Asmodeus(15)

In the years following their fall from grace, each Rebel had done their best to conform to the ideals of the populace. Using their powers they effectively masked the differences of their eyes, the spark of power that caused the air around them to pulse and the aura that surrounded their bodies. What they had never succeeded at concealing was the immortality each possessed.



Naberius, on the other hand, looked every bit the ancient demon. His black hair was long, past his shoulders, and the black stubble on his face was most definitely a change from his usual cleanshaven look. He had on jeans which were loose and faded with a few holes in them. He had yet to discern why Naberius's home spoke of wealth, though his clothing reeked of poverty.



"You have a nice home, Naberius." Asmodeus scratched his thigh, the denim making him itchy. Naberius had loaned him a pair of jeans, though Asmodeus had forgone the shirt that had been offered, instead wanting to feel the cool air on his skin.



"Cut the shit, Asmoday, how the fuck did you get out?" Naberius leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table. He lit a cigarette. The offending smoke drifted across the table and caused Asmodeus's eyes to water.



Ignoring the smoke, Asmodeus adjusted himself, thinking the jeans were a form of torture unto themselves. "The witch summoned me out earlier this evening. It took me a while to get my bearings. Three archangels have already attempted to apprehend me."



Raum's eyebrows shot up. "And?"



"And I sent them back."



Naberius whistled, settling back in his chair. "They'll be back."



"I am quite aware." His thoughts drifted to the dark-haired witch, Brianna. As much as she annoyed him, he wasn't going to allow the bastards to hurt her, which was half the reason he forced her to come with him. She could summon Michael and he could keep her safe from whatever fate the angels had in mind for her.



"If you want I can start calling around, getting available resources willing to fight should the need arise."



Asmodeus eyed Raum. Yes, his brothers would offer their services to keep him out of the Abyss, though he didn't want to go that route. It would mean imprisonment for everyone involved, and hadn't he already been down that road and learned his lesson?



When Naberius broke him out of the Abyss in the early fifties he had spent nearly a year on the run, forcing Raum and Naberius to do the same. In the end it hadn't mattered. Michael had taken him back to the Abyss, catching him unaware and with his fallen comrades. He would keep in mind the repercussions that disaster had entailed. Raum and Naberius had been sent back to the first tier of the Abyss for a decade. At least this time they weren't responsible for his release. The witch was.



Hell, just his being here could endanger the two he was closest to. "Let's wait and see what they do before you call in the troops. How many are there, anyway?"



Naberius drank from his steaming mug of coffee laced with Bailey's. "About a hundred and eighty. All would be willing to fight."



Which was the problem. He'd already damned his brothers once. He would not do so again. Each of the Rebels fell of their own accord, though he felt personally responsible for their decision to fall. He had been the instigator. "So, who is this Valencia?"

Raum raised his mug. "A total rotten bitch as far as I'm concerned."



Naberius rolled his eyes. "Raum doesn't like her."



"That's obvious. What about you?" Asmodeus was still finding it hard to believe Naberius had taken up with a vampire. Then again, vampires couldn't get pregnant, and that alone made them acceptable for a demon mate.



Naberius shrugged. "She's a good lay."



He was already having a problem with the language barrier. In the late fifties he'd had to figure out what "cool babe" and "daddy-o" meant. He'd thought fitting in had been bad after the original fall. It was nothing compared to conforming to the modern world. Before the first fall he had watched the humans. It had been his job. He'd come to this realm with a good idea of what to expect. Between his last two ventures to this realm he had been locked away in the Abyss, ignorant of the advances of the human realm.



He glanced at Naberius. "A good what?"



"A good lay means she's good in bed. Get it? He's laying with her." Raum got up to refill his cup. He poured straight Bailey's inside the mug, forgoing the coffee.



Asmodeus looked down at his own coffee. "I thought you two liked vodka." Of course he knew their answer before they uttered a word. Things changed. People changed. Except for him, as he had been imprisoned for the better half of his life.



"Bailey's doesn't incapacitate us, whereas vodka has a tendency to knock us on our asses every now and again." Naberius tilted his drink back, emptying the contents. "We rotate our schedules, so we don't work every night, but on the nights we do work we've been known to drink Bailey's."