I groaned, watching a few customers run out of the nearby store.
"Please evacuate the mall. I repeat, please evacuate the mall," the automated voice announced.
"Eli! Go to the entrance. Makoto should be there. She can defend herself if anything happens. Jaxson and the others will be up front in a few minutes," I ordered.
"Alright. Be careful, Scarlet," Eli cautioned.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry. See ya in a few," I bid farewell, closed my phone and slipped it into my back pocket.
I took a scan of my surroundings noticing it was deserted. Perfect.
"Risuki," I commanded, letting go of the hold on my magic.
I waited for his familiar form to appear, but instead a portal appeared and Risuki walked out of it.
He yawned, rubbing his eyes.
"What's wrong, Scarlet?" he mumbled, barely opening his eyes.
I took a slow up and down glance at his appearance – bare chest, black sweatpants and a well-defined set of abs. I opened my mouth to say something but stayed silent as my eyes locked on his V lines.
Starlight’s sake. Even the gods are hot? Is he allowed to be hot though? What happened to that notion of gods being created in His image?
"That's Jehovah and in the bible. It doesn't count for the rest of us and can you stop checking me out? You have your own harem, leave me out of it," he mumbled.
I blushed. "I'm not checking you out! You’re...just distracting! Why the fuck are you naked?" I shouted.
"I'm not naked and I was asleep. What's with the loud ringing?" he mumbled, snapping his fingers. The alarm systems shut off, the annoying sound ceased.
"You can't turn the alarm off because it's hurting your ears! There could be a fire!" I yelled.
"There's no fucking fire and stop yelling at me," he complained, opening his turquoise eyes.
I groaned, crossing my arms. "Do you actually sleep naked, and why are you in your human form?" I asked.
"I'm not naked. I'm clearly wearing pants, Scarlet. And I was busy."
"Sleeping."
"Yup."
I eyed him; an idea popped into my head. "Were you with Nightmare?"
"...."
I grinned, my heart swelled with excitement as I walked to face him, looking up at my six-eight familiar who was the Starlight god of Lightning.
"Risuki and Nightmare, sitting in a tree. K.I.S.S.I.N— OW! You did NOT just shock me," I began before I felt a jolt of energy run through me.
"Serves you right. Stop poking into my personal life," he mumbled; his cheeks grew red.
"So, you were with Nightmare! O.M.G, is that why it was storming this morning? You two had sex didn't you!" I accused.
"Scarlet has no shame," Serenity sighed.
"Well, that's what makes Scar...well, Scar. I guess, it's good to be fearless once in a while," Aurora commented.
"You think the gods will spare us if Risuki tries to end it all?" Serenity asked.
"Maybe. But I'm naughtier than you, so I may be screwed," Aurora pointed out.
"It's okay. If they decide to choose only one of us, I'll stay by your side and we can both get a toasty seat in hell," Serenity assured her.
"I'll bring marshmallows," Aurora vowed.
"Risuki isn't going to kill me! He knows I'm just a little nosey and want to know every detail about his blossoming romance with Nightmare. O.M.G, I should ask Mako! She'd—" I proposed before my body was pushed to the side – the gigantic ball of energy that whirled past us missed and crashed into the wall, causing the ground to tremble as the wall began to crumble. Holy Shit!
Risuki cursed; his eyes glowed brightly as his body was immersed in a light blue shimmer – his godly attire materialized as his cloak draped across his shoulders. He scooped me up with ease, moving so quickly everything was a blur. When we stopped, I realized we were on the other side of the now deserted mall.
"You really are a magnet for trouble," he huffed, setting me down on my feet.
"What just happened? Please don't tell me Nightmare’s mad at me and sent a flying ball of energy as punishment." I frowned, quickly scanning my surroundings.
"No. Nightmare's with Makoto and that was your good old buddies from the auto-plex," Risuki disclosed, brushing off some dirt that managed to get on his shoulder.
"What! Those shifters who tried to steal Cassandra? Jeez, talk about grudges! Didn't Cece say demons held grudges? Their boss is totally a demon," I rambled.
"Scar. I need you in agent mode for a moment," he ordered.
I took a calming breath, closing my eyes as I tried to ignore my frantic beating heart. When I opened my eyes, I was focused, staring at Risuki with confidence. "What do I need to do?" I asked.
"The shifter and his group of lackeys are headed this way. They want payback for the fact you and Mako managed to kill half their gang and their boss and vice are getting their souls sold to Lucifer."
"Oh shit. So, they do sell your soul to Lucifer if you’re bad," Serenity commented.
"Ya. I guess he doesn't let them roast marshmallows, huh."
Risuki and I shared a look, rolling our eyes at my spirits’ inner monologue.
"Can you two focus for a moment?" Risuki asked.
"My bad," Serenity and Aurora said in unison.
"Alright. So, their remaining gang are pissed that we fucked their plans so they're out to single me and Mako out and kill us, right?" I summarized.
"Yup. The others are here, but are having difficulty getting in. It's just us till they arrive. Any questions?" he asked.
"Three."
"What are they?" he asked.
"Are you planning to fight in that form?"
"No. I'll switch to whatever weapon you want," he replied.
"Is Makoto safe?"
"The Princess survived sixteen years in a facility with a one percent survival rate. She'll do just fine on her own."
"I can kill them, right? This won't add to my list of sins to sell my soul to Lucifer later on? Cause if it does, I just want to know in advance if I truly have to buy some marshmallows for the trip to hell," I asked.
Risuki raised his eyebrow, staring at me in disbelief. "Is that seriously a concern to you and your spirits?"
"Yes," I replied, my face blank.
"..."
"..."
"I'll make sure Lucifer knows you’re doing the world a favor by ridding such hindrances from this realm, so you don't have to spend money on marshmallows. Happy?"
"Yes. I feel more relieved."
He sighed. He smiled; his hand brushed across my cheek. I felt a warm sensation; the skin that I hadn't noticed was bleeding healed immediately.
"Be careful and no more scratches on your face. I don't want to hear Michael's vow to destroy whoever dared try to ruin your flawless skin."
"He's not that bad, you know. He just loves perfection and hates when I get hurt," I defended.
"Uh huh. You’re gonna be his daily hair model like what his brother does to Mako," Risuki commented.
"Daniel doing Mako's hair every morning is absolutely adorable. Don't be jealous cause he didn't trim your coat." I crossed my arms.
"Hmph. He said he was busy," Risuki mumbled, trying to hide his apparent disappointment.