by Alexie Aaron
“It all makes sense now,” Murphy said. “Sticks climbed out of hell to save her from the soul eater. He was saving his mate.”
Ted put his hand to his forehead. Angelo looked over at him with sympathy. “Mia didn’t do this intentionally. She’s had no teacher. Had she chosen the Brotherhood, I would never have let this happen. Interesting enough, this brand is probably what upset this other demon,” Angelo said as he lifted Mia’s shirt to display the name carved in Mia’s abdomen. “Two Face Tony will challenge Sticks for Mia unless Roumain can get her out of this mess.”
“I think Roumain is responsible for this mess,” Ted said.
Murphy nodded.
“I think his reason for putting her in New Orleans was sound, and he didn’t throw Mia into the arms of Sticks. But he has to learn to stay on his side of the ether.”
“If Mia promised herself to Sticks, then why did he let her go? Why isn’t he here?” Ted asked nervously.
“Demons live such a long time, Theodore. A year to you is but a moment to him. Eventually, when he has matured, he would claim Mia. Funny thing is, it wouldn’t happen in her lifetime. Now, Tony is a full-grown demon. He could take her at any time.”
“Mia sent him to hell.”
“Temporarily,” Angelo clarified. “Demons can’t be killed. They can be sent back, but they will eventually find their way out. I don’t think Tony is that ambitious. He will wait for her to return to his lair, but he won’t venture beyond the cold stone walls to find her.”
“I wish that comforted me,” Ted said.
“You took on a lot of problems when you married Mia, Theodore,” Angelo observed. “You’re friends with a ghost who would take her from you. You allow me in your home. Your boss yearns for her. But don’t fear. Mia loves you so deeply that she will never stray. She only sees the best of you. We never stood a chance once you declared yourself,” Angelo said. He looked over at Murphy. “You should have moved faster, Stephen.”
Murphy clenched his fists. His regard for Angelo was rapidly waning as the birdman taunted him.
“So the question is, will you trust me to take her to New Orleans and then to the aerie? If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t. But I will tell you that I am honor-bound not to harm Mia. She is your wife. Santos was cruel when he told you how to protect her from me, but he was right.”
Ted looked down at Mia. “If she doesn’t go, she’ll die.”
“Yes, the longer she is away from Sticks, the more the wound will fester and the poison will move through her, changing her until she isn’t the Mia you fell in love with anymore. She will cease to see Brian as her son. When she dies, she will descend instead of ascending. Not even that warrior angel can change that,” Angelo professed.
“Can I have a moment alone with her first?” Ted asked.
Angelo nodded and Murphy left.
“I’ll be in the nursery looking at that magnificent boy of yours. He is very advanced verbally. You should be proud,” Angelo said. He bent down and placed his hand on Mia’s face. She opened her eyes. She was confused for a moment, but when she locked her eyes with Ted’s, she felt fine.
Angelo walked out of the room, and Ted closed the door. He sat down on the bed and looked down at her.
“Why did you call him?” Mia asked. “He’s only brought you pain.”
Ted told Mia everything Angelo told him.
“I did what!”
Ted couldn’t help himself from smiling sadly when Mia continued to berate herself.
“I was just trying to… Fuck me and leave me a rose, I’m an idiot. No wonder the poor sap was surprised when I had the snake eat him. Probably thought it was a human mating ritual.”
“You’re not an idiot. A bit reckless, but aren’t we all? Mia, how did I ever think I had a chance keeping you? Sure, I knew I was a better man than Whitney and a flitch-filled Burt, but now all the paranormals are sniffing around.”
“Can any of them build an energon cube? Find a way for salt to permanently bind to my gloves? Laugh at my lame jokes? Adore me? Put up with my bitchiness, or love me full out?”
“I notice you didn’t mention my prowess in bed,” Ted pouted.
“Don’t get me started, darling. We have company,” Mia growled.
“It’s up to you. I think you should go. Angelo told me that he is honor-bound to do you no harm. But come home to me. Not just because I will be holding our son hostage. Come home to be with me, forever.”
