by A. H. Lee
Azrael looked sheepish. “I already have a number of possible—”
Jessica laughed out loud. “You already have. Of course you already have.”
“No, no, I just have some ideas.”
“Can I wear something interesting?” asked Mal.
Azrael’s eyes flicked to his face with a twinkle. “You want me to dress you up like a doll?”
“Yes. Because you look at me like you want to eat me.”
Azrael’s smile lifted his mask at the edges. He glanced at Jessica. “What are you going to tell your family?”
“The truth. My parents, at least. Possibly my siblings, too.”
“Do you think they’ll respond well?”
Jessica shrugged. “My parents were in a triad with an incubus for years. That’s how I came to be. I think they’ll be upset with themselves for putting me in danger by not realizing what I am. I can’t imagine that they’ll have a problem with the three of us. It runs in the family, apparently.”
Azrael was looking at her in astonishment. “I…I think I would like to meet your parents.”
Jessica was glad to hear it. “Also,” she continued, “I am going to tell them your concerns about my middle name. If they agree, you can make them forget it, perhaps replace it with something else. But not without their consent.”
“That seems fair.” Azrael looked uncomfortable. “I realize that was not my unilateral decision to make. I apologize.”
Jessica kissed him on the cheek.
Mal squeezed them both. “Is Lucy here?”
“She’s with Jacob. Please don’t pick a fight, Mal.”
“I won’t. I just wanted to talk to her for a moment.”
Azrael disengaged from their arms and straightened his bow tie. “I should go back over there.”
Jessica looped one arm through Azrael’s and one arm through Mal’s and they walked together through the throng of happy people. I am so proud of you, she thought. I am so proud of you both.
Chapter 50
Mal
The magicians were not difficult to spot. They were the only people in the room not wearing masks. They sat at a table a little apart from the main flow of activity, watching and talking to each other. As Mal approached, he noticed one person he didn’t recognize—a short, stocky man with a curly mass of blond beard and twinkling, mischievous eyes. He was sitting beside Lady S, drinking and chatting, but it wasn’t until Mal caught the flash of silver under the edge of his shirt collar that he recognized him. “Amos.”
The demon raised his glass. “You throw a good party, Mal. Gods know we needed a cooldown after all that nonsense with the airlock.”
Mal grinned. “I doubt you’ll find anything to feed on here. People do tend to stay busy at my parties.”
Amos chuckled. “Touché. S owns a spa. It’s worth a visit. It doesn’t preclude getting busy, but it’s not quite the same energy.”
Mal grinned. “I came over here to talk to Lucy.” He finally spotted her, leaning around Jacob to say something to Azrael. Lucy was dressed in her white gown and mink half-cape, a string of pearls around her neck and gold flashing in her ears. Her eyeshadow and lipstick were flawless. She looked cool and unapproachable, and more than a little draconic. Her glance passed right through Mal.
“Amos!” exclaimed Jessica. “I did not recognize you. Did I hear that you and Lady S own a spa?”
Amos and Lady S launched into a description of their little empire of decadence. Mal had no doubt that Jessica would soon have a standing invitation.
He left her to it and walked around the table. “Lucy?” She was sitting between Azrael and Jacob now, and she looked up with an expression that wasn’t entirely friendly. Mal had a vivid memory of her last visit to a Revel. He held up his hands. “I’m not here to fight. I just wanted a dance.”
Lucy looked skeptical. “I think you and I have already had one dance too many.”
“Please?”
Lucy sighed. She got up. “Back in a moment, gentlemen. Try not to kill each other.”
“I was going to say the same to you,” returned Azrael.
Mal smiled. Lucy tossed her head.
The music was slow and sensuous. Lucy put one hand in Mal’s and the other on his shoulder, but she kept a few inches between them. He could tell she was waiting to see whether he would take liberties. Surely you don’t suppose I think permission once is permission forever?
He felt a moment’s irritation, a desire to defend himself or disagree with her before she’d said a word. But then he thought about spending eighty years alone in a spirit vessel. And he stifled his impulse.
