TCOL : Death & New Life : The Needed Chemicals Pt.1 (18+)

“For a good boy you are awfully bad once you take your clothes off, honey.” Caleb laid back in Myrt’s arms sore and smiling. “Am I going to be enough for that appetite of yours?”

“Are you complaining?” Myrt bit Caleb’s ear and ran a hand down his stomach. Met with soft moans Myrt turned Caleb’s face to his and kissed him while he stroked life back into the vampire’s libido.

“No.” Caleb spread his fingers through Myrt’s soft hair and smiled. “I think I am falling in love with my husband.”

“Good.” Myrt grinned. “I don’t have to worry about you running away.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Caleb teased. “Sex is too good.”

“You aren’t so bad either.” Myrt pulled him closer. “Do that thing with your tongue again.”

“Only because you’re so tasty.” Caleb turned over and leaned over to taunt him with a seductive grin.

“Do it.” Myrt smiled and leaned up to kiss Caleb’s neck. “Maybe I’ll pay attention this time so I can return the favor.”

“My heart might stop.” Caleb caressed Myrt’s sides as he slid down him and teased him with a quick lick. “Besides, honey. If I am doing it right, there is no paying attention.”

 

Only in his most twisted dreams had Myrt ever imagined so much pleasure, but his time with Caleb had been more than physically rewarding. As explosively passionate as their intimacy had been he was just as thrilled to hold the vampires hand. He was happy in this new part of his life.

 

Still Caleb’s mention of love was frightening. It shouldn’t have been. They were already wed. Love should be the natural progression, but Myrt heard the word and panicked. He managed to cover his fear with humor and continue to enjoy the time alone with Caleb, but in the back of his mind it stuck there like a thorn.

“Where is that blasted thing?” Myrt searched through a tangle of sheets and clothes for the phone that had abruptly ended Caleb’s sweet teasing. He whispered his apologies to Caleb and let the vampire cuddle close as he looked at the screen.

“You should probably answer it.” Caleb rested his head against Myrt. “He’s the Head of Nihil.”

“I don’t much care.” Myrt smirked and kissed Caleb before he answered the phone. “What is it?”

“I did not want to show up uninvited, but I have something for you.” Vikarr wasted no time with pleasantries. “I’ve already contacted your brother. You are both to meet me here and accompany me to the coming Council meeting.”

“Why?” Myrt sighed. “I was told I could live without…”

“This is a Council demand.” Vikarr cut him off. “I don’t much like that they are dragging Mala into this either. Just come.”

The call ended and Myrt dropped the phone to the floor and rolled onto Caleb. Caleb ran his fingers over the scar that wrapped the angels shoulder and smiled sadly.

“Nothing to worry about.” Myrt pulled Caleb with him as he left the comfort of the bed behind. “Come with me?”

“Sure.” Caleb loved the feel of Myrt’s arms around him as he started to straighten up their mess with his magic. A warm tingling passed over his skin and he pulled himself as close as he could. “Where are you going?”

“To see Vikarr and the Council of Lords.” Myrt could see the worry return to his lovers face and he laughed softly and hugged him. “I told you not to worry. They asked for Mala, too. It is probably nothing.”

After freshening up Myrt pulled Caleb along and continued to assure him that there was nothing to worry over. Caleb finally relaxed by the time they reached the Circle building. Donovan was just on his way inside and stopped to greet them by the doors.

“Any idea why the Council wants the two of you?” Donovan had been hesitant to leave and tend to his own work. With no real reason for the summons he didn’t want Mala going without him. “I thought you were retiring from this mess.”

“That was my plan.” Myrt wrapped his arm tighter around Caleb and worried that he would have to leave him behind. “Has Mala already gone?”

“He’s inside with Vikarr.” Donovan led them through the hall quietly. Mala was already making the argument for Donovan to tag along and he imagined Myrt was going to have no trouble choosing a side for the debate. Mala at least had the benefit of being Vikarr’s second and Donovan was at least a member of Nihil’s Circle. Myrt had abandoned loyalty for freedom and Caleb was not likely to have any sway over Vikarr’s decision, but Donovan wanted to give them as decent a chance as he had to stay with each other through whatever was coming. “Vikarr is our friend as much as our boss. You should probably just let Mala do the talking.”

“No promises.” Myrt sighed. “We may be fighting separate battles.”

“I doubt that.” Donovan smiled as he stood beside the door to Vikarr’s office. As it opened he shook his head. Mala was still ranting as loudly as when he had left. “I wasn’t invited either.”

“They’re as entitled to be with us as your bride is to be with you.” Mala was nearly screaming his discontent.

Vikarr had listened to Mala vent his rage with a grin hidden behind his fingers. At Vikarr’s request, Eliza stood beside him with Doma curled up and purring in her arms. Vale let Donovan run past her to comfort Mala, but escorted the others into the room quietly.

“You are part of the Council, boss.” Donovan pulled Mala into his arms and sighed. “What do they want with Mala?”

“His skills, I imagine.” Vikarr giggled. No longer able to contain himself with a larger audience to impress. “You can all relax.”

“He’s just been waiting for everyone to get here, chuckles.” Eliza sighed. “He likes it when you get all riled up.”

“Don’t spoil my fun, lovely.” Vikarr grabbed her chin and kissed her as he stood. He winked at her before he walked around his desk to talk less formally with his irritated guests. “To the best of my knowledge they want to make use of your less combative skills, so I don’t think any of you have reason to worry. I also had already planned on taking your husbands along.”

“So you let him scream for three hours?” Donovan ran his fingers up into Mala’s hair and held him close. “You need to keep him entertained better, E.”

“Fuck you, baldy.” Eliza smirked. “You know he loves to tease.”

“Lord Vikarr.” Vale interrupted sweetly. “It is nearly time.”

Myrt had waited while Caleb clutched at his arms. Stayed quiet to let them have their exchange. When Mala glanced over at him through relieved tears, Myrt leaned against Caleb and sighed. “Taking them along is not the only issue. I don’t have any reason to go.”

“That is where you are wrong.” Vikarr laughed. “You may not give your loyalty to me or even to Lucifer, but you’ve chosen to live in Tsuriai. In Nihil. Devoted or not, you must live by certain rules.”

“I haven’t broken any of these rules.” Myrt looked up at Vikarr angrily as he walked closer and looked down at him with an intimidating grin. “I am not bowing to Lucifer.”

“I haven’t suggested any thing of the sort.” Vikarr grinned wider and grabbed Myrt by his hair. “You will however obey him and the Council. Your presence is requested and I have no intention of failing to deliver you to the Council. I’m inclined to protect you as Mala’s brother, but if you are going to be difficult… ”

“Let him go, Lord Vikarr.” Mala glared at Vikarr and made a cautious approach as the Watcher stared wickedly at his unmoved twin. When he stood beside them he took Vikarr’s wrist gently and smiled sweetly at his brother. “They have only asked to talk, Myrt. Do we really need to fight each other over this?”

“Fine.” Myrt yanked his head away once Vikarr loosened the fingers in his hair. “Don’t touch me again, Vikarr.”

“He can’t seem to help touching.” Eliza fumed and pulled Vikarr by his long white ponytail. “There isn’t any reason to get nasty about it, though. Be nice, Vivi.”

“Anything for you, my lovely.” Vikarr spun and snatched her up in his arms smiling. He kissed her softly as she continued to tug at his hair. “Now if everyone is ready…”

“Stay quiet for me.” Myrt turned Caleb’s face up to his. “I don’t need trouble with Lucifer.”

“No one needs trouble with Lucifer.” Vikarr laughed as he pulled Eliza to him. He grinned as his magic grabbed the others and shifted them to the audience hall of Lucifer’s castle. “Of course, our Lord Lucifer often enjoys seeing us squirm.”

“That I do.” Lucifer grinned from his throne. With Lilith at his feet and Kage beside him holding his young daughter, He looked over the arrival of Nihil’s Circle and the guests Vikarr decided to invite. “Particularly when my patience is tested. I asked for the Lancers, not their lovers.”

“I decided each of them would be more comfortable and more receptive to any request the Council may make of them this way.” Vikarr headed for the large doors to the Council hall. “Vale will look after them when we need to speak to Mala and his brother.”

“I don’t have the time to debate this. Vale can stay here with all of them until then. Just go inside Vikarr.” Lucifer tapped Lilith’s shoulder and she stood. “You had something to discuss, my love?”

“Sort of.” Lilith grinned as she walked off to retrieve the subject of her discussion. “I’ll be back in a moment, my love.”

TCOL : Death & New Life : Simplicity

“Morning, E.” Caleb yawned into the phone.

 “Don’t morning me.” Eliza growled at him. “Where the fuck did you disappear to? Do you plan on actually visiting Sordid sometime this week, Mr. Partner? I should have never agreed to this.”

 “Schedule was covered, honey.” Caleb sighed. “I only work the bar because I like it. Neither of us are needed in the day to day and I needed a few off. I’ll be there in a few hours.”

 “No wonder your bar was shit.” Eliza hung up.

 “She is in full on bitch mode.” Caleb dropped the phone on the floor and rolled over into Myrt’s arms. “Hey there.”

 “Hey.” Myrt kissed him. In a matter of days he shed thousands of years of guilt for his desire and gave into it so completely that he had to replace it with the new guilt of being a demanding lover. He had taken Caleb to the point of collapse several times and had to heal him frequently after letting his lust cloud his reason and forgetting it was not a natural immortal in his bed. “Do you need more rest?”

 “I’m good.” Caleb pushed himself up and rubbed Myrt’s chest. “Are you coming to work with me?”

 “Absolutely.” Myrt sat up and smiled at Caleb. He pushed the blonde hair back over the vampire’s shoulders and kissed his neck. “You should pull your hair back up. I liked it.”

 “I can do that.” Caleb laughed as Myrt wrapped an arm around him and continued to kiss around his neck. “If you let me out of bed long enough.”

 “Do you like this?” Myrt shifted behind Caleb and ran his hands down his arms to the lace-like cuffs he had left on the vampire’s wrists. Nearly six inches of each forearm covered in a delicate black design that fell slightly down the back of Caleb’s hands where the black changed to purple and ended in a point of gold. “Is it too much?”

 “I love it.” Caleb rested his head back on Myrt’s shoulder and smiled. “It won’t be easy to hide though, honey. So I hope you are ready to explain this to everyone.”

 “You won’t be hiding it.” Myrt kissed Caleb’s cheek. “I’m through with hiding. Go get ready.”

Eliza finished approving playlists and checked every register while she fumed about her absentee partner. She never expected much of Caleb, but it would be nice if he would at least show his face. Eliza never needed the help running Sordid before, and with lessers and succubi as staff things were running more smoothly than ever before. The changes to the club as a whole meant there were less troubles to worry over and in general even her presence wasn’t needed on a daily basis, but it was the principal of the thing. She expected just a little bit of respect and business etiquette considering this merger was doing Caleb more good than her.

