Chapter 13
13
CAHUANI
C ahuani met Xaphan and Acheron near the boathouse behind the main house. The two demons had answered his summons almost at once. Although they could’ve met in his room, he decided he needed some air, so rather than lead them into the boathouse, he made his way toward the tree line. He got several feet beyond it before he turned to look at them.
“What was wrong with the boathouse?” Xaphan asked.
“Saw a couple of folks go in there a bit ago,” Cahuani said with a shrug. “Didn’t wanna disturb ’em. Or vice versa.”
Xaphan chuckled, leaning against a tree. “So what’s up? What have we got?”
Although the demons were still in human form, Cahuani allowed his own eyes to see them for what they were, two hulking forms, one onyx and one stone gray, with vast horns that mirrored those of their creators. Xaphan’s horns resembled an enlarged version of a ram’s, spiraling around themselves twice like a screw. Just like Pride’s. Acheron’s, a vast rack of thick antlers like those of an elk, mirrored Sloth’s.
“We need to do this tonight,” Cahuani said bluntly, though not aloud. They couldn’t be too careful now. “Before the viewing.”
“Why? What happened?” Xaphan questioned, following Cahuani’s lead.
“It seems that Michael and my son may have... hidden motives for their presence here, and it’s best we get the chalice as soon as possible just in case.”
The two demons gave Cahuani a puzzled look, no doubt seeking a better explanation. They deserved one, too, but it was difficult to repeat. To do so meant to continually confront the fact that his son, who he had loved and raised, loathed him. And loathed him enough to kill him.
“You think they’re gonna start some shit?” Xaphan asked gently, seemingly reading the struggle on his face. “Did your little angel say something?”
“She said Anthony’s been calling Michael. She doesn’t know if Michael’s answered, but ? —”
“So they’re breaking the treaty, right?” Acheron asked. “That’s it?”
“If I call the Puri and they come up here, it could all be a trap. And if that’s the case...” Cahuani bit his lip, looking down at the ground. “I promised Tlalli I would help her escape. I cannot jeopardize that on a hunch. So we get the chalice before the viewing, then we keep up the ruse until the auction closes. Then, at least if we have to get clear of Orfani quickly, we don’t gotta worry about it... And if you’re worried about Tlalli ? —”
“Hey, look, I trust you,” Xaphan immediately cut in. “So if you trust her, that’s enough for me. It would be enough for Greed too.”
Cahuani grunted. Greed was not his creator but was more than Cahuani’s employer. They were friends, family, kindred spirits. And Greed owned his soul. Cahuani had handed it over shortly after his wife passed as a means of ensuring he could help the cause even if his mortal body died. He didn’t want to fade away. He wanted to fight. He wanted revenge for the loss of his son.
By giving Greed his soul, Cahuani gave the Puri an eternal soldier and gained life after death. It wasn’t quite the immortality that the angels had. He would still have to endure whatever death awaited him, and his soul would have to go through the painful transition into something demonic. Sloth would construct him a new vessel, and though it might be nearly identical to the body he inhabited now, it would be different too. And of course, his Nahualtin magic, including his second form, would be lost. He would inherit the magic of the Puri, and while that was surely nothing to scoff at, his loss would indeed be tremendous. He would still be able to shapeshift, but it wouldn’t be the same. His ancestral magic tied him to this land, his ancestors, his people. And as far as he knew, that wasn’t something that could be preserved.
But now was not the time to think about that. His next life was a long way off, and he still had more years to look forward to than any of the Orfani—so long as the angels didn’t kill him at least.
“So before the viewing, then?” Acheron asked, signaling his agreement.
“Yeah, that way the angels will see the replica and think it’s still there. Once the viewing passes, who knows what they’ll do or when they’ll do it.”
“And if something does happen?” Acheron’s voice grew quieter in Cahuani’s head. “Like... let’s say they already set a trap for when we make a move.”
“Then you send out a signal, and I’ll come for you,” Xaphan assured him, gripping his shoulder. “And Cahuani, you get Tlalli out of here.”
Cahuani quickly shook his head. “I can’t leave y’all here. I ? —”
“You’re not leaving us. You’re taking another role in the backup plan. We’ll get the angels away from here. You get her away from them. You keep your promise. Because the moment they know she’s betrayed them, she becomes a liability.”
