A Candle in the Sun

by L. J. LaBarthe

  The dove cooed at him.

  “Lovely.” Lucifer sighed and leaned forward, holding out a hand. The dove extended its left leg and Adramelek saw there was a message tube attached to it. Lucifer removed the tube and the dove set its foot down again and shook itself. Then it began to preen its wing.

  “I take it that it’s not going until you’ve read and replied?” Adramelek said. He sounded testy, he knew; he hadn’t expected to see a dove from Heaven sitting patiently beside the bed he and Lucifer had been fucking in not so long ago.

  “Mm.” Lucifer held the message out to Adramelek and Adramelek took it and read it.

  “The trials start in two days’ time, huh? Why is He sending you a message instead of just letting the rest of us take care of things?”

  “God moves in mysterious ways.” Lucifer laughed as he said it. “I don’t know who said that first, but they were right.”

  Adramelek grunted. “Okay, well, tell Him thanks and we—by which I mean myself and my Guild—will be in attendance as required.”

  “You don’t want to send anything further?”

  “Like what? ‘Thanks for the obvious, God, and having your voyeuristic bird watch us fucking, kiss kiss, love love, Adramelek’?”

  Lucifer guffawed. “Perhaps not.” He pulled pen and paper to him with his power and as Adramelek watched, scrawled a quick reply. “I have informed His Holiness that you’ll all be there as observers and that you’ll all make reports to me, as I assume his Archangels will be doing for him.”

  “Good.” Adramelek got to his feet and stretched. “And now I should go bathe and dress, then find the rest of them and head upstairs again.”

  Lucifer nodded as he carefully folded the note and put it into the message tube. “I think that would be wise.” He leaned forward and attached the tube to the dove’s leg. “There,” he said to it. “You can take that up to Heaven now.”

  The dove cooed again and took wing, circling up toward the ceiling of Lucifer’s room and then vanishing.

  Adramelek sighed and made his way from Lucifer’s bedroom to his private bathroom, an enormous chamber with gold plated chrome and priceless Italian marble. The tub was sunk into the floor and already full of water, steam curling lazily up from the surface. Adramelek considered it for a moment and then shook his head. As much as he would love to relax and soak in the bath, he had things to do, and if he got into that inviting water, he knew he’d stay there for quite a while.

  He walked past the bath to the glass walled shower and stepped into it, turning on the faucets with his power and raising his arms up above his head and stretching. He appreciated the size of the shower recess, perhaps ten feet long, long enough to unfurl one’s wings and wash them properly. Once the water was the temperature that Adramelek preferred, he got to the business of soaping himself up and rinsing himself off.

  It wasn’t strictly necessary; after all, he was an Archdemon, a Fallen One, formerly of Heaven, and still in possession of his full powers. But there was a simple pleasure in the act of bathing that made Adramelek take his time and enjoy himself, basking in the steam that crept up around him and relaxing in the warmth of the water. The soap was scented with sandalwood and rosemary, and the soft down lights above gave everything a gentle glow. It felt as he was shrouded in warmth and peace, and the sound of the water as it splashed on the marble tiles was a gentle rhythm. He was lulled by it, and the whole act of bathing, and so when the water started to turn cold, Adramelek heaved a sigh of regret and turned the faucets off and stepped out of the shower, shaking out his wings as he reached for a towel.

  Like everything else in this bathroom, the towel was lush and rich, made of the softest Egyptian cotton, and its smoothness against his skin felt just as pleasurable as the water in the shower had. Adramelek sighed again as he put the towel back on the rack, pulled clean clothes to himself with his power from his dacha, and began to dress.

  He stepped out of the bathroom into Lucifer’s chambers just as Lucifer, wrapped in a gray silk robe, was pouring tea.

  “You need to eat before you go,” Lucifer said. “I had Ba’al bring a few things.”

  “Thanks.” Adramelek sat down at the small table that was laden with food, the finest delicacies from around the world. He recognized snails in garlic butter, sourdough bread still warm from the oven, fresh apples, and feta cheese, garlic, and chili-stuffed Kalamata olives. The tea was jasmine, and he licked his lips as he looked at the food. “You spoil me,” he said as he raised his eyes to Lucifer’s.

