Charmian

Justin

Lucas

Carmel

Zacariah

Nathaniel

Anton

“Hey bitch.”

“Douche.” Charmian nodded briefly in recognition of her friend, but her eyes never stopped scanning the room, warily taking in her surroundings and trying to ignore the din of voices in her head.

“What are you doing here?”

“It’s an entertainment industry party. Same thing you’re doing here I’d wager.”

“Work?”

“Work,” she sighed. “Who you watching?”

“Sweet young blonde, over there,” Micah nodded towards their left and Charmian’s eyes briefly flittered in that direction. The girl was young, overly made up and looking awkward – a prime target. No wonder Micah had her in his sights. “You?”

“Suit next to her.”

“Well, well, well. Isn’t this a coincidence? Care to make my life easier and get him out of the way?”

“You know the drill, I need just cause.”

“Rules, rules, rules,” Micah sighed deeply. “I know they separate us from the beasts and all but damn if they ain’t tiresome.”

“You know where to find me if you need me, he’s not the only one I have to watch.”

“Yeah, I suppose in a place like this you would be a busy little beaver. Watch your back.”

“Watch yours.”

Charmian smoothly and swiftly cut through the crowd, quiet grace flowing through her limbs as she deftly weaved between bodies, eyes never stopping as she continued to survey the scene. She had long since grown tired of the bacchanalian excess of Hollywood parties, but they were a hotbed of activity and as such, she needed to be there whether she had the taste for it or not. They bored her and as far as she was concerned she had far worthier pursuits to occupy her time with, but what the boss said was law. Fashions changed but some things remained the same, and the flirting and double dealing and soul selling search for fame and fortune was still the same at its core – dirty.

“Why Charmian,” a voice slithered in her ear. “How lovely to see you.”

“Anton,” she replied steadily, disinterest staining her voice. A tall, lean body sidled into view, dressed impeccably in an Armani suit of blue and steel gray. He fitted right in with the movers and shakers, that was for certain. No doubt he’d been schmoozing the night away.

“Not here on business, I hope. I did want to avoid a scene. I do hope you’ll do the polite thing and leave, or things may get… ugly”

“Because I’d kick your ass and you know it,” she snorted. “Whatever you had going here tonight is off, Anton.”

“Oh, you do spoil all my fun.” He sighed. “Well, ciao, ciao, dear. Always another party to go to…”

Rolling her eyes in disgust, Charmian resumed her previous activity. She wasn’t sure exactly how to make the approach, but she had decided that Micah’s presence was a sign. The girl and the suit were the ones in the game tonight, and that was where she needed to be. Apparently he’d had the same thought, since even as she thought of him he was there by her side, giving her the nod.

A buzzing began sounding lightly in her ears as they stealthily approached the pair, taking care not to appear conspicuous. She shook her head as if it was a fly she needed to shake loose. “Do you hear that?”

“What?”

“Buzzing.”

“In my line of work I hear a lot of things, sweetheart.”

Deciding it was the last of her worries, she pressed on with the task at hand. “What do we know?”

“She’s young and stupid and he’s greedy and opportunistic. Not to mention a perv, obviously.”

Indeed, the well dressed gentleman (if such a term could apply to him) was continually casting glances down the young girl’s top. Hanging back, pretending to be chatting, Charmian and Micah kept a close watch of the mismatched couple. Maybe she was an actress looking for a break and he was an agent looking for a casting couch. Maybe she was a wannabe pop star and he was dreaming up the draconian contract as they spoke. A tall, vaguely familiar figure stepped up to them and joined in the conversation, but not getting any particular feeling about him Charmian ignored him.

“Time to go say hi?”

“If we must.”

“Hi, Robert, so good to see you again.”  Micah stepped in front of the suit with a big smile and held out his hand. The man shook it, looking at him with a slightly puzzled expression.

“And you too, uhh…”

“George. George Baker. You kindly spoke at my charity’s reception, Homes for the Homeless?”

“Oh yes, yes,” Robert lied. “How are you?”

“Wonderful, thank you. Oh, this is my lovely assistant Charlotte.”

Assistant? Ooh, he was getting a punch for that later. She was way over his level and he knew it, the jerk. “Lovely to meet you all.”

“Sarah King,” the girl squeaked nervously, her handshake limp.

The man she’d dismissed as unimportant turned out to be about six feet tall, with blue eyes and unruly curls on his head. “Justin Timberlake.”

“Pleased to… oww!”

Charmian drew back her hand, staring at it in disbelief. It wasn’t possible. It simply wasn’t possible.

“Damn static.” Justin Timberlake laughed easily as he rubbed his tingling palm with the other hand. “And they swore to me this shirt was one hundred percent natural fibres. Sorry about that.”

“No problem.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and pretended to laugh it off, the ease in her voice the result of many years of practice rather than any real joviality.

“Would you excuse me a moment?”

Charmian pushed her way back through the crowd, not bothering to show any subtlety this time. She got a few glares and muttered curses, but she was far too focussed on her exit and the mission beyond.

“Hey, hey, what happened? I need you over there.” Micah was already blocking her when she got to the door.

“Do your own job right and you won’t need me there to do mine after. I’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

“What, with the Timberlake guy?”

“No.”

“Then where are you going?”

“Church.”

Father Nate uttered a silent prayer to himself as slowly, carefully he lit each of a dozen candles upon the altar. Clasping his hands together, his eyes slid closed in solemn contemplation as he communed with his God. He enjoyed the church in these quiet moments, late at night – the doors were always open, but few ventured in at such an hour and he found the quiet wonderfully peaceful and calming. It was still a novelty to him, the quiet; his previous endeavours having been much louder.

It was a small church, rather Spartan in its decoration – a result of looting over the years had ground down previous pastors until finally they had given up on having anything of value in there. The stained glass windows remained, telling tales of the gospels, but that was as much colour that filled the place. You might think it would appear bleak and bare for it, but somehow the building still retained a warmth that Nate liked to think was the light of God.

“Nathaniel.”

Slowly he opened his eyes and raised his head, looking towards the crucifix that hung on the wall above the pulpit. Turning to the figure behind him, he saw nothing to identify the visitor – a long black robe shrouded the body, which was tall enough to be male or female alike. The face was hidden deep beneath a black hood. Still, he didn’t need any identifying features.

“Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in some time.”

“That’s what happens when you give up a name. People stop using it.”

“And what of your name, Charmian? Does your reputation still precede you?”

The hood was pushed back slightly to reveal the face of a woman with a button nose and a stern expression on her face. She looked positively Raphaelite, as if her cheekbones had been chiselled from marble by the master himself. Raven hair tumbled around her ears, and her eyes were a stormy grey. That didn’t bode well; they weren't supposed to be that way.

“Well, it’s not the most low profile profession.”

“Indeed. We always had it far easier.”

“I’m impressed, Nathaniel.”

“Nate, please. And with what?”

“The fact that you’re entirely un-shocked to see me and you haven’t demanded to know why I’m here yet.”

“Well, these days you are far my superior,” he smiled wryly as he turned back to the candles and started clearing the paraphernalia away. Stowing the matches away in a drawer, he absently ran a finger down the open page of the Bible and smiled at the passage he saw. How apt. “I don’t suppose I’m in a position to demand anything of you any more.”

Lowering her hood so that her head was entirely free she took a few meandering steps towards the altar, her eyes drinking in her surroundings. “How very you, Nate. No frills.”

“You know I like to keep things clear of clutter.”

“So I do. But you can imagine I haven’t come here to chat about old times, so how about we skip right to it?”

“Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left,” Nate recited. The look he received was one of perplexed irritation. “Numbers,” he advised her smiling.

“I don’t care how many times you do it; the cryptic shit with the random Bible verses doesn’t get any funnier. You could at least mix up the religious texts once in a while. How are you with the Guru Granth Sahib?”

“I thought it appropriate,” he replied as he closed the book, “since you wouldn’t be here unless you had nowhere else to turn. Rock and a hard place, eh?”

“It’s possible you’ve gone even more annoying since you retired.”

“It’s possible,” he smirked indulgently. “Come along, Charmian; tell me what it is you want.”

“I want to know why you broke your promise.”

A deep frown passed over Nate’s face, and in absent minded fashion he tugged at his dog collar while deep furrows formed over his forehead. “I’m not sure which of my many promises you mean, but I don’t remember breaking any.”

“I saw Michael. You know, that guy you promised was gone.”

His face drained of colour. “Oh dear.”

“You swore to me that he wouldn’t be back.”

“I swore to you you’d never know him again,” Nate said with a deep sigh, rubbing his face in his hands. “Don’t you think we did a good job?”

“Oh, I didn’t think twice about him until we shook hands and it was like I’d stuck a wet finger in an outlet.”

Breathing out a heavy groan, Nate dropped onto a pew, his fingers dancing nervously in his lap. “I’m sorry, Charmian. We really thought we’d done enough to hide him from you.”

“Yep. Changed the name, appearance, profession. Everything except the buzzing in my ear, you know I didn’t even recognise it at first it’s been so long?”

“I’m sorry. We can change a lot, but we can’t change him.”

“And of course a single touch gave the game away. Darn. You could have warned me, you know. Then I could have just not touched people and remained in ignorant bliss.”

“Be a little awkward not touching people in your line, wouldn’t it? What purpose would it have served? It was easier to let you think he wasn’t coming back.”

“Well, that’s really not very honest of you, is it? And here I thought you were supposed to be a priest.”

“I wasn’t then.”

“Yeah. Still don’t understand why you’d give up one lifetime vow of servitude to retire and then immediately go get yourself another.”

Nate shrugged. “I consider it fun, not service.”

“Interesting idea of fun you have there. Lord knows I’d give up this shit.”

“Can you please remember you’re in a church even if you refuse to remember who you are?”

“Oh, I’ve just been reminded who I am,” she spat out. “A doomed wretch who’s going to be forced to go through the same old shit yet again because somebody thinks it’s amusing to watch me suffer. I thought it was only them who were supposed to get this crap.”

“And it’s only them who are supposed to despair.” His voice rang with a warning tone.

“Well you try living Groundhog Day see how you do. Anyway, that’s not the point, I need to know how I can fix this.”

“Fix it in what way?”

“Send him away. Disguise him from me again. Anything to change the channel.”

Nate scratched at his head, repressing an urge to sigh for the fiftieth time since she’d walked into the room. Her kind always were hot headed, came with the job, but Charmian didn’t often get desperate. He didn’t know how he was supposed to placate her – and in his deepest heart, he couldn’t blame her. He could give her all the speeches about faith and belief and loyalty he liked, but in a dark corner within he was kind of on her side. It was deeply unfair. She was right, suffering was not for their race.

“You know I can’t. You’re his guardian.”

“He seems to have been doing fine without me until now. And I’m not even supposed to BE a guardian.”

“And yet you are his despite the fact that you shouldn’t be. Interesting, huh?” Nate said without entirely managing to disguise his sarcasm. “You know the drill. It’s your duty and you can’t ignore it or change it.”

“Great. Fat lot of help you were.”

“Hey, I’m retired.”

His retort echoed into empty air.

“What are you doing up here?”

Charmian didn’t even turn around. The distinctive rustling flared in her ears, then subsided as Katherine dropped down next to her, feet dangling lazily over the edge of the wall. She peered down at the ground, wondering what her friend was looking at. Not having such good eyesight as Charmian, she couldn’t quite see. That was a job perk her type didn’t get.

“Watching.”

“You expecting action tonight?”

“Waiting for somebody to come out.” She gave a cursory nod at the building opposite, but her gaze never left the door. She was staring at it with the hungry gaze of a hawk. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Micah was saying that you’re on the rampage and we needed to batten down the hatches. I just wanted to check in.”

“He exaggerates.”

“Does he?”

“On a regular basis.”

Katherine shrugged, pulling her coat tightly around herself even though she felt no cold. “He does, but you have seriously upped the quota for the last couple of days. What gives?”

“I don’t know.” Charmian let out a breath that visibly curled and twisted in the night air. “There seems to have been a surge lately, no idea why but it’s clockin’ up the overtime. Like this guy I’m following now, I wasn’t even looking for him but he brushed up against me on the street and nearly knocked me on my ass his energy was so strong. I have no idea why he didn’t land on the radar earlier.”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe, say, if somebody were distracted?” Katherine asked innocently.

Finally Charmian turned around, eyes flashing dangerously and a scowl settling in on her face. “You know.”

“I know. I’m sorry, honey.”

“Eh. I’ll do my dutiful little task and hopefully we get this one over with nice and quick.”

“You sure it was definitely him?”

“Positively positive.”

Katherine’s lips pursed and she let out a small sigh. She remembered the previous occasion all too well, it had been nice to have such a lengthy break from it. It had been so long she’d even dared hope it would be permanent. “I thought he wasn’t coming back.”

“I went to see Nathaniel – sorry, he goes by Nate now - and he ‘fessed up. They just cloaked him from me, but because of the whole guardian schtick the second he touched me I knew.”

“Yeah, that part’s always fun. So how did it feel?”

“How do you think it felt?” She snorted. “Bad.”

“No, I mean the actual touch. For me it’s the shivers.”

“Oh, that. Electric shock.”

“So did Nate say anything else useful about it?”

“No. Just that there was nothing he could do.”

Katherine kicked her feet listlessly against the brick, staring the fifteen stories down. “Am I the only one who finds it weird that he of all people decides to join the priesthood? A guy who knows full well that the religions are all wrong?”

“Ahh, I think he just still feels the need to guide people. And to light lots of candles. Pyro.”

“Heh.” Her companion let out a small smile, twisting a finger in her hair. Katherine always had been a fidget. “Are you going to push me off the ledge if I offer a little guardian advice?”

“Fuck knows I don’t make much of a guardian, all tips are welcome.”

“Maybe…” Katherine tried to think of a way to put things that wasn’t going to send Charmian raging or over the edge. “You know we can go lifetimes before we meet a charge again, even though they’ve probably been around since? We only find them if there’s a reason for us to find them, so maybe the reason this happened is he needs his guardian right now more than he needs to be cloaked from you. Maybe all this surge of activity right now is a sign that something’s happening? Something he might need protecting from?”

“What, because I’ve proved so good at that?”

“Whether it makes sense or not, you’re the only one he’s got. You know the rules; nobody else gets to do this for you.”

“Much as I hate to cut this short, I’m up.”

Charmian’s hand clapped her shoulder briefly in farewell before she hopped off the ledge and disappeared. Trying to peer down, Katherine could vaguely see the outline of people exiting the building. With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes and steeled herself for the inevitable trouble she was about to get into. This wasn’t really her fight, but Charmian had demonstrated time and time again that when Michael reappeared she lost all her usual calm and focus. It was understandable, but that didn’t stop it being a problem so Katherine pushed herself forward, beginning the freefall to the ground.

Landing softly next to Charmian in the shadows, finally able to see properly, she immediately discerned why Charmian was worried. Not one, not two but three deeply worrying auras were standing in the street, presumably waiting for a taxi. Where the usual rainbow colours ought to be circling their bodies there was a dirty streak, as if somebody had tossed a bucket of mud over them. The guy next to them didn’t seem like an innocent, but he clearly wasn’t afflicted either. That wasn’t what Charmian saw, she had her own ways of recognising these things, but however you looked at it the picture was definitely not good.

“What’s the plan?” She whispered.

“And since when were you an avenger?”

“If you can play at my gig, I can play at yours.”

“I don’t know. I can feel the bastards are young but they got a wicked hold already. Not sure anybody’s going to survive this.”

“That normal?”

“No. There are more of them and they’re getting stronger.” Charmian’s brows were knotted together in obvious worry. “I wonder if this has anything to do with Anton the other night…”

“That slime ball’s back up top?”

“Sadly. I just want an excuse to kick his ass back down there. Any excuse will do. If he so much as trips anybody he’s mine.”

“What you gonna do?”

“The old stumble and fall routine.”

“Love the classics. I’ll stay here and keep watch.”

Being relatively young to the game, Katherine had found precious few chances so far to watch Charmian and her kind at work. She knew how it operated in theory, but was still fascinated to see it actually happen. To be fair though, if she saw it happen too much she wasn’t doing her own job too well – she was supposed to rob guys like these of their chance to do ill deeds by protecting their victims. She knew that the idea was for Charmian’s touch to inflict what goes around back around upon them; the demons possessing them couldn’t take divine retribution and would die from it regardless, whether or not the humans did depended on them. Those who had managed to sufficiently resist and refrain from hurting others would be damaged (proportionately to their crimes) but live to tell the tale - those who hadn’t earned death and a one way ticket to the dark place. This type of demon didn’t force people to do evil, merely encouraged them. First Charmian avenged those they’d possessed by killing them, and then avenged their victims by forcing the human hosts to pay for their own actions. She was a living instrument of karma.

Emerging from the shadows and crossing the street, the Amazonian warrior who had been perched on the rooftop was suddenly gone and replaced by a stunning young woman in a delicate dress and chic jacket. Once she reached the kerb in front of her charges she pretended to glance at her watch, catching her heel on the stones and tumbling to the floor.  Katherine couldn’t help but smile as immediately all three men rushed to help the pretty young thing off her feet. Never let it be said that Charmian wasn’t good at her job – she knew all the tricks. They couldn’t see the golden pulses of light that passed between Charmian’s bare arms and their hands, but she could.

After some profuse thanks and smiles, Charmian set off down the street as if she was continuing on her way. Katherine quickly moved to join her.

“Well?”

“Fatty in the middle is going to have a massive coronary when he gets home. The other two… did you see how strong they were all coming off?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“They shouldn’t have been. Asshole in the middle got death but all they earned is a financially messy divorce and being fired; something really isn’t right with this shit lately.”

“Umm…” Katherine knew she was about to tread on thin ice, but it had to be said. “Maybe this goes back to what I said about all these weird things being a sign. Michael too.”

“Justin.”

“What?”

Charmian breathed in deeply and exhaled hard, as if the word was physically painful to her. “His name is Justin now.”

“A rose by any other word,” she replied softly.

“Maybe. Look, I’ve got to get gone; I’ll see you when I see you.”

“Watch your back.”

“Watch yours.”

“Hello space cadet,” Trace complained as he hurried out of the building after Justin. It was difficult – Justin had far longer legs than he did and keeping up could be awkward when he was practically running out of places like he was now. “What gives?”

“Nothing,” Justin answered without ever really seeming to respond. Sure, it went with the question and it seemed like he was talking to Trace, problem was he was looking everywhere but at Trace.

“Nothing made you run out of that long ass line at the speed of light when we were two customers away from getting our coffee? I repeat, what gives?”

“Nah, I just…” Justin stopped dead in the street, took one last scan over the landscape in front of him and then slumped, the tension leaving his shoulders. “Sorry. Thought I saw somebody.”

“Somebody you couldn’t call later instead of running out after ‘em?”

“It’s fine, sorry. You still want coffee?”

“Yeah but I don’t want to go back to the end of that line so how about we head home?”

“Okay.”

Justin tried not to visibly sigh as he turned and trudged after Trace. He’d never live it down if he told his friend that he’d run out of the restaurant after a girl he’d met for five seconds and scared away with a little static electricity. Hell, he wasn’t even letting himself live it down so why should Trace? He felt like an idiot, obsessing over her. It was totally unlike him, especially after so short an acquaintance, but he couldn’t get her coal black hair and sculpted cheekbones out of his head. And her eyes… eyes so dark they were almost the colour of ink in a bottle, eyes which he’d been seeing in his sleep for the last week. It was ridiculous. He didn’t get teenage crushes on anybody, let alone some random chick he’d only that second clapped eyes on.

“So are we still going to this thing tonight?”

Another thing to sigh about – he’d been doing the rounds at various parties lately to promote both the fashion line and his label, and it bored him to death. Still, he had to do it. Yanking his hood over his head as if he could hide from the world under it, he nodded. “Esmée is performing, I really ought to show. You don’t have to if you got somewhere better to be.”

“Would you mind?”

“Nah, go for it. Hell knows I wouldn’t be there if I didn’t have to.”

“Thanks, you’re a pal. Can you at least haul out of there early?”

“She’s on about an hour in so I figure if I show up half an hour before and then leave half an hour after that should be respectable.”

He’d been about to say something else, but then a dark haired figure clad in jeans strolled past and he immediately had to turn his head to see if it was her. On closer inspection it couldn’t be, way too short. Once again he cursed himself for his pubescent behaviour; he was a grown man, he should be far too old for such things. His attractions always went the same way. He saw a woman, liked what he saw, they chatted; he got a feel for her personality. The vibe was relaxed, flirty, with merely a dash of tension. . It was deeply strange  that he would be so sprung so fast when he’d never been the type of man who went weak at the knees on first sight, that wasn’t his style. He didn’t obsess over women, didn’t spend nights having erotic yet disturbing dreams about them. Didn’t wake up so disoriented that he could barely tell reality from his subconscious.

The weirdest one by far had been walking through nineteenth century Prague. He knew nothing much about Prague and even less about the nineteenth century, yet somehow he’d known exactly where he was and where he was going. The detail was astonishing, right down to the period dress. She had been there next to him her arm hooked through his, pointing out sights as they strolled along, chatting gaily away to Michael. That was the weirdest part – he hadn’t been himself. He’d been some guy named Michael, and yet that name felt as familiar to him as his own. As familiar as the kiss she’d given him when he’d yanked her into a side alley and covered her mouth with his.

All this over some chick named Charlotte who worked at a charity and really didn’t like getting a static shock. Sometimes he questioned his sanity.

“You wanna wait here while I go get the car?”

“Sure.” He waved Trace off without registering very much. Justin was happy to stand there and stare into space, mulling through his thoughts.

Slowly, he began to become aware of two people speaking behind him in hushed tones. Eavesdropping wasn’t his thing and there was no particular reason he should be interested, yet somehow his ears had a mind of their own and began to tune in.

“That’s my fifth this week.”

“Eight for me.”

“Yikes, so that’s what… a dozen between us and we’re only half done? This shit’s getting screwy.”

“That’s what I was saying to Katherine last night. I don’t like this.”

Maybe it was the voice. The voice was sounding weirdly familiar. If déjà vu was a virus, he’d picked up a chronic case of it at the moment. With his hands in his pockets he scuffed at the ground with his sneakers, trying to cut them out but unable to stop himself from listening.

“Time to mention something to the boss?”

“Not until we’ve got something concrete. No point getting him all wound up for nothing.”

“True. I just won’t rest easy until we figure this out.”

“When do we ever get to rest easy?”

A low chuckle sounded. “Touché, Charmian, touché.”

“Well I’m at this thing tonight, you coming with or you got somewhere else to be?”

Justin wasn’t sure what made him turn around at that moment. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was some siren call, but the voice was beginning to bug him and he wanted to turn around and see the face so he could convince himself that he did not know the speaker. The problem was that when he turned around he did – as much as you could know somebody through the sandman, anyway.

Charmian’s eyes met Justin’s and her breath caught a little in her throat. She’d paid little attention to the human lingering nearby; he was out of earshot and looking in the other direction. If he’d had his hood down she would have seen it was him and moved swiftly away, but it was too late now. The look of recognition on his face didn’t escape her and she feared it. She knew there was no way he’d remember her from their encounter, so if she’d stuck in his head at all it was for bad, bad reasons that would only bring badness.

“Hey, it’s Charlotte right?”

‘Is that him?’ A voice sounded in her head, Carmel speaking telepathically. They only did it when around humans, talking aloud took a lot less energy.

‘One and the same.’

‘Guess I’d better leave you two to it.’

‘Don’t you dare!’

It was too late, however, Carmel had already given a breezy smile and goodbye, giving Justin a nod before scooting off down the street. A stream of swear words was sounding in her brain and she made sure Carmel could hear her.

“It’s Justin.” He took her silence for lack of recognition. “From the party the other night, electric shock guy?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah.” Her smile was shaky, not her usually well practised insincerity. Normally she could present any face she wanted to humans without breaking a sweat, but he had always been an exception. “How are you?”

“Good, good. You?”

“Good.”

“That’s good.”

An awkward silence ensued for a few moments, which Justin broke with a short laugh and scratching behind his ear. “Umm, this might sound a little forward, but I didn’t get a chance to ask for your number at the thing and was wondering if you wanted to go for coffee some time.”

This time thinking it in her head didn’t cut it. Charmian really wanted to curse out loud. For his own good, she had been ignoring the constant pull she felt towards him. History taught that getting involved with her did not end well for him and she really didn’t want to watch him die for the ninth time. Eight times was already eight times too many without adding another untimely demise to the tally. Yet here he was, once again, crushing her hope once more. He had crushed it when he’d turned up at that party, and he’d crushed it now by proving Katherine and all her warnings right. She hadn’t wanted to listen when Katherine had repeatedly told her that he would keep showing up whether she liked it or not, and managing not to see him for a week had given her foolish optimism.

“Umm, sure. Do you have a card, I can call you?”

“Sure, sure…” Immediately he fumbled in his pockets and Charmian felt awful knowing that she would be tossing it in a trash can at the first opportunity. That was how mortal women avoided dates, she figured – but disappointing him still yanked painfully at her insides. “here you go.”

“Thanks. Well, I got to run so… I’ll call you.”

“Looking forward to it.”

His bright smile only made her feel worse, so she gave a weak little wave and turned her back on him before turning the first corner she could find and then running at top speed away from the scene of the crime.

Nate frowned fiercely to himself as his finger scanned over the dusty texts in front of him. It wasn't the texts themselves that were the problem - he still had much of the scholar in him and had no problem poring over ancient and crumbling papers. He actually enjoyed the musty scent and the delicate textures, could spend hours locked in his study reading for his own pleasure. He viewed knowledge as a gift, one he enjoyed receiving as much as giving. The problem was that none of the books he toiled over could tell him why Charmian had been named guardian to a mortal when she was not a guardian and never had been. They couldn't tell him why no matter how long he went between reincarnations her charge always seemed to fall in love with her at first sight.

If there was one thing he'd learned in his tenure working for the light it was that everything happened for a reason. The ways might have been mysterious but they did not lack logic. Yet what was going on between Charmian and Michael - now Justin - defied all reason. Though humans had overly idealised images of them that they wrongly called angels, they weren't totally off base when it came to the set up and the soldiers of good forming different ranks. Each of the immortals had a specific purpose assigned to them, and although all of them were in their way warriors for the forces of good never did they moonlight in other roles. He had been a guide, a purveyor of wisdom; his purpose had been to arm the mortals with the knowledge and wisdom that would allow them to resist evil for themselves. Charmian was an avenger - she brought justice to the wicked.

Guardians, however, were the opposite; their role was to protect the potential victims of evil from ever falling prey to it, not to give them justice after the fact as an avenger did. Of all extra curricular tasks for her to have been given guardianship was the most contradictory, but the rules were the rules and once you became a mortal's guardian you were their guardian for all their lives. It simply made no sense for Justin's to have been picked from the wrong team. For one thing, it was dangerous; guardians had different powers than avengers, as Charmian had in the past found to her cost. She'd been given the gig but not the tools.

As for the doomed love aspect, that left him even more flummoxed. It wasn't that immortals were incapable of falling in love, it was rare but it happened; it was simply the nature of the thing that made no sense. Mortals didn't stay with the same souls all through their various lives, the idea of some fated 'soul mate' being a romantic idealist's wishful thinking. He admired the hope in it and it was a harmless idea, but simply incorrect. Yet without fail Justin's soul always seemed to instinctively recognise Charmian, scuppering any hope of her being able to put aside her own feelings. It was natural that she should always recognise him since guardians always could with their charges, but for it to happen the other way around even once had been unprecedented. Nate hadn't seen Charmian since her previous visit in order to ask if she'd had any more encounters, but if he stayed true to form Justin's streak would be at nine and counting.

"Damn it," he said aloud to himself, slamming the book shut.

"Now, now. You're in a church."

"Well." He replaced his pen in the desk tidy without looking behind him, trying to reorganise the papers he'd been reading and his own messy notes into some kind of order. "I don't see any of you in years and now I see two within as many weeks."

"Nathaniel, dear heart, you know I adore you but I don't have the time for witty repartee. Charmian said she came to you about this whole Michael thing."

"Justin, now," Nate corrected her. "And yes, she did. I'm sure she's already told you what I said."

"But if I know you, you didn't stop there. What you found?"

Sighing deeply, Nate twisted in his chair to face Carmel. "Nothing. Just like the last however many times I've tried to research this. I can't explain it."

"I'm worried. We're getting deep signs on the street and the demons are behaving oddly, I can't believe it's a coincidence that whatever mojo you worked on the boy suddenly failed us."

Nate ignored the urge to retort that the magic hadn't failed; it had been sheer bad luck that caused Charmian to touch and therefore recognise Justin, a quirk of guardianship that the magic had never been allowed to erase. If only they hadn't shaken hands, she'd be none the wiser. Still things did happen for a reason - on hearing the demon news the hairs on the back of his neck had immediately stood up, as they always did when he sensed imminent trouble. Sometimes he wondered if taking the option to retire had been smart. Few immortals did; an eternity of moving around place to place trying to fit into a human world they didn't truly belong in didn't appeal for many. Not to mention the hassle of trying to conceal the lack of aging. Most figured if they had to live forever they might as well be useful.

"Oddly? How so?"

"They're out in numbers. I checked; it's strictly Los Angeles they're convening on. And it's weird, their auras are coming off way stronger than the demon that's actually inside when we get the kill. Not to mention Anton's shown his nasty little face above ground."

Pursing his lips, Nate clasped his hands together as if in prayer. Although he knew that the being in charge was not actually the Christian God that he as a priest purported to believe in, he found it oddly comforting to go through the rituals.

"They ever done this before?"

"Occasionally they like to go after somebody famous in some style like with Marilyn. We thought maybe it was Lindsay Lohan or somebody but we did the checks on the celebrities and any demons they got are their own, not the real kind. We can't explain this; it wouldn't bother me except Anton's a slimy bastard and after the way he screwed up they would not let him back up unless they got something in the works."

"You know what, I think you're right. This can't be a coincidence." Nate tapped his fingers nervously against the arm of his chair. "Maybe they're after Justin and that's why Charmian was tapped?"

"Wouldn't that mean this was a pattern, though? Since we all know he has a tendency to live fast and die young, if demons are after him now surely that can't be new?"

"Oh I've always thought there was a pattern, it's pinning the bastard down that's the trouble," he complained. "Mic… Justin, I mean, has always been a creative force. Always charismatic, somebody people flock to. He's always been just on the verge of fame before he died, and I will kill you if you tell Charmian this but I wonder if maybe this time it's the fact that he's been cloaked from all of us that's allowed him to actually reach that fame."

Carmel chewed on her lip, mulling this thought over. "That's true. Like when he was running around with Byron, wasn't he about to start getting his own poems published?"

"Lord, for the days when all we worried about was if she could keep him away from Byron long enough to prevent syphilis," he snorted. "But that's not my point; the point is that it never changes. Neither does his early death or the fact that he worships Charmian. Is it possible there's been demon activity in this pattern the whole time? Anton was at that party for him?"

This time her eyes narrowed and her shoulders stiffened, almost as if she was preparing for a physical attack. "But we checked that over a thousand times. You know we never found a demon involved."

"Not seeing one doesn't necessarily mean there wasn't one, though. This whole thing with the pair of them is so outside the box it's not impossible the dark ones have managed to break some rules too."

"Outside the box?" She sniped, beginning to pace. "It shattered the box. It blasted the box into smithereens, there is no more box."

"Not their fault."

"I know, don't mean to sound bitchy but this shit's just annoying. Still…" She kept thinking as she stomped the floor. "Just going with you and your crazy lunatic idea for a second, theoretically speaking… if they did have some funky new thing that broke rules, would that maybe explain why she got tapped to be his guardian in the first place? Like, maybe this thing needs an avenger's touch more than a real guardian's, and that's why we keep losing him because we're flying blind trying to turn her into a guardian when she just needs to be her usual smiting happy self?"

Slowly he nodded. It certainly made more sense than any theory he'd been able to dream up. "Well, if you need an avenger Charmian is definitely your woman. No disrespect to your fine talents, of course."

"None taken." Carmel waved a hand dismissively.

It was true; Charmian was the undisputed Queen Bee of their kind. She had managed some take downs that were legendary both in human and immortal history - though naturally the humans were unaware that the credit ought to be hers. Carmel's personal favourite however was one that had left the humans mystified and unsure if one had even happened; nobody human had ever caught up to Jack the Ripper, but Charmian had and she'd given him a creatively painful end. Avengers were known for being hard hitters but even by their high standards Charmian was a force to be reckoned with - except when she was heart broken over the man she kept failing to save. Then she got kind of limp and downgraded to adequate.

"Still, theoretically speaking I'd agree with your logic." Nate scratched his head thoughtfully. "Of course that still wouldn't explain the Romeo and Juliet complex, but it covers the guardianship."

"Well it's the Romeo and Juliet complex worrying me right now because we have to hit a party tonight to go after what looks like a big one and I just got told he'll be there. Hence my pit stop to see my old pal."

He shrugged. "Nothing you can do about that. She's been in love with him for centuries, if he falls for her again there's nothing we can do about it and nothing that will keep him away. I'll say this much for him, the boy's a persistent little masochist the way he keeps finding her. Most humans stupid enough to fall for an immortal don't make the same mistake twice."

"He's not most humans."

"Indeed."

Of all the immortals out there, Charmian was one of those with the least aversion to acting like a human. It wasn’t vanity or disdain; many of her kind feared that in order to properly fulfil their duties they needed to set themselves apart, to be something above and beyond. It was true enough that there were some traits reserved for the human race, ones none of them ever displayed (merely a side effect of eternal life and great age), but she didn’t share the common belief that behaving like a homo sapiens necessarily made one weak. To her mind any trait that made you weak made you weak because it was a bad way to go about things, not because it was something humans also did.

There was, however, one piece of human behaviour that she really despised emulating: crying.

To be an avenger, you necessarily had to have thick skin – rhino hide had nothing on them. They saw a lot of nasty things, had to stand over some terribly abused victims and relive some horrific crimes in dishing out their prey’s just desserts. They didn’t lack compassion but for their own good they had to learn how to be hard, to cope with things that would bring others to weep without batting an eyelid. Charmian had always been particularly good at compartmentalising – that was why she’d been chosen for the job in the first place, and a good part of why she was so effective at it. Even in the long forgotten mortal life she’d had before she had been raised, she’d been adept at stoicism and facing down hardship.

Still even she wasn’t rock, and even she had to break down sometime. She just hated doing so. It wasn’t in her usual nature and she found it difficult to know how to handle herself on the rare occasion that she did it; it was an unnatural feeling and it threw her. On this occasion she had nobody to blame but herself. She had known that she ought to quickly clear Justin from her mind after their encounter earlier in the day. She had known that it was a stupid idea to pull the small treasure chest from its dark spot at the back of the closet and to stare at its contents. Yet still she had done it.

That was why she was stood in front of the bathroom mirror at a charity benefit she had zero interest in, even though she should have been looking out for her target. She was trying to fix her mascara and to get a grip. Reading long faded love notes on fragile paper, opening up a golden locket and staring at the miniature portrait inside, fondling the ruby pendant Michael had given her in his days as a Parisian socialite, it had been a recipe for depression and she had been stupid to go there. She had vainly hoped that the change in appearance would allow her sufficient emotional distance from Justin, but it had been a fool’s hope and she knew it. It didn’t matter what he looked like, she could never be so vapid; she knew it was still her boy in there, the one who had written the letters. She could feel it when his gaze had hit her face. The eyes might have been a cerulean blue instead of the muddy brown they had once been, yet the stare remained the same.

“I’d ask you if you’re alright but I can tell it’s a dumb question.”

Charmian whipped around to see Carmel pushing at the stall doors, checking to make sure they were alone. It appeared that they were – none were locked or revealed any occupants. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, I’d be depressed too if I were you. I just wish you’d talk about it.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’ve known you for... is it a hundred or a hundred and ten thousand years? Whatever, I got your number woman. You are so not fine. And that’s actually good, because when the love of your very long life gets reincarnated again after lots of nasty ends with a whole new look it’s weird to be fine.”

“Whatever. We still have a job to do.” Charmian pushed her hair back from her forehead, shook her shoulders out and stared herself down in the mirror. “I’m fine.”

“Alright. I’ll believe you… if you can tell me you didn’t have the dreams again.”

Immediately she slumped – Carmel did know her far too well. “Prague.”

“It’s okay, you know. To be upset.” Carmel wrapped an arm around her and with a sigh Charmian’s head slumped onto her shoulder. Carmel tucked her chin on top of Charmian’s hair and stroked her arm. “You just need to do what you always do and channel it instead of trying to fight it. I know it’s not your usual style to be all weepy but it’s still okay.”

“You’re an avenger, not a guide.”

“I have a few transferable skills, what can I tell ya. Now, do you got it together enough for us to go kick some karmic butt?”

Charmian straightened up. “You found him.”

“Yep, talking to some pretty young thing that just got off stage - I don’t think she’s in any danger but the vibes are nasty. I think I can take him but I need you with it, because if I can’t then it’s time for the champ to do the thing.”

“I’m with it, I’m with it. Kicking demon ass always cheers me up anyway.”

“That’s my girl.” Carmel laid a loud kiss on her cheek and then gently patted her on the butt. “Now get moving.”

As Charmian left the bathroom, she could immediately see the target. She wasn’t sure how she could have missed him earlier – had he stepped outside for a cigarette or something? The black energy pulsing around him even managed to look aggressive, he was impossible to glance past without noticing.

“Oh Lord. Somebody’s been a very bad boy…”

“You’re telling me. You see why I need you?”

“Oh yeah.” Charmian didn’t say that to disparage Carmel or treat her as inferior – Carmel was simply a few millennia younger than her and thus not as strong. As with demons, every kill they made strengthened them so anybody older was almost automatically stronger (unless they’d been slacking). The younger immortals had to be obsessively prolific in order to close the gap, so few ever did. “You done one like this before?”

“One, at Woodstock. I really wish they’d had better bathroom facilities because I spent the next twelve hours puking.”

“Good, you’ve had time to beef up. Let’s… oh fuck.”

It was typical, wasn’t it? Was Justin simply drawn to all her targets lately? This was no less than the third time that he had shown up immediately prior to or after she had taken somebody out, yet there he was. He seemed to know the young lady the target was talking to – he’d hugged her on arrival, and from the way he kept a friendly arm slung over her shoulders they looked very familiar and comfortable with each other. She was really trying to ignore the jealous twist her stomach was doing.

“Ignore him, focus. We can worry about him after we get the bad guy.”

“Bad guy, right. Bad guy, bad guy, bad guy…” Charmian kept muttering as Carmel practically pushed her all the way to their mark.

“Well, we do keep meeting like this.” Justin couldn’t believe his luck. He’d spent an agonising afternoon trying to tell himself that even if she was interested she’d never call so soon, and here she was before him. “Charlotte, this is Esmée Denters and William Robertson.”

“Umm, it’s Charmian, actually,” she reluctantly told the group. At Justin’s confused expression, she hurried on with the first lie that came to her head. “I met Justin at a party, and my friend was yanking some guy’s chain because the guy never remembers his name. He gives him a different name every time he sees him, and apparently I got one too. This is Carmel,” she quickly changed the subject before anybody started questioning that story too deeply – or even shallowly, since it was a piss poor excuse that would withstand little scrutiny.

“Hi.”

Seizing her chance, Carmel started shaking hands with Justin and Esmée. She took care to pump their hands longer than she really needed to, so that her extended grip on Mr Robertson wouldn’t attract too much notice. No bystanders would think anything was remotely amiss from the easy smile on her face, but Charmian had sight they did not and could see the strain. The golden pulses of light emanating from her touch were poking and prodding at his skin, trying to find their way in. For a few seconds they strained in various spots, before withdrawing as Carmel reluctantly released her grip. She simply wasn’t strong enough; the demon had been in him too long and had grown too powerful feeding on his misdemeanours.

Sometimes Charmian had to fight the urge to leave the targets to the nasty death that awaited them should the demons go unchecked long enough to reach full strength inside them. After all these weren’t the demons that truly possessed people, totally overriding their will – those were rarer and couldn’t be killed without a more traditional physical fight - these demons couldn’t feed or operate without the targets choosing to do wrong. If the person resisted long enough they’d vacate the body before they starved, so the humans were still at a great deal of fault in the equation. Then the sensible side of her kicked in and she remembered what victims there would be if she didn’t end it quickly.

“Oh, so sorry, where are my manners?” Thankfully a handshake with Justin was unnecessary, so she quickly covered Esmée and then took a firm grip on William’s hand.

Immediately she understood why Carmel had failed; she was having a very difficult time herself. That wasn’t helped by her split focus and awareness of Justin’s eyes on her, but whatever was inside William Robertson had taken a serious grip. It had started by speaking to him through his burning desire to expand his company, convincing him to make small cheats and take a few unethical decisions for ‘the bigger picture.’ Then it had moved on to bigger frauds, next into seriously illegal activity. Finally, not two nights ago he had taken a hit out on a business rival, a particularly vengeful and painful death; the body had turned up that morning and even as it had he’d launched a hostile takeover bid of the company. No wonder the demon was so strong; it had eaten like a king.

Yet still, as the sins passed before her eyes Charmian caught a glimpse of the man that once was. He had been a man who occasionally had such dark thoughts but had never acted on them. Left to his own devices she doubted he’d ever have done any worse than some financial fraud, nothing that would have got him more than three years in jail. That was the power of these demons; once they were inside, they could go for a twenty four hour stream of subconscious suggestion.

Thank God she managed to penetrate at last (Mr Robertson had just gone from being fit as a fiddle to very advanced and aggressive cancer, would probably be dead within eight weeks), but she knew she was going to feel awful that night. Avengers could take out the weaker demons with no physical effect and she was at an age where few demons were strong enough to give her much more than a loss of appetite and a few twinges, but those that were induced extreme nausea and stomach pain. Karma took a toll even on those dishing it out.

‘You need a bucket as much as I do right now?’ She heard Carmel’s voice in her head.

‘I’m going to hurl. Bright side, maybe that might solve all my problems when Justin’s too grossed out to ever be attracted to me after I’ve spewed all over his sneakers.’

“Trace.”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Hey JT, what’s up?”

Staring down at his feet, Justin fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. “Just wanted to let you know I’m not gonna be home until late, if at all.”

“Hmm. If that was because you were going to have sex you’d sound happier about it. Something wrong?”

“No… I don’t think.”

“You don’t think? That was a yes or no question, is everything okay?”

“I bumped into Joe Dean.” He started as he meant to go on, with a lie. There was no way he was telling Trace the real story. “He started talking after party and I don’t really want to but I haven’t seen him in a while and I feel kind of obliged. He’s talking about a late one so if it’s too late I’ll crash at his place.”

“Cool. You know, you really have to learn to say no to shit.”

“Tell me about it. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, probably.”

“Cool. Night bro.”

“Night.”

He flipped his phone shut and shoved it back in the pocket of his jeans, raising his eyes to stare at the prone figure on the bed. If she wasn’t still looking so green around the gills, Charmian would make an incredibly serene picture; asleep and still she looked like a porcelain doll. Charmian was an old fashioned name but it suited her, looking like something out of a bygone era as she did; it was almost as if she’d been born sixty years too late. He’d have to ask her where it came from when she finally woke up.

He was aware that it could be construed as extremely creepy to have a strange man watching over you while you slept on unawares, but Justin’s intentions were fully honourable. Out of nowhere both she and her companion had started to look extremely unwell, like either of them could have dropped in a dead faint at any given second. Now he wasn’t so deep in the worry of the moment it struck him as odd, that they should both succumb so suddenly and violently to whatever it was they’d seemingly caught, but at the time it had been secondary to getting Charmian home safely. He’d have tried to do the same for her friend but she had disappeared.

Charmian had managed to stay lucid only long enough to give him an address. His original plan had been to put her in a taxi but she’d become so groggy he hadn’t trusted her to even get through the door, let alone up the stairs and into the apartment. So he had come with her, practically carried her up the three floors and had put her to bed fully dressed, stopping only to take off her shoes for her. She had very small feet. He hadn’t been planning to stay, but she kept groaning in her slumber and she refused to stay in the recovery position no matter how many times he moved her into it. He was afraid of her choking on her own vomit, so he stayed to watch out for her.

It had occurred to him that this was way too much concern for a women he had the barest of acquaintances with, but he’d long since worked out that his crush had reached epic and pitiable proportions.

Groaning as he eased his stiff limbs out of the chair, Justin looked around the two room apartment in wonder. It was very well furnished and decorated, so he doubted she was living there out of financial necessity, yet one room housed her bed, kitchen and living area with a small en suite. Her tastes were clearly simple – everything was in neat neutral shades, all very functional – and yet over the walls were paintings ranging from the renaissance masters up until Dali. Dotted around the room was an eclectic mix of ornaments that looked like they’d come from everywhere imaginable. On the one hand there were obviously Chinese paper lanterns and what looked to be Greek pottery, but then dream catchers also hung by the bed. He wasn’t going to even comment on the two large samurai swords hanging over the fireplace. Normally a home gave him an impression of its owner – ostentatious, practical, welcoming – but Charmian’s apartment was a mass of contradictions.

Smirking, he thought of what Trace would say in such a situation – that a little bit of snooping was to be expected but you had to draw the line at bathroom cabinets and underwear drawers, for in the Gospel according to Trace that was where “women’s secret shit” was kept and disturbing it would “destroy the illusion.” Justin didn’t feel comfortable snooping in anything that wasn’t in plain sight, but the apartment held enough to keep him occupied. There were some very old looking books in a language he supposed to be Italian or something like it. His fingers traced over the covers, but just as his attention was drawn to the treasure box sitting next to them his phone rang.

Answering it in a hurry, praying it didn’t wake Charmian, he whispered “hello?”

“Hey loser, it’s me.”

“Hey Rach.”

“I was just calling to say my flight’s all booked and I’ll be with you Monday.”

“Awesome. If you text me the details I’ll make sure somebody picks you up.”

“Send Randy. He amuses me.”

“Done. Rach, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, if you tell me why you’re whispering,” Rachael snorted derisively.

“I don’t want to wake somebody.”

“Girl?”

“Yes, but not in that tone of voice.”

“What tone of voice?”

“That tone of voice like you think I just screwed said girl. I didn’t,” he responded huffily.

“Oh. Well that’s boring; I thought I had gossip for a second. So what advice?”

“What do you do when you have a really dumb crush on somebody you barely know?”

“God, boys are so stupid. It’s not that hard, dude, you get to know ‘em and either your crush is justified or you find it’s not and it goes away. Big whoop. Is this the girl you didn’t screw this evening?”

“Yes,” he grumbled. The problem with Rachael was that she was so much one of the guys that she wasn’t always the best person to ask for advice about girls, but she was the only female he trusted enough with such issues and she still had more insight than any male could hope for. “I swear I’m not usually so stupid over one damn girl.”

“It happens to the best of us, JT. Don’t sweat it. So exactly how much junk is in the trunk that you’re so sprung?”

“Shut up,” he grumbled.

“Hey, it could be worse. I could tell Trace.”

He wasn’t even going to question how she’d know that he was keeping Trace in the dark. “Do it and I murder you painfully.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I have to jet but relax, Justin. It’s just a little crush; everybody gets ‘em. They are not life or death.”

“Bye.”

As he ended the call he blew out a puff of air, half sigh and half frustration. How did he explain that it felt like life and death to him? On the one hand, some part of his brain was aware of how insane that was. He barely knew the woman and on the basis of a few dreams he was being more melodramatic than he’d even been as a teenager (when it was excusable to be so histrionic over somebody you liked). Yet that portion of his brain was being well and truly drowned out by the much bigger and louder part screaming that this girl was Aphrodite, Venus and Halle Berry all rolled into one, only better.

It wasn’t just the dreams. It was something in the way she moved. When she walked or even gestured there was a fluid grace that he found mesmerising. Her eyes were dark inky pools that hid something he was desperate to figure out; even her standoffishness and obvious discomfort in his presence didn’t put him off the way it would have with any other girl. It made no rational sense and was totally out of character for him, but the girl in the black dress who was stretched out pathetically on her bed might as well have been a goddess; even as she whimpered and drooled open mouthed into her pillow. It was disquieting and he almost didn’t like how involved he already was – to be so unhealthily obsessed with someone was not his usual MO and for good reason.

His eyes coming back to the treasure box, he opened it up out of curiosity. There was a locket, a pendant, some faded pressed flowers and a number of old letters on thin paper. Even if he had been inclined to read them he couldn’t have – they were in too many different languages. Some he couldn’t even begin to guess at, didn’t so much as recognise the letters. Only one that he could see was in English, but the old fashioned script was hard for his modern eyes to decipher. The more he learned about this woman the less he understood. She lived in a tiny apartment, had wide and varied taste in art, apparently read a number of languages and had travelled extensively, hung on to random antique pieces of jewellery and every time he saw her something odd happened. According to the CD collection he’d spied, she listened to a lot of classical music - while owning samurai swords.

“So you’re an old soul, huh?” He whispered to an unresponsive Charmian, having no idea just how correct he was.

He sat silently and thoughtfully for a few more minutes, watching her. Eventually she began to stir a little, frowning in her sleep, her head tossing from side to side.

“Michael…” she muttered fretfully.

On hearing the name, Justin’s shoulders stiffened and his knuckles became involuntarily clenched. Michael? He had dreams about her where she called him Michael and was obviously involved with him, and now he heard her call the same name in her sleep?

That was both freaky and weird.

“Come on, you don’t think this is a little off of us?”

“It’s our job.”

“Really? And here was me thinking this whole mess was about the fact it’s her job.”

“Oh quit whining, Katherine,” Micah said impatiently as he took the long jump between the hotel and the office block. They were fifteen levels up and he’d just jumped a thirty feet gap like it was nothing. With a scowl on her face, Katherine followed suit.

“You don’t feel even a tiny bit strange about stalking Charmian’s charge?”

“He needs guarding. Every time Charmian gets near him to do it she falls to pieces and he don’t get much guarding. We are guardians. You see my logic here?”

“I don’t like tailing her boyfriend.”

Micah frowned. “Oh. She’s given in? Thought she was avoiding him.”

“No… you know what I mean, it’s just easier calling him her boyfriend than her ‘impossible soul mate who keeps dying on our asses.’ And I still say we shouldn’t be following him.”

“I say what we should or shouldn’t do was shot to hell in his case a few centuries ago.” His brow creased into heavy, worried lines as he kept his gaze firmly on the pop star they’d been hunting for ten blocks now. He’d been stopped by a group of fans and was signing autographs, blissfully unaware he had people tailing him. “I just keep thinking this all comes back to him somehow, and somebody needs to watch his ass. I know it ought to be Charmian, but since I can’t blame her for deciding that proximity gets him killed I’m going to step up.”

This shamed Katherine into silence. She couldn’t help it; she’d been so close to her for so long that it was hard to disengage from the whole thing as she could with any other mortal. It was hard to look down from the rooftop and see Justin Timberlake as any other human being when she was aware how much he’d defied everything they knew. Katherine had never been in love, never really given so much as a thought to it, but it was impossible to listen to Charmian talk about him without feeling a stab in the chest. Not two days ago she’d witnessed her fighting tears as she talked about how he’d watched over her all night, having no idea that the woman he watched was immortal and in no danger of anything except a headache. That was dedication; it was more than obvious that the boy was as in love with her as ever, even if he himself had no idea how or why. She had a feeling that it wouldn’t be very long before temptation got too much and the doomed pair were back together.

Micah sighed. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be pissy. I’m just stumped.”

“I know.” Katherine shook her head out, trying to clear the gloom she felt whenever Justin turned back up on the radar. They’d failed to save him so many times she found it hard to muster any kind of positive thinking. “But following him doesn’t seem to be helping. Have you seen any demons around?”

“No. It’s weird, the avengers are all telling me they’re on overtime lately but I’m getting nothing. Which makes no sense, because the demons have to be feeding off somebody and that means innocent bystanders - so where are all the backs we should be covering?”

“My best guess? Either there are so many that innocent victims have become an endangered species or they’re cloaking themselves somehow. Neither of which fills me with joy.”

“If they were cloaking themselves surely the avengers wouldn’t see them either?”

“Good point.”

“GOD.” Micah smashed his fist into the fire door, leaving a sizable dent in the wood. “None of this makes any fucking sense. It’s wrong and I feel it and I can’t… fuck.”

“I know, I know. We all do.” She tugged at his arm as Justin waved goodbye to the fans and started back along his way. “Did you speak to Carmel? Nathaniel come up with anything else?”

“No.” He folded his arms, smirking a little at one of the fans who looked as thought she was going to faint. “He’s still convinced there’s some demon involvement we haven’t caught.”

“His business he’s certainly surrounded by enough of ‘em.” She chewed her lip thoughtfully. “But how would they manage to cloak that?”

“That’s the sticking point,” he explained. “Nate’s trying to work it out.”

“I thought he was retired.”

He shrugged, raising his palms. “Feels guilty, I think.”

“Ugh.” Katherine almost kicked a bucket off the roof, before remembering at the last second that it would attract unnecessary attention. “He can join the club.”

“Why should you feel bad?”

“I don’t know, because she’s my friend and she’s stuck doing our job when she’s not supposed to and it keeps costing her the love of her life? And if something’s after him I ought to have seen something more useful by now instead of spending the last few hundred years looking dumb-faced and telling her I know jack shit.”

“Great. Now I feel guilty too. Thanks, Kat.”

“I just… ugh!” She began pacing, still keeping one watchful eye on the scene below. “This whole thing makes no sense to begin with. We all know he shouldn’t remember a thing about her, let alone still be in love with her.”

“Hmm…” the cogs started turning gradually in Micah’s head. “That’s right.”

“Yes, you know that’s right,” she replied rolling her eyes at him. “No shit, Sherlock.”

“So how come we’re not concentrating on that?”

She stopped. “What do you mean?”

“We keep concentrating on why he keeps dying, right? And why Charmian’s his guardian, and why the demons might want him?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe we’re putting the cart before the horse. Maybe we should be asking why he remembers her at all. Because if there’s something special about him it shouldn’t exactly be a surprise that the demons would figure he’s a catch, you follow?”

Katherine nodded slowly, starting to catch onto his logic. “And if we can work that out, we might be able to narrow down who specifically might want him.”

“And if we can figure that out, it might make more sense why the big dudes upstairs would put Charmian on the fucker’s tail rather than one of us.”

“So all this time,” she said with exasperation, “that would mean we’d been looking at this from totally the wrong angle and we’d managed to let him die eight times before we worked out we needed to concentrate on him rather than her.”

“In our defence, she’s a much more obvious candidate to be a major player than some unpublished poet.”

“You know…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, no human is ever insignificant and we should never assume anybody’s too unimportant to be a target. But still, Charmian’s a legend and you know they’d give anything to take her out of the game. It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch if all they wanted was to just grind her down until she gives up her sword.”

She snorted. “They underestimate her.”

“No, I really don’t think they do. We’ve all seen what she gets like after he dies.”

“She does fine!” Katherine responded defensively, bruised on her friend’s behalf.

“Exactly. She does fine, which by Charmian’s standards is actually pretty crap. Even of all they can do is knock her down to adequate rather than awesome like usual, that’s still a huge gain for them.”

Katherine was no longer paying any attention. She was squinting down at the ground, trying to make sure she was seeing what she really thought she was seeing. In some ways she hoped so, because it was a lead. In other ways she prayed not, because it was a sign of trouble.

“Micah?”

“Yeah?”

“Am I dreaming or are we not the only ones stalking Justin Timberlake today?”

Immediately Micah’s gaze turned in the direction of Katherine’s outstretched index finger, golden eyes narrowed dangerously. It took him a moment, but his mouth soon dropped into a small ‘o’ and his forehead creased in anxiety.

“Okay. That’s a demon.”

“It’s not any old demon, either. Look closer.”

He strained his eyes, peering out at the figure. “Sorry, you got better eyesight than me.”

“It’s our old pal Anton.”

“Anton?” Micah spat out in disgust. “I thought that mother fucker was still being roasted on a spit somewhere for his last screw up.”

“Charmian ran across him the other day. Wanna guess where?”

“I despise guessing games,” he replied, glaring at her.

“At the party where she first clocked Justin.”

“But I was at that party!” He exclaimed. “She never mentioned it!”

Katherine gave him a pointed look. “You think she might have got a little distracted?”

“Oh. Good point. So, this is the second time we’ve found the little shit close to Justin?”

“Yep.”

“Hmm. I’d say that warrants further investigation… wanna call Carmel and have her torture the bastard?”

“Oh I really, really do.”

“Damn it.”

Walking up to the target, Charmian shook her head in disgust. Yanking the arrow fiercely out of the outer ring (instead of the bull’s eye she could usually hit every time) she stalked back to the shooting line and took her stance up again, reloading her bow. The bow and arrows she normally used weren’t so very ordinary – divine cleansing flames weren’t too commonplace – but since she was at a public facility she had to blend in. As immortals, it was always difficult trying to find somewhere for them to be able to practise properly. They got enough odd looks for using normal weapons, and none of them could really let rip with full strength. In a sparring match in a gym studio Lucas had once left a Carmel sized dent in the wall when he threw her too hard; it hadn’t hurt Carmel in the slightest, but had been tough to explain.

“You know, if you don’t calm down you’re only going to keep missing.”

“I’ll tell you what, Zac,” she shot him a glare before casting her eyes back down to her wrist guards. They felt loose. “You try losing the love of your life eight times and then see if you can relax while your pals are out torturing a demon for info on him.”

Zachariah sighed sweetly. “I can’t tell you how much pleasure I get out of knowing Anton’s in pain right now.”

“About half as much as I do. Just wish I could be there, but…”

“You don’t want to give the game away. It’s cool, I get it. Besides, Anton’s not stupid – we all know how afraid he is of you so usually we just threaten him with big bad Charmian and Piggy squeals. If you actually start showing up he’ll know it’s important.”

“Heh.” A smirk crept up on one side of her face.

Once upon a time, Anton had been considered a big deal in the underworld. To give him his due, he’d been cunning and a master of manipulation even before he fell from grace; as a demon however he’d always been the one coming up with the schemes and moving the pieces around the chessboard. In his time he’d pulled off some major successes, until he’d had the misfortune to cross Charmian and land himself on her radar. After a few foiled plans and spectacular kickings of his ass, his reputation had been crushed and he’d since become known as useless in a real fight and not half as clever as he thought he was. Everyone knew that the only reason he wasn’t dead was because the avengers preferred the devil they knew to the one they didn’t… at least until he provoked one enough. Going after Justin might well do it for him. 

“So what exactly is it that they want out of him?” Zac asked.

“Well…” Charmian let loose another arrow, which found its aim improved but not what it should be. “They’re trying to work out why he’s following Justin, and more importantly if he’s aware of who he really is.”

“Why?”

She smiled. It was patronising of her to find Zachariah so cute, but he had so much to learn that he almost made her feel young again. He’d only been raised a couple of millennia ago so was very new to the game by their standards; that was why he was with her instead of having fun with Lucas and Carmel, who’d gone to assist Micah and Katherine. Zac was up to scratch on the physical side of things but hadn’t yet developed all the knowledge and instincts he needed. That was too dangerous to let loose around a crafty demon who knew how to wheedle information out of people.

“Well, for Justin’s past few lives we’ve been working on the assumption that by hurting him they’re trying to screw with me or with us and Justin’s part was only as the poor sucker in the crossfire.”

“With you so far, that makes sense.”

“But since they found Anton following him when I’ve barely been near him, we’re now wondering if it had nothing to do with me and if maybe it was him they were after all along.” She had fully concurred with Micah’s idea when he’d presented to her, it seemed logical. Besides, at this point in the game she was ready to snatch any and all new theories.

“So, that would explain wanting to know why he was following him, but why do we need to know if he knows who Justin really is?”

“Because if he knows that Justin is really Michael,” Charmian’s eyes involuntarily narrowed and made her miss yet again. “Then it doesn’t really prove anything either way because obviously they expect me to be around Michael. That could still plausibly mean it’s me they want.”

“But if they don’t know then obviously they can’t be following him because of you, it’s something specific about him?” Zac finally caught on.

“Exactly. Hence why Anton should be choking on holy water right now.”

“Explain to me why holy water works when the Christians aren’t right?”

“Being right is never the point with the religions,” she explained. “The point is that it’s sanctified and holy, part of offerings to the light, so the light honours it anyway same as it would for any properly blessed object of any religion. And since demons can’t cope with purity it hurts the bastards.”

“Huh.” Zac shook his head out, an ironic smile on his face. “You know, when I was human I’d never have believed that angels tortured anyone.”

“We’re not angels, Zac.” She shook her head, casting a pointed glance at him. “Far from it.”

“You know what I mean.” He waved a hand dismissively. “I always figured that the good guys would frown on it as stooping to their level.”

“We don’t torture humans ever, even if they’re possessed. Demons however don’t understand much but imprisonment or pain; they can’t be reasoned or bargained with unless they’re putting some sting in the tail so the only way to get through is to sting ‘em first and harder.”

“I know, we’ve done this lesson already. I’m just saying, that’s all, it’s different to how they teach the humans it is.”

“Things are always a little greyer than they make out to the humans.”

“Why? They can’t understand the truth?”

“Oh they could understand.” Finally the arrow shot straight and true, dead on target. “But they’re not built like us, Zac. You or I could torture the living daylights out of any hell beast that comes to call and we’d still be able to walk away without feeling it because we were shaped to be able to do this shit without succumbing to the temptation or guilt. They aren’t, which probably makes them better than us, but once they start it tends to screw them up and make them ripe for the demons. So we make life a little easier for them by dealing in more absolutes.”

“It’s a hard life, making life easier for other people,” he observed.

“Preaching to the choir, boy. Preaching to the choir. Heads up, I heard someone on the path so no more shop talk.”

‘Uhh, Charmian, why is that guy staring at you?’

Having far wider peripheral vision than a human, Charmian was able to glance to the other side of the field without turning her head. It quickly became obvious why Zac hadn’t wanted to say it out loud even though it wasn’t immortal talk – she was being gawked at and he didn’t want anybody overhearing. The reason they’d been openly chatting about work was because up until that point they’d been alone.

‘Oh for fuck’s sake, can’t I go anywhere without him turning up?’

‘Who is it?’

‘Justin.’

‘I didn’t know pop stars were into archery.’

‘He had better not come over here.’

‘Well if he does you need to get a better poker face. You look like you’re about to pop a vein.’

‘Shut up and respect your elders.’

“Uhh, Charmian?”

She heard the call from behind her and didn’t know what else she could do but turn around and acknowledge it. “You stalking me or what?”

Justin laughed, under the impression it was a joke. “I got to do this big charity thing and I don’t want to screw up and not win them any money, so I came to get a lesson first. But I wasn’t expecting you… I guess you’ve done this before?” He gestured to the target, out of which two arrows were sticking to the bull’s eye and one in the ring nearest it.

“Hobby,” she lied. “So, charity?”

“Yeah, they get a bunch of us famous types to line up and take a shot and the closer we get to the middle the more money we get. I don’t understand why they won’t just let us donate instead, but I agreed before I knew what I was doing.”

“So, I need to get going but I’ll see you later,” Zac smiled innocently.

‘Leave me alone with him and I swear I will make you train with Lucas until he’s knocked out every last molar.’

‘Bye now!’ he thought smugly to her as he sauntered out.

“So…” Justin said awkwardly, trying to fill the silence. “Until my instructor gets here can you show me some pointers?”

“Sure,” she replied with a sigh, giving in. She was never going to be able to get away from him, was she? In his other incarnations she had to admit she’d never really tried all that hard to stay away from him, she’d been weak, but now she was busting a gut and yet still she couldn’t manage it.

“So were you okay after the other night?” He asked. Once she had woken up she had quickly ushered him out, clearly embarrassed and uncomfortable. Little did he know that she had no issues with him seeing her unwell, she only wanted him gone as far from her as possible.

“Fine, thanks. So, you stand perpendicular to the mark, like this,” she demonstrated, eager to get the subject onto something nice and neutral. “You load the arrow onto the string, hold the bow beneath the arrow and then the string you hold with your top finger above and the rest below the arrow, like this.”

“Okay.” Was it just her, or was he staring at her hand far too intently?

“Then you take aim…” She pulled the bow taut, arm quivering slightly. “You want it shoulder height, and make sure you pull it right back behind your ear – not too close to your face though, you don’t want to catch your eye.”

“Okay.”

“Then…” She let the arrow fly. It hit the bull’s eye with a solid thud. “Release. Just make sure the arrow’s gone before you lower your arm.”

He applauded. “Wow. You’re good at this.”

“Practice,” she shrugged. She didn’t tell him how many years of practice. “Your turn.”

“Lord.” He took the bow from her, face filled with obvious trepidation. He kept biting his lip. “So, like this?”

“Yes,” Charmian approved his stance. “Then load the bow like I showed you, yeah… that’s good, now aim.”

She tried not to laugh. His face was screwed up in ugly concentration, but his shoulders were so hunched and his lip sticking out so oddly in a strangely feral pout that he looked like some bad B movie Robin Hood.

“Relax your shoulders.”

“Like this?”

“You didn’t even move them. Shoulders down, relax.”

“But I have a loaded bow and fucking arrow in my hands and I’m about to pee my pants I’m so nervous.”

“Unless you miraculously manage to shoot backwards there’s no need to worry.” She hesitated for a moment, but then stepped forward to stand behind his back. Gently she put her hands on his shoulders and forced them down to a more normal position. She tried to pretend she didn’t notice his body reacting to the touch as well as her own. “Relax. Breathe.”

Tempted to squeeze his eyes shut so he couldn’t watch, he forced them to stay on the target and let loose the arrow. The shot was too high, landing in the outer ring, but his face spread in a wide grin as he realised he’d actually managed to hit the thing at all.

“I didn’t miss!”

“You didn’t miss.” Why were her hands refusing to come off his shoulders? She wrenched them off as if they were burning. “Not bad for your first time.”

As Justin smiled his hugely infectious grin at her, Charmian thought miserably that if he kept being so damn cute she was probably going to have lost restraint and jumped him within the week. That wasn’t good.

“Well finally.”

“Hello to you too, Charmian.”

She hadn’t even turned around. Or stopped, for that matter – she was still punching away at the bag, a stern and grim expression marring her delicate features. Her ponytail swung in time to the rhythm of her punches and her skin glistened lightly with perspiration. Usually she worked out at the gym rather than in her apartment, since she had a creaky floor and an easily annoyed downstairs neighbour, but she hadn’t wanted to face any more people that day.

