“Hey,” said Archer suddenly. “Is yours here?”
“My what?” asked Kev, unable to look at him.
“Your soul, Kev.”
Kev looked up. Archer adjusted his boxers and peered down the shelves the way they came.
“Should be.” And it’d be pulled out of storage and used to punish him permanently. Unless…“Are you saying I should steal it after you leave and…what, hide it somewhere?”
“I’m definitely saying you should steal it,” said Archer. He offered Kev a hand up. “But hide it? Kev. Take it and come with me. Back to Earth.”
“But I died,” said Kev. He stared blankly at Archer as he shrugged and grinned.
“So? You have a body now. We’ll go back together. You can crash at my place until you figure things out. And assuming we get to keep our souls—really keep them—we don’t have to end up back here again.”
“I figure the Big Guy here wouldn’t send anyone after us again,” said Kev. “He appreciates a good con.” He noticed Archer looking at him like he wanted something. “I—what do you want me to say?”
“I want you to say you’ll go with me.”
Kev opened his mouth. There was no choice, really. If he stayed, he’d be obliterated. If he went—well, he wanted to go. He wanted to see where Archer would lead him. But something about it made him hesitate.
“Do you really want me?” asked Kev. He knew he shouldn’t, knew if he pissed Archer off the human might leave him behind. “Or is it guilt?”
“Are you here because I’m bleeding?” asked Archer, and held up his hand.
“No,” said Kev, and forced himself not to look at the delicious blood, dark as night over the back of Archer’s hand.
“I know. You haven’t gone near this, and you had chances.” He paused. “If you’re not really here because of my blood, is it so hard to believe I’m not really offering to take you with me out of guilt?”
Kev swallowed. Archer had a point, but he still felt so weird about everything. He really was just awful at making decisions. Here Archer was, offering him a way out, and he was unsure if he should take it because he was feeling things he could barely remember having ever felt once, and he wanted more. To keep feeling this way, maybe, definitely to understand what was going on. How to make sense of what was happening.
“Are we in love?” he asked.
Archer’s hand dropped to his side and he stared unblinking at Kev, speechless for long minutes. Kev waited, afraid of Archer’s response, but wanting to know. A demon wasn’t supposed to feel any of these comforting emotions, and ever since Archer had showed up, Kev could almost convince himself he was still human.
“I need to know if I’m human,” he said, and then he couldn’t look at Archer any longer. His throat felt tight, and his eyes were damp like he was taking too much cock too deep.
“I think you probably already know that,” said Archer at last. He reached out, put a hand on Kev’s arm, and squeezed. “And that other question? I wasn’t going to make you sleep on the couch.”
Kev swallowed past his tight throat and nodded. Something eased inside him. He’d gone this far with Archer, he’d go the rest of the way. His want to do so abruptly shifted to need.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said.
“I’ve had a hell of a time and am ready to get back home,” said Archer, smirking as he pulled out the little copy of 1001 Simple Summoning Circles for Everyday Evils. “Show me which spell we need to use to send us both to Earth.”
Kev flipped through the book, searching. There wasn’t anything for their specific situation, but he selected the closest spell circle and explained it to Archer as best he could. It was generic—two beings to Earth—and not very precise, which seemed to bother Archer.
“Is there any way to get us back to where I was taken from?”
“Well, it should automatically send you close-ish—your town, at least. Don’t you know how to get home from there?”
Archer looked over at Kev. They were huddled together on the floor, and for a moment it looked like Archer would kiss him again, but instead the human shook his head like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“We can’t just appear anywhere like this. Look at what I’m wearing.”
“You said you liked them.” Kev wanted to tell Archer to drop the boxers if they were too much for him to be seen in out in public.
“Kev, you’re worse than naked, you’re all—I mean, just look at you. We have to get back in my apartment. How do we do that?”
“Don’t know. Think really hard about it?”
Archer groaned.
