27. Together
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
TOGETHER
DEKE
“ N ot yet,” Aurora said in everyone’s head. Her eyes went unfocused, but she still spoke. “ Not yet .”
I had no clue what we were waiting for, but I knew we were running out of time.
The body-changing bastard approached. The temperature dropped rapidly until we could see our breath. Despite the fact there were no windows in the bunker, his hair whipped around in a breeze.
“Not yet.”
He stopped. That sewage-green smoke from our last battle surrounded him.
“Now!” Lilith and Aurora shouted at once.
Juno shot another blast of her red at him, but he was already frozen.
“What the hell?” Stellan asked.
An assist?
We didn’t have time to piece it together.
“The wards.” Aurora rubbed her head. “Lennon, you have to melt the wards from his bones.”
No one argued. If she was wrong, we died anyway. But if she was right?
Juno guided him as Lennon touched every spot with a ward. It had to hurt like fuck. His magicks was eating away at the bone. Melting it.
But the fucker didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink.
“That’s it,” Juno said, quickly scurrying back. “Let’s light this motherfucker up.”
Her red protection stayed in place as all four siblings blasted him with magicks.
He moved, taking a jerking step toward us.
And then he shriveled, his skin a rotted husk as it fluttered to the ground.
“That’s it?” Juno looked around to where the remaining Absolve members were empty, rapidly decaying corpses. “That can’t be it, right?”
“Maybe?” Denny said.
“No,” Aurora and Lilith said at the same time again.
“My intuition is telling me something else is happening here.” Lilith slowly approached the body. “What the hell is wrong with his eyes? Is he a cyborg?”
We rushed over to see.
The rest of his body was scorched earth, but his eyes remained the normal size. What wasn’t normal was the things floating in them.
“Worms? Was this whole thing because of brain worms?” Denny asked.
That fullness.
“Souls. Thousands of them.” I crouched down to look closer. Black, gray, golden, dimmed. Some stolen and some bartered. All of the pilfered or sacrificed souls were in his being. And once he died, the windows to the soul…
That stupid fucking saying strikes again.
“I tried to send a message to Levi, but I don’t think it’ll go through from down here. Hopefully, I have War to Satan roaming because I really don’t want to touch those.”
“That’s fine. We’ll take them.”
We whipped around.
For the love of ? —
“Angels,” Lilith said.
Two of them stood in the now open doorway. Both looked to be men in their late thirties, but neither was true.
They weren’t men.
And they were much, much older.
“We were sent to retrieve the souls.” Wearing a burgundy suit, he styled his black hair like Elvis. He gave a kind and peaceful smile as he held a hand out.
The other was dressed much less formal in ripped jeans, a cut tee, and scuffed leather boots.
They were angels but… not.
I scooped the eyeballs up and was grateful they didn’t feel like eyeballs. Instead, it was like marbles in my palm. “We’re set.”
“You can’t keep those, Dubhloach. You know that.”
“And you can’t have them, fallen angels.”
It was a guess I tossed out because the greedy, lustful way the one in the casual clothes was eyeing the death and destruction in the room was far from fucking heavenly.
Aurora’s expression of pure awe fell to stark terror.
“Fuck.” Suit angel let out a long groan. “First, we had to deal with that bastard for centuries. Do you know how annoying it is to spend time with someone who always thinks they’re the smartest person in the room? Of course, you do. He made you sit through his villain monologue so you’d understand how intelligent he was before you died. Now imagine dealing with that for centuries. We’re literal angels. I’m the one who told him about how powerful souls were. An angel from Heaven with a divine order to create Absolve. But did he just obey? No. He had to make everything so damn convoluted so he could prove how clever he was. He warded his body to make sure we didn’t cut him out once we had enough souls for paradise. Which, yes, fine, was the plan, but still. It was a frustrating obstacle. And thanks to all that preservation, he knew he couldn’t harness your souls until he’d gained enough power, or they would rip him apart. It took forever . When we were still in Heaven was one thing. It felt like a few months for us, so no biggie. But now that we’ve been banished here? Human Earth is Hell. And…” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Look at me. Doing a damn soliloquy myself.” He shrugged. “Whatever. You took care of him and his warding in the wall, so thanks for doing us that solid. And he came through in the end by finding you. The great and wonderful Four. Hand over the souls—the ones in the eyes and your own—and we’ll uphold that deal he offered. We’ll let you live in our new paradise.”
