“Gabriel?”
“Hm? Sorry, thinking.” He leaned back against the wall, arms crossed. “It was a vampire, but not of my species. See the wounds? They’re spaced too far apart. A vampire like me doesn’t bite like that.”
“So there are different kinds of vampires?”
“There are many things in Abaddon that appear human and drink blood, but I wouldn’t deign to call them vampires. They are demons.”
“So are you,” Jesse pointed out. “But your bite doesn’t look like that.” He reached up and touched his neck, as if remembering.
Gabriel let a slight smile slip free. “I’m also more human than many others here, thanks to my father.”
“So.” Jesse sat down and reclined on his elbows, staring up at Gabriel. “What do we do now?”
For a moment, all Gabriel wanted was to forget everything and drag his lover off to his old bedchamber. Thanks to Lazarus’ blood, Jesse had begun to change. The subtle hints of what he could become were growing stronger, though he seemed obliviously to them. Gabriel cursed himself silently for even thinking about the possibilities. He wasn’t about to let the lure of the ice mage’s magic once again cloud his judgment.
“We need to rest for the night. No doubt Eve needs it.”
Jesse nodded. “Okay. Are we safe, though? What if whatever did all this comes back?”
Gabriel had certainly thought about that, but right now, there wasn’t much he could do. “Then I’ll be here to meet it.”
Lazarus hadn’t intended on coming to Abaddon so soon, but news traveled fast in his kind of circles, and word was that Bela had returned and Ba’al had been dethroned. While Lazarus couldn’t quite believe the bit about Ba’al, he still found himself greatly intrigued. How could an archdemon of Ba’al’s caliber succumb to anything or anyone? It didn’t add up.
Beside him, Semoriel grumbled something about having to deal with Bela, but Lazarus paid the demon little mind. Semoriel, while an amazing lover, certainly wasn’t the best when it came to strategy. That distinction had always fallen to Bela.
Closing his eyes, Lazarus allowed himself, however briefly, to slip back in time, to a point in his existence when old lusts burned stronger than feuds. He wondered if Lilith’s favored son ever thought about those times.
“You’re thinking again.”
“Hm?”
Semoriel smirked. “Why are we here if you already have my brother’s blood, anyway?”
“Because, my inquisitive one, there is much more at stake in this game than simply blood. Have you not heard the rumors?”
“I don’t generally pay attention to hearsay.”
“Well, you should,” Lazarus answered, giving Semoriel a wry look. “Seems that some are inclined to think that Ba’al has been defeated and a coup is in progress.”
Semoriel snorted. “I’d like to see
that
happen.”
Before Lazarus could reply, someone knocked on the door of their rented room.
“Yes?”
The door opened and Semoriel bolted upright off the bed, growling. “What the fuck do you want?”
Gabriel held up a hand. “I’m not here to fight.” Though he spoke to no one in particular, his gaze fixed on Lazarus. “Something has happened.”
“I know.” Lazarus gestured toward two chairs at a rickety table. “Please, do come in and sit. I assure you that Semoriel will behave himself.”
Jesse closed and locked the door before following Gabriel to the table and sitting down. He remained silent but watchful as Gabriel explained everything.
“We found my keep abandoned. The only soul was a young woman named Eve.
She said the ones responsible came in, killed everyone, and were looking for me.”
Lazarus mulled this news over. “Did she say anything more?”
“She told us the demons said something about Ba’al being dead,” Jesse replied.
Lazarus met Gabriel’s gaze and noticed the same disbelief he himself had felt upon hearing the rumors. “I’ve heard the same, or close to it at any rate. Word on the street is that Ba’al has been dethroned.”
“Lazarus, honestly, I --”
Lazarus held up a hand, cutting Semoriel off mid-sentence. “I am not inclined to believe everything I hear,” he said, glancing back at Semoriel. “However, with Bela back in Abaddon, it does not surprise me to know there might very well be a coup to contend with.”
“Why would you care?” Jesse asked, eyes narrowed. “You aren’t from here, are you? Hell, you don’t even like Gabriel.”
Gabriel turned his gaze away when Lazarus tried gauging just how much the man had told his lover. Ah, yes. Nothing, apparently.
“No, I am not from Abaddon,” Lazarus said. “But I do have ties to this place.” At Jesse’s raised eyebrow, Lazarus smiled slightly. “Did Bela tell you why he was exiled?”
“Uh, yeah…”
Lazarus’ smile widened.
