The Darkest Night (17 page)

“…From angels bending near the earth, to touch their harps of gold…”

“I don’t need a harp of gold,” he murmured. “Or a flaming sword. I have you.”

“You don’t sing anyway,” she said.

He shook his head. “You’ve just never heard me.” He stood, easily lifting her.

As he rose, the tenebrae recoiled, lifting like a storm cloud, and he placed her on her feet with one more lingering kiss.

On the nursing home porch, the talyan and a dozen elders stood at the rail. Nanette had the reliquary in her hand, and golden light spilled across the lawn, impossibly brilliant.

Almost as vivid as the voices.

Sera led the carolers with her clear contralto.
“Silent night, holy night…”

“I’ve seen her singing along with the pop tunes at the club,” Bella said softly. “But I didn’t realize…”

Fane pulled her close. “Archer told me one of her first encounters with the league was singing a wounded talya to his death.”

“She got it from her father.”

Pastor Littlejohn stood beside his daughter, his hand on her shoulder and his deep bass carrying.
“All is calm, all is bright…”

Ecco stood with his gauntlets over his chest, his mouth set tight and forbidding. Which reminded Bella why they were here.

She angled her gaze to the tenebrae worm, coiling above, held in abeyance. Had she been this afraid, this twisting mess? Had she longed for so much and believed so little?

“Let it go,” she whispered. “Can’t you let it go?”

The worm hovered.

“Sleep in heavenly peace…”

With a roaring shrieking cry, the tenebrae attacked for the third time. The thick yellow veining at the fore peeled back, revealing a gaping maw. The funnel seemed to fall in unnaturally deep, deeper than the length of the worm. Far at the other end lay a sullen nothingness more unfathomable than even the darkest night.

Bella threw herself toward Fane and he caught her under the edge of his coat. He had the box cutter in hand which he slashed across his fingers.

She cried out at the pain she could almost feel herself.

He flung his hand outward in a spray of angelic blood. The tenebrae shrank back, but not quickly enough. The spatter of red and gold burned across the worm in ragged patches, tearing holes in the ether.

“Sleep in heavenly peace…”

“Or pieces,” Fane said.

The worm tore apart without a sound. Dozens of salambe and a hundred malice fled into the night, escaping the light and sound. And love.

Bella clasped his cut hand between hers, closing it tight.

He tried to pull away. “I’m going to bleed all over you.”

“You’ve done worse.”

He stared at her, stricken, but she tugged him toward the porch. “Let’s get this looked at before you bleed out.”

He balked on the sidewalk, forcing her to turn to face him. “I never meant—”

“I don’t mind your blood on me. That will wash off. It’s your heart, beating with mine. It’s your spirit, inside me. That I can’t escape.”

“Bella…”

“And I don’t want to escape. I want to be here, with you. I want you, around me, in me. I mean that in the dirtiest way possible.” She touched his cheek with her knuckles, careful not to bloody him. “And I mean that as an angel would say it.”

Without ever glancing away, as if breaking eye contact might let her disappear, he brushed back her hair with his unbloodied hand. “Outcasts, both of us. Me from heaven, you from hell.”

Maybe it was a symptom of how far she had yet to go to be good, but she was fiercely glad he’d been cast out. So he could find her. Maybe they didn’t have the symballein bond of the soul-shattered talyan, but their wounds—and their healing—made them right for each other. “It’s like we were meant to be.”

“Together.” He didn’t smile back, his gaze so intense she thought the blue of his eyes might melt the ice. Like she was melting.

She closed her eyes and tilted up onto her toes to kiss him. A gentle touch, cool as tears, brushed her cheeks, but she wasn’t crying. She was happy.

She glanced up to see the snow sifting down. The low clouds reflected back the lights of the city in washes of silver and gold. With only the lightest breath of wind to tease them, the snowflakes wafted in lazy spirals, each finding its own unique path from heaven to earth.

Fane laughed, sending the nearest snowflakes dancing. He kissed Bella and sang softly over her lips,
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas...”

She blinked at his pure tenor, and his grin turned smug.

“I’m dreaming of Christmas with you.” He tucked her under his arm, and they walked up the sidewalk toward the talyan and the old people under a snowy winter sky.

Ecco crossed his gauntleted arms over his chest as they approached. “Had a call from the boss. They found Thorne workshop at the industrial site, but he wasn’t there. Just a bunch more bombs—most of them not even finished—and a note saying ‘Don’t Open ‘Til Christmas.’ And you just let all those tenebrae escape without sending even one back to hell. Tonight was a total bust.”

“Actually,” Bella said as they pushed by him. “This is going to be my best Christmas ever. Peace on earth and all that.”

Fane kissed her temple. “At least for tonight.”

Epilogue

Fane leaned back on the pillows of the big, red bed and sighed. He should have guessed grandma pillows rescued from yard sales would be cozy, especially with sayings like:

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

May angels watch me through the night

And wake me with the morning light.

He thought, as prayers went, that one he could follow.

Bella bounced on his chest. “Seriously, I can’t believe you haven’t seen
The Nightmare Before Christmas
! It’s one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time.”

“It has monsters in it.”

She stared down at him. “Yeah, and?”

He sighed again, just to watch her bounce some more. “Fine. You get to pick the Christmas Eve movie, but I get to pick what we do after.”

She traced her finger down his sternum. “Sounds like a win-win.”

After the carry-out Chinese dinner and movie—which he admitted was pretty great, especially the music—she hustled him back to the bed. They’d brought up a bunch of votive candles from the bar below, and the lights danced as they sprawled across the mattress.

“Now for dessert.” She tipped him over backwards and undid the button on his jeans.

He let her, then caught her hands. “Wait. I have something for you.”

