by Darcy Town
Paimon smirked. “Of course you would get gemstones, pretty and useless just like you.” He held his hands up anticipating Furcas’ slap. “I kid, diamonds are quite useful. Lots of crystals are.”
Furcas lowered his hand. “You think I’d hit a blind man?”
“Yes.” Paimon kissed Bean’s cheek as she grabbed and held on to his nose. He pulled Bean from his face. “How did he live, Dahlia? Barachiel spoke the truth about their death. I would have known if he had lied.”
Dahlia nodded. “Furcas did die and so did Apple. Nevertheless, I did not die and they are linked to me, regardless of whether they want to be. Furcas was remade in Hell.” She tapped her head. “It was a good thing that he landed in the crater. Raphy would have been able to restore him through our link regardless of where he landed, but I am not sure about Bean.” Dahlia gazed at their baby. “Please stay here and relax you two. I really do not want either of you doing anything other than being here together with your child for some time.”
Paimon nodded and pointed to a blank spot. “Good because Yoshi still has some karting to do and other valuable things to lose.”
Furcas grabbed Paimon’s hand and pointed it at Jegudiel. He smiled. “Yes, and I will be showing him how you cheated so marvelously.”
Paimon scowled. “Cheated is a negative word.”
“A correct word.”
Jegudiel’s face fell. “You cheated?”
Paimon snorted. “Yes, Yoshi, I cheated. When do I not cheat? Why even ask the question? Go ahead and assume it going forward.”
Dahlia kissed their cheeks once more. “I have to go. I will see you all later.” She hugged Jegudiel. “I am glad Raphael brought you here. Your brother and she are enjoying themselves.”
Jegudiel frowned. “Raphael is a girl? Since when?”
Dahlia looked him over. “You did not know this whole time?”
“Know what?”
Dahlia looked to Furcas. “You met her?”
Furcas nodded. “Yes.”
“Then you explain. I have to go; Lucifer and I need to—”
“Fuck!” Paimon offered.
“Make up.” Dahlia smiled and walked out.
Bean patted at Paimon’s face. “Foohk!”
***
Lucifer glared at the Archangels. A smile broke his grimace. “I am kidding with you.”
The Archangels did not break ranks or smile. Berith moved between Apple and Lucifer. Whitney readied a rock. Andy frowned. “I don’t know, is he telling the truth?”
Berith shook his head. “I think we should run in four separate directions at the same time. Andy, you have to give us a head start.”
Andy nodded. “Okay on my count.”
Dahlia passed through the shield. “Hi guys!” The four Archangels bolted. She watched them go. “Huh?”
Lucifer hit Dahlia with a smothering kiss. He inhaled her; he ran his hands up and down her body. He did not stop to speak, his lips used only for kisses. He bit at her flesh, scratched at her skin. He pushed her towards Earth.
Dahlia pushed him back towards space. “I am banning us from getting frisky there.”
Lucifer shrugged and threw her towards the moon. He bolted after, a streak of blue in the sky. He tackled her in the air and they flipped end over end. He held her from behind and kissed her neck, nipping her shoulder. He clutched at her stomach, one hand cupping a breast. He sank his teeth into her neck. He wrapped a leg around her. “You owe me much, Dahlia.”
Dahlia smirked. “Hold on.”
“No.”
Dahlia grabbed his hair and flipped him over her shoulder. Primangel with six wings she overpowered him easily. She held on to his back and wrapped her legs around his waist; she looked down at his shoulder blades. She touched his remaining two scars.
Lucifer pushed at her legs. “I am giving you two seconds to let me go. I will have my way with you as I see fit. You have been extremely bad as of late.”
Dahlia grinned. “Hmm. Well I am, at the moment, far more fucking powerful than you are. So the game is going my way. Besides, you traipsing off to Heaven and leaving me behind was a dick move too, so we are even.”
Lucifer reached around and grabbed her bottom. “I do not agree. Let go and obey me.”
Dahlia bit his arm. “When have I ever taken orders?” She sliced one of his scars open. “Stop fidgeting! Do you want your third set of wings or not?”