They moved around the floor for a few moments in silence amid the beautiful music and the flirting courtiers. Lucy relaxed a little. Mal spoke at last. “Thank you for saving my life.”
Lucy nodded.
“When you came to the Revel last time,” continued Mal, “you just wanted to see whether it was a place you’d be comfortable with Jacob, didn’t you?”
Another nod.
“I’m sorry I picked a fight. I’m sorry I do it all the time. I don’t want to fight with you anymore.”
Lucy sighed. “It’s not entirely your fault, Mal.” She hesitated, a note of wry humor in her voice. “I mean, it’s mostly your fault.”
He laughed.
“I used to hope that you’d get weaker,” continued Lucy softly, “staying on the mortal plane for so long... I kept testing you.”
He was shocked to hear her admit this out loud.
Lucy shrugged. “I’m really not very good at losing, that’s all.”
Mal reached down and tilted her chin up to look him in the face. “Malcharius Thardarian Vi’aesha Charn.”
Lucy’s pupils dilated. Her mouth opened soundlessly.
“So you always have a trump card,” continued Mal. “So you never feel like I can just shove you out of the way. You win.”
Lucy blinked and lowered her face suddenly. Her dancing faltered. After an instant’s hesitation, Mal pulled her against him. She put her head on his chest without the slightest resistance. She didn’t say anything for the longest time. At last, Mal said, “Lucy?”
She took a breath. Mal felt it hitch. He realized that he’d never seen Lucy cry. Not in all the years he’d known her.
“You could have asked for anything,” he whispered. “You could have named your price for saving me. I was so desperate and so scared. But you didn’t. You saved me, and you taught me to cloak, and that saved all of us in the end. You can act as cold about it as you like, but I know—”
Lucy raised her head. She had tear tracks in her mascara. “Shhh, dove. Shhh.” They were just holding each other now, moving with the music. Lucy swallowed. “I would never use a name, willingly given in friendship, to hurt someone. You know that, right?”
“You can if you want to.”
Lucy shook her head. “Let’s just say we both win. And I don’t want to fight with you anymore, either.” Lucy tucked her head against his chest and they danced for a moment in silence.
At last, the music changed to something more lively. The lights came up. Mal got a look at the corner where the magicians were sitting. He was amused to see Jessica still talking to Lady S and Amos, while Azrael, Jacob, and Loudain appeared to be engaged in a lively discussion, illustrated with empty drink cups. Azrael was gesticulating as he talked. Jacob was drawing in the air with magic. Loudain was laughing so hard his face had turned as red as his beard.
Lucy followed Mal’s gaze. “My gods. Are they telling war stories?”
“That’s what it looks like,” said Mal.
“Our Azrael, drinking with peers and socializing in a convivial manner? Are you sure he’s not still possessed?”
Mal shrugged. “You and I are cuddling on the dance floor.”
“You’re right,” agreed Lucy. “We have all lost our minds.”
“Looks like a good story,” said Mal. “You want to go back and cuddle with Jacob?”
“You, um, might want to fix your mascara first.”
“Oh, gods.” She dropped her face in embarrassment, and Mal leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “You are so pretty, Lucy.”
He could feel the alien tingle of her magic. When she looked up again, there wasn’t a smudge out of place. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Have fun at my party.”
Lucy left him and strolled back across the room. Jacob looked more than a little surprised when she sat down in his lap, but he was quick to put an arm around her. Lucy slid an arm across his shoulders, somehow still poised and elegant. A moment later, she joined in the conversation. Mal had no doubt that she had more war stories than all of them.
And I want to listen. But first… He’d spotted Tod, sitting on a couch where people often waited for someone to return from the washroom. This won’t take long.
“I’m not actually alone,” said Tod when Mal joined him.
“I didn’t think you were.” Mal leaned back and closed his eyes. “I heard you climbed into our bed naked, pinned Azrael down, and put cuffs on him.”