“Want to tell me why you’re still working out at seven pm when I know you were working out all day with Zac?”

“It was better than thinking.” Finally she ceased the activity, stepping back with a sigh and rubbing at her sweaty forehead. Turning on her heel, she was faced with a very weary looking Carmel and Lucas. She suspected it wasn’t just the length of their task which had tired them out; despite their amazing capacity to compartmentalise, having to torture somebody was not pleasant. Even though the bastard deserved it, they were soldiers of the light not the dark. It would never sit comfortably with any of them. More surprising was that Nathaniel had joined them.

“I’d forgotten that teleporting could be so nauseating,” he said on seeing her quizzical expression. He did look distinctly queasy. “Don’t do it so much these days.”

“I was more wondering why you were here.”

“We called him in to try and make sense of Anton’s babbling.” Lucas scowled. “By the time he started talking he wasn’t so coherent.”

Carmel’s face wore an identical grimace. “Lucas got really creative with a branding iron.”

Nate’s face turned an even paler shade. “Can you please remember that not all of us are avengers? As a guide I’m not so intimately acquainted with torture and I don’t think I’ve the stomach for it.”

Charmian nodded. “Can’t say I want the gruesome details either. What did we get?”

“Not much.” Lucas pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Anton’s a slippery bastard, I’ll give him that. What I couldn’t get was whether he knows more than he let on or if they’re not telling him everything.”

“His past record, I’d say the latter,” Carmel interjected.

With a nod, Nate concurred. “Agreed. He was hard to decipher but in my experience he looks rather more smug when he’s got something up his sleeve.”

“Okay, so if you think we got all we could out of him then what exactly did he give us?”

Charmian was trying to be patient and not to snap at them to get on with it, but her archery based chatting with Justin that day had left her even more anxious than before. She couldn’t help it. Slowly but surely the line she’d been trying to use to separate Justin from Michael in her mind was melting away. Clinging to such a false distinction had been futile and she’d known it, but her only defence had been to cling to the superficial differences. Yet the more Justin talked and the more he smiled, the more she noticed old mannerisms and expressions shining through. It was little things, the way he laughed a little too loud when nervous or the way his bottom lip twitched when he smirked. The sarcasm was still there, as was the wide smile.

She loved him, she noticed those things… and they were killing her. Not knowing how to protect him was yet again eating away at her.

“We were right, he has been told to tail Justin. His orders were pretty standard stuff though – follow him, try to make a connection, wheel and deal his way into the inner circle. He knows they want him bad but he doesn’t know why, he was just sent to clear the path.”

“And do they know who he is?” Charmian asked fearfully.

Carmel shook her head, and Charmian’s shoulders slumped in relief. “If he does then he’s an amazing actor. He doesn’t seem to know anything at all about Justin beyond the usual, not even what their plan for him is. All we know was that they want him bad enough that they even let Anton out of the pit because they were having trouble breaking in and they knew he was the only one with a shot.”

“God, remember how close he got to Sinatra? If Gabriel hadn’t just happened to be in Vegas…”

“So that’s it?” She asked. “This is all we got?”

“Still, not a total waste,” Nate said. “It’s reassuring that they’re unaware of his personal history. Gives us a chance to observe.”

“Not now we’ve tortured him,” Carmel pointed out. “He’ll go straight to them to warn them that we know something’s up and they’ll put him back underground.”

“But he’ll also tell them that we haven’t got any details,” Charmian said thoughtfully, crossing her arms over her chest. “So they’ll probably feel secure enough to continue in the plan, even if they ditch Anton and try another tack. If they don’t know he’s Michael then as far as they’re aware our only stake in the whole thing is stopping anything that benefits them.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Nate agreed, rubbing his chin with a concentrated expression on his face. “I don’t think this’ll give them much cause for alarm, they’ll just work harder to cover their tracks and they’ll expect us to heavily guard Justin.”

“Which could actually work in our favour…” Lucas said slowly, thinking aloud.

“How so?”

“Because it means you can be around him without making them suspicious of why our biggest and baddest avenger is so concerned with a pop star.” He slowly began to grin. “All they’ll do is assume that we’re following Justin to sniff out their plan.”

“That’s an excellent point.” Nate started pacing. “As I recall one of our biggest problems in Justin’s previous incarnations was keeping his identity from the demons, which made it imperative that you not be sighted together lest they become suspicious of why you were concerning yourself so much with an un-possessed human. But if we know of a plot around him then of course we would follow him, so they’ll put your presence down to that. The only thing I would suggest is that you find one of the guardians to assist you.”

Carmel nodded. “Yeah, otherwise they’re going to wonder why you’re doing the before rather than after like we’re supposed to. Can Katherine give us some time?”

“If not Micah will,” Charmian said. “The whole reason we got this was that he was tailing Justin for me.”

“Three cheers for Micah,” Lucas said. “This is what, our tenth go round?”

“Ninth.” Her voice quivered a little.

“Yeah, well I think we’re all tired of losing this game.” He clapped an understanding hand upon her shoulder. “So anything that keeps them from suspecting who he is gets a big yay from me.”

Charmian drew her shoulders up, trying to remember that she was the leader of the team and that she needed to act like it. Distracting thoughts of both how cute Justin had been when he made his first shot and how in the world she was going to save his life weren’t making it easy.

“Okay then, here’s our next move. We ask Katherine or Micah to follow him not quite sneakily enough so that the demons know we’re protecting him, which should give us cover for me being around. In the meantime I want everybody out on the street looking for Anton’s replacement and trying to find any hell spawn that might know something, get Zac in on it too. Don’t neglect your usual duties, obviously, but I want everybody on this rookie or not. Whatever the hell this plan is I want to know about it, because I’m betting the consequences are way bigger than me having another boyfriend crisis. But we’ll definitely need the guardians on board because I wouldn’t be surprised if they try and come at Justin through his friends and they’re not my charges, I can’t protect them.”

“If it’s alright, Charmian,” Nate interrupted, “I’d like to ask if I can join this little taskforce of yours.”

“Depends. What can a retiree do for me?”

“I just want any information we glean from the demons fed back to me so I can factor it into my research. I’m also hoping that I can pull some strings with the old team to get them looking into why Justin’s so important to them.”

“Done.” She nodded. “Whatever you need.”

“Okay Boss,” Lucas grinned. “When do we start?”

“Get fed and rested if you need it, otherwise now.”

“Eh, torture kills my appetite anyway.” Carmel gave a short salute and immediately vanished. Lucas nodded in deference at Charmian and promptly followed.

She gave a short sigh, turning towards Nathaniel. “So I guess I’d better un-lose Justin’s number, huh?”

Slowly he nodded, his gaze piercing her skull. “I would, yes. Do you think you can handle that?”

“No. But as usual I get no choice so… whatever.” She sat down in a chair, picking up the demon compendium on the table next to it and fingering the aged spine of the tome.

“You know, Charmian,” he said, “as much as I understand why you’re reluctant to give into your feelings after your… unfortunate history, they may not be the weakness you think they are.”

“Really?” She snorted. “Could have fooled me. I’m in love with a guy I keep getting killed and I can’t even warn him or tell him who I am because he’d look at me like I was an escaped lunatic. You know, it’s a good thing they made us all so emotionally cold to be avengers or I’d probably need industrial strength therapy by now.”

“And yet here you are, still trying,” he replied gently. “Many a lesser person would have given up by now. I’d also dispute the idea that you’re cold, given you’ve been in love with the same man for centuries when few immortals ever love at all.”

“For all the good it’s done me.”

“You know the humans say it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?”

“And you think there’s something in that?”

“Yes I do.”

With a world weary expression and an arched eyebrow, Charmian looked up at him. “No wonder you became a priest. You’re a sentimental old sap, you know that?”

He smiled benevolently. “Maybe. But at least I’ve still got my looks.”

“So how come I’ve been doing all the talking here? Why aren’t we talking about you?”

“Because I know all about me already so I find the subject quite tedious.”

Justin laughed. “I see. So this is all about entertaining you, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.” He took a glance over at Charmian as they both walked along with their hands in their pockets – him in jeans and a shirt, her in a white tea dress and denim jacket. “But I don’t even get a little look in here?”

“If you must.”

“Heh.” Again he chuckled, eyes scrutinising her. Every second he spent with her she became more fascinating, alluring and yet frustrating to him. The mystique was both immensely attractive and extremely annoying. And this was only their first real date, if you could call it a date at all. “Come on, there’s all that cool stuff in your apartment. Looks like you travelled a lot.”

“So you had a good poke around, huh?”

“I had to stay up all night watching out for somebody’s drunk ass, I had to do something to fill the time.”

“Fine, it’s like that, okay.” Despite herself, Charmian laughed as she looked down at her feet. “Yeah, I travel a lot.”

“And…”

“And?”

“Where, when, why, what did you do, what did you see?”

“Work, mostly.” That wasn’t a lie. Killing demons took her all over the globe. “And… everywhere, all the time. I’ve been to Egypt, Ivory Coast, Rome, Budapest, Sicily, Canberra, Tianjin, Buenos Aires…”

“Wow. And I thought I’d been everywhere.”

“It’s a big old world. But… I don’t know, it’s not like I have any of these big stories.” None that she could tell him, anyway. She didn’t want him to run screaming after finding out precisely how many people she had killed by karma over the years. Technically, she could accurately be accused of genocide – though it wasn’t like it was her fault that an entire Amazon tribe had got themselves possessed. “I just… I go, I work, I don’t get to do much sight seeing.”

“And this is trying ingredients, yes?”

“Yes.”

Nate had warned her to come up with a cover story that allowed for lots of travelling, sudden absences and foreign languages. Zac had helpfully suggested that she pretend to be a food taster’s assistant. After living for thousands of years she’d tried pretty much every type of food there was, so she could fib fairly easily about it. It had also managed a loose association with Hollywood via event catering to explain her presence at all the industry parties where she’d kept running into him.

“Man. That’s like the dream job, just eating tons of food all the time.”

“Work can drag the pleasure out of pretty much anything.”

“True.” Justin’s eyes glanced up at her, wondering why she stared so resolutely at her feet. It wasn’t like she lacked confidence; maybe she was just watching where she was walking in her incredibly tall shoes. He had been pathetically happy when she called. It wasn’t much of a date, they’d met for dinner at a pretty shabby diner and then hadn’t eaten all that much. They were now strolling through the streets to her apartment and while they had talked a lot and she’d asked a lot of questions, she seemed to be keeping a sturdy wall between them. His attempts to spark any flirting had fallen flat.

Maybe he was just trying to kid himself to spare his ego, but he didn’t think it was for lack of desire. She didn’t want to let go for some reason.

“I just… like, you have all these books in all these languages and you’ve been everywhere and you’re so young. It’s incredible.”

“Eh. I was… I guess the equivalent of an army brat.” That wasn’t entirely false, in the sense that she’d been ordered to travel around a lot by her boss who was also moving around a lot. Immortals tended to be busy. “I had to live a lot of places and when you live somewhere you pick up the language. Kind of have to. And then since I travel I don’t stop using them long enough to get rusty. Really, your life’s much more interesting.”

“Heh. Sometimes I wish my life was less interesting to everybody,” he said with a heavy tinge of irony.

Charmian wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, she really did. The difference between her interest in his life and the tabloid media’s was pretty comical. She had simply wanted to know everything about him, everything about this strange new version of her beloved Michael. She drank in his words and stories like an alcoholic drank their first bottle of whiskey in ten years – feverishly, in somewhat of a daze. Her barrage of questions wasn’t purely to deflect attention from herself; she wanted to know everything he could tell her. She was slowly beginning to get used to the new looks and the newer mannerisms. Sometimes she swore that she could almost see the shadow of Michael’s features in his face, something about the cheekbones. Yet for all that, even knowing that they were the same soul, there was something different about Justin. Maybe it was the effect of success.

“Pretty night, huh?” She changed the subject, staring up at the stars. Despite her age, she still got a kick out of the humans thinking that immortals or angels or whatever they wanted to call them lived in the sky. They lived in houses and apartments like everybody else.

“Eh. Where I come from, without all the city air and smog and stuff, it’s so much clearer and brighter. I guess city nights don’t move me much.”

Charmian glanced at his face, smiling softly. That was an incredibly Michael thing to say. When he had been a Parisian socialite, he had often complained that the city was tedious and he far preferred his family’s country estates. In his poetic phase (before he’d met Byron and got more involved with wenching than writing) he’d written entire odes to the countryside.

“When you put it like that…”

“Hey, watch it!” Justin was too busy looking annoyed at the man who had barged between them without so much as an ‘excuse me,’ but Charmian’s face had immediately drained of blood and her hands were trembling.

This could not be happening. Not here, not now, the first time she’d taken Justin out. The last thing she needed was some guy to brush up against her and feel the cold ice in her stomach which told her she’d been touched by a demon. And not just her usual demon, the type of demon that truly possessed people. The type she couldn’t beat without a knock down, drag out fight to the death. The type she hated because she had to kill the innocent human being it had possessed in order to destroy it. The type she was going to have an extremely hard time explaining.

Unfortunately for her, there was no avoiding it. Even if it hadn’t been against her sacred duty to suffer such an abomination to live, the minute they touched it too would have recognised what she was. This type of demon was a lot stronger and had far more powers, so unlike its lesser relatives it could recognise an avenger as well as an avenger could recognise it. And even if she could have walked away, it certainly wouldn’t.

This was the trouble with mortal enemies; they always wanted to kill you.

“Avenger.” Its teeth curled up in cruel scorn, and Charmian wanted to cry. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“I see somebody’s had a few tokes tonight.” Justin rolled his eyes, took Charmian’s arm and pulled her as if to leave, but instead her response was to push him back behind her.

“Huh? Charmian, what the…”

“Stay behind me, Justin.” Her voice rang low, vibrating heavily.

“What the fuck? You don’t need to have a Mexican stand off, he’s just some ass with no manners.”

“Oh, he doesn’t know.” The smirk got wider and became a grin. Charmian uttered a silent apology to the soul that she knew would be watching from inside the eyes, powerless to stop its own body betraying it. “Well this’ll be fun. First I’ll kill you, then I’ll educate him.”

“Kill?” Justin sounded panicked. “Char…” he tried to pull away, obviously trying to be a gentleman and put himself between her and harm, but he was stunned to be shoved forcefully back into the doorway of the adjacent building.

“Stay. Behind me.”

“Yeah. Because that’ll save his ass.”

Charmian made the first hit, a swift judo kick to the stomach that the demon parried and followed with a sound right hook to her cheek. He then tried to get her in the solar plexus, but she retaliated with a swift uppercut that sent his head flying backwards.

 Justin could only watch in horror – he’d been about to charge in between them and get her out of there but he was quickly realising that he’d only get his face flattened. The sheer speed with which they were moving was frightening, it look like the kind of professional kung fu scene they’d film for a movie and then play back speeded up to make it look faster. Only this was real. The little woman he’d just had fries with, who was extremely slim and doll like, was pounding the crap out of and being beaten herself by a guy who had threatened to kill them both and he had no idea why. He felt his stomach cramp up when he saw Charmian get thrown into a pile of trash cans, terrified. He didn’t understand it, the guy was dressed in an inexpensive suit with a tie and he looked like he was just coming home from the office, your typical nine to five. What was happening?

“Ready to die, bitch?” The demon spat out, flecks of blood and saliva hurtling from his mouth. It looked like she’d taken out some teeth.

Justin understood even less when Charmian stood up, eyes narrowed in a manner which he could only liken to some kind of cobra before it made its deadly strike, and suddenly began to transform. Transform, instantaneously, in the street, within a split second. One moment she was standing there in her girly dress and jacket, the next she was some post-apocalyptic gladiator. In head to toe black, leather gauntlets covered her arms with a strange silver crest glinting at her wrists. She had a sword in her hand.

An actual sword.

A sword that was burning brightly in the dark night.

A flaming sword.

Which had appeared from nowhere.

A flaming sword.

‘My fucking date has a flaming fucking sword in her fucking hand,’ he thought deliriously as Charmian’s lip curled up in a furious sneer. The rage was emanating from her almost like heat from a fire. Then finally she spoke.

“After you, bitch.”

The demon began ducking and diving, but for the first time doubt began to fill its eyes as it realised its disadvantage. She was armed, it wasn’t. It grabbed a trash can lid and attempted to use it as a shield, but that quickly showed itself to be futile when one touch of the sword made it disintegrate in his hands.

After what seemed like an eternity to her Charmian finally managed to make her strike, straight through the heart. Normally at this stage she’d be looking at the eyes, trying to mouth some final words of comfort to the dying soul within, but immediately she’d twisted back to see Justin’s horrified face. His mouth dropped open in panic and dread as the sword’s fire engulfed the body and started turning it to ash.

With a final flash both flame and demon were gone, no trace of either left in the street. She started to move towards Justin, who by this point was on his feet, but immediately he scrambled backwards.

“Stay the hell away from me.”

“Justin...”

“Fuck you!”

“Please…”

“Get the fuck away from me!”

He started to sprint in the other direction, but before he’d got more than about 20 yards she had appeared back in front of him. He nearly tripped over his own feet trying to stop.

“What the hell are you?”

“Justin, I can…”

“No, get the fuck away from me!” He tried to run again, but again she managed to put herself back in front of him at superhuman speed.

“Justin, please don’t make me do this, please just come with me.”

“You fucking freak, get the hell away from me!”

“Lucas!” She screamed silently inside her head, heart cleaving in two with the cruel name.

Within a split second, Justin found himself surrounded not only by Lucas but by Zachariah, Carmel and Nathaniel.

“We all heard you.” Carmel’s voice sounded grimly in her head, and the looks on her friends’ faces were enough to tell her that they had deduced what had happened. Charmian had only meant to call Lucas, but in her pain she’d accidentally sent the message out to all of them. It had been like a siren going off in their ears.

“What the FUCK is this? Who the fuck are you people?!” Justin’s head whipped around wildly, trying to see a way out but finding none. He had seen what Charmian was capable of and clearly whoever these people were, they were the same.

Seeing the distress on Charmian’s face, knowing she was choking back tears, Lucas decided that as her deputy he needed to take charge momentarily. “You know as well as I do that there’s no point running, Justin, we won’t even break sweat. You can make it easy or hard for yourself.”

“Who do you think you are, the damn Corleones? Who are you, how’d you know my name?” Justin asked in disbelief, breathing heavily and trying not to have a panic attack. “What’s she going to do, kill me too? Or are you all here to do it for her?”

“Silly boy,” Carmel said sadly, softly. “We’re here precisely because she doesn’t want to hurt you.”

It was true – Carmel as usual had her all figured out. Charmian had called Lucas because she couldn’t bring herself to take Justin against his will. She was hoping that if he saw himself outnumbered he’d figure it within his best interests to come quietly.

Justin was confused, overwhelmed, frightened and quite possibly about to wet his pants in sheer terror. He could see that Charmian looked desperately sad and had lost all that usual mysterious composure that he found so attractive, but it wasn’t much comfort when you were surrounded by a group of magic super heroes who were quite possibly going to make you burn up in a ball of smoke.

“Justin,” Nate put on his preacher voice, the soft and calm one he used for distressed visitors to the confession box. “As hard as it may be to believe, we’re not the ones you should be afraid of. Come with us, we’ll explain everything. But you need to come with us because you’re not safe out in the open here.”

“Clearly not,” he spluttered, looking frantically from face to face but not seeing any escape options. God, and to think five minutes earlier the only thing on his mind had been whether he could loosen her up enough to get a goodnight kiss out of her.

“Believe me, we know how big this is and I understand why you’re freaked, but you got to trust us,” Lucas continued. “There’s more where that demon come from and we can’t protect you if you don’t let us.”

“D-d-d-demon?” Justin stuttered in a whisper.

“We’ll explain everything,” Carmel replied, watching out of the corner of her eye as a tear slipped down Charmian’s cheek. “Just come with us.”

At the sound of the crash coming from the next room, Lucas winced.

“How much more of my stuff are we gonna let her break before somebody goes in there?”

“And get our skulls smashed in?” Zachariah snorted.

“Not like it’d kill you.”

“I’ll pass, thanks all the same.”

Carmel raised her head from where it was resting in her arms with a pained look. “I already feel like she’s smashed my skull in, way she’s screaming. If she yells any louder Michael is going to hear her and then it won’t be our skulls so much as our asses we have to worry about.”

Justin was utterly perplexed by this entire conversation, but his confusion was outweighed by the nausea and the terror. He hadn’t heard a word from the next room, what did they mean about her yelling? He could hear the shattering and crashing well enough and assumed Charmian was throwing things at the wall, but not a word had come out of her mouth. What did they mean getting their skulls smashed in wouldn’t kill them? What kind of freak did you have to be to survive having your head beaten in?

Then again, he surmised grimly, given that they could appear from nowhere and move at superhuman speed – as well as call flaming swords from thin air – it shouldn’t be all that surprising that they were deviants who apparently didn’t die too easy. It was like being stuck in the middle of Highlander.

Lucas smacked the table in frustration. “I wish we knew what was going on.”

“Yeah, about that…” Justin interrupted. “Anybody planning on explaining what the fuck is going on the hostage any time soon?”

“You are not a hostage,” Zac answered rolling his eyes.

“So then I’m free to go?”

“Nope,” he said without so much as a tinge of irony.

“So I’d be a hostage then.”

“Think of it as being under witness protection,” Carmel replied, not unsympathetically. “I know this is major league weird for you, but you’re safe in this house.”

“Safe with the kidnappers?”

“Safe with no less than four lean mean fightin’ machines and the power of Heaven guarding your ass,” Lucas said. “Though maybe we shouldn’t count Charmian until she calms her ass down.”

“I counted five of you.”

“Nathaniel’s the book guy. Couldn’t go three rounds with a toddler.”

“Why are we talking about Nathaniel when we should be talking g about how to get our beloved leader to stop with the wrathful rampaging?” Carmel asked impatiently.

“Yeah,” Lucas mused aloud, “why is it that she stayed so briefly in denial but is spending so long in the anger stage? Why isn’t it time for bargaining yet?”

“That’s what you get for repressing shit for…”

Carmel clapped a hand over Zac’s mouth before he could finish the sentence and alert Justin to just how old Charmian was. He wasn’t taking things particularly well and she thought that little snippet of information needed to wait for a few minutes… or weeks. Years if at all possible.

“Look, Justin…” she said uncomfortably. “We could tell you, but wouldn’t you rather hear this from Charmian?”

“What’s the difference if it comes from you or She Ra in there?”

“Oh boy.” She sat back in her chair, casting her eyes heavenward and inwardly asking herself ‘why me.’ “You know we don’t scare easy, being hostile isn’t going to make us let you go.”

“And when exactly are you letting me go?”

“As soon as we can work out how we’re going to keep you breathing,” Lucas answered shortly. “So shut up and stop being so fucking ungrateful.”

“Why don’t we just get the old man in here to tell him?” Zac sighed. “Charmian’s obviously lost it and maybe if he knew he’d stop giving us so much shit.”

As if by magic (when actually he’d heard them arguing loud and clear, only being in the next room with Lucas’s book collection), Nate stepped through the doorway. “You avengers. Crush, kill, destroy - you’re like bulls in a china shop, no sensitivity at all. Never had any kind of bedside manner.”

Zac rolled his eyes, absently rolling a set of nun chucks back and forth across the table. Lucas was something of a weapons collector. “You’re a Catholic priest; you’re in no position to make jokes about bedside manner.”

Lucas smirked. “I still don’t get that, by the way.”

Nate ignored him and walked across the room to Justin, sitting in the armchair opposite. “Justin, we haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Nathaniel, though you can call me Nate. I’m the priest over at St Augustine’s.”

“Charmed, I’m sure,” Justin bit out sarcastically. The desired effect was lost on Nate, who continued to smile benignly at him.

“Believe it or not, I understand that this is bewildering and frightening for you. I imagine you’re also smarting a little that Miss Charmian wasn’t completely open with you.”

Justin shifted uncomfortably in his seat, folding his arms defiantly and refusing to meet the gaze upon him.

Nate sighed. “Because you feel connected to Charmian, don’t you? The second you laid eyes on her, you felt like you’d known her forever.”

“I don’t believe in that bullshit.”

“And yet you feel it. I expect you’ve probably dreamed of her, too. Dreams of places you’ve never been to, different times?”

He remained silent, but Justin’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly and he began to get very nervous. How could this guy possibly know all of this? Were they all psychic too?

“You have been there before. Those weren’t dreams, they were memories. Of past lives.” Justin was about to interrupt with a derisive comment, but Nate rushed on before he could. “And if you’re about to say you don’t believe in them then I ask you to think on what you’ve witnessed tonight and re-evaluate very carefully your idea of what is or isn’t possible.”

“Look, Justin…” Carmel interrupted the conversation, perching herself on the arm of Nate’s chair. “The truth is that Charmian… all of us… well… we’re different.”

“No shit.”

“We’re immortal.” She carried on, ignoring him. “We were human once, but we were called on by the higher power to protect the human race from demons, like the one Charmian killed tonight. That’s why we’re so fast, that’s why we’re so fancy with the martial arts and that’s why you felt like you’d known her forever. Because you have, you’ve met her in past lives when you were someone else. Normal people get reincarnated regularly with new lives and a blank slate, but for some reason you remember more than you’re supposed to and that’s why you remember Charmian, even if you didn’t realise it was memories drawing you to her so strongly. For some reason you’re different that way, which is why we think the demons want you.”

“So you guys are telling me you’re… angels?” Justin asked incredulously.

“Fuck no.” Lucas laughed. “I guess we do the same kind of shit for God or whatever you want to call the higher power but we don’t play harps, we don’t sit on clouds and we’re not that well behaved.”

“Even if I believed you… and I’m not saying I do,” he rushed to qualify the statement, “why would a demon want me?”

“We don’t know,” Carmel replied, “that’s why we’re not letting you go just yet. We knew you were being watched by the other side, which is why we’ve been keeping an eye on you ourselves, but that guy you met tonight is a step up from your usual everyday demon and the fact that he was anywhere near you is too much of a coincidence. I know you think we’re just some kind of freaks who are getting off on fucking with you, but we’re not. What’s happening is worrying in extremis and we can’t let you go back out there until we‘re sure we can keep you safe – Lucas’s house is surrounded by protection sigils, demons can’t enter, it’s the safest place for you right now.”

“I’m gonna regret asking, but what’s an everyday demon?” The scepticism remained, but the fact that Carmel sounded so deadly serious was starting to perturb him.

Zac shrugged. “You’ve probably met a few. They’re spirits who invade the bodies of humans; they sit in your head and try to encourage you to do evil. Kind of like the opposite of a conscience. If you resist them long enough then they leave, but if you give in then they get stronger and they keep going until they’ve turned you into a real son of a bitch.”

Carmel nodded. “It’s our job to find them and smoke them out before things get too far and they’ve successfully damned the person they infected.”

“So you just go around sticking swords in all those people?” The look on his face was blanched, horrified.

“No.” Lucas shook his head. “We can drive everyday demons out by touch, so long as they haven’t got too strong. The one you met tonight was different; that’s the type of demon that can really possess someone and make them act against their will. We’ve tried for years to figure out some way of dispossessing the host without killing them, but we’ve never found an exorcism that works. Our weapons are the only thing that gets it done – it’s sacred cleansing fire.”

“It just has an unfortunate side effect of killing the poor bastard who got taken over.” Zac shook his head, a glimmer of anger in his eyes. Being the youngest, he had not yet become so desensitised to the injustices of their line of work.

“So, what, Charmian was dating me to keep tabs on me?” He tried to stay neutral, but a shard of anger and hurt pierced his voice. Then he reminded himself that he didn’t believe them anyway, they’d clearly escaped from some nut house.

“Uhh… that part really is going to have to come from Charmian and not us.” Carmel fidgeted uncomfortably, nervously picking at her nails. “Suffice to say, if I were you I’d start co-operating with us because you are not getting out of here until we say you are.

Justin huffed silently to himself and said nothing. He was Justin fucking Timberlake, he’d faced down crowds of thousands and packs of ravenous paparazzi. If they though a few looney tunes freaks fresh from the asylum were going to intimidate him or keep him captive, they were wrong.

He just had to work out how to sneak past them without ever coming into contact with the big honking swords.

Justin peered cautiously around the corner, eyes watching warily for any signs of movement. There was twenty feet between him and the door – such a short distance, and yet it felt like miles. Gingerly he crept out from behind the wall, wincing every time the floorboards creaked. In the silence the small noises rang like gunshots. Slowly, as stealthily as he could, he closed the gap between himself and freedom.

He was not eight feet from his goal when a blade appeared at his throat.

“I’m tired, I’m bleeding, and I’m pissed off. Don’t even think about it.”

Within an instant, Zachariah had arrived. “Overkill, Lucas.”

“Ahh!” Justin grunted aloud. “Why will you people not leave me alone?”

“Happily, so long as it’s in these four walls. And don’t think Carmel and Zac aren’t bored of catching you every time you try this. You’re surrounded by teleporting super speed immortals, you know.” Lucas slipped the blade back in its scabbard and as if by magic it vanished, leaving him to start stripping off his armour. “You’re never going to get out that door until we let you.”

Justin didn’t reply. He was too busy staring at the number of scratches and cuts Lucas now bore. A nasty scrape grazed one cheek, and his eye was swelled half shut. He also noticed the same leather crested wrist guards Charmian had been wearing – an axe and a bat set against a maroon background. It struck him as an odd symbol for people who were supposed to be the good guys.

“What happened to you?” He asked.

“Same thing that happened to you and Charmian. Only I took more damage than she did.” He shrugged, but instantly regretted it and grimaced. He’d disturbed one of his many wounds and it stung.

“Really?” Zac’s brow furrowed, looking perturbed. “That’s alarming.”

“Why?” Lucas’s head immediately jerked up from where he’d been wrestling with his straps. Something in Zac’s tone told him that this was more than simple surprise.

“Carmel is currently upstairs worshipping the porcelain god after cleansing a serial.”

“Serial killer?” Justin exclaimed in horror.

“Rapist,” Zac said casually, as if that was any better. “Worse, he was already a serial rapist before he got his demon on.”

“What?” Lucas cried in disbelief. “That’s absurd.”

“Why?” Justin asked. “Way you guys tell it that should be an all you can eat deal for these things.”

“I see your logic but that’s not how it works,” Lucas responded. He looked greener than he had when he walked in, even though his cuts were fading before Justin’s very eyes. “Demons feed off the corruption process. When they invade somebody who’s already that corrupted they don’t get much food out of it, so there’s no point. All it does is aggravate the bastard they’ve infected and force a psychotic break.”

“Yep. So we have demons taking people over for fun instead of food now. Isn’t that something?” Zac chirped with false gaiety before turning to Justin. “So if you wouldn’t mind quitting these doomed escape attempts, we’d appreciate it. We have better things to do.”

“Damn it.” With a wave of his hand, Lucas sent the rest of his armour into the ether along with his sword. “Has Char stopped the tantrums long enough to help?”

“Last I checked, she’s in the library with Nathaniel. Won’t talk to anybody else.”

“Oh well. It’s an improvement from destroying all my shit,” he sighed.

Without really being conscious of what he was doing, Justin turned around and headed in the direction of the library. He told himself he just wanted to get away from Lucas and Zac and their disturbing conversation; the truth was that he was hoping to find Charmian, although he would have denied it if anybody had asked. Although when she’d started having her little fit he’d been happy to avoid her and had been doing so ever since, the more time he spent around these people the more convinced he was that there was something he didn’t know – something to do with Charmian that they were all dancing around. It was amazing how every time he started questioning them too much on the topic they all disappeared or changed the subject.

She was their leader; that much he’d worked out. He’d also deduced that the violent temper she’d been in was uncharacteristic – they all seemed at a loss as to how to deal with her, and as if they were scrambling for any kind of order without her. There was a hierarchy; that much was obvious. Lucas was clearly in charge in Charmian’s absence, but Zac also seemed willing to take orders from Carmel. A few other faces had come in and out but none stayed as the others did and none displayed the same wristbands as the four, even Father Nate.

He hovered uncertainly outside the library door until he heard a “come in.” Gingerly he pushed it open, revealing Nate crouched over a desk and frantically scribbling.

“If you were looking for Charmian, she’s not here.”

“Uhh, no, not really. Not sure what I’m looking for.”

Nate smiled wryly without looking up. “I’ve met few humans who are, especially being a priest. How are you keeping?”

“Apart from being a hostage I’m fine.”

Nate put his pen down and swung around in his chair to face Justin. Gesturing at the seat next to him, he smiled kindly. “I know they can seem like hard asses but I promise you, every one of them is prepared to defend you to the bitter end.”

“Heh.” Justin eased himself into the chair, idly wondering if Charmian had been in it earlier. Zac had said she’d been in here. “So what you working on?”

“Well, now that Charmian’s feeling a little… better,” he chose his words carefully, “she’s asked me to try and look a little further into the odd demon behaviour and what it has to do with you.”

“Why are you all so certain this is about me? I mean, I know I’m famous but I doubt Satan or whoever cares.”

Nate tapped his fingers together thoughtfully, a slight frown on his face. “It’s hard to know how much to tell you. You’re quite overwhelmed as it is and as annoyed as you are about it, some of it really ought to come from the lady herself.”

“I can handle it.”

“We’ll see,” he sighed. “Very well. We’ve already told you that you’ve had past lives, yes? And that you knew Charmian in them?”

“Yeah.”

“Well. Charmian, as we’ve told you, is an avenger, and Lucas, Carmel and Zachariah are her lieutenants. You may have seen their wrist guards?”

“Yeah. Kind of ugly.”

He chuckled. “The mark of an elite group. There are thousands of avengers across the globe and precisely four of them wear the crest. They’re heraldic symbols, medieval. Do you know what they mean?” Justin shook his head, so Nate continued. “The axe symbolises the execution of military duty, the bat an awareness of the powers of darkness. And the maroon background means patience in battle, though victory in the end. It may seem like an odd combination but when you know the significance I think it fitting.”

Justin frowned. “I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”

“As with any sermon, we have a way to go before the truth of the lesson emerges. Now, what you need to understand is that we immortals have a single purpose in our lives. When we are raised, it is to a specific calling and we are bound to that calling for eternity – no swapping, no crossover, no occasionally picking up the slack for another group, one job and we stick to it. And yet, for reasons unknown to us, Charmian was many centuries ago given a second task.”

“What?”

“Protecting you, as your guardian, throughout your lives.” When Justin looked flummoxed, he hurried to explain. “One such calling is as a guardian, immortals who are assigned to protect specific individuals from demons. You don’t get a guardian in the first place without being significant in the bigger picture, but to get an avenger… it’s unprecedented and can only mean you have a crucial role to play. We’ve always known there was something different about you because of that, but in all these years we’ve never worked out what. In all your lives we have tried to protect you, and in all of them so far we have failed.”

Justin’s eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me that you got me killed a bunch of times before? That’s not filling me with confidence here.”

Nate tried to let out a laugh, but it came out as more of a sad huff of air. “Us either. The reason we keep you here, Justin, is not because we want to imprison you. It’s because we know you’ve been a target in all your previous lives and because this time, there’s a lot of very strange demon activity around you. Whatever they want you for, we think now is the time in which they’re really going to go for it. Hence why we’re keeping in a place we know they cannot enter.”

“But you can’t keep me locked up forever. People tend to notice a lot faster when a celebrity goes missing.”

“I know, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he sighed. Then, suddenly, he changed the subject. “You know what surprises me, Justin?”

“What?”

“Most people on learning they’ve had past lives want to know everything about them. Except you, you’ve yet to even ask.”

“What’s to know? I lived, I died. I live again.”

“Hmm.” A small smile started playing at his lips. “I’m sure curiosity will get you soon enough. Anyway, what I need you to understand is that although I know you’re angry with Charmian, everything she’s done has been in an attempt to protect you. She takes your safety very personally.”

“Yeah, she seems like a workaholic.” Justin snorted loudly. “She’s the big cheese with these guys, right?”

“Yes and no. She answers to another immortal, one higher than any of us, but among the avengers she is by far the most accomplished. I’ve always thought it was the maternal instinct in her.”

“Maternal?” Justin laughed incredulously. “The ass kicking she gave that guy didn’t seem very milk and cookies to me.”

“A mother’s first instinct is to protect,” Nate replied simply. “And I always thought she’d have made a rather good mother. An avenger’s job is horrific and many of the others have to completely emotionally shut down in order to it, but she never has. As you can tell by the fit of rage she had earlier she’s plenty in touch with her emotions.” He paused, as if he was questioning the wisdom of what he was about to say, but then continued.  “She really is rather upset that you had to be exposed to all of this, you know. She’s only angry because she didn’t want you to see her killing anyone; she hates an audience for these things, makes the guilt worse and in any event she’d never want you to think badly of her.”

“What… you mean all of that… was about me?” Justin asked, astounded. He had assumed that she was so angry because of the strange occurrences messing up her well oiled machine and that things hadn’t been going her way. It had never even crossed his mind that she might be upset on his account.

“Who else?” Nate picked up his pen and started writing again, eyes flicking between the pad and the book he was making notes from. “She cares for you greatly, you know. She’s spent centuries giving everything she has in trying to save you, and not just while you’re alive either.”

“Because it’s her job, you said.”

“And do you always give everything you have to your job, Justin? Or do you find some things motivate you more than others?”

He was about to retort with an indignant denial, but then Justin realised that it wouldn’t really be true. He had off moments. He had days when he felt too tired, or was sick of the paparazzi or was bored of being asked the same question for the millionth time. There were times when he really didn’t want to sign autographs or where he wished he had a night off instead of having to go to another event. There were radio interviews he’d made excuses for and cancelled. Nate was right, he didn’t always give everything he had one hundred percent of the time - and he’d only been doing his job for a couple of decades.

He couldn’t lie, not to Nate and not to himself. The idea that this woman he’d become so quickly infatuated with had spent multiple lifetimes running around after him had made his pulse quicken in a way that kind of scared him.

Anton frowned at his phone, sliding his finger down the screen and reading the e-mail he’d been sent. He’d yet to convince his bosses of the potential of social networking, but he himself made sure to have multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts. They had possibility as corrupting influences, but more than that they were like an instant plug in. It was amazing how handy they were for gathering information – sometimes however, like today, he didn’t like what he was seeing.

Drumming his fingers on the table top, he barely even looked up when his long awaited guest finally slid into the seat opposite him. Instead he merely raised his latte in greeting before taking a sip.

“What news on the Rialto?” His newly arrived colleague asked.

“None.”

“So why do you look so pissed?”

“Because no news is not good news, especially when we’re talking about high profile musicians with important roles in the apocalypse. You got anything for me?”

“No.” Alastor shrugged, running his finger around the rim of his mug rather than drinking the coffee. “It’s odd, it’s like the guy just vanished. Even our people on the inside haven’t heard from him in three or four days.”

“Hmm.” Anton’s eyebrows knitted together in an exasperated glare. It was amazing enough that he’d managed to convince the bigwigs to keep him on the job to begin with, after he’d let himself get caught and tortured – he was under no illusions that they’d keep him there if he screwed up and lost Timberlake for too long. “Is this usual?”

“Not completely unheard of, but still pretty weird. His cousin was due in town to see him and he doesn’t usually skip out on her.”

“Okay.” He let out an irritated sigh. “What’s the betting this isn’t a coincidence?”

“Coincidence with what?”

Sometimes, he really wanted to scream. Every time he had to deal with one of these dim witted foot soldiers with no appreciation for the bigger picture, he cursed himself for screwing up and getting demoted. He was so much better than this.

“The guardians worked out we were following him. They caught me and tortured me for twenty four hours straight trying to wheedle information out of me, and then the demon we sent after our boy disappears into thin air along with said boy. Do you really need me to spell it out for you?”

He took Alastor’s blank eyed silence as a ‘yes.’

“Starts with ‘av’ and ends in ‘enger.’ My bet is they iced Malachi and took Timberlake.”

Alastor’s expression hardened. “I thought you said you’d told them nothing. How would they know to go after him?”

“And I did tell them zippo, but you’re not connecting the dots here.” That was a lie, but then Anton wasn’t stupid enough to admit to giving up information. The strict rule was to give up nothing no matter how much they bled you, but nobody ever seemed to see that the better strategy was to use a little selective truth in order to send them on the wrong path. He knew far more than he’d let on but as far as the guardians were concerned he’d told them all he knew, thus ensuring they’d leave him alone for at least the time being. He was a very good little actor.

“Enlighten me.” Alastor may have been a little slow but he was well muscled and aggressive, staring Anton down with the eyes of an impatient predator.

“If they took me in the first place then obviously they know something is up – but they don’t know what, that’s what they wanted to get out of me. But of course as a precaution they’d tip the avengers to look out for greater demon presence, even if they didn’t know why, and if they caught a demon tailing somebody of course they’d kill it and take the target into protective custody. It’s not like these white hats are anything but boringly predictable.”

Alastor snorted. “Take a hell of a fighter to take down Malachi, even for an avenger.”

“Well since Charmian was in town not more than a week or so ago, betting is if it wasn’t her it was one of her faithful lapdogs. They do tend to follow her around like puppies.”

Anton was amused as Alastor spluttered on his coffee, losing a little colour. “Charmian’s in town?”

“Was. Whether she still is I can’t be sure, but best to assume the worst.”

They were so afraid of her, it was funny. People thought Anton was afraid of her after she had wrecked his career and kicked his ass multiple times, but it wasn’t true. He had more than enough respect for her ability to kill him, but he had something the rest of the cowards he worked with didn’t: a brain. Staying safe from Charmian was as simple as staying out of sight out of mind. He’d managed that for centuries before she finally noticed him, and even now she had she regarded him as an irritating but not particularly troublesome little gnat.

Although it had cost him dearly to give her that impression, it had saved his life. He’d quickly realised by the damage she’d done that he could either fight her in an attempt to maintain his reputation and probably die trying, or he could quickly surrender thereby convincing her – but unfortunately also his bosses – that he wasn’t a threat. He’d worked very hard to downplay just how dangerous he was, and even though it had left him rotting in the pit for a century or so it had kept him alive. The problem with the rest of the idiots he was forced to deal with was that they were far too obvious, they all wanted square up to a legend under the delusion that they could take her and they all paid for it with their lives. It wasn’t like her astounding successes hadn’t been publicised, they ought to know better.

He often wondered if they’d still underestimate her so spectacularly had she been a man.

“Well,” Alastor swallowed, trying not to give away just how nervous the idea of Charmian made him, “whoever it was I’m betting they took out Ipos too. I figured he’d just slipped off the radar, but if the Dream Team are in town then makes sense that he’d be dead.”

“When did Ipos go missing?”

“Yesterday.”

“Hmm.” Anton took a pensive gulp of lukewarm latte before continuing. “Little too early to assume he’s dead but you’re not wrong, if he did bite the dust that means they’re probably still around. Which means wherever they have JT it’s local.”

“What good does that do us? You know they’ll have him holed up somewhere covered in sigils where we can’t get in.”

“You have many talents, Alastor.” He silently commented to himself that none of them were intellectual. “But you do suffer myopia.”

“My what?”

It wouldn’t have been a good idea to directly call him short sighted, so Anton pressed ahead instead. “They can’t keep somebody as famous as Justin Timberlake locked up for too long without people reporting him missing. We just have to watch out and let them bring him back out to us. In the meantime, I go to the bosses and bargain for a few reassignments up top.”

“Why?”

Lord, if only he could stab the idiot through the heart and be done with him. Why was he reduced to working with such pond scum? Back in the day he’d been partnered with people who understood him, who were his equals. Sure they were all bloodsucking bastards who constantly sought to claw their way up the hierarchy at his expense, but at least he didn’t have to spoon feed them.

“Because the avengers know we’re around, so they’ll be hunting us. They can’t tell Timberlake what’s going on but they’ll probably have fed him some cover story that’ll put him on his guard – they’re a government agency, he’s on a terrorist target list, some bull like that – and warned him not to trust anybody new. Right now we need people with a little more ability to blend in.”

“You saying my boys can’t blend in?” Alastor bristled.

He raised an eyebrow at him and then rolled his eyes. “You’re all hulks with buzz cuts and tattoos; most bystanders would assume you’ve done hard time. No offence but you don’t exactly scream ‘look at me, I’m trustworthy.’”

“What are you saying?”

If he wasn’t a demon, Anton would have been asking God to save him from the moron opposite. “We need to get close to Timberlake, not send him running to his bodyguards. We need a little more subtlety which means lower profile agents.”

“So you want me to ask Abbadon to switch out our guys?”

It simply couldn’t be possible to be any slower. It was like the man had a negative IQ. “That’s exactly what I want you to do.”

And in the meantime, as per usual, Anton would be forced to do all the important stuff himself because nobody else had the requisite brain cells to do it. Woe was him.

“Oww!”

“You deserve it.” Charmian glared at Lucas as she continued cleaning his wounds without mercy. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking there was a demon about to kill innocents. You know, it’s kind of my job to do the slicing and dicing.”

“Not when it’s fucking Narjin it’s not.” She continued eyeballing him, making him wince – even though she was perched on the bed behind him, he could still feel the gaze drilling into the back of his head. Lucas was such a good little soldier that he rarely incurred Charmian’s wrath; he’d almost forgotten how well she could ream you a new one. “You know he’s too much for you.”

“Well who else was going to do it?”

“You do remember that we’re all telepathic, right? Calling for back up is not difficult.”

“If he’s too much for me, he’s too much for Carmel and Zac.”

“And me?”

“Well you’re not…”

“I’m not what?” She asked menacingly. Possibly she was being too hard on the guy, but he’d nearly got himself captured. Immortal though they might be immune to pain they were not - and eternity was a hell of a long time to spend being tortured by demons.

“I just mean…” Lucas’s mind was racing frantically, begging itself to come up with a reasonable sounding end to that sentence which didn’t accuse her of having gone nuts and temporarily abandoned them. “You have a lot going on and you need to be with Nate getting the research, that’s all. I know it’s important that you get it done, and I thought I could handle it.”

Slightly mollified, Charmian crawled off the bed and knelt on the floor in front of Lucas, moving on from his back to his front. Narjin had done some evilly efficient work – Lucas’s chest and back were cut to ribbons, and clearly the blade had been tipped in something because they weren’t healing as fast as they ought to. That was all she needed, her best lieutenant out of action. A touch of guilt pushed at her stomach; she’d been very preoccupied, first with her temporary meltdown and then with all the book scouring she’d been doing. Nate was desperately trying to find something, anything to indicate what the significance of Justin might be to the demons and she was trying to help him cut down the workload. It also handily helped her avoid Justin. She knew he was asking questions and she had no desire to answer them. It was the one thing she’d never had to do in eight meetings of his soul – explain who she really was. And her team was suffering for it.

“You still should have called me. Duty first, you know that.”

“Should I? Are you in it boss?” He decided to be bold. “Nobody could blame you for being distracted, but you’re no good to us in the field if you are.”

Some leaders might get outraged by such a thing, but Charmian was chastened. Lucas rarely dared question her. They had become immortals mere centuries apart – by their standards, it was like being in the same grade at school. They’d come up in the ranks together, he’d been by her side through thick and thin and even when she had surprised everyone by turning out to be the better of the two he’d never complained or doubted that she should outrank him. If they’d been human people would probably have mistaken them for a couple in love, such was the loyalty and understanding between them. They weren’t – her heart belonged to another and Lucas was one of those immortals who probably never would fall in love, he was too dedicated to his calling. Yet the bond was unbreakable; had they been capable of dying, he would follow her to the death and she knew it.

All of it meant that if Lucas of all people was questioning her, she was in real trouble.

“Duty first,” she repeated. “Even when my love life is yet again causing chaos.”

Lucas sighed. “No luck at all?”

“None, I’m stumped. Is he still trying to escape every five minutes?”

“Less often, but still trying. You know, we’re getting to the point where we can’t hide him much longer without raising suspicions.”

“I know,” she replied grimly. “Still thinking on that little conundrum. How’s he taking the whole thing?”

Lucas privately thought that maybe she should ask Justin directly, but kept that to himself. “Better than I expected. He keeps bitching and making lots of snarky comments like he doesn’t believe us, but then he keeps asking questions too. I think he doesn’t want to believe it but at the same time knows he kind of has to like it or not. OWW!”

“Sorry.” She frowned on his behalf. “You know what he tipped his blade with? I’ve never seen this before.”

“No. Smelled of almonds.”

“I’ll get Nate to look into it; I know it won’t kill you but I don’t want this happening again. No point in you suffering.”

“And I’m no good to you if I’m all scratched up.”

“That was second on the list.”

It was as close as Charmian ever got to expressing her sisterly love for him, so Lucas gratefully took it. “So what are you going to tell Justin about all of this?” He refused to let her completely change the subject.

“Hell if I know.” Her lips pursed and her nose wrinkled pensively. “I can’t work out whether I’m best just coming out with it and expecting him to process the idea that we’re star crossed lovers or whether I should keep it business and stick to the guardian shit.”

“Do you think he’d trust us more?” Lucas asked. “I’m kinda worried that if we don’t get a little more co-operation out of him then putting him back in the real world could be a risk.”

“Well…” She thought as she dabbed at a particularly nasty cut grazing the top of his abs. “The Michael I know…” It was painful for her to say. “He’s not stupid, if he sees it’s for his benefit he’ll understand. I think we can convince him that it’s for his protection. Lord knows he won’t dare tell anybody for fear he’ll be called crazy, but we’re going to need him to do exactly what we tell him and that’s the part where I expect resistance.”

“Maybe that’s all the more reason for you to explain. I mean, the guy falls in love with you every lifetime, surely he’d believe you?”

Charmian smiled wistfully. Lucas had never been in love, not in his human or immortal life. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t know. “They call it falling because it’s a process. You don’t just get informed one day that you’re destined to be with this one person you barely know. Even if he does have some feelings about it, trying to force it or play on it prematurely usually causes more shit than it helps.”

“I just… how do you do it?” It was a question he’d never asked before, but his growing frustration coupled with the spectacular kicking of his behind that day had left his usual restraint damaged. “I don’t understand how you can spend lifetime after lifetime in a relationship with this guy when all this stuff is going on and knowing that he’s probably gonna die.”

She looked heavenward for a moment and then her eyes came back to meet his, looking sad. “When you love somebody that much, you don’t really get a choice.”

“Then love stinks.”

“Even the humans have worked that one out.” She shook her head. “Okay, I think that’s about as much as I can do except have Nate identify the poison.”

Lucas flexed his arms, groaning a little as it pulled at his various cuts. “How long do you think I’m down?”

She eyed him critically. “Between when you came in and how you are now… I’d say for every minute it’d usually take you to heal it’s taking more like fifteen, maybe twenty. You’ll probably be fine by morning, clearly this stuff’s only meant to disable us short term.”

“Sometimes short term is enough,” he replied gravely, looking at her with concern flickering behind his brown eyes. She knew what he meant – with the massive surge in demon activity, having one of them down for even an hour could be disastrous. Then with that thought came another…

“Hey…” her mind was whirring rapidly. “Maybe that’s the point.”

“Well duh.” He gave her a ‘no shit’ expression.

“No, I mean bigger picture. All these weird demon occurrences, acting oddly, more of the big bads up top, Carmel coming across a serial when we all know they don’t get food from serials… what if all this has no other purpose but to distract us and keep up busy?”

Lucas nodded slowly. “Like one big diversion.”

“Exactly like one big diversion.”

“For what?” That was the obvious next question. “Justin? I mean, it’d make sense. Would we have really noticed yet one more entertainer getting bitchy or going off the rails with all this other shit going on if we hadn’t caught them out by accident? It’s pure dumb luck that we even discovered who he was in the first place, and that Micah and Katherine happened to catch them stalking him.”

“I don’t know about that,” she replied grimly. “I’m starting to think there’s no such thing as a coincidence.”

“Should we…” He hesitated, not liking what he was about to say any more than she would. “Is it time to call Michael?”

He didn’t mean Justin, although confusingly Justin’s alter ego had also been called Michael. Michael was the immortal they all answered to, avenger supreme – what the humans would have called an archangel. So supreme, in fact, that he didn’t do any actual avenging; he was the general, he made the plans and they followed them. He was a scary man who didn’t like being summoned – he called you, not the other way around. He’d probably be livid at them if he heard there were screw ups or that they weren’t in full control of the situation, and the Justin/Michael saga had already tested his very limited patience over the years. It was testament to how screwed she thought they were that she even considered the idea.

“Not yet. I want a name to give him before we do that. Somebody’s pulling these strings.”

“Anton?” Lucas offered.  “We all thought it was strange they let him back out of his cage.”

“Hmm…” She pondered that idea. Her instinct was to dismiss it – she’d beaten Anton easily enough in the past, he’d never caused her much trouble. Then again, if Anton was anything he was devious. Maybe she should be safe rather than sorry. “I don’t think so, but we won’t scratch him off the suspect list yet. Carmel?”

As she had spoken her name she had sent a mental call, and rapidly she appeared beside her. “Yes Charmian?” Then she caught sight of her colleague. “Damn, dude, what happened to you?”

“Narjin, ass kicking, yadda yadda yadda.” Lucas waved an indifferent hand.

Charmian quickly interrupted. “Mel, you seen Anton around lately?”

“Not since we tortured his sorry ass.”

“How did he seem to you guys?”

Carmel’s head tipped to her left as she considered it. “Slimy and weak as usual. Didn’t take a whole lot of breaking.”

Briefly Charmian considered that assessment. “You wonder if it was too easy?”

Her head rapidly straightened up, neck making a slight click as it did so. “You think he wanted us to hear all that?”

“I don’t know.” Charmian shook her head. “I just know these demons are trying to wrong foot us and I don’t like it. Do we have any reason to think that he lied?”

“No, everything he said seems to have mapped out so far.”

“And oftentimes to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths,” Lucas said sardonically.

“The Globe, 1606,” Carmel quickly remembered. They’d been in London at that time having some fun with demons attempting to start off another plague. Once they’d got the job done, they’d rewarded themselves with one of the earliest showings of Macbeth – though sadly they couldn’t lay claim to having seen the very first.

“Good memory. Point being, you know the creep would think nothing of lying by omission.”

Charmian finally stood back up, folding her arms as she did so and glowering. “I think it’s about time we started keeping a closer eye on our dear friend Anton. Draw him back out of the woodwork.”

Once again, Lucas hesitated to speak. If she hadn’t liked the Michael idea, she was really going to hate this one. “Umm, I have a suggestion.”

“Yes?”

“Justin.”

“No.” The speed at which she answered was impressive.

“I hate to say it, but it makes sense Char.” Carmel was no happier about making the proposal than Lucas had been. “You first bumped into both of them at the same party; Anton was probably there for him. Whether he’s the major player or just a lackey, if Anton really does have anything to do with this then he’s going to want to get at Justin first chance he sees.”

“Justin’s not ready to leave here.”

“Then maybe we better get him ready.”

“He doesn’t trust us; Anton will play him like a cheap guitar.”

“Then maybe it’s time you actually talk to him.”

That was a step too far, and Charmian angrily flounced out of the room. Lucas raised his eyebrow at Carmel and pulled a face. “Nice going.”

Carmel turned on her heel and headed for the door herself. “Well somebody had to say it and it wasn’t going to be you, wuss.”

Sighing, Lucas flopped back on the bed and wondered, not for the first time, whether he would have been better off not accepting his ascension and living out his mortal life. Sure, he’d have died a penniless peasant who would be long forgotten by history, but at least he wouldn’t have to deal with all these women for eternity.

“You don’t have to worry about that, you know.”

Justin was getting really sick of these immortals creeping up on him. It was an unfair advantage and every time they did it he nearly jumped out of his skin. The way they skulked around the place like animals was stalker-like and disconcerting; he never knew if he was truly alone. He didn’t like the telepathy either; it was rude talking about him when he couldn’t hear to defend himself. Almost like that time he’d been in a business meeting for one of his European deals and two people more than capable of speaking English instead spoke Portuguese to each other - they just hadn’t wanted him to understand them, and these freaks were the same. Always looking at each other and making it obvious they were communicating but never cluing him in.

He also found the way they were so over familiar with each other very creepy. That was what he had been staring at, through the one way glass of Lucas’s gym. Charmian was simultaneously critiquing Zac’s knife throwing technique and tending to whatever wounds Lucas had picked up on his travels the night before. She was pressed up against him and running her hands over him in ways that from anyone else he would have assumed meant ‘couple.’ Yet for how tactile they were there was zero sexual chemistry there and both seemed entirely nonchalant about the whole thing. There was no intimacy. He couldn’t work it out; one more thing to add to the list of things he couldn’t work out.

“Why would I worry?”

“I don’t have to be immortal to know jealousy when I see it.”

“What’s to be jealous of?” Justin asked. He had meant that as a denial that he cared, but Carmel knew a little better.

“Nothing, but then I know you humans overanalyse things even when your brain knows better,” she replied shrewdly. “You have to understand Justin that we’ve known each other for longer than you can comprehend. We’ve seen everything together, know everything about each other… which means a lot of the boundaries you mortals have up between each other are pretty redundant to us. Zac’s even had his hands inside me.”

Justin’s face screwed up in distaste. “I do not need to hear about your sexcapades.”

Carmel threw back her head and laughed. “Dirty boy. I meant literally – a cheap blade broke off in my stomach and I healed back over before I could take it out. He had to cut me open and rummage around for it.”

He had to fight back a small amount of vomit. “I’m not sure if that’s more or less disgusting a mental image.”

“Well since I view Zac like my baby brother, I’d go for less. Anyway, that’s not the point. Point is… don’t read into it. Charmian and Lucas are a hell of a team and real loyal to each other, but that’s it. You can feel free to crush on her.”

“I’m not crushing on her.”

“And maybe somebody who hadn’t been alive as long as I have would believe you.”

“How long have you been alive?”

Once again she laughed at him. “Longer than I think you could deal with. Suffice to say, it’s been a while. I was twenty two when I was raised.”

“Yeah, I don’t get that whole thing. You guys have a lot of weird shit going on.”

“I’m taking that as a hint to explain.” She rolled her eyes. “Instead of all this complaining and fishing for answers you could just ask us, you know.”

When Justin couldn’t come up with a retort, she continued on.

“We don’t know why exactly we got chosen; only that it was for some specific personality traits that they thought would equip us to our callings. They took us from our families and gave us the choice – live as mortal or be called to a higher purpose. Not everybody agrees but most do and obviously we did, so we were changed.”

Justin frowned. “Like, they snatch you from your families? That sucks.”

“Oh it’s all very consensual. And to be honest once the change has happened and we become immortal we think differently – like, I can remember being human and having my kids, but as an immortal the emotion’s different.”

“Wait, wait… you had kids?” he asked in disbelief. “I thought you meant you were taken from your parents.” The idea that these people had just happily abandoned their kids somehow seemed worse to him than if it was their parents.

“Back in those days people had much shorter life spans and much younger families.” She shrugged. “It was considered normal to marry young, have kids young and even to die young. Zac and I were both parents, Lucas was married, only Charmian was still single and back then she’d have been considered weird for it.”

“But…”

“But nothing. I know it’s hard to understand when it’s so outside your experience, but we save humanity on a regular basis. It’s a worthy sacrifice.”

“And keeping me locked up is for the good of humanity?”

“Actually yes.” She glared at him, starting to get annoyed by his petulance and tetchy tone. No matter what conversation she started with him, he always managed to bring it back round to that as if they hadn’t told him a dozen or more time that it was for his protection. She understood that it was difficult to process but when it came to his attitude she was really over it. “When demons get what they want things tend to go badly for mortals and right now, they want you. Believe me, I would love for you to be able to get out and about if only for you to stop whining, but there’s no point in getting you hurt, captured or worse.”

“But…”

“Shh,” she interrupted him again, clearly listening to something in her head. Then wordlessly she pushed open the door to the gym and beckoned him in.

Justin was rather shocked. Obviously they’d both been summoned, but it was the first time Charmian had voluntarily been in a room with him since the whole sorry incident where he’d been subjected to a demon attack and then kidnapped. She looked surprisingly and annoyingly unaffected by that. He felt a little affronted; after all this drama you’d think she’d show at least some reaction. She was the one who’d been crying and throwing fits of wrathful vengeance against Lucas’s belongings because he’d found out what she was.

Nervously he glanced around the place; he really could have used a workout to let some of his frustration out but the room intimidated him too much. It looked like something from some sci-fi show; as well as the usual gym equipment there were racks of swords, knives, and bows and arrows. Various shields were mounted along the walls and disconcertingly, there was even a mace.

“So we have a game plan for tonight,” Charmian addressed Carmel.

“All ears boss.”

“Whatever they’ve used on Lucas, it’s nasty stuff.” Charmian pushed lightly against Lucas’s shoulder to make him twist around and display the final remaining cut. For somebody who’d been sliced open by a sword just the previous night it looked remarkably healed to Justin, scabbed over and just a little pink around the edges, but apparently by their standards it was a catastrophe.

“Do we know what it is?”

“No,” Lucas replied. “All I can tell you is it smelled like almonds and stung like a mother.”

“Whatever it is, it can hurt us and I don’t like it.” Charmian practically growled. “I’m guessing this must have been the original cut where the poison was used, since it’s the only one left. But until it’s healed Lucas is out of the fight…”

“Hey,” he protested,” I’m not an invalid.”

“You’ll heal quicker if you rest and for all we know exertion might aggravate it.” Her tone was firm and clearly brooked no dissension. Justin marvelled again at how blindly they all took her orders. “You stay here, Car and Zac you’re on patrol tonight but make sure you stick together. I don’t know how many others are going to be using this stuff so be careful – that goes double if you smell almonds. If you take anybody down, see if you can get the blades to bring home; they might not even be using it but if they are it’d be helpful to get something for Nate to look at.”

“Got it,” Zac nodded. “Will you be with Nate if we need you?”

“No, Justin and I are going out. I’ve got Micah and Katherine on call to watch him in case you need me though.”

Justin wasn’t sure who was most surprised – him, Lucas or Carmel. Zac looked unmoved by the unexpected piece of information.

“Really?” Carmel didn’t like excluding Justin from the conversation but didn’t want to let him in on anything Charmian didn’t want him knowing. As much as she’d pushed for this, the turn around was a little sudden. “You sure?”

“He needs to make a public appearance and I probably should talk to him at some point. I’m the only one who hasn’t had to deal with all his questions yet, my turn’s long overdue.”

“That’s all, you’re dismissed.”

The other three quickly disappeared in that irritating fashion Justin disliked so much. What was wrong with walking? Whatever else, it meant that he was without warning alone with the woman, and that made his palms itchy in a very sweaty and annoying way.

“So.” Charmian finally said. “Walk and dinner?”

Being millennia old had given Charmian a number of positive traits and experiences that it simply wouldn’t be possible for normal mortals to pick up. It had brought her the wisdom of the ages, first hand historical knowledge and a far better understanding of the evolution of society than any academic could dream of. Most human beings were either blessed with patience or not, but she had learned hers over many centuries. She had a very keen grasp of human emotions and motives, far better than any psychologist (and far cheaper too, she didn’t charge by the hour).

It was all this that allowed her to wander through the park, a stonily silent Justin at her side, without getting anxious or desperate to break the silence. She knew he’d crack long before she did.

She had purposely paraded him in front of The Ivy for dinner. It was much to her distaste to be so very obvious and attention seeking, but it bought her at least another week before anybody would be too concerned about his whereabouts. He had been quiet through the meal, picking at his food; she had merely smiled benevolently at him. The only time he had spoken was when she had suggested a walk through the public park afterwards – but the sarcastic comment about walking through dark unpopulated places at night had died on his lips as he remembered who he was with. Any mugger who came across them would be the sorrier for it.

Charmian enjoyed walking through places like that at night. For a moment it was easy to forget that a metropolis had been built around it and pretend that the country was as it used to be – covered in such vegetation, not tarmac and bricks. There was much about the Middle Ages she had been happy to leave behind, and she certainly acknowledged that the industrial and technological revolutions had brought about a lot of useful things. Still, sometimes even she was nostalgic for simpler times - and nothing more so than the way the world had once been lush and green.

“You know, I don’t get you.”

Finally, he had burst out with it. The corner of Charmian’s lips curved up ever so slightly. “In what respect?”

“You kidnap me, ignore me for an age, and now suddenly you take me out to dinner and don’t speak. What gives?”

“I figured maybe you’d like to set the conversation in your own time.” She shrugged, looking at her boot clad feet as they clipped a leisurely staccato against the path. “As for the kidnapping and ignoring you… I thought Lucas and Carmel had explained that to you already. At length, if her bitching is anything to go by. She says you’re stubborn.”

“Is that a change?”

A chuckle escaped her lips. “See now Nathaniel told me you weren’t interested in that. You lived, you died, what’s to know right?”

Justin really shouldn’t have been surprised that people had been giving her reports on him, but still it bugged him. If she wanted to know this stuff why was she putting in middle men all over the place? Why not just ask him?

“Well I’m asking now. Everybody seems willing to tell me all about demons and destiny and how being held hostage is all for my benefit, but nobody wants to tell me what the hell happened back then or what weird history you and I have that apparently only you can tell me about.”

Biting back a curse, Charmian pushed her hair nervously back behind her ear. “It’s all very complicated and nobody’s sure what to tell you. I’m sorry, not even we know everything.”

“That’s not why you’re refusing to answer my question though,” Justin challenged her, arms folded tightly across his chest even as he walked. For one thing he was a little cold, hadn’t brought a thick enough jacket, and for another Charmian had an incredible knack for bruising his ego. He wondered if she’d honed that over his past lives. He’d got beyond the point where he could doubt what they said to him was true any more – he’d seen too many of their powers and had too much faith in his own sanity to deny it – but he still didn’t understand a lot and even though she wasn’t the only one holding back information, he was irrationally more irked with her.

“True. But I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be so…” She held her hands out, still in the pockets of her coat. “Shoot.”

Justin didn’t need to be given a second opening. “Did you do your weird voodoo thing on a guy back there?”

“Well spotted.” She was surprised, it had been subtle. The demon was only in its infancy so hadn’t taken long to kill. The worst that would happen to the host was that he’d probably lose a fifty over the next few days. “Yes I did.”

“How can you tell he’s infected?”

“It’s different for each kind of immortal, but for avengers it’s the energy flow.” When he looked puzzled, she elaborated. “All life consists of energy, and it has a harmony to it. When a demon’s infected someone, it breaks up the flow and I can see it. It’s like a black pulse.”

“So how come he’s alive when that guy you sliced and diced isn’t?”

