by Maya Daniels
I move towards the front of the temple, pulling my hood as low as I can. As I reach the entrance, the thought of what I will see inside hits me, but I shove it away. My sisters, that’s what I need to focus on. Everything else is secondary. Taking a deep breath, I step inside the hallway and step towards the center of the temple. Lucifer follows behind me, but I can’t hear him. I have no idea how a man—or angel … whatever you want to call him— as large as he is can make no sound at all. It’s almost like he’s floating. I’m barefoot again, but I can still hear every step I take, my bare feet slapping softly on the stone floors. No, I can’t hear him but I sure as hell can tell he is there. Like a security blanket, he gives off this calming energy to me and I’m not sure if he does it on purpose or if it’s just him. I’ll think on it later.
I reach the doorway and walk through it without stopping. I am expecting that walking-through-an-oil-lake feeling again, but it doesn’t come. I guess the shield holds well, thank the Goddess.
I stop dead in my tracks and Lucifer bumps into my back, making me stumble farther in. Looking around makes want to scream. It’s empty. No monsters, no victims. I glance up. Nope, no snake-like dragon and definitely no betraying shitheads.
“I told you we’d be late! Now what?” I whirl on Lucifer.
“You were expecting someone, witch?” he says angrily.
“Yes, I was. How the fuck are we going to get in the caves without a lantern? I don’t see anyone here to give us one, oh mighty Lucifer,” I mock him. I’m pissed, so at least I’ll get him in a pissy mood, too. The more the merrier and all that crap.
“Don’t be a bitch, Alexia, it doesn’t become you.” He sniffs and strides with purpose towards the altar, opposite where we’re standing.
I turn around, cross my arms on my chest and wait to see what he’ll do next. My mind is going three-hundred miles an hour trying to think of a way to find a lantern, but I’m coming up blank. I guess we can go on the path parallel to the mountain and it might lead us to wherever those monsters came from the first time. One second, Lucifer is standing with his back to me leaning towards the columns with the skulls on them, and the next he turns lightning-fast and throws something at me. Reflexively, I reach with my right hand and catch it, only to realize it’s a lantern. I am about to jump and hoot with excitement when its ugly, oily, sticky tendrils wrap around my life force.
Azalea’s words come back to me. “Close your heart if you want to touch a lantern.”
I reach within me to make sure the black hole is still in my chest, forcing whatever emotions I may be feeling back into it as much as possible, then I take a deep breath, not resisting the green light and its tentacles. It’s like there are two of me in my head, one nice wimpy Alexia all mushy with her feelings, and one cold, calculating Alexia that cares about nothing but getting what she wants. The mushy me gets shoved to the background and the cold me stretches fully in my skin. When I focus on my surroundings again, I look straight into Lucifer’s eyes because he is standing right in front of me.
“Oh, fuck!” he breathes.
“Well, if you’re a good little angel, you may get your wish later,” I purr, winking at him, and to my horror, I lean towards him and lick his face slowly from his Adam’s apple to the tip of his nose. He shudders under my palms that are pressed on his chest while still holding the lantern.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
He takes a deep breath as if to collect himself, grabs both my wrists in his huge hands, and pushes me back, his eyes still closed. He holds me in place, taking a few more breaths like he is praying. I giggle. Now I want to slap myself, but I obviously have no control of what I’m doing thanks to those damn tentacles. He looks at me, shakes his head, and releasing my wrists, turns me towards the exit.
“Let us go, witch, and save the others.” With a heavy sigh, he shoves me gently forward while mumbling behind me. “You’ll be the death of me.”
“And you’ll beg for more,” I say over my shoulder before I move, the nice me inside my head wanting to hang herself from embarrassment.
Lucifer chuckles. “Of that, witch, I have no doubt whatsoever.”
Thankfully, I keep my mouth shut, even if I wish for the mountain to open and swallow me whole, then we head out of the temple to find the caves that hold my sisters imprisoned.
