Good Side of Sin

by Haigwood, K. S.

  I leaned back so I could see his face. He wasn’t smiling, but I could tell the hardest part was over. At least he still had his wits about him and didn’t seem to hate me. I threw my arms around him. “Thank you for not hating me. I don’t think I could bear to lose you as a friend.”

  He wrapped his arms lightly around me and just held me close. It was exactly what I needed.

  The sound of a throat clearing interrupted us and I pulled away from Malcolm. The sight of Thoros standing twenty feet from us nearly took my breath away. I loved him. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that my whole heart belonged to that half-souled immortal.

  He gave me a crooked smile as if my thoughts were plainly painted all over my face. “Queen Melina has been asking for you. She is anxious to know what you have brought her and what she will have to do to get it.”

  The mention of the queen sent me spiraling into a bad mood, but I tried to keep my smile in place as I got to my feet and offered my hand to Malcolm. He took it and we closed the distance between us and Thoros.

  Thoros glanced to Malcolm, then me and then down to our joined hands. I casually let go of Malcolm’s hand and slipped it into Thoros’. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze as he looked at Malcolm. He shrugged. “I’m sorry for attacking you back there. I’ve never been good at sharing. I know you didn’t know, but it didn’t stop me from losing my mind. Anyway… I’m sorry.”

  Malcolm pointed to the small white brace on Thoros’ nose and smiled. “If you hadn’t attacked me I probably wouldn’t have had an excuse to kick you in the face without Jossel getting mad at me. So… thank you for that.”

  I elbowed Malcolm in the ribs and he jumped with a yelp.

  “I apologize for making your face look better,” he redirected, and then moved out of my reach as he started walking back toward the castle.

  I sighed. It was Malcolm; what did I expect? I shook my head as Thoros and I fell into step behind him.

  Fallis

  Well, this was different, Fallis thought as he took in the breathtaking scene before him. Where only four of them had stood only moments before, Troy had pulled through in the backup department, and now over a hundred angels stood before them.

  He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over to a bright, shiny brass trumpet Marcus was holding out for Fallis to take. “You want your own? The sound of the trumpet annoys demons more than anything else we could carry on hand. The harp and organ were too large to fit through any of the doors in the apartment complex.”

  Fallis’ eyes popped wide. He had actually been joking about the horns, but Marcus didn’t look as though he was lying about the instruments. Come to think of it, he hadn’t ever heard any music in Hell during his seven century stay. He hadn’t questioned it, because it hadn’t occurred to him to do so. He gave Marcus a grin and declined the trumpet. “I’ll use my own weapons, but thanks. It’s good to know all of you are on our side. I feel a whole lot better about this ambush now.”

  Marcus grinned mischievously. “I wouldn’t have let you proceed with your first plan, but I thought I would let you come to your senses first and give you a chance to change your mind.”

  Fallis blinked a few times. “But… uh—what?”

  Marcus chuckled. “Do you actually think we would let any of you half-souled be in charge of Heaven and Earth’s fate?” He shook his head as he slapped Fallis on the shoulder. “We’re not on your side. You are on ours.”

  The hand on Fallis’ shoulder felt hot to the touch all of a sudden, and he swayed a little on his feet when his vision blurred. “What side is that, exactly?” Fallis tried to back away, but Marcus’ grip tightened, holding him in place as his eyes began to burn with an unnatural feeling. Moving wasn’t an option anymore. He had no control over his body. Someone else was manipulating his movements, from inside his body. “Nooo!” Fallis shouted internally.

  “Quiet now, half-soul. This will all be over soon. Of course, I can’t honestly tell you that you and your friends will live happily ever after. I’m very sorry about that.”

  Fallis’ eyes shot open, and he felt his lips pull up at the corners as the Marcus in his body smiled at the Marcus looking back at him.

  There was another gentle squeeze on Fallis’ shoulder, but he still wasn’t able to react. The angel had somehow split his spirit in two halves and possessed him. “Dear God, help us all.”

