Daystar (69 page)

Dahlia and Gaea were motionless, concentrating on their tasks.
 
Ariel saw Paimon and Furcas following and dove early, grabbing at Gaea instead of Dahlia.
 

Gaea’s eyes shot open.
 
She blasted Ariel in the face with green fire, sending her back.

Furcas shot at the angels that dove with Ariel.
 

Paimon caught Ariel’s foot and hauled her away from Gaea.
 
“Finally!”

Ariel slashed at his face.
 
“Die!”

“No how about
you
die
, you fucking bitch!”
 
Paimon head butted her, breaking her nose.
 
“You interrupted my special moment with my boyfriend!”
 
Ariel screeched and teleported leaving him empty-handed.
 
Paimon stared at his hands.
 
“Fuck!”
 
He whirled around to see where she had gone.

Furcas caught him and covered them with his wings as the wailers let loose an assault of sound.
 
He watched Paimon from within their diamond shell.
 
“What was that you said to her?”
 
He smiled.
 
“Something about interrupting your moment.
 
Oh that’s right you
were
about to tell me something very important earlier weren’t you.”
 
He threw his wings back and launched sharpened feathers at everything around them.
 
He eyed Paimon.
 
“So what was it?”

Paimon spun and created bombs in a wide sphere around them; they hung in the air, set to ignite if anything touched them.
 
He grabbed Furcas’ hands.
 
“I want to know—”

Angels slammed into the bombs.
 
Explosions deafened and blinded them.

Paimon shook his head to clear it.
 
“I want to know if you will—”

More of his bombs went off.

Paimon scowled.
 
“Motherfuckers!
 
Leave us alone for two fucking minutes!”
 
He threw out more bombs.
 
“This isn’t how I wanted this to go down.”
 
He grabbed Furcas’ shoulders.
 
“Furcas, I love you.”

Furcas smiled.
 
“I love you too, Paimon.”

Paimon’s heart raced.
 
“I want you to know that I will never run again.
 
I am never going to leave or be a cowardly bastard, not when it comes to you.”
 
He gulped.
 
“I know I said things like this before, like the last time I did this, but I did not think I could run then.
 
I was proven wrong when my guilt became too much.”

“Last time you did this?
 
What are you—”

“You’ve always been way more fucking mature than I was, despite your being younger.”
 
Paimon stuffed his right hand into his pocket.
 
“But I want you to know that I have grown up, I’ve learned my lessons.”

“Paimon, we already went over this, we are squared away.”
 
Furcas kissed his cheek.
 
“I forgave you.”

“I know, but I hadn’t forgiven myself and I need you to know that.”
 
Paimon shook his head.
 
“Damn it!
 
I had this speech and now it’s all fucked to shit!”

Furcas squeezed his hand.
 
“Just tell me what feels right, Paimon.”

Paimon nodded and looked into Furcas’ eyes.
 
“Don’t laugh at me.”

“I won’t.”

Paimon took a deep breath.
 
“When I thought you had died, I realized that without you I really don’t have a damn thing of worth or anything that makes any fucking sense.
 
Without you, the world doesn’t mean anything and
I
don’t mean anything.
 
I gaped into eternity, I got a glimpse of what it would be like living without you, and I
never
want to experience that again.
 
I wanted to die right then and there.
 
I looked back on our lives and I realized it’s not just your stupid bravery that endangers us.
 
I endanger us both with the way I am and I don’t want my bullshit behavior to jeopardize what we have anymore.
 
So I am going to stop being an accomplished shit in life.
 
I’m through with being an immature bastard when it comes to you and I.”

He caught Furcas’ gaze.
 
“You
are
my partner, my equal, my lover, and my best friend.
 
You are all of the best things about me and I hope that I am at least some of these things to you as well.”

Furcas blinked back tears.
 
“Of course you are, all of them.”

Paimon pulled Furcas into an embrace.
 
He slipped the ring out of his pocket, but kept it in his fist.
 
“I have been a terrible ass, carousing and acting like I don’t care what you think, but I do, very much, more than you will probably ever know.”
 
Paimon bit his lip.
 
“You should know that I’m not doing this because you’re fucking hot and you don’t kick my randy ass out of bed when you should, but because if I don’t do this then I don’t deserve you.
 
I deserve to be alone.”

“Paimon?”

Paimon took Furcas’ left hand and opened his right palm to show him the ring.
 
Furcas gaped.
 
Paimon’s voice cracked, “I want everyone to know what you are worth to me.
 
I also want everyone to be
real
fucking clear that you are not anyone else’s, and that I am not anyone else’s.
 
We belong to each other.
 
I don’t want anyone else, I never have, and I never will.
 
You are it, the love of my life.”
 
Paimon held the ring between two fingers.
 
“Marry me, Furcas.”

Furcas jumped on Paimon.
 
The bomb sphere around them went off in a chain as shockers dove on them in the hundreds.
 
Furcas wrapped them both in his wings as they were blasted back towards Earth.
 
He kissed Paimon.
 
“Yes, yes, and yes!”

Paimon slipped the ring on Furcas’ finger.
 
“You know I had a whole speech written down and a plot of flowers and dinner and—”

Furcas cut him off with another kiss.
 
He put his forehead to Paimon’s.
 