“I don’t know how anyone does it, and there’s nothing in the book about it.”
“There’s another problem,” said Archer, peeling off the bandage over his wrist and picking off the scabs. “If removing a soul sets off an alarm, and yours is up in the M level, then we are really going to have to run to get back here in time.”
“We?” Kev didn’t think he liked this. “Archer, you should wait here. If I don’t get back by the time other demons start showing up, you can take your soul and get back without me.”
“Like I’d do that, asshole.” Archer leaned forward, began tracing a circle on the tile with his blood. It barely stood out on the floor, more as an even darker curve than anything.
“But if we’re not fast enough…” Kev didn’t like the thought of them both getting caught. “I don’t think I can deal with you losing your soul completely.”
“You won’t have to deal with it for long,” said Archer.
“But—”
“I’m not letting you run back here alone,” said Archer, and he used his command voice. “We’re either making it out of here or we’re getting wiped out of existence, we might as well do it together.”
Kev couldn’t make himself object any more. He watched Archer finish up, lean back, double check the book.
“Candles,” he said.
“There’s matches in your belt,” said Kev. “Long burning. You know, for fun.”
“And since we’re sending ourselves, nothing needs burning in the middle.” Archer passed the book over and stood. “I’ll need you to help me read the incantation.”
“We should say it together for best effect.”
They both stood there staring at the circle. Kev could smell Archer’s blood, deliciously sickly-sweet, and while it aroused him, he didn’t feel the mindless hunger for it that he used to. If this worked, his entire existence would change for the better. If it didn’t…
“Let’s go get your soul,” said Archer.
* * * *
Kev found his name fairly easily, Archer noticed. Unfortunately, Kev’s vial was even farther from the stairs than Archer’s had been. In the glow of the black lights, the dusty lid looked dull, the blood within like live nothingness. Kev stopped in front of the shelf and just stared at it.
“How do you get it out of there and back in you?” asked Archer, but he already knew.
“Drink it,” said Kev. He reached a hand toward the vial, made a motion as though to caress it. “I wonder…how it is to welcome your own soul back into you.”
“We’d better hope it’s manageable because we’re screwed if you start tripping.”
“Yeah,” said Kev. Still he stared at the vial.
“You ready?” Archer didn’t want to push, but he didn’t want to be standing here forever either. “The moment you take it down, we have to move fast.”
“Maybe it won’t even set off an alarm.”
“Maybe.” Archer paused, then reached forward and touched Kev lightly. “Can I help?”
Kev turned to look at him, something intense in his gaze. He was terrified, Archer realized. All the terrible things he’d witnessed, taken part in, had done to him in Hell and he was afraid to touch his own soul. Archer took his hand, squeezed. Then he leaned in and kissed Kev once.
“I’m right here,” he said.
Kev swallowed, nodded,
and turned back to the shelf. Archer squeezed his hand once more, released it. Kev went for the vial, brushed the tip of a finger against it, then grabbed it and pulled it down in one quick motion. At first everything was quiet, hanging in that moment where Kev stared at the dusty little glass in his hand, and then the First Bank of Hell exploded in confusion.
No demons entered, but Archer knew the moment he heard the wailing of sirens that all exits had been closed. The rotating whine in the air he could handle, but the thing that really jarred him was the lights—they began to switch back and forth from black to white, blinking rapidly, searing Archer’s eyes. His stomach flopped savagely as the lights flickered on and off.
“Kev!” he shouted over the alarm.
Kev didn’t look at him. His eyes were fixed on the vial, wide, unblinking. He’d frozen up. He wasn’t going to do it. They didn’t have time for this. Archer swiped the vial, tucked it in his belt pocket, and shoved Kev toward the staircase.
“Move,” he ordered.
