“You’re sure you’re okay with everything?” Alex asked. “You caught the part about that whole ‘shared pleasures’ bond, right?”
“Yeah, we’re not asking you to bring them along,” Onyx said.
“Yet,” Molly interrupted with a mischievous grin.
Onyx frowned, but without conviction. “It does sound like a good way to make sure they don’t feel left out.”
“And the part about women throwing themselves at me?”
“Sounds like a terrible burden,” Molly quipped.
“Yeah. That’s a real curse,” Onyx murmured. She leaned in to kiss his neck.
“The Curse of the Guy Who Gets Laid a Lot,” Molly suggested.
Onyx snickered. “Yeah. Look, you’ve got a hungry sex demon to support. What kind of friends would we be if we weren’t understanding about your domestic challenges?”
“Wow. Are you listening to yourselves? You honestly think that I’m not having that effect on you two right now?”
“Meh,” Onyx shrugged. “Worse things could happen.”
Molly gradually pulled off of him. Onyx looked like she was about to take her place. Then Drew called out, “Hey, pimp daddy. Your other girls say they need you outside.”
Embarrassed looks overcame both Alex and Onyx. Molly shamelessly chuckled at them both as she took Onyx by the hand and dragged her away. Alex followed, but was stopped by Drew’s hand on his chest.
“I got somethin’ I gotta say,” Drew said firmly.
“Um. Okay?”
“I see what’s goin’ on here.”
“Uh…yeah, I know it’s weird, but they’re all cool, and-”
“Alex. I’m sayin’ I ain’t stupid.”
“I know you’re not. You’re one of the smartest people I know.”
“Right. So I see what’s goin’ on here, know what I’m sayin’?”
“…maybe?”
“If you ever. Ever. Come near my momma or my sister with your dick-”
“Woah! Drew!” Alex threw his hands up. “I’m totally not gonna do that!”
“Ever!”
“Drew, it’s cool! I’m not gonna hit on your mom! I would never do that!”
“Oh, are you sayin’ my momma ain’t fine?”
Alex was horrified. “Drew, I love your mom, she’s like my mom, too! I would never do that!” He buried his face in his hands again. “Oh my God. Drew, you’re my best friend. I’m not going to try to sleep with your mother or sister. Holy shit, I’m so sorry about all this.” When he pulled his face up again, however, he saw only a vicious grin.
“Got you,” Drew said, then hugged him.
“Jesus. You’re a bad man.”
“I am,” Drew laughed, “I am.” He pulled back. “But if you ever. Ever.”
“…what about Jason’s mom?”
Drew grunted. “Shit, you don’t know about me an’ Jason’s mom?”
Alex winced and started walking. “I’m sorry I even brought that up. You took that way further than I was gonna go.”
Drew followed. “Took Jason’s momma way further than she meant to go, too.”
Groaning all the way, Alex found the others gathered around Lydia. He couldn’t help but make a face as he saw her.
“Technically,” Lorelei said, “Lydia now belongs to-”
Alex held up his hands to stop her. “Ew. Gross.” He saw Lorelei’s unsurprised nod, then looked to the others. “What can we do with her?”
“How about we not just shoot this prisoner?” Jason asked aloud.
“Wasn’t even considering it,” Wade said. “But thanks for making me feel like a jackass again. Jackass.”
“I can take her to a place where she’ll be judged,” Rachel offered. “This chick has transgressed like a motherfucker. She’ll face a fair trial and then it’s the swift, sure boot of divine justice right up her fucking ass.”
“Sounds good to me,” Alex shrugged.
“We should take our leave,” Lorelei suggested, “though we should also take some care to obscure the evidence here. There are good reasons to hide such events from the mortal world.”
“I can take care of that, too,” Rachel assured them. “It’ll all burn to nothing before I resolve the matter of Princess Skankula here.”
“We’re going to need a ride back to Seattle,” Onyx said. “We left our car at Alex’s place.”
“Yeah, ah’m thinkin’ ah don’t wanna take anyone anywhere in mah truck with it all full’a bullet holes an’ claw marks,” Wade mused. “Reckon we’re gonna have to steal us a car or two from th’ parkin’ lot there from what’s left, at least t’ get us back to the gas station.”
“I can make sure your truck disappears,” Rachel said. “You might want to grab anything you want out of it before you go.”
“Easy come, easy go, ah guess.”
Alex looked up at his friend guiltily. “Oh man,” he said, “I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll buy Wade a new truck,” Lorelei said. “It is the least I can do.”
“Oh, we have to set the gas station attendant loose, too,” Jason reminded Wade. He was still dutifully watching Lydia. “Though how we’re going to get him to keep his mouth shut isn’t something we worked out.”
“Leave that to me,” Lorelei said. By then, Alex had sat down next to her and gathered her up into his arms.
“Any reason we need to stick around here, then?” Alex asked, which resulted in a collection of shrugs and shaking heads. He picked Lorelei up, cradling her as she leaned her head against his shoulder.
Rachel stepped over to kiss Alex on the cheek. “I’ll catch up, lover,” she smiled softly. Then she whispered into his ear, unbothered by Lorelei’s closeness, “Might be awhile, though. I may be in a little trouble with my bosses.”
“What?” Alex blinked. “Why?”
“For falling in love with you,” Rachel smiled quietly. “For making love with you. Angels aren’t supposed to do those things with mortals.”
“I wish you had told me.”
“It’s what I wanted. You’re what I wanted.” She shrugged. “You’re my hero.”
Held between them in Alex’s arms, Lorelei interrupted: “Don’t delay long,” she told the angel quietly. “The three of us have a great deal to work out.”
Rachel might have blushed, but Alex couldn’t be sure. “You’re gonna be okay?”
She didn’t bother to suppress her grin. “Yeah. I’m gonna have a little chat with my ex.”
* * *
Recovery would come with time. There would be chaos, then healing, and then the Brotherhood would rebuild. After that, there would be chances for revenge. Ms. Black accepted all of that. Right now, however, she saw a chance to learn much.
She crouched in the shadows of the tree line, listening intently to the conversation among the night’s victors. No human’s ears could hear from this distance. The raccoon that sat beside her, though, had excellent hearing. He answered her sorcerous summons without much resistance, eventually sitting obediently beside her. Summoning the animal hardly taxed her powers, nor did the spell she cast to take advantage of its senses.
Her blazer and top were both covered in both champagne and blood. Healing herself of the concussion Carlisle inflicted hadn’t been easy. She’d had to do it in short, hazy, tiring stages, but each time she managed the spell, her mind grew clearer and her head and face were less bloody and battered. It would have been nice to withdraw entirely from this scene, but there was too much to learn that would be important for the future.
Through the animal’s ears, she heard everything. She learned who and what Alex and his rescuers were and what they were about. She heard them decide to leave Lydia to be dealt with by Rachel and the other angels. That suited Ms. Black just fine.
The raccoon also enabled her to hear and smell the pair of vampires sneaking up on her. They were both heavy and garbed in an awful lot of fabric. To move through woods with any stealth at all was always a challenge; big antebellum dresses like theirs should have made it impossible.
When they were just close enough, Ms. Black flicked her wand up in the air with a pair of hissed words. The two vampires floated off their feet. Both of them hung in the air. Ms. Black rose and stepped backward between them. The raccoon scampered off into the trees.