Epilogue

Smiling down at the little boy in my arms, I watched as his eyes became glazed, instantly transfixing upon the flaming candle atop the cake. Lucius was slowly walking towards the table, his eyes fixed on us with a  huge smile plastered upon his face as he hummed the birthday song under his breath. My lips pressed into a thin line to keep me from laughing, he really was sweet when he wanted to be which seemed to be a lot of the time during the recent weeks. He made up one part of my family that now consisted of a small number of people who had become close to me over the last few months. Unfortunately all of the angelic members were gone and probably for a long time. It would be an understatement to say that I missed them but they deserved to go home so I plastered on a smile and waved them off when He had called them back.

Glancing once more at Lucius, I then turned my attention to the other people at the table. Kirsten, who had been at Satani media the day after the battle was wearing considerably more clothes than I was used to but she had some bad experiences due to the effects of the blasted books. She had been held hostage and questioned by cold eyes, most of the time degrading her by making her do immodest things to try and break her spirit. It also meant she had inadvertently learned who her boss truly was but had decided to stick around anyways. I admired her for her bravery but, as comes with knowing about the real world, she was now sealed in a watertight contract like myself and was now my lucky next door neighbour. Lucius had decided he wanted to be close to us so that he could ‘protect’ us so he now lived on my other side. I don’t even want to know how he managed that.

My whole being was in awe that I had even reached this point; I never would have imagined myself sitting here in front of the table with my family waiting to blow out the candle on top of the Bob the Builder birthday cake. I never thought I would be here to see my little boy’s first birthday, I thought I would be gone and the world in tatters while being ruled over by some petulant child with a God complex but here I was and I couldn’t be happier. My face dropped as my thoughts drifted to the consequences of the battle.

It was still so hard to sit on the chair and watch the news.  The world was still mourning over the strange events that had occurred simultaneously over the world. They had explained it away but only those at the battle truly knew what happened. The angels took care of that for the most part. The survivors were given a choice, to remember or to forget. Some chose the former but the majority chose blissful ignorance. Unfortunately for me it wasn’t an option considering my mind had already been altered once before. Apparently too much alteration can be detrimental to a person’s wellbeing. At least that was the excuse that Lucius used for disallowing Gabriel to give me the gift he had bestowed on so many others.

Briefly my mind flitted to Phil. No one had seen hide nor hair of him since the battle. The last they saw of him he was walking towards Zeke and I just as the Book of Eve was destroyed. The most probable answer was he was dead yet I hoped that he was still alive somewhere. After all, his betrayal was only because he loved someone above all else, even if they didn’t return the sentiments. The young teenage girl who I had watched fall to her death was in actual fact his daughter. I suspected she was the reason behind his entire involvement with their little group but still it hurt that he had betrayed us like that. Being a mother and understanding his standpoint however, I tried to sympathise with him. If it was Danny in that position, well I would probably ground him for the rest of his life but if it came down to it, I would do anything to protect him, even if it meant standing by and watching as he did something of questionable moral value. He would get grounded for the rest of his life but, if there was nothing to stop him, I would be there to catch him when he fell because that’s what mothers do.

Catching Lucius’ worried gaze, I painted a smile upon my face and focused my attention of the cake that was sitting before me now, thankfully out of reach of Danny’s eager hands.

“Ready?” I cooed in his ear, tickling his sides at the same time earning me a giggle. “And blow Danny.”  I watched as his eyes widened and his lips formed an exaggerated ‘O’ shape and he began to blow as hard as he could. I stifled a giggle and instead blew out a puff of breath at the same time so that the candle went out. Watching spittle fly from Danny’s mouth out of the corner of my eye, I chose to ignore as it dribbled down his chin and left a dark water patch on his t-shirt. I was too caught up in his excitement as he squealed in delight and  clapped his hands to really care about mopping up his dribble covered chin, he was just so happy that it was infectious and soon we were all laughing and excited about the birthday cake.