Lucifer paused. “Oh.”
“Oh?” Dahlia smirked. “What did you think I was doing back here?”
Lucifer shrugged. “Taunting me.”
Dahlia tore the other scar open. She grinned as he shuddered. She flicked her wrists and feathers appeared in the wounds. She backed away. The feathers quivered and midnight blue wings erupted from the spot, completing his set of six. A third group of halos formed around his ankles, wrists, and forehead.
Lucifer stretched and was hit with a surge of raw power. He grinned and stared at the stars, hearing their full voice again. Fire and light raced across his skin. He sang a note and the space around him heated broiling hot. He sang another and the heat was sucked back into him, ice formed on his skin. His eyes glowed brilliantly blue, his hair and skin shining. His smile lit up the night.
He whirled around.
Dahlia chewed on a red nail. Her wings were back to being soft things of feather. Her skin plain white, her halos barely visible. She stood at ease, her eyes lazily trailing up and down his body. She met his gaze and smiled innocently. “What?”
“Do not dare ‘what’ me.” Lucifer reached for her.
Dahlia pulled back, her smile grew larger. “What?”
Lucifer took a deep breath. “I suggest you come here now.”
“Really? Why? You have a dangerous look on your face.”
He smiled. “Do I?”
She nodded. “I think I should run and hide.”
Lucifer grinned. “Dahlia, Dahlia, if you run I must give chase. If I chase I will catch you. If I catch you then I must pin and devour you. You will be consumed.”
She rolled her ankles. “Must you?”
“Without a doubt, my love. I am afraid I will have no choice.”
Dahlia’s eyes burned bright red. “None?”
“None.” He tensed.
Dahlia bolted towards deep space.
Lucifer grinned and raced after her. He cut through the red wake of matter that followed her, his blue light marked the air. His heart soared as he tracked her across the sky. He laughed and the stars brightened. Dahlia smiled and led him towards the center of the galaxy.
They made spirals in the darkness. Dahlia corkscrewed away. Lucifer plunged through the coils. From a distance, they looked like a comet, a pair of shooting stars.
Lucifer reached out, his hand brushed her foot. He tickled her toes, grabbing at them playfully. Dahlia screamed gaily and increased her speed. Lucifer matched it.
She dove into a belt of asteroids and wove between the large rocks gracefully; as if they played a game of connect the dots.
He smashed through them, paying the rocks no heed. He reached for her feet. She plunged down and away, laughing as she went. Lucifer’s eyes locked on her body, unable to look away. He hummed and trailed her lazily. “Why will you not stop, my love?”
Dahlia looked back at him as she flew. She grinned. “Your intent is rather obvious.”
He looked down at his body and shrugged. “I had no idea you wanted it hidden.”
She looked away and dove into another solar system. “That is our difference, you and I. I act in secret and you are ever the blunt instrument.” She flew on her back and faced him. She stuck her tongue at him.
Lucifer flashed through the darkness, teleporting in front of her. Dahlia collided with him. He grabbed her shoulders and pinned her arms to her side. He trailed his lips across her cheek. “Sometimes, one needs to be blunt.” Lucifer grinned into her hair. “Sometimes it is the only way to get things done.”
Dahlia looked
up at him. “Blunt instrument, you have me. Now what?”
He grinned and slammed them both into a dark moon. He pressed her into the rock, cracking the stone beneath them. He kissed her neck. He buried his hands in her wings and smiled as she moaned. He leaned on an elbow, his other hand behind her neck, holding her head.
Lucifer looked into her eyes. “Yes, I do.”
Dahlia scratched at his back, trying to hide the smile on her face. “Bastard.”
He brushed back her hair and kissed her brow. “Bastard? I disagree.” He crawled between her legs and pushed them apart. “Can you not come up with something better, more fitting perhaps, for my nature?” He pressed her down and thrust before she could respond.
