by J F Cain
Alone in her private chamber, Lyla closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and smiled broadly.
At last, I can do what I want to do, and I have Lucifer’s blessings, she thought happily. It would never cross his mind that he was digging his own grave. He thought that he had cowed her after her first failed attempt to capture Aranes and that she was afraid of being annihilated, as he had threated to do to any Demon who dared approach the Angel. He didn’t know that the only reason she had left the incarnated Superior alone was because—just like him—she had been waiting for her pregnancy to reach its conclusion.
Lyla slowly opened her eyes, as if waking up from a lovely dream, and sent a mental invitation to Abriel. This wonderful news was a good excuse to celebrate, in other words, for them to have uninhibited marathon sex without him thinking that she had missed the indescribable pleasure her had given her a short time ago. She couldn’t get that feeling out of her mind, and if she hadn’t wanted to punish him for the disparaging way he had treated her then, she would have given him the pleasure of touching her again—many times.
The commander of the fallen Powers and protector of high magic appeared, dressed in his customary black clothes: a tight shirt, a metal pauldron secured on his shoulder with thick leather straps passing through his belt, and his pants tucked into his boots. His powerful body and his handsome face, which hovered between the angelic and demonic, gave him an air of mysterious power matched with military skill.
“I haven’t seen that smile in a while,” Abriel said with a smirk on his face. Ever since I had you, he added to himself. “What’s made you so happy, pray tell?”
“I now have Lucifer’s permission to go after the Angel,” Lyla replied, her eyes shining with joy.
The Sorcerer sobered abruptly.
“You would have gone after her anyway. Haven’t you wondered why he’s doing it?”
“He’s afraid of exposing himself to ridicule again. His last defeat was rather disgraceful,” she explained their master’s stance.
And his recovery rather impressive, Abriel observed inwardly, annoyed that he still hadn’t found out how the Dark Lord had managed to rebound immediately after being so gravely wounded by Michael. But now wasn’t the time to ponder the issue. Because of her stupidity, his beloved was in danger of making a fatal mistake, and he had to prevent it. “I’m sure that that isn’t why he asked you to go after Aranes,” he told Lyla, making an effort to get her to use her brain. When he saw that she was still smiling, he realized he was wasting his breath. “You aren’t going to achieve anything. They won’t let you take her,” he said bluntly, emphasizing the “won’t” as he would do to a child who was struggling to understand what it was being told.
His tone snapped the naïve Demon out of her reverie. The smile vanished from her lips and her expression grew harsh.
“The senior Celestials underestimate me, and they aren’t the only ones,” she said, and her venomous gaze betrayed exactly who she meant. “In a way, that’s a good thing. They won’t see me as a real threat and they’ll let Abaddon handle it on his own. That’s all I need for my plan to take shape.”
“Do you believe that the others who are after her, and Lucifer especially, will think same?” Abriel asked, challenging her deficient intellect once more.
“Yes, and by the time they realize what’s happening, I will have achieved my goal,” Lyla replied, choosing to ignore his almost mocking expression.
The razor-sharp fallen angel tried to snap her out of her utopian delirium.
“You are sorely mistaken! Neither the Celestials nor the Demons will let you lay a finger on Aranes and her child. Believe me, I know very well how both sides think.”
Lyla shoved his warnings where she had shoved everyone else’s opinions about her person. But his claim to know how Angels and Demons think had caught her attention. She softened her expression enough so that it wouldn’t show that she wanted to ask for a favor and approached him, swaying her hips sensually.
“Then you might be useful,” she said, weighing him with her eyes to gauge how willing he was to help her.
“You mean, besides protecting you from the Cursed, concealing your presence when needed, and banging you whenever you want it,” Abriel clarified, his expression telling her that her hip swaying had been for nothing. “I think that’s enough. I may have fallen, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to participate in such madness.”
Lyla was forced to bring out the big guns to convince him. She twined her hands around his neck and pressed her body against his.
“You always said you were interested in me. So now’s the time to prove it,” she said, her eyes full of seductive promise.
Abriel returned her gaze expressionlessly, while passion flared inside him. He had to get away from her fast. If she rubbed up against him any longer, his body might betray him.
“I’ll think about it,” he replied curtly.
Pulling apart her hands clasped at his neck, he gently disengaged himself, turned around and headed for the door. He could have vanished, but this way he would gain some time so that he could see if she had used the good—in her opinion—news as an excuse to call him to her.
Lyla watched him walk away with a sly smile on her face.
She didn’t doubt that he would support her in the end, but she didn’t like his indifference at all. Logically, he should be looking for any excuse to stay with her, as he had done until recently. What was going on? Had he gotten what he always wanted and didn’t care anymore? Was he angry with her because he thought her plan was impossible? Or was there another reason? She definitely wanted to know. She couldn’t stand this indifference from someone who had chased after her until only a short while ago.
“I was thinking we would celebrate,” she said to his back, her voice filled with innuendo.
The angel-like fallen smiled with satisfaction and continued on his way to the chamber’s door. Just as he had suspected, she hadn’t called him to give him an update on developments.
“Later. There’s something I must do first,” he called without turning around.
