Chapter 1

The Bands All Here

Abe looked over the gear again to ensure it was all there. It was, and tomorrow, they'd be flying out of here and headed to the next concert. Just when they'd agreed to take things easy, Zeus had called with a mission and a plan.

"Everything there?" Lu asked as he moved in behind him.

"You're anal. Why put me in charge of the equipment if you'll check on me anyway?" Abe asked. While it was true Lu had been delegating duties to others, he'd also double-checked some of them half to death.

"I just wanted a reason to go outside. The females have taken over my rooms. Besides, Stef says I'm a workaholic." He admitted.

"Everything is onboard. What are the females up to?"

"Baby shower for Risa."

"They finally figured it out? And she's a doctor, too."

"Yes, and she's great with everyone else. Louis made her take the test. She passed out. That's not a good habit to have."

Lu was referring to her passing out on their last mission when she'd discovered her mother was still alive. Neither of them had been there, but the story made the rounds. It was all in good fun. Risa was as popular as Stef since she'd brought several demons back from the pits of despair, missing the parts Origin removed either to torture them or as experiments.

"How are things with Gloria?" Lu wondered.

"We're going nowhere fast. She doesn't want to tie anyone down to a readymade family. She thinks her parents will leave her sister with her for good. I've tried to tell her I don't mind, but she doesn't believe me. She's had some awful males in her life. I've tried everything to convince her, but she won't change her mind."

"I'm not sure why anyone would mind having Kiki around. She's a fun girl."

"That's the problem. She had too much fun in school and got kicked out. She's doing well here, though. Risa's sister, Leann, is a bit younger, but they have become great friends."

"We even have a teacher coming. So, both girls will have help with school. They talked to Risa about training in medicine. It's a wonderful field. She said she would work with them if they passed their tests," Lu shared.

"Everything is going so well, but Gloria just won't give us a chance."

"Give it time. Have you tried romantic surprises? Stef says they work wonders."

"No, what are they?"

"Have a special meal brought in just for the two of you, send her flowers, or take her for a walk on the beach. I know you collect shells, so ask her to help you."

"Maybe I could do that tonight. There's still time."

"That's the spirit. Just keep trying. She's a lovely woman and would be a great addition to our family."

"I consider her family already. Now I just need to find a way to make her stay," he admitted.

He watched as Lu walked away. It occurred to him that Lu had returned not to check out his work but to meddle. If his advice helped, Abe would say nothing.

For a moment, he thought of Gloria. A blonde Amazon, his female, was easily six feet tall and had the palest blue eyes he'd ever seen. Her figure was neither skinny nor curvaceous. She was athletic but still feminine.

Her skills in makeup and costume were miraculous, and Stef had hinted that if he mated her, she wouldn't mind one bit. It would guarantee access to her considerable talents. That wasn't why he wanted her, though. She made his blood run hot and his heart melt.

"There you are."

"Here I am," Gloria giggled. "What did you need me for?"

He shot her a heated look before he caught himself, but her face turned red anyway. "I wanted you to eat supper with me."

"You know we can't get involved. I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Aren't we friends anymore?" He asked.

"Of course we are."

"Don't friends enjoy a meal together and talk?"

"Sometimes, but we've not done that in the past," Gloria pointed out.

"Then it's time we did. I'm feeling a bit sad and lonely. Don't you want to cheer me up?"

Gloria said nothing for a moment, just looked at him. Clearly, there was no way to get out of it without hurting his feelings.

"Fine, but no funny stuff."

"Meet me at the tables outside at six. We'll have a nice meal. I'd like to know more about your talents."

Abe rushed away before she could say anything else. He'd only have a few hours with her since they were leaving early in the morning. The concert was in Anchorage, and there was a sellout crowd. They were completely committed to doing it. Not that they would put off the raid. There really was no choice at all.

Pulling everything together hadn't been easy, but just before six, he stood by the table waiting. He saw Gloria heading his way. She looked nervous as she took in the romantic setup: flowers on the table, fine china, and a lacy tablecloth. Drinks were fancy, with paper umbrellas and tiny plastic swords pushed through the fruit.

"Let me help you into your seat," he offered like a gentleman.

"Thank you," she said as she sat. "What are we eating?"

