Finding Faith: Kalili’s Temptation Book 1

And the same is true for angels, in case you were wondering.

It makes sense. We come from the same stock. Created simultaneously and set loose in the universe. And don’t believe the bullshit about demons being angels that fell. The original immortals, greater demons like me? Lucifer created us to oppose the Head Office.

All part of the fucked up ineffable plan.

And that wasn’t particularly relevant at that moment, except it made living through each day Earthside tedious in the extreme.

Having an unfamiliar task would have helped.

No such luck.

My assignment was to seduce one of a half-dozen prospective Popes.

Been there, done that. This century, even.

“Sway him from his religious beliefs into a life of sin, then use your powers to shorten his life before he can resume a path which will lead him to chastity.”

Blah, blah, blah.

What made this one worse was that Below hadn’t done their research.

As usual.

Octavianus, son of Alberic II of Spoletto, was anything but chaste when I entered his life.

So much for swaying him.

But I was stuck with the task.

Frankly, I didn’t see the point. A corrupt pope or cardinal would be immeasurably more valuable to Below than one who failed to be selected and died.

Eh. What did I know?

He grunted at an especially hard thrust, and for a split second I hoped he was coming. He resumed his pounding, dashing my hopes.

If I was human, I’d be sore in the morning.

I wriggled, hoping the additional stimulation would speed the process.

A minute later, he was still going strong. Time for me to play dirty.

“Don’t stop, Van,” I moaned. “Right there, don’t stop, don’t stop!”

Two thrusts later, Octavianus let out an impassioned groan and came.

Finally.

“Oh, lover, that was so good.”

I didn’t know if he heard me and didn’t care. He pulled out of me and slapped my ass.

“You’re a good fuck, Dora.”

For this assignment, I was Theodora, not Kalili, proving someone Below had a really crappy sense of humor. “Beloved of God” indeed!

“You are a magnificent lover, Octavianus.” I stood, allowing the fabric to fall over my legs. I’d clean up when I returned to my chambers.

At least you don’t take much of my time.

He waved a hand in dismissal, and I fled.

First stop, bath. Then what? I don’t know.

Which brought me full circle.

I was bored.

I didn’t lack for work. Rome was a cesspit of debauchery, and the closer you got to seats of power, the worse the stench.

Which was good for me and my companions. There were dozens of demons, succubi, and incubi in Rome this spring. Agapetus II was ill again, and the jockeying for his successor had resumed. Which meant corruption season was in full swing.

But it was deathly dull.

Especially for a demon who had been around since the beginning of so-called civilization.

“Oh, bless it all!” I cursed.

“Problems, Kalili?” came a greasy voice behind me.

He thought he was oh-so-sneaky, but I had picked up on his aura and didn’t show my surprise when he spoke.

“No, Coronatus.”

Coronatus pouted.

He was an imp. Think of him as a demonic secretary and you wouldn’t be far off. As the senior demon on this assignment, he was mine, tasked with keeping appointments and handling everyone’s schedules.

Did you know Hell invented paperwork?

Original in triplicate was one of their proudest moments.

And imps were masters of minutiae.

He was a pain in my ass.

Like other immortals, Cor could make himself invisible. Unlike demons and angels, he couldn’t make himself insubstantial, so while I could walk through walls if I wanted, he had to find doors. Not saying I ever took advantage of this.

“Finished so soon? Did he commit to marrying you?” That was my plan. Get Van, the most likely of the prospects, to marry me. He was already corrupt, but a married cardinal would be challenged to become pope.

But I’d only been working this angle for a few weeks, far too little time for any results, and Coronatus knew it. He was asking me just to be a prick.

Fine. I could be a prick too, even without shapeshifting.

I passed through the door without him and smirked until he caught up.

“No, he fucked me and I left. He was already thinking about lunch and the serving boy. Not exactly the right time to ask. Besides, with his cum dripping down my leg, I didn’t think it was quite romantic enough.”

Demons and angels are touch-telepaths. When we’re in contact with a human, or another immortal of equal or lower status, we can read their mind. It made my job easier, as it did for the succubi. But eww.

“Do you have an estimated date, Kalili?” He was persistent.

“No, I don’t, and you can tell Below to stop asking me.” I was feeling pressure because according to my orders? This was supposed to be a straightforward job. Again, they didn’t do their research. If they had, they would have known that the potential of a papacy was enough of a lure to keep most mortals from taking a permanent entanglement, no matter how tempting. And while I had an outstanding track record, I wasn’t infallible.

“I’ll pass it along.” Cor made a notation on the slate tablet. “Did you know there’s a new angel in town?”

“I’d heard,” I said. Angels came and went like cockroaches. I paid them as little attention.

“And she’s assigned to watch you.”

I yawned. Entirely staged. There was always an angel watching me.

No, it’s not ego.

I was a very senior demon. Sure, there were older demons, and higher-ranking ones, but I’d been on Earth continuously for six millennia, and had been there and done that. It was a rare assignment I didn’t have one angel or another looking over my shoulder and trying to screw with me. I would be more surprised if I didn’t have an angel I had to dodge.

“And she’s got permission to kill you.”

I walked into the wall.

“Fuck! Ow! What did you say?” I rubbed my injured shoulder.

“My source says she’s ordered to kill you.”

This was unusual.

Hugely so.

There was an unwritten détente between the two sides. Demons didn’t kill angels, and angels didn’t kill demons. Inconvenience? Absolutely. Interfere? Definitely. Injure? Sure, if we thought we could get away with it. But kill?

No!

As I said, we were immortal, but not invulnerable. A human could kill our bodies if they got lucky. Poison didn’t work on us, neither did drowning nor smothering. Enough damage and we’d die, like a beheading, or multiple stab wounds, shit like that. Unfortunately for them, that was little more than an irritating bunch of paperwork. We’d come back eventually and get our revenge.

Demons couldn’t kill other demons. Not permanently.

I didn’t know if angels could kill angels. I’d never cared enough to ask.

Only a demon could kill an angel forever.

And vice versa.

The last demon killed by an angel was Gard, just over two centuries earlier. In fairness to the angel, it was totally justified. He’d gone rogue, chopping wings off angels whenever he could. Which was totally what we did, but there wasn’t any provocation. The bosses worried that he’d escalate the Celestial War all on his own. Below had tried to stop him, to no avail, and so they’d quietly let it be known that he was fair game, no longer protected.

That was the only one this millennium.

“Why? When?”

Cor shrugged. “Don’t know. Do you want me to find out?”

I smacked his shoulder. “Yes!”

He smirked at me. “What’s in it for me?”

I didn’t have time for this. If an angel was searching for me, I needed information now, not later.

“Besides your continued existence?”

“You can’t kill me.” Which wasn’t quite true. I could, but Below would issue him a new body and send him back to pester me. Then there was the paperwork, and probably a reprimand to go with it. To top it off, he’d be even more annoying when he returned.

This, I knew from hard-earned experience.

“A weekend off.”

“A week.”

“Three days.”

“Four.”

“Deal.” I cursed myself inwardly. I shouldn’t have negotiated downward, but it was a habit. A week free of him? Bliss! “After I get the information.”

“Agreed.” He stopped, forcing me to stop with him. “Sign.”

“You don’t trust me?” I was already reaching for the contract. An imp trusting a demon? Not likely. He snatched it back as soon as I’d made my mark and turned to walk away.

“Hey!”

“What?”

“Who is it? Do we know her?”

He shook his greasy black hair at me.

“No. At least I don’t know her.”

“Does she have a name?”

“Faith.” Cor walked off. I wasn’t getting any more from him today.

“Faith.”