Lyla’s ego was wounded. What job was so important that it ranked above the incomparable pleasure she would be offering him?
“I thought you kept your promises,” she hissed.
Abriel stopped, and turned to look at her.
“I’ve proved that I do, but work comes first. You wouldn’t want a weak ally, would you?” he asked seriously, playing his own game.
“No,” Lyla admitted, “but I also wouldn’t like a lover that doesn’t keep his word. You had said you would do anything I wanted, when I wanted it.”
“When it comes to sex,” Abriel reminded her. “Anyway. You can wait a bit,” he added indifferently. I’ve been waiting for millennia to fulfil my desire and who knows how patient I will still need to be to bring you around.
“You’re a liar and you’re unreliable!” she hurled at him, enraged that he’d rejected her.
Abriel knew what she was like and her reaction didn’t surprise him.
“No, sweetheart. You’re just too demanding,” he responded, his voice tinged with mockery.
“Is it too demanding for you to keep your word?” Lyla asked in the same tone of voice.
“No, it’s too demanding to want whatever you want, when you want it, and how you want it. Look around you,” he said, gesturing vaguely with his hand. “Not even the Superior, the Source’s beloved daughter, Abaddon, and Lucifer have that privilege. I’m fulfilling your desires and even that’s not enough for you. So, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to learn to be patient. Your impatience hasn’t worked out so well for you until now.”
Lyla was fuming. The sermon had gotten on her nerves, but she didn’t plan to give up. She would use any means at hand to achieve her goal and prove her strength.
“Why are you angry? Because I want you?” she asked, her expression a blend of justified indignation and complaint. A very good combination, rendered
with style and consummate skill that rivalled that of the human seventh art’s legends and the undisputed star of the ethereal world, Lucifer. Excellently done, she congratulated herself, seeing momentary bemusement flash across the fallen commander’s face.
Abriel inwardly acknowledged her acting skills.
“I’m not angry. Although I admit that your insistence on getting your own way annoys me. And I don’t only mean us doing it,” he said gently.
Lyla realized that she had been patting herself on the back for no reason. Her Oscar-worthy performance hadn’t convinced him. But she had to go on as she had started to save face.
“Is it bad that I’m glad I’ll be able to act freely and you won’t be risking having others find out about your hidden power?”
“So you’re saying you care about me?” His expression was flashing between sarcasm and astonishment, but Lyla chose to see the latter.
“You’re my most important ally,” she justified herself.
Or rather the most enjoyable, Abriel thought. “I was under the impression that you thought the Cursed were your most important allies.”
“You must be joking,” Lyla scoffed. And this time her performance was much more convincing.
“Your preference honors me, ma’am,” the Sorcerer said with a slight bow.
Lyla couldn’t tell if he was mocking her, but she didn’t really care either.
“So prove that you are worthy of that honor,” she replied just as courteously.
The sharp-witted fallen pretended not to understand.
“In what way?”
The impatient Demon approached him. She dragged her palms down his chest provocatively, moving lower and brushing his crotch.
“I would prefer the most pleasing way,” she replied in a sensual voice.
Abriel gripped her nape and gave her a deep, arousing kiss. When he pulled away, he saw intense passion in her eyes.
“Of course …” he agreed. He allowed a smile to bloom on her lips, before adding: “As soon as I’ve finished what I have to do.” He then turned his back to her, leaving her unsatisfied.
Lyla was outraged.
She had just spent the last who knows how many minutes begging him, while he acted all cool and unaffected. She felt herself burning with anger. Or was it desire? She couldn’t tell them apart anymore. She was completely confused. She wanted to hurt him, annihilate him if possible, but then she would lose a powerful ally. As usual, need prevailed. She swallowed the filth that was about to spew out of her beautiful sensuous lips and watched him go out the door.
“I can’t wait,” she replied sweetly, to make you regret this, she continued to herself, gritting her teeth so that she wouldn’t shriek.
The door closed behind Abriel and he traveled to his private den. He immediately activated the concealment symbols on the empty chamber’s surrounding walls so that Lyla couldn’t see him, and sat down on the steps of the low dais in front of the wall where he conjured his private screen.
His ethereal body was tense from the desire he was trying to quell. If so much wasn’t dependent on his stance, even Lyla’s very existence, he would go back and take her until she cried for mercy. Being close to her had driven him as mad as it had her. He had barely kept himself away all this time. That ridiculous female unfortunately had the ability to rattle him.
That’s probably my punishment. To constantly regret my decision to follow Lucifer in the Fall and to wonder if those who consider me as one of the most intelligent entities in Eregkal are greater idiots than I am, he thought, annoyed with himself. Lucky for him, his activities and their results confirmed the majority’s opinion. He hadn’t lost his mind; there was just a bit of a glitch when it came to his beloved. His love for the mentally challenged Demon was an aberration, an exception to his unshakable rationality. On the other hand, it was an emotion that kept at bay the influence of the darkness in which he was forced to exist. They said that every cloud had a silver lining, and wasn’t that the truth!
