The stone bench outside of Mammon’s office building did very little to make me comfortable. This was the place she and Raphael decided to hold our hearings. In the conference room on the top floor, my fate would be decided.
For two days, Jericho and I stressed about what the consequences might be. And while we took some time to relieve that stress, this morning when he left to go home and change, I had the worst case of anxiety I could ever remember having in my long life.
What if she banned me from seeing him? What if I had to choose between Jericho and Hell? What if I never got the choice and Mammon simply sent me back under the ground forever?
Shit. I hated having feelings.
“You look horrible.” My sister laughed as she strutted up the concrete stairs in front of the building.
“Ashby? What are you doing here?” Surprised by how relieved I was to see a friendly face, I jumped to my feet and wrapped her up in a hug. “I thought you were on your honeymoon.”
She pushed me back slightly. “We were, but when Echo told me about Leviathan taking you, I had to stay and help.”
“You were involved in that?”
Turning her head to look over her shoulder at Silas, she smiled. “From afar.”
“What?”
“Silas didn’t want me to…he wanted me to stay out of the action. So, I helped by reaching out to some people who owed me favors.” Silas walked up to her side and my sister placed her hand absently on her belly.
My stomach twisted in some type of volatile emotion. “You’re pregnant?”
Her smile beamed wide enough to light up the sky. She nodded.
“I…uh, I’m going to be an aunt?” A twinge of happiness pushed its way to the surface. I could be involved with a child but not have to be totally responsible? This was potentially good news.
“Aunt Arabella,” Silas said, kissing Ashby on the top of the head. “Aunt Arabella who saved the world.”
For the first time ever, I thought I saw a hint of appreciation in Silas’ expression. We weren’t the best of friends, but my sister had chosen him. And now he’d be the father of my little niece or nephew. I suppose we could find a way to be civil. I looked back at my sister. “Twins?”
“Probably,” she laughed. “Can you imagine another Ashby and Arabella walking around this place?”
“No,” I chuckled. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
Ashby pulled me into another hug. “You’re going to make a great aunt.”
“You’re going to be an excellent mother.” I stepped away, wiping the tears out of my eyes before my sister could see them. Resetting time meant I’d saved those unborn children—my own flesh and blood. Children who would hopefully have the opportunity to grow up in a conflict-free world where demons and angels were only creatures in stories.
“Arabella, daughter of Mammon. Please come inside.” The man standing in the doorway couldn’t have looked more irritated. He was human. He was clueless. And he was a horrible civil servant.
Sucking in a breath, I prepared for my hearing. Ashby touched me on the shoulder and squeezed. “It will be okay,” she said.
“I hope so.”
“You’re Mammon’s favorite,” Silas added as Ashby frowned at him. “She’ll go easy on you.”
The truth of it was, I wasn’t as afraid for me as I was for Jericho. Mammon did like me, even if she wasn’t my biggest fan right now. She most likely wouldn’t make an example out of me because she wouldn’t want to lose me forever. Sure, I might be collecting delinquent souls for the next millennia, but certainly she wouldn’t want to ban me to Hell for all eternity, right?
Jericho, on the other hand, he didn’t really have anyone on his side. Raphael had disappeared before giving him any indication for what might happen. His brothers were assholes. He didn’t seem to have any other angels fighting for him. I was scared he may pay the most for his actions.
Giving my sister one more hug, I followed the bored human inside and to the elevator. He pressed the button for the top floor and turned his back to me. He’d eaten fish recently—I could smell it. In the reflection of the metal doors, I watched him stand nervously. Not once would he make eye contact with me, and when he started to sweat, I smiled to myself. Most humans had a good sense for when to be afraid. And this man knew I was something he didn’t want to be around.
As the doors opened, he stepped aside and dropped his head. I walked past, fighting every urge I had to brush my hand along his back just to see if he’d piss himself. But considering I was here for so-called bad behavior, I decided to rein it in. For now.
The conference room took up the largest office on this floor. I’d been here many times before, but never in front of a table of demons and angels. Jericho sat on the far side, looking out the floor to ceiling windows and completely lost in thought. When I stepped inside though, he lifted his head and gave me a beaming smile. I knew, from the look in his eyes, that something wasn’t totally right, but at least he was still here. Wearing a dark gray suit with his hair pulled back into a low ponytail, I ate him up. For the past two days, Jericho spent most of his hours in nothing but his God-given birthday suit. But he looked sexy as fuck in this tailored piece of art that sculpted every part of his body. As it should.