Oh he had to ask that – she hated killing people, even if it was her job, and she didn’t like talking about it. Still, she’d told him he could. “Whether or not you survive a normal demon infection is down to you and how much you give in to temptation. Since the demon’s only suggesting things, not in the driving seat, when we exorcise them the host just gets the relevant dose of karma for their choices.”

“So you have killed people that way.”

“Only people who really deserve it. Trust me, every time I do an exorcism I see what they’ve done - you wouldn’t be sorry that any of them were gone.”

Justin digested this information. As much as it perturbed him to think of this woman he’d had his big crush on as a killing machine, in a weird way it was kind of comforting to think that karma existed and that people did pay for their sins eventually. Though it also made him think he ought to start behaving better if the stuff was actually real.

“So why not that guy who was infected by the nastier one? He wasn’t in the driving seat, right, so he’s innocent? Zac said they didn’t survive but he didn’t say why.”

Charmian scratched her head, getting more uncomfortable by the second. “Because the only way to dispossess someone of that kind of demon is either beheading or a shot through the heart, but the problem is that kind of injury will kill a human being anyway and there’s no magic healing that gets done when the demon leaves the body. The guides – like Nathaniel – have kept trying over the years to find another way but if there is one then we can’t come up with it.”

Justin paused a moment, digesting that. “So how come karma can punish but not save?”

It was such a typically Michael question her throat almost closed off. “I’m assured they’re compensated, wherever it is they go.”

“You mean you don’t know?”

“I’ve never died.” Her cheek twitched. “How would I? The bosses don’t tell us.”

“So what about me? I died a whole lot, according to you. Where did I go? Why am I back?”

Finally, a conversation that didn’t remind him how often she killed people – this she could run with, this was safer territory. Gazing out at the trees, she took a deep breath and began. “Unless the demons succeed in damning your soul, all people get reincarnated every so often. You don’t remember anything about your past lives and you never run with the same people, but… you’re still you, at the core. The only difference is that in each life you’re born to a new place, new circumstances, and so that might bring out different sides of you. Like, it’s mostly nature but still some nurture.”

“Example? From my lives, I mean?”

“Okay…” She thought about it for a moment, trying not to feel the pain of remembering. Until she’d met Justin she’d done a great job of repressing things, having to confront them so directly was a difficult pill to swallow. “Like, once you were the son of a rich Parisian merchant, hobnobbed with royalty, lots of estates everywhere.”

“I was?” he didn’t voice his second thought, which was ‘cool.’ “So what does that mean?”

“It means that while you were still a decent guy, you were pretty spoiled and kind of entitled.”

“Hey!” He protested. “I am not spoiled or entitled!”

“Not now you’re not, but then in this life you’ve had to work for it.” He caught her gaze, and her head tipped to the left. “So you see what I mean?”

“I guess,” he replied begrudgingly.

Apparently this was too much information for now, and Justin fell silent again. Charmian didn’t press him, still walking on through the bushes and occasionally sneaking a peak at him. It was hard to gather what he was thinking; in proper light she could read his blue eyes in a moment, much as it hurt, but shrouded in darkness like this they were grey and harder to penetrate. His hands were now stuffed in his pockets, still closed off but less defensive than when they’d been crossed over his chest. Maybe she was being too hopeful, but she felt like he was listening to her; his tone was very slowly becoming less shrill and a little quieter. She’d purposely chosen the park so he could get pissed and loud without attracting attention or eavesdroppers.

It wasn’t long before he started up again.

“So… you’re my guardian?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re not supposed to be and none of you know why?”

Well if he didn’t listen to Lucas or Carmel he at least listened to Nate, she thought to herself wryly. “Correct.”

“Is that why I…” he suddenly stopped mid sentence, both in speech and in his tracks, standing still. Slowly Charmian turned to face him properly for the first time, fearing where he was going with this line of inquiry.

“Why you what?” It was a good thing she was so practised at hiding her emotions; otherwise she’d have been stuttering and shaking like a leaf.

“It sounds weird, but when we met I…” Justin couldn’t help it, couldn’t face admitting the truth, that he’d been hit with an instant schoolboy crush. “Just felt like I knew you somehow.”

Little did he know that even with the attempt to dodge the subject he was still on the exact same track – all roads led to Rome. Charmian winced a little, and in that moment he caught the expression and knew he was starting to hit home.

“What?” He pressed her.

“That’s…” God, how much should she tell him? She had no idea how much he could handle and even though she could catch him in half a second she really didn’t want him flouncing off in a huff. “People aren’t supposed to remember anything about their past lives or recognise anyone from them, not even their guardians. For some reason, you always recognise me somehow and we still haven’t figured out why. Which is made all the more complicated by the fact you shouldn’t have an avenger for a guardian in the first place.”

This wasn’t new information. “Fuck, there’s a shit lot you guys can’t work out about me.”

“I know. And may I say the whole eternal mystery thing is one of your less attractive qualities.”

He couldn’t help it; he let out a snort of laughter. The whole thing was so surreal and ridiculous that it was a choice between a little hysterical laughter and a panic attack; he chose the former. Then he sobered up once again. He’d come to get the truth out of her and couldn’t let her distract him with wise cracks.

“But you don’t run with any of the same people? Not even your past wife or anything like that?”

“No. The soul mates thing is a myth; you don’t connect to anything or anyone. Well… normal people don’t. You do.”

“You know what I remember about you?”

“No.” She was eyeing him like he was a King Cobra, and he knew he was getting closer. He noticed she didn’t ask him to go into detail.

“After I met you, I had dreams. Dreams of being a guy named Michael in Prague in a time I know nothing about. And I was with you.”

“Oh. Well… yeah, that happened. We visited Prague once, nineteenth century.”

“Oh, so the kissing part happened too?”

Too late Charmian saw the trap he’d weaved for her, and of course she’d stepped right into the blasted thing. He’d left out the crucial detail so he could blindside her with it; a trick actually invented by another immortal she knew very well, and she’d fallen straight for it. “Damn it.”

“So you want to explain why we were making with the smoochies? Or is that part of a guardian’s duty too, like a job perk?”

“Okay, you need to stop.”

“I ain’t gonna stop, you can’t order me around like one of your lackeys. Maybe they bow down to your every word but I still have a backbone of my own. So explain your damn self.”

“Don’t you EVER talk about them like that,” she replied menacingly. She really didn’t care if anybody else thought she was bossy, issuing orders and being the one with the plan was her job, but she objected to anybody putting down her team like that. They didn’t follow blindly - they were all far too smart to just do whatever they were told without question. Centuries later they’d all become much of one mind anyway, but if they dissented they said it. Insulting her team offended her far more than them, and offending Charmian was never a good idea.

“Why not? It’s the truth. You say jump they say how high, it’s the most sycophantic fuckery I’ve ever seen.”

“You know, in your past lives you never acted like such a typically arrogant little mortal,” she spat out. “You’re what, not even thirty? You’re barely a blip in the time line, and you think can you judge us when we were around before the pyramids? Sorry to bust your little bubble but you’ve seen shit and you know shit. They may follow me but they choose to because I’ve spent thousands of years proving to them that they can trust my judgment, so you can shut the fuck up because I will toss your ass across this fucking park if you open your mouth to insult  them like that again. Don’t think I can’t. ”

Ahh… he hadn’t actually thought about it like that. He objected to being called an insignificant blip in existence, but it was true enough that over thousands of years you probably got pretty comfortable in your team dynamics and knew how to roll with each other. Still, his pride wasn’t about to let him admit that, he was still too angry with her for his whole predicament. He’d long since decided she was to blame.

“Way to avoid the subject, Your Majesty,” he mocked her. “Having a hissy fit isn’t going to stop me noticing that you never answered my question.”

“Dear GOD I’d forgotten how obnoxious you get when we’re fighting!” She burst out, throwing her hands in the air.

“Ah ha, so we fought a lot? Sounds like a couple to me!”

“Oh for fuck’s…” Charmian put her hands on her hips, trying to breathe deeply. She had no need of the oxygen but it was still a good way to calm down. She really was going to wind up throwing him clear across the place if she didn’t regain composure. “Fine, okay, yes. We were involved. Happy now?”

Funnily enough, Justin realised, his game plan only extended to getting her to admit that there had been something going on between them. It had taken him a while to come to the suspicion – it only started when Nate had made an offhand remark (in defence to Justin’s continual complaints about his captors) that immortals were, underneath it all, little emotionally different from humans. They were just more compartmentalised, he’d said. That comment had played on Justin’s mind a little, and it had taken him a day or two to work out why. Charmian’s behaviour, had it been that of a mortal girl, would have immediately screamed “sexual tension” to him. Ignoring the person you liked was an age old avoidance tactic for difficult romantic issues and he’d merely overlooked that among all the supernatural weirdness. He just hadn’t had any proof of his theory until now. And now he had it, he had no idea what to do with it.

“All that stuff in your apartment, that box…”

“You rummaged through my things?” She was both angry and embarrassed by that.

“Did I give you all those things and letters? In my past lives?”

Squeezing her eyes shut, she fought the urge to kick something. “Yes.”

That silenced him for a moment. When he did speak, it was slowly and uncertainly. “But… those things… there were all different times and languages.”

“Yeeeees…” She replied gingerly, not sure where he was going with that.

“So… exactly how many times have we been involved?”

There it was. The question she had feared. The question that was going to lead to other ‘are we in love’ type questions.

“Eight.”

“You said I’d died eight times.”

Typical: why was his denial so selective? Why he did refuse to listen to all the explanations that they were keeping him locked up for his safety and yet still retained things like this which she didn’t want him putting together?

“Yes.”

“So… despite you saying that soul mates don’t exist and I’m not supposed to remember you, I do and we’ve been together in every one of my lives except this one.”

Charmian couldn’t even say the word this time. She could only screw her face up in agony and nod, pinching her nose to try and quell the rising nausea. She didn’t normally feel this bad unless she’d cleansed some very well fed demon.

“Well.” Justin considered that for a moment. “Apparently Momma wasn’t kidding when she said I was special. So if you were in love with me all those times before and I’m still the same person, forgive me if I’m cocky but I assume the reason you’ve been so totally weird around me from the second we met is that you’re still in love with me?”

That was the other thing about him that seriously irritated her. Not only did he get really obnoxious when they were arguing, he got way too perceptive.

Staring at the photographs wasn’t going to yield any more insights than it had already in the past hour. Anton had already scrutinised them with every mortal and magical means at his disposal – magnifying glasses, books on body language, tracking spells – and they had yet to tell him anything of particular use.

Perhaps he should have expected that. Being thousands of years old, both demons and immortals had all learned to control the usual indicators like body language and vocal tone. Humans were easy to read, even the best liars among them weren’t practised enough to truly mask themselves, but somebody like Charmian wasn’t going to give anything away while she was on duty. All Timberlake’s poses were saying was that he was nervous and ill at ease, but then that was to be expected. Wherever they were keeping him was probably cloaked from any and all demonic tricks. For all his concentration and trouble, the sole result had been a thumping headache; it told him nothing new.

Finally he tossed the magazines aside, leaning back in his chair and staring pensively into space. His desk was littered with notes, photographs and articles detailing Justin Timberlake’s life, but none of them were any use unless he could actually make contact with the guy. The avengers were doing an infuriatingly good job of preventing that but this public outing with their alpha female was new, unexpected and needling away at him. What did it mean? Was it a message, was there something else afoot, or was it simply the avengers trying to make sure he didn’t get reported as a missing person?

Whatever else might be behind it, Anton now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the avengers were taking this seriously. That Justin was being personally guarded by Charmian was no small matter. Carmel did most bodyguard details, Lucas if they were particularly important. For the main lady herself to do it was something else and it was something extremely worrying. Had they caught wind of the true plan or were they simply being over cautious on the basis that if the demons wanted him it couldn’t be good? Anton didn’t know, and he didn’t like not knowing. He could feel a stirring in his gut that stank of trouble.

“Don’t you knock?” He said irritably without turning around.

“Apologies,” Mastema said brightly. “Bad time?”

“Cut the pleasantries and tell me what you want,” Anton sneered, finally twisting in his seat to view his visitor. Once upon a time, before his unfortunate demotion, they had been colleagues. Mastema commanded the young demons that possessed mortals, tempting them along the path until they reached damnation. The pair of them had been constantly fighting for supremacy and had it not been for his unfortunate run in with the avengers Anton would probably still have been winning.

“Your help.”

Anton tipped his head back and laughed. “Funny.”

“Do I look like I’m laughing?”

“You look constipated as usual,” he shot back, but it was true enough that Mastema looked uncharacteristically serious all of a sudden.

“The avengers are out in force. My demons are dying practically before I can find them hosts. They’re on the rampage for something and my sources tell me it’s got something to do with this target of yours. Timberlake, I believe the name is?”

“And you are coming to me why?” Anton drawled out slowly, mockingly. “Your sources can’t cover a little avenger activity?”

“Not when Lucas is dispatching them with such… enthusiasm, no. Slowing the boy down seems to be rather impossible, he’s clearly on a mission. I even tested our new poisons on him.”

“And what exactly is the point of trying to poison an immortal? Being that they can’t die and all?” He rolled his eyes.

“Of course we never expected to kill him, but we hoped to slow him down. Apparently we were unsuccessful.”

“Still not seeing how this is my problem, but I wish you all the best with that. Ta ta.” Anton swung up from the chair and started heading for the door. Quick as a flash Mastema flung a forceful arm out, halting him in his tracks.

“Something bigger is happening here and you know it, Anton. I need to know what you know so I can prepare and deploy around it. As it is, I’m just wasting demons.”

Letting out an annoyed and frustrated sigh, Anton shrugged. “I don’t know what they’re up to any more than you do. I can’t find them or my target. Clearly they’ve worked out we’re up to no good as usual and in the absence of any specifics have decided that if you don’t know which tree to cut down you could just burn the forest and cover all the possibilities. Something that would be obvious to you if you were capable of employing a brain cell for five consecutive seconds.”

“Why? What’s so special about this target?”

“They know we’re after him.”

“Not a first occurrence and yet I don’t recall them reacting like an apocalypse was impeding. Bullshit, Anton. You know something more significant is behind this and if you withhold information from me I will see you back on that rack.”

“Like I haven’t heard that before.” Suddenly a hand was at his throat and he was being slammed into the wall. “Okay, oww.”

“This is not one of your jokes, fucker,” Mastema snarled. “I want whatever you have. And if you don’t have it you’re going to get it for me.”

Anton smiled, then with one quick movement he had slammed his elbow into Mastema’s gut and taken his momentary surprise to send him crashing into the opposite bookcase. Dropping the flippancy, he stomped his foot into his rival’s face and grinned with malevolent glee as the blood coursed down it.

“I may be out of favour, but I could still crush your sorry ass like a bug and believe me, when I finally get the opportunity I will take sublime pleasure in doing so and then making you my bitch for all eternity. Do not, for even a teeny tiny micro second, think that you have even a fraction of the power it would take to stop me. Now, you worthless little piece of shit, you can stop bothering me with your incompetence and go do your job. I see you here again, that pretty ceremonial sword in my closet is going to get a whole lot less ceremonial. That clear?”

Glowering, silently plotting his revenge, Mastema disappeared. Dusting his hands off, Anton surveyed the damage. Damn it, he was going to have to get housekeeping in again. If this happened too much more often they might start asking questions, and he did so hate having to kill the help. There were only so many cleaning firms in town.

Still, irritating gnat though he might be, his unwelcome visitor had a point. Between Charmian taking babysitting duty and the general zeal the avengers were displaying lately, perhaps there was something a little deeper going on. The last person they’d tried so hard to protect was Michael and that certainly hadn’t been insignificant.

Michael.

Anton sat back down at his desk and sighed, frowning as he remembered that mistake. Going after Michael had been what put him on Charmian’s radar in the first place. He’d known it was risky, going after an avenger’s honey, but orders were orders. Michael apparently had some great ability to reach out to large groups and as such he would make a perfect tool for the demons. They’d had great successes in the past leading humans to hell through some charismatic figure they idolised and would do anything for. All they had to do was corrupt them first and then they practically did all the demonic work for them.

Sadly, however, his ongoing love affair with Charmian had kept him far too honest. Many attempts had been made to abduct him over the centuries, remove him from her influence, but inevitably they failed and Michael was killed in the crossfire. In his case, a fight with Charmian had gone horribly wrong when Michael had thrown himself in front of Anton’s sword – an entirely preventable occurrence had Anton not become so wrapped up in beating Charmian that he’d forgotten to keep watch on his true target. Why the boy felt the need to sacrifice himself to save a woman who couldn’t die and was in no danger even if she did take a slice to the gut was beyond him. It was a huge waste, and had become even more of an abject failure when finally the avengers had managed to convince their superiors to halt Michael’s reincarnation. They should have seen him again long before now, yet there had been no sight of him so they’d had to give him up for lost.

It had been a bitter blow, and Anton had taken the heat for it. The fact that numerous others had tried and failed before didn’t seem to count for anything, because on the final occasion it had been him he had been blamed. Anton had tried to point out that it was probably the weight of the previous seven lives which had convinced them to remove Michael’s soul, but nobody listened to such reasonable comments when they were full of fiery wrath and wanting to torture their frustration out on someone.

Justin represented redemption. Celebrities always had potential to corrupt others, but most of them were unsuitable or too unstable and chock full of their own inner demons to be of much use in the grand plan. Justin Timberlake though had as much or even more potential than Michael had. Michael had never quite managed to hit it big, though given a little assistance Anton had been sure he could bring such things about; Justin already was big; he was huge in fact. A far wider audience than Michael in any of his forms could have brought.

And yet here was Charmian, again, getting in the mix and blocking his path. Picking up a pen and tapping out a slow, steady rhythm against the desk Anton disappeared deep into thought. Was it possible that the avengers had also recognised Justin’s potential and they’d guessed at another Michael-type plan? It might explain Charmian’s conspicuous involvement; after managing to get your boyfriend killed so many time residual issues were to be expected, naturally. Or was he overanalysing and her appearance had simply been intended to intimidate any demons who were on the case? Her mere presence was enough to send half of them fleeing for the nearest hell-gate and the immortals all knew it, so he couldn’t overlook the possibility that it was a mere scare tactic.

They were both reasonable, plausible ideas, and Anton was a big fan of taking the Occam’s Razor explanation. Yet for some reason this time there was something else nagging at his brain. Something deep in his instinct was telling him that there was more to this, and he needed to find out for sure.

Of course, until the avengers loosened the leash on Justin that was going to be impossible. It might be that he was in for a very long and mentally taxing wait – and Anton despised waiting.

“Why do I have to do it?”

“Because you’re the only one who hasn’t had their head bitten off yet.”

“And I’d like to keep it that way,” Katherine protested.

“Nuh uh. Your turn.”

“But…”

“Now, now, children.” Nate looked up from his papers, eyes twinkling and voice dripping with amusement. “It’s only Charmian.”

Micah snorted. “No. Whoever Little Miss Dominatrix is in there, it’s not Charmian. Charmian’s reasonable.”

“Well maybe if you didn’t keep barging in unannounced…” Carmel pointed out sardonically, never looking up from the dusty book.

The avengers, when not out hunting, were taking shifts helping Nate. They were methodically trudging through every historical account he could find of demons targeting a particular mortal for anything beyond the every day business of being demonic. Needless to say, every shift the avenger in question left complaining of sore eyes and severe boredom. Centuries might pass, but illegible handwriting never changed. Still, it was necessary research; they were looking for some precedent which might clue them in to what was happening. Lucas’s dining room had been taken over by the many volumes and papers Nate had brought with him. Without the books it looked modern and trendy, all done in bare untreated wood with minimal decoration other than a few splashes of colour. This careful design had however been masked by the huge stacks and now it looked like the very messy back storeroom of a museum.

“She’s the one who wanted regular updates!” Micah protested, defensively crossing his arms.

“Yes, but maybe after she’s finished trying to calm Justin down?” She grumbled, still refusing to meet his eye. “If you hadn’t guessed, trying to explain to the eternal love of your life that you’re the one who needs to protect him after already getting him killed eight times while he freaks out about being the eternal love of your life isn’t exactly a five minute conversation.” Grumpily she wished to herself that they could have less complicated lives. Preferably lives which didn’t require such lengthy run on sentences.

“That’s true, but Car…” Katherine tapped her fingers against the oak table, leaning back in her chair. Her usually Cupid’s Bow lips were pursed together in a tight frown, lines etched into her forehead through her worry. “You should have seen her last night on patrol. Dominatrix was right – it was head to toe black leather and she was kicking ass like she was on a serious vengeance run. And this was after telling me that it was a strict recon mission and we were just trying to scope out the level of activity. She seems a little… erratic. And really, really…” She caught herself before she let the word slip out. “Uhh, irritable.”

“Well so would you be.”

“No excuse for being a bitch to your colleagues. Oww!” Micah rubbed his shin. “Bitch that hurt!”

“Do not insult my boss in front of me, I will hurt you,” Carmel helpfully warned him after the fact. “Hey!” Micah had given her an almighty prod in the ribs, so she retaliated by slapping his arm.

“Fucking hell woman, are you iron?”

“She’s an avenger you moron, of course she’s going to beat your ass.” Katherine rolled her eyes. “Try picking a fight you can win next time.”

“As much as I hate to interrupt play time in the nursery, have we found Anton yet?” Nate asked.

“No. Why, anything we should know?” Katherine immediately straightened up in her chair, all childishness forgotten. They might bicker like siblings but they knew when to remember their ages and this was that kind of time. There was something in Nate’s tone that rang alarm bells; it didn’t seem like an idle question.

“I’m not sure.” Nate pulled off his glasses and absently chewed on the left ear piece. “His name does seem to be appearing in quite a few of these stories, but I’m not sure if it’s significant. It could mean he was involved in the incidents in question or it could simply be that he saw events unfolding and took a look to see if there was an opportunity in it, it’s impossible to tell. Maybe if we had some visibility of his current movements I could check for a pattern, but some of these anecdotes are patchy at best.”

“Any of these stories we’d know?”

“A few. Plenty wouldn’t show up in the history books but ones we do have…” He slipped his glasses back on and started reading from his scribbled lists. “Definite sightings with Jim Jones and a convincing but not fully verified mention with Genghis Khan. An unconfirmed suspicion that he was in on the twentieth century rise of fascism and there’s also a suggestion that he influenced Machiavelli.”

“Who’s Jim Jones?” Micah asked. It was sad but they came across so many villains that remembering them all, even the more famous ones, could be difficult. “Name sounds familiar…”

“Cult leader,” Nate replied. “Led hundreds of people to mass suicide.”

“Was he possessed?” That was always the next question. Unfortunately, the answer wasn’t always in the affirmative.

“No. Cult of personality, it’s something that’s happened throughout human history.”

As soon as he said it, the sirens in Katherine’s head started ringing all the louder and she practically jumped out of her seat. “Cult of personality!”

Carmel finally looked up from her book and eyed Katherine suspiciously. “What about it?”

“Nathaniel, are the less famous stories all similar as well?” She asked breathlessly, ignoring Carmel in her excitement. “Some charismatic type either spreads some bad philosophy around the place or leads a bunch of slavish followers into badness?”

“Well…yes, I suppose many of them are. Where are you going with this?”

“Don’t you see?” She was practically bouncing up and down on the spot, unable to believe that their minds weren’t immediately rushing to the same theory. “Fascist dictators, cult leaders… all evil yet charismatic bastards who had a bunch of people so slavishly in thrall to them that they’d do anything. Mass genocide, mass murder, all things that are going to guarantee damnation? Cult of personality.”

Once again she expected them to catch her drift; once again she was met with blank stares. She slapped the table as if the emphasis would catch them up quicker, impatient for them to see what she saw.

“What if that’s Anton’s big game, or at least his superior’s? Find people who naturally attract others to them, people who are capable of mass popularity and big things, set them on the road to hell and bring all their followers along with them. Let one shitty human do the work of a few hundred or even thousand demons while avengers can’t do a damn thing because neither they nor their followers are possessed!”

Finally Katherine got her wish – Carmel caught on and her face immediately drained of colour. “Oh my God, Justin… even back when he was Michael he was always on the verge of fame and big things before the premature death. And now he’s got millions of fans, not to mention that Anton’s been working Hollywood for a while. Shit shit shit that makes sense!”

“Wait a minute ladies, let’s not be too hasty,” Nate rushed to add a note of temperance to the conversation before they got too carried away with their new theory, but he had to admit it was plausible. “Not all of these accounts are verified, after all. And like I say, he could simply have been an opportunistic observer.”

“Yeah, but Nate…” Even Micah had unfolded his arms and was now half sliding half slumping into a chair. Rubbing a weary hand over his face, annoyance with Charmian forgotten, his mind was racing along the same lines as Katherine’s. Sometimes he was a little slow on the uptake – he was much more task oriented on each individual soul he had to save than one who studied the grand plan – but once he caught on he grasped things very quickly.

“Think about it,” Micah continued. “Even somebody like Machiavelli… okay, he wasn’t like the people who actually gave out evil orders or anything, but how many people do you think wound up damned because they followed the ideology? There are the leaders who acted that way, the underlings who had to enforce for them… and that’s before we start on those who didn’t need somebody like that to put the idea in their heads. It’s genius. You let the humans do all the work themselves and the whole pesky free will thing means that avengers aren’t allowed to stop them.”

“More to the point, Anton’s just the type who could do this and well,” Carmel interjected. “He’s a master manipulator. He can move and schmooze with the best of ‘em so even if he’s not the big brain behind it, he’d still be the perfect person to execute a plan like this. He passes as human a lot better than most.”

They all fell silently, each contemplating the possibility. In some ways, it seemed ludicrous not to have made the connection before. However, Nate grimly thought to himself, it was so simple as to be brilliant. They all knew that humans were more than capable of terrible things without demonic infection, and since the avengers couldn’t act against them it was perfectly logical for demons to try and capitalise on it. Of course when somebody posed a cause for concern the avengers would check for demonic possession – but once they ascertained that the individual in question was clean, there were no grounds to intervene. The most they could do was keep an eye out in case a demon did choose to take advantage and hitch a ride. It was true, using a cult figure was the perfect cover for any demon who was skilful enough to work from the shadows and without the advantage of possession; it was much harder to manipulate humans from the outside but if you could do it then you got all the gain and far less physical risk.

Better yet even if you were caught and killed your handiwork would live on – the corrupted mortal still running under their own steam and safe from the avengers.

“God.” Katherine finally broke the silence. “At first I was surprised that Anton could be smart enough for this but then the more I think about it… we never heard his name that much. Mastema, Narjin, Loki, those guys, how many times have we found out one of them is behind our latest issue? But not Anton, though he used to be one of them. He’s even one of the few not dumb enough to try and catch Charmian… well, at least until that one time. Most of the upper levels all attempt at least one pop at her but not him.”

“Heh. Even that one time we got the impression that he wasn’t acting out of choice, direct confrontation’s never been his style” Carmel responded grimly. “No, you’re right. I’m starting to think we underestimated him.”

“I still urge caution, but I do admit there’s likelihood in all this,” Nate said carefully. Frantically scribbling notes and writing down page references even as he spoke, his shoulders were stiff and his cheeks flushed red. “Anton has the necessary subtlety both to manipulate and to remain inconspicuous. We’ve always viewed him as a more minor player precisely because he seemed so less prolific than his colleagues… but perhaps he was just as if not more so. Just more covert about it.”

“Which, let’s face it, is why you guys haven’t killed him already,” Micah pointed out. “Because whether it was right or wrong, you thought he was less of a threat.”

“Yeah.” Carmel threw her hands up, looking deeply annoyed about it. She scratched at her arm as if she were taking it out on herself with her nails. “He’s been useful to beat up for info, but even the other day me and Char and Lucas were discussing whether maybe he’d been giving up some shit just so he could hide the rest. God, why didn’t we see this earlier? Eight freakin’ deaths for Michael and when it’s so fuckin’ obvious when you think about it?”

“To be fair, it wasn’t just us,” Nate said mildly. “Even our superiors have failed to consider such a thing. Since it’s a naturally occurring human phenomenon it’s not surprising that demonic encouragement wouldn’t strike as obvious - still, the pieces do slot together. Why they’d be so tenacious in their targeting of Michael, why we’ve never noticed their interference before… after all, it’s only in the last few weeks we’d really caught onto any pattern. But it’s certainly a credible theory.”

“Not to put a damper on this…”

The new voice made them jump. Turning to the door, they saw Zac lounging leisurely against the frame. He was smiling innocently at them, t-shirt and jean clad, clearly enjoying the shock he’d given them.

“How long you been there?”

“Long enough to hear your theory. Which, not bad at all, but you seem to be missing something.”

“Then do you care to share instead of being all creepy and sneaking up on people?” Carmel asked tetchily. “Nobody told you it was rude to eavesdrop?”

“How does Charmian fit into this?”

“Charmian?” Micah echoed, clueless.

Hands in his pockets, Zac wandered into the room proper and took his place next to Nate. Unlike his impatient and tightly wound friends, he seemed in no particular worry or rush.

“You guys are right; it makes total sense that if a demon can get a clean human to do the dirty work then it’s a great way to damn a whole bunch of people without us catching word, especially since we can’t kick a human ass even if we do,” Zac said. “But that still doesn’t explain the whole unending love connection or her being tapped as a guardian when she’s an avenger. Especially since if it’s true then the game isn’t to possess Justin – and what use is an avenger against a clean human? That’s still one for the bodyguards.”  

“True… but then an avenger can kill the demon pulling the strings better,” Micah thought out loud.

“But we could do that without depriving him of the protection of an actual guardian.” As much as she hated it, Carmel had to agree with Zac. “He’s right, that part still doesn’t add up.”

“It’s a good question,” Nate said as he finally rose from the table, closing the books and stacking them up to be put back, “but you’re wrongly conflating two separate issues. Tapping Charmian as guardian is the Light’s reaction to a demonic threat. The former does not need to make sense in order for the latter to do so.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Zac asked.

“Be logical. You have a plausible theory - go out and see if you can prove it. As for the Charmian question, we’ll have to keep working on it.”

“Which goes back to our original problem of she’s in a foul mood, busy with lover boy and not very accessible right now,” Micah groaned. “She doesn’t want to hear from us.”

“Fuckin’ A, how’d you get to be that old and still so stupid?” Zac rolled his eyes. To think he as the youngest was supposed to be the less savvy one; clearly being older wasn’t everything. “You honestly think she’s not going to want to hear that you’ve potentially ID’d the asshole who’s after her boyfriend and that we finally have an explanation for why she’s spent the last few centuries watching him die over and over?”

“Oh. Good point.”

With only a low grunt to betray her presence, Charmian dropped unceremoniously into the guest bedroom Lucas had made up for her. It was a simple, Spartan setting though he would soon live to regret decorating it in white. Under other circumstances it would have been perfect for her.

“Ahh!”

Charmian let out a low hiss of breath as she tried to shrug off her jacket. It was slow going. There was no concern for the jacket – it was ruined anyway – but the gaping hole in her side was making movement painful. The problem for Lucas’s nice white room was that even if she didn’t die she still bled. Her blood was slightly thicker than a normal human’s but when the wound was this severe it made little visible difference to the speed at which it flowed. She had teleported straight into the room both to avoid Lucas and spare his other carpets, but now she was here she was making it look like a crime scene. Bloody pumped steadily out and ran a warm sticky path down her leg.

Finally the offending garment dropped to the floor. Gingerly she kicked it to the side, groaning with the effort, and took a few sluggish steps to the mirror to take a look at her wound. An ugly red slash of flesh sprawled from underneath her breast down to the end of her rib cage. A mortal would have been on the floor bleeding out; luckily the luxury of eternal life spared her the death though not the blinding agony.  She had suffered worse but she would heal.

“Hey, umm, I was wondering if… holy shit, what happened?”

The thought idly crossed her mind that it was wrong to say people went green in these situations. Justin’s face had lost some of its blood and was far more white than green, albeit with a sallow yellow tinge.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“It looks like Hannibal Lecter cut himself a fucking steak! Shouldn’t you go to a hospital?”

“This is too big to stitch up. Besides, it gets awkward when you heal faster than they can sew so hospitals are a no for us.”

Justin’s eyes were bugging out of his head. He’d seen plenty of horror movies and crime shows so it wasn’t as if he’d never seen some gross looking wounds. In the past he’d required stitches himself. They’d never made him at all nauseous or squeamish but there was something about seeing it for real which was turning his stomach. What really blew his mind was how matter of fact she was about it.

“So why is it so bad?” It occurred to him. “I thought you guys healed practically on the spot.”

“Normally we do.” Her face screwed up in pain as she tried to brush a stray spot of dirt out. “But this guy tipped his blade with something.”

“Like with Lucas?”

“Like with Lucas.” She nodded. “I was trying to snatch the knife so I could bring it back to Nate and I forgot my blind spot. Guess he got a good chunk.”

He couldn’t figure her out – she sounded more bothered that she’d made a mistake than that she was losing what looked like pints of blood. “So… what, you just sit there and keep bleeding?”

“No. Next stop was the bathroom and the med kit. Which, give me a few minutes and we can talk about…” He brushed straight past her and into the bathroom. “Whatever it is you wanted to talk about,” she finished lamely.

Justin strode back out into the bedroom with the medical kit in his hand. Without comment he pointed at the bed. Charmian arched her eyebrow at him, jerking it left to order him out, but he stared impassively back at her. Clearly he wasn’t giving up and she was too sore to put up a fight so instead she acquiesced. Sinking down onto the mattress actually hurt more than standing up. As her weight shifted from her feet and legs to the sitting position it was more strain on her torso.

“So… I watched Band of Brothers but field dressings passed me by.”

Despite herself, a corner of her lips crept upwards. “Clean it as best you can, then put some padding over it and tape it round me nice and tight. Pressure should help the bleeding.”

“Okay.” He looked back up at her and then blushed as the next step dawned on him. “Uhh… excuse me, but…”

“Once you get past a millennium nudity’s not such a big deal.”

Clearly that had been meant to put him at ease but it didn’t. Pink crept across his cheeks as he grasped the hem of her t-shirt and pulled gently upward. There was a grimace and some gritted teeth but he didn’t think he’d hurt her too much. He was trying to ignore her breasts, though it was difficult when he was busy chastising himself for even thinking about them when he had a gaping hole in somebody’s ribs to fix. Telling himself off for noticing only reinforced the noticing. On the bright side the blood stains would be better masked on the black bra than Lucas’s crisp white bed linen.

“Fuck.”

“Sorry.”

“Not your fault, antiseptic is a bitch.”

“Heh. I wouldn’t talk to my mom for like an hour after she used it on me as a kid.”

If they hadn’t had such a huge fight when they’d last spoken Charmian might have asked him a little more about it. Details like his childhood and things he’d done before they met were of endless fascination to her. Even the mundane details were enthralling.

“So assuming you didn’t come in here to play Doctor House…”

“Oh, right.” The back of his neck suddenly felt hot. “Umm, I just wanted to, uhh, talk.”

She expected him to continue, but after a few seconds it became evident he wouldn’t. “Well you got a captive audience.”

“I just… this is an awkward conversation when I have my fingers in your side.”

“Again, this is a regular occurrence for me. Besides it’s better to have a distraction from the fact that you have your fingers in my side, which is not unpainful by the way.”

“Oh, right.” Hurriedly he withdrew them. “I just… our last conversation didn’t go so great.”

“Conversation implies communication. I’m not sure screaming over the top of each other counts.”

Justin glanced up at her, unsure how to take her tone. Her eyes seemed to have a little light in them so he took it for a joke. She could be so deadpan it was hard to tell.

“I guess I wanted to try again without the screaming. Only I have no clue what the fuck to say.”

“Understandable.”

“I mean, fuck, what do you say about learning you’ve been in some huge Shakespeare kind of shit that you don’t even remember?” He started to ramble. “I barely met you a few weeks ago and now I’m stuck in some avenging angel’s home with you because demons want to kidnap me or something and by the way we’re soul mates.”

Charmian wanted to butt in and correct him about the ‘angel’ thing. Quickly she thought better of it. “I get it. I just… I’m sorry I got so angry but I felt a little cornered. I don’t know as much as I’d like either so with you interrogating me for answers I didn’t have and getting mad at me when I couldn’t tell you it flipped me out.”

“I get that but you have to see my side.” Justin awkwardly tried to keep the padding pressed against her side while wrangling with the tape. He could have simply asked her to hold it there but it was a point of pride. “You’ve had centuries to deal with this. I’ve had a few days.”

“I do see that,” she said. “Believe it or not I can understand that you might resent being informed we’re in some huge destined love affair before you’ve even had a chance to feel anything for me, especially when you have all this other new info to process. But then the flip side of that for me is that while you get to forget I have to carry all that baggage and I’ve been doing it for centuries. It’s not so much fun to be me right now either.”

“I didn’t think it was with you being carved up like a ham and all.” He smiled sheepishly at her, knowing it was a terrible joke. “I’m sorry, this is just all totally insane and way beyond my ability to deal. Everybody’s looking at me expecting me to fall madly in love with you and I don’t know a damn thing about you. Except that you’re immortal and you make Jet Li look like an amateur.”

“Oww!”

“Sorry. Will that work?”

Gently she prodded at the tape. “I think so. Long enough for me to stop bleeding.”

“So did you at least get what you wanted for all this trouble?”

“Yep. It’s in the pocket of my jacket, could you get it?”

“Sure.”

“Wrap your hand with something first, if it’ll hurt me it’ll probably kill you.”

“Suddenly wishing I hadn’t been so accommodating.”

Wrapping his hand in her discarded t-shirt, Justin picked up the jacket and delved cautiously into the pocket. After withdrawing the knife he noticed the ornately carved blade. Once he had handed it over Charmian put her nose to it and breathed in.

“It’s just like Lucas said. Almonds.”

Her brow creased into neat lines as she stared at it, turning it over and over in her hand. Concentration blazed in her brown eyes.

“Any idea what it is?”

“No. Only that I don’t like it.”

Without warning the door was thrown open and Lucas stepped in. Initially he looked cheerful, but on assessing the situation he immediately looked angry.

“I’m sorry; I’ll pay for the sheets.”

“Like I give a fuck about the sheets, boss. What the hell happened to you to make you bleed this much and why the fuck didn’t you come straight to me?”

Justin couldn’t get over the fact hat he seemed to be the only one conscious Charmian wasn’t wearing a shirt. He understood that most immortals weren’t into sex and lust and such things (Nate had told him) but how could Lucas not take even a tiny peek? Then again, there had to be little novelty in it after you’d spent lifetimes playing surgeon to each other.

“I got sliced with the same poison you did. Got the knife though so not a total waste.”

She held it out to him and carefully he took it from her. With amusement Justin noticed that he handled it almost exactly the same way and had almost exactly the same look on his face. His was understandably a little less pained than Charmian’s.

“So you want me to bandage you up properly?”

“Tactful, hon. Real tactful.”

“Oh, sorry Justin.” He didn’t sound particularly contrite. “Take it this was your first?”

“It’s okay. I kind of knew she was just being nice.”

“It’s not that bad for your first,” Charmian said as Lucas peeled back Justin’s handiwork.

“Shit. You probably got a heft dose with an injury like this, Char. Knife passed through a lot of flesh.”

“It hadn’t escaped me.”

“What does that mean?” Justin was concerned.

Lucas had in half the time and without any of the fumbling already got most of the padding in place. “Means Charmian’s out of the field for a while.”

“I’d argue with you if I thought being in charge would actually do me any good in this situation. No need to worry Justin, it just means I’ll be a little slower to heal than Lucas was.” He looked unconvinced, his lips pinched. “Seriously, don’t worry. I’m immortal, remember?”

Lucas stood back up, already finished with the replacement. He’d had a lot of practice. “We’ll cover you, it’s no problem. Carmel’s on the phone trying to see if we can call in some extra bodies to cover patrols anyway so might as well ask for one more while she’s at it.”

He was already striding out of the room to find her when Charmian turned to Justin and smiled. “Oh well. While I’m an invalid you’ll have plenty of time to ask all the stuff you wanna know.”

“But you said you had no idea why you were my guardian?”

“Not about that, about me. You said you didn’t know me well enough. For starters long walks on the beach are way overrated.”

Her tone was jovial but Justin saw through it. Her flippancy was forced. She was anxious and Lucas was anxious. They could tell him not to worry all they liked but he wasn’t stupid. He might not have been around for hundreds of years to know everything but he was still old enough to recognise shit going down when he saw it.

To top it all off, for all his complaining about not knowing her he had no idea what to ask.

“I feel like a dog, like you’re taking me on a walk or something.”

Lucas cracked a small grin. “So long as you don’t shit on my lawn.”

“Yeah, about that. How’d you get such a huge house? I’m guessing it’s hard to get a mortgage when you’ve been dead for centuries.”

“We don’t die and we call flaming swords out of thin air. You think we can’t scrounge up some cash?”

“Ahh. Good point.”

Justin looked down at his feet as they continued the long walk around Lucas’s estate. It was funny, Charmian’s apartment was so small and yet Lucas had a large house and sprawling gardens. It was certainly as big as anything Justin and his millions had managed to procure if not bigger. He had been assured that the entire perimeter was protected so he was as safe in the garden as he was in the house. Of course for the last few weeks they hadn’t allowed him the luxury of using the garden – too tired of him trying to hop the fence. Slowly but surely they were loosening the leash on him, but Justin had to wonder whether that was because they trusted him not to escape or because they wanted him away from the influx of unfamiliar avengers. 

“Look, as aware as I am that you could kick my ass from here to eternity and I probably shouldn’t order you around… you need to cut the bullshit and tell me why you brought me out here.”

Lucas grimaced, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Wrapped in a black wool sweater he looked astonishingly normal. “I swear, usually I’m not so transparent.”

“Hey, we all get a little off our game when the hordes descend. It’s like having the whole bickering family for Thanksgiving, only with more chainmail.”

Glancing at Justin from the corner of his eye, he frowned. “You noticed the bickering, huh.”

“Nothing specific, but you all got the vibe. What gives?”

“Where to begin?” Lucas gave a short, harsh snort.

“Does this have something to do with Charmian?”

Lucas wanted to laugh. He’d witnessed it enough times over the years but the way Justin always seemed to hone straight in on Charmian in every single way was astounding to the point of lunacy. If humans had been capable of a sixth sense – and none of them were despite many claims to the contrary – then Justin would have had one for topics involving the head avenger. He didn’t even have to mention her and yet somehow the boy knew it was about her.

He stopped in the middle of the rose patch, looking around but not really seeing. Normally he liked coming outside to think. Somehow the riot of colour cleared his mind and breathing the fresh air shook away the cobwebs. This time it wasn’t so simple; as ever with Justin or Michael or whoever he was this lifetime, Lucas really didn’t know how to handle things. It didn’t help that he’d never in any lifetime known their secret before. He was wary of treating him like he was or should be in on every aspect of what was happening, but on the other hand knowing even a little then necessitated knowing a lot more for his own safety. That cat was long since out of the bag.

“Well, obviously you’ve noticed that our reinforcements are bitching. Want to guess what they’re bitching about?”

“Not really, but if you’re telling me it can’t be good.”

“Charmian, Nate and I all agreed that we shouldn’t tell anybody else who you are. Fewer people know, the safer the knowledge is.”

The first thought that fluttered through Justin’s head was a slight annoyance that Lucas always seemed to be in on the decisions about him. He wasn’t allowed a say in his own life lately but Lucas was? As soon as the pettiness had come however it was swiftly beaten back by a more reasonable voice. He might like Lucas a little less than Charmian or the strangely fatherly Nate, but clearly the guy had to have some smarts to be the global second in command for a bunch of holy soldiers.

The second was a creeping fear. What was so dreadful about his identity that it had to be a secret?

“So?”

“So they’re not stupid. They know something has to be up for us to be guarding you so tight. And Charmian being…” he abruptly cut himself off.

“What?”

“Ahh.” Lucas kicked at a small clump of grass, sending it flying into the bushes. “I really didn’t want to tell you this, but you know Charmian’s not totally recovered yet?”

“Yes.”

It had been rather alarming. Justin had become oddly used to the way the avengers healed right in front of his eyes. Even though he had witnessed what should have been a fatal wound fade to scars in less than three days, compared to what he knew to be normal avenger recovery time it was disconcerting. That was how crazy his life had become –anybody else would have been dead within minutes of such an injury, yet he was anxious that a miraculous healing was taking a little while instead of being instant.

“Well, people are starting to talk. We…” he fidgeted nervously with his wrist guard, twisting it around his hand. “I don’t want to get into our internal politics too much but a lot of people begrudge the four of us for being singled out - especially Charmian. She’s been top dog for a very long time now, untouchable in the big boss’s eyes, and people lower in the chain of command resent it.”

Justin’s eye fell on the axe and the bat, the heraldic symbols of their elite team. He’d never considered such a thing – they were the good guys, nearest thing in existence to angels, they weren’t supposed to be petty – but he supposed it would make sense. Nate had stated more than once that immortals still had some semblance of their humanity remaining, so why would it exclude the flaws?

“You don’t want to put her in front of them while she’s still recovering,” he guessed.

“Exactly. But the problem is that while we keep her out of the way, it creates a mystery around her. Add that to the mystery around you and we think that soon they’re going to start demanding answers on one or the other.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying…” He breathed in. Lucas really didn’t think this was a good idea at all, but he had little choice. “We’re going to send you home.”

“What?”

That was the last thing Justin expected to hear. What surprised him was that far from the victory dance he’d expected on hearing such news, he actually felt a little panicked. Now that he’d become accustomed to the avengers and started to believe them when they said he was in massive amounts of danger, he wanted to leave the safety of their walls a lot less than he’d originally thought.

“I don’t like it and I don’t want to do it,” Lucas said bluntly. “But Charmian trusts you to avoid temptation and be smart and she outranks me.”

Justin considered making a sarcastic comment, but despite the slightly infantilising inference he grudgingly understood where Lucas was coming from. If he really did have the entire underworld after him and all that stood between them and their goal was his ability to be a good little boy… he probably wouldn’t trust himself to be strong enough either.

“We’ll still keep watch, but we’ll have to do it from a distance. Zac and Carmel will keep a tail on you so expect them. But this is really important – do not trust anyone but them. Not your friends, not your family, not anybody, and especially not anybody who comes to you claiming to be an immortal. If it’s not somebody you met before – one of us, Nate, Micah or Katherine - you say no.”

“What have my family got to do with this?” He said angrily. “They’re not demons.”

“No, but they can get infected by one and you’ll never know the difference. It’s better to piss somebody off because you were wrong about them being bad than to die because you were wrong about them being good.”

“Wait, wait…” Justin shook his head out as if that would break the confusion away from his brain. Lately it felt like it had been welded on. “After all this trouble you’ve been through to protect me you’d rather risk me getting caught than the rest of them finding out that Charmian got hurt? Why?”

The look on Lucas’s face scared him more than anything he’d witnessed since he’d met Charmian. That was no small feat.

“What happened to Charmian proves that this poison is potentially a huge threat to avengers, it’ll make us a hell of a lot easier to take down. We can’t die, Justin, but we can be caught. A torturer’s biggest issue is making sure they don’t overdo it and prematurely kill their victim but we don’t pose that problem.”

Despite the balmy California air Justin felt a chill. He also felt a little vomit rising up in his throat, though he swallowed it back down.

“None of us like leaving people unprepared but the problem is that once this news gets out it’ll get to the demons pretty quickly after. Immortals gossip as much as humans do.”

“And as soon as they know this stuff really works it’ll be their favourite new toy, right?” Justin said slowly, starting to comprehend a little. It wasn’t much but it was an improvement.

“Exactly. I was back on patrol the next night so they have no idea that it slowed me down. Charmian is taking longer but since she’s our leader she’s not on the streets as much as we are anyway; it takes longer before her absence gets suspicious. If we can keep her away a couple more days she’ll be fine, but she’s still visibly slower right now and if that gets noticed we’re toast with our bosses as well as the demons.”

The wheels in his brain weren’t turning fast enough to deal with everything Lucas was throwing at him, it was maddening. “But how does that fit in with what you said about the internal politics? You want to give them less reason to ask questions, I get that, but doesn’t getting rid of me focus more attention on her?”

Lucas shifted on his feet, hesitating. Finally, after a few long seconds of silence and against his better judgment, he answered.

“Charmian’s off her game. Which would be understandable to any normal people but these are avengers and they don’t have emotions like humans do. Plenty of them don’t give a shit and they use it to question her leadership. If they find out she got that badly hit, especially when she knew that the blade was tipped with this stuff and should have been on her guard, they’re going to ask why.”

His hands were shaking. “Still not following.”

More of the lawn went flying as Lucas vented what was clearly some very long held frustration. “There is only one historical reason that Charmian ever screws up and it’s you, Timberlake. It won’t take them very long to put two and two together and realise that if she’s guarding somebody so closely and it’s messing with her head that it’d have to be you. And that’ll give them yet more ammo.”

“B-but…” Now he was so bewildered that he was stuttering. “Why would I-I give them ammo?”

Lucas sighed, pushing his hand through his hair and shaking his head. “You have to understand, Justin… you two have this big love across time and she’s had to watch you die so much and she blames herself for failing to protect you. After about death number three it really started to fuck with her head.”

Justin’s mouth gaped soundlessly. If Lucas had expected a response at this point he wasn’t getting one, so he continued.

“Charmian on a bad day is still pretty good by most people’s standards, but she’s not held to that. She’s expected to be perfect, and when you have a bunch of vultures on your back just waiting for an excuse… you became the excuse. Not just the fact that we keep losing you, but that she’s let herself get so involved that it affects her like this. And the last thing we need right now is to have somebody attempt a coup with all this other shit going on. We’re better off getting you out of here, taking the microscope off and letting them get the impression you were only a passing problem.”

Luckily there was a bench nearby otherwise it would have been the ground that Justin helplessly slumped onto. He wasn’t sure what was harder to take in – that he had fuelled infighting amongst the forces of good or that the baddest and most deadly warrior on the planet only messed up if he was involved. To have that kind of power over such a powerful being was heady but at the same time terrifying.

“I know this is a lot to take in, but I’m telling you all this because you need to understand that we are not letting you go because it’s safe. If it were up to me I’d have kept you here until we could grab Anton’s ass and pound it all the way back to the pit, but we have no choice. I’m telling you this so that you understand how careful you have to be.”

“Anton?” Justin asked in a barely focussed haze.

“Yeah, that was the other thing I meant to tell you in my big ‘danger, beware’ speech. We think a guy named Anton is behind this so if you come across him…”

“Run like hell?”

“No.”

“No? Some demon’s after me and instead of getting the hell out of Dodge you want me to play sitting duck?”

“No,” Lucas said patiently. “To begin with Anton won’t try to hurt you or do anything by force. He’s a player, he’ll try to ingratiate himself with you and lead you astray – but if he works out that you know what he is he’ll drop the act and it’ll get ugly. So what you need to do is act normal but disinterested – don’t let on that you know, just turn him down.”

“So… trust nobody, everybody might be a demon, say no to everybody, yet act like everything’s normal and I’m not a paranoid freak. That’ll be cake.”

“Hey, you wanted to go from music into acting. Think of this as good practice.”

In the only bit of clarity he’d managed for the entire conversation, Justin pointed his middle finger in Lucas’s direction.

“Explain to me how you deal with that incessant prattling.”

Nate laughed, closing his bible and readjusting his collar. “Comes with the territory.”

“Honestly, the service was over an hour ago. Don’t they have homes to go to instead of yakking your ear off? I still don’t get all this, you know.” Charmian cast an unimpressed eye over the altar, the lit candles and the book, resting on its gilded stand. “You know none of what you’re telling them is true.”

“If the way they turn from sin and seek moral betterment is to believe in all this, then I’m happy to encourage it. I am a guide, you know.”

“Except organised religion actually…”

“Charmian.” Nate stated warningly. “You didn’t come here to rant at me about the excesses of religion.”

“True. I came to rant about what a big fat dead end I’ve reached and how if Alexander doesn’t stop trying to ride my ass then immortal or not I’m going to find a way to kill him.”

Nate gestured towards the front pew, frowning as he did so. Obediently Charmian followed and sat down beside him. Until he’d spotted her lingering in the back of the church midway through his sermon, he’d been having a reasonably pleasant day. He had after weeks of cajoling managed to pry a confession out of a parishioner which he thought would ease the woman’s mind no end. The collection plate had been reasonably healthy and judging by the lowered amount of in-church napping he’d seen in the crowd the service had been an engaging one. The second he’d spotted her, however, he’d known something was wrong. Charmian had no love of any religion and she didn’t come near the church unless she needed something.

“Alexander. Yes, I do recall he likes to hear the sound of his own voice.”

“He’s still bitter I picked first Car and then Zac over him. Especially Zac.”

“Yes, you did ruffle a lot of feathers with that one.”

“You think I was wrong?” She challenged.

Nate chuckled. “If I did I’d never dare admit it for fear of your wrath, but as a matter of fact I was in full agreement with you. He has enormous potential that’s best fulfilled by learning from the best.”

Charmian twisted the leather strap around her wrist, staring at the crest. “Who’d have thought wearing one of these would cause so much hassle.”

“I think you know as well as I it could be a t-shirt saying ‘I’m with Stupid’ and it would still be coveted,” Nate responded lightly.

“I know, I know. It’s not the object it’s the significance, blah blah blah.”

He stared at her face, trying to discern the emotion from her deceptively blank expression. Whilst Charmian certainly had her sarcastic side, it wasn’t like her to be belligerent – especially with him. They had a long standing and mutual respect for one another and she had always demurred to his greater age and wisdom. Whatever was eating at her, it was big.

“I’m too old for this, my dear. Would you like to tell me what’s really wrong?”

She slumped back in the pew, tipping her head upwards. She may have had little respect for religion but it certainly made some pretty stained glass windows.

“Alexander isn’t the only one on my case. They’re all accusing me of being evasive; I had to come up with some increasingly elaborate excuses for not training, and to top it all off I haven’t heard from Justin yet. Which wouldn’t bug me so much if I had any clue which rock Anton had crawled under and by the way did you work out what that stupid poison is yet?”

“So not much then.”

“You’re not funny, old man.”

“Are you healed now?”

“Yes, the bitch is back.”

“Do you have any reason to think Anton is anywhere near Justin?”

“No.” She folded her arms and chewed her bottom lip. “But with Anton that doesn’t always mean he isn’t. Slippery bastard.”

“Then the rest you can deal with. You’ve been putting Alexander and company back in their places for millennia now. You still have Michael’s confidence.”

“What does Just… oh, wait, Boss Michael. Not Michael in a new Justin guise Michael.”

“Have you told ‘Boss Michael’ what’s happening?”

“No. If I go to him with this anything less than one hundred percent under control it won’t be pretty.”

Her stomach did somersaults even at the thought of it. Few true immortals had made their way into human consciousness. Michael was one of them. Of course the story of him being an archangel who had sent Lucifer into the abyss was all hokum, but that he’d even registered proved just how far his reputation preceded him. He was a very scary individual and more than capable of thrashing her into the middle of the next century if displeased. He was a taskmaster who didn’t brook even the most blameless of failures.

“Well… we’re isolating the ingredients of the poison now. Hopefully once we’ve done that an antidote won’t be far off. Justin as far as we are aware is perfectly safe. What story did you give him?”

“US Marshalls. They received a credible threat on his life and true to government form have told him nothing more specific.”

“And in the meantime, your less welcome guests are at least making themselves useful?”

“Yep. We’re cleansing a lot of demons and we took out a couple of full possessions.”

“Then might I suggest that despite your ranting,” he said gently, “you actually have things under control?”

“Do you not understand that rational thought like that has no place in a freak out?”

Nate laughed quietly. “My apologies. Please, continue needlessly upsetting yourself and I shall endeavour to enable it.”

“You know sometimes you are very annoying.”

“I try. Now, was that it or did you have something more substantial to complain about?”

Charmian folded her arms, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “Honestly?”

“I don’t generally ask unless I’m willing to listen.”

“It’s… ahh!” She hissed out in frustration. “I just have this continual knot of dread in my chest and nothing concrete to back it up with. I mean, you’re right. I’ve handled Alexander before and Justin’s fine and we’re on the lookout for Anton but I just have this feeling in my gut that something bad is about to happen. I can’t explain it.”

“Then follow your gut, child.” She hadn’t expected him to be so blasé in his answer, but Nate was nonchalant as could be. “Be on the alert. If you’re right then you’ll be prepared and if you’re wrong then it never hurts to be vigilant.”

“You know, the way I come to you all stressed out and then you make it all sound like the easiest solution in the world is both comforting and really fucking irritating at the same time. I feel like some hysterical teenager.”

Nate sighed. “Once every few hundred years can’t be held against you. Someone you care about is on the line. Again. You are entitled to be worried you know.”

“Tell that to Alexander. Or Michael.”

“Charmian,” he clapped his hand on her shoulder. “You know what you could stand to learn from all this organised religion?”

“If you tell me a Bible story I am going to hit you.”

“The humans trust that there’s a reason for everything, that God knows what he’s doing even if they can’t see it. The light we serve chose you to guard Justin. Not Alexander, not Michael, you. Clearly it didn’t think the uncaring approach was in order.”

“And how many deaths later? I’m doing a bang up job.”

“Trust, Charmian. Trust your gut, trust your feelings, trust your love for him. Trust that you were picked because the light knows what it’s doing. I do. And cease the self pity because it’s not your most becoming attribute.”

“Still going to hit you,” she replied without moving a muscle. Nate saw the ghost of a smile and then smiled himself.

“And some century soon you’ll mean that.”

Anton relaxed against the leather cushions, sipping his martini. Idly his eye wandered around the room. He was always on the lookout for anybody important: friends, enemies, new targets. Some of his fellow demons considered Hollywood parties trivial and a waste of time – he considered them trivial and a waste of time for being so short sighted. Apart from being full of its own set of influence and power, the glitz and glamour also attracted powerful figures from all kinds of other places. He’d attended a charity ball three nights ago and met the CEO of a major worldwide bank; greasing those wheels could lead to all sorts of possibilities.

Then there were the celebrities. So full of insecurities and so in need of validation, they were ripe for the taking. It was child’s play. All it took were some compliments, some seeming concern and a carefully painted veneer of nonchalance about their fame. Few could resist his charm and he enjoyed that. It was a constant source of amusement that they remained so gullible and learned nothing from the mistakes of their predecessors, but more than that it was a brilliant score professionally. They were born corrupters of men, being so idolised, and whenever he managed to coax one under his wing it led to a healthy tally of condemned souls. Hell, his destruction of James Dean had almost redeemed him for losing Michael… almost.

That didn’t matter anymore. Tonight he had a chance to make up for it. Justin Timberlake was finally showing his face in public again and was due to arrive at the very same party within the hour. He was going to have to be cautious, knowing that the avengers had shown interest, but they never would have released him if they had any clue of Anton’s plans for him. His plan was not totally derailed. It had just taken a short detour.

“Anton, darling.”

A long, lithe body slid gracefully down into the empty space next to him, legs crossing delicately. Anton smirked, not even needing to look up from the Louboutin clad feet.

“Delilah. Always a pleasure.”

Finally his eyes looked up to see hers, which were green and oddly cat like. The smile too was feline as she held out her hand for him to kiss.

“Is it just me or is this party achingly dull? I haven’t met one man worth my time.”

“Then you’ll be pleased to know I have a job for you.”

“Oh?” Her eyebrows rose, interested.

“It’ll be more of a slow burn than your usual.”

“Ooh, a challenge. I’m intrigued.”

“How do you feel about boy bands?”

Her face fell, and glossy brunette hair swung crossly as she shook her head. “If you’re going to waste my talents on some sexually confused barely legal puppet with jailbait tendencies I’m going to be very insulted, Anton.”

The left corner of his mouth rose in a mischievous smirk. “I value your talents far too much to waste them, my sweet,” he said as he ran a lazy finger across her thigh. “The name Justin Timberlake mean anything to you?”

That got a much better reaction – her eyes glittered and the tip of her tongue ran over her red painted lips. “What did you have in mind?”

“I want him marked, but I need him primed first.”

“By me or by you?” Her eyes narrowed.

Anton grinned before giving her a teasing kiss on the cheek. “See, this is why I come to you - always so perceptive. The answer is both, Dee. I’m going to introduce myself, gain his confidence, and then I am going to introduce him to you and you are going to bowl him over with your innocent charm.”

“And you can take credit for the match. I see.” She sipped her champagne, gaze wandering across the room the same way Anton’s had. It was a species trait – always looking for a new target. “How slow are we talking?”

“Slow enough to call it dating.”

“My, my. This one must be special.” Delilah shifted thoughtfully in her seat, tapping long nails against her glass. “I take it you want more than the mark.”

He shrugged. “Yes, but not from you. I need his trust and a link to somebody else he trusts will help that along, so you just do what you do and be the woman of his dreams.”

“And who would that be?”

Anton’s face remained still, impassive, but anyone who knew him would see the smug and malevolent glow behind it. “We have a plant in Annabelle Maxwell’s office. The starlet herself is currently in a pointless rehab session, and we’ve concocted a little scheme to have an astonishingly good lookalike pose as her in the meantime. All to protect her reputation, of course.”

Delilah immediately understood. “Thus he lets his walls down because I’m famous too and as far as her people are concerned I’m just doing some damage control and having a helpful PR boosting romance while I’m at it. You know I really don’t understand why you’re still in the dog house Anton because you are deliciously devious.”

Anton preened at her comment. It was genius if he did say so himself – Annabelle Maxwell had a reputation for being all sweetness and light. It was entirely undeserved since she was in truth extremely promiscuous, mean spirited and a raging cocaine addict, but her wholesome image was sure to escape any suspicion. Justin was hardly going to assume a fellow celebrity was a terrorist or stalker or whatever line the avengers had fed him to keep him on his guard.

“Flattery will get you everywhere. You up for it?”

“It’ll be cake,” she said flippantly. “Hardly a challenge.”

“Now, now, I need you to take this seriously.”

“What kind of amateur do you take me for?” She replied impatiently.

Anton’s response was to grab her chin in his hand and wrench her face towards his. He had no time or room for laziness and arrogance in his plans. Her eyes widened slightly; though she fought to keep the bored and unconcerned look on her face she was afraid. The truth was that despite her success rate as a seductress she was a very low level demon – she got men into bed and when they succumbed it marked them with sigils which left them wide open for both infection and full possession. Anton was far more powerful than she was and far more vicious.

“Avengers have been watching him, may still be. I can guarantee that they’ve fed him some story and put him on guard for any new faces so it is absolutely imperative that you do not raise suspicion. Because if you ruin my plans by being indiscreet or slutting it up too much then I am going to destroy that pretty face of yours so thoroughly that you won’t even be able to snare a blind man. Are we clear?”

“Always Anton,” she whimpered sycophantically, trying to mollify him.

With a smile he released her chin, which now throbbed. Luckily the magic which allowed her to change appearance would mask the bruises far more effectively than any make up.

“Good girl. See, that’s why I like you so much Delilah. You always understand. Now go change. He should be here soon.”

Obediently and with a little too much haste, Delilah followed instructions and excused herself to the bathroom. She would have to re-enter the party as Annabelle so she needed to perform the incantation to change her looks and then make another entrance.

In a wonderful piece of kismet, Delilah’s disappearance was perfectly timed. No sooner had she gone than Justin Timberlake arrived. Anton smirked at the idiots who rushed straight over, falling over themselves for an introduction. They were so unsubtle they were practically elbowing each other out of the way. Did they think they were clever? It was so obvious what they were doing and why. Timberlake looked entirely disinterested in the whole bunch of them. Being obviously fame hungry in the presence of a celebrity was not the way to ingratiate yourself.

Anton, however, possessed patience. He waited until Justin had brushed off the leeches. He mingled congenially with other party goers while Justin had a couple of drinks, talked to some people he obviously already knew and relaxed a little. It was an hour and a half later before he saw fit to make his move, during which time Delilah had re-entered and was playing her demure little part to perfection.

Justin was standing at the bar waiting to be served. Anton settled in quietly next to him, not saying a word or otherwise betraying that he was paying attention. A small piece of magic made the bartender do an about turn every time he looked like he was coming to serve them. The bar was packed so there was no shortage of other people to serve. Still Anton waited, watching until Justin started tapping his foot and shifting impatiently before speaking.

“Do you think we’re invisible or something?” He sighed with faux irritation. “I feel like he’s served everybody in the room but us here.”

“Tell me about it,” Justin replied. “He keeps saying he’ll be with me in a second and then ignoring me again.”

“I’m kinda annoyed. I only stood here because I figured he’d rush to serve the celebrity and I could weasel in after. Now I got no chance of pushing in on that side of the bar.”

That elicited a chuckle. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“Maybe he just didn’t like your last movie or his girlfriend likes you or something.”

“Ha.” Justin snorted. “Just my luck. I only want a beer.”

Anton chose that moment to release the magic. Naturally the bartender rushed over, full of apologies and scrambling to fulfil both their orders.

“About fuckin’ time!” Anton exclaimed before turning to face Justin properly. “Nice to meet you, by the way. Though next drink I might wait until a different celebrity’s at the bar.”

“You too. Sorry, didn’t catch your name?”

Anton hesitated. Might the avengers have given him names?

“Alex.” They shook hands.

“Are you sure it was a good idea letting Zac go off on his own?”

“The boy needs to let off some steam. He’s smart, he’ll be careful.”

“I know, but this poison’s got me really frickin’ jumpy. The kid’s like my little brother.”

“Relax. He’ll be fine.”

Carmel looked unconvinced but commented no further as she strolled along the golf course with Charmian. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was picturesque but she couldn’t relax. Relaxing probably wasn’t a good idea anyway since they were on the job, but usually she wasn’t so tense.

“Seen anything yet?”

“No,” Charmian said. “Nobody infected, no sign of Anton or anyone else, I’m starting to think this was a waste of time. Except from the getting out of Dodge perspective.”

“Yeah. Seems like the only person who needed to get out of there more than Zac was you.”

“Heh.”

Charmian politely applauded with the rest of the crowds when the celebrity made a respectable first swing. She’d never paid any attention to human sports apart from those that were useful for combat training so she had no idea what golf was supposed to be about. From what she could gather it was an excuse for men to make business deals, but Justin was currently putting it to use for charity and she was here on demon lookout. They’d been quietly keeping tabs on him for a fortnight but had yet to spot any suspicious activity around him. A small part of her was hoping that meant nothing was really happening but she knew better. Things in their line of work were never truly quiet – if it looked that way it was only because somebody was busy laying the groundwork before popping back up to cause trouble.