  Lucifer grinned at him. “And why not? You do a great deal for me, Adry. Was the bathroom to your liking?”

  “It was magnificent,” Adramelek said. “I may steal some of the ideas for my own place.”

  “Feel free,” Lucifer said as he sat down opposite. “You didn’t use the bathtub, though, did you.” It wasn’t a question.

  “No. I know myself too well.” Adramelek grinned as he served himself some of everything on the table. “If I got into that bath I probably wouldn’t be getting out again until at least tomorrow. I know I’d prune, but it’d be a sacrifice I’d be willing to pay.”

  Lucifer laughed again. “Well, when things aren’t quite so… rushed, perhaps you’ll join me for a leisurely bath.”

  “I would love to,” Adramelek said sincerely. He pulled a face as he sipped his tea. “I suspect, though, that won’t be for a while. Human courts tend to move at the pace of a snail.”

  “They do indeed. So think of it as a pleasure to savor after all this is done.”

  “While I do agree with Gabriel that the humans do need to take control of these things themselves, I think they need to learn how to do so much quicker,” Adramelek said. He paused as he began to eat. “Efficiency is next to godliness or something.”

  “I think that’s cleanliness, not efficiency,” Lucifer said. “But I take the point.”

  “Hm, yes, well, I’ll see if any in The Hague are interested in streamlining the process and then send them to Tzadkiel.” Adramelek smirked as he imagined how that would go. “He’s the one with all the legal knowledge, after all.”

  “And no doubt, he’ll be effusive in his gratitude to you for doing so,” Lucifer said, chuckling.

  “I live to serve,” Adramelek said, rolling his eyes.

  “So long as it’s only to serve me and Hell,” Lucifer said, now all seriousness.

  “Of course,” Adramelek said. “I tweak the noses of the Archangels—figuratively—because it amuses me. But everything I do is for you and for Hell. Hell is my home now, and you are my heart. And lord, that sounded disgustingly syrupy.”

  Lucifer burst out laughing again. “I think I need to send you on a mission of violence or something.”

  “Please,” Adramelek said, picking up a slice of bread. “I need to rid myself of these disgusting romantic terms. Just because I mean them doesn’t mean I want to say them!”

  Lucifer’s expression was one of great amusement. “Dear heart, who do you think owns all the major gift card companies?”

  Adramelek blinked at him. “For the love of little demons. You’re an evil genius.”

  Lucifer buffed the nails of his right hand on his robe. “Why thank you.”

  Laughing, Adramelek returned to his meal.

  “BUT WHY does it have to be like that?” Angelique demanded.

  She was sitting in her living room, one leg folded beneath her. Lily sat on one side of her and Declan on the other, Liam and Baxter sprawled on the floor, and Riley sat on a dining chair. Seated opposite them were Tzadkiel, Sophiel, and Brieus.

  Tzadkiel took a deep breath. “Because they want this trial to be as completely impartial and by the book as possible,” he said. “So until you’ve all given your testimony and been examined and cross-examined, you’ll be in separate chambers.”

  “That’s ridiculous, though,” Angelique said. “We were all together during that shitstorm in Yaak. How is keeping us apart now going to change anything?”

>   “They don’t want you to compare notes on your testimonies. They want it to be as unrehearsed as possible,” Tzadkiel said.

  “It’s still ridiculous,” Angelique said. “Do they think that we wouldn’t have talked about it after we got out? Do they think we took an oath never to speak of it again? What a crock of shit.”

  “Jelly.” Lily rested a hand on Angelique’s knee. “Just a moment, please.”

  “Sure.” Angelique shook her head and leaned back. She was frustrated by the procedure that Tzadkiel had described, how they would be called and how they would testify at the trial of Transom. She found the stilted methods archaic and pointless, particularly this dance that she considered to be a waste of time. Separated from each other until after they’d all testified seemed completely pointless to Angelique. She didn’t understand why Tzadkiel was stressing it so much.

  “Tzadkiel, I have a question,” Lily said. Her voice trembled a little and Angelique looked at her sharply.

