by Melody Rose
Michael’s advances had also gotten worse since he found out about my upcoming dinner plans with Lucifer. It seemed that motivated him to push harder. The closer we got to Friday night, the more aggravating our interactions were becoming.
The past couple of days, he had been appearing everywhere and getting more and more insistent. I’d never been the type to ask for help, but he had been getting so annoying, I had even reached out to Asmodeus for assistance. Unfortunately, that got me nowhere. Apparently, telling Michael he couldn’t have something was the equivalent of egging him on to pursue it more intensely. I had about reached my breaking point.
Though part of me had wanted to tell him about my connection to his past so he would leave me alone, Lucifer and I had discussed that it would be better if Michael didn’t know. We weren’t sure how he would react, and like much of Heaven, it could backfire and put me in danger.
I was at the gun range again, working my usual mode of stress relief, when Lilith walked in.
“There you are!” she exclaimed as she skipped up to me, a sleek black box clutched in her hands.
“Hey!” I put the Glock I was shooting down on the table, yanked my hearing protection off my head, and turned around to face her. “It’s been a while.”
“It has,” Lilith agreed as she sidled up next to me in my lane, the box pulled in and tilted toward her chest. “I keep trying to find you in my downtime, but either something comes up, or I get stopped by Michael. Have you noticed he’s been down here more and more lately? It’s aggravating.”
“You’re telling me,” I grumbled. “He won’t leave me alone. He somehow thinks I will magically forget he’s a condescending toolbag and just decide to suddenly throw myself at him. I’m over it. Seriously.”
Lilith rolled her eyes. “I know what you mean. I’m trying to figure out what we can do about it. I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”
“It’s alright,” I mumbled. I was used to dealing with a garden variety of assholes during my military years. The difference was, none of those guys had wings or powers that put me at a major disadvantage in a fight. “It’ll work itself out. It always does.”
Lilith smiled sympathetically before adjusting her facial expression to one that was much more business-like. “So, speaking of apologies, I want to apologize to you.”
“For what?” I didn’t know that she had anything to apologize for.
“So…” Lilith looked downrange, avoiding eye contact for a moment. “This is really embarrassing, but I had way too much to drink the other night and… anyway, I kissed Lucifer. I know that you know about it, and I just wanted to say I’m sorry, and I didn’t mean to cause any problems and, well, you have nothing to worry about with me. That’s all.”
Lilith was rambling as if she couldn’t wait to get those words out and get it over with. She was still avoiding eye contact, looking everywhere but at me. I guessed she really was embarrassed.
“Hey, you know what,” I searched to meet her eyes. “It’s all good. I spoke to Lucifer already. I do appreciate the apology, but it’s unnecessary. It’s forgotten.” I put on my best attempt at a forgiving smile. Deep down, I was still a bit sore about it, but I did appreciate the gesture, and I knew I needed to move past it.
“It’s unnecessary?” She looked at me with a mischievous grin. “Are you sure? Because I can bring this back.” At that point, Lilith leveled out the box in her hands, and I saw the name imprinted on the top for the first time.
“Whoa.” My jaw hung open for a moment. “Is that the Hudson H9?”
“Nah, it’s just the box.” Lilith grinned even wider. “Yes, it’s the Hudson! I knew you’d want to try it, and I just couldn’t resist.” She held the box toward me, and I gingerly took it from her.
I placed the box on the table and opened the lid. There, nestled in the molded plastic, was the Hudson H9. I had been wanting to get my hands on this. The straight pull 1911-style trigger and the striker-fired design were supposed to make the recoil virtually nonexistent. I could not wait to see for myself if they had actually accomplished that.
I reverently lifted the pistol from the case, and aimed it downrange, feeling the heft of it in my hand.
“Well, I’m in love already,” I gushed, lowering it down to the table. “Want to shoot it with me?”
“I’d love to,” Lilith replied regrettably. “Unfortunately, Lucifer is waiting for me. I told him I’d meet him to discuss my latest ideas. If I had known I’d find you here today, I totally would have rescheduled.”
“I tell you what, though,” she continued as she turned and headed to the door. “You send a few rounds downrange first and let me know what your thoughts are. We’ll set up another range date soon.” Lilith turned back at the doorway and smiled at me. “Have fun!” She winked and skipped out the door.
“Thank you!” I called after her. I could not believe what a generous gift this was. I immediately started knocking 9mm rounds out of the box and loaded up the magazine, snapping it into place and racking the slide.
With a full magazine and a fresh target, and I was ready to dive in when I felt someone behind me. I turned around to see Michael propped up on the side of the doorway with his arms crossed, and one ankle crossed in front of the other, quite obviously checking me out.
“Can I help you?” I muttered before I turned back to face downrange.
“Why did Lucifer bring you down here?” Michael asked bluntly.
I turned back to face him. This wasn’t his usual start to a conversation. No cheesy pickup lines or flexing of muscles and wings. Very unlike him.
“What do you mean?” I tried to play it off as if I did not know what he was referring to.
