Rella and her guys were running some kind of support group in Hell’s palace for souls that could possibly be redeemed, those who had erred in their human life, but weren’t really all that bad. Like the first two circles of hell only. It wasn’t like we were letting despotic dictators out to play.
I was nervous. Playing with people’s immortal souls was daunting.
I slid out from between Memphis and Gus, careful not to wake them. Stepping into the kitchen, I found Blue reading the paper and drinking coffee, just as I knew he would be. I looked down at the ring on my finger, a blue diamond the color of Blue’s eyes and worth so much money that I only ever wore it at home. I was petrified I’d lose it on the street otherwise.
Azriel emerged from his bedroom in a pair of jeans and a Harry Potter shirt. It was so cute I wanted to explode.
He leaned over and kissed me, and I stroked along his wings, making him moan against my lips. I grinned and moved toward the coffee pot.
“Ready for the big day?”
Azriel nodded. “Yes, if I don’t like them, I can always just send them back.”
That, in essence, was the only reason Luc had agreed to our crazy plan to start a halfway house for souls that could be saved.
I smiled so wide, I thought my face would crack. But that was what happiness did to a person; it filled you up so much that you had to let it out. “Today is going to be a good day, I can feel it.”
Memphis and Gus emerged from the bedroom. Memphis was fully dressed, but Gus was completely naked.
Blue made a gagging noise. “Seriously, man. Put your dick away. No one wants to see that so early in the morning.”
Well, maybe not no one. As if he could hear my thoughts, Gusion gave me a cheeky grin that promised all sorts of naughtiness, but went back to the room to pull on pants. Memphis kissed me deeply, and then grabbed a banana, sitting down at the breakfast bar. Gusion came back out fully dressed unfortunately. He came over, and kissed me until I saw stars. Then he took my coffee and drank half.
“Hey!”
He shrugged completely unapologetically. “Hell only has instant,” he said as if that excused his caffeine thievery. I sighed, handing him the rest of my mug. “That’s love right there, Pretty Girl.” He gulped down the rest of my coffee and looked at Memphis. “Ready?”
Memphis nodded, and came over to kiss me goodbye. Or maybe it was good morning. Either way, he kissed me like my lips were oxygen and I was tempted to just drag them all back to bed. I briefly wondered if I could persuade Azriel to join us? Maybe Blue too, like one big happy orgy.
I shook my head. My guys were willing to share, but Blue drew the line at participating altogether. Azriel I could probably talk around eventually though. For now, we worked. I bed hopped from night to night, and everyone seemed content.
Memphis spread his wings. “Wait. I just wanted to say my parents are coming over tonight for dinner.”
Azriel blanched. “What?”
Gusion laughed. “Uh oh. It’ll be fine, Az. I’m sure they’ve forgotten all about that little thing that happened.”
Azriel looked horrified. “I stabbed her in the chest. One doesn’t just forget all about something like that.”
I grinned. “It’ll be fine. When I tell them I’m pregnant, they’ll forget all about it.”
Now all four guys looked shocked.
“What?”
“Did she just say-”
“You’re what?”
Blue just looked stupidly proud of himself.
Yeah, today was going to be a good day.
The End
Chapter One
“Dude, your wings are, like, totally realistic! Where did you get them?”
Azriel looked at the man, narrowing his eyes. “Heaven.”
The man laughed like that was the funniest joke ever, then moved away, his lycra-clad ass wobbling in his Superman suit.
“I hate this holiday. Why are we here?” Azriel grumbled, as we walked down the sidewalk toward Arcadia’s home..
“My parents love Halloween. And Rella is coming to visit. And we need to tell them about, you know…” Hope said, pointing at her stomach. I lingered behind them, my Fallen brethren and my… Hope.
I was with Azriel on this one. I too hated this holiday, although I couldn’t help but appreciate all the drunk college girls dressed as sexy, well, me. Though I never liked red or wielded a pitchfork to poke people with. Why would I need something to wave around and torture people with, when I have an entire underworld made for that express purpose? If I was going to wave anything, it would be my cock and I wouldn’t poke anyone with it but my Beloved.
