by Leia Stone
His face contorted in rage, his thick gray leathery skin bunching into a menacing pug-faced look. I thought I had his arms pinned, but then I realized he’d just been letting me as his left arm shot out and his fist connected with my jaw. Pain exploded in my ear and neck, a scream of surprise tearing from my mouth.
I went berserk then, raining blows from both fists along his face, neck, and anywhere else I could reach. Just like Lincoln taught me, I pushed my upper body weight into each blow to make them as powerful as possible.
Suddenly, the demon’s body started to heat beneath me, making the backs of my thighs hot. With crazy speed, his arms shot up into my armpits, and then I was launched off him. I crashed into the ground near Shea, who was heaving on the floor on all fours. Same with Luke’s bear. Only Chloe and I were left, and we were barely functioning.
I shot back up into a standing position, and charged him again. He was sitting up, about to pull Sera out of his groin. And he was… glowing, his skin appearing as though it contained a small fire beneath it. Beads of sweat dripped from his brow, and he was screaming in pain.
He wrapped his hands around Sera’s hilt just as I leapt into the air, and delivered a perfect flying kick to his forehead. His upper body snapped back as Sera’s magic flooded his system. I landed, looking down at him. Light was pouring off his skin, ebbing out of his pores like golden lava.
‘Step back. He’s gonna blow,’ Sera informed me.
I lunged backward, tripping over a desk just as a cracking sound filled the air, and his body exploded outward, sending meat and shards of light splattering across the room. He was destroyed from his knees to his neck, just his head and feet left.
That sudden violent sight finally did it for me. I hunched over and vomited onto the ground.
“Help!” Chloe shrieked.
Shit. I’d forgotten that she was dealing with the freaking Snakeroot demon.
Shea suddenly burst into a standing position—looking better now that the nauseating Larkspur demon was dead. She brandished her circular blade, and made quick strides across the room to help Chloe, as I tried to regain my equilibrium. Chloe had the little sucker pinned under her boot like last time, holding his wriggling body tight. Her black shoe looked to be bubbling—she’d been hit with his acid.
Shea slid on her knees, and thrust the blade across the creature’s stomach. A flow of green acid instantly spewed out onto the floor, sending a stream of phosphorescent steam upward. Chloe leapt backward just as the acid started to eat through the wooden floorboards.
The Nightblood was panting, her hair messed up, parts of it pulled from her ponytail. “I take it back. No more easy-peasy.”
Yeah, no shit.
“Everyone okay?” I asked.
Luke was looking better; he was standing now, and had quit panting. I was pretty sure Chloe was the only one who hadn’t thrown up.
“I feel much better now that it’s dead.” Shea pointed to the Larkspur demon’s remains.
My eyes fell to Chloe’s boot, which was smoking.
“Chloe, take that off or the acid will eat through it to your foot. Trust me.” I had the scar to prove it.
She quickly did as I asked, and I took a deep breath, assessing the next challenge. “Okay, there’s one more demon left. My educated guess is that it’s a Castor demon.”
Castor demons were the most dangerous of the four. They created these little energetic bursts or waves that knocked you on your ass. Getting within two feet of a Castor demon was damn near impossible, and their skin was thick like armor, not much able to pierce it.
“Chloe, you’re our best bet to get close to him. Luke, if you can charge in fast and hard, then hopefully we’ll have the element of surprise. Shea and I can try to take him out once you’ve stunned him.”
Chloe nodded, rolling her neck and pulled her sword from its scabbard. “I can do that.”
Luke nodded his big bear head.
I took another breath, still shaken from the violent death of the Larkspur demon. “Okay. Let’s head up to the next level.”
I grabbed Sera from her place on the floor, and wiped the Larkspur demon’s blood and guts off on the calf of my pant leg. Then I praised her for doing a good job with the demon. I wanted her to know I appreciated her, since she seemed to have feelings and all that.
