Falling Into Darkness

by L. M. Brown

  “Take a seat, my dear,” Gabriel said, and the angel stumbled to the center of the room. “I have a question or two for you, if you don’t mind?”

  Allisandra nodded, though from the shaking of her hands, Michael suspected her fear hadn’t diminished.

  “Why didn’t you tell Metatron about your relationship with the demon?” Gabriel asked.

  “His name is Janos,” Allisandra said, unexpected steel in her tone.

  “Apologies,” Gabriel replied. “I was not aware of his name. Now, why didn’t you tell Metatron?”

  Allisandra shrugged. “He’s a demon. I knew if I told anyone I’d never be allowed to see him again.”

  “Quite right,” Raguel snapped, earning him a glare from Gabriel.

  Gabriel turned back to Allisandra with a kind smile. “Has Metatron ever raised the subject of relationships with demons with you?”

  “No.”

  “And what is your belief as to whether demons can be saved?” Gabriel asked. “Brought back to the light, to join us here?”

  Allisandra hesitated. “I don’t know.”

  Gabriel smiled. “He says anyone can be saved, demons included.”

  Allisandra nodded in acknowledgment of his words.

  “Very well,” Gabriel said. “Let’s vote.”

  Michael raised his hand. “I have a question first, if you don’t mind?”

  “Of course,” Gabriel replied.

  Michael turned to Allisandra. “Do you love Janos?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Michael smiled and deferred back to Gabriel.

  Gabriel took charge and cast his vote, once again agreeing not to ban relationships between angels and demons. Raguel, voting second, cancelled out Gabriel’s vote with his own. One by one they went round the circle. When it came to Michael’s turn he found himself cut off by Azrael, who voted immediately after Raphael, seated on Michael’s other side.

  “I haven’t voted yet,” Michael interrupted.

  “You can’t vote on this matter,” Raguel argued. “It would be entirely inappropriate. You have too much bias on this subject.”

  “Everyone has their own opinion on everything we vote for,” Michael pointed out. “I have a right to vote on this, the same as I have on any other issue.”

  Michael could tell Allisandra was confused as to what was happening. To an uninformed angel there could be no reason at all why an archangel should not be allowed to cast a vote on any issue. He took only a moment to decide to be completely open about the situation. If necessary, he, or Metatron, could remove any memory of what he said once she left the chamber.

  “My relationship with Lucifer is not the issue here,” Michael stated. “This is about all angels and all demons and I have a right to a say in the matter.”

  “Your relationship with that creature is what started all this,” Raguel snapped.

  “Since it isn’t common knowledge Lucifer even lives, I fail to see how I can be held accountable for the acts of other angels and demons,” Michael argued.

  “Michael is right,” Gabriel interrupted. “Allisandra’s actions were entirely independent and Michael cannot be held responsible for those.”

  “Well, of course you’d agree with him,” Raguel muttered. “You’re his best friend.”

  “I was,” Gabriel amended. “However, I think you’ll find Lucifer has that honor these days.”

  Michael smiled and shook his head. “Sorry, Gabriel, you’re not getting rid of me so easily.”

  Raguel groaned. “Regardless of who Michael considers to be his best friend, I think we’re all in agreement his relationship with Lucifer clouds his judgment on the current matter.”

  “Or maybe it gives me a new perspective?” Michael suggested. “I say again, I have a right to vote on this matter. I waived my vote last time because, as you recall, only my own relationship with Lucifer was at stake. Now it isn’t.”

  “Perhaps we should vote on whether Michael can vote?” Azrael offered in a teasing tone.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Gabriel replied. “As an archangel, he has a right and I don’t intend to try to take that from him. Michael, how do you vote?”

  Michael already knew his vote wouldn’t make a difference. There were only two angels left to vote after him, Azrael and Metatron, and even if they both voted to ban relationships, which privately Michael considered to be highly unlikely, their votes would still not be enough to pass the motion.

