Silas was nowhere to be found upon our return. Xuân, who had seemingly finished her meetings, had taken the long way from the annex to the atrium, avoiding the sanctuary while it was otherwise occupied. Nia, still leaning against the atrium wall, was blushingly unable to make eye contact. Kirby was making far too much eye contact.
Caliban offered them the same parting knuckle-kisses that may have made me jealous if he were anyone else. Instead, I simply felt honored to be the one on his arm, knowing exactly the effect he had on everyone around him.
“It was such a pleasure to meet the people most important to my Love,” he said, brushing a farewell kiss against Nia’s knuckles.
“Any time,” she said, face turned sharply away from him as heat painted her skin.
“And I relish the opportunity to make Love’s familymyfamily,” he said.
I heard the sounds of two suppressed squeals as my friends simply passed away.
Caliban asked Nia and Kirby to keep an eye on me until he could return for a proper dinner party, and they stammered a series of unintelligible words that may or may not have been English. The feeling of watching my loved ones see him with their eyes was indescribable. He’d gone from utterly impossible to wholly seen. Every attempt to deny his existence had been bottled and shelved. Not only could I no longer duck behind deniability, but my friends wouldn’t be able to support me gaslighting myself out of what Caliban and I had.
“Love, do you remember the cave?” he asked.
The meditative trick he’d taught me in the Phoenician realm, so he and I could communicate without being overheard. Yes, I remembered.
I nodded.
The corner of his mouth turned up in the barest of smiles. “Please call upon me, even when we’re separated by realms. I miss you, and it’s killing me.”
“Come with us,” I begged.
“You’re waging war for us in this realm,” he said. “I’m clearing your path in every other. Nothing worth having comes easily. And you, Love, are worth fighting for.”
My silent gasp was answer enough. I threw my arms around him, and he held me so tightly that for a moment, everything was okay.
I’d been watching him come and go for twenty-six years. I should have been used to the way he stepped backward into nothing, vanishing from my sight.
When he disappeared, I felt his absence like a physical wound.
Ten seconds passed between the group. Then thirty. After a minute, I shuffled a little uncertainly before saying, “So, that’s Caliban.”
Nia cleared her throat. “Kirby, you know how we thought you had the most exciting sex life?”
Normally, I would have expected Kirby to tell Nia to shut the fuck up, but instead, they merely shook their head in slack-jawed awe.
I rubbed the back of my neck, wincing a bit as I came down from my cum-drunk buzz. “That may not have been the best first impression.”
Kirby rediscovered the power of speech as they said, “For what, introducing us to the love of your life, the Prince of Hell? No, I think you both highlighted your point quite effectively.”
My grimace intensified. “I’m sorry for…whatever you heard.”
“I’m not,” Kirby was quick to say.
“Like I said,” Nia grumbled, getting to her feet, “I’m divorcing Darius.”
I’d completely forgotten about the only human in our circle without a sigil. “So, are we just going to leave your husband out of the loop? We have places to be, gorgons to win, gods to woo, worlds to end.”
Her laugh contained genuine affection as she said, “I do love him, and to be honest, sometimes I think his obliviousness is a treat. A spontaneous friends’ trip for us will be an exciting opportunity for him to stare unblinkingly at that alien video game. He’s a great partner, a feminist, a spectacular lover…well, for a human.” Her eyes drifted to what I could only assume was a very recently acquired memory of me being plowed by Satan-spawn.
“Is Priscilla ready? Shall we go introduce ourselves to this infernal Duchess and see if she’ll help us recruit Alessia?” I asked.
Kirby stood, clapping their hands together. “You’re in sweats and covered in demon cum. I love that for you. Sure, let’s meet royalty.”