Slowly and quietly, we took the steps one by one, partly to be stealthy and partly to drag out the inevitable. I was tired, my hip hurt, and I wanted a full-body massage with a four-hour nap. But I wasn’t a quitter.
I reached the doorframe and the stench of brimstone hit me like a truck. It was like a smoky vinegar taste that I’d grown up smelling only around the highest-level demons. Fear tightened my gut as confusion rolled into me, maybe the smell was left over from whatever demon lived here before. There were still two floors left, so this one could very well be empty. Regardless, I pulled Sera from her holster once more, not wanting to take any chances, and stepped into the space. I crouched down, rolling the lantern into the center of the room and then glanced around, trying to see if there was a demon or not.
In the far-right corner of the room, I saw a hunched-over shadowy figure.
Frowning, I looked at my team and motioned for them to follow closely behind me, instead of my initial plan to charge and stun him. I tiptoed slowly and carefully over to it. With each step, I tried to make out what it was, and why it was playing dead. Maybe it wasn’t a Castor demon; maybe it was another Yew demon, or Larkspur.
As I got closer, I saw the shape and size of the body definitely matched a Castor demon, but it was still just hunched there, playing dead.
On my hand signal, Chloe zipped through the room like a bolt of lightning and pounced on him, ramming her sword into his rib cage as Luke burst past me to finish him off.
The demon didn’t move.
“He’s dead,” Chloe said as Luke slowed his approach. The Nightblood rolled the demon over to show his face. His eyes had turned white, and he definitely wasn’t breathing.
Lincoln said we had to kill four demons, so if this one was already dead, then there had to be another. I spun around. “It’s a trick. There’s still one in here.”
A noise from the back of the room had me spinning again. There in the middle of the room was a purple and yellow glowing blob, a circle of colors suspended in the air, growing bigger and bigger each second.
“Uh, Shea… is that?” I asked.
Shea stumbled backward. “A portal.”
I chewed my lip, glancing at my GPS bracelet. “Is this part of the exercise?”
The opening was as big as a door now; only a black and gray stone wall could be seen behind it. A wall not from that building.
Maybe it was a trick. Perhaps a Light Mage was going to portal in another demon from an adjacent building to mess with us.
“It must be,” Chloe offered, moving into a fighting stance.
I snapped my wings, letting them stretch and prepare to fly just as a figure stepped from the portal and out into the room.
Everything within me revolted at the man before me. The hairs stood on my arms and legs, and I felt my knees go weak. He was six feet tall, with dark glossy hair, black sinister eyes, and pale thin skin. He was handsome in a scary way, his looks screaming danger, but the thing that terrified me the most, were the black angel wings on his back. Identical to mine. On his forearm was a tattoo, a skull with a sideways crown, and black wings behind it.
“Hello, Brielle.” His smooth voice made my insides shiver. He looked to be in his early thirties, but the way he carried himself was that of a person much older.
‘Run. Call for help,’ Sera urged.
I swallowed hard. “Who are you?” He wasn’t any demon I’d ever met.
He grinned, showcasing a full set of white teeth, but the look in his eye was assessing me, as you’d assess a good meal.
“I go by many names, but I prefer Prince of Darkness,” he crooned.
That was all I needed to hear
.
Reaching over, I pushed the button on my bracelet, then stepped in front of my friends, stretching my wings out to shield them.
“Run!” I told them, holding Sera in front me.
I was standing before the freaking Devil himself.
Lucifer.
He tipped his head back and laughed. The haunting sound echoed off the walls, and made my stomach roil with nausea. His hand lifted, and he waved two fingers toward himself. At the same time, my feet started to unwillingly be dragged in his direction. My body rose a few inches off the floor, controlled by an unseen force, and I was floating against my will right toward the Devil.
No.
“You know, I think it’s unfair that the others have branded you, and yet I’ve been left out of the fun.” He eyed the visible tattoos on each arm.
“Infirmi!” Shea screamed and thrust her hand out, shooting a spell at Lucifer.
He laughed harder, black smoke leaking from his mouth. “That’s cute,” he cooed.
