13. Gabriel

Sure enough, he could hear Ser and Mike exchanging insults as soon he opened the door. The door to his apartment.

"You know," he groused as he walked into the kitchen, "those keys are for emergencies only."

They were both sitting at the table, and Ser looked at him and then pointed at Mike, completely blaming him.

Mike just scowled. "This was an emergency. A demon clearly used your phone to send a message. We didn't know what was going on. I haven't even seen you since the summoning."

Az was partly behind him, and Mike craned his neck to look around Gabe to see the demon. Gabe had the irrational and childish urge to move his body to block Mike's view.

"Hmph," Mike snorted. "I guess he can pass for a lust demon."

Az put his hands on Gabe's shoulders, gave them a quick squeeze, then moved around him to pull out a third chair at the table.

"Don't worry, boring, bothersome brother, I'll not be giving you any lustful thoughts. If you're even capable of such fun," Az smirked, sitting down next to Seraphina.

She held up her hand, and Az high fived her as Gabe watched. He was a little bit amused and a little bit exasperated.

"Seriously, you two?" Gabe asked.

Seraphina just giggled, and Az smirked. Michael rolled his eyes, then pulled out a yellow legal pad, at which point both Gabe and Seraphina groaned. Gabe knew if the yellow legal pad was coming out, it was going to be a long night.

"Oh, gosh, look at the time!" Ser mock exclaimed. "I think I need to go wash my hair. Better get going!"

She got up and gave Gabe a kiss on the cheek, whispering to him, "Text me if you really need rescuing, but otherwise you're on your own." Then she waved and was gone.

"So, what exactly is our situation here?" Mike asked, pen poised to write.

Gabe sat down in Ser's vacated chair, replying, "Grams told me to pour out a ‘dud' potion, and this one appeared inside the circle. I can't revoke him. He figured he needs to… help me out, or something, and then he'll be gone." Although he felt a little sad thinking about Az being gone. He pushed it out of his head. You didn't get to keep demons.

Only he'd kept Mr. Frog, hadn't he? For about twenty years now, with no one the wiser, apparently. He wasn't sure if that would work for someone like Az, though, who seemed pretty important and all.

But it was nice to have someone to cuddle, and Az didn't look at him like a circus freak for not wanting sex. Only he'd kind of gotten sex, hadn't he? Gabe wondered if it would happen again, but then he figured he shouldn't think about that too much. He wasn't sure if the idea made him horny or nervous, and now was not the time to be either.

But the point was, maybe Az didn't need to rush back to hell. Besides, it would be kind of fun to watch him try to teach teenagers about human sexuality. He almost snorted thinking about it, but Mike's snapping fingers in front of his face jerked him out of this train of thought.

"Hello, are you even listening to me?" Mike asked, disgruntled and grumpy.

"Erm… No?" Gabe mumbled.

He heard Az chuckle beside him. "Your brother was just explaining some fancy revocation spell he apparently read about in some archaic text he probably shouldn't have."

"It should work…" Mike started, but Az cut him off.

"It won't."

"Yes, it will."

"No, it won't."

Gabe rolled his eyes as the two went back and forth a few more times. He thought Az was actually having fun, but he decided to cut in before Mike got really aggravated. No one wanted that to happen.

"Ok children, maybe Az can explain why it won't work. And Mike, it's really fine with me if Az stays," Gabe reassured him.

Mike frowned. "You can't keep a demon."

"Well…" Az started, and Gabe just knew he was going to bring up the pet demon frog, so Gabe shot him a glary eyed don't-you-tell-him look. He was not losing Mr. Frog.

Az got the hint and changed gears. "The reason no revocation spell will work is because of who I am."

Mike huffed. "You think we haven't dealt with lords of hell? You guys are like a dime a dozen."

Az just smirked.

Gabe gave Mike an apologetic wince. "Did I say ‘lord of hell'? I don't think that's exactly what I said."

Mike pulled out his phone, scrolled, and read off, "You typed ‘prince or something.' I mean, I assumed you meant one of the lords."

"Err, no. I think I actually didn't include his whole title?" Gabe said apologetically.

Mike frowned, Az smirked, and Gabe just shrunk down in his seat a bit. Shit. This was not gonna go over well.

"What exactly is the full title?" Mike asked between clenched teeth.

"I am Asmodeus, Lord of the Nines, Prince of Lust, Infernal King of the Underworld." Az looked quite proud of himself when he said it.

