Good Side of Sin (36 page)

“I don’t think Lucifer is
actually
in that host—”

Fallis pointed toward the setting sun as if what he was talking about could be seen by the three of them. “I know you felt its power the other night, Damien. If it is not Lucifer, then it’s nearly as strong as him. Who gives a damn if he is actually in that host? I say it’s just as horrible, and none of us are prepared to fight it.”

“You want to just leave Baddon here?” Damien said.

Fallis rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. “No.” He shook his head. “Baddon wouldn’t leave any of us. He would bust in with horns blaring and go down fighting, if that’s what it took.”

“So we need horns?” Marcus said.

Despite the danger they faced, Fallis smiled and nodded. “Horns would be nice. But an army wielding silver weapons would be better.”

Marcus glanced up to the sky and whistled through his teeth. “Troy!” he shouted, and only a second passed before Troy’s massive body was standing before them.

“Need something?” Troy asked.

Marcus smiled. “Fallis needs horns and an army.”

Troy’s grin spread wide across his angelic face. “Hold tight. Let me see what I kin come up wi’.” He winked, and then popped out of sight.

Fallis blinked several times at the empty place where the giant had been standing. “He’s going to get more angels, isn’t he?”

Marcus nodded enthusiastically. “And horns.”

I dreaded having this conversation with Malcolm. It was now bluntly obvious how he felt about me, and I—well, I loved him, but it was only as a friend would love another friend, maybe even a best friend. He mentioned that he’d had these feelings for me for decades. I grimaced as I wondered exactly how many years total that was.

“What’s he doing here, Josselyn?” Malcolm asked in a calm voice.

Damn. He wasn’t even going to give me time to prep.

I noticed a large shade tree at the edge of the trail we were walking on. It seemed just as good as any place to rip my friend’s heart out and make him hate me. I took his hand and led him over to the soft grass and patted the ground beside me, encouraging him to join me.

“Are you going to tell me why the Prince of Lust tackled me like a linebacker?”

I huffed as I twisted my fingers together nervously. “I need to work up to that part, if it’s all right with you.”

He took one of my hands away from the tangled mess I had created and held it in his hands, focusing on them, instead of directly on my face. After clearing his throat, he nodded. “Start anywhere you like. I’m listening.”

I took in a deep breath and started the story from the time he had disappeared. I told him everything. I told him about how distraught I was when he had left us, and that the minion had only tricked him, that Lucifer never had his soul. I told him about the rest of Rhyan’s journey with Isaiah filling in his shoes as Rhyan’s guardian angel and helping him through the rest of the sydes of Hell. I filled him in about me being kidnapped by Lameria—and the fact that she is Isaiah’s soulmate, and now he doesn’t even remember her because Omega took away his memories of her. I told him about how I thought Thoros had betrayed me to Lucifer, but that he had really been trying to protect me and then got us all out of Hell, including him and eight others. Then I let him know about the demon that had been possessing Thoros and forcing him to kill and steal the souls of innocent humans. I didn’t leave out how strong that particular demon seemed to be. Then I told him about Heaven crumbling, Ethan and his dad, and finally our journey here to Limbo to ask Melina for her help, as well as ask for the souls Thoros had taken.

He hadn’t said anything at all throughout my whole long-winded story. He had only held my hand and ran his thumb over my knuckles. It had been calming, and the words had flowed effortlessly from my mouth, like we had spent no time apart from each other. It felt so natural and comfortable to be here with him.

Then my nerves set in and I was instantly exhausted. I hadn’t told him the hardest part, the part that would cause him to hate me forever. My eyes burned and my throat felt tight, but I took in several deep breaths and picked at the grass by my legs.

“Malcolm…” I cleared my throat.

I guess he sensed my discomfort, and maybe heard the tears in my voice, because his thumb stopped moving over my fingers and he stopped breathing. It was twelve long seconds before he took another breath, but he still didn’t relax. At that moment, I wanted to be anywhere else. I couldn’t do this to him. Why did he have to love me?

I heard him exhale loudly, and then I was pulled onto his lap and hugged against his body. I clung to him like a life preserver.

