CHAPTER TWELVE

SOLICITED ADVICE


She smiles against the tip of her fingers as they graze against her bottom lip, her other hand slipping her phone back into the pocket of her jeans. Her face feels warm as she feels different. Lighter. Happier. Her chest feels warm and fuzzy, like someone set off firecrackers. Her skin still tingles from his palms and she relishes in the memory of it.

She knows where it was heading - what could have happened if she didn't stop things and the idea of it excites her. She can feel her heart beating a mile a minute against her chest as her lungs feel breathless. She didn't expect it - expect him - to make her feel this way, but she's not against it either, quite the opposite actually.

But she stopped him. At least for now. Vampires, as she knows, are intense. They don't do anything halfway nor is there any emotion that they feel minor. Like most creatures in the wild and the rumors of wolves, they have one mate. One. For the rest of their existence. An idea that makes her rumble with excitement and fear. She imagines that there are very few that are the expectation to that rule, not to mention any outlier singers, but a majority of vampires - vampires like Carlisle - are faithful.

She knows that Carlisle would never force her into anything. She is the one who has encouraged it and it had become very apparent, very fast into her friendship with him that he would never do anything without being sure. She imagines that should they nurse their friendship into something more, that Carlisle would go as slow or as fast as she wanted, provided that he was comfortable as well.

But no matter the speed that they take things, she knows the endgame. She knows where it will end and she is accepting that at one point, they are bound to be mates should they continue forward. Oddly enough, the idea of it, while scary in its own right, isn't scary in a negative way.

It does mean that she has some stones to turn over before she continues. Things that need to be said - to both her family and to Carlisle himself.

She takes a deep breath and rolls her shoulders as she heads onto her back porch. Her birds follow her, landing on her shoulder with curious little pecks and coos. She scratches them under their chins with love before gently telling them to go back inside. As they fly back in, she decides to fly herself. Seeing no signs of the Cullens, she lets her wings unfurl from behind her with a swoosh.

The large appendages stretch out behind her with relief and mild ache, having been used for so long. Long feathers graze against her skin and she relishes in the freedom that it brings her before she takes off.


Mazikeen notices her first - sticking out like a sore thumb as she enters the nightclub. Her eyes glance over Ariel's outfit with minor appreciation, noting the change in her gait and the flush on her cheeks. With realization, a cheshire grin spreads across her face.

"What are you grinning at?"

Eve sits down comfortably beside Maze, drinks in hand. Maze's arm naturally falls around her shoulders. Her eyes look around the nightclub curiously, but no one immediately catches her attention. Maze gently nudges her and nods in Ariel's direction. Eve follows her eyes and then spots the familiar face. She lights up and waves eagerly.

"ARIEL! Ariel, we're over here!"

Regrettably, Ariel recognizes the voice and turns to see Eve and Maze watching her - one with noticeably more excitement and the other with a dangerously sharp knowing grin. Ariel debates for a moment but at Eve's constant prodding, gives in reluctantly.

Ariel gives a brief nod of greeting to Mazikeen and a forced friendly greeting to Eve through a tense jaw.

"Mazikeen. Eve. Is Lucifer here?"

Eve crinkles her nose at the mention of Lucifer, a bit of lingering bitterness in the back of her throat before she shakes her head with a shrug, unsure of his whereabouts.

"Upstairs." Maze states simply, but the gleam in her eye makes Ariel shift on her feet, feeling oddly exposed as if Maze is seeing right through her.

Ariel gives her a nod of thanks and starts to head in that direction, thankful to keep their conversation brief. But she doesn't manage to get very far before Mazikeen's voice calls out clearly through the crowd and over the music.

"You had sex!"

Ariel flinches at the eyes and attention that the comment brings them, but is thankful that it does not last long among the drunk late night crowd. She turns on her heels, face flushed as she groans at the realization that she is going to be dragged into this conversation with Maze and Eve of all beings.

She was really hoping that she'd be able to talk to Lucifer - maybe even Amenadiel - first.

Eve squeals, her eyes lighting up as she looks at Ariel expectantly, "Wait, really!? Who with? How many?"

"I didn't have sex," Ariel hisses, but Maze just hums with a knowing smile, "We didn't."

"We?"

Lucifer's voice rings curiously and Ariel spots her brother making his way toward them with a cocked brow.

"Who is we and why didn't you have sex?"


Lucifer starts pouring them drinks the moment that they reach upstairs. Ariel accepts the drink that is offered to her and they raise their glasses to each other before downing the alcoholic beverage. Lucifer immediately starts pouring them a second round, but instead of downing it she nurses it slowly with the knowledge that their conversation is going to be a long one.

"Vampires." Lucifer hums thoughtfully, "I always wondered what happened to them. Used to be more rampant and when I didn't see anymore when I came back, I just figured that they died off. Don't know a lot about them though, I'm afraid. The bloke I slept with wasn't too keen on sharing any details."

"Did you sleep with this doctor fellow yet," Lucifer turns to her curiously as he starts on his drink, "I have to say that vampires are definitely some of the more rambunctious ones in the sack."

Amenadiel's entrance, like most of the times that he seems to appear in her life, is sudden, unwarranted and slightly unwanted. She knows that she has Maze to thank for his appearance - she has no doubts that the demon texted him the gossip the moment that her and Lucy turned their backs. To be honest, she's only slightly surprised that it took him this long to get here.

"What did you do," Amenadiel's voice is booming as he storms into the room as Ariel leans back in her spot at the bar with a belated groan, "Maze texted me that you had sex with someone and now all I'm hearing is you and Lucy talking about Dr. Cullen."

"Ah, so you did have sex with him," Lucifer's voice rings with a gleam.

