Chapter 8

Chapter

Eight

DASH

I jumped to my feet.“What the fuck, man? How did you disguise your aura?”

Much to my surprise, Jo walked around the pink block building that was the ladies’ room. “We’re trying to get you ready for the confrontation. You need to be better prepared, boys. Don’t believe everything you see. Demons know tricks you haven’t encountered yet.”

I stood and hugged her, happy to see her. The little old woman schtick was fucking funny.

“What do you mean by an unknown balanced pair?” Keir hugged her, too.

“A balanced pair like Scotty and Jay, but one that hasn’t been reported to the underworld or the Council. We believe this Thane person you’ve encountered is possessed by a balanced pair—an angel and a demon. Where they met, we don’t know. We also don’t know who they’re loyal to. There must be a demon and an angel, which is what worries me.”

Beelz cleared his throat. “We know of two, as a matter of fact, but they’ve been dealt with. Is this another Arch that wants to come to the dark side?”

He sat on a bench in that stupid pink-and-tan tracksuit, putting a walking stick across his lap and pulling a pair of blinged-out sunglasses from the collar of his T-shirt, covering his eyes. I cracked up as I watched him. That fucker thought he was a damn pimp, I was sure.

“As much as Lucifer would love to claim Hell is run like a well-oiled machine, it clearly isn’t. Since Nyx ran her own little corner, a lot of things happened under the radar. It’s gotta be her doing.” Jo stepped closer to us, sitting on the bench next to Beelz. This time, there was no ever-present knitting bag, which was surprising.

“Yeah, he won’t be happy about that, but you kids need to smarten up.”

Beelz stared at us before turning to Jo. “Should we take shifts? Look, we have had our war with the white lighters for eternity, and it’s a chess game. One move forward and one move back. Now, someone’s coming in from the side, and we need to figure out how to stand against her. You two are our hope. Scotty and Jay are looking for Nyx, but so far, they’ve had no luck. We’ve gotta get one jump ahead of her.”

Beelz shifted his eyes between all of us. Hell, he was right.

“Okay, so we need to do the same damn thing Nyx has been doing. Gather those who will fight with us. Who knows how many allies she’s accumulated. If we can’t fucking find them, then we have no idea where they’ll come at us from. We have the inhabitants of Heaven and Hell on our side. But we need to know how many are covertly playing on her side unbeknownst to us. How many others can we count on when she makes her move?”

When my father was affiliated with the Sacramento Sinners Motorcycle Club, there was always a fight for territory. If other clubs didn’t respect that the Sinners ran half of Sacramento, there were turf wars and people died.

With Sacramento being as large as it was, two clubs could claim the territory without clashing—Sacramento Sinners and the Sactown Heretics. When a third club, the Spanish Flat Hombres, tried to take over one territory or the other, all hell broke loose.

What the Sinners did, which wasn’t completely stupid—though I came to hate those fuckers because they were all homophobes—was to get someone on the inside. It wasn’t original or particularly brilliant, but they got a request from a nomad associated with the San Diego chapter of the Sinners to patch into the club because he was moving up the coast. The Sinners pledged to patch him in if he did them a favor.

The guy went to the Spanish Flats Hombres and asked to prospect for them, saying he’d just moved from the East Coast and wanted to be affiliated, and those stupid assholes put out the welcome mat for him. That was how the Sinners and the Heretics came to know the Hombres’ every move and how they were able to run those peckerheads out of town.

I stared at Beelz, shifting my gaze to Jo and then Keir. “Let’s get some food and go to our room to talk. We need to stew on this a little, and we can’t do it here.”

“Food? Fuck yeah.” Beelz charged toward the restaurant. I wasn’t surprised at all.

We took the boxes the server gave us and filled them from the buffet, bringing carafes of coffee and juice with us. I gave Beelz the rundown of everything we’d done since we’d been in Mexico. He pimp-walked with that stick, nodding as I told him about going to Tulum and Cancun. He chuckled a bit when I mentioned Thane Nyxon and his bullshit.

“Was that the guy you were about to throw down with? Thane Nyxon? Now where would an undocumented balanced pair find a librarian?”

“And to what purpose? I mean, seriously, I was just short of killing him. That guy either had the balls of a bull, or he was completely stupid to proposition my husband and think I wouldn’t beat his ass.” Yeah, I was still pissed about that.

“I want you two to be extra careful when dealing with spirits going forward.” Jo then turned to Beelz. “How’s Remiel fairing as Lucifer’s valet?”