My Ace.
I slid my eyes to where she walked beside me in a tiny dress that left nothing to the imagination, her wings fully revealed and on display. She was so fucking beautiful, I would tear this world in half for her. I looked ahead before she caught me staring again. She always teased me mercilessly about it. But she was gone for so long, that sometimes seeing her, physically holding her in my arms was a joy that far surpassed Heaven.
We walked through Arcadia’s white picket fence, and I smiled at the irony of the Deadly Sins living in such a model of human cliche. Right down to the whitewashed house and the tire swing. Normally, we would just sift into their living room, but no one wanted to take the chance with Hope in her state.
I would gut anyone who risked my, er, Ace’s Beloved child. Or the child of that child. My grandchild. That felt weird to say, and I would never speak the words out loud. I was older than any being walking this earth at the moment, and the thought of the tiny life growing in Hope made me feel… vulnerable.
I scowled extra meanly so no one would guess the direction of my thoughts. Blue Halloran took the casserole dish Hope had been carrying so she could knock on the door. The knocker was a particular ferocious-looking gargoyle head, a joke Christmas present from Estrella. I couldn’t help the bemused sigh that passed between my lips. That one. If I’d had a child, I imagine she would have been pretty much like Estrella. Even confined to Hell, she managed to cause mischief. The door opened, and I grimaced. It seemed that my recent thoughts about Estrella’s mischief-making abilities were about to be promptly confirmed.
“RELLA!” Ace yelled as the smell of sulfur and cheap perfume wafted from the entry hall. It was a scent as sickly as it was enticing.
Which could mean only one thing. I turned to see Gusion grinning. “Did Estrella bring a demoness?”
Mephistopheles’ lips quirked as he sniffed. “If I’m not incorrect, she brought two.”
I clenched my back teeth to stop myself from laughing right along with Gusion. I liked all my attachments affixed to my body. Also, I liked to fuck my consort, and she was not above withholding conjugal privileges for a few decades.
The mischief-maker in question appeared from the kitchen, her shit-eating grin telling me she knew exactly the drama she was about to cause.
Like I said, way too much like me.
“What’s up, Ace?” she said, the laughter in her voice making me work harder to school my own features.
“You invited some of those demon ho’s to Halloween dinner?”
Rella shrugged as Romanus and Rouen appeared behind her. They were never far from their Gargoyle Queen. My Gargoyle hunters. I still hadn’t forgiven her for stealing them from me. Not that I wouldn’t give her the world if she asked for it. The little shit.
“That’s not a very nice way to talk about Romanus and Rouen, Ace,” Rella mock-chastized, and Rouen laughed in that way he had, where it seemed to shake his whole body. He didn’t do that before he met Estrella.
“She’s not wrong. I fucked you, Romanus fucked me and I blew Charlie all in the last twelve hours.” His smile said he was completely unphased by it.
Hope threw her hands up to cover her ears. “Dude, I don’t want to know. That’s my sister. Ugh.”
That just made Rouen laugh harder. Even Ace grinned. As much as she hated the demonesses, she
delighted in other people being uncomfortable. It was probably why she made such a shitty angel all the way back at the beginning of time. Sure, it was hidden beneath a carefully curated layer of piousness, as it is with all angels, but it was always there. She was too everything to be weighed down by the purity of the wings.
“Well, then I better not tell you how much I liked it, right?” A voice came from around the corner, and when the face of Charlie Mulligan appeared, Hope let out a high pitch squeal that could only be heard by Alsatians and the bat-like demons in the fourth circle of Hell.
“CHARLIE!” Hope broke away from the Angels protective circle, Angels who loved her more than anything, more than Me or Ace or the Father himself, and into the arms of Charles of the fucking Mulligans. He caught her like he was a human once more, as solid as he would be if he still had a beating heart in his chest.
That was the blessing of All Hallows Eve. The veil between Hell and the mortal plane so thin that it could be traversed by even the weakest of souls if they had an escort.
