“Tell me everything.” I wanted to know every detail.
With a few voices joining in, I heard about how Auric, as soon as he found himself healed, opened a portal to Hell and came after me. My brave champion. He arrived in time to see me tumbling over the edge of the abyss. He swooped down and carried me out, then stood over me, fighting with my Hell sword until the cavalry arrived.
“You should have seen him, Muriel,” my father said, looking impressed. “Swinging your sword around like a Viking of old. Standing guard over your body, and growling like a rabid dog at all who approached. Between the two of you, there was barely anything left to fight.” Satan looked almost disappointed with that fact. “You could have left the rest of us a few.”
“I would have figured you"d had your fill of fighting. What with everyone being called back to Hell to fight,” I said, still miffed they hadn"t thought to call me.
“That"s just it,” my father grumbled. “There was no fight. We"d received word that the coup was coming, so I called everyone home to fight, and we were waiting, ready...”
“Everyone except me,” I muttered.
My father drew himself up indignantly. “You, my daughter, happened to be the first one I called, but no one answered.”
My resentment slipped away. “You really wanted me there?”
“Damn straight, I did. You"re the best demon slayer I"ve got.”
“Ah, Daddy,” I said, tearing up.
Satan cleared his throat, “Yes, well, there we were, ready to kick the mutineers where it hurt, when it hit.”
“What?” I asked, leaning forward eagerly. “Trans-dimensional creature? Spirits from Purgatory?
What attacked?”
“Nothing. Everyone kind of fell asleep. When we woke up and found no one to fight, I sent everyone home.”
I laughed. I couldn"t help it; my father looked so put out. “But how? A spell of that magnitude?
It seems impossible.”
“Whoever we"re up against has access to some pretty potent ancient magic. I"ll be talking to my scientists and wizards back in Hell to find out what happened. I may even call my brother, God.
This doesn"t smell like the kind of thing he"d do, and I"m pretty sure he"ll want answers, too.
We"ll be better prepared next time.”
I processed what my father said, and my body shivered lightly in fear. Next time? I didn"t want to ever go through the agony of what that being had done to me. My mind still felt raw, and my body so weak. And Auric? What if they came after Auric again? “Do you mean to tell me that Azazel and his master are still loose?”
At my words, almost everyone dropped their heads and pretended to look elsewhere. Even my father cleared his throat and looked at his toes.
Auric was the one who answered me. “They escaped. Standing guard over you, I couldn"t chase them when they saw the tide turning. They left, just as your father and reinforcements arrived.”
“So they"re still out there?” I said quietly, pushing that little quiver of fear down and coaxing instead the fires of my rage.
Auric nodded. “Don"t worry; I"ll protect you better next time.”
“Me, too,” chimed in my father.
I arched my brows. “Protect me? I expect you by my side, fighting, when I find them and kill them for what they"ve done.”
My father laughed out loud at my vehement words, and for a second, I worried that I might have freaked out Auric with my blood thirstiness; but his face turned hard, and when he spoke, his tone sounded even harsher. “I intend to hurt them before I kill them. They will pay for what they did to you.”
I shivered in his arms at his words. I wanted to feel sad that my love for him had already changed him, made him colder; but truth be told, I found this mercenary side of him exciting.
I faked a yawn.
“Muriel needs to rest,” announced Auric with authority. He stood, cradling me in his arms. I saw my father whisper something in Auric"s ear, and I frowned. I didn"t like secrets.
But Auric smiled down at me and I forgave them. Hey, at least my father was talking to him instead of trying to kill him.
I said goodbye from the comfort of arms that refused to let me go, and Auric strode out of the bar.
“You can"t carry me all the way home,” I said.
“Be quiet. If I had my way, I"d never let you go again.”
Auric called forth his new shadow wings. They were beautiful: charcoal colored, with silky looking plumage. When he beat them, their massive breadth spreading wide behind him, we left the ground and the bar behind. Auric swooped through the air like an angel of the night, and I smiled up at him. “Are you sure my dad didn"t make you promise anything stupid in exchange for them?”