Queen of the Damned

by Debra Dunbar

  “Still better odds than I had before.” I clinked his glass with mine. “And right now, I’m all about improving my odds.”

  Chapter 2

  Asta was a shoe-in, as I knew she’d be. Even though Gregory pointed out that her relationship with my foster brother, Dar, might pose a conflict, Gabe waved the argument off saying if his eldest brother could claim impartiality with his imp lover a member of the Ruling Council, then Asta’s choice of partner shouldn’t be held against her. Besides, her vibration pattern, integrity, and all that other shit were beyond reproach.

  So here we sat, in a newly rebuilt Marriott conference room, with one additional angel at the table. Asta was practically glowing with excitement. She was wearing a smart 40s era navy suit with matching hat and shoes that made me wonder if her ideas of humanity were from the same decade. Didn’t matter because Raphael was about to put forth his mysterious candidate, then it would be my turn.

  “As Asta will be serving as the representative of the seventh choir, my candidate would serve the sixth. She is currently unaffiliated—”

  “How can she be unaffiliated? No one is unaffiliated.” Gregory scowled. As I mentioned, he’d been particularly grumpy after the whole me-locking-everyone-out-of-Aaru incident.

  “Unaffiliated,” Rafi repeated without further explanation. “She has considerable experience both with humans and with the werewolf population and would bring much-needed insights and knowledge in those areas.”

  Hey. I had insights and knowledge about humans and werewolves, and no one seemed to think that mattered when it came to me. I narrowed my eyes at Rafi, wondering what he had up his sleeve and if I could get out of voting his way. Probably not. Not if I wanted his support for my candidate.

  “I have worked closely with her on some projects recently, and have found her to be loyal and discreet. She can be trusted to keep what goes on in these meetings confidential.” He waved a hand and an angel appeared.

  And all hell broke loose.

  Gregory jumped to his feet, his face more pale than usual, the irises of his eyes bleeding out to solid black. Asta gasped and clutched a gloved hand to her chest. Gabe snarled.

  “What is that?”

  “How in all of creation…?”

  “Well, fuck me up the ass with a two-by-four.”

  The last was me. Rafi’s angel had a very convincing human form—a short curvy native girl with long dark hair and brown eyes, skin a light shade of mahogany brown, and a nervous tic at the edge of her frozen smile. She was wearing torn jeans and a Powerpuff Girls T-shirt. She was clearly an angel, but the energy signature she exuded wasn’t like any other angel I’d ever met.

  Correction, it was like an angel I’d met. It was like mine.

  “Hi.” She cleared her throat, forcing her smile up higher. “I appreciate the opportunity to be of service. I don’t know much about angels, but I’m a fast learner. I…uh,” she shot Raphael an uncertain glance. “I’m young, but very dedicated to fairness and protecting humans, werewolves, and the other life here. I’ve willingly put my life on the line to save others. I can sense rifts and help to close them. I’ve assisted in killing and/or relocating manticores, drop bears, and other creatures.”

  “And a hydra,” Raphael prompted. He had a silly expression on his face, a mixture of pride and adoration that I’m sure no one was missing.

  The angel’s smile softened. “Well, you helped with the hydra.”

  Raphael made a “pfft” noise. “I merely assisted. You could have taken care of it solo.”

  Oh for fuck’s sake. And they said Gregory and I were mushy. Sheesh.

  “She’s younger than I am,” Asta announced. “How can that be? I was born shortly before the war, but she’s not even a million years old.”

  The angel’s dark eyes latched onto Asta, a tentative spark of hope in them. “I never knew my parents, but evidently they were an angel and a demon. I’m around five thousand years old.”

  Damn it all. Why was I always the youngest? Couldn’t Rafi have found an angel under nine hundred years old? Was that too much to ask?

  “She’s an Angel of Chaos,” Gregory said, as if we hadn’t all realized that. “There is only room for one Iblis on the Ruling Council.”

  At his words something odd happened to Raphael. The silly, irreverent clown of an angel vanished, and a stern powerful archangel took his place.

