Chapter 38 – Jessica
“A choo!”
I cover my mouth, then scrunch up my itchy nose. Dust motes swirl around me, mocking me.
“Sariel, this house is…” Itha opens and closes his mouth a few times, clearly at a loss for words.
“Like a frat house,” I supply. “How is your apartment in Marseille so clean and this house so cluttered and dusty?”
The angel in question smirks, though he does seem a bit embarrassed. “I’ve had the same cleaning company on retainer for twenty years there. I threw all the servants out of this house when we lost Armaros.”
I suppress the urge to sneeze again and bury my nose in Sariel’s chest instead. “I’m sorry,” I murmur into it.
My black-haired angel wraps his arms around me just as Ithuriel hugs us from behind. Mmm, I think I had a dream like this once.
“Not your fault, buttercup,” Sariel says into my hair. I can hear him take a deep whiff of my shampoo. “I should have had them come back or borrowed some from Father before I brought you here.”
We just spent a few days in Purgatory, talking to the prisoners Aim brought Below, and attending Council meetings under its mountains. It didn’t take long for Sariel to have enough of being there, though, and suggested we relocate to Ashtaroth’s home. Naturally, Ithuriel was vehemently against it. That’s how we ended up in Sariel’s Lethe villa before it was completely habitable.
“Alright,” I say, infusing my voice with optimism. I look up at Sariel. “Bring us lots of cleaning supplies, bad boy. And storage boxes!”
The male’s coal-black eyes blink at me with confusion. “You’re gonna clean my house?”
I grin at the sexy troublemaker. “ We’re going to clean our home,” I emphasize.
Sariel gives me an irreverent grin. “Right,” he says. “Have I told you I love you recently?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Actually, I’m not sure you ever told me you love me.” I look back at Ithuriel. “Either of you. But that’s okay since I know you do.”
Itha’s eyes open to a comical degree. “I cannot believe I never told you how much I love you, dear heart.”
Sariel squeezes me against him. “Well, I suck, and not in a good way.” He kisses the top of my head. “I love you, poppet.”
Sighing, I nuzzle against one of my men while the other kisses my neck. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.
When I feel Itha hardening against my ass, I wriggle out of their embrace. “Oh, no, we’re cleaning, not fucking.” The angel blushes and looks at the dusty ground. I almost feel bad for calling him out like that. But still… “I’m not getting naked until this place smells less like teenage boy,” I vow.
∞∞∞
We’ve been back in Hell for a couple of weeks now and I finally got my men to let me go patrol without them. Sariel especially doesn’t understand the sense of duty I feel in doing the job I was brought to the Underworld for – making sure evil souls don’t multiply so much that they spill over and threaten humans.
See, as the population of humans grows exponentially, so does the number of souls who get sent down to Hell for their eternal punishment. Where too many evil souls exist, they eventually gain shape. It’s not humanoid or completely tangible – more like a cloud of acid rain on steroids. It got so bad a few years ago that these blobs started accidentally entering into rifts and gates and endangering humans. Now, people like me are here to cull the numbers, make sure our loved ones are safe.
“I thought Maalik was going to throw a wobbly when you said you were off to live with your Fallen,” Ethan cackles. His accent has lessened somewhat over the years, but I love when it comes out to play. I laugh now, thinking of our mentor’s faces when I said I’d be moving out like Lana and Kevin did.
“I’m convinced they think our team is cursed,” Liam adds. He’s back in fighting shape and was super sad to have missed out on all the action. I’d have told him that at least he didn’t have to swim in a river of shit but… I rather keep that to myself.
I giggle at the thought of our team being cursed to fall in love with the Underworld’s residents. “Maybe you’re next,” I say and elbow the other Nephilim in the ribs. “Or maybe it’s you, Akira,” I say to our silent companion, a loanee from another team – we’re always a few short these days.
The Japanese man grunts and throws me an irritated look before focusing back on our surroundings.
“I think he likes you,” Ethan whisper-shouts. “He never speaks that much to me.”
I snort at the joke but try to compose myself and pay more attention to what I’m doing lest I walk straight into a demonic minion’s open maw. I have to admit that I’m not entirely focused on this mission – when I’m not gossiping with the boys, whom I missed these months away from Purgatory, I’m thinking of how much I’m missing my own boys. Maybe I need to make them start patrolling with me?
