"Do I have a choice in the matter?" Lucy asked, still dazed by the motherlode of info that she'd just been presented with.
"No, you don't. In the same way I have no choice about being beautiful," she said.
"And insane," Satan muttered.
"I heard that, you little shit," she snapped at my father and then turned her attention back to Lucy. "We all have a choice, child. You are Temptation whether you want to be or not. The choice is if you will step up to the plate and do the job. Sink or swim, baby."
"I'll swim. I always swim," she replied.
"Good! I'm outta here," Gigi said. "Bill, are you with me?"
"Always, my love. I'm always with you," Grandpa said as he gave me a quick kiss and hug.
Mother Nature grabbed Eve with one hand and Grandpa with the other. "Later," she shouted as they disappeared in a blast of iridescent glitter.
"Um, I think people are arriving for the dance," Stella said as my classmates slowly wandered into the gym.
"Oh my God," a girl dressed in a white tube top, mini, thigh high boot and wings squealed. "The decorations rock!"
My father magically disposed of Cole's body and sent Amanda to some padded cell in Hell before they were noticed. He took me in his arms and held me tight. "You might want to retract those wings," he told me. "They're kind of conspicuous."
I quickly pulled them toward me and they disappeared into my back. "Thanks, Dad."
"No problem. Will you come back to Hell?" he asked.
I glanced over at Hayden and I grinned. "Yes, we will be coming back to Hell very soon."
"He's part of the package now?" Satan asked as he gave my Angel of Death the evil eye.
"Yep. He's definitely part of the package."
My father sighed dramatically. "Fine. I suppose it could have been worse."
He disappeared in a cloud of black glitter and the crowd of co-eds clapped wildly. They thought he was a magician. . .if they only knew.
Elijah walked right up to Lucy and stared. "Would you like to dance?"
"My eyes are up here, douchebag," she said as he tore his gaze from her chest.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"You'd better be. I'll dance with you, but if you try any funny business I will knee your balls into you mouth."
"Duly noted." He grinned as he held his hand out to her.
"There's a match made in Heaven," Hayden said dryly as he pulled me onto the dance floor that had recently been a bloody scene of destruction.
I glanced around the room and smiled. Carl was waltzing with Janet. Myrtle was making out with Timmy by the broom closet. The baby Demons were at the snack table beating the Hell out of each other, much to the dismay of several faculty members who were at the dance. Stella had about ten young men vying for her attention and Lucy warily danced with Elijah. I laid my head on Hayden's chest and sighed.
"Can I feel you up?" Hayden asked with a glint in his eye. "It's a slow song."
"You have to spank my bumbum first." I giggled and snuggled closer.
"That could be arranged," his whispered in my ear as he lightly tapped my butt followed by a semi discreet body massage that should have taken place in private.
"I love you, my Angel," I told him.
"I love you too. Are you having fun?" he asked as he kissed me.
"Yep, but I want to go."
"Home?"
"Eventually, but I want to do something first."
"Can I guess?" he asked as he led me to the exit.
"Go ahead," I challenged.
"You want to fly."
I grinned and nodded. He led me out into the crisp cool evening and with a running start we launched ourselves into the night.
It was magical.
It was perfect.
And it was just the beginning.
EPILOGUE
Three weeks later
"Let me tell you something, Vampyre," Astrid hissed between her screams of labor. "If you ever pull out your penis again in this lifetime I will remove it with a dull butter knife."
"That will be fine," Ethan muttered. "Now breathe through the pain."
"Come over here," she grunted. "I'll show you how to breathe through my fist."
All the men in the sitting area outside of Astrid and Ethan's suite winced in solidarity. The Vampyre compound had been restored by Mother Nature as a gift for the arrival of the baby. Plus Ethan had threatened her with baby visitation rights. Now that the danger had passed, everyone had come home.
The ornate sitting room was filled with those who loved Astrid and Ethan. The Kev and Gemma sat close to each other and held hands. Pam, Astrid's strikingly beautiful and foul-mouthed Guardian Angel, and her mate, Ethan's father, paced the room with excitement. Satan and Sloth sat in a corner and quietly played cards. Astrid's cousins, Heathcliff and Cathy, along with their father smiled at everyone as they passed around refreshments. Mother Nature held court with the baby Demons as Grandpa looked on approvingly. Janet and Myrtle were folding a pile of onesies they had brought and Carl was bejeweling a tiny baseball cap. I sat on Hayden's lap as he traced little circles on my back and we waited.