1. Madelyne

one

Madelyne

S ummoning demons, getting trapped in Hell, and adding to my mate count is all well and good. It’s mostly been sunshine and rainbows. But this? This blinding pain in my back? It’s way worse than when I grew my horns.

“She’s just sprouting wings is all.” It’s hazy like it’s coming from far away, but Oz’s sardonic voice brushes my ear, confirming my suspicion.

I’m getting wings!

Holy Hell, why does it have to hurt so much?!

As I writhe on the bed, the overwhelming feeling of pride that is clearly coming from my crazy-ass mates is almost enough to distract me from the searing agony shooting down my spine.

Almost.

Just as suddenly as it came on, the pain disappears, as if it were never there. Seconds ago, I thought I was dying and now I feel perfectly normal. If you can count the heavy leathery appendages magically appearing on my back as normal . I don’t think I would, but, my back physically feels normal. As if the wings were always meant to be there and my entire body feels more whole with them.

My body may be handling the demon changes well, but let me tell you, it’s a fucking head-trip.

A hand softly runs down my spine and my wings twitch.

“So perfect,” Belz’s hushed breath reaches my ear as my surroundings come back to focus.

“Of course, she is,” Zeph scoffs as fingers run through my hair, brushing it away from my face.

“How long did it take you to grow your wings and recover, B?” Oz smirks. Or you know, the equivalent to smirking with your voice… What’s that sound called? I don’t know. Guess I’m not all the way back yet.

“Shut up, Oz,” Belz grumbles. “She’s royalty and the next ruler of Hell. Of course, her transmutation would be faster than mine.”

Shit. You mean Belz had it even worse when he got his wings? Some fucking gift .

“It’s ok, love, the worst is over. You’ll feel better than ever soon,” Belz murmurs before pressing a gentle kiss to my head.

My eyes flutter open to see Belz’s earnest eyes looking at me with pride and desire. Damn. I love it when he looks at me like that.

“You’re cheating,” I grumble before arching my back in a deep stretch, my wings flapping, moving my mates away from me as I push myself to sit. “Is there a reason these lovely gifts from Hell have to hurt so goddamn much?”

“ Gifts from Hell ,” Zeph chuckles.

“Did you answer your own question, Princess? They’re gifts… from Hell , of course, they’re going to hurt. Hell’s all about pain and torture remember?” Oz arches a brow with a stupid smirk. The same one I know he was wearing when he was talking shit to Belz earlier.

“You’re gonna stay at the bottom of my list, aren’t you?” I glare at my cocky, dickhead mate.

“We can’t all be your favorite, angel. Someone’s gotta make the rest of us look good.” Zeph winks.

Rolling my eyes, I taunt my modest, jokester mate. “I didn’t know you needed someone to make you look good.”

“Touché, love. Was trying to give him more credit than was due,” Zeph grins.

“That’s ok, I’ll fuck you into loving me,” Oz smirks.

That’s right. I remember that. Holy Hell, can the man fuck!

“You know there’s more to love than sex, right?” Belz grumbles.

“Of course. But one must use one’s strong suits to their advantage. And you know firsthand how strong my strong suit is.”

Oooh. That’s a sexy picture I want to see.

Are they going to demonstrate this now?

I’d approve. Just saying.

“You’re such a dick,” Belz huffs.

“Yes, and you love my dick,” Oz taunts.

“I know I do!” I interject as Belz glares at our mate.

“Don’t encourage him, Amica Mea. ”

I shrug. He already knows it. It’s not like me saying it aloud is changing anything.

“How are you feeling, love?” Belz asks softly as he sits beside me, stroking a hand down my back.

My wings twitch, reaching out to the demon beside me, and bumping into his wings in a friendly greeting.

“Feels like I should be in the air instead of sitting around listening to you three bicker.”

“The wings are calling to you already,” Belz smiles. “They can be bossy things.”

Both sets of wings flutter in agitation at his remark. Looks like he hit the nail on the head with that one.

“Will you teach me?” I look at him earnestly.

“Of course I will. Though something tells me it won’t be necessary.”

“Thank you.” I smile at him before standing. “Now, I’m going pee then I’m going to bed. You’re welcome to stay, but any fighting will get you expelled… from the room.” Once a teacher, always a teacher.

I don’t wait for a response, popping myself to the en suite, the throbbing between my legs a gentle reminder of our escapades before the wing incident and prompting me to clean up before I get a UTI.

Nobody’s got time for that shit .

I take a step towards the toilet, and one of my wings flaps out, throwing me off balance. My other wing pops out, a perfect counterbalance to keep me standing. I turn to the mirror and grip the sink for stability as I get my first good look at my troublesome wings.

