The Devil You Need (4 page)

I hugged her back, glad to see her again. “I’ve been okay.
How about you? Been in any good battles lately?” I’d learned Merriam was trying
to earn a place in the Archangel ranks. To do it, she needed to prove herself
both on and off the battlefield.

“Flick and I just got back from a humdinger in the twelve
dimension. The Orks went after the Hobbits again and we needed to step in.” She
grinned while giving a mock shudder. “Those Orks are nasty sons of bitches.”

I grinned, enjoying her enthusiasm more than I would have
expected. Flick stepped forward and made as if he would hug me too. I quickly
stuck my hand out and, looking more relieved than he should have, Flick clasped
it.

Silver energy flowed between us and I didn’t even jump. I
was starting to wonder if I’d become some kind of receiver since I’d stepped
onto celestial soil.

Gus dropped his arm around me and I felt a tiny flutter on
my aura. But when I frowned at him he turned to Merriam. “We’re going to the
cafeteria. Would you guys like to join us?”

Merriam’s wide face split in a genuine smile. “Meatloaf?”
Her aquamarine-colored eyes sparkled with pleasure.

“And lime Jell-O,” Gus added. He urged me forward and
Merriam and Flick fell in with us. We headed for an enormous white building in
the near distance that was prominently marked with a large sign in golden
lettering that said
The Last Supper
.

I snickered. “Perfect.”

Flick threw me a smile and, on impulse, I reached for his
hand, squeezing it. “So what do you do while Merriam fights?”

“I’m on the battlefield too. In the strategy tent.”

“He’s a genius at battle strategy,” Merriam added, giving
him a hug.

Flick flushed with embarrassment.

In that moment I realized that the universe truly did work.
When Flick and Merriam had found each other, I’d been so busy making fun of him
for finally losing his virginity at five-hundred years of age that it never
occurred to me they could be well matched. Even Aunt Myra had had her doubts
about Merriam’s suitability for Flick. But they’d found their paradise and were
making it work.

It gave me hope for Dialle and my future. Though the thought
of how he’d looked when I left—the pain contorting his sexy features—made my
chest tighten with fear.

“There’s Myra.” Gus lifted a hand and called out and I saw
my aunt halt mid-conversation a few yards away and nod in our direction. She
touched the other angel she’d been speaking to on the arm and turned away,
striding toward us with a stern look on her beautiful face.

“Oh goody.” I felt like a wedding party watching a
thundercloud head their way.

Myra walked up to Gus and embraced him. “Hello, old friend.”
She reached up and tugged on an orange strand of hair. “I like the hair.”

“Thanks. You don’t think it’s too much?”

Myra laughed. Her clear, blue gaze found me. “How are your
sessions going, Astra?”

I glanced at Gus. I was pretty sure they’d been a frunkin’
waste of time so far, but I didn’t want to say it in front of him. “Okay.”

“She thinks they’ve been a waste of time,” Gus offered.

“Hey, are you in my head?”

“In more ways than one, my dear.” Gus laughed at this, a
great fan of himself. “But don’t worry, Astra. We’re not done yet.” He glanced
at Myra and some kind of internal dialogue must have happened because she
suddenly reached for me, grabbing my hand and holding on when I tried to jerk
away.

White hot fire burned through me, searing my flesh where it
touched Myra’s and then cutting a knife-like swath through my insides. It was
like swallowing something that was way too hot and feeling it burn all the way
down to your stomach.

“Frunk me to Hades and back, that hurts! What the hell is
going on with you people? Why is everybody trying to fry my ass?”

I jerked my hand harder and Myra finally let go.

Gus reached out and touched my shoulder, his dark eyes going
blank.

The flutter I’d felt a few minutes earlier returned, only
this time it was strong enough to be uncomfortable. “Hey! What are you doing?”

Gus pulled his hand away and grinned. “That one took,” he
told Myra.

My aunt expelled air as if she’d been holding it. “Thank
Him! So it needs to be family then?”

“It would seem so. It’s a good interim solution, until she
figures out how to amp herself up, anyway.”

My temper, never a snake with a long tail, had me trembling
at that point. “Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?”

Gus started to put an arm around my shoulders and I jerked
away. He dropped his arm with a sigh. “I’m sorry, my dear. You just weren’t
relaxed enough in the facility. We thought if we ran this test in more familiar
surroundings you might be more receptive.”

“What test?”

