First Estate

"You're wrong," I told her. "What about the doorman that let us in to the demon's office. He saw you."

"I forgot about him. I'm going to take care of that."

She was gone. In ten minutes, she was back. "We have a problem," she said.

"Why does that not surprise me," Mom commented.

"Sarcasm is amusing, but I think we can do without it, Lilith. That doorman was a demon. I hadn't noticed. Why didn't you spot him?"

"He must have been warded," Mom said. "What did you do to him?"

"I destroyed him. Before I did he told me he had made a report about me. That means other demons know about me. They know about Boston, too."

"Is my family in danger?" Sagan asked.

"Not anymore. I took them and hid them."

"What do you mean?" Boston asked.

"They're in stasis. I stashed them inside a secret chamber in a mountain in Chile. We need them to stay there until we can resolve this situation. They're fine. They aren't aware and no time will pass for them."

"What the hell," Mom said. "Demons are looking for Boston, too. Are you going to stash her away, too? I won't permit it, Mariha."

"No, I never even thought of that. I love Boston, Lilith; just as much as you do."

"Sorry," Mom apologized. "This has got me on edge. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"What are we going to do about the demons?" Boston asked. "They scare me. They did something to me. I can't remember what happened to me in that cell. I remember them putting me in there and then you guys showed up. I think they messed with my memory."

We all glanced guiltily at each other. She was looking at her computer and didn't notice.

"They can't find us except by accident," Mom told her. "They don't know about Parker. They'll know about Mariha so we need to protect her. Will they make a report to the Watchers?"

"I have no idea. This whole thing Arian had going was off the books. I don't think my department head would approve of him using demons. In fact, I know she wouldn't. They can't report to Arian, he's dead. I don't know whom they would make a report to, but we have to consider it a possibility. I need to disappear."

"No," Sagan told her. "We don't want you to do that. We need you, Mariha. You're part of our family. You disappeared before and Lilith didn't see you for 500 years. We've all got plans for you, and they won't wait 500 years. Please, Mariha, we love you. I love you. Let us help you."

"What she said," Boston climbed on her lap and threw her arms around her.

She leaked a little flame and I saw golden streams running down her cheeks.

"Quick, get a bottle," she said. I saw an empty aspirin bottle on the counter. I handed it to her and she caught the golden liquid inside.

"Angel tears," she explained. "They have properties that are very valuable. We cry so seldom that they're worth anything you have."

"Why are you crying?" Boston asked her.

"You wouldn't understand. It's a Watcher culture thing. Loyalty is a strange emotion to us. Only those of us who have spent millennia around humans ever experience it. It's one of your best traits."

"Angels aren't loyal?"

"Not to each other. We're very loyal to God, but when I realize that you love me enough to place yourself in danger for me, that's something that I have rarely experienced. You're willing to stand against heaven for me. It makes me very emotional and so I cried."

"What can we do with your tears?" Sagan asked her.

"You can heal deadly wounds, sickness; use them to bind angels and demons, make powerful wards and symbols or even kill immortals in some cases. I'll give them to you, Boston. Keep them safe."

"I will, thank you, Mariha," She ran away to put them in her room.

When she came back she resumed her station on Mariha's lap. "Well, if Mariha needs to disappear, where will we go this time?"

"The last time I disappeared I just stayed out of presence for nearly two years. I was going crazy with boredom so I went to London and lived there. It needs to be a big city where I don't know anyone."

"Write down a list of possibilities and we'll decide," Sagan told her.

"Okay, Boston, would you like to help me?"

They went away holding hands. "I'm going to fix her memory. You did a good thing, Lilith, but you lack finesse. I'll take care of it, very gently and very carefully," we heard her say.

They came up with a list and we decided on Sydney. I already had a branch office there so that was good. It was very large, had a University Sagan loved and there were no problems with emigration. They spoke English and the climate was good. Best of all, there was no angel office. There were angels, but they wouldn't know Mariha except by an unlucky accident. If we were careful she would never encounter another angel. There were demons there, but they were unlikely to be involved in the situation and wouldn't know Mariha either. She intended to lay low and keep close to home anyway.