"I told Stef you deserved to have a nice time. She suggested Cordon Bleu and wild rice. I've never had it before."

"Oh, goodness. I have, and I love it. Stef's sister, Way, made it one time when I was visiting between jobs."

"I'm glad I listened to her then."

He fixed them each a plate. "You do like grilled asparagus, too, right?"

"Love it."

He added that and gave her a small bowl of a side salad. He hoped everything would be perfect, and so far, it had been.

Looking at his lovely mate, yeah, that's what she was. He was ready to take the plunge. The problem was she wasn't.

They ate, talked, and enjoyed just being together. "Are you ready for dessert?" He asked.

"I'm stuffed."

"I have a plan. I wanted to walk on the beach and gather more shells for my collection. We can do that now and return for dessert when we're done."

"If we do that when we return, all we'll see will be empty pans."

"I see you're beginning to get to know us. Have no fear. Troll will guard the dessert in exchange for a piece when we return."

"I don't believe I know him," Gloria said. She wouldn't since he'd only started coming around her and other guests recently.

"He lives downstairs. You may have seen him walking through but not met him. He's on his way, so we can go."

"How do you know that?"

"We're wearing earpieces since we had a lot of work earlier. I forgot to take mine out." He pulled it out to show her.

Holding out his arm to her, he waited until she took it to lead her outside. He felt like he was making progress as she took off her shoes to walk in the sand. Her smile was gorgeous as they ran after shells for his collection. They found some bright and colorful ones, too.

"Look at this one!" Gloria called out.

"That's an Epitonium Scalare, also called a wentletrap. I didn't know they grew that big."

"You've been learning more about shells."

"Yes, there are so many, and our beach gets rare ones. That one is not rare, but the size makes it rare."

"I love the twists and turns. It's also shiny."

"It can be made shinier. I believe Lu plans to put a huge aquarium in the new restaurant, and I'll help fill it with shells. Stef and Lu are already catching small fish for it. It will be exciting when everything gets done." Gloria smiled at him. "Am I getting too excited?"

"Goodness no. I love it when you get happy like this. It makes me feel happy, too."

Those words made his heart sing and inspired him to write a song. It wouldn't be like Lu's songs. He just didn't have that talent. Stef said their album hit number one worldwide, and the individual songs made the top ten on multiple rankings. Lu and Risa were the singers. The first song they released hit number one.

He didn't aspire to that level but hoped his song would be good enough to woo his Gloria. She would recognize herself in the song. He just knew she would. Their fast-paced life went far beyond what he'd ever expected or even, he admitted, wanted. The plan had originally been no trips at all. That had changed from none to a couple a year out of the need to recover their brothers. Now, it seemed life was playing with them.

The band they had formed out of necessity to make a living seemed to be the best cover to plan a raid around. That was the irony of it all. Now that the sun was setting, he walked Gloria to her room. It wasn't far from his. It was disconcerting to see Cirrus standing there waiting.

"Did you need something? Gloria and I were on a date," he explained.

"I didn't realize she was taken," Cirrus said.

"Now you know."

Gloria didn't say a thing. She didn't like Cirrus and had admitted to him a few days ago that he'd tried to pick her up. Since Risa and Stef had warned her about him, she'd shied away, not even being friendly.

As they went into her room, Abe saw Cirrus watching.

"Why do they keep that man here? They know he's evil," Gloria wondered.

"Let's turn on the radio. I love music."

He knew she thought he was blowing off her question, but he wasn't. He had to be careful who might hear.

Once the music was on, he took her in his arms like they were dancing. "I have to be careful, so he won't hear. This is super-secret and no joke. We hope to use him to trace Origin's big shots and find more facilities. None of us like him around, but the public isn't aware of how harshly some of us were treated. They must be freed as soon as possible. They are being punished because of us."

"The ones that go to the beach, those that are missing parts?"

"Yes, their infirmities are the results of torture or experiments."

"Oh, my God." Gloria's eyes filled with tears, confirming what a warm and caring person she truly was.

"Someday, we hope to have all the survivors freed."

"They kill gods?"

"Yes, they killed many when they were born if they didn't conform to expectations. They also bred gods and then aborted the fetus to use in experiments. That doesn't include those tortured or starved to death," he quietly explained.

"That's barbaric. How did they get away with it?"

"They had money and the power it buys."

