“You see, we’ve learned of a magical passage that leads directly into the demons’ council chamber,” Cadence told me.
A passage into the demons’ council chamber. That certainly peaked my curiosity. I was about to ask her how she’d come to possess such knowledge, when my phone buzzed.
I pulled it out of my jacket and glanced at the message on the screen. “Looks like we’ll have to take this party to go.” I tucked my phone back into the inside pocket. “That was Faris. He’s ordered me to move out and make contact with the demons’ council.”
6
Angel and the Hell Turkey
The demon-controlled world Cadence brought us to was decidedly tropical. Sunny, hot, and humid—it wasn’t the sort of place one would expect to find demons, but then the old heaven-and-hell stereotypes never got it quite right. Gods and demons were deities on opposite ends of the magic spectrum. They were bearers of light or dark magic, not good or evil.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have worn so much armor,” I muttered. Each and every inch of me was completely drenched in sweat.
Nero slid me a sidelong glance. “Do we need to stop for a bit so you can undress?” His tone was conversational, his eyes amused.
I made a face at him. “Very funny.”
Thank goodness I’d opted to not don the even heavier Weapons of Heaven and Hell. Though a practical defense—and offense—against deities, it wasn’t an outfit one wore to negotiate peace.
“Though I suppose that given our mission, it’s better to be overarmed than not at all,” I said aloud.
“That’s very responsible of you, Pandora.”
I smirked at him. “Try not to sound so disappointed.”
“But I am disappointed.” His voice dipped lower as his eyes slid over me. “Very disappointed. You’re still dressed.”
For a moment, I almost forgot that we weren’t alone.
Nero clearly hadn’t. His brows lifted just a tad, then he briskened his pace to catch up with Cadence.
Bella closed in beside me, filling the space Nero had just vacated. “That angel has the hots for you.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
Bella laughed softly.
“How are you holding up?” I asked her.
“Better than you, it seems.”
“You were clever enough to pack light.”
I drummed my knuckles on my thick leather armor. In contrast, Bella was dressed in an airy green traveling dress with brown leggings and hiking boots.
“Wanna trade?” I asked her.
Her laughter was as soft as the gentle beating of butterfly wings. “No thanks. I don’t think the armor would fit me.”
In truth, we wore the same clothing size, but I knew that wasn’t what Bella meant. She didn’t have the kind of personality that fit with wearing armor. Of the six of us here, she was the only one who wasn’t an angel. And she wasn’t a soldier either. She was a witch. She brewed potions and tinkered with technology; she didn’t strap on heavy weapons and fight monsters.
Bella wasn’t just any witch, though. She was the granddaughter of the demon Valerian, the Dark Lord of Witchcraft and a member of the demons’ ruling council. She was here because she’d told me she had some influence over Valerian. I wasn’t sure family was reason enough to convince a deity of anything, but I would take any help I could get.
Even with all the help I could get, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to convince the demons to even listen to me, let alone agree to ally with an enemy they’d been fighting for millennia.
“I’m liking the new look,” I told Bella, indicating her pale ponytail. Previously, it had been strawberry-blonde. “Now we can be twins.”
Bella smiled. “I missed you, Leda. I’m glad you’re back.”
“So am I,” Harker chimed in as he, ever her watchful protector, took position on her other side.
The Legion had recently promoted him for exceptional valor, and he was demonstrating no shortage of it now. I glanced at his new rank pin, a pair of silver and gold wings. It broadcast his status as a soldier of the ninth level, and an angel of the second level. It also shone nearly as brightly in the sunlight as my necklace.
“You’re glad to have me back, Harker?” A smile twisted my lips. “I had no idea you’d missed me and my antics so much.”
“Nero missed you. You and your antics,” he told me. “And because he missed you, he was completely insufferable while you were away. Every day, he stopped by my office for several hours of training.”
“What kind of training?” I asked.
He grimaced. “The kind of training that not even an angel enjoys.”
“You could have always said no.”
Harker looked at me like I’d misplaced my brain. “Have you ever said no to an archangel?”
I grinned. “All the time. It’s fun.”
He snorted.
“Speaking of fun…” I glanced between him and Bella. “Tell me all about what happened when you two went out for cake.”
“There’s not much to say,” Bella said shyly. “We had cake.”
“And?”
“And she didn’t stick a fork through my hand.” Harker’s eyes were as hard as granite.
“That only tells me you learned your lesson about stealing other people’s cake,” I replied, unperturbed. “Tell me more.”
“The cake was chocolate,” Bella said. “With cherries.”
“Stop it.” I held my hand out in front of me. “You’re making me hungry.”
“You asked us to tell you about the cake,” Harker pointed out.
“No, I asked you to tell me about the date.”
“It was…nice.” Bella smiled at Harker.
And he gazed upon her with a look of total devotion.
“Was there kissing?” I asked.
Bella blushed. “Leda…”
“Ok, no kissing then.”
So they weren’t there just yet. And yet they were completely there. Harker had come along on this mission solely to protect her. And the way he looked at her, not straying very far from her side… it was like he’d magic-marked her without actually marking her. His feelings had bonded him to her. I wondered if Bella realized the depth of his love for her.
“Oh, look, Angel found some bizarre-looking hell turkey,” I laughed and ran ahead to leave them alone. They needed some space if their relationship was going to grow.
I watched my cat stalk her prey. The bird looked like a wild turkey, but decidedly more hellish than the Earth variety. Its body was covered in bright red feathers; an eye peeked out of each one. Its mouth held a small arsenal of pointy teeth. The creature drilled that beak into the dirt, digging for worms. The teeth functioned as a sieve to gather its food. Dirt went through the gaps, but the worms did not.
Angel slunk through the tall grass, flattening her body to the ground. Her stealthy approach usually served her well, but the hell turkey had the benefit of a hundred or so eyes positioned all over its feathery body. The weird yellow eyes must have seen right through grass too because they flashed with fear. The bird spun around and opened its mouth to eject a wad of bright green goo into the grass Angel was hiding in.