  Chapter 40

  Josselyn

  Malcolm led us back to Melina’s chamber in silence. The tension surrounding the three of us was so thick I doubted a chainsaw could cut it. I guess I couldn’t complain. It could have been a lot worse between him and Thoros… between him and me.

  Maybe this was just the calm before the storm. Malcolm was always so cool, so collected. He kept his feelings and emotions well hidden behind that annoyingly perfect smile of his. Actually, I had never seen the guy not smiling. He even smiled when he was angry.

  Malcolm stopped to open the door and stepped back so I could enter first. Our eyes met. His were blank. They gave away nothing. And he wasn’t smiling.

  Crap! I hated it that my friend was upset, and that I had been the one to cause it, but I couldn’t lick his wounds now. I prayed he would get past this in time, but right now I had a deal to propose to the Queen of Limbo.

  I walked into the room without another thought about my life, and noticed Melina was the only one there. Where were Isaiah and the others? Where were her bodyguards and Omega? Where were the other spirits we had come here for?

  She looked past me to Thoros and Malcolm, and nodded. I turned to look at them, too. “Thank you, Prince,” she said. “You are excused. Take him with you. I would like to speak to the angel alone.”

  She thought I was weak. She wanted me alone with her so she could try to get more than what we were allowed to offer for her help.

  I felt my heart drop as the door clicked closed. Was the fate of Heaven and Earth really in my hands? What if I couldn’t bargain with her? What if she wasn’t interested in seeing Lucifer again? They had spent thousands of years apart. Maybe she was over him and wanted nothing to do with him because he was the reason she had fallen from Heaven.

  “Come—have some tea and bread,” Melina said as she sat down on the plush gold lounge sofa.

  I walked to the chair in front of her and sat, watching her as she busied her pretty hands with the cups and saucers. “No, thanks. Omega took my sense of taste, so I really wouldn’t care for any, thank you.” Not that I would have had an appetite even if my taste buds had been working properly.

  “I think you will find you’ll be able to taste the tea just fine. I ordered Omega to return the senses he took back to you and yours. He did so immediately. I would like to apologize again for our lack of hospitality. It’s not every day a group of people show up and ask for me specifically by name—”

  “And that didn’t make you think one of the people in the group had met you before?”

  She stared at me a moment, then placed her cup on the saucer and took a roll from the basket. “I’m sure you’ve been informed of my history. Why would you assume anyone who knows me is my friend?”

  My eyes popped wide. “I didn’t even know you existed until a few days ago. Whatever happened between you and God remains a mystery to me, I assure you. I have no clue how many friends you have outside these gates. All I was told is that you can help us. Whether you will or not is still left to be seen.”

  “Tell me why you have come. Tell me why the Council needs my assistance. Then we will negotiate.”

  I told her everything and she listened without interrupting me, only nodding or sipping her tea every once in a while, to break up the monotony. She gave a huge sigh once I finished, and then leaned forward and took my hands as she looked into my eyes. Hers were pretty eyes. Very unusual colors shimmered—no, swam—around her irises, and I felt like I was being pulled into them, like a magnet or a sink hole.

  I jerked back, tearing my hands from hers and, in the process,
clearing the contents from the coffee table separating us. “What did you do to me?” I screamed as I jumped to my feet.

  “Please—I was only watching the memory you have of the Council’s decision when you asked to come here. You begged them to let you try and save my brother.”

  I stared at her, completely confused.

  “I have the ability to see the past, present and future of a person, but only if I look though their eyes. I can tell you that your future doesn’t look good. Neither did Isaiah’s when I glanced through his eyes earlier, but I don’t see what the Council thinks I can do about it. I’m stuck here for eternity. I do not have the power to change your future or the course of Heaven’s destruction.”

  “Lucifer can stop and reverse the damage, just—”

  Melina busted up laughing. I thought, for sure she would stop after a few seconds, but I was wrong. I sat back down and watched as tears spilled from her eyes and she fought for breath in between fits of laughter.

