Snow Rises

by L. A. Long

  After a few moments where I’m sure I didn’t take in oxygen once, he leans back and smiles.

  I don’t open my eyes for awhile. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

  Syn kisses my hand. “Now that your back with us … no.”

  I open my eyes. “That’s because they kissed me in the diner, isn’t it?”

  Ren nods. “And that’s why you could convince them to adhere to your no touching rule. Because they didn’t want you to do anything naughty with us.”

  “Doesn’t mean we won’t,” Syn winks. “Surely even a demon and warlock have to know you won’t go back to them. You’re ours.”

  I back up. “The job first. I still need to fulfill that obligation then choose.”

  They both nod. “As long as you choose us.”

  I remember all I learned from Team Hellion. I stall like I did with them by looking around at everything. “Definitely top of the line here.”

  “Yeah, that RV of theirs is a—”

  “You can say it.” I interrupt Syn. “It’s a total unmitigated shitbox. I think there’s got to be a picture of it in every dictionary under the term shitbox.”

  I walk around as they follow and linger only a few feet behind me. There’s not a speck of dust. No scuff marks. No tape keeping the windows in place. No lumberjack curtains hiding the undead driver.

  Ren frowns. “Undead driver?”

  I shrug. “Long story.” I touch the wood and the windows. “Is this like quadruple plane glass?”

  Syn nods as his eyes drink me in.

  “Are you all doing what they did when I was stalling?”

  Ren smiles. “Maybe. They were very angry when they found out about our kitchen counter.”

  I nod. “Didn’t know you could hide that from them.” I turn around and face them. “You know they didn’t do anything, right?”

  Syn runs his hands through his gorgeous blond curls which miraculously bounce back into position. “They did all sorts of things to you.”

  I stop to think. “They didn’t zap my memories, did they?”

  “I mean to your mind. Your body. How much you had to resist them.”

  “Oh. That. Yeah. Well they are fucking hot.” I stop myself. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that to heaven’s bounty hunters.” I throw myself to the couch and sink in. “How is this so comfortable?” I lose myself in the softness of the fabric. The way the cushions mold to my body like it was made specifically for me. “I could live on this and never get up. Ever.”

  Syn and Ren share a look.

  “What was that about?”

  Ren sits down next to me. “Something to file away for later.”

  “What would I be called? And before you tell me the answer Makus used—”

  “What did the demon say?” Ren’s eyes reflect concern or irritation. I can’t decide which.

  “Irritation. Always concerning that abomination which should never be in existence.”

  “He answered ‘mine.’”

  Syn sits down on the coffee table a few feet from me. “When you asked him what you were, that piece of filth said, mine?”

  I nod.

  Ren takes a deep breath. “The moment … the second I can erase him from existence I will celebrate every day for the rest of days.”

  I wait for him to tell me more, but his eyes rage as he thinks about the demon.

  “He said he forged half my soul in hell, and you forged the other half in heaven.”

  Ren’s smile broadens. “He told you that? I’m shocked he’d be so forthcoming, but when you’re talking about heaven, I’d prefer you say create rather than forged.”

  “Gotcha. So you created half of me?”

  “I did.”

  I look at Syn whose eyes are usually sad but brighten a bit when I look at him. “And you’re my other soulmate?”

  Syn laughs. “Surprised the warlock told you that.”

  “He did.” I study Ren. “Do you have Syn’s soul?”

  “I do.”

  “So, if I want to be with my soulmate or at least the soulmate connected with my … what would you call the part of my soul you created?”

  Ren’s eyes dance almost with as much ego as Makus. “I bet you can guess.”

  I shake my head. “Original. So he created my dark soul, and you created my light soul.”

  “Yes.”

  “Pretty cocky for an angel. You think I’m yours, don’t you?”

  “You are.”

  “But you get your intestines in a knotty twist when you hear the demon say I’m his.”

