Samael: A Devil and Angel Gay Romance Read online

  Spotting a gap in the traffic, Ananiel darted across the road and came to a stop in front of me. Disappointingly, his hardened expression said that he had not yielded to me just yet.

  “You told them I was an angel?” he demanded angrily. The top of his head was level with my chin, so he had to tilt his head back in order to glare at me.

  “No, I told them that’s what you were called,” I replied evenly. “Relax, will you? The kid thinks Demon and Angel are our names and he fucking loves it. He wants to give us both the job, so maybe you should try thanking me instead of jumping down my throat.”

  “The boy isn’t the one making the decision,” Ananiel retorted.

  “Don’t bet on it. I reckon little Tammy says jump and Dawes says how high. What does it matter anyway? You must have seen the kid’s aura. It’s almost as black as mine. I’ve as good as won already.”

  Ananiel looked up at me with a confused frown.

  “What are you talking about? The soul’s aura was pure gold. If anyone has won here, it’s me, not you.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. How can you see one thing and me another?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Because one of us is lying?”

  “Are you?” I folded my arms, a human habit that I found quite useful in expressing all manner of emotions. “After all, you lied when you said you didn’t know me.”

  “That wasn’t a lie, Samael. I don’t know you. I doubt you even know yourself.”

  I scowled, not liking his response because there was a little too much of the truth in there. What’s more, I thought Ananiel was probably referring to a time, decades ago, when he had asked me to make a choice. In his eyes, I made the wrong one, but it was not like I ever really had an option. It was different for Ananiel. He was not born an angel but became one at the end of his human life. I was a demon, born and bred, and there was nothing I could do to change that. Ananiel could stop being an angel. He could get kicked out of Heaven and become a fallen angel. But a demon was a demon for eternity. I didn’t choose this life over Ananiel. It chose me.

  But was that the real cause of his anger? A long-harboured resentment that I had returned to Hell instead of skipping off into the sunset with him? Angels were generally smarter than demons, but how could he believe that scenario was ever going to have a happy ending?

  “Can I buy you a coffee?” I asked.

  “A coffee?” Ananiel balked at the unexpected offer. “What game are you playing now?”

  “No game,” I promised. “I simply find that this human body requires an intake of caffeine on a regular basis. If you would care to join me, we could discuss the anomaly of the soul’s changing aura.”

  “I suppose it would do no harm,” Ananiel said grudgingly. “But only because this body also seems to have unnatural cravings.”

  “Do those cravings include me?”

  “They do not. Any more talk like that and you can forget the whole coffee date idea.”

  “Oh, it’s a date now is it?” I teased, enjoying his discomfort as we strolled along the street in search of a café. “Did we ever date before, or did we just f–”

  “Samael!”

  “Okay, I’ll stop.” I laughed. “No more. I swear.”

  “If only I could trust you.”

  I glanced at him sharply and saw the gleam in his eyes that told me he was teasing too. Although, the sad thing was, he really couldn’t trust me. I was a demon, for Lucifer’s sake. He should expect no better. On the other hand, I really did not want him to leave just yet, so I would hold my tongue for as long as was necessary.

  It occurred to me, as we walked, that I had missed this. Missed us. Being with Ananiel again made me happy and how was that for fucked up? My kind were not designed to feel that sort of emotion. Anger and hatred, that was our remit. What sort of self-respecting demon had room for affection in his cold black heart? For an angel, of all things?

  “I must be going crazy,” I said out loud.

  “Is that not part of your job description?” Ananiel asked jokingly.

  “Demon is not a career choice, my angel.”

  Ananiel fell silent while he thought it over. I remembered his moods well enough to place a safe bet on what was currently going through his mind. He was unlikely to blurt it out as easily as I had done, but my guess was he was wishing being a demon was a career path I’d followed by my own free will. That way, it would be possible for me to resign. In a way, I was glad I had the power to anger and hurt him. It meant he still cared.

