The City of Angels

by Stefania Gil

“Mike, please. I’ll tell you the same thing that I told Meth. Take care of yourself. I’ll let you know when we’re done.” Lilith looked at Jev. “Put on a shirt. We’re leaving.”

  They went down to the lobby and Lilith booked another room.

  The different environment improved Jev’s mood slightly.

  Everything was clean and fresh.

  He felt like resting placidly in that impeccable bed.

  “Don’t even think it,” Lilith told him when she saw his intentions of getting straight into bed. “You smell like a dumpster and if you don’t get immediately in the shower I won’t let you even touch the walls.”

  He smiled at her sweetly.

  Lilith wanted to kiss him but it was impossible because of the smell that emanated from his body.

  Jev took off his shirt on the way to the bathroom and left his back uncovered. When Lilith saw her image immortalized on his body she felt glad that this situation was finally happening. She wanted to stay by his side for all eternity even though she wasn’t prepared to give up all that she had been able to accomplish on Earth.

  But now she knew that it wouldn’t be impossible for them to get together and stay together forever.

  “Are you going to be here when I get out of the shower?”

  “I won’t go anywhere without you, Jev.”

  5

  Jev was grateful for his body’s contact with hot water.

  How many days had passed since he had last washed up? He really stank. He gave himself a thorough wash from head to toe. He didn’t want Lilith to see him again in that condition.

  His heart beat accelerated when he thought about her and his penis throbbed.

  But this wasn’t the moment for erotic thoughts because he would die of embarrassment if he stood in front of her with an erection without having even talked for a while before.

  What would she think of him?

  No. He had to control himself a bit. Then he would see what happened.

  Jev remained under the soothing water falling over his back. It relaxed him and made him remember everything he’d done during the time he was missing.

  How was it possible for him to disappear for so long? When had time passed without him realizing it?

  He could have sworn that it had been three of four days but Mike was talking about weeks.

  Jev felt a terrible anguish for his boys. If they had spent weeks on Earth they were more and more likely to choose to stay. Poor boys, he had caused them too much trouble.

  He remembered when he was told that they had almost lost Uryan. How could that be possible? The only way for his warrior to stop existing was that he let himself be taken over by his own flames.

  He rested his hands on the wall.

  He owed them a big apology.

  The bathroom door opened startling him.

  “Are you staying there all day?”

  He opened the shower curtain slightly.

  Jev looked at the woman that tormented him with excitement. She was there and he couldn’t believe it.

  His penis throbbed again.

  “I can’t come out yet.”

  “Why not, Jev?” she came a little closer and he closed the curtain.

  He didn’t want to feel so nervous in front of her.

  “It’s... I... well...”

  The curtain moved a bit and Lilith’s leg appeared.

  The woman had removed her dress and shoes and got into the shower with Jev. “The thing is that if you don’t come out. I get in.”

  Jev couldn’t control his wild side and placed one of his hands on her neck, dragging her toward him.

  They were both under the shower and she embraced him tightly. “I was so scared of losing you forever.” She kissed him on the left side of his chest.

  He held her closer. He didn’t want to let her go.

  “I love you, Lilith, and I never want to leave your side again.” He cradled the angelic face of the woman he loved in his hands. “I’m incomplete without you.” He kissed her face repeatedly.

  She started to giggle.

  They embraced tightly and this urged Jev to caress his lover’s back slowly while the water wet their skin.

  She raised her head and didn’t want to lose more time. She placed her mouth near his.

  “I want you so much.” Jev brushed his lips against hers and a moan escaped Lilith.

  Then he decided to invade her mouth, slowly but firmly. It was so wet, so warm that Jev started to lose the battle with his wild side.

  Her hard nipples rubbed against his chest, her groin trapped his erection and the muffled moans in their mouths were just the beginning of what could be expected for the reunion of two people who love each other. Who want each other and haven’t seen each other for millennia.

  6

  Evelyn opened the door and welcomed the three women that had arrived at her house.

  “Hi,” she greeted them, she smiled and gave them a warm hug to which the visitors responded with happiness.

  “Pleased to meet you, Evelyn, I’m Nicole. Has anything happened to them?”

  Evelyn smiled.

  “Fortunately, not. Everything is under control and they have found Jev.”

  The girl with black hair and light-colored eyes smiled at her, relieved.

  “I’m Aimée.” She held out a hand.

  “And you must be Cristine?” asked the woman that stood in between the other two women.

  “Yes.”

  “But, please, come inside. We have much to talk about and things to organize for when the guys arrive with Jev.

  The women entered the house. Nicole watched everything in fascination. Evelyn could feel that she was different than the other women.

  She had something special.

  “M- ma.” Enya appeared on the staircase landing and Evelyn ran to her.

  “Sweetheart! How did you get here?”

  “Oh! Dear God!” Aimée couldn’t hide her shock. She was curious and had wanted to see the child but was surprised when she saw her wings.

  Evelyn smiled, preoccupied.

  “Her experience with the wings is pretty unsteady. I wish Jev could do something to help her.”