"I did not," Ariel insists, the frustration of the accusations ringing in her voice. "For someone's sake, we only kissed!"

Lucifer mumbles a soft pity against the edge of his glass, but Ariel can see the vein throbbing on Amenadiel's forehead as he takes a deep breath, sitting down beside them at the bar. When Lucifer hands out a bottle to him, he declines it. Hesitantly, Ariel continues softly, biting at her bottom lip.

"- But I did want to."

Amenadiel snatches the bottle and Lucifer scoffs as he mumbles about how if she wanted to do, she should have, and if he didn't want to, then he's a coward that's 'intimidated' by her.

"That's actually why I'm here," Ariel continues with more confidence.

"Well if you need sex advide, then you should have said so from the beginning," Lucifer's voice lights up with encouragement, "I gave you that nice room to use, but I know some of the things in are a bit intimidating at first and you should always go at your own comfort level because believe me you don't want to start off by just shoving -"

"-I know sex, Lucy," Ariel cuts him off curtly before he can finish the sentence, "I've had sex before, just not particularly often. I'm not here about the sex, I'm here because if I continue a relationship with Carlisle, and I would very much like to, then there is a high possibility of us becoming mates in the future. Vampires are very - old fashioned, you could say."

"-And I'm not against the idea of Carlisle and I becoming mates - real partners for however long he may be graced to live - whether that happens now or in the far future. But it's not fair to do so without Carlisle knowing what I am - what we are."

'

There's a brief silence as they process her words. Lucifer takes down a whole bottle at the implication of being mated for life - while he is very lucky to be with Chloe, the idea of his older sister doing such a thing is so foreign that it is hard to understand. Dare he admit it, a small bit of jealousy builds in his chest at the idea that she can simply be with someone so easily, so straightforwardly, and that they could be together for such a long time. He doesn't remember how long vampires last - but he knows that they don't simply go very easily.

But the look in her eyes eases his worry, knowing the feeling of fear of rejection from the one you desire. It seems like his older sister has done some soul-searching and growing in her time away in a way that he couldn't imagine. He has to admit - a part of him is a bit proud at the smallest possibility of her finding the same type of connection that he has with Chloe. She deserves that much.

Amenadiel is the quietest, taking a long swig of the bottle with furrowed brows and minor disgust as he realizes the emotion in Ariel's voice - the sincerity, the caring, the love. His mixed feelings over the vampire stir in his chest, but the last argument that they had is still fresh in his mind. He isn't sure what happened in the short period of time since he left. A small flash of what could have happened makes him flinch in disgust as he takes another swig, swallowing that imagery down as he admits that he doesn't want to know what happened.

"You want to tell him you're an angel," Amenadiel summarizes, "And you - what? Don't know how to do it? Needed permission?"

"Maybe a bit of both." Uncertainty drops from her voice as she fluffs her hair and takes a drink. "Carlisle may not be mortal now, but he used to be. And you two are the only ones that have come out to mortals."

"Well, you're asking the wrong devil," Lucifer takes a longer drink, "None of mine took it too well at first."

Ariel looks to Amenadiel, almost silently pleading for an easy answer. He takes a moment before he speaks up.

"Do you really care about him?" At Ariel nod, he continues, "Then all I can say is good luck. Have faith that it will end well and if it doesn't, we'll take care of it. It won't be the first mess we've had to clean up."

"We have made a lot of messes, haven't we," Lucifer muses, "Not that it particularly matters considering it's all said and done, still wish that it didn't have to come to it with Uriel, I'll admit."

Ariel pauses, her brows furrowed in confusion and it takes a second too long before both Amenadiel and Lucifer realize the mistake as she speaks up.

"Wait - what about Uriel?"


The next morning, Carlisle doesn't see Ariel on her porch. It's an unusual change in their routine, but not necessarily a worrying one. But then he doesn't see her at work either and Carlisle starts to get worried. All he can think about is what happened last night, his skin tingling at the memory as he thinks about the way she tasted. The longer the day goes by without seeing her, the more the guilt bubbles under his skin as he wonders if they went too far. Did they expose too much? Does she regret it? Does she regret opening up to him or for how far that they went?

Did she only just realize just what it would mean to be entangled with a vampire and decide that she shouldn't?

The day blurs around him as he works on auto-pilot, focusing so intently on his work that nothing else stands out to him. He still finds himself at their usual spot during his break, just as he finds himself periodically checking his phone as if it is going to light up with a message and emojis. When it doesn't, he wonders if he should text or call her. Just to check on her. Make sure that she's okay.

As his shift officially starts to come to an end, he's really starting to doubt that he will hear from her. He can already see the darkened skies of night rolling in through the windows.

"I'm sure she'll call you soon," Alice's voice rings in from behind him.

He puts the phone back into his pocket and greets Alice with a slightly apprehensive smile. She gives him a knowing smile with a far-off look in her eyes and it eases the tension in his shoulders with the realization that Alice is so sure because she knows. He wishes that she could be more straight-forward sometimes, but he'll take what he can.

"You don't suppose she's upset, do you," Carlisle can't help but ask with hopeful eyes.

"I don't think so, have a little faith, Carlisle. I'm more sure than ever that my vision is going to come true and I can't wait until the rest of the coven officially meets her."

Carlisle smiles softly; if Alice is so sure, he'll trust her instinct even if he doesn't necessarily trust his own. When she's so sure of a vision coming true, it's hard to deny her.

"Oh, I think you should answer that~"

Alice points to the pocket where his phone is with a knowing grin before she disappears as quick as she appeared. He looks after her with confusion before he feels the vibrations of his phone, pulling it out with furrowed brows.

Incoming Call - Ariel