“I’m not sure how long I will be gone. I nearly died being away from you and Brian before.”
“You’re going to have to suck it up, lady. If you’re going to be promising yourself to demons, then you’re going to have to do the time and fix this. Tell the judge he’s on my list, but wait until after he’s mediated a separation from Sticks. Tell me, Mia, why him?”
“First of all, it was an accidental bonding,” Mia said. “Secondly, he reminded me of you. Tall and thin and had these amazing hands…”
“That’s enough of that, missy,” Ted scolded. “Bad Mia, indeed.”
~
Audrey watched how gently the large man held Brian. He held the child up so Brian and he were face to face before he kissed Brian on the head. He held him upwards and said, “I bless you with the courage of your mother. I give you my sword. Wield it with compassion and good.”
“That was beautiful,” Audrey said as she held out her arms for the child. “I’m going to be his godmother.”
“So Father Santos said. You are a fine choice, Miss Audrey.”
“Angelo, could I be so bold to ask you to ask Orion to call me? I have a research project that he may be interested in.”
“I’ll let him know when I see him.”
“Thank you. Angelo, I have no right to ask you this, but please don’t take her from us.”
Angelo looked down at the trembling woman. “You’re shaking. Be calm. I am no monster. Mia will return once she is healed. She has made her choice, and I will honor it.”
“I’m sorry if I have misunderstood you,” Audrey said.
Angelo bowed his head. “I can understand why you would have felt this. My previous behavior, it shames me. But you see, Miss Audrey, I have been given the quest of ridding the world of evil. Mia is powerful and will only get more powerful as she understands her gifts better. I saw her fight beside Stephen, and I wanted that for myself. A shield maiden.”
“So your interest wasn’t carnal?”
“Not in the beginning. I am partly human, Audrey, I won’t lie to you that it hadn’t crossed my mind. But the mates I choose for myself are large women, for obvious reasons.”
Audrey blushed and changed the subject. “Take care of her. I’ll watch over Brian while she’s gone,” Audrey promised.
“Thank you.”
“Angelo,” Ted said from the doorway. “Mia’s agreed.”
“I’m sure this was a difficult decision for her,” he said. “But she has made the right one. May I be so bold as to ask for nourishment? The flight over has weakened me.”
“Where were you?” Audrey asked out of curiosity.
“I was in Nepal. The sages and I were conferring.”
“Don’t tell me,” Ted said, “About world peace.”
“Yes, Theodore, and other things,” Angelo said. “The old ones have quite a sense of humor at times. It was a good discussion.”
“I’m sorry to call you away from it.”
“You honor me with this task,” Angelo said, meaning every word.
~
Cid set another plate of risotto in front of the birdman.
“This is the best mushroom risotto I’ve had this side of the Atlantic,” Angelo praised. “How did you get the onions so soft?”
“Sautéed them until I could see through them first.”
“I will have to try that. The countess does love a good risotto.”
“Is that the lady you brought to Mia and Ted’s wedding?” Cid asked.
“Yes. She and I hav
e been friends for years.”
Upstairs, Mia was taking a shower. Audrey was in the bathroom with her and couldn’t help laughing at the comments Mia made regarding the method of travel. “Naked. I’m too old to be prancing around naked. Especially with that birdman. He doesn’t age.”
“Oh, Mia, aside from Tony carved into your abs, you look marvelous after having a child,” Audrey informed her.
“You forget this little number,” Mia said, hanging her foot outside the shower door. “Plus my left boob is sagging.”
This brought fits of giggles from Audrey. “I couldn’t do it,” Audrey admitted. “I’ve seen the size of, well, you know…”
“Do what?” Mia asked, turning off the water. “Travel naked or do it.”
“Is that a trick question?” Audrey teased. “Come on, Mia, it will be over within a heartbeat.”
“Actually, it takes much longer than you would imagine. All that time your body is pressed up against his naked body. His arms around you, holding you tightly to his body…”
“Stop!” Audrey said, waving her hand in front of her.
