by Maya Nicole
A silence fell over the gym as they stared each other down. Asher finally broke the silence. "I didn't know besides that one time. We don't read minds, Reve."
Reve ran a hand through his hair and then shook his head. "This was a shitty idea. I'm going back to the room."
We followed him out of the gym in silence. I knew Lilith had controlled him, but not that it had lasted centuries. Not that any time under Lilith's control would have been a good thing.
Once back at our building, Reve sat down heavily on the leather couch in the common room. He grabbed the television remote from the coffee table and turned on the television. I sat down next to him with the rest of the guys spreading out on other couches.
The common room was quickly becoming one of my favorite places on campus. The tall ceilings, stone fireplace, and comfortable couches made it feel like the lodge of a ski resort.
The building was empty, with the few other staff members opting to stay in a different building because of Reve. It would have pissed me off, but it ended up working out because we had privacy.
The giant flat-screen television came to life, and Reve started flipping through the endless list of movies we had on the 'to be watched' list.
"When I was younger, in my teenage years by demon standards, I snuck out one night to smoke in the woods next to our castle." Reve's eyes didn't leave the television screen, but all four of us had our eyes glued on him as he spoke. "To smoke the Inferna equivalent of what weed is here on Earth. I took my guard, Alaric, who was more of my best friend than anyone that would enforce my parents’ rules. The Black Woods weren't dangerous at the time, but there were definitely stories the elders liked to tell about children being kidnapped, men being gutted, and women being taken." He sighed and put the remote on the arm of the couch. He stared off into space as if he remembered the night perfectly.
"Ric and I met up with a few buddies from the village next to the castle, and we settled into this little clearing in the trees. They came out of nowhere, the vampire demons."
"Vampires?" I took his hand, and he squeezed it tightly. There had been no mention of vampire demons in any of the books I'd read. "Blood-sucking vampires?"
"What else would they drink?" He shrugged. "I was grabbed as soon as we were aware of them. I hadn't developed my phantom form yet, so I couldn't get away."
There was a solid minute of silence before he continued. "We were outnumbered. My two other friends were killed instantly. Ric ran off into the woods with his tail between his legs."
"I'm sorry." I stroked the side of our clasped hands with my thumb. He still didn't make eye contact.
"Then, she appeared. She was the most gorgeous woman I had ever laid eyes on at the time. I stopped fighting to get away because I was so enamored by her. The vampires held me. She just walked right up to me and told me to go kill my parents and then chain myself in our dungeons."
A tear slid down my cheek as I looked down at his wrist, tattooed with a chain.
"So I killed them. I tried to stop myself, because even when Lilith is controlling you, you still have an awareness of what you’re doing." He let out a shaky breath and ran a hand over his face. He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
I had so many questions, but the pain in his voice and face stopped me from asking them. I put my hand on his arm and squeezed.
"Why would she want you to kill your parents?" Olly was sitting on the edge of his seat and leaning forward slightly.
Reve let out a sharp laugh before standing. "She wanted the throne."
Then, he disappeared and left us to pick our jaws up off the floor.
Chapter Three
Oliver
Birthdays seemed to be a big deal on Earth, at least to those still alive. I was an adult who had never had a birthday. Never felt the swirl of excitement in my belly over what the day had in store for me. I hadn't thought it would be a big deal to just skip it, but no one else felt that way.
After Reve revealed he was the prince of hell the night before, we had tried to occupy ourselves with making birthday plans. I wasn't a hundred percent sure of when my birthday was. The days all blended together in Heaven. What I did know was that it was in July but before the Fourth of July.
Asher decided we needed to celebrate for three days to ensure we had the right day. I wasn't going to complain if the people I loved wanted to put all of their attention on me for seventy-two hours.
I lengthened my body under the covers, letting out a small moan as I stretched from a restful sleep. My hand fell on the empty spot next to me. Asher had to check in with his business and left before the sun had even peeked over the horizon.
The five of us had fallen into a comfortable living arrangement considering we were holed up at the academy. Most nights Asher and I slept in Tobias's room while he and Reve slept in Danica's room. Well, at least, Tobias slept.
We had talked about moving two beds into one room, but even I knew that too much testosterone in one small space would spell disaster. Danica loved us, but being around us twenty-four seven had to be a lot at times.
Especially when Reve decided to stir up drama. It kept things lively, to say the least.
I sat up, and my eyes quickly adjusted to the darkened room. Dark blobs floated around the ceiling. I switched on the lamp.
Balloons of various colors floated around the ceiling with a giant 'happy birthday' balloon tied to the back of a chair. How they had even managed to get balloons in the room without waking me up was a mystery.
There was a cupcake that sat on the table with a '1' candle on the top. I grabbed the card next to it and opened it.
Happy birthday, angel baby! Sorry, I couldn't be there for your birthday blowjob. I'll make it up to you later.
I grinned and set the card down. I would definitely collect on that later.
I was one lucky angel. After Shanghai, Asher and I decided that there was too much uncertainty to not embrace what had developed between us. We both were still crazy about Danica, but now we were also crazy about each other.
