He snorted out a laugh. “Seriously? Do you guys have someone writing that crap? Is that Shakespeare’s eternal reward? Write bad dialogue for the angels?” He shook his head. “You spent enough time with the redhead to learn how to talk like a modern man, Rue. I’d expect that out of Az, here, but not you.”
“You might be surprised,” Azrael flicked his wrist, calling his scythe into existence. “Care to dance with me, demon? Let’s go a round and see who’s still standing.”
“See?” Asmoday asked gleefully. He reached out, pulling his own stygian black blade from a fold of shadow. “That’s what I’m talking about!” His eyes glowed a hellish red as he crouched over the blade. “Come on, Az, it’s been a long time since we’ve crossed blades.”
“Showing your age there, old boy,” Azrael drawled, spinning the scythe in a wicked arc.
“Enough!” Rue shouted, slapping both the blades up. He reached out, grabbing the demon by the throat. “Where’s Serafina?” He shook him like a dog. “I know you took her.” Another sharp shake. “Speak!”
“I think that’s enough of that.” The smooth, cultured tone pulled Rue’s furious gaze away from Asmoday’s sneering face. “He was doing my will, Ruvan.”
Every cell in Rue’s body froze, like ice water shivering through his veins as the Lord of Hell advanced, his wings outstretched behind him, his swirling silver and gold eyes demanding nothing but absolute obedience. He saw Azrael falter beside him, the scythe dropping from numbed fingers even as his own blade fell and disappeared. “Release him.” Rue’s hand opened automatically on the command. Asmoday stepped back, straightening his ruined tie.
“Where’s Serafina?” Rue forced the words out past a tongue frozen by the Lord’s sheer presence.
“In good time, Ruvan.” The Lord nodded to Azrael. “It’s been a while, Azrael. I hope you’re doing well.”
“I keep busy.” The angel folded his arms over his chest. “Are you going to repeat your offer?”
The devil smiled. “Of course I am. However, I have an addition for Ruvan here.”
“What offer?” Rue asked, bewildered.
“In due time, Ruvan.” He turned to Asmoday, who conjured a chair. “Two more, please, Asmoday. We don’t want our honored guests to become fatigued.” The demon conjured two hard-backed wooden chairs, then looked at his master. “You may kneel,” was the reply. Grumbling a bit, the demon dropped to his knees on the hard stone floor, head bowed. “Azrael, could you please tell Ruvan the offer I made you?”
No compulsion to obey laced the tone that Rue could feel, but Azrael nodded. “He offered me the Fallen Isles.”
“Semiazas offered me the same,” Rue commented.
“It was a little different for me. He offered me rule of the Fallen Isles. Sem would be nothing more than a supplicant to my throne.”
Rue’s thoughts bulleted around in his brain. “Is that what you want?” he asked without thinking. “To be served?”
Azrael shrunk in on himself a bit. “I’ve served my entire existence. You and the other judges have each other. You have brothers, Rue. I have only myself.”
He’d never thought of it that way. Azrael had always been alone. There had ever been only one Angel of Death. It had been Azrael and Azrael alone who had flown through the tribes like a plague taking the first-born sons of Israel. It had been Azrael on the mountain with Abraham as he lifted his son in sacrifice. It had been Azrael who had gathered the dead of the plagues to him in droves. All feared him. All humanity bowed before him. How incredibly lonely. And sad. He reached out, laying his hand over Azrael’s. “We are brothers, know that. You’re not alone.”
A flash of white. The chill of spirit fingers over his. Elli wrapped her arms around Azrael’s shoulders. “You’re not alone anymore.” She grinned, earrings jangling. “You have me now.”
“A spirit?” The devil’s voice was lightly derisive. “I could vanish you in a heartbeat.” The threat shivered her entire form. She faded for a moment.
“No,” Azrael’s voice firmed. “She is bound to me and my purpose now, my lord. You no longer can command her.” She solidified at the angel’s touch. Behind them, Rue heard George growl deep in his throat. The scent of brimstone floated on fetid dragon breath.
“You’ve corrupted two of my creatures, I see.” He snapped his fingers. Asmoday jumped as if jabbed with a pin. “It seems I’m wasting my time with our good dark angel.” Rue saw Azrael stiffen up at the address.