“Essentially, Astra, your body has become like a battery.
You demonstrate the ability to hold power but you aren’t able to manufacture it
yourself—not yet anyway. I’m hopeful we’ll find the key to getting you back to
normal eventually. But in the meantime, I thought if we could figure out a way
to charge your battery—so to speak—you could at least function normally until
we can figure out the rest.”

Hope flared in my breast. It wasn’t perfect, but it was
certainly something I could work with. “How long would the power last once I
was…erm…charged?”

Gus shrugged. “We’ll need to run further tests, but let’s
take it a step at a time.” He started walking again, toward The Last Supper,
seemingly forgetting me and everybody else.

“Wait, what’s the next step? I don’t have a lot of time.”

Gus turned without stopping. “The next step is meatloaf and
lime Jell-O. Hurry up. I see a line forming.”

Myra, Flick and Merriam hurried after him.

Oh good Him. I’m surrounded by idiots.
Despite my
anxiousness and worry, though, I couldn’t stop the smile that tipped the
corners of my lips upward. I just might be able to get my magic back.

And that meant I could keep Dialle.

Old Friends, New Challenges

The Devil you need must first survive, as blackness
fills his soul.

For the Devil you need can’t cling to life, when death
asserts control.

Hot lips scoured down my throat. Hard hands found my
breasts, enveloping them in a near painful grip. I skimmed my hands over a
well-toned back and opened my thighs wider, delighting in the stretching
fullness of the rigid flesh thrusting between them.

A low growl throbbed on the air, bringing gooseflesh up
all along my arms and twisting the knot of fear in my breast. Sharp teeth
scraped the sensitive skin of my neck, a fiery invasion that rode the edge of
pleasure, despite the pain.

I cried out, trying to pry my eyes open, and discovered I
couldn’t. I was locked into the dream, with only a twisted kind of lust to keep
me from completely succumbing to the fear.

What was I rutting with? And why did it feel so good? The
smell of sulfur assailed me. The distant cry of dragons screaming joined with the
crackle of fire to create the overwhelming sensation that I was in Hell.

Why would I dream of being in Hell?

My hands shoved at my phantom lover—the fear and pain
finally sending my mind into full-blown panic. He snarled, the hard hands
clutching me more tightly against him, and the pain on my neck exploded into
agony. I screamed, my hands flailing wildly against the warm satin of the torso
pinning me down.

Despite the horror blooming in my mind, my traitorous
flesh took the agony and transformed it into pleasure. My screams of pain soon
turned to screams of delight as blood ran in twin ribbons down my throat,
pooling in the crevice between my breasts. I pictured the bright streams of red
turning dark as the volume of blood grew. As my body writhed and convulsed in
the ultimate pleasure, my mind started to twist, shutting down to save itself.
Sensation softened and was muted behind a looming oblivion. A soft charcoal
blanket of nothingness folded over my senses, threatening to take me under.

“Hello, Astra.”

I blinked, looking around. I was standing in a strange
place, surrounded by the smell of lemons. My mother stood several feet away, a
mean little smile on her beautiful face. “Hello, Mother. What are you doing in
my dream?”

Danika Phelps looked just as I remembered her from my
childhood. She was dressed in a long, flowing dress with tall, leather boots.
Her silky, black hair was loose, flowing over slim shoulders and ending in a
thick, straight fringe just above her breasts. I felt the tug of childhood memories,
mostly bad, as I looked at her standing there. Her velvet black gaze flashed
with emotion. “I’ve come to tell you that we are going to destroy your
delicious Dialle. It is unfortunate, but his father deserves his throne back,
and I’m committed to helping him.”

I shook my head, numbed under the haze of my dreamlike
state. “You can’t, you’re in Hell.”

She just smiled and turned away. “This is your only
warning, daughter. Walk away from him now. Or you will go down with him.”

Panic played a dull beat in my breast as her words sank
in. Dialle is in danger? I shook my head, denying my mother’s words. But even
as I did, horror found a place in my breast, and sent me spiraling into velvet
unconsciousness.

* * * * *

The next day, I sat in my usual place in Gus’ office,
hunkered over a steaming mug of coffee. My eyes felt gritty and my body weary,
despite the fact that I’d spent ten hours in my bed the night before.

Even after climbing out of it and moving determinedly
through my day, the nightmare from the night before still clung to me. I
couldn’t shake it no matter what mental exercises I’d tried to rid myself of
it.