“That’s what I’m trying to get to.”

“I have something
else
for you.” He snaked his hand under the pillow and presented the small ribboned box centered on his palm.

Bella sat back on her heels, a small line between her brows. “We’re going to do gifts now? Aren’t gifts for Christmas morning?”

“We’ll make our own traditions,” he said. “Besides, it’s almost midnight.”

She pursed her lips, then hopped up and went to the chest underneath the window. The framed square of night was frosted at the corners, a lovely frame for the snowflakes falling on the other side, a perfect backdrop for his even more lovely flame, Bella.

She returned to kneel on the bed, a wrapped box about as big as his shoe in her lap.

They stared at each other a moment. “You first,” they said at the same time.

Bella smiled. “Ladies first.” She handed over her box.

He started to admire the foil wrapping, but she made an impatient noise, so he tore past the paper. The box inside was plain.

She nibbled her lip. “It was sort of a last-minute thing, obviously. The old guy at the Christkindlmarket knew a guy…”

Fane opened the box and stared down. He whistled. “Snazzy.”

“This guy does custom glass too. A little different, obviously.”

Fane lifted the sunglasses out of the box. “Purple tint on the lenses. The talyan will be jealous. Nice.”

“Shatterproof glass, of course, and glare-proof—which I think will be useful if you’re working with the league—and a lifetime warranty on the black iridium frames.” She smiled, almost shyly. “I had them inscribed…”

He unfolded the sunglasses. Along the inside of the temple piece, etched in gold, it said:
Welcome to the dark side. Love, Bella.

He traced his fingertip over her name, feeling the slight serration, sharp and bright. “Perfect. I love it.”

She let out a breath, as if she’d been nervous about his response. “I talked to the guy a little bit, about polarizing and half-silvering and polycrystalline diamond coating, and I was thinking… What if there were glasses to let people see etheric emanations?”

Fane slid on the shades. “If people could see tenebrae, they would freak out. Which would be bad since there’s little the tenebrae like more than a good freak-out.”

“But if people could see the demons, maybe they would know why sometimes the world seems so dark.” She looked down at her clasped hands. “Mirabel would have known she was being stalked, and maybe she would have been able to fight back.”

He pushed the shades to the top of his head. “Maybe you’re right. You should bring it up with the talyan. If ever there was a league willing to try something new, it’s them. They took me in. But let’s save that for the new year.”

She nodded. “My turn?”

He handed over the box, swallowing down the sudden acceleration of his heartbeat. “I hope you… Like you said, it was sort of last minute…”

She untangled the wide ribbon nearly obscuring the box and ran her fingertip over the velvety exterior. She angled a glance at him. “Cyril…”

His pulse shot back toward critical. “Open it.”

She flipped back the lid and gasped.

“It’s not a diamond or anything,” he said hurriedly.

“I wouldn’t be able to see a diamond.” She lifted the ring from the box. “This I can see.”

The ruby glimmered in the candlelight, dancing with its own inner flame. He took the ring from her and slipped it over the middle finger of her left hand.

Not the ring finger. Not yet. But close.

She held out her hand to admire the twinkle. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s a reminder. Every ruby has flaws in its heart. That’s how we know it’s real.”

Her lips quirked. “You’re saying I’m flawed.”

“And real. And I’m hoping you’ll forgive me—and love me—for being the same.”

She leaned forward to kiss him. “Demon and angel.”

“And to all a good night.” He kissed her back. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” she whispered.

And so it was.

Glossary of Terms

abraxas:
An angelic-possessed’s blessed weapon.

ahāzum:
A gathering of djinn; forbidden since the First Battle.

ascendant:
The rise of a demon within a possessed human; refers to the initial incident of possession and subsequent risings.

birnenston:
Also, brimstone. A sulfuric compound leached from some demonic emanations interacting with the human realm.

desolator
numinis
: “Soul cleaver”; a demonic weapon.

djinni:
djinn (pl.): Upper echelon of demonkind; fallen angels who are content to stay fallen.

djinn-man:
A human possessed by a djinni.

ether:
The elemental energy of spiritual and demonic emanations.

feralis:
ferales (pl.): Lesser demonic emanation encased in a physical shell of mutated human-realm material. Physically strong, but not so impressive in the brains department.

heshuka
: The unknown darkness; from Aramaic.

horde-tenebrae:
Blanket term for lesser demonic emanations, including malice, ferales, and salambes. Also, tenebrae
.

ichor:
A physical by-product of demonic emanations not compatible with the human realm.

league:
Isolated clusters of possessed fighters assigned to high-density human-population areas with the mission of reducing demonic activity.

malice:
Incorporeal lesser emanation from the demon realm, typically small and animalistic in shape with protohuman intelligence.

mated-talyan bond:
The synergistic combination of male and female possessed powers.

reven
: The permanent visible epidermal mark left by an ascended demon.

salambe:
Highly emanating demonic form from the same subspecies as malice.

solvo:
A chemical version of the
desolator numinis
; produces opiatelike effects in humans while splitting off the soul.

sphericanum:
The realm of angels, separated from the human realm by the gates of heaven. Also used in reference to the ruling body of angelic powers.

symballein
:
A token, such as an engraved metal disk, that is broken into two pieces and used to establish identity when reunited; from Greek.

talya:
talyan (pl.): 1. Sacrificial lamb; a young man (Aramaic). 2. A human, typically male, possessed by a repentant demon.

tenebrae:
Blanket term for lesser demonic emanations, including malice, ferales, and salambes. Also, horde-tenebrae.

tenebraeternum:
The demon realm, separated from the human realm by the Veil.

teshuva:
A repentant demon seeking to return to a state of grace.

Veil:
An etheric barrier between the human and demon realms and composed of captured souls.

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