by Michael Todd
I really don’t think I will. I think I’ll be just as horny as I am now. You're a goddamned hypocrite. You can’t push me to be who you want me to be and then pull back when I finally become her.
Pandora sighed. All I’m saying is that you need to think about it. You’re on some crazy streak right now, and I’m saving you from yourself. Stop being a damn asshole and just hail a cab.
Katie stomped her foot. You know what? Why don’t you just take over? I’m going to sleep.
With that, Katie’s voice faded into the background, and Pandora found herself in the driver’s seat. She looked down at her heaving breasts and shook her head. That hadn’t been her intention, but if that was what it took to get her out of destructive mode, she wasn’t going to complain about it.
I guess it’s just me by myself now. That’s fine. I need to think about some stuff anyway.
“Would you like another glass of wine?” the waitress asked Pandora.
Pandora gave her a kind smile. “Yes, please.”
The waitress poured the wine into her glass and walked away, leaving Pandora alone. She was sitting in a cafe on the roof of the very tall building in the middle of town. She was right on the edge of the roof and could see the whole city, including the dark river to the east. She watched the specks of light from the boats, and her mind began to wander. Until that moment, Pandora had only focused on one thing—being a badass demon inside Katie.
Sitting there in the hot summer air watching the twinkling city lights, she began to wonder about her future, and she couldn’t help worrying about Katie. Katie was only human, even if she did have angel DNA and a demon inside her. If Pandora didn’t have Katie, she couldn’t go back home to hell. She was too different now. She’d changed.
Pandora took a sip of wine and sat back in her chair, listening to the conversations around her. People were talking about business, relationships, and everything else normal human beings would talk about in a rooftop restaurant late at night. It was almost refreshing to Pandora. In fact, she was so lost in her thoughts that when she heard the voice next to her, it made her jump in her chair.
“May I sit with you?”
Chapter Six
Pandora turned and found herself looking at a silver belt buckle. Interesting. She ran her eyes up the man’s body, which included a flat stomach and a broad chest under a white shirt and suit coat. His shoulders bulged under the coat. On top of it all was Gabriel’s smiling face. Aw, shit.
He was wearing a bright silver tie that almost perfectly matched his hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. His shimmering blue eyes let her know he meant her no harm.
Pandora gestured at a chair across from her. “If you must.”
Gabriel sat down. “Good to see you, Pandora.”
Pandora took a sip of her wine and lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “Is it?”
Gabriel waved his hand, making it so no one around them could hear their conversation. He smiled at her, staring with his penetrating angelic eyes. “Yes. It’s not every day that I’m surprised.”
Pandora tilted her head. “It didn’t use to be for me, either, but I find myself shocked more and more. What did I do to surprise you?”
“You had an opportunity to stay in hell.”
Pandora barked out laughter. “You saw that, did you?”
Gabriel picked up an empty glass in front of him. By the time it reached his lips, it was filled with water. “No, but I was told about it. I’m not omniscient.”
Pandora snorted, not at all impressed by his magic tricks. “When has that stopped you from assuming what happened?”
Gabriel shrugged his shoulders slightly. The waiter smiled as she came over, and Pandora quickly tipped back her glass, finishing her wine. “I’ll have another. One for my guest as well, please.”
“Right away.” The waitress hurried away.
Pandora glanced at Gabriel. “Unless you want to transform your water into cabernet?”
“That wasn’t me.”
“Oh, right. It’s been a while since I read anything. They have movies here. Very exciting.”
Gabriel nodded calmly. “Where is Katie?”
Pandora snorted. “Sleeping off a bender, believe it or not. I made her leave a club, and she threw a hissy fit. She just gave up and told me to take over. Before I knew it, she was fast asleep. If I hadn’t been paying attention, we would have face-planted right there on the concrete. I wasn’t ready to go home, so I came here for a nice glass of wine and some peace and quiet. Apparently peace and quiet are in short fucking supply.”
