by Maya Nicole
We landed on the side of the observatory and joined the other angels already gathered. A few looked in my direction and then narrowed their eyes. Word on the street was that I had been nicknamed Snap.
"Thorne, are you going to be able to follow orders tonight?" one of the angels said, jabbing me in the shoulder with his finger. I resisted the urge to grab that finger and snap it in half.
"Fuck off, man. I said I was sorry for snapping your neck." I was still getting shit for snapping necks when we infiltrated the angel blood draining operation. "Look at the bright side, it meant one less draining since you had to heal."
"I still wake up with a crick in my neck every morning."
Michael landed in the center of our group, and everyone fell silent. "We have at least three dozen demons we're dealing with. Several are inside. We'll first take care of the ones outside. There will most likely be casualties tonight, but if we have each other's backs, we won't see as many as they do." Michael looked around the group. "Now, let's go kill some demons!"
He took off around the side of the building and into a grassy area at the front. The others followed.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." My feet seemed to be cemented to the ground. Everyone else was headed out there with swords raised, and I was frozen.
"Deep breaths." Toby appeared in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders.
Toby didn't realize it, but he did the exact same thing back in the war on multiple occasions.
I shut my eyes and took several deep breaths before opening them again. I was a little calmer, but the feeling of dread still coursed through my veins. I don't know why I thought I would be suited to fight.
"You good?" He stepped away and unsheathed his sword.
"I'm never good." I pulled out my own sword and met Olly's concerned eyes. "Don't you dare look at me like that. Take care of yourself, angel baby. The second you worry about me out there, we're both dead men. Well, angels."
I took off after Toby. I was fairly certain that Reve was nearby, but he was incognito. It was a minor comfort that the demon we had grown to trust had our backs.
The area at the front of the building was already pure chaos. Demons that looked human, but clearly weren't judging from their fangs and blood running down their chins, were dodging our swords faster than humanly possible.
Angels were fast, but they weren't vampire fast.
I shouldn't have been surprised there were vampire demons. After all, I was an angel. Still, seeing one up close and personal was a mind fuck.
I rammed my sword into the gut of a nasty looking demon that looked like a science experiment gone horribly wrong. It had the body of a wolf, the tail of a serpent, and the head of a raven. It fell to the ground, and I swung my sword to take off its head.
Danica had wanted to come along for this shit show, yet the woman couldn't even kill a spider without squealing. She'd lose it seeing some of these demons.
"Ugh, guys?" Olly shouted over the sounds of dying demons and swords slicing through flesh and bone.
I turned in his direction. It was just like in the movies. The moment some crazy-ass monster appears, and everyone pauses because, holy fuck.
It was at least ten feet tall and looked like one of the rhinos from Ninja Turtles. Angels and demons alike dove out of the way as it barreled straight towards the Astronomers Monument. It must have thought the six astronomers depicted on it were actually people because it began punching Galileo in the face.
While it was occupied, Ferguson and Michael tried to incapacitate it. It wheeled around and sent them flying. With a roar mightier than any lion, it took off, charging after Ferguson. It seemed to set its sight on him like a missile aimed at a moving target.
Several of us joined Michael in following as Ferguson ran into the observatory, trying to get away from the beast of a demon. The doorway didn't stop it, it just ran straight through the metal and bronze doorway.
It roared as a piece of metal stuck from its arm. It pulled it out and threw it, knocking over anyone and anything in its path.
It was like a bull in a china shop. Things that weren't even in the rhino demon's way were somehow broken and sent crashing to the ground. Ferguson was running around the Foucault Pendulum in the center of the room.
The rhino motherfucker had his sights set on goring him up the ass. Every time he'd get close, he would lower his single horn and surge forward.
It was only a matter of time before the rhino figured out it could jump across the giant circular hole housing the ball of the pendulum.
"I'm going to jump on it," Olly shouted over the noise and moved closer.
I wanted to tell him to use some common sense. Jumping on the back of a pissed-off demon was idiotic, but just as I opened my mouth, the side door burst open, and more demons poured in.
Was this it? Was this how I was going to die for the third time? It was doubtful I'd be given another chance. Angels weren't like cats. We didn't get nine lives.
I took a few more demons out when I heard a man scream. Nothing was worse than hearing agony pour out of a fellow soldier's mouth. It was the antecedent of something really fucking bad.
I was on the far side of the room by the doors leading into the main planetarium. The irony of angels and demons fighting in a place that studied the sky was not lost on me.
The last demon near me went down with a thud, and I rushed forward towards the pendulum. What looked like gremlins were swarming over the sides and into the hole. More screams, this time frantic, erupted from inside of it. Someone was down there.
I backed up against the wall, my arms and legs not wanting to cooperate any longer. The sounds bombarded my ears until the only thing I could hear were the screams of agony. I slid down the wall to the ground and put my hands over my ears. I watched as Michael flew over the hole, trying to get into it and save whoever was down there.
My eyes darted around the room. I hadn't seen Toby or Reve since Galileo's head went flying and shattered into hundreds of plaster pieces. A panic set into my chest as I scanned the room for Olly. Headless demon bodies were scattered around, as well as a few downed angels.