“You need to relax.” Donovan sat at the edge of the bar answering messages on his phone while he waited to mediate any fight between the business partners. Eliza glared at him as she straightened a few things behind the bar. “You know at this point the two of you just need to show up once in a while and smile. Caleb actually enjoys working the bar, he will be here plenty. Give him a break, he was moving.”

“Don’t you have better thing to do than sit here and piss me off, baldy?” Eliza chucked an empty bottle into the trash. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Believe me, I’m just thrilled to be stuck babysitting the boss’ favorite slut.” Donovan grinned. “But Vikarr had Council shit to do and Mala is busy, so here we are.”

“Don’t call me a slut.” Eliza grabbed the nearest bottle and threw it at him. She stomped off when he just caught it and sat it on the bar smiling. “I really hate you some days.”

“The feeling is mutual.” Donovan laughed and continued to tend to his work. Since Sordid reopened it was far more tolerable to visit and he didn’t mind answering his messages surrounded by idle chatter and music instead of silence. He and Eliza were getting along better despite the way they bickered with each other and it was not the chore he made it out to be to keep the peace while Vikarr was busy.

“How mad is she?” Caleb put his arm around Donovan and smiled over his shoulder.

“Its E.” Donovan shrugged. “So, potentially eruptive as always. Where have you been?”

“Busy.” Caleb smiled. “I’m going to head upstairs.”

“Can you make sure Vikarr gets this?” Myrt slid a scroll to Donovan before he followed after Caleb.

“Hey!” Eliza started past Donovan when she noticed Caleb wandering through the crowd. “That sneaky shite.”

“Wait.” Donovan grabbed her arm and leapt quickly to avoid a scene, rushing the two of them upstairs. He watched Caleb and Myrt coming up the stairs together. Caleb had again dressed to impress the fashionable clients of Sordid and it seemed Myrt had taken advantage of his tutelage. Myrt was far more subtle in his approach, but being a demon he was no less eye catching and the pair of them were attracting attention. Attention that neither of them seemed to notice or care about as they talked. They just continued their conversation, smiling at each other. “Take it easy, E. Let me talk to them before you start screaming.”

“Still my club, baldy.” Eliza pulled her arm away from Donovan and headed for the VIP bar to wait for Caleb. “I’ll scream all I want.”

“Great.” Donovan intercepted Caleb at the top of the stairs in hopes of talking some sense into someone before there was a fight. “Did you get the new place?”

 

“Are you stalking me, Donovan?” Caleb winked at him and straightened a few strands of hair behind his ear. “Yes. And you can tell E to put her panties on ice. I just needed a few days.”

“Shit.” Donovan sighed when he saw the intricate matching cuffs. “It wasn’t moving that kept you away.”

“Not entirely.” Caleb laughed. “I did move.”

“I guess this is your new address?” Donovan looked at Myrt as he stuffed the scroll into his pocket. “You could have at least called Mala.”

“Like he called me?” Myrt smirked and slid his fingers around Caleb’s hip. “I’m making an effort. I wanted to tell him in person and I’ve been occupied.”

“I’ll bet.” Donovan smiled. “For what it’s worth, I’m happy for you, but Vikarr’s volcano over there is about to blow her top so you might want to turn on your collective charm and start apologizing.”

“I’ll go smooth things over.” Caleb turned to face Myrt a moment and hooked his fingers through two of the angel’s belt loops. “You don’t be too gorgeous over here, honey. I don’t want to have to fight off the competition.”

“Was there anyone else here?” Myrt slid his hands along Caleb’s neck and rubbed it gently with his thumbs. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“I…” Caleb was at a loss for words. A fact he didn’t mind when Myrt pressed his lips against his.

“Wow.” Donovan watched Caleb walk off red and flustered and folded his hands behind his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Caleb like that. He’s had some stupid crushes before, but he is actually happy. And quiet. That man will babble to a wall if there is no one else around.”

“I like him.” Myrt shrugged.

“MARRIED!” Eliza shouted as she jumped over the bar and hugged Caleb. “For the love of rainbows! Why didn’t you just call and tell me.”

“If you want him to work you might want to be more careful with him.” Myrt laughed at the spectacle. Eliza was shaking Caleb like a ragdoll in her embrace.

“So you two, huh?” Eliza looked up at Myrt and smirked. “Demons have no concept of courtship. You just take what the fuck you want.”

“Angel.” Myrt grimaced. “And I made the offer, Caleb accepted.”

“You’re still bitching about that?” Donovan sat at the bar and sighed as he leaned onto his hand. “I thought you liked Vikarr.”

“That doesn’t mean I like what he did any better.” Eliza smacked the back of Donovan’s head. “What exactly is wrong with flowers, dinner and movie?”

“Would flowers have helped, lovely?” Vikarr held a bouquet of black and white roses in front of Eliza as he slid an arm around her. “You refused the movie and dinner with you is such a messy affair.”

“I am not messy, Vivi.” Eliza leaned back against him smiling as she smelled the flowers. “I thought you were busy.”

“I am.” Vikarr laughed. “Donovan sent word you were being difficult.”

“Thanks a ton, baldy.” Eliza smacked his head again.

“See, boss.” Donovan laughed and pulled out Myrt’s message. He handed it off to Vikarr and continued to tease Eliza. “Bitch is off her meds.”

“Now that you’ve wed, will you be taking Caleb’s name as well?” Vikarr asked.

“Should I?” Myrt walked behind the bar with Caleb. He knew that Mala had taken Donovan’s name, but so few angels and demons had secondary names that the custom was unfamiliar and when he considered their gender it only became more confusing. “I don’t even know what it is.”

“Hail.” Caleb leaned on the bar beside him to quietly offer his opinion. “If you are doing the live as a human thing, a last name helps. Doesn’t have to be mine though. Generally girls take the guys name, which doesn’t really work here.”

“Hail is fine.” Myrt shrugged and stroked the back of Caleb’s neck with his fingers. “It’s just a name. If I should have one I would rather it be yours.”

“You are just the sweetest thing.” Caleb smiled. “Now let’s find out if you make drinks as well as you sweet talk me, honey.”

“I’ll see to it.” Vikarr turned Eliza to him and lifted her chin. “Are you going to behave, lovely? Or should I take you home and spank you?”

“Get back to work, Vivi.” Eliz grinned up at him. “Vale will walk me home.”

“Am I off bitch watch?” Donovan slid away his phone and taunted Eliza.

“Will you please go make him give Doma a bath or something?” Eliza hugged Vikarr and laughed. “He’s been a huge arse today.”

“Anything for you lovely.” Vikarr giggled. “Come along, Mr. Watt. Doma needs pampering.”

“Really?” Donovan shook his head as Vikarr grabbed him by the jacket and Eliza stuck her tongue out at him. “I am so gonna break a rainbow over your backside.”

“I don’t recall inviting you to bed with us.” Vikarr laughed. “But if you insist, I like to do the spanking.”

“Ugh.” Donovan groaned. “I’m gonna puke.”

TCOL : What We Are : Ready To Live Pt.2

The first thing Myrt was going to have to get used to was just being around humans. Despite the integration of demons into their lives they had such extreme reactions to seeing them up close and in social settings they seemed almost obsessive. The walk to Sordid had been oddly spattered with jealous glares and longing gazes, flirtatious greetings and whispered comments that made him uncomfortable. There was some gossip about Mala when some of the crowds mistook him for his brother and he was glad to hear that Mala was so well respected. It was when he reached Sordid that he doubted his decision to live with mortals.

If it weren’t for some of the succubi noticing his anxiety and pulling him upstairs into a VIP table Myrt might have left before he made it twenty feet into the club. So many men and women curious about demons flocked to him and pulled at his arms. Some mistaking him for Mala, others too drunk to care that he was anything but alone and attractive.

“Thanks.” Myrt smiled at the two succubi who had rescued him from the crowd. “Is Caleb here?”

“You’re in luck.” One of the winged waitresses giggled. “He works the upstairs bar. Should we send him over?”

“No.” Myrt peeked over the divider of the table. “I’ll go see him.”

The succubi wandered off and Myrt made his way through the smaller less persistent crowd and found himself a place to stand and watch the vampire. Caleb was well liked and seemed to grab smiles and attention from each of his customers as he filled orders and sang along to the music that filled the club. He was friendly and flirtatious, but not for more than the grins it won him and money it added to the jar behind him. He was careful with his smile and not one of the clientele noticed the chipper bartender that filled their glasses was a vampire.

Myrt eventually built up the nerve to take a seat at the bar, but did so quietly and kept watching Caleb work. He had dressed to cater to and grab the attention of the crowd; His blonde hair braided back on both sides and up the back of his head leaving a frill of it to fall loose over one side. A black choker sat high on his neck that reminded Myrt of Mala’s strange collar. Beneath a deep red t-shirt was a thin black shirt made of some sort of netting and his wrists were covered in black and red bracelets. Myrt leaned on his hand as he watched the vampire mixing drinks and noticed a thin line of black beneath each eye and a shimmer a of red on each eyelid.

“He has never looked hotter.” A young man behind Myrt was gossiping with a friend and Myrt couldn’t help but listen. “Caleb has always been cute, but fuck.”

“Makes you wish they had left the bang-bang rooms up here.” His friend agreed as they walked off with their drinks.

Myrt sighed. Another thing he was going to have to get used to was the way people so openly voiced thoughts that he always believed to be sinful and even now thought it best that they be private.

“So.” Caleb leaned onto the bar and slid a drink to Myrt. “Instead of asking why you disappeared, or yelling because you’ve been here for an hour and haven’t said hello. I am just going to leave this here and be glad you at least showed up like you said you would.”

“I decided I am going to stay.” Myrt didn’t know how to respond to Caleb’s greeting. He seemed hurt and relieved at the same time and Myrt was not sure that trying to answer to his actions would improve the situation. “In Nihil I mean. Can you help me find a place to stay?”

“This is a stupid idea, Caleb.” The vampire muttered to himself and pulled a key from his pocket. He handed the key to Myrt and looked for something to write down an address. “I just got the keys. I was trying to get something smaller but they only had the big one right away. As long as you are okay with a room mate you can stay there.”

“Live with you?” Myrt looked at the key in his hand. “Is that okay?”

“Don’t worry, honey.” Caleb smiled at him. “Roommates are friends and I can keep my hands to myself.”

“You said the idea was stupid.” Myrt took a sip of the drink Caleb had left him and laid the key on the bar. “I can just find something on my own. It can’t be that difficult.”