Gabriel ignored her last line. “This is a lovely restaurant. The view is absolutely gorgeous. I’m surprised to see you in a place like this. I would have assumed you would still be at the club, doing whatever it is that you do.”
Pandora smirked. “You know what it is I do.”
The waitress came back over and poured two glasses of wine. Gabriel thanked her and lifted the glass to his lips to take a sip. He closed his eyes as he swished it around and swallowed. “Good stuff. You always knew your reds and whites.”
Pandora shrugged. “After all the time I’ve spent here, I should know the good from the bad.” Gabriel smirked at her and Pandora cut her eyes at him. “Wine-wise, at least.”
Gabriel set his glass down. “Michael asked me to tell you hello.”
Pandora snorted. “You can tell him to go fuck himself.”
Gabriel chuckled. “That was the expected response. It seems you know how to hold a grudge.”
Pandora snorted, exasperated. “It’s only been ten thousand years, give or take a few. What does he expect?”
Gabriel shrugged, not thrown off by Pandora’s outburst. “Not much, really. He just wanted me to pass along his greeting.”
“Greeting received and reply given.” Pandora gave him a side glance. “You done here then?”
The two of them sat there for several minutes, not saying a word to each other. Pandora took in the dark skyline, all kinds of thoughts running through her head. She was in a strange place, not physically but mentally. She quite simply was not herself. It was apparently going around.
Finally, she looked him straight in the eyes. “Gabriel, when did this become too much?”
Gabriel pursed his lips. He could tell she didn’t expect an answer, so he allowed it to slide. He could see in Pandora’s eyes that she was struggling with something, but she wasn’t ready to admit it to him. A crisis of conscience wasn’t something that usually happened to a demon. She lost herself in her glass of wine for a moment, and finally just asked the question. “What’s wrong with her? And I don’t mean what’s wrong with her, as in she’s infected with a demon or that she has angel DNA, but how did she change so quickly? One minute, she’s the Katie I know, the one I’m trying to talk onto the wild side. The next minute, I’m trying to pull her back from the edge so she doesn’t jump off a cliff.”
Gabriel waited calmly, knowing she wasn’t done speaking.
She set her glass down and rubbed her hands over her face. “She’s acting out of character. Hell, she was grading studly men tonight. It took everything I had to stop her from jumping one right there on the dance floor. She was like a completely different person. The way she spoke to me was so odd. I hate to say it, but it was like I was talking to myself, only she gave zero fucks. Sometimes, albeit rarely, I actually do give a fuck. Shit, at least when it comes to her, I give a fuck. She’s the girl who gives a fuck about everything and everyone, but tonight she was ready to take on whoever would take her.”
Gabriel gave her a surprised look. “And you did not encourage that?”
Pandora agreed. “Usually I would have, sure. But this was unusual. She’s been acting all weird since we fought Tiamat in hell. Since she came back, it’s like she’s trying to be me.”
Gabriel hid a smirk. “As if.”
“I know, right? Seriously, do you know what’s wrong with her?”
Gabriel took a sip of his wine and nodded.
Pandora looked surprised and leaned toward him. “Well, what the fuck is it?”
Gabriel set down his wine and steepled his fingers in front of his face. “She’s willing to tell you.”
Pandora sneered at him. “Yeah, but she expects something from me.”
“You know what I think?”
She finished her wine and set the glass down hard on the table. “No, but I’m sure you’re gonna tell me.”
Gabriel chuckled. “I think for the first time in thousands and thousands of years, you’re feeling again.”
Pandora huffed. “Oh, fuck you. It isn’t about feeling.”
She stopped. She could tell that he was baiting her, and he could tell that he was starting to get to her. She wasn’t going to give in to the feelings Gabriel wanted her to have. “I’ll deal with it. If you have another message, I’ll pass it along. If not, scram.”
Gabriel took another sip of his wine and shrugged. “Can’t I just want to chat with you for a moment?”