“I said I was listening, Jossel. Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad. Just rip the Band-Aid off. I can tell you’re scared. Don’t be. I’ll always be here for you.”

I shook my head and the tears rolled down my cheeks. I sobbed silently as my hands fisted tightly in his shirt. Why did it have to be so complicated? I felt the longer I postponed telling him that I was in love with Thoros, the longer he would stay my friend. He said he would always be there for me, but I was almost positive he would change his mind about that once he heard what I had to say.

He squeezed me tighter to him and kissed the top of my head, leaving his cheek resting on my hair as he spoke. “You love
him
, don’t you?”

I took in a shuddering breath and covered my mouth with my hand as I looked up at him. More tears brimmed over and slid down my cheeks, and he hesitantly reached up with one of his hands and took mine away from my mouth. “We are soulmates, Malcolm,” I said after a moment of nervous silence.

He let his head fall back against the trunk of the tree and his breath expelled through puffed out cheeks. “You know this for sure?”

I took his shaking hand in mine, and he pulled me against him again, hugging me like he never wanted to let me go. He wasn’t yelling in anger, but there was a light tremor in his body that led me to believe he was fighting his emotions and, even though it was unexpected, it somehow made me feel worse.

“I’m so sorry—”

“Shut up. It’s not your fault your soulmate isn’t the best-looking, smartest man in existence.” He sniffed and took one of his arms away from around me so he could wipe his face. “I think you are the one that got cheated by fate there. I’m obviously the better man for you. It’s just too bad for me that God only made one of you. I guess I’ll just have to continue having a relationship with my mirror. Besides you, I’m the only other person I’ve ever been in love with.”

I leaned back so I could see his face. He wasn’t smiling, but I could tell the hardest part was over. At least he still had his wits about him and didn’t seem to hate me. I threw my arms around him. “Thank you for not hating me. I don’t think I could bear to lose you as a friend.”

He wrapped his arms lightly around me and just held me close. It was exactly what I needed.

The sound of a throat clearing interrupted us and I pulled away from Malcolm. The sight of Thoros standing twenty feet from us nearly took my breath away. I loved him. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that my whole heart belonged to that half-souled immortal.

He gave me a crooked smile as if my thoughts were plainly painted all over my face. “Queen Melina has been asking for you. She is anxious to know what you have brought her and what she will have to do to get it.”

The mention of the queen sent me spiraling into a bad mood, but I tried to keep my smile in place as I got to my feet and offered my hand to Malcolm. He took it and we closed the distance between us and Thoros.

Thoros glanced to Malcolm, then me and then down to our joined hands. I casually let go of Malcolm’s hand and slipped it into Thoros’. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze as he looked at Malcolm. He shrugged. “I’m sorry for attacking you back there. I’ve never been good at sharing. I know you didn’t know, but it didn’t stop me from losing my mind. Anyway… I’m sorry.”

Malcolm pointed to the small white brace on Thoros’ nose and smiled. “If you hadn’t attacked me I probably wouldn’t have had an excuse to kick you in the face without Jossel getting mad at me. So… thank you for that.”

I elbowed Malcolm in the ribs and he jumped with a yelp.

“I apologize for making your face look better,” he redirected, and then moved out of my reach as he started walking back toward the castle.

I sighed. It was Malcolm; what did I expect? I shook my head as Thoros and I fell into step behind him.

Well, this was different, Fallis thought as he took in the breathtaking scene before him. Where only four of them had stood only moments before, Troy had pulled through in the backup department, and now over a hundred angels stood before them.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over to a bright, shiny brass trumpet Marcus was holding out for Fallis to take. “You want your own? The sound of the trumpet annoys demons more than anything else we could carry on hand. The harp and organ were too large to fit through any of the doors in the apartment complex.”

Fallis’ eyes popped wide. He had actually been joking about the horns, but Marcus didn’t look as though he was lying about the instruments. Come to think of it, he hadn’t ever heard any music in Hell during his seven century stay. He hadn’t questioned it, because it hadn’t occurred to him to do so. He gave Marcus a grin and declined the trumpet. “I’ll use my own weapons, but thanks. It’s good to know all of you are on our side. I feel a whole lot better about this ambush now.”