“I just can’t figure you out.” Caleb snatched the key off the bar and turned away to get his head on straight and force himself to smile for the customers. He filled a few more orders before he bothered to look in Myrt’s direction. When he did he was not sure whether to laugh or cry. Myrt was rubbing his forehead with his eyes closed and had his arm stretched across the bar with his hand sitting open. Caleb laid the key in Myrt’s palm and closed his fingers over it. “Make up your mind, pretty. I’m going to start moving my stuff tomorrow. Am I leaving room for you?”

“Yes.” Myrt tugged at the bracelets on Caleb’s wrist and tried to decide on a proper compliment. “I can move your things tonight if you want. You look… nice.”

“I didn’t think you would be a fan of fancy Caleb.” Caleb started to stammer and reminded himself once more that his luck in romance was not as impressive as he would like and he needed to be realistic. “Give me a little longer here and I’ll show you the way home.”

“I will need to look for a way to earn my keep here.” Myrt opened his package of information and funds and wondered what sort of time it would give him to adjust. “My Lord Gabriel gave me things to help, but I should learn to live properly.”

“You want a job?” Caleb started to mix the refills for the nearly empty glasses he noticed along the bar. “Think you can do this?”

“I’ll make the effort.” Myrt nodded.

“Then you have a job. You can start after we both get moved in.” Caleb winked before he went to take care of his customers.

Myrt watched Caleb for another hour and occasionally poked at his phone and started teaching himself more of its silly functions. By the time Caleb decided to give himself a break from tending the bar, Myrt has more comfortable with the device and as Caleb leaned over to smile at him Myrt snapped a picture of the vampire.

“I get one of you later.” Caleb winked at him. “You want to go see your new place?”

Caleb showed Myrt home to the empty condo and marveled at the magic the demon used to bring all of his belonging from his old place. With Myrt’s continued help and amazing talents everything was in place in the time it would have taken Caleb to make one trip.

“You have more room than before.” Myrt was feeling out of place and started to think his decision to share a home was going to be difficult. He hadn’t even shared one with his brother and they had at one point been nearly inseparable.

“I wanted smaller.” Caleb shrugged and looked into one of the empty rooms. “This is nice though. I was more concerned with being closer to work and it worked out since you decided to stick around. Don’t you have stuff?”

“I guess I should put something in here.” Myrt leaned past Caleb and looked into the room. He liked the smell of excitement on the vampire and the joy on his face as he watched things take shape. Myrt made himself a simple elegant getaway for times he felt the need to be alone and sighed. “I guess that makes it home.”

“We should celebrate.” Caleb patted Myrt on his hips. “But first I need to go grab a bite. I’ll pick something up for you on the way back.”

“Stay and bite me.” Myrt pulled Caleb’s arms around him by his wrists. “I wanted to talk.”

“If you want to talk, your blood is a bad idea.” Caleb closed his eyes and laughed at his predicament. “I fell asleep last time.”

“That wasn’t the blood, sorry.” Myrt sighed. “It should not make you tired. I made you sleep. I was confused. I needed time to think.”

“You are making it hard to keep my hands to myself.” Caleb smiled at him and Myrt let go of his wrists. Caleb nervously closed his arms around Myrt. “Is this okay?”

“Do you touch me like this because you want me?” Myrt laid his hands on the wall and leaned against Caleb.

“If I say ‘yes’ can I have you?” Caleb pulled him close hopefully and bit into his neck. If this was some sort of dream it was a beautiful one. He hoped the answer to his question didn’t turn it into a nightmare.

“This is what I wanted to talk about.” Myrt slid his arm behind Caleb’s neck and wiped the blood from his lips when he finished feeding. “I am trying to start over. I’m trying to let go of the things that have prevented me from living, but there are some things I wont let go of. If I take you, its forever. I will claim you as my own.”

“Are you talking about marriage, honey?” Caleb clutched the sides of Myrt’s shirt and tightened his fingers. “I think maybe you folks do things a little differently. There are usually quite a few steps before people make that kind of promise.”

“I won’t make the choice for you, but that is your answer. I only wanted one other person.” Myrt walked away and pulled off his shirt to make his point quickly. “It did not go well. I told myself then that I would just remain alone. It was less painful. Then you touched me and made me feel things I had tried to bury. You woke things in me that I don’t want to lose. To that end I won’t let anyone else have you and I won’t let you go. So take the time you need and if you are willing to give me loyalty and trust me to care for you, then you can have me.”

“This is what you meant when you said someone hurt you?” Caleb ran his hand over a wide scar on Myrt’s back and felt tears falling down his face. “This is…”

“Still think I’m pretty?” Myrt smirked as he turned to face Caleb. The vampire saw the much larger scar that mirrored the one on his back and the silent tears turned to sobs as he wrapped his arms around him. “Are they that bad?”

“How did you even survive?” Caleb whimpered.

“We heal quickly.” Myrt sighed. “I didn’t show you this to upset you. I just wanted you to understand.”

“I understand that whoever did this to you is a monster.” Caleb’s fingers shook as he ran his hand over the scar that looked like it nearly took off Myrt’s arm. “And that none of this makes you less beautiful. I just don’t know that I am ready to be Mr. Demon. I want you like crazy, but if you need that much of a commitment I guess we both have to wait.”

“Don’t cry.” Myrt rubbed Caleb’s face and smudged his eyeliner back into place. “Waiting is fine. You can tell me what I’m supposed to do with the things Lord Gabriel gave me.”

“That I can do.” Caleb smiled. “Put your shirt back on before I end up married.”

“How is that motivation to get dressed?” Myrt laughed and reached for his shirt. Myrt surprised himself with how comfortable he was. That he could make light of a situation that terrified him. It was as if a veil of forced repression suddenly lifted and now that he knew what he wanted, Myrt was certain he could have the happiness others grabbed so easily. “I should just take more off.”

“You big tease!” Caleb jumped into his arms and they fell over the arm of the couch together. He knew Myrt had let them fall and he liked the way it felt to be in his arms. He liked looking into the strange eyes of a demon and the gentle face that smiled up at him. Caleb sighed softly and touched Myrt’s lips. “I could spend forever just looking at this face. Do what you need to do, honey. I want you.”

“This might hurt.” Myrt gave an apologetic look as he took Caleb’s hands and shifted them into his newly created bed. Caleb bit his lip as Myrt started to make his claim and Myrt put a leg around him and pulled him close as he kissed him. He worked the magic quickly, making the pain worse, but ending it swiftly. Caleb tolerated the pain and returned the kiss with warmth and passion. Myrt could have never imagined a feeling so tender and intimate, he let Caleb lead him until instinct could guide him and the two of them spent hours kissing and caressing with no thoughts beyond the comfort of being in each other’s arms.

A vampire with wretched luck in love and an angel who was taking his first kiss after a lifetime of pain and loneliness, taking a chance they would have love and happiness together. It was desire and not love that motivated their vow, but for each of them it was hope. And love has grown from stranger sources.

TCOL : What We Are : Ready To Live Pt.1

“Hey.” Myrt ran after Eliza when he saw her heading into the Circle building and fell in step beside her. “Eliza, right?”

 “I prefer, E.” She nodded as she swung a bag beside her. “What’s up?”

 “E, then.” Myrt smiled. “Is Lord Vikarr in?”

 “Yea.” Eliza pouted. “He sent me out for cat food.”

 “Lord Vikarr had work to do and she was distracting him.” Vale giggled. “He should be through with most of it.”

 “I was not distracting him.” Eliza giggled. “I was just sitting there. You might as well come in, Myrt. I think he’s kind of expecting you anyway.”

 Myrt followed her wondering why he was expected. He had been careful not to cause problems during his stay and had told Vikarr when he arrived that he had no plans on becoming a burden to Nihil.

 “Company, Vivi!” Eliza grinned as she strolled into the office. She frowned when she found the office occupied only by Doma. “Where did that freak go?”

 “Does he handle the work if I want to live in Nihil?” Myrt asked.

 “I think they can all do it.” Eliza shrugged as she dropped the bag on Vikarr’s desk and noticed Doma darting after a fuzzy critter way larger than the mice Vikarr usually left for her to play with. Eliza leaned over the desk for a better look and squealed. “For the love of rainbows! Doma don’t play with that!”

 Eliza snatched Doma off the floor as the critter hopped after her and Eliza ran over to one of the chairs and climbed onto it screaming. The long furry rodent followed and climbed up around her feet and she whimpered.

 “Get it away from me.” Eliza whined to Myrt and cuddled Doma for comfort. “How did a rat get in here?”

 “That isn’t a rat.” Myrt laughed and stepped over to help but Eliza’s new friend climbed up her legs and she screamed.

 “Get it off! Get it off!” Eliza let Doma run off as she jumped off the chair and the long rodent climbed over her shoulder and into the front of her dress. Eliza grabbed Myrt to beg for his help. “It’s touching me.”

 “Hold still.” Myrt sighed and carefully grabbed the end of the ferret that was trying to befriend her and pulled it from her clothes. He sat the mischievous critter on his shoulder and rubbed Eliza’s arms. “It’s just a ferret. Calm down.”

 The ferret giggled as it walked behind Myrt’s neck and stepped out onto his other shoulder to wink at Eliza.

 “Damn it, Vivi!” Eliza snatched the ferret from Myrt’s shoulder and held it up to look at it. He snickered again as she looked him over and Eliza laughed as she sat him on the desk. “I guess it’s almost cute. I think Myrt wants to talk to you, though.”

 “I have already taken care of most of it.” Vikarr returned to himself as he moved to his chair. He spun the tablet in front of him to face his guest and pushed it to the edge. You will just need to tell me when you’ve found a home and if you decided to work. Lucifer provides well for his Circles and those that serve them. Your decision to make your own way will leave you on your own, but Gabriel has set up something to give you an easy start.”

 “I had hoped to do it all on my own.” Myrt sighed as Vikarr slid a package to him.

 “More difficult than it sounds.” Vikarr smiled at him. “This was just waiting for me when I returned, but it should be everything you need to find a place of your own.”

 “I should talk to Mala.” Myrt lifted the thick strangely folded envelope and flipped through cards, documents, letters and money. “And take some time to figure a few things out. Thanks for your trouble.”

 “It was no trouble.” Vikarr grinned. “Just don’t cause any for me. The extra help in Nihil would have been appreciated. I don’t for an instant want to push you into work you don’t wish to do and I am elated that Mala will have a chance to see more of you, but another demon in Nihil that has no affiliation with Lucifer or his Circles is a cause of some concern. With my place on the Council I can not afford leniency because of your affiliations. You will need to follow the laws of Tsuriai and of Nihil as any other resident.”

 “You don’t have to be shitty about it, Vivi.” Eliza opened a can of food for Doma and pet her as she attacked the contents. “He’s been nice.”

 “I know, lovely.” Vikarr giggled. “I like him. Which is why I want to be sure there will be no problems.”