Mike, however, got really pale, pushed his chair back, and stood up.

"Not possible. You can't be summoned," Mike whispered.

Gabe looked at his brother, more than a little troubled. "Why do you look so freaked out? It isn't like Grams hasn't summoned loads of demons before. I swear some of them were kings or whatever."

"Yeah, but they were not Infernal Kings of the Underworld nor were they Lord of the Nines, for fuck's sake," Mike bit out.

Mike never cursed, so Gabe figured he was pretty freaked out. He took something out of his shirt—a leather corded necklace with something on the end of it that Gabe couldn't make out, and held it in his fist.

Whatever it was, Az saw it, and his face got very serious, his body very still. "I swear that I bear no ill will toward you and yours. I would perish into the ether before committing crime against Gabe, and that is my solemn oath," Az intoned.

In a less serious voice he added, "Gabe will come to no harm under my watch."

Michael seemed to relax the tiniest bit. He slid whatever was in his fist back into this shirt and sat back down at the table.

"Since when do you wear a necklace?" Gabe asked. This whole thing was just… weird.

"Always," Mike pronounced. Then he sighed. "This is still a problem, you know."

"Is it really, though?" Az asked. "I mean your family no harm. I have a very specific task. And, let's be honest here, I could come here of my own free will if I so desired. I'm enjoying staying with Gabe and visiting topside, and when my role is fulfilled the summoning will also be fulfilled."

"But you shouldn't be able to be summoned," Mike repeated.

"Sometimes I go, sometimes I don't," Az shrugged. Gabe thought he looked slightly… guilty, or sly, or something. He didn't think Az was giving Mike the full story. Not that he blamed Az.

Mike always meant well, but he was a pain in the ass. Wasn't that usually the truth with big brothers?

Gabe sighed. "Listen, this is fun and all, but do we have to do this now? I'm tired. I had a crappy day at work yesterday, summoned a demon, dealt with the demon, then worked again today. The weekend feels like it's light years away, and I just wanna relax. Can we please yellow legal pad the situation some other day? Because I can't do it today. It's only Tuesday, for fuck's sake."

Michael pushed his chair up and got up. "Yes. Yes, that's perhaps a good idea. I'll do some more research." He mumbled the last part to himself, and Gabe just rolled his eyes.

He got up with Michael to walk him to the door, and Az headed to the bedroom—probably to greet Mr. Frog. Err, Beel. Whoever.

As they reached the door, Mike stopped and grabbed his arm, looking him in the eyes and getting all serious.

"Listen, just… be careful, okay? He's a really, really powerful demon. He isn't some trifling like Grams usually summons. She never, ever should have attempted this. If Grandfather knew…" he trailed off, looking troubled.

"Yeah, well, Grandfather doesn't know, and he won't, because by the time he pops around next for a visit I'm sure Az will be long gone. So chill out."

Mike lowered his hand from Gabe's arm. "I know you both think I'm boring and bothersome, but I look out for you guys. Our family isn't exactly normal, you know. I've always looked out for you guys."

Gabe reached out and hugged him with one arm. "Oh, big brother, don't let Ser get to you. She loves you, and so do I. We know you look out for us. Sometimes it's just fun to rile up your serious, perfect composure." Gabe smirked then, and Mike smiled a bit in return.

"I swear I will call you if I need anything at all, or if anything weird happens, or whatever," Gabe promised. "Don't worry so much. You'll give yourself more gray hairs. Go home and relax for once."

Mike nodded at him and left, and Gabe noticed that there definitely was not a promise to relax.

He heard Az talking and headed into the living room, where he saw Az setting up Mr. Frog's aquarium against the wall facing the TV.

"He expressed an interest in watching TV on occasion, and I thought you might want him out of the bedroom," Az said, plugging in the extension cord that kept Mr. Frog with light, warmth, and heated rocks.

Gabe blushed a bit, but Az didn't stop what he was doing or call attention to it.

"Ah, ok," Gabe replied. "Are we going to do horror night?"

Mr. Frog croaked, but Az just smiled. "Not horror night, no, although you should set Mr. Frog up with something to watch that he'll enjoy. I was thinking perhaps we should do a bit of research before dinner."

Gabe took the remote that Az held out to him. As he distractedly scrolled through the list of movies and shows, his most pressing thought was exactly what Az meant by ‘a bit of research.' He felt like his face was on fire just thinking about it.

Not for the first time, he questioned exactly what he had gotten himself into.