“NO!” howled Mephistopheles. “That’s impossible!”
Before anyone could react, the evil Angel sent a burst of raw power at Jeremy. Unlike the invisible blasts of Allison and Caligula, lethal blood-red flames now engulfed the young Angel. Jeremy didn’t budge an inch, leaning forward as if he were resisting hurricane winds, with his wrists crossed in front of him. His skin turned red for a moment, but as soon as Mephistopheles ceased his attack, he immediately turned blue again.
“What?!” bellowed Mephistopheles furiously. “What have you done? How can you resist the force of my power? It’s impossible!”
Jeremy’s face was drawn.
“No. It may be painful, disgusting, and nauseating, but not impossible. When I finally realized that you were trying to corrupt me by using Allison to make me turn red, I went to have a talk with Tetisheri. She told me that, on very rare occasions, young Archangels were born. A Blue and a Red. Always in pairs. And that I was one of them.”
Of course, Jeremy failed to mention that he had to threaten the Egyptian queen first, telling her that he would turn red forever if she didn’t tell him what she knew. He also didn’t mention that he was a complete atheist and had never set foot in a church.
Tetisheri continued impassively: “Archangels have a special aroma, a special aura about them.” She gave Jeremy a dreamy look. “They smell absolutely wonderful. As soon as Jeremy passed over, we sensed his presence, both physically and mentally. Michael sent me out to see how he was doing. We let the red Archangel leave with the Reds. And when I saw that no one seemed particularly interested in Jeremy except for Flint, who we all thought was a friend of the Blues and who didn’t seem too concerned about the Archangel, Michael respected the non-interference agreement.”
She gave Khan a look of disgust.
“I had already told him that the red Archangel would never come over to our side.”
“Because that’s what you all want, isn’t it?” Allison said angrily. “To steal Archangels from the other side? You separated us, made us suffer, tortured us, made me die a thousand deaths with Caligula because that bastard Mephistopheles had bewitched me, and all that because of some stupid fight between the Reds and the Blues?!”
Fast as lightning, Mephistopheles snapped his wing at Allison and smacked her on the head, sending her toppling to the ground. Jeremy leaped to her side to help her up. Her mouth was bleeding.
“Shut up, slave! The next time you call me a bastard, I’ll rip your head off. Is that clear?”
Allison wiped the blood from her lips with the back of her hand, glaring at the Devil. The monster only ignored her, so intent was he on Jeremy.
“All we want to do is maintain an equilibrium,” replied Michael, who was used to Mephistopheles’s brutality. “There were fourteen of us in the beginning. Seven red Archangels and seven blue ones. But during the dark ages, our hatred for one another resulted in six Archangels disappearing, three from each side. And so we decided to fight no more. Then, to our immense joy and surprise, you appeared, which proved that the Earth could still spawn Archangels, just when we thought that it would never happen again. But we should have been more vigilant. We thought that you were safe with Flint, and even more so when we learned about Khan’s attack, and how Flint had saved you.”
“It was Flint’s work of course,” Jeremy revealed to them. “He set up the whole thing that night. He had located Khan, and ordered him to attack us in order to put a fright in us and make us think we needed to remain under Flint’s protection.” He turned to face Allison. “And like two little idiots, we didn’t see a thing!”
“Khan’s attack was staged?” Allison gasped.
“Of course. We didn’t hear him enter. The guy can handle a sword like I handle my razor. Do you really think he could have missed me? He could have sliced us up into hamburger before we even had time to scream! There again, I could tell something wasn’t right. If he couldn’t make his tongue grow back, then how could he possibly create a sword? Of course, it was only later that I understood. It was Flint who gave him the weapon.”
Mephistopheles sniggered.
“Oh, you were so frightened, my little lambs! I had to protect you from the big bad Khan!” He suddenly looked serious again and jabbed a finger at Jeremy. “And now, tell me why you can withstand my attacks!”
But Jeremy wouldn’t be cowed.
“I learned something from my grandfather, who could probably wipe up the floor with an old bastard like you! Never give information to the enemy. So no, I won’t tell you how I did it. You lose, Mephisto. You won’t have two red Archangels to help you plunge the world into chaos and misery … and I don’t care if you are a Great Ancient—the next time you touch my girlfriend, I’ll stuff your wings down your goddamn throat, is that clear?”