 “There won’t be.” Myrt smiled.

 “Welcome to Nihil, Myrt.” Vikarr stood and offered his hand. “As Mala’s brother I expect we will see a lot of you.”

 “That would be nice.” Myrt flushed as he shook the Watcher’s hand. “As long as it doesn’t involve pulling you out of her dress again.”

 “Next time you can just leave me there.” Vikarr laughed.

 “Vivi!” Eliza stomped her foot and Vikarr shifted to her and pulled her into a tight embrace, ending her rant with his kiss.

 Myrt took their sudden flirtatiousness as a cue to leave and slipped out quietly. He left the Circle building with the beginnings of a new life in his hand and wondered if a stack of paper neatly tucked into a thick envelope was enough to truly find a new way. He had never lived among humans, had only known a life of training himself and training others, following orders and serving those he thought were his Masters. He had accepted all he had been taught as truth only to find he had been misused based on lies.

 He made his way to the door of Donovan’s apartment and just stood outside of it. Whether lies had led his life or not, there was still a deep chasm between him and Mala. He still felt abandoned by the brother who saw the truth before him and he couldn’t shake the thoughts of seeing angels bleed under Mala’s feet. Myrt loved his brother but there was so much damage that needed to be undone. It would take time and patience.

 “You can come in.” Donovan opened the door and stood there smiling as he wiped his hands on a towel. “Mala should be here soon, I am just making him snacks.”

 “Hello, stupid.” Dodo greeted Myrt’s arrival.

 “He was a bit upset that you wanted to run off on your own.” Donovan continued as he went back to the kitchen and let Myrt show himself inside. “He wants to spend as much of the week with you as he can.”

 “I needed to think about a few things.” Myrt stopped to pet the bird that squawked at him. “I still do, but I sorted enough out that I think I should have a talk with him.”

 “If you need me to leave you two alone to talk I can go get something accomplished once he gets here.” Donovan stacked the last of Mala’s pancakes and doused them in syrup before he started to clean up. “I know you aren’t thrilled with who and what your brother married, but I love him. He wants you in his life, if that means giving the two of you some space I can back off once in a while. Just don’t expect me to do it all the time.”

 “I don’t expect you to do it at all.” Myrt sighed and walked into the kitchen. “I’ve been rude to you and for that I am sorry. This entire visit has been overwhelming. I can see that you love my brother and that he loves you. You are married and I will respect that. There is no reason for you to leave when I talk to him. Mala trusts you. I should at least give you a chance.”

 “That will mean a lot to him.” Donovan smiled. “It means a lot to me.”

 “I smell something delicious!” Mala ran into the kitchen and grabbed Donovan by his ears to give him a quick kiss before he took the plate of pancakes the vampire offered. “Where have you been, Myrt? I was starting to think you went home.”

 “I had to talk with Gabriel.” Myrt laughed as Mala dug a huge wedge from his meal and shoved it into his mouth. Myrt shook his head as he wiped the sticky syrup from the corner of Mala’s mouth. “I’ve missed how much of a mess you are.”

 “I have a few hours to make a mess.” Mala grinned. “Stay and talk a while.”

 “I have somewhere to be.” Myrt followed them into the living room. “I only stopped to tell you that you don’t have to worry so much about trying to change my mind in a week. I’ll be staying in Nihil.”

 “Myrt, that’s fantastic!” Mala sat his plate aside and hugged his brother. “We can work together again.”

 “I’m not staying to work with the Circle, Mala.” Myrt tapped Mala on the head with his documents. “Don’t be upset. I miss the way we were, but you moved on. It is about time for me to do the same. I hope we can find a way to be a part of each others lives, but I plan to live my own.”

 “That is even better.” Mala squeezed Myrt tighter until he returned the embrace. “You’ll need a place to stay, I never use my home here…”

 “Thank you, but no.” Myrt kissed his brothers cheeks. “I am going to figure this out on my own. I’ll let you know when I find a place.”

 “Do you have a phone?” Donovan asked as Mala leaned back against him.

 “Still figuring it out.” Myrt pulled it from his pocket and Mala snatched it to make sure they could all contact each other. Mala handed it back and smiled before he reclaimed his pancakes and snuggled back against Donovan. Myrt just shook his head. He wanted to ask his brother so many questions about his time with the vampire, but was worried it was going to seem judgmental and start another argument. He thought it was better to leave on a more peaceful note and go fulfill his promise to be somewhere else. “I’ll see you both later.”

 “He must have had quite a day to have made that decision. He was so against even being here before.” Donovan held Mala and started a movie to pass the time and Dodo started dancing along his perch and whistling. “I wonder what Gabriel told him.”

 “I don’t think it was just Gabriel that changed his mind.” Mala licked his fork before cutting himself another chunk of syrup-covered mess. Myrt had been so infatuated with the impossible that he denied himself any chance at being happy. In this new leaf he was turning Myrt could finally be himself; he could let himself find friendship and a simple happy existence. Mala smiled to himself because he had seen the spark of a new beginning for his brother, as he opened his eyes to a life free of imagined chains he was letting his heart open to a life filled with unimaginable love. “I think Myrt is just ready to live.”

TCOL : Hearts : Unsettling Calm Pt.2

“I was so angry with the order to leave Lord Michael’s service.” Myrt sat at the end of the couch nervously and watched Maefyl return to the room with several thin books and two giggling fairies. “Now I’m ready to tear my head apart trying to understand why I was there to begin with.”

“I gave you the week to give you time with Mala.” Gabriel smiled as Maefyl touched the table and left a pot of tea and a single cup on the surface before falling into the cushions beside him. “If you want to serve the Circle and stay in Nihil, you don’t have to return to the service of the horsemen. I gave you a choice.”

“I don’t want to serve either.” Myrt hung his head. He hated to hear himself say these things. “I feel like I have lived a lie, my Lord. One that has left me with nothing. I don’t want to return to Heaven a slave, but I don’t want to stay in Nihil only to become a slave to Lucifer instead.”

“You are not a slave, Myrt.” Gabriel lifted the angel’s face. “You and your brother were never meant to be treated as such. It hurts me to see you so conflicted.”

“I have so many strange thoughts.” Myrt admitted shamefully. “I know they are wrong. I’ve been punished for them. I try to rid myself of these feelings, but I see others free and happy…”

“You shouldn’t be trying to suppress what you feel.” Maefyl wished he couldn’t see the tortured mind at the end of the couch. Gabriel was going to be furious. Maefyl tossed one of the comics into Myrt’s lap. “There’s nothing strange about your thoughts.”

“It’s filth.” Myrt looked away from the open book in his lap afraid to even touch it.

“That filth made your face all red.” Sanguine giggled. “I think that’s the best kind.”

“Maefyl, don’t be crude.” Gabriel closed the book and handed it back to Maefyl before turned Myrt’s face to look at him. “His books may be inappropriate for this conversation, but they are not filth. I assume his gift gave him the insight, you are attracted to men?”

“I… No.” Myrt looked away a moment and weighed one sin against another. The idea of lying to the most respected of angels made him ache. “Yes.”

“You know that Maefyl is my husband.” Gabriel smiled at Myrt. “Your own brother has a husband. Gender does not govern ones heart. Why do you want to cage your desire?”

“You might not want that answer, Gabriel.” Maefyl sighed. “He had a little more than a lifetime of lectures.”

“You said you were punished.” Gabriel frowned. “By who?”

“It was nothing.” Myrt pulled away. “Servants are punished for disobedience.”

“Michael?” Gabriel clenched his teeth. “Myrt, you were not meant to be his servant.”

“Raphael and Uriel seem to have missed that point.” Maefyl flipped through his books and offered the truth Myrt was too embarrassed and loyal to share. “They and your friend Michael had him running stupid errands and washing their feet between more dignified work.”

“I did not create you and your brother to amuse the horsemen.” Gabriel tried not to scream and storm off in a rage. “You were both well-trained, capable fighters with amazing skills beyond combat.”

“Created?” Myrt’s eyes widened until they stung. “You? Lord Gabriel? We are yours?”

“Damn it.” Gabriel shifted to the center of the room and started to pace. “Yes. I was content with neither of you knowing that. I wanted the two of you free of any forced devotion to me. Placing you with the horsemen was meant to teach you to utilize your skills, not to enslave you to their will or ideals.”

“It was certainly not to get bullied and butchered by an arrogant Watcher.” Maefyl poured a cup of tea and took it to Gabriel. “My opinion probably means nothing to you, Myrt. You can take this advice or ignore it, but you came here for advice from Gabriel because you had no one else. I want you to take a step back and take a good look at what you have in front of you. Gabriel isn’t going to turn his back on you, but he is not all you have. You’re only here at all because Mala wanted you back in his life so badly. You’ve got shit to work out, but he’s there.”

“I won’t just go to work for my brother either.” Myrt protested quietly. “It would be humiliating.”

“So don’t.” Maefyl shrugged.

“I don’t have to return to the horsemen if I refuse to serve Lucifer’s Circle in Nihil?” Myrt watched Gabriel finish a cup of tea.

“No.” Gabriel sat the cup in Maefyl’s hand and kissed him before he walked over to Myrt and sat on the table in front of him. “Find what makes you happy. My only request is that you attempt to repair things with Mala. I care for both of you.”

“I will, Lord Gabriel.” Myrt bowed his head. “With your permission, I want to stay in Tsuriai. In Nihil. I’d like to keep my home in Heaven, but if it is not selfish of me…”

“You don’t need my permission.” Gabriel shook Myrt gently by his shoulders. “Live as you please. Law needs to be followed, but not long dead ideals.”

“One thing.” Maefyl sat beside Myrt. “Do you know the name Kava?”

“It seems familiar.” Myrt pondered it a moment. The more he sought the source of the familiarity the vaguer it became. He offered the only help he could on the matter. “If it is any help, many of the Watchers loyal to Iehovah took new names after his fall. Some to hide, others to distance themselves.”

“Not to interrupt, but your meeting is very soon.” Gory sat on Gabriel’s shoulder. “It does promise to be a difficult one.”

“I thank you both.” Myrt stood to excuse himself. “I won’t keep you from your work.”

“Have your friends in Nihil teach you how to text.” Maefyl patted Myrt on his back and forced the shift to Nihil. Gabriel gave him a disappointed look and Maefyl smirked. “Sorry, that kids head is a mess and I need mine on straight before we go.”

“Let’s get this over with.” Gabriel checked the watch in his pocket.

“We’ve got enough time for a quickie.” Maefyl pulled Gabriel onto the couch with him and ripped his shirt before he kissed him and bit into his tongue.

“It better be super quick.” Sanguine sat on her computer and tapped her fingers on the glass. “This is my meeting. Don’t make me late.”

“And just like that the world goes away.” Gory cuddled up to Sanguine. “Off to a quick start at least. I can’t tell if that’s cute or brutal.”