Shea’s spell disintegrated a few feet from him. Chloe grabbed hold of my shoulders and tried to pull me back, while Luke rose up on his hind legs and roared.
Lucifer slammed his palms together and black mist shot out. All three of my friends went flying in different directions, each crashing into the nearby walls, and sinking into unconsciousness. I tried to move but couldn’t. Trailing my eyes over each of my friend’s chests, relief flooded through me that they were all breathing.
I had reached him now. Twelve inches from the maker of evil.
‘What do I do?’ I asked Sera as my knees wobbled in fear.
‘I don’t know.’
Oh God. She’d never said that before. I was totally screwed.
Lucifer’s eyes narrowed at my blade. With one flick of his wrist, Sera was torn from my hand, and sent sailing across the room, hitting the ground with a clink.
“You’re the one from the prophecy.” His eyes glittered in excitement.
The portal was still behind him. If I could possibly kick him through and somehow close it, maybe I had a chance.
“Just leave me be. I won’t hurt you. I’m just a kid,” I pleaded. I knew it was useless to try and gain empathy from the Devil himself, but I couldn’t stand there and do nothing.
He grinned, stepping closer. “You think I’m scared of you?”
The stench of oil and vinegar burned my nose.
His hands lit up, a glowing red that pulled my gaze down to where they rested near his waist. “No, no, no, my child. You’re the first and only human creation of mine. I want to mold you into the great and dark warrior you can be.”
Those glowing hands were freaking me out. I tried to squirm, but it felt like I’d been molded into a statue.
Taking a deep breath, I remembered my training with Archangel Michael and tried to call Sera to me, sending my energy out behind me to brush against hers.
“I want you to be endowed with all of your powers, my child.” He slammed his hot palm right into the center of my chest, gripping my arm with his other hand, and pinning me in place.
A shriek tore from my mouth as pain like I’d never felt before ripped through me. A dark heaviness coated my skin, like a wet blanket, as sadness enveloped me. Mind-numbing depression crawled into the corner of my mind, and I screamed harder as I tried to fight it. Rage built within me at the unwanted violation. I felt that darkness searching inside of me, looking for an outlet. I’d kept it pent-up for so long, trying so hard to be good and full of light, that I wanted to burst.
Another flare of red surged from his palm to my chest. I let it all go. I screamed, as agony and rage swirled within me, letting the dark, ugly monster inside of me loose. A huge, black inky blob crawled up my throat and flew from my mouth, wrapping around his neck, and the lower half of his jaw.
Shock marred his features but was quickly replaced with absolute pride. His eyes glittered as he assessed me with complete adoration.
No.
He snapped his fingers, and the black necktie fell from his throat as if it was made of paper. Then he took his hand from my chest and beamed at me. “You’ll do great and terrible things in my name,” he declared, his voice reverberating off the walls.
Fuck that.
With the last reserve of energy I had left, I wrapped it around Sera and pulled. My legs were still frozen to the spot, but when she flew across the room and into my hand, I was able to move my arm and thrust her at him. Lucifer saw my jab coming and sidestepped it, grabbing me by the neck and trying to pull me with him into the portal.
At that moment, Lincoln and his team burst into the room, screaming my name. He took one look at the Prince of Darkness standing in front of the portal to Hell and the blood drained from his face.
The Mage girl in their group shouted a bunch of words in another language, and a bright blue star shot from her hand before it burst across the ceiling, sending little sparkles of glitter over everything. When they touched Lucifer’s skin, he cried out and pulled his arm back, releasing me. I was still thankfully on my side of the world, him in his, but my toes were inches from being in Hell, literally.
“Come, child,” Lucifer beckoned and thrust his arm out again, latching onto mine. Lincoln leapt into the air, and came down on the Devil’s outstretched arm with his sword, cutting it clean off.
I fell backward on my ass, the Devil’s spell over me broken. The Mage girl jumped in front of Lincoln and started to close the portal as Lucifer sat on the ground, blackish-crimson blood spurting from his forearm.