"Stand back!" Michael's voice echoed through the rotunda. The hole the Foucault Pendulum was in lit up like a bonfire.
The shrieking of the gremlin-looking demons was deafening, and I covered my ears. I tried to get to my feet but was frozen with an unrelenting dread.
Demon heads and bodies were thrown in the fire.
"Asher? You doing all right?" Reve's voice came from next to me, and then he appeared. He looked fresh as a daisy.
"Olly," I managed to grit out. My mind was telling me to run away from this hell we had been thrown into, but my body wouldn't cooperate. I hadn't shut down like this since the day my lieutenant had his brains blown out right next to me during the liberation of a small town in Belgium.
"He's outside. The Behemoth took him for a little ride, but Olly killed it. You should have seen it! It was-"
A door burst open, and several vampires poured in. At least that's what they appeared to be.
Reve vanished and took one out from behind in a swift move that sent the head flying clear across the room. I hadn't seen Reve in action before, and it was something to behold. It was like the blades he was wielding were an extension of him as he sliced and diced the small cluster of vampires.
"Prince Reve?" A vampire stopped in its tracks, and its eyes went wide in recognition. He fell to his knees and lowered himself down in a submissive position in front of Reve.
What the actual fuck?
He hadn't told us outright that he was a prince, we just assumed. Hearing it from a demon's mouth was just another cluster fuck to add to the ever-growing pile.
"We thought you were dead."
Reve needed to kill the fucker before he jumped up and ripped out his throat.
"Why are you here?" Reve still had his knives ready but had relaxed slightly. I looked between him and the vampire.
I managed to pu
ll myself to my feet and put myself behind Reve. If he wasn't going to take out the vampire yet, I didn't want to be anywhere near it.
"She ordered us to." He looked up but avoided making eye contact with Reve. Instead, his eyes landed on me, and a chill ran up my spine.
"Why?"
Instead of answering, the vampire got a pained look on his face. He then dug into his chest with some kind of crazy hand strength and ripped out his heart. It was almost like he had been compelled to kill himself if captured. A cyanide pill would have done the trick. But then again, these were demons we were talking about.
I cringed as the body fell with a thud, and the heart, still beating, landed near Reve's boot.
"Fuck." Reve stabbed the heart, and blood pooled around it.
I was going to be sick.
I turned to find somewhere to vomit in peace. The fighting was over. Angels were scattered around the room. Some grabbed the limp bodies of other angels and went out the doors with them.
The smell of burning flesh hit me in the face as I staggered past the fire. Michael gave me a concerned look as I passed by him but didn't stop me.
I managed to make it outside the doors before hurling the contents of my stomach into a bush. Besides my retching, there was silence.
I braced my hand on the side of the building and turned my head to look for the others. Reve had stayed inside with Michael, but I hadn't spotted Toby or Olly yet.
Stumbling down the stone steps, I stopped to put my hands on my knees. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this job anymore and should hang up my wings. Heaven was one of the best retirement communities.
A pair of boots came into my line of vision. They had splatters of blood on them.
"Asher." Olly's voice was like music to my ears.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me up to my full height. He looked like he had taken a ride on a massive demon. His cuts and bruises were healing before my eyes.
He cupped my cheek, and I felt the familiar warmth spread through my body. I didn't know how he fucking did it. He was a miracle worker, keeping me sane when I should very well have been rocking myself back and forth in a padded room.
"You're going to drain yourself," I warned, clasping his wrist and trying to pull his hand away.
He grunted and slid his thumb over my bottom lip. "I'll be fine."
"You shouldn't have done that. That was stupid." I took in the sight outside. It was like a war zone. Piles of demons were being prepared to be burned.
"Where's Toby?"
"Making sure humans don't see what's going on here. He's fine."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
A cleanup crew arrived, and I watched in fascination as they made quick work of cleaning up the evidence that anything crazy had happened. Galileo was a goner, but vandals were always destroying shit; it wouldn't be entirely out of the ordinary.
"Gather round," Michael bellowed from the top of the steps.
Everyone looked worse for wear, with several angels missing. I couldn't quite figure out who. Toby came to stand on the side of me that Olly wasn't on and put a hand on my shoulder.
"We lost five tonight. Moore, Reed, Sullivan, Nguyen, and Ferguson." He paused and looked up at the sky. "We're going to need to step up the training at the academy. The attacks are only going to get worse."
The last place I wanted to be was at the academy. I desperately needed to take the edge off. So, instead of heading back right away, we went to my building to shower and change. Reve went to his place, Tobias to Danica's, and Olly and me to mine.
What I really wanted to do at some point was knock a hole in the floor and build stairs. It wouldn't be too difficult of a remodel.
I texted Danica that we were safe. She was probably still pissed that she didn't get to join in on the action. She could be mad all she wanted. Our job was to keep her safe.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Olly asked as the door shut behind Reve and Tobias. Three bathrooms was the perfect number for our family of five. I was determined to make the three separate living spaces one mega space.
"I said I was fine." I went to my liquor cabinet and pulled out a new bottle of whiskey. I heard Olly sigh from behind me.
