"Theo? What are you doing here?" I hissed. "How do you know where I live?"

He didn't say anything at first. Just slowly prowled closer to me with a grin plastered on his face. Me heart leapt into my throat. The grin wasn't happy. It was a predator's grin. nothing good could come from somebody wearing that expression.

"Hello Allen."

And just like that his menacing presence did a complete 180. He was practically jovial as he exclaimed, "Oh, this is wonderful!" clapping his hands together for good measure. "I knew that energy was coming from you. Even dropped your name into a conversation in the hall."

I opened my mouth to try to contribute something to this conversation but Theo's talking steamrolled over any attempt I made.

"But why are your wings still out, silly child? Oh, don't tell me Cephi got all pissy and didn't tell you how to put them away. Yeah that's definitely what happened!"

I was beginning to think this man didn't breathe. Where was all this energy coming from?

"I can help you, Allen."

"Huh?" I answered articulately.

Theo stepped up to the side of my bed and smiled at me with that freaky predatory smile of his that left my skin crawling. "I can help you put those wings away."

                                                    ~HS~

They met in a nondescript alley. Van, Desoto and their beloved master. He was sneering at them like they were no more than dirt, and, perhaps they were. "I have a surprise that I think will make the two of you extremely… happy." The man began with a nasty curl to his lip.

Van looked at the man skeptically. He didn't look like he was about to tell them something they wanted to hear. He heard a giggle from beside him and glared at his brother. If he were a dog his tail would be going 90 miles per minute, Van wouldn't be surprised if he'd roll over and let their master scratch his belly. "What's the surprise? Is it food? Is it? Is it?" Yeah definitely a puppy. He was pretty sure there was drool pooling in Desoto's mouth.

"Actually, whelp, it is," the man said silkily.

"Oh, boy! I knew it!" Desoto pumped his fist into the air. Van growled at him in warning. He needed to learn to control his enthusiasm in front of people like their master or he'd live a rather shortened life.

"Yes, I have decided my vamps have been doing such a good job, that they deserve a second chance at a certain delectable morsel that refused to die." Vans eyes grew large with realization. The master was going to let them drink from that boy again. The boy with the sweet blood that painted angels.

"And, since we know he's not human, you can gorge yourselves with his blood," the master gave a toothy smile that made Van's insides crawl.

"Yeah!" Desoto punched the air.

"After you've weakened him to the point where he can barely move, I am going to come in and take him."

"You think it wise to do that?" Van asked startled. He was met with a strong force against his face. He fell to the ground with a snarl. The master had backhanded him across the face.

"Do not question me," the man seethed, deadly quiet, "with that boy in my grasp, I will finally be able to get rid of Cephirial and, if all goes according to plan, that boy will die too." He laughed menacingly and told the vamps when they would make their attack.

                                                         ~HS~

I was painting another picture. A sullen man walking through a bloody battlefield, fallen comrades laying dead all around him their beautiful corpses mangled on the ground. His face was hard set against all that was happening around him as if to say, that was not going to be his fate. He would not be one of the nameless on that cold dark battlefield, but someone who lived. And I guess this kind of goes without saying at this point, but the man was Cephi.

Yeah, I know he treated me horribly the last time we were together, but I just couldn't shake him from my system. And a little part of me hoped I'd see him again. Now that my wings were no longer out, I felt like I could think clearly, and I hoped he'd had time to cool down too. I just couldn't get the look on his face out of my head. When I told him Theo said hello, he just looked so betrayed, like everything in his life was just flipped upside down. And I feared those feelings were my fault.

Maybe, yeah, I'd definitely go to see him when I was done with this painting. It's be a little late, since the sun was already starting to set, but I wanted to talk to him again, hopefully clear the air between us. And if all worked out alright, maybe we could pick up from where we left off in the relationship thing we had going.

I was cleaning out my paintbrushes when there was a soft but insistent knock on my door. I sighed and set the brushes in the sink. Slowly I made my way over to the door and opened it.

The person on the other side flung the door open and grabbed me. I was pulled into a tight embrace. "Cephi," I breathed out before hugging him back. I buried my head into the crook of his neck letting myself relax in his protective hold. I missed him. His touch. His smell. His very essence.

But… "I'm sorry Allen," he whispered. It was the most sincere apology I had ever heard. I wanted to assure him that I accepted his apology so I pulled back and put my hands on both sides of his face. He gave me a questioning look, but made no move to stop me as I stood on my tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"It's okay," I answered gently.