“Aw, fuck.” Jesse looked from Lazarus to Gabriel, then back. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No, he’s serious.” Gabriel sighed. “Our past is of no consequence. It only serves the purpose that Lazarus knows more about Abaddon than most -- given that he’s one of Ba’al’s most hated enemies.”
“And you slept with him,” Jesse muttered. “Goddamn, how do I manage to get myself into these things?”
“Be that as it may,” Gabriel interrupted, “we have bigger issues on our hands.
What do you know about this coup, mage?”
Lazarus shrugged. “Nothing beyond the rumors. Though, given the state in which you found your keep, I’m assuming it has much more to do with Ba’al’s troubles than we previously thought.”
Semoriel finally settled down on the bed beside Lazarus. “What do you mean?”
“You’re going to have to put your feud with your brother on the backburner for the time being,” Lazarus said. “Despite appearances, I don’t hate Bela. I wouldn’t even say I dislike him.” Out of the corner of his eye, Lazarus caught sight of Jesse shifting and tensing a bit in his chair. Lazarus couldn’t help but covertly enjoy the touch of jealousy seeping from his soon-to-be prodigy. “Come now, my pupil. Surely you know by now that Bela is quite content with you and I with Semoriel.”
“Pupil?” Jesse leapt out of his chair, but Gabriel grabbed his wrist and stopped him short of hitting Lazarus. “What the fuck?”
Lazarus watched the display calmly. “I got what I wanted out of Bela when he gave me his blood, but I also gained a worthy student to spread my knowledge throughout Abaddon.”
“Lazarus,” Gabriel said through gritted teeth. “What have you done?”
“I gave your young love power beyond his understanding, and when he learns to wield it, he will be unstoppable.”
Jesse dropped into his chair again. “Why? Why the fuck did you do this to me?”
“I knew Bela wouldn’t let you die. Therefore, your turning came as no surprise.
Within your veins flows the secret to end a war that’s gone on far too long. It just seems that someone has beaten me to Ba’al.”
“So your intent was to overthrow him yourself?” Jesse asked.
“Eventually.”
* * *
Jesse fell back onto the bed once they returned to the keep. “That had to be the strangest meeting I’ve ever experienced.”
Gabriel couldn’t really disagree. He hadn’t expected Lazarus to be quite so…
accommodating, and the mage’s revelation of their past only made things a bit more awkward in the long run. Gabriel pushed those thoughts from his mind for the time being. Right now, there was nothing they could do until he could get to Ba’al’s fortress.
“We’ll go to the palace tomorrow. Surely someone will know more.”
When he didn’t get an answer, Gabriel turned. He swept his gaze along the lithe body spread out on his bed. Absently, he noticed they’d kept his chamber clean during his absence, but then a single hand drifted down to palm Jesse’s cock through his jeans and all coherent thought fled Gabriel’s mind.
“You’re staring at me like you want to devour me,” Jesse said, voice low.
“I do.” Gabriel started for the bed. “Every fucking inch.”
Jesse’s smile turned wicked and he popped the button on the jeans. “Yeah?” He pulled out his cock and Gabriel licked his lips as those talented fingers stroked hard flesh, squeezing a drop of pre-come from the tip. “Hungry?”
“Very.”
Gabriel crawled onto the bed, nudging Jesse’s thighs apart. Jesse lay back and a long expanse of pale flesh taunted Gabriel to bite. Over and over. Gabriel growled softly. When Jesse smirked, the urge won out. Gabriel pinned his lover to the bed and sank his fangs into Jesse’s throat. Jesse cried out, slender body arching beneath Gabriel, the sweetness of release flowing over Gabriel’s tongue. Nothing compared to this, to tasting this man at the height of climax.
Panting and a bit shaky, Jesse relaxed and Gabriel licked the wounds closed before nuzzling the soft skin. Jesse hummed and ran his hands up and down Gabriel’s back. He worked them under the shirt, then managed to wedge them below the waistband of Gabriel’s jeans.
“Fuck me,” Jesse whispered. “Please, baby. Need it.”
Although reluctant to move, Gabriel stripped off his clothes as quickly as possible, and once Jesse’s clothes hit the floor, Gabriel stretched out over his lover, sealing their lips together in a kiss. Jesse’s legs wrapped tight around Gabriel’s waist, hugging him close to the man’s body. Gabriel broke the kiss long enough to wet two fingers, then he held Jesse’s gaze as he sank his fingers deep inside.
“Gabriel,” Jesse moaned, hips lifting. “God… now.”
Gabriel couldn’t wait any longer. He withdrew his fingers and spit in his palm.