Chapter 12
Thankfully we don’t have to walk down the mountain, because as we step out of the temple, huge wings sprout from Lucifer’s back and his arms circle my waist, the warmth of his body penetrating my skin and causing heat to pool in the pit of my stomach. Before I even have a chance to enjoy the flight, my feet touch the dirt path separating the mountain from the orchard with the silver apple trees. The wings are gone in an instant, and without a word, he turns and shuffles left, so I follow.
I’m disappointed that the flight didn’t last longer. I want to believe it’s because flying makes me free in a way nothing else ever has before, like the chains holding me tethered to my world and my reality are somehow broken and I’m lighter, almost like the wind swirling around the trees. Even inside my ribcage, my tormented heart is lighter somehow.
At least, that’s what I want to believe causes my disappointment. Not that I miss the warmth of him pressed against me, or the safe feeling that comes when his arms are around me. They all have agendas, I remind myself sternly. I better remember that.
Except, the cold, calculating bitch in me reminds me of the sensation of Lucifer’s body against mind right then. Somehow, I grind my teeth and keep going, focusing on the dirt path and trying like hell to empty my mind. It’s not working.
“Do you even know where we are going?” My words sound harsh, but I’d rather talk than think right now.
“I sense the darkness concentrated in this direction. I guess it’s where they must be. If you have a better idea, do share it, Alexia,” he says over his shoulder.
I hate that I love how he says my name, so like a two-year-old, I snap at him for no reason whatsoever. “Whatever! I like it better when you call me ‘witch.’”
“Is that so?” He gazes back at me with one perfectly raised eyebrow, and I want to slap him.
I open my mouth to reply, but I snap it shut when I hear rustling sounds followed by a gentle hoot from the trees. Spinning around, trying hard not to pay attention to the pull of the silver apples, I find what made the sound. A smile blooms on my face. I’d forgotten all about him.
Still grinning, I stop turning to face the tree and crane my neck up at the branches that are waving gently in the nonexistent wind. “It’s so good to see you, Rajah. I finally have the lantern,” I tell the owl, lifting the lantern towards him so he can see it.
“You know the bird?” Lucifer asks, and I can tell he is trying not to laugh.
I ignore him, still focusing at the owl. Azalea said after I get a lantern, he will lead the way to the caves and I trust that more than I do Lucifer following the pull of darkness. I don’t take my eyes off Rajah as I wait. It seems like he is assessing me, so I stand still and don’t fight it when I sense a gentle push to my mind. I have nothing to hide from the creature, so I open my mind, letting him prod through as much as he likes.
“You have finally lost your mind, witch.”
Lucifer’s words come at the same time the owl hoots and takes flight. I shuffle forward to follow, but he circles around, his talons digging into my shoulder when he lands on it. I gasp because I didn’t expect it, and as if placating me, Rajah bumps his head on my temple. Not turning my face towards him in case he decides to poke my eyes out, I peek at him sideways, wondering what he’s doing. It’s not like he can speak and tell me where to go. No, I need him to fly so I can follow.
“I have no idea which way to go, my friend. You’ll need to lead me, not sit on my shoulder,” I say in a soft tone, trying not to spook him since he’s so close to my face. Besides, those talons are as sharp as knives.
I feel Lucifer coming closer, but I ignore him. He can
get over himself and his smartass remarks. Rajah turns his head in that creepy way like it’s not attached to the rest of his body, as if looking for something or someone. He does that a couple of times, hoots again, and takes flight, leading us back toward where we came.
I stare pointedly at Lucifer, making sure my eyes tell him that his pull and direction sucks. Lifting my chin as if I’m the Queen of England, I turn and follow Rajah. The angel can do what he wants from this point on.
Speeding up to keep up with the flying owl, I’m aware Rajah probably doesn’t understand the difficulty of having legs, especially when I have to jog so I don’t lose sight of him. After a few moments, Lucifer’s energy warms my back, letting me know he has decided to follow along instead of continuing to where he thinks the caves are. I smirk and pull my hood over my head so he doesn’t see my face. Small victories, but oh, how sweet they are.
I know it’s pitiful, but I can’t help myself. I want nothing more than to frustrate the angel. It’s almost an compulsion.
