They both laid naked in the silver light of nightfall. Alastor rested on his side, eyes closed, taking slow steady breaths. Isobel laid behind him molded to his shape. She matched his breathing as she draped one arm over him, her hand nestled in his chest fur. The other hand absently traced the lines of the scars on his back. So many scars. She wanted to ask him about them, but knew it was a story he did not wish to share.

With a deep sigh she tried to press herself closer. She knew that this rare moment of tenderness would be short and she wanted to live in it as long as possible. She wanted to breathe it in.

"You should be careful, deer," he said.

"Why?"

"I fear you may be falling in love with me." He snickered.

Well, now he ruined it. Talk of love was just a joke to him and an annoyance to her.

"Didn't we establish that neither one of us is interested in that?" She reached down and playful tugged at his tail, which caused him to bristle. "Don't worry. I may be infatuated with you, but I'm not a fool." She rolled away, the tender moment gone, but as she did he caught her by the wrist.

"And when were you planning on explaining this to me?" He held her hand up, the black spot plainly visible. Isobel instantly became flustered. She pushed herself to a sitting position, leaning over him as he examined her palm.

"You noticed that, huh?"

"You've given your body to me. I regularly make a study of it."

He didn't mean it to be, but Isobel thought that statement was kind of hot. She never thought anyone, mortal or demon, would ever be so interested as to make a study of her. She leaned on him as she spoke.

"It seems our activities together have left their mark on me."

"How so?"

"Physical manifestation of the corruption on my soul, mostly thanks to you." She shrugged. She didn't know exactly when, but sometime in the night she had come to the realization that the decision she had been wrestling with in her head, the one that had given her so much anguish, had already long since been made, she just had yet to accept it. "It's proof."

"Of what?"

"That I chose you."

She tried to pull her hand away but he held it fast. He was enthralled with the mark and its implications. A physical branding of his power and influence over her. This was better than carving his name across her chest, more elegant and yet something anyone could see and recognize on her living body. He will spend time cultivating it. The spot will grow until her entire hand was black, a symbol to all that she belonged to the Radio Demon. She was finally his, owned and imprinted.

He brought her hand to his face and gently kissed her palm. It sent shivers through her arm, but this was all getting too sentimental. She tugged at his tail again making his hair stand on end and he released her.

She got up and crossed to the bathroom, grabbing some night clothes on her way. She closed the door behind her and the overhead light flickered into life. From her small pile of clothes she produced Enki's latest letter. She opened it and read the neat, curly calligraphy.

Last chance, she thought to herself. Her eyes shot up staring at her own face in the mirror. This is it. All in.

She tore it to pieces and flushed them down the toilet, then dressed and returned to bed where Alastor waited for her with a contented smile on his face.

The others in the hotel could not help but notice the increase in Isobel's attention and devotion to Alastor. She became a bit of a shadow to him. She sat a little closer, stood a little nearer. She touched him more, and he allowed it. He started taking her most places with him. She performed her role of exotic status symbol well, and he at times could be found at the club watching her sing late into the evening.

When walking together he would now offer his arm, which she always accepted, and when they parted Alastor would take Isobel's hand in his own and kiss her palm. Meanwhile the black spots on Isobel's hands, feet, and back continued to grow little by little each day.

However, Isobel's proximity to Alastor, though providing her with a certain amount of protection, also came with notoriety. She began to attract the attention of certain others that made her weary. Specifically other Overlords.

This she felt most at a fancy, black tie kind of event thrown at the club. She didn't exactly know the reason for such a soiree, but it attracted the upper echelon of the pride ring.

Lucifer did not attend, instead choosing to stay home locked away in his tower tinkering. Alastor also would not have gone, but Isobel had to perform and one must protect one's investment. Isobel, when not singing, felt incredibly self conscious. The Vs were there and she took pains to stay off their radar as much as possible. They had all seemed to have grown a disdain for her, especially Vox.

At one point during the night she saw Zestiel across the room. He acknowledged her with a polite nod of the head, which she returned. All others noticed her, yet kept their distance.

She eventually found her way to the bar where Angel had already taken up residency. Valentino's presence meant that Angel had to come too, gussied up to the nines, and flaunt his celebrity. They both leaned on the bar, drinks in hand, incredibly bored. Isobel noticed that Alastor was having a very animated conversation with the Overlord from Cannibal Town and wondered if she, like Nifty, was going to be a problem.

"I kind of hate this," Isobel said.

"Yeah, you get used to it." Angel took another long pull from his glass.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Angel leaned his elbow on the bar, placing his chin in his hand. "I've had enough hooch by now, ask me anything."

"Are you mad at me that I didn't heed your warning about Alastor?"

"Nah," he said and linked an arm around hers. "Misery loves company." They both smiled and clinked their glasses together. "Just hold on to that soul, baby girl. No matter what."

With this new attention it didn't really surprise Isobel when one day, while walking back from the library, a black car swung around and blocked her path. Three muscle bound sinners stepped out, each with the eyes of geckos. She stood, books in her arms, incredulous.

"This is a bad idea," she said to them.