He would’ve preferred something much better, but at the moment, with Jesse writhing and begging, nothing mattered but getting into the tightness of his lover’s body.
The first thrust shocked Gabriel to the core and Jesse arched beneath him, nails digging into Gabriel’s biceps. Hot warred with cold, creating an intoxicating sensation along the hard length of Gabriel’s cock.
“It’s stronger,” he panted in Jesse’s ear. Jesse just nodded and licked Gabriel’s neck, drawing out a low groan. “Bite.”
Jesse didn’t hesitate this time. The strike came swift and sharp, pain and pleasure arcing along Gabriel’s skin and deeper into his veins. He thrust in and out of Jesse, both of them groaning and moving with each other. When Jesse bit harder, Gabriel gasped and buried himself inside, his entire body shaking as he came.
“My God,” Gabriel mumbled.
“How can Ba’al be dethroned?”
Gabriel expected the question, but it didn’t mean he had a good answer. “To be completely honest, I don’t know. Ba’al isn’t the strongest archdemon. There are others.
Abaddon is a place rife with contention, and coups are not impossible.”
Jesse sat down beside Gabriel, hand on Gabriel’s thigh. “Any ideas on who or what is behind it?”
“It’s possible,” Lazarus said, wandering into the room with a dusty book in hand, “that the Maskim are at the center of our problem.”
“The who?”
Gabriel narrowed his gaze at Lazarus as he answered Jesse. “The Maskim -- the Seven Princes of Hell.” He leaned forward and glared at Lazarus when the mage sat down. “Why would the Maskim be here? They have their own domain.”
Lazarus glanced up, and for the briefest moment, Gabriel remembered what he had seen in the elemental mage so long ago. The effect faded quickly, though, when Lazarus spoke. “Why would they not? Abaddon is a rich place, ripe for their purposes -
- whatever those may be. They are Ba’al’s contemporaries, and with seven of them, your archdemon wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Gabriel wanted to dispute the notion entirely, but a part of him grudgingly admitted that Lazarus could be right. The idea chilled him more than any mage ever could. If Ba’al succumbed to the Maskim, all of Abaddon would follow suit soon enough.
“Okay. I’m confused,” Jesse said. “What the fuck is going on? I thought Hell was
‘what a soul made it,’ right? So… how can it have Princes?”
“Easy,” Lazarus piped up before Gabriel could even open his mouth. “In your world, Hell is indeed what a soul makes it. But this is not your world. Abaddon is simply a country in a vast expanse of countries, states, kingdoms. Surely you didn’t expect Abaddon to be the only place once you stepped through Bela’s mirror?”
“Well… yeah.” Jesse sagged a little and leaned against Gabriel’s chair. “Toto, we are so not in Kansas anymore.”
At Lazarus’ blank expression, Gabriel laughed. “Don’t ask.” He ran his fingers through Jesse’s spiky hair. “Don’t worry. Stay close to me and everything should be fine.”
“How do we get to the palace?” Jesse asked, tipping his head back to gaze at Gabriel upside-down.
“I have my ways.”
“Dare I ask?”
“A portal, much like the one before.”
“Another portal?” Jesse groaned.
“It’s the quickest way to travel in Abaddon,” Gabriel said. “This one leads directly to the throne room of the palace.”
“Can’t we just… I don’t know, go a different way? The portal to get here made me queasy.”
“Well, we could,” Lazarus interrupted, “but we’d risk running into…
undesirables.”
“Undesirables?”
The mage’s grin widened. “If Ba’al has been dethroned, then the culprits are surely waiting for resistance. They will be watching every shadow, every doorway. Do you really wish to meet something -- or someone -- strong enough to dethrone an archdemon?”
Jesse shuddered. “Point taken.”
* * *
“Do you think this wise?”
Gabriel glanced at Lazarus. “Do you have any other ideas, mage?”
“Give me some time, and I’m sure I could come up with something. You should have accepted my offer.”
“That was a long time ago, and even now, like then, I have no intention of denouncing Ba’al and joining you.”
Lazarus shrugged. “Suit yourself. He won’t be happy to see me. He certainly won’t be happy to see you with me.”
“If he’s even there,” Gabriel corrected. He opened the portal and took Jesse’s hand. “Ignore Lazarus. He’s still after Ba’al’s throne himself.”
“I beg to differ. I do not want your archdemon’s throne. I want his servitude.”
Jesse couldn’t help but laugh. The mere thought of an archdemon bowing to a mage -- even an elemental one -- struck him as highly improbable. “Did you two always argue like this before?”