I was trying to cut back, but it was hard. Life just kept throwing curve balls my way. And now, with being on that damned academy campus all the time, I was struggling to maintain my calm persona.
I laughed as I thought about describing myself as calm. I poured the whiskey into a glass, and the smell filled my nostrils. Even the smell was a comfort.
I felt him move close behind me as I braced one of my hands on the counter. He slid his arm around me and worked my belt buckle loose.
"You don't need to drink." His mouth was on my neck before I could pull away, and I shifted my head to the side.
I let out a breath and then brought the glass to my lips and took a sip. "Tell me what I need then."
My belt was undone, and then he was unbuttoning my pants. His breath was hot against my neck as he worked the zipper down. We were supposed to be showering, not messing around.
An image of him taking me against the counter flashed through my mind, and I shuddered as my dick gave a happy little jerk and came to life.
"People died tonight, Oliver." I groaned as he worked my pants down past my ass and pressed against me.
I could feel his hard length and braced my other hand on the counter, forgetting my drink for the time being.
"I know." He rubbed against me. One of his hands went over the top of mine, and he reached the other around and grabbed my cock. "I need a reminder that you're still here."
I turned my head to the side, and he kissed the corner of my mouth. My dick slid through his fist as I rocked my hips.
"Get on the counter."
I loved when he got bossy with me. He saved that side of himself for me, and it made my heart flutter. Yeah, he had me dick whipped. If there was such a thing.
I turned and jumped up. I kicked my boots off as he yanked his shirt over his head. My pants fell down my legs and gathered at my ankles. He slid his hands down to where the pants were stuck on my heels and took them off the rest of the way, along with my socks.
"Take off your shirt." I complied and sat bare on the cold counter with him looking at me with a hunger I hadn't seen in a while.
He took me in his mouth without any teasing and gripped me at the base. I groaned and buried my fingers in his hair. I had urged him to grow it out a little more so I would have more to hold onto, but he liked it short.
"Jesus, angel baby." I was nearly at the back of his throat and felt my balls tighten. He was sucking on me like it would be the last time he'd have a taste.
I leaned my head back against the shelf and willed myself to hold onto my load.
My dick popped out of his mouth, and he pulled me towards him as his wings spread. I may have squealed like a little girl as he flew us to the bed and dropped me in the center.
He removed his pants and settled between my legs.
"I want inside of you." His lips crashed into mine, and he rubbed against me. I slid my hands to his ass and dug my nails in.
"Not ready for that." I groaned as he lowered his lips to my nipple and swirled his tongue around it. "Are you ready?"
"You just want to be first." He bit my nipple, and I smacked the side of his head. "Ow!"
"You know I have really sensitive nipples."
He smirked and leaned down and kissed it before his hand gripped us both. "If you can handle my fingers, you can handle my dick."
I was pretty sure his dick was substantially bigger than his damn fingers. I bucked my hips against him then rolled us so I was on top. "Let me fuck you, Oliver."
"Such a nice way of phrasing that. Let me roll right over." He rolled his eyes and groaned as I reached down and stroked him between his balls and his tight hole.
He sure had gotten mouthy. Danica liked to give me a hard time about how I was corrupting innocent little Olly, but I was convince
d he was never that innocent to begin with.
"What would you prefer I say? Dearest Oliver. Let me make sweet man love to your ass?"
He chuckled and pinched my ass cheek. "Get the lube."
I reeled back and narrowed my eyes in suspicion. We always joked about going all the way but never ended up going through with it. It was a big step. It made me feel like such a virgin. Well, at least an ass virgin.
"You're serious?" I raised an eyebrow.
He cupped my cheek. "Either you're going to be inside me, or I'm going to be inside you."
"Fuck." I rolled off him and grabbed the lube from the bedside drawer. "Spread your legs."
He bit his lip and spread open for me. This was really fucking happening. My dick twitched in anticipation, and I damn near told it to calm the fuck down.
I worked my lubed finger inside of him and stroked his prostate. I could hardly wait until I could stroke it with my dick. I worked in a second finger and rolled him onto his side.
"Give it to me, Asher."
I was about to come from just his words.
I grabbed the bottle of lube and covered my dick in it before squirting some down his crack.
I scooted behind him and slowly eased in. He was so fucking tight, and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying out. Once his ass hit my thighs, I stopped and reached around to grip his dick.
"Is it okay?" The urge to pound him into the mattress was strong.
"It's amazing." He pushed back against me, and I took that as my cue to start moving.
I tried to take it slow, but before I knew it, I had him on his knees, my fingers digging into his hips to hold him in place.
He took over working his cock, his hand pumping faster than I had ever seen it move. We had waited too long for this.
The grunts coming out of his sweet little mouth sent me over the edge, and my balls tightened as my release slammed into me. Olly came with a grunt, and then we collapsed next to each other. I buried my face in between his shoulder blades.
Olly's shoulders started to shake, and my stomach dropped. "Did I hurt you?"
A laugh ripped out of him. "I landed in my own cum."
I groaned a laugh and sat up, looking down at him. "I love you. You know that, right?"