Lucifer pushed her face to the side and sank his teeth into her throat, holding her in place with his hands, his mouth, and his weight. He rocked against her. Dahlia wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in close. She moved her body with his, knowing exactly what he wanted and needed. He buried himself in her, his vocalizations guttural, his desires base and apparent.
Lucifer plunged his feet into the rock, trying to enter her further, he wanted to consume and devour her. She shuddered underneath him, her cries fueling him onward. Lucifer thrust faster, harder. The moon beneath them split and fractured.
She held on to him as if her life depended on it. She scratched gouges into his glowing flesh. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Dahlia bucked underneath him, her movements of ecstasy drove him over the edge.
Lucifer cried out, his voice pure in song.
The agony of the prison and memories were drawn out of him. The guilt washed clean. Dahlia kissed him, drawing him in closer, healing him. He poured himself into her fully and completely. As equals again, without reservations, they restored one another.
Together they were flame and form, liquid and light. They joined with the sensation, bodies losing their distinction. Dahlia held him inside her. Lucifer kissed her, seeking to cement their connection. Neither wanted to part. In this closeness, they shared feelings, thoughts, and desires. Love poured between the two, redoubling, shining bright as a light in the darkness. Lights danced under their skin, swirling possibilities of creation and choice. Dahlia and Lucifer kissed and sustained it, having no need to separate.
The moon trembled beneath them. The base components churned and changed under Dahlia’s influence and heated under Lucifer’s. Together the two of them made the matter luminous. They created a star as bright in the sky as they were.
Lucifer smiled and sighed like a song into her skin. He slowly lifted his head from hers as new light emanated below them. He kissed both of her cheeks. “My love.”
“My Lucifer.”
He stared at the marks he had left on her. “Did I hurt you much?”
She smiled and kissed him. “Enough to be perfect.”
“Good.” He ran his hands up and down her body, not yet wanting to pull back.
Dahlia wrapped him up in arms and legs and kept him from going anywhere. She smiled. “You are healed.”
He kissed her breasts. “Yes, my wings are whole.”
She bumped her chin into his forehead. “I mean inside too.”
Lucifer looked up flashing blue eyes at her. “Yes, inside too. I served my time in the prison in your stead.”
Dahlia frowned. “You know I never wanted that, or considered it necessary.”
Lucifer pinched her lips shut. “But I did and now it has passed.” He moved against her. “And now my only need is for you.”
She loosened her grip and allowed him to press her into the heat and light of the star. She grinned. “Do you not want to know what happened?”
He pulled her up. She sat with her with legs around his waist. He put his hands on her lower back and pulled her towards him. She moaned and he smiled. “Eventually. I am sure it is fascinating truly, but this I find more engaging than a story.”
She bit his ear. “Always in the here and now.”
He pinched her bottom. “Join me and stop planning for the future for once.”
Dahlia grinned against his neck. “Done.”
***
Lucifer and Dahlia’s Archangel’s watched the birth of a new star from Earth. They smiled.
Belial and Helion did not. Belial pressed her face into Helion’s chest and stifled a wail. Her left arm twitched uncontrollably in his grip. The bone broke and healed with each movement. The skin had gone purple and black. The limb sought to act on its own. Twice it had driven her to stab at Helion.
Helion had not let her go. Belial did not wish him to; the darkness inside her would seek out Andy. Helion breathed into her hair. “Shh.”
Whitney hovered nearby, but stayed back at Helion’s request.
Belial bit him and hissed. “It hurts!”
“I know.” Helion wiped her mouth as Belial gurgled and spit up cancerous liquid. “You can hold on.”
Belial shook her head furiously. “Please tell me they are almost back.”
Helion looked to the sky. “I do not know, Belial.”
Belial bit back tears. “Then you do it please.”
“I—”
“Please. I hurt, Helion!”
Andy stalked over and grabbed Helion’s outer wing. Helion wrapped his inner wings in around her tighter. Andy looked at Helion. “One of you is going to explain what is wrong with her right now! And do not tell me it’s nothing, I am not a fool!”
