Laila nodded meekly and lowered her head. I wondered what she had done to end up lending Asmodeus a hand? She was Hell-bound anyway, what did she have to gain? Was Asmodeus lying to her, saying she might be able to buy her way out of a one-way ticket to the pit? Maybe.
No more time to think about it. I didn’t pay her any more attention, putting whatever concern she had to the back of my mind. “Look, the point is,” I said to Asmodeus, “there’s just no way that I tried to kill Lucifer. Why would I even do that?”
Asmodeus grimaced a little, his tiny little tail swaying around behind him. “Maybe the question you should ask yourself is,” he said, “why is he so afraid that you might be able to?”
Betrayer of the Pit
Room 3474, Frost Hall
New Jersey City University Campus
Jersey City
New Jersey
Huh. So…apparently I had tried to kill Lucifer.
Attempting to murder your boss was a bad career move in Hell, just as it was on the mortal realm. But one thing didn’t make sense to me. “Okay,” I said, trying to keep my thoughts in order. “That’s fine, I believe you. But…if that’s the case, why were they giving me tasks to do? Why did they send me to Damien’s house?”
“Because,” said Asmodeus, “it’s what we call in the biz a ‘win-win’.”
“Explain.”
Asmodeus shifted, dangling his legs over the edge of Laila’s desk. “If you went to Damien’s house to complete the mission, one of a few things would happen. One: you complete the mission, retrieving the important information and proving your loyalty to Hell. Your memory could be returned to you piecemeal, your moves watched and examined, and you would, eventually, be able to retake your rightful place in the pit.”
“Okay,” I said. “Sounds good. That’s kind of what I’m aiming for here.”
“Or,” said Asmodeus, his tone developing a slightly ominous edge to it, “the celestial who took out Jessica could take you out as well, solving the problem neatly. Great for Hell’s PR department. Or you could take out the celestial, which basically circles back to outcome One. You proved your loyalty, usefulness, yada yada yada.”
Yup, all of that made sense. “Or?”
“Or it’s possible,” said Asmodeus, his tone turning caustic. “You could have tried to get into Heaven.” He nodded sagely. “They were worried you were going to defect. At which point, you know, hey. Another soldier in Heaven’s army isn’t a huge problem. Assuming they would even take you.”
I laughed. “You’re kidding. Me? I’m a fucking succubus.”
“You’re a succubus?” said Laila, confused. “Wow.”
I waggled my fingers at her teasingly. “That’s right. And just think…if you hadn’t of passed when it was rightly your turn, it would have been us in the Seven Minutes in Heaven.”
She reflexively wiped her mouth. We had kissed that one time after all…she reflexively, almost as though to hide herself, pulled out her phone and stared at it. Her eyes widened.
“What’s news?” I asked, curious.
Laila turned it around to show me. There were reports of a gas leak in one of the suburbs, right next to Damien’s house. A scrolling report said that it had destroyed a house and incapacitated most of the street, including a few of Jersey City’s finest officers. Everyone involved was expected to make a full recovery.
Obviously the nephilim put the whole suburb to sleep with some unknown power. Their agents in the civilian government were trying to keep the whole thing under wraps.
“So…you like Gabe?” asked Laila.
Oh, Lucifer’s Teeth. Confident that I’d read enough I took my eyes off her phone and glared at her. “No.”
“Is it really so far-fetched?” asked Asmodeus, his eyes flicking toward the door pointedly. “I mean…look at you. You’re clinging to that lost, winged puppy like some kind of dolt-eyed mortal. Don’t think I can’t see it either; you’re not manipulating him, or abusing him, or trying to get into his skull…you legitimately, on some level, like him.”
Anger flooded into me. I should have known, should have realised, that the only thing that could inspire such fury was the truth in Asmodeus’s words, but at the time that didn’t register with me. All I knew was that I was being accused of having…feelings. For an angel.
“Hey, fuck you,” I spat, hopping up off the bed, hands twitching by my sides. “You take that back, you little shit.”
Asmodeus snickered gleefully, hopping up onto the desk. “You can suck my quarter inch balls, because you know what I’m saying is true. You know it!”
“Is not,” I said.
“Is too.”
“Is not!”
“Is too!”
Laila stared between us, wide eyed and obviously disbelieving what she was seeing.
“Okay,” said Asmodeus, smirking. “Prove it. Prove you don’t like him.”
I threw my hands in the hair. “How do you expect me to do that?” I asked, hissing angrily. “You wanna take out my brain, have a peek?”
“Nah, babe,” said Asmodeus, jabbing a tiny finger at Laila. “That one owes me a year’s service. Have your little playboy bend her over that table and fuck her.”
“W-wait,” said Laila, raising a hand. “Um…”
“Shut it!” Asmodeus snarled at her, the sound suddenly deep and threatening. “You owe me, you little rat. You’ll give me what I demand. You’ll fuck who I want you to fuck. You’ll bow and scrape and eat shit if I command you to.” His face twisted darkly. “You know what the penalty will be if you do not.”
