Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Ethan couldn't quite make sense of what was happening. One minute, he was about to lose his virginity, and the next, Mal was confessing his love, and now his demon was laughing uncontrollably and his horns were gone.
And Ethan was pretty sure he hadn't meant to make them disappear.
"Mal..." Ethan touched Mal's face, wondering whether he should be panicking.
"I'm okay, I swear." Mal wiped his eyes with the heel of his palm. "Just trying to process this."
He took Ethan's hands, his expression growing serious. Then he leaned forward and kissed him, soft and slow. A kiss that made Ethan's head spin. "I love you," he said once again, as if it explained everything. Then he reached for Ethan's discarded shirt. "Put this back on."
"I don't understand."
"If I know anything about Hell, we're not going to be alone for much longer."
Those words did make Ethan hurry to shrug his shirt back on, and then his pants while he listened to Mal explain.
"Whatever just happened to me will have pinged someone's radar," Mal said while buttoning his own shirt. "I don't know what they'll do, but you should get away from me while you can."
"No." Ethan stood his ground. "I'm not going anywhere without you."
Mal gave him a long, considering look, but eventually, his features softened. "No, I suppose you're not." His smile held a trace of sadness as he finished dressing.
Ethan still wasn't quite sure what was going on, but nevertheless, he wanted to reassure Mal.
Only that he never got the chance.
The shadows in the corner of the hotel room writhed and darkened, drawing both their attention.
"Here it comes," Mal murmured.
Ethan forgot to breathe as the shadows began to take shape, coalescing into a man in an impeccable suit. Another demon. He might have been handsome if not for the cruel set of his mouth and the predatory gleam in his eyes.
So unlike Mal.
"Well, well." The demon took them both in. "So the rumors are true. Once again our most incompetent demon has failed at being a demon. This time for real."
Mal pushed Ethan behind him. "Raviel."
"No need to hide your human from me." Raviel's gaze settled on Ethan, making his skin crawl. "My, my, that is quite the exceptional light you've got there."
"You have no claim here," Mal said. "You can't have him."
Raviel's laugh filled the room. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "Oh, but I do. The moment you stopped being a demon, you lost your right to your contract. And as the senior soul acquisition specialist present..." He took a step forward. "Well, let's just say Hell has already approved the transfer."
'Stopped being a demon?'
What was Raviel talking about?
Ethan glanced at Mal, at the lack of horns on his head.
Was that what had happened? Was his demon not a demon any longer?
"I won't let you take him." Mal's fingers found Ethan's, squeezing tight.
Ethan squeezed right back.
Something dark flickered across Raviel's perfect features. "You? Don't make me laugh. You can't do anything to stop me." Following his words, Raviel's skin began to crack like cooling lava, revealing molten heat beneath. Multiple sets of glowing red eyes opened across his face as he grew taller, broader, his perfectly pressed suit splitting at the seams.
He smiled at them.
A cold shiver crawled down Ethan's spine.
Where the polished demon had stood moments before, a creature of nightmare now towered over them, trailing wisps of sulfurous smoke.
"Come on, Malphas." Raviel's voice had become a grinding rasp. "Show us your true form. Oh wait..." His needle-sharp teeth gleamed. "You can't anymore, can you?"
Mal's grip on Ethan's hand tightened to the point it was almost painful. "I don't need a demon form to protect him."
"How noble." Raviel's laugh had become even less pleasant. "And how utterly pathetic."
The darkness around his feet began to spread across the floor like spilled ink. Ethan stumbled back, pulling Mal with him, but the shadows followed.
"Let's make this simple." Raviel extended one clawed hand. "Give me the human, and nobody has to get hurt."
"No." Despite being half Raviel's size now, Mal still tried to stand in Raviel's way.
"No?" Multiple sets of eyes narrowed. "I don't think you understand your position here. You're nothing now. No powers. No authority." The darkness crept up the walls. "Just a failed demon who couldn't even manage to collect one simple soul."
