by Darcy Town
She laughed. “Oh, I would love to see that.”
Andy shrugged. “Yeah, we would have too. He didn’t like to play along; he just destroyed things. Regardless, we got a bunch of converts. Humans couldn’t tell a convert apart from the original, so the converts lived among the human population as subversive elements. You’ll mostly know them as pagans.”
Helion nodded. “It was Michael’s idea to turn that against you.”
Andy grimaced. “Yeah…the devil was created along with the bullshit notion of a human soul. There’s nothing worse than creating the ability to have martyrs. As if they didn’t have enough reasons to kill Lilliam, now they could kill Lilliam and themselves in one action.”
Dahlia bit her lip. “Don’t the angels care about the humans?”
Andy laughed. “No, well the ones like Helion do I suppose, but not the Archangels.”
Whitney paled. “So why haven’t you killed me?”
“You’re part Lilliam,” Andy replied matter-of-factly. “Otherwise, well…I wouldn’t have killed you, but we would have left you behind.”
Whitney sipped on her coffee. “Oh.”
Dahlia looked at her hands. “Does that mean I can be switched on?”
Andy shrugged. “Don’t know.” He looked at the sun. “Come on. Time to keep moving.” He picked Dahlia up and set her on his shoulders. “You’re not totally depressed right now are you?”
Dahlia shook her head in shock. “I don’t think I can be depressed at the moment, I don’t really feel much of anything. This doesn’t seem real.”
Whitney nodded. “Seconded. I’m waiting for the punchline, even though I know there isn’t going to be one.”
Helion got to one knee and let Whitney get on his back. He held her legs and looked up. “I have never killed anyone, Whitney.”
She patted his hair. “Good to know.”
Helion jumped into the air and took off. Andy broke into a run. Dahlia leaned down towards his ear. “So what’s the end goal?”
“End goal?”
“Angels want to imprison me for something I can’t understand, but what does Lucifer want? What do you want?”
Andy smiled. “We all want to see Lucifer and you happy. We want you to be able to go back to the way you were, everything was right then. Lucifer wants you, that’s it. I think he wants to spend eternity alone with you out there.” He waved towards the sky.
“Will I be different when I remember? Not me anymore?”
He frowned. “I don’t know, Dahlia. You have the same personality as before, you look the same, but we don’t know what the time in the prison did to you.”
“Can you tell me about the time before?”
Andy shook his head. “That is for Lucifer to do.”
Dahlia sighed. “Fine.”
“Don’t be mad please, it’s just not my place.”
She looked at the passing scenery. “How can I be mad when I don’t know what to be mad about?”
***
Lucifer propped himself up on a picket fence. Apple and Berith sat on a sidewalk across the street from him. They stared each other down, ignoring the sun overhead and the cars that passed between them in the street. Lucifer held up a fistful of syringes. He snapped them in half.
Berith and Apple scowled. She looked at Berith. “This is your fault.”
Berith sighed and scratched at his blonde beard. “It made more sense for me to carry them if I am the one having to haul him around. You were gone for a long time.”
“You could have put them somewhere besides your breast pocket!”
Lucifer glared at them. “Shut up! I can hear you. I do not appreciate being drugged.”
Apple bowed her head. “We’re sorry, but you were acting crazy!”
Berith shook his head. “I am not sorry in the least, you were raving.”
Lucifer winced as he moved to sit up taller. “Of course I am raving! I have a hole through my chest!” His teeth were stained with blood. “We are turning around. We have lost almost a day.”
Berith shook his head. “No, we are not.”
Lucifer slit his wrist open and pulled out Berith’s lamin pendant. “Yes, we are. Get up.”
Berith grimaced and stood. “You said you would never use those against us.”
“Dahlia was not involved then. No. You get away.” He waved back Apple as she stomped across the street.
She grabbed for Berith’s lamin. “Give it to me.”
Lucifer shook his head. “No.”
She caught hold of Lucifer’s wrist. “Give it to me!”
