by Brandon Witt
He was so obviously otherworldly that the straining white T-shirt and carpenter pants he wore seemed ridiculous. He should have been wearing a shimmering white robe, regal ivory wings jutting out from his back, a halo over his gorgeous face—which was probably the look he’d been accustomed to before relocating to earth.
“It has been ages since I’ve had the pleasure of ending the life of another fallen.” His full lips curved wickedly into a crooked smile. “Why has God seen fit to give me such a gift?”
His voice was deep and rumbling but caused a sense of warmth and well-being to wash over me, conflicting with the intention of his words. I stared at him. Despite myself, wanting him to come closer, to touch me, to speak again.
He grimaced in distaste. “A lover of males. Vile, despicable habit.” He sneered in my direction. “I would have preferred a challenge, the potential to be destroyed myself. You will be a bore.”
How did he know I was a demon? And how did he know I was gay from a glance? The way I was looking at him probably gave it away. His eyes drew me to him as much as the vampire’s had.
He let out a growl and took a step toward me. “You dare compare me to a vampire? To a filthy parasite leaching off of God’s most failed creation?”
I shook my head. How did he…? He could read my thoughts!
He rolled his eyes, which at any other time would have struck me as funny. “Yes, I can read your thoughts and make you think or feel anything I desire. And your thoughts are as dull and void of depth as any human’s.”
He closed the gap between us, causing me to look up to see his face. Again, I felt like I should be terrified, but I couldn’t make myself be. A feeling of safety continued to flow over me.
“Is it fear that you want to feel instead? Would that make you more interesting?” He gave a genuine smile this time. “That can be arranged. The sound of a lover of men’s screams is a very pleasing experience. However, before we get to that, tell me—you did not just stumble into my dwelling by chance. What would bring such a pathetic excuse for a demon knocking at my door?”
I waited for him to read my thoughts, to spout them back at me.
He gave another impatient eye roll. “I want to hear you speak. If I choose to listen to your mind again, I will. I am hoping the act of you speaking will be more amusing than your thoughts.”
He stared at me. The anger never left his eyes, and yet the pleasant, homey feeling never left me either.
“Well,” he boomed, “why are you here?”
Without choosing to, I began to speak. “The nymphs gave me the ability to find you, to find a demon. That’s how I discovered where you are.”
He took a step back, his eyebrows knotting. “Nymphs sent you?”
I nodded.
“Why?” His voice took on a quiet, concerned tone.
“To help me find my mother.”
At this, he threw back his head and roared with laughter. “To help you find your mother? Are you a lost dog that needs to suckle?”
I didn’t answer him, just continued to stare.
After his laughter died down, he gave me a long, inquisitive look, as if trying to decide what he was supposed to do with me. It seemed the mention of the nymphs might have changed things. They were powerful, but I hadn’t imagined a demon being afraid of them.
His eyes flashed and the safe feeling fled, giving way to nervous trepidation. I figured that came directly out of me, a feeling I wouldn’t need any help from him to conjure.
“That’s right. I will let you feel what you should feel, you repugnant half-breed! You dare assume that I feel fear? Fear of the nymphs? I might as well be afraid of you.”
The peaceful feeling was gone, but neither was I terrified. He was intimidating, and I knew he could destroy me with a flick of his hand, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. With any luck, that was exactly what he would do.
He gave me another curious look and relaxed back to his original seated position. “You are more interesting than you appear to be at first glance. You do not fear death?”
I shook my head, my voice so quiet I was surprised he heard it. “I welcome it.”
“I doubt that.” His lip twitched. “Still, there must be true demon in you after all.”
I didn’t give a reply, and we remained, one sitting, one standing, staring at each other. After several moments, it began to seem less likely that he was going to kill me, which seemed par for the course lately. Finally, the silence seeming rather ridiculous, I spoke up. “I’m here to find out about—”
“When I am ready to answer your questions, I will tell you. Until then you will remember your place.”
Neither apologizing nor forcing my hand, I let my mouth shut and resumed staring.
He motioned to what appeared to be a chair close to him. “Sit. We shall talk.”
As I walked over to the chair, I took in the room for the first time. To call it a room didn’t seem quite right. It was more of a dwelling. Everything seemed to be formed from the rock of the cliff, as if it had grown naturally from it, each piece smooth and fluid. If I hadn’t known it was a demon’s lair, I would have found it beautiful. Outside of the nymphs themselves, this was the most obviously magical thing I had seen. There was no mistaking this for human creation.
There didn’t seem to be any source of light, yet the rock gave off a warm glow, the various colored striations of the stone swirling and flowing, giving the feeling of being surrounded by a melding mixture of caramel and honey. There was nothing soft in sight. No pillows or blankets. I didn’t see a bed either, for that matter. The stone rose up from the floor to form a large table and three chairs, of which we occupied two. The other structure was what could only be described as a bookcase, the rock having formed a curved mound that streamed in and out to take the shape of shelves. There were hundreds of books on the shelves and scattered throughout the room, the only aspect of the dwelling that gave any indication that humanity existed. As I sat down at the table, I noticed what he had been reading when I entered. My eyes widened as I realized it was a Bible.
