by G. Bailey
“About ten fucking million, give or take,” he answers.
“I’m impressed,” Nick replies with a laugh.
“Why don’t we go back to my room and watch some movies? I will even cook popcorn,” I suggest, wanting a break from today.
“Technically you don’t ‘cook’ popcorn, you pop it,” Nick, being the cocky asshole, has to say. I nudge his shoulder as we head back to our room.
“Did you ever find out what the Latin word meant from the book?” I ask as we get close to my door.
“Yeah, it meant something about horses and men,” Javier says, and I look down at my arm, where the horses are literally drawn on me.
It can’t be a coincidence.
But what the hell does it mean?
Chapter 71
A fight to remember
Every footstep we take towards the arena in the middle of the city makes my heart pound that much louder, making me want to take Morgan and drag him away from here. The cheering of the thousands of demons in the seats surrounding the arena is so loud that it hurts my ears, although the pain is somewhat welcome as it distracts me from the crippling fear controlling me. Morgan looks down at me the second we stop opposite Lucifer, and I lean up, kissing him for the whole world to see whose side I am on.
I want to help him fight Lucifer...but I can’t without breaking the rules of hell. For some reason, I get my crown by just being here, but Morgan has to fight to the death for his.
And for me.
If he loses...I don’t know what I’m going to do past trying to kill Lucifer.
I don’t need to say anything to Morgan as I let his hand go and walk across the arena, straight to where Javier, Claus and Nikoli are waiting. Amethyst is sitting on the edge of the only empty seat, and I pick her up, putting her on my lap as I sit on the stone seat.
“Are you ready for this?” Amethyst asks me in my head, her voice clear over the roars of the crowds of demons sitting behind us. Meeting Nick’s, then Claus’s and finally Javier’s eyes, I know in my heart that we are ready for anything.
And so is Morgan. God, I hope he is.
“Never. I’m never ready to see one of my mates fight without me at their side,” I admit, because my previous idea of being ready was all made up.
I’m not this brave.
I have too much to lose. I have them to lose.
“When this is over, we will all live together and figure out how to make a home in hell,” Javier tells me.
“Does that mean you are friends now?” I ask, looking between my mates.
“My wolf doesn’t want to rip them to pieces, if that’s what you mean,” Javier explains. It means he likes them, I’m sure of it.
“Not exactly, but it means we are on our way to a shared bedroom, so I’m happy,” I grin.
“If you snore, wolf, I’m kicking you out to the couch,” Nick adds in.
“Same applies to you both,” Javier grumbles, almost amused. The smile dies from my lips as I look back at Morgan, who is talking to Lucifer, and I can’t hear their conversation. Whatever Lucifer is saying is not doing Morgan any good. Red energy is blasting out of the ground, swirling around Morgan like a storm waiting to explode. Lucifer hits first, slamming his fist into Morgan’s cheek, and Morgan hardly moves. He grabs Lucifer’s arm, and red energy blasts dust everywhere into a cloud that hits us. I have to close my eyes as I try to hide from the dust. I cover my eyes, only seeing flashes of red light every so often in the dust before it clears.
Lucifer is under Morgan, who is cutting into his face with his fists covered in red energy. Blood splatters everywhere, covering them both as Lucifer suddenly gets the upper ground and shoots Morgan across the arena with a blast of red light. I blink harshly as Morgan gets up, spitting out blood onto the floor. His right arm looks in bad shape as it hangs at his side, and the rest of him isn’t doing better.
Lucifer doesn’t wait as he picks up two swords and throws one at Morgan. Morgan catches the blade with his hand, letting it cut him before gripping the handle. They run at each other in pure passion before expertly fighting each other. The way Morgan handles his sword lets me know every time we have fought in the past, he has been taking it easy on me. Every so often, they cut each other, blood spraying onto the stone below them. Morgan manages to knock Lucifer’s sword out of his hand, but Lucifer catches Morgan’s sword and crushes it into ash with red energy. They go at each other again with their fists, but Morgan is struggling, the red energy Lucifer is giving off is too much for him to fight off on his own.
