Page 95 of A Chip on Her Shoulder

With a startling pop, Gabriel and Michael manifested in the doorway. I smacked Belial with a wing, yelped at the unexpected pain, and sighed over my newfound clumsiness. “How do you handle these damned things?”

“Carefully,” Gabriel replied. “Tucking them close to your back will help keep them out of the way, although it will take some practice. Your wings are lovely, and my brother will appreciate so many new spots for him to enjoy. How are you feeling?”

“I am feeling like I have to beat a bunch of bitches for going near my man, and I need my man to come to bed where he belongs.”

Gabriel circled me, and he stroked his hands over my wings. “Excellent. Your wings have developed well.”

“They’re not leathery like the other succubi.”

“Your wings are a reflection of your nature. Consider your spots to be evidence you are a naughty little angel.”

I twisted around to regard my wings, which needed to be classified as furry, feathered weapons. “According to the density of my spots on my feathers, I’m a particularly naughty little angel who will enjoy beating the other succubi if they don’t leave Lucifer alone.”

“You will not need to beat the other succubi. You just need to show up, lure Lucifer off to your lair with a single come hither, and they will understand they have been outclassed. Your property is quite safe, and he has been defending himself from their advances without issue.”

I huffed at the thought of him needing to defend himself from any advances other than mine.

“She woke up quite hungry and more than a little grouchy,” Belial stated.

“She will be a little less aggressive after Lucifer properly attends to her, I am sure.”

Michael chuckled and he held out his arm to me. “As I do enjoy vexing my brother, it would be my honor to escort you.”

Turnabout was fair play, and if Lucifer couldn’t get his succubi to keep their hands off him, I’d accept his brother’s courtesy with a smirk. “Thank you, Michael.”

“She’s totally using you to annoy Lucifer,” Belial muttered.

“I know. It is so amusing. Lucifer will be delighted, for she is feeling well enough to shoot back over his failure to be present when she woke up in dire need of attention. This is for the better anyway, as us delivering her to our brother will send messages to the demons and devils in attendance. Right now is not an ideal time for us to be bickering, and it is better for us to be more allies than foes for the moment.”

Belial stilled. “Mortal or divine?”

“A bit of this, a bit of that,” the archangel replied.

I grinned. “That is masterfully vague and somewhat terrifying. Please take me to Lucifer, as I’ll inevitably get lost in this maze if I try to find him myself.”

Both archangels laughed, and Belial led the way. Michael and Gabriel offered tips on feather care, adjusting to hauling around big, heavy wings, and how to annoy most succubi, who often wished they could manifest feathered wings but couldn’t unless they hunted a male boasting feathered wings.

“Ha! Succubi are attracted to angels because they can have feathers for a while, then?”

Gabriel snorted and Michael shrugged.

“It’s a solid theory,” Belial replied in an amused tone. “I can’t think of another reason why a succubus or incubus would otherwise desire an angel of all things.”

“It is complicated,” Michael stated, and according to his tone, he had no intention of explaining it to me.

Whatever. My fallen angel had everything I needed and wanted. “Maybe if you had nipples, you wouldn’t need an incubus or a succubus to get naughty.”

While Belial snickered, I suspected I tested the patience of both archangels.

“What? It’s true. Have you looked at Lucifer’s nipples?”

A faint pop behind me warned me I’d drawn attention from someone capable of teleporting, and I managed to smack both archangels with my wings.

The Devil snickered, and he took hold of my wings to hold me in place. A few tugs and a push later, and Lucifer managed to settle my wings closer to my back so I wouldn’t murder his brothers with them. “Look at all of those pretty spots, all for me. However, I can’t help but notice two filthy archangels put their hands on you.”

“Hardly. They have no nipples, Lucifer. We’ve talked about this before. I need perfect nipples. You have perfect nipples, and they do not. They’re just keeping me from killing anyone with these wings, and I have no idea where the great hall is, where you’re supposed to be.”

“I went to check on you to find my bed devoid of my woman.”