  “And that needs to change. It was ridiculous to have only one Angel of Chaos on the Board before the war, and it’s just as ridiculous now. They’re angels. They deserve equal representation of their interests. It’s unfair to have that all fall on the shoulders of the Iblis. Ahia is the only other Angel of Chaos that we are aware of. She has skills and knowledge that we sorely need, and she has enough Order in her that you don’t need to worry about her spiking the coffee with hallucinogenic mushrooms, or putting whoopee cushions on all of our seats.”

  Oh, like he hadn’t laughed when I’d done that!

  The angel in question bit her lip hard and shot me a quick glance, her dark eyes dancing. I got the feeling that in spite of what Raphael said, she was likely to be onboard with whoopee cushions and shrooms in the coffee.

  “All those in favor?” Gabe asked.

  Raphael’s hand went up. Mine went up. Gregory sat down with a glare that looked like he was burning holes through his brother. Gabe’s hands remained unsurprisingly down.

  Asta’s hand went up. Everyone turned to look at her in surprise.

  “Her choice of clothing is atrocious, but she seems earnest. And Raphael is right, we do need broader representation on the Ruling Council. I was too young during the war to know what was really going on, but maybe if those angels had been given additional voices to be heard, the disagreement wouldn’t have turned violent and Aaru wouldn’t have been torn apart the way it was.”

  That very fine and unexpected speech was greeted with a significant moment of silence.

  “She’s brand new. Does she even get a vote?” Gabe asked his eldest brother.

  “Yes, she does. And you’re the one who enthusiastically approved her addition to the Ruling Council,” Gregory added sardonically, “so now you have to deal with the fact that your young protégé just voted against you.”

  Gabe’s shoulders slumped. “Fine. This new angel, Ahia, is voted in. And now on to our agenda items.”

  “Wait. I’ve got a candidate as well.” I stood up. “As you’ve told me repeatedly, six is a very bad number, so we need someone as a placeholder until Uriel gets back from wherever the fuck she is. I have someone I want to put forth to temporarily take her spot.”

  “Cockroach, we are not going to approve a demon on the Ruling Council,” Gregory told me with a growl of frustration. We’d argued about this one a lot. Even promising him sexual favors hadn’t swayed my angel.

  “Please tell me you’re not going to spring another Angel of Chaos on us.” Gabe rubbed his face. “Two of you is enough. I don’t think I can tolerate any more than two right now.”

  “No, but Raphael was right when he said we needed members on the Ruling Council who understood the humans and their world. We’ve…well, I’ve just dumped a bunch of angels down into their midst. Humans are going to be living side-by-side with angels and elves. There are rifts opening up with monsters and mermaids and unicorns roaming around.”

  “We’ve got three of you that have experience and knowledge of the human world,” Gabriel interrupted. “We don’t need any more. Whatever candidate you propose will be completely unacceptable. I’ll never vote for whoever you’re about to haul in front of us, so just forget about it.”

  He was such an asshole. “But who among us has deep knowledge of the elves? We need someone who knows demons, and humans, and elves. So to fill in for Uriel while she’s wearing a hair shirt and beating herself with nettles, I present to you my candidate.”

  I waved my hand, but instead of an angel appearing from the ether, the conference room door opened and a human w
oman walked in. She was young with sun kissed, dark blonde hair that hung down past her hips and deep blue eyes that held flecks of stormy gray and ocean green. She skipped up to the table with a bright smile. “Did they vote yet? Am I in?”

  My sort-of adopted daughter, Nyalla.

  “She’s a human. This is the Ruling Council of Angels, in case you’ve forgotten,” Gregory snapped. Grumpy ass.

  “Well, we’re all stuck down here among the humans, in case you’ve forgotten,” I snapped back.

  “I’m hardly likely to forget that. Angels. Not humans. Not demon Lows. Angels. I was overruled about adding a second Angel of Chaos, I’m not about to start adding humans.”

  What the fuck was wrong with him? He loved Nyalla. I didn’t expect him to embrace the idea with open arms, or even to vote my way on this, but I also didn’t expect him to be a complete dick about it. He was so not going to get laid tonight. So. Not. Happening.

  “I love your shoes,” Asta commented, pointing at Nyalla’s footwear. I blinked at the completely random nature of her observation.