"You're wrong." Mal's voice steadied. "I didn't fail. I recovered something I'd lost."
Raviel moved faster than Ethan's eyes could track. One moment he stood across the room, the next his clawed hand wrapped around Mal's throat, lifting him off his feet and ripping him away from Ethan.
"Mal!" Ethan lunged forward, but shadows surged up from the floor and wrapped around his ankles to hold him in place.
"You recovered nothing," Raviel snarled. "You threw away what little pride you had. For what? This human?" He shook Mal like a rag doll. "Well, let's see how well you can protect him now."
Tendrils of darkness shot from Raviel's free hand toward Ethan. Mal twisted in Raviel's grip, kicking out, but the demon barely seemed to notice.
The shadows reached for Ethan like grasping fingers, and he could feel their cold trying to seep into his bones. Their touch made him think of the soul-stripping machines from the file, of light being systematically drained away until nothing remained but darkness.
Ethan couldn't give in to the cold, to the shadows. But what could he do?
He looked around frantically.
He had no weapon, no powers, nothing but his own two hands.
Still, he wasn't going to let Mal fight by himself.
In a rush of adrenaline, he grabbed the bedside lamp and swung it at the reaching shadows. He half expected the lamp to pass through, but the ceramic base shattered against the shadows, and for a moment, the darkness recoiled.
"How cute." Raviel's grip on Mal's throat tightened. "The pure soul wants to play hero."
Mal's face was turning red, his feet kicking uselessly in the air. The sight made something snap inside Ethan's chest.
"Let him go!" He hurled the largest piece of broken lamp at Raviel's face. It struck one of his eyes, making the demon hiss.
"You dare—" Raviel's shadows surged forward, wrapping around Ethan's arms, his chest, his throat. They burned like ice against his skin. "I was going to wait until you died naturally, but maybe I'll just collect your soul now."
"No!" Mal's voice came out strangled. He clawed at Raviel's hand, and where his fingers touched the demon's skin, light sparked between them.
Raviel jerked back with a howl of pain, dropping Mal to the floor. The shadows around Ethan wavered.
"What did you do?" Raviel clutched his smoking hand, staring at the burns Mal's touch had left.
Mal pushed himself up, positioning himself in front of Ethan once again. "I told you. I recovered something I'd lost." He reached back, and Ethan grabbed his hand without hesitation. "My light. My ability to love"
Sparks of pure brightness lit up the air where their fingers intertwined, pushing back the darkness that tried to claim them.
"Love?" Raviel spat the word like poison. "You think love will save you from Hell's wrath?"
The shadows surged again, but this time, when they touched Ethan, he wasn't afraid. He could feel Mal's warmth spreading through him, could feel something bright and powerful building between them.
"It already has." Mal's voice rang with certainty. He squeezed Ethan's hand tighter as Raviel's darkness pressed in around them.
The shadows tried to wedge between them, to pry their fingers apart, but they couldn't seem to find purchase. Where the darkness touched their joined hands, it hissed and dissipated like water on hot metal.
Raviel snarled, all pretense of corporate polish gone. "I'll drag you back to Hell myself."
The room plunged into absolute darkness. The air grew thick with sulfur, and something tugged at Ethan, like hooks catching in his flesh, like Hell reaching for him with greedy hands.
But Mal's grip remained steady, an anchor in the void.
"I've got you." Mal's voice cut through the darkness. "Don't let go."
Ethan held on with everything he had. The pulling grew stronger, threatening to tear him apart, but he refused to release Mal's hand. If Hell wanted to take them, it would have to take them together.
Light sparked between their joined fingers, growing brighter with each pulse. Ethan could feel it spreading up his arm, filling his chest with warmth that pushed back against Hell's cold grip.
"Impossible." Raviel's voice shook. "You're just a failed demon and a human. You can't?—"
"That's where you're wrong." The light pouring from Mal grew blinding.