They’re huge. And I feel super badass with them.

The long, curling, pointed tips look like claws. With the dark, onyx black, color of them they remind me somewhat of bat wings. Running my left had over my right wing I can feel the latent power beneath the tips of my fingers. Biting my lip, I trace them with my eyes. They’re slightly terrifying, and the perfect wings for the next ruler of Hell.

They flutter at the compliment and I chuckle as I watch them preen.

All this time, they move of their own accord. I have no idea how wings are supposed to work, but surely I’m not the only one who would think they would be like any other appendage that I control. Apparently, I was completely off base because these fuckers do whatever they want and I have no say whatsoever.

I remember when Belz tried sitting on my couch for the first time and his wings wouldn’t cooperate. I didn’t understand why he couldn’t just pull them in and sit, but now I get it, it was never that easy. The wings may be an extension of me, but they’re not a part of me.

“Because you’re not, are you?” I ask aloud. “You’re your own… not person … but… you know… entity.”

They beat behind me, causing a gust of air to blow my hair around and a sense of amusement and pride flashes through my head.

Well, shit. Can they communicate?

I feel them rolling their eyes at me. And yes, I know wings don’t have eyes. But it’s what I associate with the exasperation they somehow send to me.

Guess that answers that.

“Ok. Someone is feisty,” I mutter. “Look, I’m sassy too. Obviously, we’re a good match. But maybe we could work together? You can’t always be flapping away. And you especially can’t just shoot out on one side just to make me fall.”

I’m hit with conflicting emotions at once. It’s like they’re laughing and scolding me at the same time. But why would they scold me?

My eyes widen as a light bulb goes off. “There are two of you.”

Of course. That explains why one wing tripped me up and the other helped balance me when I almost fell.

I glare at my right wing in the mirror. “You’re an asshole.”

I swear the fucker smirks at me with twinkling fucking eyes. And yes, I still know they don’t have the body parts to actually do that. It’s a feeling , okay? Don’t make this a thing. Just go with it, okay?

“I can be an asshole, too, just so you know. So don’t test me,” I warn with a brow raised.

I guess it makes sense that my duality would extend to them. Part demon, part human. Part good, part evil. The two parts coming together to make one whole me somehow got separated back out into each of my wings.

“Alright, look. If you can both agree to behave and work with me, not against me, we can all live happily ever after like some kind of fucked up fairy tale. I’ll set you free to soar over the city as often as I can. You’re not the only ones who want that.” They flutter again at the thought of being able to let loose.

“But we’re a team. No being a bitch to our teammates, Elphaba.” I glare at my right wing yet again. “I won’t bat an eye if you want to take your evilness out on someone who deserves it, but not me and not my mates… unless they deserve it.” I give her a little wink in hopes we are finally on the same page.

She pulls herself into my back as she sends me her feelings of delight and satisfaction. At the same time, my other wing droops, her dejection clear as day.

“Aww, don’t be sad, Glinda.” I rub my fingers along her and she instantly perks up. I chuckle. “You thought I would name her and not you? Silly girl.”

With both of my wings now on board team Maddy, I leave the mirror and walk steadily to the toilet to finally relieve myself. And it’s just like walking before the wings. I almost trip over a pile of clothes on the floor but Elphaba and Glinda flutter behind me, lifting me enough to avoid that embarrassing situation.

If they're gonna keep my clumsy ass right way up I think I'm really going to dig having wings .

After I’m all cleaned up, I poof myself back to bed and land face down on a very naked Oz.

What the hell, powers? We’re supposed to be sleeping, not sexing. We did that already.

“Why, hello there, Princess,” he coos in my ear.

“No! Sleep time!” I admonish before quickly rolling off him and across Belz, snuggling into his side.

He’ll protect me from the big bad Oz.

My protector chuckles as he wraps his arm around me, tucking me tighter into his side. “I’ll keep the horndogs at bay. Sleep, love. You’re safe with me.”

“My hero,” I croon, closing my eyes and fighting a yawn. It’s been a long day. I don’t think I’ve ever been so exhausted in my life.

The bed dips behind me and an arm wraps around me as soft lips brush my wings.

“We’ve got you, angel. Rest. We’ll tackle the world tomorrow,” Zeph murmurs behind me.

“Mmmm,” I sigh. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Another hand lands on my hip and a blanket of peace surrounds me as I’m cocooned by my mates. I drift off to sleep feeling safer than ever. Nothing bad can happen as long as I have them with me.

A tickle in the back of my mind tries to remind me of something terrible that happened, but I’m too tired and relaxed to focus on it. Whatever it is will still be there in the morning. Like Zeph said, we’ll tackle the world tomorrow. The four of us. Together.