In truth she’d have preferred Lucas to Carmel. That was no aspersion on Carmel; it was just a reflection of how much longer she’d been working with Lucas. They had long since got their ‘couple on a date’ disguise down pat and when the stakes were high his presence was like a comfort blanket. Since however the crowd was mostly female and Lucas had a habit of attracting female attention from mortals she had considered it wiser to bring her instead. Lucas had been unhappy about this since it left him home alone to deal with the political situation but Charmian couldn’t pretend to be sorry. She really had needed to leave.

“I’m as sick of dealing with Alexander and his cronies as Zac is. We’re on a holy mission here, I don’t have time to deal with him being butt hurt that I hired somebody else. It’s been a few thousand years and he needs to get over it already.”

“Yeah, I still don’t understand why the rest of them care. It was Alex who got passed over not them.”

“Why do you care when people get pissy with me?”

“Because… oh. Good point.” Carmel smiled. She supposed it was easy to start taking slights against your boss personally when they had your loyalty.

“Alexander never quite got rid of his mortal vanity streak. He knows that I chose Zac because I think he’s more innately talented and I hurt his pride.” Charmian rolled her eyes and brushed a mosquito from her arm. If only it would be so easy to deal with Alexander.

“He should get over it. The dumb thing is he wants to work with you and be taken seriously by you so bad, but he doesn’t seem to understand that the whole petulant brat routine is counter productive. Sometimes I really wish Michael would just come down and kick his ass.”

“Let’s be careful what we wish for, I think we’re as much in line as anyone for a good Michael ass kicking,” she muttered.

“Yeah, speaking of… how much longer we keeping him in the dark?”

“I don’t know how much longer we can.”

Charmian scowled. Carmel wrongly assumed this was because of the topic, but in reality she was cursing her shoes. The wedged espadrilles might look cute and might fit her ‘groupie trying to attract celebrities’ disguise but they were hardly practical. She wasn’t a big fan of fighting in sun dresses either, but sometimes blending in necessitated impractical outfits. On a personal taste level she simply hated floral motifs, but Zac had thrust the item at her and pointedly told her that was what the young girls were wearing whether she liked it or not.

“I wanted to get a handle on Anton first before I told him, but we’re getting nowhere. Tailing Justin isn’t coming up with anything.”

“Apart from making you grouchy. Oww!” Charmian was glaring at her, and Carmel rubbed her arm where she’d just taken an impressively brutal slap. “Teach me to say things out loud.”

“We’ve had this conversation. The only thing stopping me from being fine is people insisting that I can’t be fine.”

“The love of your unnaturally long life has passed you over for some Hollywood bimbo with a massive yet oddly still secret drug problem while you’re trying to protect him. It would be deeply worrying if you were fine.”

“Well it’s hardly like being with me has ever been good for his health, so I figure it’s time for a new approach,” she snapped.

She was really starting to get irritated with everybody for refusing to let it go. Lucas kept insisting it was dangerous to allow anybody at all close to Justin for security. Carmel kept insisting that Charmian could not possibly be okay with it emotionally. Zac kept insisting she should be with him regardless to scare off demons. The only person who was keeping his mouth shut was Nathaniel and even he had disapproval written in his eyes.

Was it honestly so difficult to see where she was coming from? Being romantically involved with Justin in his previous lives had failed to offer him any further protection. On more than one occasion his attachment to her had made him do something stupid and on one horrific occasion it had been the direct cause of his death. Being with her was inherently dangerous, and worse it made Justin behave dangerously in misguided attempts to protect her. Perhaps he might not have done so if he’d known that she was impossible to kill but she wasn’t taking the chance; she’d lost him enough times that she was happy to settle for ‘alive but uninterested.’ She really didn’t approve of his choice but it wasn’t up to her.

“Hmm.” Carmel looked sceptical but at least knew better than to keep pushing for the moment. “I suppose at least it should keep him off of everybody else’s radar. I still keep expecting one of them to start yelling me any minute about why I didn’t tell them that he’s really Michael in a new identity.”

“Tell me about it.” The pressure of the big secret was starting to take its toll on the four of them. They didn’t have the same luxury Nate did of staying away from other immortals. “But it’s better this way. Not only does it mean Justin’s moving on and keeping away from my jinxed ass, Annabelle is a brilliant cover. The demons wouldn’t expect Michael to be with somebody else and neither do our guys.”

“If you say so.” Carmel sighed.

It was unlike her to be particularly romantic or starry-eyed but she couldn’t hep believing that the two were destined. Why else would he always remember her when no other human ever did? Or maybe she was too eager to see her boss get handed some happiness as a nice change from all the tragedy. It probably didn’t help that her human marriage hadn’t been for love and she’d never felt it as an immortal so there was a small amount of vicarious living going on.

Finally they were strolling past the man himself, and both fell silent as they went into total work mode. Though their eyes keenly scanned everyone in the near vicinity all the auras looked like they were supposed to, not a possession or infection in sight.

“This lack of demonic activity really ought to be more reassuring,” Carmel sent a mental broadcast to Charmian as they halted on the edge of the crowd. There were now fans within earshot so they couldn’t talk shop openly.

“Too quiet. We know Anton’s up to something, so where is he?”

“Hiding somewhere plotting terrible things that are going to give us major stress headaches?”

“Must be,” Charmian surmised grimly. “Otherwise he’d be on him like flies on shit.”

“Is it just me or is she impossibly pretty?”

The glare didn’t need to be telepathic. “In Hollywood they’re kind of paid to be.”

“I’m just astonished. Most crack heads I know don’t look that good in direct sunlight, they need the airbrush.”

“Charming. Leave her alone, she’s fine.”

“I’m not just being a bitch. Okay, maybe a little, but I am serious. She looks too perfect. I’ve scouted a lot of the beautiful people but she’s…”

“Really Mel, I appreciate the sisterly loyalty but it’s fine. She’s just like every other Hollywood waster who has hundreds of thousands of dollars in the beauty budget to hide their excesses.”

“And I’d keep arguing but demon at eleven o’clock!”

Charmian’s head whipped around to see the thing she dreaded. It wasn’t even an infection – it was a full blown possession and they were going to have to commit a bloody homicide in the middle of a very crowded charity event. Worse still, the possession wasn’t just any regular Joe. It was the local news reporter. He wasn’t nationally famous but he’d certainly be missed in a hurry and in a high profile way.

“Ostendo sum vestri,” Carmel whispered as loudly as she dared. The spell barely reached the offender but sure enough a bright symbol began to glow on his forehead.

“Oh fuck.” Charmian wasn’t so restrained.

The symbol was written in an ancient demonic language. The spell Carmel had cast was designed to identify demons by displaying their names, and this particular demon was known as Bob. That wasn’t the name currently lighting up his forehead, however. The avengers had stated calling him that to counteract the incredibly depressing effect of calling somebody Punishment. It was his raison d'être to try and take down avengers as retribution for the bosses downstairs; while of course he hadn’t managed to kill any of them he’d certainly captured a few who had never been seen again. They knew what that meant and nobody could face thinking about it – hence Bob.

“What the hell is he doing here?”

“I don’t know. Have you seen anybody else here?”

“No, it’s just us and we definitely weren’t followed.”

“He’s not even looking at us.” It was rare but Charmian was starting to feel a little panicked. She’d never crossed paths with Bob – whether because he was scared to target her or simple luck she didn’t know – but he was like an avenger bogeyman. He scared them all, even her. “When have you ever seen him do anything except hunt us down, what the fuck could he be doing here?”

“Oh God.”

“This is not the time for dramatic pauses Mel, spit it the fuck out.”

“He’s doing what we are.”

“What?”

“We’re watching for demons, he’s watching for avengers. Somebody knows.”

“Shit, shit, fuck.” The little panic immediately exploded into a full scale mental meltdown. Had she still been human she’d probably be hyperventilating. “You think they worked out who he is?”

“I don’t know but they definitely know we’re trying to protect him. Shit, we have to go Charmian.”

“What? We can’t let him live!”

“Look around, boss.” Even in her thoughts Carmel sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “There’s no cover anywhere and hundreds of witnesses, we can’t kill him here but he can still zap us straight to the pit. We can’t win.”

“You expect me to leave this demon of all demons with Justin?”

“What other choice do we have? Bob doesn’t target humans who aren’t in his way but he will target us and we can’t protect Justin stretched out on a rack in Hell!”

Carmel forcefully grabbed her arm and started marching her away at speed, looking for a private enough spot to teleport. With every step Charmian’s fists balled tighter and tighter. If it hadn’t been for instantaneous healing, her nails would have been drawing blood from her palm.

“When I get hold of Anton he’s going to wish he’d never crawled out of the pit.”

“Justin.” Nathaniel’s voice betrayed no surprise but the visitor was certainly unexpected. “What can I do for you?”

“Hi, umm, is Charmian around? Sorry to show up unannounced but she wasn’t at her apartment.”

“They’re training in the backyard,” he said. “Forgive me, Justin, but I’m not sure your presence here is wise. We did send you away for a reason.”

Justin scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward. “Yeah, I know, I don’t have any other way of contacting her though. She never gave me a cell number or anything like that.”

“It’s urgent?”

That depended entirely on what you defined as urgent. He didn’t think he was in any more mortal danger than usual but he was extremely itchy and worried and barely sleeping. The trouble with knowing you were at the centre of some evil demonic plot was that it made it hard to switch off the paranoia. It made it hard to switch off at all, he was freaked out twenty four seven. It was getting to the point where he was barely functioning and he was hoping a chat with Charmian might put his mind at ease. Maybe it wasn’t apocalypse scale urgent but to him it mattered.

“Kind of.”

“I’ll see what I can do, come on in.”

Justin wasn’t sure why but Nathaniel intimidated him. That was strange since he wasn’t one of the many strapping and muscular warriors roaming around the place who could kill him as easily as they could blink. Maybe it was the quiet wisdom that constantly emanated from him – he got the impression that this guy had everything and everyone absolutely figured out. It didn’t matter that he was softly spoken and that he looked like somebody’s cuddly grandpa, all that gravitas made Justin feel very young and small and frivolous.

If he had expected to be taken into the backyard then he was mistaken. Nate beckoned him to follow and instead of heading for the door he went to the stairs. No matter how long he’d spent cooped up in the house it was still hard to reconcile Lucas’s lifestyle with Charmian’s. She lived in a small apartment; he lived in a house to rival to Justin’s. The staircase looked like it belonged in Gone With The Wind.

They eventually stopped on the third floor, where Nate ushered him into a small room at the back of the house. It would have been an attic if anything had been stored there, but instead it housed a single bookcase and some chairs. Nate gestured Justin to the window.

“They’re fight training.”

“Wow… there’s so many of them.”

The avengers formed a large circle on the lawn; there could easily have been forty or fifty of them. Justin could barely make out the expression on Zac’s face and the strain in his muscles as he fought off a particularly nasty looking broadsword.

“These are but a few of the crowd, worldwide. Zac’s opponent usually patrols in Bulgaria.”

“And Charmian’s in charge of all of them?”

“She doesn’t directly command every team but she does outrank all of them yes.”

“Wow.” It took a moment to process that. He still found it hard to grasp that such a formidable package came in such a petite and delicate looking wrapper. “So do they often do this?”

“No. Unfortunately we’ve learned that one of our fouler foes has resurfaced so she’s taking them all through hand to hand as a precaution. They do get used to sparring with their own teams so fresh opponents sharpen up the reflexes. You see how aggressively Katerina is on the attack?”

“Yes.” It was difficult not to notice. She looked like a thing possessed, the determination was practically neon. It was hard to believe this was simply training and not for real.

“She’s about to learn from her mistakes. She’s expending too much energy, Zac’s merely wearing her down and she’s starting to telegraph punches. Give him just a… oh, there he goes.”

Justin winced as he saw Katerina – a dark lidded and willowy brunette – take a brutal stab to the stomach. He knew that it wouldn’t kill her and that she’d heal within seconds but it was still excruciating to watch.

“I thought being aggressive was a good thing?”

“It is, when properly directed,” Nate answered. “But she was so desperate for the win that she lost focus, failed to conserve her strength and started giving herself away. And if she’s doing it here when the only thing at stake is her pride, you can imagine what might happen when it’s life or death.”

“Yeah, I get it. Guess that’s why people practice.” Suddenly another thought occurred to him. “Why you showing me this?”

Nathaniel smiled, his eyebrows shifting slightly upwards. “You are a smart lad. You ask the right questions.”

“You don’t plan to answer me though.”

“Again, smart lad. Well now… this should be interesting.”

Turning his attention back outside, he saw Charmian now nonchalantly standing in the middle of the ring. For somebody who was about to begin a vicious fight she seemed utterly unconcerned.

“Who’s that?”

“That is Alexander.”

The cogs whirred in his head. Hadn’t Lucas mentioned him? “Isn’t he that guy who’s like, major jealous of her?”

“Yes.”

Silently they watched. As she whipped her sword around her hand in a way he’d only seen on TV Justin nearly let out a whistle. He would have, but he didn’t want Nate knowing how utterly uncool he was.

Alexander wasn’t so obviously desperate as Katerina had been but there was no doubt that he had a point to prove. It was in the way he gritted his teeth, the way some of his hits had a little too much force to them. He was certainly an excellent fighter; Justin’s eye was untrained but it was obvious. He was smooth, assured, precise and nimble. The problem was that Charmian was simply more so. She could have been made of liquid. Justin mused that it was like watching Michael Jackson and his back up – a stage full of brilliant dancing and yet still one person was outshining all.

Her face remained utterly impassive save for a look of concentration. Her eyes were constantly on Alexander, clearly anticipating his movements. The dark ponytail whipped back and forth almost rhythmically as she spun, kicked out and threw punches. The dancing analogy became even funnier as she dropped to the floor and slid beneath the swing of Alexander’s sword. It would have looked awesome in a music video. Kicking Alexander’s feet out from under him, in one move she then rolled over to pin him, relieved him of his weapon and had a blade pointed at his throat.

The crazy thing was that aside from some slightly messy hair she looked like she’d exerted no effort at all. It would have been hilarious if not for the dark shadow passing over Alexander’s face. Clearly somebody was not a good loser.

While Justin was watching Lucas address the group, offering an analysis, Nate was silently speaking to Charmian.

“Bravo.”

“Thanks. Zac is getting better. Have you been watching?”

“For the most.”

“What did you think of Adili?”

“Green, still rough around the edges. Seems hesitant.”

“He’s only a few centuries. They plucked him out of the lower echelons of his tribe and put him in Alexander’s care.”

“Ahh.” Nate implicitly understood. A lowly young man plucked out of a strict hierarchy and then placed under Alexander’s care was likely to be hesitant. He ruled with an iron fist and kept a strict pecking order within his team. That worked for some and Alexander had certainly produced some disciplined and well trained avengers, but a young man used to being treated as nothing was unlikely to start finding his strength through yet more submission and demotion. Some people needed a regimented approach, others needed some nurturing. “Is that temptation I hear?”

“Temptation for what?”

“Last time I heard that tone Zac arrived shortly thereafter.”

“I can hear you laughing, old man.”

“Deny it.”

“Nope. He’s got something. Maybe once this Justin crap is done I can turn my attention his way.”

“Speaking of which, you have a visitor. Quiet room.”

Justin was startled by Charmian’s sudden appearance. He was even more startled by a complete lack of sweat. It was ridiculous that his throat had gone a little dry – she was in sweatpants and a shirt, nothing special. He was getting along swimmingly with Annabelle and that was far preferable because it was his choice and not people telling him that he had some great destined love.

Yet he couldn’t help wondering how the hell she’d managed to fight in a strapless shirt and no visible sign of a bra. Did immortality also defy gravity?

“Hi.” She twisted her leather wrist guard absently around her hand. “Wasn’t expecting you.”

“Sorry, I, uhh, didn’t have your number.”

“No worries. Can you excuse us, Nate? Maybe perturb any other visitors?”

“Certainly. Good day, Justin.”

“Bye.”

Charmian wandered back over to the window, her attention still outside where it was the turn of an unfamiliar avenger to be lecturing the group. It was times like this where he almost thought they were lying to him about the past history. She didn’t seem like she was desperately in love with him or anything. As a matter of fact she seemed totally disinterested in him.

“So how can I help you?”

“Umm… I just came for, I don’t know, a progress update? But I guess you were probably busy.” Lord he felt awkward. He was shifting compulsively from foot to foot and his ears were hot. “Nate said you were having a bit of a crisis.”

“Yeah. Actually it’s good you came, I need to talk to you about that.”

“Oh.” That was not reassuring. Finally her attention was on him and for all his previous mental complaining now he had it he didn’t like it.

“Did Nate tell you what we were doing down there?”

“Training because of some bad ass who showed up.”

A quick smile passed across her lips, corners perking up. “Yeah. Problem is that we discovered that when we were tailing you.”

It was amazing how all the air seemed to leave the room at once. He hadn’t seen any of them following him. And there was a demon following him too?

“Don’t worry,” she said as if that were possible. “This particular demon hunts avengers, not people. But I’m a little concerned that he got so close to you so I just wanted to remind you to be on your guard around absolutely anybody new, even if it’s somebody who you wouldn’t normally think twice about. Journalists, chauffeurs, anybody.”

“Boy that’s not comforting,” he said weakly. “I was hoping you’d say you hadn’t been in contact because you had nothing to report.”

“I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear before about my absence. I can’t be seen near you either from the demon standpoint or our own personal politics. I am watching but I have to do it quietly. Besides,” she smiled, “you don’t need me cramping your style.”

“Yeah, about that.” The conspicuous lack of any seeming concern or hint of emotion was really starting to irritate him. He’d see how little she could react to some provocation. It was childish of him but she was grating on his last nerve. “I’m kind of seeing someone and I’m a little concerned about her getting possessed.”

“Annabelle’s clean, we already checked. We’ll keep checking auras on everyone around you purely as a precaution but I’m not worried. The presence of this new threat means they know we’re watching. It’s unlikely they’d attack such an obvious target knowing that, so rest assured you can go to dinner safe in the knowledge that your date is the one in her own driving seat.”

Oh. So she already knew all about it and wouldn’t react at all. That was fine; it wasn’t like he cared anyway. It simply would have been nice to see some kind of familiar human reaction out of her. What had happened to the woman who’d trashed the house in a rage because he’d found out her secret? Her replacement didn’t seem to give a shit about anything, least of all him.

Maybe it was crazy of him to be so irked. He’d firmly rejected this whole destiny nonsense and although he understood demons were real and they were after him he was eschewing the rest of the mess. He did not need to care about some higher being’s plans for him when he had his own. Still, even though he’d decided not to venture into anything beyond the professional with Charmian he had an odd desire to understand what it had once been. If he was supposed to have loved this woman across time he wanted to know why.

It was difficult to see when she was so detached. It was hard to imagine her ever being romantic or being wooed by anyone. It was also difficult to see how he could love her if her emotions only ran between irrational rage and utter indifference with nothing else on the spectrum. It wasn’t a particularly attractive quality – it was driving him crazy. The fact that it could even register when he had the entire underworld after him and bigger things to worry about was really quite something; that was just how annoying she was.

“So… you kicked jealous guy’s ass back there?”

“What, Alexander?” Justin nodded in response and Charmian looked at him curiously, wondering what the tone was for. He sounded almost indignant. “He holds his own.”

“From what I understand he deserves an ass kicking.”

Was that… protectiveness she heard? No, it couldn’t be. She was indulging in wishful thinking. “Alexander may have a bit of an ego issue but he’s still one of the good guys. He gets the job done and he’s a good leader; he’s just got flaws like the rest of us. We’re immortal, not perfect.”

Justin was about to challenge her to name her own, in that case, but thought better of it. If she hadn’t shown any glimmer of emotion after he’d taken both the Annabelle and Alexander shots she wasn’t going to.

God that was infuriating.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Don’t think they’re worth that much.”

Charmian accepted the proffered drink and sipped it, eyes sweeping across the room as if she was scoping for a new boyfriend. Of course the party goers weren’t to know that she was actually checking them all for signs of possession. Truth be told none of the revellers paid much attention to the two conservatively dressed women sitting on the couch and that was as they preferred it. Charmian was in a plain black dress, Carmel in blue. If they were running around in the same attention grabbing outfits and working the room like the rest of the women in there they’d be far too conspicuous and easy for demons to spot. They still blended in fine, they weren’t so drab they’d be the subject of derision, but they weren’t out to be seen. Scantily clad was not the order of the day.

They’d also be far too easy for the host to spot and he wasn’t supposed to know they were there.

Carmel frowned as she sat back down and followed suit, scanning the crowd. The large cocktails she’d procured would do nothing to them, alcohol didn’t affect avengers, but they were props for the ‘nothing unusual here’ performance. She was on the lookout for Annabelle, though Charmian would have had a fit if she’d known. It didn’t matter how grown up and mature her friend was trying to be – the first thing they were taught was to trust their instincts and hers were screaming that Annabelle was off. The rationale Charmian had given for her strangely glowing appearance wasn’t implausible in the least but Carmel had that tugging in her gut telling her something was up. She was going to listen to it with or without approval.

“I’ve been wondering why Justin kept this from us. He knows he’s supposed to stay away from unfamiliar people and this place is crawling with hangers on and social climbers.”

“Give him a break,” Charmian said. The nervous hand brushing her hair back betrayed her otherwise cool demeanour. “He’s under huge pressure and wanted to let off some steam without the immortal bodyguards looming.”

“It’s not worth his safety, though.”

“Trust me, I know him. He needs this little rebellion to still feel in control of his own life. He’ll still be smart.”

Inwardly Carmel doubted that. The boss really didn’t sound too sure.

Another of her many instincts was that Justin was pulling away. Between the new hook up and his lack of communication he was distancing himself from the people trying to protect him – namely, the brunette heading them up. Maybe she was wrong but it seemed to her like he’d got tired of hitting the brick wall Charmian had built up around her feelings. A sneaking suspicion said it was killing his faith in the entire bunch of avengers.

It wasn’t that she could blame her. They were hand picked precisely for their ability to compartmentalise and suppress their feelings; the transition to immortality very purposely heightened that ability. It was necessary for the job. In any event, losing the love of your life over and over again would make anybody put up defences. Loving Michael had over the centuries cost Charmian a great deal. Yet still this new “if he stays away from me he might live” tactic seemed counter productive to Carmel. It was making Justin distrust them all and driving him to risky behaviour - like inviting the whole world into his house for a party Dionysus might have found a little too rowdy for his tastes.

Nathaniel had a theory that the Greek Gods were loosely based on immortals, putting Charmian in the possible roles of Nemesis or Artemis, maybe even Athena. She had merely snorted and said there was no way anybody was mistaking her for the goddess of wisdom (Nate had been referring more to Athena’s link to battle strategy) but Carmel would have bet good money on the Nemesis thing. If the archangel Michael was based on their big boss she saw no reason why the goddess of divine retribution couldn’t be based on Charmian, especially since she was originally Grecian.

“Zac?”

“Yes Mel?”

“Did you get any further with that digging on Annabelle?”

“I spoke to the guardians, nothing we didn’t already know. She’s got nobody specific assigned but they watch her anyway because she’s a total mess and easy prey. Serious coke addict, eating disorder, general self-loathing and inferiority complex that she channels into needing the public to worship her while lording it over people behind the scenes. All very standard, aura’s clean though.”

“Eating disorder you say?”

“Yep. Why?”

“For somebody substituting food with cocaine she looked plenty fleshed out and healthy to me on that golf course. I smell a serious rat, Zac. I’m going to scope her out tonight.”

“You know if Char realises what you’re doing you’re going to be doing weapons drills until your hands bleed, right?”

That was quite a threat, given that it would take some seriously raw flesh to cause a problem for their super speed healing. “You have duly warned me.”

“Good, because if she finds out I had nothing to do with this. Fill me in if you come up with anything. Oh, and also, Lucas found out and while he’s not snitching he gave me that look like he seriously disapproves and next time either of us spars with him we’re probably getting flattened.”

“Ugh. I get why Lucas falls in line but he just doesn’t get that in matters of the heart, even Charmian can be in denial.”

“You’re quiet.”

“Oh.” Carmel was startled back into reality. Her boss was looking at her with that horribly shrewd and knowing expression.

“Who?” Of course Charmian knew she’d been using telepathy. Thankfully their messages were by invitation only, other immortals only heard them if the sender intended it.

“Oh, only Zac. He’s been checking some sources for me.” It was not a lie. It lacked details but it was factually accurate in all parts.

“You keep an eye out; I’m going to see if I can find Justin.”

“Okay.”

Carmel watched Charmian get up and start winging her way through the crowd, looking for a better angle on their host for the evening. Hopefully she could remain off his radar because it was doubtful he’d be happy if he realised his avenger free plans had been foiled. She felt for the guy, if she was being hunted down by Hell and ordered around by the good guys she’d probably need a break too.

Charmian made her way to the bar. Of course Carmel had already got her one drink, but she’d left it behind purposely because the bar was a good vantage point. Besides, from where they had been sitting you couldn’t make out every face crowding for drinks. It was a good excuse to go check through all of them. The hunt showed up the first and only demon of the night – it was a very minor infection however and probably unrelated to everything going on. One quick brush of her arm later and the lady in question was going to suffer nothing worse than an inconveniently timed stomach bug, so the demon couldn’t have been in place for very long.

She looked down critically at her outfit, wishing she could be in her proper battle gear. What Justin had referred to as her ‘She-Ra’ transformation (she didn’t understand the reference but he’d been too angry at the time for her to query it) only took a few seconds of magic. It was merely easier to wear sensible shoes and pants in the first place. She could fight in stilettos and occasionally they made a great weapon, but it was not the most practical way to go. Though the dress wasn’t revealing and it was still stretchy enough to fight it was not exactly a fashion win; dressing up for parties was not her forte.

“Hey there beautiful,” a tall and clearly drunk man to her right slurred. “Wanna drink?”

“I’ll get my own, thanks.”

“Hey now, what’s with the lack of friendly?” He threw a sloppy arm around her shoulder and she began to get irritated. She had better things to do than deal with him and she thought her curt tone had been quite enough. It usually sent most would be suitors running but clearly this one found it a challenge.

“Not interested.”

“Oh sure you are. I know you girls, you’re just playing… WHOA!”

It was wrong and she knew it. It was too conspicuous, it made a scene, but his hand was never going to be allowed to meet her buttocks. She grabbed his head by the hair and violently shoved his face into the bar before yanking him back up. He was whimpering and breathing heavily, making noises like a wounded animal before he stopped and realised that he wasn’t actually injured. That was another mistake – of course Charmian was quite precise enough to bring him within a millimetre of the marble top without harming him but for normal humans the odds were tiny. To the shocked observers he had been going too fast and come too close to the bar to be unscathed when it looked to their mortal vision like his nose had made contact and should have been smashed.

“Get. Gone.”

He didn’t have to be told twice.

“That was stupid. Fun as hell to watch but stupid.”

“What can I say; my patience is wearing thin these days.”

“So much for keeping a low profile.”

“There’s nobody here anyway Mel. Place is dead for demons.”

“Nobody except Justin who’s looking at you like you’ve grown another head. Though the amount of times he does that we should be up to head number five or six by now.”

“Shut up.”

In truth she was feeling a little admonished. Carmel was right, it had been stupid, but she was not in the mood to play helpless. Maybe it would teach the guy that women were capable of defending themselves.

She felt even more chastened as Justin grabbed her arm, yanked her off to the side and glared at her.

“Can you please not smash my guests into a bloody pulp? You could have killed him.”

“His head was never going to hit the bar; I was just teaching him that sexual harassment isn’t clever.”

“What are you even doing here?” He hissed. “You weren’t invited.”

“Justin, you have a lot of evil fiends after you and while I understand how much you would like a break from the divine bodyguards we cannot afford to do that. We already found one major demon in your midst.” She tried to say it kindly, calmly. It wasn’t a good idea to rile him any further. “We have to keep watch on you.”

“So next time please send Zac or Lucas who maybe won’t start murdering all my friends.”

“Was that guy really your friend?”

“Well…”

“Are any of these people really that close to you?”

“I have my crew here, Annabelle…” It was a low blow but she’d earned it.

“Great, and I’m glad you’re still living your life and hanging with them. But the other hundred people in the room?”

“It’s none of your business!” He wished he had a better response.

“I am not trying to be a hard ass here or stop you having fun but you’re very lucky that this room is clear of demons, Justin. This is just the kind of opportunity they love to use. At least Carmel and I were here to make sure you’re safe.”

“Which you’ve ascertained I am, so can you kindly fuck the hell off and quit making scenes?”

“Look, Justin, I…”

Out of the corner of her she noticed something odd at his neck and stopped cold. With unexpected speed she yanked at Justin’s collar – the force was a little too much and it nearly had him off his feet. It ripped his shirt, exposing a good deal of shoulder. Unfortunately that little glimpse was on closer inspection exactly what it had looked like.

“What the fuck is your damage, woman?”

Charmian was too busy being furious to listen. She clung on tight to his collar, ignoring his futile attempts to resist her hold. It felt like the skin on his clavicle was melting where her gaze seared into him. He really didn’t understand what her problem was or what she was staring at.

“Who have you been sleeping with?”

“What?” He yelped, unable to understand why nobody was paying any attention to the fact that the extremely famous host of the party was practically in a chokehold. That was a neat little magic trick on Charmian’s part – to anybody else it looked like they were chatting amicably. He didn’t understand the inappropriate question either. “What damn business is that of yours? Let me go!”

“It became my business when you managed to get yourself branded. Who have you been having sex with?”

She didn’t understand it. The obvious answer was Annabelle but Annabelle had been checked out by her personally. She was clean. So why was he marked?

“What the hell do you mean branded, there’s nothing there!”

“You’re mortal, you can’t see it, but you’ve been branded like fucking cattle and now for the love of all things holy you had better tell me who you’ve been fucking, Timberlake.”

It seemed odd to hear her swearing so freely and vociferously. Justin was almost afraid of her. Apart from the fact that she could very easily kill him in the position she had him in, her eyes had turned from a light chocolate brown to an ominous grey. He almost expected them to burst into flames or throw out lightning, she was so visibly angry. He hadn’t seen her like that since he’d found out what she was. Her entire body was shaking and it was no hyperbole to say she looked homicidal.

Amongst the confusion and fear Justin had a brief moment to idly berate himself for not being more careful what he’d wished for. Charmian was certainly reacting now.

“I didn’t do anything! I’m in a relationship, there’s nothing wrong with…”

“So Annabelle?”

Justin paled. He shouldn’t have said that. “You’re not going to…”

In a flash she had dropped him and raced back off into the crowd. Justin picked himself back up, panicking, and found himself face to face with a very worried Carmel.

“You’re all fucking nuts, the whole fucking bunch of you!”

“Be mad at me later, tell me what happened now.”

“She ripped my shirt open and flipped!”

Carmel’s hands went immediately though much more delicately to the wrecked collar of his shirt, looking to see what had set Charmian off. She saw the mark and grimly wished her instincts hadn’t been so close to the mark. Still it was a turn up even after her suspicions – she’d thought it was some kind of spell, not this. This was rare; she’d thought most of them had died out after the nineteenth century.

“You can’t see it but there’s a snake brand on you, JT.”

“That’s what she said before demanding the details of my sex life, what gives?”

“It means that you…” It was painful to tell him. “Recently had sex with a succubus.”

“A what now?”

“They’re a specific type of demon. Seductresses. They prey on men, lure them into bed, and leave a brand on you that makes you extremely susceptible to demonic influence. You can’t see it but it’s like a magnet for things that go bump in the night.”

“What?”

Justin really wanted to throw up. Even though he could see nothing there suddenly the spot itched like crazy. Of course it was psychosomatic but he didn’t care, apparently he’d just had a demonic GPS tracker stuck on him.

“Get it off, get it off,” he begged as he clawed at it with his nails.

“Don’t scratch, you’ll only hurt yourself. We can get rid of it but I’ll need to take you to Nathaniel… I assume you only slept with Annabelle, right?”

“Succubuses are movie stars? How is that even…”

“The plural is succubi and she’s not the real Annabelle, Lord only knows what they did with her. They can take on any form they want to entice their victims.”

“Oh God…”

He whimpered, unable to shake a horrific mental image of himself in bed with a green skinned Medusa. All thoughts of anger and irritation with Charmian’s behaviour had flown out of the window and instead he felt like a scared child in the dark. His breathing was laboured and heavy. Carmel placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder and spoke to him as calmly as she could manage.

“Don’t beat yourself up. This isn’t your fault, you couldn’t have known, but I need you to tell me where Annabelle went because I need to run after my boss and stop her killing the bitch before we get any useful info.”

“I… cigarette break. Roof.”

“Stay here, I’ll be back and then we’ll go to Nate and get that pesky thing washed right off. Don’t move.”

He wasn’t entirely sure what possessed him to bolt after Carmel. Maybe it was morbid fascination. Maybe it was fear and not wanting to be left alone. She was very hard to keep up with; he was very physically fit and did a lot of running but she was leaving him in the dust. He almost tripped over his own feet in shock when out of thin air Zac and Lucas appeared, sprinting upstairs along with Carmel even as they materialised. He started taking them two at a time in a doomed attempt to catch up but his lungs were burning. Why was he trying to keep up with them anyway? They’d get there in about ten seconds and he’d get there in ninety, was it really worth the coronary?

When Justin finally burst onto the roof feeling like he was about to vomit up his lungs, he saw both Lucas and Zac struggling to restrain Charmian. She had ditched the party dress and was in her full battle gear, leather and armour. Now her eyes were bright red. He hadn’t realised their eyes could change colour like that until he’d seen the grey downstairs but it was disconcerting to say the least . He liked the red even less; she looked like she wanted to rip into Annabelle with her bare hands. His first instinct was to jump in and try to help the cowering girl who was on the floor with Carmel’s sword at her throat, but then he remembered she wasn’t who he’d thought she was.

“Let me go, fuckers!”

“Not until you quit with the crazy, boss,” Zac grunted.

“That fucking bitch…”

“Has information that we’re not going to get if you prematurely send her entrails flying.” It was a new and alarming thing to see Lucas straining with effort.

“So,” Carmel said cheerfully, as if none of this bothered her in the slightest. “You can either co-operate with me and I’ll make sure you die easy or you can be awkward and I’ll let her at you. Who you working for?”

“A…Anton,” Delilah spat out with difficulty – Carmel’s foot was heavy on her ribs and made breathing harder. Justin recognised that name, hadn’t Lucas mentioned something about him?

“What was the game?”

“M…mark him. Gain his trust, access the inner circle. Create an in.”

“For Anton?”

“I… ahh, yes, Anton!” She yelped as Camel let the sword’s blade lightly nick her throat. It left a nasty burn which bubbled up the skin.

“And has Anton been anywhere near Justin recently?”

“I… he said he’d… if my essence gets to the pit and he knows I told…”

“Come on, who you more afraid of? Anton or the rabid avenger over there who’d really like to eviscerate you right now? Holy swords make quite a mess of things like you, you know.”

“Yes, they’ve met.”

“And which dumb pseudonym did he… what the fuck?”

She stepped back in disbelief as Delilah started screaming. Her whole body erupted into a set of evil looking purple flames and she burned to ash before their eyes. The whole process couldn’t have taken more than ten seconds. Even Lucas and Zac had stopped fighting Charmian in order to gape open mouthed, but that was okay because she was also so shocked she’d stopped struggling. She was now hanging from their grip looking incredulous.

“And what in the blazing hell was that?” Zac asked.

“That was new,” Carmel responded mildly.

“You think Anton somehow rigged her to blow if she tattled?”

“Who knows what kind of fucked up curses that guy has access to... what do you say we just grab Justin and worry about this on our way to get him cleansed?”

Justin was about to step forward and make himself known, but Charmian had woken back up from her stupor and was turning on her lieutenants again. Roughly she shook the boys off before spinning around and glaring venomously at them.

“See? This is why you should have let me kill the fucking slut.”

“And not get even the little information we did? Geez, Char, calm down.” When even Lucas was objecting to her behaviour you knew she had stepped far across the line.

“I will not fucking calm down, the succubus that none of us noticed managed to mark my guy and now I don’t get the pleasure of dispatching the damn bitch because somebody else got there first!”

Carmel tried to gently interject. “You’re the one who taught us that information is the priority, not payback.”

“Screw priorities.”

“Umm, boss, don’t you think that the petty vengeance is making you just a little bit mental right now?”

Lucas glared at Zac. He wasn’t wrong but his phrasing was, as Nathaniel would say, about as helpful as a chocolate teapot. It was like throwing a bomb into a gas fire.

“Oh yeah?” Charmian hurled her sword at Zac with tremendous force and he let out a loud yelp as the hilt clocked his temple. “How about we let you fall in love with somebody nine times over and watch her die eight times in a row and have you kill yourself trying to stay away from her so she has a shot of surviving and then you watch her have sex with a demon that you didn’t notice was there and LET’S SEE HOW GOD DAMN MENTAL YOU’RE FEELING AFTER!”

Suddenly Justin didn’t feel like making his presence known. He quickly turned and bolted back down the stairs before anybody could see him, determined to be back where Carmel had left him so nobody could possibly know he’d witnessed all that.

So maybe she did care.

“This is my fault. I knew something was up, I should have pushed.”

“We never should have let him go in the first place; I should have made him stay.”

“Well,” Nate said brightly. “It’s Charmian’s fault for being in love with him, Carmel’s for not pushing on the succubus issue, Lucas is in the wrong for letting Justin leave the house… anybody here not blaming themselves?”

Zac smirked. “I’m cool with it.”

“Smart ass,” Carmel said as she glared at him. “This is so not funny.”

“Maybe we could all stop the self-flagellation long enough to realise that as far as we were aware succubi were extinct and that even if you had pushed on the issue none of us could have predicted that she was one or that she’d explode into dust before being useful?” As ever, Nate was scribbling away in his notebook as he talked. “I’m rather more interested in that, it must take a lot of power to hex somebody in that manner.”

Lucas leaned back in his chair, a gloomy expression marring his chiselled features. “Which would further fit the theme of ‘fuck we really underestimated Anton.’ I hate to say it but we’re getting totally out of our depth here.”

“As much as I hate to say it you may be right.” Nate frowned at the information in front of him; it was all very pessimistic and not giving him much cause for hope. He was less concerned about the succubus than the manner of her death. They were designed to be less visible than your average demon so even immortals had a hard time identifying them – what was unusual and alarming was Anton being able to incinerate her at will. “Unfortunately Annabelle was the perfect cover. Travelling with an entourage meant she would by nature have introduced Justin to a number of people, any of whom could be Anton under a pseudonym.”

“How long do you think before Justin wakes up?” Zac asked.

Even with their cast iron stomachs, it had been difficult watching the cleansing. At first Justin had been making weak jokes about it being the ultimate STD, but that quickly subsided and was replaced by screaming. Carmel had purposely made it sound as if the mark could be simply washed off in order to reassure Justin, but the truth was the paste Nate made had to burn away the mark. It was the equivalent of having boiling water poured across your skin for an hour. It had of course made Charmian hysterical watching it, and it was actually an act of mercy when Lucas quietly and unexpectedly knocked Justin unconscious.

“Not long. I didn’t hit him that hard so I’m guessing his body’s still recovering from the paste or something. Nasty shit.”

“You know, I wasn’t sure whether Char was going to hit you or thank you for that.” Carmel’s voice was tinged with melancholy.

“Neither was I.”

“God.” Zac shuffled his feet against the floor, staring down at his sneakers as if they’d have an enlightening effect on the situation. “I know this has been bad before but I have never seen her lose control that much. I didn’t think we were gonna hold her. I hate to say it but she’s losing it.”

Carmel shrugged. “Can you blame her? We’re all sinking and she’s got more invested in this than anybody. And she’s seriously beating herself up for not listening to me.”

“Do I detect a hint of ‘I told you so,’ dear Mel?”

She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean, it’s not like I wanted to be right. She’s just beating herself up because ‘I did what I taught you not to and I was stupid and I saw what I wanted to see and oh God I’m a terrible person and yadda yadda.’ I think she just wanted so badly to believe Annabelle was legit and that she could keep her distance and it would save him that she’s got nothing left.”

“Well maybe we should all get off the dumb emotional stuff and back on strategy,” Zac suggested. “What we doing to find Anton?”

“That’s the one thing she did manage to do. She put Alex and his team on it.”

“Fucker…”

“Hey,” Lucas warned. “Alexander’s crew are the most efficient and military precise we got. They’re the best choice for search.”

“Shame they got no imagination in an actual fight.”

“Zac…”

“Alright, just saying.”

“We got no time to be petty any more,” Carmel told him softly. “Anton declared war and we didn’t even notice; we got to catch up.”

They were interrupted by a pale looking Charmian walking slowly into the room. She stood in front of the table, arms folded. It was odd to see her so subdued. Normally she was the model of quiet but authoritative confidence - she wasn’t obnoxious or ostentatious but she naturally commanded a room. Now it was as if she’d been deflated, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

“He woke up for a little but I convinced him to go back to sleep. Think he’s been through enough for one night.”

“The mixture has done its work?” Nate enquired.

She nodded. “Mark’s gone. I guess I owe you guys an apology for the crazed bitch incident.”

“S’okay boss. I’ll remember it next time you’re telling me off for being too quick to the finish.”

She offered a half hearted smile in appreciation of Zac’s efforts, but nothing was very funny any more. “I’ll get right to the point, we’re dying here. The poison’s out there, there are still murmurings in the ranks, Anton’s using magic we’ve never seen before, a species we thought died out nearly doomed our guy…”

“Yeah, how did that happen?” Carmel asked. “I thought we hunted them all down.”

“So did I.” Charmian’s face was twisted into a grim scowl. “But it only takes one to survive. When this is over we need to start doing a comprehensive search worldwide, I am not letting those bitches start building up numbers again.”

“And in the meantime?” Lucas didn’t even notice that he was twirling a pen in his hands. It was a nervous habit he’d picked up after the invention of the ballpoint pen. You couldn’t really do it with quills.

She took a deep breath, shoulders hunching up around her neck as she held it a few seconds longer than she needed to. “I’m calling Michael.”

They straightened in their seats, their mouths dropped open, and whatever nervous fidgeting they had been doing immediately ceased. The current was palpable as it ran through the room.

“You sure boss?” Lucas asked uneasily. “You said he’d be pissed if we called him and weren’t on top of things.”

“It’ll be worse if we wait until we’ve fucked it all up, which we are dangerously close to doing.”

Zac’s face took on a green tinge. The only thing in existence that still scared him was Michael. If Alexander was a hard ass who was too tough on his recruits, Michael was the kind of guy who made him look positively reasonable. He demanded nothing but excellence. Since Charmian usually offered it, in his gruff and nearly indiscernible way he doted on her (you could tell because when he was barking orders at her it was a few decibels lower than everybody else). Being told that his pet was failing was going to make him very angry and that never led to anything good.

“If you think that’s the wisest course, but I don’t need to tell you that his wrath will bring consequences,” Nate said mildly.

“And our continued incompetence will bring consequences, namely Justin dying, so if I have to give up being teacher’s star pupil so be it. You ready?”

“What, NOW?”

As if she hadn’t blindsided them enough, that took the cake. There was no time to compose themselves or come up with an approach, she was already muttering in the ancient tongue that would call their boss. His presence wasn’t guaranteed, those of lower ranks did not get to summon their superiors, but if Michael answered the call then they were all about to get their asses handed to them.

Instinctively Lucas scraped back his chair and dropped on one knee as he saw the blue-grey light start forming at the head of the table, yanking Zac down with him. Carmel didn’t need to be told that supplication was in order. Nate was the only one in the room not subject to Michael’s authority but even he took care to rise from his seat and bow his head in respect. Once the figure was fully formed Charmian knelt herself, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

If ever there was a stereotype for an avenger, Michael was it. He was a hulk of a man, well over six feet and very broad in the chest and shoulders. Even beneath the traditional breastplate he wore the muscles were more than evident. Though times moved on he had always favoured the styling of the Ancient Greek and Roman armies, and kept mainly to it. His hair was long, brushing his shoulders and jet black, as were his eyes. His face was hard set, as if he were a living statue, features unyielding. Hollywood would have loved him, one second on screen and everybody would know he was playing the villain. He had the look.

“My children, this is a surprise. And Nathaniel.”

“Greetings, Michael. Peace be with you,” Nate said.

“And with you.”

“Forgive me, Lord,” Charmian began. Her voice betrayed a little of her struggle to keep collected. “I apologise for disturbing you but I have troubling news and felt it could wait no longer.”

“Why was it waiting before?”

To somebody who didn’t know him he might have sounded neutral, merely inquisitive. Everybody in the room however could hear the coiled snake in his tone. The fact that he had not yet invited them to even look at him, let alone get up, was not a good sign.

“We have been investigating unusual activity in the area.” Even as she spoke she was wondering how little she could get away with telling him. “Our enquiries have brought some troubling revelations but I knew you would not wish to be disturbed until we had a clearer picture.”

“And?”

She swallowed hard. “Anton is above ground and has been charged with corrupting celebrities in order to have them turn their followers. To this end the demons have been actively trying to distract us with strange behaviour in order to mask their true intent. They have been employing poison against avengers and last night we discovered that Anton had employed a succubus in order to target his victim.”

“A succubus?” Even Michael sounded surprised. His arms were tightly folded across his chest. “How is that so?”

“We cannot be sure.” Nathaniel stepped in for Charmian. “By all records we had they should have been extinct. What is more concerning is that Anton was somehow able to make her spontaneously combust before she could betray him.”

“Rise, children,” he said impatiently, tapping his fingers against his arm. Nervously they all stood, still keeping their heads bowed and not daring to look at him except for Charmian. “That would take great power and strongly suggests he has much to hide. What’s so important about this human that he’d go to the trouble?”

“He’s well respected and has a large fan base,” Nate explained. We believe the idea was to corrupt him until he would corrupt others even without demonic possession.”

“So leaving him out of our reach. Clever. Why are they employing poison?”

Lucas wasn’t sure how he dared to clear his throat and speak, but somehow he did. “It is something they have often attempted, my Lord, hoping to find a way to better disable us for a capture.” He tried not to flinch when Michael turned his gaze upon him.

“Something in your tone tells me they succeeded.”

“Yes my Lord.” It was difficult to get the words out, he was so afraid of the reaction. “I can report that I received some cuts to my back and ribs which took the course of a night to heal.”

“An entire night?”

“Yes my Lord.”

“And how did you sustain the injuries to begin with?”

Now he was scared. “I was engaged with Narjin and he was armed with Malachai’s cat o’ nine tails. I was expecting to defend against his usual methods and he caught me by surprise. My apologies, it was complacent.”

“I did not think Malachai would ever give up his prized possession, why was he carrying it?”

“I killed him the previous evening, my Lord.” 

“And did you also dispatch Narjin?”

“Yes, Lord.”

Michael gazed across at Lucas, eyes narrowed. “Well. I suppose if you had not been injured we might have been left to discover the efficacy of the poison with a less desirable end result. Narjin and Malachai are not easy kills.”

That was as close as the boss was ever going to get to a flattering remark. Zac would have laughed if he wasn’t so nervous – Lucas was almost blushing.

Charmian dared to raise her head just a little. That faint bit of praise might mean it wasn’t as catastrophic as she had feared. “My Lord, Nathaniel has kindly been researching the poison for us and looking for an antidote. We have so far managed to conceal the fact from the demons, but fear we cannot for much longer. With the presence of the succubus and the power Anton is obviously wielding we felt it best to advise you of the situation. I have Alexander’s team searching for him but he has proved unusually elusive.”

“Have you told anyone else?”

“None outside my team. We wanted to prevent the news from reaching the pit.” Naturally she wasn’t going to mention the fact that she thought it would be used as an excuse for a coup.

“And where is Anton’s target now?”

Every instinct in her body wanted to her to freeze, clam up. The last thing she wanted to do was discuss Justin with Michael, yet if she displayed any kind of emotion at all he would pounce on it. The man was eagle-eyed to say the least.

“We have secured the target and cleansed him of the mark he bore.” It was her best acting work ever, and she remained purposely vague on Justin’s location. She didn’t want him moved so soon after that trauma but first thing in the morning she was putting him somewhere else and getting Lucas to recreate the anti-demonic wards he had on his own house. “However with the lengths Anton has gone to we do not believe it will be his last attempt, which is why I felt it best to inform you Lord. We need your wisdom.”

There it was. They had flattered him, they had downplayed the failures as best they could, achieved a near compliment, tried to cushion the blow as much as possible. All there was left to do was wait for the reaction.

“Is there anything else?”

“No Lord.” That was a fib of epic proportions but she couldn’t tell him.

“Very well. I will consider this and then we will reconvene tomorrow. I’ll send word of my arrival.”

His exit was as quick and sharp as his entry. A collective breath they hadn’t realised they’d been holding was released and an assortment of sighs and exclamations all sounded at once.

“Fucking hell that’s one scary fucker,” Zac said shakily.

“That could have been worse, right?” Carmel’s hope was false but she tried to have it anyway.

“No. He’s pissed,” Lucas replied grimly. “I can feel it.”

“Really?” Nate asked. “He seemed remarkably reasonable.”

Charmian’s eyes met Lucas’s, nodding in sad agreement. “Exactly.”

The clock in the apartment was driving her crazy. With every move of the second hand a quiet but insistent little click sounded. If the place hadn’t been so deathly silent she wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but in the lack of noise it was ringing out like a full set of church bells at midday. It seemed odd that after everything she’d been through in her long life such a small thing would be the one to send her over the edge, but her nerves were badly frayed.

Perhaps being in the silence and stillness was a bad idea. It allowed her inner senses to go on overload. Suddenly she was feeling everything – the mental dam had finally broken and her brain was drowning in the onslaught of rushing thoughts. The aching went down to the bone and it would have been blessed release if her skull chose that moment to explode. Once upon a time she had believed she could take anything, long years had left her convinced of it, but she was finally being proven wrong and it really, really sucked.

Justin shifted slightly and robotically she moved to take the now lukewarm cloth from his forehead. Pressing the back of her knuckles gently to his face, she decided that the fever had gone and there was no need for a replacement. It probably wouldn’t be much longer before he finally woke up, a full day later. Nobody could blame him for sleeping so long after the physical ordeal he’d suffered but she’d been thinking for a couple of hours that waking up was overdue.

Finally he licked his lips and cracked open his eyes, blinking in the light. His brow creased as he frowned at the unfamiliar surroundings.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey. Where am I?”

You’re at a place I keep, kind of my hidey-hole. How you feeling?”

“Like I’m hung over without the fun part the night before. Did Lucas really knock me out or did I dream it?”

She winced. “Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“It was the nicest thing anybody’s ever done for me. What was that stuff?” He rubbed at the now painless spot on his chest. “Did it work?”

“It worked.” She nodded. “You are mark free.”

“Good.” He sat up against the pillows, rubbing his eyes with his hands. “God I feel stupid. I always laughed at my friends who got into bed with the wrong chick.”

“You couldn’t possibly have known.” Charmian fought to keep the scowl off her face. She really wished she’d had a chance at some payback. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“You warned me about new people though. I was too pig headed to listen.”

“But I gave you the all clear, I should have spotted something was up with her so this one’s on me. Seriously, just forget about it. You didn’t do anything wrong, I fucked up.”

Not wanting to give herself away any more she abruptly got up from her seat and went over to the kitchen area to boil some water for coffee. It was another small apartment so she couldn’t get very far from him, but he couldn’t see it if she was glaring at the kettle.

Justin was trying to take in his surroundings but he was staring more at her than anything else. He couldn’t put his finger on it but somehow she looked different. She was still as beautiful and graceful as ever, but she lacked that otherworldliness that usually intimidated him so much. Maybe it was because she was in jeans and a slouchy sweater looking very ordinary for a change. She was even slouching a little herself, shoulders hunching just a bit. There was also an air of weary defeat about her – as his supposedly heaven appointed guardian that made him nervous.

“So… what was she? I was a little busy freaking when Nate explained it.”

“A succubus.” Justin immediately noticed the cold edge in her voice. She was obviously angry. “They’re this very old race of demons; they’re so old they even show up in a lot of human mythology. They take on whatever form they want to entice men, be whatever you want them to be, and the magic they use shields them better from immortals. We can’t always tell by sight what they are, so for a long time we were on this major quest to hunt them out and we thought we’d killed them all. Guess not.”

He thought dryly to himself that it would be just his luck to fall victim to some rare supernatural predator. Fate was obviously been pissed with him of late. “So the mark?”

“The whole point of them seducing all these men is to brand you with the mark. You can’t see it, but it’s like a homing beacon for demons. It attracts them to you and it makes you much more susceptible to infection or possession. Which is exactly why Anton sent her after you, to pave the way for him.”

“So he could possess me or something?”

“Possibly. I’m not exactly sure but whatever it is it’s not good and to that end I have to ask you to please stop talking to anybody she introduced you to, at least for a while.”

“Done.”

“Huh.” She looked over her shoulder and shot him a small smile. “I was expecting more resistance.”

“So far resisting you has only got me some mystical version of chlamydia. I’m doing everything you say from now on.”

Despite herself, Charmian actually chuckled as she spooned instant coffee into the chipped mugs. “Wow. If I’d known this was all it would take…”

“That’s not funny.”

Pushing back the covers he finally dragged himself out of bed. Stretching out his stiff muscles, Justin looked around the apartment. It was a similar set up to her other place but it lacked all the eclectic decorations. It looked bare and almost kind of sad. There was the minimum of furniture and one lone Monet print on the wall. Padding over to the kitchen area and accepting the mug she offered, he stared at her.

“Seriously, Charmian, I’m sorry. I’ve been kind of a prick.”

“No.” She shook her head, still not looking at him as she added milk and sugar to her cup. Somehow she’d known he took it black. “You’ve been scared and overwhelmed and trying to keep some semblance of your life for yourself while this whole bullshit situation marched in and took over. And I’ve been absent and standoffish and not exactly a help.”

“Not like you can babysit my feelings when you got a world to save.” He shrugged.

“No, but… wait, I don’t mean no I can’t, I…”

“You okay?” For all his complaining about her lack of emotion it was kind of worrying to see her so flustered.

Charmian pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut and nodding. “Sorry, I just, it’s all wrong. You’re still important, I’m your guardian and I’m supposed to be looking after you and instead I’ve been this cold bitch and I just hate this whole fucking thing.”

“Wait… are you crying?”

He couldn’t believe it. Her eyes were glassy and water filled and although none had actually fallen those were definitely tears. The idea of Charmian crying was really quite incredible and Justin almost wanted a chair so he could sit down. He’d been comatose for God only knew how long and yet he actually wanted to be back off his feet.

“You know what? I really don’t know how mortals cope. All these emotions running all over the place and you can’t shut them off or pack them away and then it all comes spilling out whether you want it or not, how the fuck do you do this and not want to shoot yourselves in the head?”

“What, and you immortal types don’t?” Justin’s laugh came out a little strangled. He grabbed a tissue from a slightly dusty box and dabbed at her eyes.

“Avengers are chosen for our ability to compartmentalise and then specifically turned into people who can watch massacres and feel unmoved. Emotions aren’t a big thing.” She batted his hands away and wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand. She really did hate crying and it was all she could do to prevent it from happening at the moment.

“You want to know how we mortals cope?”

“Please.”

Justin drew her to him and wrapped his arms around her. For a few seconds she stood there limply, as if she was unsure what the appropriate response was supposed to be, but gingerly she returned the hug. She refused to look at him though.

“Let it out. Shit’ll only come back to bite you in the ass if you don’t.”

“What else is new?” She grumbled before pulling away. Self-consciously she wiped at her nose too, sniffing. “Seriously, I’m thousands of years old and I’ve kicked demon ass from here to Shanghai and I can’t save one guy. And whatever I try to do I make it worse. I mean, I thought I was doing you a favour hanging back and I got you marked by some bitch who’s supposed to be extinct. I am the world’s worst guardian, it’s no wonder you keep dying.”

Justin cringed. “Can we not remind me of how many times I’ve died? I can deal with the whole reincarnation-there-really-is-heaven-and-hell thing but I’m finding the whole premature death part a little tougher.”

Before Charmian could answer him, Nathaniel chose the moment to materialise out of nowhere and scare them both half to death.

“Knock, much?” She complained.

“You will not take that tone with me, Charmian, you’re lucky I was there to save your hide. Everybody else would be obliged to tell Michael where you are.”

Justin was confused. He thought he was Michael. Was there another Michael?

“But you were and I remain undetected. All is well.”

“All is well?” Justin was confused by Nate’s obvious anger. He’d never seen the guy do anything except mildly amused calm and wisdom. “The avengers are in disarray, Lucas is battling to keep Alexander from assuming command and Michael’s first order has been to find you. How is that well?”

“What’s going on?” He asked in bewilderment. Nate’s gaze immediately swivelled to him.

“She hasn’t told you.”

“Told me what?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You’ve been stripped of your powers, made mortal and are now being hunted by the global population of avengers, hardly nothing Charmian. That’s before we even start on what’s going to happen when the news that you’re human gets back to the pit.”

“WHAT?”

“It’s nothing!” She insisted.

“But… but… mortal?” That explained it. That was what was different about her. Of course after so many years her body still moved in certain ways but without that magically gifted strength and agility she was just an ordinary human being. That was what was missing. She no longer seemed otherworldly because she was no different from anybody else.

Then he wondered how the hell she was supposed to protect him from demons if she was human.

“I made sure this place was covered in sigils both for the demons and for avengers.  Heck, if he hadn’t stripped my powers even I wouldn’t have been able to step in here. If you think about it he maybe did me a favour, least I can keep a proper eye on him now with no other duties to distract me.”

“Charmian,” Nate exclaimed irritably, “I don’t think you’re treating this with quite the gravity it deserves. The only reason you were able to escape is that I was present and I am not an avenger. Your team can no longer help you, they’re bound to Michael and he’s threatened them with unimaginable things if they dare assist you. He was threatening me with all sorts of unrepeatables for removing you and refusing him your whereabouts. You really are very lucky that he has no authority over me.”

“Sorry that I don’t have time to be concerned with all your worries but I’m a bit busy trying to handle the whole human thing, do you know how many hormones and emotions and stupid crap these people have to deal with?” She jerked a thumb at Justin. “I take back everything I ever said about them being stupid; it’s clearly not their fault.”

“But…”

“But what, Nate?” She threw her hands up in the air. “What am I supposed to do? The bastard acted like everything was all fine and then decided to go ape shit and take my powers. I have no right to appeal, I can’t get them back, lucky for me you got me out and now all I can do is work with what I got. I could stand here wailing about it or I can just try to get on with it. Which I am doing, even though these stupid emotions are getting in my damn way.”

“Charmian.” Justin swore he could almost see the steam coming out of Nate’s ears. “You were immortal, now you’re not. Your entire existence has been your position as head avenger, now it’s not. You really cannot pretend that’s so easily brushed aside.”

“I don’t have a fucking choice, Nate.” Great, the tears were threatening again. Were all human women like this, on the verge of waterworks half the time? “I will say it again – I. Can’t. DO anything about it. I sit here and wallow and feel sorry for myself I’m only going to make things worse. Now, can you please do something more useful than yelling at me and ask Micah if he’ll come see me later?”

Nate disappeared as abruptly as he’d entered, and silence fell. Justin felt awkward as hell. He was scared, he was worried, this whole thing where Charmian was expressing quite a wide range of emotions was very new and difficult to grasp; he was floundering. She was biting her lip, glaring intently into space and ever so slightly shaking.

“Can we try that whole hug thing again? You said it helps?”

Wordlessly he acquiesced. It was extremely uncomfortable, but he didn’t know what else he could say or do.

“So how long before it’s supposed to work?” She asked hopelessly. She could put on as much bravado for Nate as she wanted but she felt like a helpless little child - and for somebody who was used to being one of the biggest bad asses in existence that was sickening.

Justin let out a sad chuckle. And he’d thought he had problems when he woke up in that bed. “No telling. It’s not one hundred percent.”

“It’s so weird. I remember my human life… I mean, the first one, but I’d forgotten how it feels. Everything’s so muddled.”

He wasn’t sure what moved him to do it, but he pressed his lips to the crown of her head. “Welcome to our world. It sucks.”

“I just don’t know what to do.”

“We spend most of our lives that way. You get used to it.”

Charmian pulled away uncomfortably. There was yet another stupid thing her emotions were doing – she did not need to be torturing herself by getting close to him. She really did hate being mortal so far. It seemed to have little to recommend it.

“I’ll still keep you safe. I promise.”

“How about we just start off with fed? You wanna go for breakfast?”

“But if you leave here you’re unprotected.”

“You’ll be with me, right?”

She looked at him doubtfully. She wasn’t sure how protective her presence was any more. “Yes…”

“Then come on. Let’s go try being human on for size.”

It was difficult not to be paranoid. Every human being on the planet had probably at some time or another been convinced somebody was out to get them for no good reason. The unexplained goose bumps, feeling like you were being watched, the irrational conviction that the car which had taken all the same turns for the last ten minutes was a stalker, all those things. Justin Timberlake already had more reason than most to be suspicious – perks of being a paparazzi magnet – but ever since he’d learned that the fiends of Hell were all gunning for him he had found it difficult walking around alone. There was nothing to be done for it, if he and Charmian were photographed together it would make them both targets, but it still scared him more than he cared to admit. He had some manly pride.

She had been unhappy about him leaving the protection of the sigils so often but being cooped up in a small apartment was not as comfortable or filled with distractions as Lucas’s sprawling house and gardens. He was going stir crazy and he needed air. He wasn’t doing much, only going for walks or to the store for supplies. He’d bought a small TV and some DVDs to entertain them with.  It just helped if he could leave the house and Micah had been kind enough to create a mystical panic button for him to alleviate her fears, one which would immediately call Micah or Katherine to him for a speedy getaway. The guardians were free from Michael’s authority and not kept out by the symbols so they could hang around to plot with Charmian as much as they wanted. It was only her team of avengers who were forced to stay away.

“Justin.”

“GOD!” Every muscle in his body had to strain to prevent him jumping a foot sideways. There went the manly pride. “Warning, please!”

“Sorry.” Lucas seemed unrepentant but then Lucas rarely expressed an actual sentiment. He was as bad as Charmian but in a sexist way that seemed less strange on a guy.

“This whole appearing out of thin air and scaring the crap out of me shit has to stop. I thought you weren’t even supposed to be talking to me anyway on fear of being squashed like a bug or something.” Justin adjusted the collar of his jacket, a nervous twitch.

“Michael told me I was not allowed to speak to Charmian, communicate with Charmian, attempt to look for Charmian, go anywhere near Charmian. I obey his orders, but his orders said nothing about you.”

That wasn’t exactly reassuring. “Lucky me.”

“So how is Charmian?”

Despite himself, he had to chuckle. If there was one thing to be said for Lucas it was that you didn’t have to waste time on the pleasantries.  Ostensibly nothing was much different, he supposed stress was unlikely to ever cause lines in an immortal visage, but he swore he saw a tightness in the shoulders and face which had been absent before. Lucas was in full battle gear and if the reference wouldn’t have gone straight over his head Justin would have started calling him He-Man.

“She spends a lot of time bitching about how emotions suck and she can’t even imagine what PMS must be like if this is normal but she’s okay. Nobody’s found us yet, anyway.”

“I’m more than a little pissed that I can’t help you guys but I’ve barely held onto control as it is. One excuse and Alexander’s taking over.”

“I guess she would leave a pretty attractive vacancy, huh?”

“Mmmhmm.” That was as far as Lucas would be drawn on the subject. “Do you know if she can still fight?”

“She’s worked out. It was hard to read between all the bitching about human reflexes but I think she’s still got all her ninja karate fight club knowledge, she just lost the super charge. She could still kick my ass.”

That actually raised a smirk. “So basically she’s doing a lot of bitching about being human.”

“Yep. Occasionally she throws in a few choice words about Anton.”

“Speaking of the asshole, has anybody tried to contact you? Anyone the succubus introduced you to?”

“Only my best friend and my mom but that’s normal.”

“Hmm.”

“All these non-committal phrases are kind of irritating, you know.”

“Hmm. I have to go, tell Charmian that we haven’t found him but we’re looking. Oh, and that Nate said something about her sword.”

“Her sword?”

“You remember, big flame-y sharp thing.”

Justin glared at Lucas. He did not appreciate being mocked. “Hard to forget. What about it?”

“He wouldn’t give me the details, just said it was still hers. Which makes zero sense since our weapons are mystical and part of the avenger gig but I swore I’d pass it on if I found you.”

“Uhh… okay.” He refrained from retorting that absolutely nothing about the whole sorry thing made any sense. He was still a tiny bit afraid of Lucas. In his life he’d always been one of the more alpha males in the room but there was no danger of that in his presence. Lucas was large and most emphatically in charge.

He had also evaporated into thin air without as much as a word of farewell. That was rude.

On the bright side, Lucas had fortuitously caught him only a block from the apartment. Justin had a feeling he’d be obliged to report any place he suspected Charmian might be, so it was good it hadn’t been there. Being in the area didn’t mean much but being about to enter a residential building might have caught Lucas’s notice. While the avengers couldn’t get inside they could certainly surround it until they were forced to surrender or starve to death.

Wanting to get off the streets, he picked up his pace. As he walked he brooded on the absurdity of his situation for what seemed the millionth time. The closest he’d ever been to a siege before was some over zealous fans demanding autographs. He’d been scared on a few occasions when the crowds were particularly rowdy and blocking his exit, but compared to this it had been nothing. Demons wanted to kidnap him, if too much information got out a bunch of holy warriors would join the line, and he was hiding out with some star crossed lover he had no recollection of ever having dated.

He was never complaining about promotion again. Somehow radio interviews didn’t seem such a tedious prospect any more.

As he entered the building his moping once again moved to the whole Romeo and Juliet thing. He took the stairs with a slow, trudging step. Being in close quarters with Charmian made it impossible not to dwell on the subject and the more he did the more he felt short changed. She remembered everything, him nothing. How was that fair? How was he supposed to understand everything that was happening to him or the woman charged with the sacred duty of saving his hide without knowing the back story? It made it impossible for him to get a grip on it all; he would have asked her but he feared setting off more waterworks. Katherine had predicted that once she got used to being human again her mood swings would level back out but thus far that hadn’t proved true.

All such thoughts flew from his mind to be replaced by a new crisis when he unlocked the apartment door and walked in to find Charmian slumped against the wall. She was covered in a great deal of blood - he hadn’t seen so much since his bungled attempt at field medicine.

“Holy fuck.” He slammed the door behind him and raced over, dropping to the floor beside her. “Shit, what the fuck happened? Where are you bleeding?”

