"What about you? Any other family?"
Asmodeus peered at Savannah across from him, the last bite of her cheesecake disappearing into her mouth. She was every bit as enthralling, sitting across from him, as she had that night he had her in his arms. Her brown hair fell around her shoulders, the ends having a slight wave that he wanted to twirl around his finger and watch what happened. Would those brown eyes widen slightly? Or darken as she tucked her bottom lip between her teeth? She was dressed just as modestly as she had been at the club. Faded jeans that hugged her ass and thighs. A green top under the beige cardigan, and beneath all that was the one thing that dangled around her neck on a thin silver chain that told him she still clung to beliefs like everyone else had.
Blazes, how he still wanted to rip the thing off. To turn the small piece of metal into absolutely nothing and make her never wear the forsaken thing again. Or anything like it again. But that was too much too soon. Savannah didn't seem ready for any of that and he wasn't even sure why he wanted her to know. Other than to feel her underneath him. Corrupt her in a way he knew his Father would hate.
Even that thought didn't feel like it would be enough. Over the last two months, every text, every word had somehow seeped into him and he had only seen her once until today. She was a breath of fresh air, sinless, and virtuous, yet intoxicating in a way she didn't seem to realize. Although, she had a layer of grief that had been put there by his father. A hurt that he wanted to take away, but the truth would only seem to deepen that scar.
Asmodeus listened to every word and the way she spoke them, even if she didn't realize herself the way she said them. Or the way her eyes averted subtly when she skirted around telling him anything about her friend that passed. "I have six brothers that I'm close to, four of which you met. Some other siblings that we don't talk to anymore, but there's not much you can do when they condemn your existence now."
"That's harsh," she whispered. Asmodeus wasn't sure if she'd speak those exact words if she knew the truth, but today wasn't that day. He still wasn't even sure why he was sitting here. Even Satan and Leviathan were against it, but when were any of them known for following rules or having restraint? It was why they were at were they were.
Asmodeus shrugged. The corner of his mouth turning upward into a small smile before it was gone. He had come to terms with everything years ago, but it didn't make it any less painful to remember that day. "They chose their side. They wanted to continue the business with our father and do whatever he asked without question. Me and my brother's..." Asmodeus trailed off for a moment, meeting her gaze. Those brown eyes stared back at him, just as intrigued as he found them entrancing. "We wanted what most others do. Freedom. A will of our own and to show others that there was more than one path."
"And they began to hate you for it?" There was a shocked bitterness in her tone that had pride swelling in his chest.
Warmth was gone from the coffee he has been drinking, the outside of the cup cool against his hand as he took another sip. The bitterness hit his taste buds, just as her tone had and he'd take it while he could. There was no telling how she'd view him if-when she found out the truth. About him. His brothers. His Father. The belief she seemed so devoted too. But even that he could tell there was a crack in it. Something he could pick at and see what happened. Yet he didn't want to see her shatter.
For some reason, Asmodeus didn't want to watch a believer of his Father crumble just to pluck the power from underneath Him. To watch those brown eyes fade into nothing as they unraveled truth piece by piece. That was something Leviathan did, not him.
"Siblings are a fickle thing," Asmodeus replied nonchalantly, because to him, they were. His were. There was nothing but animosity and bad essence between them. "They wanted to follow our Father's footsteps while we wanted out. Though, out meant being out casted."
Savannah's eyebrows pinched together. He watched as she pressed her lips together, almost drawing her bottom lip in between her teeth she seemed to like to do when she seemed nervous or agitated. It was enticing to watch. An innocent act, just like her, that made him shift in the chair.
"What does your father do?"
He had expected that question, knew it was coming, yet all he had was a white-lie to smooth the lines on her forehead. "He's what you would call a CEO. Running the show from the tallest point. Making those underneath him do the dirty work, while setting rules for even those that are third-parties that are ridiculous just because he doesn't like certain things." Asmodeus figured it was more because their father didn't like the reminder of them or the truth, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.
Lingering questions rose behind Savannah's eyes, almost begging to surface and be answered, and yet some didn't even seem to be related to what they had talked about. A dawning question that had seemed to fester since before he met her. He stayed silent, wondering if she'd ask what was weighing on her mind, but even after a minute, it never came. Whatever thoughts that lingered were gone with a firm press of her lips together. "What are the siblings your close to like? I...as you know, was an only child, until... Arielle."