Mom watched the McDonald's house for a couple of days and demons checked it out periodically. She wanted to kill them but I didn't want to draw any attention and the rest of the girls agreed. Mariha snooped around and found out that there was quite a stir among the angelic crowd over the death of Arian. There had been no angel deaths for hundreds of years and this was a big deal. I thought the quicker we could get out of town the better off we'd be.

We pulled the Canadian trick again. As Canadian citizens, we could stay as long as we wanted, work and go to school without restrictions because we were from a British Commonwealth country. We could buy property and our papers were good. We made the arrangements and Mariha zipped us over. We were glad to avoid the extended flight and she popped us in at the airport so we could check through customs.

We caught a cab to the hotel and got settled in. The girls fell in love with the place. I felt like someone was watching us all the time and I really wanted to get out of that hotel. I took Boston and Sagan with me and we went to a real estate office that the branch manager at my office recommended. Our agent showed us some really cool properties but I wanted something a little off the beaten track. I asked her if she had anything on an acreage. She mentioned something called River House, but she thought it might be out of our price range.

"I haven't mentioned a price range. Let me be the judge of that. How much is it?"

"The asking price is 3.7 million. You can probably get it for 3.5 million," she said. "You just look pretty young to have that kind of money. I didn't mean to offend you."

"I'm not offended and I'm older than I look. I made more than that in bonuses last year. Believe me, I can afford it. Show it to us."

"Jesus, Parker," Boston whispered to me. "I knew we weren't going hungry, but I had no idea we were rich."

I loved the way she said "we." It made me feel warm all over and I nibbled on her ear as I whispered in it. "We are and it's all for you."

She giggled and pushed me away. The agent's name was Bronley. She looked pretty young herself and I figured she must be very good at her job. She drove us about 20 miles outside of town and pulled up at a gate that said River House on a wooden sign outside the gate. She got out and punched in a code. The gate swung open and we drove up a sealed driveway for probably half a mile. The place was huge. It looked like it was built out of redwood and there was a lot of glass.

She took us inside and the girls were awestruck. Boston scampered around, peering into everything and Sagan held my hand as Bronley showed us around. It had five bedrooms and five baths. She told us that it was built by a designer named Giovanni D'Ercole. The master bedroom had a floor to ceiling glass wall that looked out over the river into the forest. The kitchen was everything you could imagine and it had a spa room with a hydrotherapy tub, a steam sauna and a massage table.

The girls were in love and I told Bronley to make an offer. I told her I was in her hands and if she took care of me, I'd take care of her. She made a phone call and after a little dickering, she got it for us for 3.4 million.

"You didn't make a mistake," she told us. "There is a development property on the back that is approved for six homes. If you want to do it, I'll help you sell them when you're ready or we could rent them as vacation properties. If you develop, you could get an easy 7 million."

"I don't know how to develop it," I told her. "If you do it for me I'll make you a partner in the development. I'll supply the money and you supply the information and oversee the project. How does that sound?"

"I'm in love with you," she laughed. "Too bad you've got a girl."

I squeezed Sagan. "Yeah, she's the jealous type, too."

Sagan punched me in the arm and we went off to do paperwork. The place was empty and we were able to take possession the next week. In a month, Bronley was breaking ground on the development.

We got Sagan into the University of New South Wales and Boston into the local middle school. We greased the wheels a little and no one asked any questions. Work was going well and I was only gone eight days that month.

Mariha rarely left the house and she became very domestic. She cooked nearly every meal, even though she rarely ate. I remembered to ask her about that and she told me she enjoyed tastes but didn't really eat or drink. She sort of incinerated anything she ate or drank. It wasn't a conscious thing, it just happened. She had the largest sexual appetite of anyone I ever met. She spent every night in bed with either Sagan and I or Mom and many nights she visited both. When I was gone she slept with Sagan, going into her hibernation thing until morning. The two times Sagan spent the night away from home, she stayed with me. I discovered I was very naive. She did things that I never knew were possible and it was impossible to not be horny around her. She rarely wore many clothes and most of the time she went around in fire mode.