  He also knew he hadn’t been given enough time to truly consider the matter. Right now the fate of Allisandra and her demon took second place to his thoughts about how the vote could have separated him from Lucifer, if the angels who had already voted had all agreed with Raguel.

  “Michael?” Gabriel prompted.

  “We all know how he’ll vote,” Raguel said. “Not that it’ll make any difference now. Can we get on with this?”

  Michael shot Raguel a smirk worth of Lucifer himself. “I abstain,” he announced.

  “What?” Raguel spluttered. “You can’t abstain.”

  “Yes, he can,” Gabriel said. “Many archangels, including you, have abstained from voting on various issues over the centuries.”

  “But after all that nonsense about having the right to vote!” Raguel sounded incensed and his face turned almost purple with rage.

  Michael’s own temper rose and he stood. “If I relinquished my right to vote on this issue today, we all know that would be setting a precedent and I would never be allowed to have my say on this again. In the event this matter is brought to the chambers again, I want to ensure I can exercise my rights, just as the rest of you do.”

  “Then why don’t you vote now?” Raguel asked. “If you want to exercise your rights so badly, here’s your chance.”

  “I don’t feel I can make an unbiased decision on this matter today,” Michael explained. “While it’s clear some of you had advance warning of what this meeting was called for, I did not. To cast my vote with fairness I would need time to consider the repercussions. I therefore abstain today.”

  Azrael interrupted Raguel before he could respond. “I vote against banning relationships.”

  “I too vote against,” Metatron hurried to add.

  Gabriel stood and clasped his hands together. “Then the matter is decided, and this meeting of the archangels is concluded.”

  Michael gestured to Metatron and took him aside to quickly request Allisandra’s memory of his relationship with Lucifer be removed. It would be too dangerous for everyone if Lucifer’s continued survival were to be known.

  He was about to leave the chamber when Gabriel called him over.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Did you go out of your way to annoy Raguel?” Gabriel asked. “I thought he might draw his sword on you, he was so angry.”

  “I can handle him.”

  Gabriel sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “You could have voted. It’s not like your vote would have made a difference to the outcome.”

  Michael shook his head and smiled sadly. “It makes a difference to me. I’m the one who has to live with my choice. Can I make a request?”

  “Of course, what is it?”

  “Next time this matter comes up for voting—and we both know it will, because Raguel is never going to let this go—can I have a little advance warning as to why it’s being raised, who is involved, and some time to process things and consider the matter?”

  Gabriel didn’t respond for several long minutes. “Why do you want to know who is involved?”

  “Because I would wish to speak to them privately before the vote. If an angel—any angel—were to be told they could no longer be with their lover, they would have to choose.”

  “Choose what?”

  “Whether to give up their love or their wings,” Michael replied. “No angel can come to such a decision on a moment’s notice.”

  “You would give up your wings for Lucifer?” Gabriel asked.

  “
I don’t know,” Michael admitted. “And that’s why I’m asking for some time, just a few days will do, the next time Raguel demands a vote.”

  Gabriel nodded. “Agreed.”

  Michael left the chamber with Gabriel and found Raphael waiting outside. He had obviously been listening to their conversation.

  “You would never give up your wings,” he said. “You’ve never known anything other than this existence.”

  Michael walked with his two oldest friends toward the arch where the newly deceased were constantly arriving in the realm. He had duties there today, which would take his mind off the recent meeting. He didn’t agree with Raphael’s comment, but he didn’t disagree either. Truthfully, he had no idea at all what he would do if he had to make the choice to give up such a massive part of his life. Either option would involve tearing out a piece of his heart.

  All he could do was hope the day never came when he was forced to choose.

  Chapter Ten

  It had been nearly two months since Michael had last escorted Lucifer on Earth. He supposed he couldn’t blame Lucifer for wanting to torture him a little, given the circumstances. He just wished his lover had chosen another form of punishment besides shopping.

