Daystar (85 page)

“For?”

“Thai food, oddly enough.
 
I have not gotten to eat anything in days.”
 
Dahlia grinned.

Lucifer set his jaw.
 
“You take your position lightly.”

“Cry me a river.”
 
She waggled her eyebrows and looked him over.
 
“I have a craving for something else as well.
 
What is better than sex?”

“Nothing.”

“Exactly.”
 
Dahlia leapt on him.
 
They collided.
 
They combined, became one, and then separated.
 
Heaven met Hell and the divisions ended.
 

The darkness of Hell poured into the emptiness of space.
 
Light from Heaven fractured to pieces, stars frozen and thrown into the sky like marbles.
 
The two realms joined in the shared space and ceased to exist as separate places.

All around the Earth and its sun elements boiled and were shaped, molded randomly and dispersed haphazardly.
 
The song of creation washed through the universe remade and joy reigned.

Lucifer and Dahlia spun into one another and were ricocheted out; separate, stable forces of light and darkness.
 
The motes of power touched down on the living ground of the first planet.
 
Two bodies from light coalesced.
 
One black and one white, now with shades of all colors.
 
They took form with legs and wings, halos and stars.

Dahlia stretched and six wings opened to the sky, black and mottled with the color of the aurora.
 
She stared at the blue heavens and smiled.
 
She tilted her head back and hummed.
 
Her body glowed briefly and Raphael split from her.
 
Both women took on shades of red once more, no longer one being in black.
 
Raphael yawned and fell asleep at Dahlia’s feet.
 
Dahlia smiled at her little sister.

Lucifer awoke on the ground; he jumped to his feet.
 
His white and prismatic wings of bent light unfurled.
 
He looked up from the ground.
 
He gave Dahlia no chance to dash; he leapt forward and encircled her in his arms, bringing her close to him.
 
Dahlia smiled, Lucifer mirrored her.

His eyes darted to Raphael and back to Dahlia.
 
“You are red, split again.”

Dahlia nodded.
 
“I have no need of that much power, and I do not want it.
 
Besides, if I were to have it still, we would have just started this all over again.”

Lucifer looked down at his own body.
 
“Am I a danger to remain as this?”

Dahlia shook her head.
 
“No.”

Lucifer frowned.
 
“I do not desire to have this inequality between us.”

Dahlia kissed his neck.
 
“If that is how you feel, then give Michael back what he gave to you.”

Lucifer stepped away from her and closed his eyes.
 
“Come.”
 
He pulled a sleeping boy out of his body and both shifted to shades of blue.
 
Lucifer opened his eyes and stared at Michael, as young as when he had first made him.
 
Lucifer held him up to eye level.
 
“Wake.”

Michael did not stir.
 
Lucifer looked to Dahlia.
 
Dahlia examined him.
 
“Perhaps he is not ready to wake.
 
Let him sleep then, he deserves a break as well.”
 
She picked up Raphael and gazed towards the east.
 
“
Our place of rest
.”
 
She looked to the sun.
 
“
And Providence our guide
.”

Lucifer smiled and took her hand.
 
“
With wand’ring steps and slow, through Eden
we
make
our
solitary way
.”

***

Epilogue

“Fuck my life!”
 
Tracy slammed her horns into Whitney, sending her sprawling.

Whitney fell into a fountain of wine and made a face.
 
“
Thanks!
 
Now I’m going to be sticky!”
 
She jumped out and smoothed out her black dress as wine beaded off.
 
She fluffed out her wings.

Tracy pointed at her stomach.
 
“He’s fucking gotten me pregnant
again!
”

Apple smirked.
 
“It takes two to—”

“Shut your face!”
 
Tracy glared at Apple.
 
“You’re lucky only having
one
.
 
I have a flock.”

Whitney toweled her dress off.
 
“You can get Helion to fix that, he’s like magic birth control.
 
If you want it of course.”

Apple nodded.
 
“I can do that too.
 
Why haven’t you asked yet?”

Tracy frowned.
 
“I didn’t even think of it.”

Apple grinned and jumped back.
 
“Whose fault is that?”

Celeste careened down the stairs and caught her breath.
 
“Dahlia says she’ll be right down.”

“What is taking so long?”
 
Apple looked over.

“Furcas and Paimon, they can’t decide.”
 
Celeste smiled.

Whitney doubled over laughing.
 
“Please tell me one of them is in a dress.
 
Please!
”

Celeste grinned.
 
“No dresses, sorry.
 
They’re both in suits and bickering like they’re already married.”
 
She cocked her head and ducked into the cellar as Belial jumped down the stairs.

Belial twirled in her blood red dress.
 
She grew out long thin silver blades on each finger.
 
“I am ready to cut a bitch!”

Apple tossed her a bottle of wine.
 
“Drink.”

Belial bit the top off and chugged.
 
“I will take on everyone!”
 
She sliced the air.
 
“Rowr!”

The fountain erupted and Leviathan stood up, blue and covered in wine.
 
She had on a dress made of scales.
 
Ribbons held her wings together; they cascaded down her back like a waterfall.
 