“He is losing,” I gasp, standing up as Amethyst jumps off my lap. Morgan struggles against Lucifer’s iron tight grip, both of them smothered in each other’s blood, both of them consumed with red power to the point they are lost in it.
I doubt either of them even knows anyone is watching or who they are.
“I have to stop this,” I say, knowing there is only one way to make this fight better, to get Morgan back even though it’s a big risk. I run to the side, only to have Nick catch me, grabbing my arm and pulling me back to him.
“What are you doing?” he demands.
“Stay here, and the moment you sense the souls are going, help Morgan kill Lucifer. If I don’t take the power from them both, they will kill each other before this is over,” I firmly say, my mind made up.
“The souls will—”
“Hurt me, that’s all. I won’t take them all, just enough to lower the power in here. Just enough to make sure Morgan has a fighting chance of saving his soul,” I demand. “And even if it means us helping him kill Lucifer.”
“I’m coming with you to fight the Hellers,” Javier firmly states. “The twins can deal with Morgan and their father.”
“Go,” Claus says, though he doesn’t look remotely happy about it. Taking Javier’s hand, we run outside of the arena, and I pull him to a stop.
“We are going to use holy fire to travel there. I’ve never done it to the right place, and I haven’t seen the souls gate, but we don’t have a choice. Do you trust me?” I ask Javier, and he steps into my space and gently kisses me.
“I trust you,” he tells me.
“Don’t think you’re going without me, either. I can be of help,” Amethyst says, and I turn to see her in human form, walking over to us in a long black dress which has a long cape attached to the shoulders, covered in black feathers. “And I can use holy fire to take us straight to the entrance. I will make a shield to stop the Hellers, and any Heller that manages to get through, the wolf can kill.”
“How are you in human form?” I ask, trying not to stare at how pretty she is. I think she is prettiest person I’ve ever seen.
“If I told you that pushing Lucifer’s magic away and using my own magic is killing me, would you tell me to stop it? As I would not,” she answers, giving me the answer I wanted, but at the same time, it hurts me to know what she is doing.
“Thank you,” I say, actually meaning it. She offers me a hand, and with Javier’s arm around my waist, I take her hand and we are consumed in holy fire, burning over our bodies until there is nothing but green fire. We reappear on stone ground in a brightly lit up room, and I hear them right away. Letting go of Javier’s and Lilith’s hands, I stare up at the gold barrel shaped dome in front of me, with the souls trapped inside. The dome is made of lines of actual gold in swirls and crosses all around it, and there is only one small staircase of steps leading to the door. I scream as a million voices slam into my mind, and they all say only one thing.
“Set us free, our queen.”
Chapter 72
Free is a word every soul should know
“Set us free, our queen.” I cry out from the pain as I try to push their voices from my mind as Javier helps me stand. “Free us. Free us.” The voices never stop as I hold my head, the pain never seeming to end, even when I start to feel the souls. The souls are all red, bouncing around like balls of light trapped in a cage. They never touch each other, but they violently slam against the walls
of the dome, no doubt hoping to escape.
Does Lucifer hear and feel them too?
Can he ignore them somehow?
A lifetime, millions of souls worth of pain, is in that dome, and it’s so wrong. Souls are not a way to gain power, they are not for hell and Lucifer to hold like a toy. Tears fall down my cheeks as I hear their pain, their desperation to be free and find another life beyond what they have right now. I stare for a little longer, knowing that my parents are two of the souls in there, trapped, and I wish we had more time so I could speak to them.
So I could tell them how much I love them and wish they were alive.
How I don’t blame them for anything because my childhood was happy.
