Page 32 of The Morning Star
“Now the rest of you scram.” I shifted Lux into one arm and waved at the other Lows. “Out. Back to the guest house.”
They headed out and I cuddled Lux against my shoulder. As I held him, he changed form in a flash, switching from adorably pudgy infant to something resembling a two-year-old toddler.
“Da?” he asked me.
“He’s busy,” I told the angel. Lux might look like an infant most of the time, but he was perfectly capable of understanding every word that came out of my mouth, even if he sometimes pretended otherwise. “He promises to come by tomorrow night, and unless something blows up, we’re going to all go to the moon this weekend. Isn’t that exciting? There’s no atmosphere there and it’s in a vacuum, so you’ll be able to practice creating and maintaining a physical form that fits the different environment. There’s dead volcanos and craters and not a lot of gravity. It’s not as much fun as Jupiter or Uranus, but your father felt it would be a good start for you.”
Lux’s little brows furrowed and he put his hand over my nose. “Breathe?”
Funny that he was worried about this trip when he’d been regularly killing himself since I brought him here. “We will be right there with you, to hold your spirit-self and help you in creating an appropriate form,” I told him. “The first time your father took me somewhere like that, I was scared as fuck, but he kept me safe. He’ll keep you safe too.” And I would as well.
“I want to go to the moon.” Nyalla came out of the kitchen with a bottle of milk in one hand and a soda in the other.
“Ny’la!” Lux squealed and nearly fell out of my arms in his eagerness to get to Nyalla. I waited for her to put the drinks down, then handed the angel to her, watching as he reverted to an infant human form. My girl cooed at him and he immediately shoved his thumb in his mouth and cuddled up against her chest.
“I’ll bring back pictures,” I told her. “I don’t think you’d like it there.”
She laughed, hugging Lux tight then setting him down on the couch and handing him the bottle of milk. “Not if I couldn’t breathe, I wouldn’t. I guess I’ll just have to be happy exploring the oceans. There’s enough there to keep me happy for a lifetime.”
I looked down at Lux, happily slurping his milk. When he was done, he ran his tongue across his upper lip, not quite getting all of the milk mustache off.
I loved this kid. He was a complete pain in the ass, and I loved him.
“Sam?” Nyalla reached out a hand to touch my arm. “Is something wrong?”
Yes, something was wrong. I was worried about us ending up back in a war with the angels, destroying all the progress I’d made to unite us both, but even more than that, I worried about Lux. What if Remiel stole him one day when the Lows or Nyalla were watching him? I didn’t want to give the little angel back. I didn’t want Remiel to have him. A sire who’d callously hidden his offspring with an Ancient and given instructions to kill the child wasn’t fit to have custody. But he was Lux’s sire. Shouldn’t the angel have the opportunity to know the only one of his creators left alive? It was a weird situation, since demons normally formed offspring, then set them up in a dwarven foster home with a trust fund for their care, never bothering to see them again.
There were exceptions. Ahriman had wanted to form a weapon with me, to create a demon who could take back Aaru and devour the entire angelic host. Yes, he’d still have had dwarves raise the child, but in a few hundred years, he would have taken possession of it and used it as a tool. And I got the feeling that was what Remiel wanted, not some personal relationship with his offspring.
We weren’t humans. We weren’t angels. We didn’t raise our young or have anything to do with them unless they were of use to us. And I totally distrusted Remiel’s motives.
“No, I’m fine. Hey, why don’t you take Lux up to my room and get him settled in? I’ll grab a few bags of chips and some beers and we’ll all watch movies in bed.”
Nyalla gave me an odd look. “Okay. No gangster movies though.”
Never again. I promised we’d watch wholesome kids’ shows, and watched as she took Lux upstairs, then I went over to my mirror, pressing the blinking cabochons. No one used this thing lately, especially since I didn’t have a steward in Hel to relay messages to me. I wasn’t surprised when the message came up from Remiel.
Greetings, Iblis. I dislike being so abrupt, but we both have pressing and important demands on our time. Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that we may arrange for a meeting to discuss something of value that I would like to purchase from you.
Purchase from me. I gritted my teeth in anger at the words as well as his casual tone.
I’m ready to make you a very timely offer that you can’t refuse.
I shuddered, again thinking about the horse’s head. Maybe Lux had the right idea and I should post some security on the stables, or at the very least let Diablo know that he needed to go all demon-hybrid on anyone that tried to harm him or the other horses. Remiel’s message seemed friendly and almost jovial on the surface, but I knew enough about demons to read between the lines.
There was no sign-off, nor any deadline, but Remiel didn’t need to give one. His communication clearly indicated that I needed to jump on this right away—as in in the next day or two right away.
I set the mirror aside and got ready to head upstairs when something on my dining room table caught my eye.
It looked like the sort of document demons sent each other—things like formal requests and breeding proposals. I picked it up, noting the human-skin parchment as well as the ward keyed to my eyes only. Another message from Remiel, in case I wasn’t checking my mirror? I’d just spoken with Doriel and Tasma, so I doubted it was from them, but such a presentation was a bit over-the-top for a regular demon.
Unless it was a breeding proposal, which would be hysterical. I hadn’t had one of those since the Ahriman incident. I guess other demons either felt I was too unstable, or that my level in the hierarchy was too weird to know what sort of things to suggest in exchange. Either that or my reputation for devouring put everyone on edge. Heck, I’d devoured Haagenti and transmuted the last guy I’d accepted a breeding contract with. I could imagine demons would think twice before considering a possibly fatal breeding incident with me.
Huh. Maybe someone was ballsy enough to give it a shot. I broke the seal and chuckled as I thought about Gregory’s reaction when I showed him this. And then I read the contents and with a horrible sense of dread, realized that I wouldn’t be showing this to Gregory. Ever.
To the imp named Az, commonly called “Samantha Martin” among the humans, claiming the title of the “Iblis.” My long wait for vengeance is over. I will not rest until every angel is dead, as well as their precious humans. Meet with me to swear allegiance and return the sword and I will spare you. If you don’t, you’ll be the last I kill, and I’ll make sure you have a close, in-person view when I execute my siblings. Samael—Iblis and Leader of Hel.
I stormed out the back door and down to the guest house, shouting for Snip as I barged through the door.
