by Shuler, Tara
In the front of the room, it was nearly pitch black. One could see the lower corners of a golden throne at the edge of the darkness, but beyond that there was nothing but black.
Aztos was dragged into the chamber by two surly guards. His wrists and ankles were shackled, and his head hung weakly. He’d obviously been tortured horribly, as he hung limply between the iron grips of the guards who shoved him onto his knees in front of Lucifer’s great throne. He struggled to lift his head. He would not let his wife see him suffer.
“Aztos, son of Azmond, you are hereby called before the Council of Lucifer. You are accused of treason by way of harboring a known angel. How do you plead?” asked the
“Guilty,” Aztos declared, his head held high and proud.
The chamber buzzed with the gasps and rumblings of the witnesses, and they held muted conversations among one another.
“Silence!” boomed an intensely ominous voice from the darkness surrounding the throne.
The entire chamber instantly became deathly silent. All movement ceased, and one could scarcely hear even the faintest rustle of fabric or shuffling of feet as the witnesses all cowered in fear.
Lucifer waved his hand, and light illuminated him – seeming to come from nowhere, yet casting a spotlight directly on him. Beth could see that he was not the cloven-footed, horned beast of legend. He was merely a man – an intensely beautiful man – one of such beauty she would have gasped had she been able to move or speak.
He sat upon a massive throne, which looked to be made of solid gold and inlaid with giant gemstones that appeared to be rubies, but inside them was a swirling red haze similar to the shifting amber in Aztos’ eyes.
Lucifer wore a smart-looking double-breasted suit, a burgundy tie, and a matching burgundy silk handkerchief in his breast pocket. He had shining, golden hair that flowed like silk over his shoulders.
Lucifer heard the gasp within Beth’s mind. He turned to her and peered at her curiously, his head tilted to one side as he surveyed her.
“Do I surprise you, mortal?” he asked, his voice now smoother and less ominous.
He waved his hand, and at once, she was free. Her body was completely unrestrained, and she found herself able to speak.
“Y-yes,” she stammered.
“You thought I would look like the creature ‘Satan’ of the fairy tales, did you not?” he asked her.
She nodded.
“Come to me,” he ordered.
She stood from her chair and walked across the stone floor, her footsteps echoing loudly and reverberating through the nearly silent room. She cast a worried glance toward Aztos, and he pleaded with his eyes for her to behave. She stopped before Lucifer’s throne, and knelt without being asked to do so.
“What say you on behalf of your husband?” Lucifer asked smoothly.
Beth cast her eyes up toward Lucifer with contrition.
“I beg of you, Lucifer,” she pleaded. “Please spare his life. Everything he did was on my behalf. It is all my fault, not his.”
“You love this demon enough to give your own life for him?” Lucifer asked, clearly amused.
“I do,” she admitted. “Take my soul, but spare his.”
“Elizabeth, stop,” Aztos begged. “Do not do…”
“Silence!” Lucifer shouted, his voice so loud it echoed inside Beth’s head and made it pound in agony; it rattled the windows.
Lucifer cast one look in Aztos’ direction, and Aztos was silenced. Beth glanced at him, and she could see he was in pain. It appeared as if an invisible hand held him by the throat, lifting him slightly from his kneeling position. Aztos’ eyes bugged out, and his face began to turn red. He grunted in agony.
“Stop!” Beth pleaded. “Please, Master! I beg of you! Have mercy!”
“Master?” Lucifer asked curiously. “Do I take it you are willing to bow down to me and accept my as your Lord and Master in exchange for his soul?”
“Yes! Just please let him go! Please!” she begged.
Behind her, she heard Aztos collapse to the floor, gasping for air. She breathed a slight sigh of relief.
“And what if I have no need of you? What have you to offer?” Lucifer asked, toying with her.
“Anything! I’ll give you anything you want,” Beth conceded.
A sly grin curled on one side of Lucifer’s mouth.
“Give me the angel,” he sneered.