“Go, Lexi! I can’t hold them back forever!” Amethyst shouts at me, and I finally turn back to see her holding up a wall of blue flames, the power incredible considering she is usually a cat. The wall is thick, but I can still see the hundreds of Hellers on the other side, fighting their way through, blasting their power against the other side. I don’t have a clue how long she can hold it, but I don’t want to find out.
“I’m going to shift. Do not do anything that hurts yourself,” Javier warns me, taking off his shirt and jeans. I only stare, not being able to keep that promise now I’ve felt their pain. The souls must be free, and I know that I’m meant to be the one to free them.
“I love you,” I whisper to him as he shifts, not sure if he hears me at all. Turning away, I start walking up the steps, feeling more emotions from the souls, more voices, more pain. So much pain. The gate to the dome swings open when I get to the top step, like the world itself wants me to do this. I feel like this was what I was born for, the reason for my existence in this world.
For all the pain.
For all my loss.
I have to do this because only I can. The first step into the dome is painful as hundreds, if not thousands, of souls slam into my body like a wave in the sea.
And the waves never stop.
Crying out in the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life, my feet leave the ground as soul after soul touches every part of my body before they rise up and disappear through the ceiling.
They are free, and their joy crashes into my own soul like a beacon of hope.
And it makes it worth the soul crushing pain, how every inch of my body feels like it is being cut into a million pieces, never to return to normal.
Wave after wave of souls crash into me until I can’t take the pain anymore, until it hurts so much I know I’m going to die from this. It’s too much, and I can’t let go.
I thought I could, I thought I could step out, but it’s impossible. Through my screams, I hear a voice just before I open my eyes to see Javier floating in front of me, covered in red light that pushes away the souls. His hand takes mine, and dozens of red horses float out of his chest and run around us, pushing back some of the souls so I can breathe. It doesn’t work for long, the horses aren’t powerful enough. My head all but snaps back as the souls hit me harder, begging to get free.
And the worst part? It isn’t their fault.
“Go to her! I will stop Lucifer! Save Alexandria before it’s too late!” I hear Amethyst desperately shouting in pain, and I turn my head, hearing Javier’s screams of pain right by me. Morgan, Nick and Claus step into the dome, and to my surprise, their eyes all glow the same red colour before they float up, surrounding me. They all clasp their hands together with Javier, like they know what to do, leaving me in the middle of them as what seems like millions of glowing horses run out of their chests in a stream of different colours, and run around me, protecting me like a blanket. The souls attack me slowly now, the horses stopping them from taking over my soul, but the damage is too late.
As the last soul floats into my chest, bouncing off me and heading up to the sky, I feel myself falling, crashing onto the stone, the world fading to black.
Chapter 73
The good never find death alone
“I should have done this a long fucking time ago. I am Lilith, mother to the princes of hell, and you took that from me! You took everything because you’re my mate and you could never see that you had everything you deserved. You took too much, you became too evil, and now…well, now you will pay for it!” Am shouts, her voice dripping with disdain and pain. I blink my tear-filled eyes open, seeing an empty dome above me. Every inch of my body hurts as I sit up and find all my mates around me. I crawl to Morgan first, just as he is nearest, and feel his pulse on his neck. He is alive, and as I glance at them all, I see their chests rising every so often.
A cruel laugh distracts my attention, and I look over to the horror in front of me. Amethyst and Lucifer are surrounded by dozens of Hellers’ bodies, their blood splatted across the walls. Amethyst and Lucifer are fighting with swords and holy fire, and Amethyst is damn good. She knocks Lucifer back until he hits a wall. He picks himself up, wiping blood from his lip, and he stares at the blood on his hand like it’s a wonder. “Do you think you’re a challenge for me, dear mate?”
“Try me! There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect my family from you!” she screams back, charging at him. The world seems to slow down as Lucifer grabs Amethyst’s throat and slams his sword into her stomach at the same time she slams a dagger into his chest, right into his heart. They both stare at each other in shock as I scramble to my feet and run as fast I can to Amethyst. Lucifer laughs as he falls to the side and then goes silent before his body starts to burn into bits of red dust that float around the ceiling. I fall to Amethyst’s side as she coughs on blood and lifts her hand, placing it on my cheek, wiping away the tears there.