Marcus grinned mischievously. “I wouldn’t have let you proceed with your first plan, but I thought I would let you come to your senses first and give you a chance to change your mind.”

Fallis blinked a few times. “But… uh—what?”

Marcus chuckled. “Do you actually think we would let any of you half-souled be in charge of Heaven and Earth’s fate?” He shook his head as he slapped Fallis on the shoulder. “We’re not on your side. You are on ours.”

The hand on Fallis’ shoulder felt hot to the touch all of a sudden, and he swayed a little on his feet when his vision blurred. “What side is that, exactly?” Fallis tried to back away, but Marcus’ grip tightened, holding him in place as his eyes began to burn with an unnatural feeling. Moving wasn’t an option anymore. He had no control over his body. Someone else was manipulating his movements, from inside
his
body.
“Nooo!”
Fallis shouted internally.

“Quiet now, half-soul. This will all be over soon. Of course, I can’t honestly tell you that you and your friends will live happily ever after. I’m very sorry about that.”

Fallis’ eyes shot open, and he felt his lips pull up at the corners as the Marcus in his body smiled at the Marcus looking back at him.

There was another gentle squeeze on Fallis’ shoulder, but he still wasn’t able to react. The angel had somehow split his spirit in two halves and possessed him.
“Dear God, help us all.”

Malcolm led us back to Melina’s chamber in silence. The tension surrounding the three of us was so thick I doubted a chainsaw could cut it. I guess I couldn’t complain. It could have been a lot worse between him and Thoros… between him and me.

Maybe this was just the calm before the storm. Malcolm was always so cool, so collected. He kept his feelings and emotions well hidden behind that annoyingly perfect smile of his. Actually, I had never seen the guy not smiling. He even smiled when he was angry.

Malcolm stopped to open the door and stepped back so I could enter first. Our eyes met. His were blank. They gave away nothing. And he wasn’t smiling.

Crap!
I hated it that my friend was upset, and that I had been the one to cause it, but I couldn’t lick his wounds now. I prayed he would get past this in time, but right now I had a deal to propose to the Queen of Limbo.

I walked into the room without another thought about
my
life, and noticed Melina was the only one there. Where were Isaiah and the others? Where were her bodyguards and Omega? Where were the other spirits we had come here for?

She looked past me to Thoros and Malcolm, and nodded. I turned to look at them, too. “Thank you, Prince,” she said. “You are excused. Take him with you. I would like to speak to the angel alone.”

She thought I was weak. She wanted me alone with her so she could try to get more than what we were allowed to offer for her help.

I felt my heart drop as the door clicked closed. Was the fate of Heaven and Earth really in my hands? What if I couldn’t bargain with her? What if she wasn’t interested in seeing Lucifer again? They had spent thousands of years apart. Maybe she was over him and wanted nothing to do with him because he was the reason she had fallen from Heaven.

“Come—have some tea and bread,” Melina said as she sat down on the plush gold lounge sofa.

I walked to the chair in front of her and sat, watching her as she busied her pretty hands with the cups and saucers. “No, thanks. Omega took my sense of taste, so I really wouldn’t care for any, thank you.” Not that I would have had an appetite even if my taste buds had been working properly.

“I think you will find you’ll be able to taste the tea just fine. I ordered Omega to return the senses he took back to you and yours. He did so immediately. I would like to apologize again for our lack of hospitality. It’s not every day a group of people show up and ask for me specifically by name—”

“And that didn’t make you think one of the people in the group had met you before?”

She stared at me a moment, then placed her cup on the saucer and took a roll from the basket. “I’m sure you’ve been informed of my history. Why would you assume anyone who knows me is my friend?”

My eyes popped wide. “I didn’t even know you existed until a few days ago. Whatever happened between you and God remains a mystery to me, I assure you. I have no clue how many friends you have outside these gates. All I was told is that you can help us. Whether you will or not is still left to be seen.”

“Tell me why you have come. Tell me why the Council needs my assistance. Then we will negotiate.”