  “Thanks. My sister brought them for me in Italy.” Nyalla wiggled a foot clad in leather, lace-up boots.

  “Oh, I’m dying to go to Italy,” Ahia said. “Actually I’m dying to go anywhere outside of Alaska. Can we have the next Ruling Council meeting in Italy?”

  “I’m all in favor of our next meeting being in Italy,” Rafi chimed in. “And a shopping expedition to follow.”

  “I think I saw a pair just like that in a store down on State Street,” Asta said, still fixated on the shoes. “Although if we’re in Italy for the next meeting, I could pick up some while I’m there. Where did your sister purchase them?”

  “We’re not having a Ruling Council meeting in Italy so two, or three, of you can buy shoes. And we’re not having a human on the Ruling Council.” Gregory was reminding me quite a lot of his brother Gabe at the moment. I’d expected these sorts of snippy barbs from that uptight stick-in-the-ass, not my beloved. Speaking of which…I looked over at Gabriel, anticipating all kinds of angry on his face. Instead he looked…stunned. Actually he bore a striking resemblance to a cornered animal.

  “We need to vote,” Raphael chimed in. “Regardless of how unsuitable you feel the candidate to be, a member of the Council has put her forward and we must vote.”

  There was a staring contest going on between Gregory and Raphael. “Yeah, we need to vote,” I repeated.

  “Vote, vote, vote,” Ahia chanted, pounding her fist on the table in time with the word. I was beginning to like this angel a whole lot.

  “All those in favor?” Gregory asked between clenched teeth.

  It was gonna be four against two if Asta liked Nyalla’s shoes enough to vote for her. If not, then a tie. I shot my hand up and looked around noting that Ahia, Asta, and Rafi were all in favor.

  Slowly, Gabriel’s hand eased upward. He actually cringed as he did it.

  “You’ve got to be kidding.” Gregory glared at his brother.

  Gabriel took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. “I think she has valuable insights that will contribute favorably to our meetings.”

  Nyalla squealed and bounced, clapping her hands together. “I’m so excited to get started! What’s the first item on our agenda?” She dragged a chair over and squeezed it between Gabriel and me, plopping down in it.

  “I…uh…I…” Gabe shuffled the papers in front of him, then looked helplessly around the room. “I think maybe we should adjourn and reconvene in two days to give our new members time to review the agenda and bring themselves up to speed, and for the rest of us to…come to terms with…everything.”

  He was being so weird. I knew Gabe was awkward around humans, but if I’d known that putting him in close proximity to one would result in this level of confusion and distress I would have done it a long time ago. Why had he voted for Nyalla if humans flustered him so? Maybe he was so thrown off his game that he thought he was voting no?

  Gregory regarded his brother with narrowed eyes. “Two days, then.”

  “In Italy?” Asta asked hopefully.

  “No. Here. Same time. Same place.” Then Gregory stood, turning a glare toward each of us in turn. “Meeting adjourned.”

  Without another word he vanished, leaving me behind. We might not always arrive at the meetings together, but we always left together. And we always went back to my house to discuss the events, plan, scheme—well, I schemed—and drink coffee. I knew he was stressed. I knew he had a lot on his mind. But just leaving like this, without a word, without even a loving glance…it hurt.

  Chapter 3

  “He didn’t mean anything,” I told Nyalla. “Gregory adores you. I hope you’re not upset by his no vote.”

  I’d teleported her back home and we were out on the back patio next to my closed, covered-up pool, enjoying a few beers in the warm September sunshine.

  “Oh, I know,” Nyalla took a swig from her bottle. “I can see inside his heart. He loves me, and he didn’t want to hurt my feelings. He’s just upset about the Aaru thing. He’s homesick. It’s making him short-tempered and less thoughtful than he’d usually be.”

  That made me feel like shit. It was my fault the love of my life was locked out of his home possibly forever. “I don’t know what to do, Nyalla. I tried to get us back in. I even went to Sharpsburg and jabbed my sword into the wild gate that used to lead to the fourth circle. Nothing happened.”

  She shot me a sympathetic glance. “The other angels will eventually find out. What are we going to do when that happens?”