“We will get a healer. Just hold on,” I plead with her, holding her hand. “The twins aren’t awake yet, and they need to—”
“We are here,” Nick says from behind me, and I look up to see him and Claus rushing over, crashing to their knees on the other side of Amethyst. “Mum…we didn’t have any time. Not really.”
Tears fall down her cheeks as she coughs on more blood. I feel Morgan’s and Javier’s hands on my shoulders as I sob, knowing I’m not ready to lose her. Neither are the twins. Amethyst looks between the twins and me before she smiles. A pure, brilliant smile. “T-time is worth lit-little when I have your love.” Her head falls to the side as her hand slips from my cheek. Claus and Nick hold each other as I burst into tears. Morgan and Javier hold me as I try to cope with letting Amethyst go, because I never got to tell her she was like a second mother to me.
And I loved her so damn much. Amethyst didn’t deserve this ending, she really, really didn’t. I crawl around to the twins, who let me in the middle of them as we hold each other. Claus kisses my forehead as we all mourn their mother.
“Lex, look,” Javier says, and the guys let me go a little in time to see a green orb of light float out of Amethyst’s chest. It hovers in the air for a second, and I reach a hand out, laying my palm flat. The orb lands on my hand, and I feel all of her love, her pure happiness at being free.
“She is happy,” Nick gasps, and I know he can feel it too.
“And for the first time in her life, she is free.” My words echo around the room as I lift my hand and let Amethyst’s soul go, letting her float off into the ceiling before disappearing.
Chapter 74
Six months later…
“The kings and queen of hell have an important announcement.” The speaker’s voice echoes throughout hell, no part of it missing the magical voice. I stand on the new balcony of Lucifer’s improved castle. Over the last six months, Javier and a bunch of demons he found have made the castle our home, re-fitting nearly the entire place and making it far more modern than it has ever been. In the six months, Morgan made himself king alongside Javier, Claus and Nikoli.
And I took my place as queen of hell. Once we made ourselves the royals in a small private ceremony, we somehow got control over the doors of hell like we had always known how to open them. The first thing we did was send the teachers a
nd students of DA back to earth for the time being, along with a bunch of builders to build a new DA. We decided, for their final year, students can live in DA in hell, making the academy not completely useless down here.
“I, King Morganach the First, announce The Demon Academy is officially open. Anyone that wishes for their children to attend, please contact our staff. For the first time in thousands of years, attending DA is not a requirement. If you wish to homeschool your children, you may,” his voice booms, and we hear the cheers of the people not long after. We had hoped this would be a new law they would like.
“May the new students of DA have a good few years,” I say, ending the conversation. Morgan lifts my hand, kissing the back ever so softly as the magic cuts off.
“I have a surprise for you,” Javier says from where he is leaning against the wall. Nick and Claus wink at me at the same time, and I frown.
“What kind of surprise?” I ask them all. “The last surprise was a hot tub in the gardens and that was great until your familiar tried to get in it with us and almost set the garden on fire.”
“I didn’t think cats liked water until that point,” Claus mutters. “Anyway, the water in the hot tub put out the fires, so no harm done. And I’ve moved the hot tub now and told him not to do that again.”
“I’m surprised it still works,” Nick adds.
“Back to the surprise, guys,” Javier reminds them. “Go and open the door, Lex.”
“Alright,” I say, letting go of Morgan’s hand and walking to the door. I push open the door that leads to our lounge, and I freeze, a big smile blasting onto my lips.
“I missed you,” Sera says, her hand held by Eike, who is her new mate. I run to her at the same time she runs to me, and we crash into each other. I hold her close as tears fall down my cheeks, and I can’t stop them.