“Sounds like it feels good.” Sanguine cocked her head to the side as she watched. “And they are smiling.”

“They broke the lamp again.” Gory laughed. “Why do they not just use the bed?”

“Watch this.” Sanguine giggled wickedly.

“Stop!” Maefyl laughed and kicked past the edge of the couch causing him and Gabriel to fall on the floor. Maefyl kept laughing as he wrapped around Gabriel. “Not you. You’re not allowed to stop.”

“Does this make it more challenging?” Sanguine went back to tickling Maefyl’s foot making him laugh and try to escape the torture. She giggled when Gabriel just held Maefyl tighter.

“I love your laugh.” Gabriel smiled at Maefyl. “We are going to be late.”

“Not to my meeting!” Sanguine kicked Maefyl’s foot. “Finish being naughty.”

Gabriel touched the edge of the table leaving a tasty distraction before he went back to enjoying a distraction of his own.

“Strawberries!” Sanguine fluttered her wings happily and hopped along the table to share a treat with Gory. “I guess a few minutes late is okay.”

TCOL : Hearts : Unsettling Calm Pt.1

“Which of these were we playing?” Gabriel mumbled to himself a he shuffled through a few of Maefyl’s game cases. He found what he was looking for and put the disk in before he turned to see Maefyl looking at him puzzled. “Is there a problem?”

“You tell me.” Maefyl leaned back on the couch. “You said you were going to explain. I fully understand being pissed at Lucy, but I’ve never seen you like this.”

“I’m not pissed at Lucifer.” Gabriel sat Maefyl’s game controller in his lap as he sat and started the game with his own. “I’m just through with him.”

“As nice as that sounds in theory…” Maefyl laughed. “Why?”

“I have dealt with every ridiculous game of his.” Gabriel explained as he played. “All my life I have been at his side, cleaning up his messes, wiping his tears, holding his hand, supporting him, loving him. I believed in him. I believed that the friendship we had was worth the trouble. He has been like a brother to me and I was foolish enough to believe the feelings were reciprocated. We’ve hurt each other, but it’s difficult not to when you are so close to someone. I’ve always forgiven him.”

“Then why did our little walk in the light change that?” Maefyl sighed. “He has always been this much of a dick and it isn’t the first time he has forced responsibility on either of us.”

“It was hard enough to accept that he had been upholding the realms on his own.” Gabriel explained. “Knowing that someone I had embraced for so long as an equal was in fact so far beyond me that I began to doubt my part in creation. Now to see him for what he is… He is not just older and stronger, he is everything. He is the light we walked in.”

“Gabriel, I feel that way every time I look at you.” Maefyl sighed. “I can’t even compare. What difference does it make what he is? It’s still Lucy.”

“The difference is our entire friendship, my entire life a his side, has been based on a lie.” Gabriel hit pause and turned to Maefyl. “You are in no way inadequate and I don’t consider myself better than you. You’re young, not weak. You outclass most Watchers in strength, speed and intelligence. You are also charmingly impossible and manage to look lovely in that horrid pink glittery mess you have on your lips. Stop being difficult. My frustration has nothing to do with you.”

“Is it the pink or the glitter that’s the problem?” Maefyl laughed.

“Both.” Gabriel kissed him and returned to the game smiling. “I don’t plan on making an issue of this. I just don’t want to keep his company when it isn’t necessary.”

“It’s going to piss him off.” Maefyl kicked his feet up on the table.

“Take your boots off.” Gabriel scolded him. “Lucifer will have to deal with it. He has other friends to take tea with, I’m tired of his lies.”

“Try and keep it peaceful.” Maefyl chuckled. He felt strange being the one to point out reason for a change. “He has a tendency to make life miserable when he gets agitated.”

“Take your boots off or your feet off the table.” Gabriel nudged Maefyl’s arm.

“Make me.” Maefyl giggled.

“I win.” Gabriel kicked the table away and laughed as Maefyl’s feet fell and he started to slide from the couch.

“Very funny.” Maefyl pushed himself back into his seat and kicked his legs over Gabriel’s lap. “This is more comfortable any way. Sany, go grab me different gloss.”

“With extra glitter?” Sanguine fluttered off laughing.

“I’ll just make sure she picks something more subtle.” Gory followed after her.

“This day just won’t quit.” Maefyl sighed as Gabriel reached for his ringing phone.

“Hello, Myrt.” Gabriel answered as pleasantly as possible. “Have you spoken with Mala?”

“I have, Lord Gabriel.” Myrt answered. “I was hoping to speak with you about something. I don’t want to burden you with my uncertainty, but… Lord Gabriel, I have no one I can ask. I’m overwhelmed.”

“Calm down, Myrt.” Gabriel could hear the panic in the angel’s voice. “I have a Council meeting very shortly, I can’t offer you much time now.”

“After would be fine.” Myrt inhaled deeply. “Anytime would be fine. I will just find somewhere to wait.”

“Wait a moment, Myrt.” Gabriel laid the phone in his lap and smiled at Maefyl. “He’s upset.”

“I’ll make tea.” Maefyl laughed and sat the controllers aside as he walked down the hall. He continued to laughed when he turned into the bathroom and found Sanguine and Gory surrounded in make-up debating the finer points of sheer purple.

“I’m bringing you to my home.” Gabriel hung up the phone and gave a short wave to Myrt as he pulled the coffee table back into place. When Myrt started to kneel Gabriel raise his hand to stop him. “Don’t. Just have a seat and tell me what has you so upset.”

TCOL : Hearts : To Live

“Does it suit you both?” Vikarr waited with his arms crossed in front of him and Eliza and Caleb looked over a redesigned Sordid. With the upstairs opened into slightly less private VIP areas and a few surrounding building procured to expand and add a kitchen and lounge area, the all hours Sordid was now going to be more inviting for a wider range of clientele. He had maintained some of the sensual, ambient aesthetic to pay homage to Eliza’s years maintaining Sordid as it once was, but it was brought into a more elegant and tasteful style.

“This is gorgeous, Vivi.” Eliza grabbed his arm and hugged it. Dozens of his succubi were lined up and ready to work. In adorable matching outfits as Caleb had suggested. “I love it.”

“So amazing.” Caleb agreed. The pretty little demons in little black skirts and tight white blouses, each with a tie that matched their hair or eyes. Some in dainty black heels and others in boots that rose half way up their thighs. Even without the wings and tails most of them had, Vikarr’s little army of girls would no doubt become one of the reasons the new and improved Sordid would be a success. Caleb turned to Eliza. “Are you bringing back any of your old staff?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Eliza shrugged. “I’m sure they’ll wander in and ask. I might consider a few.”

“When can we open?” Caleb thought it would have taken months to get this far, but seeing it so close made him impatient. “I hate to rush it. This is just exciting.”

“Immediately.” Vikarr wrapped his arm around Eliza. With a nod he had the lessers he called start their work, music played and lights began to set a mood. “There are a few lessers about to keep things safe and running smoothly.”

“If we open you will have to give your Circle a few hours off.” Caleb laughed. “I told Mala and Donovan they had to be our first customers.”

“I’ll have them here as soon as possible then.” Vikarr laughed.

“Dance with me.” Eliza pulled Vikarr down the stairs onto an empty dance floor and Caleb leaned over the railing with Vale to watch them.

“They are kind of cute together.” Caleb watched Vikarr fawning over Eliza as if she were a goddess and smiled. Vikarr was the one that oozed with the perfection all demons seemed to, he had the air of grace and an aura of magnificence. Eliza was attractive for a girl, but Caleb didn’t understand how she had managed to win over the Head of Nihil. He thought it was probably better not to think about it. It was not any of his business, and he had no reason to complain. Caleb stretched out and grinned at Vale. “What is your story, honey?”

“Like all succubi, I serve Lord Vikarr.” Vale answered. “I offered myself to Lady Eliza as a personal servant as well.”

“I meant personally.” Caleb giggled. “You seem to always be with them. Don’t you have anyone special?”

“Nope.” Vale smiled. “Not really in the nature of a succubus. Do you?”

“I don’t seem to have much luck with romance.” Caleb chuckled. “Maybe it’s not in my nature either.”

 

“This is going pretty well.” Eliza returned to the table with drinks for Vikarr and Vale. “All of your sisters seem pretty popular, Vale.”

“Just don’t let it steal all of your time away from me.” Vikarr pulled Eliza close to him and kissed her. In only a few hours with the doors open word of mouth had filled Sordid and Eliza was thrilled to have her business and independence restored. Vikarr regretted restoring it so quickly. He had been enjoying all the time she was spending with him and feared he would rarely see her now that she once again had her club to run.

“I won’t, Vivi.” Eliza hugged him.

“And this is a part of your important work.” Myrt scoffed as they arrived in the crowded establishment.

“This is part of having friends.” Donovan corrected and spotted Vikarr above the crowd on the balcony with the others. Sordid was as crowded as before, but much less offensive. He squeezed Mala’s hand and hoped the night didn’t do any damage to the cause. “The work is important, but we do have a life beyond it.”

“A life I want you to share, Myrt.” Mala started to pull him through the crowd.

“I can walk just fine.” Myrt shrugged away and followed them up the steps.

“Took you long enough.” Eliza teased. “Did you get lost?”

“We had to finish some of our work.” Mala laughed as he watched Vikarr pull Eliza closer. They had become so comfortable together. He leaned down and gave Caleb a quick embrace. “I’m sorry we’re late.”

“I’m just glad you came.” Caleb smiled around his friends at Myrt. “You too, pretty. Did you enjoy the rest of your treats?”

“I only had one more.” Myrt had held the box most of the evening however. He only let go of it when Donovan insisted it would all spoil if he didn’t put it in the refrigerator. “I wanted to keep them.”

“They aren’t the best gift for keeping.” Caleb smiled at him. He had the urge to just latch his arms around the demon and never let go. “You are just too cute. Come sit with me.”

“Are you going to attack me again?” Myrt asked as he watched Donovan help Mala into his seat and cozy up beside him. As much as he wanted to be offended by it, he was glad to see Mala treated with so much care and respect. The little collar around Mala’s neck bothered him, but it was Mala who wanted it. No amount of kicking and screaming was going to change the way Mala was or the decisions he made. He left behind Heaven’s rules and traditions to find happiness and it looked like he had found it. Myrt shook his head slightly as he looked over the table of ‘friends’. It was certainly unconventional, but there was no denying that Mala was happy. Myrt approached Caleb nervously. “Please, don’t jump on me.”

“I won’t.” Caleb smiled. “Unless you want me to.”

“Looks like somebody has a crush on imitation Mala.” Eliza giggled as she whispered to Vikarr.

“Are you going to be staying in Nihil?” Caleb inched as close as he dared to Myrt when he sat beside him. “I could show you around.”

