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  “Not to mention the fact that Prince Lucifer will be most displeased,” Asmodeus remarked. “Of course, this was his plan in the first place, but I doubt he’ll see it that way when he’s presented with the facts.”

  Beelzebub’s mottled skin went pale. “He must not know of this. Somehow we must fix the situation. But how?”

  “Killing them will do nothing but send them winging back to their celestial forms as quickly as consummation. Correct?” Asmodeus asked.

  “Yes, killing their human bodies is no good. It’s a one-way ticket back to heaven.” Beelzebub thumped heavily down on the bone throne. “Damnation. We must keep them apart. We’re about to breach heaven’s last wall. If we fail now—”

  “We’ll never get another chance,” Asmodeus finished for him. “What about just killing one of them, then? The seal on the doors can’t be broken without both halves of the angel twain to do it, can it?”

  Beelzebub rounded, snarling at his second in command. “Have you forgotten what Micah and Ariel are like in their angelic forms? They are seraphim—the greatest of the Almighty’s warriors. I took them by surprise when I bested them—caught them in the middle of their joining. I had the reever in my fist and a horde of demon warriors at my back, and still they nearly cut me down. Even one of them is too much to risk running amok in the antechamber of the throne room.”

  “Very well, then.” Asmodeus pouted, his pale blue eyes venomous slits. He looked at the imp. “You said Ariel was willing to consummate, but Micah was not?”

  “Indeed, my lord.” The imp bobbed his head nervously. “Ariel would have given him everything, but he denied her.”

  “And yet he wants her still.” Asmodeus frowned. “It seems to me that what we have to do is take away his desire for her.”

  Beelzebub pounded a huge gray fist on the grinning skulls that made up the arm of his throne. “And how in damnation do you propose to do that? If we were able to take away their desire for each other, don’t you think we would have done it long ago?”

  “Forgive me, Lord Beelzebub, but I know lust better than any being, living or dead.” Asmodeus smiled. “I know how to fan it to a roaring flame and how to reduce it to ashes.”

  “Do tell me, then, Asmodeus.” Beelzebub’s deep voice was heavily sarcastic. “How do you plan to reduce the desire of one half of the angel twain for the other? You may as well try to pull the earth out of its orbit around the sun.”

  “Oh, it can be done, my lord. I promise you that.” Asmodeus grinned evilly. “Micah must be made to see her as disgusting—a being so debased and debauched that just the thought of touching her again makes his skin creep with horror and revulsion.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?” Beelzebub demanded, but he looked genuinely interested.

  “Tell me this—what substance do angels abhor more than any other? What makes their lovely skin crawl the most? What is the true essence of hell?” Smiling devilishly, Asmodeus answered his own question. “Why, demon cum, of course. It is the essence of our evil. A distillation of lust and iniquity so vile and revolting to them that they cannot bear to be near it.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Now, what do you think Micah would do if he found Ariel—his other half, the love of his celestial life—filled with our demon’s brew? Do you think he would find her quite so appealing and irresistible then? I think not.”

  Beelzebub looked taken aback. “You plan to defile an angel? One of the seraphim, no less?”

  “Do you have a better plan? You must admit, it will drive Micah from her. How could he bear to be anywhere near his darling when she is so defiled?”

  The other demon shook his head in apparent admiration. “Very well, but you’d better hope the Almighty’s period of contemplation lasts the rest of eternity. A sin such as this…” He shook his head.

  “She must be taken by force.” Asmodeus’s ice blue eyes gleamed; apparently he wasn’t interested in Beelzebub’s warning. “Taken and used, debased completely. And when Micah sees her like that—when he sees her fouled by demon cum—he will have nothing but disgust for her. His lust for Ariel will turn to ashes. This I promise you, my lord Beelzebub. And your problem will be solved.”

  Beelzebub nodded thoughtfully. “In truth, an excellent plan, Asmodeus. Very well, we must put it into action at once.”

  “My lord?” The imp, almost forgotten for most of this discussion between his betters, spoke up now.

  “What is it now?” growled Beelzebub.

  “My lord, they are not unprotected. Micah and Ariel, they both have guardian angels of their own.”

  “What?” Beelzebub roared. “Why did you not say so before?”

  “They…they only recently came to my attention, my lord.” The imp bowed nervously, still rubbing his hands together. “I think…think they were hiding in the upper edges of the firmament. But they’re out now, and they’re able to take human form.”

  “Names, imp,” snapped Asmodeus. “If they can take human form, they’re no mere guardians. What are their names?”

  “J-Jael and Elloria,” stuttered the imp. “Forgive me, my lords. I tried to stop them, but they were too strong. They cast me into the pit—” He stopped abruptly and clapped a black leathery hand over his mouth. How could he have given himself away so stupidly? He’d been keeping his ruined wings folded this entire time, praying Lord Beelzebub wouldn’t notice their skeletal appearance. And now…

  “Jael and Elloria. Hmm.” Asmodeus nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I know them. They are not seraphim, but they’re in the circle just below, still quite powerful. I’m afraid it will be no easy task to divert them.”

  “I can’t spare many for the task either,” Beelzebub said. “Every demon warrior I have is needed to breach heaven’s defenses.”

  “Don’t worry.” Asmodeus’s pale eyes filled with gleeful delight. “I’ll take care of Ariel myself. It will be my pleasure. She always was a haughty little bitch, never letting anyone but Micah in that tight cunt of hers. It’s time she was taught a lesson.”

  Beelzebub scowled. “You won’t be able to fight off her guardian angel and defile her at the same time. What do you plan to do?”

  “Create a distraction, of course. And I don’t need any of your warriors either. Just more like him.” He stabbed a finger at the imp, who had just been breathing a sigh over being overlooked.

  “Me, my lord?” he squeaked nervously. “What can a lowly imp like me do in a fight with high-level angels like those two?”

  “You can die,” Asmodeus said coldly. “You and hundreds like you. I don’t care how many of you get stripped and sent to the pit, as long as I get to take my sweet time with Ariel.” He gave the imp a slow, cruel smile. “And you, my little friend, will be leading the charge.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Owen didn’t know how long he’d wandered the streets, but somehow he ended up back at his loft as the sun was coming up. He’d walked all night, from his affluent neighborhood through the industrial district by the port, and then through the maze of project housing that had sprung up beside it. Though he was alone and unarmed, no one had bothered him. He had wished they had. He needed to fight, to plow his fist into someone’s face and feel bones snap and cartilage shatter. To watch the blood pour out red-black in the orange glare of the streetlights.

  What’s wrong with me? I don’t cause pain. I ease it. I’m a healer.

  If only he could ease the pain in himself. Or heal the agony he’d inflicted on Leah. God, the look on her face when he’d left her—so broken, so hurt… It was worse than the first time he’d tried to cut her out of his life. A thousand times worse.

  I never should have tried to let her back in. I should have known it would end like this. Why am I such a monster?

  He opened his front door, meaning to tell her that, to apologize and beg her forgiveness, but she was already gone. And not just out for the day—her side of the closet had been cleaned out, and her suitcases were absent too.

  Lea