Page 80 of The River of Hatred

It seems our time in Marseille is coming to an end.

Chapter 38 – Jessica

“Achoo!”

I cover my mouth, then scrunch up my itchy nose. Dust motes swirl around me, mocking me.

“Sariel, this house is…” Itha opens and closes his mouth a few times, clearly at a loss for words.

“Like a frat house,” I supply. “How is your apartment in Marseille so clean and this house so cluttered and dusty?”

The angel in question smirks, though he does seem a bit embarrassed. “I’ve had the same cleaning company on retainer for twenty years there. I threw all the servants out of this house when we lost Armaros.”

I suppress the urge to sneeze again and bury my nose in Sariel’s chest instead. “I’m sorry,” I murmur into it.

My black-haired angel wraps his arms around me just as Ithuriel hugs us from behind.Mmm, I think I had a dream like this once.

“Not your fault, buttercup,” Sariel says into my hair. I can hear him take a deep whiff of my shampoo. “I should have had them come back or borrowed some from Father before I brought you here.”

We just spent a few days in Purgatory, talking to the prisoners Aim brought Below, and attending Council meetings under its mountains. It didn’t take long for Sariel to have enough of being there, though, and suggested we relocate to Ashtaroth’s home. Naturally, Ithuriel was vehemently against it. That’s how we ended up in Sariel’s Lethe villa before it was completely habitable.

“Alright,” I say, infusing my voice with optimism. I look up at Sariel. “Bring us lots of cleaning supplies, bad boy. And storage boxes!”

The male’s coal-black eyes blink at me with confusion. “You’re gonna clean my house?”

I grin at the sexy troublemaker. “We’regoing to cleanourhome,” I emphasize.

Sariel gives me an irreverent grin. “Right,” he says. “Have I told you I love you recently?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Actually, I’m not sure youevertold me you love me.” I look back at Ithuriel. “Either of you. But that’s okay since I know you do.”

Itha’s eyes open to a comical degree. “I cannot believe I never told you how much I love you, dear heart.”

Sariel squeezes me against him. “Well, I suck, and not in a good way.” He kisses the top of my head. “I love you, poppet.”

Sighing, I nuzzle against one of my men while the other kisses my neck. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.

When I feel Itha hardening against my ass, I wriggle out of their embrace. “Oh, no, we’re cleaning, not fucking.” The angel blushes and looks at the dusty ground. I almost feel bad for calling him out like that. But still… “I’m not getting naked until this place smells less like teenage boy,” I vow.

∞∞∞

We’ve been back in Hell for a couple of weeks now and I finally got my men to let me go patrol without them. Sariel especially doesn’t understand the sense of duty I feel in doing the job I was brought to the Underworld for – making sure evil souls don’t multiply so much that they spill over and threaten humans.

See, as the population of humans grows exponentially, so does the number of souls who get sent down to Hell for their eternal punishment. Where too many evil souls exist, they eventually gain shape. It’s not humanoid or completely tangible – more like a cloud of acid rain on steroids. It got so bad a few years ago that these blobs started accidentally entering into rifts and gates and endangering humans. Now, people like me are here to cull the numbers, make sure our loved ones are safe.

“I thought Maalik was going to throw a wobbly when you said you were off to live with your Fallen,” Ethan cackles. His accent has lessened somewhat over the years, but I love when it comes out to play. I laugh now, thinking of our mentor’s faces when I said I’d be moving out like Lana and Kevin did.

“I’m convinced they think our team is cursed,” Liam adds. He’s back in fighting shape and was super sad to have missed out on all the action. I’d have told him that at least he didn’t have to swim in a river of shit but… I rather keep that to myself.

I giggle at the thought of our team being cursed to fall in love with the Underworld’s residents. “Maybe you’re next,” I say and elbow the other Nephilim in the ribs. “Or maybe it’s you, Akira,” I say to our silent companion, a loanee from another team – we’re always a few short these days.

The Japanese man grunts and throws me an irritated look before focusing back on our surroundings.

“I think he likes you,” Ethan whisper-shouts. “He never speaks that much to me.”

I snort at the joke but try to compose myself and pay more attention to what I’m doing lest I walk straight into a demonic minion’s open maw. I have to admit that I’m not entirely focused on this mission – when I’m not gossiping with the boys, whom I missed these months away from Purgatory, I’m thinking of how much I’m missing my own boys. Maybe I need to make them start patrolling with me?

“So, do you think the powers that be will allow us to visit Above every now and again if we’re good little boys and girls?” Ethan asks, linking an arm with mine. “It’s going on half a decade since I had proper greasy fish and chips.”

---