Sunny - Mona Lisa Blossoming

We stopped beside a dark and desolate alley in the Warehouse District. It was quiet here, deserted until the Earth spun ponderously around and faced the sun once more. Then it would fill and teem again with life as the business bustle of daytime returned. But for now, in the dark quiet of night, not a soul was present. Life forms could be felt, heard, a short radius away, scattered in dumpings here and there where they slept, ate, lived.

Farther north, almost an immense mass of gathered humanity swelled, pulsing with the beats of thousands upon thousands of countless bodies. The French Quarter. But here in the deserted Business District, only the stillness of silence, the death of night, greeted us. The alley was bland, unremarkable, no different from thousands of other alleys dotting the city until with a flicker of will, a flexing of power, Halcyon called forth the portal. It shimmered then, brought to life, a glittering, white misty wall.

Making the portal appear seemed to use up whatever strength Halcyon had garnered from the generous donations of our blood. He would have collapsed had I not caught him. To my thankful surprise, I was stronger than I felt. My jellied knees managed to hold up both of us.

"You can't go back by yourself like this," I said.

Gryphon leaned weakly against the wall, letting it prop him up. "No," he said, vehemently shaking his head.

"No, what?" Amber asked. The green Suburban had followed us down into the city and the other men gathered about us now. Although gathered was too kind a word. Miguel and Gerald hovered back near the mouth of the alley. Even my men kept a certain distance, as if fearful of being drawn into the portal, fearful of being sucked accidentally down to Hell. They were wise to be fearful. If they were able to survive the trip down, they were dead upon arrival, nothing but dust upon hitting the other realm's hot atmosphere. Monère and humans did not do well down in Hell; one unable to withstand the heat, the other too fragile to survive the trip. I, however, seemed to be the perfect sturdy mix of the two. Hell seemed to like me. I wasn't exactly sure what that said about me, but at least it didn't kill me. The trip, that is. And let me tell you, it is not a fun trip. Even though you don't die, it feels as if you will. After awhile, you wish you had.

Nope, not fun at all. And not something I could believe I was going to willingly repeat. But goddamn it to Hell and back—which was going to be my goal here—Halcyon wasn't even able to stand on his own two feet.

"No, what?" Amber asked again. He and Halcyon stood the closest—stalwart, protective forces behind me.

"I'm going with Halcyon," I said.

A dangerous, frightening look came over Amber's craggy face. "No." In this, he and Halcyon were united. They stood there together looking at me with fierce, set faces as if they had a say in the matter, and I was both pleased and annoyed that they did so. Pleased because they were learning that they mattered enough to me that I would listen to them if I could. Annoyed because in this case, I couldn't.

"The damn portal isn't like an elevator you can just stick Halcyon in and trust it to bring him directly to his door. He has to make his way home, and there are a lot of dangerous things down there." Like other demon dead. "Just look at Halcyon," I said.

"We are looking," Amber said in a low, unhappy rumble, and he wasn't just looking at Halcyon. He was looking at me supporting Halcyon.

Which made me want to take back my last words. Not the most brilliant suggestion of the moment. Halcyon and I no doubt looked like we'd both topple over if anyone breathed too hard on us.

I hastened on. "Home—or rather Hell—is not a safe place. High Prince of Hell or not, Halcyon will be almost helpless once he arrives. And that is not a place you want to be helpless in, not if you want to continue existing." If not exactly living.

"Your men are right," Halcyon said quietly. "I shall be unable to protect you in Hell."

"Halcyon," I said almost gently. "It is you I wish to protect."

"And how do you expect to do that in your condition?" Dontaine asked, stepping forward. With his chest bare, his feet naked, his pants torn rags, he looked the primitive warrior that he was. My warrior now, I thought with satisfaction. Not hers.

My eyes softened as I looked at him. "You, too, Dontaine?"

"Milady, I did not save you to watch you kill yourself now. No one who has gone down to the other realm has ever returned."

"Except me."

Dontaine's eyes widened with surprise.

"I'm the only one here who can do it because I did it before. It has to be me."

"Prince Halcyon," Chami asked. Blood splatter covered the chameleon. None of it, however, was his. "When you arrive, will your friends help you?"

Halcyon smiled slightly. "I am the High Prince of Hell. I do not have friends. But, yes, there are those who will aide me if I can call them."

"Can you not send down a message to have them waiting for you when you arrive?"

"That is a good suggestion, Chami," Halcyon said kindly. "But I do not have any way of doing that other than to return myself. Nor could I delay going back even if I did."

"Why can you not delay?" Gryphon asked.

"I will just get weaker. Mayhap become even too weak to make the journey."

A sobering thought.

"I have to go with him." I was growing desperate, because if I stood here arguing much longer, I might just collapse, and then none of them, Halcyon included, would let me go. "I'm his only chance."

Sad because it was true. Sad because it meant our chances of surviving this were not good.

"We have to try," I said. "It will be bad for us all if Halcyon dies. Not just us but for all Monère."

Surprisingly, it was Tomas, good loyal Tomas with his plain face and simple, true heart, who finally spoke with the voice of reason. "Mona Lisa is right. I do not wish to lose her either… but milady is right. They have to go now. Further delay will only worsen their plight, and in the end, ours as well."

A heavy silence.

"If you must go," Aquila said, "then, at the very least, you both must first change so that you do not arrive smelling of blood, smelling like prey."

"That makes sense. What?" I muttered as they all looked at me. "I'm always willing to listen to reason when I can."

Aquila and Gerald, the two drivers—the only two not bloodied or smelling of blood—ended up giving us their clothes. They stripped down before us, comfortable in their nakedness. I seemed the only self-conscious one, the only one averting my gaze. Chami left and miraculously returned with a bottle of water that I didn't know how he had procured but was very thankful for. I took a drink, and saved the remainder to wash us down with.

"Okay," I said, my hand going to the button of my jeans. "Everyone turn around."

"A modest Queen?" Dontaine said with surprise.

"She is not like other Queens," Gryphon and Amber said together, their faces grim.

I grinned at them, immensely pleased. "You guys are learning." I circled my finger. "Your backs, guys."

"A pity," Dontaine muttered, turning around.

"Yes," agreed Chami with a wry smile, but he also presented his back and the others followed.

Propping Halcyon against the wall, I stripped down to my underwear, washed the blood off of me with my water dampened T-shirt, and quickly dressed in Gerald's clothes, the slenderer of the two. When I was done, I hesitantly reached for Halcyon's pants.

"I can do it," Halcyon said softly, loosening and pushing down his pants. No underwear. It must be a Monère guy thing that carried over even when you became demon dead.

I watched Halcyon from the corner of my eye to make sure he didn't fall on his face. But had to turn and look at Halcyon fully in order to wash him. Except for his injuries, his body was as I had seen it in that vision or dream or whatever it had been. A sleek, strong build with nice shoulders, trim waist, slender hips, powerful thighs, and a rising erection at half-mast. The latter made heat rise in my face.