  Ren takes a sip of a glass of water I hadn’t realized was there. “You are mine. Not his. Never his. You are tempted by him only because of your connection with your dark soul. You’ll choose us. Your dark soul will be destroyed, and all will be well.” He spits each of those proclamations out like he’s reading it from a tablet.

  “And that’s it?”

  Ren shrugs. “What else is there?”

  “What else is there?” I jump up and look out at the forest. “What else could there be?” I tap at the window and get the attention of the mice family who all stop their gathering and wave at me. “What else?”

  Ren sighs. “Just say it, Cassandra. You don’t have to parse through your words with us.”

  “My free will.”

  Ren smirks.

  I have to stop myself from saying something snarky or at least cursing up a storm which always makes me feel better. “The fuck is that expression?” So, I let out one word. The big one. At least I thought about it beforehand. “You remind me of Makus.”

  Ren jumps up immediately. “I am nothing like the abomination. Nothing.” His face reddens, but he quickly calms himself down. “I’m sorry. That anger isn’t directed at you.”

  “So what was that smirk about?”

  He doesn’t answer me.

  “Hello? I know I can count on you both for the truth, right?”

  Syn nods and motions to Ren to continue.

  “Sure, you have free will.” He rolls his eyes like he doesn’t believe it. “You can freely stay with us or make the wrong choice and choose them.”

  I think about what he is saying. “You’d let me choose the demon and warlock?”

  “No. I’m saying you have free will to choose.”

  I look at Syn hoping he can help me decipher angel, but he slams his lips tight together.

  I fold my arms across my chest. I feel like I’m going to need to control my actions for this next part. “So, if I choose to stay with Makus and Bast?”

  Ren nonchalantly picks up his glass again and casually drinks. And drinks. And drinks.

  I let out a sigh even the mice hear. “Are you stalling? Thinking? Pissing yourself? Trying to control your angel rage?”

  He chokes. “Angel rage?”

  I motion towards his body. “I don’t know what’s going on in there.”

  He smiles. He can’t help it. “I’m saying you can freely choose with your free will to make the horrible choice to stay with the demon and warlock. That is not going to happen.”

  “Why?”

  Ren finishes his drink, calmly sets the glass back down on the coffee table, and walks as close to me as he can without actually crawling inside me. “You have free will. What the rest of us do when you exercise your free will is up to us and nothing to do with your free will. But, no, you will not be allowed to choose them.”

  I try to decipher everything. “So, I can choose them with the free will you obviously think is so fanfuckingtastic. But if I exercise said free will, I won’t be allowed to because you’ll force me to stay with you. Totally dodgy thinking there, angel.”

  He leans in closer to whisper. “One way I’m similar to the wretched demon is that I also like to hear my name on your tongue.”

  I swallow hard.

  He raises his eyebrows as if he’s waiting.

  “Ren,” I say with exaggeration. “The angel on high or is it nigh? Ren, the only angel I
’ve ever known.”

  His smile quickly descends back to smirksville. “The only angel you’ll ever need.”

  This time it’s me who smirks.

  He motions at me like I just did at him. “And what’s that about?”

  “An angel who steals a soul and then coerces some innocent …”

  They both smirk at that. Even I smirk at the idea of me being innocent. Part of me was forged in hell. I’ve had a demon, a warlock, an angel and a reaper mucking around in me with all their various parts. Innocent wouldn’t be my first adjective. “Okay, an angel who holds Syn’s soul hostage and coerces me into being with him.” I shake my finger and my head at the same time. “Naughty angel.”

  He leans close to me. “Read your bible, Cassandra. Angels aren’t all cherubs whispering into human ears to make them hope their lives aren’t all horrifying and pointless.”

  I step back. “I bet you are not invited to give the orientation speech for humans, are you? So, you’re bad ass warriors who can get your naughty on with the best of them.”

  Ren grins and nods as his gaze covers my body. “Are you ready for that, Cassandra? For me to get my naughty on you?”

