At Your Service

Chapter 21- Seduce

Ansel woke up in his bed dressed in a black cable knit sweater and grey boxers over their underwear. They sat up immediately, seeing their crutches and prosthetics lying on top of the duvet across the foot of the bed. Their wheelchair sat by the nightstand. Their glasses sat under the lamp on the nightstand. The witch slid out of bed and into their wheelchair before leaving the bedroom, wondering where Carlisle was.

    "The sitting room." Ansel heard the voice of the butler in their head, but it was the demon's voice in his true form, darker and deeper. Ansel headed there. As he neared, he heard the piano playing softly. Ansel turned the doorknob and pushed the door open before entering, the piano music now at full volume. The butler was seated on the bench, his gloved fingers playing the keys. "I apologize for the voice; I cannot make it sound like this in your head."

    "We can communicate through thoughts?"

    "One of the many perks of a binding with a demon," Carlisle sighed with a small grin. "I can show you some others, if you wish."

    "You didn't wake me up," Ansel commented as he pushed the wheels of the wheelchair forward so he could reach the piano.

    "You needed to sleep for longer; it's only eight o'clock, anyways." He saw Ansel in their wheelchair out of the corner of his eye.

    "What can you not do?" Ansel wondered in admiration as the butler played the piano flawlessly and beautifully.

    "I cannot go to Heaven." Carlisle smirked. "I can also sing and play the violin. I can do flips. I can tie the stem of a cherry into a knot with my tongue."

    "What happened after you put me to sleep?" Ansel wondered as he rubbed his eyes, ignoring the last fact about the demon.

    "I sent the guests home. Marjorie cleaned up the room... some professional cleaners are coming to dry and clean it properly, but the damage is minimal."

    Ansel nodded and was silent until Carlisle finished his song. "The man-"

    "Ashley," Carlisle interrupted as he spun on the bench to face Ansel, "yes, I know him." His master's eyes widened. "He's an angel, and we have history." The witch didn't know what to make of this information. It wasn't entirely absurd to believe that, if demons exist, angels must, too, but Ansel assumed that there was only a Hell, no Heaven or God to speak of. "He was my very first master and ex-partner, much like what you would call a husband that I divorced."

    "What was he doing here?" Ansel whispered.

    The demon's eyes closed as he bowed his head so he wouldn't have to look at his master. "My best guess is that he is trying to break the blood contract so he can have me back."

    Ansel nodded, fidgeting with the ends of his sleeves. "I'm so sorry. If I had-"

    "You are not responsible for this." The demon stood, looking down at the witch with a burning, determined glare. "He uses his power to manipulate, seduce, and control his victims. He used them on me for centuries before I was powerful enough to overthrow him. Because you didn't know he was an angel, you never stood a chance."

    "What are we going to do about him?" Ansel questioned as he stared up at his butler.

    The look in the demon's eyes grew as dark as Hell as they glowed red violet. "I am going to approach him once we're back in London, as we leave this afternoon, and settle things for good." He blinked, and his eyes were warm and russet again. "Let's get you bathed. You smell like witch's fire." Witch's fire had not only a distinct colour, but a distinct smell, as well, that was a gross combination of incense and rotting meat.

    Everything in the bathroom was silent except for the sporadic droplets of water dripping from Ansel's hair, face, and elbows back into the water that wrapped its surface around the witch's waist. A board was spread across the rims of the bath that Ansel could use as a table as he worked on the crossword puzzle in the day's newspaper. Carlisle sat in the corner, one leg crossed over the other, reading.

    "Are all angels like that?" Ansel suddenly questioned.

    Carlisle looked up from his book, the light bouncing off of his reading glasses flashing. "Most of them, yes." He closed his book. "Demons are seen as the least of beings. Angels often keep demons as slaves, as Ashley did me. I was a sex slave." He spoke bluntly. "Many others use demons as personal punching bags, and others as simple servants."

    Ansel stared at the demon, mouth hanging open a little. "There's still so much that I don't know about you," they breathed. "How old are you?"

    Carlisle scowled, now deep in thought as he did the math. "I suppose I was born in Romania about three thousand years ago."

    Ansel's eyes widened. "Hold- you were born on Earth... you were human once?"

Carlisle nodded. "I looked much different and went by another name, but, yes. There are very few angels and demons who were born as such. Ashley is one of the rare born angels." Ansel nodded, sinking a little further into the water as he resumed working on his puzzle. Instead of returning to his reading, Carlisle stared at the witch. "You have nipple piercings."

Ansel's hand lost control of the pen, causing it to fall in the water with a little ploink. "Um, yeah." His cheeks turned bright red.

"What kind?" he wondered innocently. "I know there are different types."

"Um..." Ansel grabbed the pen out of the water and shook it off, "they're stainless steel... straight barbells."

Carlisle nodded, blinking a little. "All right." He'd only been curious.

"How can you ask questions like that and be so professional about it?"

Carlisle raised an eyebrow. "I am your butler. I am to remain professional, even in regards to the 'intimate' parts of the anatomy." He'd put up his hands to make air quotes. "I have no difficulty in discussing certain parts of said body, as I consider all parts of the body to be intimate."

Ansel stared with a scowl before slowly smiling. "That's actually... really romantic."

Carlisle's other eyebrow raised. "Is it?" The witch nodded. "Hmm." He frowned with thought, tapping his chin. "All right, then."