Kev moved. Archer guided him to the stairs, pushed him down them first. Archer was half certain he was about to either vomit or trip, but neither happened, and then he and Kev were off the stairs and dashing back through the shelves to where the spell circle and Archer’s soul waited. At any moment Archer expected other demons to appear, but because of either their partying or the way the First Bank of Hell was handled, no one showed up. He bent, pulled his own vial off the shelf, and turned back to Kev.
“I don’t know,” said Kev.
“I’m not doing this alone,” said Archer, and pulled out Kev’s vial, and shoved it at him. “Take off the top.”
To Archer’s relief, Kev obeyed. Archer unscrewed his own, looked down at the small amount of blood containing his soul. It flashed from black to red in the opposing lights, making his eyes hurt. He’d have to drink his own blood to get his soul back. Best not to think about it.
It was easier to give Kev support than to think about it himself, so Archer reached out with his free hand and caught Kev’s. He pulled them together in the center of the circle, and raised his voice.
“Drink on three,” he said. “One, two, three.”
He and Kev tilted back their vials at the same time, drank the sluggish blood down. Archer almost gagged on the metallic liquid, wondered how demons could be so ravenous for it, and then his soul took him. He felt it stirring as it slid down to his stomach, and then it spread, cool-warm like menthol, outward. Archer closed his eyes, savored the feel of coming back to himself.
Kev’s hand slipped from his and he blinked hard. Archer stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Kev. After so long, he figured it had to be jarring to get his soul back. Kev moaned.
“Kev,” said Archer. “Hey. I need you to help with the words.”
“Okay,” said Kev, and nodded once.
Archer handed over the book, open to the right page, before digging around for the matches. He glanced up at Kev, eyes focusing and unfocusing as he looked over the spell, then lit the matches and placed them around the circle. Archer straightened, took Kev’s free hand again.
“Ready,” he said.
“This can be read as a chant. Let me do it once, you join in, we keep it up until we get through.”
“Got it,” said Archer.
Kev started. Archer listened through once, the words familiar sounds to what he’d spoken when he’d originally summoned a demon. It was easy enough to pick up and he repeated the second round with Kev, closing his eyes. As they recited the spell he focused as hard as he could on his bedroom, where he’d been before Kev had summoned him to begin with. The flashing lights beyond his eyelids threatened to pull him away from the place but Archer wrenched his mind back. He felt his grip on Kev slipping and he tightened his grasp.
Suddenly, Archer’s back was cushioned and Kev’s hand was gone. The ever-present stench of Hell vanished, replaced by the familiar staleness of his bedroom. He opened his eyes, back in bed, dim light trickling through the blinds. The sound of cars driving by on the road outside replaced the sirens, the decreased noise so sudden it took Archer a moment to process.
He sat up.
“Kev?”
Archer was alone in bed. He swung his legs over, got up to try the door and see if Kev ended up someplace else in his apartment. If he hadn’t…well, Archer could check the jail, he supposed. He doubted someone as naked as Kev, wearing only collar and cock restraint, would last long without being picked up.
“What?” asked Kev.
Archer whirled. Kev sat up on the other side of the bed, between it and the closet. He held his hands up to his face, blinked at them, turned them over. Archer let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“You made it,” he said, crossing to Kev.
“We made it.” Kev sounded like he didn’t really believe it. “It’s very…real.”
“You going to be okay?” asked Archer. The clock indicated it was midafternoon. He swiped the phone off his bedside table and opened his contacts.
“Maybe.”
“Just for a minute, Kev.”
“The hell is that?” asked Kev, staring at Archer’s phone.
“Phone,” said Archer, and called his sister. He stepped out of the room, leaving Kev to pull himself up off the floor. He needed to know whether Ryan was still okay.
His sister chided him.
“Yes, he’s fine, I’m here with him now. I thought you were coming over to visit?”
“Something came up,” said Archer, letting out another breath he’d been unaware of. Ryan was still there, still out of surgery, out of danger. A long recovery was in store for him, but he’d make it. He’d make it, and Archer had his soul back.
And something more.