"But it's not! It's not okay," he countered, words full of passion. "I didn't believe you. I thought you were working with him. I hurt you. Nothing will ever make that okay!" he closed my door and then grabbed my hands leading me over to my raggedy chair. "I want to explain myself to you. Explain why I went so… so…"

"Totally ballistic?" I supplied.

"Sure we'll go with that. " I sat down on my chair and motioned for him to join me on the old piece of furniture. "Do you remember the story I told you about my past?"

"Yeah," there was no way I could forget that story. Even though I didn't believe it was true at the time, it was still a horrible story for those involved. An angel wrongly cast out of heaven for killing a fellow angel. God refusing to listen even as a truly evil angel was standing right in front of her. A wolf in sheep's clothing. Demon among angels.

"The reason I was so angry when you brought up Theo… was because he's the evil angel from my tale. The one who broke my wings and sent me plummeting to earth, and, I'm one hundred percent sure, the person who really murdered my friend." I gasped at the admittance.

Theo was the evil angel? But he had helped me. Well… then again, he did seem a little… unbalanced. "If he's the one that murdered your friend, why are you the one who was punished?"

Cephi's face contorted in anger. "There was no proof that it was him. And even I must admit, upon first glance, all signs pointed to me killing them. But once you looked deeper, it was abundantly clear that Theo set the whole thing up." He turned his face to the ceiling and yelled. "And if God wasn't such a whiny bitch when she gets something wrong, maybe she'd realize she made a mistake." There was a distant rumble of thunder. "Ha, knew that'd get her."

I laughed and then yawned. Wow, when had I gotten so tired?

"Oh," Cephi said looking flummoxed. "If you want to sleep I can go."

"No!" I answered a little too quickly, a little too forcefully. I cleared my throat, "What I mean is, well. You don't have to leave. Why don't you stay here tonight? The bed's small but, I think there's enough room for us to both fit."

A wily smile crept on his face, "Is this a fancy way of asking me to sleep with you?"

"Yeah, sleep," I stressed. There was no way I'd be up for anything else. Uh… no pun intended?

He let out a hearty chuckle and we both made our way into the bedroom.

                                                          ~HS~

The first thing I am aware of in the morning is soft lips placed firmly against mine. Teasing me, nipping, trying to get some kind of a response. I groaned into the kiss and felt those tantalizing lips curl into a smile before continuing their earlier activity, with the added help of a tongue.

And, oh God could that tongue do wonderful things!

But soon enough the kissing and touching came to an end. I put a gentle hand on Cephi's chest. "As much as I'm enjoying this, I need to actually do some work today."

"Gonna paint another picture of me?"

"Yup," I answered and he swooped in for another heated kiss. I managed to wiggle out of bed. "Be good." I warned.

"Yes, master," he said looking up at me from his position on my bed.

Mmm, I liked the sound of that.

Arms snaked around my torso. "I really want to know what you're imagining right now," he said wistfully.

"Yeah," and just like that, I had an idea, "how about… I show you exactly what I was imagining tonight. After I'm done with another painting."

He just laughed. "Fine, I can see when I'm not wanted," he joked. "But I'm holding you to that." Cephi made his way over to the door. "I'll see you at eight," he promised before leaving my apartment.

I rushed to my easel and quickly began to paint another picture. I decided yesterday that I'd paint a couple at once and then go and give them all to Tim at once. It'd be more of a pain in the butt to carry, but I'd deal with it.

A couple of hours later I stood critiquing my latest painting. It was simple portrait with nothing in it but Cephi from the shoulders up his eyes were still obscured and almost seemed to blend with the stormy grey background. It was interesting, almost bordering on surrealism the way his face broke in and out of the sky behind it, almost taking on the roll of clouds in the dismal sky.

I guess it was good. Pretty sure someone will want it.

I pulled out my phone and looked at the time. 6:30. Plenty of time before Cephi got here.

There was a knock on the door, not even five minutes later.

I smiled to myself. Cephi was really early. I looked down at my clothes hoping there were no giant paint stains, and success, I managed to paint without getting anything on myself. Wonders never cease.

I opened to door saying in greeting, "Wow you're really early."

"Actually," a voice that was definitely not Cephi answered, "I believe we're right on time." It was them. Those vampires from the alley. The ones who tried to, tried to kill me. Oh God no. I went to slam the door shut. But the one who had spoken grabbed it, holding it open with his inhuman strength.

"What are we on time for Van?" asked the other one enthusiastically as he sauntered into my room.

"Dinner," the door holder growled lowly before coming into the room and punching me straight in the face.