Page 286 of Castings & Curses

“What all do you need to gather?” Mercy asks as she walks slowly toward me.

“I just need my purse and a few things. I won’t be long, I promise,” I tell her.

Still, I can see the curiosity in her eyes.

“Can I… Can I come in?” she asks.

I nod and enter the house after my dog and bestie. “Sure, come on.” I wave her in. I stop on my doorstep, ready to close the door, but take one last look at the shadowed man under the tree. His gaze on me is like laser beams, and I suddenly feel acutely aware of everything. The blood rushing through my veins, the sun’s heat on my skin, and the feeling pooling in my stomach under his gaze.

So, I shut the door and I leave the demon outside my house, hoping he will be there when I am good and ready.

CHAPTER15

Endor

I almost consider steppinginside the angel’s abode, as aquickstop seems to drag on endlessly. I’m not entirely sure how much time has passed, but with the suggestion that we only have about an hour, I’d like to not waste it.

Just as I ultimately decide to go in search of the angel and Mercy, they both walk out of the doorway, laughing and smiling. Looking like chummy old friends. I’d think the sight was nice, cute even, if I didn’t know the angel in question, Valory, was likely just as invested as me in winning Mercy over to their cloudy sky prison.

Heaven isn’t something we talk about much down in the pits of Hell, but it’s understood that despite its elegant PR, it’s just as constricting and governed as Hell is.

The only difference between the two is one has nicer decor.

Those in Heaven can’t leave. Not unless they’re Guardians or assistants to the Guardians. The angels make every effort to make the place appealing, make it so the souls that are confined don’t want to leave, so they never question if they can.

Paradise and all that.

In Hell, we know our place. Many of us don’t like it. Those like me who were born and bred in Hell, feel gypped that we pulled the short end of the straw. But there are souls that choose to be in Hell, whether by their own volition or through their actions and desires, lives lived in sin, choices made and contractual obligations.

I’ve never been the most pro-Hell demon, but it seems the situation presenting itself to me would be more than just a challenge to obtain Mercy’s choice.

My own freedom depends on it.

It seems I would have to make Hell… desirable. Make it compete with the clear, airy aesthetic of the ‘50s rip off that Valory calls home.

Everything about this place gives me the fucking creeps. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, and the weather is much nicer than in Hell, but it’s nothing more than an illusion of grandeur, built to placate the souls that believe Heaven has everything they want.

But it’s soulless.

Too perfect and pristine.

Who wants a fucking house with a white picket fence, a dog, and a meaningless job punching numbers until you die?

Who wants to continue that after you die?

There’s more to life than being a cog in the machine, even though I know that, and I’m a greased cog in a very oily machine who longs for more.

“Are you ready, Mercy?” I ask as she pulls on her messenger bag, amber eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she says with confidence, and I can’t help but smile, and as I do so, I notice Valory is staring at me.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer, sweetheart,” I say as I wrap my arm around Mercy and scuttle her to my side. She wraps hers around my back, and I don’t waste time as I head toward the direction whence we came.

* * *

Roche stands behind me,the same position Matthew has taken behind Valory.

Like most demons, I was born with wings, but they were clipped at birth.

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