Tod gave a startled grunt of laughter. “Not my idea.”
Mal grinned without opening his eyes. “Don’t worry; he likes it.”
Another nervous laugh. “Not from me he didn’t.” Under his breath, Tod added, “Never been so scared in my life. I think he was about to pull my lungs out through my ears.”
Mal took a deep breath. “I was talking to Jessica about you.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
“I mean, about what happened before.”
Tod sighed. “That was years ago, Mal. Can we talk about this another time? I really am waiting for someone.”
“I thought,” continued Mal, “that you were one of those people who want me all to themselves. We fuck once or twice, and they start following me around and acting jealous and begging for my attention, and I don’t understand, and it’s really annoying.”
Tod said nothing.
“But I was talking to Jessica, and I realized that maybe that wasn’t it at all. You live here, and I live here, and maybe you just wanted a friend who wouldn’t leave. And I was an asshole about it.”
Tod buried his face in his hands. “It was a long time ago, Mal. I did think I was in love with you. And I was lonely and I didn’t understand what you were. I did want a friend…” He drew a deep breath. “I got over it.”
Mal swallowed. “Tod, I’m barely human.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t understand. I didn’t know much about friends. Forgive me?”
“I already did.”
“When Jessica and I were traveling, I’d go hunting as a panther sometimes. I thought about going around here.” He leaned over to speak in a conspiratorial whisper, “I like to chase Azrael’s ornamental carp, but he gets mad, so I thought maybe I should go looking for rabbits instead.”
Tod laughed in spite of himself.
Mal leaned back, grinning. “Come with me? On four legs?”
Tod looked uncertain.
“Jessica might come, but she doesn’t like to see anything killed, not even a mouse. I doubt that’ll change just because she’s a fox. But maybe. Come chase rabbits with me? Or with us?”
Tod smiled. “I’ll think about it.”
At that moment, Jessica’s friend Yuli came walking towards them. “Is that who you’re waiting on?” asked Mal.
“Yes. She doesn’t like you much.”
“I know. I never understood why.”
“It is a mystery how anyone could dislike you,” said Tod with a smirk.
Yuli stopped in front of them, her full, pink lips pulled down in a frown.
“Yuli, Mal,” said Tod. “Mal, Yuli.”
“We’ve met,” said Yuli.
“Not really,” said Mal.
“I think you’re kind of an asshole,” said Yuli.
“I am,” agreed Mal.
That brought a surprised smile. “But you make Jessica happy,” she continued. “As long as that’s true, you’re alright. Do you want to play dominoes, Tod? I suppose Mal can play, too.”
“Thank you.” Mal stood up. “But some people are telling stories that I’d like to hear. Have a good time at the party.”
Epilogue: Six Months Later
Azrael
Azrael leaned against the smooth stone lip of a private hot spring, feeling as relaxed as he’d ever felt in his life. A breeze blew through the large, open windows, smelling of mountain air, earth, and pine. He could see a patch of blue sky. Mal and Jessica’s voices carried to him faintly on the wind: Mal’s rumble, Jessica’s singing laugh, a comforting background of peace and contentment.
They came through the door behind him a moment later. Azrael could tell they were both in animal form by the scrabble involved in opening the door. Jessica’s claws went click, click, click on the stone. She changed as she reached him and sat down on the edge of the pool, naked and breathless, dangling her feet in the warm water. “It’s so beautiful, Ren. We ran down one of the trails all the way to the lake. There are flowers everywhere. The water is cool if we want a different kind of swim.”
Mal, who had not changed shape, stretched out on the stone and rested his head beside Azrael’s shoulder opposite Jessica. He licked Azrael’s ear and the side of his neck, making him shiver in spite of the warmth. “There is sushi for dinner,” he said between licks. “I have never eaten sushi, but it smells divine. I’m glad we came here instead of a pocket world. Amos is a genius, and Lady S is an artist.”