Still not crazy enough to go all the way with each other, though. I wanted it more than anything. I always thought about it, which was probably why I walked around with a hard-on most of the time now.
I got dressed and made my way to Danica's room. Some nights she would sleep with me and Asher, but until we had a bigger space or it was safe to sleep off-campus, we had to be okay with separate beds.
Reve was sitting on the floor outside the door with his back against the wall. His knees were drawn up to his chest. I put my hand on the doorknob but then backed up a few steps to look at him.
"What's wrong?" He looked distant and tired. Reve never looked tired.
It was a loaded question given what he had shared with us the night before. Everything was not right with Reve. Did he even have a last name? There were so many things we still didn't know about the demon. Thinking back on our interactions, I realized most centered around Danica. Never about him as a demon.
He was the type of demon that survived on the pain and fear he caused others. Or recently, the joy and pleasure he brought Danica in her sleep. No one wanted to admit it, but that was deep fucking soulmate level shit.
Shit. Now my thoughts were starting to sound like Asher too.
"Last night brought up a lot of memories." His voice held no emotion.
I sat down on the other side of him. Reve was the hardest one in our group to get along with. Not because he was a bad person, but he was the new guy. Plus, I think all of us were envious of his relationship with Danica.
We didn't mind sharing, but he got her all to himself for hours with no interruptions. They at least didn't rub our faces in their dream galivanting. Although I did make Danica tell me the hot air balloon dream in which he had eaten her out high up in the sky.
How did he even come up with such romantic gestures? My romantic ideas were about as creative as my pinky toe.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I touch
ed his arm and sent a wave of calmness to him. I hadn't tried anything with him yet. I didn't even know if my abilities would work on a demon.
He looked down at my hand that was covering a tattoo of a wolf and then looked up at me. He sighed and put his head against the wall.
"No wonder Asher fell in love with you." He shut his eyes. If I didn't know he didn't sleep, I would have thought he had fallen asleep. His breaths evened out, and his face relaxed. "No offense, but you're not my type."
I moved my hand from his arm. "Why do you always have to be like that?"
"Be like what?" One of his eyes popped open. He looked back at me before shutting it again. "I'm just letting you know."
"Make everything some kind of joke."
"When you've lived for as long as me and have done the things I have, finding a way to laugh is the only way to stop yourself from self-destructing. Asher is the same way."
I grunted and stood up. It was different coming from Reve.
"Well, if you need to talk or need me to send some good vibes your way, let me know." I stepped around him and turned the doorknob, cracking the door open.
"Olly." I looked down at him, his eyes still shut. "Happy birthday."
I walked into Danica's room and shut the door gently behind me. She and Tobias were still asleep.
I slipped my shoes off and slid in next to Danica. Tobias must have been awake because he moved his arms from around her, and I slid mine into place.
"Mmm." She turned over so that her head was in the crook of my neck. "Good morning, birthday boy."
Her hand slid around to my ass and gave it a squeeze. We really needed to resolve our sleeping situation so I could wake up with her squeezing my ass daily. She slipped her hand into my back pocket.
"Is there such a thing as a birthday blowjob?" I whispered over Danica's head to Tobias, who was staring right at me.
Danica made a noise and pinched my cheek through my jeans. "Let me guess, Asher told you there was? There's birthday sex. Can't say I've ever heard of a birthday blowjob. I wouldn't be opposed to there being such a thing. January needs to hurry up and get here."
Tobias slid out of bed, and his bare ass greeted me. He did have a pretty spectacular ass.
"I'll let you two have a few minutes. That's all it'll take, right?" He chuckled as he pulled on a pair of athletic shorts and turned to smirk at me.
I frowned at him. I lasted way longer than a few minutes. In fact, I had more stamina than all three of them. Archangel perk.
"Don't be mean to the birthday boy," Danica said, removing her hand from my back pocket and unbuttoning my jeans. My dick instantly sprang to life, straining against the zipper she had yet to unzip.
"Did you see Reve?" Tobias pulled on a shirt and grabbed a can of some coffee beverage from the refrigerator.
"He's in the hall. He isn't in the best of moods." I was having a hard time with my words since Danica had unzipped my pants and reached her hand inside to stroke me through my boxers.
"I'm going to the gym. You two have fun." He shut the door behind himself, and I let out the moan I had been holding in.
"I'm surprised... oh God, Dani. Don't stop." I rolled onto my back and tugged my pants down to my thighs.
"Surprised?" Her hand slipped into my boxers, and her fingers wrapped around my length. Her other hand slid my shirt up so she could kiss my stomach.
Surprised? What was I going to say? "Surprised he didn't stay to watch."
She laughed against my stomach, the sound the best birthday present she could give me. Seeing her happy again was the only thing I wanted.
I was an advocate for birthday blowjobs. I had tried to reciprocate, but Danica said there'd be time for that later. The day was about me.
We spent the morning hanging out and then took one of the academy's SUVs into the city. Tobias was on edge, but I knew if something did happen while we were off-campus, we'd be able to protect Danica.