  “What is it, Lily?”

  “You said that all of us who were there have to testify. Will this include Danny? After all, he was there.”

  “Oh shit,” Declan breathed. Angelique agreed with him. She reached out a hand and rested it on Lily’s shoulder, feeling how tense her friend was.

  “I’m afraid so,” Tzadkiel said.

  “Then you’ll have to get some sort of dispensation from the judge or whatever to make sure that I don’t have to see him or hear him,” Lily said. Her voice was flat. “I don’t want to be near him. Now, I can keep a nasal spray or something with me so I can avoid smelling him, but I do not want to encounter him at all.”

  Sophiel hummed. “I’d thought about that,” she said. “I had a feeling you’d ask about it.”

  “Your intuition on this matter is amazing,” Lily said. Every word that she spoke grew colder and more emotionless. Angelique moved closer to her, even as Declan got up and shifted so that he sat beside Lily on the sofa.

  “I know, I’m pretty amazing,” Sophiel deadpanned. “The point, Lily, is that we can get something like that put in place for you, but we can’t guarantee you won’t bump into him somewhere. What if you encounter him in the lobby of the hotel? Or on the street?”

  “Then I’ll run,” Lily said. “I am not kidding, Sophiel. I do not want to see him or hear him or smell him.”

  “And if I see him, I’ll start hitting him and I’m not sure that I’d be able to stop.”

  As one, everyone in the room turned their heads to stare at Riley. He was so self-effacing, so quiet, that it was easy to forget he was there. But Riley was now gazing at the angels with an expression of determination on his face, and his hands were clenched into fists. Angelique felt a sudden burst of pride in her omega.

  “Riley…,” Brieus started, but Riley cut him off.

  “You three don’t know much about packs, I can see that. Perhaps you should ask Michael or Raziel about the nature of the pack and how the pain of one member of the pack is the pain of all the pack. What he did to Lily was terrible and I’ll never forgive him for hurting her like he did, but on top of that, he treated my whole pack like garbage and dumped us. Lily doesn’t want to see him, and I totally empathize, but if I see him, I can’t promise I won’t kill him with my bare hands.”

  “Biggles,” Liam said, “you’re awesome.”

  Riley blushed a little. “Not really. I just feel very strongly about betrayal. And Danny betrayed my pack.”

  “I see.” Tzadkiel looked at them all closely. “Can I make a suggestion?”

  “Suggest away,” Riley said.

  “Thank you. Perhaps the judge and the others will agree to take Danny’s testimony a week before yours. That way, he’ll be finished and gone before you all get there. There will be no risk of accidentally seeing him—or beating him up, in Riley’s case—and Lily won’t have the additional stress of a legion of possibilities.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Angelique said. “My pack has been through hell, Tzad. Any way to avoid more, and I’m all for it.”

  “I thought that Raph put a block of some kind in your mind so that you could survive and cope with the loss,” Brieus said to Lily.

  “He did.” She drew herself up straight, and she was still tiny as a minute. “But that doesn’t mean that I’ll be completely blasé about seeing him. I don’t want to have all that pain and despair come rushing back because seeing him triggered the wall or block or whatever it’s called to come crashing down in my head. And besides, that wouldn’t make me a very good witness, now would it?”

  “She has a point there,” Sophiel said.

  “I’m so glad,” Lily said drily.

  Tzadkiel sighed. “All right,” he said, “I’ll go and make the necessary arrangements. But what shall I tell him if he wants to see you? Any of you?”

  “Tell him to go to Hell,” Angelique said.

  Tzadkiel looked around them all and saw that there were no other answers forthcoming. Angelique had to breathe slowly and evenly to make sure that she didn’t lose her temper. The angels before her seemed to be completely bereft of any sort of understanding or compassion about this, and that made her furious. She wished that Michael were there. He would understand and he would deal with Tzadkiel and Tzadkiel’s two lieutenants, who were rapidly becoming two of Angelique’s least favorite angels.

  “All right,” Tzadkiel said finally.

  “Maybe you three should go set that up before you give us any more classes on how to behave in The Hague,” Declan said.

