The Virtue Of My Dark Angel, Dark Angels of the Apocalypse Book 3

Chapter Twelve: What’s Mine Is Yours

Drew..

Ginger pounced after his Mistress, then paused at the door to look back briefly. Drew was going to tell the dog to go on after Bethany, but the red tail of the dog disappeared through the open door before he could speak. With a sigh, Drew walked over and shut the door behind them. He could swear, for a brief time there, as he met Bethany’s eyes, he’d felt something. Like the way ‘Tos’ thoughts sometimes mingled with his unexpectedly, when they weren’t necessarily trying to communicate. It was heartbreaking in its intensity. Her loneliness and fear had nearly swept him out of his own head.

“What was that ‘Tos?” Drew asked, turning back to look at the Demon. Barbatos, however, was looking out the window at the rain. Or, Drew suspected, staring after Bethany. If Drew had just a tiny taste of Bethany’s emotions, he wondered what Barbatos felt all the time. How could he stand it? And to pressure her like that? Barbatos scowled and shook his head.

“He’s not happy we upset his pack-mate.” Barbatos grumbled. Drew stared blankly for a moment, and then punched Barbatos’ shoulder.

“I meant you.” Drew stressed, now looking out the window at the rain himself. Though he too, had a certain young woman in mind. “Should we go after her?” He frowned. Barbatos shook his head again, but it seemed more to be an answer to his own thoughts than Drew’s question, as Barbatos took a seat on the sofa.

“This is turning out to be more difficult than I anticipated.” Barbatos muttered. It was like he’d momentarily forgotten Drew, Bethany and the whole situation. “Trying to juggle my own inner thoughts, plus yours, Bethany’s emotions, whatever’s wrong with my vision as a Virtue, that damned beast.” The last word was growled, and Drew raised a brow, nearly smirking, knowing it was mostly driven by jealousy. It took a moment for the rest of what Barbatos had said to truly catch up to him.

“Hold on. Back up a minute! What’s wrong with your Virtue? Or maybe should I say, so there is something wrong?! And why didn’t you tell me?!” Drew stalked towards Barbatos, who didn’t necessarily twitch, so much as his face went carefully blank, and Drew knew he was on to something. “Spill it, ‘Tos!” Drew demanded, poking the Demon in the forehead. Said Demon growled at him, exposing sharp canines, but there was a wary look in Barbatos' eyes that told Drew everything he needed to know. A little more pressure, and Barbatos was all his. Drew walked closer and straddled Barbatos’ lap.

“‘Tos.. Didn’t we promise each other.. No secrets? That’s why I know about the attacks on other Demons’ Marked, and why you know I’m jealous of your new Marked. Ok, maybe that’s a bad example, but I’ve told you things I would never tell another soul, and even let you into my mind. So why are you shutting me out now?” Drew plucked a curl from Barbatos’ forehead and twirled it around his finger until Barbatos sighed and pulled Drew across his lap to settle him beside him on the couch. Drew’s legs still trailed across Barbatos’ thighs, and he was tucked comfortably under one of Barbatos’ arms, but Barbatos gazed off out of the window for a few minutes before he spoke. If Drew hadn’t been able to sense Barbatos gathering his thoughts, he might have been impatient, but he waited and was rewarded when Barbatos turned back to gently rub his forehead against Drew’s own.

“I don’t understand it myself, but it’s one reason I can’t seem to let her go.” Barbatos murmured, and Drew felt himself tense. Barbatos’ own response to it, even though he tried to quell the response, was a similar tensing of his muscles, which Drew felt tighten around him. Barbatos sighed and pulled back. “Let me finish,” He grumbled, and Drew gritted his teeth.

“I wasn’t going to stop you.” Drew sniped, crossing his arms, and Barbatos sighed, then chuckled softly.

“You’re beginning to sound like her.” He commented, and Drew uncrossed his arms quickly. Barbatos held up a hand, sensing Drew's need to object and asking for Drew’s silence. Drew pouted, which got him a nipped lower lip and then a lingering kiss, before Barbatos heaved another gusty sigh and squeezed Drew to him.