“Doubtful.” Myrt sighed as he looked at his brother. After hours of discussion he was trying to accept that Mala and Donovan were happy, but it was at odds with everything they had been told. It didn’t help to see Donovan bite into Mala and take his blood, or that Mala seemed to enjoy it. “I don’t understand this place.”

“That’s disappointing.” Caleb frowned.

“Why?” Myrt didn’t like the sudden change in Caleb’s expression. He laid his hand on the vampire’s head. “Stop making that face.”

“I was hoping you were going to stick around.” Caleb forced himself to smile and once again scolded himself for being optimistic beyond his station. He stood and caught Myrt’s hand as it fell from his head, giving it a slight squeeze before he stepped away. “I’m gonna go sneak behind the bar and make Mala’s drinks.”

“Oh goodie!” Mala grinned. “Get one for Vikarr, too!”

“Sure thing, honey.” Caleb tapped Myrt’s shoulder. “Want one?”

“I’ll help you.” Myrt stood and followed a blushing Caleb to the upstairs bar. Even knowing the man briefly he had gathered that Caleb was the talkative type and he felt responsible for the sudden quiet. Myrt watched Caleb set out several glasses and make attempts to avoid looking at him before he sat in front of him at the bar. “Did I do something to upset you?”

“Nope.” Caleb poured sugar into a shaker with rum and pineapple juice and started to dissolve the sugary mess. “I upset myself. I tend to get my hopes up over things that don’t make any sense. I should know better by now.”

“You don’t work for the Circle.” Myrt watched Caleb pour the thick sugary base into the glasses and reach for a brightly colored liquor. “How did you meet Mala?”

“He and Donovan just started hanging around in my place.” Caleb laughed. “It took them forever to get together. I love seeing them happy.”

“He bites him.” Myrt mumbled.

“I’m sure Mala doesn’t mind.” Caleb slid a glass to Myrt. “Try this.”

“Mala likes this?” Myrt pushed the glass away. “It’s awful.”

“He loves it.” Caleb laughed and grabbed a few more glasses and filled them with simpler concoctions. “Is this better?’

“Much.” Myrt nodded after cautiously sipping the second offering. While Caleb grabbed a tray and started to sit the glasses on it, Myrt shifted behind the bar and stepped close to him. “You are a vampire like Donovan. Bite me.”

“I… what?” Caleb backed away with a nervous smile. “No. I’m not going to just bite you.”

“I want to know what it feels like.” Myrt looked away. “I wasn’t suggesting anything inappropriate.”

“Well, I can’t do it now.” Caleb sighed and lifted the tray off of the bar. “When social hour is over maybe. I have to think about it. It’s not a very normal request.”

Caleb carried drinks back to the table with his mind on dozens of impossible scenarios. Each one ending with him reminding himself to come to his senses. All he was going to end up with was a daydream and a broken heart. As the hours passed logic slowly started to lose the fight and Caleb found himself stupidly entertaining the idea of indulging Myrt’s odd request. The demon was going to leave Nihil, there was no romantic future in the favor he had asked, but Caleb wanted an excuse to put his arms around Myrt one more time before he disappeared forever.

When Vikarr insisted he had to spend a few hours tending to his duties, Eliza agreed to join him. Donovan saw them off with Vale before he gave Mala a sweet kiss and promised to make quick work of his messages. Mala smiled as he watched Donovan run off to work before he finished the last of his drinks.

“I have to check on things at the reserve before I go to my office.” Mala stood and smiled at Myrt. “Will you join me?”

“I’ll meet you later.” Myrt shook his head. “I should see some of Nihil on my own.”

“I should be in my office in a few hours.” Mala stooped beside Myrt and embraced him tightly. He hoped the sudden interest in Nihil and the continued conversation with Caleb were a sign that Myrt was willing to see reason. “Don’t be too long. If your visit is going to be short, I want to spend as much of it with you as I can. I’ve missed you.”

“Get your work done.” Myrt tussled his brother’s hair. Once everyone had gone he reached behind Caleb’s chair for the tray he had used all evening to carry drinks.

“Leave it.” Caleb smiled. “The girls will clean up.”

“Have you thought about it?” Myrt tapped his fingers on the table.

“This is such a terrible idea.” Caleb laughed. “I’ll do it, but not here. Come on, pretty.”

Caleb decided to lead Myrt through the city quickly so he had little time to second-guess his decision. At his door he noticed his hands shaking and he tried to convince himself it was due to a thirst he had ignored in favor of celebrating.

“This is your home?” Myrt peered inside as Caleb pushed the door open. It was modest, but tidy.

“For the moment.” Caleb invited Myrt inside. He kneeled in the center of the couch facing the corner of it and patted the cushion in front of him. “I’m moving closer to Sordid. Are you sure you want me to do this?”

“I’m curious.” Myrt nodded and took the offered seat.

“Where do you want me to bite you?” Caleb exhaled anxiously and ran his fingers back through his hair. “I don’t know how I should… you know I have to touch you, right?”

“He bit Mala here.” Myrt took Caleb carefully by the back of his neck and pulled him across his lap until Caleb’s lips rested against his neck. After the vampire tensed a moment he seemed to almost melt against him and Myrt felt strangely comfortable in the embrace that followed. The sting as Caleb’s fangs cut into his skin was not painful as he thought it would be, but there was no sensation he could liken it to. He just knew there was something about it he enjoyed and he was disappointed when it ended so abruptly and he heard Caleb’s soft whimpering. Myrt let his fingers move into Caleb’s hair and tried to comfort him. “What did I do?”

“Not a thing.” Caleb wiped his face before he looked up at the demon. “I just had to remind myself I was doing you a favor.”

“Why would that make you cry?” Myrt pushed away further tears as they escaped Caleb’s eye. “Is there a problem with my blood?”

“No.” Caleb pushed himself back a bit. “The blood is amazing. I think I might be drunk, but it’s amazing. I was… I get the feeling you aren’t really interested and I like being in your arms more than I should. I had to stop before I couldn’t make myself let go.”

“I don’t understand.” Myrt shook his head. “Why do you say these things to me? You want me to stay in Nihil. You enjoy my embrace. What do you want?”

“A chance to be close to you.” Caleb admitted with a sigh and pulled himself off the couch. “I can see that bothers you and I don’t make a habit of being a pest. I won’t bother you about it anymore. If you end up visiting Nihil from time to time, I make a better friend than whatever I just failed at.”

“I didn’t say you were a pest.” Myrt stood and took Caleb’s face in his hands. “I just don’t know what you expect. Everything I have ever been taught tells me the way you are looking at me is wrong. I’ve suffered for my sinful thoughts before. This feeling is frightening.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Caleb looked at him nervously and wrapped his trembling fingers around Myrt’s wrists. “I said I would back off. You plan on leaving anyway. I don’t expect anything. Do one thing for me, honey. I don’t know who has been teaching you, but they are about as smart as exploding bubble gum. Feelings aren’t wrong. No one has any business telling you what you are supposed to feel. Your heart is going to want what it wants. Trust me when I tell you it does not always make the best decisions, but we learn as we go. Eventually your heart finds the one it is meant to be with, but it won’t do that if you are following someone else’s idea of right and wrong. Live for yourself, Myrt. Do that and smile. I want to remember you happy.”

“I’m not sure I was happy to begin with.” Myrt rubbed Caleb’s cheeks gently with his thumbs. Caleb’s advice was much like Mala’s had been so long ago. Live your own life. Myrt looked at the sweet face of the vampire so ready to give up what he wanted if it meant making Myrt understand the value of such simple wisdom. “I don’t want you to be upset while I try to figure it out.”

Myrt caught Caleb in his arm as he put him to sleep and laid him out on the couch. He pulled a blanket over him and crouched beside him a moment trying to decide if it would be best to just make the evening disappear for Caleb. He decided it would be unfair and instead just wished him sweet dreams and gave a slight push for patience. Myrt left a short note on the floor saying he would stop by Sordid later and left Caleb to rest.

TCOL : Uneasy : A Familiar Face Pt.3

“Thank you.” Mala whispered to Donovan. Mala dried his face as they waited for Myrt to follow. “I should have told you before now.”

“Don’t worry about it, angel.” Donovan kissed Mala’s nose and smiled. “Just try and patch things up while you have the chance.”

“Could you be any sweeter?” Mala grabbed Donovan’s ears and kissed him.

“This was the happy life you wanted?” Myrt couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “He’s a vampire! He’s a HE!”

“His name is Donovan.” Mala pushed open his office door. “Just come inside if you want to shout at me Myrt.”

“This sort of copulation is a sin, Mala.” Myrt shook his head as he followed them inside. “Do you have no shame at all?”

“I’m ashamed of you right now.” Mala turned and slapped Myrt across the face. “There is no sin or shame in loving my husband. Sin was always a farce to begin with. After all this time are you still hiding from yourself behind these ridiculous old rules?”

“Take it easy, Mala.” Donovan sighed and slumped in front of Mala’s desk moving aside a few stacks of papers. “I dealt with years of it. He’s your brother, he doesn’t need to like me.”

“Don’t move my things.” Mala smiled back at him.

“I’ll put them back.” Donovan sighed as Mala gestured for his chair. He replaced the pages and headed for his seat. “Okay, okay. I’ll put them back now.”

“You’re still as much of a mess as ever.” Myrt laughed at the mess. He was always picking up after Mala. They kept separate homes and he always found himself in one or the other cleaning up stacks of books or boxes and retying scrolls. Mala scolded him for it every time.

“It isn’t a mess…” Mala began with a smile but it would quickly fade.

“You know where everything is.” Myrt finished and sat on the floor frustrated. “Mala, I was lost when you left the horsemen. Then I saw you with Lucifer’s demons when they stormed into Heaven. I didn’t even know you had left home until then. I couldn’t let myself fight you. I threw myself in the flames of a Thrones attack to make myself useless until it was over. When I fell it was into a mass of lessers. I still don’t know if it was good or bad fortune. Had it been demons with any sort of sense I would be gone, but it was not for their lack of trying. While Hell celebrated, I mourned. I knitted my wounds and searched through the remains of the fallen looking for you.”

“I sent you word when I accepted the offer to serve in Tsuriai.” Mala dropped to one knee in front of Myrt and grabbed his shoulders. “I asked you to come then.”

“I had just watched you killing our friends, Mala.” Myrt wept. “We hadn’t spoken in years and you came back a murderer. A traitor. Tsuriai might have accepted things quickly, but I did not. A lot of us did not. How could I leave when I had just helped them sift through the ashes of those they loved, while they mourned our fallen God? Was I supposed to just turn my back on everyone like you did?”

