“Thank gods you’re alive,” Trev muttered, as we laughed and hugged in a more desperate fashion than a week’s separation probably warranted, but damned if it didn’t feel like longer somehow. I suppose getting captured by the oppressive regime that’s trying to kill you and your whole family/everyone that you love will do that to a person.
Eventually we broke apart and turned to find everyone standing behind us looking a bit glassy-eyed.
“Ok. Gushy reunions over. What’d I miss?”
THE ANSWER WAS, not much, as it happened. After everyone filed back into Sol’s cabin and settled into the comfortable couches and chairs that filled up the cozy living room around the delightful wood stove, we swapped tales of all that had happened in the past ten days.
I had suffered the more "exciting" week-and-a-half by far. I had been hit by a lethal spell, arrested, and locked away in a hell dimension until my trial. Everyone else had just been looking for my mom’s journals, without much success.
“So… with the Flagstaff house a pile of cinders, where do we look next?” I asked, trying not to let emotion clog my throat. I still hadn’t recovered from the shock of learning that particular detail during the trial—of course, MOME hadn’t even had the decency to explain how it had happened, they had just claimed that the house had unexpectedly burned down while I was being held.
Seamus and Sol looked questioningly between Trev and me, while Albert sat in considerate silence. I suppose it made sense that neither Sol nor Seamus would have suggestions. They’d never even met my parents, let alone known them well enough to have an idea where they might hide something incredibly valuable. Albert seemed like he might have reason to know what my parents would have done with these mysterious journals, but he remained mum.
Trev just stared at me in silence.
“We have to go back to the house in Colorado, don’t we?” I asked.
Trev nodded slowly.
“Vic, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I never lived at the house in Colorado. I can search it and—”
“No, it’s fine. I can think of a few places worth looking that you might not think of, or know about. And besides, it seems like the next stretch of my life is just going to be reminder after reminder that Mom and Dad are gone. Not to mention that they weren’t who I always thought they were. It can’t hurt to start confronting the memories now.”
“It could, actually,” Sol said, much to my surprise.
When I turned and met her eyes, she looked more haunted than I’d ever seen her.
“I don’t mean you shouldn’t do it,” she clarified. “Only that it might hurt a fair bit, really, when the time comes.”
“That’s not what I—gods, why have I been so self-absorbed in the past few weeks that I’ve been acting like I’m the only person in the world who’s ever lost someone? You and Seamus have both clearly been fighting some of your own demons, and I haven’t even taken the time to ask what the hell is going on.”
Sol gave a lopsided smile and said, “Well, if I recall correctly, the last time we spent more than a few minutes in each other’s company, none of us were particularly interested in talking. I don’t think that’s your fault, Gatita.”
Seamus chuckled. “And it’s not as though we’ve had much time to discuss anything since then. We keep getting chased off by MOME before we even have five minutes to get comfortable together.”
“Speaking of which,” I began, taking a good look around the room for a minute, “why is it that we trust that MOME hasn’t covered this place with bugs, or whatever the magical equivalent is? Not to mention, why aren’t they blowing the place up, or knocking the door down trying to get to us? It’s not like they don’t know where it is.”
“Fair question,” said a voice from the doorway.
I swear all of us were up and getting ready to fight before Gwen even took a full step away from the door.
“Damn it, Gwen! Don’t sneak up on people like that. Also, what the hell? I thought you were already here, why are you lurking in the doorway?”
The smirk on the red-haired goddess’ face made me want to slap her, but I refrained.
“But your question is a good one,” she replied using impressively selective hearing. “As it happens, I know the answer to this one. I thought you would be pleased.”
I sighed, sitting back down on the couch, where I had been comfortably resting my legs in Seamus’ lap and my head in Sol’s. Everyone else followed suit, and Gwen glided her way further into the cabin.