Beth fell silent. Lucifer had just asked the one thing she hoped he wouldn’t. Of course, she knew it was the only thing he would want. She looked back toward Aztos as one of the guards snatched a handful of his hair and pulled him hastily back into a kneeling position. She couldn’t bear the anguish on his face. She turned back toward Lucifer, but she could not look into his eyes. She stared at the floor.
“Alright,” she whispered. “I will do it.”
Lucifer stared at her for a moment, and then he turned toward the guards.
“Step aside,” he ordered the guards.
The guards immediately stepped aside, leaving Aztos alone on the cold stone floor.
“Aztos, son of Azmond,” Lucifer’s voice echoed. “I hereby find you guilty of treason. You are sentenced to burn in The Pit for all eternity. Your sentence will be carried out immediately.”
“No!” Beth shrieked, running toward Aztos, intending to throw her arms around him.
An unseen force bound her on a leash, just a few feet from Aztos. She struggled to reach him, but the tether was too tight. She felt her throat begin to close, and she struggled to speak.
“I love you,” she croaked, barely able to utter a sound before her throat was closed completely; tears stained her cheeks and burned her eyes.
“I am sorry, my love,” he said, as the floor opened beneath him.
Aztos hovered above the opened floor briefly, as if the floor were made of glass. Underneath him, Beth could see flames leaping up from the deep, dark pit, and she could hear the wailing of billions of suffering souls crying out in unison.
Please, she begged in her thoughts, praying Lucifer would hear and comply. I will give you Malachai. Please just don’t do this.
“I can hear more than your thoughts, mortal,” Lucifer mocked. “I can touch your very soul. You would no more turn the angel over to me than you would turn over your husband. Now, your husband will pay for your attempted deception.”
Suddenly, the invisible floor was removed, and Aztos began to fall into the pit. Beth watched in horror, struggling desperately to follow him. The invisible tether held fast, and she was unable to reach him.
No! she cried in her mind. Aztos!
But it was too late. The opening in the stone floor disappeared, and Aztos was gone. The tether than held her was severed, and she collapsed on the floor where he had just been kneeling.
“Aztos!” she wailed, pounding so violently upon the stone floor that her hands began to bleed. “Aztos!”
Beth began to claw at the floor, trying to find a crack the could exploit to tear it open. She clawed so desperately that her fingernails began to separate from the nail beds, and blood flowed from her fingers and onto the floor, staining it crimson.
She turned toward Lucifer, her eyes full of rage and passion, and she hurled lightning from her palm. It arced around him, but he was unaffected.
“Very impressive, mortal,” Lucifer sneered, clapping slowly in feigned pride.
“Bring him back!” Beth demanded.
“You have nothing to bargain with, little girl,” Lucifer chuckled. “You bore me. Be gone with you.”
He waved his hand, and everything went black.
Beth sat up in bed, gasping in terror. She looked around, desperately hoping to find Aztos. The bed beside her was empty.
“Aztos!” she shouted, holding out hope that it had only been a nightmare.
She tore the covers away and leaped out of bed, running throughout the house shouting his name.
“Aztos!” she shrieked. “Aztos, please answer me!”
/> She checked the basement, and she checked the garage. He was nowhere to be found. She burst out the front door and leaped off the porch and into the yard. Her bare feet landed in the dewy grass, and she smacked into something.
“Aztos?” she gasped, looking up with hope in her eyes.
“No, love,” Malachai lamented. “I’m so sorry.”
He wrapped his arms around her in a futile attempt to comfort her.
“It… it wasn’t a nightmare?” she asked, choking back sobs.
“I’m afraid not, my love,” Malachai said gently, stroking her hair as she sobbed into his chest.
“We have to get him back, Malachai,” she pleaded. “Help me get him back! Please! I need him back!”
Though his heart was breaking, and all he wanted was for Aztos to be gone forever in the hopes that Beth might eventually fall for him, Malachai relented. He could not bear to see her in such pain.
“We will get him back, my love,” he vowed. “Whatever it takes, we will get him back.”
*****
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Tara Shuler is also the author of the Blood Haze vampire romance series.