“Myrt.” Mala rested his hands on Myrt’s shoulders as his brother looked away in tears. His fingers grazed the edge of imperfect skin and Mala pulled aside Myrt’s shirt. A wide scar ran over Myrt’s shoulder. “Where did you get this?”

 ***

“You ever try and touch me like that again, boy.” Michael sneered and kicked Myrt back dragging his sword back before he stood and kicked over the water basin in front of him. “I’ll take that arm off.”

 “It was a mistake, Lord Michael.” Myrt clutched at the wound that refused to heal. He whimpered as he scurried backward from Michael’s approach.

 “I’ll have to leave you with a few reminders not to make it again.” Michael lifted his sword and drove the blade into Myrt’s side. “The scars can help you remember your sin. Purge this filth from your mind or you can join the debauchery in Hell. I have no place for sodomites with the horsemen.”

 ***

“They were atonement.” Myrt tugged his shirt back into place. “It’s nothing.”

“Why haven’t you healed them?” Mala tried to do just that and Myrt pulled his hands in front of him.

“Don’t bother.” Myrt smirked. “It seems if a Watcher doesn’t want you to heal, you don’t. Besides I earned the scars. I’m lucky he let me keep my hands and allowed me to keep my place.”

“Michael did this?” Mala was horrified.

“Before you even left.” Myrt sighed. He could still hear the disgust in Michael’s voice. The mocking disapproval of his laughter as he left the room. He had just washed the Watcher’s feet, rubbed his ankles to help him relax as he had done so many times before. Myrt was still asking himself all these years later what had made him run his hands up Michael’s leg, what possibly could have made him believe Michael would accept his affection. In a few hopeful moments of silence Myrt had let his fingers caress the inside of Michael’s thigh before he felt the blade buried deep in his shoulder. He spent weeks begging forgiveness, when Mala left the horsemen Michael started to overlook the matter as a lapse of judgment because of the struggle of trying to keep his brother’s morals intact. Myrt accepted the lie of it so he could resume his work and eventually he seemed to win back Michael’s trust. “It doesn’t matter. What did you ask me here for Mala? Lord Gabriel insists that I hear you out.”

“I wanted you back in my life.” Mala admitted. “I had hoped you would forgive me and come to Nihil. It’s selfish, but we have a strange little family here. I wanted you to be a part of it.”

“The Jester and his vampire?” Myrt laughed. “That’s what you consider family now? And this… I don’t even know what to… I’m afraid to ask which of you…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Donovan interrupted as he checked the message on his phone. “It’s personal. Mala, Caleb is on his way. Do you want me to just take care of it?”

“No, it’s fine.” Mala pushed up the fuzzy sleeves of his sweater and turned to smile at him. He let the office door open and rubbed at his face. “He’s just dropping things off.”

“What’s this?” Myrt grabbed Mala’s wrist and rubbed at the braided band.

“Our wedding bands.” Donovan slid aside the cuff of his jacket to show his own.

“Pretty.” Myrt muttered.

“Hell-oooo!” Caleb announced himself as he entered the main hall and went back to singing to himself as he climbed the stairs. “…I look so good in my fancy hat…”

“Fuck, he’s singing again.” Donovan could only imagine what Myrt’s reaction was going to be to Caleb. Sweet, blonde, effeminate and in no way shy about his tendencies. When Caleb popped through the door juggling armfuls of papers and bags and a cup of what smelled like liquid sugar Donovan just laid his head on the desk and sighed.

“Am I seeing double?” Caleb grinned. “Is this my dream or yours, Donovan honey?”

“Must be yours.” Donovan groaned.

“And I only brought enough coffee for one Mala.” Caleb pouted.

“This is the rest of your paperwork?” Mala smiled as he took the coffee and reached for the messy stack.

“Some of it is on this thing.” Caleb thoughtlessly grabbed for the tiny drive in his pocket and dropped pages to the floor. “Well, shit.”

“At least it wasn’t the coffee.” Mala sipped the warm beverage and enjoyed the soothing feel of it until he almost choked on it. Caleb bent to grab all his papers from the floor and Myrt stooped to help him. Mala just watched quietly afraid to end the moment he was witnessing.

“Came all the way down here to help me?” Caleb smiled as he stacked the pages on his thighs and bounced on his toes. “Should I just call you Other Mala? Or do you have a name?”

“Myrt.” The angel straightened the pages he had gathered and slid them on top of the others on Caleb’s lap. When he started to stand the vampire grabbed his fingers.

“Hang on.” Caleb winked at him and reached into one of the bags he was carrying. “I’m Caleb. I only had one coffee, but Mala won’t mind sharing a few of these.”

“I might.” Mala trekked slowly behind his desk to stand beside Donovan and rested his hand on his shoulder. They both watched the exchange quietly.

“What is it?” Myrt looked at him puzzled. He had been away from humans and vampires for far longer than Mala when he arrived in Nihil. He had forgotten how naïve and simple they were. They spoke without thinking and were awkward and clumsy.

“Yummy stuff.” Caleb opened a small white box and pulled out a chocolate covered piece of fruit. He held it between his fingers and inched closer to Myrt. “Open up.”

“I don’t eat.” Myrt shook his head.

“Don’t or can’t?” Caleb frowned. “Hmm?”

“I just don’t need to.” Myrt answered sadly. On rare occasions he would have something, but he was always told not to over indulge in any sort of pleasure. He had enjoyed eating and thought it should be left alone.

“Well, I can’t.” Caleb continued to pout. “So eat it for me.”

“I don’t want to.” Myrt scowled at him.

“Don’t be a big baby.” Caleb set the box aside and jumped on Myrt laughing. “Open up.”

“No.” Myrt fell back and tried to move away but Caleb latched around his neck and made goofy faces as he laid on him awkwardly and poked at Myrt’s lips.

“Ca-“ Donovan started to stand and break up what he assumed was going to end badly and Mala pulled him back by his shoulder.

“Let them go.” Mala whispered. “Look.”

“Come on, pretty.” Caleb grinned at the tiny smile Myrt tried to hide as he tightened his lips. “It’s candy and fruit. Good and bad all at the same time. You can’t go wrong.”

“If I eat it will you get off of me?” Myrt pushed a few stray hairs out of the vampire’s face that had fallen loose from the ponytail and looked away when he noticed the vampire flushing. “Please.”

“Maybe.” Caleb laughed and held the treat up to Myrt’s lips. “You might want more though.”

Myrt let Caleb slide the candy along his tongue as he rested his hand on the vampire’s back and sat up trying to reclaim his dignity. Caleb was having fun with him but backed off his lap and grabbed the box from behind him. He took Myrt’s hand and sat the box in his palm before he smiled at him and started to gather up his pages again. As Caleb walked to the desk with his papers and the bag of treats for Mala, Myrt just looked at the box in his hand and wondered how he was supposed to react. While they discussed matters of business that made no sense to him he poked around in the little box and felt ashamed for enjoying what he had already eaten. More ashamed for letting himself get swept up in the sudden affection from a stranger. Myrt had never been in a situation like it and was unsure how to end it without hurting the vampire. What bothered him most is that there was part of him that didn’t want to end it. No one had ever given him so much attention. It was flattering.

“Didn’t like it?” Caleb pouted as he crouched behind Myrt and draped an arm over him. “I guess that means you aren’t going to let me sit in your lap again?”

“I did.” Myrt turned to look at him. Caleb had a disappointed sort of smile that Myrt was not sure how to interpret. He thought if nothing else he should show some gratitude for the gift, particularly since it was one of few he had ever received. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, honey.” Caleb sighed as he took one last longing look. As he stood tried to push the idea out of his head and just went back to the discussion he came for. “Let me know when it’s all done. I’ll probably just get a smaller place to stay near Sordid.”

“This?” Donovan laughed and shook the messy stack of papers. “Give me an hour.”

“So reliable.” Caleb smiled and looked over to Myrt. He mumbled to himself as he wandered off. “I really need to set myself more realistic standards.”

“An hour?” Mala sighed. “I wanted to go home.”

“I’ll do it at home then.” Donovan pulled Mala to him as he stood and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll go grab my computer. Invite your brother.”

“You really are happy.” Myrt rested his head on his knees. “I’ve missed you, Mala. I just don’t know where to go from here.”

“First to our place.” Mala sat beside his brother and put his arm around him as he snatched one of his treats and ate it. “You have to meet Dodo.”

“Those are mine.” Myrt closed the box and held it to his chest. “He gave them to me. Who is Dodo?”

TCOL : Uneasy : A Familiar Face Pt.2

Once Donovan had hurried through a mess of menial tasks he rushed to the reserve to join Mala. When he found him he just watched from the ground as Mala sat in the high branches of an old tree with his eyes closed. Mala had asked a few of his old acquaintances to help guard the reserve and they gladly accepted the task, though most preferred their divine estates in Heaven and came in cycles to oversee things. Mala was here today to greet the last of those he called on and he had been pacing the floor for days over it.

 “Are you going to make me climb up there?” Donovan leaned against the tree and smiled.

 “I was just thinking.” Mala shifted in front of Donovan. “This may have been a terrible idea.”

 “Your other friends seemed okay with helping out.” Donovan took Mala’s hand. He hadn’t liked any of them. As helpful as they were they were all haughty and arrogant. They poked fun at Mala for wasting his time with an inferior species and made it clear they wanted nothing to do with Donovan. “I’ll just duck out when he shows up and let you talk. I’m sure it will be fine.”

 “Myrt is not a friend exactly.” Mala sighed. “I had to ask Gabriel’s help to even get him to come here because the situation is complicated. I feel bad enough with the way the others have treated you, Myrt might make them seem kind.”

 “I’m not worried about a few insults.” Donovan smiled at him. “Don’t let it bother you.”

 “You shouldn’t have to duck out.” Mala hung his head. “I want you here.”

 “Then I’ll stay.” Donovan lifted Mala’s chin. “Should I be jealous this Myrt gets you so upset?”

 “Ugh.” Mala grimaced. “Myrt is my brother.”

 “You never told me you had a brother.” Donovan gave him a sad smile and squeezed his hand. “You don’t get along?”

 “We used to.” Mala turned and paced as he tried to explain. “Myrt was very devoted to the horsemen. We both served them, but when I started to see how twisted Heaven’s elite were becoming I turned my back on it. I sided with Lucifer. Myrt did not.”

 “You did more than side with Lucifer.” Myrt landed in front of Mala and pushed him backward. “You turned your back on me and slaughtered our kin.”

 “Hey!” Donovan moved to defend Mala as he fell to the ground, but Mala raised his hand and smiled at him. Myrt hadn’t given him much time to react, but he was nearly floored by the sight of him. They were identical.

 “Stay there, Donovan.” Mala brushed himself off as he stood. “He has every right to be angry with me.”

 “You abandoned me, Mala.” Myrt screamed at him. “Then you befriended Lord Gabriel and had Lord Michael release me from my duty so I could live with the human filth?”

