He’s here. He’s really here.
She couldn’t believe how she could feel happy at a time like this, but just the sight of him gave her hope. He was the light in her gloomy existence. Okay, he was a demon, but just being around him made her feel safe. After all the chaos in her life lately, he was the only thing in it that made sense to her.
His eyes lit up when he spotted her. He swooped down to her, cutting through the clouds to get to her. The only sound in the air was the loud beat of his powerful wings.
They collided in mid-air, and his arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace as he hauled her against him. They tumbled in the sky, a spinning projectile of entangled limbs, kissing each other, holding on tightly as they soared above a lush green landscape.
“I missed you.” She panted out the words between kisses, sinking into his muscled arms with a sense of relief, feeling as if she had come home. This was Heaven. This was what Heaven should feel like, love, warmth and safety.
“I thought I’d lost you.” His voice cracked on the last word, and she pulled back to see pain in his eyes before he leaned forward and crushed his lips against hers in a kiss that seared her soul.
She kissed him back with just as much urgency. She thought she’d lost him too. She thought she’d lost everything that mattered.
“Watch out, you fucking morons!” Lucian’s voice snapped her out of her lovestruck daze. She glanced ahead and hitched her breath. They were tumbling straight toward a cliff.
Hearing Kieron gasp, she looked up at him as he tightened his arms around her and flashed his wings to pull them back before they hit the side of a mountain.
The air whooshed around them as they pushed against it before finally coming to a halt a few feet away from the hard granite and eventually hovering in the air beside the giant mountain. Kieron swooped down to a narrow path on the side of the cliff, where he gently deposited Dora before landing beside her and lowering his wings.
She caught her breath for a moment before peering up into his big blue eyes. There was a turbulent storm in them. “I—”
She didn’t finish as he captured her in his arms again, pushing her back against the wall as his lips descended on hers, stealing her breath away and causing her pulse to race.
Losing herself to the rhythmic beat of her heart, the feel of his hard muscles pressing against her, she felt her skin burn at his touch.
“Oh, come on. Get a fucking room, will ya.” Lucian’s voice echoed behind her.
Kieron pulled back, breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against hers. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, catching their breath and trying to untangle, but unwilling to release each other.
“Hello, the Angel Guard, remember them? They’re still chasing us. Now is not the time for teenage groping!”
Kieron looked up and scowled at Lucian.
Dora peered back over her shoulder to see Lucian smirking.
“Now son, Heaven homework first, then girls.”
She narrowed her eyes and flipped off the fallen angel.
“And you really should pick a nicer girl,” Lucian muttered.
Wait a minute. Why is Lucian acting like a father? He doesn’t have kids, does he?
She glanced at Kieron as his muscles bunched up, and he expelled a low growl.
Upon seeing his eyes darken in anger, she shook her head, silently telling him not to react. Obviously, Lucian was playing him, but she couldn’t figure out the father and son connection.
“What the fuck are you doing just standing there?” Pooey’s voice echoed through the clouds as he flew through them on the back of a giant angel. “Find somewhere to fucking hide!”
Blasts of angel fire shot through the clouds behind him.
Without waiting to find out how many of the Guard were chasing him, Dora grabbed Kieron’s arm, and she dragged him into the opening in the cavernous rock beside them. Even though the dark cave was dank and cold, it was an improvement on being exposed.
She pulled Kieron against her as Lucian shot into the cave too, pausing to scan the darkness before he landed in the entrance.
He didn’t stand there for long when Pooey shot into the opening on the back of a giant angel, knocking Lucian over and landing on top of him in a squashed heap.
Dora peered down at them as they scrambled to get off each other, rolling to the side and jumping to their feet.
Lucian was the last to get up. He scowled at Pooey as he brushed dust off his pants and tunic. He opened his mouth to speak, but Dora shushed him as she peered around the corner of the entrance.
She hitched her breath when she stared outside.