  “Oh, My God” Cristine cried out, joining the other two women. “How can she...”

  “Is she Uryan’s daughter?” Nicole watched Enya completely fascinated with the girl. Enya immediately jumped down from her mother’s arms and started to laugh. “You’re beautiful, sweetheart.” The girl’s scent reached Nicole’s nose. “You smell like candy. It makes me want to eat you with one bite.” Nicole tickled Enya’s neck and it made her burst into laughter.

  “Yes, she’s Uryan’s daughter. I think that no one, not even them, knew about the possibility of children between angels and humans. Well,” Evelyn corrected herself, “I’m not just any human. Maybe that’s why.”

  “Please. Now you’re going to tell us that you’re a witch.” Cristine said.

  Evelyn smirked.

  “Would you like some coffee? We have a lot to talk about.”

  7

  Jev felt uncomfortable when he woke up the next morning. He was starting to feel all the effects of letting himself become overwhelmed by human emotions and vices for so long. His body seemed to be struggling against the effects of alcohol.

  How stupid he’d been to act that way.

  Jev felt the need to see his boys and talk to them. He needed to apologize and show them that he was really sorry for having put them through this ordeal.

  To what extent would they be contaminated?

  “Thinking?” Lilith turned around and caressed his back.

  “I can’t stop thinking about the boys and the hard time they must have had during these weeks. I need to talk to them, apologize, and return to my life, Lilith.”

  Lilith sighed.

  Jev turned around to see her face.

  He kissed her lips sweetly. “That doesn’t mean that I’m going to leave you out of the life I want to return to.�
��

  Lilith smiled.

  “You understand that I’m not going to return with you, right? My place is here and I don't want to leave it to be your woman.”

  He took her hand and kissed it on the back.

  “I know and I like the fact that you think that way because I wasn’t planning to ask you to come with me either. I have known you for more than two days, honey.”

  They both smiled.

  Jev got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.

  When he came out, he found a table full of fruits, cereals, milk, and coffee.

  It smelled heavenly and he knew that he needed to eat urgently when his stomach growled noisily. This thing of getting infected by human emotions and needs was very difficult to control.

  Lilith smiled and extended her hand to him.

  “Come on. Let’s eat. Then we’ll see if you can dematerialize and go to Evelyn’s house. Otherwise, we’ll have to take a commercial flight.”

  “Who’s Evelyn?” he asked, curious, while he did as he was told.

  “Uryan’s girl. It’s a very long story.” Lilith smiled. “Not as long as our story but maybe much more intense.”

  “That’s saying a lot, honey.”

  Lilith started to tell him everything that had happened between Evelyn and Uryan.

  “There’s something else about them that you’ll get to know when the time comes. It’s something that is going to clear up any doubts that you have in regards to your boys having a relationship with humans. Or about you becoming a couple with me.”

  Jev felt a deep curiosity.

  “Before we leave I’d like to talk to them, alone.”

  “That won’t be possible, honey. I sent them to Evelyn’s house to rest and hang out with their women. They are waiting for us there.”

  Someone knocked on the door.

  “Come in.”

  Lilith took a strawberry and bit it. She sipped her coffee and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

  “See you later.” She kissed Jev. “I’m going to the hotel gym and in a couple of hours I’ll be back for you so we can go to Chicago.”

  “I hope I’m not interrupting,” Meth said as he walked into the room. “Good morning.”

  “You’re not. I’ll leave you two alone. We’ll see each other on another occasion, Meth.”

  The fallen angel nodded his head and waited for Lilith to leave the room.

  “Do you want to partake of this feast?”

  “No, Jev. Thanks. I just came to say goodbye. Because I know we are not going to see each other again just for the sake of security.”

  Jev bowed his head. His stomach dropped and he felt nauseous. He didn’t like going through human discomfort. He pitied humans at those times.

  “Listen...” Meth tried to downplay his words. “Don’t worry. My boys and I will continue to be fine in the city. It has been an honor for us to have you here, and for me, it has been a second chance to have you under my care. I understand that everything must go back to normal.”

  “Nothing will be normal from now on, Methraton.”

  “Oh, no! You’ve already changed again. When you start using my full name I start to get nervous. You were more fun when you were drunk and partying with my girls.

  Jev looked at him with pity.

  “I’m happy like this, Jev. What I have is enough for me.”

  “Wouldn’t you like to have love?”

  Meth shook his head.

  “Hell, which humans talk so much about, is the suffering caused by loving someone deeply.”

  The fallen angel looked directly into Jev’s eyes.

  “Come to Chicago with us.”

  “No way. So that Mike acts like a hysterical woman and rubs it in my face that I’m a damn traitor. No, Jev. I’ll stay here. This is my place. It’s the city where all the ones like me come and I’m not planning to leave it in order to join you. Besides, there is no way to recover my wings and stay here. So...” Meth put his hands on his hip.

  “I’ll come to visit you.”

  “You will be welcome. All the times you want.”

  Jev nodded and stood up.

  He placed his hands on Meth’s shoulders.