“Mom and Dad want to know where you are.”
“I’ll be over when I can—I’ll call first. They let his girlfriend in?”
“No.”
Archer was disappointed but not exactly surprised when he hung up. It wasn’t as though everything could be righted all at once. When he opened the door and stepped back into the bedroom, he found Kev going through his clothes.
“Where are these favorite boxers?” asked Kev, pulling out a pair in solid black. He tossed them down. “Why does your phone look like a sci-fi thing?”
“Because it is,” said Archer, and flipped the phone onto the bed where Kev moved to look at it. “Don’t call or text anyone. How long have you been gone?”
“Thirty years maybe? More?” Kev picked up the phone, eyes widening as he messed around on it. “Whoa—what’s with all these pictures of cats?”
“That’d be the internet.” Archer laughed at Kev’s wide eyes. “Want to meet mine?”
“Yeah,” said Kev, and tossed the phone back down.
Archer made him take off the leather, collar, and cuffs and gave him an old shirt and the pair of black boxers to wear. Kev looked good in regular clothes. Archer watched him run a hand through his hair, pulling it out of his eyes, and wondered where they’d go from here. He wanted Kev to stick around if possible. Archer wanted to see where things would go with him.
Archer’s black cat was curled up on a blanket on the floor at the foot of the sofa. He raised his head, opened yellow eyes when they entered the living area.
“This is Shredinger. Probably he won’t murder you.”
“Shredinger?” asked Kev.
“It suits him.”
Kev went over to the cat and extended a hand. Shredinger sniffed, rubbed, and accepted pets. He began purring as Kev stroked him.
“Nice.” Kev looked around Archer’s tiny apartment in awe. “You live here alone?”
“Hopefully not alone any longer.” When Kev looked over at him, Archer smiled. “My offer still stands, if you want to move in. Figure this world out, get back on your feet. Some people you know might still be around. Sounds like you really screwed up your first time around. Where did you use to work?”
“Grocery store,” said Kev, sc
ratching under Shredinger’s chin.
“Well, if you want I have a friend who says her company is hiring. You could save up, go back to school if you wanted. Or get yourself a nice car, or take a trip somewhere you haven’t been.” Archer went to sit on the end of the couch. “I think you’d be all right at it.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a call center job.”
Kev sighed. Archer leaned back in the couch, deciding to back off. This was all probably very overwhelming for Kev. The shock of suddenly being out of Hell…Archer was still getting used to it himself, and he’d barely been there a day. Everything here had changed since Kev had last lived here.
“I’ll help you figure it out, Kev.” Archer paused. “I want to help you figure it out, if you’ll let me. I—”
“Ow, fuck!” Kev yanked his hand away and shoved it in his mouth. He backed away rapidly as Shredinger took another swipe at him. “Shredinger—I get it now, and screw you, Archer.”
Kev stood up, glaring, and then sat down on the couch next to Archer. Shredinger got up, stretched, and then resettled in his pile of blanket, back pointed toward them. Kev sulked, sucking at the scratch. Archer considered putting an arm around him but didn’t know if that was appropriate. He almost laughed. They’d been how intimate, and now he was awkward? But it was different now that he was waiting to see whether Kev wanted him long-term. Before it had just been fun. Now it was serious.
“Thanks for everything,” said Kev.
Archer tensed. There was a “but,” coming, and he hated knowing it. He waited.
“But I…” Kev trailed off, shook his head.
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Just say it, Kev,” said Archer. Better to get this over with, anyway.
“I wish you’d tell me what to do.”
Archer blinked, glanced over at him. Kev had stopped sucking his hand, and he looked completely serious. Archer opened his mouth, closed it again.
“I mean, I don’t know this world at all,” said Kev, gesturing in frustration with his un-clawed hand. “The glimpses I get from getting summoned for deals don’t do it—you have a phone that finds you cat pictures instantly. The screen responds to touch.”
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