“Don’t bullshit me,” he snapped. “Why are you down here? I know you didn’t volunteer, so I can’t quite figure it out.” He pushed himself off the door frame and wandered over to where I was standing.
“Probably my charming personality,” I stated matter-of-factly, laying on the snark. “What draws you to the place? Is it the welcoming feeling you get walking down the main hall? The cheery atmosphere, perhaps?”
Michael laughed. “Well, if you want cheery and welcoming, I’ve got just the place for you. Why don’t you come with me to Heaven? I’ll show you bliss like you’ve never experienced before.” Michael continued to close the gap between us, winking as he did so. “You know the expression, ‘died and went to Heaven’? Yeah, it’d be like that.”
If I rolled my eyes any harder, they’d hit the back of my head. How did this guy take himself seriously?
“I’m good here, thanks.” I went to step sideways to give myself some breathing room, but he did the same thing, blocking my means of escape.
“I never take no for an answer,” he threatened as he eliminated any personal space I had left. His wings unfurling, he grabbed me by the neck and pinned me against the wall, sliding me up so that my feet were dangling in the air. His wings cast a threatening shadow over both of us. “And I don’t appreciate you dodging my questions.”
My Hudson was sitting on the table, loaded and ready to go, useless outside of my reach. I thought of my powers and realized that gun was my only real chance at getting out of this increasingly scary scenario. Any fighting skills I had would most likely be useless against his Archangel strength, but that didn’t stop me from trying. I swung my arm up and over to try to break his grip, but he didn’t budge. Without the leverage needed to kick him effectively, I decided gouging his eyes might work, so I shot my hand forward and was met with his hand around my wrist, an incredibly fast reaction that was definitely beyond a human’s capability.
As I contemplated my next move, Michael’s grip tightened around my neck, and everything started to go dark as I began to lose consciousness.
26
Lucifer
Lilith and I were having one of our usual throneside chats when the doors to the room swung in, revealing Michael in all of his post-workout glory. He was still dripping sweat, a
nd it was falling onto my freshly mopped floor. I immediately went through my mental checklist of demons who needed to be taught a lesson, to determine who was going to clean that up and by what method.
“Can I help you?” I asked casually. I knew he would only be here for one reason, and that was to attempt to ruffle my feathers.
“Hey, bro, I have to ask, what’s the deal with this Evelyn chick? You guys a thing, or am I free to make a move?” He rubbed his hands together and licked his lips like he was ready to dive into a good meal.
“Really, man?” I asked, already annoyed. “All the angels in Heaven said no, so now you’re down here looking for an elusive human? Leave her alone.”
“So, you’ve already staked your claim, huh?” he winked at me.
I knew that if I admitted what had happened between us, that would spur Michael on to make more attempts to capture Evelyn’s attention. I decided it was in Evelyn’s best interest if I kept my mouth shut about pretty much everything to Michael.
“I didn’t… there’s no claim to stake, man.” I had been in the middle of an important conversation and did not want to waste time with this. “Look, I’m not interested in any of this. I’ve got my own things going on. Do you have anything that you need from me here?”
“I just want to know why you have a human down here,” Michael replied, hands on his hips, sweat still dripping onto the floor. “Her time isn’t up yet, so if you don’t have anything going on with her, then she must be here for a specific reason.”
“I’m busy,” I stated simply.
“You’re dodging the question,” he shot back.
I sighed. “It’s really none of your business.”
“So, you won’t tell me.” Michael threw his shoulders back, puffing out his chest at me. I wasn’t sure how that was supposed to impress me. “Okay. I’ll go ask her then. If I find out this has any bearing on Heaven, I’ll come back and do my best work. This is way too strange to be a minor visit. She’s been here too long. Either you’re lying about the relationship, or you’re hiding something from me. Either way, that won’t fly with me.”
“Why do you care so much?” I had already lost the train of thought I had from my conversation with Lilith, and now I was officially annoyed.
“Why do you think I’ve been down here so often?” Michael threw his hands up and looked at me like I was an idiot. “It’s not because of the gym or the sauna or anything else. I keep tabs on you. Report back up top. This is all highly suspicious, and we want answers. I’ll get them from you, or I’ll get them from her, but either way, I’m tired of waiting.”
“Well, that doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m still not telling you, though.” I turned back to face Lilith, who had been sitting there watching the entire exchange with amusement.
Michael stood there for a moment before realizing he wasn’t going to get any more information from me. He turned and walked out, leaving a trail of sweat in his wake.
Once Lilith and I got back on track with our conversation, we were finally able to piece together our newest torture room. Lilith had a blast using the old iron maiden, so she had come back in and hand-selected a few other pieces to bring back to our repertoire. We wanted to set it up like one of those circuit workouts at the gym and just cycle batches of unfortunate souls through the entire gamut. It was genius, really. It provided a variety of options while torturing so many people at once. We just needed to repair a few of the torture items first.
We finished ironing out the details and went walking the halls in search of the perfect available room to reserve.
“Still not giving Michael any information, huh?” Lilith wondered aloud as we walked.
“No,” I replied. “I’m terrified that he will see her as a loose end and try to hurt her. I’m trying to avoid him finding out if I can.”