“Isn’t that just Heaven?” Juno asked.
“Fuck no.” Anger pinched casual one’s face. “You of all people should get that, War. Created to help humans who would rather kill themselves and each other. Cursed to live amongst them. Forced to serve them. Your entire purpose is stopping those hairless primates from pressing the self-destruct button. And for what?” He threw an arm out toward the devastation, his eyes going hooded. “For them to trade their eternal afterlife for a few years of authority or money or pussy or whatever.”
The other angel held out his hand again. “With those souls and yours, we’ll finally have enough power. Humans want to wipe each other out? Perfect. We’ll hasten the process. Once God’s pet project is flushed down the toilet where it belongs, we’ll turn Earth into a utopia. A place for angels to live in peace and not in service to ungrateful morons.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Juno lifted her arms into a defensive pose.
Lennon, Nate, and I followed.
Casual one grinned and readjusted himself. “Then your fate will match theirs.”
They both pushed outward, and a wave of the magicks rushed through the air hard enough to knock us on our asses. Green and brown, mixing to make the disgusting magicks John Wilmot and Joseph Martin had used.
Angels had powers, but nothing like that. Nothing that should’ve been transferable or that powerful.
But thanks to the souls, who knew what they could do.
And who knew what they would be capable of if they got ours.
“Last chance,” the suited one said as we climbed to our feet. “Join our side voluntarily or lose your souls and die regardless.”
At our silence, they locked eyes and shrugged.
That time when they launched their magicks, we were waiting. We met it with our own.
Gray.
Red.
Blue.
And dark green.
All four came together to hit against theirs. Pushing. Resisting. Fighting. But it wasn’t enough.
Slowly, we began to lose coverage as theirs jammed ours back. Overpowering ours.
Overpowering us .
And unlike with whatever his name was, it wouldn’t be a noble sacrifice of our lives to take him out, too. We would be gone, and the angels’ plan would go unchecked.
Tapping into everything, we struggled forward. I thought about Aurora. How I finally had her.
How I was nowhere near ready to part from her.
“My one, come here.”
She hurried over and wrapped her hand with mine like before. Gold infused my green, and she gasped. “Together like my gift has been trying to tell me.”
The others followed suit. Silver and gray. Navy with red. Purple and blue.
We gained more, but it was temporary. They were angels. Soul-sucking angels. They got the advantage back as quickly as they’d lost it.
Fuck.
Fucking hell, we’re gonna die down here. In a bunker under a damn tourist trap.
Puke green had nearly wiped out all traces of our vibrant color. I could feel the sludge of their magicks. The weight of their malevolence. It burned my palm.
I didn’t want to admit defeat. I knew my siblings felt the same. But whether we were ready or not, it was about to be over.
“I love you, my one,” I forced out, channeling everything I had into my words and my magicks.
My siblings and their mates spoke, but I only heard Aurora.
“In just a short time, you already gave me more than I thought I’d have in life. If I die now, I do it happy.” She choked on a sob. “I love you.”
I closed my eyes and waited, feeling peace in my soul.
Feeling whole .
For a moment, I thought I heard music over the clashing magicks.
“And I also love you, even if you’re not my daughter. And before you turn your green smoke my way, big guy, I love all of you like you were my children. Even though you’re not. We can still play a nice game of catch, though, sport.”
I’m dead, and Levi is taunting me.
My lids snapped open, and a glittery white was added to ours.
“We have the power of souls,” one of the angels said.
Levi yawned like he was bored. “Okay, and? I have the power of big dick energy, and you don’t see me bragging.”
“Yes, you do,” Juno said. “All the time. I’m pretty sure you’d put it on a Christmas card if you could.”
“I could, and I will. The stocking isn’t the only thing hung.” His white surged. “Thanks for the idea.”
“Choose your side wisely, Levi,” the angel continued screaming over the buzz and crackle of the warring magicks. “Or we might come for Hell next.”