“So, do you think the powers that be will allow us to visit Above every now and again if we’re good little boys and girls?” Ethan asks, linking an arm with mine. “It’s going on half a decade since I had proper greasy fish and chips.”
I smile fondly at him. “I don’t see why not,” I say. “As long as we don’t go flaunting our supernatural status and keep doing our jobs, which, let’s face it, has been a lot easier with Belial out of the way with his mischief-making ways.”
“I’m afraid to go up there and find myself not wanting to come back here,” Liam muses.
“They would send the hounds,” Akira says, gracing us with his rarely-heard wisdom.
“Yeah,” Ethan snorts. “The hounds’ names being Maalik, Ramel, Corson…” We all have a good laugh at that.
After a while, I spin and take in our surroundings. We’ve patrolled this area before. Spindly, dead trees surround us and mist swirls around our legs. I know things have calmed down since Belial was apprehended but to not have met a single soul manifestation in hours?
“What is it, Jess?” Liam asks after placing a bracing hand on my shoulder. Of our team, he’s always been the most in tune with our moods.
“I don’t know,” I murmur, rubbing the back of my neck. “Just a weird feeling. It’s so quiet.”
“Too quiet, perhaps,” Akira adds.
Ethan steps in front of me. “Want to call it a day?”
Worrying my bottom lip with my teeth, I hesitate and second-guess myself. Am I just imagining things? Finally, I nod my head, slumping my shoulders.
“Yeah. Let’s go,” I say. “We should be home in… Ethan, watch out!”
Something sails through the air, whistling as it goes, straight for Ethan’s back and me behind him. We both jump to the side, each in our own direction. Ethan’s grunt echoes my own as we hit the ground with a thud, followed by a hissed curse from a usually mild-tempered Liam.
“Fuck, I just got over an injury,” he growls. Looking up, I see that he’s pressing a hand over a bleeding wound on his other biceps.
“What the fudging fudge was that?” Ethan gasps and I crawl over to where the object came to a standstill on the ground.
“It’s a hatchet,” I murmur, inspecting the small axe.
“Where did it come from?” Ethan asks inanely. He gets to his feet and brushes the debris off his leathers.
“Be quiet and arm yourselves,” Akira commands, the voice of reason.
“At least one of them isn’t a complete idiot,” a voice sounds from the trees. I freeze for a moment, then spring into action, unsheathing my scimitar and a dagger to boot, then dropping into a defensive position.
“Who’s there?” Ethan asks, slowly backing up until we’re covering each other’s backs.
A tongue clicks as shadows turn solid and we see we’re surrounded by half a dozen demons. These are no mindless minions; they could pass for humans if it wasn’t for the power emanating from them. We’re outgunned.
“This is who the Council chose?” a female demon asks with a mocking lilt. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t feel confident in their decisions.”
“No, Sythra,” a male demon replies. “They really have lost their touch over the years.”
“Are you planning to talk us to death or will you tell us why you’re crossing our paths?” Ethan grumbles. I press against him in warning – I don’t think it’s wise to antagonize these demons with their disregard for the Council so apparent. The motion isn’t lost on the female demon. She smirks at me and exchanges a look with her male friend. I really don’t like this.
“We aren’t planning to talk you to death, no,” a third demon says. He’s male and chillingly handsome with pale blue eyes and long dark hair, his face narrow and refined. When his eyes lock with mine, I feel frozen on the spot, like a deer in the headlights. “Andras sends his regards,” he tells me.
My blood comes to a standstill as pins and needles travel from the top of my scalp all the way down to my toes. Adrenaline floods my veins and my heart starts whooshing in my ears.
“He has a message for you,” the demoness purrs. Her blood red hair sways at her waist as she sashays closer with a wide grin.
“What’s the message?” I croak, my throat clicking when I attempt to swallow the lump in it.
The handsome demon’s lips gently curve into an insincere smile. Before I can blink, he disappears, reappearing behind Liam, a sword to his neck.
“Oh, goodie, no more talking,” Sythra the demoness says with a wild grin.
Fucked. We’re fucked.