  “You were always one of my best angels.” Meth smiled sadly. “And I regretted very much having lost you, not because you left our side. No, now I understand that I regretted it because I was such a selfish idiot that I didn’t allow you to stay in the place you wanted. Now, I understand that sometimes we belong to other places rather than the one we have been assigned to. Thanks for giving me that lesson, boy.”

  Meth got a lump in his throat. He wasn’t expecting those words from the man he considered his father.

  Jev hugged him and patted him on the back a couple of times.

  Then he snapped his fingers, and a few seconds later, Meth fell to the floor on his knees.

  “Jev, this...” Tears poured from Meth’s eyes.

  “We all deserve a second chance. This will be yours.”

  Meth’s jacket started to tear on his back and he began to writhe in pain.

  A few seconds later, when Meth thought that he was about to die from the stabbing pain in his back, the pain gave way to the most sublime sensation that any angel could experience. The flapping of his wings.

  Meth felt the breeze caused by his wings and smiled. They were there again.

  He flapped them again and grimaced in pain.

  “In a couple of hours the wound will be healed and you’ll have total control of your wings.” Jev smiled in delight. “You deserve it.”

  Jev helped Meth to stand up.

  And without hesitation, he hugged him.

  “This is the best gift that has been given to me in thousands of years. Thank you.”

  8

  Jev entered Evelyn’s house looking at everything surrounding him.

  There was something that required his attention. He could feel it inside. It was like he was being called but he didn’t understand where that feeling came from, as all his boys were there with him.

  His guardian angels beautiful girlfriends were in the back garden looking after the barbecue while they enjoyed the sun. He couldn’t understand how they managed to understand each other when they all talked at the same time.

  Ralph, Mike, Uryan, and Gabe were sitting in the living room in complete silence.

  Jev approached them after Lilith told him she’d leave him there while she went to the back with the women.

  “Is this your girlfriend’s house, Uryan?”

  “That’s right, Jev. Evelyn.”

  “Yes, Lilith told me her name.”

  Jev felt unsettled again. It felt like there was another angel with them. But he didn’t understand who it could be and that worried him because he could always identify an angelic presence around him. This was new.

  He observed the guys. They seemed so calm.

  Jev thought that maybe he was more contaminated than he had thought and for that reason, he had lost his abilities or he was making up stories in his head like humans did.

  Before saying anything stupid, the best thing to do was to offer a sincere apology to his warriors.

  “I...”

  Ralph smiled and snorted.

  “It’s funny that being the supreme being of the universe you have so much trouble giving an apology.”

  The others smiled.

  “The thing is I’ve never had to give one.”

  Gabe nodded smiling sincerely and stood up.

  “As for me, you don’t need to say anything,” Gabe looked at his brothers, “and I think they agree with me. Please don’t do this again. That’s the only thing we ask of you. We’ve been very worried for you.”

  Gabe hugged him.

  “Shall we put a tracker on him so that the next time he disappears like that we can find him without trouble?”

  “That won’t be necessary because I’ll be delighted to tell you where he is,” said someone behind them.


  Jev could feel the tension generated among his angels when they heard Meth’s voice from the kitchen door.

  “What is he doing here?” Mike mumbled with his fists almost closed.

  “Calm down, Mike.”

  “Hey! This is not the time to make a scene,” Jev raised his voice looking at Mike and then at Meth. “Why do you always have to tease him? You told me that you were not coming.”

  “I changed my mind because I want to make peace with Mike.”

  “And with the rest,” Lilith said behind him. “Be a good boy, come on.”

  She patted his back encouraging him to talk.

  Meth looked at everybody but his eyes stopped on Mike.

  “Mike, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to leave the way I did, but Jev and you didn’t give me another choice,” he sighed. “I’m not asking you to be my best friend like before because I understand that there are some bonds between us that will, unfortunately, stay broken forever. But,” Meth took some steps forward to approach the other men, “I’d like it if for the first damn time in my life someone understood my position.”

  “Don’t curse, Methraton,” Jev complained.

  “You were definitely more fun drunk and crying for Lilith,” Meth muttered loud enough to be heard by everyone.

  Everybody laughed except Mike who looked at him in the eyes without blinking.

  “You got your wings back, right?” Mike asked Meth seriously. Meth nodded. After frowning at him for a few seconds, Mike took a deep breath and said, “You deserve it.” Meth raised his head, taken aback by Mike’s answer, who shrugged. For the first time, Meth could see the clear and sincere look that he dearly missed about his brother Mike. “You deserve it,” Mike affirmed again with a faltering voice.

  Meth took another step forward and reached Mike. He held out his hand.

  Jev smiled with satisfaction when he saw Mike dragging Meth by his arm to give him a brotherly hug.

  “Are you going to stop crying or shall I bring you some tissues?” Uryan joked while he patted both of them on their backs. “I’ve been told that you are good at fighting. Let’s see if you can give us a class someday because we already know this guy’s fighting technique.” Uryan pointed at Mike.

  Everybody laughed.