  We found a small coffee shop not far from where I had parked my car. I ordered mine black and strong, while Ananiel ordered his milky and sweet. It figured. Even in human form, our drinks reflected our true natures.

  Ananiel took a seat across the table from me and wrapped his long, slender fingers around his ridiculously wide cup.

  “Why do you think you saw black and I saw gold?” he asked.

  It took me a moment to realise he was talking about the soul’s aura. I’d been so absorbed in drinking in every detail of the angel’s features, I’d virtually forgotten the kid and the reason Ananiel and I were there in the first place.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged, not really caring either way. It was a minor inconvenience as far as I was concerned because it meant I was not as home and dry as I had originally thought. “Maybe we both saw what we wanted to see.”

  “I don’t think that’s it,” Ananiel disagreed. “I can’t help but feel there is more at stake here than the soul. A bigger plan in action than either of us is aware.”

  “Bigger than your boss or mine?”

  “What if they’re working together on this one?” he asked hesitantly. “What if this isn’t about Tam Kestrel, but about you and me?”

  “Well, shit… I thought I was meant to the crazy one.”

  “I’m serious, Samael. Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “Okay, just supposing you’re right, and we are being set up by my side or yours or both of them together. That would mean they know about us. If they did, neither of us would be here. They would have punished us years ago. I don’t know about your lot, but mine would flay the skin from my body and cast me into a fiery pit for all eternity. They don’t play games, Angel.”

  “Will you stop calling me that?”

  “You started it,” I said.

  “I know.” He sighed heavily. “And I hear what you’re saying, I really do, but I worry this is a trap of some sort.”

  “Relax, will you? Nobody knows about us.”

  I reached across the table, placing my hand over his wrist and intending to offer comfort as best I could for a demon.

  With a cry of pain, Ananiel snatched his arm away. Several of the other customer in the coffee shop turned their heads in our direction. I ignored them all, my eyes fixed on Ananiel. His skin, where I had touched him, was red and blistered. It sizzled and smoked, like it continued to burn even after I had removed my hand.

  Quickly, Ananiel passed his own hand over the damaged area. A faint white light glowed under his palm and when he took his hand away, only a pale pink mark remained to mar his otherwise flawless skin.

  “Everything okay here?” One of the staff hovered near to the table, eyeing me with suspicion, before switching to sympathy when she looked at Ananiel.

  “Yes, I’m sorry,” Ananiel answered with a reassuring smile. “I spilled coffee on my arm.”

  He showed her the pink mark on his wrist. Seeing as there was no coffee spilled anywhere else on the table, I didn’t expect her to buy the angel’s pathetic excuse, but she did. As soon as she walked away, I leaned across the table, giving Ananiel a furious stare.

  “A protection ward? Really? They did that to you?”

  “No,” Ananiel replied flatly. His steady gaze met mine. “I did it to myself to keep from getting close to you. The things that have happened between us in the past cannot be allowed to happen again. You will not tempt me into sin, Samael.”

  “That’s
not what you said in 1972,” I retorted. “Or in 1917 before that. Or in 1829 or 1738 for that matter. Shall I go on? And, obviously, I can still tempt you or you would not feel the need to place a ward on yourself in order to resist.”

  I indicated his arm, where even the pink had faded away to nothing.

  He was saved from having to answer by the ringing of his mobile phone. In my view, the things were terrible gadgets whose invention also reeked more of my side than his. I had one too, a necessity apparently in this modern age of technology, but I had yet to turn the thing on. I supposed I should do so in preparation for Dawes call.

  I watched Ananiel with interest as he answered, observing how it was done. That’s what I told myself anyway. What I really observed was the angel sat opposite me, bright eyes slightly lowered as he spoke into the phone. That kissable nose and mouth. Those high cheekbones and flawless alabaster skin.