“Please, do. I’m up to my giant dick in paperwork.” He turned to face Juno but still aimed his magicks across the room. “Hmm, I guess you’re right. I do talk about it a lot. It’s like a parent with their kid. I’m just so proud.”
“Once again, you don’t have kids,” another voice joined in, adding his glittery white magicks.
The brown and green receded momentarily as one of them gasped. “Uriel. What’re you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same, Asbeel and Azazel.”
“Oh, it’s so obvious,” Juno called. “Asbeel eye-fucking the carnage as the angel of destruction, and Azazel the angel of death and fetching souls. Nate, he’s like your Bizarro World twin.”
Nate just grunted, sending more gray.
Juno kept talking like we weren’t in the middle of a battle for humanity. “Remember when those fuckers broke into your house? This is who they were talking about. A and Z. Phew, that unsolved mystery would’ve driven me crazy.”
“You’re not supposed to be down here,” Azazel said to Uriel, ignoring us. “You’re forbidden from getting involved in these matters.”
“The universe demands balance,” a booming voice echoed around.
“M-Michael,” Azazel stammered.
I expected one burst of shimmery white.
There were three.
I glanced to the side to see Michael was joined by two other angels—Raphael and Chamuel. Contrary to what Juno had said about her stoner angel, he looked as fierce and angry as the others.
“You physically got involved,” Michael said, his words carrying like they were being played through surround sound speakers. “Which opened the door for us to do the same. Balance. And you must know, Azazel and Asbeel, there is no winning here.”
The fallen angels didn’t give up.
“Your powers are tainted by evil,” Michael’s voice continued over all the clashing. “ Poison . Even if you manage to defeat us, it will rot you from the inside. There will be no paradise. You will decay before you see your selfish plan to fruition.”
A and Z pushed on, Asbeel shouting, “The souls will heal us. Fuel us. Power?—”
Another, grander burst of white interrupted him as it joined our side. It burst through the darkened room, reflecting and shimmering like a thousand tiny crystals catching the sunlight.
“You can’t be here!” Azazel screamed, panic lacing his words. “They’re not yours. This has nothing to do with you. Why’re you here?”
He didn’t have the chance to hear an answer.
Gray, silver, red, navy, blue, purple, green, gold, and glittery white came together. It didn’t mix to blend into one sludge color like the other side. It swirled, each component its own important piece. Individual and vital, working together.
Like The Four and our mates.
The smoke stoked. Inflated and deflated as life was breathed into it. It crept over the greenish brown, eating away at it until none remained. And then it swept over the two fallen angels.
Shrouded in the tapestry smoke, Asbeel’s eyes were lit with glee. It didn’t matter that the destruction was his own—he got off on it either way.
But Azazel’s gaze was pleading. His voice echoed through the torrent of smoke, “Brothers, please. There is so much evil in humankind. So many souls going to Hell. You need me. Please?—”
His words were cut off as the technicolor magicks swallowed them completely.
And they disappeared.
It’s over.
It’s actually fucking over.
Stunned frozen, no one moved. It was like we didn’t believe it was done. Or we were afraid that moving would bring about the next disaster.
We waited for another shoe to not just drop but for it to be torpedoed at us.
It didn’t come.
“I’ve never been down to Earth,” Chamuel said, breaking the heavy silence. “Does it always smell like this?”
He was answered with a mix of yeses and nos.
“The souls,” the mystery angel said in a soothing voice that filled the room with peace. He held out his hand.
I looked at Uriel, who lifted his chin. I handed them over.
“I hope to see some of you again.” He scanned the room, but his eyes seemed to pause on Aurora. “Very soon.”
And then he was gone.
“Who was that?” Juno asked. “He gave me nothing to go on.”
“Gabriel.” Michael glared at the spot where his brother had been. “That self-important ass.” He paused and wiggled his tongue. “Oh, no wonder the defectors use such filthy language. That feels wild. Ass. Shit. Fuck.” His eyes lit. “That one is my favorite.”
“So,” Chamuel drawled as he grinned at Juno. “I’ve heard tales of houses internationally that are made of pancakes.”
She burst his bubble. “Not literally.”