The Angel Guard began to appear through the clouds, scanning the skies for their prey. Her eyes widened as more and more of the Guard appeared. There were hundreds of them. Clad in golden armor and armed with deadly looking weapons, they searched the skies.
She felt Kieron’s arms wrap around her waist as his chin rested on her shoulder and his body pressed against her back, causing her pulse to race even more.
“What are they looking for?” he whispered in her ear, and she felt his hot breath brush against her cheek.
“Me, I think they’re hunting down me.”
Twelve
Falling For An Angel
Dora backed away from the entrance of the cave as another patrol of angels flew by it. Fortunately, they were unaware that their bounty was only a few feet away. She turned to face Kieron, Lucian and Pooey. “What are we going to do? We can’t get out,” she whispered.
Lucian scanned the cave for a moment. “We go through the mountain. It’s the only way.”
Dora frowned. “Through it, we don’t even know if there is a way through it, and we have no light.”
“I can light it up,” Lucian said. He clicked his fingers, and they lit up with magic for a moment. “I was just going to wait until we were away from the entrance. As for the way out, we aren’t going that way any time soon, so…” He shrugged.
She glanced at Kieron and Pooey, who both nodded. Apparently, their trust of Lucian had grown since she’d last seen them all. She was still finding it a little bit difficult the trust the fallen angel.
Probably because he’s been full of shit since I met him.
“Okay, let’s do that.” She indicated he should lead the way.
In a very unlike Lucian way, he stepped ahead of them into the darkness. She and Kieron followed him, leaving Pooey and the giant angel to take up the rear.
After a few moments, a dim glow lit up the cave when Lucian summoned a golden orb of light. When they turned the corner of the tunnel they were in, he clicked his fingers and the light expanded, becoming brighter and hovering above them like a small sun, lighting up the interior of the winding tunnel for them.
Dora studied the craggy walls of the mountain. They were dusty and cracked. The ground was uneven with dips and slopes that had been worn away by time rather than feet. They really were heading into the unknown.
“Where are we going when we get out of here?” Pooey asked, and his voice echoed down the tunnel.
Lucian glanced back over his shoulder. “Assuming we survive this god forsaken place, we’re going back home through the same door we used to get here.”
“You used a door to get into Heaven?” Dora turned to Kieron.
“Yeah, there was kind of one in your dad’s church.” Kieron smiled at her.
“So, we just walk through it, and we’re back on Earth?” Dora felt a blossom of hope. She was going home! She frowned for a moment. “What about this angel stuff? I’ve got wings. I can’t go home with wings!”
“You kinda had wings before,” Pooey said.
“Yeah, but they weren’t white and fluffy. Mind you, they were killing me.” Dora sighed. That’s what had gotten her into this mess. She’d been half demon, and it had been sucking the life out of her. That’s how she’d died. “Wait a minute. Am I dead?” She widened her eyes.
“You looked kin
da dead on Earth.” Pooey nodded. “Don’t worry. You get over it after a few hundred years of having a pity party.”
“But I don’t want to be dead. I just want to be normal again.” She frowned.
“We can fix you. I’m sure of it.” She felt Kieron’s hand wrap around hers.
Lucian let out a long drawn out sigh ahead of them.
“What?” she asked.
He turned around and stared at her. “Oh, poor you. You’re an immortal angel. How you must suffer. You’ve had mortality, demonic power and now you’re a godly being. Woe is you!”
“Screw you. You’ve been trying to stop being an angel since I met you!” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“Yes, and look how well that turned out. I’m stuck in fucking Heaven again because of you!”
She put her hands on her hips. “You didn’t have to come here.”
“Yes I did!” Lucian’s nostrils flared in anger.
“Why?” She frowned at him. He was clearly upset about being in Heaven, but she couldn’t figure why he’d come here in the first place. It wasn’t as if they had bonded.
“Because my fuckwit son is in love with you, and he’d get his ass fried if I let him come here on his own!” Lucian threw his hands in the air before turning on his heel and storming ahead.