Pandora scoffed. “You could, but we both know that isn’t how your schedule works. We also both know that’s not how you work.”
Gabriel nodded. “Most of the time I’d agree, but I was heading to Canada when I noticed you here. I couldn’t let you sit here all alone. You looked so contemplative. I thought I’d come down and have a glass of wine with an old friend.”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “Right. An old friend, sure. What you mean to say is that you’re keeping tabs on me because… Well, we both know why.”
Gabriel feigned shock. “What? You? Lucifer’s wife? Why would you ever think that?”
Pandora grumbled, “I’m divorcing that asshole.”
“I mean, I’m no expert on hell or how its legal system works, but is that even possible?”
“Usually it only takes a kick to the balls, but I’ll settle for someone serving him with papers. I’d rather not go back and have a personal discussion with him. He isn’t the most logical person to talk to, as you can probably imagine. Nor is his temper conducive to a conversation like that.”
“Yeah, I guess he might be a little pissed.”
Pandora shrugged. “He’s probably replaced me with five others.”
Gabriel cleared his throat. “Twelve.”
Slowly, Pandora looked at Gabriel, her eyes wide. “Twelve? Damn, I’m worth twelve hos? I mean, he’s a total asshole—and most of them were probably around before I was gone—but I thought that a half a dozen was pushing it. Shit. He liked me a little bit more than I thought, even with all his extra fiery soul-whores rolling through the kingdom every night. Maybe I should be impressed with myself.”
“Maybe.”
Pandora smiled. “Okay, do your angel business. I have to think this through. Once out the lips, I can’t take it back.”
Gabriel looked at her with a smug face. “Worried?”
“Yeah, I am.” Pandora looked away from him as she said it.
Gabriel scoffed. “I’ve seen you stare Michael down and call him names he had to go look up later. I mean, there were words I didn’t even know. I’m pretty sure they made the big guy blush. And the fact that I had to sit in a room with Michael while he looked them up was absolutely mortifying. I wanted to wash my brain afterward and forget everything. Sometimes I wonder how demons and humans come up with this stuff.”
Pandora snickered. “That was funny as hell.”
“For you to tell me you’re worried really surprises me. I’ve never seen you worried about anything in your life. Well, maybe your shoes or your clothes, but definitely not another person or an angel or anything in between. You are Lilith, the Queen of the Damned, Lucifer’s wife, the keeper of the bodies, the tour guide to hell.”
Pandora leaned forward and whispered, “Did you know that she pulled me out of her in hell? She totally turned to me and told me to do whatever needed to be done. She knew I was a demon, Gabriel. I am the Queen of hell, and she brought me there and collapsed. Left herself to my mercy.”
Gabriel didn’t seem surprised, but he still asked the question. “How did she get back here?”
“Me, of course. It seems I love donuts too much to stay in hell.”
Gabriel took one last sip of his wine and stood up. He put his hands on the back of his chair. “You keep telling yourself that, and someday you might believe it. When you get a chance, tell Katie I have something for her.”
“Another riddle?”
Gabriel smiled. “Hardly. But if I told you, then you wouldn’t have a reason to bitch about angels so harshly.”
“Try me,” she retorted.
His lips curled, and he shook his head. “See you around, Pandora.”
Pandora gave him a half-smile. “You too, Gabe.”
Pandora watched Gabriel walk away, then she was alone in the crowded restaurant, surrounded by all those innocent faces. She knew she was using the word “innocent” lightly, but they were nothing like the demons she knew or the souls that had been trapped in hell. Her thoughts wavered between her former home and everything that had happened.
She thought about the fight with Tiamat, and how much Katie had trusted her. She replayed the scene over and over in her head. Katie had pulled her from her body, given Pandora her own form, and trusted her not to abandon her there in hell. Pandora wasn’t even sure what had come over her, but when she’d looked down at Katie’s body, she knew she wasn’t done with the woman. She wasn’t done with that adventure. It had turned into more than an adventure for her, and whether she wanted to admit it to Gabriel or not, she was feeling things again.