An hour or two later, Danny was settled in bed for the night. He had fallen asleep after eating a tonne of cake so of course I took a bunch of pictures of him face down on the paper plate, smudges of buttercream and icing across his face. Kirsten had left ten minutes before with her latest bit of man candy on her arm. It was then that I realised that Lucius and I were alone, if you didn’t count the sleeping boy upstairs.

Slumping down onto the sofa, I let out a sigh and relaxed into the cushions. My eyes fluttered closed on their own accord as I felt tiredness wash over me. It had been a long day, running around the zoo with Danny and Kirsten’s bratty cousins had worn me out and I was only mildly sympathetic when the two boys became sick and threw up their lunch in the middle of the penguin exhibit.

The feel of someone taking the seat next to mine caused my eyes to flutter open briefly, a lazy smile appearing on my lips as Lucius reached his hand up and smoothed my hair away from my face. I sighed softly and snuggled closer to him while allowing my eyes to close once more. Lucius was great company when he wasn’t trying to prove how much of a jerk he ‘really’ was. I allowed myself to enjoy the pleasant company while it lasted because knowing Lucius like it did, it really wouldn’t last long.

The sofa shifted slightly and my forehead bunched up in a frown as I thought of him leaving already. He was my security blanket, especially now that I had lost two of my protectors. He was the one who comforted me when I awoke in the middle of the night, eyes wide with terror. He was the one who took care of me when I was sick. He was the one who was a jerk most of the time but to me he was my fallen angel.

 My frown disappeared quickly from my face however when I felt my whole body ignite with something that was akin to pure ecstasy. The light pressure on my lips and the sensations it brought with it caused my eyes to snap open, only to stare at Lucius’ closed lids. For a moment shock and confusion warred within me but deciding that this was a guilty pleasure that probably wouldn’t be repeated I allowed myself to relax into the kiss, returning it with all the fervour I could muster which was quite a lot apparently.

My arms went up around his neck as I indulged myself in the delicacy that was Lucius’ lips. They were surprisingly soft and warm against mine and at first it was merely a simple lingering peck but all too soon the two of us were one step away from ripping each other’s clothes off.  I wondered for a brief second if it was a dream or if a succubus had managed to spell us again. My hands dug further into his hair as he pulled away from my lips and nuzzled neck before placing a light kiss in the hollow at the base of my throat.

My heart was pounding and my breathing erratic as I stared at his face. My eyes lingered upon his swollen lips that had transformed into a lazy smile as he stared at me with contentment. My own lips pulled up into a grin. That was the first time we had kissed and there hadn’t been something there forcing us to do it. No fear or overwhelming need for comfort, no weird lust magic, it was just us.

“That was my wish,” he whispered so that his breath, which smelt like vanilla cream, fanned across my face. I started to smile, allowing myself to enjoy the fact that he had said something so sweet and yet by looking into his eyes I could see the sincerity there. But, being who he is, that devishly handsome smirk of his appeared on his face as she shifted above me.  It only made me aware of the fact that I was now reclined against the cushions of the sofa with the entire length of my body pressed against his.  Taking a strand of my hair he stared into my eyes for a long moment before dipping his head down. On instinct my eyes fluttered shut assuming that he was going in for a kiss but I was disappointed when I only felt his breath against my ear. “I knew you wanted me.”

The teasing tone of his voice had my eyes pulling open as my mouth formed an ‘O’. Staring up at him in disbelief, his smirk got even wider as he pulled himself off of me and straightened himself out.

“Wha-?” I started to question but he merely winked sending me into a stunned stupor.

“I guess I’ll see you at work on Monday Holmes,” he chirped sounding far too pleased with himself as he strutted towards the door leaving me there dumbstruck.

That was Lucius Satani, fallen angel in every sense of the word. His kisses are heavenly but he most definitely is no angel. To think that I am going to be stuck working with him for ten years. A tortured sigh escaped my lips before my hands absently came up to trace where his lips had been moments before. yeah, I could live with that.

A/N - Yes, it is open ended but where would the fun be if they got together in one chapter? Book 2 in the series Hell's Angels is now complete and up on my profile so please check it out. I am currently in the process of writing book 3 Apocalypse's Horsemen and hopefully those of you who like book one will enjoy book 2 and 3.