  Syn jumps up like he’s ready for anything. “I am. Totally ready for that.”

  “Hello? Did we do that job yet?” I tap my chin. I glance out the window. “Mice family? Did we do that job yet?”

  One of the mice shakes his head.

  “No. Even the mice say, keep it in your pants, angel.” Never thought I’d hear myself say those words.

  Ren moves closer to me. “The problem with that logic is you’ll have to choose after the job.”

  “Yeah?” I don’t get what he’s saying.

  Syn moves closer to me too. “You’ll be taken from us.”

  I throw up my hands. “By who? Don’t tell me there’s another bounty hunter group I’m tied to? Maybe a hot goblin and leprechaun pair?”

  Ren shakes his head as his hands touch me and start to wander.

  “Whatever are you doing, angel?”

  “It means you’ll be taken someplace else where you can exercise your … and I’ll try really hard not to roll my eyes … free will and choose us.”

  Syn touches my face. “We won’t be allowed to interfere with the process.”

  Ren guides me back to the couch and lies me down.

  “So, you’re wanting to give me a proper sendoff since you think my free will is going to choose the other side?”

  Ren kisses my neck as he climbs on top of me. “You won’t choose the other side.”

  “That ego of yours.” I have trouble concentrating when Ren rips his shirt off. I didn’t realize angels could be so hot.

  He smiles and starts to unzip my pants.

  “Moving a little fast, aren’t you angel? Have I given you the go ahead?”

  He stops and kisses my neck. “I hate to break it to you Cassandra, but you always give me the go ahead.”

  “I can totally believe that.”

  He unzips my pants and slides his fingers into me again. “Do you want me to stop?”

  “Now you ask me.” I can’t catch my breath. I don’t even think I can breathe. I can only shake my head. I glance at Syn. “And what do you do in all this?”

  In a quick second, he’s naked and kissing me.

  I look his entire body over. “You are so fucking beautiful.”

  Ren rips open my top and licks at my nipples.

  I glance over to the window and see several wolves watching us. I motion for them to shoo which gratefully they do. “I assume the soul takers and makers always get first dibs?”

  Ren laughs as his kisses descend down my stomach. “Don’t worry, I always make it worth your while.” He rips off my jeans and panties. Then he sits up. “Tell me what you want, Cassandra. You want me to stop?”

  I open my legs and wrap them around his waist to draw him closer to me, and I pull down his pants.

  He slides inside me. “You feel so good, Cassandra. So tight.”

  I gasp, and he waits a bit so I can get used to him before he thrusts in further.

  “Did not think an angel could do this.” I grab onto Ren’s back and touch Syn’s face as the reaper continues to kiss me.

  Ren puts his hand under me and lifts me up as he pushes as far into me as he can. I arch my back and wonder why we aren’t doing this like every fucking minute of every fucking day.

  Syn laughs as he continues to kiss me, and I find his length as he moans. “Cassandra, you have to come back to us,” he whispers in between breaths. “You are ours.”

  “And we’re yours,” Ren says, as he quickens his motion.

  I grab for the couch behind me. I grab for anything that I can clutch as Ren’s intensity increases.

  Syn grabs my hand. “It’s okay, my love. We’ll never hurt you.”

  “Not even if you want us to,” Ren says with a wink as he pushes in farther than I thought possible.

  All I can hear is my own heartbeat drumming loudly in my ears. I grasp my legs around Ren harder to keep him inside me.

  He leans down to my ear. “We can go as long as you want.” He pulls and pushes my hips in time with his rhythm. He rocks me faster and faster until I think I’ll go numb. After what seems like days, he slows and then stills inside me.

  I blink about a thousand times as my mind starts to process actual thoughts again. “Holy fuck.”

  “I appreciate the compliment, but please try to refrain from using those two words together in the same sentence.” Ren kisses me quickly and stands up. He’s completely out of breath and sweaty. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

  In an instant, Syn is on top of me. “Are you ready for me, my love?”

