Autumn Feast - Charlie Richards Page 0,43
make me feel any better, Hamish. You know the Dark Lord too, and I wouldn’t want to see him in our living room. What do they want? Who was that guy that made me pass out, and why are there two of them now?”
“That was Ravish on the porch. He has a powerful effect on mortals who—” Hamish didn’t really want to tell him the rest.
“Who what? Why did I faint?”
“Ravish has a lot of sexual allure. Mortals in need of sexual attention often fall victim to him a little faster.” Hamish winced.
“Oh, great.” Liam threw up his hands. “Now it’s confirmed. I’ve become an asexual, impotent loser.”
Hamish sat beside him and stroked his hair. “Sweetie, that’s not true. You’ve been through a lot. It takes times to come back to what you were, that’s all. We had a wonderful sex life, and I’m sure that—”
“Had. That’s the operative word. Maybe it would have been better if I’d never gone to Yemen.”
“How can you say that? You did wonderful things there. You want to forget the wonderful people you met and saved?” Hamish met his gaze.
“No,” Liam said. “But I want to be with you again, make love to you the way I used to, hear you call out my name. I know you miss me. I miss you too. These damn pills, they make me—”
“I know baby,” Hamish said. “We’ll find a solution. But for the time being, we have to decide what to do about those guys.” He hooked a thumb toward the door.
“So one is a sex demon named Ravish, and the other, that blond guy from the office, he’s a”—Liam paused—”an angel.”
Hamish nodded.
“They’re here for your soul.” Liam took his hand. “What are we going to do?”
“No one can take my soul. They can battle all they want, but I will be the one to decide.”
“Do you have to decide at all?” Liam clutched his arm.
“I’m really not sure yet. Anyway, the good news is they don’t seem to be totally focused on my soul.” He grinned.
“What do you mean?” Liam asked.
“Well, it’s the weirdest thing, but I think they may be ah... in love.”
“In love with who?” Liam asked.
“Each other.” Hamish looked toward the door.
“What? Is that possible, an angel and a demon?” Liam’s eyes widened.
“Permitted? No. Possible, yes. Azrael and Ravish have met before.”
“You know them, don’t you, and not just by reputation?”
Hamish nodded.
“Okay.” Liam came a little closer. “Fess up, boy. How do you know them?”
“Well, a zillion years ago, Archangels were dispatched to cull the herd of demons, so to speak.”
“That’s terrible,” Liam exclaimed. “A demon genocide.”
Hamish nodded. “I guess.”
“Why?”
“Demons were beginning to outnumber the angels, and there was concern that the world would be unbalanced.”
“So, where did you figure into all this?”
“I was the lord of the Place In Between. I couldn’t take sides in the dispute, although the dark Lord insisted that I provide a haven for demons on the run.”
“And you defied him,” Liam said.
Hamish grinned. “You know me well. But I didn’t exactly defy him.”
Liam waited.
“Instead, I made a decision to be Switzerland.”
Liam took his hand. “You offered help to both sides.”
He shrugged.
“You devilish angel,” Liam teased him. “So, that’s when you met them?”
“I already knew Ravish. He had a big reputation. Sometimes I’d find him roaming the streets of the Place In Between.”
“He was a kindred spirit,” Liam concluded. “He, too, wanted to escape what he was.”
“Yes, but he was far too important, and the Dark Lord kept him on a tight leash.”
“When did Azrael come into the story?” Liam enquired. “Were he and Ravish lovers?”
Hamish kissed Liam on the top of the head. “My little romantic. I don’t know the entire story. They met, they battled. Azrael combed The Place in Between looking for Ravish. That’s all I know. But when I see them together now, I sense their history is complicated. It seems like a mix of lust combined with dislike and a really fatal attraction.”
“If we can get them together,” Liam insisted, “maybe they’ll forget about fighting over your soul and ride off into the sunset.”
“You aren’t seriously suggesting we play matchmaker for a demon and an angel?” Hamish was smiling.
“Why not?” Liam asked. “We’re not exactly your typical couple, are we?”
“No, but it’s forbidden.”
Liam reached up and stroked Hamish’s hair. “And when has that stopped you, my rebellious darling?”
Hamish thought about it for a minute. It could work. “Okay, I’m in, if it means we can get rid of them.”
“Good.” Liam walked over