One opened a back door as the other two flanked her.

"Get in."

She didn't fight them. There was no point. She knew she did not contain the strength. They ushered into the car and set off in silence. No one said anything as they sped toward the center of the city. The car came to a stop in front of Heaven's embassy. One of her escorts opened the car door and she looked up at the holy building.

"You've got to be kidding." She got out of the car and followed when they gestured toward the glimmering church. Inside she found Enki waiting for her.

"There you are," Enki said elated. "Look at you." She pointed toward Isobel's new clothes. "And so much nicer than last time I saw you."

"Did you hire some random thugs to snatch me off the street?" Isobel asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, you wouldn't answer any of my meeting requests, so I had to get you here somehow. It was quite easy. Everyone around here has a price. Good luck collecting though, am I right?" She laughed loudly. Isobel did not.

"What do you want, Enki? I thought this was settled."

"Oh far from it, dear." She adjusted her glasses on the tip of her nose and opened her hands where her book magically appeared.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"You know why. And though I applaud you on your little scheme last time we met, no matter how disgusting, I'm afraid that did not settle the issue. True I could not take you with me befouled as you are, so I had to appeal to a higher authority."

"Don't you think this is a bit excessive? Maybe a waste of your time and energy."

"Nonsense. I have been trying for weeks to tell you there has been a resolution to your case, and all you've done is ignore me." She glared over the rims of her glasses. "It has been quite frustrating."

"My case?"

"Yes, the verdict is in, and it has been decided to execute you."

She said it so matter of fact that Isobel's brain was slow to understand.

"I'm sorry, I," was all she could get out before Enki barreled on.

"What should have happened in the first place, will now be enacted. You will be executed and removed from existence" she smiled brightly. "Demons will not be able to use you for their sinister plots and no one gets hurt. I believe they call that a win/win!"

"Fuck that shit. No one gets hurt? I'll be dead."

"Not really dead-"

"Close enough. Actually worse. Removed from existence? What the fuck does that even mean?"

"Language, dear. It's very unbecoming."

"You can't do this to me. I haven't done anything wrong."

"I wouldn't say partaking in carnal relations with a demon makes you innocent."

"Oh come on," Isobel paced furiously. "I'm not going to stand for this. I will fight this."

"No you will not." Enki's book disappeared and she folded her hands in front of her. "You will comply or I will destroy everything."

"You can't scare me with that. Charlie and the others told me how they fought off angels before."

Enki scoffed, "please, Adam and his brute squad? No, I'm afraid you have garnered the attention of a greater power. I am a Principality. And I will be very clear so that you with your feeble human brain can understand." She spoke patronizingly slow. "If you do not comply, I will kill everyone who gets in my way." She could tell by the look on her face that Isobel was not convinced, she did not yet grasp the magnitude of the situation.

"I will kill all your little friends," she continued. "Your Overlord boyfriend. I will even kill Princess Morningstar if I must. Come to think of it, probably best to rid the worlds of Lucifer's progeny anyway." Enki then fixed Isobel with a deadly glare. "And after all that, I will raze the Pride Ring to the ground and destroy all the souls in it. And then," she shrugged. "Lucifer can just start over from nothing. I'm sure he's used to that."

A sweet, grandmotherly smile crossed Enki's lips, far more disturbing than any smile Isobel had ever seen on Alastor. She knew Enki wasn't bluffing. Enki meant every word. She would do exactly what she said and when she was done, she would not give it a second thought.

"Why are you doing this?" Isobel's voice quavered as she spoke.

"Wrongs must be righted, and order must be restored. A living soul simply cannot be left in Hell." It was as simple as that. There was a view of reality that Enki had and she would do anything to maintain it. There was no time to think about right and wrong. She was an angel after all, everything she did was right.

"So what will it be? You come along nicely and forfeit your soul, accept your fate? Or do you doom everyone to the same end, and I destroy you anyway?" Isobel stayed quiet. Her silence rankled Enki. "Who should I kill first? The princess and your pet demon will most likely come to your aid with violence, of course. The fallen exorcist might be a bit of a handful too. But there were others, weren't there? Oh, that lovely, tall spider-"

"Stop," Isobel clenched her fists. She couldn't bear the thought of any of them getting hurt because of her stupid, bull-headed decisions. And this was something none of them could save her from. "Just stop. Fine. Whatever you want, as long as it's just me. You leave the rest of them alone."

"Gladly." Enki sighed satisfied. "As a gift, I give you until tomorrow morning. Say your goodbyes. Though, if I were you, I would not tell any of them about this little deal of ours. They would only try to interfere, and then I would have to eradicate them." She made an overly dramatic sad face. "Oh, don't be sad, you're doing the right thing."

She tried to pat Isobel on her shoulder, but her illusionary hand just passed through. Good thing, because Isobel would have liked to break every bone in that hand.

"See you tomorrow, dear." With a flash of divine light Enki was gone and Isobel was left alone in the gloom.

She stood there dazed and began to feel the darkness swirl. It had been held at bay for so long, but now it spiraled around her, through her.

She didn't know how to outrun it this time.