  “Yes, he’s with me. How did you know?” Ananiel’s eyes darted to my face. I stopped daydreaming and started paying attention to his one-sided conversation. “Oh, you saw us leaving together? I see. Both of us? Are you sure? I’ll tell him, of course, but… No, it’s not a problem. And address? Wait, what was that?” Ananiel’s expression changed to one of alarm. “No, I’m sorry. I’m sure it will be fine. I just didn’t realize that was the arrangement.”

  By the time he ended the call, I was on tenterhooks. Just about dying of curiosity. Ananiel did not seem best pleased by the situation, whatever it was.

  “Dawes?” I asked.

  “Yes.” Ananiel gave me an unhappy look. “How much of that did you get?”

  “We got the job. That’s about it.”

  He nodded. “Mr. Kestrel insists on both of us providing his personal security. Apparently, you are the brawn and I am to be the brains.”

  “What’s wrong with that? It gives us both a chance to get close to the soul.” I didn’t understand why he was so pissed off about it.

  “It’s a live-in position. Did you know that?”

  “No, of course not.” I paused. “By live-in, you mean…?”

  “Do they teach you nothing in Hell?” Ananiel snapped irritably. “I mean we have to live in Kestrel’s house. Mr. Dawes is texting me the address, so if you have one of these…” He tapped a finger on his phone screen. “I suggest you turn it on.”

  4

  We walked back to my car together. Heaven had decided not to give Ananiel his own vehicle; something about air pollution and carbon footprints. I was just fine with the first of those and absolutely clueless as to what the second even was. Ananiel considered it acceptable to accept a lift in someone else’s car because, technically, he was not the one responsible for polluting the atmosphere. Personally, I wasn’t convinced that excuse was going to hold up before a jury of his peers. Still, it was more time spent in his company, so he would hear no argument from me.

  “You have a parking ticket.” Ananiel tutted when we got to the car.

  Attached to the windscreen, there was indeed some sort of plastic bag with a piece of paper inside. I plucked it from the glass, holding it up between thumb and finger as I eyed it dubiously.

  “What is it for?”

  “I don’t know. Either you have parked some place you shouldn’t, or you did not put sufficient money in the meter.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “You didn’t put any money in the meter, did you?”

  “No, why would I?”

  I tossed the ticket to the ground and climbed into the car. Go me! Add littering to my long list of evil deeds.

  “Samael, will you ever obey the laws of this land?” Ananiel said, his voice thick with disapproval as he climbed into the passenger seat beside me. “You can’t ignore a parking ticket. Not while you’re living as a human.”

  “I can and I will,” I answered, starting the engine and pulling out into the traffic as Ananiel scrambled to get his seatbelt fastened. I didn’t bother with mine. It wasn’t like it would kill me even if I did crash the car.

  There was a cacophony of squealing breaks and blaring horns. Music to my ears. I lowered the window and gave my fellow motorists a middle finger salute, the modern way of thanking them for giving way, or so I believed. I was kidding. I knew what the gesture meant, only making people even more irate than they already were, was par for the course in my line of work.

  “Besides,” I continued as we raced through the streets, “being human is temporary. By the time the law catches up to me, I will already be gone.”

  It turned out, the place where Ananiel was staying was a mere two blocks from my own apartment. It was a similar neighbourhood, with similar blocks of flats and similar looking cars parked on the streets. Not too rich and not too poor. It was almost like it was planned. I frowned, wondering if it gave credence to the angel’s claim that this whole set up was a joint enterprise between what should be opposing sides.

  “Do you want to come in?” Ananiel asked, although I assumed it was from a need to demonstrate good manners than because he actually wanted me to.

  “No, it’s probably better than I don’t. you know, in case someone is watching.” What was the point anyway, if I couldn’t even touch him without him bursting into flames and shit? “I can pick you up in the morning, if you like. Around eight?”

  “It would be easier than carrying my belongings on a bus,” he said.

