“I thought we’d ride to the city in style,” Az smirked, opening the door and gesturing Gabe in. “A limo might have been a bit conspicuous, but I could at least have a car drive us in to avoid the hassle. There is privacy glass as well,” Az winked.
Gabe laughed and blushed as he got in, and indeed there was a dark piece of glass separating them from the driver. Az climbed in behind him, shut the door, and the car pulled away from the curb. There were water bottles and some snacks, and the leather interior was plush and comfortable. Gabe was flattered that Az had thought of something so fancy.
He was just about to joke with Az about the privacy glass when it rolled down, and he heard a deep voice ask, “Sinners, or saints?”
“I think the club is called Sinners and Saints,” Gabe laughed, but he noticed Az had stiffened beside him and was staring at the driver with a strange look on his face.
The driver could have been a model; he had some of the darkest skin Gabe had ever seen, a head full of luscious, black hair straight out of a commercial, and a full-on beard, just scruffy enough for most people to consider it sexy. He wondered what this guy was doing driving a car as opposed to appearing on the big screen or in underwear ads. Then the guy spoke.
“Bruh, I got you. Sinners and Saints it is,” he chuckled. “So which are you?” he asked.
“Ugh,” Gabe groaned, “you are too old, no offense, to use the term ‘bruh,’ I hear it all day from students, and you are definitely older than them.”
Az seemed to choke a little beside him, but the guy in the front just laughed loudly.
“Bruh, you have no idea,” he chortled. “So you didn’t answer—sinner or saint?”
“Well this one is definitely a sinner,” he smirked, pointing at Az as the guy looked in the rearview mirror. “I’m the saint in the pair, I guess. I’m Gabe,” he said, introducing himself.
“Ari,” the guy replied. Then his voice got a little dreamy, and he whispered, “Destruction and rebirth; the former shall pass away. Not there yet, Azzy, but soon. There shall be no more separation; it is the beginning and the end. The cracks are forming; the time is near.”
Gabe looked at Az, confused, but Az was staring at the man. His hand reached over to grab Gabe’s in a crushing hold.
“Arioch, Infernal King of the Underworld, Demon of Vengeance and Chaos,” Az greeted the man. “Since when do you hire yourself out as a chauffeur?”
The dreamy voice was gone as Arioch mumbled, “Well, it certainly beats being an uber driver. Man, you wouldn’t believe how many assholes vomit in your car! That shit is ridiculous!”
Az chuckled, but Gabe knew him well enough to sense the stress in that chuckle. He didn’t think this Arioch being here was a good thing.
Well, demons loose in the world was never really a great thing, but he worried this wasn’t a good thing specifically for him and Az. He gripped Az’s hand just as tightly.
“I summoned him,” Gabe blurted out, “and he didn’t fulfill his summoning, so you can’t take him back.”
The man, or demon, looked in the rearview mirror, seeming to gaze into Gabe’s eyes. He would have been worried about the prolonged eye contact from a driver, except Arioch seemed to be able to see to drive even as he stared into Gabe’s eyes, because he stopped at a red light without even looking out the front window.
“Yes, I can see that things aren’t settled just yet.” Arioch turned fully around then, looking at Az.
It was as if time slowed to a crawl and the outside world fell away, not even there for Gabe to see anymore. He leaned in toward Az, pressing their sides together.
“Brother, why have you come?” Az asked, and Gabe thought he stressed the word brother a bit. Perhaps these two were demonically related or friends or something, and it would be ok? Gabe gnawed at his lip, worry bubbling up in his chest.
This demon couldn’t take Az away. He couldn’t make him go back. Gabe wasn’t ready. Az let his hand go and wrapped an arm around him, squeezing his shoulder. It eased Gabe’s panic just a bit.
Arioch chuckled, still looking at Az. “Chill, asshole. I’m not here to kill your vibe. I come in the spirit of chaos—you know that’s my jam.”
“Chaos for me or chaos for others?” Az asked warily.
“Brother,” Arioch said, stressing the word himself this time, “when have I caused chaos for you?”
Arioch stopped then, seeming to think, and said, “Ok, well there was that time I gave you the glitter. And that time I convinced the chastity angels to come to Limbo and then called you over. And then there was the incident with the olive oil and the marshmallows—”
“Ari,” Az growled. “Can we not reminisce over eons of your troublemaking and practical jokes?”
“Ah,” sighed Arioch, “such a killjoy. My point is that I don’t causerealchaos for you, just the fun kind. The leadership team, though, well, those motherfuckers deserve some real chaos now and again. Gotta keep them on their toes.” He turned and winked at Gabe when he said the last part, taking some of the sting out of his description of this “leadership team.”
Az groaned beside him. “What now?” he grumped.
“They’re looking for you, Azzy. I’m not sure why. Someone tipped them off to your absence, and now they’re all aflutter about it. Something about the number of sexual encounters in the afterlife dropping below acceptable percentages.”