Two demonesses strolled around the corner, tittering in that grating, chirping voice. All Hallows Eve could be a curse also. They stuttered to a halt when they saw me. I flexed my wings a little because they were impressive, and then I gave them a look that was both sneering and sanctimonious. I’d worked hard to master that look, to ooze confidence and cruelty with every expression.
However, if they came to a halt at the sight of me, they turned and fled when they saw Ace. Mephistopheles must have seen the brief flash of disgruntlement in my expression because he nudged me with his shoulder.
“Don’t take it personally. Literally, every other being on the planet with even a slither of hindbrain and a sense of self-preservation, fears you on sight and above all else. Except them. They may lack the majority of their brain cells but they have enough to understand the Queen of Hell is more of a threat to their lives than you will ever be.”
I knew that. Acerezeal was the most powerful person I knew. Because she had the power to raze the world to the ground and bring me to my knees, just by crooking her finger and saying so. She was dangerous and sexy and a fucking Queen. With her hands on her hips, she stared daggers at the completely unrepentant Rella. My consort was dangerous to everyone but those twins. Even their paramours were not safe. If they ever dared hurt her precious twins, she would dismember them piece by piece.
Hope elbowed me in the ribs, an annoying trait she seems to have picked up from Mephistopheles. “Stop eye-fucking her. It’s just as weird when you look at my pseudo-parent like that.”
I raised a brow but was distracted from telling her I would eyefuck who I liked by Estrella.
“Mom had to cook for all these people by herself. I thought Icky and Sticky could come up to where the people are and help out. It's win-win. Wasn’t like you were about to get out the mixer and whip up a meringue, Ace.”
Icciria and Astixia were stupid, but harmless. They weren’t conniving or vindictive or trying to crawl their way to the top by trying to fuck the most powerful beings in the underworld. They were sweet and stupid; they would indeed enjoy a stint out of the bowels of Hell. Ace would not appreciate the distinction between Icciria and Astixia, and her arch-nemesis, Baccaria. To my beloved, the demonesses were all the same. She was many things, but forgiving of a grudge was not one of them.
Naz appeared from the shadows, as he always did, and suddenly the entryway, despite its size and grandeur, was too small to hold the impossible twins and their harems. What was with this generation? Was one not enough? I was completely consumed by Ace. If there were seven of her, like all the Sins in Arcadia’s harem? I wasn’t sure I would survive.
“Are you guys going to just loiter in the doorway?” Someone yelled from the kitchen, and Hope ran through the hall to the kitchen. I had a sudden flashback of a smaller version of her doing the exact same thing.
I was feeling hormonal or something. This self-aware shit was for the angels. I mentally checked my sneer was in place and followed my beloved and my former Princes into the sitting room.
Ace’s laughter heralded me into the room, and as soon as I crossed the threshold, I could see why. All of the Sins had dressed as their damning sin, which seemed a little like a faux pas to me, but hey, if they wanted to own it so be it.
Orion was mixing drinks, but dressed as Hugh Heffner, complete with a smoking jacket. His chest was bare and he was wearing silk pajama pants. I raised an eyebrow in his direction.
Shrugging, he straightened his jacket. “It was this or leather hotpants. I didn’t think the kids would want to see that.”
Rella entered the room and went over to hug her father. “You’d be right. It’s so good to see you, Ri.” They hugged hard, the kind of embrace that came from the fear you’d never see the person ever again.
Lux was leaning in the corner, dressed as a Spartan. The sword was original, and no matter how he aged, he never seemed to lose that hard edge that made him so dangerous as a mortal. He might have been redeemed and now lead the life of a pacifist, but I held no doubts that if it was necessary, he would annihilate anyone who was a threat to his family. He’d even tried me once.
I let out a low chuckle that only Ace seemed to hear. She quirked an eyebrow and I waved it away. Ancient history, literally when it came to Lux.
Tolliver was drinking expensive scotch and wearing gold glasses in the shape of the dollar sign. Otherwise, he was just in his ordinary attire of a well-tailored business suit. I nodded to him and he waved me over.