 “I didn’t want to abandon you.” Mala cried into his hands. “You refused to listen to me.”

 •••

“I can’t do this anymore, Myrt.” Mala wiped his face and embraced his brother. “I can’t watch sloth and arrogance slowly destroy everything we are. Michael has changed, like so many others, it’s as if they are blind to it. I won’t fight for someone who can’t even see their own purpose any longer.”

 “We’ve always fought together.” Myrt pleaded. “What use will I be without you?”

 “Then resign with me.” Mala begged. “Don’t let their darkness consume you.”

 “I can’t just leave the horsemen.” Myrt pushed away from Mala angrily. “And neither should you. This is who we are, Mala.”

“It is who we’ve been told to be.” Mala shook his head. “Myrt you can’t tell me you don’t see the hypocrisy in these rules and doctrines? I’ve seen your longings, you deny yourself out of misguided devotion to the will of a man who cursed his own child.”

 “Blasphemy!” Myrt struck Mala across the face. “And don’t you speak to me as if you understand my longing. You’ll never understand.”

“Myrt, I do understand.” Mala steadied himself against the wall as he wept. “I love you, I hate seeing you suffer.”

 “Then just stop this.” Myrt took his brother’s face in his hands. “We’ll forget this ever happened.”

 “No, Myrt.” Mala denied the request furiously. “I’ve spent too long carrying out atrocities because someone else told me it was for the best. I’m ashamed of the things I’ve done. I won’t live this way anymore. When I kneel for someone it will be because I respect them, if I choose to serve another it will be MY choice. I’m going to live the life I was given. I suggest you do the same.”

 “Will you at least stay in Heaven?” Myrt crouched beside Mala and leaned against the wall.

 “I haven’t decided.” Mala sighed. “This is my home, but if leaving the horsemen means that I will be constantly harassed I will make a home elsewhere. Lucifer has extended his welcome to those who feel strangled by Iehovah’s tyranny.”

 “You would abandon Heaven, abandon me, for the Dark One?” Myrt sneered up at his brother. “Is it his influence that has you speaking so ill of God?”

 “He is no god, Myrt.” Mala barely finished the name before his brother’s fingers closed around his throat.

 “I suppose you think the ones who follow him are fools as well?” Myrt shouted. “That I am a fool? And Lord Michael?”

 “I wish you would let this infatuation go.” Mala pushed the tears off Myrt’s face. “You could be so much happier if you would…”

 “Stop.” Myrt screamed. “I’m not infatuated with anything. Don’t put these sick thoughts you get from the Dark One on me. You are just trying to justify your sins with this disgusting notion you have about me.”

 “It is not disgusting.” Mala pulled Myrt closer by his shoulders. “This is what I am trying to make you understand. How is a feeling a sin? How is something as natural as caring for someone wrong? What gives Iehovah the right to decide how we convey our emotions? Why are our kin in Hell now treated as a different race? When is the last time you did anything but train new choirs? If we are meant to inspire love and grace why are we building such an army?”

 “We were trained to serve the horsemen, Mala.” Myrt kicked the wall beside them as he let his fingers slip away from Mala’s neck. “What kind of life are you going to lead if not the one you were meant for?”

 “A happy one.” Mala smiled and embraced his brother for the last time. “One of my own choosing. One I want you to be a part of.”

 “I won’t be.” Myrt shoved Mala away. “Go live your happy life. I hope God is forgiving enough to let you do it.”

 Mala wept as Myrt stormed off. They had not spoken since.

 •••

“Now I find out from strangers that you’ve married?” Myrt continued his rant. “Were you ever going to introduce me to your bride? Or are you too good for that now? All cozy with Lord Gabriel and Lucifer, so you only need your brother to check on your pathetic garden?”

 “Stop shouting at him.” Donovan couldn’t stand the sight of Mala crying any longer and stepped over to wrap his arms around him. “Brother or not, that’s enough.”

 “What are you?” Myrt scoffed at him. “His pet?”

 “Mala is my husband.” Donovan rubbed through Mala’s hair and let him sob against his shoulder. “And if you don’t mind we should continue this in one of our offices. This pathetic garden has seen enough violence lately.”

TCOL : Distractions : A Familiar Face Pt.1

“For the love of rainbows, that man is infuriating.” Eliza stormed in and Vale followed after her giggling. “Like I care what color the fucking walls in the bathrooms are.”

“I think maybe he is just excited.” Vale offered her insight as they climbed the stairs. Caleb may have had a business of his own but it was small and modest. He was likely overwhelmed. “Sordid is a big leap for him”

“Hi, Mala.” Eliza waved as she passed by Nihil’s second standing at his office door. She paused when she noticed his odd demeanor and the way he just stood at the black monolith with his fingers rested on the name carved on the surface. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s this ‘Watt’?” The demon looked aside at her.

“Did you hit your head or something, chuckles?” Eliza started to back away. It looked like Mala, but the voice was not his and in the deep purple eyes there was shimmers of gold instead of silver. Eliza grabbed Vale by her hand as she made her slow nervous retreat. “I’m a little late, I have to check in with Vivi.”

“The door at the other end has this.” The demon shook his head. “What does it mean?”

“Vivi.” Eliza whimpered and thought of him as hard as she could. He had promised he would always come when she called but she had never felt the need to try. She felt ridiculous when he was only a few yards away, but she was too nervous to turn around. As soon as he arrived she grabbed him by his jacket and pulled herself close. “Do you know that guy?”

“I don’t.” Vikarr looked at the demon crossly. His similarity to Mala was astonishing, but Mala had long ago shaken off the stench of Heaven and this demon reeked of it. “What brings you to Nihil, demon?”

“Angel.” The demon corrected as he handed a message to Vikarr. “My reason for being here is complicated. The friends my brother made in his time here have gained him enough favor to make requests like these. I have a week to decide. I doubt I’ll be here beyond that.”

“This crest I recognize.” Vikarr turned the scroll in his hand. It had been sealed twice. He recognized the one immediately, the second took him a moment to place. “This other seal belongs to Michael? What business do the horsemen have in Nihil?”

“None.” The demon smiled. “Maybe you should read it before you start sneering. I served the horsemen. Thanks to Mala, I no longer do. I have every intention of returning to Lord Michael after this mandatory reunion.”

“Mala never mentioned a brother.” Vikarr held Eliza beside him as he evaluated their uninvited guest. “Not once in more than a thousand years.”

“We did not part on the best of terms.” The demon ran his fingers through his hair and sighed as he stepped closer and offered his hand to introduce himself properly. “I’m Myrt. I’m not here to cause you any trouble. I’m not going to cause Mala any trouble either, we’ve had our differences, but he is still my brother. I only stopped here to see where he’s been spending all of his time. By Lord Gabriel’s order I have to spend the week at least hearing him out, so I’ll let you get back to whatever it is you do here and go see him.”

“Vikarr.” Vikarr took Myrt’s hand and smiled. The brothers were both as beautiful, but their eyes were not the only things that made them stand apart. Though equally as warm and honest. Myrt seemed far more serious and stern, Vikarr hated that he clung so dearly to the title of angel, but if he served closely with Michael that was no surprise. The horsemen were arrogant and were delighted to keep titles others cast aside to keep themselves separated and elevated if only in their own minds. Myrt at least seemed sincere and if Gabriel had his hand in this visit there was little need for concern. Vikarr smiled down at Eliza. “This is my bride, E. I think you might have made her uneasy.”

“My apologies, Mistress.” Myrt bowed his head.

“Just E, please.” Eliza flushed and squeezed Vikarr tightly. “I wasn’t scared.”

“A vampire?” Myrt noticed the girl’s fangs as she smiled at Vikarr. “Like Lord Gabriel’s half-breed?”

“I wouldn’t let your Lord Gabriel hear you call him that.” Eliza laughed. “What’s the problem with vampires?”

“No problem.” Myrt looked away. “I thought Lord Gabriel was partial to the mistake for other reasons, but there seem to be rumors of a lot of this sort of thing. I wouldn’t have thought we were even compatible.”

“He’s got blood.” Vale giggled and flicked her tail against Eliza’s thighs. “She has places to put things.”

“Vale!” Eliza chased Vale into Vikarr’s office before she returned to the nervous silence between Vikarr and Myrt. Vikarr wearing a devious little grin and Myrt an embarrassed look of shock. “Sorry. She’s a little cheeky sometimes.”

“I think it would be best if I just go see Mala now.” Myrt smirked. He had never met the Jester, but he had heard enough of his reputation to expect the conversation to revolve around the indecent. What he hadn’t expected was for a demon that had a history so drenched in lust to have a bride.

“It’s his married name.” Eliza snapped her fingers when she suddenly remembered where the conversation began.

“What?” Myrt looked at her puzzled.

“No, silly.” Eliza smiled. “Watt. It is Mala’s married name.”

“Mala is married?” Myrt felt a sudden pang of guilt for staying angry and absent for so long. So many years wasted when they had been so close. As soon as his hosts nodded in affirmation he shifted away and rushed off to find his brother.

“You learned to call on me.” Vikarr smiled and lifted Eliza into his embrace. He was glad for the sudden departure as it saved him the awkward attempt at silencing Eliza before she told him anything further.

“I have no idea how.” Eliza grinned and wrapped her legs around him. As he carried her back into his office she snuggled against his chest. “I was a bit freaked out. You think he’s okay? Should we check on baldy and chuckles?”

“Mala will call on me if he needs to.” Vikarr kissed her and sat her on the edge of his desk so he could get back to his work. “How did your discussion with Caleb go?”

“Man is more concerned with menu than management.” Eliza dangled a long fuzzy toy for Doma and teased her as she rambled on about her meeting. Vale curled up and fell asleep since she had already lived the story and didn’t need the recounted tale so soon. Eliza leaned over and kissed Vikarr’s cheek on occasion as she rambled because even though he was working and she was spouting nonsense he was attentive and responsive. He always was. “So how is your whole Council thing going?”

“Slowly.” Vikarr sighed and opened the message he received from Myrt. Aside from Gabriel’s extensively long apologies for the lack of notice and Michael ridiculous, lengthy character reference for what he valued as one of his most loyal and talented assets; the letter explained that if Myrt and Mala managed to repair the distance and damage between them, Myrt would offer his service to Nihil to help ease the strain on Mala. Vikarr was actually relieved by the prospect. With his attention divided between Eliza, the Circle and the Council, especially with the recent surge in violence against the creatures of ‘myth’, Mala was spending most of his time picking up the slack and doubling his efforts to protect the reserve in Nihil’s care. Donovan was doing his fair share as well, but it meant long hours that kept them apart and Vikarr hated seeing the sadness on their faces each time they parted. Having another reliable set of hands might give his friends more of the time they deserved together.