  There was no “we” about that one. As much as I wanted Nyalla’s swing vote on the Ruling Council, I didn’t want her involved in any continuation of the angelic civil war. If the winged started throwing energy around and blowing shit up, Nyalla was going somewhere safe. Probably Hel.

  Oh the irony, that Hel would be a safe place for a human compared to the human’s own world.

  “Right now they’re trying to cope with the shock and challenges of dealing with a corporeal form. That will buy us some time to figure out what to do.”

  And we needed to figure out what to do. If I couldn’t manage to reopen Aaru soon, it would be bound to leak out. Then Gregory and his brothers would have more than the rebels to deal with. Even the angels who’d supported them would quickly turn to the other side once they realized there was no going home for any of them. It would be non-stop battles right here. The humans would be crushed in the middle, and I was very much afraid this would be a war that the archangels would lose. It was another irony. Gregory had always said I would be the one to bring the apocalypse. I always figured that would be through my devouring, not by shutting down Aaru and causing the angels to destroy the world.

  “There’s got to be a way back in,” Nyalla assured me. “I refuse to believe that a sword, no matter how powerful, can banish every being from Aaru without some kind of override. Maybe if you say the banishment backward and jab your sword into the sky, like the half-naked cartoon guy does? You know, the one with the terrible blond pageboy haircut and the wimpy tiger?”

  “I already tried that.” I stared gloomily down into my beer bottle. “I even paid Gareth to put me in a salt circle and try to send me there. No dice. I’ve got all my Lows looking for Samael in hopes that he can tell me how to reverse this. If he’s still alive, that is. I know Gregory said no one has ever fucked up like this before, but I’m sure Samael probably came close. He’s got to know what to do.”

  “Gregory never said that you ‘fucked up’.” Nyalla’s tone was scolding. She even waved her bottle at me like a glass, reprimanding index finger.

  I sighed. “No, but that’s what he meant. He’s really pissed at me, Nyalla. I’m worried that if I can’t somehow manage to fix this, it’s going to be that thing that rots away at our relationship, that kills everything good between us.”

  “Sam, he loves you. You all were losing. They were going to kill him. You did what you needed to do to s
ave him. He’d do the same if it were you, and he knows it. If he had to choose between Aaru and you, he’d pick you. He’s just having a hard time with it right now, and all the other problems here with the human world, including having his brothers suddenly all up in his business, aren’t helping.”

  All up in his business. Nyalla couldn’t speak anything beyond Elvish and some Demon up until three years ago and now she was throwing slang around like she’d been born here. My clever girl.

  “Do you think the party is a good idea?” I asked, my thoughts turning back to my angel. I never used to doubt myself like this, but I hated seeing Gregory so grumpy and depressed. I’d do anything for him. I’d do anything to give him his beloved homeland back.

  “I think the party is a brilliant idea. We need something to reinforce that we’re all in this together. We need things like parties to bond as a family.” She shifted on the lounge chair to face me. “And have some faith in yourself. You’ll make things right. You’re more than just an imp, Sam.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m the Iblis. I’m probably the one who brings the apocalypse to this world, if not to the entirety of creation.”

  “I think you’re fate’s right hand,” she told me. “I think there’s a reason for everything. And I think that sometimes, when people are too darned stubborn to learn a lesson, fate whacks them over the head with it a few times, then shoves it down their throat.”

  I was beginning to worry about where Nyalla was getting these violent ideas. Oh yeah. Probably me.

  “So I should hit Gregory over the head with something at the birthday party I’m throwing for him? Then shove it down his throat?” I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I’d fucked up, no matter what Nyalla said, and couldn’t fix it. End of story. I’d rather we talk about whether to have strippers at the birthday party or not.

  “You’re not changing the subject, Sam,” Nyalla scolded. “I know you’re getting beat up over it, but I think this temporary banishment is a good thing. Angels have been locking themselves up in Aaru for millions of years, isolating themselves to work on their vibration and all that. Even the ones who came here for a short stint on the Grigori team held themselves apart from human lives and society. They need to open their hearts and minds. How do they expect to assist humans in attaining positive evolution if they only view them through a telescope? They need to experience life among the humans, not only to better help us, but to help themselves.”