The waitress walked over to the table, bringing Pandora’s attention back. “No more wine for me, thank you. I’ll take the bill.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but the gentleman paid it already. Including a very nice tip.”
“Of course he did.” Pandora rolled her eyes. “That ass.”
The waitress giggled before walking away from the table. Pandora smirked, took off her glasses, and stuck them in her cleavage. It had been one hell of a night, and she knew she couldn’t let it end by walking nonchalantly out of the restaurant. After all, she was Pandora, and Pandora always went out with a bang.
She bit her lip, grabbed a spoon, and tapped her wine glass with it. She stood and tapped harder, grabbing the attention of the entire restaurant. When they had quieted down and were staring at her, she smiled at them. She reveled in their gaze, slowly putting the spoon back on the table and milking the tension for all it was worth. “Hey, just wanted to make sure you all get to see something you don’t see every night.”
With that, she stepped onto the ledge of the building and leaped off. She heard a collective gasp and someone screaming behind her as she plummeted. She wanted her audience. Once the crowd had made it to the edge of the building, Pandora opened her wings wide. They flapped up and down, sending a whoosh of air back up toward the crowd. A round of applause and whistles erupted from above her as she headed toward the river and into the darkness.
She always did like a fucking audience, and humans were so damn impressed by the little things.
Pandora chuckled and shook her head as she glided between the buildings. “Momma still has it.”
Chapter Seven
Katie rolled over in bed and uttered an acrid groan. Her lips smacked together. She wiped her hand across her cheek, streaking makeup and drool, the remnants of her deep, dreamless night. She opened one eye and looked around, not really sure what she would find. She couldn’t remember anything from the night before. She had been forced from the club, and then nothing. She had definitely been wasted. She’d only had one drink at the club, but while getting ready she had helped herself to four glasses of wine, three beers, and three shots of whiskey.
Well, I seem to be alone. There’s no soreness in any region of my body, so I know I didn’t have some hot and sweaty orgy.
Katie waited for a sarcastic reaction from Pandora, but nothing came. Apparently, Pandora was still asleep inside her.
Hell must have frozen over.
Slowly, she stretched her arms high over her head. The morning light was cascading into her room, and the smell of cooking bacon drifted in from the kitchen. She sat up, waiting for the inevitable throb from deep in her head that signaled a truly hellish hangover, but the pounding didn’t come. She only wobbled in bed. Not hungover, then, but not sober, either. She put her hand down on the bed to stabilize the spinning. “I need to slow the hell down before I fall out of this bed and break something. I don’t think I’ve drunk that much—ever.”
Still nothing from Pandora.
Katie shrugged and walked to the mirror, where she grimaced at her reflection. The remnants of her dark makeup were now streaked down her cheeks, and her hair was twisted into some sort of matted beehive. She half-expected a small furry animal to stick its head out. Katie shook her head at her reflection and pointed at herself. “Get it together, bitch. Shower and food, then we can figure out what’s next…like not standing alone in my room talking to myself.”
Katie turned the shower to scalding hot and slipped out of her lace panties and bra. She almost sank into the stone walls as the hot water ran over her. Cloudy water ran around her feet as she lathered up and washed away what she assumed was a collection of embarrassing moments from the night before.
She tried to ignore the feeling of loneliness in her chest without Pandora there to chide her and push her along.
You know, even if you’re not going to respond, I’m going to talk. What good is having a demon inside me if I can’t have a conversation?
Nothing. Just silence. Katie climbed out of the shower and stared at herself in the mirror. She bounced up and down for a moment, trying to get a response. Any response. Maybe I should have a breast reduction.
She lifted her eyebrows and smiled, thinking that would for sure get her demon’s attention. After a couple of moments of silence, Katie sighed and dropped her hands to her sides. Fine, whatever. I don’t need someone else in my head all the time. I can be on my own.