In Flames - 14. Chapter 14

Atoki felt wobbly and faint, and didn’t really pay attention to where he was. When Kiorl scooped him up, he went sort of floppy, and let his head settle on the big panther’s chest. He didn’t care where they went, just that it was away from Sathriel and the basement. Away from all the things that reminded him of Aris. Away from the threat of rape and death. When he was shifted from Kiorl’s arms to a soft couch with slightly sagging upholstery, Atoki rubbed his eyes and sat up.

Kiorl was pacing in tight, angry circles. His usually messy Mohawk was a proper mess, the big demon running his hands through it even as his tail lashed back and forth. He snarled at nothing. The Prince had settled into a deep winged arm chair, pale fingers gripping the armrests softly, a whole figure of repose and calm.

“What the fuck Nassau?” Kiorl practically roared, “You called him out over this?” He made a wild gesture to himself and Atoki, “You could have gotten us all killed. Like really killed! Fuck that, you could have destroyed the universe!”

“It’s fine Kiorl.” Nassau shook his head gently and turned to Atoki, “My oldest friend has an issue with thanking people. Are you alright?”

“Y-y-yes.” Atoki tried to smile, but he was still shaking, and shaken.

“Sod you and your hero complex Nas!” Kiorl’s anger finally ran out of pacing energy, and he sagged visibly, “Apart from Them, he’s the most powerful single being on the planet, you could have destroyed us all.”

Atoki was just getting up the nerve to ask who ‘Them’ were, when Nassau spoke.

“Actually, he’s not. I can beat him.”

Kiorl made a dismissive noise, and then waved his hand, summoning new clothes, a tray of filled goblets and a dish of something sticky that smelt like honey and looked like Turkish delight.

“That’s impossible, he made you.” Kiorl took a glass and handed another to Atoki, settling down beside him, “It’s impossible for any creature to create another more powerful than itself.”

Atoki sipped the drink. It was wine, but the flavour was deeply complex, as though someone had shown the vines pornography before the fruit was matured.

“Father made me, and my two brothers, and he split all the power he could between us. That way, no two could beat him, and he sort of banked on us never ganging up on him.”

“Did you?” Atoki found that the wine made him bold, and his nerves were suddenly less raw.

“No. I banished each of my brothers and took their power.” Nassau smiled softly at Atoki’s shocked expression, “It’s a very long story young one, and they were not nice people.”

“Nathaneal was certainly not.” Kiorl shared a look with his friend which Atoki couldn’t interpret. “Nassau’s eldest brother was like his father, but distilled. Worse.”

“Worse?” Atoki shuddered. How anyone could be worse than the Devil himself?

“Kiorl, let him be. He’s not going to cope. Let it go.”

“I still don’t get it Nas.” Atoki put down his glass, feeling suddenly sleepy now as the conversation went away from him, “You absorbed their powers. That should only make you as powerful as him, not more.”

Whatever Nassau said in response, Atoki didn’t hear him. The world drifted away into grey clouds, soft as ashes, and Atoki wanted nothing more than to be back in his room with his demon.

*

Kiorl waved a hand to his glass and it refilled slowly, as though being poured from an invisible jug. He should have known that asking Nassau these questions was going to lead them back down the dangerous route to Nassau’s past.

“So you mean because of Mattias, you’re stronger?”

“Yes.” Nassau’s eyes were unfocused, as though he was seeing into the past, “Father doesn’t know. He believes that I am just as strong as him, if one of us would destroy the other, we’d both be destroyed, and probably much of hell along with us. When Mattias died, because he loved me, I received his power.”

“He wasn’t that strong.” Kiorl thought back to the man, human but with supernatural tendencies, who had dared to love the Prince of Hell. Mattias had brought Nassau back from the brink of ruin, helped him to defeat his brothers, and allowed him to regain his feathers, the respect of his father. Mattias had been the perfect consort. Kiorl had never actually gotten on with him, but it had been nice in those years, to see Nassau happy.

“But it was enough.” Nassau gave a soft smile, “If I kill my father, it will nearly destroy me, but I’ll still live. You’d be stronger than me.”

Kiorl scoffed.

“That would not be a good world to live in. The riots alone…”

“Much better then to let him think we are equal.” Nassau began to braid his long hair over his shoulder, “Why did you take him to Sathriel? What he wanted could never have been good.”

The pair of demons watched the sleeping human for a moment, each trying to remember a time when they had slept that well or been that innocent.

“I left him.” Kiorl exhaled loudly, “I left your father.”

“I know.” Nassau didn’t seem in the least surprised, “You’ve stopped being around so much. People have noticed.”

“Is my position in danger?”

“No.” Nassau reassured his friend, and joined him in drinking, “What should we do with him do you think? I saw his lover this morning going off with Sitka up top. He seems to have settled in well.”

“They are good together.” Kiorl said quickly.

“Jealous?” Nassau arched a perfect eyebrow, “Do I detect that you might actually want a relationship old friend?”

Kiorl snarled in reply.

“Indeed. I have this feeling that he is more like Tobias than Jahke.”

“Yes. I doubt either of them would share.” Kiorl could see the pair standing at the foot of the stairs in the house. They probably didn’t even realise they were doing it. Vruuaska, feral and imposing, standing half wrapped around the boy, while Atoki stood with his hand between the beast’s horns. They were so obviously parts of each other.

“I have an idea. He deserves more than just immortality.”

“He needs more protection than immortality as well. The mate of a Son of Ifrit, how exciting.”

Kiorl recognised Nassau’s excited tone, and sighed. Nassau in a really good mood was almost as scary as Nassau in a rage.

“What are you thinking?” Kiorl stood, and walked over to where Atoki slept. He snuggled up in his grey silks, and not for the first time, Kiorl felt his stomach give an unpleasant lurch. It was the same feeling he associated with seeing Jahke and Sitka snuggled up together on the couch, Zai and Tobias’s good natured bickering. He’d always thought it was a bad feeling.

“Careful Kiorl, You shouldn’t covet something that you know’ll get you killed.”

“I’m not. He’s a bit prickly though.” Kiorl smiled, “He’s like Tobias. Strong willed. I don’t see him crumbling easily.”

“Kiorl, you sound practically happy. Does Vruuaska burn things that touch him?”

“Yup. Their door is totally singed.”

“Immunity from fire.” Nassau pulled a long bronze-gold feather from his wing, “I reckon I could twist that around for him. Protect him from father.”

“You think he won’t give up?”

Nassau stood, twiddling the feather in his fingers. He brushed the tip across the bridge of his nose.

“Kiorl, my father wants revenge on you, no one has ever left him. Ever. You need to be careful. Going up top for a bit might not be such a bad idea.” Nassau knelt next to the sleeping boy, “Here we go buddy. Its time to change.”