In a grimly serious voice, the demon smiled wryly. “I enjoy Genesis. While it can’t come close to capturing the true experience, it is pleasant to review my past work. I will never forgive him for soiling it with the stain of human beings. What a waste!”
“Your past work?” He couldn’t be serious. “You helped create the world?”
An insulted look came over his face. “Of course. I was the one to impart the wishes of God to the angels of creation. Whatever I spoke was done.”
That didn’t make any sense. “How did fire help you with that?”
He gave me a quizzical look. Then I became aware of a probing teasing at the back of my mind. “Fire demon! You take me for a worthless angel of battle? Do I look like a servant to you?” His voice increased in volume with every word he spoke. “Do not begin to bring me down to a level equal to your heritage!”
“You’re not a fire demon? Don’t all demons use fire?”
His copper eyes burned red as he addressed me. “I am Pensatus, a herald angel. An angel of proclamation.” His chest swelled. “I do not need fire. I impart the words of God. I know every desire and craving, every thought, every sinister notion.” He gave a chuckle. “Many, I put there myself.”
“You impart the words of God? A demon?”
He sneered. “Of course not. No longer do I do the bidding of God. I am the servant of no one.”
I shook my head. None of this made sense, not that it needed to. I just needed an answer, not a lesson on demonology.
He let out another growl. “This will be done at my leisure. Not yours.”
When I didn’t respond, his voice returned to normal. “Ask me about yourself.”
Talking to him made less sense than trying to get a straight answer out of the nymphs. “I want to know where my mother—”
“No!” His face flushed. “I said about you! We are not addressing your quest yet.”
Warmth began to flow into my hands. This was getting ridiculous. Demon or not, there was only so much more of this I could handle.
Pensatus looked at my hands and, without waiting for me, began. “You are part fire demon. You come from a line of warriors. Nothing more than glorified slaves. You have immense strength and the gift of flame, but your kind was nothing more than the watchdogs of God.”
I knew, despite his obvious power-trip reasons for explaining, that this was what I’d been waiting for, what I’d been seeking—what the de Moriscos had been seeking. For having wanted so desperately to understand what I was, what it meant to be a demon, I now couldn’t even pretend interest in his words, even though I knew I should feel it. “That makes sense, I suppose.” It seemed for all his self-proclaimed importance, Pensatus wanted nothing more from me than a pair of ears to listen to how wonderful he was and someone to bully around.
“Be careful with your thoughts, weak one. You shall find your death wish granted.”
Threats, always threats. My grandfather. The church. The vampire. Now a demon. I was over it. He could kill me, he could answer my question, he could throw me out, but I was done with this inane conversation about angel hierarchy. “If you were so intent on killing me, why are you considering answering my questions?”
“The nymphs have never sent something with a soul to me before. I want to know why.”
For the first time, his words gave me real pause. “I have a soul?” I asked quietly.
He leered at me. “It wafts out of you in pungent waves. Even the fragrance of the demon within you can’t disguise it.”
Finn had been right about something.
“Why did they send you to me?”
I started to speak, but he cut me off. “Besides your desire to find your mother.”
I looked at him blankly. “That’s it. There was no other reason. I need to find my mother so that I can find out what my father is. Then I can take revenge on the vampire who is stalking me.”
He scoffed. “The nymphs wouldn’t care about a solitary vampire, nor a quest of revenge. Why else did they send you?”
Shaking my head, I shrugged. “There isn’t another reason. That’s it.”
“It’s in your blood to be a servant. Even now, you are doing the nymphs’ bidding, and you don’t even know it.” He chuckled. Closing his eyes, he paused as if concentrating intensely. “You didn’t heed the fire nymph’s counsel either, did you?”
“I didn’t?”
“You made rash and selfish decisions. You didn’t care what they said. You would have still chosen the easy way, regardless.” He laughed again. “Not that I would have you make any other kind.”
My heart sank at his words, though I didn’t know to what he was referring.
His eyes opened, his gaze locked on mine. “Ask.”
After a moment’s hesitation, I began. “Where is my mother?”
His lips curved into a suggestive grin. “Jessica?” At the look of surprise on my face, his smile deepened. “Oh, yes, I know Jessica, though she goes by another name now. I know her well. I’ve known her many times. Though the servant’s blood in her veins is beneath me, her fire can be most… tantalizing.”
He probably hoped his words would disturb me, and maybe they should. But she wasn’t a mother to me. She was just another demon, a means to an end. What should I care how she chose to occupy her time? Was I supposed to be offended that my hateful mother wasn’t a virginal prude?
“Where is she?”
He grinned again. “Not here, though I wish she were.”
“Can you help me find her?” His hard eyes bored into me.
“Why are you asking me about her when you could inquire about the issue for which you seek her?”
I reframed his words in my head, trying to make sense of them. “You mean, you can tell me what my father is?”
“Yes, I can. I won’t. But I can.”
The steam began to waft up from my fists again and rose between us like a wall of fog. “I’m tired of this game, Pensatus. Answer my questions or don’t. Kill me or don’t, but let’s finish this.”
