Demon Angel

illuminating his face, glinting red off his tears. Her voice softened. "And get some help, for fuck's sake."
    Sirens from the north; she stood and looked at the crowd that had circled them. A man crossed himself and backed away, and it was then she realized that though she'd taken her human form, she hadn't vanished her wings.
    "A miracle," another woman breathed.
    The boy sobbed on the road, his cheeks bright from the abuse she'd given him. Her eyes were glowing crimson and her wings were visible for everyone to see. Suddenly tired, Lilith shook her head. The man retreating in fear was closer to the truth. There was nothing good in this, in what she'd just done.
    Was not a higher power that had kept her there, delaying until she saved the boy. It had been Hugh. She'd been thinking of him, which was exactly the opposite of what she should have been doing, if she wanted to save herself.
    She backed up, leapt over the rail; there were no screams, only the pounding of feet as they rushed to the side, as if to see what she did.
    She hit the icy water, and vanished through the Gate.
    The huge, handsome man who came through the ceiling smiled, but the two nosferatu behind him did not. Hugh preferred the honesty of the nosferatu.
    From upstairs came another crash and howl; one of the nosferatu flinched. But the demon only shook his head, as if the hellhound was a mild annoyance. "Dr. Castleford, I presume?"
    Colin choked on a laugh. He knelt beside and just in front of Hugh, the rifle raised to his shoulder. Selah held her swords ready on his other side.
    "Beelzebub." Hugh nodded his acknowledgment, though he was just as tempted to mock the demon. They relied on cliches whenever in their human form; Lilith had not, except to twist them, but then she didn't need to simulate human expression.
    He'd known that, but like many other times, had ignored the evidence in front of him.
    Beelzebub's face changed, and Hugh quickly pushed all thoughts of Lilith away. Too late.
    "Ah, sweet, delicious halfling," Beelzebub said. "She has betrayed you. I was most pleased when she told us your location. It's too bad she has to pay homage to our liege, or she would have personally enjoyed your surrender and deaths."
    Behind the demon, the nosferatu shifted impatiently. They did not want talk; they wanted to fight, to kill.
    Hugh smiled. "You do not lie well."
    As intended, the insult sparked the demon's temper. His eyes began to glow. "Do you think, human, that because she fucked your brains out that she loves you for it?"
    Colin began shaking with laughter. Selah shot him a quelling glance.
    "Do you know why she helps us? Because she is a worm, full of fear. Because I once cut her to pieces as Punishment, and she will do anything to avoid that pain again. She'll do what we ask, including helping us procure your loved ones for the ritual. She has already given us two more."
    Truth and lies; difficult to separate them, when his blood pounded at the thought of Beelzebub torturing her—that had been truth. Who had been taken? Could he find them, stop it? "I think you had to Punish her because you cannot control her," Hugh said, his voice carefully contained. Shift the focus from Lilith, from any students who might be in danger. "Just as you barely control the nosferatu with you."
    He did not need psychic sensitivity to feel the way the nosferatu bristled, nor the demon's sudden wariness.
    "Not subservient," the one on the left said, his voice guttural.
    "Ah," Colin nodded. "That is why you wait for his signal to attack us. Because you are not subservient."
    Nothing worse for a nosferatu than to be mocked by a vampire, yet it did not move. Colin slanted a glance back at Hugh, the understanding between them clear. Beelzebub did control the nosferatu, either through a bargain or some other agreement… and the nosferatu hated it, but would agree to subject themselves to the demon to gain the power offered. What was worth that trade? The ability to transform into human shape? Daylight?
    It did not seem enough—not when two nosferatu could stand outside a burning club and pass as human. And darkness was not so terrible when human advancement could make it bright as day.
    Beelzebub spread his hands. "We three have equal opportunity; one of you for each of us. And each of us likes to play with our things."
    "And those still upstairs?" There couldn't be many left.
    "They will have to lick the remains," the demon said, smiling again. "And then perhaps