Jessica kicked her feet in the water. “I agree. I’m glad we came to a real place for our honeymoon. Even though a book wouldn’t age or change…sometimes real things are better. We’ll age and change, and so will this place. I love it.”
“You should get out and get ready for dinner,” said Mal against Azrael’s ear. His whiskers tickled. Azrael reached up to stroke his velvet head before rising from the water.
He grabbed a fluffy towel and dried himself off. He started to wrap it around his waist, then shrugged and threw it in the hamper before strolling out of the hot spring bath into the private garden of the honeymoon suite. The early summer air was a perfect temperature for nakedness. Purple, blue, and yellow flowers grew in a riot around the bathhouse and along the walk up to the cottage.
Even beyond the garden wall, there were no other suites in sight. The spa was located high in the mountains of Zolsestron, with cottages set well apart along a series of trails. This was the area from which Azrael originated, although he’d never been back since those fearful days when he and Mal had fled through these mountains in thigh-deep winter snow. It was strange to see faces like his own among the staff and in the villages—pale skin, dark hair, almond eyes. The smells of the woods and even of the food brought back complex feelings and memories.
Azrael had only walked through the cottage briefly on his way to the hot spring when they arrived. He came into the bedroom for the first time now and found it predictably lovely—an enormous bed with a velvety red comforter, chocolate and roses on the pillows, a dish of oil, a bottle of wine on ice, their travel trunks neatly laid out on stands. The windows were large and open, but they looked out on the walled garden. The room was utterly private, but full of summer air and light. Lush paintings of flowers hung on the walls—blues and greens and golds, color everywhere.
Jessica gave a sigh of pleasure and went to put the roses in the vase provided. “Glass of wine?” she asked.
“Certainly.” Azrael went to his trunk and began selecting clothes.
Jessica uncorked the bottle. She poured three glasses and stood in front of the window, her golden skin radiant in the summer light, her glossy hair blowing in the wind, her breasts a soft curve in silhouette.
“I got a letter right before we left,” said Jessica without turning around. “It came to my parents and they debated about giving it to me. It’s from my father. My incubus father.”<
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“Oh.” Azrael’s fingers paused on his dress shirt.
“He’s living in the mundane world,” said Jessica. “He killed someone by accident. He swears it was an accident, and my parents believe him. But the fallout was very bad, and he took himself away from the Shattered Sea.”
Mal was standing beside Azrael, still a panther. “That’s a significant sacrifice. Living without magic… It would kill an astral demon. It would be difficult even for an earthborn demon.”
Jessica nodded. “My parents say he’s a good person. They really loved him. They didn’t know where he was for years, and there’s no return address on the letter even now. I think they would have followed him if they’d been able, but he didn’t want them to. They think he was trying to protect them.” Jessica sipped her wine.
“Does he want to come see you?” asked Azrael.
Jessica nodded. “What do you think?”
“I would be happy to host him on the Shrouded Isle. Your parents, too, if they like. Mal and I could tell you if he’s a liar.”
Jessica turned away from the window, her face relaxing. “I’d like that.”
“If he’s even a little bit like you, he can’t be bad,” said Mal.
Jessica smiled at him fondly.
“They should come this summer before the students arrive in fall,” continued Mal. “I’m sure we’ll have our hands full once that happens.”
“There are only ten in this first class,” said Azrael mildly.
“Ten warded magicians that I can’t feed on wandering around my island,” growled Mal. “I always thought one was too many.”
“They will not be wandering,” said Azrael firmly. “They will stay strictly in their area.”
“Have you decided whether Nicholas will be among them?” asked Jessica.
Azrael shook his head. “Apprentice is a more advanced role.” His mouth twitched up. “I may make him the janitor for the school, though.”
Mal rumbled a laugh. Jessica raised her eyebrows.
“It’s an important job,” continued Azrael, “in a magical school. I’ll make sure nobody abuses him.”
Jessica nodded. “It would be good for him to make some friends among the other students. Right now, he’s still feeling pretty bitter towards other magicians.”