Instead of looking irritated like I expected, he only seemed to be enjoying himself more.
“There is one thing I have yet to tell you about being a herald angel.”
I couldn’t suppress a roll of my eyes. He chose to ignore it.
“I knew of the downfall of mankind before it occurred. Indeed, I knew of my own, but I chose my own destiny.”
I considered his words, trying to decide if he was telling me anything of importance or not. “You mean you know the future.”
He gave a noncommittal shrug. “Before the fall, yes. Everything from the instant of creation to the end of time.” His voice quieted. “As a demon, though, my sight is more… limited.”
“Good for you, Pensatus. Why are you telling me this?”
Another small chuckle escaped his lips. “I also should tell you that if anyone else spoke to me in the tone and manner which you choose, the pain I would inflict would have them begging for death. In your case, however, the events that are in store for you this night are better than anything I could contrive, so I shall let nature take its course, inflict my revenge for me.”
A chill crept over me at his words, but I shook it off. “There is nothing left for me to lose, Pensatus. Nothing that the fates can take from me, nothing left for God to steal, and definitely nothing left for you.”
He smiled at me. A smile that almost seemed sweet, almost. “How wrong you are, little slave. How wrong you are.”
“Fine. Whatever. More heartbreak. More pain. Big surprise. Are you going to tell me about my mother or father or not?”
He ignored me. “I still am not clear on why the nymphs would send you to me. Maybe they have a sense of humor after all, though I find that hard to believe.” He wiped a strand of gold hair out of his eyes. “However, since they did, I will give you this crumb, not that you need it—your heart will shatter before the rise of the sun.” He must have heard my thoughts, because he interrupted himself. “Yes, it is already broken, but not entirely, not yet. When it is, go to what calls you. Your questions will answer themselves.”
I stared at him. My anger increasing by the second. “Seriously. That’s it? All the effort to find you? For this?”
He smiled broadly, this teeth gleaming. “Go.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. This is ridiculous! More damned riddles. You’re no more of a help than the nymphs! All I need is—”
“Go!”
I was outside, on the cliff, the night wind cool around me.
I erupted into flames.
Chapter 36
IT WAS well past midnight by the time I calmed down, my body feeling unusually cool as the air dried off the moisture left by the steam.
After screaming and ranting and pounding on the suddenly solid rock, I scrambled to the top of the cliff and took off running, fury consuming me. By the time I calmed down enough to take in my surroundings, I was miles away from the demon’s cave. I wasn’t sure where I was. I was in a residential neighborhood. The houses were modest but clean and kept up. In a few of them a light shone from a window or a front porch, but most were cloaked in darkness. The occupants slept, unaware that a seriously pissed off and possibly deranged fire demon was on their street. Oh, I’m sorry, slave demon, apparently.
I realized, without warning, that I was once again starving. As a bonus, I also realized that the quickest way to solve that problem was to raid someone’s kitchen, since I didn’t see any convenience stores handy. The thought of breaking into someone’s house sent a thrill through me. A flash of shame erupted from somewhere inside. I was acting like some juvenile punk trying to get his mommy and daddy’s attention. I shoved the notion away. I was a demon. I finally felt like one. Be what I am.
Turning slowly in the middle of the street, I looked at the houses, taking in their details. At first, I thought I should try the largest house, assumin
g that the bigger the house, the more food they might have. However, at this point, I was more focused on the excitement than the thought of whatever food might be available.
Still debating which house had the most promise, I noticed a movement to my right. A figure stood leaning against a light post. It was the vampire. His red hair gleamed in the incandescence. Even from this distance, I could see his skin was fully back to normal. Apparently my blood had healed whatever injuries had been lingering. Of course, who knew how many victims he’d taken since he’d fed from me in the woods outside of the de Morisco home.
I took a few steps toward him, then paused, my fists already clenched and steaming. There was no chance this was coincidence. None. I met with the nymphs, then the demon, and the vampire just happens to show up. After I ran for miles, he just shows up? Yeah, right.
The nymphs had said there were many paths to the same destination. At least that’s what I thought they’d been saying.
So I was meant to be here right now. With him. Whether it was orchestrated by the nymphs, the demon, or God himself, I didn’t know or care. This was what I’d been waiting for—I’d avenge Sonia and make sure Finn and his family were finally safe. Then I’d go try every possible thing I could think of to test my immortality.
The vampire smiled. His thin lips were tight against his fangs. He still hadn’t moved, content to lounge against the post. He was filthy, dirt caking his clothes and newly healed skin. I couldn’t fathom how he had made me believe I wanted him. Maybe it was just my hate of him, but I didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone more revolting.
His green eyes flashed, locking onto me.
Desire flooded through me. The fire from my hands extinguished, and I took another step toward him, feeling my cock harden down the leg of my pants.
The vampire’s gaze turned away slowly, drifting down my body, his smile growing in satisfaction as he took in my arousal.
At the absence of his stare, shame replaced my attraction, swiftly followed by fury. Again my fists erupted, flames licking up my forearms, singeing the sides and sleeves of my T-shirt. This fucker was going to die, even if I had to gouge out my eyes to accomplish it!