“Most of it’s not mine.”

It was hard to believe it was the same woman. She had been so blasé, almost cavalier about the gaping wound in her torso. Now in the face of much less severe injury (or at least he assumed from her statement) her voice was cracking and strained. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, leaving streaks in the blood which covered it.

“Fuck, umm…”

Clearly she wasn’t going to direct him as she had before, which meant he was going to have to keep calm and think straight. That was going to be a problem. Ripping off his jacket, getting a hand caught in his haste, he dropped it carelessly to the ground and rushed to the kitchen. Throwing open cupboard doors and rummaging roughly through the contents, he managed to dig up a large enough bowl and a cloth for cleaning. If he could get rid of all the blood that wasn’t hers maybe he’d be able to find where she was cut. He doubted she’d manage to tell him.

It was awful. He had to make her peel off the soaked shirt so he could check her ribs and back. Pieces of her hair were sticking to the blood on her face and neck where it was drying. Within sixty seconds the bowl looked more like undiluted blood than water and he felt like heaving. More than once vomit crept up the back of his throat but he swallowed and kept going. Charmian remained silent as he worked. Justin managed to go through three bowls of clean water before he was satisfied of what was hers and what belonged to the unfortunate person she’d come up against.

Under the blood he found a split lip and a red patch on her cheek, which he believed to be the beginnings of a bruise. There was a slice along her arm which while long didn’t look deep. He might have to check Google to be sure but he didn’t think it would need stitches.

“You planning to tell me what happened any time now?” He didn’t want to be insensitive but he was more than mildly freaked out and her silence was not helping.

The tears were still ceaselessly rolling, though she didn’t sob. “Possession. I killed him.”

“You’ve done that before.” He couldn’t believe he was trying to comfort somebody with the fact that she was a mass killer.

“Not like this.” Her face screwed up, pain etched in the lines. “He… I was so weak and slow and the technique wasn’t enough without my strength… I wound up just hacking at him until I got lucky. There was so much blood…”

“He was a demon, you had to. Wait…” Suddenly he was confused. “Hacking at him? With what?” The unspoken question was what she could have possibly been using to drench herself in blood that way but he couldn’t ask that. If she didn’t throw up at the mention he would. Whatever it was it must have hit some major vessels.

“My sword. Not sure how I even still have it and yet there was some innocent man inside probably screaming while I… oh God…”

“Still your sword…” Suddenly that made more sense. Not much more, but in the current insanity even a little was a lot. “I bumped into Lucas before I got here; he said that Nate said to tell you that the sword still belongs to you.”

“Don’t see how,” she replied. “It’s part of the avenger gig and I’m not one any more.”

“That’s what he said. He also said they’re hunting Anton but haven’t found him.”

Charmian wasn’t absorbing the information, otherwise she’d have been asking about Lucas. She was numb to everything but the fight. “I killed him.”

Briefly Justin stopped to panic about a messy corpse lying in the street, but then remembered how the demon had burned up the last time taking its human disguise with it. At least they weren’t going to have to worry about that.

“You had to,” he repeated. “He only would’ve killed you first. And didn’t you tell me the soul inside gets a big compensation package or something?” It was weak and he knew it but he had to try to get her out of her reverie. She looked half dead herself.

“I was useless. I must have caused him so much pain.”

“The demon caused him pain and you ended it.” All the while he was searching for stray smears of blood and wiping them off. Idly he wondered if they had any bandages or useful first aid supplies for her arm. There wasn’t much he could do for her lip.

“I’ve killed so many people: thousands of people, sometimes at once, and felt nothing. This is the first time I’ve even felt bad about it. What kind of monster does that make me?”

He tried not to choke on the breath he’d taken. Had she just confessed to genocide? What was really perturbing him was that she’d walked in looking like something out of a horror movie having murdered somebody, confessed to thousands more, and yet it was her he felt sympathy for. She might be one of the good guys but that was a lot of innocent people to be bumping down the priority list.

“Nate spent a lot of time explaining to me that you avengers are purposely made into people who can do that without feeling anything. You have to, it’s a nasty job but somebody has to do it.” He wasn’t at all sure this was helping, but it was the best he had. “That demon would have hurt people and damned their souls. Maybe that’s hard to remember when you got all these new emotions and you had to do something really ugly but you’re not a monster. You’re kind of a hero.”

The corners of Charmian’s lips raised themselves softly. It wasn’t a happy smile. “Some hero.”

“Well you saved my ass a bunch of times so far.”

“Let’s see if you still say that after I get you killed. Again.”

“Seriously, you have to quit this self pity shit.” Justin dabbed a little too hard at her arm and got a hiss in response. “You did nothing new, only this time you have to feel it like a human being and we got more delicate stomachs. That’s it. There’s not a person on the planet who would think you’re a bad person for it so quit making out like you’re the fuckin’ demon here. You found out that you still got the scary fucker sword and that ought to be good news for a change.”

“You’re telling me if you’d done what I did you’d feel okay about it?”

She had him there. After a moment’s pause and failure to dream up a comeback, Justin took her face in both his hands and slowly kissed her forehead.

“Charmian, you’ve been saving humanity from unspeakable demons since before any time I even learned about in history class. You just did it again, without any of your superpowers and when that thing could’ve actually killed you this time. And you’re sitting here worried that you’re a bitch for it?” His thumb brushed over her cheek.

Her skin hummed where he was touching it. Maybe it should have been a pleasant sensation but his proximity was making her anxious. Funny that he had moments before been scrubbing blood off of her chest and yet an innocent kiss was the thing that felt uncomfortable.

“Have I mentioned lately that I hate being human?”

“Not since this morning.”

“I just want to switch it back off.” The words came out small and weak. “It hurts.”

What Justin couldn’t admit to her was that he’d felt that way himself before. Sometimes he still did. He was feeling it right that second, wishing he could look at her without feeling that tugging in his chest or that overwhelming anxiety which continually threatened to engulf him these days.

“It gets better.”

It was a white lie.

Charmian zipped her jacket up to her chin and burrowed her face beneath the collar as far as she could. It was pretty pointless really; it wasn’t much of a disguise. She just felt so incredibly vulnerable being outside and kidding herself that it helped was the only thing making her feel any better.

It was probably a stupid risk. It was definitely a stupid risk. Everybody was going to be combing the streets looking for her and they knew that as a human she wouldn’t have been able to go far. Once she had recovered her faculties after her botched kill (she thought it might have been one of Anton’s lackeys, couldn’t be sure) Justin had filled her in on what Lucas has said. It had confirmed all her fears. She should have known, really, that Michael wasn’t going to let her roam around freely. Whatever punishment he had in mind losing her immortality was only the half of it.

Unfortunately she no longer had any access to her usual methods of calling anybody. Katherine and Micah dropped in on occasion but had warned that they couldn’t do so regularly. Nathaniel had disappeared from her radar completely, and her team were all banned from going near her. If any of them happened upon her they would be duty bound to deliver her to Michael. She was under no illusions that she could escape from them in her weakened condition.

And so she found herself trudging her way to church. There was no guarantee that Nate would even be there, but presumably they’d have a phone number for him. You couldn’t very well masquerade as a human priest without having human contact details.

Charmian barely had time to register the black figure materialising in front of her before it was then behind her, grabbing her and clamping a hand over her mouth. It was difficult to resist screaming, but after last time she had determined to herself that when she inevitably got into an altercation again she was not going to do the human thing and fall to pieces. She might be hopelessly outgunned but she was going to at least try to remember her training. If she was going down it would be with as much fight as she could muster in her frail mortal body.

Step one was an elbow to the gut and a sharp heel thrust back into the foot. It was only a little break in the vice like grip but it was enough to stumble free momentarily.

Step two was to turn and throw a punch. It was easily deflected and when the assailant’s fist hit hers it felt like her hand was breaking, but it was at least slowing him down.

Step three was to concentrate very carefully and pray that the sword thing hadn’t been a fluke the last time. Thankfully it wasn’t and soon she was pointing a sword at her opponent’s throat.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright, it’s me!”

Well that she hadn’t expected. She brandished the sword, arm heavily shaking, but for the first time she really took in her attacker. Standing there before her, in his typical black trench coat and leather gloves (the get up Carmel said made him look like an undertaker) was a very familiar face. A face attached to a body with its hands held up in surrender.

“Alexander?” She said incredulously.

“Yeah, Alex. Which means you can put the sword down now.” He shook his head at her in bewilderment. “How you even have a sword to put down I got no fucking clue.”

It took her a moment. Seeing him was such a shock; it was difficult to believe it was real. Of all people to take her by surprise like that, it was her biggest work rival? She’d assumed he would be too busy trying to consolidate his position in her sudden absence to look for her personally. He was however a much bigger threat to her now she was mortal so she knew there was little point in trying to put up a fight with him. At least he would probably make it painless, unlike any demon she might come across. Finally she lowered the sword but she was still quaking in her sneakers.

“Got to say I’m impressed. Wasn’t expecting you to put up even that much of a fight, being human and all.”

“Wow. Not even ten seconds and already you’re gloating. I’m so not in the mood for this so let’s just get it over with, okay?”

“Get what over with?”

“The part where you get to take me to Michael and then crow over my downfall.”

An annoyed expression passed over Alex’s face. His lips were pursed and his eyes twitched like he was trying not to roll them. “You know I get pretty bored with you and your crew always casting me as your arch nemesis. If you need one that bad we got a pit full of demons all dying for the job – plenty of ‘em literally.”

“Why else would you be here?”

“I was hoping to quietly teleport you somewhere to talk but I guess I underestimated the mortal ability to fight back. Won’t do it again. Now let’s go before somebody sees us.”

Charmian blinked rapidly, unable to form a response. That was about the last thing she had expected and especially from Alex. Her mouth was gaping a little, giving her a particularly stupid expression.

“If all you wanted to do was talk why’d you sneak up on me and grab me?”

“Because I wanted you off the street as quickly as possible. Just expected it to be a little easier. Now can we go? It’s not safe in the open; my team is looking for you and if I say so myself they’re the best around at search.”

As much as it pained her to admit it that was true. She’d put money on any of her guys in a fight but Alexander’s strict attention to detail and the systematic precision he demanded of his troops made them great at tasks like tracking. So when he reached out a gloved hand Charmian took it, against her better judgment.

Where they landed she didn’t know, but it clearly belonged to somebody with more money than taste. There was leopard print, there was gold trim, and the room was full of some rather plastic looking couches. She assumed they were supposed to be leather.

“Where are we?”

“Belongs to a guy I cleansed last night. He was a pretty naughty boy so he’s not coming back any time soon.”

“Oh.” That was all Charmian could think to say.

Automatically her eyes had started darting around the room, judging the best vantage points and escape routes. It was a force of habit anyway but in this situation she was particularly on edge. Alexander was one of the good guys, she had always respected his work ethic and his talent even through their rivalry, but she couldn’t trust him in these circumstances. As an avenger he’d always respected the chain of command – when that had included her she could count on his loyalty even if it came from obligation. It didn’t include her any more. He answered to an extremely powerful being that was rather pissed with her.

“So…” Alex took a seat and sprawled back comfortably, throwing an arm over the back of the couch. His ankle came to rest lazily on his knee and he looked far more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. That was weird. He was always so regimented and serious. “How exactly do you still have your sword?”

“I don’t know.” She still felt like she was blinking too much. “Nate passed on a message that it was still mine, I have no idea what that means.”

“Hmm…” He tipped his head back a little, peering at her through thoughtful eyes. “Well, the sword came with the job and you don’t have a job any more. Unless somebody higher up than Michael isn’t done with you yet.”

It was pretty silly, really. She had thought over it a hundred times already yet when he put it like that it suddenly clicked in her head.  How could she have been so short sighted? She had more than one job. Michael ruled over the avengers but he had no power at all over a guardian. She still had a sword because she was still Justin’s guardian. That was incredibly awkward since she’d never had any of the powers of a guardian and clearly wasn’t about to get them any time soon, but it was no small mercy when she was such demon bait. Apparently Michael hadn’t been able to sever all her connections to the light.

This moment of revelation didn’t escape Alex either. He had seen the hope dawn on her face. “Of course. You always had more than one job. I thought they’d…” Now it was his turn to pause. Alex had always possessed a quick mind, however, so it wasn’t for long. “Oh. Now I really do get it.”

“Get what?” Charmian eyed him warily. She refused to sit down. It was futile really, she couldn’t run from a guy who could teleport and had super speed, but she wanted to feel like she could turn tail at any moment.

“Michael. Not our Michael, I mean, your Michael. You were made his guardian and I guess your sword still comes with the job. Clearly he’s not as gone as we were told he was. Which would explain how cagey and absent and all round weird you’ve been lately.”

Now the shock was wearing off and her fear was dying down he was starting to irritate her. “What do you want, Alex?”

“Like I said - to chat. And also to return something that belongs to you. They passed it to me but I figured you’d be missing it.”

He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out something about the size of his palm and promptly tossed it at her. She had to drop the sword to catch it and then she nearly fumbled it. For the millionth time she mentally bitched about human reflexes (she didn’t know it but Alex had wanted to test them as much as hand her property back to her). When she turned it over, in her hand was a black cuff with a very familiar shield on it. The axe and the bat looked like they’d been recently polished.

“This isn’t mine any more. And given how long you’ve wanted my gauntlet I’m amazed you’re giving it back.”

“Ahh.” Alex hissed out between his teeth, sitting back up from his previously reclined position and leaning forward. “I know you all think I’m plotting against you twenty four seven but really, this shit’s got to stop. If I wanted to try and undercut you I would have done it centuries ago. Though I suppose at least you’re finally admitting that’s what you think instead of playing civil to my face and laughing with Lucas behind my back. I probably should’ve let him know earlier that I wasn’t planning an insurrection but it’s been kind of funny watching him sweat. Call it payback for the lack of faith.”

It was starting to feel like all she did was either blink or let her mouth gape. Of all the things she had been picturing when she stepped out of the door and risked the world, this was definitely not among them.

“Really? Then how come you’re always questioning me, jostling for position and trying to one up me?”

“I question you because your team doesn’t do it enough. I work my ass off to impress the boss, not to take your place. And I try to one up you because you’re one of the few left who can beat me and it’s good to keep my skills sharp. If nothing’s a challenge you start getting sloppy, that doesn’t mean that I don’t respect you or your command. Now can we get back to the problem at hand?”

Perhaps it was best not to try and answer that. It would have been difficult to formulate a decent comeback anyway since he’d shocked the heck out of her with that speech. “Which is?”

“Shit’s happening and this is maybe the worst moment you could have picked to get put on a time out. Lucas is trying but he’s a lieutenant not a general. He can’t keep the troops on task. And since you and your team are all so suspicious of me and won’t tell me sweet FA about what’s going on, I can’t help. Which by the way is bullshit, Charmian. You may not like me but you know I’m a good strategist.”

“Should you be helping now?” Charmian asked pointedly. “Aren’t you all under orders to bring me in?”

Alex winced. “I’m abusing a technicality. Let’s not dwell on the details.”

She very nearly smiled at that. If her situation hadn’t been so dire it would have been hilarious. Alexander’s continual use of military terms was no accident; it was him all over. He was regimented, he was methodical and he was married to the chain of command. He was precise to an extreme degree and brooked no dissention. Transgressors in his team were punished sorely. ‘Abusing a technicality’ was wildly uncharacteristic - he’d never met a rule he didn’t like and it must have been killing him to stretch one.

“But why come to me?”

“Because you’re our leader.” He shrugged. “And contrary to the jealous witterings of some it’s not because you’re the boss’s pet. It’s because you see shit that others don’t and make good decisions. Mostly. I still say that fiasco in Peru was your fault.”

Oddly, it made her feel better to hear the backhander. It convinced her that it really was Alex even if the compliments felt incongruous.  

“Okay… guess it’s not exactly like I’ve got allies stacked up to spare, better take what I can get.” Charmian finally strode over and sat in the chair opposite him. In truth she was glad to, she had tweaked her ankle in her fight against the demon and it still didn’t feel right. Human healing times sucked.

“I’ll ignore that.”

“So… yeah, basically.” Her fingers traced over the bandage on her arm. “I take it you were filled in on Anton?”

“Yep. Slimy bastard is proving elusive.”

“Slimy bastard is after Michael. My Michael.” She still didn’t trust Alex enough to use Justin’s name. “Who has a new identity and a new face but is still a demon magnet. Anton showed up in his life, put a succubus of all things on him…”

“A succubus?” Alex’s voice became a little indignant. “Where the fuck did he find one? I thought we wiped them out?”

“I know. It was an unpleasant surprise, to say the least, but it then got more disturbing because before we could make her talk Anton pulled some voodoo on her that he shouldn’t have access to. Somebody’s feeding him juice, which makes me worry that this is a high priority mission. Around the same time all that screwy shit started happening with the infections - it was all a big distraction. They’re not aware that they’re chasing the same guy but they still want him and they really didn’t want us to know that. I’m fairly sure it’s so they can corrupt him and make him with all his influence do their dirty work for him. Because we wouldn’t be able to touch him un-possessed. “

Once it started, it wouldn’t stop. The words were pouring out of her mouth unbidden. Maybe it was odd that she should confide in her rival but in a way his detachment from it all was comforting.

“And to that end, they’ve managed to come up with some manner of poison which will actually slow us… you… slow avengers down. Plus Bob’s back up top.”

Alexander immediately flinched at the mention, but Charmian didn’t pause.

“So you understand why I’m so worried because they’re really gunning for him, which means they got big plans. We were struggling to contain it and especially not to let the info about the poison leak because we didn’t want Hell knowing it worked. All of that combined made the boss flip his lid at me, though he doesn’t know the identity of the target like you now do, so now I’m human and I’m desperately trying to work out what to do because I cannot keep Michael locked away in a warded room forever. Which is made all the more complicated by the fact that I’m still in love with him and mortals don’t repress emotion well.”

“Not to mention that being human severely limits your ability to do anything about any of this.” Alex replied.

“Yeah, see, that’s the other thing. I came across a full blown possession the other day and made a really bad hatchet job of killing the bastard.” She held up her arm to display the bandage. “Think it was Adramelech but not sure. Either way, I came within an inch of having my ass killed; turns out having the technique plus centuries of practice still doesn’t begin to compensate for the strength difference. I’m really not confident in my ability to protect him or even myself. It’s bad enough now but it’s going to get worse when the pit hears that I’m human because it’ll be open season on me, payback time. So in conclusion… I’m screwed. Now, you wanted to help with that?”

Finally it was somebody else’s turn to look dumbfounded. Alex clearly hadn’t been expecting that. His forehead creased and immediately he looked worried.

“Identity of your boy aside, it worries me that I’m hearing so much of that for the first time. Nobody’s said anything about poison. Or Bob.” He gave an involuntary shudder. “No fucking wonder you were being weird. Holy shit, Char.”

She ignored his over-familiar use of the nickname. “Indeed. If you have ideas I’d love to hear them.”

“Fuck. And here was me thinking that hiding you from the boss was going to be our biggest problem.”

“I just…. UGH!”

She picked up a very tacky china cat from the coffee table and threw it. It didn’t break nearly well enough to be satisfying. It made a weak tinkle rather than a decent crash against the wall.

“I don’t know how humans manage to feel like this all the time. It’s constant emotional overload and I feel so fucking vulnerable. All the god damn time.”

He frowned. “It’s not like you couldn’t be beaten before. It’s not like our job doesn’t come with risks.”

“It’s just so different.” Even to herself she sounded tired. “When we fight, unless we’re tussling one of the big guys then we know that we’re walking away. A bit of pain, a bit of bruised ego, but it’s fleeting. When you’re immortal and you know that even if you lose the worst that can happen is you retreat to fight more battles in this stupid unwinnable war, it’s different stakes.”

“Getting dragged to hell and tortured for eternity because you can’t die is pretty big stakes.”

“But even then…” She rubbed her cheek with her hand. “It’s just different, Alex. It’s so much more real, like it could honestly happen any time. We haven’t been human in so long that we forgot how fragile they are. You break so much easier, and you know that one false move and you’re really dead this time. Really dead and gone, it could be all over in a second. I’d forgotten how it felt to be afraid of pain, let alone death - you should have seen me after that kill. I was practically catatonic.”

For a while he didn’t respond. He tapped his foot against the floor instead. It was a long standing tic of his; she had come to realise that it meant he was thinking.

“Okay. I need to go away and take some time to work this out. I wish I could bounce things off your team but under the circumstances it’s a bad idea.”

“Guessing the boss expects them to break the rules and contact me. Are there spies on them?”

“Exactly. If I manage to get away with this it’ll only be because I’m the last person anyone expects to be helping you. Anyway, point is we need to work out how to get you and Michael moved somewhere under proper surveillance. You can’t stay locked up forever but you can’t protect yourselves either. You did way better than I’d ever have imagined you could but that luck’s going to run out quick. If I really had been trying to hurt you earlier you wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

Charmian didn’t take offence; he was absolutely right. Luck not skill had dispatched Adramelech and what little fight she’d been able to put up against Alex had been futile. 

“You do realise that if you get caught helping me you’ll be next up to be demoted?”

“I realise.”

“And you’re going to help me anyway?”

“Like I said, you were our leader for a reason. If I can work with you to get some kind of real plan then I can take that back to Lucas and we can try to get this shit back on track. Because right now we’re splintered, and while you were focused on me you missed a few people who actually would like to undercut you. While they’re all busy trying to take your spot the mission’s going to hell.”

He didn’t need to say that he wasn’t being wholly metaphorical. With Bob around there was a very literal risk involved.

“Okay. I’m in.”

Charmian still didn’t wholly trust Alex but the one thing she could trust was his dedication to the mission. If he was playing fast and loose with the rules, following the letter yet not the spirit of Michael’s law, then things had got serious. He had no motive to trick her; it wasn’t necessary when he could overpower her so easily. If what he wanted was to beat her or capture her he had no need of deceit.

“Cool. Now, if you have any ideas for getting Lucas to trust me without me telling him I saw you then let’s hear ‘em.”

“You are such a fucking asshole.”

Justin cringed. He hadn’t been expecting a warm greeting, given his long absence, but Trace sounded incredibly steamed. He could only imagine the expression on his face.

“I swear I have an actual bona fide excuse.”

“I’d really like to hear that. Because I really can’t fuckin’ conceive of any reasonable excuse for you to go AWOL, ditch Rachael at the airport and then not call any of us for days. Fuckin’ jerk.”

The stream of expletives was not uncommon for Trace, but usually he wasn’t directing them at him. It was not pleasant, though he’d known it wouldn’t be. Still he was willing to take it just to hear somebody’s voice. His life had become reduced to the tiny apartment he was hiding in with Charmian and he couldn’t stand it. Even his quick trips out had been stopped after the demon attack. He was going stir crazy, missing his friends and his house and his creature comforts. Although the incident with the succubus had convinced him that he wasn’t safe around his friends and family until this was over (and they’d probably be safer if he wasn’t around to provide a motive for possession) he was craving normality.

“I know, and I’m sorry, but it was totally out of my hands.”

“What, somebody fuckin’ kidnapped you? Come on.”

“Actually kind of yes, so you can quit with the tone.”

“What?”

He took a deep breath in and prepared to tell the lie he’d been rehearsing for about an hour. “US fucking marshals.”

“Are you serious?”

“Deadly.”

Trace was silent for a moment. He gnawed on a fingernail as his brain processed the idea. It was ludicrous, and yet it was obvious from Justin’s tone that something was up. He flattered himself that nobody knew him better (except maybe his mother) and he could tell when the guy was struggling.

“I’m listening, and you had better not bullshit me.”

“I’m really sorry, I know it was shitty of me to disappear but they banned me from talking to anybody, said lines might be tapped or some shit.”

“What the hell’s going on?”

“They still won’t tell me much, but there was some kind of terrorist threat that involved me. They said it was credible so they just yanked me out of the house and put me in protective custody. They’re only letting me call now because it’s a secure line; I’m probably not even supposed to have told you what’s happening.”

“Please tell me this is some elaborate scheme to get you off the hook and you really just ditched us for a girl.”

Justin had to hold back a snort. In a way he supposed he kind of had. “I fucking wish. I’m going nuts. I’m bored shitless, jumping at shadows, and I’m so done. I feel like somebody’s going to come at me with a knife or something any second. I wanna go home.” None of that was a lie. He was running on a constant level of fear and sick to death of the tiny apartment.

Though Justin couldn’t see it Trace’s face had immediately paled. Now he could tell that this really wasn’t a joke. “Holy fucking shit. Well… shit, man, I’m sorry I yelled. Are you okay? Fuck… what are they doing? Are they gonna catch the guy? When do you get out of there? Why you?”

All very good questions and he wished he had answers. With Charmian cut off he had no idea how close they were to catching Anton.

“I don’t know to all of the above. I can’t leave until they’ve got whoever it is. I don’t think they’d have to be so heavy handed about keeping me off the streets if I wasn’t famous; they said I’m too easy to find. They keep saying they’re tracking him or them or whoever but whenever I ask for a timeframe they get vague.”

“Oh man… shit… I… fuck, I don’t know what to say.”

In that moment he couldn’t help feeling like a cretin. Trace sounded genuinely distressed (as well he might) and he felt awful lying to him. He never lied to Trace. That was his best friend, the person he could tell all his darkest thoughts to and know that they were safe in that room. The idea of misleading him was anathema, yet there was no way he could drag him into his whole supernatural mess even if he’d thought for a second that Trace would believe it. He still had trouble believing it and he’d cleaned demon blood off of his centuries old ex girlfriend from another life.

“Me neither. I just really wanted to call and tell somebody because I’ve felt shitty being MIA and worrying you guys. Just really wanted to talk to an actual human being.” That wasn’t a lie either. He wasn’t counting Charmian as human even after her little fall from grace.

“Fuck.” Trace was saying that a lot. “I… what can I do?”

“Nothing,” he replied miserably. “I’m just kind of stuck here until it’s fixed. Could you maybe come up with some story for everybody about why I’m incommunicado?”

“I could tell them you finally went to rehab.”

For perhaps the first time in days, he let out a genuine laugh. It might have been gallows humour but he had really missed Trace’s teasing.

“You’re an ass, Ayala.”

“Fuck, JT. Just… fuck.”

At that moment Charmian’s head appeared in the doorway – finally she’d woken up. Apparently her human self was a very heavy sleeper. Her expression was understanding yet mildly chastising, and now he had something else to feel guilty about. He wasn’t supposed to be calling anyone.

“Look, man, they’re signalling me to get off the phone.”

“What? You’ve barely got on the phone!”

Weight crushed down on his shoulders – a little more guilt, a healthy heaping of shame and a lot of hopelessness. “I know; I’m sorry. I will try to call again when I can, promise.”

He hung up before Trace could reply because he couldn’t stand hearing it. He’d been hoping speaking to somebody he cared about would make him feel a little better but now it was worse. For a heartbeat he just stared at the device in his hand, avoiding Charmian’s gaze.

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, don’t be.” She padded over and sat herself gently next to him on the couch. There was sympathy in her dark eyes. “You miss them, it’s natural. What did you tell him?”

“That line you guys gave me back at Lucas’s house, about the US marshals. I didn’t tell him about you or where we were or anything. Was only on there for two minutes in the end but I just…”

“You needed to hear somebody’s voice. It’s okay.” Her hand gently rubbed his shoulder. “Even if he’s possessed you didn’t tell him anything useful.”

He really hated the fact that his interactions with his oldest and dearest friend now boiled down to a question of enemy reconnaissance. “Do you really think he is?”

Charmian bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to upset him further but there was no point lying, either. “I don’t know. The good news is that because you haven’t been around in a while he’s less of a target, but it’s always possible that somebody’s keeping tabs on your circle hoping you’ll be in touch.”

He took her by surprise when he picked up his empty coffee mug and threw it at the wall. Between the two of them a lot of china was getting smashed lately.

“I can’t even say ‘fucking hell’ any more now I know it’s a literal place. This whole thing is just so fucked.”

She felt a little stupid sitting there, continuing to rub his shoulder, but she didn’t know what else she could do.

“Charmian, I can’t take this any more. I need my life back. We can’t sit in here forever.”

Her head bowed and she stared at the floor. Justin was right and she knew it. She was simply afraid. She couldn’t protect herself or him outside of those walls and the idea of losing him yet again because of that weakness was unbearable.

There was more.  As much as she shared his frustration, part of her kind of liked being there. It wasn’t so much the ‘there,’ it was him. As messed up as it was it had been the first time in all his lives that she had really spent so much uninterrupted time with him. With so little else to do they’d done a lot of talking. It was horribly selfish of her and she knew that. In a way she was clinging onto it because it was the only comfort she currently had. She had heard his funny stories about his career and he’d told her about his life, and she had drunk in every detail. As well as all the familiar things that she’d known so well about him previously there was something about him in this incarnation which really resonated with her.

She wasn’t sure, but she thought it was possibly something to do with him finally having reached all the potential he’d shown in his previous lives. Justin was pursuing his creativity and being successful beyond his wildest dreams at it; somehow she thought it had added an air of wisdom to him, helped smooth down some of his rougher edges. He seemed like the best version of himself that she’d come across and it really was not helping her deal with her feelings for him. His light was that much brighter and she was the same glutton for punishment moth flying towards it all the time.

Would she have learned so little if she’d been living out her various incarnations as a normal mortal? She felt doomed to repeat her past and its mistakes over and over again. It was all very well having an encyclopaedic knowledge of the world but maybe only having the one life had stunted her spiritual growth or something.

“I know. I just… I don’t know where we can go. You can’t go home and I don’t have any other safe spaces.”

Justin slumped back into the cushions and stared at the ceiling. His brain was ticking over, hunting for a solution.

“What does it take to make one?”

“Not a lot, really.” She thought about it. “You make up this paste and then paint symbols on the walls, say the spells. I probably have everything but even if I don’t, most of it is pretty common herbs that you’d find in any spice rack. The bigger problem is keeping out avengers; that requires some mystical shit which was beyond my pay grade. Nathaniel did this place so he would know, but he’s unhelpfully disappeared.”

“I…” He paused. It seemed a little unfair of him to ask, given the threat she faced from her ex-employers. If he had to be selfish though so be it, because he really needed to get out of there. “Do you think we could do without the avenger stuff?”

Charmian’s breath hitched in her throat. The idea filled her with dread, and yet one glance at his face was enough to see how important this was to him. He looked so defeated.

“Maybe. Why?”

“I have a cabin, barely anybody knows about it. It’s my bolt hole for when I’m getting too pissed with paparazzi in LA but still need to be in reaching distance. It’s not like going home but it has my shit there and more room than this place. We’d be more comfortable and there’d be more to do, stop me climbing the damn walls.”

“When you say ‘barely anybody’…”

“My mother and maybe three of my friends. It’s the one place I have that nobody else has keys for.”

Charmian raised an eyebrow. “Very cloak and dagger.”

Justin grimaced. “I don’t use it a lot, only when shit’s getting really bad. It sounds paranoid but in my position you always have to worry about someone tipping off paparazzi, even people you should be able to rely on. If I want something to stay private then the only safe way is to not tell people. It’s not my favourite place or somewhere I’d go just for a vacation, but it takes pretty drastic measures to keep me away from the media when they’re really gunning for me.”

“That makes sense.” She nodded. “What about locals?”

“It’s in the middle of nowhere. You have to drive rather than walk to the nearest town. I never stay up there long enough to need fresh supplies so I think I’ve maybe seen the place twice.”

She didn’t speak for a moment as she pondered the possibility. Alexander was not going to love the idea. He’d spent a good deal of time planning out how they could meet without being caught or drawing suspicion, and leaving the city would kill that. The scheme he’d come up with was to try to find some kind of mystical panic button so that Charmian could stay on guard but call for him if any real threat emerged; until he succeeded they were reliant on more old fashioned methods of communication. She hadn’t even seen him in a couple of days. When last they’d spoken he had been trying to ingratiate himself with Lucas (a difficult job considering the traditional rivalry, it made Lucas suspicious of his motives).

A wry smile threatened to break out and the corners of her mouth twitched as she tried to suppress it. Not for the first time she was struck by the silliness of it all. She was the general of a team of immortal champions; the inexplicable way some random guy had become so significant that he could make her instantly cave was pretty pathetic. It was as if when he looked at her she suddenly misplaced all willpower. His new appearance didn’t help with that; Michael had always been very handsome but in his new Justin guise he had newly blue eyes which could be very piercing.

That too made her smile because it reminded her of France. When he had first begun to flirt with her in the courtly fashion of the age, she had teased him about preferring a pretty Duchess to her for her fair hair and blue eyes. He had grandly declared that “yeux bleus sont terne et ordinaire” and he favoured brown ones. Now he’d wound up with them himself.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He had expected more resistance.

“Yeah.” What the hell, she couldn’t screw up much more than she already had. “What’s the point of saving your life if you can’t live it, right? I doubt the old crew’s going to look for me there and if we can keep demons out there’s as safe as here anyway.”

Justin couldn’t help throwing his arms around her and giving her a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. “You are awesome, thank you.”

Charmian tried not to shrink away. There was no point in being off with him because she had feelings that he didn’t. He’d made another choice for this life and she was still kind of hoping that would mean a better ending for him. Unfortunately that didn’t make it any easier for her and her stupid human emotions.

She tried not to imagine what effect of being stuck out in the middle of nowhere with him would have on those.

“Oh my God, Xbox.”

Charmian let out an incredulous laugh as she watched Justin hug the console. “Really?”

“You have no idea how fuckin’ bored I’ve been.”

She bit back a response about wishing she’d had time to be bored. She’d been a little busy worrying. Still, it was nice to see him looking chirpier. The further they had got away from the city the brighter he’d become.

“Well…” Justin stood back up and took a look around. He scratched at his head and tried to make an assessment. “It’s not too bad for how long I’ve been away. I think we could probably get away with just a vacuum and a quick dusting.”

“Cool. You can do that and I’ll make the bed.”

“That’s a much quicker job.”

“Yep.”

“So?”

“So what?” She grinned. “I am the guest here after all.”

“That’s so not fair.”

“I don’t deal much in fair.”

She opened the cupboard under the sink, located a duster and quickly tossed it at him. He couldn’t help smirking as it hit him square in the face – clearly her aim was still pretty good.

“Fine, fine. Sheets are in the cupboard, and my iPod is in my duffel if you want to hook it up to the dock.”

“The what?”

“Sorry, I forget you old ladies aren’t down with the young people.” He pointed to the docking station in the corner.

“Bite me, ass.”

“See, now if you weren’t such an old lady you’d have flipped me off. Need me to show you how?”

Charmian playfully scowled at him and stuck her middle finger up in his direction. “I invented this move, rookie. Sit your ass down.”

“For all I know you could mean that literally.”

She threw back her head and laughed. Justin nonchalantly thought to himself that apparently losing her immortality hadn’t meant she lost the perfect hair. He had witnessed himself how little styling she put into it but she still seemed to wind up with neat dark curls.

“No. I did inadvertently feed Christopher Marlowe a couple of lines but that’s about it for my impact on culture.”

“Who’s Christopher Marlowe?”

Charmian considered telling him, but decided to hope he would forget about it before he had any chance to Google. Although she was enjoying his light mood and the banter she was a little bit self-conscious about her age now. What seemed fine when she was a supernatural ass kicker struck her as simply bizarre now she was a regular Josephine again. He was but barely into his thirties and she was centuries old.

“Any preference on which sheets?” She decided to go for a subject change.

“You may as well pick, you’ll be sleeping on them.”

Guilt tugged at her stomach. She was forcing him to hide out in the woods and relegating him to the couch while she was at it?

“I really don’t mind the couch.”

“Where’s that music?”

Taking that as a not so subtle hint, she rummaged in his duffel bag and quickly found the iPod. In truth she felt kind of stupid for not knowing how one worked. Technology just moved so quickly and she’d had so little need of it most of the time that a lot of it simply passed her by. Thankfully the way it fitted onto the docking station was fairly self-evident, and she’d seen Justin messing with it in the car so she had an idea how it worked. With a little trial and error she quickly got the hang of it. 

Scrolling through a list of artists whose music she had never heard, she was about to pick some Sinatra (if only because she actually knew him) when she spotted Justin’s own name in the list. If ever there was an opportunity to tease him for having his own music on there it was then, but more than anything she was curious. Over the years in various guises she’d known him as a painter and a poet. What did he sound like as a singer?

“Oh Jesus. Really?” He whined as the familiar beat started. Charmian didn’t respond for a moment as she was too busy wondering what the hell she was hearing. Now she really did feel old because her overwhelming thought was what a racket it was. Had he heard of a melody?

“Uhh… why did sexy go away, exactly?”

“Must we listen to me?”

“Yes. I’ve never heard you before.”

“You mean I wasn’t a musician in any of my former lives?” It was a little more sarcastic than strictly necessary.

“No, actually. Is all your music like this?”

Justin was torn between really not wanting to listen to himself and not wanting her to take SexyBack as representative of his entire catalogue. Clearly she wasn’t so impressed by that one.

“Let’s try another.” He brushed past her and started messing with the iPod, trying to ignore the way his arm had tingled. As much as he could joke with her about past lives and her age he still found the whole set up disquieting. She was some star crossed love that he still knew relatively little about, and he had problems with that. He liked to think he had more agency in his own destiny. And yet there was no doubt that he had been immediately attracted to her, even if subsequent events had taken the shine off. All in all it led to a contradictory attitude where he didn’t want to go down that road yet still felt the need to impress her.

As Justin went back to work Charmian lingered by the stereo, the forgotten sheets folded over her arms. Every so often he sneaked looks at her, gauging her reaction. He was taking the slight look of wonderment on her face as a good sign; certainly she seemed engrossed. That was a mental pat on the back for him. Clearly What Goes Around had been a better choice.

“Man, what did this girl do to you?”

Justin smiled. “Not to me, to my best friend. Though I had my own experience of that too so I guess I was kind of already informed on the subject.”

“I… wow.” She blinked. “This is really good, Justin.”

He tried not to let his chest puff out too much. It would have been a dead giveaway. “Thanks. It’s some of my best work, I think.”

“How do you get from whips to this, exactly?”

“Heh.” Another smile. “Depends what kind of mood you’re in when you hit the studio.”

He had his back to her, but still Charmian was watching him contemplatively as he moved around the room. In part she was watching the way his muscles moved beneath his t-shirt, thinking that for a human he was actually quite graceful, but mostly she was letting it sink in. In every life he’d had some kind of artistic talent but for the first time she was seeing it at full power. It made her wonder what he’d have managed if he hadn’t been so busy womanising with poets more successful than him. Byron really had a lot to answer for, but she didn’t dwell on that as she listened. It was emotional stuff and he sounded excellent on it. It almost made her wish she’d have found him earlier so she could have paid more notice to his career. Before they’d met and she’d realised he was her Michael she had known his name – as she knew a lot of celebrity names for work reasons – but hadn’t given him any attention.

“No, it’s really good. Really good.”

He turned back and smiled at her. “Thanks.”

It was becoming uncomfortable to have him look at her. She gave him a tight smile in return before going to busy herself with the sheets. Justin’s eyes followed her as she disappeared into the next room with a slight frown on his face. What had that been about? One minute they were having some fun banter, the next she was looking awkward and running away from him because he’d accepted a compliment.

Not for the first time he wished this whole thing was over already and the bad guy caught. As much as he wanted to feel safe again, he also needed some space from her. She did weird things to his head.

**

The deep breath in hit her nose with a strong scent of earth and leaves. It was a comforting smell and she tried to focus on it instead of the pins and needles creeping into her leg. The lotus position was much more comfortable when you didn’t need circulation.

Her new training tactic was not to train. She could practice her kicking until the sun came up but she was not getting any stronger. There was nothing more she could do to perfect her technique and no way to make up for the power she’d lost. All that trying was accomplishing was making her despair, so she had decided that it was her mind which needed some work. Whatever it was that made her great, she needed to grab back onto it and trust it would see her through.

Unfortunately this was a work in progress. To that end, she had wandered the three minutes down to the lake shore and was attempting to meditate. She had left Justin with instructions for painting the necessary sigils on the walls and she would go say the spells when he was done (he could have done it and it still would have worked, but his ancient Aramaic was naturally inferior to hers).

It might have been going better if she’d got the hang of not being able to compartmentalise the same way her immortal brain could. Individually, there was nothing going on that she shouldn’t be able to deal with. She had unrequited love? That sucked but she’d live. She was separated from her friends just when she could use the support system but she was tough. She was afraid for Justin but she could face that. The problem was that she didn’t quite know how to juggle all those feelings in her head without getting overwhelmed and giving into anxiety. She missed the easy calm that she’d had before.

She was disturbed by the sound of twigs snapping and leaves crunching behind her. Her eyes quickly opened and she twisted around to see Justin approaching.

“Hey. You alright? You’ve been a while.”

“Have I?” She wasn’t wearing a watch.

“Hour and a half.”

“Oh. Oops.” Maybe the meditation had been going better than she’d thought. It only felt like ten minutes.

“Never mind.” He dropped down next to her and stretched his legs out. “Just means you missed the stink of all those herbs. I left the windows open but honestly it could probably use another twenty minutes. Pretty out here isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Charmian looked out over the lake. The sound of water had always been relaxing to her and the air was crisp. “I can see why you would use this as a getaway.”

Justin nodded in agreement. “It’s good to cut the noise sometimes.”

She paused for a moment, a question forming on her lips. After a brief hesitation she let it out. “How do you do that with the noise in your head?”

He looked at her, scrutinising her expression. Her lips were pursed slightly and small frown lines were visible around her eyes. “It loud in there?”

“Oh yep. I just can’t seem to focus on any one thing at the moment, which is kind of new for me.”

“You don’t remember feeling that way before the avenger gig?” He plucked blades of grass. “How did you deal with it then?”

“That life feels more like a movie I watched than something that ever happened to me.” Charmian shrugged. “I don’t know. We were too busy farming to think about this stuff much. Chores from sun up until sun down, you did what you were told by your dad… just kind of lived day to day.”

“Farming?” He couldn’t picture her doing that. She looked more like she should have been a noble woman or something.

“Yes. Near Athens.”

That was about as much information as she’d ever volunteered about her own life, he realised. She asked him plenty of questions but rarely talked about herself much, save a few pithy remarks about historical figures she’d dealt with.

“Greek huh?”

“Originally, yeah.”

“You can actually speak Greek. And Aramaic.”

“And Italian.”

“Cantonese?”

She smiled. “No. I have a few words of Mandarin but only about enough to ask for directions.”

Justin shook his head and grinned back. “I know you had like hundreds of years’ head start on me, but you make me and my GED feel really uneducated.”

“Does it make you feel better if I tell you I’ve always sucked at math, even as a super-powered immortal being?”

He mused on that for a moment. “Yes it does. I’m good at math.”

“I’m glad my incompetence soothes you.”

“Seriously though…” He was still shredding grass. He wasn’t quite sure why but his hands seemed to need occupation. “Is this why you were out here? Trying to shut off noise?”

Once again Charmian hesitated. Nervously she tucked her hair behind her ear, wondering how much she was really willing to confide in him. Emotional barriers were shaky enough without using him to offload on. Still she had started it so she supposed she couldn’t be cryptic now.

“I feel like…” Now she was mirroring him, though picking daisies rather than grass. “I got complacent.”

“Really? How do you figure?” Maybe he was looking at this wrong, but he didn’t see how she could count herself as complacent after managing to remain at the top for so long. Surely that would have required continual effort? “You were like the biggest bad ass around.”

“Not exactly the biggest bad ass around but the biggest in my group, yeah. But that’s exactly it, I was the bad ass and I was way too comfortable there. Now suddenly what made me that is gone. I have to fight people much stronger than me and I’m having to mentally fend for myself instead of relying on handy super powers to shut down any inconvenient feelings. My total failure at it so far has just served to show that I was coasting on my laurels there. Relied on my strength too much.”

He thought about that for a second. In an unexpected way he found he could relate to that. It was easy to take success for granted and he’d fallen into that trap a few times himself in his career. It had taken painful moments like the Superbowl to remind Justin that he was not infallible and that people could turn on him as quickly as they raised him up. The situations weren’t exactly analogous but he knew what it was like to come back down to Earth with a bump.

“I disagree.”

She turned her head to look at him. He didn’t sound like he was paying lip service to placate her, but she didn’t see how he could honestly dispute her assessment. “With which part?”

“Maybe you did get a little too comfortable, but I don’t think what made you who you were can be gone.”

“Uhh, hello? Mortal weakling again here.”

“Aside from the fact that you’re hardly a weakling by normal standards, you could probably still kick most humans into the middle of next month…you really think that’s what made you?” He caught her gaze and gave her a stern look. “Bull. Trust me, I know. I don’t exactly have the world’s strongest voice.”

“Your voice is great!” She protested.

“I like my voice and I flatter myself I work it well, but there are people with better ranges and stronger lungs. I was in a band with one of them.” JC popped into his head. “Raw talent is not what made me more successful than anybody else who could have made it but didn’t. Talent means shit if you don’t have the stuff to back it up.”

Charmian didn’t respond, but he could see he’d struck a chord. Her face had shifted, now more quizzical than scowling.

“Like… you didn’t get handed any super powers that Lucas or anybody else didn’t get, right? You didn’t just get plucked out as some special chosen one to lead, right?”

“No.”

“So that means you earned it. How did you get better than anybody else at what you do? And why when you were looking for your little special ops group or whatever they are did you only take some people and not others? What were you looking for?”

The boy was good; she had to give him credit. He asked the right questions. “A lot of practice. And I guess with my team… I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Work ethic, attitude, there’s just something going on in their heads that I saw and knew it would make them better. Like… I don’t know. Zac came in with five other people but somehow I knew that if I gave them all exactly the same amount of tuition he’d be the one who really internalised it and gave it more somehow.”

“Exactly.” Justin said. “I don’t know what it is; I just know that when somebody has it it’ll take them further even maybe than people with more raw talent. They’ll be the person still practising when everybody else has gone home, they’ll be the person still trying to get it right when everybody else decided it couldn’t be done and gave up. And because of that they’ll be the person who brings it when it counts. It strikes me that if you managed to out superhero a whole bunch of other superheroes then that must be what you got. You may have momentarily misplaced it, but just know that it’s there and you’ll work through the other stuff eventually. It’s in who you are.”

Slowly Charmian’s head nodded, just once. Lightly she bit her lip and looked down at the hands she had now folded in her lap. The left corner of her mouth tugged upwards slightly.

“You know the thing about education, JT?”

She’d never called him JT before. “I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”

Her face turned sideways to meet his blue eyes. “It’s good to be educated but it’s better to be wise.”

Now it was his turn to nod and smile, to duck his eyes away from hers. “That a fact?”

“Just an observation from an old lady.”

She nudged him with an elbow and he let out one of the few truly whole-hearted chuckles he’d been able to muster since the whole screwed up saga had begun.

“It is not your wish, Charlotte?”

Charmian sighed and stared at the floor. Idly she noticed that water had started seeping into the hem of her skirts. The rain had stopped but the roads were still slick with what had fallen. No matter how many times she heard him call her that it felt wrong from his lips; however it was unavoidable. Although her name was classical it was not common in these times and having an unusual name drew needless attention.

“We couldn’t possibly.”

“And why not? It would be entirely possible. Dreadfully simple, even.”

The streets of London were utterly still that night. It was obscenely late – too late really for an un-chaperoned couple to be out and about. She could faintly hear the sound of a horse and carriage in the distance somewhere, but other than that all was quiet. Westminster Abbey stretched above them, gothic and imposing in the moonlight. The glow from the lanterns was dim.

“Not by my understanding of the term.”

“I understand that this is sudden and it may even seem a little rash,” Michael said. His tone was forceful and his eyes glinted in the dark. “But you have quite bewitched me and I have never been more certain of anything in my life as I am that you would make a most excellent wife. Forgive me my presumption but I am also certain you share my affections.”

Her leather glove met the back of her neck and she ducked away from his gaze. Although avengers didn’t really feel temperature the same way as humans did she felt very hot beneath her cloak and bonnet. This had not been the idea. She was watching over him under the guise of having him escort her safely home from the ball; she was supposed to be looking out for demons. She couldn’t afford to be so distracted by his fine suit and the way his soft dark hair was pulled neatly back from his face, brown eyes so determinedly set. Anton had been sighted at the gentleman’s club that Michael and his father were members of and she could not drop her guard. He had taken her by surprise with his proposal. It had been barely a month since they had met in this life.

“It’s just so sudden, Michael, and you know there are expectations that you will be betrothed to the Duke’s daughter.” She mentally scrambled for good excuses. “Your family…”

“Would adjust, I’m sure. The discussion with the Duke is entirely speculation at this stage and a gentleman marrying a gentleman’s daughter is hardly an unfit match. That’s not an answer.”

“I…”

She was interrupted by the rumble of a carriage and approaching hooves behind her. She hadn’t noticed them drawing closer.

“Bit late for you to be out, innit Sir? This isn’t a right place for your fine lady. Might I offer my cab in service to you?”

Charmian turned to view the owner of the Cockney tones and immediately froze. In turn, seeing her wiped the grin off the driver’s face.

“Anton. Trying a new trade, are we?”

“Oh hell.” All trace of the accent was suddenly gone.

“Charlotte, who is this?” Michael asked, giving Anton a look of disdain.

“Don’t suppose you might him up quietly, make it easy on me?”

“Highly doubtful.”

“Charlotte?”

The rest of Michael’s question died in his throat as the sword appeared in her hand.

Charmian’s brain began screaming at her to wake up, warning her that she did not want to finish playing the rest of this scene. She wasn’t going to like the way it ended.

It took a few seconds and for a moment she thought she wasn’t going to manage, but with great effort she managed to wrench her eyes open. In the unfamiliar surroundings it was a minute or so before she remembered where she was and started breathing a little easier. The sheets were damp with sweat. Her hair was sticking to her forehead. Immediately she felt wide awake; there was no way she wanted to go back to sleep where she might resume that dream. Immortals did sleep and have dreams but they didn’t have nightmares the way mortals did. They might see bad things but were unaffected by them. Now being so plagued by her subconscious as she slept was something she was having trouble getting used to. Especially since all her nightmares were replays of memories which weren’t ever far from her mind to begin with. 

Throwing back the sheets she quietly got out of the bed. She wasn’t sure how creaky the wooden boards might be, so she very slowly and painstakingly tiptoed across the floor to grab her cardigan. She put it on and went to exit the room. The door handle squeaked a little and she winced as it did, but the hinge remained quiet as she opened the door. She peered round to check that she hadn’t woken her companion. Justin was sprawled out on the couch, his outline faintly visible in the darkness. From the steady rise and fall of his chest he had to still be sound asleep.

Even the light pad of her feet and swish of material as she moved sounded like klaxons in the silence, but she managed to slip past him and to the table. She groped carefully along the edge where she had left the iPod and thankfully managed to close her fingers around it without further noise. The hinge on the front door wasn’t as co-operative as the one on the bedroom but Justin didn’t appear to have stirred at the sound.

Charmian stepped outside and breathed in deeply. The temperature was a little crisp, but the feel of fresh cool air in her nose and lungs was settling. Sitting herself down on the porch step, she pushed her hair back from her face before putting the headphones in and turning the iPod on. With the small amount of practice earlier she had already become a seasoned pro, so it wasn’t long before the sound of Justin’s latest album started filtering through. Slipping it into her pocket she then wrapped her cardigan more tightly around herself and hugged her arms to her chest, staring out into the trees.

**

Justin’s eyes flew open and he bolted upright. The sheets fell from his bare chest and pooled in his lap, which was just as well because he was sweating. It felt stifling in the room.

It wasn’t the first time he had dreamed about Charmian. He’d had that dream about their little romantic interlude in Prague, and since she’d confirmed they had been there once he was convinced that had to be real. Hopefully tonight’s dream wasn’t real, however, because that one had been horrendous.

Pushing the sheets off completely, he swung his legs off the couch and moved into a sitting position. Briefly his head fell into his hands and he scratched at his scalp fretfully. He’d been oddly aware that he was dreaming yet it still felt as if it was all really happening. He had no idea what century they had been in but clearly it had been before the invention of the motor car. There had been horses and carriages. There had been a ball and they had danced, though not as much as he’d have liked as he was expected to dance with some nobleman’s daughter. Although it was strange to dream of people talking to him while calling him by another name, in the dream he’d very much liked the way Charmian said it. He’d very much liked her with her hair swept from her neck and the rich green of her gown. She’d had another name too.

When her escort had waylaid he had offered to see her safely home, and on the way he’d made a wild declaration of love (or as wild as upper class very proper English people ever got in those days). Before he could get a satisfactory response the demon had appeared. Then he had watched in horror as Charmian fought him, confused and terrified. Clearly he hadn’t known what she was because chief amongst his thoughts had been how she could possibly be fighting. Michael’s reaction to first seeing her fight had been much like Justin’s, although he’d had some pretty sexist thoughts about it that Justin hadn’t. When finally the shock had worn off he’d rushed to protect her and then…

Thankfully he’d woken up before the sword had reached its inevitable destination. He’d never wanted to test the notion that if you died in a dream you died in real life too.

It was remarkably stupid of him, but he wanted to check that she was okay so he got up and crept to the bedroom. It was irrational; it had been a dream. There was no reason she’d be in trouble. The place was demon-proofed and it was highly unlikely any human threat would arise when they were so secluded away from the world. In the dream it had been him not her who got the pointy end of the blade. Yet somehow he still felt the need to look at her face and see that she was alright.

As such, seeing the bed empty made him panic a little bit. A check of the bathroom and the tiny utility room yielded no results, so he strode to the front door and flung it open. It was a massive relief to see her. Nothing had happened to her. She was merely sitting on the porch step with her back to the house.

“Charmian?”

When she didn’t move or answer him, he walked to her side and peered down. Now he could see her face it was obvious that she was listening to something which had drowned him out. As soon as she noticed him she yanked the headphones out and looked up.

“Hey.” She seemed a little startled by his arrival. “Did I wake you or something?”

“No, no.” He sat down next to her, rubbing his hand over his face again. “Weird dreams woke me up.”

She grimaced – him too? “Funny enough that’s what woke me up. Was too hot in there so I figured I’d just come out here and try to wind back down a little.”

“It’s kind of cold out. Do you need a blanket or something?” He touched her hand and from how cool her skin was he could tell she’d been out there for quite some time. She’d probably been out there too long. Although the cardigan she had wrapped around herself was long, she was only wearing a small pair of pyjama shorts and no shoes or socks. Something in the back of his brain registered that she looked very sexy that way, but he was still too freaked out to pay much attention to it.

“Says the guy sitting there without a shirt. I’m fine,” she said.

Justin felt too sheepish to respond to that. “What you listening to?”

Now it was her turn to feel sheepish. She turned the wheel on the iPod so the screen lit up and showed it to him.

“Me again?” That tugged at his stomach. “Thought SexyBack put you off.”

“I really like this album, JT.” She wasn’t looking at him; she was watching her big toe as she dragged it over the grass, drawing shapes with it. “You really are quite the musician.”

“Thank you.” He blushed. “Which ones did you like?”

“The one I was just listening to.” That had been Strawberry Bubblegum. “And the one about the ocean.”

Apparently she was in a very slow tempo kind of mood. He knew that feeling. When his mind didn’t want to stop he found listening to ballads helped more than upbeat stuff. He wasn’t sure if they’d help him banish the thought of a sword in his belly, though.

“Char…” he shifted uncomfortably. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

She looked at him expectantly, and he met her eyes. The brown orbs looked almost black in the lack of light, and he thought to himself that he was glad that they didn’t change colour any more. He really hadn’t liked those visual reminders of how otherworldly she was. They made him feel very far removed from her, just like her strange indifference had. Now that she looked normal, showed normal emotions – well, she was normal now. It felt like they were at least operating on the same playing field.

“Did we…” It was hard to get the words out, he was so unnerved. “Back in my previous lives, were we ever in London?”

It was answer enough when her face became ashen and her shoulders went rigid. “Why?”

“My dream.” If it was possible for her expression to get worse, it did. “We were at this ball…”

“You walked me home and we got attacked.”

“So that really happened?”

Charmian wished she could say no. Not only because she was freaked out by him dreaming of the incident the same night she had, but also because he looked frightened.

“Not only did it happen, I’ve just had the same dream.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I managed to wake myself up and I just came out here because I didn’t want to risk going back to sleep and picking it back up where it left off. How much did you see?”

He dropped his head, staring into his lap. His knees swung from side to side. “I saw which way the sword was heading. Then I woke up.”

There was a hollow ring in his voice. A choked sob escaped her mouth and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will it all away. “I’m sorry.”

“Heh,” he replied wearily, “it’s not like you can control what I dream about.”

That hadn’t been what she meant, and he didn’t realise that until she spoke again. “I should have realised you’d jump in front of me. You’ve always been one for chivalry. I should have warned you that he couldn’t hurt me.”

Justin turned back to look at Charmian but her eyes were glazed over, staring off into the distance without really seeing anything.

“It was just so you, you know. You were always really protective of me and very set on manners and being a gentleman. I doubt you’d have ever let anyone risk themselves for you but you would literally die before you let somebody you cared about do it. And as mad as I was that you found out about me being an avenger there was actually a little voice in my head saying thank fuck because at least you’d know you didn’t have to take a sword for me this time.”

He was about to open his mouth and say something. What stopped him was partly selfish; he wanted her to finally give him this kind of information. Some of it he knew. He knew he was protective of his loved ones and a bit of a stickler for manners (at least the ones he thought mattered). It was good to have her fill in the blanks though, and it was good to finally feel like she really had known him instead of being told so while seeing little evidence of it. The less selfish part came from sensing that she needed to get it off her chest. This was probably the first  time she’d ever been able to tell him that she was sorry, and while he didn’t think he had anything to forgive she clearly felt it.

“It was just always the same. We’d meet, I’d think that maybe it was you and then the second we’d shake hands or whatever I’d get the supernatural confirmation. You’d start trying to woo me in whatever the accepted fashion of the day was and every damn time I’d let it distract me. You’d think I’d have learned that I was getting you killed but I was just too relieved to have you back and too distracted by wanting us to finally be able to have something even though I knew that was impossible. And I got you killed over and over again because I couldn’t do my job. I have a sacred duty to protect you and I’ve failed you over and over, I’m so sorry.”

Tears were streaming down Charmian’s cheeks and while he wanted nothing more than to say something that would stop them, he had nothing. He had no idea what he could say to that.

“I thought… you know I actually thought that it being different this time was a good sign?” She sniffled. The words stopped and started as she forced them out between the lumps in her throat.

“I thought maybe it meant we wouldn’t repeat the cycle again and that I could concentrate on doing my job. Only I’ve fucked that up too and I have no idea how I can win now when I couldn’t before. Nate’s disappeared, I can’t speak to my team and I ran out before I worked out how to keep contacting Alex. And then I’ve had that stupid dream tonight and it’s just reminded me of what it’s like to watch you die. I can’t see that again. I couldn’t even do that again as an immortal, I had to beg them to stop putting us together; God only knows what it would be like now. I need you to be okay, for once in my entire cursed life I just need you to live.”

Leaning forward, she hugged her knees and continued to sob. Justin’s mouth fell open as a wave of understanding hit. With that one speech he now comprehended it completely. Every frustrating and bewildering moment where he couldn’t understand how she could be so indifferent to him, how they could have ever had this epic love when she was so detached, it all came into crystal sharp clarity.

She’d been putting on an act the entire time.

On first meeting her he’d immediately been attracted and had asked her out the first chance he got. He had pursued her, the same as he apparently always had. When he had found out for the first time in all his existences what Charmian was and reacted so badly to it she had used his revulsion to halt that. She’d built a wall and hidden herself behind it with the notion that a change in the pattern might mean a change in the outcome. Justin had completely failed to see it, too busy simultaneously railing against the idea of being destined to love her and yet being confused as to how it could possibly be when she didn’t appear to care. Now as she sat there crying for him and apologising to him as if she was personally responsible for everything that happened, like it was her fault he was Hell’s Most Wanted, he finally got it. He finally got her.

After having bad dreams about losing him, she had come outside and sat listening to his music in the cold. That was not the behaviour of somebody who was as indifferent as he’d pegged her to be.

Justin stood up. For a moment he simply looked down at her cowering form, wondering what he could do for her. There didn’t seem like much he could say. Deciding to go for less talking and more action, he reached down and wordlessly scooped her up. With one hand hooked under her knees and the other around her waist he lifted her up like she was a child. Her body felt small and limp in his arms, seeming lighter than it ought to be for someone her size. Though she let out a confused whimper she didn’t fight him. Her head lolled back against his chest and cold wetness found his skin from her face.

He carried her back into the bedroom and laid her out on the mattress. He smoothed back the dark hair that was sticking to the tears on her cheeks. Then he sat down on the bed himself before pulling the sheets over her and tucking them in beneath her chin.

“You don’t need to apologise,” he finally said after another moment of heavy silence. “All you’ve ever done is try to look after me. But now you’re the one who needs some help because you’re new to this whole human thing and it’s my turn to reciprocate, okay? We’ll get some sleep and this won’t feel so bad in the morning.”

“I don’t want to close my eyes. I don’t want to see that again.”

After considering that for a few seconds Justin pulled the sheets back again and slipped under them. Wriggling down into a more comfortable position, he pulled her body towards his and locked his arms around her. Charmian for her part had stiffened when she realised he was getting in with her, but she wasn’t resisting as her back pressed against his chest. She tried not to remember previous occasions when they’d shared a bed (though those had been relatively few considering how many times they’d become romantically entangled). Justin’s hand stroked Charmian’s hair once more before he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“It’ll be okay,” he said. “I’m right here, alive and breathing. You can close your eyes and go to sleep because you know that. That dream is somebody else, another life time, not me and not now. I’m right here and I am not going anywhere.” 

She loved him for that. She loved him so much the weight of it was crushing. Since she couldn’t tell him, she settled instead for resting her hands over his and shutting her eyes as requested.

**

“How much do you love me?”

“About as much as the bubonic plague, sister dear,” Anton answered. It might have sounded like an insult but he’d actually done very well out of that little episode. He loved his sibling as much as any demon was capable. Of course he’d sell her to the wolves before he could blink if it profited him but it was mutual. Neither of them begrudged the other that, they were hell spawn after all. He still trusted her more than anybody else he worked with. “Sounds like the news is good?”

“I told you possessing Lynn Harless was worth it.”

“Do tell.”

When Lillith had suggested taking possession of Justin’s mother Anton had dismissed the idea. Although the two were extremely close he hadn’t considered that of much use to him when she was in Tennessee far away from her son. To his mind there had been nothing he could get from her that he couldn’t get from tailing Justin or listening in on their phone calls when possible. It never hurt to be thorough though so he’d agreed to it anyway. He’d had nothing to lose, since he couldn’t risk possessing Trace or anyone who was hanging around on a daily basis. That would have been his normal tactic but it stopped being smart the moment he realised the avengers had Timberlake on their radar. They’d be watching everyone he hung out with. That was why he had used the succubus – because they weren’t as immediately recognisable as possessed mortals. If the mother had reaped dividends then great; he was always willing to admit when he was wrong.

“Trace called. We finally have an explanation for our boy being AWOL - Justin has apparently been taken into protective custody by the US marshals because there’s a terrorist threat against him.”

Anton leaned forward in his chair, pressing his palms together in front of his mouth as if in prayer (of course the idea of him praying was a little ridiculous). He wasn’t sure why Lillith was looking so incredibly smug. That was not good news.

“US marshals being code for avengers?”

“US marshals being code for avengers,” she said. “Took our little CIA mole all of five minutes to confirm there’s no actual government activity around him so it had to have been them. Presumably this is the latest line they feed mortals they want off the streets.”

“Which begs the question of why I should love you for telling me that.” Anton pursed his mouth and frowned. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s useful to know, but avengers taking my target is not exactly the kind of shit that makes my day.”

“Oh that’s not the good part.” A wicked smile spread across her berry coloured lips.

“Oh?” Now he was interested.

“Charmian’s gone.”

Anton practically flew out of his seat. It felt like he’d been electrocuted. “What?”

“Some of our boys ran into trouble with Alexander’s team – only one lived to tell the tale, but the tale is that they overheard them talking about the full scale search that’s going on. We have no idea where she’s disappeared to but neither do they. From the sound of things they’re in chaos over it. He brought the news straight to me, so naturally I bought his silence and came straight to you.”

Anton rubbed his hand across his mouth, contemplating. His eyes were darting back and forth across the room as his brain frantically worked.

“You’re right sis. I do love you.” He particularly loved the fact that she’d been smart enough to lock down the information. Not only would it be an ace up his sleeve, knowing Charmian was out of play would have emboldened a lot of idiots that he didn’t need getting in his way. “I’d love you more if you could get me a location for her or Justin.”

Lillith mockingly saluted him before vanishing as quickly as she’d appeared. He didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to her departure. It was if a vast machine had cranked into gear in his head and a million moving parts were whirring and spinning. He started pacing back and forth across the room. It helped him think.

Justin had disappeared. Nobody knew where he was.

Charmian had disappeared. Nobody knew where she was.

Justin and Charmian had been spotted out together previously.

He ran those three thoughts together through his head on repeat. He had already wondered about the significance of Charmian taking guard duty on the boy, an act which seemed like overkill on her part. Now both of them had vanished and clearly whatever she had done was not part of the big plan. Wasn’t that interesting?

It wasn’t a huge stretch to imagine the two disappearances were connected. Justin’s had been particularly suspicious. Anton had made a few pretty painful and expensive bargains to get hold of some major mojo from the pit yet no locator spell he could try had succeeded. That firmly suggested he was being shielded somehow. The avengers certainly had some ability to do that; they had never been able to uncover any of their home bases for that reason. It was a reasonable inference to make.

But how were they connected? Why would Charmian take off with Timberlake without telling anybody? What could be so important?

When finally the lightning bolt moment struck his head snapped up. No longer flicking around the room his eyes were sharply in focus. They were staring heatedly at the mirror opposite. He nodded to himself and his reflection nodded with him, as if to affirm his conclusions. It made sense. It made even more sense if he considered that Justin had disappeared immediately after Delilah had screwed up and paid the price for it. That was a little too much to be a coincidence.

“Well aren’t you just a sneaky little bitch.” He spoke as if Charmian could hear him. “Almost had me fooled.”