"I hope you get every one of them, and they get what they deserve. I'm glad we'll be gone soon so that man can't come near me," Gloria swore.

Abe was glad, too. Now that he was progressing with his mate, he wanted nothing to interfere with it. Reluctantly, he had to admit that Lu had been right. Once the song ended, he looked out of the peephole and saw Cirrus was gone.

"Looks like he left. Don't answer the door without checking first. He kept after Risa until she and Win were living together." He leaned in and kissed her softly.

There was nothing to do now but go and hope she'd forgive the little kiss.

Morning would come quickly, and they had to eat breakfast before leaving. At least everyone had their bags loaded. Carry-ons would be their only concern. Most just had one bag, but some also took laptops or other items. The plane already had pillows, blankets, and other comfort items that were regularly laundered onboard. a

Those who went often, like the band and support people, had their seats assigned. It made things easier. None of them had been as bored lately. With all the recent activity, Lu finally delegated things, and they were all busy. Abe was sure no one had started these things until Lu had assigned someone.

The assignments hadn't been what they'd expected either. Zepar was assigned to the construction but also had to work with Tarot, the communication specialist they had here on loan. Some of the guys speculated that it was a reward since the lady was a hottie.

Abe had been put in charge of the equipment they used as a band. He'd also oversee the inside of the theater when it was built so guest performers could play. It would have an eye toward other demons playing, but who knew who might come on and play?

Xap was in charge of security for now and would take on more responsibility later. Right now, that was plenty. After the band, Bellet was the next highest-level demon, and he was in charge of food. That included the restaurant that they would be setting up. Several other demons were trained as chefs and would work in the kitchen, but help was needed. Lu had told him to choose anyone of a lower level to assist him if he needed to. The poor guy would need it.

In his room, he entered and stripped, trying to think about what he should do. A shower first would be best. The hot water relaxed him, and he cleaned up. After he dried off, he settled into bed since he had to be up early to eat. Then, he would check on the equipment again to ensure everything was loaded and nothing had been removed.

While it was true that he had a team that helped him, it was still a big responsibility. All the higher-level demons now had plenty of responsibilities. Even some lower-tier two demons were put in charge of things. Some didn't mind, while others weren't too happy about it. They accepted their jobs anyway. Following Lu was just what a demon did.

Even though some might be frustrated with their tasks, demons, in general, were happier than they'd ever been. All of them had hope for a good future. If a little work was required to bring that about, demons weren't lazy. They were all ready to pitch in. Abe's thoughts of tomorrow were hopeful. He wanted this trip to be successful. He hoped they would have some of their brothers with them when they returned.

Once he was ready, he went to eat a quick breakfast and then rechecked all the equipment to ensure that everything was done. Everyone was lining up to board the plane. When he got on, he located Gloria and sat next to her. She was playing a game on a notebook. He had a similar device and found a game to play as well. Someone pulled a cart around and handed out drinks and snacks.

After they ate, many attempted to get some sleep. Some had computers to figure out their new duties or even write new songs. Lucifer would add to their list to encourage the demons to try their hand at songwriting. Lu wanted to give them all the opportunities they had never had. That would be just about anything since they had never had any kind of opportunity before. He wanted all his demons to enjoy life and live it to the fullest.

Abe wanted to help and give them all those opportunities. Eventually, he hoped to see all those who wanted a mate have that opportunity, too. Starting the band was an amazing opportunity for Lu. There was the possibility that it would fail, but they put everything they could into it and found all the right people to help them. That was thanks to Lu's mate, Stef.

The band had been a success for all demons and lifted everyone's spirits. Given time, those in jobs they didn't like would switch to something they liked better. Eventually, they would have to hire people to come in and work in areas like the hotel, which was opening soon, and the restaurant. As the construction workers moved out of the houses built for them, the workers at their resort would move in.

There were still many demons to put into jobs, but the jobs would be there if they wanted them. As soon as everything was done, anyone who wanted to work could find a job that they could do. They had a hotline that they used to find the missing gods. Eventually, that would be a call center for people to make reservations for the hotel or restaurant or to buy some of the band's albums.