I was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement as we waited on Asher to get home. We were on his rooftop deck under the shade of the gazebo. Reve had decided I needed to learn to play poker.
"How are you so good at this game already?" Reve complained as I gathered the chips in the center of the table and arranged them in front of me.
I shrugged and watched Tobias shuffle the cards. I wasn't about to tell them that I could see their cards. Not when the mention of strip poker in the future was on the table.
Danica narrowed her eyes at me; I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. So much for having a poker face.
"You're cheating." She picked up the cards Tobias had put in front of her, glanced at them quickly and put them face down. It was cute that she thought that would stop me from seeing them.
I had tried not to see through the cards, but my brain couldn't help itself.
"I'm not. Maybe I am just really that good."
We played until Asher came home. I purposely lost a few hands just to keep things interesting. Maybe a trip to Vegas was in the near future.
We headed to the bowling alley that I had decided on the night before. Danica had a list in her phone that she added to often. It had to have at least a hundred experiences on it by now. All of which she said were necessary.
I don't know if playing hide and go seek was a necessity, but I wasn't about to argue with her.
The bowling alley was noisy, with blaring music and the sounds of balls knocking down pins. I looked over at Asher as we waited in line to borrow shoes and pay for our games. Every so often, he would flinch. I took his hand.
"Just got to get used to the sound." I squeezed his hand in reply. His eyes darted around, taking in the surroundings. He zeroed in on the bar. "Get me a size ten. You guys want anything from the bar?"
There appeared to be waitresses walking around with drink orders, but his need to escape was written clearly on his face. I let his hand go and watched him walk quickly towards the bar area.
Danica stepped up beside me and looped her arm through mine. "You worry about him too much."
"I worry about a lot of things too much," I said, looking down at her. I was worried about her. Worried about Lucifer. Worried about Reve. Even Tobias had been looking worse for wear lately.
"Remember that you need to take care of yourself too." She rubbed my arm, and we stepped up to the counter.
I didn't want to deal with my own issues. Taking care of everyone else and making sure they weren't losing their minds helped me keep my mind off of the fact that everything was my fault.
I lost the Holy Grail.
Lilith wanted it.
She got what she wanted, and in the process almost killed her own daughter and Reve. And now Lucifer was missing.
We grabbed our shoes and went to our lane. I scrunched my nose at the shoes before sliding my feet into them. They smelled like other people's feet, which made me want to gag. I saw the guy at the counter spraying shoes people brought back, but that didn't help ease my mind any.
Asher was back with a glass of something dark brown. It was most likely whiskey, his drink of choice. I thought it tasted like battery acid.
"Let's go find our balls." Asher snorted and took a sip of his drink.
"I think the blue ones are just the right weight for you three." Reve was already holding a purple bowling ball. He put it in the ball rack.
"The only person whose balls will be blue tonight will be yours when I hand your ass to you." Tobias took off in search of a ball, a cocky grin on his face.
"He must really be good at handling balls," Asher said, chuckling and taking my hand.
We followed Tobias, and all three of us ended up with blue balls after all.
After the first few frames, the rivalry between Reve and Tobias became a sideshow. Both had only bowled strikes so far.
Reve lined himself up in front of the lane and stepped forward to release the ball.
"Gutter ball!" Tobias yelled right before he released it, causing Reve to cu
rse as it stayed on course, but split the pins.
"Your victory is going to be marred by foul play." Reve waited for the pins to reset and his ball to return.
He couldn't knock both pins down and cursed as he returned to his seat. When it was Tobias's turn, Reve grinned. He was up to something, as usual.
"Oh. My. God. Is that Justin Timberlake?" A girl shrieked from halfway across the bowling alley. We all turned in her direction to see several women making their way toward us.
Tobias was oblivious as he stood on the hardwood and set himself up to bowl another strike. I watched in sheer fascination as the small group of women entered into our area and walked right up to Tobias, who was already bringing his arm forward. He didn't look anything like the pop star.
There's a reason you're supposed to wait for the player on the lane next to you to throw their ball. Tobias released it, which made a thud on the lane and rolled into the gutter.
"Can we get a selfie? I can't believe this is happening! Where's your wife? Are these your friends? I can't believe I'm meeting you!" The questions and comments were fired off at him as they pulled out their phones.
"What? I look nothing like Timberlake." Tobias backed up and then turned to glare at Reve. "You! I'm going to kill you!"
I was slightly surprised that Reve would send a vision, but I guess it was harmless. It made me wonder how often he used that ability.
After a lot of back and forth between Reve and Tobias, we took a break and ordered food. I wasn't too sure about eating greasy food from the bowling alley, but Danica said it was the best.
"What are we going to do for the Fourth of July?" Danica asked while we waited for our burgers to arrive. "Fireworks are out, right?"
Asher grunted and finished his second drink of the evening. "I'm glad I can come on campus now. There aren't any fireworks in the area, are there?"
"Nope. We can watch them from the top of Ariel Hall, without the loud noise."