The evening wasn’t quite as cold as the last one had been, but this time Charmian was properly dressed for it. She was curled up on the porch swing under a blanket, just one leg poking out so that she could rock herself when she wanted to. Justin had loaned her a hoodie and she was snuggled up toasty warm in her many layers. It was a novel experience for her, to be simply hanging out in that manner. An avenger’s work was never done and it wasn’t often that she got to let off steam or relax with her friends. Usually they took whatever fun they could get while on the job. Even if they weren’t seeing much action they were effectively always on patrol. This made a nice change. It was like a mental recharge and she wished she’d known the effects sooner. She would have scheduled it into their training.

“Sittin’ here resting my bones, and this loneliness won’t leave me alone…”

She smiled softly, watching him as he strummed out the tune on his guitar.

“Two thousand miles I roamed just to make this dock my home… hey, did you ever meet Otis Redding?”

Well, he’d got nearly through the whole song before being distracted by her past again.  This was probably the longest he’d gone all day – Justin couldn’t seem to finish a task or conversation without asking her whether she’d met somebody or other. It seemed he thought that living so long meant she must have met every famous person who ever lived. There were a lot of historical events he seemed to think she must have been at too.

“No. I think Lucas might have cleansed Marvin Gaye one time though.” 

“Cool.” He played another couple of chords but then stopped again. She sighed slightly, wishing he would have finished the song. She’d always liked it and he sang it nicely. “Wait, is that why Marvin Gaye died? Lucas did the whammy on him ‘cause he was bad?”

“No, I think it was a pretty minor one.” She tried to remember. “He probably lost a bit of money or something, nothing serious.”

“Good.” Justin stopped frowning. He didn’t like to think that any of his heroes might have done something worth a more serious dose of avenging. “Do you remember everyone you fixed like that?”

“Way too many for that. I just remember the biggies. Or the people who did something so shitty it really stuck.”

That was as much as they had talked about the avenging side of her job all day. Justin had decided that since she was having so much trouble with being human again, the best way to help out was to make her concentrate on human things. That meant not talking about demons and death (especially not his death) and instead talking about people, about things in her life which were a little closer to earth than heaven. The topic of immortality couldn’t be avoided entirely since most of her life had been lived that way but he could at least stick to the less gruesome parts. It was probably the first time in a long while he’d been impressed by any stories about famous people, since she’d met so many that had died before even his grandfather was a twinkle in someone’s eye. Being famous yourself tended to take the shine off of celebrity stories. 

“What about your first life?” He set the guitar down beside him and shifted in his position on the step, propping his back up against the railing and facing her. “How much of that do you remember?”

“About as much as anybody my age would’ve remembered their life.” Charmian shrugged, nonchalantly twirling her finger around the tassel on the blanket. “I didn’t suddenly remember any more when I ascended.”

“What was it like? You said you were a farmer?”

Charmian chuckled. “My family were, yeah. We had a vineyard, grew olives too. Olives are only ready every couple of years though so mostly it was the grape harvest and wine making. Our timetable pretty much revolved around that.”

“Did you have a big family?”

“Two brothers, three sisters. Lot of nieces and nephews.”

“Carmel said you never got married though?”

“No.” She shook her head. “When my dad died things got a little rough, my brother couldn’t afford dowries for all three of us. My older sister was prioritised because she was considered the biggest catch and then when it came to me and my younger sister, since he didn’t like me much I was the last in line. I kind of got left on the shelf, by standards of the time.”

“Oh.” Justin pondered this. “So is that why you said yes when you got offered the avenger gig? I could never quite get why anyone would want to leave their family to do that. It was because you didn’t like your brother?”

“Not really that.” She tipped her head back. Centuries had passed since then and she rarely thought of it. “I loved my family like anybody would, even if Jason was kind of an ass. But since I had just been sitting around, waiting for my life to start and then getting older and knowing it probably wouldn’t happen because I was getting too old to be considered good wife material…”

“At all of twenty something you were too old to marry? That’s not very feminist.”

She gave him a look. “We were Ancient Greek farmers. You think any of us had any notion about equality of the sexes? They were marrying us off at fifteen.”

“Point taken.”

“I wanted to finally do something with my life and they were offering it to me on a plate. It was a purpose in the world. And a good one, when before I’d been expected to wait around until I could be married off and then breed offspring for my husband. Seemed like a hell of a lot more than what I’d been handed otherwise.”

Charmian turned her head to look at him, wondering what he was thinking of her tale. The incident last night had left her feeling a little self-conscious to begin with and Justin’s insistence on asking her so much about herself throughout the day had done nothing to lessen that. Mercifully his expression remained one of mild curiosity.

When she had woken up in the morning she had been acutely embarrassed. There were no more nightmares, but her cheeks had burned remembering the way she’d broken down. He’d had to carry her to bed like a child. He’d had to stay with her because she was scared of bad dreams like a child. Not to mention she had said way too much and made her feelings about him way too clear. Those feelings hadn’t been helped much when she had opened her eyes to still find him spooning her, all warm and solid and smelling nice.

Through a combination of timing, circumstances and social convention at various times, in his past lives as Michael they hadn’t slept together much. On those few occasions her favourite part had been waking up next to him in the morning. She’d be cradled in his arms, he’d kiss her face or her hand and for once she felt like she was the one being looked after rather than the other way around. This morning had reminded her of that precisely because it was so different and less comfortable for her.

The other thing today had reminded her of was the way they used to talk, often for hours when she should have been out hunting. It had always been a notable trait of his. Even in the lives where he’d been raised to be more pampered and consequently more arrogant or self-absorbed, he’d always maintained a curiosity about other people. The man possessed an ability to make you feel like the most fascinating person in the room by the way he’d devote his attention to a conversation. Of course he was also cheeky and a little on the edge with his wit, to the point of being infuriating, but though it skirted the line it remained the right side of charming.

“So if you had nieces and nephews, does that mean you still have living relatives somewhere?” It suddenly occurred to Justin. He had no idea how many ‘greats’ you would have to add on after so many centuries. It was pretty weird to contemplate.

“It’s possible, but I think it’s unlikely.” Charmian said. “In that kind of time and for a long while after a lot of people never saw adulthood, only took one illness to wipe out the entire family. I’d be surprised if the line survived so long.”

“You never kept track?”

“No. Like I said, after I ascended that life became more like something that I’d watched than something that had happened to me. Only time I ever went back was when some idiot demon thought he could manipulate me by hurting my sister.”

“I’m guessing you disproved the theory?”

She raised a mischievous eyebrow at him. “Violently.”

Justin chuckled. “You know, I’m enjoying this.”

“My family tree interests you that much?” She laughed, scoffing.

“Yes, actually. It’s cool to hear about all this history and stuff. Plus it’s kind of nice to know something about you which isn’t related to how many guys you could beat up at once. You’re pretty pleasant to talk to when it’s not about who’s chasing after us today and how long we have to be shut up in this jail cell.”

It was a chastening response that made her sigh. “At least this cell’s an improvement on the last one.”

“Yeah.” He picked up his guitar again. “At least we got a little air and some scenery.”

“And a guitar.” She nodded towards it. “What else you got in your repertoire?”

Justin settled the instrument back on his lap and his fingers immediately began picking a Donny Hathaway number. Charmian slumped further down into her seat and pushed off again with her foot, letting the swing go again and listening to him as it rocked.

**

Three very sullen faces were visible around the long oak table. None of them had looked especially content or upbeat for a while, but right now they were positively brooding. Scowls were the order of the day and a distinct air of frustration filled the room.

Zac had his feet propped up on the table and his arms tightly folded across his chest. His expression was almost belligerent; it dared the universe to try something else to piss him off. Carmel was wrapping an afro curl around her finger, staring at a point on the wall as if it was some informant she was trying to intimidate. Her gaze was steel and she was glaring. There was a dark sneer marring her usual warm and friendly face.

Sitting bolt upright with his hands settled on the table in front of him, Lucas looked like some king at the head of a banquet table. The only description for the look on his face was ‘murderous.’ Every muscle in his body was coiled, screaming out for release. There was nothing he’d like more than to start trashing the place, throwing some things and generally taking his frustration out on everything and everyone in the vicinity.

Carmel drummed her fingers against the axe and bat on her wrist before finally speaking.

“Not to state the obvious, but I didn’t see that one coming.”

“You just didn’t kick Marguerite’s ass enough,” Zac grumbled. “I thought it’d be soothing to watch you smack her down but there she was, dumped on the floor where she belongs with a sword through her weasel little guts and I still don’t feel better.”

“Well forgive me if it wasn’t spectacular enough.” Lucas’s blue eyes rolled heavenward. “Next time somebody attempts to usurp me I’ll come up with something more extravagant for you. It’ll certainly be soon enough.”

“This is such a mess. How did Char deal with this all the time?”

“She didn’t have to. Nobody was stupid enough to challenge her to the trial. None of them could take her and they knew it.”

Zac shot a pointed glance at him. “None of them can take you but they’re still trying.”

“Alex might have a shot.” Lucas slouched back in his chair and stared contemplatively at his wrist guard. “I’m both grateful and suspicious about the fact that he hasn’t tried. He’s usually much more vocal against me. Dare I say, he’s even been kind of helpful. Not sure what game he’s running.”

“I miss Char.” Carmel let out a sigh. It wasn’t only the political situation. Charmian was her best friend and she hated not knowing where she was or if she was alright.

“Me too.” Lucas’s mouth was set in a thin, grim line. “I do not want to spend the next month engaging in trial by combat to keep hold of her job. We don’t have time for this bullshit.”

“Any news on Char? Or Justin?” Zac asked. The response was a shaking of the head.

“No. On the one hand I kind of don’t want there to be in case the boss asks, but…”

“I know.” Carmel picked at a fingernail. “It’s killing me too, not knowing. Do you really think there’s no way we could convince the boss to forgive her?”

“She’s pissed him off by escaping his punishment. It’s hurt his pride, knowing she’s human and still eluding us.”

“Have we come up with any way around his instructions yet?” Zac asked.

“No.” She grimaced. “The second we see her we’re duty bound to bring her in and if we disobey we’re next to lose our privileges.”

“For fuck’s sake, this is so screwed. I…”

Zac was interrupted by the unceremonious arrival of Alex. Teleporting in unannounced was a bit of a faux pas in their word but there he was. Immediately the three of them all stiffened, sitting up straighter and eyeing him warily. He looked uncharacteristically dishevelled. Normally he was neat as a pin and eerily collected (though he took the edge off with a lot of sarcasm). Now he looked harassed.

“Is this a private meeting or can anyone join?”

Lucas knew Zac was going to make a hostile retort almost before Zac did, and shot him a warning glance. “What can we do for you?”

“Before I begin - I heard about Marguerite. My apologies, I’ll be having words with her.”

“Like you didn’t put her up to it,” Zac mumbled.

He was entirely wrong about that. Marguerite may have been one of Alexander’s subordinates but she was a bit of a rogue element. She had annoyed him as much as Lucas with her foolish challenge. She’d never had a shot; he would have laughed in her face if she’d mentioned she was going to try. Besides, trying to leapfrog Alex in that manner to gain supremacy was as much insult to him as to Lucas.

“Never mind, she’s learned her lesson. Now what can we do for you?” Lucas repeated.

“This wasn’t the way I wanted to play this at all, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ll skip right to the point - I’ve lost Charmian.”

“Huh?” Carmel stared at him quizzically, brows drawn together. “You’ve lost Charmian? When did you have Charmian?”

“The short version is that I managed to find her and I’ve been in communication with her for some days now,” Alex admitted to the shock of his audience. “She’s filled me in on everything and I’ve been trying to help her come up with a plan.”

“And why the hell would she trust you?” Zac was dubious.

“Because I’m on your side, much as you idiots refuse to accept that.” He rolled his eyes, but took a seat at the table next to Zac anyway. “Anyway, she and I agreed that since Michael neglected to give me the same orders as you guys that I would use the loophole to act as her mole. I thought I could help her stay off the radar and maybe if we came up with anything useful I could let her know. I was trying to come up with some kind of panic button for her to call me if Hell found her. Anyway, upshot of it is that she didn’t make our arranged rendezvous, she’s not where she said she would be… seems she’s disappeared and taken Michael with her.”

“Michael? Why would she have taken the boss?”

“No, her Michael. Like I said she told me everything.”

“Apparently she didn’t,” Lucas’s voice was a warning in his team’s heads, unheard by Alex. “Don’t mention Justin’s name.”

“And she didn’t warn you she was going?” Carmel asked.

“No. I wasn’t sure whether or not to be alarmed, and I wasn’t going to out myself to you guys until I was sure in case you got forced to tell Michael, but now Nathaniel’s disappeared  too I feel needs must.”

“Nate’s gone too?” Now he really had Lucas’s attention.

“When I first found her she was going to the church to try and find him, she said he’d been unreachable for a few days,” Alex explained. He was drumming his foot, clearly agitated. “I promised to look for him but I was having trouble tracking down his digs. I got there and it looks like somebody left in a hurry. I’d also guess that somebody’s been there looking for him since then, it looked like somebody had been going through his papers and then I ran into trouble on my way out. How far had he got with the antidote for the poison?”

“She may not have told him everything but seems she told him a lot,” Carmel noted silently. Lucas met her eye, a glint on his face. They didn’t need the telepathy to make an agreement.

“He was making progress,” Lucas replied. They had nothing to lose by co-operating with Alex at this stage. Things were so dire that they were going to have to trust Charmian’s instinct about him. “You think maybe somebody didn’t want him getting closer?”

“Maybe he even had it,” Alex said. “I know he was officially retired and all but I’ve never known him to ignore calls, even if it’s to politely tell you to buzz off. If he’s gone something’s up.”

“Maybe the same something that sent Charmian running?” Carmel theorised.

“Maybe. Whatever it is, we’re running out of time. Charmian has been absent too long. It’s getting noticed and despite my repeated threats some of our underlings are not discreet. If word that she’s human isn’t back to the pit yet it will be soon. I believe her exact words were that when it happens it’s going to be quote ‘payback time’ unquote.”

“Half of Hell is going to be ordered to go after her and the other half are going to do it for fun.” Lucas clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles went white. His friend was vulnerable out there and he couldn’t protect her.

“So, there you have it.” Alex said. “Now you know everything I know. What are we going to do, and how can we do it so that the boss never realises that I’m still technically free to help her?”

“This is not funny. Ass.”

“No, it’s fuckin’ hilarious.”

Charmian was too busy coughing to immediately respond, so she glared at Justin instead. His whole body was shaking with the force of his laughter, so much that the worn out couch they were sitting on wobbled.

“Strawberry, you said.” She spluttered the sentence before stealing his soda and taking a long gulp.

“I honestly thought it was. I just grabbed the wrong bottle!”

“Which conveniently we found out before you took yours?” She paused for another cough. Her mouth burned. “Tell it to the judge.”

“Alright…”

He grabbed the other shot glass and tossed it back without ceremony. That was fine for five seconds. Then it started.

“Holy shit!”

Now it was Charmian’s turn to laugh, which was awkward while she was still coughing. Justin’s cheeks were immediately aflame and he was letting out a steady stream of expletives. He snatched the soda from her hands and necked half the can before coming up for air, emitting a disgusted gasp.

“Damn I’m glad we never followed through with those forfeits. Holy fucking shit.”

The only time Justin had visited the cabin with anybody else had been six months previously. After a nasty break up he’d been feeling paparazzi heat, so he’d brought Trace and Nick there for a guys’ weekend. They’d played a lot of rowdy card games with various forfeits involved, for which a bottle of chilli vodka had been procured but never consumed. They hadn’t bothered taking the spirits home when they left, and when Charmian had mentioned that avengers were unaffected by alcohol he’d decided there was no moment like the present to make up for lost time. He still had no idea why they’d bought strawberry vodka, but since it was either that or the chilli he’d figured it for the better choice. It was only her first foray into the world of shots; he really hadn’t meant to pick up that one. Had he known how hot it was he’d have poured it straight down the sink – heck, it would probably make excellent drain cleaner.  Who would even invent such a devil’s drink?

“My apologies, I really didn’t know, we’ll try something safer.”

“Like I am drinking anything you give me after that.”

“Hey, it’s an experience.” Justin grinned cheekily at her. Despite herself she couldn’t help cracking and giving him the chuckle she knew he wanted. “Heck, we’ve been locked in here for the best part of a week now? We did well leaving it this long before we turned to drink.”

Charmian wasn’t going to pick up that conversational baton. She really needed to broach the subject of leaving with him. They were too disconnected from everything and she needed to get back in touch with Alex; she had no way to do that from here. The problem was she knew he vastly preferred it here than back at the apartment. It was hard to muster up the heart to tell him.

Apart from anything else, she’d been having too nice a time. They had chatted about nearly every possible topic. He had tried and failed to teach her how to play various things on the Xbox, and introduced her to his favourite movies. It had been decades since she’d seen a movie; some of these new fangled comedies were a bit beyond her. She was starting to get the hang of hanging out and she enjoyed it. He was good company. His humour was a little drier and more sarcastic than she remembered, but that hadn’t taken long to adjust to.

Justin didn’t wait for an answer. “You know what I like about this?”

“What could you possibly have liked about that?”

“Not the vodka, though your face almost made it worth it.”

She snorted. “And yet you claim it was unintentional.”

“I meant…” He poked her arm. “This. Sitting, chilling.”

“Oh.”

“That’s your cue to ask me why.”

Charmian pulled a face before slumping further back into the cushions. They were sitting in their now customary positions. She was on the right with her feet tucked under her on the seat. His were on the table, crossed at the ankles and usually tapping to some imaginary rhythm.

“You can go fishing but I’m not biting, JT.”

He enjoyed the fact that she’d taken to using his nickname. She enjoyed his use of hers less, but her irritation encouraged him.

“Because,” he rolled the word around his tongue for effect, “it’s just so normal.”

Charmian turned her head to look at him and Justin could see scepticism. It was in the raise of her eyebrows and the twitch of her upper lip.

“It is though. Despite the fact that we’re doing it because of fucked up shit, the sitting and the chilling are actually pretty normal. Which is nice. We get along way better away from all that mythological bull crap.”

He didn’t miss the way her face fell, and he wondered what he’d said.

Charmian had to bite back a defensive retort about it not being myth. It was as real as the nose on his face. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and pondered that comment. She pondered it rather unhappily.

Justin had inadvertently hit a nerve. When he’d found out about her and been put off by it, she’d had conflicting feelings. One was gratitude, one was being wounded. It didn’t escape her notice that in the one life where he knew who she truly was he chose to distance himself. When he said things like that, it made her feel like the only time he could love her was when he believed her to be ordinary. When he believed her to be less than she was. That stung in ways she’d never had to contemplate before. Her immortal life far exceeded her original human one and it was a huge part of her. When he rejected that it felt like he was rejecting her. At her best, at her strongest, her life’s purpose… he didn’t think it was so great. That stung.

She was quiet a little too long and Justin couldn’t take it. He really didn’t like the idea that he’d offended her.

“I didn’t mean that as a bad thing.”

What the hell. She was strong, right? She was proud of all the good she’d done and by the light she served she was going to stick up for herself. “That ‘bull crap’ is my entire life.”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean it like that.”

“How did you then?” Brown eyes met his. There was a little ball of fire behind them. Briefly he thought to himself that her human facial expressions were as scary as her supernatural ones. “And how exactly do you think you get me if you don’t get that? It’s who I am, Justin.”

“Ahh, shit.” He scratched at his scalp, wondering if his past selves had the same talent for sticking their feet in their mouths. They’d been having fun until then. “I worded it really badly. When I said that I didn’t mean you or what you do. I just meant this whole mess with people being after me and them demoting you and us being in panic mode all the time.”

That was slightly better but not much. Charmian couldn’t come up with a reply because now he’d pressed that button there was no undoing it. Whether it was failing to protect him or this new feeling that she wasn’t good enough, he seemed to be the one thing in her life she continually screwed up over the years.

“Look,” he said.  He picked up her hand in his, patting it in a conciliatory manner. She was reluctant but didn’t pull away. “Honestly, a reflection on me not you. I found you kind of intimidating with all those super powers and walking around like a frickin’ goddess. But now we’ve hung out and talked, I feel like I know you better.”

“Away from the bull crap of everything I’ve spent my life working for,” she said. The frown was less fierce, sadder now.

“No, no. That is so not what I meant. I swear, I wouldn’t be saying any different even if you were still immortal right now. Before I didn’t relate to you because I’d only ever seen you in that all business mode where you’re steel, and I didn’t know enough about you to get that side of you.” He paused for a moment, thinking about how best to express it.

“Whereas talking to you more helped me see you as a person, and understand why you dealt with stuff that way. It makes that make sense, even if it’s still not my favourite thing about you. The bull crap is not you or your job, Charmian, I got fifty tons of respect for both. You’re pretty cool and I’ve told you this before but you’re, like, an actual hero. I totally get why I’ve liked you so much eight or nine times over now.”

Over the past few days she had (despite some wobbles) been slowly improving with the emotions, had started to get a handle on them. Now they were threatening again – between the hero comment and the goddess description her brain was about to explode.

“So… if I was intimidating before because I looked like a goddess but I’m not intimidating any more, what does that mean I look like now?”

It was a weak and hesitant joke, she was fidgeting with her hands too much, but it was a joke. It was also wide of the mark since he hadn’t been referring to her looks with that comment, but that didn’t matter. Justin was taking it as a positive signal that he’d got through.

“Really? What you took from that is some twisted implication that you don’t look good? Women!”

“Sorry.”

“Hey.” He clasped his other hand around the one of hers he was already holding and gave it a squeeze. “No. I’m sorry.”

“Nah, I shouldn’t have been so defensive.” Charmian pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. Her gaze was unfocused as she spoke.  “It feels strange, you know, you actually having any idea who I am. If you don’t like shit I can’t blame it on the cover story or the lying any more, it’s just me and I guess I’m a little touchy about it. Demons I can do, being out on that limb’s just scary.”

The thought randomly struck Justin that her hair had fallen over her face. It was tempting to push the dark locks back. It was also tempting to take his index finger and smooth the frown lines away.  Her heart shaped face was wearing yet another expression of disquiet, not for the first time lately. She was obviously worried about what he thought of her and he wished she wouldn’t be. There was no cause to.

In truth he hadn’t gone far enough in what he’d said. It was finally possible to understand the big tragic love story. That had been difficult to wrap his head around while she was the closed off warrior; now he saw some logic to it. She had spark and smarts, and the way she listened so intently made you feel important when you spoke. When she’d relax for five minutes it was fun kidding around with her. They were on similar wavelengths and he often found himself nodding at things she said. This was the type of thing that made people relate to each other romantically, this he understood.

So why was he not pushing her hair back or touching her face? Despite the enormous, immediate adolescent crush he’d had on her from the second they met he had ignored it all. Part of that was dislike of her ‘all business’ mode and the way she’d distanced herself but the other part was distaste for the whole idea of some epic love story. Nate had told him that nobody had a soul mate and he was the only individual in history who kept winding up with the same person. That idea still grated. He balked at it. Why should he be the only one who didn’t get a choice? Maybe you couldn’t control being Hell’s favourite target but surely you could control that. How could you even be sure it was real if it had been predetermined?

Then again, he supposed, did anybody ever get much choice about who they caught feelings for? He couldn’t say he’d ever made an intellectual decision about falling either in or out of love before, or even lust. It was something that happened to you.

Before he’d consciously registered it, he was brushing a curl back off her face. Charmian’s eyes flicked nervously up and down, scanning his features. They flitted over his nose, his lips, taking in the way his eyes crinkled in concentration. She wasn’t sure how to behave at this point. Though the pads of his fingertips were a little weather worn his touch was soft, making her inhale a little more sharply.

“It’s kind of odd to me, you saying that.” His head tipped sideways as he spoke. It was a contemplative tone. “You’ve saved the world and been everywhere. I’m just any old guy. And you actually think it’s a question of me not liking you, like you would be the one lacking here?”

There were a million protestations she wanted to make. ‘Not to me you’re not’ was chief among them swiftly followed by ‘and yet that is the question.’ Not to mention that more objectively speaking a world famous singer was hardly your average Joe. Her throat was a little too dry and she was a little too afraid of putting her feelings out there to voice them. Right now he was giving her back way more than she’d expected. She feared that if she pushed too far he’d retreat and then she’d be back to feeling bad about it again.

“Justin….” Charmian breathed out. “You make me sound like I’m perfect or some shit and I’m not.”

“Heck no,” he agreed. “You were really irritating me for a hot minute back at Lucas’s house.” Briefly indignation passed over her face, but he continued before she could interject. “But you’re a lot of things that are good in the world, Char, with or without the powers. I wish I’d let me admit that to myself earlier.”

The words ‘fuck it’ flashed through his mind. He would allow himself to try it out, feel whatever it was he felt instead of worrying about who ordained it. If a beautiful woman he liked seemed to like him and it felt good being around her, maybe it was dumb to look that gift horse in the mouth?

So he kissed her. He leaned over and finally allowed himself to press his lips to hers. It was for an all too brief moment - a moment that hung in the air far longer afterwards than it had taken to begin with.

Charmian’s body stiffened and stars exploded behind her eyes. Her lips felt like they’d taken another dousing with the chilli. What did he mean? Admit what to himself?

“What are you doing?”

It was an agonising few seconds before he answered. “Taking my fate into my own hands.”

She blinked slowly. Of all the things that might have run through her brain, all that came was disbelief - how infuriatingly obtuse of him.

“It never ceases to amaze me. All this time and you’ve lost none of your ability to completely confound me. Do you have any idea how irritating that is?”

Justin couldn’t help it. His lips started parting, the grin started spreading, and then the chuckling began.

Now she was offended again. Talking to him was not doing great things for her self-esteem that evening.  “For not the first time tonight I say – this is not funny. Ass.”

She didn’t have much time to continue the riposte as his hand went to the back of her head and pulled her forward into another kiss. A muffled protest escaped her lips and he broke it as quickly as he’d started, leaning back slightly but not removing his hand. Their eyes were locked and despite how uncomfortable he was making her (physically as well as mentally, it was an awkward angle for her neck) she had little choice but to meet those blue irises. The eye contact was difficult to take but he wasn’t dropping his gaze.

“No, you’re right. It’s pretty fucking tragic, really, just how done we both are at this point.”

Ricocheting between being insulted and hopeful was a little too complex for such an emotional amateur. Her palms were sweating profusely. Both? She’d known she was sunk from the second he’d shown back up, but him? He was kissing her and describing himself as ‘done?’

“You are making no sense to me right now,” she said.

“You are annoyingly slow on the uptake, you know that? My life and free will are on the line but I’m still sitting here, kissing you because I’m wondering if maybe I want you more than either of those things. That’s kind of fucked, so tragically done seems about right.”

So this was what it was like to stop breathing when you were human. Charmian had clear forgotten. There was a breath caught in her throat that didn’t want to come out like it should.

Justin was plainly in charge of this whole interaction while she floundered, too shocked to react. Once more he was crushing his mouth to hers but this time he wasn’t pulling back, wasn’t keeping it brief. He was sliding his body closer to hers on the couch and his hands were moving from behind her head further down her back, taking better hold of her. There was a time lag between her physical behaviour and her brain catching up, because before she’d really taken stock of anything she had shifted closer herself.

Charmian kissed him back the way a drowning man gasped for air when he broke the surface. It was odd. She was used to being in command of herself and any situation; being out of control was alien. God only knew how many years of frustration and longing were venting themselves into it. Tears even pricked at the corners of her eyes, though they wouldn’t fall. Her fingers were on his face, brushing over his cheeks, reassuring her that he really was there and she really was touching him. But he was solid, and the way one hand splayed across her back while the other was tangled deep in her dark hair kept her anchored.

Well, she supposed it had been inevitable. If she went left, if she went right, she always wound up here anyway.

Slowly they slid further and further down, until his weight was settled over her and they were hanging perilously on the edge of the couch. It wasn’t really the right size for that kind of thing (which had sucked for him, stuck sleeping on it). Justin pulled himself clumsily to a standing position before offering his hands to Charmian and helping her up. They were half way back into an embrace when their eyes found each other, halting them in their tracks. Blue met brown and silently they both understood that this was the point of no return.  As they stood there, his hands on her waist and hers in the crooks of his elbows, it was time for a decision.

Once again it was him making it. He slid his hands down her arms and locked his fingers with hers before starting in the direction of the bedroom, tugging for her to follow. A corner of his mouth pulled upwards as he wondered why this had seemed so momentous and foreboding. Thus far it wasn’t much different from any other time he’d decided to hook up with somebody. He knew how this went.

He kicked the door shut behind them before turning back to Charmian and kissing her again, his mouth trailing at will over her lips and her jaw. Her skin tasted lightly of salt and there was a small hint of gardenias when he breathed in. For a moment her eyes closed and she remained still, concentrated on the path of his lips and the hands skating over her sides. When finally she moved it was to slowly run her fingers down his chest to the waistband of his jeans, to start freeing his shirt from there. His heartbeat had thudded under her hands and she was transfixed at the movement of his muscles. Justin allowed her to pull it over his head before resuming his attentions, not halting them as he unbuttoned her shirt.

He pushed the blue material from her shoulders and it fell carelessly to the floor. Skimming his fingertips back down her ribs, one hand continued lazily down her thigh before grasping it and pulling her yet closer to him. The pace between them was slow, almost thoughtful. The other hand traced the soft skin of her stomach, pausing over a taut, shiny patch he hadn’t noticed previously (even when he’d had to clean her up after the demon incident).

“That a scar?”

“What?” Charmian looked down at his fingers. They were tickling her as they ran back and forth across it. “Oh, yeah.”

He’d thought avengers didn’t scar. There was certainly no hint of that lump of flesh which had been carved out of her. “How’d you get it?”  

“When I was little. We were stomping grapes and I tripped.”

Justin kissed her again once, twice, smiling against her lips. “I kinda like it.”

“Don’t know why.” It wasn’t particularly big or an interesting shape, it was just a little splodge. Tightening her grip around his waist, she kissed him back briefly before allowing her lips to slip down his neck. “You got any?”

He laughed. “On my leg, but you’d have to take my pants off to see that one.”

“Maybe I should then.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. Someone was getting bolder. “Maybe you should.”

The buckle was undone in seconds. With an impressive speed and fluid motion that made him wonder if her extensive weapons training had included a bull whip, she pulled his belt off with a flourish. Apparently she was losing her initial hesitance because this was even a little aggressive. It was a definite turn on. Soon after that the denim was pushed off his hips and he was scrambling to catch up with hers. He was preoccupied with her mouth, unwilling to pause in order to see to the superfluous clothing.

Finally they were naked and falling to the mattress. As he stared the thought once again struck him that she looked like a Greek statue. He supposed that made sense, since she came from the time and place where those all got made. It was peculiarly reassuring; through the otherworldly sheen of immortality she had looked too pristine to be real. Though Greek statues weren’t exactly known for being depictions of the unattractive, at least now she was attractive in a human fashion with all the lumps and bumps and asymmetry. In a weird way that was also why he liked the scar. Settling himself over her Justin let his lips blaze a line down her body towards it, over her breast and down her stomach to where it sat near her hip. Charmian’s eyes closed blissfully and her fingers found his hair, winding themselves in it as she let him explore. The stubble on his chin scratched as he did.

If before it had been slow and charged, now it was getting heated and impatient. It wasn’t long before she was pulling him back up towards her and crashing her lips against his again, nipping lightly at the lower one with her teeth. As her tongue brushed his Justin was greedily searching her body. His hands didn’t know where they wanted to go, too eager to be in every place at once. It had all the awkward beats of a first time with somebody new, but he was working out what she liked from the way her little moans escaped against his kisses. There was one when he grasped her breast, another as he ran his hand over the back of her thigh and her buttock. He made one himself when her leg slipped between his.

For one uncomfortable second he had an off putting thought comparing himself to his past guises – it somehow felt like he was having to measure up to an ex even though it was only himself.  

Charmian was almost light-headed, dizzy from it all. She stroked her fingers over as much as him as she could reach. Involuntarily her nails would dig in when he hit some spot of hers. Her lips darted back and forth between his mouth and collarbone, enjoying the taste of his skin. One finger brushed over the tattoo on his arm; in a quieter moment she’d have to ask him about it.

When finally he parted her legs and pressed himself into her, a long hiss escaped both of them. For one giddy moment she marvelled at what was happening, but before long she was too concentrated on the rhythm she had subconsciously started meeting him with. If she hadn’t known Justin was a dancer she certainly could have guessed by the way his hips ground into hers; it was eliciting a lot of noises she’d never known herself make. When his lips grazed a nipple there was a sharp loud sound that she knew must have come from her but couldn’t believe did.

“You like that?”

It was hard to refrain from sarcasm or looking at him like he was stupid. Was he not hearing what she was hearing?  

She abstained from verbal response and instead pushed him over, rolling on top of him. Now it was Justin’s turn to let out a satisfied grunt, his fingers gripping her hips that little bit harder before sliding up her spine. The friction between their bodies as she moved over him was making him a little crazy, as was the way she kissed his chest. Wrapping one arm possessively around her waist he used the other to push them both upright, where he could sit and watch her.

“God, right there,” he groaned.

Feeling a warmth she’d long forgotten starting to build in the pit of her stomach, Charmian took his face back into her hands and kissed him again. Somehow she couldn’t get enough of the kisses, like if she stopped there would be none further. Justin’s hands finally ceased wandering and his arms settled tightly around her waist, returning the kiss with fervour. When finally the wave of pleasure hit she buried her face in his neck. His forehead dipped and his mouth touched her shoulder as he followed her shortly after, and the two of them fell still against each other.

One of Justin’s hands found itself in her hair. Hs lips touched the crown of her head softly, shoulders heaving from his heavy breathing. Charmian remained where she was, face burrowed against his neck and breathing him in. They were both slightly slick with sweat. She had to focus to stop her trembling muscles, lest they gave her away.

The silence went on too long, however, and it actually made him a little uncomfortable. She was abnormally still. “You okay, Char?”

Was she okay?

Yes.

No.

Completely.

Not at all.

It had never occurred to her that sex as a mortal would be any different than sex as an immortal. It wasn’t any better or worse in the physical sense (albeit it she felt the exertion more) but in some inexplicable way it felt altered. Maybe that was a natural side effect of having her magically enhanced emotional control removed, but whatever it was she felt discombobulated and a little out of herself.

“Yeah.” Finally she lifted her head again and smiled uncertainly at him. “Yeah. Just catching my breath.”

She released him and Justin flopped back against the pillows, exhaling loudly before opening an arm out to Charmian. As she lay her head on his chest and curled up beside him he folded it back around her shoulders, tracing his index finger in a lazy circle. She hooked an arm over his stomach and softly he smirked. He closed his eyes, sated and ready to snooze.

“Did I or did I not tell you that coming here was a great idea?” He said in a low voice.

“Eh.” Charmian pretended nonchalance. “The apartment works fine.”

“Heh. Once the witness protection is over,” he pronounced, “we are going to have to broaden your horizons.”

She was sure the sudden glow that had lit in her chest must be visible. It was a good thing his eyes were shut.

It was hard to wake up alone the morning after the night before without reading too much into the fact.

Justin did his utmost. He didn’t go straight out to look for Charmian. He distracted himself by humming Coldplay and trying to think of things to do to pass another day in hiding. Showering time was stretched out beyond all reasonable limits, as was the time taken to choose an outfit and get clothed. The bedroom and bathroom were left in a much tidier state than would normally have been the case straight after he’d had a morning shower. Eventually, however, he had to walk out into the kitchen and face her – assuming she was even there.

She was indeed there, and nothing seemed obviously amiss about her. The appearance was relaxed. Her hair was scraped back off her face and piled into a haphazard bun high on her head. She was plainly dressed in a black vest and jeans, her bare feet padding around the kitchen while she briskly whisked eggs in a bowl. At the sound of his approach, she glanced up and flashed him a smile.

“Morning. I’m making an omelette if you want one?”

“Sure.”

The table was already laid out with cutlery, orange juice and a pot of coffee - blessed coffee. Justin wasted no time in overfilling a mug with it and taking recklessly large gulps. It burned his tongue slightly but he needed the jolt.

“You sleep alright?” He asked.

“Mmm. Like a rock,” she said. “First decent sleep I’ve had in a while. You?”

“Fine, thanks.”

Her demeanour was calm and her expression amiable. It was almost odd to see her doing something so domesticated as cooking breakfast, though nice. The silence was weighty but not wholly uncomfortable as he continued to sip the coffee and observe her. It wasn’t long before she was putting a plate down in front of him and sliding into the chair opposite.

“So…” she began.

“So?” Justin picked up his fork and sampled the meal. It was a little overdone but not bad; he wasn’t really that hungry however. He wasn’t even sure why he’d accepted the offer.

“I have to confess to an ulterior motive.”

“Really?” His head remained bent towards his plate but he lifted his eyes to hers.

“Well….” Charmian said. She licked her lips and fiddled with her cutlery, looking sheepish. “I wanted to talk to you about leaving.”

“Oh?” That was what not what he’d been expecting.

“I know how much you like it here and I hate to say it, but we can’t be here forever. We’re already running low on stuff and really I need to get back to the city so I can get hold of Alex.”

“Where? Back to that god forsaken apartment?”

He hadn’t meant to sound harsh but his tone made her cringe. “I know, I’m sorry. It’s going to be no good to us if we demon proof your house because they’ll be trying to get access and they’ll work out that’s what we’ve done pretty quick. We don’t want to give them that kind of warning. Also me coming and going from your house is probably going to make the gossip rags talk. You probably wouldn’t need that even on a normal day of the week, never mind us letting the demons know that we’re shacked up.”

His lips parted in a slight grin. “Shacked up?”

“You can make fun of my phrasing but you can’t avoid the subject, JT.”

The sigh was loud and slightly whiny. His fork kept moving around his plate and stabbing at his food, but he was more playing with it than trying to eat it.

“Yeah, I suppose. It’s just been a fuck of a lot better here than in that damn apartment. Can’t even suggest moving to your actual place because even if you weren’t a fugitive, it is equally as tiny. Why did you have to get yourself kicked out of Lucas’s again?”

There was a teasing lilt in his voice and he obviously intended to be light, but a pinch of truth remained. Charmian smiled sympathetically.

“I know. It bites, I’m sorry.”

“Eh, we gotta do what we gotta do I suppose. Shouldn’t take long to pack the car if you wanted to head out this morning.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Clearly he wasn’t planning to finish his food, so Charmian picked up his plate as well as her empty one before striding back over to the counter to begin washing the dishes. Immortals still did mundane things like this, but now she was human she found a new distraction in it. There was something about busying her hands which helped keep her mind clear. Justin wordlessly came to stand beside her and picked up a towel, ready to do the drying. Together they quietly worked.

Once finished she turned to look at him, only to find that he was still absently fiddling with the towel. Gently she took it from him and tossed it back on the counter top. He looked so forlorn that she couldn’t help reaching up on her toes to brush his mouth with hers.

“I really am sorry.”

Well, at least that answered any questions he’d had about the previous evening. He’d expected her to say something or want to talk about it, and had been surprised that she didn’t bring it up. If it had gone on much longer he might have even started to worry that she was planning to ignore it altogether, so it was a little bit of a relief. Justin let out another mildly petulant sigh before wrapping his arms around her and giving her a quick squeeze.

“It’s not your fault, Char. I’m just a little bummed.”

“We could at least steal some stuff back from here, might do a little better keeping us entertained.” Her hand brushed the nape of his neck.

“Sure. If you want to get the stuff in the bedroom I can pack up that stuff from in here.”

Since his reaction to the news was so obviously one of resignation and wanting to get on with the inevitable, Charmian decided it was best to simply acquiesce. She let him go and immediately turned to start tossing their respective clothes into bags.

The pair of them were both dawdling and taking longer than strictly necessary to pack.  There wasn’t all that much to go but they were both trying to prolong the moment. They fell into a slow rhythm, stacking complete boxes and bags next to the door for Justin to take out to the car. It was a source of consternation but even with the years of upper body workouts she’d got from using weapons Justin could still lift a little more than Charmian could at this point. (It probably didn’t help that she’d not been exercising enough during their enforced indoor time – no more supernatural help, all muscle tone now had to be earned and maintained).

No matter how they procrastinated though it was not an infinite job. Eventually it was the two of them standing by the door with only a single bag left to go. Justin picked it up and slung it over his shoulder but still made no moves to actually leave the cabin. Charmian gave him a moment, but when the seconds passed without further movement she held out her hand.

“Ready to go?”

His expression said no but the hand he slipped into hers gave his assent. She stepped outside and he trailed after, briefly pausing to lock the cabin behind them.

“Can you just promise me that if I put you in charge of the iPod we won’t be listening to me all the way back?”

“Meh,” she replied as they descended the steps and onto the gravel path. “I’m in more of a ‘fuck the world’ kind of mood. What’s your rock selection like?”

“I don’t know, grunge always did me better for that.”

It was an answer, but it came from the wrong person.

Immediately Charmian halted, her grip on Justin’s hand becoming vice like as a signal to follow suit. Who had said that and where were they? The voice sounded a little familiar, but she couldn’t place it and was too busy twisting and turning to scan their surroundings to really concentrate on the memory.

“Get behind me.”

It went against every instinct in his body, particularly since she was now human and as vulnerable as he was, but he was going to have to trust her experience. Justin mutely complied and tried not to shake.

Eventually a tall, auburn haired figure strolled casually out from behind Justin’s truck. The oversized vehicle had made a perfect cover, but with a face finally Charmian was able to place the voice.

“Lillith,” she said. “Long time no see.”

“Yes, well, you know how it is.”

If she’d still been invulnerable Charmian would have made a disparaging comment about that. She did know how it was, and the reason she so rarely saw this particular demon was that this one was a coward who preferred running errands for others to actually putting her own neck on the line. Lillith was Anton’s equally devious but ultimately less daring sister and for that reason she’d never risen as high as he had. That said she was still intelligent and still not to be underestimated at the best of times. Now, knowing the disadvantage she was at, Charmian wasn’t going to antagonise her with unnecessary insults. She wasn’t above goading her but any shots she took needed to be at the right moment for the right reason.

“So, don’t suppose you’re going to let me in on how the hell you found him?”

“Hell is right.” Lillith smiled brightly. On anybody else it would have looked a welcoming and friendly expression, but there was a hard set line in her chin which added malice. The all black ensemble didn’t help either. “We had to pull in a lot of favours to keep locator spells on repeat for that long but I knew he’d have to set foot out of whatever little haven you’d set up for him eventually. About fifteen minutes ago we finally hit pay dirt. Going somewhere, were you?”

“Never you mind. Now, are we going to keep pretending at niceties or is there actually some purpose to your presence? For a change?”

The false bravado served a dual function. She wanted to keep Lillith believing she was still an avenger as long as possible, but every leisurely second she took to speak was a second she could spend steeling herself for what was about to happen. There was no point worrying about the strength difference any more. She knew it was there and it was simply a disadvantage she was going to have to work around. They had never trained solely on strength, after all. They had trained on strategy and how to use an opponent’s momentum against them. They had trained on how to compensate for their own weaknesses and exploit their enemy’s – and if it had to be anybody, at least it was Lillith who didn’t do much fighting on the regular. It was time to swallow the tide of emotion that threatened, time to suppress the fear, and do what she could. Who knew, maybe if she got a lucky break it would even be enough.

Justin was still clinging to her hand and with a squeeze Charmian signalled him to let go. With both hands now by her side she began to concentrate.

“Well, this is fun, isn’t it?” Lillith rocked back on her heels and peered at Justin, enjoying the way he was clearly afraid of her. “You standing there terrified, wondering who I’ve brought with me. Me standing here marvelling at the way you’re acting like you have a hope in hell of protecting him. How’s mortal life treating you, by the way?”

Well there went that hope - her secret was out. She couldn’t dwell on it, she had to keep concentrating.

“Cat got your tongue? Never mind. Maybe I could have a chat with Michael here if you’re not feeling chatty?”

And there went that hope too.

Desolation rose up in her throat like vomit but she swallowed it back down. That wasn’t a luxury any more. Although she’d complained about how poor a human she made, she’d actually been doing something entirely human ever since she’d lost her immortality. She’d wallowed in self-pity when she should have been accepting and dealing with her situation, not acting like she was helpless against her emotions. She didn’t get to do that any more. Justin’s soul depended on it.

She felt a little better when finally her concentration paid off with the smooth and familiar hilt in her hand. Summoning was a little more effort now she was human but at least it still came when called. The weight of the sword was comforting in her grasp.

Now it was Lillith’s turn to look worried. “How did you do that? They said you were human!”

Charmian lowered her voice. “When I step forward you step back. When I say go you run back into that cabin.”

“Yes.” Justin wasn’t entirely sure he meant that or if his body would actually allow him to leave her to fight for him, but he would try. He was trying to trust in her but a traitorous part of his brain was asking what he would do if Lillith overpowered Charmian – it wouldn’t take her long to wait him out, they didn’t have that many supplies left.

“Never mind,” Lillith tossed her hair back haughtily. “If the slaughter takes an extra five seconds it’s no matter to me.”

“Lord.” Charmian took a few steps forward, and the sound of feet crunching on gravel told her Justin was following her instructions. Hopefully that should be enough distance. “You always were one for witless prattle. Almost makes me miss your brother, at least he’s amusing.”

Lillith cocked her head, smiled viciously and then summoned her own sword. She charged at Charmian, who waited until the last moment to duck and roll beneath the blade’s swing. It was a classic move that she’d perfected to an art in her many years, and the successful execution of it was an instant confidence boost. Her muscles remembered their work. The impact as she hit the ground jarred a lot more than usual and she was clumsier springing to her feet, but overall it came off exactly like it was supposed to – anticipate your opponent’s move, adjust accordingly, execute. The gravel scraped at her bare arm and her shoulder would be bruised, but the important thing was that her head was still attached.

Lillith was quicker and already bringing down her sword as Charmian rose from the ground, but again she anticipated it and managed to block. Lillith rained down blows at speed, feint after lunge after stab, but by keeping a clearer head this time Charmian was able to concentrate on the signals which told her where the next one was coming from. It was difficult to find any opening to attack since Lillith was so much quicker and she was using all her strength to parry the blows, exerting herself more than the demon was, but at least she was successfully defending herself and distracting her from Justin. She wasn’t haphazardly hacking away and hoping to get lucky as she had before, as she had feared she would again. She was actually putting up some manner of a fight.

“Run!” She yelled. She couldn’t afford looking to see if Justin was doing it.

Justin was indeed doing it, sprinting for his life. A little voice in the back of his head felt shame for it but another voice was reminding him of the night on the porch, watching her cry because she wished he hadn’t sacrificed himself for her. She wanted him to listen to his self-preservation instinct instead of his urge to defend her, and he was going to do what she told him. He had to let her be the hero; she was far better practised at it.

He got to the door, but when his shaking hands pulled his keys out he promptly dropped them like some idiot in a horror movie. “Gotta be fucking kidding me…”

Mercifully Charmian had found her opening. It wasn’t skill that made Lillith fumble on her feet but a simple rolling of her ankle when she stepped on a rock. That didn’t matter – Charmian didn’t need to win through superior skill or strength, she just needed to win. She seized the opportunity; while her opponent was distracted by the fall she swung her sword at Lillith’s with all the power she could muster. It was knocked right out of her hand, skittering away out of reach. Lillith blocked the next blow with her arm, screaming as the sacred fire burned her flesh, but Charmian’s sword kept coming and was headed for her heart.

“Do it and he dies.”

It could only have been teleportation. Standing behind Lillith and directly in front of Charmian was Anton. Squirming in his grip was a clearly terrified Justin, struggling to breathe through Anton’s hold on his throat.

Had she still been immortal she could have blithely killed the defeated demon on the floor even as she charged him. She would have been fast enough and strong enough to pull it off before he had time to hurt Justin. That was no longer the case and clearly Anton knew it, so Charmian had little choice but to force down the cry building in her throat and lower her sword. She had to allow Lillith to scramble away even though she had been within an inch of victory. God, if only they had left earlier…

“You know…” Anton said cheerfully, “this is just swell. You’re human and out of my hair, I finally have Justin who even better turns out to be Michael, and I have the luxury of choosing whether I kill you now or just enjoy watching you suffer with the knowledge that you really, really lost this time. This may qualify as my best day ever.”

“How did you find out?” Her voice rang hollow and it made Anton’s grin even wider.

“That you’re human? Your ex minions are shockingly lacking in discretion; I thought you’d have trained them better. That he’s Michael? Well you nearly had me there, you sly little vixen you.” He shook his head at her with a supercilious wink. “It wasn’t until I found out that you’d run away with him and disappeared that it all started to make sense. Can’t think of anybody else you’d do that for. Did you know that our girl Charmian there’s got a bit of a thing for you?”

He was addressing Justin, who couldn’t respond because the grip on his throat was still too tight. His eyes were starting to bulge a little with the lack of air. It wasn’t enough to make him pass out but it was enough to keep him panicked.

“He knows what you are, you know.” It was another desperate gambit, playing for time, but it was all she had. “Be difficult to corrupt him now.”

“More than I’d planned but hey, I’m an enterprising guy. I got more tricks up my sleeve than that sweetheart. And heck, I could always just ask your pal Nathaniel.”

Her chest constricted. “What?”

“Oh yeah, that was the other fun thing I found out. Seems your old man there was getting very close to an antidote for the poison my good ol’ arch rival Mastema’s been trying out, the one nobody thought worked. Which immediately begged the question of why the fuck would anybody look for an antidote to poison that doesn’t work? So I picked Nathaniel up for a nice little chat. He is impressively stoic it has to be said. I thought guides were pretty much wimps but he’s held out longer than some of your avengers did. And… what is it you guys call him, Bob? Bob’s not one to hold back, so it’s pretty impressive.”

The worst thing she could do was show her dismay, so she went for sarcasm instead. “Ahh. The part where the villain lays out his entire plan because he can’t resist showing off.”

“Oh sweetie, we’ve been enemies such a long time now. Can’t you give me a little more credit? I haven’t even laid out five percent of my plan - just the parts that I know will torture you most. But as fun as that’s been, I think it’s time for us to depart. Justin’s got some people to meet.”

Why, why, why hadn’t she killed him decades ago? She’d had every opportunity. Her team had taken him in for questioning and then released him more times than she cared to count. Why had she underestimated him so? Why had she believed his clearly undeserved reputation for incompetence? She was about to lose the love of her life and her most trusted advisor was being tortured because of her foolish, foolish arrogance. It wasn’t the loss of her strength but her myopic dismissal of an opponent she knew to be cunning and resourceful that was about to lose her everything. How many times had she lectured everyone on avoiding exactly that mistake?

Lillith had recovered her swagger now she was standing safe with her brother. The pair of them stood there, glowing with their triumph, and once again she wanted to crumple to her knees. Being human seemed to consist of feeling like that a lot. What could she do? She’d held her own against one but two would have been too much even if Justin wasn’t in such direct danger – especially since the new arrival was a much better fighter. Now she couldn’t so much as raise her sword in case Anton made good on his threat. The only reason he hadn’t already made off with his quarry was his inability to resist gloating. What could she do? It was one thing to swallow the sense of doom to fight, but what did she do when she couldn’t fight?

She had to find another way and she had to do it before Anton disappeared with Justin. It was a problem to be solved. One tactic had failed, what else was left open to her? What did she normally do in situations where military force wouldn’t get it done?

If you couldn’t fight you negotiated. So what did she have to haggle with?

“Well you could do that, but I think you want to stay.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Anton tutted condescendingly at her.

“Not on my account.” She made a show of shrugging. “You were just always one for a good deal.”

“She’s got nothing.” Lillith sneered. “Despite the sword in her hand she’s definitely human and she’s got nothing to bargain with. Let’s go.”

“No, I’m in a charitable mood.” Anton batted his eyes. “I know she’s uselessly playing for time but gosh darn it, I’m intrigued enough to play along.”

“You want to get back in with the bosses, right? All those people you disappointed when I kicked your ass into touch?”

“Ohh, feisty!” He feigned fear, but Charmian was beyond caring if he mocked her. “Still you’re not wrong. Even I can admit you beat me fair and square.”

“Which is why you want him. Especially now you’ve worked out who he is. Ultimate coup, right?”

“Right.” More sarcastic shock and awe.

“Wrong.”

“Wrong? See now I really am intrigued.” He laughed. “So what’s the ultimate coup if not him? What could possibly be better than handing them your little poochiekins here, who’s proved so difficult a catch in all these years?” He squeezed at Justin’s throat again and Justin let out a strangled protest.

“Handing them the woman who’s spent the last couple of millennia ruining all their plans, kicking all their asses and pissing them off.”

Three sets of eyes widened simultaneously as they realised what she was suggesting. Anton was so shocked he having a hard time keeping up his belligerent exterior. If Justin could have talked he would have been screaming; even letting her die for him was better than this.

“Let me guess.” Anton tried to recover his composure. “I let him walk and you come along quietly?”

“No, you let him walk AND I get a binding agreement that you stay away from him from now on. Then I come along quietly.”

Justin couldn’t even shake his head, Anton had him so tightly. All he could do instead was widen his eyes at her and hope she saw the desperation there. He could not let her do that for him, he couldn’t. They had plans for him so clearly they wouldn’t hurt him. Nathaniel and the avengers who had been taken were immortal; they had divine healing and a higher threshold for pain. They couldn’t die no matter what atrocities they suffered, but she was human and if they broke her she would not mend.

Through narrowed eyes Anton studied Charmian. She was breathing heavily and though she was trying to remain impassive he could see the fear shining in her face. Although he knew her situation and that there could be no trick to this from her perspective, it still never hurt to consider every permutation.

“Alright,” he finally said. “It’d probably suit the bosses’ plan better to have him, but I doubt even they could resist seeing your lovely face. And either way I feel a promotion coming on so it’s all the same to me.”

“Fine. So you agree to my terms?”

“I agree to your terms. Shall we shake on it?”

Charmian snorted. “Do I look like I was born yesterday? Time to bleed, Anton.”

“Oh very well.”

Anton pushed Justin into Lillith, tossing him aside as if he was a rag doll and not six feet of grown man. If Justin had thought that was any respite he was wrong - Lillith promptly twisted his arm behind his back and clapped her hand over his mouth. At least it wasn’t his throat this time.

He held out his palm and an elaborate athamé appeared in it, the handle studded with gemstones. Making a deal with a demon would never have been an option open to her as an avenger – even trying would find you instantly stripped of your powers as it was a corruption of their purpose – but mortals were more than able. Few were aware that a blood oath from the demon was necessary to make it binding, much to their cost, but even somebody as untrustworthy as Anton was then beholden to it once made. Without that guarantee she’d never have considered it.

Anton drove the point of the dagger deep into his palm and dragged it across without so much as a flinch. Turning his hand, he allowed the blood to drip down to earth.

“I do solemnly promise to adhere to your terms as previously stated, Charmian. If you give yourself up, I agree that I will cease my pursuit of Justin Timberlake forevermore.”

“Okay then.”

Charmian hadn’t quite expected the wave of fear that hit her. She’d really done it. She had just delivered herself unto Hell so that they could torture her. The horror that awaited her was unthinkable.

Yet even as she looked sorrowfully at Justin, and the tears streaming down his face, she knew it was right. He was safe. He wasn’t going to die for her or because of her mistakes again. He was going to live and for that she could take it. She would have to.

She closed her eyes and willed her sword away. When it left her hands, she held them up in surrender.

“Let’s get this over with.”

Anton strolled over, glee positively radiating from him. He would have been a handsome man if the cruelty hadn’t been etched into all his features. He took up her wrists and shackles appeared on them.

“Well. This is going to be an exciting trip for the four of us.”

“What? Three of us, Anton!” She yelped in alarm. Her blood felt like syrup in her veins and her heart beat sluggishly. Time seemed to slow. “You can’t renege on a blood oath!”

“I can’t, no.” He shrugged.

“Which is why Justin’s coming with me!” Lillith smiled sweetly. “Won’t that be fun?”

This time Charmian really did drop to the floor, her knees buckling underneath her. Her eyes stared ahead of her, unseeing and unfocused as the fatal error sank in. She had done it again. Not two minutes after she had cursed herself for underestimating an opponent, she’d then done it again. She hadn’t been specific enough; she’d meant him to swear that the entire pit would stay away, not only him.  Of course he would exploit any loophole, and Lillith might have been a coward but she matched him well enough in intelligence and guile to cotton on to his ruse.

She had failed, even more so than she ever had before. She was his guardian and she had failed him. She had damned herself and she hadn’t even saved Justin.

“Well then, got a long journey so we best get going. Tally ho!”

Anton had been so engrossed in the dusty manuscript he’d been reading that he didn’t hear Lillith enter the room. He didn’t notice anything at all until a chair came whizzing past his head and hit the wall with a loud metallic clang.

“Watch it!” He spun in his chair and glared daggers at her. A smack on the head from that heavy chair really would’ve hurt. “What did I do to deserve that?”

“Nothing, my aim was just off.” Lillith was smouldering, muscles coiled and clearly ready for a fight. Her biceps and shoulders were tensed beneath her jacket and her fists were clenched tightly. She had a very feline air. “Been a long fucking day.”

“Well this is quite a turn around, you were full of the joys this morning,” he said. “What’s happened?”

“Nothing. Sweet fuck all.”

“So why you so pissed?”

“Because nothing’s happened.”

Anton sighed, leaning back and propping one leg over the other. His elbow was on the arm of the chair and wearily he rested his chin in his hand. He thoroughly disliked these temper tantrums of hers – thankfully they were infrequent. “I don’t follow.”

“I have thrown all manner of ingenious and pretty technically impressive magic at Timberlake and the little fucker is remaining stubbornly defiant.”

He had pulled in yet more favours in order to put Justin through some pretty elaborate day dreams, but since he had made his little promise to Charmian it was now Lillith who had to execute the plan. Yet no matter what was put to Justin nothing seemed to entice him to stray. It was hard to brain wash somebody who insisted on being an upstanding citizen even in their hallucinations. She found it inexplicable; the man had been in one of the world’s most toxic industries since puberty. How was it possible that somebody who’d had that much access to money, power and all the sex and drugs and rock n’ roll that went with it was seemingly so well behaved? They’d done their research - she knew the guy wasn’t squeaky clean by any means, far from it. Why was he proving so recalcitrant?

“Why the need for all of it?” She asked. “Why not just infect him and dispense with all this hassle?”

“Because the whole point is that he needs to stray of his own accord. Besides, infecting him that way would require him to be going about his usual business. Avengers would be waiting to cleanse him before he so much as broke a speed limit. No.”

“Okay, well…” She shrugged at him. “Don’t blame me when I get pissy then. Failure makes me crabby.”

Anton rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t see the big deal. Rome wasn’t built in a day, did you really expect him to instantly cave?”

“No, but I at least expected him to have been fucking tempted. I’ve thrown everything we got at him and thus far he’s just spat at me and called me names. Damn fucking Charmian must have trained him up or something.” She kicked at a trash can, sending that skittering across the room too. “If we had been able to follow your original plan this would have been fine but he’s resisting me too much.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake woman, will you shut your god damned cakehole? Boohoo, it’s not easy street for once! Poor baby, poor you, welcome to my fucking world! This has always been your problem; you go for the low hanging fruit because you got no shittin’ stayin’ power, so give you any actual work to do and you can’t deal. Well sorry I’m not able to do all the heavy lifting for you this time but tough shit, sis.”

It was unusual to see her brother so irritable. The reason he’d been such an effective and dangerous individual in the past was that he was more than capable of containing his anger. Instead he channelled it into much more subtle and strategic strikes. That set him apart from the many demons who were too busy enjoying themselves or letting their baser instincts rule them to step back and see the bigger picture. Anton in contrast was a consummate actor who had seemingly infinite patience. He knew when to lose a battle in order to win the war; that was why he always triumphed in the end. The tempest might be raging within but on the surface all was calm. It was disconcerting and sobering to see him this rankled after so short a time.

Then again, a lot was riding on his success here. After taking a strategic blow in order to save his skin he had spent years unwearyingly planning his resurgence and waiting for his opportunity. His opportunity was here and it had turned out to be bigger than either of them had suspected. Justin Timberlake had been enough of a potential score before he’d been discovered to be Michael. Now they had him and Charmian as a bonus prize. Screwing up at this stage was unthinkable and yet due to the oath he couldn’t even follow through himself, he had to stay hands off. She supposed she’d be crabby too.

Anton took a deep breath in and his usual visage returned. He spoke as if his previous fit hadn’t happened.

“I wouldn’t worry, sister dear.” He turned back to his desk and picked up the manuscript again. “It’s only been a few days, and we have an extra hurdle to jump since clearly she told him what’s up. It’s natural he’d resist harder in that knowledge. Keep going, you’ll find his weak spot eventually and that’s your in. They all have one.”

“You’re right.” Lillith breathed in deeply and tried to focus again. “Still, I could stand to let off some steam right now. Feel like going out tonight? Our dear friend Annabelle is out of rehab and celebrating with a huge party.”

“Why not?” Anton smiled. “As her favourite dealer it would be remiss of me to be a no show.”

**

Well, he supposed it could be worse.

Indeed, that was exactly what he was afraid of. That it could and would get worse.

Justin was remarkably unscathed, all things considered. He had no idea where he was, the walls were bare and there wasn’t a window to be seen. It had a slight industrial look to the place but that didn’t tell him much. Without any clocks or daylight there was no sense of time passing or how long it had been (damn it, why hadn’t he worn his watch?) but there was at least a mattress and a toilet cubicle. He could sleep and he didn’t have to soil himself, for what small relief that was.

What worried him was what Anton and Lillith planned to do with him. They had quickly separated him from Charmian. He couldn’t think too hard about what they might be doing to her or he’d probably have a breakdown, so instead he wondered what their scheme was. They hadn’t done anything physical to him and so long as they wanted him to come around to their side he guessed they probably wouldn’t except as a last resort. Still you never knew. So what was the end game?

What they had done to him that day was put him through a series of hallucinations. It had left him with a serious headache. As hard as he tried to remember that they weren’t real, they were so vivid that he frequently found himself falling into the rouse. How that worked he wasn’t sure but it was screwing with his mind. It had put every last nerve ending on edge and he could feel himself grinding his teeth. As far as he could gather the idea was to make him do something bad, though to what end he didn’t know. They’d tried tempting him with women and with success. They had tried putting his life and career on the line to see how desperate he’d get.

Thus far, with a colossal effort, he hadn’t caved. He was not confident in his ability to keep that up and entirely unsure of where his own personal line was. As much as he’d like to believe that he was a good person Justin knew that he couldn’t be incorruptible. He was a human being. He had his flaws and foibles like anybody else and it could only be a matter of time until they found the Achilles heel he didn’t have enough control over. All it would take would be for him to lose sight of reality and have a single weak moment.

His hands tapped restlessly against his sides, and his brain would not let him rest. Impotent rage was building but pacing the room was about the only thing he could do. At least it helped use up the anxious energy building in his muscles.

Constantly running through his mind were the faces of all the people he cared about. People he’d be letting down and even possibly endangering if he surrendered. He saw his mother’s curly hair in his mind’s eye, and guiltily imagined how afraid she must be thinking that he’d had a terrorist threat against him. Trace would have told her the story he’d spun. Trace was also there, as were Rachel and his other friends. He had hoped to be able to call Trace again but had got too distracted to ask Charmian about it. More than anything he wished he was back sitting around a table with his friends, sharing some beers and some laughs.

Even though she’d never met them, in his little fantasy Charmian was there too. If he felt guilty about his mother he felt positively traitorous about Charmian. There were a lot of thoughts going through his head about what he should have done to prevent her capture, some contradictory. He shouldn’t have run. He should have run faster. He shouldn’t have dropped the keys. He should have fought back and broken free of Anton. The scene played in his head over and over again and at every moment of it he saw some juncture where he could have done something differently, a squandered opportunity.

A little voice in the back of Justin’s head told him he was being unfair on himself but he didn’t listen to it. Miserably the prior few nights replayed themselves on repeat, each memory making him feel worse than the last. It seemed ridiculously late in the day to realise that his feelings for her had changed considerably in that time and he was kicking himself for it all. He felt dumb for not having treated her better when he found out she was an avenger.  He felt dumber for worrying about the whole fate issue when he could have been communicating with her. Being so casual the morning after they’d slept together seemed like a hopeless waste and he felt like an irredeemable cretin for allowing her to bargain herself away on his behalf. She would be suffering God only knew what on his behalf. Resisting Lillith’s tricks was the least of what he owed her yet he wasn’t even sure he could.

All in all his current opinion of himself was pretty low. That really wasn’t going to help with the whole ‘resisting the dark side’ task.

**

“Ahh!”

Pain shot through her hip as she landed unceremoniously on the concrete floor. The impact sent shock waves through her and knocked the air from her lungs. It also made her accidentally bite her tongue, so even as she was gasping for air the sour taste of copper filled her mouth. She had to spit blood.

Her captors slammed the door behind her without so much as a word, and the sound of the lock rang out in the darkness. Charmian had no idea whether or not they were actually in Hell but it certainly felt like it. Once her eyes adjusted to the lack of light she could make out a few bare shapes though not much more. The scene was industrial, like something out of the Freddy Krueger film Justin had forced her to watch back at the cabin during his 80s’ classics tutorial. It was grimy, rusty, and the pipes everywhere made constant whirring and grinding noises which rendered sleep next to impossible even with her exhaustion.

Of course it didn’t help that she was in considerable amounts of pain. She supposed she had to be grateful that no serious torture had begun, but being repeatedly pounded on was more than enough. Her torso was like a tenderised slab of meat, and though she’d seen no mirrors she imagined her face had to be black and blue. How her nose remained unbroken was a mystery but her lip was well and truly split.

The demons loved it. Anton clearly didn’t trust the news of her capture to many people but he’d invited a select few of his more reliable allies to come and take a swing at her. They’d all delighted in telling her how eager Bob was to see her, and assuring her that Justin was being corrupted even as they spoke.

“Hello?” A weak voice sounded in the darkness. It was all too familiar. “Who’s there?”

“Nate?” She managed to cough out.

“Charmian? Please no…”

“Sorry old man.” With a lot of pain and difficulty she managed to crawl the short distance over to the wall so that she could sit up against it. She had a vague idea of where Nate’s voice was coming from but she’d never make it over to him in this state. “But it’s me. I really fucked up this time.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m their new punching bag. You?”

“Bob decided he wanted to let me heal before commencing the next round. Apparently guides don’t regenerate as fast as avengers.”

“I’m sorry, I had no idea.” Her tongue was now throbbing and speaking was not comfortable. “I’d noticed you weren’t around but never thought you might have been taken. I would have told Alex to come find you.”

“Alexander?”

