Page 31 of The Devil You Know

I gripped Bane tighter, then shot up into the sky, Michael following after me. With the majestic size of our wings it was impossible to fly side by side so we twirled around each other, often swooping in to make contact with our hands so that Michael could pass me the needed angelic energy. Every time we parted Heaven’s power pressed against me, making it hard to breathe, but flying like this with Michael and my Bane, laughter carrying to the skies... it was worth the pain.

We landed at the edge of the Forest. Heaven and Hell didn’t really have plants per se, like Earth did, but the power of our dominions could manifest in various ways. Buildings, landscapes, and anything else you could think of, could be shaped out of it. The difference between Heaven and Earth was that in the glorious Realm of God the power worked with angels while the volatile power in The Pit worked against demons. The stark difference manifested in Michael having a beautiful Forest to go to while I had the dreaded Abyss and the raging EverFire. It was also the reason most of the homes and facilities in Hell had been built with materials brought from the Human Realm – it was easier to create new dwellings or market stalls from tangible materials when the other option was wrestling with unruly magic.

“You know, if we flew straight here we could have avoided the whole show,” I teased as I set Bane down and let him run into the gleaming silver of the forest.

“I know.” Michael looked straight at me.

Oh... it seemed I wasn’t the only one who wanted to publicly claim my lover.

“Let’s go. Bane is getting away!” I said and ran after the fox, pulling at Michael’s hand, conveniently running away from the mushy feelings squirming in my chest.

Only in my deepest dreams did I dare to imagine myself returning here and walking between the twisting branches of the ever-changing landscape. I had seen this place in golds and reds, in vibrant pinks and purples, even half-transparent gray with black veins running through the trees like cracks in glass. This time the Forest had the eerie quality of a frozen landscape – silver and white mixing in a spectacle of beauty – with occasional pops of blue in the form of beautiful flowers or canopies of leaves.

We walked among the trees. We played with Bane.

We talked.

As I gazed upon Michael’s radiant smile, I found myself unable to stop the quiet words that escaped my lips, even though I never before imagined myself saying them, believing them an impossibility.

“I love you.”

Even more impossible was Michael saying it back.

Stubbornly, I kept myself from saying anything, but when sweat started beading on my forehead it was futile to hide from Michael that the potion was ceasing to work. I didn’t want to cut the beautiful moment short, but there was no way to stay here forever, so Michael gathered our pet, held my hand, and with a last longing look at the Forest I was whisked away back to our home.

We manifested in the living room, where Raphael was leisurely sprawled on the sofa. Seeing us, he shot straight up.

“Was everything alright? Are you hurt?” he did a good impression of a mother hen and immediately started looking us over.

Once it was established all three of us were going to live (‘you are going to have a hangover tomorrow, that’s what you get for pushing the limits of the potion, Lucifer’) Raphael let himself be talked into staying for tea. As I looked at my angel talking quietly with his friend, a white fox snoozing on his lap, I decided I was going to count both the Bane thing and reconciling the two angels as my Grand Gestures. Which meant it was three to three in our love war (and it was truly a love war now! He loved me! He said it and now he couldn’t take it back!). We were even.

And maybe, just maybe, it could stay this way. I didn’t have to win.

Not when I had everything I wanted.

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