“Who’s his son?” Dora asked, suspiciously eyeing the giant angel beside Pooey. “Is it that guy?”
“What, Lettuce?” Pooey asked with wide eyes.
“His name is Lettuce?” Dora gaped at the giant, who slowly turned his head to stare blankly at her.
“Yeah, I named him. It suits him, don’t you think?”
“It does not fucking suit him.” Lucian’s voice carried through the tunnel as he shouted a response. “It’s the most stupid bloody name I’ve ever heard, and that’s saying something since yours is Pooey!”
“Don’t you insult me or Lettuce! You’re the one who named your unicorn skanky.”
Lucian came to a halt. The muscles in his shoulders bunched up as he slowly turned around and glared at the little demon with a storm in his brown eyes.
“Oh wait, I named your unicorn Skanky,” Pooey said, displaying an impish grin.
Lucian expelled a growl.
“What? It’s a great name for her. She likes it.”
“So who is your son—?” Dora stared at Lucian, and her words trailed off. She didn’t know how she hadn’t noticed it before, different eyes, but the same glare in them, the same nose, the same jaw. She gasped and turned to face Kieron. “Is he your dad?”
“Apparently, he is my biological father,” Kieron muttered.
“How is that even possible?” Dora widened her eyes.
“I’m thinking it was due to some Barry White and a magic overdose at one of those demon orgies,” Pooey said.
“It was not an orgy!” Lucian cried.
“If you don’t stop talking now, I’m going to kill you both.” Kieron scowled at them.
“That’s my boy.” Lucian smirked at him.
“What was it, romance under the bleachers then?” Pooey asked.
“Oh please, we were both adults. It happened at a professional gathering.” Lucian averted his eyes.
“So he was conceived on top of the office photocopier then?” Pooey turned to Kieron. “I guess your first baby pictures were printed by Xerox.”
Kieron launched himself at Pooey, but Lettuce stepped between them before he could strangle the little bear, knocking Kieron back with a gentle brush of his hands.
“Okay, enough!” Dora said. “We have enough enemies without bickering between ourselves.” She turned to Kieron. “Who you are isn’t defined by your family or where you started your life.” She offered him a hand to help him stand up. “I should know.”
“But we always bicker. It’s our bonding process,” Pooey said.
She sighed at the little demon. “I think we’re all bonded enough.”
“I dunno. Lettuce hasn’t been included much.” Pooey shrugged.
She studied the giant angel. “What is Lettuce? Is he a giant?”
“Nah.” Pooey nodded at him. “He’s just an angel who got brainwashed.
Dora’s blood ran cold at the words. That’s what they were making in Camp Angel. That’s what they were going to do to her.
“What is it?” Kieron asked, frowning at her.
“They were going to do that to me.”
She shivered. Then she scowled. “What the hell is wrong with this place? This can’t be Heaven. Lucian, this can’t be how it’s supposed to be.”
Lucian scowled. “It’s not how it’s supposed to be.”
“Then why is it so fucked up here?” She tried to remember all the religious things her father had taught her. Admittedly, he wasn’t the best reverend in the world, but she vaguely remembered him mentioning Heaven in his sermons.
“Because no one appreciates a good creation. They always try to improve it, and then they fuck it all up. Why do you think I left?”
“But where is God? I mean, can’t he stop this all from happening?” Dora asked.
Lucian threw his hands into the air. “Yes, let’s blame the guy who created it. It’s His fault that morons took over his life’s work and shat all over it.” He turned on his heel and stormed down the tunnel. “Are you coming, or shall I leave you here?”
“Ooh, someone hit a nerve,” Pooey muttered.
Dora frowned at the back of the fallen angel. So there was a God after all. She reluctantly followed the rest of the group. She really did want to go home, but guilt gnawed at her. What would happen to the brainwashed angels? What would happen to Lillian?
Dora peered down the center of the massive atrium inside the mountain. The ground was hundreds of feet below them. She looked up to study the sharp stalactites that hung from the ceiling, which lit up as Lucian’s luminescent globe floated around them.
