The Devil's Love

Shadow of Death: Chapter 17: Anton

With much satisfaction, I watched as the soldiers and Michael disappeared. The demons retreated to their homes and the damned sank back into the ground. Everything was back to the way it should be. Sarah collapsed into my arms, holding her emotions in.

"My lord, I shall make dinner now."

"Yes, that would be great and thank you for everything."

He smiled gently with a tip of his head. "My pleasure."

As he faded through the floorboards, I thought that there would be something that I could do for the man. I didn't know if there was anything that he wanted, but with a little pushing, I am sure he would relent on the information. His timing was impeccable, his loyalty was perfect, and his thinking outside the box was as always, amazing.

Sarah stood from my embrace, wiped the tears from under her eyes and moved to Brannon.

"He slept through it all, worlds collide, and he behaves. Are you sure he's evil enough Anton?"

I chuckled as I crossed the room to her, looking down to our child in the crib as I wrapped my arms around his beautiful mother.

"He is, he just knows how to avoid doing things. Laziness starts early, didn't you know?"

She laughed and hugged me, something that I feared I would never get again. Why did I believe Michael? Did I think that he could not lie to win the battle? I should have been wiser; I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me. But when it came to Sarah, I was lost. I always would be.

It was no surprise that he wanted to break the trinity. If it fell then the damned would lose power, easily felled by a soldiers blade. Losing the damned would not have been the end of the battle, I still had the demons, Cerberus and the dragons and of course to a lesser extent, the crows. And, if by some mad twist of fate the soldiers managed to bring down my legions, they still had to contend with me.

Taking my hands, Sarah pulled me to the lounge and settled against me.

"It has been a long day."

"It's been a long few weeks." she murmured.

Something struck my mind, something wonderful.

"Sarah, I want to ask you something."

She sat up, looking at me a little warily.

"Okay."

"Do you want to marry me?"

"I already did." She said with a waggle of her finger.

"No, I mean the wedding that we talked about. You know, a proper wedding with friends and the pretty white dress. A cake and we could even drag Ignatius down here to do a second service; he would love that."

Her lips pursed with a smile as she thought about it.

"Sounds like fun."

Something even crazier entered my mind.

"Ask Igor to walk you down the aisle."

Sarah's eyes widened with a smile that was crazy happy.

"Oh, that is so awesome." She paused for a moment. "I think you should ask Nick and Rowan to come back, only this time not as demons."

"To serve me?"

"No, to work for you. Make it an obvious difference Anton, show them how much they mean to you."

I looked out the nearest window to the crows that were sitting in the trees, Cerberus whined as he put his head on my lap.

"I think that's a great idea. Did I ever tell you how much I love your mind?"

Sarah smiled at me, tugging on my tie to make me kiss her. Not that I needed to be made to, I could kiss her for every minute of the day, and it would not be enough.

"Do you think that Michael will adhere to the agreement?"

"Yes, there were witnesses, and even if they weren't, he tends to be a stickler for the rules."

"So no marching on heaven then?"

I grinned and shook my head. "No, so long as they behave themselves then there will be no marching on heaven."

Looking out to the land, it filled me with hope. The darkness was gone, returning to its former glory. Now the sun was slowly setting.

"There is a place where the view of the sun setting is incredible. I will ready our darling son while you go and find Igor, ask him to pack our dinner into a basket. And also ask him to do you and I a mighty honour."

"I would love to."

Sarah stood and walked out of the room like she was on cloud nine. Even I could not wipe the smile from my face.

When I reached the crib, I looked down at Brannon who was awake, laying there peacefully.

"You are quite an interesting soul. Are you going to be this well behaved for your entire life or is there going to be a point where you decide you've had enough of being good?"

He yawned.

"Okay, so your old man is boring you. It's begun already; you're parents are lame, you can't be seen with us as it will be detrimental to your social life."

I looked at the bag that Sarah had bought for such an occasion, wondering what I needed to pack.

"How many times are you planning on soiling your pants while we are out?"

Glancing at Brannon, I wondered if it was possible that he could respond at such an early age. He was half human, half deity, what he could or couldn't do was unknown. As I waited, I figured that talking wasn't going to happen for a while yet.

"Alright, we'll take two, and if you do three, you'll just have to get a little breezy."

I squinted at the packet of wipes. "How much of a mess are you planning on making? Better pack it just in case. What on earth is this for?"

"Diaper rash. He hasn't got it yet."

Sarah crossed the room with a basket that looked incredibly heavy.

"Here, let me. You shouldn't be carrying such a heavy weight."

"It's alright Anton." she chided "I'm not incapable."

"I never said that I was merely being a gentleman. If you don't want my help, then that is fine."

My miffed attitude didn't hold for long, not when she was laughing at me. I lifted Brannon onto my chest and hauled the surprisingly heavy bag onto my shoulder.

"Alright muscles, let's get going."

Sarah chuckled as she took my free hand, with a whistle Cerberus was by our side.

"Baby, I am excited. A picnic dinner with my gorgeous wife while watching the sun setting, what else could I want?"

She tugged on my hand, gently moving me forward. Oh yep, that's what else I could want. A sweet kiss.