We spent a lot of time on the beach and Sagan and Boston became brown girls. Mom was always brown but Mariha never changed. She didn't wear sun block but she never burned or changed shades like the rest of us. I constantly drove men away. Having four of the most beautiful girls alive living with you had its drawbacks. I couldn't ever remember seeing Mom in a bikini before. She was a fire goddess. I went to school as a kid in Spokane and there wasn't much swimming done. When we moved to Massachusetts, it was nearly as cold and this was something new. Boston was developing boobs and becoming hourglass shaped, too. I wondered how that was happening so early, but I didn't say anything. I thought she might be embarrassed.

I bought a boat and the girls became quite the fishers. Mariha cheerfully cleaned everything they caught without touching it and cooked meals with it that threatened to make me weigh 400 pounds.

We hadn't heard from demon or angel in six months and Mariha and Mom sneaked back to Austin for a peek. The demons were gone, but they had been replaced by Watchers. Mom thought we should trap one and see what was going on. She felt like Boston had the power to sing one under our control and that Sagan might be able to. I had my doubts.

"Parker, I've been training them and I think they're the most compelling singers I've ever met. Boston is a little farther along because she's been a Siren longer. Do you want to try her? She can try to compel us. If it works, she can do it to anyone."

We decided to give it a try. After dinner, we all sat on benches down on the river. Boston was a little dark shape under the trees and I began to hear something, almost subsonic, just beyond my audible range. It swelled and rose and I realized it was a song. I didn't understand the words, but powerful emotions swept through me and tears ran down my cheeks.

"Look at Mariha," Mom whispered.

She had gone flaming and her wings moved to the spell of Boston's weaving. Golden fire dripped from her and she walked to Boston and knelt before her. I noticed a blue and orange glow beside me and Mom was walking toward Boston, too. I felt my mind alive with love for Boston and a longing to be close to her. I stood and moved toward her. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. There were purple and golden waves pouring over her form and she looked like an adult to me, very much an adult. She was naked and high, full breasts were caressed by waves of long black hair. She was Venus, rising from the waves, Eve, before the apple; and I knelt before her. She was a little shorter and a little slimmer version of Sagan.

She flowed toward me and raised me up by the hand. Her glow enfolded me and I held her in my arms. Her lips brushed mine, the song swelled and I was more aroused than I had ever been in my life. She caressed me and the touch was agony in its pleasure.

The song diminished and she flowed back, receding an impossible distance and I knelt, the sense of longing overwhelming me. The glow descended and I knelt, weeping at its loss. The spell faded and I looked to see only Boston's slight form before me. The sound of others weeping became audible and I looked to see. Mom, Mariha and Sagan were beside me, each woman with tears flowing down their cheeks; Mom's eyes were dripping blue fire and the golden angel tears flowed down Mariha's cheeks.

I breathed and the spell was gone. Boston came running to me and threw her arms around me. "That was special for you," she whispered. "Don't tell the others what we did. That's how it's going to be when I grow up."

I squeezed her to me. "My God, baby," I whispered. "You were so beautiful. You nearly broke my heart. You're incredible. That was incredible. I know how Ulysses felt."

I rose and helped the girls to their feet.

"Lilith, you are a master," Mariha told her.

"No, Boston is the master. The pupil exceeds her teacher." She pulled Boston to her. "Well done, sweetheart."

"I would have torn out my heart for her," Mariha said. "Sagan, say something."

"I don't think I can speak. Well, I guess I can. So that's what you've been training me to do, Lilith? That's the power of a Siren's song?"

"Yes, that's what you can do, Sagan. You're not as good as Boston yet. She's been a Siren longer, but at the full height of your power you could march humans, angels and demons into the sea like lemmings."

"You must only use this power for good," I told them.

It was as witty as anything I ever said. We collapsed in the grass laughing. Soon I was buried under a pile of girls. Clothing began to disappear and we were in the huge bed Sagan and I shared. I wondered where Mom and Boston were, it drifted away and I didn't think at all.

When I woke up I was alone with Sagan and I thought it must have been a very erotic dream. I pulled on some shorts and went to the kitchen. Mariha was there and bacon was frying. She was as bare as a baby and as sexy as hell. I came up behind her and pressed myself against her. She wiggled her butt into my excitement, dished the bacon into a plate and I bent her over the bar and the morning became positively angelic.

