Three years later.

"Is that everything?" Selene asked, dragging another cardboard box into the kitchen.

Nyx grunted her confirmation and started unpacking the cutlery and dishware. "We really need to learn how to say no to peoples hand- me-down homewares. This is getting ridiculous."

Selene snickered as she pulled out her grandmother's china tea set. "In case we have guests."

Their new residence was just on the outskirts of town, still close enough to the city comforts but far enough away to have fresh air. The cottage was quaint, with three tidy bedrooms, two bathrooms and a small yard with an apple tree in the centre. The tree was sparse and covered in moss, but Nyx was sure it would fruit when summer finally rolled along.

"We don't even have any friends, Selene. It was hard enough finding another tenant for this damned place."

"Speak of the devil, and she shall appear," a voice trilled from the doorway.

Nyx and Selene secretly rolled their eyes at Medea, who stood with a small bag in hand.

"Will you help us, please? The kitchen won't organise itself," Selene said, placing some knives in the top drawer.

"Of course! I thought I'd do the bathroom first to give you ladies some space, is all." Medea's coy smile left Nyx with a strange feeling in her abdomen.

Her soul was pretty standard, so she wasn't a demon or an angel, but something was weird about her. The light of her soul flashed above her head like a small beacon, as did everyone's after her 'incident'.

"We're good now, Medea. You could do the food if you want," Nyx said, pushing the grocery bags in her direction.

Sometimes Nyx convinced herself it was all a terrible dream, but her new skill of seeing souls without touching a person negated the fact. Medea's blue eyes twinkled as she ducked down and scooped up a stray apple from the bag, taking a large bite.

"Sure thing, X." Medea swept her shoulder-length brown waves over her shoulder and placed her half-eaten apple on the counter with a smirk before unpacking the produce.

They worked silently for a few hours before Nyx excused herself to the bathroom. She stood before the vanity mirror and touched her face lightly. After her resurrection, many things changed. Subtle changes only she seemed to notice. Her steel-coloured eyes now contained flecks of indigo and emerald. Her copper hair had streaks of gold only noticeable in the sunlight, and a small red mark blotched her nape.

Nyx assumed it was a remnant of the liver mortis her body had experienced, and no secret blood tests she conducted resulted in any abnormality. Or at least any human abnormality she could decipher.

Now three years older and wiser, she couldn't help but cringe at her twenty-one-year-old self and the situations she got herself into. She didn't know how she returned to life, but after not seeing another demon or angel in three years, she wondered if Micah had lied to her. Her loved ones remained alive and well despite her existence, and Micah's warnings came to nothing.

Nyx's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she retrieved it, expecting to see her roster, when an unknown number appeared on her home screen. Frowning, she opened her messages and felt all colour drain from her face.

Miss Knight. Come to Demonology, we must speak. N.

Nyx re-read the message over and over until the letters scrambled.

Neo? How did he get my number? Why is he contacting me now? Should I go?

She quickly turned on the faucet and washed her face, cooling the heat that had risen there. Once she had gathered herself, she texted a quick message asking 'when' and his reply was nearly instant.

Sunset.

Her eyes flickered to the time, and she swallowed. She had thirty minutes, and the club was a twenty-minute walk. She would have driven, but their car battery died weeks earlier, and they hadn't thought to fix it since walking to work was only slightly further than Demonology.

She shrugged, glancing at her attire of high-waisted black cargo pants, a cropped chocolate puffer jacket and black converse. "Good enough."

Nyx left the bathroom and gathered her keys off the kitchen bench, saying goodbye to Selene and Medea, who looked after her with mixed stares.

She ignored them both and headed towards the club. She had passed it many times in town with Selene but had never been brave enough to visit. Even on nights out when the thumping bass called her from two streets over, she had turned away, focusing on the distorted beats inside Bar '97.

After fifteen minutes, the streetlights switched on, and Nyx picked up her pace, feeling a chill shoot into her bones.

Did someone slip something into my drink this morning? This is crazy. Just as she turned around, she heard a voice from her left.

Her feet glued to the floor, and she turned her head to it, her brain processing the voice's owner. From the shrouded darkness, moss green eyes stared at her expectantly and beaconed her closer. Then, with a clear mind of their own, her feet shuffled forward towards a brick alley. She swallowed down the memories of her last time in an alley and stopped a foot before him. 

"Micah? What are you doing here?" His clothing was clean enough, but a foul scent wafted between them. His soul wasn't visible to her either.

"I texted you."

Nyx's heart sunk. "But the text ended with an N. I thought- I just-"

"You thought the demon messaged you?" Micah scoffed, his yellowed teeth sneering down at her. She shrunk back, but his smirk remained. 