Helion flashed sharp teeth at Andy. “Back off!” Belial moved beneath his wing, pushing towards Andy. A black tendril ripped through her arm. Helion grabbed it and the cancer shrank away from his touch.
Belial pulled Helion’s wing back slightly enough to show her one remaining blue eye. “Andy.”
Helion frowned. “Belial, you do not need to speak.”
Belial shook her head. “No, he should know. Andy…Andy, I am dying. I should have told you earlier, but I couldn’t.”
Andy froze, remembering Uriel’s words. “No, no you’re not. That’s ridiculous!”
“Andy, listen,” Belial pleaded with him. “Andy, I am dying.”
“Let me see you.”
“No Andy, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
Belial’s blue eye welled up with black tears. “It wants to hurt you. It’s been trying to hurt you this whole time. The closer you are the worse it is. I do not want you hurt by it!”
“What is it?”
“It’s him.” With Andy being so close, her body wanted to tear in two. The pain overwhelmed her.
Helion looped an arm around her waist and pulled her back. She went unconscious. Helion kept his eyes on Andy, a warning. “Stay back, Andy! You make this worse!”
Andy held his hands up. “Tell me what is going on!”
“Who do you think plagues her? After seeing the battle above what else could it be?”
Andy stared at the pair. “Uriel was telling the truth.” His hands shook. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”
The other Archangels drew closer, listening. Helion eyed them all. “No.”
Andy shook his head. “I will not accept no! There has to be a way to cut it out!”
Helion burst into tears. “You would have to cut her out of it. There is more there of him than Belial now!” Helion drew all of his wings back in and covered her. “She is overrun.”
Andy took a step forward. “Then what do we do?”
Helion shook his head. “You do nothing.”
“But if she—”
“You do nothing!” Helion cradled Belial. “She is my twin! My family!” Tears escaped his eyes. “She is mine to deal with.” He realized as he spoke the words, he had decided. “None touch her. Not you or Uriel, not Lucifer.”
Andy frowned. “Why would Lucifer?”
Helion took a step back. “She made him promise her.”
Andy felt faint. “Promise what?”
“To take her life when she got to this state.”
Andy reached out to he
r. “No.” He took a step. “No, no!” Andy raked his nails across his arms, staring at Helion. “No, Helion!”
Helion looked into Andy’s eyes. “I won’t let him do it.”
Andy sighed. “Good.”
“I must do it.”
“What?!” Andy’s heart skipped a beat. He stared at the twins, frantic. “Helion, you do not mean that!”
“I do.”
Andy tensed, getting ready to grab her. Ropes of stone wrapped around his body tethering him in place. Whitney stepped past him, placing herself between Helion and Andy. Whitney shook her head at Andy. “I know how it feels, Andy, but this is between them.”
“I love her!”
“So do I!” Helion took another step back. “You lose the woman you love, Andy, but I lose my twin!” Helion stumbled. “She is my other half, my sister, my only family.” He looked down at her face, half-blackened; the cancer writhed underneath her skin. He shuddered. “She should not have to be like this. She should never have had to live with this in her.” His vision blurred. “I want her to be free of it, Andy, innocent again.”
Andy strained against the bands of stone. “Helion, please don’t!”
Helion shook his head. “No!”
“Let me see her again.” Andy’s voice took on notes of desperation. “Please, Helion! Please!”
“No, not like this.” Helion swallowed back tears. “She would not want anyone to see her this way. Remember her as she was.”
“But maybe I could do something!”
“No!” Helion panted. “No. No. Just stop, Andy! There is nothing you can do!” Andy snapped his mouth shut at Helion’s voice. Helion dropped to his knees and faced the sun. He lifted Belial’s face up to his and kissed her cheek. Darkness fled his presence and her face cleared.
Belial’s eyes opened, briefly blue again. She saw his expression and felt relief. “You decided.”
“I have.”
Belial smiled. “Thank you. I wanted it to be you.”
Helion held her cheek. “You must only have sweet dreams now.”
“The sweetest.” Belial kissed his hand. “Tell Andy I love him.”