Mia gave her a wicked smile as she limped to the mirror. “When did I get so vain?”
“It’s not vanity per se. It’s actually a loss of confidence. Our fear of being judged is so strong that we try to present the best shell we can.”
Mia rewrapped the towel around her and limped out of the bathroom. She had asked Ted to go to the office. She didn’t want his last image of his wife to be naked, wrapped in Angelo Michael’s arms. Audrey volunteered to stay with her until they left.
Angelo walked into the room and over to the window and opened it. He then took off Cid’s robe, folded it nicely and set it on the bed.
Audrey saw that Angelo’s back was filled with tattooed black feathers, and as he stood and flexed his back muscles, they began to move. Her eyes took in the phenomenon of the ink become real, and suddenly massive wings sprouted. Angelo’s wings towered over his head and brushed along the carpet behind him.
“Are you ready?” he asked Mia.
Mia dropped her towel on the floor and stepped over it. She limped over to Angelo, trying not to stare at his beautiful body. She turned around, and Angelo walked behind her and put his arms around her.
Audrey saw something she didn’t expect. The birdman lowered his head and took in the scent of Mia’s hair for a moment. It was so quick that she thought later she had dreamt it. After he raised his mighty wings and wrapped them around both of them, they disappeared.
Audrey stood there for several minutes, stunned by what she had just seen. She had seen a lot of things in her life, but that beat them all.
“Good luck, Mia,” she said and added, “I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”
Chapter Twelve
He moved amongst the leaves, comfortable with the cover it provided him in the tall trees of the park. Sticks was building a new nest. The one that had sustained him was too small now. His mate would be joining him. He felt her the moment her foot touched the N’awlins ground. Mia had returned, and that meant one thing to Sticks. She had come to be with him.
He wasn’t exactly sure what he was to do with her. She wasn’t a full-blooded demon. She would still need the comforts that he’d seen the humans enjoy. Sticks was too young to mate. He hadn’t shed his childhood bark yet. He would keep her until it was time. He didn’t have a choice. They were promised.
~
Mia looked out over the city, wrapped in a silk robe. Angelo had managed to get the use of a penthouse apartment. The furnishings were Spartan, giving the birdman plenty of room to move around in. As expected, due to being near her intended, Mia’s mobility improved. The brand no longer festered. Angelo had left to contact the judge and to purchase Mia something to wear. Until he appeared, she was trapped one step from the clouds and eighteen stories from the earth. Her stomach rumbled. Her last meal was but a memory.
“However do you get yourself into these problems?” the buttery voice of the judge asked her.
Mia turned around but didn’t see anyone. “I believe you had something to do with this one,” she addressed the empty room.
“I didn’t tell you to bind yourself to a demon. By all that is holy, a young one at that. There are laws against such pairings.”
Mia let loose with a tirade of curses involving his heritage, his mother’s state of marriage, and the status of his reproductive organs.
Roumain walked out of the ether and into the room. His beautiful ebony skin shone with health. He was wearing a summer suit, an open-necked shirt and one of the largest diamonds Mia had ever seen around his neck. It was suspended in a gaudy gold setting attached to a thick gold chain. On any other man it would have been too much. On Roumain, it was the right accessory. He smiled down at Mia and touched her robe.
“You look like a child in your mother’s robe.”
“I assure you, my mother had no robes like this. I think it’s for a man,” she said, unfolding one of the sleeves.
Roumain laughed as the sleeve nearly hit the floor. Mia rolled it back up and then closed her arms tightly around her body. Remembering her manners, she asked, “How are things in purgatory?”
“Vastly improved since we last spoke. A major music icon departed this earth and is experiencing hades before his second reincarnation. There was a flood of fence-sitters volunteering to go to hell. What could I do but let them go?”
Mia smirked. “I bet you didn’t even warn them?”
“They were already convinced. My words would have fallen on deaf ears.”