The darkness writhed and recoiled. Where it touched their light, it burned away like morning mist. Raviel's multiple sets of eyes widened in something close to fear.
"What are you doing?" The demon's perfect facade cracked further as his powers failed to breach their connection. "You're nothing!"
"He was never nothing." A new voice rang through the room, bright and clear as a bell.
Light flooded the room from every direction, so brilliant Ethan had to close his eyes. When he opened them again, his heart nearly stopped.
Noah stood in the doorway—except it wasn't quite Noah anymore. Gone were the outrageous bow ties and the gentle humor. He was so radiant, it was like trying to look at the sun.
And were those wings on his back?
"Noah?" Ethan couldn't believe what he was seeing. His best friend was... an angel? A literal angel?
That was impossible.
But then, so was summoning a demon with filtered water and dried coriander.
"Who dares—" Raviel's voice cut off as he turned toward the doorway. His multiple sets of eyes widened, demonic confidence faltering for the first time. "What are you?"
"Someone who's been watching." Noah's gaze settled on Raviel.
"Go back where you came from," the demon snarled. "These two are not for you to save."
"Oh, of course not," Noah said lightly. "They don't need me to save them." He gestured at Mal and Ethan's joined hands, where light still poured from their connection. "Look at them. Really look at what's happening here."
The sphere of light around them had grown stronger, pushing back against Raviel's darkness wherever it touched. Where their fingers met, Ethan could feel something impossibly vast and ancient flowing between them, like they'd tapped into the source of light itself.
"What you're seeing," Noah continued, "is what happens when a soul chooses love over corruption. When it remembers what it truly is." His gaze fixed on Raviel. "Something you've forgotten, I think."
"I haven't forgotten anything." Raviel's darkness lashed out at Noah, but dissolved before it could touch him. "I know exactly what I am."
"Do you?" Noah's voice held something like pity.
A thousand questions raced through Ethan's mind. How long had Noah known about all of this? Had he orchestrated everything from the beginning?
Raviel's many eyes glared at Noah. "You're interfering with an official Hell contract." His corporate mask slid back into place. "This is a direct violation of?—"
"There is no contract anymore," Noah cut him off. "Mal is no longer a demon, and as such, all contracts he made while being a demon have become void by your own laws."
"You can't prove?—"
"I can." Noah's form grew brighter. "Would you like me to take this up with your superiors? I'm sure Beelzebrock would love to hear how you failed to notice an angel operating in your jurisdiction for years."
Raviel's eyes widened. His darkness wavered, pulling back from where it had been trying to breach Mal and Ethan's sphere of light.
"You've lost, Raviel." Noah's voice softened. "Go home."
"I don't take orders from the likes of you!" Raviel's darkness surged up the walls in offense. "I didn't spend centuries climbing Hell's corporate ladder to be dismissed by some feathered cotton candy guardian."
His demonic form swelled larger, cracking the ceiling. Multiple sets of eyes blazed with hellfire as he lunged for Mal and Ethan, claws extended.
Noah sighed. "Always have to do things the hard way."
He raised one hand, and the air itself seemed to crystallize. Divine light burst from his palm in a wave that hit Raviel like a physical force. The demon slammed back against the wall with a howl of pain and outrage.
"By the authority vested in me by the Host of Heaven," Noah's voice rang with power that made the windows rattle, "I cast you back to the pit from whence you came."
Light exploded through the room. Raviel's form twisted and compressed as he was yanked backward into the shadows. His scream of fury cut off abruptly as the darkness swallowed him.
The silence stretched as the last echoes of Raviel's scream faded. Ethan stared at Noah—at his wings, at the light that seemed to pour from within him.
"So." Ethan's voice sounded strange to his own ears. "You're an angel? For real?"
"Yes, for real."
Ethan still couldn't believe it. How could he not have known? "So all those times I vented to you about my love life..."
"I was listening as both your friend and your guardian." Noah's light dimmed to something more manageable, though his wings remained. "I never 'faked' being your friend."
