Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

air. Renat took hold of Emiel's hand again and led him slowly back to the great room, where the King of Hell was waiting for them.
    It was impossible to encapsulate in mere words the dark glory that was the former archangel. Where Emiel was love and light and grace drawn into flesh, Satan was chaos and lightning and elemental space itself folded into the form of a man, and yet still unrestrained. The very air surrounding him seemed energized with his presence, and Renat had to fight hard against the conflicting urges of either launching himself forward in a frenzy or pressing his forehead to the ground. Emiel squeezed his hand supportively.
    "An angel," Satan said appreciatively, looking far more interested than Renat was comfortable with. "Not one of mine, either. Our Father's faulty grace doesn't just cling to you, it flourishes in you still." He ran a fingertip over the head of the statue of Emiel. Everything about the motion made Renat think of possession, and he had to look away to keep from being overwhelmed by jealousy. "You stole him from Semiazas, Beauty?"
    Beauty was Satan's particular nickname for Renat, given to him with warring affection and disdain. Renat thought that the King of Hell appreciated the contrast that Renat provided, and found his devotion to a memory amusing. It wasn't so amusing to Renat now that the real thing was actually here.
    "I fought Semiazas for him."
    "You fought for your own little angel, come down at long last to join you in the pit." Satan smiled languidly. "This is a perfect tale of tragic folly. I have to know more before I have you both destroyed for your presumption."
    Panic swelled in Renat, but Emiel calmed him with another brief caress. "I did not come here to challenge your reign. I have brought you tribute, in exchange for releasing us."
    Satan's smile turned harsh. His face morphed from beautiful to menacing in an instant. "I want nothing of God's," he ground out, harsh enough to make Renat's ears bleed.
    "The tribute does not come from God," Emiel promised. He turned a reassuring look on Renat before releasing his hand and moving forward. Every step he took brought him closer to Satan, and drove Renat closer to losing his mind. The King of Hell's power crackled through the air, barely restrained enough by curiosity to keep from doing damage. Renat watched as Emiel drew close enough to touch, close enough to be killed in an instant if Satan wished it. His body quivered with the effort of holding himself still, giving Emiel the time to do whatever it was he was going to do.
    Emiel leaned close, and spoke softly into Satan's ear. "This is from Michael, Lucifer." Then he kissed the Devil firmly on the mouth.
    Only their lips connected, but the sudden flare of celestial light was more powerful than anything Renat had seen since before his fall. He shielded his eyes, and when the light died down and he could see again, he was stunned.
    The swelling antipathy that had soured the air was gone. The chaos had diminished, becoming more contained, and the King of Hell…he looked like the Lucifer of old. He was still beautiful, but his beauty was heavenly now, refined and sealed with grace. He had drawn back from Emiel, and his fingertips hovered in front of his mouth, which was open with shock. Emiel's own grace had diminished sharply, the power of the archangel's gift passed on now. Renat stepped forward cautiously, anxious to get his hands on Emiel, and when he saw him coming, his lover reached out to him. They stood as one in front of the Morning Star, who gradually regained his senses.
    "From Michael…" he murmured.
    "He has not forgotten, any more than I," Emiel said.
    "Yet I had, somehow." Lucifer looked down at his hands and grimaced, as if seeing something that disgusted him. "I have dwelled in the isolation of my own self-righteousness with too much ease." He turned his attention back to them. "This new awareness is worthy of a small benevolence on my part."
    "You mean…you'll let us go?" Renat asked, hardly able to believe it.
    "I'm going to let you follow the path that He has set out for you," Lucifer replied with a faint smile. "I doubt it's what you would love best, but beggars can't be choosers." He reached out and cupped a hand around the back of Renat's neck. His whole spine seized with agony for a moment, but then the pain and heat left him. He opened his eyes just in time to see a ball of Hellfire cupped in Lucifer's palm before it vanished. The burn of his