Up in Smoke - Katie MacAlister [15]
Magoth stopped in front of Bael and waited for my response. I knew what I was supposed to say—the standard form of the consort’s agreement was also in Latin, society in Abaddon preferring to cling to the old ways—but I couldn’t bring myself to speak the words that would praise Magoth above all others.
“Duae tabulae rasae in quibus nihil scriptum est,” I improvised.
Magoth’s jaw dropped just a smidgen.
“I saw that at the studio back when you were making movies,” I whispered, my gaze flickering over to Gabriel.
His dimples flared briefly to life, telling me he spoke Latin. “Two minds, not one single thought” had been used in a Stan Laurel movie, the set of which I’d visited many decades before. As an acknowledgment of my newfound status, it was less than polite, but it suited the situation.
“Hic et nunc,” Bael said, putting his official seal of approval on the ceremony. “I will leave you to enjoy your new consort.”
Magoth bowed low to Bael as he shimmered in the air, then disappeared, turning back to me with a wicked glint in his eyes.
“Thank god that’s over,” I said, yanking my hand from his, fully intending to run to Gabriel.
“I agree—it was a tedious ceremony, but alas, one has to observe the formalities. Still, it was worth it to have access to your precious mortal world. I assume you are desirous of leaving? Excellent. As am I.”
Before I could take two steps from him, Magoth grabbed my wrist, rent the fabric of space, and jerked me through after him as he plunged into the mortal world for the first time in almost ninety years.
“Don’t! Wait! Gabrieeeee—” The words spiraled into a scream as I was hauled after him, my last view that of Gabriel leaping toward me.
I hit the pavement hard enough to stun me for a few seconds. My hands and knees stung as I pushed myself off the ground, shaking my head to clear it before glaring at Magoth. “A little warning would have been nice. What on earth are you doing?”
Magoth stood with his hands on his hips, his head tipped back, his eyes closed as he sucked in deep breaths. “Can’t you smell it?”
I eyed the nearby trash can as I got to my feet. We were in some sort of an alley, assumedly in Paris if the garbage that littered the ground was anything to go by. “I’d have to be dead to not smell it. The garbage collectors are probably on strike again.”
“No, foolish consort. The humanity. Can’t you smell the humanity? All that delicious fear and anger and hatred floating in delightful layers upon the air—oh, it takes me back; it truly does. How I have missed the mortal world. Well! There’s no time to waste in conversation with you. I have deeds to accomplish and tasks to undertake. I bid you adieu, sweet May.”
Magoth turned and started down the alley toward a busy street.
“That’s it? You’re leaving? No thank-you for agreeing to be your consort? No explanation of where you’re going?”
“Miss me already, darling?” He heaved a faux sigh. “Much as I would like to introduce you to the pleasures that only I can give you, unfortunately that must wait until I have taken care of more pressing business.”
I limped over to him, angry, but aware that I couldn’t let that get the better of me. Magoth in the mortal world might effectively have little power, but there was no guarantee that I wouldn’t end up back in Abaddon with him before such time as Gabriel and I managed to break my bond to him. I picked my words carefully. “You know full well I am not interested in the least in a carnal relationship with you. But you have been away from the mortal world for almost a century, and I thought you might want to consult me now and again if you find something that confuses you.”
The look he gave