The strange gold and silver eyes turned to him. “However, you and I have much to discuss.” He nodded to Asmoday, who scurried off, disappearing through a crevice in the rock. “What did you think of the Fallen Isles?”
“They are very beautiful, my lord. Certainly a temptation.”
“Were you?” He leaned back, steepling his long fingers.
A small vicious battle waged within him. He wanted to shout defiance at the Dark Lord, throw anything he might offer into his teeth, but he knew somewhere Serafina waited for him to save her. “I was sorely tempted, my lord.”
“But....”
“But Nathanial needed me.”
“Ah, past tense.” He conjured a wine glass; deep red liquid swirled within. He sipped. “Why past tense? Does my brother no longer need you? Have you taught the judges your compassion?” He gestured with the glass. “Should I stop construction on the new halls because you will no longer be sending me any souls? Humanity has been saved?”
“You mock me, my lord.”
“Perhaps.” He tossed back more wine. “Good has always existed to be mocked by evil. Tell me.”
The command could not be ignored. “Serafina,” he whispered. “Serafina needed me more than Nathanial did. I abandoned my post. Took Azrael with me to save Serafina. Asmoday took her. She was supposed to go to heaven and he stole her away before her time and hid her down here. She needs to be released, my lord.”
Silence. Nothing but George’s grumbling behind them.
“Please, my lord,” Rue began. “I would offer myself in her stead. Take me, my lord. Let her go.”
“An angel’s soul for one tattered human soul?” The devil pursed his lips. “Are you sure? It seems to be a one-sided trade.”
“She’s worth more than ten of me.” He looked over at Azrael. “She’s bound straight for the light.”
Lucivar nodded. “She shines.”
“Yes, a trade. Please, free her.”
The Devil leaned back, calculating. Rue and Azrael exchanged a look. He could see the questions in his friend’s eyes. Could almost hear him shouting at him. “Very well. Give me a moment to fetch the woman.” He rose, chair and wine glass disappearing.
As soon as the rock swallowed the demon lord, Azrael leapt up. “What maggot is in your brain? You know he can’t keep her here. Why would you do something so... so….”
“Stupid?” Elli provided.
Azrael glared at her, would have snapped had Rue not reached out to grab him. “Promise me. Promise me you’ll get her home.” Az nodded. He reached into his robes pulling out the vial of miracles. “Give her this when you get her home.”
“What th –?”
“Don’t ask where it came from, just promise me.”
“I promise.” He tugged Rue in for a one-armed hug, secreting the vial with the other
hand.
Elli had silvery tears trailing down her cheeks. “You must really love her.”
He nodded. “More than my existence.”
The crack in the stone widened, letting out the demon. Asmoday dragged Serafina behind him. Tears scored tracks through the dust on her face. Her hair, once a long straight fall of gold-fired red fell in a tangled mess to just her shoulders. Hollows under her eyes and lines of pain around her mouth spoke volumes to him about her experiences. “You’re still hurting,” he murmured. Asmoday let her fall. Rue stepped forward, pulling her to her feet and to him. Her arms, thinner than they’d been before, wrapped around him. She wept, her tears pouring hot
and bitter on his skin.
“I thought you’d never come.” Her voice hitched and broke.
“I’d walk through more than hell to get to you.”
She tipped her face up to his for a kiss.
* * * *
Fury burned through Serafina. She twisted in silent rage on the low bench. That imposter! That demoness! That bitch! She opened her mouth trying to scream. Nothing. Not a sound. She kicked out, falling with a painful thud to the stone floor. Wiggling, squirming, anger burning through the icy bonds that held her, she managed to crawl to the window. A one-way window she now realized. She’d watched and listened as the devil had taunted and tempted, confident that Rue would reject him just as Azrael had done. Admittedly, she hadn’t expected either the ghost or the dragon, but in all honesty they weren’t among the strangest things she’d seen the last couple of days.
She had to get to him. She had to let him know that woman was an imposter. He was going to sacrifice himself to save a demoness and probably doom them both in the process. She heaved, arms feeling as though they’d been asleep. A furious pins and needles sensation flooded her, nearly bringing her to tears. Didn’t matter. She clawed her way up the wall, sharp pains slicing into her. Determination and anger, laced with a little bit of jealousy, flowed through her, lending her strength.