  “What do you think?” Lucifer asked as he smoothed his hands over the seat of the black leather trousers he was trying on. To Michael’s untrained eye, they appeared exactly the same as the last pair, and all the others before.

  “You look good,” Michael dutifully replied. He wondered whether he should comment on Lucifer’s shorter hair but decided against it. The shoulder-length waves were a drastic change from his former, longer style and Michael wasn’t entirely sure he liked it.

  “You didn’t even look properly,” Lucifer complained.

  Michael tried, probably unsuccessfully, to stifle his sigh of impatience. “You always look good. Are you getting that pair?”

  Lucifer studied himself in the mirror, twisting this way and that.

  “Why don’t you just do what the rest of us do, and use your powers to alter your clothes to whatever you want?” Michael asked.

  Lucifer laughed. “Where’s the fun in that?”

  “Where’s the fun in shopping?” Michael mumbled under his breath.

  Lucifer heard him anyway and he bent down to whisper in his ear, “Just imagine how you’ll enjoy tearing them off me later.”

  “Peeling them off is more likely,” Michael said. “Are you sure they’re the right size?”

  “Oh yes,” Lucifer replied. “I think I’ll take them all.”

  Michael stared at the pile of clothes Lucifer had previously tried on and discarded. It was a good job angels had unlimited funds no matter the country or era.

  Finally, they exited the clothing store and were back out in the sunshine. Michael breathed in the fresh air with relief. Why Lucifer wanted to be cooped up inside shops after being confined to the Underworld was a mystery to him.

  They strolled down the street, hand in hand, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather.

  A couple of youths sneered at them as they passed, and Michael caught the word ‘queer’ from one of them. Humans had become most intolerant over the centuries.

  Lucifer clearly heard the slur too and glared at the young men. “I’ll be seeing you later,” he told them with a cold smile, his eyes flashing red.

  Michael nudged Lucifer and they continued on their way. “You shouldn’t scare the humans so.”

  “I didn’t scare them at all. That particular gang has beaten several gay men over the years and is on the fast track to my realm. I have every intention of reminding them of our encounter today when they arrive.”

  “You aren’t supposed to show yourself to your demons,” Michael reminded him.

  Lucifer laughed. “They won’t be demons. They aren’t worthy of the name. I often show myself to humans who have pissed me off during their lives. It brightens up my days immensely.”

  Michael rolled his eyes. As an angel he shouldn’t condone Lucifer’s behavior, yet he couldn’t bring himself to begrudge him the small pleasure either.

  “How’s your new king settling in?” Michael asked in an effort to change the subject.

  “As well as can be expected,” Lucifer replied. “He’s pissed off at the whole mess.”

  “Any attempts on his life yet?”

  “Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Tristan simply isn’t demon king material. Without a killer instinct, I’m sorry, but he won’t last a year.”

  Michael suspected as much. With all the demon kings who had come and gone over the years, Tristan was the latest, and the first one Michael had a vested interest in. Tristan was a sex demon, a rather reluctant incubus who, through a strange twist of fate, had found himself the even more reluctant king of the Underworld. What made him particularly notable from Michael’s point of view was the fact Tristan had two lovers, one of whom was an angel recruited by Raphael. The trio had been in a relationship while Tristan had been human, but events seemed to be conspiring to tear the three men apart.

  “Lucifer…” Michael hesitated. They had been apart for too long and he had no wish to ruin the pleasant mood.

  “What is it?”

  Michael shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “It must have been something. What’s bothering you?”

  Michael wasn’t sure how his words would be received, but he had to try. “Tristan had two lovers before his imprisonment in the Underworld, Alastor, one of your demons, of course, and also Machidiel, one of Raphael’s angels.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “Machidiel misses him.”

  Lucifer raised an immaculately shaped eyebrow. “Then he knows what he has to do.”

  “He won’t give up his wings and he won’t fall.”

  “Then he doesn’t love Tristan as much as he claims, does he?”

