Demon Angel

a nosferatu slain by the sword. His blood was the anchor when Selah tried to teleport, and it took them to Chaos instead of my home."
    Michael nodded. "Yes, but his anchor was too strong to allow her to transport them away." His gaze flicked down to Hugh's wrist, and a tremor shook her as power flowed through the room. Sir Pup gave a sharp, happy bark. Hugh tossed the bloody towel aside, and moved to stand behind her; she realized he'd been staying away so she wouldn't see or smell the blood. Her heart swelled in her chest, left her full—too full.
    She should thank the Doyen, but the words would not come to her lips. She glanced at Sir Pup, realized she had even more reason to be grateful. "You got him out of Colin's basement, healed him." Her voice was rough. The hellhound flapped his ears, grinning.
    Michael's face did not soften. "I was almost too late."
    "You always are," she said and took a deep breath. A Guardian had no obligation to save a hellhound. "I owe you."
    "No," Hugh said. She tilted her head back. His eyes were cold, his mouth hard. "You don't." He waited for a moment, his gaze holding hers; then he looked up at Michael. "Take her to Caelum. Keep her safe there until the time for Lucifer's wager has passed."
    Hugh did not include himself; he probably intended to stay and fight the nosferatu. She could—would—change his mind. At least he was trying to find options other than self-sacrifice. But the brief hope that filled her was destroyed by Michael's reply.
    "I can't."
    Hugh's body trembled behind her; she reached back, lay her hand on his hip. "You won't. Naught forbids you from taking humans but custom. You protect Savi there; you can protect Lilith."
    "You know I speak the truth: I can't," Michael said softly, and then he was in front of her. A blade flashed, and her shirt parted down the front. "He left his mark. She cannot traverse the Gates, and I cannot take her to Caelum; her anchor is in Hell. And unlike Colin's, it is etched so deeply I cannot overwrite it by force of my will." He stared down at the symbol between her breasts, his jaw set, his bronze skin drawn tight with anger.
    Stricken, Lilith placed her hand over her name. Lucifer had left it deliberately then, to prevent her from escaping to Caelum. "Can you remove it?"
    "Yes," he said. "But the price may be more than you are willing to pay."
    Sweat ran in rivers over his face. His arms and chest burned, but he couldn't stop lifting. From the living room, he heard occasional bursts of laughter from Colin and Lilith. A note of strain beneath it; neither the vampire nor she felt like laughing, yet they did. God, but he wanted to be with her, but his pain might force a decision from her that he prayed she would not make.
    Did Michael remove the symbol, it would erase all that she'd gained since she'd become a demon. The lingering power and speed—but also the knowledge and memories from the past two thousand years. She would be a normal human woman, alive— lost in a modern world, but that would not signify if she lived in Caelum. And though Hugh had no doubt the woman she'd been had many of the same traits, same strengths… she would not be Lilith.
    She would not know him, nor love him. The ache deep within his chest spread, burning into his gut.
    He couldn't protect her from the nosferatu. Nor could Sir Pup or Michael—not every moment. And Lucifer would never let up; it would be too humiliating if a human got the better of him. Eventually, there would be a mistake made, and they would take her.
    But she would be safe in Caelum. Her bargain with Lucifer would still be in effect, but without her having knowledge of it. And when Hugh eventually ended his life—it wouldn't matter when, tomorrow or in a hundred years—it would be for her. She would be the cause, and it would fulfill the terms. Her soul would be safe, and she would not be pained by losing him as she would now.
    She would never know he'd existed. And he would stay away from her, to save her from ever knowing.
    It was the best option for her. She would have Caelum, as she'd once dreamed—Beelzebub had not been lying in that. And when she eventually died—five decades, six?—she would not be frozen in Hell.
    And perhaps, one day, did they destroy the nosferatu…
    He forced away that thought. Even did the Guardians slay all, even did Michael allow him to visit Caelum, Hugh would still have to fulfill the bargain. If she loved him, it would hurt her when he finally