“It looks like we’re flying down,” Lucian said as he spread his powerful white wings and stepped off the ledge.
Dora watched him smoothly turn and swoop down toward the base of the cavern. His wings were golden tipped, and they spanned out far wider than hers or Kieron’s.
Pooey went next, leaping onto Lettuce’s back and commanding him to follow Lucian.
She turned to Kieron.
He smiled and released her hand before spreading his wings and launching himself off the ledge. Watching him hover in the air in front of her caused her pulse to race. With his short golden hair and tawny skin, Kieron looked the most like an angel, which was a bit ironic since he was half demon. His blue eyes sparkled at her as he smiled and held out his hand.
She smiled back and stepped off the ledge. Then she screamed.
Wings out, you fucking moron!
She dropped like a stone, and it felt as if her stomach had just jumped into her throat. Along with panicking that she was about to die for a second time, she was also busy berating herself for being so entranced by her demon boyfriend that she forgot to summon her fucking wings!
She saw Pooey’s eyes widen in horror as she dropped by him. She was pretty certain that her own eyes were pulling a similar expression. She tried to concentrate and summon her wings, but nothing happened.
Looking down, she realized she was heading straight for Lucian, so she aimed for his back as if she was skydiving.
He peered back over his shoulder, and he mouthed the words: ‘oh fuck’ before she landed on him, driving him down toward the ground. Luckily, he was only a few feet from the ground, so they didn’t land too heavily, and he broke her fall.
Pushing her off him, he rolled over. “What the fuck?”
“Sorry, er, my wings didn’t work.”
“So why did you jump off the fucking ledge?” He stared at her as if she was insane.
Kieron swooped down and landed beside her. “Are you okay?” He knelt beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders.
“Is she okay?” Lucian gaped at him.
“I thou
ght they were working. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Land on my back with the force of a thousand obese people?”
“I’m not that heavy!” Dora stood up, brushing dust off her pants.
“She didn’t do it on purpose,” Kieron said.
“Son, your girlfriend just tried to ride me.” Lucian stood up and shook his head.
Dora scowled at him. “Eww, no I didn’t. I only fell off the fucking ledge because I was too busy staring at Kieron to realize that my wings weren’t out…” She trailed off when she realized what she’d said.
Wincing, she peered at Kieron.
A satisfied grin curved up one corner of his mouth. “So, you fell for me.”
“Shut up,” she muttered, fighting a losing battle to hide her smile.
“Oh, I’m gonna be sick.” Lucian turned away.
“Maybe it was a leap of love.” Kieron stepped forward, brushing a strand of her dark hair away from her eyes.
“You fell off a fucking cliff because you were staring at a boy,” Pooey said loudly behind them. “You’re like a human lemming!”
Dora winced. Pooey was right. “Maybe it was vertigo.” She shrugged at Kieron, trying not to notice the hurt expression on his face. They needed to slow down though. She was getting stupid, seriously stupid over him. “We need to get out of here.”
She turned and frowned when she noticed Lucian lying on the ground ahead of them, pressing his ear into the floor. “What the hell are you doing?”
The fallen angel held up his hand, motioning for silence. After a moment, he stood up. “We need to go down.”
“Why, what’s under the mountain?” Pooey asked.
Lucian smiled. “The sewers.”
Dora wrinkled her nose. “We’re going into the sewers?”
Lucian nodded. “Yeah, and more importantly, we’re going home.”
Thirteen
The Guilt Trap
Dora studied the silvery tunnel walls as she followed the rest of the group. For a sewer, it was kinda pretty.
She turned to study Kieron’s back, which was also a nice view.
Her eyes wandered to the giant ahead of him, who was ducking down to shuffle through the tunnel. She had no idea what they were going to do with Lettuce when they got back to Earth. It wasn’t as if a ten-foot tall angel could blend into the local community.
Divine Dora Page 7