* * * *
Those thin arms tightened around him, making him want to deepen the kiss. Here, deep in the heart of Hell, he could feel as he hadn’t been able to since the last time he’d stood as a human in Serafina’s arms. He remembered the sensations that poured through him at the threshold of the Fallen Isles and recognized them as pale imitations of true feeling. He pulled away, smiling a little as her fingers dug into his shoulders. “It’s time,” he murmured against her hair.
She shook her head her hands digging in almost painfully. “No, I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to.” He pulled her hands away from his shoulders, nodded as Azrael came forward. “Az will take you home. Your cousin’s probably frantic. I don’t know how much time has passed there, but it’s certain that he’s frantic that you disappeared on him.”
She shook her head. “I don’t care.” She grabbed his hands in here, her hazel eyes glimmering in the dim light. “I want to stay with you. I don’t care if it’s in Hell.”
A tiny wiggle of suspicion spiraled through him. She didn’t care? Didn’t even mention her beloved cousin’s name? Had Hell changed her?
“Is it a deal?” Lucivar drew his mind away. “You agree to stay here with me.” He nodded to Asmoday. “I’ve been looking for another lieutenant. Asmoday’s becoming a little too well known.”
The demon chuckled. “Well, fame has its price.”
“This woman goes,” Lucivar repeated. “You stay and serve me.” * * * *
“No!” Serafina found her voice. It ripped her throat, pain nearly pulling all the air from her lungs. She swallowed, tasting blood, but she’d found her voice. “No!” she screamed again, dragging herself to her feet. Fingers dug at the rough stone sill. Blood stained the stones. “Rue! It’s not me!” A sob caught in her battered throat.
She heard the devil’s words. “This woman goes free.” A trick, a trick to keep them both.
“Look this way,” she begged, pressing her hands to the slick surface that separated them. “I’m right here.” She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the moment it all fell apart. Concentrating, she poured all her love, her hope and her will into a prayer. “Please, please, let him see through this. Save him.”
* * * *
Warmth.
A trickle of warmth, the faintest memory of the light from Heaven’s throne made Rue pause. Lucivar stood patient as a stone before him, waiting for him to answer. Serafina, wrapped around him, felt cold in his arms. Heavy. Wrong. And then there was that tickle of warmth again like a beam of sunshine on a cloudy day.
“If I agree to serve you, you’ll let Serafina free? Send her back home with Azrael?”
Lucivar rolled his eyes. “Of course, I swear it. The woman goes free. Azrael can have her.”
Asmoday’s mouth curved into a cruel smile. “Have her in more ways than one, if he so chooses.”
Rue leveled a glare at him. “You will keep a civil tongue in your head when you speak of Serafina, demon.”
Asmoday tugged at his mangled tie. “Geez, Rue, lighten up already. I just meant that she’s grave bait as soon as she’s up there.” He winked at Fina tucked in the curve of Rue’s arms. “Aren’t you, sweetheart?”
Fina narrowed her eyes and hissed at the demon.
Rue stiffened. Hissed?
That tickle of warmth at the back of his neck became a searing blast of heat, cleansing the cobwebs from his brain. He thrust the woman away from him with one hand, called his seraph blade with the other. “What are you?” he demanded.
“Rue!” she whined, two more tears spilling down her cheeks. “It’s me, Fina.” Her bottom lip trembled. “What’s wrong?”
The blade dropped.
* * * *
“Please!” Admittedly, her prayer was beginning to sound more like a demand, but she’d always been taught that God helps those who help themselves and damned if she were going to stand there and watch Rue be taken in by that cheap evil imitation. “Help me,” she commanded. A blast of heat and light flooded the little room. The last of the chill vanished from her veins. Her limbs no longer sluggish, she scrambled to the crevice through which Asmoday had disappeared earlier. She needed to get to Rue now.
* * * *
“How can you treat me like this?” She whimpered, swiping her face, leaving smears of dirt high up on her cheeks. “Do you know what I’ve been through these last few days?” Her chest heaved with suppressed sobs. “What I’ve seen...?”
The blade dropped further. “It’s all my fault,” he murmured.
She smiled, one hand reaching out to touch his face. Before she made contact, she screamed as something tackled her from the side, driving her down.