  This wasn’t good at all. She had gone completely mad.

  Finally, she stopped, but she was still smiling, wiping at the moisture under her eyes and having trouble catching her breath. My last words had nearly sent her over the crazy hill, so I thought I had better let her speak first this time. I had some time. Not much, but some.

  “Perhaps the Council has sent you to the wrong gates, Josselyn.” She lifted her arms and looked around the room. “I’m sorry to say that I am not hiding Lucifer in my closet, but you are free to check if that will make the Council feel better.”

  I shook my head. “We know where he is, and no, they didn’t send me to the wrong gates. They want you to talk to him, convince him not to destroy Heaven.” An idea suddenly came to me and I shared it with her. “If you can see the future when you look in someone’s eyes, then you can tell Lucifer his plan won’t work. You may have to lie to him, but if you can get him to believe you, then that is all we may need.”

  She honestly looked surprised. “They will give me back my freedom to do this?”

  I took in a deep breath, and then let it out as painfully slow as I could, putting off the inevitable for just a few seconds more. “You only get one day.”

  Melina made an abrupt sound and I jumped in surprise. Did she really just snort? She did it again and I covered my gaping mouth with my hand to keep from laughing or crying or…well, I wasn’t exactly sure what might come out, but I had it covered just in case it was something unpleasant—something more unpleasant than Melina snorting.

  She was laughing again. The type of laughter where your face turns red and you can’t catch your breath—yeah, it was that kind of laughter, and it wasn’t a pretty image. I was beginning to worry about her, but then she finally managed to gather all her marbles.

  She patted my knee with her hand and sighed as she picked up her tea cup from the floor where I had knocked it. “I wish they had sent you to see me centuries ago. I haven’t laughed so much in ages.” She placed the tea pot, cups, saucers and the empty basket back on the tray, and then stood with it in her hands. I watched her with wide eyes as she took it to a long bar. She didn’t turn to look at me as she spoke. “Do tell Isaiah that it was nice of him to visit, and that I hope to see him again someday. Have a safe journey back, angel.”

  I jumped to my feet. “You are refusing to help us?”

  She whirled around to confront me, her eyes red and glossy with livid anger. I didn’t flinch or move back, but I wanted to. “What would you do if you were offered only one more day with your soulmate in exchange to save something that isn’t even yours, that never will be yours? Choose your words wisely, angel.”

  What was she talking about? This wasn’t about me. But even if it was, of course I would do what was necessary to save Heaven and Earth from Lucifer. That’s why I was here. “I would do whatever was necessary to stop Heaven and Earth from falling into the hands of Lucifer.”

  “Even if that meant losing your Prince of Lust forever?”

  I opened my mouth to tell her yes, but nothing came out. I couldn’t say it and make her believe it, because I didn’t believe it. If I lost Thoros forever there would be no reason for me to save anything. I wouldn’t care what happened to Heaven and Earth. I would follow him wherever he went, even to Hell.

  “You couldn’t do it, could you?” Melina said, and I had to look away from her gloating smile. It made me want to throw up on her royal blue and silver stilettos. “Tell me what it would take for you to save Heaven and Earth if you were in my shoes. Anything less than that would be a waste of your breath.”

  Again, I opened my mouth, but words failed me. I couldn’t think of anything to say except for Thoros and me to be together forever. It might have sounded selfish, but that would be the only way to get me to agree to a deal like I was offering her.

  “I’ll tell you what… I will accept your deal if you accept mine. I actually have two options for you to consider. Neither are negotiable. I won’t take any less. It’s either one or the other. Do you understand?”

  I looked up at her, hope filling my eyes once again. There were two options? I hadn’t even imagined there would have been one after she had yanked me up and shoved me into her shoes. Surely I could agree to at least one of them. She said she would help save Heaven and Earth if I could pick just one of them. I nodded that I understood her terms. I still couldn’t speak.