  I nod, and he pushes into me more forcibly than the angel but still gently.

  Syn immediately stops. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”

  I shake my head.

  He grins and pushes in deeper.

  “Fucktastic. I mean seriously.”

  Ren kisses my neck and arm and breasts.

  “Do they teach classes in this? You two had to have been at the top, right?”

  Ren laughs against my breast as his tongue continues to lash.

  Syn pulls me closer to him as he moves faster and faster, and I do not think I will ever get used to this. Two guys at the same time. Totally pervy. Totally worth it.

  Syn is just slow enough to torture but fast enough to keep my mind fluttering in a thousand different directions like a possessed fan. He pulls himself out and then slides back in with exquisite precision. He does this again and again until I think I’ve reached the end of my sanity. I put my hand over my face. I don’t know why. Stop myself from screaming? From imploding?

  I gasp and bite my lip as my back arches. Syn slows down the pace and finally stops. He waits until I look at him.

  He smiles at me. He’s flushed but still not a hair out of place. “Are you alright, my love?”

  I nod, and he slowly pulls out which leaves my body on fire and aching for him. He stands up and reaches down to kiss me as Ren also stands up and gets dressed.

  Ren hands me my clothes, but all I want to do is curl up in a ball and sleep for a thousand years. Then wake up, have a snack and do it all again.

  Ren laughs as he pulls me to a sitting position and puts my shirt on.

  I can barely function. I mean my brain isn’t even on yet.

  Syn puts both my legs through my panties and pulls up. He does the same with my jeans as I lean against him completely and totally without a lick of energy. And loving every energyless second of it.

  I feel my heart. It seems to be the only time it truly beats is when I’m with them … I quickly glance at them who look at me funny. “I didn’t say either group. I just said them. Wait …” I feel my chest. “Where’s my bra?”

  Ren shrugs. “Last time you said it would be easier without so it’s gone.”

  “Hum. Wait …” Another thought occurs to me. “Aren’t you
afraid that since you’ve just done that—”

  Ren quickly touches my lips to stop me from finishing my sentence. “I told you. You’re not going back to them so we don’t have to worry about them doing to you what we just did.”

  “Right. That whole free fucking will is such a crock of shit line.”

  Ren smirks again. “Something like that. Besides I would send them both back to hell if they got anywhere near you.”

  “Exactly what they said about you. And you know they’ve done that before?”

  Ren sighs. “Yes, I know they have before, but not that you remember, so they can live for the moment.”

  “But you know they …” I dance my fingers around.

  Syn grabs my hand quickly. “Don’t need to be reminded. Plus, remember we did as well.” He dances his fingers in front of me like I just did.

  “Oh, I remember.” I take a deep breath. “Boy do I remember. Do you have to get dressed? I like looking at you both.” I’ve gone full on whine. I didn’t mind the whine so I won’t have to pencil in, kick my own whining ass later.

  Syn winks. “You can look at us all you want after you choose us. Until then …” He mocks me by buttoning his shirt all the way to his neck hiding every delicious inch of him.

  I reach for his pants hoping I can yank them off just for a quick peek, but he lunges out of my way.

  “So unfair.” I study them both. “You know when I first saw you …”

  “Team Limpdick,” Syn says, with a wink. “I remember. Still think of us like that?”

  “After that?” I glance at the couch. “And feeling every inch of you. Never again.”

  Ren grabs his heart. “Awe. You’re going to make me blush.”

  I know I should be all offended that my soulmates … still don’t know if I can stomach that word … are being held hostage by my soul makers … still don’t know if I can stomach that word either.

  Ren grins at me with the most devious grin an angel could have. “Do you want me to make the same deal as the abomination?”

  I lean forward trying to rack my brain. “He’s made so many different promises. What he’d do with his tongue. Various positions. He said one time I had a six hour orgasm.”

  Ren sighs loud enough to shake the coffee table. “That when you choose us, I’ll give Syn back his soul.”