Chapter 5: The Snake

Ambrose 2.

It was surprisingly cold down in "The Inferno". I'm sure it's all a pr stunt to make the devils seem more imposing. Lord Dominus himself sent me down here, to collect intelligence and possibly prevent a coming war. I was to meet with the devil Ezcius, and petition him as a fallen angel trying to enter his services.

As I reminisce, I watch my son with that girl, resting by a tree upon a hill, drying off from their time in the stream. I notice as something rustles the tall grass nearby. There's no wind.

I met with a woman, a succubus named Lysetta, one of Ezcius' prime lieutenants. The devils love to live as if they were mortals, with cities and bars and nightclubs and jobs and social lives. They confused and disgusted me then. I envy them now. Lysetta sat me down at the bar next to her, radiating sexuality as her kind can't help but.

"So what's a guy like you doing in a place like this?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"How many guys fall for that line anyway?" I respond, not quite in the mood to entertain her flirting.

"Enough of them, I'm quite successful these days." she siped from her drink, and something in me was **** to stare at her lips. Crimson lips, like fresh blood. For a moment, my imagination ran wild with what those lips could be doing otherwise. I banished the thoughts to the back of my mind, for the moment. I was there on business, after all.

Gods be damned, she was good at her job.

"I need to meet with your boss" I sputtered out, stretching my collar and blushing slightly. I never blush.

"I know, darling. But down here, pleasure comes before business…" she had to be lying. What sort of society could even function like that?

"It's rather important, my dear."

"Calm yourself, angel. The boss already knows what you're here for."

The thought of being burned already flashed through my head momentarily. There was no way they knew the truth that early. If the legion's intelligence service was this porous I should have been dead on arrival.

The creature in the grass draws ever closer to the pair, now cuddling to keep warm from the breeze.

"You fell, darling. There's only one thing fallen angels have any business doing. And that, my dear, is getting **** on the bastards who judged them. My master has his interests in that field, to be sure, but again, pleasure first, then business." she took another sip from her drink, and I knew then what had to be done.

They needed proof I had fallen. No angel would be caught dead down here, in a bar, with a succubus, on a date at that. They wanted me to fall further; to debase myself with this woman, to do something that if I hadn't fallen would guarantee I would. They're smarter than I gave them credit for, and now I had to play their game.

The creature is in view now, just out of sight of the children. Slithering closer, I see its stripes crawl ever closer to my son and his beloved sister.

I took a sip from my own drink. Brandy of gehenna, made from wines only found in the inferno, mixed with what I can only assume is blood. It's surprisingly sweet, and even more potent. The buzz filled my head, causing the world around me to fade slightly. Dangerous stuff.

"This isn't ****, I hope."

"My dear Ambrose, you wound me. What sort of woman would I be if I **** all my dates?"

All.

I took another sip, smaller this time, and placed a soul coin on the counter. I would need something lighter to continue this with my wits about me. The bar man hands me another drink, beer this time. I downed about half the bottle, filling the void made with the rest of the brandy. It's Gehenna, fuck manners.

She chuckled at my antics, and again thoughts of sex fill my head. What other noises could she make, I wondered? What little moans, what sweet giggles, what gasps would escape those perfect lips of hers? Damn this place. I could feel myself slipping further from grace by the second.

"Well my dear, before things stop working properly, would you like to take this party somewhere more pleasant?" I asked, **** to leave the bar as fast as possible.

"But Ambrose, you haven’t even bought me dinner first. What sort of girl do you think I am?"

"The kind that knows what she wants, and knows dinner is the last thing on her mind right now."

She smiled at that, placing another coin on the counter for her own drink. "you're right, you know." a small smirk took to those damnable lips. "I do know what I want."

The snake is almost upon them, and I let out a scream of worry as if they could hear me. Thunder claps in the mortal plane, and the pair snuggle closer briefly out of fear.

The next thing I knew, we were in a hotel room, with very little between us and only the sheets covering our sweaty bodies.

I had done the unthinkable. The worst part was, I wanted to continue. Again and again and again.

Damn this place.

Marcus and Tyxia are cowering in fear now, the thunderclap sending quite the wrong message. The snake is upon them, and I watch in horror as it lunges towards Tyx's exposed leg. It sinks its fangs deep, and she collapses ****. Marcus wails into the wind, and I know now that he's been claimed by the curse that has doomed so many of my children.

Author's note: for the purposes of the story, I omitted the actual scene, but it can be added later if demand is popular enough.