“That was perfect.”
 
He looked at the ring for the first time.
 
He recognized the engagement band and his eyes widened.
 
“
Our
ring!”

Paimon shrugged.
 
“I know it’s not so special now that you are a jewel ridden Adonis.”

“Paimon, this is our original ring!
 
Where did you find it?”
 
Furcas covered his mouth.
 
“I—I thought it was gone after they cut my fingers off.”

Paimon smiled.
 
“I killed a lot of people in my search for it, and I cut a lot of fingers off myself, in your honor of course.
 
It took me a good couple of decades to get it back.”
 
Paimon touched the metal.
 
“But that won’t be a problem anymore because I upgraded the band with a tracking device.
 
No more lost ring, no more lost Furcas.
 
I probably can even find you in Hell.”

Furcas made a face.
 
“The ring has a tracking device in it?
 
You are a paranoid
creep
.”

“Yes, I am.”
 
Paimon grinned and pulled out a matching band.
 
“I know I’m not supposed to wear this yet, but mine has one too.”
 
He handed the ring to Furcas.
 
“If you would do me the honor.”

Furcas kissed Paimon and bit his lip as he slipped the ring onto Paimon’s left hand ring finger.
 
Both Archangels stared at their hands.
 
Furcas frowned.
 
“My ring reacts to yours like a magnet.”

“Yes, you’ll feel a tug whatever direction I’m in.”
 
Paimon circled to show the effect.
 
“Neat huh?”

Furcas smiled.
 
“You can’t run away again.”

Paimon ran his fingers through his hair.
 
“Not successfully, I can’t even take it off to try.”

“How did you do that?”

“Same way the bracelet works.
 
I got Titan to modify both.
 
Cut the finger off, the ring grows back on the new finger.
 
That part I thought of.
 
We’ll never be lost to each other again.”

Furcas looked over his shoulder, frowned, and wrapped his arms around Paimon.
 
“We’re about to get mauled.”

“Right.”
 
Paimon threw out his arms and the area around them exploded.
 
Wailers between them and Earth slammed into the shield and dissolved into motes of light.
 
Paimon bit Furcas’ cheek.
 
“Happy?”

“You cannot imagine.”
 
Furcas wiped tears out of his eyes.
 
“Why wait so long?”

“I was terrified you would say no actually.”
 
Paimon unsnapped his bracelet.
 
“I don’t think we don’t need
this
anymore.”

Furcas nodded.
 
“May I have it?”

“Of course.”
 
Paimon handed him both ends.

Furcas focused on the bracelet, each end grew a sapphire disk, hair thin, dark and razor-sharp.
 
He twisted the chain, slicing the air on either side.
 
He gazed over at his jeweled angels; they took the hint and made similar weapons.
 
Furcas smiled at Paimon.
 
“Now, back to work?”

Paimon nodded.
 
“Indeed, we are guilty of dereliction of duty.”
 
He scanned the skies.
 
“Now where is that shark-toothed bitch?
 
I want to bring Bean her head.”

***

Bean flew through irregular light and shifting winds.
 
The sunshade was in place above the red shield, so she could no longer depend on the stars for direction.
 
Explosions lit up the sky.
 
Bean looked up and smiled, recognizing Paimon’s handiwork.
 
“You guys get all the fucking fun.”

The sky went dark as Ra and Ifrit regrouped their energy.
 
Bean looked down towards the forest; shadows were dark as a night with no moon.
 
She swept her gaze back and forth.
 
Bean detected movement and hovered in place, but it was only a deer.
 
She sighed; her breath misted in the frigid air.

A hand went over her mouth, a fist to her temple.
 
A body drove Bean into the ground, crashing through branches on the way down.
 
She hit the earth and the wind was knocked out of her.
 
Dazed, her vision blurred.
 
Explosions colored the sky green.
 
Bean pressed herself up and held her bleeding head; one of her wings was broken and cocked at an angle.
 
She was not afraid, only surprised.
 
“What just—”

Jegudiel grabbed her wings, breaking another while flipping her onto her back.
 
Bean cried out, the pain like nothing she had experienced before.
 
Ra lit up the sky and Bean saw his face clearly, dark eyes, fangs out.
 
There was none of the Jegudiel she knew in his expression.
 
Terror-stricken, she parted her lips to whistle for Helion.

Jegudiel dropped on her, cutting her whistle off with a kiss.
 
He pulled back and punched her in the throat.
 
He covered her mouth with one hand.
 
“Hello, Bean darling.”

Bean struggled against him, but he was strong, stronger than she’d ever seen him before.
 
Jegudiel was wreathed in black shadows.
 
None of his gold light remained, none of his love.
 
He leered at her, the look in his eyes made her heart pound in terror.

Jegudiel touched his nose to hers.
 
“I see you have already partially undressed.”
 
He caressed her arms with his free hand.
 
“Are you out looking to fuck something, slut, or did you just get done whoring yourself around?”
 
He lifted his hand slightly so that she could answer.
 
“Try and scream again and I will rip your throat out.”

Bean trembled underneath him.
 
“No, I haven’t done that with anyone, Jegudiel.
 
I don’t want that, I don’t want to be that way!
 
I told you this.
 
I love
you
.”