"But this whole time…" Ethan shook his head. "Why does an angel work at a library?"
Noah tilted his head at him. "Can you think of a place more divine?"
"A church?"
"Nonsense." Noah brushed imaginary dust off his clothes.
Ethan continued to stare at him. "You could have stopped me from summoning a demon."
Noah grimaced. "Free will clause, very strict about that upstairs. Besides, I'm not supposed to reveal myself."
"But you just did."
"Extraordinary circumstances. Hell tried to claim something they no longer had any right to."
"You knew this was going to happen," Mal accused.
"I had certain hopes," Noah confirmed. "Pure souls have a way of calling to one another. I hoped Ethan could rekindle your light. Still, it was a near thing. And now I'm just glad no one was damned on my watch."
"Kyle?" Ethan's stomach twisted at the thought of his former crush.
Noah made a face. "Again, free will. That one will make an excellent demon one day. But you won't." His features softened as he looked at Ethan.
Mal still had another question, though. "The file about pure soul processing, the one that randomly appeared in Ethan's apartment." His eyes narrowed. "Was that you?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny any strategic placement of relevant documentation." Noah straightened his bowtie. "Though I will say that Hell's filing system is remarkably easy to access if one knows where to look."
"It's literally designed to be the opposite of easy," Mal protested.
"Only from a demon's point of view."
"Does everything look so different from your point of view? How did you know that I…" Mal licked his lips. "That I had light inside of me?"
Noah gave Mal a long, considering look while Ethan stroked his thumb along the back of Mal's hand in silent support. "You're one of my failures," Noah admitted softly.
Following this confession, Ethan felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room.
"What do you mean by that?" Mal demanded.
"You were damned on my watch."
Mal's grip on Ethan's hand tightened. "That's impossible. I don't remember..."
"No, you wouldn't." Noah's wings drooped. "Hell's good at erasing those memories. But I never forgot. I was supposed to protect you, and I failed."
"Wait," Ethan said. "That book I used to summon Mal…"
Noah's gaze settled on him. "I didn't place that. I would never have used you that way. Hell scatters these things around the mortal world, always hoping someone bites. When I saw you with Mal… Honestly I didn't know what to think."
"Did you think I could still be saved?" Mal asked.
"Not at first, no." Noah sounded bitter. "Ethan had more faith in you than I did." His features lightened a tad. "He stoked my own hopes and beat back Hell."
Something warm unfurled in Ethan's chest. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Noah shook his head. "I might have nudged you, but you two did all the real work."
Ethan took a second to process that sentiment, to process everything that had happened, really. His best friend was an angel and his boyfriend was no longer a demon. Another demon had just tried to drag them both to Hell.
They fought him back and won.
"What happens now?" Ethan looked between Noah and Mal. "Hell won't just let this go, will they?"
"They might try something." Noah shoved his hands in his pockets. "But they've lost their claim on both of you. Any interference would violate about sixteen different bylaws."
Mal's eyebrows rose. "How do you know so many of Hell's bylaws?"
Noah grinned. "Why do you think I became a librarian? Angels can be nerds too."
"So…" Mal's face shifted in slow wonder. "I'm free?"
"You are indeed," Noah confirmed.
"But I still have a tail." As he spoke the words, Mal's tail curled itself around his leg.
Noah shrugged. "Think of it as a souvenir. Hold on." He eyed Mal's tail critically for a moment, then he waved his hand in the air above it.
Mal's tail disappeared.
"Wait," Mal exclaimed. "Oh, it's still there."
"I made it invisible," Noah explained. "So you can blend in, live a good life and hopefully end up in the right place after."
"I have that option now?"
"I'd call it a choice, and that's what this world is all about." He rested a hand on Mal's shoulder. "I wish you two all the best. You've made me proud."
That sounded so final. "Are you leaving?" Ethan asked.
"This hotel room?" Noah turned to him. "For sure. I think you two will appreciate the privacy." He winked, and then, in a flash of light, he was gone.