Page 24 of Under His Wings

“Hello, beautiful,” the demon cornered me against one of the walls of the club.

“Hi,” I said gamely, tilting my head up to look into his green eyes.

“I got bored with waiting for you to come to me. Tsk, tsk, what a bad puppy, making me chase him.”

Shit, he had noticed I was watching him. No matter, I could spin it to my advantage.

“Ah, I was a bit intimidated. After all, everyone seems to think you are more of an... advanced level.” I gave him a small grin.

“Hmm, is that so?” He leaned forward, his lips nearly brushing my ear. “Or are you spying on me because you think I have something to do with your angel friend?”

I stiffened, trapped between his arms on each side of me, my heart beating wildly.

“Do you?”

This bastard saw me watching and decided to spy on me in return. If he got as far as Zachariel, he probably knew at least about my search for demons similar to him, so I didn’t pretend to not know what he was talking about.

“Yes,” the demon answered simply, to my surprise. “I know your Zachariel. Do you want to know how? Follow me then.”

As soon as the doors to a private room closed behind us I blurted out:

“How do you know him?”

The blasted demon smiled so wide it showed his fangs and I got frustrated. I was exposing too much with my behavior, but I couldn’t help it. This was important.

“If you are looking for some kind of payment for the info—”

“Oh no, I will tell you for free.” I squinted suspiciously at Leonius. This seemed like a trap. But he really started talking. “Your angel was a human once. But you already knew that, hmm? Such a sophisticated taste, going for an Ascended. Hmm, I always wanted to break one in. Ah, no matter, I’m sure I will have a chance one day. So, there I was with my angel counterpart, observing this unassuming human, with both of us trying to push him to our respective side, and I was so bored I made a little bet over making a demon out of him. Unfortunately, I lost. Or did I? Nothing I threw at him when he was alive seemed to work to snap him out of his goody-two-shoes personality, but when he died... Oh, when he died.” The way Leonius smiled like a shark sent shivers down my spine. “He grew his pretty white wings. And then they burned.”

“I— no! I saw his white wings. Whatever you are trying to imply—”

“I was there, puppy. I saw. Your precious Zachariel overheard me talking about the bet and came to the correct conclusion that to us it was all a game. He didn’t take it well. Oh, the look on Tirael’s face when he realized his ticket to a better position was falling in front of his eyes. When he saw the burning feathers—”

“No...” I didn’t want to believe it, but my mind conjured a memory of a path of missing feathers I discovered when I preened Zachariel’s wings.

“Yes, your angel made up his mind to spit in the face of God. To revoke his choice to make him a celestial being. But Tirael decided to do something even more unforgivable. He impressed me really, I have to say. I wouldn’t have expected something like that even from a demon...”

“What did he DO?” I shouted, unable to take this cruel meandering anymore.

“To fall, you need to be pushed, to be dragged down by one of the Archangels, or you need to decide to fall yourself, to choose it. So, he made sure Zachariel wouldn’t remember why he wanted to fall.”

“He scrambled his brain,” I said numbly. “He erased his memories. I’m going to— I’m going to kill him. He will beg for mercy—”

With my hands shaking I turned towards the exit, but a strong arm held me back.

“What do you think will happen if you make a scene and everyone learns about this?” Leonius asked.

I stopped dead in my tracks, mind whirling. I wouldn’t keep it from Zachariel but if anyone else learned about this... about an angel who was a demon, about a demon who was an angel, about a horrifying taboo being committed during an Ascendence... Zach may be forced to fall even if he no longer wanted to. And this whole situation went beyond my lover – such a crime committed against someone who was supposed to become a demon may have great consequences. The relationship between Heaven and Hell was fragile enough and there were factions on both sides looking for any excuse to start a war.

I closed my eyes and drove a fist into the wood of the door.

“Do you understand now? You can’t let anyone know.” Leonius’ hand landed on my shoulder and I thought it was a gesture of commiseration.

Then his claws dug in.

“Now, let’s discuss how you are going to buy my silence.”

Chapter 16