I'd woken alone in bed but the smile on my face was wide as I remembered how nice it was to lay there with Brannon, slowly falling asleep in his arms. I don't think that I'd ever felt this good. As I rubbed my weary eyes, I wandered out to the living area in search of food.
At first, I thought that I was mistaken, then I thought that Brannon had returned. Then I took a better look at the figure that stood by the glass doors. He was looking out over the water, the sun was setting in the distance.
He turned with an amazing smile, one that made me full of fear.
"Hello, Emily, did you sleep well?" The devil asked.
"I did," I said quietly.
"Good. I have come here for a conversation with you about my son."
The coffee machine began to whirr, a cup slid under it as the devil appeared beside the machine. I gasped and stepped back, hitting the wall behind me.
"Would you like a coffee Emily?"
"No thanks."
"Are you sure? This is a great machine, my beloved wife selected it."
"I'm fine."
He turned, offering another smile that had me captivated. Brannon looked a lot like him, his father seemed more distinguished and charming. Well duh Emily, he's the devil, of course he's charming my mind scoffed. It was right, beware of the devil and his smile.
"Please, join me on the lounge."
The devil gestured to the lounge, I glanced from it to him. He could see my hesitation and nodded slightly.
"I know, it's hard, isn't it? You've been warned about me, you've been told to keep your distance. Yet here you are and you're still alive, it's a mystery isn't it?"
You've got that right.
"I am not what you have been told to expect though to be fair, they weren't completely wrong. For the purpose of this conversation and my fact finding mission, I promise that I will not harm you. Now please, take a seat on the lounge."
I scurried past him, sitting on the lounge against the far wall. The devil sat on the next one along, facing me with the same amused smile, sipping his coffee.
"Tell me the objectives of your mission and please, no games, no hiding information from me."
"But it's classified information, do you know what they would do to me if they found out I'd told the devil something I wasn't supposed to?"
"Probably the same as what I'd do to you if you don't tell me."
Well dead either way, it sounded like fun.
"Fine." I sighed. "Mission objective one was to watch and report on everything that Brannon did, who he interacted with, where he went. After telling them about what happened the other day they added another objective which was to get close to him but not involved."
"Who do you report to?"
"A mirror on the wall." I scoffed.
The devil looked at me with a frown and I huffed with frustration.
"I go into what's like an interrogation room, one chair under a light bulb, it faces a large mirror on the wall. I don't know how many are on the other side, I only ever talk to one person. Any notes are passed through a box in the wall. I've never seen anyone regarding this assignment. I was told to report to the offices, told which room to go to and that's it."
"Do you have any thoughts on what information they might be looking for?"
I shook my head, feeling the weight of my role in the world push down upon me.
"I am nothing but an infra, you know as well as I do that we are just lowly servants. We are not told things, just drip fed the vital information and nothing more. Did Brannon tell you that there was someone in the restricted section of the library?"
The devil nodded with a supreme smile.
"That was me, I was looking for some kind of clue."
"And what did you find?"
"That the library is pitiful. I don't know why they've called it the restricted section, there's nothing in there that is harmful."
He nodded and took another sip of his coffee.
"I've heard whispers that you've got a library of worth, have you ever searched for a reason that they are so interested in you and your son?"
"You won't find their reasons for interest written on paper Emily, you will find it by just thinking about it. Heaven is always concerned about hell. They will always worry that the devil will take his damned and his demons and storm the place, taking over and creating pure bedlam there and on earth. When Brannon was born he completed the trinity of hell, he is powerful. More powerful than I had been warned about. How many deities do you know could bind an angel and shoot her into the stratosphere?"
"Just Brannon," I whispered.
With one last sip, the cup was cast aside and the devil smiled at me again. The devil was a smooth one, a sense of euphoria filled the air and made me more at ease with the situation. I didn't want to overthink it but I knew he was doing something to make me more chatty.
Did I care? No, not really. I was sick of being a nobody in my world.
"So I guess you can understand their interest in Brannon, they want to know how powerful he is. With your new duties, I suspect they want to lure him to their side. Wouldn't that be the ultimate kick to the devil's gut? Steal his firstborn right from under his nose. So that brings us to the next part of our conversation. Tell me of your feelings for my son."
I wanted to gasp, I wanted to say that I didn't have any but I couldn't lie. Feeling a lot of heavy emotions I nodded, lowering my head with what felt like shame. Should I be ashamed that I liked him? No, there was nothing wrong with it.
As I looked up at the devil, I saw sincerity, something that I did not expect from him.
"I like him but you understand my concerns, don't you?"
"Of course Emily. You are an angel, you are expected to despise the devil, his family and his world. Yet you sit here with such sadness that I believe you do not despise him or his world. Of course, you don't know his family yet but I can assure you that you would like them. My wife is very charitable, instilling good values into our children. Did those above you tell you that my wife and our children offer food and clothes to the unfortunate on a weekly basis?"
I shook my head rather shocked.
"No, I didn't think they would. They see what they want to Emily and they tell you what they want you to know. It is of no surprise that they would try and hide the fact that the queen is still the virtuous and charitable woman she was before she met me, that she has not changed just because she married the devil. Now as for the future, I will allow you to remain in this layer until you are better. The climate here is sufficient to repair you and by tomorrow you should be ready to return to earth. I will send a demon down here to collect you and deliver you safely to the surface, from there you should return to your lodgings and withdraw from the school."
"But what about Brannon? I said that I liked him. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
He looked at me with shock.
"Of course it does but how can I allow an angel into hell? How could I allow the enemy to sleep under the same roof as my wife and children? If you have an answer Emily then by all means, tell me because I cannot see a happy path for you and Brannon."
With such raw honesty, the devil looked at me and waited, hoping that I might have had an answer to his questions. There was no doubt that he wanted the best for Brannon, he loved his son and would do anything for him. I barely knew them and I could see it with such ease that it shocked me.
I had no answer. I was an angel and angels did not reside in hell. Well, four did. One was a fallen angel and the others were the children of a fallen angel. With tears in my eyes I looked up at the devil and I knew I had the answer.
Sliding off the lounge, I knelt before him on the floor, my head lowered with the submission.
"I will fall into darkness for him, I will give away my white wings so that I can love him for an eternity."
Slowly I lifted my gaze to the plain faced devil, he offered no indication of his thoughts on my fall from grace.