"My apologies," he murmured, placing a dirty hand over his heart. "I must have pressed the wrong button."

Nyx nodded, stepping back slightly when Micah's gaze shot to her retreating feet. 

"I called you here to... To explain. I've been searching for a solution to my issue before I return to you. You have experienced changes since your death, yes?"

After a pause, Nyx met his eyes and nodded. The responding grin sent chills through her.

"Your duties were unfulfilled. Perhaps you won't need to die this time to complete the task." He nodded before gripping her wrist and pulling her further into the alley.

"Though now I am fallen, I cannot take you across the leylines myself, nor can I help you ascend. But since you are no longer a spirit, perhaps you can remain here after the task is complete..." 

Micah's ramblings sounded gibberish to Nyx's ears, and she wrapped her arms around herself, still attached to the angel's clawed grip. She tentatively pulled towards the flickering street lamps, and the responding tightening around her wrist instilled deep fear.

"You will come with me and meet my associate. She will take you across the leylines; then, you can complete your duty."

Frustration settled in her bones as his words bore down on her. He sounded delusional.

"Duty? My only duty is to my patients at the hospital and being around for my parents and friends."

Nyx pulled her wrist more forcefully, and Micah released her with a slight frown. Something about him irked her, and she felt the words bubble in her throat. 

"If it weren't for whatever brought me back, I would be dead. Dead for real, and my parents would have lost their only child. My closest friend would have to watch me being lowered into the ground and buried. You killed me, Micah. And by the way, it fucking hurt. So screw you, your stupid 'partner' and your stupid plans. I'm not helping you." 

Nyx's face grew red as Micah's brow rose, and a look of contempt crossed his face. Perhaps I went too far.

"You were made for this, Miss Knight, whether you like it or not. You will do as I say. The plans for you are far beyond your human understanding. I will not be fallen for nought. You will do this."

Micah snatched her hand in his again and pulled her into the darkness, but she spun and wrenched her arm back.

"Stop! Do what? What are you asking of me? What the hell am I?"

As Nyx spoke, she retreated under the streetlight, visible to the sparse traffic. "Why should I even trust you?" She thought of Neo and Demonology only minutes away when a harsh laugh assaulted her ears.

"As opposed to him? The King of hell? He is not someone you can trust, you ridiculous child. He loathes your kind. You are his enemy."

She sensed the truth in his words and shrunk away. "What happened to you? Why are you being so cruel?"

Micah scoffed before searching her eyes. "Have you not been listening, or did your gifted friend not explain this part of Angel's nature."

Nyx's back pressed against the cool metal of the streetlamp and shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

With a slight sniff, Micah turned and wrenched his shirt over his shoulders. At first, she only saw the unblemished back of the man, but when he tensed his scapula and rotten stumps she could only assume were his former wings appeared. Her hands flew to her mouth to hide the horror on her face. She knew the issue was surely angelic, but to her professional eye, it appeared he had necrotic tissue and severe infection. But, of course, any human would have gone into septic shock by then.

"Why?" Nyx whispered from behind her hands, and the angel spun.

"You did this. I don't know how, but somehow you infected me with humanity, and I fell. I lost my wings, and until I get them back, you will have to deal with my associate." The last word appeared to leave a foul taste on his tongue, and he grimaced. "She will ensure you strike a balance as God intended."

Nyx shuddered. God? Like, God- God? "If this was God's intention, why did you fall?"

The air between them sizzled. "Do not question me. Or God. Do you understand?"

Before she could respond, a beeping from her left almost had her soul leaving her body for the second time. "Nyxie? I've been looking for you, babe. I've ordered us dinner, and we need to pick it up. Get in!"

Nyx could have kissed Selene, staring wide-eyed from the driver's seat of an unfamiliar car.

Without even looking back at Micah, she jumped in the passenger side and strapped in. "Go, Se. Take me home."

She sped off, leaving the angel to shrink back into the darkness with his frightening words.

"Are you gonna tell me what the hell that was about?" Selene demanded, turning the heater on for her trembling friend.

"What was he? At first, I thought he was an Angel, but there was something wrong about him."

Selene paused and pulled over beside a brightly lit noodle shop. "We've got ten minutes before our food is ready."

Nyx rubbed her hands across her face before turning and staring at Selene's worried face. "Who's car is this?"

"Bah! Nyxie!" Her exclamation and crossed arms were almost comical. "The hot neighbour. I said I'd buy him dinner, okay? Just tell me now, please!" She dragged the please out until her voice wheezed.

"Fine. You're right, okay? He is an Angel, but a fallen one."

Selene let out a gasp. "No way! That makes sense, I guess. His wings looked messed up like overcooked chicken wings."

A few pedestrians entered the noodle shop as Nyx sighed. "This is gonna be an insane story. I don't even know where to begin."