The arm Lincoln had cut off suddenly levitated through the portal, and Lucifer caught it in midair, smirking at me.
Then the portal closed.
Everyone turned to stare at me, eyes wide in shock. I glanced behind me to see that Shea, Luke, and Chloe were all stirring, waking up. Thank God.
On the ground, panting, I managed to look up at Lincoln, who was gaping in horror at my chest.
“Wha—” I looked down and a sob tore from my throat.
There, branded on my chest, was a skull with a sideways crown, the black wings behind it.
“He’s marked you,” Lincoln said with mild revulsion, as if that made me evil. As if it made me a devil as well. Then his face quickly changed to something more compassionate, trying to mask his initial reaction, but it was there, I’d seen it.
I clawed at the tattoo to no avail, leaving red streaks on my chest.
“What does this mean?” I asked him, and he gave me the same look of pity people had given my father.
Lincoln crouched down and reached out for me, but I recoiled. He sighed, staring off at the floorboards, unable to meet my eye. “I think it means he’s fully activated your dark powers.”
My dark powers. As if I owned them, and had chosen them. A black cloud crossed over my soul then, and I knew I’d never be the same again.
My greatest fear had been realized.
I’d gone dark.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I could hear the hushed voices arguing inside the room as I sat outside the door to Raphael’s office. As much as they tried to keep quiet, I heard everything.
Once again, I’d been whisked away from the revelry like a freak, just like at the Awakening ceremony.
“He branded her!” Lincoln shouted venomously.
“Hang on, we don’t know exactly what he did,” Archangel Michael’s strong voice cut in.
“Raphael, you’re not going to kick her out, right? Her team killed all of the demons. Four demons dead. That means they passed the gauntlet.” Lincoln’s voice was sharp, threatening.
Technically, the fourth demon was dead when we got there—compliments of the Prince of Darkness, I assumed—but I was going to go with it.
There was only silence for a moment, and I started to get nervous.
“Of course I’m going to pass her. Everyone needs to calm down. She’s innocent in all of this. What Lucifer may or may not have done doesn’t matter. Let’s not alienate her any m
ore than she already is.”
Bless him.
“She carries his mark over her heart. That’s very deep, dark magic,” Mr. Claymore said. I hadn’t even known he was there. I’d been in shock since the Devil himself opened a portal in the middle of my school exam and branded me with dark magic, so I figured I was allowed to be a little out of it.
I looked down at the mark and tears welled in my eyes. The skin was angry and red from me scratching at it, hoping I could peel it off. But it was no use.
“But you can get it off, right?” Lincoln asked, a mild hysteria tinging his voice.
Silence. Moments and moments of silence.
“I don’t think so, but I’ll try. My magic is no match for the Prince of Darkness,” Mr. Claymore sighed, resigned.
I drew my knees up to my chest and cradled them. I wanted my mom to wrap me in her arms, and stroke my back while singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” But she was in Demon City, and I was stuck here.
“Let’s all just take a breather and keep an eye on her. See if anything… manifests. We can take it from there.” Gabriel was the level-headed one, the peacemaker.
“Manifests?” Lincoln asked.
I replayed the way he’d looked at me the moment he’d seen the mark on my chest. Fear and horror had marred his beautiful features, filled his shining eyes.
“Let’s just take everything one day at a time. Be here for Brielle, and whatever she may need from us,” Raphael stated.
“Permission to take the rest of the night off, sir.” Lincoln’s clipped tone was back.
“Permission granted, son,” Michael replied.
Raphael’s office door opened and Lincoln stepped out, light poured out of the room with him.
He looked down at me curled up on the ground and scooped me up, one arm under my knees and the other behind my back. Cradling me to his chest, he started walking me to the parking lot in the direction of his trailer.
“I can walk,” I mumbled, but I didn’t really want to walk. I didn’t want to be alive right now. Everything felt too hard.
“No,” Lincoln simply stated.