Lucifer pulled away from her. “Let go!”
Apple sat on his legs. “This plan was your idea. We are following your original orders; you said we had to regardless of what state of mind you were in.”
“I recant.”
“You can’t!” Apple pulled.
Lucifer snapped his teeth at her. “I have never hit one of my children; do not make me start now.” Berith crossed the street. Lucifer pointed at Apple. “Pick her up.”
Berith did so and glared at Lucifer. “You are an asshole. Sorry, Apple.”
Apple struggled, but did not attack Berith. “I know it is not your fault.” She pointed at Lucifer. “So what are you going to do now? He’s carrying me and you can’t walk.”
Lucifer gestured weakly. “Steal a car.”
Berith didn’t move. “I don’t know how to hotwire anything.”
Lucifer pointed at Apple. “You do it.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “You can’t make me and if you have him attack someone for their car, I’ll interfere.”
Lucifer went red in the face. “Appleadris, you are acting very immature.”
“Me?” She scoffed. “Look at you!”
Lucifer grimaced. “I am going to speak with your father when we get to the City.”
Apple folded her arms. “Go right ahead.”
Lucifer’s vision doubled. “Shit.”
Apple’s anger turned to concern. “What’s wrong?”
Lucifer shook his head. “Nothing.”
Berith was locked in place. “You look worse. I cannot help you unless you order me to or release me.”
Lucifer clutched at the cloth that covered the hole in his chest. It burned. He threw his head back. “I am fine.” He broke out in a cold sweat. His heart fluttered.
Apple squirmed in Berith’s grip. “No, you’re not.”
“I just need a minute. Berith, set her down.” Lucifer put the pendant in his mouth and closed his eyes. He fought back against the pain that hit him in waves. His muscles contracted, paralyzing him. Veins stood out on his skin; his breaths came in short gasps. He pictured Dahlia’s face and her smile. He thought of Michael, anything to take his mind off the pain. He felt cool hands on his face.
Apple touched his brow. “You need to get to my father and mother.”
Lucifer shook his head and a whimper escaped his lips. He put his hands on the pavement and pushed away from her. The touch of his skin against the ground sent him into spasms of agony. He rolled to his side and tried to slide away, but every movement was excruciating.
Berith looked at him. “Please let us get you healed. You can do whatever you want once you are whole again.”
Apple touched his hand. “If you stop struggling, we can get you there faster.”
Lucifer nodded. He couldn’t fight anymore. He swallowed the pendant. “You are released.”
Berith sagged. He picked Lucifer up. “I’d hit you for that, but you’re suffering enough.”
“Thank you.” Lucifer leaned on him. “Do you have to carry me like this?”
“What way would you prefer?”
Lucifer looked around and spotted a wheelbarrow. “Put me in that. I do not want to be carried like a helpless infant.”
“I got it.” Apple ran for the wheelbarrow.
Berith shifted his weight. “You are helpless.”
Lucifer glared at Berith. He squeezed his eye
s shut. “Do not remind me.”
Apple set the wheelbarrow down on the concrete. A car went past them and pulled into the next driveway. They were unnoticed. Apple waited until the car was empty. She walked to it and slipped inside. She ripped out seat cushions and set them in the wheelbarrow. Berith put Lucifer on top of them.
Apple and Berith shared a weary look. Lucifer examined the car. “Just steal it.”
Apple shook her head. “I can’t get us in the Lilliam lanes with that thing, and they’ve moved since last time I was here.”
Lucifer eyed her. “You do know where they are?”
Apple shrugged. “More or less, kind of.” She quailed under his gaze. “Okay we were not expecting to go this way! So I didn’t check. Tokala and Sani had this area mapped out and Sani—” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Tears formed in her eyes. Berith hugged her.
Lucifer bit back a sharp response. “I am sorry about Sani.”
Apple dried her eyes and composed herself. “I will find the lanes.”
Another car turned down the street. Berith picked up the wheelbarrow; they got out of the middle of the road. The car picked up speed and raced by. Iron bolts blanketed the sidewalk.