Selene's forward shuffling and clasping hands showed her attentive ear.

With a deep breath, Nyx explained her abilities as simply as possible, yet Selene still sat with a wide open mouth.

"So after I changed the soul of the creepy alleyway guy, I always felt an evil presence watching me. I think it was Neo or someone he is in charge of. Then once they noticed what I could do, that's when the demons came after me more."

Selene frowned. "So Neo was bad news after all?"

Pain shot into Nyx's chest as she tentatively shook her head. "From what I understand, there are seven hells, and he is in charge of two. So I think the demons came from a different hell, or they were ones that didn't want to follow him. I'm still super confused about it myself. He's done things, but I feel like I'm still missing half the story, even though I want to hate him... I can't."

She leaned against the headrest and closed her eyes. It was the first time she had made such an admission. It was easier just to hate him, but after years, her pain had eased, and logical thinking had taken over. Maybe Micah lied to me about more than just the reason for my self-sacrifice.

Selene gnawed her lower lip before unbuckling and opening the door. "I'm just going to grab the food. I'll be right back."

Nyx sat silently as her friend half jogged into the brightly lit shop, returning with a plastic bag full of piping hot containers. "Could've asked for reusable," Nyx grumbled as Selene slid into the driver's seat.

"I know, I'm sorry. Can you hold the food? Wait-" She reached behind her chair and pulled a coarse blanket from the back seat before placing it on Nyx's lap. "Now hold it. Careful, it's hot as hell."

As Selene started the car and pulled away from the curb, Nyx took a deep, trembling breath. "There's something else."

Selene stayed silent, but her nerves showed through her tightening grip on the wheel.

"Three years ago, at that conference ball, Micah showed up. I had met him briefly after high school, but he disappeared- I mean, I asked him to, but still... Anyway, he came back and gave me the sight briefly, and I saw Neo, Maezikeen and all the other people there for what they were. Angels and demons. I wasn't afraid of Neo, not really, but he made Micah take me away. It seemed like the other demons there were attacking him as I left. I don't know... But then more Demons showed up weeks after, and Micah protected me." 

Nyx wrapped her icy hands around the hot food and swallowed. "At first, he was sweet, and I thought he- it sounds stupid now, but I thought he liked me. Then he had to leave again, the week we started work after graduating. I started having weird dreams of my birth mother and Neo, and I went to see him. Or summon him."

Selene gnawed on her lip and kept her eyes on the road. Her pulse fluttered in her throat visibly, and Nyx's eyes watered.

"Before I could get any answers from Neo, Micah showed up and took me home. He- he told me that night I had to die to save my family. To protect them. To protect you."

The muted sniffle at her side was enough to coax the burning tears from Nyx's waterline.

"I said goodbye to you and my parents and went to see him, and he- he killed me. He told me it wouldn't hurt, but it hurt so much." Nyx sobbed and swiped the cascading tears from her cheeks. "I don't know why I thought of Neo then, but I wanted him to save me. He showed up too late, though..."

Selene shook harder and pulled over a few houses away from their place.

"I was dead. Gone. But something happened, and I woke up in bed as if it were all a terrible nightmare. I never saw any demons or angels since then, so I guess I just convinced myself it didn't happen."

Pain stitched through her ribs and stabbed into her thumping heart. "But now he's back, and whatever he planned for me back then, he wants me to finish now. I'm scared, Selene. I just want to be left alone."

The warmth from the dinner retreated as Selene lifted it from her legs and dumped it in the back seat. Her mascara smudged down her cheeks as she faced her friend and pulled her into a tight embrace. Nyx buried her face in Selene's shoulder, letting herself feel all the pain, fear and despair she had buried.

"I'm so sorry, Nyx. That sounds so awful."

They both sniffled into each other's hair until Nyx's breathing evened, and she pulled away, blotting her blotchy cheeks with her sleeve. "What should I do?"

Selene swallowed and sat back, staring openly with red-rimmed eyes. "We could try to banish him. Do you know his True Name?"

Nyx thought back and nodded slowly. "Yes. It's-"

"Don't say it now. It might lead him here, and we don't want him to know where we live. He probably called you to the club because he didn't know where to find you, right?"

Nyx nodded again before turning and retrieving their dinner. "Let's give this guy his dinner and car back and watch a movie. At least we have this week off before thinking about work."

They had arranged leave for their moving week, so the task didn't seem so impossible, but Nyx already missed her patients.

That night, they ate and watched a shitty reality show before retiring to bed. Nyx stared at the ceiling surrounded by unopened boxes and soft snores from the room opposite.

Her mind drifted to the Demon who protected her so many years ago, and as her mind lulled into dreamland, she sent a tender call out to him.

Neo?