“How do you know the bird?” His voice caresses my ears and a shiver runs up my spine.
“He is Azalea’s.”
Lucifer stops dead in his tracks at my words, but I offer no further explanation. I sprint forward as quietly as I can, my eyes locked on the dark shape of the owl above us. After a second, Lucifer moves to catch up but doesn’t say another word. I wish I could see his face, but the damn hood is obstructing my view. Either way, I’m concentrating on him so hard I don’t see the protruding rock on the ground. My bare foot lands right on top of it, my ankle twists, and I tumble sideways towards the orchard trees. Trying hard not to scream and announce our presence, I bite my lip and reach with one arm to grab Lucifer in my attempt to not end up on the ground.
He’s fast, I have to give him that.
My hand snatches empty air as his arms wrap around me, one at my shoulders and the other encompassing my waist like steel clamps. With my body plastered to his chest, my feet dangle in the air. The hood of my cloak falls back when the jerk saves me from my impending bruises, though it didn’t protect me from staring into the angel’s eyes. No, we are nose to nose now, and the moment I bit my lower lip, his gaze zero in on my mouth as if he’s compelled to look, just like I was earlier with his golden glow. We stand suspended in time and space for a few moments, our hearts beating in sync, and I wonder what is going on in his head. Something’s different. He’s changed in some strange way. Previously there was amusement, like I was a lab rat to him. It’s different now, an emotion I can’t quite place, but if I had to try I would call it desire. For me. I laugh in my head, reminding myself this is Lucifer. Something must be wrong with me to think like this. Maybe it’s the lantern putting these thoughts in my head. The disturbing thing is still clutched in my hand, after all. I honestly don’t think that it can be released once taken.
“You can put me down now, thank you,” I tell him in a whisper.
“Right! I should put you down,” he murmurs like he is giving himself advice and my eyebrows go up to my hairline.
“You okay there, angel?”
As if a spell has been broken, he drops me and scurries away as if I’ve burned him. It’s so sudden that I stumble and almost fall again.
“Geez! What the fuck is wrong with you? I don’t bite!” I snap, then I smirk at him. “Not too hard, anyway.”
He shakes his head, releasing a loud exhale as he starts walking. Glancing towards the sky to see if Rajah has disappeared, I sigh in relief when he is circling above us. At least he’s nice enough to wait while the angel and I have an awkward staring match.
Shaking my head to clear my mind, I follow Lucifer as Rajah takes the lead again. I can’t wait to find my sisters and get the hell out of here. This realm is messing with my head, and has already stabbed me in the heart and the back, depending how you want to look at it.
Nothing else is said, and our trip to the caves is uneventful. I’m very grateful for that. Judging by first impression of things, this dark realm is full of dead rocks and hills, with no vegetation at all on one side and the never-ending orchard on the other. If Rajah were not leading the way, I might have thought we were walking in place, like we were on a treadmill. It makes me wonder about the knee-high grass in the clearing between the orchard and the woods where they captured Faith. How did it grow there and why, when everything else is all dead rocks and dirt? You can’t call it soil. Soil has potential for growth, for life. This dirt is lifeless, like a discarded seashell after the animal is gone from it, empty of life.
Maybe Azalea’s realm being so close spills over and gives this one life? If that’s the case, it means that every time we open a portal, something from that realm spills over to our world. Now that’s a scary thought that makes me remember that Meda opened a portal to Enlil’s realm twice, and he somehow did it as well so he could come to ours who knows how many times. I shiver at the thought just before I bump into the solid wall of muscle in front of me. I would’ve gone down on my ass if he hadn’t snaked his arm behind him and grabbed me.
This is getting old.
I huff a breath and push his arm away. “Get your fucking hand off me,” I snap.
“Quiet, witch!” he hisses, and I stop breathing.
Peering around him, I see we’re at a bend in the path and right in front of us is the eerie green glow of the lanterns where the entrance of the caves is. It’s another mountain like the one where the temple is, only not as high. There are a few of the monsters scattered above the cave, acting like they are guarding it. I count five from where I’m standing.