Even the secondary bands that the demons had would be putting out albums and performing at the resort. Demons just had a musical talent. Sure, all gods had a musical talent, but the one the demons had was off the charts. He'd never known of a demon that couldn't sing or play an instrument. Most could do both. Gloria switched her chair to where she could sleep, and he realized that he had been thinking and not playing a game or paying attention to her. She didn't seem to mind, but that made him feel bad.

Gloria was asleep, and with such a long flight, that was probably the best thing for her. If only he could sleep so easily. The difference might be that he knew the challenge ahead of them. They were going to Anchorage, and it was in a cold barren area where Origin was hiding the latest place where they were keeping demons and gods. The gods were used as male prostitutes, an idea that Origin had used before to make money for its businesses.

It was also the reason that they had found out about the place. They had used an actual god in the advertising. Zeus had a program scouring the Internet for information on their kind. It was loaded with pictures of gods and demons. When it found one or a near match, it would alert them. Once the match was found, people went in to see if it really was a god.

A female was always chosen for the job. She asked for the guy in the picture, and that was when they knew the place.

Abe was amazed they still found places hidden all over the world. The demons had spread into several groups. Each had a couple of teams that went out on these kinds of missions. The band was the perfect cover to get close to Origin facilities. It was amazing how everything worked out to give them a way to make money and recover some of their lost people. It was something for all of their people to do that made them feel like they were contributing. Yet many found what they truly loved to do.

They weren't even halfway into their flight. It was a good time for Abe to take a nap. He could always get up and do whatever work he wanted to on his computer later. He would be awakened in a couple of hours when they served the first meal.

Just as he thought, that was exactly what happened. A demon who had trained as a flight attendant handed out meals and drinks. He had been one of the damaged ones. Unfortunately, Risa had been unable to get any more of the parts she'd used to heal the other demons.

Johnny was missing his right leg from the knee down. He had a prosthetic and could get around very well, but they were still looking for one of the better ones some of the other demons had been given.

Risa said the program had just been closed and didn't understand why. She'd been using the second-best prosthetics since that had happened. It gave many of the demons the help they needed to come back to life, but it wasn't as good as the others she'd been able to get.

Johnny enjoyed being their flight attendant. He felt like he was giving back and enjoyed getting to go to all kinds of different places.

They had another demon who also worked in the same capacity. He and Johnny took turns going on trips when they wanted and staying home when they didn't.

If they wanted to make it a full-time job, Lu considered having a plane to pick up the guests and later return them home. So far, nothing had been done because no one said they wanted a full-time job.

Up until the time they were freed, their lives had been so horrible that they deserved to make their own decisions and do what they wanted to. The money the band made supported everyone, so no one had to work if the band was working. They had the positions that needed filling.

They were expanding, which the demons had voted on and approved. So, more of them would have to work. Lu still planned for no one to work full-time unless they wanted to. They would be hiring people to fill any jobs their demons did not want.

Abe knew one of the problems was that none of the demons would complain or mention that they might like a different job because they didn't like the one they had. He knew a couple who didn't. If they didn't bring it up to Lu soon, he planned to do so. They had suffered enough. He wanted them to enjoy life. There was nothing he did that he minded doing, and he was sure they could move people around a little bit and find jobs to make everyone happy.

There were already a dozen demons training to be waiters. They all seemed excited about it, and he hoped they liked it. Stef explained that some customers might have difficulty with this. However, all of them felt like they could deal with it.

The hotel and restaurant would open in two months. Everyone would be able to see if they could handle the requested positions. They will start slowly. Stef recommended giving two trips–a week's stay for two fans each.

She felt that would be the cheapest way to get the word out. So far, all they did was hint about the giveaway, but even that had excited their fans.

The fans would get a fabulous, all-inclusive vacation. Their concert would be held where those fans could see the band play a few songs. They even planned to have a luau on the beach as one of the fun things for their guests. The plan was to have an activity each day, and they could bring up to four people. That was in case there were children they didn't want to leave behind.

Demons were just overgrown children. Abe wouldn't deny that. They loved playing with kids and with the kind of things kids did. That was probably why they all liked Kiki being there. Gloria truly didn't understand that they enjoyed her sister, and none of them minded her exploits.

Kiki made friends with a few of the injured demons. Because of that, she had taken an interest in medicine. She was a good girl. Had she not had the opportunity to be there with her sister, things might not have worked out well for her. She still had a long way to go, but everything looked up.