Arielle. The not-blood sister she lost almost two months ago. A figure that was constant in her life since...well, even he didn't know because the topic seemed too fresh in her eyes to ask that question. But he knew all to well what it was like to lose someone close to you. Had seen it first hand. "You met Satan." He didn't miss the way those lips pressed together at his brothers name still. "He's all about following a certain schedule and making sure everything aligns right to what needs to be done. I'd say he'd be the downer, but that would be Bell. The only other one among us with brown hair and blue eyes." He continued when Savannah gave a simple nod, acknowledging who he was talking about. "He's the quiet, carefree type. Doesn't care to do too much outside sabotaging our father and playing piano. Then there's Beel and Leviathan. Two very different sides. Beel's usually quiet as Bell, but enjoys cooking while Leviathan is..."
"He seemed intense," Savannah finished after a moment of silence while he tried to figure a simpler term than calling his brother an outright savage.
"That would be an understatement," he replied, holding back the snort that would have accompanied that sentence. Leviathan was more than intense. He was essentially the equivalent of an enforcer between them all. "He cares, in his own way. I won't say he's nice in any way." Especially to those like her.
The corner of Savannah's lips turned downward. He didn't miss the way her forehead creased with lines of worry that mirrored in her eyes. He could see the doubt etched on her face. "That's sounds like an easy way to say he's an arrogant jerk."
A few years of learning to keep a smirk off his face was all he needed out of the thousand to not let the one he felt creep up at her words. Not once had he heard Savannah swear. Not even damn. Given she was a school teacher, he knew she wouldn't have used profanity in the school, but even in texts they never slipped out into words. "I can't say he isn't. He's a picky when it comes to... people and who he let's in."
Savannah nodded slowly, holding the cup of coffee he knew was nearly empty and changed the subject. He didn't want her closing him out before he could even edge his way in. The worry eased slightly as they talked, but the doubt remained just barely, seeming to hang on by a thread. Just as everything else he saw.
۵
The floorboard on the worn steps creaked as Asmodeus stepped on them, making his way up the porch to the abandoned house they took residence up in. It had seen better days, that was for sure. Faded green paint clung to the wooden frame that wrapped around the two story house. Wooden splinters poked out from the sills and floorboards from the harsh weather it was stuck in through the years. Worn. Neglected. Forgotten. Just as many things in life had been lost in time, passed by as if the sight itself was something to frown upon with their own eyes. It was a place to hole up in on the edge of Homer, New York, down a dead end road that many locals didn't seem to frequent. So, it worked for them, since they needed to keep a low profile, but wanting to keep seeing Savannah was nearly driving a knife into their carefully placed plans.
"How was your little Christian?" Leviathan's voice came from the living room to his right, the little creak of the hinges echoed in the house inches before the door shut.
Asmodeus stepped into the threshold of the living room, his gaze narrowed onto Leviathan's. His brother was sitting at the corner of the couch, slightly slouched with his legs parted in front of him. Leviathan's green eyes bore into his behind the smoke he blew out, that cigarette between his fingers inches from his face. "She has a name."
"And she's blind," Leviathan retorted, sitting up and placing his elbows on his knees, never breaking eye contact with him. Smoke rose from the lit end of the cigarette, ashes falling to the ash grey carpet that might have once been white or a lighter grey. Black ink covered from the knuckles of his fingers, entangling with more patterns and designs that he knew went all the way up his arm, yet they were usually covered by the same black leather jacket he wore.
Tension coiled inside Asmodeus, taking a step further into the room.
"Enough." Satan's voice ordered before Asmodeus saw him. Striding into the room from the doorway behind the couch, Satan's blond hair was unkempt, strands sticking out over the shaved sides of his head. Hellfire burned in his eyes, glancing between him and Leviathan with the same, silent demand to get their shit together and keep it there before they landed on Asmodeus. "Whatever it is you plan on doing, you better figure it out and soon. The longer you keep her around, the more you put us all on His radar before we need to be."
Asmodeus held back from clicking his tongue, letting the tension in his jaw hold every thought back as he stared back at his brother.
Leviathan smirked, drawing the cigarette up and between his lips. The embers burned brighter as he drew in the smoke, making Asmodeus's shoulder tense, knowing the glint in his brother's green eyes was anything but good. Leviathan pulled the cigarette from his lips, blowing out the smoke that rose slowly, surrounding him. "You could always use her. What better way to strike back at father than by bedding with her? It wouldn't be the first time you've done it. Well, ordered it to be done. Why not try it out for yourself for once? I'm sure Li-"
"I will not be-"
"For fucks sake," Satan cut in, eyes blazing hotter than before as the temperature in the room rose. "Knock it off, both of you." Satan pointed at him, eyes still narrowed. "Get your shit together. If you need to, go back and clean that shit out of your system."