He grabbed Allison by the hand and walked right past the red colossus, who was beside himself with rage. Mephistopheles tried to stop him, but Michael and the three other blue Archangels interceded.
“No,” Michael said softly. “We have a new Archangel, and so do you. Let them go. The lad’s right: You’ve lost. He outsmarted you. It’s all over.”
Seeing that the other red Archangels wouldn’t take his side, Mephistopheles, who had no desire to fight it out with the Blues, howled with rage, grabbed hold of Khan with his enormous hand, and flew off into the night. His leathery wings made a horrible rustling noise and the long hair of the Archangels was ruffled by the winds. The Reds followed behind for a few seconds, then turned off toward the Capitol, where the deliberations had been temporarily interrupted.
Allison swallowed hard and turned to face the Blues.
“What’s going to happen now?”
Tetisheri looked worried.
“The Reds, and in particular Mephistopheles, aren’t very good losers …”
“No, they aren’t,” said a silky voice that made Jeremy shudder. “They don’t like that at all. You shouldn’t have provoked him like that, Jeremy. He’s going to take care of you personally now!”
Lili hadn’t left. She was gazing at Jeremy as if he were the only man on Earth. Allison released his hand. He would have to handle this alone. And if he didn’t, she would be more than happy to give that little pest a piece of her mind, since Lili had also played a part in Flint’s machinations.
And slept with her boyfriend.
“Did you know the truth?” he asked Lili, looking deep into her emerald eyes.
“That he was Mephistopheles? No. I sometimes work for the Reds, but I always thought Flint was neutral, like me.”
“Because you live only for pleasure, don’t you, Lilith!”
Apparently this was the moment of revelations. Allison stared wide-eyed at Lili.
“Lilith? You mean, the Lilith?!”
“That’s right,” Lilith replied serenely. “The first woman, created even before Eve, etcetera, etcetera … actually, I don’t really remember all that well. But I was one of the very first, yes, unquestionably.”
Allison turned to Jeremy. She was still under the shock.
“Well, how about that! Mephistopheles hired Lilith, the ultimate temptress, to seduce you! How could you have possibly resisted?”
“I was … and still am, head over heels in love with a pretty, headstrong, and very unpredictable blue Angel,” Jeremy confessed. “Passion is like a burning flame that destroys everything in its path. But love is patient and kind, something to build on. That’s what I wanted Allison: your love. Not Lilith’s desire!”
Lilith smiled sadly, and Allison almost felt bad for her.
“Well, I guess I’ve learned my lesson,” Lilith finally sighed. “I go and fall in love for the first time in centuries, and it’s with the only man who will never love me in return. Lucky me.”
With a shrug of resignation, she turned on her heel, setting her lustrous red hair spinning. She held her head high as she walked toward the park exit, then disappeared in the shadows.
“Strange,” said Allison soft
ly. “I feel bad for her. But I should feel like scratching her eyes out, and not consoling her.”
The Archangel Michael leaned over her. His smile was so gentle that she could feel it warm her heart.
“That’s what it means to be human, Allison. To be capable of compassion. And to forgive.”
“Speaking of forgiveness,” Allison suddenly snapped. “Jeremy! If you think I’m going to forgive you for sleeping with her, you’re out of your mind!”
Jeremy looked around for a rock to hide under. Michael turned to him with surprise.
“You did what?”
“Uhh, it was all part of my plan,” Jeremy ventured sheepishly.
“An idiotic plan!” grumbled Allison. “He slept with Lilith, the ultimate woman, the most seductive femme fatale of all time, to make Flint bring me back to him.”
The look on Michael’s face made it clear that he was in complete agreement with Allison: It had been an idiotic plan.
“Yes, I know,” Jeremy replied. “But if I hadn’t, Flint/Mephisto would have corrupted Allison beyond any hope of redemption. So yes, I know it was a stupid plan, but it was the only one I could think of …”
Allison scowled at him. He knew what that look meant: You haven’t heard the last of this!