“Arabella,” Mammon said, ripping me out of my trance. “Sit here.” She pointed to the chair at the opposite head of the table from where Jericho was sitting.
I complied, the nerves getting the best of me again.
Mammon started to pace. “You know why you’re here, so let’s just cut to the chase. Are you still in a relationship with this angel?” She pointed to Jericho with a dramatic flare.
I didn’t know the other ten people in the room, but I could tell they were old. Mostly demons, with two angels—a young woman and Raphael. The archangel sat on Jericho’s side and looked just as disconnected as always. The young woman kept sneaking glances at Jericho.
“I am.”
My sister and Silas stood outside the glass doors, Ashby giving me a little wave. When I smiled, Mammon turned to face them and let out a huff. “See what happens when you fall in love?” she snapped, flipping her hand toward my sister. Letting them in the room, Ashby cowered when Mammon said, “Be on time.”
My sister mouthed Mammon’s words back to me, and I tried not to laugh.
“The way I see it, is you have a choice to make,” Mammon continued.
“A choice?” This is it. This is what I’d been dreading. My stomach flipped in knots and my palms sweat like a pig on a stick.
“And you will make this choice now—without any further information.” Mammon made sure I saw her glance at Jericho. She wasn’t going to tell me his sentence until I made up my own mind. Dammit, demons really liked to torture.
Jericho smiled at me, a sad smile that had my blood running cold. What had he agreed to?
Mammon continued, and I wondered if she’d spoken at Jericho’s hearing as well, or if this was now finally her chance. “You must choose: your livelihood or your angel.”
And there it was.
I would have to decide just how much Jericho meant to me.
“If you choose your angel, you will no longer be a part of my family. You will not collect souls for me. You will not benefit from my many investments. You will not have my protection.” I didn’t miss her longing glance toward my sister. Had she given Ashby this same choice? “I need your answer now.”
“Now?” I asked, stalling.
“Now,” Mammon growled and everyone in the room, aside from Raphael, melted into their seats a few inches.
“I can’t have an hour?”
Mammon’s eyes turned red. She thought I was going to choose him.
Looking across the table at Jericho, I tried to imagine a life without him in it—and couldn’t. We were so connected, it would be like ripping off an arm and a leg if I didn’t have him by my side. On the other hand, Mammon was my constant. Men had come and gone out of my life for centuries, and not one had ever come between me and my sire. She had always been my rock. My protector. My mother. I loved Mammon as much as any demon could love their sires. It wouldn’t feel right to leave that all behind.
But I loved Jericho, too.
Taking a moment, which annoyed Mammon to no end, I twisted in my seat to look at Ashby and Silas standing against the wall behind me. Ashby had done it. She’d left for love and she’d never seemed happier in our long life together. And now she was starting a family. It wasn’t necessarily something I wanted, but I at least wanted the option.
Spinning around and looking down the table, I asked Jericho, “What did you decide?”
“He is not allowed to answer that.” Raphael’s booming, deep voice shook the room.
Jericho hung his head, probably to make sure not to break the rules. He was such a good angel.
A good angel. His brothers hated me because I’d been the reason his feathers turned gray. I might be the reason he never had a chance at true immortality. Had I ruined his life? I was meant to kill him…would it have been better if I had. A tear rolled down my cheek. If we weren’t supposed to be together, then why did it always feel so right?
“Answer now, Arabella,” Mammon growled.
“I choose him,” I whispered.
“Excuse me?” Mammon slapped both hands on the table, spilling two glasses of water and scaring the shit out of the lesser demons.
I looked up at her with a sad smile. “I choose Jericho.”
My sister let out a little squeal, Jericho lifted his smiling eyes to greet me, and Mammon ground her jaw together.
“Are you sure?”
“I am.”
She glowered at Raphael and threw up her hands. “So be it.” Her words drifted off into the empty space when she disappeared in a blink.
Raphael stood, placing his hand on Jericho’s shoulders. “It is finished. Come,” he said to the other angel. They stood and walked out of the room without saying another word.
One by one, the demons popped out of existence, leaving a variety of smoke or stench in their wake. Ashby stood and wrapped her arms around my neck. In my ear, she whispered, “You made the right choice.”
“Did I?” I asked, suddenly and inexplicably doubting everything.
“Look at him,” she said. “Look at the way he watches you. No one has ever done that. And remember what I said before?”
“What’s that?”
