Page 54 of Metatron
As he pushed himself up, Satan grumbled, “I told you not to touch her cage. There’s a reason I keep her locked away.”
A glance overhead showed the opening too narrow to be of any use. Not that it mattered. Escape had just become very unlikely, given the arrival of Hell’s leader. It led to him finally turning his attention to Satan, lounging on his throne.
Metatron approached slowly as he took in the menace he’d been told about his entire life. While he’d been shown images of the devil, no one Metatron knew had ever met him in person and lived to tell about it. He appeared as grotesque as depicted, his skin a deep red, his horns ebony and massive but also glowing a sickly gold. His wings leathery just like the demons.
Francesca stood at the base of the dais and harangued. “Why are you keeping that poor woman in a cage? It’s cruel.”
“You don’t say. It is my specialty.”
“You’re the one who should be imprisoned,” Francesca argued.
“Are you always this annoying? It’s a wonder anyone came to save you. Be quiet.” The devil pointed at Francesca. and she abruptly ceased to speak, not by choice judging by her expression. Satan then pointed to Metatron. “Come here. Who are you?”
“I am Marron.”
The devil snorted. “Given how much you lie, I could almost believe you’re a demon, but that wouldn’t be true, now would it, Metatron?”
Francesca sucked in a surprised breath. He almost followed suit. How did he know?
As if answering his thought, Satan said, “As I watched you free her, it occurred to me that Marron would never betray, and only one person would want to risk their life to save hers. Clever disguise, by the way.”
“You had no right to take her.” A dumb argument but he made it nonetheless.
“And who’s going to stop me? You? Your little choir? The humans who can’t even properly put a person in space?” The laughter stung, especially since everything he’d said? True.
The devil lounged on the throne, with eyes that glowed orange, alien and evil, yet something in the pose, the smirk, felt familiar. It hit Metatron like a tornado out of nowhere, spinning him round and round, the dizziness almost making it impossible for him to push out the word.
“Elyon?”
The wide smile discomfited. “Should have known you’d be the first to guess my secret. Too bad you won’t live to tell anyone.”
Chapter 16
Tron came for me! I couldn’t believe it. Like really couldn’t because I found it kind of hard to reconcile the ugly demon dude with my handsome lover. And that was only the start of the shocks. I should have known our escape wouldn’t be easy. The devil showed up before we’d even made it out of the throne room.
But the biggest surprise of all? When Tron called him Elyon and the devil didn’t deny it.
Satan rose from his throne, a beast blowing smoke through his nose, his dark wings extending and casting a shadow that buried us in despair. I wanted to run so fucking bad. You’ve never experienced terrifying until a veritable monster descends some steps, doing that slow walk villains are so good at in the movies. In good news, I didn’t pee my pants, but only because the bastard froze me in place.
I could see and hear, and that was the extent of it. Metatron didn’t appear affected because he stood in front of me, blocking me from the devil’s direct gaze, challenging his former god—former because I couldn’t see him retaining any loyalty after this.
“Show yourself,” Tron demanded. “Remove this foolish disguise.”
“You first!” Satan clapped his hands and a good thing my tongue couldn’t move, or I would have squeaked as my poor lover turned into motes of light for a moment, suspended in the air. I feared breathing lest I scatter him. In a blink of an eye, my Tron appeared, looking so beautifully strong, every inch the warrior, only without his usual weapon. Rather than his long and impressive sword, he bore a holster with a gun and another with a short dagger.
A benefit to the devil showing off his power? While he played with Tron, the freezing wore off. I hugged myself in relief but kept quiet to listen.
“Thank you for returning me to myself. Now it’s your turn to stop hiding,” Tron declared. “Show me your true form.”
“Do you mean this one?”
I couldn’t resist peeking around the edge of Tron’s wing to see God. I mean, yeah, he wasn’t a good one, but damn, dude was still a deity who had just transformed my lover.
Satan didn’t do anything dramatic to change, nor did he turn into dust. His skin lightened from red to pink to slightly tanned. The horns receded to become white and gray hair reaching the shoulders. The wings just disappeared, while the leather pants and boots shifted to a robe. He became the benevolent God depicted in Bible and film, if one ignored his expression. Supercilious with a large dose of arrogance and brackets of cruelty around his mouth.
Judging by Tron’s face, the revelation that God and the Devil were one and the same devastated. Poor guy. His whole life took on a new meaning. Not exactly that of the good guy, and that had to burn.
While Tron mentally recovered, I stepped into sight. “Holy father of lies.”