While they were talking, Tetisheri suddenly remembered what Mephistopheles had said.
“Wait a minute! Why did Mephisto say that Allison was his slave?”
She stood in front of Allison and looked at her sternly.
“What did you promise him, little Angel?”
Allison lowered her eyes, swallowed hard and said in a tiny voice: “Well … when it comes to idiotic plans, Jeremy wasn’t the only person to come up with one, unfortunately. I promised Flint I would be his slave for fifty years if he was able to make Ventousi put his drug on the market and send him to prison.”
The Archangels exchanged glances, aghast.
“WHAT?” thundered Michael. “What could you have been thinking? Making a deal with Mephistopheles is like making a deal with the Devil. You’re out of your mind!”
“All right, take it easy already!” Allison retorted. “I thought he was an old blue Angel who wanted to help me. Sorry if I didn’t realize I was just a pawn in a worldwide battle to lure a baby Archangel to the dark side! And another thing: Maybe you should start handing out instructions to the new arrivals around here! I mean, this whole thing is insane: It was you Archangels and all your oh, we must avoid interfering at all costs crap that got us—I mean, that got me—into such deep shit in the first place!”
“It was all a setup!” yelled Jeremy, suddenly looking pale. “Allison doesn’t have to keep her word. She thought she was making a deal with a blue Angel, in good faith, but it was all a lie, because Flint was a red Archangel!”
Michael shook his head.
“Unfortunately, she does. A contract was made between the two parties. If Mephistopheles holds up his end of the deal, Allison will be forced to hold up her end as well. She won’t have a choice. She could always make an appeal before the council of the Great Ancients, but I can already tell you what their verdict will be. She will be his slave for the next fifty years, I’m afraid. It’s inevitable.”
Allison didn’t react at first, but then laughed softly, surprising them all.
“Well, what do you know! I’d been hoping for weeks now that the drug would finally be put on the market to save millions of sick people, and now I’ll have to pray that it doesn’t happen. It goes to show you: You should really be careful about wanting something too badly.”
She put the thoughts out of her mind and took hold of Jeremy’s hand, squeezing it tightly.
“We can’t do anything about it for the time being. It’s the middle of the night. Mephistopheles won’t be able to do anything until tomorrow morning and after everything I’ve been through, I’m exhausted. So I think Jeremy and I are going to sleep for a few hours. We’ll meet you back at the Capitol tomorrow evening. Is that OK with everybody?”
Michael and the other Archangels looked solemn. None of them spoke. But they could see that the young girl needed some rest or she might have a nervous breakdown.
“The presidential suite at the Mandarin Oriental has been set up for the blue Angels in town. It’s where I’m staying,” Michael finally said. “But I won’t be going back to the hotel tonight because I have to handle this crisis. I probably won’t be back tomorrow, either. You two go ahead. We have a security staff; I’ll tell them you’re coming. They will protect you from Mephistopheles and his henchmen.”
Allison and Jeremy looked at him thankfully, but Michael only waved his hand, looked up at the sky, and prepared to take off.
“Wait!” Jeremy yelled after him. “Please, I wanted to ask you something.”
Michael folded back up his magnificent blue wings.
“Yes? Go ahead.”
“Before she died, Allison’s mother made her make a promise. And I don’t want the girl I love to go back on her word. So, since you are kind of like a high priest and all, do you think it would be possible for you to …” He swallowed hard. “To marry us?”
Allison almost collapsed on the spot.
“What?! But …”
Jeremy turned to face her, giving her a tender and solemn look.
“Allison. I love you, and I want to marry you. The last time you turned me down, things didn’t turn out so well.”
He knelt down in front of her and breathed deeply, so deeply he started to feel light-headed. A wonderful and intoxicating light-headedness.
“I don’t have a diamond ring to offer you, and even if I made you one it would probably disappear before tomorrow morning. But, instead of a rock, I give you my heart. Will you marry me, Allison Dartmouth? Until death—whatever that may mean here—do us part? Or even better: Will you live happily ever after with me, for all eternity?”
As Jeremy made his proposal, Allison looked like a fish that had been pulled out of its bowl. She opened and closed her mouth, incapable of uttering a word. Suddenly, she threw her arms around Jeremy, who was still kneeling before her, and the two of them toppled over backward on the grass.