“Where’s Angelo?”
“I imagine wandering The Quarter looking for clothes to cover your body. A waste of time, but it gives us time to talk. I am duty-bound to discuss what you would be giving up by breaking off with Sticks.”
“Living in trees, having saplings for children, dining on nuts,” Mia listed.
Roumain roared. “You tickle me, girl. If you didn’t have so many complaints filed against you right now, I’d run off with you. I could teach you a few things…”
Mia stopped listening when she heard the word complaints. “Complaints?”
Roumain snatched Mia’s robe away. “Two Face Tony is charging you with demonicide. I see the evidence right there.”
Mia was too enraged to cover herself. “He came at me.”
“You sought him out,” Roumain corrected. “Demons don’t send their own to hell. That brings up a certain squatter at the library. That was a mess that took days to sort out. He wasn’t a demon, just a class A asshole ghost.”
“I’m sorry, but it was…” Mia couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Alright, it was fun. I saw Father Peter do it and immediately thought of Two Face Tony. Although, I almost had a tour of hell myself.”
“So you stole his chalk, tested it out on the squatter, and used it on Tony. Unfortunately, Tony saw the brand. He was under the assumption that you were his to torment until death you do join in hell.”
“There is no way I bound myself to Tony.”
“Did he not beat you up and write his name on your stomach in your own blood?”
“Yes, but I didn’t agree to it. I was a child,” Mia said, outraged.
“Yes, I believe you were. So I told the jurors that your ignorance of your demon heritage, combined with your terror at being able to see the smug bastard in the first place, negated any binding contract.”
“Jurors? You mean you had a trial without me?”
“This isn’t the United States…”
“Yes it is. N’awlins lies inside the United States.”
“The court wasn’t, believe me. Not sure where exactly it was at the time. Things are so transitory these days.” The judge took a piece of lint off his sleeve. “Aren’t you cold, dear?” he asked, surveying her body slowly with his eyes.
Mia walked over to the judge and snatched the robe from his other hand, but he didn’t release it. Instead, he reached out and traced the ripped skin with his
finger. “Demons are so crude,” he said. “Flesh is so fragile. Mia, I’ll be waiting for you when you die. There’s no way you’re going to ascend without spending time with me.”
“Are you trying to make me feel violated?”
“No. Just telling you the way things are or rather will be if you don’t stop being so reckless. He opened the robe and slid the garment on her shaking arms. The sash he wound around her body. He sniffed her neck. “Mia, I smell bird,” he said with disgust.
“Angelo brought me here. He’s got wings…”
The judge laughed. “You have no idea what’s going on do you?”
“I thought I did until a few moments ago,” Mia admitted. “I’m working under the assumption that Angelo brought me here so that you could mediate a breakup between Sticks and myself. And so the poison that was running through my veins, because I was away from Sticks, would stop killing me. After, he is taking me to the aerie so the Gray Ladies can heal my leg.”
“Where do you think Angelo is right now?”
“Getting me clothes?”
“No, he’s hunting down Sticks and is going to seal him in a lead coffin and will house him in that awful vault of his for an eternity.”
“No! He’s just a child.” Mia moved to leave the apartment. Roumain pulled her to him, lifting her chin with a manicured nail.
“He never contacted me, Mia. By the way, your leg would heal once you and Sticks were unbound. Just as Tony’s scratches are gone now.”
Mia hated herself for doing it, but she started crying. “Please, let me go and warn Sticks. I’ll come back, and you can do whatever you want with me. But please, he never did me any harm. It was me that branded us together with my stupidity. He saved me from the soul eater.”
“Tears for a demon? What kind of creature are you?”
“One not to be played with,” Angelo said from the doorway. “You let her go. Roumain, we are not in your courtroom. We aren’t bound by your magic. Mia, use your mind. Sort this out.”
Mia turned and looked at Angelo dressed in an expensive suit of clothing, holding a hanger bag. His eyes locked on hers. Mia opened her mind to him while blocking Roumain.