“So the ones made of waffle…” At her headshake, he deflated. “Then I’m heading back where I belong.”
I moved to my mate just as Uriel did. His eyes darted between us and the flames in his hair sparked brighter. “I’m happy to see the light in you, Aurora. Beautiful. Just beautiful.”
He and the others disappeared until only Michael and Levi remained.
“I never would’ve imagined that together included angels. Or that evil did, either.” Aurora shook her head and looked at me. “What did you mean about your humanity? And how did you do… whatever you did?”
“I’ve lived for a long time as just a human while I neglected my magicks. It led to a surplus of humanity. I was able to use it to fill the ones who weren’t completely void yet. Speaking of…” I turned to Michael. “What will happen to the souls?”
“The stolen ones will be sent to their rightful afterlife,” he said. “The bartered ones, given freely for greed and clout, will be disposed of.”
“What I’d like to know…” Levi turned to point out the door. “Which one of you brought a dog to a magicks battle?”
Aurora’s head snapped to look. “A dog?”
“Yes. Short legs, big bark, fluffy ass. Nearly bit my ankles off.” He flicked his wrist, and a door opened to let Victoria come bounding in. “I’m surprised she didn’t scratch through the concrete to get to you.”
“She must’ve already done that to our door to get to Aurora,” I said, releasing my mate just long enough for her to scoop the dog up. I ran my fingers through her fur and apologized. “Sorry for calling you Demon Dog all this time.”
“My demons do pant and hump things a lot,” Levi said with a head tilt.
Aurora buried her face in her fur before looking at Levi and Michael. “Do I have a gift with animals or something?”
“Yes,” Michael answered. “But not a magicks one. Animals are intelligent?—”
“Far more than people,” Levi muttered.
“They’re drawn to light. Your pure soul.” Michael scanned the room. “We will be in touch soon.”
Then they were gone, too.
“Angels,” Aurora whispered. “Those were actual archangels. And Levi’s magicks matches theirs because he really isn’t resentful evil incarnate. And one called me beautiful. Not a sinner. Not a heathen. Not an abomination.” She squeezed her body into mine and looked up, sharing her joy with me. “Other than when you tell me you love me or want me or call me your one or… Basically, outside of anything with you, that was the nicest compliment I’ve ever gotten.”
“I’m glad, my one.”
“Yup, that’s still better.”
“Is it actually over?” Denny asked, her body plastered to Nate’s in a similar way. “It doesn’t seem possible.”
He cupped her cheek and tilted her head. “It’s over with Absolve and those fallen angels. But there will always be evil who try to use black magicks to gain power.”
“Oh. That’s depressing.”
“But we will fight it together.”
“That’s less depressing.”
“And for now, I am taking you home.”
“That’s the least depressing.”
“Good because I intend…” The rest of Nate’s words went too quiet to hear before he teleported her out.
Lilith and Lennon left with barely a goodbye.
I heard Stellan say, “Poof us home, pixie, or I’m dragging you out of here in handcuffs.”
“Promises, promises, Detective,” Juno whispered as they disappeared.
Aurora tilted her head. “Take me home.”
“Anything, my love.”
When I did, it wasn’t to the apartment. It was to the entryway of our little cabin in the woods.
“I missed it here,” she breathed, that small smile on her face. The one that said she was at peace.
Content.
Full.
But not as full as I needed her to be.
Taking Victoria from her arms, I set her guard dog—who was no longer a Demon Dog—down before backing Aurora against the door. “You know, I never did fuck you against this door.”
Her arms wrapped around my shoulders as she pushed onto her toes. “It’s not too late.”
I didn’t bother undressing her. I pulled a page from Levi’s book and used my magicks.
Lifting her into my arms, I pinned her between my body and the wooden door. I positioned her at the tip of my cock but kept her planted there, loving the little moans she made as she tried to move.
“Centuries of darkness, my love, and all of it was worth it for you. You are more than my wildest fantasies. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She licked her bottom lip and peered up at me with gorgeous eyes. One black as night. One the morning sky. “But I’m so empty.”
Using my hold, I slammed her down.
After all, that was my purpose.
Keeping my mate full .