“My Virtue..” Barbatos said dryly, then more gently “Drew, let me start with this, because I know you’re confused. When I chose to leave my Home, the status that I was given, like a ‘rank’ in your military, I was supposed to abandon it as well, along with any gifts, or weapons, that I received. The only difference is that.. These are not necessarily physical items one can simply hand over, and though I had made the decision to relinquish them, they clung to me, like a parasite, and no matter what I’ve tried, they’re firmly rooted to my very being.“ He faced Drew earnestly, searching his eyes “Please know this, sometimes the decisions I make, I have no plans to make them. They are.. Guided by this.. Ability.. These gifts that cling to me.” Barbatos swallowed, knowing he sounded as though he was making excuses. “It truly was a spur of the moment thing. A simple touch while my mind was opened to the influence of the Virtue’s power showed me so many things. Our futures, Drew.. She belongs here. I knew it. No, I know it, in my very bones. She is ours, we are hers. The life that we’ve always- that you- children, family, a home-” Barbatos gulped and Drew kissed him to silence him.

“I already have that. With you.” Drew murmured, but Barbatos shoved away, almost angrily.

“No, Drew. You don’t understand! She completes us! I can’t- I don’t know how to tell you, because I didn’t want to admit it myself, but she needs us, and we need her. It just.. She’s our missing piece, but..” Barbatos insisted.

“And I’m telling you, we don’t have one!” Drew’s rebuttal came fast and harsh. It was ironic that suddenly they seemed to be arguing the opposite sides from moments ago. Or had they ever truly changed sides at all? Barbatos shook his head.

“I didn’t want to admit it either, but now.. I can’t see, Drew. I can’t see anything but her.” Barbatos turned to look Drew in the eye again. “And even you are being influenced by her emotions now.” Drew sat back on the couch, jaw slack, stunned.

Bethany..

The leaves of the fruit trees didn’t entirely prevent her from getting wet.

She could have gone to the barn, but she liked it better out here. She felt closer to running away from her problems here. Unfortunately, it meant her clothes were probably going to get wet, but at the moment, she didn’t really care. After all, she was still trying to convince herself she wasn’t upset that, once again, no one had followed after her.

“Well maybe you should stop running away.” She told herself harshly.

“Yeah, but that just leads to more arguing and even more heartbreak. Especially when they leave in the end. For good.” She argued back. She thought she made a good point. Ginger’s ears perked up, but then drooped again, deciding she wasn’t speaking to him, so he could ignore her without issue.

“Even the dog’s tired of your bullshit.” She informed herself, and Ginger sighed. Bethany took that as an agreement and tossed her hands in the air, as if to prove her point to herself. Then several very quiet and very long minutes passed and Bethany finally straightened, unwrapping herself from around her knees. She wiped the rain and tears from her face and stared blankly into the distance.

“I just don’t know what to do, Ginger.” She said quietly, and the wolf lifted his head to look at her, offering a small whine “But, I can tell you one thing. I itch. All over. It’s time for a bath!” At her words, the dog jumped to his feet with a bark and bounded away, knowing if he stayed too close, he’d end up being washed as well.

“Hey, get back here, smelly!” Bethany yelled as she stripped out of her clothing. She emptied her pockets and placed her valuables, what few things she had, near the trunk of the tree, then hung her clothes on branches further out in the rain, carrying a small, precious, waterproof pouch of lye soap she’d traded for at a colony. It had taken her weeks of gathering herbs the soap-maker wanted for use in her soaps to trade for it. And to say that the colony was basically built around that particular soap-maker, who had made soaps before the Demon-Apocalypse started, would be an understatement. She was an invaluable asset. Bethany used that soap to wash everything. Herself, the dog, her clothes..

Bethany scrubbed quickly, praying the rain would last, and while her body was being rinsed clean by the rain, she scrubbed her clothes and rehung them, examining them carefully as she did so. The poor things had been patched, embroidered over, repaired, let out, taken in, restitched and altered to death. In fact, there were possibly more repairs than original clothes at this point. She’d learned a few things over the years: what stitches held, what would fall apart most easily, though her own stitching was still rough. Her grandmother’s embroidery, still visible here and there on her clothes, was tidy and even. Bethany had kept as much as she could over the years, even cutting it free from old clothing to sew onto new. Her fingers traced the even criss-crossed rows of stitches patching a large hole. It gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach, this patch of embroidery. She didn’t know why she held onto it. Sure, it looked neat, but she could have covered it with a patch.