Cahuani could not argue with that, and Tlalli had already said she didn’t want to be on anyone’s side right now. She just needed out. And he had promised her that.
At last, he nodded, and Xaphan gripped Cahuani’s shoulder too. The three of them stared between one another. Cahuani could see it in their eyes: they wanted to ask about Anthony. And Cahuani wanted to ask too. He wanted to plead for his son’s life just as much as he wanted to grant them permission to do what they had to, but he could not bring himself to do either.
When the time came to make a decision, Cahuani would remind himself that Anthony had already made his. And if he was willing to start a war, he was already a liability. And even if he weren’t, he was already lost. There was no more protecting him.
“All right, just make sure we stay in touch,” Cahuani concluded, turning to look back toward the house.
The mansion spread out before them, the sun sinking at its back, the world feeling so much smaller than it ever had. Though Cahuani had always known in his heart that he would one day have to face Anthony, he had kept the thought at bay, telling himself it would be years before they saw each other on a battlefield. Now that he knew his son was set on accelerating that engagement, he doubted he could hold it off for much longer himself.
He didn’t want to have to kill Anthony, but he knew whether he’d have to was up to Anthony. And if the demons had to, Cahuani would not fault them. Instead, he would be grateful that Anthony’s death did not have to be at his own hand. He could be petty. He could be vengeful. He could even be callous. But he did not wish to take the life he had created only by the grace of his creator. It would be more an insult to them—and to Aliyah—than to the angels anyway.
Once the sun was fully eclipsed by the house, the three headed back up the sloping grounds to prepare for the viewing. And the heist.
As they understood it, items of a magical disposition were viewed separately from those that were shown earlier in the day. Cahuani could not be certain what other niche items would be present at this viewing, but he didn’t dwell on it too long. He was only concerned with the Noli Oblivisci.
Yet even after Acheron retrieved the chalice, the trio would have to attend the viewing so as to keep up appearances, meaning Cahuani would have to see both Anthony and Tlalli, and he would have to give nothing away. Usually, stoicism came easy to him. However, every time he thought of Tlalli now, he thought of her mouth around his dick and her legs around his neck. Meaning this was gonna take some effort on his part. He’d never had to look his son in the face and pretend he wasn’t fucking his ex-girlfriend.
They reached Cahuani’s suite just forty-five minutes before the viewing.
“Can you feel it already?” Xaphan asked.
“Yeah,” Acheron said. “This won’t take long at all. I’ll meet y’all downstairs once it’s secured.”
Cahuani wasn’t entirely sure how the magic worked, but he knew Acheron would be able to conceal the chalice once he had it without having to leave the estate, and after that, the only ones who would be able to find it would be him and Sloth.
“You send the signal if there’s any trouble, all right?” Xaphan asked. Acheron nodded, but Xaphan kept his gaze, the way Cahuani used to keep Anthony’s when he needed to make sure his words landed. “I mean it, Acheron. Do not try to take on an angel here. Especially Elias. He looks fragile in his human skin, but he’s even older than we are, so ? —”
“I got it, I promise.”
The two nodded to each other, and Acheron disappeared into nothing.
Cahuani moved to the mirror, straightening his tie.
“So what is it with this girl anyway?” Xaphan asked, plopping down on the couch with his flask. “I mean I know she was dating your boy or whatever, but... You don’t hate her?”
Cahuani smirked at his own reflection before turning to face the demon. “Naw, I... It’s hard to explain. I guess I can see that she really wants to change, you know?”
“Yeah, but you genuinely care about her. I can feel that. Is it just because you’re from the same people?”
“To some extent, I guess, but... When she was living in my house, there were nights where I couldn’t sleep, and I’d come downstairs, and she’d be sitting in the kitchen. We would talk, and although I know she lied about what she was doing there, I don’t think she lied about everything else. Don’t get me wrong. I’m angry that she made me care despite knowing what she was gonna do, but...” He shrugged his shoulders while picking his hat up from the coffee table. “She’d just lost her mother, and I was fighting to keep my son. I never told her that. I think if I had, I couldn’t forgive her now, but we bonded over that fear of losing the connection to our ancestors, to the land.”
“Did you know she was an angel then?”
“Oh, yeah. I mean, I wasn’t sure she could tell I knew, but I could see it. She never used that magic in my house though, at least not in front of me. She used our magic, Nahualli magic.”