Berith jumped in front of Lucifer, taking most of the iron in his chest. He growled and jumped after the car. He got a hand on the trunk. He unstrapped one of his swords and impaled the car, nailing it to the road. Berith ripped the doors off and pulled out the driver and passenger.
Apple got off the ground and checked Lucifer. “Are you okay?”
Lucifer pulled a bolt out of his arm and looked up. “Appleadris, you have been shot.”
Apple looked down at the iron bolts in her chest. She tore one out, then another. The skin beneath healed. She frowned. “Weird.”
Berith brought the men over. “Are we still enchanted? Apple! You have been shot! Stay still! I will help you!”
She held up a hand. “I noticed. I’m fine.”
Berith cocked his head. “It is iron, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Lucifer waved them away. “Talk about it later. How did they find us?”
Berith held the men up. They trembled in his grip. The driver asked, “Why aren’t you dead?”
Lucifer tried to smile. “You attacked fallen angels.”
The captives went pale; one passed out. The conscious one searched for a blade and brought it to his throat. Berith broke his arm and he dropped the blade. The man screamed. Children from the closest house ran out into the yard to play. The man reached for them and yelled. The children continued their game. The man’s scream died on his lips. “Shit.”
Apple snapped the neck of the unconscious man, and she rifled through his things. She picked up a pair of glasses. She put them on her face and did a double take. “Crazy!” She handed them to Lucifer.
Lucifer touched the metal and lenses. He held his chest and handed them to Berith. “Here is your answer.”
Berith looked through the glasses. “Things are colored strangely.” He looked at the humans. “They do not glow, but we do.” The children in the far lawn had faint auras. “They can see the ones with mixed blood. This is how they’ve been hunting the half-breeds.” He punched the man in the face and dropped his body to the concrete.
Lucifer fought off pain. “Kill them, we need to move.”
Berith broke the man’s neck and placed both bodies back in their car with the weapons they had carried. He wrenched his blade out of the trunk and strapped it to his back. He handed the glasses to Apple.
She ran her fingers over them. “Dad will be interested in this.”
Lucifer managed a nod. “Paimon too.”
Berith grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow. “All the more reason to get to the City.”
Lucifer sighed. “I know. Move.”
Apple skipped alongside them. She drove one of the iron bolts into her hand and pulled it out. “Look!”
Berith grimaced as he picked bolts out of his chest. “Do not do that.”
“Why? I heal!”
Lucifer closed his eyes. “Dahlia must have done it when she fixed you.”
Apple grinned. “Awesome.”
Lucifer scratched his nails along his arms to get his mind off his chest. “Your children will probably be similarly gifted.” Apple and Berith shared an unhappy look. Lucifer curled into a ball. “Appleadris, you have over thirty brothers, you do not need to have children in order to rule.”
“But it’s the law.”
“And now it is not.” Lucifer looked at her. “So sayeth me. Okay?”
Apple kissed his cheek and grinned. She kissed Berith’s cheek. “I’ll be back.” She took off running in one direction, looking for the Lilliam lanes.
Berith kept the wheelbarrow steady. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Take me north.”
“No.”
The pair travelled in silence. They passed rows of pre-fabbed housing. Everything looked the same, one bland streak of beige and gray on the landscape. Lucifer’s lip curled. “I hate what they have done with Dahlia’s planet.”
Berith shrugged. “They took ‘be fruitful and multiply’ seriously.”
“Fucking Michael.” Lucifer let his hand trail over the lip of the wheelbarrow. He snatched up a newspaper as they went by a mailbox. He flipped it open. The blaze at their mansion was on first page along with ten other fires. Lucifer paled. “Berith.”
Berith stopped and read over his shoulder. They opened the paper and followed the story together. Berith stopped breathing. Lucifer tore the pages into shreds. “Every outpost in the United States?”
Berith clenched his jaw. “This has been planned and a long time coming.”
