Angels, Demons, Donuts and Pixie Tea

Openings

Sinfully Delicious had been closed for a few weeks before Ferya had the heart to walk into the place. She had taken nearly a fortnight, recovering from how much power she had expended both on the charms and what she had given Baltha in those last few moments.

Ferya couldn't say that she had known what had happened during the final moments of the battle.

She still didn't have a full idea.

But she trusted that the demon had been trying to save her friend in those few breaths between when she had freed them from the charm and when Lucifer and Murchadh had shown up.

Lucifer had deposited her and the others in his manor and disappeared with Torix. Or the physical body that had once been her friend. Ferya couldn't make sense of the power that had been going on around the woman's body when she last saw her, but she had a vague sense of Torix not being, as if it was something else holding the woman physically with them.

And when she was well enough to wake and had found herself back in her apartment, everyone but Murchadh had been conspicuously absent. Ferya was alone, with no one to help her process what had happened beyond Murchadh's careful but tender company.

The Angels had not returned to Earth as much as she could gather, nor had Baltha.

On the rare occasions she saw the Prince of Darkness, he evaded her questions about her missing friends. But Lucifer appeared occupied mentally, and she was learning enough that she could tell his power was constantly being drained by something. It was fathomless, but he was using a great deal more of it than she had ever noticed before.

Urdu came in and out infrequently, though Ferya at least understood that the woman was covering for Baltha. All she knew was that Baltha was back in his home realm, recovering. At least Quinn and Andraste were fine, if absent. They had switched out with two more of Murchadh's people, Finley and Riari, both of whom made the other two seem remarkably friendly and companionable. Not that they were cruel or malicious, they were both just warriors who took their jobs seriously after what had happened with Uriel.

The only positive was that Murchadh spent his time between the city and the forests and she had managed to see him regularly. Gavin still hung around and kept her company on most days now that the coffee shop was open, though even he seemed a little lost in the aftermath himself.

This had gone on for two months.

Two months of silence and deflection, the pain of loss receding to a dull throbbing in her chest if she wasn't careful enough to distract herself. She was standing in her kitchen, looking down at her tray of chocolate and vanilla donuts, fighting back tears as a wave of her grief hit her when she heard a commotion coming from the rest of the shop.

Unable to make out the words, she strode out of the kitchen to see Baltha, in full armour complete with helm and the two axes strapped to his back, nose to nose with Riari. The dark elf didn't hide her distaste for demons very well, though Ferya could only imagine it had something to do with the five claw marks that scarred the woman's face. But at that moment, she didn't care.

"Baltha!" Ferya's voice almost broke, wavering slightly as she shoved the tray of donuts into Finley's hands as the man moved to stand beside her.

She didn't pause long enough to wonder if she should be trying to hug a demon whose armour was full of spikes and pokey bits, running around the counter and rushing at him. Baltha didn't give Riari another glance, taking two steps towards her, his armour gone by the time she leapt into his arms, wrapping him in the tightest embrace she could.

He didn't say a word.

He just held her up off the ground in an equally firm hug, rubbing her back as she buried her face into his shoulder. The tears started before she understood what emotion was going through her, her words coming out in an endless stream of rambling. "You never came back. No one told me what happened to you, you just disappeared, and they said you were recovering and it's been two months. I was so worried. I thought I lost you, too."