“Five guards,” I tell Lucifer like he is blind and not seeing the same thing I am.
“Seven.”
“What? Where?”
“Two more at each side of the entrance that aren’t holding lanterns,” he says like I’m a simpleton.
“You don’t have to be an ass,” I hiss.
“No, I do not, but it is so much fun.” He smirks at me.
“Whatever, angel, let’s go. They see my lantern as well, I’m sure. They’ll wonder why I’m standing like a dumbass.”
I move, but it doesn’t take long to slow my steps as I remember the way they walked the first time. Recalling the thumping of their feet, I try to mimic the tempo. I’m holding the sides of the cloak tight around me in case my white dress decides to make an appearance and wave around like a flag of surrender in their face. My palms vibrate at the thought of burning those things to ashes or drowning them where they stand.
“What is wrong with you? Why are you walking like that, witch?”
“That’s how they walked when I saw them. I’m trying to act like we are no different,” I point out.
He says nothing for so long that I chance a glance at him and get angry the same second.
“Are you laughing at me?” I hiss at him.
“No, witch, I would not dare do such a thing.” His voice is strained and he snorts at the end, obviously not able to hold it in any longer. I believe steam is coming out of my ears at this point.
It was bad timing, or else I would’ve thrown a ball of fire in his perfect face, but looking at where we are, I have to stew in my anger until we get out of here. I decide to ignore him and continue towards the cave, stomping and all. As we near it, Rajah swoops down on one of the guards who is standing above the cave. I watch in horror, thinking the owl tricked us and is giving us away. I almost scream in frustration when a disturbing screech wrenches from the cloaked monster as he swats his skeletal arms towards the owl, sending sparks of lime green fire towards it. My breath catches in my throat, but the flames miss Rajah by a hair, then he circles above us as if nothing happened.
“Great. He just told them we are here,” I whisper-yell at Lucifer. “Why can’t one thing go right, for fuck’s sake?”
As I’m finishing my rant, Rajah does it again with the same result. I swear it’s like he’s doing it on purpose to give me a heart attack. Lucifer is saying something, but I don’t hear
it because I have a whooshing sound in my ears from how angry I am. He repeats it again.
“Huh? What did you say?” I ask him to repeat it for the third time.
“I said, he is giving us cover, witch. We can’t kill them all at once. Some will make noise, obviously,” he says with an exasperated sigh.
“Right!” I mumble, embarrassed.
Of course he is covering our asses. I need to stop fighting the cold me and let her do what she needs to do because. The mushy me sucks at doing things right, and she may start crying at any minute.
Almost at the cave, Lucifer pauses. “I’ll get the two at the entrance, you start picking off the ones above it. You know what you are doing, so just focus like we trained,” Lucifer whispers.
“Sounds like a plan.”
There is a narrow path to the right of the cave entrance, so I veer that way, ignoring Lucifer. I know he’ll be fine, although I’m not sure I will be. Releasing my grip on the tendrils of the lantern, I let it penetrate my energy and attach itself like a leech. My body shudders involuntarily.
As soon as I stop fighting it, the coldness seeps in and the cold, calculating me relishes it. This is power. My thoughts make me sick to my stomach. I don’t want power, just peace.
But I have no time to dwell on that because I’m within arm’s reach of monster number one. Luckily, my brain works fast enough to let me know I should send a fireball to the one above us first so he doesn’t have time to react, then I can hit the one in front me. Or it can be simultaneous. Either way will work. So, I build the fire in my palm and hurl it at the one standing above us. He screeches loud enough to bust my eardrums and the one in front of me, instead of looking at me, turns and his gaze moves up to find his buddy crumbling on the ground as flames attack him. It gives me enough time to gather another ball and, as he turns to me, I throw it right inside the hood of his cloak. He doesn’t even have time to make a sound before everything in front of me erupts into beautiful orange, yellow, and red flames. I need to find the other three because I’m sure by now they see the fire is not green. If they call for help, we’ll be screwed.