Laila said nothing but lowered her eyes.
“Fine,” I said, waving my hand dismissively. “Lucifer’s Teeth, I’d actually like to see that. I don’t care if feather-brain gets his rocks off to someone else. That’s kinda hot really.” And yet…and yet there was some part of me that didn’t want him to. The time I’d showered off in Heaven’s safe house jumped back into my mind. If I couldn’t get him to do what I wanted, then, then…it seemed unfair to have someone else just score the prize but not me, you know?
Or was that just a justification I was making for myself?
“Good.” Asmodeus stood, grinning a shark smile to Laila. “Oh, come on now. It’s not like it’ll be the first time you’ve done something like this.”
“I-I know,” she said, with obvious, palpable reluctance.
“Okay,” I said, as confidently as I could manage. I didn’t care. “Fine. Let’s do this. Let’s get Gabe’s rocks off if that’s what it’ll take to prove to you that you’re wrong about me.”
Asmodeus pointed to the door. “Get Gabe in here. Make it happen.”
Angrily—and far more angrily than I should have been—I stomped over toward the door. It was stupid to be so upset. He was nothing to me. Just a pawn I was manipulating. A strong fighter, a source of knowledge, an unexpected ally I had duped into serving me with a simple sexual act. I was stringing him along to make him give me what I wanted, toying with him like a cat toys with an injured mouse.
So I kept telling myself.
I flung open the door. “Hey fucker!” I roared, barely able to keep the anger inside me in check. “Got a job for you, feather—”
He was gone.
“…brain?”
Taking Flight
Room 3474, Frost Hall
New Jersey City University Campus
Jersey City
New Jersey
Gabe was gone.
I looked down the corridor. Both sides. Nothing but a long, empty stretch full of doors and musty carpet stained with various…student things.
“Hey Gabe,” I called. Nothing. “Gabe! Hey!”
Asmodeus buzzed up behind me, settling on my shoulder. “Where’s that glowboy gone?” he whispered, fury in his tiny voice.
“I dunno,” I said, gesturing out to the empty hallway. “I left him right here.”
“Sure you did,” said Asmodeus, but there was no venom in his voice. He
knew it to be true.
My gut hurt suddenly, as though some great fear was building within me that I could not properly articulate. This just…felt bad. Celestials were stupid and arrogant and dumb and also very not smart, but they were loyal. Basically mentally challenged puppies. We had told him to sit. To stay. He would sit and stay like a good boy.
Well, apparently not, since now there wasn’t hide nor hair of him.
“Um,” said Laila, cautiously, from within her dorm room. “Can I go now?”
“Stay here,” hissed Asmodeus. Then he shuffled around on my shoulder. “We need to go find that idiot before he does something really dumb like reveal himself to the stupid human idiots.”
On this matter I couldn’t agree more. “Let’s go,” I said, reaching up to my shoulder and pulling back my hoodie, letting Asmodeus climb inside again to hide himself.
I closed the door then headed out, slipping out through the fire escape and down the stairs. I felt Asmodeus scurrying around inside my hoodie, slipping the ear buds back into my ears.
“Where do you think he went?” he whispered angrily. “Do you think he’s escaping? Trying to betray us, warn the nephilim?”
There was no way that he was doing this. “Not a chance. You think—” I almost said celestial out loud. “That he’s the kind of guy who would do that, huh? They’re loyal to a fault. There’s just no way.”
“Maybe he was taking a shit,” snipped Asmodeus. “A big, glowing, holy shit literally reeking of high heaven.”
“Pretty sure angels don’t shit,” I said, stepping out of the fire escape and out to the side of the dorm building. The air was cold; night was coming again, and with it, reduced visibility. I was just glad that I didn’t need to sleep. Evil never rests, as they say.
I casually pulled out my phone and texted him.
hey, where the fuck did u go?
Almost immediately, I saw a reply coming back.
I’m sorry, Grace. This is just something I have to do.
Oh boy. That was real helpful. Told me nothing at all. I angrily stabbed at the screen with my fingers, typing furiously.
well the least u could have done was txt me
A few seconds passed. Then,
I know. I should have. I’m sorry. This is…this is driving me crazy. Mad. I feel lost.
Bah.
deal wit it
There was a delay. And then,
Don’t worry. I am. I’m dealing with this the only way I know how.
Well, now, that actually made me feel even more worried. I glanced around to make sure that nobody could see me. We were alone. There were drinking and singing students in the background, but I tuned them out as best I could. I needed to focus on Gabe.
listen i know u are pissed off bc u got kicked out of your “house” but seriously gabe, this is no time to do something stupid af
tell me exactly what u are doing
now
I tapped my foot on the ground, waiting for his reply. It took a while. Every passing second was like a little tiny drill boring into the side of my head. Worry for him was causing me a headache.
And the fact that I was worried about him made everything so, so, so much worse.
I’m talking to the nephilim agent that’s been tailing us. I’m going to offer myself to them as a willing sacrifice, and in exchange, they’ll leave you alone. Forever.