“He was helping me,” she explained. “Keeping me informed and helping me hide. I temporarily skipped out of town with Justin and we were doing well, but apparently at some point between us leaving and trying to come back Anton started near constant locator spells. We weren’t even out of range of the symbols for five minutes while we packed the car and they managed to find us. I tried to bargain with Anton, give myself up in exchange for Justin’s safety, but I screwed up and he took us both. What about you, what happened?”

“I was sloppy. I was very close to an antidote but needed some more of the poison for the testing - managed to obtain it but must have been noticed. It was enough to make Anton question what I was doing and he had me snatched. Bob has been trying to make me talk.”

That she knew – she had been agonising over what Anton had said about it. Nathaniel was one more person getting hurt because of her incompetence. The mention of it suddenly reminded her of another jibe that he’d added in, one that was confusing now she thought about it.

“I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me before…” Forming certain words was hard on her split lip, tugged at the cut. “But why would it take finding out about you to make them realise the poison works? They have avengers down here, ones Bob managed to snatch. Why not test it on them first?”

“Bob delighted in telling me.” Nathaniel’s voice sounded very heavy. “Apparently none of them were strong enough to withstand it.”

“What do you mean? It’s not like they could die.”

“No, but they could fall.”

It was like she could feel the blood drain away from her face, gravity pulling it down to pool around her heart and constrict it in her chest. Of course she’d known that was a possibility, but she’d believed in her soldiers. Maybe she’d envisaged a few giving way, but never had she imagined that every last individual would fall. Surely at least one of them would have stayed resolute? “They were corrupted? All of them?”

“Some took longer than others to accept the offer but eventually yes, they all bargained themselves away to end the torture. At least that’s what Bob told me - he is a demon so he could always be lying, I suppose, but I’m afraid I believe him.”

So that was what Anton had meant when he said that Nathaniel was holding out longer than some of her avengers. Oh God – was that the fate that awaited them both? She’d be tortured until she either died or agreed to sell her soul, Nate until he fell? What about Justin? She had no idea what they might be doing to him to bring him around to their way of thinking.

“Don’t worry Charmian. I’ve told them nothing.”

“You wouldn’t.” Despite herself, a small smile came to her lips. It stung but she let it remain. “If you could die before giving it up you would. I know that.”

“Still, I’m sure if they haven’t found a new opportunity to test the poison again they’ll be on the hunt to do so. I fear for the rest of the team.”

“What about the cure? How close were you?”

She couldn’t see him in the darkness but Nathaniel was smiling too. It was like she couldn’t help herself. She’d been captured, from the noises she’d been making was clearly in agony, and yet still she was collating information and arming herself with knowledge of the situation. He doubted she even realised what she was doing - it was ingrained behaviour. She was a leader to the last, though it probably wasn’t going to avail her much at this stage. Yet they did say knowledge was power…

“I’m almost certain I had it. The poison was well disguised as an ordinary chemical but turned out to be mystical – which means the right protective rune should render it useless, but I needed more to test it. I’d planned to ask Zac to be my guinea pig.”

“He’d have done it too.” A wistful expression passed over her face. “Kid’s scared of nothing.”

“He learned from the best. You taught him well.”

“You fucking kidding me?” Tears sprang to her eyes. “He can’t have got that from me , I’ve never been more scared in my life. I’ve lost Justin, Nate. To worse than death this time. I have a pretty good idea what they’re going to do to me and I’m not immortal any more, I’m not going to heal like you are. And all because for the ninth time in a row I got so distracted by loving him that I underestimated my opponents. You’d think I’d damn well learn.”

There was a long pause as Nathaniel wondered what to say. All those years of taking confession should have made it easy to hand out comforting platitudes, but he’d known Charmian too long for that.

“You were chosen for a reason, Charmian,” he finally said. “You and that love you’re convinced is your downfall. We serve the light and in the darkness, we have to remember that we are the light. Trust in that.”

“Given that my light’s pretty dim right now that is not comforting. Still, it could be worse. You were taking so long to drum up a response there that I thought you were preparing a Bible story.”

Nathaniel wished she wouldn’t make him laugh. He had too many healing cuts around his rib cage.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!”

The noise startled Nathaniel. He and Charmian had chatted for a while until her exhaustion finally triumphed over the irritating background noise, and he’d grown used to the relative quiet again. He couldn’t be sure how long she’d been asleep but it had felt like several hours. Clearly at some stage she had awoken but she hadn’t said a word, so the expletives came as a bit of a shock.

“Charmian?”

“No shit, it’s not going to be Greta Garbo is it?”

Nate pointedly ignored her tone. She was clearly frustrated, it was best to let it slide. “What is it?”

“Ahh.” It was strange talking to somebody she couldn’t see, but she was going to have to adjust. “I’ve been trying to call my sword and it’s not happening.”

“I imagine it was some kind of implied condition of your surrender,” he replied after a moment’s consideration. “You agreed to give yourself up and come without resistance, so the pact is likely preventing you from calling the weapon to use against them. It’s also possible that by even making a demonic pact you nullified your guardian status, but since the agreement was precisely to protect your charge my best guess would be the former.”

“Well that’s just great.” Charmian really wished she could see what was around her. She had a strong desire to kick something, or throw something, or otherwise channel her irritation into the destruction of property. “How is it that demons always manage to have some loophole around shit because it wasn’t spelled out in fifty story high letters and yet somehow on our side every base is impliedly covered? How is that fair? And no I do not expect you to answer that.”

“You’d only bite my head off if I did.”

“Are you really going to get on my case for being cranky right now? Really?”

“No. I’m simply pondering our situation and wishing they’d considered the idea that maybe guides might need to be armed once in a while.”

“Reading about weapons isn’t the same as pointing them, my friend.” She went to brush a hair out of her face and grimaced when she realised that it had dried into one of her healing cuts. Tugging it free from the scab stung. “Leave it to the experts.”

“Why do you assume I’ve never pointed a weapon?”

Charmian was about to make a slightly inappropriate pun, but before she could open her mouth to speak the door had swung open on its creaking hinges. Light flooded into the room and her eyes instinctively squeezed shut, dazzled by it.

As they acclimatised she was able to open them a sliver and finally set eyes on Nate. There wasn’t much of him in view since he was blocked by a number of pipes and machines, but she could look at him now. Immediately she wished she hadn’t since even in his partially recovered state he was a mess of scratches and blood. If he looked like that with his healing powers then she didn’t dare examine herself. Besides, she didn’t really need to. Her body was telling her well enough what it looked like via all the aches and pains.

“Having fun, love?”

“Oh Lord.” Her eyes weren’t open enough yet to roll. “If you’ve come to gloat then please just take me back to the damn torture room.”

“You know, I have always admired that bravado of yours.” Anton crouched down in front of her and tweaked her chin in mock affection. “But never more so than now. Some people would call you stupid or suicidal, trying to talk that kind of smack in your situation, but I just think you got some balls. I respect that.”

“Respect doesn’t extend to a mattress and a working toilet?”

Nathaniel and his immortal eyes weren’t as blinded by the light, so he was able to watch this exchange properly. He wasn’t sure if Anton had paid any notice to him – or heck, even realised he was there. Instinct told him to keep quiet, avoid drawing attention to himself. Charmian was still blinking furiously and clearly not able to focus yet. He could only be grateful for the lack of reflective surfaces nearby because he doubted that in all her long years she had ever seen herself looking as she did; the last thing she needed was to be thrown off by that. If she turned up at a hospital they’d probably think she had been flung through a window or in an extreme fight club.

Anton was looking relaxed, and he wasn’t sure whether that was to be expected or if it was cause for alarm. Though he was generally a pretty cool customer with a good poker face you might have expected him to be a little more stressed, given his enforced removal from Justin’s capture. Did his demeanour mean that things were progressing well on that front?

“Sweetheart I’m hurt. Really, I am. All these years and you doubt my regard for you?” He stood up and dusted his hands off on his jeans. “Never mind, I’ll prove it to you. As a sign of my esteem I’m going to take you to see your little pookie bear.”

It probably wasn’t possible any more for her skin to pale through the bruising and inflammation. If it had been then it surely would have in that second. There was no way he had a magnanimous motive for that – if that was indeed what he was going to do. Putting her in a room with Justin was not something he’d do out of the goodness of his non-existent heart; whatever he was doing it was to hurt one or both of them.

“And suddenly she’s got nothin’ to say. This is the thanks I get…”

Anton grabbed her arm and roughly hauled her to her feet. It was agony on her shoulder, which was still sore from the fight with Lillith. She refused to give him the satisfaction of crying out, but the effort cost her; the inside of her cheek was added to the list of places which were bleeding. Resistance was futile but at least meant he had to expend more effort dragging her out of the door.

Instinct had served Nate well, because what he didn’t do was bolt it behind him.

**

Justin longed for the days when ‘I’m going crazy’ was only a turn of phrase and not a literal possibility.

He was never going to abuse those words again. The previous occasions seemed like the work of such a drama queen, one who didn’t know how good he had it. The label was being difficult? It didn’t matter. Some girl was being a pain in his ass? Big deal. Going crazy was something different. It was the paranoia setting in. It was the jumping at every noise, the twitching of your muscles and the inability to even trust your own senses any more. It was the dread of watching it happen, being aware of your sanity’s demise and not knowing how to halt it.

Lillith had tied him to a chair and left him alone in the room without as much as a word. He had no idea why he was there. The lack of windows meant he still had no concept of how much time had passed, and that in itself was adding to the warping of reality. He was desperate for a shower – his clothes felt disgusting and he was a little bit worried that he must be stinking by that point.

When finally the door opened it wasn’t Lillith who walked through it.

“Good morning starshine!”

“Thought you weren’t allowed near me any more.”

“I’m not allowed to hurt you, kidnap you or otherwise attempt to corrupt you. Nobody ever said that I couldn’t hang.” Anton shrugged. “And how are we hanging, sunshine?”

“Stop calling me things that end in shine.”

“Sure thing, sport.”

Seemingly the plan was to irritate him to death. “What do you want?”

“Hey, being crabby won’t get you out of those cuffs.”

“You were planning to un-cuff me?” Justin was sceptical.

“Nope.” Anton looked back at him impassively. “Just an observation.”

“I say again, what do you want?”

“Man, I really don’t know what I did to deserve all these ungrateful little shits today.” Anton scratched at the back of his head before shaking it in faux dismay. “Here I am bringing your girlfriend to visit and you’re almost as bitchy as she is about it. See if I do anything for you two any more.”

“My girlfriend?” Justin could only hope he meant Charmian and not any other woman he’d ever been entangled with. It wasn’t that he particularly wanted Anton anywhere near her, but if it was anybody else that meant yet another poor soul had been kidnapped.

“Oh, my bad, were you two not there yet? Awwwwwwwkwaaaaaard.”

Anton turned on his heel and left the room, certain that if Justin’s hands weren’t in restraints there would have been a middle finger pointing at his back. Waiting for him in the corridor was Lillith, fingers clamped tightly around Charmian’s arm. The two were glaring daggers at each other – Lillith had always had a bit of a grudge against Charmian, mainly because she knew how far beneath her the ex-avenger had always considered her to be. Anton had little sympathy there. Warriors respected warriors, or at least bravery, and Lillith had always been too much of a wimp on that score. He tended to side with the white hat on that one.

“All yours, sis. And don’t worry, darlin’…” He leered towards Charmian, whose vengeful gaze redirected to him. “I just delivered you for this meeting, one little favour to my girl here. Only popped in to say hi to him so I’m not breaking our little deal. My word to you is my bond.”

If she hadn’t been gagged she would have been muttering yet more dark comments about loopholes and double standards. As it was she could only narrow her eyes and glower at his departing back. She did have a most excellent murderous glare.

“So…”

Lillith shoved Charmian forcefully through the door and it was as much as she could do to keep upright. If she’d had use of her hands she might have been tempted to try and take her on, use the element of surprise and hope that was enough to bust free, but she was both bound and gagged. As much as she appreciated a well placed kick she needed more than her feet. What her immortal self could do with her hands literally tied behind her back required the use of more limbs in human form.

“Isn’t this nice? Love’s young dream reunited.” Lillith smiled. “Or… well, not so young. You got some crow’s feet, honey, but when there are mummies in museums younger than you that’s probably to be expected. You lil’ cougar you.”

The insult went straight over Charmian’s head (which was probably a good thing since bindings be damned she would probably have head-butted her anyway). She was too busy trying not to visibly cringe. Justin looked unscathed, thankfully, but the expression on his face was enough to tell her that she couldn’t be looking too hot. There was dismay in his eyes and the purse of his lips. The best thing for him right now was if she tried to look as unperturbed as possible. If she could refrain from expressing any physical pain that would probably help too. They couldn’t afford to have him panic.

“So, toy boy…” Lillith forced Charmian into a chair and shut the door behind them. “I thought you might like to know what your girl here’s been up to while we’ve been having fun.”

The shake in Charmian’s head was tiny, almost imperceptible. Justin was staring so intently at her he caught it, and took it as a sign that he shouldn’t respond. Her face was otherwise an unreadable mask and he wished she’d let it slip, because he was desperate to know what she was thinking. She was meeting his stare but the brown eyes were giving nothing away. Her soldier persona had come back on and she was unreachable again.

In some ways he supposed that was good, even admirable. For all the emotional upheaval she’d gone through and her struggle to acclimatise to humanity, now when the serious doo-doo had descended she had risen to the occasion and was keeping it together.  Just like he had predicted, when it counted she was still able to reach into herself for the strength to handle things. Hopefully that was making it easier on her. Objectively it was pretty impressive, but on a more selfish level it was frustrating because he really wanted to know how what was going on. He didn’t trust the demon to give him an accurate picture.

His lack of response didn’t perturb Lillith.

“Well, she’s been a busy girl. She’s got lots of old friends down here and they’ve been having a gay old time catching up. We still have this whole bunch of people just waiting to say hi.”

Justin took that to mean that they’d all been taking turns whaling on her because she no longer had the physicality to fight back. He imagined she was trying to make him angry but the overwhelming feeling was disdain. These guys were all powerful hell spawn and yet they waited until she was weak? They couldn’t take her on as an equal so they went to town now she was an easy target? It was pathetic. For all their magic and strength and diabolical plans, they didn’t seem much better than a set of third grade bullies.

Then again, what else did he expect from them – a sense of honour or fair play?

“But hey, you’re not interested in that. You want to know why you’re here so let’s skip the chit chat and the niceties, get to the point.” She rested her hand on the back of his chair and leaned in, one ankle crossing the other. “You’re here because you can make it stop.”

Well now he was getting a reaction. It was only a widening of the eyes, but Charmian looked a little bit alarmed.

“You know what I worked out, from all this fun we’ve been having? You are impressively if somewhat annoyingly righteous, but you’re not too happy when people suffer on your account. I can’t exactly blame you for that, what with all the pesky feelings of guilt and being indebted. Thank fuck I don’t have to worry about those.”

The particularly irksome thing about her words was that she wasn’t wrong. It would have been easier if she’d been lying but every bit was true.

“So I figure it must really be burning you up that she sacrificed herself for you. Especially since you’ve totally got the hots for her and no matter how you men insist you’re twenty first century guys you still don’t like it when the little woman saves your hide. Well, now you can see what that little deal has cost her. This is nothing, bub. They’ve barely got started on her. She’s been the bane of their lives for several centuries and they will be taking payment for that.”

Justin was trying to breathe deeply, not react. His cheek muscles twitched, wanting to rearrange his expression into something more suitable to his anger and fear, but he fought against it.

“And all this, every last cut and bruise, every drop of blood she’s shed in the last couple of days, it was all so that you could stay sitting here and looking pretty. She is taking this to save you, and the really cruel part is that it’s pointless because we’re not letting you go until you’ve seen things our way. She can’t save you.”

Breathe in, breathe out – that was the mantra going through his head.

“Still, that’s no reason that both of you should have to keep suffering and I’m a reasonable woman, so here’s the deal. I know you’d like to repay the favour so my offer to you is that if you co-operate, I will make sure she stays off the torture table. You’ve seen Anton make an oath, so you know it’s binding and I’ll have to deliver. You submit yourself to me and her physical safety is guaranteed.”

Justin chewed that over in his head for a moment. If there was one thing he’d learned in this dank dark hole it was that physical safety didn’t stop them driving you insane, so her specificity seemed cause for concern. Then again, the battered visage before him was definitely making physical safety seem extremely crucial.

“Doesn’t seem like there’s much in it for me,” he said slowly. It was stalling for time more than anything, trying to give him extra seconds to think. “I still wind up selling my soul to you.”

“Like I said, boo…” She ran a hand through his hair and he jerked his head violently away from her touch. “That is going to happen. We’ve got forever and while I don’t doubt you’ll give it the old college try, nobody can hold out that long. The only question is how long we drag it out, and it’ll be easier on you as much as her if you make the deal and agree now. Well, maybe not quite as much as her - they really do have some creative shit planned.”

Charmian was still steadily gazing at him, brown eyes set and barely blinking. Justin couldn’t quite meet them though because Lillith had finally managed to come up with an offer that was actually enticing (and she hadn’t even needed the elaborate hallucinations to do it). The temptation to give in and get it over with was strong enough anyway, but she had just hit every button he had. All the guilt he felt about what Charmian had done for him and all his wishes that he could go back and do something differently to save her, the frustration over his helplessness and desire to take back control, it was all bubbling up under his skin.

Her dark hair was lank, greasy and matted. She was filthy. As hard as she tried to sit tall there was a slump to her body which told him what pain she was in. If that hadn’t then the mass of angry red cuts and blue-black bruises would have delivered the same message. It wasn’t possible for her appearance to be any further removed from the ethereal goddess who had electrified him at first touch, so regal and radiating elegant strength. He couldn’t stand the idea that she was suffering because of him and did it really make a difference if he capitulated now or later, except that now he could force them not to hurt her?

Not that he trusted them after seeing Anton’s little stunt. He’d have to be very careful about what terms he made them agree to.

“You’d have to let her go.”

Charmian wasn’t being so subtle now. She was shaking her head with much more force.

“Sorry sugar but that’s not on the table. The bosses would never condone us letting her go, but keeping the prisoner healthy and her bones unbroken I can swing.”

Justin closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He forced the cacophony of voices in his head down to a dull roar and concentrated on his gut. You could call it praying or you could call it merely contemplation, but he was looking for the tug in his stomach that told him the right thing to do.

“She took all that for me.” Slowly he opened his eyes and twisted his head to look up at his captor. “Every bad thing that’s happened to her lately has happened because she was trying to protect me. She gave herself up to Anton for me even knowing what those bastards would do to her.”

“Exactly.” She feigned sympathy, looking softly at him and trying to appear capable of emotionally understanding such a notion. “Don’t you want to help her?”

“Of course I want to help her,” he said with a heavy voice. He really didn’t want to do this and it ran counter to every behavioural instinct he had screaming in his head - yet there was that tug.

Lillith smiled beatifically. “Of course.”

“But allying myself with your skank ass after she took all that heat to stop you seems like a real fuckin’ shitty way to repay her. I’ll pass.”

The speed at which her face twisted into an enraged snarl was frightening, as was the speed with which she flew to Charmian’s side. She viciously grabbed her by the hair and dragged her up out of her seat before swiftly leaving the room.

It didn’t matter. Despite Lillith’s manhandling the grin had been visible in Charmian’s eyes (even if her lips were too full of the gag to form it). Justin was going to hold onto that. He had done what she wanted. And if what Charmian wanted was for him to resist regardless of her own safety, if that would make her happy, then he was going to honour her by resisting until it killed him.

Which it very possibly might after that little stunt.

**

Alexander sank back into the plush leather armchair and rubbed his hand wearily over his eyes.

“How’d it go?” Lucas didn’t even look up from the sword he was polishing. It didn’t need it, but he found that cleaning his weapons helped him think.

“I think I’ve stomped Nikolai back down for now. He’s still not happy but he should stop agitating for a little while, at least. Any word from Carmel?”

“She said your team has been a dream, she was expecting some resistance but they’ve just got to it without asking questions. Bad news is that they’ve found squat. No trace of Charmian or Nate.”

“The longer this goes on the more I worry.” Alex stared off into space, at some unfixed spot on the floor. “It would be bad enough if it was one of them, but both? This cannot be good.”

“It definitely can’t be.”

Lucas took a deep breath and prepared to deliver the news. They had been withholding it for a while, still wary of Alex’s motives, but he’d earned some trust at this stage. He’d come to the decision earlier and after a quick mental conference with Carmel and Zac they’d agreed.  The guy had been like a machine, organising the entire swathe of avengers and backing Lucas against any challengers. His influence was significant enough to stop a lot of them in their tracks on principle alone, but it had also come to a few fights. They had quashed them down easily enough. They weren’t out of the woods yet but people were starting to accept the fact that Lucas was going to be the new Charmian whether they liked it or not. That really wouldn’t be the case if not for Alex’s astute grasp of the internal politics and the way his skills helped fill the hole she’d left in their team’s collective qualities and strengths. She couldn’t be replaced but he’d made their lives easier and that was worthy of some respect.

“There’s something we haven’t told you about Charmian.”

“Really?” Alex looked back up and leaned forward. Once or twice he had wondered if he was being told everything but given how fragile their alliance had still been he didn’t push. “What?”

“The fact that we can’t find her is enough cause for concern in itself, but it becomes a little more alarming when you consider who she’s with.”

“Michael? What about him?”

“Michael in this lifetime has a new alter ego; it was part of the attempt to shield him from us after his last death. It’s a pretty famous alter ego and before they disappeared it was easy enough to track him by keeping an eye on the paparazzi sites. The fact that he’s also gone off the grid this long without so much as a word makes me strongly suspect that something has gone wrong and they’ve either got stuck somewhere or been captured.”

“Really?” Alex’s eyebrows shot up. He supposed it made sense – they all knew Michael had brushes with fame in his previous lives and that Anton worked the Hollywood scene these days. Now he considered it, there was an obvious logic in how Anton would have come to target him even without knowing who he was. He should have worked that out himself. “Who?”

Lucas breathed in sharply and then wearily exhaled the name. “Justin Timberlake.”

“Holy fucking shit. I was thinking you were going to give me C, maybe B list, but Timberlake? You’re right, that is bad. He doesn’t stay out of the gossip rags long.”

“I know. I’m wondering if they’re being blocked somehow bec…”

Lucas never got to finish his sentence. The conversation was abruptly interrupted by a body suddenly materialising in front of them and collapsing onto the coffee table. The legs couldn’t cope with the weight and immediately buckled, slamming the new arrival to the floor. He and Alex bolted up out of their chairs simultaneously.

“Nate? Holy shit…”

They both rushed to help him up and even as they did Lucas was sending a mental call to Zac. Nathaniel was coughing, obviously winded by the fall. A number of partially healed wounds were visible on his arms.

“What the fucking hell happened to you?” Alex asked.

“Demons. They’re in a warehouse over in the industrial district downtown. The place is warded so I couldn’t teleport out, I only escaped because they left my cell door unlocked and I managed to get outside undetected. They have Charmian and they’ve beaten her to hell.”

Lucas guided him into his vacated chair as Zac came running through the door, glass of water in one hand and a first aid kit in the other. “Tell us everything from the beginning.”

Alex nodded. “Don’t skimp on the details.”

It was infinitely worse without Nathaniel.

On arriving back at the room and realising the door was open, Charmian had momentarily panicked that they had taken him back to Bob. Then she had cast her mind back and realised that she didn’t remember Anton shutting the door behind him. That had been the biggest lift to her spirits in a long while but it did mean that she no longer had any company. All she had to while away the indeterminable minutes she was stuck in that dark room were her own thoughts and the dull ache in her bones.

Providing that Nate had managed to get away quietly, it was very possible help was on the way. She refused to let herself cling to that thought too hard, however, as there was always the possibility that he’d been caught since. The down side to that was it left her with nothing else to do except brood about what Lillith’s next move would be – or should she say Anton’s. She had no doubt that he would still be pulling the strings, working some loophole to make sure it was still his plan being executed and that he would still take credit. Lillith was plenty devious and intelligent but Anton was the truly diabolical one. She would die before admitting it, but as far as demonic plotting went he’d proved himself pretty much a genius. A veritable Moriarty - she was going to curse herself for the rest of her shortened life span for underestimating him. She had no doubt that Anton would have been doing much better than Lillith with turning Justin.

Well, at least that was the one uplifting thing she could focus on. Every time she pictured Justin calling her a skank she couldn’t help but smile, even if her lip was still sore. Her scalp was too now; Lillith had nearly yanked half her hair out.

The door clanked open again, and once again she found her eyes painfully flooded by light.

“So, I’m going to have to retract my previous comment about admiring your balls. Turns out you really are just stupid.”

That was strange. Anton sounded… annoyed? From his tone you’d think he was chastising her for borrowing his stuff without asking. What could she have possibly done to inspire this while sitting in the dark by herself?

“Well hello to you too, sunshine. What got your panties in a bunch?”

“Oh you can save the witty repartee darlin’ you got bigger things to concentrate on now.”

He stalked over to her and yanked her up by the arm again. Her poor shoulder socket was being put through it today. Without ceremony he started dragging her towards the door. She tried not to unduly panic, but this was very unlike him. He was brusque and moody where normally he was devilishly sarcastic and irritatingly smug.

“What, like the Chinese burn you’re currently giving me?”

“Yeah yeah, you just keep being a smart ass, because that’s served you real well so far.” Anton scowled as he marched her along the corridor. “I really hope antagonising her was worth it, Charmian, because you can’t cash the cheque you wrote there.”

“What? What are you yammering about?”

“I’m yammering about you pissing her off. Not only has she not stopped whining to me about it all day, her desire to punish you has given her a great new idea for how to turn your boy. She’s skiing completely off-piste, ruining my fucking plans, and since I made the pinky swear to you to stay hands off the Timberlake project I can’t rein her back in. So nice job, sweetheart, you just fucked shit up for all of us.”

Charmian didn’t understand. Yes, she’d taken the opportunity to rile her a little bit. It was pretty much the only defence she’d had to the way she was being used as a punching bag for her frustrations at the time. The blows hadn’t really registered however; she was still too buoyant from Justin’s insolence. She’d also got one solid knee into Lillith’s gut which had knocked the wind out of her in a very satisfying way.

“What idea?”

“She’s decided she was on the right track but just didn’t push hard enough. Which, to be fair, I’d have made the same assessment.”

She wasn’t walking fast enough for him so he shoved her forward, making her stumble.

“So since you are apparently inspiring him to rebellion, she’s decided she’s going to have you killed and give him a front row seat. Make him either so desperate to save you he gives it up or make him so despondent that he does.”

Her throat constricted and breathing became a struggle.

“Honestly, Charmian, I may hate your guts but I respected you because I thought you had actual brain cells. You know she’s a touchy little idiot, you know that you’re all human and fragile and can barely stand as it is. Why mouth off at her when she’s got all the power? “

Charmian initially thought he wanted an answer to that. She was struggling for one, but as it turned out Anton didn’t really want one. He was ranting more to himself than to her.

“You have completely fucked up everything.  Centuries of work, ruined because you pissed the silly whore off. You’re much too valuable to be killing right now and Justin needed handling with way more finesse than this, at this rate she’s just going to turn him into some brutalised lunk which is no fucking good to me at all. And all because you’re a silly bitch who can’t resist a wise crack.”

Her entire body felt numb. Her legs were clomping along unconvincingly, like they might give out at any moment. For all the times she had faced extreme danger, for all the times she’d gone to battle a foe and known she might not make it home… she’d never been afraid like this. Not even of Bob’s torture table. Even after she’d been stripped of her immortality when she had run into those fights with demons, that didn’t feel like this did.

Anton was taking her to her execution.

She didn’t even have the slim chance she’d had before. She had no weapon and her body was battered. He would take her into that room and they would slaughter her. Justin was going to watch her die. She was going to die. Thousands of years of life ought to have been some kind of preparation for death but she wasn’t ready. She was going to die and she couldn’t even go down fighting.

“That’s it?” She choked out. “Just like that, she’s just going to kill me?”

“Oh no,” Anton spat out darkly. “That’d be too straightforward. She’s got something much more dramatic lined up.”

They had reached a set of double doors, which Anton unceremoniously kicked open. A wave of noise hit her and she was too bewildered and disorientated to really take in the scene. Anton shoved her through the doors and it only got louder as he did. Miraculously she managed to stay on her feet. Squeezing her eyes shut, she stood back up and took a few deep breaths to steel herself. It was just a moment, but she needed that moment to swallow down her terror and centre herself. She needed her wits about her.  When she could put it off no longer she opened her eyes and took in the view.

Immediately she wished she hadn’t, because she was about to be violently sick.

Anton shook his head, glaring at the scene. “Welcome to Thunderdome.”

**

“We locked and loaded?”

Lucas surveyed the three grim faces in front of him. Zac was visibly enraged; you could almost imagine little puffs of steam curling up from his skin. Carmel was quieter but her jaw was set in a manner which made him almost pity any demons getting in her way – almost but not quite. Her brown eyes had turned black and she looked lethal. Alexander wore his usual sneer but there was a straightness in his stance that said he was looking for a fight as much as the rest of them.

“Ready to rumble,” Alex replied.

Carmel’s lips pursed. “But are we sure we don’t want more back up?”

“No,” Lucas shook his head. “Trust me, if we turn up with a horde Anton will haul Charmian and Justin right out of there at the first sign of trouble. This needs stealth.”

“Coward,” Zac sneered.

“No, he’s just smart. Which is why we need to be smarter – we go in soft, fast and quiet. This is a recovery mission not a smack down; we need to draw as little attention as possible. If you don’t need to pick a fight then don’t. We clear?”

“Clear,” came the grumbled response. Zac was itching for a good brawl but he knew Lucas was right, even one scuffle risked being heard by others and the alarm being raised. They needed to be low key.

“Fast and quiet. Move out.”

**

It wasn’t as if he’d never seen people fight before. He’d been to boxing matches, he’d been to wrestling matches; he must have seen every sport going that involved people knocking the stuffing out of each other. He’d been even participated in a few stunt fights himself. This was different. Somebody he cared about was standing in the middle of a ring, being yelled down by jeering assholes, and she was about to fight to the death. There wasn’t some shiny trophy or big gaudy belt at stake. The prize was her very life. Justin had no idea how Charmian could possibly win, but then he guessed she wasn’t supposed to.

The worst thing was that she looked like she knew it. For all the mood swings and the ups and downs she’d had when she became human, when it counted she had been able to shift right back into warrior mode. She hadn’t looked defeated; she’d simply looked like she had a job to do. If Anton hadn’t shown up when he had then she actually would have won that last fight. Now there was trepidation written all over her face and he could see that she was waiting for the killing blow.

The only reason that he wasn’t a hysterical sobbing mess was refusal to give Lillith the satisfaction. She was taking far too much pleasure in the whole thing, and he knew that all of this was for his benefit. It only made it more painful. He had wondered how she would make him pay for his earlier defiance, and to give her due credit she’d come up with a fairly spectacular answer.

“Not too late to back out of this, you know.”

“Oh lighten up, brother dear. I’d have thought this was right up your alley.”

“I enjoy a little petty vengeance as much as the next guy but this is short sighted.”

Lillith turned on her heel and marched towards the centre of the ring, completely ignoring Anton. He folded him arms across his chest and shook his head before turning to Justin.

“Honestly. Nobody has any appreciation for the long game any more,” he said in a conspiratorial tone.

“Then why don’t you just stop her?” Justin asked irritably. “I thought you were supposed to be a big deal or something.”

“I’d love to, believe me, but I made a magically binding oath to your star-crossed lover there that I would back up off of your shit.” Anton shrugged. “I’m here in a strictly advisory capacity, the second I try to actively interfere in the handling of your case… well, let’s just say that I enjoy my intestines where they are.”

“Seems more like she’s handling Charmian than me right now,” Justin tried to argue.

“You run a massive business empire, JT, I know you ain’t that stupid.” Anton rolled his eyes. “Surely you’ve worked out that she’s killing Charmian to get to you?”

Justin was prevented from responding by the sound of Lillith’s voice filling the room.

“Well hello, ladies and gentlemen.” Clearly she was enjoying the attention. “It’s an auspicious day and I’m pleased so many of you could turn up to finally see, after over two thousand years, our favourite avenger finally get hers. Aren’t you all tired of fighting avengers when they get to cheat by being immortal? They can kill us but we can’t kill them?”

The noise in the room increased considerably in volume. Justin didn’t particularly consider the ‘no death’ thing an advantage when the alternative was being captured and tortured for all eternity. From their reaction the demons apparently felt some great sense of injustice out of it though, which was kind of rich coming from them.

“Well not today, ladies and gentlemen, not today. Let’s not waste valuable entertainment time with introductions, shall we? Charmian is finally going to show us what she’s made of without all that handy strength and healing power. But, since unlike the light we demons like to play fair… we’ll even the playing field a little bit. If she can manage a kill or at least a knock out, she wins. But for our other contenders… nothing less than her heart will do. First one to get it out of her chest is going to be richly rewarded!”

Anton’s gaze shifted sideways as he heard a retching sound to his left. Sure enough, Justin had vomited – though at least he’d been smart enough to turn and do it over the side of the chair instead of down his own front. Humans were so squeamish.

Charmian, for her part, was wondering exactly how she was expected to manage even a knock out when she hadn’t been provided with any weapons and clearly wasn’t going to be. A quick glance around the makeshift ring was enough to tell her there was nothing useful to hand. Anything useful was on the walls beyond the braying pack of demons, and none of them were letting her leave the square. So not only did she have to kill people ten times stronger than her, she had to disarm them first to even have a glimmer of a shot at it?

Well, she could hardly expect Lillith to have the same definition of ‘fair’ or evening the playing field.

She felt numb and as if she was having an out of body experience while Lillith finished talking up the match and her opponent appeared. He was unfamiliar but she knew the insignia on his arm - he was a low level foot solider. The fact that somebody relatively low-powered and probably newly minted was up first told her that they were looking to drag this out. Whether that was simply to put on a better show or instil some false hope she couldn’t be sure, but at least it meant her heart might continue to beat a few minutes more.

There was little else she could do except draw in a deep breath, stand up straight, and clear her mind as she’d been taught.

“Any last words, Charmian?”

“Besides fuck you?”

Lillith’s blood red lips parted in a wide grin. “Hey, we’ll put it on the tombstone. Fight!”

For the spectators it made a pretty boring fight, and there were a lot of catcalls to let her know just how they felt about that. She was beyond caring, she could hear them but she wasn’t listening and the words were glancing off her. Her opponent was clearly extremely new, all strength and no training, and he was pretty easy to dodge. It was painful on her already suffering body but skill alone was more than enough to avoid him, and the second he gave her an opportunity she was able to swipe the knife from his hand and stick it through his heart.

The crowd did not enjoy that, but Lillith was only getting warmed up.

“Well clearly that was far too easy. Shall we give her more of a challenge, folks?”

The roar conveyed their consensus. Charmian was breathing heavily as it was, but when her next opponent stepped into the ring it felt like the oxygen had been knocked from her lungs.

“Boss,” he said mockingly.

The harpy was better than she’d given her credit for – she’d gone for the emotional punch this time too. Jacob had been but newly raised and was already showing promise when Bob had taken him. Alexander had in his usual supercilious way denounced him as a no-hoper who would always be too rash for his own good, but she had liked him. Now he was reduced to this.

“Oh Jacob.” The gnawing ache in her stomach grew stronger. Seeing one of her avengers reduced to this was as painful as any of the hits she’d taken in the last few days. She’d always felt personally responsible for her subordinates and it had hurt when they’d been taken, but seeing him on Hell’s side felt like a knife to the chest. “I’m sorry.”

“What for? Being a demon is so much more fun than being your lackey. Falling was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

The sudden swing for her head was lightning quick but it was all she needed to realise that maybe Alex had been right. They’d had more than one argument over him, with Alex complaining that he was always so itchy to get into the fight he left himself wide open and telegraphed all his moves. She had thought that was a fixable fault and he hadn’t. His had been the accurate prediction because apparently the time as a demon had not taught him any better. She’d seen the swing a mile off.

He was still a better fighter than the minion she’d just dispatched, however, so it was no walk in the park. He was handily making it easy to anticipate and pre-empt his strikes, but he was still much too able to defend. She was ducking and diving and executing some rolls which were murder on her already sore ribs, but she wasn’t any closer to actually making a hit. He was quicker than her and it was saving him. There was no opening to make a strike.

“I gotta hand it to your girl,” Anton said cheerfully to Justin. “Anybody else would be dead already.”

Justin wasn’t listening. He felt disembodied. As much as he wanted to turn his head away, do anything except watch, it was like his entire body had locked into place and couldn’t move. His knuckles were white with the grip he had on the chair arms. When finally Charmian managed to use Jacob’s own momentum against him and have him fall on his own sword, his entire torso collapsed with relief and he near slumped over.

At this point she was gasping for air, her shoulders and chest rising and falling in an impossibly exaggerated way. As much as she tried to gulp it in it wasn’t enough, she felt light headed and about ready to pass out from pain. She’d re-opened a lot of her cuts and her body was screaming. She doubted she could last another fight, especially if as she suspected her opponents were going to get progressively tougher. Spots danced in front of her eyes and she could feel that she was ready to black out.

She was so out of it she almost didn’t notice when chaos erupted.

There was an uproar. The ring was abandoned as demons started charging for the door; they’d almost forgotten about her in the meantime.

“CHARMIAN!”

Even in her disoriented state that one hit home.

“CHARMIAN WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Lucas?” She wheezed it out, unable to give it the volume which would have told him where she was. He probably couldn’t see her in the mass of bodies.

An arm caught her round the waist as she began to stumble and another familiar tone sounded. This was one was right in her ear and much less welcome.

“Time to go.”

Anton’s voice was the last thing she heard before the darkness descended.

“Charmian? Charmian!”

Some small part of her brain managed to acknowledge that somebody was shaking her shoulders and calling her name. The trouble was responding. It was too hard to concentrate on anything other than the pounding in her skull. Her head lolled to the side, struggling to raise itself.

“Come on, come on, wake up!”

Strong fingers grasped her chin and tugged at it. Groggily she managed to open her eyes a crack to see Justin’s panicked face staring back at her. It swirled before her and she blinked rapidly in an attempt to focus.

“Oh thank fuck, Charmian? Can you hear me?”

“What’s going on?” She mumbled.

What she’d like to have done was sit up straighter, but her body was taking time to reawaken. Her limbs were heavy with pain. It wasn’t until she felt Justin’s arms shifting her further upright that she realised she was slumped on a chair – though she’d probably have been on the floor if he wasn’t keeping her there. He was crouched next to her, one arm around her shoulders to keep her up. The other was smoothing her tangled and snarled hair back out of her face.

“Your guys busted in and broke up the fight. Anton dumped us in here and locked us in. We need to get out of here, Charmian, can you walk?”

“Does it matter if we’re locked in?” She mumbled.

“There’s a window I think we can reach if I drag the table over.”

She looked upwards and saw what he was referring to. It was probably big enough for them to wiggle through if they went one at a time. Even with the promise of freedom, the idea of climbing through a window and then having to suffer the drop back to the ground on the other side was not appealing. Her torso felt like it was on fire as it was.

“Did you see Lucas?” She had a vague recollection of hearing his voice.

“I saw him and Carmel and Zac, and some guy I didn’t recognise. They were kicking ass but I think there were too many demons for them to bust through before Anton took us.”

Inhaling as deeply as she could manage (she suspected a busted rib or two) she tried to clear her mind and think. There had been a number of demons, probably a variety of skills and abilities. Nobody that her guys couldn’t handle but the sheer volume would slow them down. The real danger was if somebody managed to alert Bob and get him in there. The other problem was that even if they could fight through they’d then still have to locate them; it would all take time. There was every chance Anton would manage to move them again in the interim. Justin was probably right, they needed to try and get out themselves.

She clutched onto the arms of the chair as best she could and braced herself to try and bear her own weight. “Try the window.”

It was excruciating. Her vision blurred again and she could barely focus on what Justin was doing. He didn’t show any signs of weight loss or injury so clearly they’d been looking after him. That was good; at least one of them had some strength left. The table looked heavy (certainly sounded it from the scraping on the floor) but he managed to push it the necessary five or six feet. He hopped easily up onto it. She wasn’t sure why he was looking so hopeful, he wasn’t nearly tall enough to reach the window.

“It’s doable. I can boost you up, you can check if it’s open and then you can pull me up behind you.”

Charmian let out a choked laugh. She didn’t mean to sound condescending but he was being a little over optimistic. “Maybe half an hour ago - look at me, Justin. Even if you can get me up there without me passing out I can’t lift you.”

Justin let out a string of expletives. She wasn’t wrong. She looked like the tail end of a horror movie and he could see the effort she was exerting just to remain upright. His eyes scanned the room, looking for anything they could pile onto the table to help, but there was just the chair she was sitting on and that wouldn’t be enough. If she hadn’t been so beaten up he’d have done the altruistic thing and got her out even if she couldn’t lift him, but in her current state she wouldn’t get very far without him. He doubted her ability to stay conscious as it was.

“Fuck. You mean we just gotta hope Lucas gets here before Anton does?”

“He will.” Amazingly, she said it with total conviction. He didn’t share it. “They’re coming for us.”

“Not exactly a given, is it? What if they get here second?”

As best she was able with her lip newly split back open, Charmian gave a small smile. “I trained them myself. They’re getting here first.”

Every muscle was coiled and he kept eyeing up the window like he still thought that was a better plan. Still, Justin jumped down from the table and crossed the room back to her side. If she trusted Lucas so much then he would just have to hope she was right. He had to hurry the last few steps as she started to slump sideways, nearly falling off the chair.

“Is it easier if you lie down?”

“Probably.”

Justin knelt down on the floor next to the chair and gently helped her ease herself out of it onto the floor. He laid her head in his lap and stroked her hair, eyes flicking up and down her body as he surveyed the damage. The floor was hard and doubtless about as comfortable as a rock, but at least she didn’t have to expend precious energy trying to hold herself.

“Please promise me you won’t get in any more boxing rings. I know it’s your sacred duty to protect me and all but the Rocky thing was taking your job a little too seriously.”

“Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.” Charmian grimaced.

A strand of dark hair slid through his fingers. “I’m sorry. This is all because of me.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“They did that to you to get to me.”

“I know you’re some big deal to teenage girls but it’s not always about you, you know.” He gave a strained snort in response. “They did that because I killed a whole bunch of their best pals.”

“Yeah but it’s all so they can make me their bitch. I never wanted you to get hurt, I’m so sorry. It’s not fair, you shouldn’t have to take that for me because some asshole with wings or whatever made you responsible for me!”

Justin felt like a kid on the playground, yelling about things being unfair, but he was brimming with ineffective fury. This whole thing was so screwed up he couldn’t even keep a lid on his anger any more. They made her responsible for him and then they took away everything that protected her, removed all the tools and still expected her to finish the job. They were supposed to be the good guys and they had left her helpless while still requiring her to watch out for him. It was stupid and senseless and counter-productive. It was cruel, and more than anything it seemed like shooting yourself in the foot to disarm your best warrior. His body shook with the indignation. Every cut and every bruise currently disfiguring her face was fuelling his outrage.

He was also inwardly fuming at himself (though he was projecting all of that onto her superiors right now). Why had he listened to her? Why had he respected her wishes? Her wishes were suicidal. It had seemed like macho pride at the time so Justin had squashed it down and decided to trust her lead and experience, but now he was thinking that maybe he should have followed his instincts. It felt wrong to be sitting there so unscathed while she looked like she’d been thrown through a windshield.

Charmian couldn’t muster the energy to lift her hand to his face, but she managed to curl her arm around so her fingers brushed his knee. She was becoming drowsy again; her reserves were being rapidly spent.

“Silly boy. I’ve never done this because I have to.”

“What, you enjoy being beaten half to death? I should never have listened to you telling me to not to fight, I should have done something!”

It wasn’t much more than a mutter. “I just love you, that’s all.”

It felt like his blood temperature soared in response. Certainly his heartbeat was thudding in his ears.

“Then you’re an idiot because I’m so not fucking worth this. Look at you!”

“You are to me. And if it stops them twisting everything I love out of you, then they can do what they damn well like.”

She was slipping back into unconsciousness now, so she probably wouldn’t have heard Justin’s response even if he’d had time to make it.  Unfortunately they were interrupted by the door bursting open and Lillith stomping through it with Anton in tow. Charmian had been horribly wrong about who made it first.

If there was one thing guaranteed to wake you up, it was pain. Lillith had yanked her up off the floor with no care. It was the third or fourth time that had been done to her today and this time, on top of all those other injuries, she was unable to withhold a scream. Never mind if it gave the demons satisfaction, she was incapable of holding the agony in at this stage.

“Honestly, you avengers are so fucking rude. This should have been much more entertaining but I guess I’ll just have to kill you the boring way.”

“For the millionth time, Lillith, you do not want to do that.”

Justin was scrambling to his feet, looking frantically at Anton. Lillith currently had one arm around Charmian’s neck and a knife poised at her gut. Should he try to intervene, should he just let him talk his stupid bitch of a sister down, what could he do to help? Would rushing her only make her press the point home? Was it smarter to let Anton talk or to distract her himself?

“Shut up, Anton. This is my show now and I know what I’m doing.”

“It’s a dumb, petty waste. She’s far more valuable than this and you’re going to have a much harder time turning him without the leverage.”

“She’s an obstacle, not leverage. God only knows why but he wants to stay good for her.”

Charmian’s brown eyes met Justin’s blue ones, full of fear. That felt like a knife pressing to his gut not hers; for all his complaining about her solider mask, he couldn’t stand seeing her afraid.

“Which is predictable and easily manipulated. You have him right where we need him but you’re not thinking strategically, instead you’re concentrating on your bruised ego. That’s not how to get this done.”

“What would you know?”

“What would I know? Look who the fuck you’re talking to!” Anton scoffed at her, throwing his arms out to the sides and rolling his eyes. “I’ve spent centuries scrabbling around in the dirt because I knew it was better to play the long game than to get precious about shit. Now is the time that should all be coming to fruition, now is the moment that we’re right on the brink and you are about to stick a pin in that balloon, baby sis. Don’t be stupid.”

Lillith looked like she was wavering, so in her distraction Justin took his opportunity. He rushed past Anton and dived for her. The move would have succeeded, but almost immediately a solid body ploughed into his and knocked him off course. He landed elbow first on the concrete and all his weight came down on it, sending currents of pain shooting through his arm. He thought there was a good chance he’d broken it. His ankle had twisted painfully to the side as well, though less severely.

“What did I just say about people not being stupid?! Damn you!”

Justin’s eyes had involuntarily squeezed shut, and once he opened them again he wished he could just keep them shut forever. He would never be able to erase the sight of Charmian’s white face and the way her hands now clutched at the knife sticking out of her belly. Lillith had instinctively reacted to his attempted attack by lashing out.

“Charmian!” It was his voice sounding the scream and yet somehow he felt utterly disconnected from it.

Somehow Charmian knew she was dying, yet oddly it didn’t hurt. Contrary though it seemed her body now stood taller than it had before she’d got stabbed. She’d barely felt the knife going in and she couldn’t feel the blade in her stomach now, though she felt the hilt in her fingers. There wasn’t even much blood. She was curiously detached from the whole thing. Though she felt more awake than she had since they’d entered the room her mind was bizarrely devoid of thought. Besides some default setting telling her not to remove it because it would do more damage on its way out and she’d bleed out faster, there was little going on in her head. How very strange. She’d expected her life to flash before her eyes.

There was some thought insistently trying to gain her attention, possibly it was the pain, but she couldn’t seem to access it. Something was amiss, but it wasn’t Justin’s anguished face or the look of fury on Anton. None of it really seemed to be reaching her. Even as she took in the way Justin was clutching at his arm and rocking back and forth on the floor, nothing touched home.

God, what was it she was trying to think of? She felt like there was something important she was missing, and the more she unsuccessfully pondered it the surer she became that it wasn’t the lack of pain.

Pain.

She wasn’t in pain. Justin was in pain, she wasn’t. Even though she was the one with the mortal wound Justin was the one in pain.

He was in pain, she wasn’t. Was that important?

It wasn’t until a familiar heat began in the centre of her palm that she managed to remember. Yes, yes.

That was very important.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” She was surprisingly coherent.

“Blame your boy there. Though you had it coming anyway.” Lillith sneered. This wasn’t exactly how she’d wanted to do it, but did it really matter? Charmian was one of the greatest avengers of the lot and she was dying at her hand. She would go down in legend for this even if it wasn’t the most spectacular end. Besides, she could always embellish.

“Not you.”

Lillith was about to make a disparaging remark to Justin, start really hammering home the horrendous guilt he must be feeling, but then she realised that Charmian wasn’t looking at him. Her stare was a little unfocused, but it was directed at Anton.

“Huh?”

That was the last thing she managed to say before a flaming sword pierced her sternum.

Anton’s mouth was opening and closing like a fish. Odds were he looked like a complete moron and normally he’d care about that, but he was too shocked to function.

He’d watched his sister get burned up by holy fire and he really didn’t understand how that could possibly be. What had happened? One minute Charmian was being stabbed, the next she suddenly had her sword in her hand and was shoving it into Lillith. How was that even conceivable? Besides the fact that she was human and shouldn’t be able to summon divine weapons, she was bound by magic. She had agreed to come quietly; she had forfeited her ability to use the damn thing. So why was Lillith now charcoal? What the hell had he just witnessed? And what the hell was he going to do now? Normally he was extremely quick on the draw and able to respond rapidly to anything no matter how far out of left field it came – his ability to adapt was part of what made him so successful. Now for the first time in several centuries he really had no clue what the appropriate reaction was.

Even as the light was quickly fading from behind Charmian’s eyes, she still managed to prick the corners of her lips up in approximation of a smile.

“We had a deal, Anton. Fair’s fair.”

Her words made it finally dawn on him – he’d accidentally reneged on their bargain. When he had shoved Justin out of the way (even though it was with the intention of saving the dumb ass) he had injured him. He had sworn to leave the pop star alone but still he had come to harm at his hand. He’d inadvertently broken his oath. It was no wonder she was suddenly able to make a shish kebab out of his sister.

Then with a sinking realisation he realised that meant he was just as dead as Lillith or Charmian.

Charmian weakly raised her sword. It was a pretty pitiful gesture at this stage since she was clearly about to collapse, but she was more lethal to him now than she’d ever been.

“I believe this is the part where I get to kill you.”

It was indeed. It seemed unlikely she’d live long enough to manage, from the look of her, but then for all he knew he’d spontaneously combust anyway. Breaking a blood oath was deadly serious stuff; his crack to Justin earlier about liking his intestines where they were hadn’t been all that much of an exaggeration. The reason blood oaths were not to be made lightly was that the penalty for failing to uphold them was your life - it was her absolute right to kill him now. The magic involved was arcane and archaic but it packed a serious wallop. That was why few dared to make such deals even though in theory they should be a brilliant tool – the potential cost was too high. Demons needed to be free to make the double cross but with blood oaths that was suicide.

Ever the operator, Anton’s mind was in overdrive. There had to be a way out of this.  Was there some way to appease the magic? It was a deal sealed in blood, an exchange of one thing for another. He supposed in a way that it was a contract – and when you breached a contract you could pay compensation, right?

If there was a magical equivalent of settling out of court... an alternative to killing him… maybe there was another deal to be made that could override the first?

Yes – there was a very obvious one. It was a deal that would get him in even worse trouble with his superiors than the whole mess when he had first let Michael/Justin slip through his fingers. They would not appreciate its magnitude one bit, especially since an oath could only be broken by the one who originally made it. If he made this deal they were stuck with its terms and they would spare nothing on the torture rack while they expressed their feelings about that.

Never mind; he still held the same attitude he’d taken the first time. It didn’t matter if you took a few hot pokers and slipped down the ladder. You could always rebuild… so long as you were alive. Charmian’s list of conquests was littered with the names of those who had prized their egos over their lives, and they were all idiots in his book. Dead was dead and there was no glory in that.

“Or you could waive that right in exchange for something else. Like, say, my solemn promise that your boy stays safe and uncorrupted? No tricks, no loopholes this time, off limits to the entire pit. Just don’t kill me.”

Her face remained emotionless, though possibly that was more the result of her body shutting down than her acting skills. Yet something in the set of her jaw made Anton wonder if this hadn’t been exactly what she’d been counting on him to do when she’d realised his transgression.

“For this and all future lifetimes?”

Damn it. He was hoping she’d forgotten about the incarnations to come. Oh well, he was in no position to haggle. He took out his own blade and hastily made the necessary cut. Blood dripped to the floor.

Hate her as he might he really did have to respect the woman; to the very end she played smart.

“Agreed. I swear to those terms.”

“Alright then.” Her words were audibly slower and more laboured. “It’s a deal. You can fuck off and let me die now.”

Justin had been watching all of this in a dazed stupor. The tears had been dripping down his cheeks and his elbow throbbed insistently, yet somehow it had unfolded like a TV show before him. He had been a passive audience, unable to further intervene in the action. It wasn’t until Anton hastily ran out of the room and he saw Charmian’s knees finally buckle that he came to his senses and dived forward to grab her. It was murder on his ankle and with only one arm he nearly dropped her, but at least he managed to catch her.

When Lucas and Alex finally rushed through the door it was already too late.

**

Lucas’s dining room had become a funeral parlour, complete with the deafening morbid silence.

It was strange, watching Alex and Lucas being so stone-faced and methodical about everything. Of course he knew that they were programmed to be able to squash emotion, but he’d never expected them to have any kind of ritual for this sort of thing. After all, they lost avengers to kidnapping not death. Yet on their arrival Lucas had solemnly laid Charmian on the table, wordlessly summoned Nathaniel and then he and Alex had got to work on cleaning the body as best they could. They had folded her hands together and straightened out her hair. Now they were both stiffly standing vigil, backs ramrod straight and heads bowed in deference.

The other odd thing was watching Nate behave just like a normal priest in that situation, lighting candles and solemnly praying, but that at least was something Justin understood. He had only been able to slump in a chair and observe with a heavy numbness in his limbs. Maybe that was whatever magic concoction Nate had slathered on his arm to heal the broken elbow, he didn’t know.

If it wasn’t for the stillness of her chest, she would have looked like she was asleep. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. This ethereal creature he’d seen dancing to the death, fighting with all the grace and power of a panther, the woman he’d seen heal a vicious stab wound before his very eyes… she was lying there beaten. None of the cuts and bruises would ever fade, now this being who was thousands of years old was finally spent. For all the worrying he’d done once he’d found out she’d lost her immortality, somehow he had never truly believed in his heart of hearts that she would die. Not until he’d seen her get into that ring. Then she had miraculously escaped that and he’d thought they were going to be okay… until they weren’t.

He’d thought she was invincible and he’d watched as he was brutally proved wrong. Somehow he’d believed she would win the day anyway and here all was in ruins. His fingers brushed angrily at his eyes.

“Guys, we did it! We…” The voice had entered the room before Carmel did, and she was stopped in her tracks. “Oh God.”

Justin had assumed Lucas would have spread the news with that irritating telepathy of theirs, but Carmel’s face was too ashen. Clearly she hadn’t known. It appeared she’d only just got back because she hadn’t changed out of her fighting gear and she was still smeared with blood. Zac limped into the room, and Justin was surprised to see actual tears well up in his eyes when he saw her. They didn’t fall but the glassy sheen was unmistakeable.

“What happened?”

“Lillith,” Lucas replied gruffly. “Though at least Char took the bitch with her.”

“Oh God.” Distress washed over Carmel’s face, and she gingerly reached forward to touch her friend’s hand. It was awful to find it cold. She was used to dead bodies, but not those of her friends. Not of somebody she cared about. This wasn’t a feeling she’d had in a very long time and it took more effort than usual to push it to the back of her mind.

“It wasn’t for nothing,” Alex said in a gentle, conciliatory tone. He was another one who was surprising to Justin – he wasn’t quite as moved as the rest of them, but he seemed a lot more affected than you might imagine Charmian’s big rival to be. “She took Lillith out and she managed to trick Anton into securing Justin’s safety. She won.”

“She won?” They all turned to look at Justin as he spat the words out, venom in his tone. “She’s dead, how’s that a win?”

Lucas’s head turned slowly to meet Justin’s gaze, an icy fire in his eyes. If he hadn’t been mortal, he would have punched him.

“She has spent lifetimes trying to make you safe and she sacrificed herself to do it. She finally got what she’s always wanted and that would have been the greatest victory for her so you can shut your cakehole, you ungrateful little asshole. She died for you.”

Justin stood up so fast his chair almost tipped over. His fists balled up, despite the pain that caused in his not quite healed arm. With a couple of steps forward he was squaring up to Lucas.

“Don’t you fucking dare twist me like that, like I was saying she was a failure. Don’t you fucking dare lay this on me and her. She should be alive right now and she’s not because of your stupid fucking boss and his dumb shit decision to make her vulnerable, and that is not a God damn win. Win would be if she was sitting here getting patched up and able to go on with her life, she deserved fucking better than this and this is not some kind of fucking victory! I don’t know what kind of fucked up priorities the people you bastards work for have if they let this happen to her but it’s a fucking travesty not a win!”

“He’s just hurting, Lucas, let it go.” Carmel’s voice sounded in his ears.

“Little shit…”

“She’s right,” Alex responded. “He’s obviously upset and feeling guilty, cut him some slack.”

Nathaniel laid his hand gently on Justin’s shoulder. “We’re as devastated as you are, Justin. It was a senseless thing but in the end Charmian was a soldier and she died a hero’s death. She fulfilled her last wish and we have to take some comfort in that.”

His body sagged. “It’s not fucking right.”

Alex turned quietly to Zac and Carmel, sensing a change of subject was in order. Lucas still looked like he wanted to get into it with Justin. He was visibly steaming – defensive of his general until the end. Thankfully Nate had the sense to steer him out of the room while the avengers continued talking.

“You guys alright?”

“Yeah,” Zac grimaced. “Poison blades again, I took a slice on my leg but I should be okay by tomorrow.”

“What happened?”

“After you guys left the room we were about to follow but there was a fresh wave,” Carmel replied, nail scratching at the dried blood masking the bat on her wrist guard. “Somebody managed to call up Bob, too, so it got hairy.”

“You did a good job getting out of there, then,” Alex nodded. “How many did you manage to take?”

Suddenly it didn’t seem as great as it had when she’d burst into the room full of adrenalin and high on triumph. “All of them. That was what we came to tell you, Zac took that hit killing him.”

Lucas’s jaw dropped. “You killed Bob?”

He shrugged, face still downcast, and Carmel elbowed him in response. “He was brilliant. I had four of them on me and I was a sitting duck. While Bob was coming for me he totally blindsided him. Char couldn’t have done better herself.”

A hand appeared in front of him, and Zac looked up with a confused frown at its owner.

“I think I need to eat some words,” Alex said sincerely.

He wanted to smile, he really did. What remained unspoken was the common knowledge that Alex had complained bitterly about Zac’s promotion to the inner circle. It had been a residual bone of contention between the two for years. That comment was probably the biggest validation he could have hoped for – except the one that would never be coming from the mentor lying on the table. Still Zac grasped Alex’s hand and accepted the shake.

“Thanks.”

Lucas did something entirely atypical; he put an arm around Zac’s shoulders and gave him a brotherly squeeze. He didn’t trust himself to speak. It was a further great victory for Charmian – her prodigy fulfilling his potential – and the fact that she wasn’t here to enjoy it was making his stomach churn. Somehow he had held out hope that the boss would eventually calm down and lift the price on her head, that he would eventually have his best friend back. That was how he’d been wading through the quagmire that was keeping control of the avengers, believing that eventually Charmian would be back to pick up the reins. Even as a mortal, he still could have bounced things off of her as always. Now that was lost to him.

“So… what do we do now?” Alex prompted. They were her friends; he figured they should probably take the decisions.

“I guess… we tell everyone. Arrange some kind of funeral.”

“God. I don’t even know what we’d do for that,” he said. “This has to be a first.”

“Maybe we take her back to Athens?” Zac asked. “That’s where she was from.”

“No.” Carmel’s voice rang hollow. “Her family was a distant memory to her; the only person she cared about other than us was him. We can get to her wherever she is but we should keep her close where he can visit.”

“This is all assuming that the boss doesn’t ride roughshod over whatever plans we make,” Lucas said sourly. The more he was thinking about it, the more Justin and his bratty comments (irritatingly) started making sense to him. None of this would have happened if Michael hadn’t stripped her of her powers, a move which had always seemed counter-intuitive.

“Well then maybe you should ask the boss.”

All of them froze to the spot, not wanting to turn and see him. It was an unusually stealthy entrance for him; normally he came in with a lot more pomp and circumstance. In the end it was only Alex who dared turn his head, and he was immediately bewildered by the pissed off expression he saw.

Michael slowly and painstakingly stepped onwards, his boots clacking a drawn out staccato against the floorboards. He stopped at Charmian’s side, staring down at his fallen soldier’s body with his hands tightly clenched behind his back.

“How did this happen? She was protecting Timberlake?”

It fell to Lucas to answer as the most senior, but he was having trouble withholding the outburst he wanted to make. He also didn’t understand how the boss knew about Justin. In the end he had to settle for not showing proper obeisance, a small defiance was better than nothing.

“She got Anton to make a blood oath swearing his safety in return for her surrender, but he exploited a loophole and had his bitch sister snatch them both. We got the tip off from Nathaniel and we went in on a rescue mission, but there was some kind of scuffle before we could get to them and Lillith and Charmian killed each other. Anton somehow managed to break the deal in the process so with her last moments she spared his life in exchange for a real oath to keep him safe from the pit.”

Michael’s eyes flashed black and his lips set in a grim scowl. It was about the closest he ever came to expressing any measure of care for any of them.

“A hero’s death, then.”

Carmel’s hand grabbed Lucas’s arm and her nails dug into his skin as a warning. It was a good thing she had because he’d been about to let rip.

“Well, that’s some small consolation for losing my best warrior. I knew I should have disobeyed that order, if I’d known this was going to be the damn result…” His fist pounded lightly against the table, expressing the end of that sentence.

The shock wave rippled through the group.

“Sir?” Alex ventured the question, blinking dumbly all the while. He was having difficulty processing what he’d just heard. “You mean… you were ordered to demote her?”

“You take me for the kind of fool that tosses away his best asset out of pique because things aren’t going to plan? As if that was her fault? Idiots.”

None of them could come up with a response to that.

**

It was warm and it was bright. Those were the two things that registered most clearly. Her mind felt fuzzy in the unfamiliar surrounding. The meadow was pretty, covered in wild flowers – though oddly it smelled like a vineyard. That didn’t make any sense. Nothing much made any sense; it was as if she was just waking up from a very vivid dream. It was taking a minute to differentiate between her subconscious and reality.

As slowly the realisation dawned on her, everything came back into sharp focus. A million thoughts raced through her head, of everything that had happened and everything that might be happening without her. Yet the overriding thought was bizarrely not of any of that. There was nobody even around to hear her, but Charmian spoke it out loud anyway.

“My last words were ‘fuck off and let me die?!”

She was beginning to suspect the scenery was so nice to distract you from the fact of being dead.

Charmian had been walking for what seemed like hours along a stream with impossibly clear water. The meadow had given way to a forest, which from the looks of it would soon give way to the mountains looming against the horizon. It was all breathtaking and unspoiled, and above all the atmosphere was tranquil. The only noise was the rushing of the water and the sound of birds in the trees, though now she thought about it she had yet to see a single bird. It was near impossible to be upset or angry or to feel any kind of shock when everything was so peaceful, such emotions seemed alien and like a distant memory in this landscape. She wondered if that was precisely the idea.

Part of her had wondered if when she died she’d be called back to ascend again. That clearly wasn’t the case. When she’d been taken from her family she had wound up in a white room surrounded by soldiers, her hands and dress still stained with the mess from the grapes she’d been crushing at the time. Nothing about her was changed in that moment, only her location. Now she’d woken up in this Eden with her injuries miraculously vanished and back in a clean set of the jeans and vest she’d been wearing. That was good; as far as walking clothes went they were practical and they certainly looked better without the blood stains. If the first thing she did in the after life had to be a hike then at least she wasn’t in some long white gown or something.

She’d never expected any after life to be so devoid of other people - as nice as this place was, she didn’t think it could be the end destination for that reason. Even here you’d get lonely eventually. Still she wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do or how she was supposed to move forward. That had been why she started walking, but for all she knew this could go on forever. Heck, maybe it had already been forever. There was no way of knowing how fast (or slow) time was moving here.

Eventually she hit pay dirt – or at least what she thought might be pay dirt. It was the first manmade thing in the entire place, within a small grotto in the trees. In the middle of it stood an arch hewn from stone and black marble, wrapped in ivy and carved with a message in Hebrew. It seemed weird that it would be Hebrew of all things. In hindsight there seemed little good reason for her assumption but she’d imagined that such a thing would show up in English, or if it was really clever the first language of whoever came across it (it was in a magical after life dimension after all). Even her own native Greek seemed like a better contender given how ancient it was.

Irritatingly, it was one of the few human languages she knew little of. She had at least a rudimentary reading ability in most and was fluent in about fourteen. It was a natural by-product of the gig, since they travelled so widely and had to operate within so many different countries. What you didn’t naturally pick up you wound up having to learn in a hurry when dealing with a crisis. Yet the potential key to Heaven or whatever waited just had to be written in one she couldn’t even take a stab at. She could speak a little of its cousin Aramaic, enough to manage the many spells which were written in it, but that wasn’t helping her to decode this.

“Why did it have to be Hebrew? Latin always sounds cooler anyway.”

She muttered to herself as she ran her fingers over the carving. The stone felt reassuringly rough to the touch, but didn’t assist with the translation problem. Feeling out the unfamiliar letters didn’t make them any easier to understand.

“Omnia extrema sunt principia.”

Charmian should have been startled, but that sonorous voice was somehow too familiar even after all these years. It was good to know what it said but there was no mental room to dwell on its little riddle. This new development was too suspicious. Slowly her head turned back to face the intruder, the rest of her body gradually following suit. Looking him up and down, she started in disbelief.

“Huh?”

“All ends are beginnings.” He rocked back onto his heels in his habitual way and pointed at the arch. “That’s the translation, though you said you’d prefer it in Latin.”

Her gaze trailed his up and down, eyeing him warily. “Latin I understand, the mystery is you. You’re not possible.”

“Aren’t I?”

He looked exactly as he had the last time she’d seen him. The long coat and scarf over his evening dress, the leather gloves that were a little too worn in and the dark hair that was a touch too long poking out from beneath his top hat. The same cleft cut a groove in his chin and his eyes crinkled at the corners in the same way.

