Sweet Death VI

La Jefa stood there, arms crossed, in her human form. Pale, almost blue, with black hair in a knot, a top hat adorned with wilted orange and red carnations. Her suit was black, unlike Maddox’s, and so were her eyes and lips. The fiery aura that emanated from her was blue. Her expression was stone carved, passive, unreadable.

Maddox stopped breathing, and so did Aurora. He bent low to greet her with a bow. 

     “I’m ready to take any punishment to atone for my sins, boss,” he said. 

     She sighed. 

     “Your brother, he completed all his tasks. Even if that meant taking the very human he had fallen in love with,” she said. 

     Maddox raised his head in shock. Her face remained a mask of tranquility. 

     “I thought you, who always was so keen on following rules, would give me the same quality of work,” she said. 

     “Damn guy was trying to kill him!” Aurora raised his voice. “Did you know that?!” 

     Maddox flinched. He looked back at Aurora, worried that her insolence might get her in trouble. 

     La Jefa raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” 

     “Yes! He possessed a guy, hypnotized me the minute I got here, tried to set up a trap for Maddox with my blood, hoping to kill him and make it seem like Maddox had gone rogue,” Aurora said. 

     Maddox blinked. He wasn’t aware Dayren’s plan went that deep. 

     “How do you know this?” asked la Jefa. 

     “He bragged about it after he stabbed me,” added Aurora. 

     La Jefa’s lips twitched slightly. 

     “Indeed?” 

     “I don’t know how things work in whatever otherworldly realm of the dead you’re in, but Maddox shouldn’t be punished,” concluded Aurora crossing her arms. Maddox’s eyes softened at her earnestness. 

     When the last of her words dissipated, la Jefa gave a smile of her own. 

     “You call him by his given name,” she said. “You are not afraid?” 

     “No,” answered Aurora. 

     “And you, my son, would you be willing to stay by her side if you had the chance?” 

     “Yes,” Maddox had responded before she even finished her sentence. 

     “I see the link you have formed is powerful. It does not often happen that a reaper is willing to forsake everything like that.” La Jefa’s smile kept her curve, but her eyes turned melancholic. “But alas, Maddox has broken the rules, and he should have a punishment suitable for his deeds to maintain fairness between angels of death so that this….” She gestured at the destruction of the room, the blood, and the ash everywhere. “Doesn’t happen again.” 

     Maddox nodded. Here it finally came. 

     “As it turns out, this young woman was not set to die on this day. Dayren had falsified your document to enact his plan,” la Jefa began. 

     So, she knew everything from the beginning. Maddox then wondered why she allowed Aurora to explain.

     “And though the man he used was willing to be possessed, blinded by his greed, it doesn’t change the fact that a soul has been taken, and since Aurora was falsely scheduled, her name has already been erased from our records, which means….” 

     “That her soul is free for anyone’s taking,” Maddox finished the Jefa’s sentence under his breath. 

     “What does that mean?” asked Aurora. 

     “It means the laws protecting humans against demons, daemons, and other soul-collecting beings don’t apply to you anymore. If you were to die, you’d remain on this earth for all eternity as a spirit,” said la Jefa. 

     “So, as of today, Maddox, you shall be in charge of her soul’s protection until the day of her death. You are to give me your death dagger back, and your position as reaper and your membership of R.O.T.S. is forever terminated,” said la Jefa. 

     Maddox stared, mouth agape in disbelief. “I…Can I stay? In the human world?” 

     “Your reward for doing the right thing out of love; you are now her guardian angel,” replied la Jefa. 

     Maddox wanted to jump for joy as he gave la Jefa his dagger but remained as calm and composed as he could when she took it. 

     With one last smile, la Jefa banished like a flame snuffed out. 

     Aurora encased Maddox in a strong hug. 

     Maddox turned around to wrap his own arms. But, instead, he was surprised by her lips crashing onto his too briefly for him to feel them the way he had wanted, but enough for their warmth to linger after she had taken them away. 

     “You owe me a drink, guardian angel,” she grinned.