Lucifer struggled with his limbs. “No wonder Apple cannot find the lanes, they have been shut down. Damn it!” Cracks opened up in the street.
Berith looked in both directions. “What do we do now?”
Lucifer grimaced and pushed himself up. “We take the Old Road.”
Berith set the wheelbarrow in motion. “You cannot make it down the Old Road.”
Lucifer snarled. “Do not tell me what I can or cannot do!” He gasped and curled over. “If you need to, you are going and leaving me behind.”
“No.”
“I will order you to.”
Berith stopped the wheelbarrow. He tore at Lucifer’s bandages, exposing the gaping wound. He held Lucifer’s mouth shut with one hand. Berith reached into the wound where Lucifer’s esophagus would have been. He grabbed the pendant and held it in front of Lucifer’s face. “I will not.” He wiped the pendant off. Berith sliced his own arm open and pushed it under his skin. “Dick.”
Apple skidded to a halt. “What are you guys doing?”
Lucifer bit Berith’s hand. He spit Berith’s finger back at him. “He is being unreasonable.”
“I’m being unreasonable? You’re being suicidal!” Berith grabbed a paper from another person’s yard and threw it at Apple. “The lanes are closed. He wants to take the Old Road. Apparently, he never wants to see Dahlia again.”
Lucifer pointed at his chest. “I am putting her first!”
Berith scoffed. “You die and she loses the most powerful ally she has and we all lose our power.”
Lucifer looked away. “That is just Paimon’s theory.”
“Frankly, I don’t want to test it!”
“Shut up both of you!” Apple threw the newspaper at Berith’s head. “In the event we have a large attack and have to close the Lilliam lanes, we open secondary outposts, you idiots. There are less of them and they aren’t magically protected, but they stay open to let retreating Lilliam get back to the City. So that’s where we’re going.”
Berith cocked his head. “You never told me that.”
Apple shrugged. “Since the lamin attacks we’ve kept our secondary and emergency routes a secret from you guys.”
Lucifer bandaged his chest wound. “Where is the closest?”
“Seattle
, Pier 57.”
He raised an eyebrow. “A pier?”
Apple shrugged. “Yeah, a pier. It’s a crowded tourist attraction with lots of human meat shields.”
“Oh.”
Berith rumbled. “This is off of our course. We will need a car to make speed.”
Apple shrugged. “No reason not to now, we don’t need the lanes to get there.”
Berith went to the closest and smashed the window. He hopped inside and fiddled with the wires until he got it going.
Lucifer pointed. “You said you could not do that!”
Berith smiled and helped him into the backseat. “You did not order me to tell you the truth.”
***
Belial’s eyes were bloodshot. She stared straight ahead, her foot on the gas pedal. The day was well into late afternoon. They were somewhere in California, but she couldn’t have told her passengers where. Sun glinted off the highway. The tiny car roasted in the heat, but the windows were up, per Belial’s orders.
Tokala twitched in feverish sleep. He was stretched across Jacob and Celeste’s laps, adding his heat to theirs. They squirmed, uncomfortable and antsy. Belial had not let anyone out since the journey started.
“Again?” The car ran on empty. Belial grumbled at the fuel gauge, “Gas guzzler piece of shit.”
Tracy, Celeste, and Jacob quietly communicated to one another.
Belial glared at them in her mirrors. “I know you’re talking.”
Tracy leaned away from her in the front seat. “We just thought you might want to stop for gas, food, or something? We could get out and walk ar—”
“I don’t need to eat.”
“We do!” Celeste snapped. “And I need to call my roommate!”
Belial clacked her teeth. “You will not call anyone. We are not stopping!”
Tracy crossed her legs and bounced in her seat. “I have to pee! Please, Belial! No one wants me to pee in the seat and I will if we don’t stop soon!”
“Mortals.” Belial saw a gas station and swerved off the road. She hit the brakes and threw open her door. “Jacob, fill up the tank.”
He touched his pockets. “I don’t have any money.”