Abriel thought back to the only time they had had sex, which was all he could think about lately. Lyla liked wild sex, and he had given her exactly what she liked. He would have liked to make love to her rather than bang her roughly, but he still had a long and difficult road to travel before he reached the point where she would want some tenderness from him. She wasn’t a fallen angel; she had never experienced the beautiful side of feelings and sensations. She was a Demon, an entity created by people’s dark thoughts and actions, and unfortunately she was very different from him.
That he had fallen in love with her wasn’t strange. The merging of opposites was a key principle of evolution. Love between humans satisfied this need and love between Ethereals was the desire to unite with their opposite energy. But the entities involved had to be of a similar level. He had dropped the ball in this respect. Of course, he wasn’t the only one who had gone astray. Lucifer and Abaddon had both fallen in love with Aranes when she had been human—now that was what you called a difference in level! At least he had fallen for an entity of his world.
You can sit here and think up excuses for your feelings all you like, but it won’t help you, he berated himself. Aranes was intelligent, even as a human, while Lyla is set on destroying herself.
The megalomaniacal Succubus’s plans had him feeling a wide range of emotions. Sometimes he felt disgruntled, sometimes he wanted to slap some sense into her, and at other times he wanted to burst out laughing. He had no intention of getting involved let alone sacrificing his warriors for her impracticable plans. Yet he was afraid he would lose her because of her stupidity. Her actions would incur the anger of high entities, both Angels and Demons. It would be hard for him to protect her from all those who would descend on her. And especially Lucifer.
Shortly after the Celestials had left Eregkal, taking Aranes with them, the Dark Lord had summoned the Demons who had taken part in the battle to his throne room, leaving everyone speechless. Standing in front of his elevated dais, after first leveling the Archdemons who had delayed entering the battle with a foreboding look, he had informed everyone present that the Angels’ invasion was part of a genius plan of his—and, of course, he hadn’t gone into any details.
Many hadn’t believed his lie, but they feared his hidden powers and were still wondering if he had drawn them in some secret way from the dark dimension, in other words from the Demons themselves, or if he had another source that only he knew about and took advantage of. Speculation abounded after that meeting, and various scenarios were bandied about. Some wondered, others were resentful, and a few admired their master. But some Archdemons had noticed the change in his expression, in his tone of voice, and even in the way he stood before his throne with his large pitch-black wings spread wide, as if he was ready to pounce on anyone who doubted him in any way. Lucifer certainly seemed different, more dangerous than ever, and many feared that he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice them on the altar of his ambitions.
Abriel knew that the leader of Eregkal had lied to save face and maintain his authority. Shrouded in his magical veil of concealment, Abriel had approached the Dark Lord’s tower—something that no one else had dared to do—and had seen him pinned to the wall by Michael’s sword and unable to move. Believing that the defeated Demon would remain out of action for quite some time, he had left and hadn’t seen from where he had drawn the energy to restore himself. It was one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made. It still drove him mad, thinking that he had missed the chance to discover such crucial information that would give him an advantage over Lucifer and the Archdemons, and could possibly also help him protect Lyla.
But, as things stood now, he shouldn’t get involved in her plans. Lucifer’s passion for Aranes had led him to make many mistakes, and Abaddon was sure to make his own. There was no room for mistakes in Abriel’s case. His attempt to draw his thoughtless lover out of the dark could cost him dearly.
CHAPTER 4
Abaddon was sitting at his desk, signing do
cuments from the small stack of papers he had in front of him, when his supernatural hearing picked up an otherworldly pulse. Aranes had told him how the worlds’ darkest entity made his appearance and he immediately realized who his uninvited guest was. Irritated, he squeezed the Montblanc pen he was holding and bent it, but then immediately straightened it so as not to betray the fact that the Demon’s presence affected him. He raised his head and looked straight ahead, curious to see his grandiose entrance—as Aranes had described it—in the physical dimension.
Lucifer’s powerful ethereal energy passed through the invisible veil of the transcendental world into the sphere of manifest forms and spread out into the space, generating chaotic vibrations. As the dark cloud formed in the earthly environment, a shadowy figure appeared in its center, slowly taking shape until Lucifer’s form was revealed. The Lord of Darkness, wearing his customary black suit and button-down shirt, absorbed his aura into his body, slipped his hands into his pants pockets, and glanced casually around, as if he was seeing the space for the first time. The tall glass walls and pricey furniture spoke of the power of money, and also of the authority of the entity glaring at him from behind the large desk.
“Hello, Abaddon,” he greeted him with affectation.
His pompous expression got on the Dark Angel’s nerves. So as not to show the Demon his effect on him, he bent his head and carried on signing documents.
“What do you want, Lucifer?” he said curtly. He had seen the Demon’s fabled entrance into the physical world; he now wanted to see his exit, too.
“There’s no reason to get upset,” Lucifer replied, his deep voice echoing strangely inside the spacious office.
Abaddon realized that his aura had betrayed him.
Serves you right, he reproached himself. Next time, have more restraint. Aranes told you that all beings’ emotional states are recorded in their energy fields, and Ethereals can see them. “Is that right?” he mocked the Demon, giving up the pointless effort to convince him he was unfazed. “Because, if I remember correctly, the last time we met you tried to kill me and abducted Aranes. Isn’t that a reason?”