Circles and Wings

Chapter 9

*Scarlett*

When I got back into my apartment I went to shower. The warm water fell over my skin and released every inch of tension in my muscles. It was good to see Wrath today, I had to tell Jasper his name was Rory... I don't think he'll like that name... but it was good to see my best friend again. I really do miss home, I missed Hell like nothing else. It was odd on earth. It had always been odd.

I let my wings out and felt the freedom of water running over them, I felt them lighten and shake. I felt each damp feather and I felt the water drip over my horns. I felt the meditative state that came with releasing the glamour. Then I heard something in the front room, and the water turned cold.

Then someone knocked on the door. "Scarlett!" Raph called, "May I come in?" The door knob turned and I had only enough time to glamour my horns away. His footsteps stopped and he gasped. Through my shower curtain, he could see the vague outline of me with big wings reaching out of my back. "You're an angel." He said breathlessly.

An angel. He thought I was a fucking angel. I couldn't hide my wings anymore... but I could hide who I am. I glamoured my wings to a soft cream color before turning off the water and grabbing my towel from the rack it hung on, and I wrapped it around myself before I stepped out of the shower meeting his gaze. He looked at me with an astonished, wicked, grin.

"An angel." He repeated as I stared at him. "That's why I couldn't hold your mind." He stepped forward and brushed wet hair away from my face. "Why keep it hidden?"

"I don't want Jasper to know what I am." I said harshly, "Don't tell him."

He shook his head, "I won't tell him. It'll only confuse and upset him." I moved past him, out of the bathroom and into my room. He followed me, watching as I put on my favorite sweatshirt with wing holes cut into the back and some comfy shorts. I brought the towel to my head, drying my hair, before I turned around. "Why hide? You could come to Heaven, as an angel you'd be welcome."

"I wouldn't be welcomed in Heaven as I am." I said flatly.

"But you're an angel, and angels belong in Heaven." He argued.

I laughed. "Heaven sounds like a terrible place to reside."

"Is that so?" He asked, crossing his arms.

I nodded, "There are too many rules, and it's too much pressure to be good all the time."

"You sound like Morning." He sneered.

My expression turned serious, "Lucifer Morning?" I asked and he nodded in response. "Maybe he has the right idea."

"Or maybe he's a miscreant and deserves to burn in the pit."

"I don't think you could accurately tell me what Hell is like." I said with a sneer.

"You've been there?" He asked sarcastically. When I only stared at him he took a step back. "Goodness." He gasped, "You've been to Hell!"

I shrugged. "It's not a bad place, it's just different." He crossed his arms, "Can you honestly tell me that you've never wanted to raise hell?"

He laughed, "There are ways to raise hell without being bad." He said, "For example, you could be my consort and disrupt the marriage to the Hell spawn."

"The Hell spawn?" I moved around him and into the kitchen.

"The daughter of Satan." He huffed following me. "She is to wed an angel, it was supposed to be Jasper, but he's not one to wed a woman. I'm not one to look for marriage, but I care for Jasper, so I'll bite the bullet — so to speak— for this one."