“One man only can be a fabulous thing.” She kissed me on the cheek and left the room. I supposed Jericho and I would be forced to spend time with the two of them now—couples game night and all that shit.
But the sudden realization that I didn’t know Jericho’s fate, sliced a dagger through all of those horribly suburban and strangely appealing plans. As the room cleared, I waited for him to make the next move. When he didn’t stand right away, my heart sunk in fear.
“Well, that was interesting,” he said with a smirk.
I couldn’t wait any longer. “What did they do to you?”
He said nothing at first. Then he slowly started to unbutton his jacket. I shifted in my seat wondering what he was up to and soaking up the anticipation. But when he slipped it off his arms, and let his wings break free, I sucked in a horrified breath.
“Why?” I breathed.
He walked over to me and bent down next to my knees. “Because I chose you.”
Reaching up to touch his new form, I hesitated.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“But they…they cut them off!” Choking on my sobs, I couldn’t stop shaking my head. “This is so much worse—”
He grabbed my face. “It was my choice.”
“To have them cut off your wings?” I knew my shouts could be heard all throughout this floor, even if no one was on it anymore.
“To become an earth angel.”
The bloodied stumps pierced my heart. Where there was once a curve leading into the lower wing, there was now a broken bone that looked like a chewed-up chicken wing. What feathers did remain, were as dark as the ones that graced his brother’s wings. “How could Raphael do this to you?”
“I wanted this.”
“Why?”
Jericho sighed and lifted me into his lap on the floor. “Because I’m tired of doing His bidding. I’m tired of fighting the battle. I don’t want to be on the wrong side again. In fact, I don’t want to be on any side at all. I just want to be…normal.”
Huffing a laugh against his chest, I teased, “Normal?” Why would you want to do that?”
“I don’t want to do that. I want to do that with you.” Jericho kissed my forehead. “Let’s just be us for a while.”
“I can’t believe you gave up everything.”
“So did you.”
I pulled away so I could look at his eyes. “No, Jericho. You gave up so much more.”
“My wings are temporary—a punishment not a sentence.”
“Wait, what?” I couldn’t describe the feelings rushing through me right now, but I liked the happiness slipping in there every once and a while. “You won’t lose them forever?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t know that, of course. The offer was for permanent removal and I took it anyway. Which is why Raphael made it temporary.”
“How?”
“He has his ways.” Jericho kissed my lips. “But we can’t let Mammon know. Raphael kind of went around her on this one.”
“Of course she would want it permanent.” Leaning into him again, I said, “Sorry demons are so revengeful.”
“She was harsh on me because she didn’t want to hurt you. I think she knew what you were going to say.” Rubbing my back with his hands, he added, “She knew it the moment you failed to kill me.”
“I would have killed you,” I teased.
“No, you wouldn’t have.”
No, I wouldn’t have.
Thinking about these past few weeks and the future now in front of us, I couldn’t help but smile at the way everything ended up working out. Sure, I was jobless. Jericho was wingless. And I didn’t know what we would end up doing with all our free time…well, kind of, but we would figure it out together. We could live in my apartment, explore the city, and play stupid cards games with my sister and Silas. And then when the babies got here, we could take turns spoiling them and feeding them lots of sugar before we returned them to my sister. It could be so normal. Like the humans.
“Normal, huh?” I asked.
“Normal.”
“Well, we might have to adjust to the new normal a little bit,” I said in frustration.
“What? Why?”
“Because apparently Mammon decided to block my teleportation abilities.” I’d already tried three times to take us back to my apartment. And all three times, I hit a wall of blocked magic. Demons and their grudges.
Jericho laughed. “Looks like we need to budget for cab fare for a while.”
“I hate taxis,” I grumbled.
Bending over, Jericho kissed me lightly on the lips. “Taxis can be fun,” he wiggled his brows.
“They smell.”
“The city smells,” he added.
“Well, maybe we can leave the city for a while.” He kissed me again and I wished more than ever that I could get us back into my bed without the thirty-minute ride. “I’m thinking Barbados,” I said with a smile. “Warm and clean.”
“Barbados it is,” Jericho teased. He shifted beneath me and pulled my legs off to the side to straddle him. Pushing his erection against me, he gave me a wicked grin. “Do you think they all left?”
“Probably.”
“Well, maybe we should consummate this new arrangement of ours.” He rubbed along my opening nice and slow.
“Maybe we should.”
With a gentle kiss against my nose, he breathed, “I love you, Arabella.”
“You too, angel.”