I planned to ask Gus about it when he came in.

The door opened and Mx. Pickles stuck her head through. She
observed me with her usual stoic expression. “Gus isn’t going to be in for a
while, Mx. Phelps. He’s asked me to tell you that your aunt Myra is waiting for
you in the physical training area.”

I nearly groaned. Physical training was the last thing I was
interested in at the moment. I pushed to my feet. “Okay, thanks.”

Mx. Pickles’ dark head started to retreat back through the
crack.

“Mx. Pickles?”

The dark head returned. “Yes.”

“Do you know what Gus planned for me today?”

“My understanding is that he wants to test how long your
powers last under the stress of battle.”

I nodded. Made sense. “Okay. Thanks.”

The woman started to retreat again and then stopped, opening
the door wide and staring at me.

I swallowed the coffee I’d just tasted and offered her a
smile. “Yes?”

“I just wanted to tell you that…well…I overheard Gus saying
that he thought you’d regain your magic eventually. I just wanted you to know
that. Sometimes Gus likes to keep things close to the vest.”

I nodded, my smile widening. “Thanks. That helps.” But I
couldn’t shake the feeling that the dream I’d had was a warning. As happy as it
made me to think about getting my magic back, none of it would mean anything if
Dialle was lost to his darkness before I could get back to him.

With that thought, I made a decision I hoped I wouldn’t regret.
Setting the coffee down, I started toward the door. Then I remembered I still
had some magic in reserve from my session with Myra the night before. Not fully
trusting that the borrowed energy would work, I took a deep breath and thought
about the physical training wing, praying I wouldn’t drain my battery before I
got there and end up splashing down in the woman’s waste removal throne along
the way.

* * * * *

I didn’t splash down in a disgusting place, but where I
ended up was almost worse. Sound and movement returned and I looked around,
only half believing I’d landed where I’d wanted to. The floor was covered in
thin mats and the walls were adorned with all manner of blades, firearms and
even more prehistoric weapons. The entire back of the place was a shooting
range, with a clear, soundproofing wall dividing it from the rest of the
facility so the people using the range could be observed.

One whole side of the remaining space consisted of an
interesting assortment of barriers and obstacles for space-shifting practice. I
couldn’t help wishing I’d had access to that course before I’d tried to use my
fledgling shifting power for the first time.

I still vividly remembered what it had felt like to be
embedded inside that worm-headed demon in the Shadows.

I shuddered at the memory.

The place at first seemed to be empty. But then my gaze lit
on movement in one corner and I turned toward it. That was the moment I
realized there were more horrible things in life than being embedded inside a
demon.

“Bleurgh.” It’s a frunkin’ wonder I didn’t go blind from
what I saw.

Aubrey and Myra guiltily jumped apart, their angelic
countenances blushing an attractive pink from being caught in a fiery lip lock.

Myra quickly cast off her discombobulation and favored me
with a glare, as if it was my fault she got caught climbing Aubrey’s delicious
torso like a slut monkey. “Stop skulking around, Astra, and get over here.
You’re late for your training.”

I grinned. She wasn’t going to distract me from making fun
of her. “Fortunately you weren’t bored waiting for me.” I started toward them.
“Is that even legal? I mean, aren’t you guys a thousand years old? That’s just
disgusting.”

Aubrey laughed but Auntie Myra’s glare turned lethal. “Mind
your own business, Astra.”

I snorted. “Yeah, like you always mind your own business
where my life is concerned.”

“That’s different. I’m your elder.”

“My point exactly. You’re way too elder to be thinking about
doing the chunky monkey with old Aubrey here.” I grimaced, shaking my head. Her
outraged gasp nearly made me laugh out loud. I was having way too much fun,
despite the fact that their amorous embrace was burned inexorably into my poor
retinas…never to be scoured off.

Aubrey touched Myra’s hand. “I’ll see you later, Myra.”

Despite her anger at me, my auntie favored her hot boyfriend
with a soft smile before he blipped away. There was no trace of it left on her
face, however, when she turned to me a second later. “That was uncalled for,
Astra.”

“What was uncalled for, Auntie? Me catching you in the act
or daring to admit I caught you in the act?”

Her glare deepened. “Never mind. Let’s get started.”

I shook my head. “I just came to tell you I’m leaving.”

“You can’t leave. We’re just getting started.”

“I know. But I’m running out of time. I need to get back to
Earth.”