“You’re not him.”

“Aren’t I?”

“You can save the coy act for someone more gullible. He cannot possibly be here since he’s still alive and wearing a different face. I should know, went to some considerable trouble keeping him that way. So who are you?”

Michael’s face broke out into a smile, and if she hadn’t known before that it couldn’t actually be her Michael inside the grin proved it. The features were the same, the lips curled at the ends in the same fashion, but there was a hard light behind the brown eyes. It wasn’t unfriendly, but what should have been there was slightly mischievous warmth. The spark that was plain as day when talking to Justin was entirely absent here.

“I wondered if you’d question it. Most do not - too distracted by the Keeper’s chosen form.”

“So you’re the Keeper, then. Do you often refer to yourself in the third person?”

“I am not the Keeper, as it happens. In the normal course of things the Keeper should have been here in my place but I admit, I was curious to see what you’d come up with. You are the first avenger to ever walk this realm, since… well. I don’t need to tell you the more usual fashion by which avengers lose their immortality.”

 Yes, by being tortured in a hell pit until they fell from grace and became demons instead. How could she forget? 

With a silvery glow ‘Michael’ faded away and was replaced by a woman in a long green robe. Long sleeves skimmed the ground as she moved. Her skin was a rich dark brown but her hair was the kind of white she’d only ever seen on animals before, not people. Again, Charmian felt like she ought to have been having a different reaction but this place was somehow dampening it. This person was irritating and suspicious and even mildly pretentious; she should not be feeling so placid about that after the day she’d had. The most she could manage was twisting a lone dark curl around her finger, an old habit she had when she was trying to puzzle something out.

“Why do you keep talking like I have any clue what the hell you’re talking about? Can you please just tell me who you are and where I am?”

“You’re at the Gate.”

Finally, some mild exasperation - that was a bit more like it, this felt more like herself. “Well that might help if I had any idea what that is. What gate to where?”

“The Gate on. On. To sate your curiosity, it’s in Hebrew because the person who put it there has… let’s call it an eccentric sense of humour.”

That was not an answer that made any kind of sense. What was funny about Hebrew?  Thousands of people did speak it even if she wasn’t one of them. Maybe the arch purposely used a language you couldn’t read? She didn’t know. She was bored of not getting a straight answer but this thing probably wasn’t a demon so her usual interrogation methods were off limits.

“Look, it’s been a really long day and I’m not a fan of cryptic to begin with. Can you just explain to me what’s going on? In a language I do understand?”

“You died.”

“No shit.”

“If you desire your answer it would be in your interests not to interrupt so much… all souls must find and pass through the gate.”

Necessary as the exposition was, she was not going to be able to resist interrupting. “Maybe you should leave some instructions somewhere letting people know. That would’ve been useful information when I was aimlessly wandering the forest with no idea where I was going.”

“All roads lead to the Gate, so long as you keep walking. How long it takes depends on you.”

She clucked her tongue and gave a loose shrug. “Well it was a pretty road, I’ll give you that.”

“Yes, it’s interesting… though I suppose in your position perhaps it’s unsurprising that your vision was more expansive.”

Charmian threw up her hands. The longer she spoke to this woman the more those negative emotions which seemed so impossible and far away were starting to creep back into reality. “Again with the assuming I know what you’re on about.”

“What you see here is shaped by what you expect to be here – not what you want, what you expect. For most people it tends to reflect whichever religion loomed largest on their lives, even if they don’t believe.”

“But I know the religions are all wrong…” She shrugged, pursing her lips as she rolled that idea around in her head. Being immortal meant you didn’t spend much time imagining what came next. “That kind of makes sense. Is that why it smells like a vineyard despite there being no sign of any grapes?” Before she could continue with that thought another struck her. “Wait, does that mean that some people get here and it looks like Hell or something?”

“That we do not allow; souls come here to accept their path, not to face fear. That’s why the Keeper appears in the form of a loved one, to ease you on your way - the Gate can be daunting for the newly departed. Some find it hard to let go.”

“But you’re not the Keeper.”

“No.”

“Which begs the question…”

The woman cocked her head to the left and smiled at Charmian like she was a child. It was sweet, if a little condescending. Her hands were folded daintily in front of her and she exuded an air of quiet authority.

“Charmian. Avenger Queen, defender of the light. Such a long road and yet it has brought you here against all expectations, even mine. How foolish when I of all should know that none are invincible.”

Flattering as the Queen thing was, she had a team and she did not run a dictatorship. She held even less appreciation for the whole invincibility thing. For the first time a real scowl broke through the calm that this place commanded of her.

“Well I would’ve been a lot closer if somebody hadn’t demoted me. Guess you didn’t feel like putting a word in for me?”

“I gave that order.”

That stopped her in her tracks. Anger was flooding back to her, no longer weighed down by the tranquillity. Though her heart was no longer beating it felt like her blood was surging through her body with the force of it. She clenched her fists, her nails leaving dents in the skin of her palms. “You did WHAT, now? YOU’RE Michael’s superior?”

If her reaction at all bothered the woman she didn’t show it. It was unnerving – her face was even more inscrutable than his, and that was saying something. They’d never been allowed to meet anyone above his pay grade but she’d always found it hard to imagine who could possibly be telling him what to do. He was so dominant to begin with.

“Oh I’m everyone’s superior, child.”

Her eyes flashed with a blinding light that was almost impossible to gaze into. It was like looking directly at the sun, and as they blazed a pit of dread formed in Charmian’s stomach. This was… this was THE boss? The chosen conduit of the forces of light was standing before her? The person she’d been showing precisely zero respect to? Oh crap.

“Quite alright, dear one,” she said as if she’d heard that thought. Quite possibly she had. “A little irreverence is a healthy thing.”

“So…” She was about to ask more about the Gate but her question changed tack midway through, replaced with a more burning one. “Why?”

“Why? To give you power.”

She had to let that one sink in for a minute.

“You took away my power… to give me power.” The belligerent edge started to creep in again and she had to cram it back down. This woman could still send her back to the pit any time. “Forgive me…” What should she call her? “Ma’am… but that seems a little counter-productive.”

“The true power in my warriors is not that which the light bestows on them, Charmian.” She began a slow walk, circling her former minion. “It is that which they already possess. You were chosen for several reasons but that is chief amongst them. Your strength was always the ferocity with which you love. It’s the reason that you have always indulged in emotion more than others of your kind. Lucas fights for honour and fealty, Alexander fights for purpose, you fight to protect.”

Her comments ran completely counter to what avengers were told about ascending, which was that their ability to compartmentalise was their qualifying attribute. It all sounded very warm and fuzzy, but how did it explain anything?

“So why prevent me fighting?”

The responding laugh was sharp and yet strangely melodic. “As if there’s a power in the universe to prevent you fighting, the very notion! Remind me, Charmian, how did you die?

That was a fair point. “I don’t understand.”

“You fight because you love.” With careful steps she continued circling. “And you were denying that love, trying to tell yourself that you would succeed only if you stopped it taking its course. The only way I could remind you of what you were fighting for was to let you feel it - full on, head on, none of that superior ability to remove yourself from it. Unadulterated love.”

Silence reigned for a moment as Charmian was out of sarcastic comebacks. She slumped to the grass instead, face falling into her hands.

“I did not expect it to cost your life, however, and for that I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t think that mortality was a risk of, you know, mortality?” She muttered. “Besides,” she said with more volume, “it’s hardly the biggest cost you’ve had me pay over the years is it? Dying kind of pales in comparison to making me a guardian without equipping me to be one and having me be some weird exception to the whole soul mate rule with some impossible guy that I couldn’t be with even if I could’ve stopped getting him killed over and over. Is this why you came here instead of the Keeper? To assuage your guilt over making me your God damn pawn in this ridiculous game you’ve been playing? For leaving him to that fate over and over again?”

Without so much as blinking she asked the question. “What guilt?”

That was when, serenity be damned, Charmian let out a roar and physically launched herself at the most potent being in the universe. It didn’t go very well. Without moving so much as a muscle she managed to magically deter the attack. There wasn’t so much as a facial twitch on her part but that didn’t stop her from packing a wallop. Being thrown against a tree by an all powerful goddess was actually rather painful, even when you were already dead. Charmian couldn’t complain too much, however, since it wasn’t exactly the cleverest fight she’d ever picked (and she’d picked a few in her many years).

“Feel better?”

“I would if the punch had landed,” she grumbled.

“Honestly, were you this insubordinate with Michael?”

“Michael never screwed me over unless you made him. Well, except on the whole Peru thing but that was Alex talking in his ear. I’ve let that one go.”

The still unnamed woman took a few steps towards her again but maintained a further distance this time. “Well then, you’ll learn to let this one go.”

“Really? Several centuries’ worth of grief is kind of a lot to needlessly dump on a person.”

“Hardly needless.” This time she strolled back to the arch, running a hand contemplatively over the marble. “He must have passed through this archway about five or six times before I finally started to understand. Even I don’t know everything, you know.”

Charmian rolled her eyes. Once again, this stupid and cruel deity was talking as if the person she addressed was on the same page as her when they were actually reading from entirely different books. It was impossible to follow. Still, at least they could agree that clearly she didn’t know everything. If she did she would never have done this whole stupid thing with him.

“Michael, as Justin was then, had always been a target. Not the only target of his kind and not even the most significant, but always more of an enigma. We needed him to resist the dark and yet so often he skated right to the edge of it. The arrogance and desire for glory in his own nature draws him to it. I didn’t know how best to deploy our forces and while we were hampered by indecision he was left unprotected and a greater risk to our cause. Simply assigning a guardian didn’t seem enough but what else could be done?”

For the first time in their conversation Charmian didn’t want to interrupt; this actually had her full attention. It had been true of him in every lifetime she’d shared with him. He hungered for the success, had always moved in the kind of social circles or industries where temptation was rife and it took little at all to corrupt. That was probably how he’d always come so quickly to the demons’ attention, because those were the kind of places they always liked to lurk. Left to his own devices he was a pretty decent person but he had highly exploitable foibles which in the wrong circumstances could lead him down another path. Everybody had their flaws but not everyone’s would lend themselves so well to Hell’s designs.

“It wasn’t until the first time he met you that I finally saw it. Loving you made him a better man, and on reflection I realised that had always been what kept him honest. It wasn’t always you, or always romantic, but for the love of someone dear he walked the line.”

“So you…” It dawned on her and the picture was ugly. It was so ugly it was abhorrent. “That’s why you broke the rules about nobody being destined for each other. You tied him to me as a God damn insurance policy, because you knew I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Once again she remained unaffected by the venomous tone being directed at her.

“It was too precarious to simply hope he’d always find someone to love strongly enough. Even if he did they’d be as human as he was; they could fall or be used against him. But you? The rising star of my warriors, she whose entire being is built to protect that which she loves? We needed a more creative solution and gifting him an avenger was it. You were a far better guardian than I could have ever dreamed of.”

Yeah, she was such a great guardian it had taken her nine attempts to keep him breathing. Charmian desperately wanted to get up and try to hit the woman again – violence may not have solved anything but after a few thousand years it was her go to mechanism against immortal idiots (never mortal ones, that wasn’t fair). This time she found herself rooted to the floor, unable to move her limbs.

“We’ll have no more of that, thank you. Sit still.”

“You fucking bitch,” Charmian growled murderously. “You used me as some kind of leash on him? You forced him to love me so you could make him do your dance?”

It was incredible. The idea of a woman being able to mould a man into a better behaved person was stupid enough to begin with but it became even more so out of the mouth of an immortal. They were all supposed to be smarter than the humans.

“Don’t be ridiculous, child. I didn’t force him to do anything and I wouldn’t even if I could. His will is his own. He fell in love with you all on his own and he’s remained that way all on his own. He chooses who he wants to be and allowing him to remember loving you does not guarantee that he continues to do so or that he remains uncorrupted. I have simply left the door always open for him, given him his best opportunity, and thankfully the boy’s got enough sense to keep walking through.”

“And me?” A tear threatened to roll down her cheek; it was only the quiet calm of her forest that prevented it. A deep breath in of that familiar (though incongruous) vineyard scent staved it off. “I gave up my life, my family for you. I dedicated my entire existence to your cause, served you faithfully, and you put me through all this? You made me suffer because it was convenient for you?”

It was like nothing touched this damn woman. Her face remained impassive, not a flicker of feeling across it, and there was not a single bit of twitching or fidgeting that would indicate any kind of reaction. She was impervious to guilt it seemed. Funnily, it seemed to Charmian’s mind like that gave her something in common with the demons.

“You have suffered. Not by my wish or design, but because I entrusted you with a difficult task that only you were equal to. I have done as much as I could to empower you in that task, even if at times I could not spare you from the pain it brought. But the strongest steel is forged in the greatest heat, Charmian, and so it has been with you. Now you stand before me, victorious and still uncorrupted even though many in your situation would have taken to self-preservation. You overcame yourself and the limits of your humanity, in so doing you have succeeded completely in your duty and proven yourself my greatest champion. Your pains were neither needless nor in vain.”

Finally something of a softer expression came on her face as she studied the now openly weeping soul before her. It was hard to work out what was more overwhelming. It was a toss up between being told that his love had always been unforced or hearing from the big boss’s own lips that she was the light’s greatest champion. That was quite a thing; she’d always been top of the tree with the avengers but they were only one group of many. There were a lot of levels between her and the woman standing opposite. It really was the validation of her entire life’s work and it was coming from this being that she was still raging mad at.

“Take heart, child. Your suffering is done and your reward is at hand.”

“Doesn’t seem like much of a reward.” She sniffled and rubbed at her nose with the back of her hand. “Leaving everyone I love to mourn me.”

“That is the fate of all mortal creatures. I find that in the balance they really do prefer to love and lose rather than to never love at all.” There was a pause before a more contemplative look settled over her features. It was something in the set of her jaw. “I suppose though in that same balance you weren’t really much of a mortal creature, were you?”

Brown eyes flicked up warily towards the still burning orbs in the cloaked figure’s face. It was true, she’d spent less than one percent of her life span as human, but she didn’t see what that had to do with it. “What are you getting at?”

Once again she stroked the marble up and down. “There are great rewards beyond this gate. The heaviness you feel would be gone, impossible as that seems to you now. Eventually you would even begin life anew, as all souls do. If however you would prefer a different prize… it’s a little unorthodox but then I suppose, given your toils, it would be the least I could do. I can raise you again, if you wish.”

That was quite an offer – a second ascension. She would be an avenger once more. Back where she’d always belonged, back with her team, back where she could see Justin again. There was no telling what paradise she’d be passing up to do it, but the consolations were obvious and many. Trouble was… she’d never been in a position before where her work with Justin was done. Would their relationship really be any less impossible than it had been before? She would never grow old, never get sick or injured, never die (again, anyway). He would do all those things.

How would it feel for him when he started looking more like her father – and eventually her grandfather – than her lover? Especially when there was press attention? Wouldn’t they start to ask how she appeared so youthful? (Assuming he even wanted that with her, they’d never had a chance to discuss what had happened that last night in the cabin). He could never have a family with her, and how would they even make dating work when she had a sacred calling to get on with and he had cameras to be concerned with? Now there was no longer any need for him to remember her in future incarnations would that end too?

“I…” Charmian was wringing her hands together. “But didn’t you say the whole thing with me was that feeling all this love makes me better? How’s that work if you make me an avenger again and it all gets shut back off?”

She smiled. “Well now. Maybe Nathaniel’s had more influence on you than I thought. The choice is yours, Charmian. It’s for you to judge now.”

A creeping feeling in the back of her mind wondered if maybe she should follow the course that she’d been set on. She had lived long enough. She had done a lot of good in the world, but she’d also had to witness a lot of evil in it. She had missed out on marriage, children, any number of human experiences. When she thought about it like that – hadn’t she earned her rest? It was comforting to imagine a time when she’d be reborn without the weight of everything she had witnessed and everything she had lost.

“Uhh… how long do I get to think it over?”

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“JT? Thank fuck, what’s going on? I’ve been going out of my damn mind waiting for you to call.”

“Sorry. I, uhh… they wouldn’t let me.” In his fuzzy and disconnected state it took him a minute to remember the line and concoct a good continuation. Lies really did beget lies. “Good news is I’m coming home.”

“Praise the damn Lord, they caught the guy?”

“Yeah. Turns out it was just your garden variety crazed fan, not an actual terrorist.”

The relief was audible in Trace’s voice. “Well I think pretending to be a threat to national security probably earns her top of the psycho obsessed leader board now but that’s better than somebody actually trying to blow you up. Jesus Christ… when you gonna get here?”

“Soon, should be home tonight.”

“That’s great… you okay? I’d have figured you’d sound happier about that.”

It was extremely tempting to tell Trace everything. The need to get some sympathy for his grief from an actual human being and not one of the immortals was becoming acute. Carmel and Nate were a little less shut off with their emotions than the others but they were all still far too calm and collected. He couldn’t deal with that. Their serenity made him feel weird about crying and cursing and screaming when at various points in the last few hours he’d wanted to do all three. It would be nice to be able to offload on somebody who wouldn’t stifle that impulse.

Unfortunately that was a no go. Trace would immediately have him packed off to some discreet rehab place for therapy if he came out with such a crazy sounding story. Repression was still the order of the day.

“At this point I’m almost too worn out to be pleased about it. I just want to sleep in my own bed and then spend tomorrow not moving from my couch.” That much was true.

“There’s a bunch of games on your Tivo, we could do that. I’ll even bring food since I’m guessing everything in your fridge is bad by now.”

Trace had recorded all the sports he’d missed? And was going to grocery shop so he didn’t have to? That was a true best friend.

“You’re on. Listen, I got to go but I’ll see you soon.”

“Just do me a favour and call your mom, okay? I don’t think she’s slept since I told her.”

“I will. Thanks, man.”

“See you tomorrow.”

His thumb jabbed at the phone and ended the call. Justin leaned back in his seat, head tipping back to stare up at the painted ceiling in Lucas’s front hall. He was waiting on Carmel to escort him home (though he had no idea why she was insisting when he was in the clear now). It was a replica of some Renaissance painting, but thankfully it was a woodland scene rather than any epic Biblical battles or anything that would have fitted its owner. Justin didn’t need to see any more demons today, or ever again. Not even painted ones that wouldn’t look like the real deal.

If nothing else, the day’s events had given him a big old window into Charmian’s head – in all the previous lives he didn’t remember the roles had been reversed. This was his first turn as the survivor. It was too late now to be of any use in relating to her, but he couldn’t imagine having experienced something like today several times over. No wonder she’d got so hysterical over that tandem dream they’d had back at the cabin.

It wasn’t Carmel who eventually rounded the corner but Alex. For a moment something seemed off about it to Justin, but he soon realised it was the lack of noise. The footsteps were still audible but too quiet. He was wearing big chunky boots and not making any visible effort to move softly, it seemed like they should have been louder on the parquet floor.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Justin eyed him warily. They all seemed to be getting along fine now but he’d watched this guy fight his girl with that sneer in his eye. He still didn’t quite trust him.

“Carmel is going to be a while and thanks to Char we really don’t need to escort you home. She’s being overzealous, so don’t wait on her if you don’t want to. You’re welcome to if you’d prefer that but I imagine you probably just want to get the hell out of all this.”

“Uhh… yeah. Thanks.”

Alex turned and started to walk away, but he’d only taken a few steps before he paused. Turning back to look over his shoulder at Justin, he gave as sympathetic an expression as he could manage. It was still pretty cold by most people’s standards but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“I know you’re probably beating yourself up over this, but don’t. It’s hard to explain when you’re not a soldier but it’s what any of us would do for anyone. And you weren’t just anyone to her.”

Justin opened his mouth to speak, but had to shut it again when no words would come out. He had to think very hard for a moment before any kind of comment started to push itself to the front of his mind.

“What are…” It required a deep breath. “What are you doing with…”

“The body?” Alex asked gently.

He was glad he hadn’t had to fill in that blank. “Yeah.”

“We’re discussing it now. We don’t exactly have protocol for this kind of thing but I’ll guess it’ll be some kind of ceremony and then we’ll scatter her ashes somewhere.”

Alex started to walk away again, but this time it was Justin’s voice which made him stop and turn back.

“Paris.”

He looked quizzically at the pop star, his eyebrows rising in surprise. That was one place which hadn’t been on the mooted list so far. “Paris?”

“She liked it there. We, uhh…” Justin’s fingers locked together, one thumb fretfully rubbing at the opposite palm. “Wasn’t much else to do in that cabin except talk. She likes the view from Sacré-Coeur but her favourite spot is… was… Notre-Dame. Not the front side, the other end as you look at it from the bridge.”

Alex’s smile surprised Justin. He didn’t know what Alex did; Charmian had omitted to tell him. She had talked about the places they’d been together but without mentioning their true significance. To Justin it had simply seemed like any old small talk about their favourite spots. He didn’t know that he and Charmian had taken in the view from that bridge one wintery evening - Alexander however remembered arriving and interrupting the moment. Well, maybe it hadn’t been that specific bridge (it had been torn down and reconstructed several times over the centuries), he wasn’t sure how old its current version was. It was always strange to revisit these places and remember how much they’d changed in his time, but still the view of the cathedral from that spot remained the same. Personally he’d always preferred Italy’s architecture to France’s but he could see the appeal.

“I’ll suggest it.”

Perhaps subconsciously that was why he hadn’t left previously, despite the fact that he could have walked out without Carmel at any time. (They weren’t keeping him on lockdown like the last time he’d been there). Maybe he’d needed to hear what was going to happen to her, or maybe he’d simply needed to tell somebody what should happen to her. For once that was done, Justin didn’t hesitate to immediately get up and walk out of the house for good.

**

Nathaniel had always enjoyed straightening the church back out after evening mass. It was a time of quiet reflection and peace for him, and a chance to pat himself on the back for any help he’d managed to offer his flock. That was not to be tonight. His sermon had been stilted, his delivery patchy and distracted. As he picked up the dropped hymnals and counted the contents of the collection plate he was brooding and morose. His feet shuffled a slow and weary trudge around the room. For the first time in his immortal life he felt old.

Something in the back of his mind understood that had he actually been human he’d be inconsolable right about now. It knew that the idea of never seeing the glint of mischievous steel in those dark eyes ever again would have crushed him in mortal form. It was unfathomable. She was supposed to have lived forever but she wouldn’t. Never again would he see her roll her eyes at his priesthood, complain about his stories or mock him for being doddery.

A number of avengers had little time for guides except when they needed some obscure bit of knowledge. That was never the case with her. All four of the team treated him as if he was some kind of twinkly-eyed uncle. He had enjoyed the time with her, enjoyed gently teasing her when she was in one of her moods or complaining about Alexander. Now all would be silence and he found the thought hard to process.

He knew his brain was AWOL when he found himself straightening out the same pile of books he’d already rearranged. When he promptly knocked them back off the table that was when he knew he was really a lost cause.

“Wow. When’d you get so clumsy, old man?”

His head snapped up at speed. There had been no footsteps, no rustling, simply the voice. The moment he saw its owner he woke immediately up from his stupor - there was nothing like the impossible occurring to suddenly sharpen your mind. Nathaniel snatched up his discarded bottle of water and started trying to work out how quickly and subtly he could get over to the font. Holy water was the only thing he could defend himself with; he did not fancy another abduction.

“She’s not even in the ground yet. Decorum would dictate you at least wait until after the funeral.”

The demon wearing Charmian’s face held up her hands. “I swear, Nate, it’s me.”

“No, it’s not. Charmian is dead.” He started inching sideways.

“That’s true, I am dead, but I am honestly truly here. It’s kind of a long story but it’s not important right now. I need your help, Nathaniel, and I don’t have a lot of time. She didn’t give me long.”

He was almost insulted. Was he supposed to fall for such base emotional manipulation? “Sorry, I may be a priest but I’m not Jesus. Resurrections are beyond me.”

Charmian let out an involuntary snort of laughter and shook her head. “You know I really do kind of love you.” She rubbed a hand over her lips to recompose herself. “Look, I don’t have time to sit here and try to convince you so just do whatever you need to do to reassure yourself that I’m not some demon bitch wearing a face. Toss some holy water at me, quiz me, I don’t care. I could tell you my least favourite Bible story if that helps?”

That made him stop in his tracks. How could a demon know about her impatience with his quoting of Scripture? Nathaniel stood rigid, eyes trailing her up and down. Of course she looked exactly like Charmian but that wasn’t what he was looking for. He wasn’t even sure what that was. Maybe it was a look in her eye or something in her stance but he would know it when he saw it.

“You’re the one who keeps telling me all things are possible and the mortals got that one right,” she said softly. “You know me, Nate. You’re the one who’s coached me through all my shit and I need you to do it again, please.”

“If you really are Charmian in such desperate need of my counsel, then surely you remember my last.” The words rolled out slowly.

She immediately caught on – this was his test. What was the last thing he’d said to her before she’d been yanked out of that room? She’d been pissy and despairing, berating herself for her mistakes and terrified of the threat that faced her. The rant was about how she’d got so much wrong, she wasn’t up to the task… oh yes. That was it.

“That I and my ridiculously ill-fated relationship were chosen for a reason. I’m deeply annoyed but it turns out you were entirely factually accurate on that one.”

It also turned out that even when you were dead you could still have the breath knocked out of your lungs. Nathaniel had most uncharacteristically flung himself at her and was hugging her with too much force. He seemed to have forgotten that in her human guise he was stronger than her.

“Nice to see you too, old man.” She spluttered. “Could you relax the death grip? Once was enough.”

“Charmian.” Nathaniel stepped back and took her face in his hands, at a loss for words. “I… how?”

“Turns out you’re right, the light really can do anything. Though its conduit is kind of a bitch.”

“You… you met…”

“Long story, don’t have time to tell it right now. I really do need some advice here and I haven’t got long before she pulls me back. I had to do some serious bargaining to get her to let me see you. ”

Nathaniel looked at her in dismay. He had only just got her back and after that comment he now had a million questions to ask. A guide’s thirst for knowledge was never-ending.

“She gave me a choice.” Charmian rushed on, not heeding his expression. “I can go on and do whatever it is dead people do, or she can make me an avenger again. And on the one hand I don’t want to leave anybody and I’m not sure I’m ready to go. But on the other I’m just kind of tired of everything being so God damned hard and she told me some stuff that really makes me question my entire existence. Maybe I should just go for a whole fresh start, let them wipe me and then eventually I can start again when I get reborn. Or maybe that’s the coward’s way out… I don’t know what to do, Nate.”

“And you came to me?”

That was affecting in a way he really wasn’t used to. It wasn’t only avengers who experienced muted emotions.

“Well no shit, I come to you with all my issues. You do your whole irritating wise sage thing like you’re God damn Yoda or whatever and you tease me the whole time and I refuse to admit that you’re nearly always on the money. That’s how we work.”

It was a fair assessment but it didn’t help him much. He had little idea of what he could say to her. It was a monumental decision and even hundreds of years of study and knowledge seemed to ill-equip him for it.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“I have been going over and over it all in my head and I’m driving myself crazy because I can’t work out what to do. I mean, can I really just make a choice and say ‘cool, I’m done’ like that? Am I really finished?” Her tone was desperate. “I saved him, completed my life long mission and all that jazz. And even if I stay it’s not like I could really be with him anyway since he’d still be mortal and I wouldn’t be. But then when I think that I think of how I could be back with my team, back in my place, doing some good. I don’t want anybody to miss me, I don’t want to go knowing that I wouldn’t even remember them… but then I don’t know if maybe I’m just done with it all being so hard.”

Nate frowned at her, wishing he knew what to say. Still, he’d always found that if he let her ramble on enough she usually answered her own question in some way or another. That was his great trick – he let people tell him the answers. He didn’t actually offer much advice at all.

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“I keep thinking that maybe if I stay it would just be a new way for me to not be able to have what I want from my life, and maybe it’s only fear of the unknown stopping me passing on. Which would make sense, right? Since I’m so old at this point that barely anything’s new or unexpected. But then I go the other way and I think maybe that’s dumb. Maybe I wouldn’t be sitting around pining for Justin, maybe I’d finally get over it knowing that I hadn’t failed this time … I keep spinning it all round and round in my head and I can’t work it out, I’m frickin’ dizzy at this point. I need you to tell me what to do.”

“I…” Nathaniel was still lost for words. She was rushed and jumbled, but even so her dilemma seemed pretty clear. What also seemed clear was his complete inadequacy for the task. “This may sound like an obvious question but what do you actually want, Charmian? Never mind what you think is practical, what do you want?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head and gazed up at the stained glass windows. “None of it makes any sense, that’s what I’m stuck on. Everything that’s happened has been about this big great love one way or another; I’m being given this chance precisely as a reward for being in love with this guy and saving him as a result. She even told me the same kind of crap you did about that, about how big a part of my being it is, but it still works out doomed. How does that follow? Dead or avenger, I still don’t wind up in the relationship that this whole fucking mess has been about. So what’s the point? If I’m not following that any more, what am I supposed to be looking at?”

When she picked up a discarded hymnal and threw it at the font he let the transgression slide.

“It’s illogical, Nate, that’s what it is! And I don’t know how to make that choice when there’s no rhyme or reason in the options!”

There seemed little he could add to that. When she framed it like that he had to agree – it was illogical to the point of being a nonsense. Why revolve everything around that only to discard it at such a crucial crossroads?

“Well. Under the circumstances I don’t think anybody could blame you for the indecision.”

“So you see why I need you to do your Atticus schtick so badly.”

Nate sighed and patted her shoulder in what he hoped was comforting fashion. “I wish I could be more help but I’m not sure what I could give you except platitudes about following your gut. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you how to live or die.”

“Sure you can! You’re a priest, isn’t that supposed to be your stock and trade?”

Well. At least he could see death hadn’t had too much of an adverse effect. She was still a smart ass.

“I don’t agree. My team are better prepped.”

“Exactly – which is why Xavier will see them coming, his style is too similar to yours. Natalia’s crew are unpredictable and on this occasion that’ll be the advantage. I want your team running point on the Anton search, they’re better at stealth.”

“I’ll give you that, but Anton shouldn’t be a priority right now. Anton will be roasting on a spit somewhere and I doubt that’s changing any time soon. He’s not an immediate issue.”

“I’m not saying it’s a priority but no point letting the trail run cold. Apart from anything else, I still want to know what rock he found that succubus under.”

Lucas shook his head, folding his arms as he looked down at the map of the city. That was entirely true, he hadn’t lied. There were strategic reasons for not letting the guy disappear into the pit unchecked. What he wasn’t saying was that he also had a serious yen for some revenge; Lillith was down and there was only Anton to go. Alexander undoubtedly wouldn’t approve of that motive but he cared little.

“Fair point,” Alex replied. “I’ll send them on patrol as planned tonight and tomorrow we can brief them.” He tapped a section of the map close to the meat packing district.

“Good. Get me a report first thing, briefing at midday.”

“When did they become such BFFs?”

“Shut up.”

“Seriously. Suddenly they’re Tweedledum and Tweedledee? What the fuck’s up with that?”

“Come on. Alex stepped up, and Lucas needs allies right now.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean I have to like the fucker any more.”

“You have Bob to rub in his face for eternity, that not enough?”

Zac’s voice didn’t re-enter Carmel’s head, but she could guess what he was thinking. Nothing was going to be enough for a while. Their victory had an enormous sour note to it and neither of them really felt comfortable with Alexander.

They were in Lucas’s dining room once more. Maps of the area spread out around them as they discussed various upcoming operations (though Carmel suspected it wouldn’t be long before he moved them onto another city, maybe even country). Alex seemed to be doing a lot of consultation on them. That was going to take some getting used to. Finally there was some measure of respect and common ground going on, which was certainly a welcome change, but nothing seemed as it should be. They all still expected her to walk in at any moment. Lucas was doing his best and he was starting to work out the leadership thing, but after hundreds of years it was hard accepting a new regime. Especially one where their biggest rival was now their new partner in crime – Carmel and Zac were both having a hard time with that one. Lucas on the other hand seemed to have fallen into some kind of rapport with him.

“Mel, what’s the status on Sweden?”

She snapped out of her reverie. “They reported in forty five minutes ago; first sweep didn’t throw anything up. Henrik’s not worried though, said he expected them to go to ground and he’s got a few ideas where.”

“Good.” Lucas tipped his head from side to side, stretching out his neck. It was stiff from peering over the map for so long. “Think that about covers it.”

“Thank God.” Alex rolled his eyes lazily. “This was the longest meeting ever. You’re worse than she i… was.”

“Ouch on the past tense. I know it’s accurate, but yeesh.”

Four heads pinged up simultaneously before gawping at the intruder.

Charmian quickly lived to regret announcing herself in that fashion. Nathaniel wasn’t a solider; he didn’t react like these people did. Where he hesitated they moved. Before she could blink she found herself with her arms pinned behind her back and a hand around her throat.

It had been a rash move and she should have known better. Still, she had to cut herself some slack. It was mentally exhausting having to continually surprise people with being back from the dead and she wasn’t thinking clearly. She’d done Nate, she’d done Katherine, these guys were third on the list and they weren’t even the last.  The thing she had realised about herself in the last few weeks was that when she was overwhelmed she started wise cracking. It was not a helpful impulse and she was going to have to work on it.

“You know if I hadn’t been kicked out this would count as treason, right here.”

“Demon?” Lucas asked blithely. He was unperturbed; he’d expected some stunt like this. The hell spawn were never going to resist gloating.

Carmel shook her head. “Can’t be. Place is warded.”

“Could a succubus get through? We know they’re harder to detect.” Zac tightened his grip and Charmian let out a yelp in protest.

“You are so lucky I don’t have a sword or you’d be getting stabbed on principle for that. Call me a damn succubus…”

Alex smirked, folding his arms across his chest and tipping his head. His eyes flicked over her body and a thoughtful expression settled on his face. “Certainly talks like Charmian.”

“That would follow, since I am Charmian.”

He shrugged. “Prove it.”

Charmian’s eyes went not to him, but Lucas. His blue eyes were drilling into her but she met them easily. She knew him too well to be intimidated.

“Just in case anybody was blaming themselves, don’t,” she said. She ignored Alex’s challenge. “I got myself into trouble being a smart ass. Clearly I haven’t learned yet or I’d have knocked first.”

Carmel privately thought that also sounded like Charmian. Not so much the smart ass part, but the rushing to absolve them of responsibility and take it for herself. The biggest thing that was starting to make her waver was the complete lack of explanation for what else she could be. There was an extensive list of hell beasts in her head and not one she knew of ought to be able to get into the house. As far as she was aware Zac’s theory was a bust on that front as well, succubae weren’t immune to warding. If this wasn’t Charmian then she had no other explanation… but then not being able to think of anyone else didn’t mean there was nobody else. So still she hesitated.

“Still waiting for you to prove it,” Lucas said quietly. His mind had quickly followed along the same lines as Carmel’s.

Her lips curled up at the corners. Alex she refused to give into but he was pretty much her best friend. He was allowed.

“Fine then - Jerusalem, 1192. We swore we’d never tell but if it confirms my identity…”

Charmian didn’t need to continue as within the space of two heartbeats Lucas had pushed Zac off of her. Quickly she was swept into a hug and where Lucas went the other two soon followed. Jerusalem in 1192 had been the one and only time the two of them had ever had an indiscretion (high off of a particularly invigorating victory). Both had brushed it off as a mistake that was only going to cause needless political disturbance amongst the avengers, and vowed to each other that they’d never utter a word. They had resumed friendship and business as usual with nary a blink and without ever discussing it again until now. It was more than enough for Lucas; there was no way anybody else could have known that.

It wasn’t a long hug, they weren’t ones for huge displays of affection, but she had just risen from the dead. At least something had to be done. Alexander wasn’t joining in – he was standing a few feet back trying and failing to look impassive. He’d seen a lot in his lengthy life but this was a new one on him.

Carmel clasped Charmian’s face in her hands. “How the hell?”

“Long story. Are you all okay? What happened with you guys in the warehouse?”

“Suddenly a whole bunch better. We got through it okay, iced them all, but it was kind of rough with what happened to you. Kind of dampens the victory party.”

The comment immediately set something off for Zac, and he blurted it out before he could think. “I killed Bob!”

Charmian turned to face him, surprise written all over her face. He hadn’t meant to say it, it was some uncontrolled reflex. Suddenly he’d just wanted to grab his chance for her to be proud of him before she could disappear once more. Zac still felt like she could leave or die again any second. He’d never have admitted it, but he’d been left shaken by his seemingly invincible mentor not only being defeated but killed. When it sank in and her teeth started showing through the grin, that was when he finally started feeling like she was really there and back in front of him. She clapped him on the shoulder, smiling ear to ear.

“Are you friggin’ kidding me? That’s my boy! Tell me everything!”

**

Justin had been sitting in front of the TV with the remote in his hand for some considerable time. He had sat down with the intention of turning it on, but somehow the instructions had never got from his brain to his muscles. Instead he was staring at it with a frown deeply etched into his forehead. He barely moved except to drum his finger against the buttons without pressing them.

Suddenly he was overwhelmed by choice. For all his complaints about their cramped existence in that apartment and then the cabin, with so little to do it made things simpler. He had merely gone from one moment to the next. There was no need to think much beyond that with his options so limited. Whatever was going on or being felt in that minute was the only issue at hand. Now he was back in his life and he could do anything he wanted. The threat had passed; he no longer needed to worry. He’d be a bit paranoid about demon possessions around him for the rest of his life, but it would never be him. She had seen to that. So what did he do now?

It was doubly hard to concentrate with the visage of Charmian’s battered body still so fresh in his mind. The feeling it brought wasn’t grief, but guilt. There was no comforting thought of her looking peaceful or serene in death to assuage it. No longer a colossus, she had been broken and diminished. No trace of the proud warrior remained now. In his mind he could still picture the deadly dance she’d done with Alexander in the practice ring and the defiant yet fading glint in her eyes as she took Lillith down with her. He almost wanted to laugh remembering her last words. There had been so much life (both in quality and quantity) that was now extinguished. Her incredibly long life had finally been extinguished and it was his fault.

That was where the guilt came in. She’d done it all for his worthless hide and he hadn’t even had the wherewithal to offer her some comfort as she passed. He should have said something – maybe ‘thank you’ would have been a decent start. He should have admitted what a stubborn idiot he’d been and that he cared. Now it was all too late. Justin didn’t quite know what the hell he was supposed to do with himself to pay that debt. Certainly he couldn’t make up for his harsh treatment of her any more when she was no longer there to make it up to. To make her sacrifice worthy he needed to be worth saving, and he couldn’t figure out how he was supposed to live up to that.

That was why he was so stuck for what to do. He had a huge debt blotting his accounts and no idea where to even begin attempting to repay it. As his eyes fixated on the blank screen it was his future he saw - a blank mystery.

The doorbell rang and he was startled out of his maudlin self-flagellation. A poorly suppressed groan escaped his lips. It would be his mother; upon hearing from her missing son she had reacted with understandable frenzy. Justin had guessed that his attempts to deter her from coming straight over might go unheeded. Selfishly he didn’t want to have to take on the weight of her feelings right now when he was doing such a poor job with his.

Still, maybe that was as good a next step as any. He didn’t know what to do next? He could get up and answer the door. One foot would go in front of the other and maybe that was all it took. It would have to be enough for now.

His muscles had seized up from the stillness, and he had to walk off a touch of pins and needles as he went for the door. Justin shook out his shoulders and inhaled sharply, pausing with his fingers around the handle. He had to steel himself for his mom’s inevitable barrage of questions. She was going to ask far more than Trace had; he’d have to be careful. Too much lying off the cuff could trip him up at a later date if he forgot details of his story. The truth was not an option. The truth would land him in front of a psychiatrist.

Opening the door was like a full body blow.

There she was. Her clothes were fixed. Every dark curl was back in place. Her skin was back to its customary alabaster smoothness. There was no trace of a cut or a bruise and instead of that eerie stillness Charmian’s chest steadily rose and fell. Brown eyes blinked nervously at him.

“Hi,” she said.

As an opener it was anti-climatic to say the least. Though what exactly could you expect the dead woman on your doorstep to say?

How was this possible? His first thought was that it was another hell beast playing mind games with him, but he quickly eliminated that possibility. She had fixed that. They couldn’t come for him any more. If this wasn’t her then she couldn’t have come from below, which meant she had to come from the other direction… that was a mind twister. But then who would they send and why with her face? That didn’t seem right… did that mean the likeliest possibility was that it really was Charmian, live and in person?

Justin snapped to his senses and realised he’d been staring and silent too long.

“Is it really you?” That was a stupid question to ask. Even if it wasn’t her it would claim to be.

Of all possible responses he didn’t expect the one he got. Glossy tears started glimmering along her lower lash line, though they didn’t fall. Her thumbs were hooked into her pockets in a self-conscious stance and she gave a sheepish shrug. Three reunions later and she wasn’t any better at them.

“Turns out saving the world all those times was at least good for something. Though I’m guessing resurrection just cost me all those stockpiled brownie points, so the retirement villa in the Maldives is probably out.”

Again with the wise cracking -  she really had to curb that impulse.

For the second time she was caught off-guard by a rib constricting hug. Justin’s face was buried in her neck and his shoulders were heaving. He didn’t understand how he knew this had to be her, he just knew it was. Perhaps he was being a little too quick to accept it but after all the weird crap he’d seen this was starting to seem positively par the course. Besides, it was such a Charmian thing to say.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

One hand shakily met the back of his head. The other patted his back. “It’s okay.”

“I got you killed; that is not fucking okay.”

“It’s alright, I promise.” She stroked his hair. “I’m here.”

“How? How are you here?” Justin pulled back and rubbed fretfully at his nose. He was making a gargantuan effort to refrain from hysterics. Hastily he gestured her inside and shut the door behind her. “What’s going on?”

“Long story, another time.” Her gaze went to her feet. “Crux of it is they’ve fixed me right up. All back the way I was. I’ve just been to see the guys and then I came over here.”

Justin’s mouth dropped into a small o, surprised by this turn of events. Why it should be any more surprising than her Lazarus routine he wasn’t sure. Carmel had mentioned the plot twist with their boss not being the one who’d wanted her wings clipped.

“Oh. So you’re an avenger again. That… definitely beats dead.” Inwardly he cursed himself for yet another stupid comment.

“Well…” Charmian had no idea where to start. The situation was so overwrought and awkward that trying to have a conversation was kind of ridiculous. She really didn’t know how to segue into it all gracefully. “They, uhh… they gave me the choice of whether to go back to that or to just pass on. That’s what I went over there to talk to the gang about.”

“Oh.”

It was unbelievably selfish, all things considered, but he found himself disappointed. He had no right to prefer her mortal and vulnerable (especially given the price she’d paid for that). There was no controlling his feelings however and they remained the same. Going back to soldier mode would close her back off again. He didn’t know what they were, but whatever it was it was easier when she dropped the poker face. Though what had he expected once all this was finished anyway? Even if she’d lived she would have gone back to her day job and that would have been the end of their acquaintance. It made no difference, he supposed. One way or another she was always going to leave.

“I, uhh…” Charmian shifted nervously. Since she’d given the word and felt herself falling back to Earth she seemed to have done little else but stare at her feet. She’d done it on the entire walk to his house and was doing it through most of this conversation. “I guess you could say I made a counter offer.”

Even with her own eyes directed at the ground she could feel his blue irises boring into her. “Counter offer?”

“Yep. Never accept a first one and all,” she said weakly.

“And behind door number three?” Now he was going from selfishness to audacity. He had little right to be taking the stern tone with her right now but there was no patience left to deal with the cryptic talk.

“I’m back…” How could she put it? “The other way I was. You know. Human.” Finally she managed to look him in the face.

“Human?” Justin echoed in disbelief.

“Human.” She repeated it again, along with another uncomfortable shrug.

For a second relief and euphoria began to rise; they were quickly replaced by confusion. Putting aside his disappointment, objectively you could hardly have blamed her if she went for invulnerability.

“What made you do that?” He asked.

“Because all my life I…” Charmian pursed her lips tightly together, shaking her head. “Dying’s a hell of a way to give you clarity on stuff, and when I just looked back at everything I felt like I’ve never really set my own path. And that seems crazy, given how God damn old I am, but I’ve always been working to somebody else’s agenda. My dad, then my brother, then the light. I left my family because I was tired of that, but for all the good I did as an avenger and how proud I am of it I think I just swapped one set of orders for another. When she made me that offer both ways felt wrong, and I think that’s why. There are so many things I’ve never had out of this life because they weren’t in someone else’s plan for me. If I die or ascend again they’re off the table for good, so I figured maybe it’s time for me to actually run my own destiny. Been a few centuries too long in coming.”

At that point she expected him to speak, but he said nothing. Her response was to fill the space with a bad joke; she couldn’t take the silence. “Besides, not like death won’t still be there in a few decades. I still get to kick the bucket again later.”

“That’s…” Justin sucked in a breath and held it for a moment. “Wow,” he said as he exhaled. “That’s kind of immense.”

She nodded. “Yeeeeah.”

Now it wasn’t his own future on his mind, it was hers in question. Briefly he wondered if the resurrection came with a social security number and some start up cash, but somehow the practicalities paled in comparison to that last speech. At least she already had an apartment (tiny though it was).

“So I guess…” Justin trailed off. All words seemed inadequate for such a monumental thing, and he was still in a head spin just seeing her. She had been dead. He had been angry and then sad and then guilty. Now suddenly she was alive. What did he do with all that?

“I guess you just gotta work out what your plan is for you. What do you want?”

Charmian’s eyes flicked upwards and met his. A wistful yet wry smile pulled at her mouth.

She’d slept with him. She’d taken a knife to the gut for him. And the idiot couldn’t even hazard a guess as to what she might want?

“I suppose we’ll find out.”

“Come on. You’re telling me you could take him down. Him?”

“Theoretically, yes.”

“But he’s twice your size.”

Charmian smiled as she took a small sip from her beer. It never failed. Every time her martial arts expertise came up people started asking her who she could beat up. It would start off reasonable, but as she confirmed her capability an ever more outlandish series of hypothetical scenarios would ensue. This one involved Justin’s biggest and burliest bodyguard.

It was relatively tame actually - her new neighbour had asked if she could win a fight against Jackie Chan.

“Which can be used against him. That’s the whole thing; you’re not learning how to hit harder, it’s about how to play it smart and use your opponent’s own movement against them. Once you know that it pretty much becomes just reading what they do, and when somebody’s big like that their own momentum’s got a lot of force behind it anyway. It’s not just about brute strength, otherwise I’d be screwed.”

Trace smirked and scratched at the nape of his neck. “Damn. You can’t be much taller than five seven and you can even theoretically take out a guy that big? Remind me never to piss you off.”

He propped a foot up on the seat in front of him before crossing the other one over it. They were settled into the VIP box waiting for the opening night of Justin’s latest tour to kick off. His mother was due to join them any minute.

“So how long before you’re officially allowed to teach?” He asked.

Trace had been introduced to Charmian by Justin about a month ago, and was getting to know her. They were still in the small talk phase of their acquaintance, but he liked her. He was still nowhere near figuring the woman out but she’d been nothing but pleasant.

Despite the friendliness she’d been intimidating at first. Justin knew a lot of famous, powerful and good looking women so he shouldn’t have been fazed - even so she was still something else. She was drop dead beautiful, but that wasn’t so noteworthy in Hollywood. The thing that struck so hard was an air of knowing something everybody else didn’t. There was something sharp and piercing behind her eyes that took some adjusting to, a quiet yet fierce intelligence that peered right through you. It was subtle but it was there. Even without the apparent flair for kicking ass he wouldn’t have wanted to mess with her.

Alcohol was however the great social equaliser; after a couple of boozy nights out with the gang he’d come to decide that Charmian was alright really. There was something about seeing someone unable to walk in a straight line that brought them back down to Earth. The more Trace chatted to her the more he saw her less serious side and the more approachable she seemed. Even so, it was still early-ish days and he tended to stick to safe topics like her career and the weather.

“Believe it or not I could technically be doing it now, there isn’t really any regulation for it - which I couldn’t friggin’ believe when there’re weapons involved in some of these disciplines.” Charmian shook her head and her nose screwed up in distaste. It struck her as kind of irresponsible.

“Seriously? You can just start any old time with teaching folks to smack each other up?” He chuckled.

“Yep. Realistically people expect you to be a black belt and have the insurance, but when I looked around it seemed like the really decent dojos still actually look for you to have some kind of coaching qualification. It’s a three month course so I should be done in about another month or so.”

“Then you’ll open up your own?”

“That’s the goal eventually, but I’m so not ready to run my own business. I put out some feelers at the place where I’ve been training and the owner’s said he’ll trial me so long as I get the certificates first.”

“So what were you doing before?” Trace asked.

It didn’t matter how many times she drilled herself with the lie, she had to hesitate a second before she could come out with it. It was strange that it wasn’t easier – as an avenger she had constantly had to lie about her background to unsuspecting mortals. The trouble was that she’d never had to keep it up for long before. They served their purpose and then moved along, never staying in any mortal’s life. This lie was different. This lie she would have to keep up until the end of her days and apparently humans had far less control over their mouths than avengers. She’d too often found herself starting to tell the truth before she’d registered what she was saying. The pause had become a necessary safeguard; thinking before speaking had never been so crucial.

“Nothing special, office administrator. Just working solely for the pay check and totally bored.”

“But martial arts are more your thing?”

“All my life.” That at least was true. “Don’t know why I didn’t consider this sooner.”

It seemed like a no brainer now but at the time she’d been too busy stressing about it. The first big human challenge she’d had was the need for a job – not solely for money, but also for some kind of purpose and structure to her day.

For about a fortnight or so it had been novel to have no mission to follow and no plans to make. It hadn’t taken long to wear off. There was only so much TV you could watch. There were only so many art galleries you could visit. (On the bright side, she’d learned that the 15th century portrait of her by one of Michelangelo’s apprentices had in fact survived – it had been part of a temporary exhibit, on loan from some private collection). It was lucky that Lucas had always been one for asset building – he argued it was necessary cover to be able to pay for things normally and without working magic. As a result of his influence she had a nest egg; it gave her the luxury of time to work out her vocation rather than scrambling for any job she could get.

Although the avengers had since moved onto their next operation (somewhere in Sweden apparently) Lucas was in frequent contact. Ostensibly it was for tactical advice but she suspected it was really a way to stay in touch. Of course he would never say as much, but she felt the effort he was making to maintain their friendship. They’d been together every day for centuries; it was weird not being in each other’s pockets any more. It was for the best however. She had to resist the urge to dwell in the past and cling to a group she could never again belong to in the same way, but it didn’t stop her missing them. Still, the joint power share with Alexander seemed to be settling into some kind of rhythm so she felt no guilt about not going back.

It had in fact been Lucas who suggested that she look into martial arts instruction. She had been complaining that she was trained in nothing and had no skills. Lucas’s response was to snort and ask what she thought she’d been doing for the last thousand years. At first she had balked, saying she wanted a change and the whole point was to turn her back on her previous life. The idea had stuck with her though and she had resumed her training (human bodies needed exercise anyway). Without the pressure of a sacred mission attached she found that she simply enjoyed it, enjoyed the feeling of flexing those muscles. She could teach, she could compete - it gave her an ambition and something to work towards.

It also served as a distraction from the trauma of trying to create a new life from scratch. Rewards from on high apparently came with an impressively manufactured identity and social security number but no guidance on the big questions. She was also trying to find out how she fit into Justin’s world even as she created her own and it was deeply confusing.

Justin had been gracious about being there as the only human she could speak freely to; he’d been sort of an adjustment coach.  Even so she had been wary of building her new path directly around him. For one thing she had no idea where they stood, but the greater principle was that she needed to be her own person. She hadn’t given up immortality to waste her limited remaining years on co-dependence and living somebody else’s life. There had been great pains taken to try and explore the world outside of his orbit, even on days when she’d really have preferred the safety net of his company. Using him as a crutch was comforting but not smart.

That was why she had delayed in meeting any of his circle for so long (though from his reaction she thought he’d been relieved, as if he was equally unready). Tentatively she had started making friends with people around her – her neighbours at the new apartment, people at the dojo – but still the whole question of them hung heavy in the air. It was just hanging there all the time, more so now that he had started segueing her into his daily goings on. Charmian hadn’t asked, he’d simply started inviting her to things one day and she had accepted without comment. It turned out that his friends were nice people - Trace was a lot of fun, now they had finally been introduced.  

Maybe the introduction meant something or maybe it didn’t, who could work it out? Whenever they were together there was something sitting on the end of her tongue that she was hesitant to voice. Justin hadn’t made any moves, neither had she, and he wasn’t offering any clues about his thoughts. Their last night in the cabin hadn’t been discussed since.

Tonight she was nervous about that. For one thing she was about to meet his mother. For another, she was about to experience what Justin did for the first time. Over the many lifetimes she had read his poems, seen his drawings, and now heard his music, but she’d never seen him working at the height of his powers and success. Although she’d mastered controlling her feelings at this stage, she was still afraid she was going to get emotional and not be able to explain why.

Hopefully nobody had noticed that she was desperately in love with the guy yet but crying over him singing might be a giveaway.

“That’s cool,” Trace replied before taking another long swig of his beer. “So are you with us after the show? We were just thinking a few drinks, don’t think it’ll be too late.”

“Umm… yeah, I’m not starting too early tomorrow so as long as it’s not a heavy one I could swing it.” She tried to keep her smile toned down and not too obvious. Sometimes she found herself a little too eager to put herself in Justin’s path – as if sheer proximity might eventually drive him to address the issue – and she had to rein herself in.

It was embarrassing, she was quite literally ancient and yet she felt like a teenage girl around him sometimes.

**

It was a beautiful night. The sky was a deliciously inky black, though the stars were masked by the usual city smog. The temperature was perfect, warm enough but with a small bite of cool that was refreshing. That was probably why Charmian had dawdled so much longer than necessary outside. She hadn’t meant to but the after party was raucous and the hotel hadn’t opened nearly enough windows. She’d needed the oxygen. As the perspiration had started drying from her skin she felt that little bit less self-conscious; even a silly thing like sweating took getting used to. It was a good thing she was wearing black.

The party was still raging in the bar and though it was anti-social of her she continued to lurk on the patio. Her now empty wine glass was discarded on one of the tables. She had a view of the entire hotel garden and deserted pool, the air was crisp and she was contentedly musing. It had been a nice evening all round and a little breather to smell the roses was in order (figuratively anyway, she didn’t see any actual rose bushes around). It was kind of crazy to think that this was her existence now. Not so long ago she’d have been glued to the inside of the room, scanning over the crowd for demons and trouble. It was nice to know it wasn’t her problem.

She tried not to think too hard about that, given what a target she was. It only made her head hurt and she’d already decided it wasn’t her worry any more. She knew full well that Alex and Lucas had probably left a detail on her even though she’d insisted she’d be fine. Besides, nothing had happened so far – might be they’d simply decided that she had little value other than bragging rights.

“Well check you out.”

The drawl sounded from behind her, and Charmian twisted her head round to see the intruder. It wasn’t necessary; she knew the voice well enough by now.

“Why? What am I doing worth checking out?”

Justin smirked at her sincerity as he crossed the patio to her side. Leaning against the balcony wall, his arm brushed hers as he drummed his fingertips against the stone. A bottle of beer hung neglected from his other hand.

It was the first time he’d talked to her all night. It was a hazard of being the headliner; you couldn’t walk across a room without various people interrupting you. He wasn’t complaining but it did make getting promptly where you were going a bit of a luxury. Frequently he headed for the bathroom at least ten minutes before he really needed to use it. He’d seen her disappear outside earlier and had meant to join her as much for some fresh air as to say hello, but it had taken a while to make it to the door.

“It’s just an expression. You’re cute when you’re not down with the lingo.”

“Ass.”

She poked him in the ribs before resuming her previous activity, which was staring out across the garden.  Some of the lingo did puzzle her sometimes, though she wouldn’t admit that to him. He enjoyed teasing her about it too much. It wasn’t like the avengers were still running around speaking medieval English but she hadn’t appreciated how much slang she’d managed to miss in all their moving around. Most of it was pretty self-explanatory but the odd phrase still got her here and there.

“Having fun?” He asked as he followed her gaze. She’d seemed enraptured but he couldn’t work out what she’d been focused on. There were a few shadowy shapes, likely bushes and topiary, but that was about it.

“Yeah. Just came out to cool off for a second.” Charmian turned and pulled herself up to sit on the wall. “You?”

“Same. So…” His long fingers started picking at the label on the bottle. His eyes fell upon her stiletto clad feet, poking out from beneath her jeans and swinging back and forth. “What did you think of the show?”

“Well clearly the crowd thought you sucked. You could tell from all the screaming.”

“Heh.” His lips stretched out, revealing white teeth beneath the dry smile. “Is it so hard to say you liked it?”

Damn it. She’d hoped he wouldn’t notice that deflection. It was almost a given that his mother had noticed her not-surreptitious-enough dabbing at her eyes but whether she’d mentioned it to her son was anybody’s guess. Perhaps she was giving herself too much credit but she felt like in a lot of ways she’d helped make it possible for him to go out and achieve that for himself. Pride had swelled up and then so had a little bit of frustration. Charmian had no desire to let any more of it slip out to his face.

“I don’t like to overinflate your ego. But yes, I liked it.”

“Good.” His fingers played with the bottle and she tried not to pay too much attention. “I’m glad you made it along.”

Justin breathed in a shot of cool air, letting his comment sit. It was nice to be out where it was fresh, the party was great but the room was stifling. He was a social animal but sometimes even he craved some quieter company. Hanging out in silence with her was easier than might be expected; he didn’t feel any impetus to talk. There was less than an inch between them but the proximity wasn’t uncomfortable.

Charmian had in general proved much quieter company than he’d expected her to be. Her resurrection had been shocker enough, but the surprises kept on coming. You might have assumed that she would be a commanding force even as a human, but as it turned out she was content to keep to herself. In some ways he supposed that might be logical; maybe she was over being the leader. Maybe being more solitary as opposed to constantly in a team and having to be the one with the answers was a little slice of freedom.

In some ways it made it easier to relate to her, in other ways harder. Being the most powerful individual in the room and the one everybody looked at was something he was used to. Throughout their previous acquaintance those roles had been reversed – the avengers certainly didn’t give a shit who he was outside of their mission. That had been unsettling and perhaps a little humbling for him. He’d struggled to work out how to be the one who sat back and followed. Just as he’d come to grips with it she’d now withdrawn and was being far more pliable, even a little aloof. Neither was necessarily better or worse than the other, it just took some grappling with.

Charmian in all her worldly wisdom was doing exactly the right thing and establishing her own independence. That was all very well, but sometimes he selfishly wished she would stay where he wanted her until he figured it all out for himself. The equilibrium was elusive - or maybe she just liked to keep him on his toes. Either way he’d been treading very carefully, trying to work out where he stood and what was really there without the life or death destiny situation complicating matters. It had been a process - that was for sure.

“So when do you head out?” She asked.

“Day after tomorrow. Next show’s here tomorrow night.” His hand went to his pocket and briefly his fingers found the pack of cigarettes he’d intended to open, but he decided against it. 

“And you’re gone for two months?”

“Yes, for the first leg.” Justin looked down at his feet, and hesitated briefly before speaking again. “I would’ve invited you to come with but I guess you’ll still have classes?”

Charmian was a little taken aback. It had never occurred to her that he’d consider it. Then again, she certainly couldn’t claim much insight into his thinking lately. The straightforward thing would have been to simply ask, but myriad voices in her brain had halted that plan. There seemed far too many ways it could go wrong or make her look stupid.

This was the frustrating thing about humanity. The decisiveness and self-assurance she’d enjoyed for so many centuries hadn’t magically evaporated, it was far too ingrained for that, but even so she did second guess herself an awful lot more than she used to.

“Yeah. Sorry I’ll miss it.”

“That’s the breaks.” If he was at all deflated by the refusal he didn’t display any sign of it, nonchalance reigned.

“Yeah.” She pressed on, eager to not to let him think she was making excuses. “But it would’ve been nice to hang out with you some more. I know we’ve both been busy but… you know, maybe the crowd thought you sucked but I’d really like to see the show again.”

Justin could tell the weak joke was a bit of a cop out on her part. It bolstered him despite that and drove him to take the plunge. Even if her praise wasn’t effusive he could still tell that she’d rated the performance and her approval meant something to him.

“Look, can I be honest?”

“People who’ve patched me up after I’ve bled out all over them are allowed to be honest. It’s a battlefield thing.” Once again she was wise cracking because she was getting overwhelmed, she noticed.

“I’ve been kind of taking my time because I know you’ve had a lot to adjust to, and so have I, but actually I would just like it if you were around more. Like, you could be around a whole lot more and that wouldn’t bother me. I know that right before I go off for several weeks is probably poor timing for that conclusion, but… I don’t know. I get that you’re trying to work your own thing out and I totally support that, but I don’t want us falling by the wayside. You took a knife for me; it’d be pretty fucked up if I didn’t look out for you.”

And just what did he mean by ‘us,’ she wondered. She breathed in for a moment, letting a thought run through her mind. The voices were doing some more whispering about potential backfire but she pushed them away. Fortune favoured the bold, right? If she could deal with failed missions that cost several hundred lives then she could deal with a little rejection. It couldn’t be that bad, right? If she just casually dangled a possibility? He could take or leave it and she could play it off if he left it. If he meant what he’d said then that seemed like the best opening she was likely to get for a while.

“I could probably make your European leg though, that’s another three or so weeks later right? Assuming I don’t flunk out and have to retake, anyway.”

It might delay her future employment a bit but she had money. Losing immortality brought a keen awareness that life was too short to be too responsible.

Justin tried not to appear so eager for that life line. “Yeah, like you’re going to flunk out when you were learning that shit before their great great great whatever grandfathers were crawling. I’ll take that as confirmation to book your ticket.”

Charmian for her part was trying not to appear too relieved. Inviting herself onto an international trip with him would have been mightily embarrassing if he’d turned her down.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“I’m glad.” It came out before he had time to think about it; it was hard to know how to follow it up smoothly. “I, uhh… yeah. Should be a good time.”

Was he nervous? Suddenly he looked a touch flustered, and she had to bite her lower lip to stop from smiling. It was comforting to not be the only one. It was also incredibly nice to be making future plans with him without worrying about whether he’d survive long enough to greet that date.

“What you grinning at?”

Oops. Clearly she hadn’t done a good job. “You.”

“What am I doing worth grinning at?” He echoed mockingly.

“I don’t even know.” Charmian shook her head, dark curls bouncing around her face as the smile widened. “Guess I’m just in a good mood today. Classes are going okay, only a month left, had a fun night, apparently I’m going on vacation… it’s just all good, you know?”

He smiled, taking her by surprise when he reached up to tuck a stray strand back behind her ear. Now she thought about it he was standing pretty close. “Glad to hear it. Sounds like you’re working shit out.”

“Most of it, though you’d be amazed at how the dumb stuff is the hardest. I’m fairly sure the DMV is some kind of demonic scheme after this morning’s senseless bureaucratic mess but what can you do?” She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips in a small scowl, making him chuckle.

“Doubtful, but even if it is you’re off the clock sweetheart.”

Charmian shrugged and gave a nod. “Still, what I wouldn’t have given for a good mace.”

“Mace?” He laughed. His face was close enough that she could feel his breath as he did so (and smell it, there was a slight beer scent). “You were going to blind them with pepper spray until they gave you a license?”

“Not that kind, an actual mace - big club with the spiked ball on the end. They’re pretty clunky but just about the best thing in the world for pent up aggression. Swords are much more manoeuvrable but there’s something satisfying about the way it connects when you smack somebody round the head with one. Of course that does assume they were demons, maces on actual people aren’t good.”

Justin didn’t respond for a few seconds, blinking slowly. “I really can’t decide whether you’re sexy or terrifying when you talk about weaponry.” 

Maintaining a poker face was difficult; if you asked her this conversation was much more frightening than anything she could do with a blade. Armed guys coming at her she knew how to deal with; this confusion was a whole different proposition. “I don’t know. Are those things always one or the other?”

His blue eyes flicked upwards and met the gaze of her brown ones. Unconsciously he licked his lips. “Good point. Now I think about it you’re definitely both.”

With a red painted nail she scratched at the top of her head. Was this flirting? If it was then she didn’t get it. “I’ll take that.”

“Heh.” He smiled again, a wicked glint in his eye. “In fairness so would I.”

“Sorry JT,” she replied, “you’re not that scary.”

“Maybe not, but I notice you didn’t deny the sexy.”

Okay, she may have been an amateur at this but now she knew he was flirting. Briefly she wondered how much he’d had to drink – he wasn’t drunk by any means but he seemed a little cockier than usual. He certainly hadn’t spoken to her like this before and she wondered if alcohol had loosened his tongue.

“I’m taking your silence as agreement.”

Charmian shrugged. Her quick wit was failing her at this junction. “Do as you will.”

“Dangerous thing to say.”

Justin took that invitation more literally than she’d intended – before she’d even taken her next breath her cheek was being cupped in his hand and his lips were on hers. The kiss lingered for what felt like longer than the four or five seconds it was. When he pulled away it wasn’t far.

His eyes passed over her face, awaiting some sign of reaction. He hadn’t intended to do that yet. The plan was to lay a little more ground work first (as he had with inviting her out and testing how she went amongst his friends) but sometimes you had to go with your gut in that second. Suggesting she follow him to Europe of her own volition had been a pretty big sign and he wasn’t one to miss the opportune moment.

She in turn scrutinised his features, trying to work out if he was too inebriated to take seriously. The knowing calm on his face convinced her otherwise and a smirk began to form.

“Guess I walked right into that one.”

“Too late now, I’m holding you to it.” His smirk matched hers. “Don’t think you’re off the hook because I’m going away either. I’m patient like that.”

Her expression was suddenly inscrutable – he didn’t recognise it as the wryness it was. She’d waited several hundred years for this and he thought he was patient.

“I’ll bear it in mind.”

**

If the two figures on the balcony hadn’t been finally retreating back into the bar, they might have noticed the small orange spark that suddenly blinked into existence through the shadows and shrubbery. Small though it was it stood out in the darkness. It started low, than rose and hovered in mid air before dropping back down again. It shook a little on the spot before repeating itself.

The lit cigarette kept burning away as the smoker fiddled with it between his fingers, tapping the end with his thumb and dropping ash in the process. He stared thoughtfully after them. His head tilted to the side and lips twisted in a pondering expression.

As silently as he had arrived, Anton disappeared in the blink of an eye.