Iscariot

I will fall for you.

"I can't believe she didn't ask us to stay," Sam growled, brushing a hand through his messy shock of brown hair, his green eyes blazing as they filed into the hotel room. It was cheap and old, the only thing they could afford. It stank of dust, mold, mildew, and watered down cleaning supplies. The brown covers on the two sagging queen-sized beds looked decades old and probably were. The carpet was threadbare in a path from door to bed and bed to bathroom.

Erik looked about with a frown but knew better than to say anything. It was a far cry from Mika's mansion but they'd slept outdoors more often than not, before they found her. The human world was not as easy as they had hoped and all of them were left shell-shocked at Mika's choice. Not that he could blame her.

She's only human.

Erik glanced over at their youngest brother, Damien. The mind reader met his eyes but gave no response to the mental inquiry if he was all right. Of course, he isn't.

All of them had been drawn to the girl. All of them had their moments talking, laughing. All had begun their seduction of her as she spoke with them. Mika, Harold Anderson's granddaughter, the heir of the warlock who helped them into the human world in the first place. Her power was as strong as Harold's, just untamed. The raw energy of it had restored all five of them threefold, in a handful of days, adding to her attraction.

"Can you blame her?" Matthew echoed Uzaeris' thoughts as he dropped onto one of the beds, making the best of the situation as he always did. "She was kidnapped by devils, saw our powers, heard Damien killing them..."

Damien turned away from them all, hanging his coppery head. He hadn't said a word since he said goodbye to the girl. Erik knew as well as the others how much Izroul had admired her. How much all of this was the dream, the salvation he reached for. Anyone could see they had connected. Erik would swear it. What is she thinking?

Tell me. He thought it fiercely at his brother, his eyes studying the indigo hiding behind Damien's coppery bangs. There were unshed tears that wouldn't come out in front of his brothers. Izroul was full of secrets, his burden beyond what Erik could imagine; but maybe, just maybe they could go back and change Mika's mind. Maybe Damien can find happiness.

"All of you, just get some sleep. We've had a long day." Once again James took the father figure role that he did so well: breaking into all of their thoughts and guiding them back to the here and now.

Erik looked back at his eldest brother, giving Damien some respite. James looked older than before, weary. He was trying to think of a plan, their next course of action, but it had been a hard blow for him as well. For the first time in the human world, they'd settled down; they'd started feeling like a true family. The first time in their lives, really.

"James?" he inquired, but his older brother shook his head, heading to the bathroom.

Erik looked back to see that Matthew and Damien had already laid down on the second bed, Izroul's back to them all. Sam was stretched on the one closest, taking up two-thirds of it and resolutely refusing to look at any of them, his temper still sharp. He picked up the TV remote and flipped on a random movie, a car chase providing sufficient background noise.

Erik moved to sit on the edge of the somewhat open bed. There were a couple of chairs in the room; they looked terribly uncomfortable. He would offer, but he knew better than to try and get James to lay down on one of the beds.

"Go talk to him." Erik felt a hard shove in the middle of his back and slid off the blanket to land on his ass on the floor.

"Sam!" He jumped up to spin around and see how upset the usually gruff brother really was.