I materialized a beer in my hand and strode over. I wasn’t surprised to see Sam beside him. However, I was surprised to see Sam dressed entirely in a mirrored jumpsuit. Like chainmail or glo-mesh, but with tiny mirrors. It must have taken a year to make, or cost a fortune. He stood and shook my hand, and the light hit him like a disco ball.
“Interesting outfit.”
Sam smiled, and somewhere the Demonesses swooned. “Thanks. It’s a leftover of my modeling days. A designer let me keep it, so I thought I’d pull it out for Halloween. Not like I can wear it to the grocery store,” he laughed. “Damn thing is like sitting on rocks though.”
Tolliver rolled his eyes, but there was such affection there. I was beginning to think I envied Arcadia; not for the love of two admittedly good looking men, but because she knew she shared that love when it came to these two and not feel an ounce of jealousy. She was not their be-all or end-all, even though I knew they loved her so much that it was almost sickening, but she seemed okay with that. Wars had been waged for far less.
Humans. They were a perplexing species.
“How is business?” I asked because centuries of interacting with humans told me this was a safe topic.
“Busy. I imagine that Coup D'etat in Malawi is giving us both work.”
I grinned, and they both reared back a little bit. It must have been my feral expression as Ace called it. I didn’t change it because making people uncomfortable made me happy. “Indeed. So many souls bartered for a useless war. It’s like taking candy from sociopaths.”
Tolliver laughed despite himself, then he looked past my shoulder to Hope as she walked through the door. That look of love flashed across his face again. Such a capacity for love, this one. When it all went down twenty odd years ago, I had my doubts about Tolliver. His sin had a grip on his heart that I wasn’t sure could be loosened with love. But I’d been wrong, and I was happy to admit it.
Love wiped away the stain of any sin. That was what I had learned from my bet with the Father. When it began, all I wanted was to have Ace back with me, but I’d become just as invested in the Sins as Ace was, as the Father was. We had all wanted them to succeed, even as we threw obstacles into their paths.
Hope saw Tolliver and Sam and skipped over into their waiting arms. They kissed her cheeks like she was five again, and she laughed as she caught up on the business side of NRH, their philanthropic foundation.
Boring. I wandered back over to the Spartan dressed L
ux. I didn’t stand too close though. He held quite the grudge, that one. And he had a temper. He was still quick to the sword if he thought I posed a threat to his family, consequences be damned. I respected that.
“Lux.”
“Luc.”
“Nice skirt.”
He grunted back. That was all I could expect from the big, scarred man by way of conversation, but that was okay. It allowed me to participate in my favorite pastime. I watched the group interact, spotting where there was tension, where there were secrets, if there were weaknesses to be exploited. Not that I would ever take advantage of that knowledge with this group. These people were mine. My fam… no. Just mine. They didn’t need a mushy label that came with its own weaknesses.
I watched Azriel looking uncomfortable in the corner beside Blue, and it made me grin. Sure, Azriel and I had gotten past our tumultuous past and I didn’t hold onto a grudge like Lux, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t get a little bit of satisfaction from his unease. I doubt Lux would ever forgive the Angel of Death for almost killing Arcadia. Or taking Rella’s Soul to Hell. Or almost taking Hope’s life in some dank basement in Geneva. As such, these family functions were a hilarious battle of glaring and angst. Both parties loved Hope far too much to ever do anything about it though.
Ace sauntered over, her hips swinging from side to side with an allure that caught me like a fly in a spider’s web. I couldn’t help but soak her in with my gaze. Okay, so people watching was my second favorite pastime. My favorite involved my beloved, a can of whipped cream and some silken ropes. She was so fucking beautiful.
Noticing my very obvious perusal, she looked over and gave me a saucy wink. Fuck it, I was going to drag her into the coat closet and fuck her until she screamed my name. I took a step forward, but Arcadia bustled into the room, straight over to Lux. She gave me a sweet smile, and I smiled back because I couldn’t help it. I never could in the presence of Arcadia.
Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset Page 89