  Again, I got the nagging feeling there was more to what he was saying than the words themselves. I wished I were better at being human. Then I might pick up the little nuances when he spoke.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He got out of the car and walked toward the apartment building. I waited at the kerb, the engine idling. Look back, I willed him. He strode up the path to the communal entrance. Look back, damn you. He grabbed hold of the handle and pulled the door open. Look back, Angel. Please.

  He took a step forward. Hesitated. Then Ananiel looked back and waved.

  5

  The next morning, I was sat in my car waiting for my angel to appear a whole half hour earlier than the time arranged. I didn’t mind. He was worth the wait.

  Ananiel ran out not even five minutes later and threw a couple of bags into the back of the car, before joining me in the front. He was breathless, as though he had hurried. It didn’t make much sense to me. Why have his bags ready and coming rushing out so eagerly when he had not expected me to be there yet? Unless, of course, he had watching from a window, as impatient to see again as I was him.

  “Did you sleep?” he asked once we set off.

  I had entered the details of Tam kestrel’s address into another device which was new to me, something called a SatNav. I’d heard of them, but never had a reason to use one before, not having been topside since its creation. Ananiel claimed his side were responsible for that invention. I argued that it had to one of ours as I had heard stories of them making people drive halfway up mountains or directing them to a stranger’s backyard and telling them they had reached their destination. And that fucking automated voice? So annoying. How could it possibly be a creation for good? It turned into a lively debate about whose people had invented what, both of us laughing over the things to which neither of us wanted to lay a claim.

  Unfortunately, the journey passed way too quickly. Our buoyant mood sobered abruptly as I rolled the car up to the electric gates of a huge mansion.

  “All this for one kid?” I breathed, mentally awarding Team Demon another point. All this vulgar ostentation had to be a score for my side, right?

  “This is it, Jack,” Ananiel said, looking up at the gates.

  “Jack?” I raised an eyebrow in question.

  “Your name, remember? And, from this point on, you have to call me Hayden.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  I pressed the intercom beside the gate to announce our arrival. The gates swung slowly open and I drove through them. The gravel driveway had to be half a mile long, at least. On my left, I noticed a gardener, trundling up and down the lush green
lawn astride a ride-on mower. Hopefully, he did not live in the mansion. Other people hanging around only ever complicated a mission.

  “He’s a teenage rock-god,” Ananiel said. “I imagine he’ll have a lot of people around him.”

  “What? Are you reading my mind now?” I snapped, because I was damn sure I hadn’t spoken my thought aloud and there was shit up in my head that the angel had no business seeing.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, looking suitably abashed. “I won’t do it again, I promise.”

  I gave him a curt nod. As an angel, his word should be enough to quell any lingering doubts, but this was Ananiel. I was not exactly trusting by nature and that was before I knew this particular angel was more than capable of being dishonest. If he could lie to his God about his involvement with a demon, there was no question that he would lie to me without batting an eyelash.

  I pulled up between a gleaming Maserati and a huge Range Rover. There was a sunshine yellow Porsche parked a little further over.

  “I thought he was a teenager,” I grumbled. “Does he even have a licence?”

  “Since when do things like that bother you?” Ananiel asked, sounding amused. “Do you have one?”

  “Bit late asking now,” I scoffed. “Of course, I haven’t.”

  We got out of the car and climbed the half dozen steps to the wide, marble-pillared entrance. The double width front door was opened by a short, plump woman, who stepped back to allow us into a lavish foyer. From the marble floor to the chandelier and every single piece of antique furniture, I saw gold leaf adornments. Even the artwork along the sweeping staircase had gold frames. All of it struck me as belonging more to a stately home than the residence of a young man. One thing for sure, this was not a décor chosen by a teenage boy. It smacked more of Dawes than it did Tam. Then again, maybe the kid had only just moved in and all the gold crap came with the house.

  “I’m Sassy,” the woman said. I assumed her to be the housekeeper, although she was not wearing a uniform. “Well, it’s Sarah really, but nobody ever calls me that. Only my dear old mum and she’s been gone for years, God rest her soul.”