"Thought you weren't going to summon him back."
I turned my attention to the doorway into the livingroom. Darius leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, an annoyed expressionon his face.
"Strictly speaking, I didn't, mate," Igrowled. "Ezra did. What are you doing here?"
"Who's Ezra?"
I gestured at the demon prince. "Prince Ezra,"I explained. He'd know who I meant.
"Wait, for real?" Darius went ashen.
"Yeah, and that's the angel of death." Ipointed at Azrael, hoping he didn't mind me telling Darius. "That's War, Famine,and Plague, and I just got back from hell, so I'm tired, cranky, and all ofthat. What are you doing here?" I repeated my question. Mal had let theother three into the house.
"Some people came to me, to see if I couldconvince Aaron to go with them for some training. So far, Aaron and Mal haverefused to meet with them."
"That's because they're a bunch of dicks,"Aaron supplied.
Mal chuckled. "The angels are convinced Aaronneeds to go with them."
"That would be unwise at this point," Azraelsaid. "We, however, can also tell you what you need to know, and you willbe in no danger of getting stuck somewhere you do not wish to be."
"Oh, great. So, ride off with you all, or hangwith the angels?" Aaron did not look thrilled at either idea.
War grinned at him. "We're way more fun."
He raised his eyebrows.
"For real. Hey, come let me talk with you for aminute," she said. "I have a story to tell you, then you can decide."
Aaron glanced at me and I nodded reassurance, so helet her lead him further into the house for a degree of privacy.
"So you trust the demons over the angels?"Darius said, eyes wide with disbelief.
"I am an angel of sorts, Priest," Azraelstated. "And I do not trust most of the Host in this case. Many factorsare at play, and right now there are only a handful of people I trust." Hegestured to all of us. "A war none of us present want will soon be uponus, if we can't stop it. Be careful who you put your faith in, Priest."
Oh, Death sounded annoyed. That wasn't good.
Darius cleared his throat and nodded. "Myapologies."
War and Aaron returned. Aaron hunched his shoulders. "Thinkmaybe I should go with them," he said.
I glanced at Ezra, who nodded. "How long will hebe gone?" Aaron had a real job and other responsibilities. Come to thinkof it, I had no idea what day it was.
"We will return him before the weekend haspassed," Azrael said.
"You can teach him everything he needs to knowthat quickly?"
"No, but time is a human construct. I will takeus outside of that construct long enough to educate Aaron. It will be longerfor him, but not excessively so."
"He's got this really cool place for training,"War said, eyes bright. "Aaron will love it."
"It's up to you, but if you gotta learn stuff, I'dtrust these guys over anyone else."
Aaron nodded. "I agree."
"Okay, when are you leaving?"
"Right away. You should inform your priest of theevents taking place so he can make better decisions in the future," Azraelsaid before turning and heading outside.
"Uh, yeah, sometimes he forgets to say goodbye,"War called loudly enough that Azrael could hear. He obviously didn't care thoughbecause I heard his bike start up.
"Mate, you're gonna ride a pale horse." I grinnedat him. "And live to tell about it."
Aaron shook his head. "I'm just not going tothink about that right now." He hesitated then continued. "I'll missyou."
"Yeah, I'll miss you, too. As soon as you're back,we'll go do those things we talked about." Like see his family. That hadto be easy after dealing with demons, didn't it? "Make sure they fill youin about what happened in Hell."
"Will do."
Aaron wrapped me in another hug, and I pulled him downand stood on my tiptoes to give him a solid kiss.
Then he left with the other horsemen.
Mayhem, I noticed, had returned to his puffball form.I supposed the hellhound shape might be a bit much for Darius, but then again,maybe he deserved it. He was still eyeing Ezra, and not looking at all happy.
"I should also depart," Ezra said. "Thereare people I need to talk to."
"Right. How long are you going to be gone?"
I'm only a thought away, Chris. "I'm not sure."
"Right, well, stay out of trouble."
Ezra laughed. "I believe that is my line."He glanced at Mal. "Think you can keep her out of trouble?"
Mal shook his head. "No, but I'll try."
They shared some sort of guy look and I hoped thatmeant they had reached an understanding. Ezra held out his hand to me. I tookit and went outside with him.
"You got a car coming or something?" I asked.
Ezra gestured toward the driveway where his car sat.
"Oh, right, stupid question."
He chuckled. "So, is your priest going to have aheart attack if I kiss you in front of him?"
They were all watching from the doorway, though Dariushad kept quite a bit of distance between Sabian, Mal, and himself.
"Fuck it." I wrapped my arms around him, andhe treated me to a soul stealing kiss.
"I might be gone for a while," he said whenwe came up for air. "But we should be able to communicate at any time. Ifyou need me, shout and I will come as quickly as I am able."
"Think I'll always need you," I admitted. "ButI know what you mean."
He kissed me again, chastely, then got in his car.
I went back inside, not looking forward to theconversation with Darius, but looking forward to some alone time with Mal andSabian. We had a lot to talk about, and I wanted both of them in my bed for asolid week.
Sabian's lips twitched. He'd caught that thought.
I avoided looking at Darius, gesturing for them tofollow me into the living room.
"Mal, could you get me something to eat please."It felt like forever since I'd eaten, though it hadn't been that long inreality. I was exhausted, too, but Darius needed to hear part of this tale. Malneeded to hear the rest.
"My pleasure, Chris."
Darius had a carefully