Technically, anything that reminded her of her family gave her that sort of sick feeling in her stomach. But somehow she couldn’t part with the reminders. The last series of arguments she’d had with her grandmother tried to force themselves out from under one of the firmly shut doors in her mind.

“It’s your fault your father left..”

“Couldn’t stand your attitude..”

Bethany slammed that door closed even harder, stifling her grandmother’s voice and furiously began trying to untangle her hair. Other old voices from the past tried to float out to her from the dark recesses of her mind.

“..just like a rat’s nest..” her mother complained bitterly, yanking a brush through Bethany’s hair

“..stop complaining, it doesn’t hurt that much..” her mother again, as she swatted Bethany with the brush, making Bethany try to hide the tears she knew her mother would scold her for if she discovered them.

“No! You can’t cut it! Nobody likes a girl with short hair! You’ll look like a man!” Her grandmother scolded.

“..I like my girls with long hair, it stays long.” Her father, shaking his head as she begged him instead.

Stifling a frustrated scream, Bethany beat back the memories that threatened to make her tear up all over again. She missed Ginger immediately, wishing for the company of someone who could comfort her, and not think of her as being silly or too sensitive. The way only an animal knew how. She stomped towards her meager belongings. If she couldn’t get her fingers through the mess her hair had become, it was time for another trim!

A hand caught her wrist just as she brought the knife to her hair.

“Let me do that. You’ll make a mess of it without a mirror.” There was a soft ‘tch’. “This blade is too dull for this. When was the last time you sharpened it? Is that..Are there nicks in this blade?”

Bethany turned to face the Demon, and as his eyes roved her body, she realized too late.. That she was still naked.

Barbatos..

Her pain had stabbed at him like needles under his nails, and now her defiance prickled just as strongly at his skin.

However, he discovered the view was.. Undeniably pleasant.

“Perv!” She snapped, reaching for the knife in his grip. His other hand shot out and caught hers before she could injure herself by grabbing the blade. She wasn’t even watching what she was doing! Her eyes hadn’t left his, and despite her words and defiance, she hadn’t tried to cover herself like most humans would either.

“Give it back!” Bethany demanded, opening and closing the hand he still held captive, by the wrist.

“The least you could let me do is sharpen it.” He retorted.

“I didn’t ask for you to! I hadn’t made it back to the colonies to trade for a new one, or to have this one sharpened..” She looked away, almost like she was embarrassed. Barbatos was just shocked.

“Why don’t you know how to sharpen your own blade? You know what? Never mind. It's time someone taught you.” And with that, Barbatos strode off into the rain to retrieve his whetstone, leaving the naked girl to gawk after him or follow him as she may.

“Hey! Wait a minute!” The yelling had taken longer than he expected to start up, but when he chanced a glance over his shoulder, he saw the girl juggling her belongings and wet clothing as she chased after him. With a sigh, though he’d never admit the satisfaction he felt at pegging her behavior just right, he slowed down and held out a hand. “What?” She snapped breathlessly glaring at the offered hand as she caught up, clutching her things to her chest. Her beast came trotting up behind her, eyeing Barbatos suspiciously.

“Let me help.” He jerked his hand at her, but she snatched her meager possessions out of his reach.

“No!” She stormed. “You already have my knife! I’m not giving you any more of my stuff!” She stomped a foot, then looked down and seemed to realize she’d once again revealed herself to his perusal and grasped her belongings in front of her chest again to hide her body from him. Barbatos merely shrugged, barely suppressing the urge to shake his head.

“Suit yourself.” He stated, then turned to keep walking.

“You!!” Bethany growled, but Barbatos could hear the slap of her bare feet behind him as she followed him towards the house, regardless of her opinion of him. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he discovered he was enjoying himself, which was a rare feat, in and of itself.

Drew..

Drew had the most unique spectacle of watching his Demon lover leading the bedraggled and naked human woman through the door by means of nothing more than holding her knife hostage.

Is this what Barbatos had meant when he'd said he sensed trouble? Or had he meant he sensed ‘trouble’ as in the woman was trouble?