She stared at me for along moment and then sighed. “Dialle?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what’s going on but he’s changing and it
scares me.”

She expelled another breath and indicated the seating area
at the front of the large space. We walked over and sat down on a couch
together. She grabbed my hand and, without my having to ask, proceeded to amp
me up.

The process hurt less than it had in the beginning. Gus had
shown me some tricks to make it easier, but talking helped keep my mind off
what essentially felt like fingernails scraping over my aura. “Do you have any
idea what’s wrong with him?”

Myra shook her head. “I can only guess. This is all
uncharted waters for us. Your father and I have talked about what’s going on at
the court—”

“Wait! You guys know what’s going on there? Why didn’t you
say anything?”

“Because you haven’t been in a position to do anything about
it, Astra. Knowing would have just made you feel worse. You didn’t need any
more pressure.”

I suddenly felt bad about teasing Myra. Despite her innate
and unrelenting crankiness, she’d always had my best interests at heart and I’d
counted on her help all my life. With a start I realized that was a very mature
thought I’d just had. Apparently, despite all my most determined efforts, I was
growing up.

Well shit. That just sucketh.

“But now that you have some of your magic ability back,
maybe you can help Dialle work through his issue.”

“What exactly
is
his issue, angel?”

She finished topping off my battery and pulled her hand
back. “I don’t know as much about it as your father does, but the gist of it is
that, without your light magic connection to tether him, he’s falling prey to
the darkness.”

“You mean the loss of my daemon hickey is turning him toward
the dark world?”

“It appears that way.”

I stood. “I need to get back to Earth.”

Myra stood too, grabbing my wrist. “Before you go to the
court, you need to visit your father.”

I shook my head. “I don’t have time. I’ll visit with him
after I see Dialle. I need to make this right somehow.”

Her hand tightened on my wrist when I started to shimmer.
“Dialle can wait a while longer. You need to go to the castle before setting
off to help the royals. It’s important, Astra.”

I held her gaze for a moment and then sighed. “Okay. I’ll go
to castle Phelps before I go to Dialle.”

“Promise?”

My gaze slid toward her hand on my wrist. “I promise.”

She looked at me a moment longer and then her pretty pink
lips tipped upward in a smile. “You always were a terrible liar, Astra.”

And just like that we were locked in a space shift and I was
unable to even scream at my damnable angel as she space-napped me to my
father’s house.

* * * * *

We landed in the kitchen and I opened my mouth to scour her
with abuse. She lifted a single, blonde eyebrow and waited, obviously
unrepentant. I slammed my lips closed, deciding it wasn’t worth it. “I hate
you.”

She grinned. “I know you don’t mean that, Astra.”

“Do you?”

She leaned in and kissed my cheek and then blipped away.
Sighing, I briefly considered popping over to the court and then realized that
I might as well speak to my father since I was at the castle.

I turned around, intending to go in search of him, and
stopped, my breath stalling in my chest.

“Hello, Astra.”

Tears filled my eyes. I took a step toward him and stopped,
unsure how I would be received.

Emo smiled at me and opened his arms. I flew into them,
sobbing my relief. With my powers back, I could see his aura and it was more
silver than gray, more light than dark. Emo had passed his Settling without
succumbing to the siren call of the dark.

“I’ve missed you so much, partner.”

He kissed the top of my head, holding me tight. “I missed
you too, boss.”

I laughed at the old title. I hadn’t been his boss for a
long time. But I hoped to return to our old working arrangement as soon as
possible. I’d even asked Bob and Ralph for another office. Just in case. I
reluctantly stepped back, out of his arms and smiled up at him. “You look
good.”

His dark eyes sparkled with humor. “Yeah? You don’t look so
bad yourself.”

“Now I know you’re lying.” Suddenly self-conscious, I turned
away from his intense scrutiny.

Emo touched my chin and pulled me back to face him. “I’m
sorry I wasn’t here when you needed me, Astra.”

I shook my head. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel
guilt. “You aren’t responsible for what happened to me, Emo. Nobody is except
the bitch who magic-raped me. I won’t let you feel bad about it.”

He laughed softly, shaking his dark head. “You can’t stop me
from feeling bad, boss. But I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“You don’t have anything to make up to me, Emo, but I will
let you come back to work at the Angel Network. I really need you. Darma is
anything but a suitable substitute.”

Something passed through his gaze but he laughed, shaking
his head. “I can’t believe Darma is kicking demon ass.”