  Michael glared at Lucifer. Was that a jibe at him? He had thought they were past those sorts of comments.

  Lucifer hurried to reassure him, but Michael remained unconvinced.

  “I’m sorry,” Lucifer said. “I didn’t mean you. Tristan misses the angel too.”

  “His name’s Machidiel, though he prefers Mac.”

  Lucifer huffed. “I know what his name is. Tristan has already mentioned him…frequently. I simply don’t wish to take the trouble to remember it. As I said, this king won’t last long at all.”

  “Still, it might be useful to remember the name of Tristan’s lover.”

  “Why?”

  Michael squeezed Lucifer’s hand.

  Lucifer, who often surprised Michael with his astuteness, guessed what he was about to say. “Absolutely not! I won’t permit some random angel to go wandering round the Underworld.”

  “Even when doing so would help your king settle into his new home?”

  “Tristan is going to have to get used to his new quarters, and unless Mac intends to turn demon, they won’t be sharing them.”

  Michael drew Lucifer off the main street and into one of the city’s many alleyways. He pushed Lucifer against the wall with one hand and groped him through his trousers with the other. “Are you sure I can’t convince you?”

  Lucifer groaned and tilted his head back, banging his skull on the bricks. “Oh, Michael, I’ve missed this.”

  “Have you missed me?” Michael asked. From the corner of his eye he could see humans passing by the end of the alley. No one glanced in their direction, but that might change if Lucifer moaned any louder.

  “You know I have,” Lucifer replied. He dropped his shopping bags, unfastened his belt, and undid his fly.

  Michael didn’t need any form of direction. He slid his hand into Lucifer’s trousers and took his hard flesh in hand. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to give Tristan a little one-on-one time with Mac?”

  “Fuck, Michael, shut up and suck me.”

  “So demanding,” Michael teased as he dropped to his knees.

  Another glance at the alley entranc
e revealed no one. They had time for this, especially since Lucifer wouldn’t last long at all.

  Although he usually preferred to take his time, Michael didn’t dare, not considering their current location. Instead he took Lucifer into his mouth, sucking in as much of the flesh as he could manage and massaging the underside with his tongue.

  Lucifer gave a strangled gasp and grabbed Michael’s hair. He bucked into Michael’s mouth with hard thrusts that hit the back of his throat.

  Michael closed his eyes and concentrated on giving Lucifer as much pleasure as he could. The better his mood, the more chance there would be of changing his mind about Mac. Michael had learned a thing or two about manipulation during his years as Lucifer’s lover, and he intended to put them to good use right now.

  Lucifer screamed as he came and Michael tasted the bitter tang of his cum on his tongue, filling his mouth, and he swallowed it eagerly.

  When he had finished, Michael tucked Lucifer’s dick back into his trousers and sat back on his heels. “Are you sure I can’t convince you?” he asked again.

  “Convince me of what?” Lucifer replied with a rather dazed expression.

  Michael stood and took Lucifer’s face in his hands. “Just for an hour. No one has to know.”

  Lucifer ground his teeth. “No. Now drop it, Michael. You should know, after all these years, you’re no match for me when it comes to these games. Stick to what you do best—keeping me happy.”

  Michael bristled at Lucifer’s words. Was that all Lucifer wanted him for? Someone to warm his bed and suck his cock on demand?

  No, he couldn’t believe that. Lucifer was just annoyed with Michael pestering him and he’d lashed out.

  From the stubborn set of his jaw, Michael had a feeling manipulating Lucifer wouldn’t be as easy as he first thought. He decided to drop the subject for now.

  * * * *

  Something had to be done. Michael’s attempts to talk Lucifer into letting Mac into the Underworld had fallen on deaf ears time and again. Now Tristan’s demon lover was lost to the imprisoned king as well.

  It was time for Michael to put his foot down.

  Whether Lucifer liked it or not, Michael intended to escort Mac into the Underworld to see Tristan, while relationships between angels and demons were still permitted by the archangels.