“After all of you took off on your last adventure and MOME was left here with a partially smoldering log cabin, Sol’s grandmother showed up to fight the fire and save what she could of the property. Luckily, MOME lost interest in the place as soon as they confirmed that no one was left inside. As I found myself in the area while Sol’s family worked to save the place, I was able to help. Further, after the fire was put out and the damage repaired, I helped to put some illusions in place to make MOME think that the place burned to the ground after they left, and is consequently of little interest.”
Knowing what Gwen was capable of in terms of disguise, not to mention in terms of… being a goddess, I didn’t doubt that she’d done a very convincing job of it.
“So, thanks for that,” I said, not wanting to sound too ungrateful. “But why are you here now?”
I was always a bit wary of Gwen. Her heart was in the right place, but she had a funny way of "helping" people sometimes.
“Two things, really. One, to check in on how your quest is going, and two, to find out why you decided to bring Azrael, Devourer of Souls, back into the mortal realm.”
EVERYONE STARED ACCUSINGLY at me, while I stared slack-jawed at Gwen.
“Azrael is the Devourer of Souls?” I asked, somewhat incredulous.
Gwen nodded.
“That… shrieking squirrel demon thing is… the Devourer of Souls?”
“More a devourer of souls—they’re really a succubus. Or, at least, that’s another name for them, anyway. I suppose they’re rather hard to categorize, when you get down to it, but so are most demons, come to that—when you look at them from a perspective other than the monotheists-rewrite-history-to-suit-themselves one. The hell realms are fascinating, when you learn to see past the—”
“So, I didn’t kick off the apocalypse or anything, by letting Azrael hitch a ride?” I interrupted, before Gwen could get too caught up in… whatever it was she was about to ramble on about. Probably some "explanation" about how things worked that would inevitably leave me with another million questions about how everything actually worked.
“Hardly! They are awfully frisky, but scarcely about to take out the entire earth singlehandedly,” Gwen admitted.
“I’m confused,” Trev muttered, while Sol nodded and Seamus smiled nostalgically, in all likelihood remembering the angelic version of Azrael he’d met earlier.
“Azrael sort of helped me escape the hell dimension I was stuck in,” I said.
“Sort of?” Sol asked.
“Well, they explained a few things that were clutch in terms of getting out.”
“And then they conveniently hitched a ride?” Albert asked, speaking for the first time since we’d entered the cabin.
“Well… yeah. I didn’t think anything of it, at the time. It didn’t seem like a great place to be stuck, even for demonic squirrel-thing… is it a big deal that they’re here?”
Albert shrugged.
“I can think of a few people who will be less than pleased that they’re here. I, for one, look forward to seeing them around.”
The raising and lowering of bushy white eyebrows that followed this statement left little doubt as to why Albert would be pleased to see Azrael.
“Is there anyone they don’t try to seduce?” I asked, before I could think better of it.
“Oh certainly! And beware if Azrael ever truly attempts to do more than flirt, Vic. They are called a Devourer of Souls for a reason. They don’t
have to take all of your soul, but they certainly can, if they feel like it.”
That certainly took a bit of the shine off of Azrael’s sex appeal.
“So… did I answer your question, Gwen?” I said, turning back to Gwen. Only to find her gone. Because, of course she was.
“She didn’t even pretend to stick around and ask how my quest was going?” I muttered.
“Cheer up,” said Seamus, patting my leg with exaggerated good humor. “We have no idea how long she was lurking around while we were talking. She may have heard everything already, and only interrupted when it didn’t seem likely that you were going to bring up Azrael on your own.”
Somehow I didn’t find that comforting at all.
I LOOKED AT the mountains that loomed before us, taking up more than half the horizon to the west, inhaled the crisp, autumnal, mountain air… and suddenly felt transported through time. I could almost hear my parents’ laughter on the wind. Could smell the pine forests that we’d escaped to so often when my school schedule hadn’t allowed us to travel farther afield.
“Damn it.”
“What is it?” asked Sol.