We arrived at the suite, and I let us in. We spread the containers out on the table while Keir went to get glasses for the juice and mugs for the coffee.

“Hates it. Wishes he’d been eliminated. I’m not sure Gabriel is suffering as much as you white lighters intended when you banished him to Limbo for eternity. I’ll be in touch, General.”

My head snapped up so hard and fast I thought my neck would break. “Whoa! What the hell happened?” Gabriel and Remiel were Archangels, if I remembered correctly. It didn’t sound like things were going well in the Celestial Realm.

“Well, everyone thinks that only those of us in Hell and the surrounding neighborhoods are conniving, evil, power-mad beings. My brother, Asmodeus, was definitely one of them. His lust was for power at the right hand of Nyx. He paid the ultimate price by dying at Dad’s hands. Jay Frick is now a prince of Hell and the embodiment of lust.”

I glanced at Dearly. His eyes were bulging out of his face too. “What does Scotty think about that?”

“Scotty got promoted to Jo’s old job, and she’s now on the Celestial Council. Michael gave her a title that made me laugh. General Ad Hoc of the Order of Heaven. The Archs were rattled to learn that two of their own were conspiring to frame Uriel for the murder of a cherub and a lesser demon. They were hoping to get Uriel ousted as the head of the Council. All very embarrassing for the boys upstairs.”

“A cherub is an attendant to the Creator, right? Sort of an angel?” Keir’s wheels were turning, I could tell.

“What?” I held out my hand to him, which he took between both of his.

“Thane told me he read a book that sounds a hell of a lot like what you just explained about the cherub and the demon. Is that just a coincidence? How could he even know about that?” Keir had a good point.

“Well, I know how to disguise my aura and presence, though I rarely do it. Thane must be working with Nyx or someone reporting to her.” Beelz crossed his ankle over his knee and scooted back from the table. No surprise since all the food was gone.

Keir studied him for a moment. “Can a demon inhabit an animal? Would Dash be able to see a dark aura from an animal? Can they be possessed?”

We both looked at Beelz. I had no idea if it was possible, but it might explain why that fucking cat was around all the time.

“Yeah, actually. I need to check in with Jay to see if they’ve made any progress finding Nyx and her crew. When we find her, I want her eliminated. Dad has pretty much ignored her and her threats over the millennia, but she’s got a bug up her ass after all this time, and ever since she got kicked out of the Harbinger’s Ball, she’s been impossible.” Beelz stood and took his cup and juice glass to the sink while Jo collected the takeout containers and shoved them in the trash.

“When you guys get home, Dash, I’m going to have Adonis work with you on fighting supernatural beings. We may need to consider something more drastic to ensure you can protect Keir in the event of another attack like the one on your wedding day. There’s a lot at stake here, so we’ll need you to have all the necessary tools within easy access.” Jo then hugged me. “Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon. We won’t bother you anymore.”

Jo then hugged Keir while Beelz and I shared a back-smacking bro hug. “Take care, man. See you on the flip side. I’m back up top since Jay’s out hunting Nyx. I’m back at his job with Children’s Services.” That was a surprise.

“Don’t get him fired again.” I was joking about Beelz beating the hell out of a foster father because he thought the man was beating on a young boy, but it ended up being the neighbor kid. Jay got fired, but Beelz talked them into taking him back—or he mind-fucked the manager to get them to reinstate Jay.

“Yeah. The lesson I learned from that mistake is to leave no witnesses.” Beelz cackled, the crazy bastard.

After goodbyes were said, Jo and Beelz left us. I closed the door and turned to Keir. “Should we get back to honeymooning?”

I held out my arms and Keir stepped into them. I was looking forward to it being just the two of us for a while longer before we took the next step in the journey of our lives—kids.

“God, I’m exhausted.”I unlocked the front door of our apartment over the funeral home, and we carried everything inside. It had been a beautiful ten days away, but we needed to get back to reality. I hoped the love-drunk feeling I had from being in Mexico with Keir never went away.

“Well, we fucked in the pool, on the table, in the hammock—which I thought was going to kill us. Our DNA is all over the suite and in a few other places around the property, so it’s no wonder we’re tired. May your stamina never wain.” Keir laughed, and I couldn’t help laughing with him.

“Let’s go to bed.” I glanced at the clock in the dining room to see it was only five-thirty.

Keir stared at me and was about to agree—or so I chose to think—when there was a knock on the apartment door. I walked over and opened it, surprised to see Amelie’s fiancé, Trent, who was also a medium and psychic and one of our best friends.