  She clapped her hands together and squealed with delight. I still wanted to throw up on her.

  “The first one is you and your friends stay here with me forever—”

  “How will we stop Lucifer from taking control if we stay here and do nothing to stop him?”

  She shook her head. “I thought you said you understood. I said I would accept your deal if you accept mine. But I am offering you another option: you can stay here with your friends and soulmate and let Lucifer have what he wants. Limbo will be unaffected. He still won’t be able to get in, nor can I get out. So, you and your soulmate are safe, and can be together… forever.” I could feel her eyes on me, and she knew I was seriously considering it. “You don’t have to listen to the Council, Josselyn. In fact, in a day or so there won’t even be a Council anymore. Nobody will blame you for wanting to save yourself and your soulmate. I wouldn’t, if I was up there waiting for you to save us.”

  Troy… Marcus… Baddon… Fallis… Lameria… Phoebe… Paul… Damien… Abigail… Rhyan… so many more, millions more innocent, pure souls… They would all belong to Lucifer. I looked up at her. “What’s the other option?”

  She smiled. “I thought for sure you would agree to that one. Guess you’re not so much like me after all.”

  “What is it?” I demanded.

  “I think it’s only fair that if I only get to spend one more day with my soulmate, then you should only have one more day with yours. I’ll go to Hell and keep Lucifer distracted, lie to him or whatever, while the rest of you use the alflight to destroy the link he has between Heaven and Hell. And then, when my time is up with my soulmate, I will bring yours back here, to Limbo, with me… forever. I will only release him back to you if and when you find a way to release me from Limbo for good. I bet Thoros is a tiger in bed, isn’t he?”

  There was no air in my lungs, and I couldn’t seem to draw in any oxygen through my nose or mouth. The room started to spin around me. I was about to pass out. This was wrong. I wouldn’t let her have Thoros. I couldn’t!

  “Don’t answer her, Josselyn.”

  “Thoros!” I cried, and then ran across the room and collapsed into his waiting arms. “I wasn’t going to let her have you. I can’t—”

  I heard him talking, but it didn’t seem like he was talking to me. Was I in that much shock?

  “I don’t want her to have to make this decision. She can hate me for eternity, but I won’t have her hating herself. If you help us, I will come back here with you, Melina.”

  What? “What?” I jerked my head up to look at his face. He couldn’t be serious, but it appe
ared he was. He was still looking at her, so I looked at her.

  Melina held out her hand and a scroll appeared atop her palm. She rolled it out, and then produced a pen out of thin air. “It’s a done deal. All I need is your signature… in blood, please. Ink isn’t quite binding enough.”

  “I won’t do it!” I screamed.

  Melina rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t talking to you, brat!”

  “Thoros? No.” I looked back to him and shook my head back and forth rapidly, refusing to believe what he was about to agree to was true. “No! NO! I won’t let you do this! Don’t you dare do this to me!” He tried to push me away from him, toward the door, but I gripped his arms tighter and raked my nails down his arms when he tried to pull away from me.

  He grabbed my shoulders and brought my face up to his. I was sobbing. There was no stopping the tears. I felt like he was ripping my heart from my chest with his bare hands. “Stop this, Josselyn! This is the only way! Don’t fight me on this, please, baby. Heaven and Earth are depending on you—on us. We are the only chance they have left. Be angry with me. Hate me if you have to, but do your job. Do what you came here to do. Do it for love. Do it for all the people of the world that haven’t yet found what we have, so that maybe one day they can. Even if we were only allowed a brief moment together, my memories of you will last me an eternity. Nothing can take that from me.”

  I shook my head and cried, “I can’t. I won’t let you! No—”

  His lips were on mine, hard and urgent and full of passion, but then it was over too quickly, and I felt a jolt as I was thrown across the room and into Malcolm’s arms.

  “You better take care of her or so help me God, Malcolm, Lucifer’s wrath will seem like a pleasant dream compared to the nightmare I will become if I have break out of here and come looking for you! Get her out of here!”