Edge of Thorns 2 - Pt 15

Part 15
I really should get to writing... but...

Nathan started down the sidewalk, hoping he could beat the storm as heat lightning flashed across the sky. He closed his eyes, counting out loud to settle his nerves until he heard the thunder again.

"One... two... three... four... five... six... seven..."

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooarrrm

"Seven," he muttered, shivering. "How appropriate." Rain began to fall lightly, and Nathan's pace increased with his pulse. As the storm drew closer, he knew that it had been the wiser option to turn towards Alton's shop instead of heading home. By the time the rain was falling in a steady stream, and his count between lighting and thunder had dropped to one, he had reached the storefront. Alton had just walked to the front to turn the OPEN sign to CLOSED when he saw him, and opened the door instead.

"What are you doing out this late?" the bookseller asked with a half-smile of amusement, letting Nathan in before locking the door. "I would have thought your interview would have ended hours ago, and you'd be home writing up your article."

"Yeah, well..." Nathan shrugged and shook the water out of his hair. "Today has been full of surprises. You don't mind if I stay at least until the rain stops, do you? I know it's dinnertime."

Alton laughed. "Not in the least. You're welcome to join me for some macaroni and cheese, but I do have another guest."

Nathan could hear loud music thrumming through the walls as they made their way up the steps to the apartment, and wasn't prepared when Alton opened the door. Not only was he blasted full-force by the song, but the appearance of the other guest, who had no qualms strutting around barefoot in booty-shorts and a baby-T as she carried a casserole over to the dinner table, singing just as loud as the vocalist on the stereo:

"Oh my God, no exaggeration! Boy, all this time was worth the waiting..."

Alton chuckled, bopping along to the song while Nathan just stood there, jaw dropped in shock. As soon as she set the dish down, Enya signed along with the rest of the words she sang, and almost didn't notice the men standing in the doorway. When she did, far from being startled, she smirked, waved, and walked over to turn the radio off just before it hit the chorus. "Guess it's a good thing I made too much again, huh Al?"

The shopkeeper chuckled again, pushing up his glasses and walking over to her. "You know I don't mind the leftovers," he said, nudging her arm. "I figured you wouldn't mind the extra company."

She laughed. "Why would I? It's your apartment." Enya propped her hands on her hips and turned Nathan's way. He still hadn't moved. For some reason, this made her laugh again. "I think I broke him..."

"I..." Nathan snapped out of his stupor. He had to run his hand over his face and get his bearings again. He knew she wasn't Marni, but the whole scene felt like a long-lost memory, and he had to remind himself that this was someone else. He shook his head. "Sorry..."

Now Alton was having trouble containing his snickers as he walked back to him, tugging him towards the table. "You get used to her. She has no sense of decency sometimes."

Enya wrinkled her nose but still smiled, sliding into one of the seats and wasting no time helping herself to a heaping scoop of the pasta. "I've been helping you clean all day and even cooked you dinner. Be grateful, asshole."

Alton rolled his eyes and pulled a chair out for Nathan before walking back to the kitchen to get another plate. The writer didn't know what to say as he sat down, but had finally gotten over his initial surprise. Enya was more than glad to fill the silence.

"So, we meet again," she said after she swallowed a forkful of macaroni. "Nathan, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "And Enya, if I recall correctly."

She nodded, taking another bite of food just as Alton returned with the plate and sat down with them. He served up the dish before passing it to the writer, then scooped some for himself. "So you know, Nathan," he said, glancing at him over the rims of his glasses. "You can talk freely with Enya in the room. She knows."

"Knows?"

Enya snorted, looking up at him with a smirk. "That he's Lucifer, Prince of Hell, Mephistopheles himself, yada yada yada..." She rolled her eyes. "I figured him out back in college."

Alton laughed and explained. "I was testing her roommate. Long story short, she failed, but Enya found me out along the way."

"He tried to tempt me with a better singing voice and record deals," Enya said, shrugging. "Even threatened to take my voice away. So you know what I told him?" She set down her fork and signed: "Who says I need my voice to sing?"

"Needless to say, I was a bit surprised to be so directly confronted," the angel continued. "We've been friends ever since."

Nathan had been enraptured by the revelation, but was glad for it. He smiled at both of them. "That's amazing," he said in genuine awe. "But awesome. So I can talk about the whole Sin thing then?"

Alton nodded and dug into his meal, leaving Nathan to elaborate. Enya leaned forward, waiting.

"Well then," the writer said, taking a deep breath. "I guess I'll start with what happened last month..."

It was a little awkward at first, but as dinner rolled on and Nathan became more relaxed, he started to enjoy telling the strange tale about how he met the angels, dealing with Avarice, and the final confrontation with the Sin in the sewers. He told her about Avery and his ordeal, and what really happened to him. He finished up with the Halloween party, admitting with a bit of a frown that things were now a lot more complicated.

"With all of the remaining Sins, uh, activated," he finished as Alton went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. "And with Alton unable to detect them, things are bound to get interesting."

"Sounds like it," Enya agreed, pulling Adonis up into her lap and scratching him behind the ears, much to the cat's delight. "So, since, you know, I kind of get all of this insanity you're dealing with, mind if I help?"

"What?" Nathan stared at her. When he'd been told he could talk about this with Enya, he'd been relieved. It was nice to have someone human to share these strange events with. But she wanted to help? "What do you mean?"

"I mean help," she said again. "Obviously, Old Scratch over there is testing you for something, and if things have already gone off the rails, may as well have another normal alongside you, figuring things out. From my experience, he's going to be a tricky bastard about it, since that is his job." Enya smirked. "Come on, Nate. What do you say? I know I could use the amusement, and hell, it'd be good to have someone else to bounce ideas off of." She raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think?"

God, what do I do? It's been nice having someone to talk to, but help? What if something happens? Gabriel's protecting me, but what if the Sins start going after Enya? What then? I... I know she isn't Marni, but with so many similarities...

Do I really want to risk it?

On the other hand, she's right: having someone not involved in the actual testing helping me out could be really useful, and she's even been through something like this before. Whatever Lumiel's test is, it'd be nice to have someone definitely on my team.

What should I do?