The angel Hael was deeply worried about Lucretia's slipping judgment. He was not offended by her choice of the Andraelphus over him--after all, he knew that this was more than a matter of sexual prowess--as much as her leniency with the creature, the removal of his bonds.
Andrealphus made good use of his time in the long hours when Lucretia was away. He would search the house, moving around furniture, checking for hidden drawers, looking for anything he could obviously use against her.
Hael was certain he was looking for Eli's grimoire, for some means to break the binding spell that contained them here. Thankfully, he had foreseen this and had hidden the tome in one of his stacks around him, in plain sight.
His days would be filled with the frantic sounds of the demon going through the rooms and his nights with Lucretia's screams, pleading with her inhuman lover for more through her tears and her orgasms.
Lucretia had come to him one night, poor, misused little Lucretia, inside the library, her naked body covered in the demon's juices and decorated with patches of red where Andrealphus had slapped and sucked and nibbled her raw. She looked beautiful to him, even then, in that vulnerable, panting state.
She crawled to him and cried, pleading to be released, to be freed from this torment, but Hael knew she did not mean it. He knew she loved this mistreatment, this mix of pain and pleasure, and even if she found it in her heart to release the demon that very night, she would look through Hell for him the next minute.
He had cupped her face in his hands then and kissed her deeply, easing her mind. He tried to tell her about the danger, but she simply stumbled out in a daze and slept.
It was in the afternoon of the seventh day when Andrealphus burst through the library door.
"Where is it?"
"What are you referring to?"
"The book! The book! The bloody bastard book! The one that holds the spell that will release us!"
"That will release you, you mean."
"And you by extension! Do you know where it is?"
"Are you intending to hurt the woman when you are freed?"
"Hurt her? Hurt is too mild a word. I intend to torment her, I intend to destroy her! I have such a store of wonderful, red delights at hand for her, the likes of which not even Hell has ever seen!"
"Then I will not aid you."
The demon's face twisted with rage; his eyes turned into two burning coals, so seething with hate that they could bore holes through steel.
"Give me the book, or I will destroy you."
"No. I will not allow you to exile this woman into perdition before she can repent."
"She is a black-hearted whore! A sorcerer's daughter!"
"She is a living being. And I was created to protect living beings."
The demon was upon him before the angel had even time to prepare himself. His enemy shifted his form in midair, turning himself into a catlike creature armed with barbed, wicked claws. He stepped away and saw it crumple down the stacks of books. Andrealphus jumped up at him the next instant, his claws ripping at Hael's robes and the flesh underneath.
The angel struck at his monstrous enemy and beat his wings, when the tug of the chain pulled him down. The weeks of wearing the thing had made him grow so accustomed to his bonds that he had completely forgotten about them. Without missing a beat, the demon grabbed the chain, his skin sizzling on contact, and tugged down with all his might, making the angel crash across the shelves, smashing through wood and throwing up a cloud of dust.
He tugged again, snarling at his opponent, when he felt him pull back, and the two creatures locked in a tug of war, as his and the demon's muscles screamed at the touch of the iron that poisoned and burned them. With one final tug, the angel won the competition and dragged his enemy across the floor, then flew at him, tackling the creature. They exchanged strikes with claw, wing, and fang. They rolled on the floor, their blood staining the old paper and the marble.
Hael was holding his enemy by the throat, choking Andrealphus with his iron chain, even while he kept changing his form, trying to slip away from its terrible touch to no avail. In desperation, the demon changed his form to that of a large scorpion and struck the angel on his throat and sides repeatedly, again and again, until his heavenly enemy released his grip, paralyzed by the pain. Andrealphus got up, changing to a human form, his body burned and bruised.
"You put up a good fight. For a servant of Heaven, that is." He spat at his enemy and looked through the stack of books, tossing aside the old tomes until he found the grimoire. He laughed uproariously at his good fortune.
"You better run when I'm done with this. Because if you are still here, I will first kill her in front of your very eyes. Then I'll make sure you're a long time dying."
***
Lucretia felt something was amiss the minute she walked through the door. There was the smell of sulfur in the air, mixed with blood.
She ran toward the source of the cacophony, when she heard the demon's voice booming across the house, each word spoken loudly, like the terrible toll of a funeral bell.
"Fhtagn! Lui' Vur!"
Her heart jumped. She knew the words. The words she had spoken to bind the creature! She let out a scream at the sound of them and headed for the library.