  “That’s a damn good idea,” Liam agreed. “Let’s get that sorted out and nailed down before anything else.”

  Sophiel looked as if she wanted to protest, but Angelique got to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. “Do not make me call Michael,” she said.

  “You don’t need to bother the Chief Archangel with this,” Sophiel said.

  “He’s our boss, not you, and not your two boyfriends,” Angelique said. She had the satisfaction of seeing the three angels look astonished. “Yeah, I said it. What everyone knows but won’t speak about, which is fucking ridiculous. So you’re a ménage, who cares? I don’t. It’s not like you three invented it or anything. Get over it. Now, get your feathered butts out of here and sort this shit out.”

  Brieus got to his feet. “That was rude, Angelique.”

  “You think? I can be a whole fuck of a lot ruder. Get. Out.” She pointed at the door.

  Tzadkiel had also stood. “We’ll go,” he said. “We’ll be back when we have things sorted out.”

  “Great idea,” Angelique drawled.

  “Come on,” Tzadkiel said to Brieus and Sophiel. Sophiel looked as if she wanted to argue, but Tzadkiel shook his head at her and she sighed, shrugged, and walked to the door.

  As soon as they were gone, Lily started to cry. Declan wrapped his arms around her and held her close, looking up at Angelique, his expression full of anger. Angelique knew how he felt—she felt the same way. Riley moved from his chair to sit on the other side of Lily and he rested a hand on her back as she wept into Declan’s shoulder.

  “Fuck this,” Angelique muttered. “I’m calling the boss.”

  “There is no need,” a new voice said, and Angelique spun around to see Michael standing in her living room. “I am here. Tzadkiel informed me of what had happened.”

  Angelique reacted without thinking. She was so glad to see him that she raced across the room and flung herself into Michael’s arms. After a moment, she felt him embrace her, holding her close as if she were being hugged by her abuelo once more, and she shook her head as she clung to him.

  “I have told Tzadkiel he is to take every precaution in ensuring that no one is upset more than is necessary,” Michael said as he gently shifted her in his arms so that she stood on his left. “I have instructed him to be vigilant, for I will not accept any of my Venatores being unnecessarily upset. Gabriel has supported me in this, and added that if Declan or Liam are in any way angered or upset, h
e will be most displeased.”

  “Glad you guys have our backs,” Baxter said.

  “I always have your backs.” Michael looked around the room. “You are my Venatores. And Liam and Declan are Gabriel’s people. I care for all of you as if you were my own children. I understand what Tzadkiel is trying to do, and I appreciate that he has many people to slot into giving testimony, but I do not see that it is necessary for all of you to remain separate or for Lily particularly to endure seeing Danny. I have told him that you will testify singly, but that you are not to be denied the comfort of each other’s company while you await the call to enter the chambers. He will make sure that things are taken care of.”

  “Thanks, Mike,” Baxter said. “That’s a ton better than what I thought we’d be walking into.”

  “It will be stressful enough, I feel, for you all. You will be cross-examined by lawyers for Transom and I do not imagine they will be gentle. I expect you will be quite upset and angered by their words. Therefore, it seems redundant to keep you apart, especially when you have already experienced these things firsthand in Yaak.”

  “That’s what I said,” Angelique grumbled.

  “Yes, Tzadkiel said as much. I told him you were correct.” Michael smiled at her. “He will take care of things.”

  “Can I ask a favor?” Angelique went on.

  “Of course.”

  “Can you make sure that Sophiel and Brieus never come here while we’re here?”

  Michael frowned. “What did they do to upset you?”

  “Can’t you take it out of my head?” Angelique asked. “I don’t want to go through it all again.”

  “As you say.” Michael looked into her eyes, his gaze unblinking, and a moment later, Angelique felt the strange sensation of someone else inside her mind. It didn’t hurt; if anything, it felt as if her brain was congested, as if she was suffering a particularly nasty bout of the flu. And then the feeling was gone and her mind was clear.

  “Head rush,” Angelique said.

  “Forgive me. I have seen what transpired, and I will do as you ask.” Michael touched her forehead with one finger. “Drink plenty of water and rest.”