It’s the only thing I can do to save you.
Aww fuck. Aww fuck!
“Oh wow,” said Asmodeus, hanging onto the edge of my hoodie and leaning forward, reading the messages with a huge smile on his face. “Wow. Okay. I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“What?” I said, looking at him as best I could. “What are you talking about?”
Asmodeus’s smile was a mile wide. “That’s a really neat trick,” he said. “Even had me fucking fooled. I get it.”
“Get what?” I asked, temper rising again.
“Okay, okay, okay.” Asmodeus gave a faux-dramatic sigh. “You want me to say it? I’ll say it.” He cleared his throat. “You convinced Gabe that you have feelings for him so that he would go to the nephilim. It’s a win-win for us! Either the nephilim accept him and then leave us alone, or they don’t, and we can curry favour with the pit because we took out an angel. Just the two of us.” He beamed like a bright light. “You’re a genius.”
Yeah. No. That wasn’t going to happen.
tell me were u are
i’m coming to get u
Wayward Bird
New Jersey City University Campus
Jersey City
New Jersey
“No,” said Asmodeus, in a tone that booked little argument. “We are not going after him. No. No!”
I didn’t pay him any attention, stomping through the NJCU campus, following the little blue arrow on my GPS.
“You need to turn back,” hissed Asmodeus. “This isn’t a smart idea. What are you thinking?”
“Will you shut up? You’re…” I struggled to find a suitable insult. “You’re more like…Ass-modeus. Like you’re the demon of being a pain in the arse.”
“Pain,” said Asmodeus, tugging on my ear buds annoyingly, “is a signal that something is wrong.” He snarled quietly, nestling further into my hoodie. “Okay, toots. Lemme ask you this. Why? Just…why? Are you doing it for him?”
I couldn’t tell him the truth even if I wanted to, simply because I didn’t know. “No.”
“Then…for the humans?”
“No.”
Asmodeus’s fingernails scratched into my neck. “You sure?” he asked. “Because I could tell you a bit about this place and all its stinky, filthy inhabitants. You’re just lucky you didn’t choose to blow a human, because I tell you what, you don’t want their fluids in you. Disgusting.”
This was a very inane conversation that I tried to tune out to no avail.
“It’s true,” said Asmodeus, ploughing ahead with no concern for my obvious disinterest. “Humans live stupid lives. Their sun is named Sun. Their moon named Moon. The planet they walk on, live on,. Spend their whole lives breeding and fighting and shitting on is named Dirt. People are named People. It’s the most nothing, most empty, hollow possible naming system imaginable. Humans are literally retarded.”
On this subject I actually knew a bit. “Actually,” I said. “The Moon is formally named Luna. Earth is formally named Tellus or, sometimes, Terra.”
“Tellus means Earth. Which means dirt.” He snorted sarcastically. “Behold, the proud people of planet Dirt.”
“I’m not doing it for the humans,” I growled, trying to keep my voice low just in case the ear buds didn’t disguise, to a random passer-by, the fact I wasn’t actually on the phone. We came to the edge of campus and the network of roads with cars on them. I made for a crossing.
“Then what?”
“I…” I marched up to the crossing and thumped the button to cross. It beeped annoyingly. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know.”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
I rolled my eyes. “Are we going to do this all night?”
“Hope not,” said Asmodeus, blowing out a low, long sight right next to my ear. “Damn, girl, are you a newspaper? Because there’s a new issue with you every day.”
“Demons are hardly pillars of emotional or mental stability,” I said, trying to spin this in a way that made sense to him. “Haven’t you ever had an urge to do something but, you know, you couldn’t explain where it came from?”
“Yeah,” said Asmodeus, “but not anything like this. Eating a cat? Sure. Murder some guy? Absolutely. Whip a foul mortal until the flesh peels off their back? More than once. But going out of my way to save an angel? No. No way. Never.”
“Listen,” I said. “I got a plan. I…just can’t tell you yet.” I snapped my fingers to cut off his inevitable argument. “It’s like with how you couldn’t tell me about what I did to get kicked out of Hell. It’
s a secret. One you’ll come to know in time, but not right now. Right now you’re going to have to trust me.”
That didn’t seem to make him happy. He grumbled into my ear, but that seemed to be enough. “Fine.”
My phone flashed with a message. An incoming set of coordinates, accompanied by a simple message.
Help
I broke into a run.
Lost Little Lamb
Jersey City
New Jersey
My feet beat a fierce tempo on the ground. I drew up on my demon strength, running faster than I should have, but hopefully not too fast. If there was a masquerade violation, it would be a minor one. I hoped.
Down the streets of Jersey City I ran, dodging cars and pedestrians, back down toward Liberty State Park. Cloaked in night, it looked so different now; the lights of New York City shone through the trees, and although there were cyclists and walkers and tourists, I ignored all of them and followed the blue arrow to the southeast side of the park, with a view of Governor’s Island and the cityscape.
20 Shades of Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Collection Page 118