“I can appreciate that,” she said. “I know he has been bothering Evelyn a lot lately, though. He’s determined to get some information out of one of you. If he doesn’t find something to satisfy his curiosity soon, it might get ugly.”
“Do you remember what he said to me when Dad kicked me out?” I asked.
“Not exactly, it’s been a while,” Lilith replied with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m serious. He told me he would never stop working until Dad either banned me from Heaven permanently or had me smited. I’ve never heard such conviction in his voice before or since, and I’ve found myself wondering lately if this is it. Between my apparent mortality around Evelyn and the fact that she even exists, Michael has the extra drive he needs to continue to make my life miserable.”
I shook my head. “And if he finds out about her powers, that’s it for me. If he knows he can kill me by himself… there’s no way he is walking away from an opportunity like that.”
“I know,” Lilith replied in a low, hushed voice, “but what can we do about it?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered as I continued to mull it over.
We kept walking down the hall, and then I heard a thump and a struggle from inside the gun range, followed by a threatening voice. Curiosity getting the best of me, I sped up and rounded the corner to see Michael, his back to the doorway, and his wings expanded across the entire width of the room, blocking most of my view. I could tell by the tension in his shoulders that he was angry. I took a few more tentative steps into the room, craning my neck to see what he was doing, and stopped dead in my tracks.
Evelyn’s throat was in his hand.
Rage consumed me like it never had before. My wings bristled, the hair stood up from the back of my neck, and my insides grew hot. In an instant, I flung Michael clear across the room with a flick of my wrist. He crashed into the far wall, ceramic pieces of tile shattering around him. He stood up slowly, stumbling as he did so, and looked confused. He pulled a piece of tile out from his forearm, and blood poured out.
“What the…?”
Michael looked up at me and back down at his arm, perplexed as to why he was bleeding, and I took the opportunity to send him flying downrange. He hit the back wall and tumbled down to the floor in a flurry of feathers and dust. He stood up, limping and angry.
It occurred to me then that with Evelyn in here, this game of ours just became a lot more dangerous. Both Michael and I could get hurt. The only difference was, Michael didn’t know why.
“Come here to protect your little girlfriend?” he quipped. “Finder’s keepers!” he bellowed as he returned the favor, sending me through one of the lanes and downrange to land underneath one of the targets across from him.
Damn, that hurt. I stood up and played it off as well as I could, turning to face him. “Is this what we are doing?” I asked.
“A tale as old as time,” he sang and flung me again. This time, I landed on the wall next to Evelyn, who was standing there in shock. I hobbled myself up to stand next to her, holding onto the wall with one hand and gripping my lower back with the other. My back was in agony from being slammed against the wall. I fought through the unfamiliar pain and looked at her, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at something behind me. I turned around and saw her gun on the table.
Her gun on the table.
Suddenly, my recent conversation with Lilith slammed into the front of my head. Evelyn was in the room. That meant I could get seriously hurt. But it also meant…
I looked over at Michael, who was standing tall and ready for a fight. He ran toward me and tackled me as I dove to the side. We collided midair, the wind getting knocked out of me, but not before I felt my hands wrap around something cold. I had it.
We hit the ground and skidded across the floor, breaking up tile as we went. The shards flew all around us, raining down and cutting sharp slices into our skin. Michael stood up uneasily and towered over me, grabbing the nearest table and swinging it over his head. I whipped out the gun and pointed it at him.
He laughed. “You’re joking, right? After all this time, you’re going to end this all by shooting me
. Go ahead. Shoot me if it’ll make you feel better. Wish I had a gun, it’d be much more fun that way!”
I looked at Lilith. She had her serious face on. I didn’t see that face often. She gave me a slight nod, and I turned to face Michael and pulled the trigger.
There was a moment of utter silence after that gunshot. Michael had his hands over his abdomen, blood pouring out from between his fingertips. He was hunched over and looked shocked. His face was pale, and his hands were shaking.
“What… How did this happen?” he managed to utter.
I was overcome with a new level of sadness. This was my brother, after all, despite all of the hatred and animosity between us. It almost felt like losing a limb. Even if the limb was useless and annoying and constantly threatened you.
Michael fell to his knees. Feathers fell around him, as his wings struggled to keep him alive. He looked down at his abdomen and back up at me. “Looks like you win, brother.” He smirked. “You get the girl. You get to access Heaven. You get to get away with breaking the rules.”
He turned to wink at Evelyn. Even at Death’s doorstep, this guy can get on my last nerve. He fell to the floor and took his last breath, and I ran. I ran as fast as I could, as hard as I could, until I got to my throne room. I slammed the door shut and locked it. I knew I had left Lilith behind to deal with it all, but I needed to be alone.
27
Evelyn
There have been a few situations in my life where things seemed to happen in slow motion. Suddenly, the second hand on the clock seemed to slow down, and my brain kicked into overdrive, processing every detail and possible solution in less than the blink of an eye. This phenomenon had helped me avoid serious injury on the battlefield, and it had helped me avoid accidents behind the wheel back home.