Either way, Drew averted his eyes as quickly as he could, trying to ignore the fact that given a few good meals, Bethany’s shapely legs and hips would fill out beautifully. And it would be nice not to see so much of her ribs. Drew always did love a woman’s hips and thighs. Of course, from the looks of her, living on her own must have been hard. Drew himself had been half-starved, and he’d had a colony to rely on. Barbatos had told Drew he’d found Bethany on her own..

Drew realized he’d been staring, and looked away again swiftly.

“Drew.” Barbatos’ voice broke into his thoughts, and he hummed a reply, barely daring to meet his Demon’s gaze. “Could you please go fetch our guest some clothes from my belongings? I’m afraid yours would be too long.. While I take hers to the sunroom to dry? Also, if you see my whetstone, grab it, would you please?” Bethany released a wordless cry as Barbatos seamlessly plucked her clothing from her hands, leaving her scrambling with her remaining belongings, and completely bare before Drew’s eyes.

“I uh.. Yeah..” Drew turned swiftly and raced off. He wanted to offer to help her with the few items she juggled, but he didn’t want to seem rude by staring. And he knew he didn’t have enough self-control to keep his eyes from wandering. He’d be too tempted to continue to sneak peeks. How long had it been since he’d seen a naked woman anyway? Not that it was any justification. And after his and Barbatos’ talk, it seemed like Barbatos was trying just a little too hard to drive them together.

Barbatos knew Drew was bi.

Barbatos also knew he had a thing for thick-thighed girls.

“How the fuck..” Drew let his question hang in midair as he slammed drawer after drawer closed. He needed to get the full story of the meet out of Barbatos and this woman. Make sure he wasn’t being set up.

First he thought he was being replaced.

Now he felt more like a third wheel. Well, maybe that wasn’t quite accurate either.

Yanking some of Barbatos’ clothes from his wooden-hewn drawers at random, Drew gathered up a few choices and stomped his way back towards the front door. There, he found Bethany had settled her few belongings on an end table and was nervously holding her arms in front of her body. Drew dumped the clothing on the sofa.

“Here. I got you a few different things. I wasn’t sure what would work best. Or what you like..” Drew trailed off, still refusing to look at her in case he stared. When she refused to move, he nervously realized she might be waiting for him to leave. “Oh, the bathroom’s just down that way. We do have one of those. I wasn’t about to let Barbatos get away without providing me indoor plumbing.” He chuckled anxiously, still avoiding looking at Bethany. She made a noise in her throat.

“You mean he wears something besides those old leathers?” She grumbled. Drew couldn’t help it, he looked over at her this time, grinning foolishly. The moment his eyes met hers, he remembered she was naked again, and he felt the moment of bonding slip away through his own distraction. Bethany herself was holding up a large woolen sweater skeptically, and Drew swallowed, imagining her in it, those legs hanging out the bottom. He looked away quickly.

“I think that would look good on you. Plus it’s soft..” Was he blushing? He tried to concentrate on not blushing. She could probably nearly wear that sweater as a gown, and he was fighting himself as he thought of those dancer’s calves leading to those juicy thighs just below the hem of that sweater, the neckline draping off one shoulder and her unruly hair framing her face like she’d just woken up. Would she bite her lower lip? Would those sleeves come down over her hands as she lifted them above her head to yawn, giving him the most tantalizing peek of skin leading to that hidden promise between her thighs? Would she let him soothe that pouty lower lip that needed to be kissed, and then bitten, and then kissed again to appease the bite..

He was so lost in his daydreams that he hardly noticed she’d dressed right there beside him, until she thanked him and handed him back the extras. He answered vaguely, taking the spare clothing from her, noting she’d chosen the sweater and a smaller pair of leather pants that Barbatos had made from one of his kills. Drew was pretty sure it had ties instead of more up-to-date fastenings like buttons or a zipper, so that might have spurred her choice if it helped her tighten them better. He noted with glee that the sweater did indeed hang from her shoulder. Glee that shattered when he noticed it bared her Mark, and he fingered his own as he carried the excess clothing back to the bedroom he shared with Barbatos. Who was he kidding, anyway? They both ‘belonged’ to a Demon who seemed intent on manipulating the situation to his own benefit.