She grinned.
 
“Party time!”

Apple gave her a once over.
 
“Our maid of honor?”

Leviathan shook out her hair.
 
“In the flesh!”

Dahlia shouted from the top of the stairs, “Come
on!
 
You’re such a big fucking baby!”
 
She jumped down and threw a man into their midst.

Paimon rolled, leapt to his feet, and punched the air.
 
“I am
not
the chick in this relationship!”

Dahlia stood in front of the stairway.
 
“
You
let Bean decide.
 
She called
you
mommy, which is fair enough in my opinion.”

Paimon heard Furcas snicker from upstairs.
 
He scowled.
 
“You are going to regret that!
 
I will not make this easy for you, Furcas!”

Dahlia shrugged.
 
“That is the whole point right?
 
He has to force you, even more reason you are the bride to be.”

Paimon flushed as the girls laughed at his plight.
 
He set his jaw, messed up his shaggy hair, and folded his wings behind him.
 
He held out his hand.
 
“Someone, give me alcohol now, a lot of it.”

***

Lucifer stood in Furcas’ ocean-themed suite.
 
He adjusted his tie in a full-length mirror and regarded his appearance.
 
“I am dashing.”
 
Andy and Berith laughed from behind him.
 
Lucifer’s eyes narrowed.
 
“Have something to say?”

Andy shook his head, his eyes innocent.
 
“Not at all, Satan.”

Berith grinned and fixed his bowtie.
 
“Wouldn’t dream of disparaging you, almighty one.”

Lucifer glared.
 
“I can sense sarcasm.”
 
He turned to them.
 
“Do you think Dahlia really wants to get married?”

Andy gave him a light shove.
 
“She said yes.”

Helion ran up the stairs with a giant grin on his face.
 
“Gabriel brought cookies!
 
He made cookies with Gaea, they’re on plates downstairs!”
 
He leapt back down the stairs leaving the three to stare after him.

Furcas ran up in his place, looking entirely pleased.
 
Lucifer sighed when he saw him.
 
“Does that mean?”

“Oh yeah, for today only, he’s
my
bitch.”
 
Furcas checked out his hair in the mirror.
 
“Bean’s doing, he couldn’t say no to her when she gave him her look.
 
It was perfect.”
 
He grinned wickedly.
 
“I’m having Jegudiel take pictures so he’ll
never
live it down!”

Gabriel ducked his head in the room and saw Furcas.
 
“Oh, no.”

Furcas grinned.
 
“Oh,
yes!
”

Gabriel turned back around.
 
“I will tell, Gaea.
 
Do not fight once you reach the aisle, she has spent weeks getting the area set up.”

Azrael slammed into him on the stairs.
 
“Sorry!”
 
He grabbed at Lucifer.
 
“Michael’s dressed, Lucifer.
 
I did it!
 
I did it!”

Berith patted his brother on the head.
 
“Good job.”

“Thanks!”
 
Azrael grinned and his wings buzzed.
 
Electricity filled the air around him.
 
The lights flickered.
 
His hair floated.
 

Berith gaped.
 
“Azrael, calm down and go back downstairs.
 
Do not shock anyone.”

“Okay!”
 
Azrael ran from the bathroom.

Everyone let out a collective breath.
 
Andy pushed Lucifer out of the way and tied his tie.
 
“He still is catatonic?”

Lucifer frowned.
 
“Yes, I do not know why.”

Andy nodded.
 
“Raphael woke up though, so Michael has to wake up sometime.”

“Dahlia thinks he does not want to wake up.”

Furcas picked lint off his suit.
 
“Just leave him be.
 
When he wants to join us he can.”
 
He left the room and stood on the stairs.
 
“I am ready.
 
So when are we doing this?”

Berith shrugged.
 
“Are we still waiting on Jacob?”

“Oh right, best man.
 
Let me see.”
 
Furcas grinned and hopped down the stairs.
 

Andy glared at Lucifer in the mirror.
 
“Best man, not even one of us.”

Lucifer grinned.
 
“Should I have had you all fight it out to decide which one of you it would be?
 
Besides, you are
all
getting married.”

Andy glowered.
 
“At least it isn’t Selaphiel.”

Berith snorted.
 
“He and Raphael are staying as far away from marriage as possible.
 
Besides, he knows we’d take issue with that.
 
Dahlia was smart in picking one of her friends.”

Furcas hauled Jacob up the stairs.
 
“We got him.”

Lucifer grinned.
 
“Time to go.”

***

Paimon juggled three empty wine bottles while holding a steadily emptying one between his teeth.
 
He kept his nose and bottle facing the ceiling.
 
The wine ran out.
 
He grinned and hucked the bottle into a corner.
 
He bowed to a round of applause.
 
“Do you have another ready?”

Leviathan grinned and handed him another to a chant of, “Chug!”

Dahlia slipped to the ground and laughed as Whitney fell trying to help her up.
 
Celeste and Tracy joined her on the stone floor.
 
The four of them stared at each other.
 
Dahlia shook her head.
 
“So here we are.”