Page 20 of Consorting With The Enemy

“Because I was just got notified of them this morning, boss. I’ve been told the unstable atmosphere has only gotten worse since the destruction of the dark lord. My sources say Tantrumonious didn’t have the necessary support needed to easily ascend the throne.” He shrugged. “I guess the rest of the family is making him fight for it.” Winking at Nic, he said, “As for the other, you know why I’m here. I’ve taken on the role of your familiar. It looked to me like you needed me. I can’t leave you alone for a minute without you getting in trouble.”

“Where’s Konrad?” Gabriel asked.

“I left him at the Seelie court. He’s not happy about it so I have to get back as soon as I can.”

“What the fuck is Tantrum doing here? Sounds like he needs to be home, taking care of business, instead of fucking around with Ariel,” I argued. “Something about this stinks.”

“Yeah, uh, I wasn’t finished,” Taylor continued. “I also heard that he has some sort ofsecret weaponhe plans to use—something that will bring Ariel to his knees. The demon apparently feels that whatever this is, he can use it to force Ariel to fightforhim.”

“Why has he been trying to destroy him, then?” Nic asked. “He’s launched one attack after another trying to get rid of Ariel and then he shows up today with some supposed weapon that could force him to do the whole forgive-and-forget bullshit? Doesn’t make sense to me,” he muttered in disgust. “I call bullshit. He doesn’t have a fucking secret weapon.”

I could hear them talking, but everything seemed so, so far away—like I was down in a pit. I felt like my life essence was slowly being sucked from my body. I knew what the secret weapon was. I knew. How he got his hands on it, I’d probably never know, but I knew in my heart that Ariel hadn’t betrayed me. I was merely thankful that my beautiful demon wasn’t here. If he were, Tantrumonious would be able to manipulate him. Fuck.

“I know what it is—what the weapon is,” I said quietly. They all hushed at the same time.

“What?” Nic asked. “You honestly believe he has something that could hurt Ariel enough to bend him to his will? Like you said to me earlier, have you met him? Ariel doesn’t bend for anyone…except you, that is.”

I heard Marchand gasp and then every sound roared back to life. There was no point in whining about it now. What was done was done. My only objective was to let the battle be over before Ariel ever found out what was happening.

“He has one of your feathers, doesn’t he?” Marchand whispered. “That’s the secret weapon, isn’t it?

I smiled. “Well, not so secret now, I guess, but, yes, I’d guess that’s what Tantrumonious has planned—to force Ariel to become his weapon and in exchange he will allow me to live.”

“Why would that even matter?” Gabriel asked. “I sweep up Marchand’s feathers all the time and toss them in the trash. How could one of your feathers become a weapon?”

“Feathers that we shed are useless. Feathers that are willingly given to another creature can be lethal to us.” I took a deep breath as my mind traveled back to the time I’d shared with Ariel. We’d known our mating would be an abomination, enemy against enemy, but we hadn’t cared. When it’d come time for us to part, I’d been young and foolish enough to give him one of my feathers as an oath that while we might not be able to be together, it didn’t mean we had to hate each other—to try and destroy each other. I didn’t regret it. No, my only regret was that it had fallen into the hands of Tantrumonious and when Ariel realized it, it would destroy him.

“Where’s my beloved brother?” the demon called out from his side of the battlefield. “He is the guest of honor, after all.”

“We need to back away from this,” Nic said. “The fact that he possesses something that can destroy you, changes things for all of us. There’s nothing to keep us from withdrawing until we form a better plan.”

“No, the time is now. We’d never be able to trick Ariel again, and I won’t allow him to be used as a pawn because of me.” Looking at Marchand, I said, “I love you, nephew. Stay with those that can protect you and have a good life.”

After that, I launched into the air, refusing to give them an opportunity to argue, and flew directly toward Tantrumonious. I’d told Ariel how much I loved him, and he’d shared the same with me. Tonight was as good as any other night to die.

****

Ariel

I was trapped in darkness. Deep, deep darkness. Or, at least my mind was. There was nothing there—nothing to make me think I was in danger…justnothing. What had happened to me? More importantly, where was Azazel? Even if I was in the darkest pits of hell, I would be able to sense him near me. His presence wasn’t there, comforting me. I pushed through the darkness, hearing myself scream as I fought through an invisible barrier. I hadn’t felt this kind of power since…

Oh, no, they fucking didn’t.

This darkness holding me down tasted of Gaudet magic, like at the cabin in the bayou. No, it wasn’t a demon trap, but it was Gaudet.Why? I no longer distrusted Az’s witches and vampires…well, and every other creature he associated with, but that didn’t mean I agreed with what they’d obviously done to me.

Again…why?

A memory tugged, fighting valiantly to come to the surface. What was it? It was something that made me angry, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember what it could be. It wasn’t Az—he loved me. Sure, it had taken me centuries to convince him but convince him I had. Even in the darkness, I felt my lips form a smile as I thought of him and all his angelic perfection. Oh, and that all that belonged to me and only me.

And…then I frowned.

The Pits.

The fucking Pits.

We were supposed to be fighting my brother tonight. Godammit. They’d pulled some hocus pocus fuckery on me and were no fucking doubt out fightingmybattles. Without me. I’d be damned to hell for eternity if that didn’t piss me off. Like I was some fragile flower, for fuck’s sake. I was demon royalty. I’d killed the fucking Dark Lord. Why not use me?

Because he’s trying to keep you safe. They are trying to keep you safe.

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