“Don’t the angels forbid that?”
They both exchanged an unimpressed look before Xaphan laughed at his own question.
“They do tend to make exceptions when it benefits them, huh?”
“Well, at the very least they turn the other cheek.” Cahuani put his hat on his head and gestured toward the door. “All right, let’s go. We should get to the lobby the same time as Acheron.”
“Yeah, but hold up.”
Xaphan approached him, holding out something. It was a coin, large and gold, and there were distinct markings etched into each side. Although he’d never used one, Cahuani immediately knew what it was. It was a ticket straight to Hell.
“If you and Tlalli need to get out, you use this and get back to the Puri,” Xaphan said. “We’ll handle the angels until they send backup.”
“And you think they’ll let a rogue angel into Hell?” Or any angel for that matter. To take an angel into Hell or a devil into Heaven was considered an act of war, and that wasn’t just during the auction. It was part of the larger treaty that was to be honored at all times, even in demon strongholds and other places mortals were aware of divine existence. A treaty the angels of course had broken on multiple occasions. Cahuani wondered why they negotiated truces at all anymore.
The Puri had never fully retaliated however, at least not yet, and Cahuani wasn’t sure why.
Nonetheless, while the universal rule did specify that it was only disallowed if the move was “against the will of the being,” Cahuani knew better than to believe the angels would believe this consensual. And Tlalli would not be there to tell them otherwise, even if there was a chance they would believe her.
“If she’s in danger of being attacked by angels? Yes, they will,” Xaphan answered. “If an angel wants out, the Puri take their word for it.”
“And they always just accept angels?”
Xaphan smirked. “They were angels once, remember? They fell too.”
Cahuani could not argue that. He nodded, taking the coin and placing it carefully in his breast pocket. The words that would activate its transport magic tickled the underside of his tongue.
As they boarded the elevator, nervous energy flooded his system, the lights too bright and the bell too loud. He began to crack his knuckles, but before he could start to count, Tlalli’s voice filled his head. It was a much sweeter sound than his own voice.
“Everything good, Papa Bear?”
She could no doubt feel his emotions the moment she reached for him, her magic transmitting them like a song over a radio, and although he lacked such capability, he need not feel hers. He could hear the concern baked into her words.
“Yeah, everything is good,” he managed after a moment. “I’m on my way down. Where is Anthony?”
“He’s right here.” Concern was replaced by annoyance. “But Elias hasn’t come down yet, so just make sure Acheron stays alert.”
Cahuani disengaged her long enough to send a quick message to Acheron, letting him know they did not have eyes on Elias. Just as he finished, Tlalli reached out again.
“How long ’til you get here?”
He smiled. “Why? You miss me?”
“If you want me to behave tonight, you won’t make me answer that.”
“I don’t see how one has to do with the other. I asked a simple question.”
“You don’t ask simple questions, Cahuani. You don’t know how.”
“Now that’s a damn lie. I absolutely can.”
“Then prove it, because that wasn’t one.”
“What color panties are you wearing?”
She went quiet, and at first, he assumed she was just giving him the cold shoulder now to avoid the question. But just as they reached the first floor, her voice filled his head again.
“None now. But you might wanna check your little pocket square in whatever suit you’ve decided to torture me with tonight.”
He paused, knitting his brows together, before cautiously looking down at the aforementioned pocket. He expected to see his neatly tucked red pocket square, and for a moment, he thought he did, but the longer he looked at it, the better he knew.
He laughed inside and out, ignoring Xaphan’s side glance and raised brow.
“How did you know what I’d wear?” he questioned.
“It’s the last viewing, and you’re supposed to be a distraction. Not just for me either. I knew you’d want to look and feel your best, so . . . A suit with a pocket square.”
His mind whirled with the question of how she knew any of that, how she could be so sure of herself, how she could know him so well. But he had no idea how to express that, so instead, he said, “The power dynamics of this connection are severely unfair. And I got the short end of the stick.”
“Does that mean I get the long end?” she purred.
He smirked and licked his lips, patting his pocket. “I guess we’ll see later. I’ll see you in a minute.”
“Well, act like you don’t. For both our sakes.”
“I got you.”
“Yo, I know you weren’t just mind sexting right next to me,” Xaphan grunted as the doors opened.
Cahuani merely smiled wider and patted Xaphan’s shoulder before stepping out into the lobby.