“We’re not even at the house yet, and I’m getting choked up just breathing the air here.”
My eyes were full of tears, and I wiped at them, not out of shame, but out of a desperate need to not feel this much pain. This was a big part of why I had leapt at the chance to move into the house in Flagstaff. Everything in this damned state reminded me of my parents, in some way or another.
“It changes,” Sol said, after a long silence in which we’d both just stood staring at the mountains. “People say it gets easier, but that hasn’t been my experience, really. It just… happens less often. That feeling that you’ve been punched in the gut and then hollowed out from the inside… it still hits me. Every now and again, I feel like I can’t breathe for missing my mom, but… it used to be every day, and now it’s just… sometimes.”
Afraid to break whatever spell had Sol sharing that much with me, I leaned against her, wrapping her with a single arm without looking away from the mountains that framed the sky in front of us.
“How long has it been?” I asked.
“Almost five years now.”
“I’m so sorry, Sol. Do you want to talk about what happened?”
Sol shook her head.
“Not right now, no.”
I nodded.
“If you ever… I’m always here. Any time. Day or night. You know that, right?”
Sol smiled, then turned and kissed my forehead.
“We’d better go help those boys. I think they might have gotten lost in the parking lot.”
She turned and gestured to the wide lot full of rental cars behind us. It seemed like a sea of vehicles.
“Either that, or they decided not to rent to a bunch of teenagers, after all.”
“It’s possible. I told you we could use my—”
Sol was cut off by the roar of an engine, and a few moments later a black open-topped Jeep Wrangler, older than I was, came ripping into view with Trev behind the wheel and Seamus in wolf form hanging out the side gleefully, his giant pink tongue lolling out as he stuck his nose into the wind.
I laughed. Leave it to Trev….
“Your dream car awaits, Madam.”
“Complete with loyal canine companion, I see.”
I couldn’t help but be cheered by the blatantly obvious attempt to make me feel better. How many times had I told Trev that when I grew up I was going to drive around in an old beat-up Wrangler, just like Dad, and take my wolfhound with me everywhere? I wasn’t going to quibble if the wolfhound had been replaced by an actual wolf. Or a human that could turn into one…
~~~
The house was exactly the way I remembered it. A small part of me wanted to kick the blue-painted, clapboard-clad, two-story bungalow for daring to be unchanged after everything that I’d been through. It had been both eerie and nostalgic, living there alone for the first few months after my parents had gone missing. Now, it just annoyed me that the house didn’t show a single outward sign of the turmoil and confusion it had held within it for all those months. It remained nestled peacefully into the mountainside, surrounded by pine trees and a small bit of naturally inspired landscaping. Maybe kicking it would dislodge something, even a tiny fleck of paint, and transfer some small amount of the pain I’d lived through.
I took a deep breath, reminding myself that kicking the house wouldn’t actually help anything.
Then I stepped forward and kicked the damned door anyway.
The door was unfazed. It remained the same dark red it had been a year ago, the color my mom had painted it, claiming it was lucky, the year that we had moved to the house. I had always suspected that she just found white to be completely boring, and I didn’t disagree, so I had never asked.
And there were those damned tears again.
“Want to go a few more rounds with the house, Luv, or can we all go in now?”
That voice… was not supposed to be here right now.
I turned away from the house to find none other than Azrael, standing in all of their barely clad glory, wings tucked neatly against their back as they stood behind Trev, Sol, and Seamus, all of whom had turned to gawk at the scantily clad succubus.
“Hey there, Devourer of Souls,” I said, trying not sound too damning. Gwen had made it sound like Azrael got a worse rap than they deserved.
“Oh dear. Someone snitched, did they?”
I nodded.
“Gwen ratted you out, but she didn’t sound too condemning, really.”
“Oh? Gwen has always been delightfully understanding, actually. So, she just told you the name, then? Left all the gory bits out?”