“Hey, man. Come on in. Where’s Amelie?” I opened the door wider and stepped aside as Trent came inside, a six-pack of beer in his left hand.

“She’s in San Francisco with her parents. They’re meeting with a wedding planner and Amelie wanted to look at wedding dresses. Not an occasion the future groom is allowed to crash. How was the honeymoon?”

I led Trent into the kitchen, where Keir was looking through the cabinets. “Look who dropped by.”

Keir closed the pantry door and grinned. “Hello, Trent. How are you? Is Amelie with you?”

“No. I was telling Dash she’s kicked into wedding mode. I’ve been told it will be in San Francisco, with six bridesmaids. I need to find six groomsmen.”

I chuckled. Knowing Amelie, I could imagine the words coming out of her mouth as a direct order.

“You wanna stay for dinner? I was just checking to see what we had in the cabinets, and it’s not much. I’ll need to make a trip to the store tomorrow, so let’s order in.” Keir glanced at me and lifted an eyebrow in question. That was more than fine with me.

I took the beer from Trent, feeling the bottlenecks to find they were surprisingly cold. “I’ll put these in the fridge and I think we have some already chilled. Do you want one? We’ll figure out what to order. So, where’s the wedding gonna be?”

“Domenico Winery in San Carlos. We looked at tons of places when we were there at Thanksgiving, and that’s what Amelie chose. Of course she did. It’s the most expensive place in the Bay Area, so I should have known. Her parents, Arthur and Margo, are loaded. That’s not something she mentioned until we were on the plane on approach and landing at SFO.”

Keir pulled a bottle of red wine from the cabinet along with two glasses. “Wow. I didn’t see that for her. It sounds like it will be a big affair.”

I took the bottle of wine from Keir and opened it, kissing him on the cheek as I handed it back. Get ready... I think we’re about to be hit up to be two of his groomsmen.

Keir smirked at me and winked to acknowledge he’d heard my thoughts. He poured two glasses of wine and set one in front of Trent while I grabbed the stack of takeout menus from the drawer.

There was a two-rap knock on the front door, so I went to open it, not surprised to see Adonis in all his silver-haired glory. “Come on in. Want some wine or a beer?”

“I’d love a beer. How was the honeymoon?” Adonis stepped inside and shook my hand.

I headed to the kitchen and grabbed another bottle of beer, twisting off the cap and carrying it back to the dining room where Adonis had joined Keir and Trent.

“I called Adon to come by. Quinn, Vale, and Jonas should be coming too. I thought this would be easier to do all at once.” Poor Trent kept his gaze on the table.

Just then, there was a quick tap before Quinn came inside, never one to put much credence into manners. I reached inside the fridge and grabbed another beer before carrying it to the table. Just as I was about to sit down, the doorbell rang.

Trent jumped up. “I’ll get it.” He hurried over and opened the door, letting in Vale and Jonas.

I started to pull two chairs over from their spot on either side of the China cabinet, then rethought it. Vale would take his usual spot on Jonas’s lap anyway.

I went to get another wine glass and bottle of beer before we all settled at the table. “That’s it. My waitressing days are done. If you want something, get it yourself.”

They all laughed. We told them about our time in Mexico—well, what was fit to tell. I left out most of the really good parts because I was a gentleman.

I took a swig from my beer and stared at Trent. “Just say it.” Everyone turned to me, and I shrugged. “Clearly, he has something to ask us.”

Trent swallowed. “Will you guys be my groomsmen?”

I glanced around the table. Quinn was grinning and nodding. Jonas and Vale too. Adonis looked scared shitless, and when I turned to my Keir, I saw a tear slide down his sentimental little cheek.

“Who’s number six?” I asked, assuming everyone was on board.

Trent smirked before he took a sip of wine. I should have known the beer was to ease the way with me. Getting dressed up in a monkey suit wasn’t my idea of a good time.

“I’m going to ask Lilith to be my best woman.” That brought guffaws from Adonis, one of her sons, and Quinn, the man she planned to marry someday.

“What’s so funny?” I stared at Quinn.

My friend finally got his laughter under control. “She’s the love of my life, but she does not like to participate in many human traditions. Can I tell her? When she gets mad, she wants to fu— Uh, never mind.”

That brought a lot of laughter from the rest of us who really knew Lilith. Vale looked at us as though we’d lost our minds, but I wasn’t sure how much Vale knew about Lilith. What would happen if everyone learned about all the others?

Was there any way to come back from that?