, then his hands found my back and he pulled my hips against his. The moment I gasped, I also pressed my hand on his seal and just gave in. Behind me, I couldn't help but hear Beelzebub chuckle.

  "Seems we have the sex Muse, huh?"

  "I wouldn't say that," Luke countered. "I think it's more that she's making up her own rules. I, for one, am not going to complain if I ever need a little aether."

  "Me, either," Bel agreed. "Almost want to burn what I have so I get my turn."

  Sam, feeling a lot more vibrant against me, broke our kiss so he could turn his head and laugh. "Guys? According to her, you have to try flirting first. She told me so."

  "I need to learn about flirting," Bel grumbled. "I don't want to be the only one she doesn't kiss."

  Luke slapped his arm. "In case you missed it, Beelzebub, those two are the only ones getting any."

  "Yeah, but you have feathers. That shit's just gross."

  I jerked my chin at Luke. "I like his feathers."

  "Right," Nick drawled, sitting up. "Luke, fix my wing. Bel, open the door. Sam?" He paused, turning those starry eyes to the ground. "Thanks for taking care of me."

  "Always," Sam promised.

  Nick glanced up, then turned his eyes to me. "What comes next, dove?"

  I leaned against the strong chest beside me, letting Sam's body hold my exhausted ass up. "We wake up an army. As soon as you're feeling better, I'll give you as much of this as you can hold, and you can teach me how to do it without kissing all of them."

  "How about you just kiss us and we'll handle the waking?"

  "Sounds good to me," I agreed. "Because when we're all out of the good stuff, I know a few hospitals, and someone said he'd show me how to reap the dead. We need an army, Nick. I just pissed off a whole lot of angels, and I'll be damned if I'm going to give away that advantage."

  "I hear being damned isn't a bad place to be," he pointed out.

  I nodded in agreement. "Y'all know I spent my whole life wishing I could just be normal? Dreaming of the day I would be able to take care of myself?"

  "Sia..." Nick said.

  "No," I assured him. "Nick, I was wrong. I don't want to be normal. I want this. I want to be something magical and special. I want to change the world – or five. Most of all..." I paused, looking from one guy to the next. "More than anything else, I just don't want to mess this up."

  Sam slid his wing around my back. "You can't, sweetie."

  "No way am I letting that happen," Luke promised.

  "We won't let you," Nick assured me. "We're your family – your demons – and I've worked hard to teach you that the only limits that matter are the ones you make yourself."

  But it was Bel who said it best. "You're our Muse, baby. Ours. No matter what happens, we aren't ever going to let you dump us. Not even if I'm bad at flirting."

  "Not for millions of years, at least," Nick added. "Sorry, dove. Welcome to the first legion of daemoni. Membership is for life."

  Epilogue

  Living with demons was weird. After two weeks in Hell – which still made me pause when I thought of it like that – I'd finally learned my way around, but I still didn't quite understand the men on this plane. Probably because I was the only girl on the entire planet. I'd learned that
tidbit last week in my theory lessons; each world really was a planet. Some were bigger, others smaller, but they all had the same gravity because of the physics variances across the planes.

  Speaking of lessons, I rapped at the door. "Ronwe?"

  "Come in," he called through the stone. "It's unlocked."

  I used my shoulder to nudge it open and my foot to ease it closed behind me because my arms were full of paper and pencils. "Where can I put this?"

  Ronwe looked up, revealing the mangled side of his face. "Take the table, Sia. Nothing on there is important, and you're early. Any special reason?"

  "The guys are flying." I could hear the pout in my own voice. "Working out combat moves with the ones we woke up. I can't play until I figure out how to get wings."

  He chuckled. Of all the people on this world, he was the only one who understood how much it sucked to be flightless. His entire right side was deformed. He said that's how he'd come to be, but he was as stuck to the ground as I was. It also kept him from actually using the theories he'd spent his very long life perfecting. Not only was his body mangled, but also his ability to manipulate aether in quantities large enough to matter.

  "Soon, little one," he assured me, just like he always did, "you will get to enjoy that as well."

  I nudged his papers to the edge and let mine drop onto the tabletop. "You know I'm starting to get sick of hearing 'soon' all the time, right? How can I reap the dead if I can't even get out of this city?"

  "Then learn faster, Muse." He smiled. It was crooked because of the scarring on his face, but still sweet. "Relying on your emotions may have worked to get you here, but if you want to be a master aethersculptor, you're going to need skill as well."

  "Right now," I pointed out, "I'm a little more worried about being stuck in a city where the only exit is a hundred feet above the ground! Wings, Ronwe, are my top priority."

  "And that means you need skill to get them, Muse" he countered. "So far, all you have done is panic and react. Not all worlds have an abundance of life available for you to waste it frivolously. Before you can create your skin, you must learn the limitations of your abilities. I'm sure none of your lovers would want to kiss that visage you made yesterday."