“There are gory bits?” I asked, trying to repress a shudder. I had thought that the name was likely metaphorical, or, if it were literal, that it at least didn't refer to something done physically.
“Well, racy might be a more appropriate adjective, really.”
In a weirdly universal show of testosterone, I could feel all three of my companions perk up at this suggestion, and I couldn’t help but laugh, especially since I found the idea intriguing myself.
“She didn’t give us details of any kind, as usual. Just said enough to confuse everyone and then disappeared.”
Azrael merely blinked at this statement, and when I didn’t seem inclined to share anything else, said, “Well, are you going to fight the door again? If you’re trying to kick it down, there are better ways.”
I snorted.
“Well, I would use the keys, but they’re lost in a pile of cinders at the moment.” I sighed. “Still, I’m mostly just venting my frustration on the door. Why are you here? Dare I ask?”
Azrael sighed theatrically.
“Can’t an angel visit their friends just to say hello?”
“Oh? Do you have friends here?” I asked, trying to sound cheerful. “Who are they? Maybe I know them.”
“Is that any way to treat someone who saved your life?” Azrael replied. “I could have just let you die in that canyon.”
“Seriously, Azrael, why are you here? I appreciated your help in hell and all, but you are not here for the warm fuzzies, so what gives?”
“Maybe I came for a snack?” they said, raising their eyebrows provocatively, and with entirely too much purr in their voice. I think I heard every single one of us gasp a little bit, and I wondered if everyone felt the same pulse of heat through their bodies that I did.
I shook my head, trying to refocus.
“Azrael, knock it off.”
Azrael frowned, then sighed.
“You are trickier than the average wereleopard, aren’t you?”
I shrugged.
“And if you wanted an easy snack, you would go somewhere full of regular humans, wouldn’t you? Like a bar or something?”
Azrael smirked.
“I could… but it requires putting on clothes and pretending.”
<
br /> “You mean something aside from hiding the wings, I assume?”
“And you’re smart… are you sure you don’t want to give me a snack? You’re entirely my type.”
I smiled, trying to pretend that I wasn’t tempted by the idea. I had to assume it was something to do with Azrael’s magic that made me even consider the thought. I mean, don’t get me wrong, their angelic forms were the most physically attractive people I’d ever seen, both the male and female aspects, but… some part of my brain couldn’t stop picturing the tiny, red-skinned squirrel demon that had shrieked at me until I’d been willing to climb a three hundred foot cliff with no rope just to get away from it. Meanwhile, all my friends seemed entranced. Looking around, I realized I was the only one who had spoken since Azrael showed up, and the rest of them were all staring, slack-jawed, at the succubus.
“Can you, um… undo whatever has my friends unresponsive?” I asked.
“Oh, they’re responsive enough,” Azrael said, raising a hand to their own chest and running their fingers down the center. I was currently seeing Azrael’s female form, as I assume everyone else was, since everyone here was attracted to females, and the move was… well, it made me rethink my squirrel demon prejudices.
I shook myself again, and looked around to see Seamus, Trev, and Sol all take a step closer to Azrael.
“Seriously, Azrael, that’s enough,” I said. “This seems eerily non-consensual.”
That made Azrael stop touching themself and stand to attention.
“I never force people into anything. I never have to.”
I quirked an eyebrow at that, as the moment Azrael stood up and stopped touching themself all three of my companions seemed to snap out of whatever had them basically drooling at the angelic figure before them.
“Ok, well, whatever you were doing was distracting them from what we came here to do.” Since I didn’t actually know what Azrael had been doing, I couldn’t be sure it actually was non-consensual. “And besides, unless you clarify exactly how it is you feed, and what a person gives up, I don’t think you can claim that it’s consensual when someone wants to sleep with you. Wanting to have sex and wanting to give away a part of your soul are two different things, in my book. I may want one without the other. Savvy?”
Victoria Marmot- The Complete Series Page 30