“Oh yes, yes!” she said, laughing and crying at the same time. “Yes, my knight in shining armor, yes, my Prince Charming, oh yes, my Archangel!”
Michael, Tetisheri, and the others were moved by the young couple hugging on the grass. Uriel even wiped away a tear.
The blue Archangel was only too happy to oblige them. He immediately whipped up two Mist rings. Then the entire congregation began to sing. Jeremy didn’t know what they had done to their vocal chords, but the singing was so beautiful and grave that it gave him goose bumps. Michael ceremoniously placed a ring on each one’s finger, told them to love and take care of each other, and couldn’t help but add that they should also refrain in the future from hatching any more hair-brained schemes. He then pronounced them husband and wife. Jeremy kissed the bride. And then almost consummated the marriage right there in front of them, it was so difficult for him to pull himself away. He was delighted to be dead. At long last, this strange afterlife had become a paradise.
Michael blessed them one last time before flying away with the others.
Jeremy and Allison were both quiet, too moved and anxious to talk, but also happy to finally be together. They walked hand in hand to the luxury hotel, both still a bit shocked by their shotgun wedding, but filled with a sense of peace. Allison refused to think about what tomorrow held in store for them. The only thing that mattered was being with Jeremy. He had remembered her promise! He was so kind and considerate it made her want to cry. She snuck a peek at her ring, still wondering if it all weren’t a dream: She was married!
When they arrived at the Mandarin Oriental, Michael and the other Archangels had already stopped by, and the blue soldiers were expecting them. The bodyguards led them to a luxury suite decorated in orange-gold tones. Months earlier, when the date had finally been set for the Angel Congress, the Ar
changels had suggested to the living owners of the hotel that they remodel the rooms that same week, and the entire suite had been emptied and locked up. The whole place had now been filled with luxurious Mist furnishings. A letter of welcome from Michael was waiting for the two lovebirds, explaining all the different Mist systems that the suite had been equipped with. It included one, which Jeremy hid from Allison for a surprise, that got him really excited, because it was something he’d been dreaming about ever since he’d arrived in the afterlife.
“Wow!” Allison exclaimed, impressed by the decorations. “It’s magnificent!”
Jeremy didn’t feel like talking. He took leave of the soldiers on duty in the hallway, closed the Mist door, walked up to Allison, and took her gently into his arms.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he whispered, hugging her so tightly she could barely breathe.
“And you never will,” she replied, breathing in his intoxicating scent.
Yes, she could smell the scent Tetisheri had mentioned. It was like hot bread just out of the oven, just waiting for a dollop of butter to melt on it. Just the smell of him made Allison want to bite him. But since she didn’t want to hurt him, she did even better.
She kissed him.
At first their kisses were soft and languorous, tinged with Jeremy’s fears and sadness. Then, like a fire that slowly builds, they both grew more and more excited, letting their passion take over. They quickly ripped off their clothes. Allison was no longer afraid. She was about to make love for the first time, and all her anxiety had evaporated.
Jeremy treated her gently at first, like a porcelain vase, but the young girl wanted more. She was demanding, mischievous, affectionate, and strong, all at once. She returned each of his caresses with equal fervor, each sigh with a sigh, while their tongues did the old dance that drove them both mad with desire. Their bodies moved together as if they had been created for this very moment. Jeremy made her cry out until she thought she was losing her mind. Then he was inside her, and the feeling of completeness, of perfection, reached a new height. She felt no pain, and let her body move to his rhythm when he began to move his hips, moving back and forth over a spot inside her that made her arch her back, coaxing him on to go further, harder. Then something incredible happened, so suddenly that both were taken aback: Their two bodies merged—not only their angelic bodies, but also their souls. Jeremy was fascinated. He could feel what Allison felt, and she could feel what he felt. She moved in a certain way, and he moaned. Then he responded in another way, and it was her turn to groan. From that moment on, everything that happened was quite simply unbelievable. They both knew exactly what the other one desired and felt, and then they finally reached a climax of pure joy that almost made them faint in ecstasy. Together. At the same moment.
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