“Fina!” The protests died in his throat. Two Serafinas sprawled on the floor.
“You keep your hands off of him, you bitch!” one Serafina swore, punching the other dead in the face. The struck Serafina’s hands curled into claws that she raked down the first woman’s face – claws that lengthened as he watched.
“Cat fight!” Asmoday nearly danced in delight. Azrael snagged him as he darted forward for a better look. Lucivar simply looked resigned, and summoned another glass of wine, sipping it.
“Explain.” The Angel of Death gave the demon a sharp shake.
Dropped to his feet, Asmoday grimaced. “When are you two going to stop doing that to me? I’m not a cat.”
Azrael feinted forward, making the demon stumble back. “All right, all right.” Asmoday waded into the fight and pulled one woman out of the fray by her hair. She shrieked a high pitched keening that could peel flesh from bone. Her hair darkened, lengthened, her eyes, already narrowing in anger, narrowed further, revealing Lilith’s cat-eyed glare. “The gig is up, sister. Knock it off.” He twisted her hair around his fist, pulling her in for a vicious kiss. “Later,” he promised, and threw her at their master’s feet.
She bowed before the Dark Lord. “Ah, Lilith, you cannot change your nature.” He snapped his fingers. The ground at his feet erupted. Hands reached out of the stone, seizing the demoness, pulling her down into the depths. She screamed, eyes wheeling in panic, clawing at the edges. “We will discuss your failings later.” The ground closed with a violent crack. He strode to where Serafina had been thrown by Lilith. He extended a hand, pulling her to her feet. “My dear,” he brushed a kiss over the back of her hand. The scratches on her face healed at his touch. “I could wish you and your damned faith to the depths for foiling my plans.”
She tipped her chin up, meeting his eyes. “But you won’t.”
Silence stretched between them. Finally, he answered. “No, I won’t.” He passed her off to Rue. Her hand trembled i
n his. “Go.” He shot a flash of red power at the sky, which cleared. “The way is clear straight through to the human realms.”
“You’re letting us go?” Serafina stuttered, pressing herself as tightly against Rue as she could.
He nodded. “Three trials are all I’m allowed. You’ve passed three. This time.” He turned. The shadowy crevice stretched to accommodate his wings. Lucivar turned. “Leave before I decide that you’ve chosen to stay.” The stone snapped shut behind him.
“You heard the boss. Clear out.” Asmoday knotted another fresh tie around his throat. “Take the damned dragon too. He’s not good for anything now. Besides,” he snickered, “I can’t wait to see the humans panic when they see that thing coming.”
“It’s not a thing,” Elli bristled, stroking the dragon’s snout. “His name is George.”
Asmoday snorted. “George? That’s the stupide –”
“We’ll take George with us.” Azrael interrupted. “I’ll find somewhere safe for him and talk to Gabriel, Michael and Simeon.” He bowed to Serafina. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I wish it were in better company.” He flicked a glance over at the demon. “Here.” He reached into his robes and handed the vial of miracles back to Rue. “You can do the honors yourself. Though, I’d wait until I was back on earth under sky before trying it.”
Rue nodded, tucking the vial away. “My thanks, Azrael. I couldn’t have gotten this far without you.” Elli cleared her throat behind them. “Or you, Elli. You were a true guardian angel.”
“Seriously, if this gets any more cloying I’m going to puke,” Asmoday groused.
Azrael clapped him on the shoulder, then launched himself onto the dragon. “Let’s go, ghost girl!” Elli drifted up behind him, waving goodbye. A shower of grit, the buffeting wind of the dragon’s wingbeats and they were gone winging away through the shuddering clouds.
“One more question, Asmoday.”
“Only one?” He rolled his eyes, angel blue again. “Shoot.”
“What was this about?”
“You heard the boss. He’s only allowed three trials—physical, temptation and deception. You got through all of them. I think you cheated on the Labyrinth, the physical one, but I’m not the one who’s keeping score. Now, get out of here.” He looked pointedly at the spiral of gray flagstone leading from the center of the room. “I don’t know how long the Lord will keep the halls straight and we don’t want you lost down here, do we?” He snickered. “I’d get going if I were you.” He winked at Serafina. “See you around, sister.” With a pop! he disappeared in a puff of acrid smoke.
Ascent of the Fallen Page 19