Boston came in and got some bacon. I cooked her eggs while Mariha made waffles. The other girls joined us and we talked over breakfast.

"Well, I think Boston passed the test," I said. "How do you trap an angel?"

"We lure them away and Boston sings to them," Mom said. We all looked at her. "What?" she asked. "She can get it out of them through worship or I can torture one. It's up to you, I don't give a damn."

"Mama, quit acting tough,' Boston told her. "We all know you're a marshmallow."

Mom grinned at her. "So you remember that, huh? Make sure you do. Mama always takes care of her babies."

"We all know you're a badass," Sagan said. "It surprised us when you want to go in the easy way."

"How does one lure an angel?" I asked. "It's not like they have to walk along after us. They can just teleport. What kind of range does Boston have?"

"Miles, I think," Mariha said. "Haven't you read the Odyssey?"

"I didn't think it was real."

"That doesn't mean it wasn't true. A lot of the old legends have a grain of truth in them."

"So we set up a mile away from Jackson and Mona's house; Boston weaves a song and one of them just comes stumbling in? Won't it affect us, too?"

"Boston can be very specific. We'll go in out of Presence, identify one of them and she'll just target that one." Mom said.

"When will we go," Sagan asked.

We were sitting in the living room of our house in Austin.

"We're already here," Mariha giggled.

"I think it's beneath the dignity of angels to giggle," I told her sternly.

That made them all giggle. Mom has a very cute giggle. We got in the Bentley and drove over to the McDonald's neighborhood and parked. Mariha and Boston disappeared for five minutes and they were back.

"I think you should all disapparate. Boston, step outside and begin. Stay inside the door so we can snatch you if something goes wrong," Mariha said.

I heard the song, but it was sort of like you see a flashlight shining on someone else. I could feel the power, but it wasn't directed at me. In twenty minutes we saw a woman approaching, walking like a zombie. She was leaking flame a little and she came and knelt before Boston. She remained there, the golden tears streaming. I saw the aspirin bottle appear in the air, catching them. She stayed there perhaps ten minutes and then she rose and walked back the way she had come. In another ten minutes, Boston stopped singing and we were in the living room at River House.

Boston sat down and Mom sat beside her with her arm around her. "Excellent job, honey. Did she tell you what we needed to know?"

"She told me lots of things, but she didn't know everything."

"Tell mama."

"Well, I'll see if I can remember all the details. It was hard to control her and remember at the same time."

"You did well, child. Take your time."

"Well, this isn't exactly an official operation. What's the Office of Special Projects, Mariha?"

"It's the group that monitors the activities of demons, among other things. Is that who they are?"

"Yes, they know about the demon killings. They know you are involved and they're looking for you. They don't think you killed them, but they know you have information. They bound a demon and got the information out of it. I'm so sorry, Mariha. I know if Parker hadn't healed me, none of this would have happened."

"It's not your fault, sweetheart," Mom told her. "Don't you dare start feeling like you're to blame."

Boston cowered a little. "No, I won't."

"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to be harsh." Mom pulled her closer.

"They still don't have any orders about me or you, Mariha. They're acting on their own. I don't think they'd attack us, but they do want to know what happened. They're going to try to trap you. One of them is totally opposed to the whole idea. He thinks they shouldn't act at all without orders and if anything were to happen to either of us, they think he'd blow the whole thing out into the open."

We all sat for a while, not saying anything. I didn't know a way out. I cast about in my mind for some solution. A glimmer of an idea formed and I offered it to them.

"What is his name, Boston?"

"His name is Barachiel. Do you know him, Mariha?"

"Yes, he's my brother."

"How can that be?" Mom asked her. "You don't have families."

"Not like that," she said. "My special Presence is fire. I have brothers and sisters of the same class and order. Water, lightning, air, earth; things like that. His special Presence is night and darkness."

"Do you think we should meet with him? Maybe if we told him what was going on, he would report these guys to God or something."

"I think that's a horrible idea," Mom said. "I've spent 4000 years convincing these people I don't exist. Now, all of a sudden I'm supposed to trust them? I don't think so."