In the beginning, Lucian's visits were infrequent. As time has passed, they've become methodical. More desperate. If I have any concept of time left, I can expect his visits every two hours. My armor was stripped from me the first day I was transported into the stifling cavern, and my undergarments are barely hanging on by a thread at this point. I don’t remember the last time I ate, and the only hydration I've received has been in the form of waterboarding. It’s been explained to me that because I was transported strait from the surface and not the Veil, I’m still in the same physical form and my body was not left behind.
Has it been days? Weeks? Months? How long have I been down here? How much longer will he put up with my continual rejection? How long do I have until he kills me? How am I ever going to get out of here?
Phantom shadows of dark creatures dance and skitter along the rock walls surrounding me, making me skeptical of my mental stability. A soft and sultry voice calls to me from the darkness, “Hello, little pigeon.” My eyes flutter open to find the source within the cavern. She's tall and slender with charming curves and long wavy black hair. Everything about her is enthralling, down to her captivating stride. Her burgundy, Grecian gown is adorned in gold around the collar and waist, and trails elegantly behind her. “I see Lucian has made you feel welcome in your new home.” A gentle smile touches her blood red lips as she glides towards me. “How delightful,” she declares, clasping her hands in front of her chest while raising her shoulders and eyebrows in unison before they fall with her heavy sigh. Her vibrant green gaze rolls over me, and I have to fight to keep my focus. She lifts my chin with the vicious point of her black fingernail. “Are you there, little pigeon?” she purrs.
My mind feels disjointed, and my speech is garbled as I try to speak through blistered and cracked lips, “Who are you?”
She lets my chin fall to my chest, and I struggle to lift it to see her face again. “Don’t tell me you don’t recognize your own mother, little pigeon?”
Mother? Why would Lilith be here? Why has Michael not made a decision? Is she going to help me? “Lilith,” I rasp, letting my head loll.
Her tone loses its amusement, “You may address me as ‘Your Highness’. I may have birthed you, but only for a specific purpose. You will learn your place beneath my feet. You. Are. Mine.”
My mind becomes more lucid with her words, and the name she addresses me with isn't lost on me. I realize she's not here to help me escape. She's here to help Lucian succeed in taking possession of my essence. Any flicker of hope for the mother I never met vanishes, intense loathing replacing it. I find my voice stronger as I spit the words from my mouth, “I'll never be your pawn. I'll tell you the same thing I told Lucian. You may have me chained, but you won't break me. What makes you think you can change my mind?”
Lilith’s green eyes darken as she tries to retain her composure, “You do not want to force my hand. My methods of torture are far greater than Lucian’s.” She grips my face in her hand, digging the sharp points of her nails into my cheeks. Satisfaction, spite, revulsion, fascination. Warmth trickles down my jawline. The blood on my face makes her grin with promises of more pain. “What will it be, little pigeon? Do you release your essence? Are you ready to join the Darkness you were created for?”
The inside of my mouth begins to bleed as she squeezes tighter. I gather the thick blood on my tongue and spit in her face. “Fuck. You,” I wheeze with a gory smile.
Crack! The back of Lilith’s hand strikes across my cheek, splitting the corner of my mouth.
“She's quite resilient. Isn’t she, My Queen?” Lucian inquires, appearing within his residual cloud of black tendrils.
“Yes. Quite,” Lilith answers with intrigue and wipes her face with a small square cloth Lucian offers her.
“Maybe it's time to take things to the next level. It's been three weeks,” he suggests.
“Yes. Let’s introduce her to Sasha. I’m sure she's ravenous. If that fails, skewer her for the lower demons to feed on her flesh,” Lilith purrs as her eyes flicker with delight before she turns from me and saunters back into the darkness from which she came.
Lucian steps forward and grasps my throat. “Shall we?” His foul nature seeps into my bones and consumes my anemic frame. I blink once and am transported into a rusted steel dome cage surrounded by a mote of flaming lava for as far as I can see. My shackles are absent, and I collapse to the scorching dirt. The cage is immense and bare, save for the gigantic beast the size of a horse crouched along the far side. Sasha.
I inch backwards into a low crouch as to not make any sudden movements. The hellhound's snarl is deep and rumbling. She bares her shark-like teeth as her glowing red eyes flare and her black leather skin ripples with anticipation. There's nowhere for me to go, and I have no weapons to defend myself. My only strategy for survival is to hover at the apex of the cage and pray she can't jump that high. Spreading my wings inch by excruciating inch as not to startle her, I prepare to launch myself in the air.
Sasha observes my movements and takes a stooping step towards me. Her jackal-like ears pin back on her massive head. I begin to rationalize any further action. She’s a hellhound. Basically a dog, right? A demon dog, but a dog no less. Dogs smell fear. If I’m going to gain the upper hand, I can’t be afraid. With gradual movements, I rise to a stoic stance and leave my wings spread wide to show my strength. Sasha takes another low step towards me. I fist my hands at my sides and let anger overcome the fear within me. I mumble, “If you bite me bitch, make no mistake… I will bite back.”
Sasha’s ears perk up and twitch towards my voice. I perceive the slightest tilt in her head. She takes another small step in my direction, her body minutely rising from her stoop. The growling ceases, and she sniffs the air between us. Remaining perfectly still, I don’t know what to expect from her. A pulsating cackle comes from her closed muzzle. It’s not as menacing as her growl, and sounds more like she's trying to communicate by coughing. Keeping from any sudden movements that may spook her, I decide to take a chance. I lift my left hand in offering, letting my fingertips droop down in a gesture of kindness. Sasha stalks forward and stoically sits before me, ears erect and spine lengthened to make her even taller. She sits unmoving, resembling a depiction of the Egyptian god Anubis. Letting my wings fold behind me, I let my hand fall to my side. “Why are you not attacking?” I ponder. Never making eye contact, she responds with a throaty bark that sounds like a walrus.
Lucian appears behind her, “Well, this just won’t do.” Flanking the hellhound, he scolds her, “Shame on you.” Sasha’s lips quiver in a silent growl, eying him with distaste.
I take a step back from them and feel my strength building inside of me. “Seems your pet's defective,” I sneer.
Lilith appears beyond the boundary of the steel cage, watching our interaction. Lucian sighs and pets Sasha’s leathery neck in soothing strokes. “No. She's confused by you. Your essence may be neutral—neither of the Light or the Dark—but your wings are as black as midnight. She takes that as a symbol of your allegiance.” He pauses to consider my retreat, resting his hands behind his back. “She'll only attack a creature of Darkness on my command.”
I consider Sasha’s overwhelming presence and crouch low in anticipation of her attack. She's not to be underestimated. Lucian bellows in a language I don’t understand, ordering the attack. Simultaneously, I leap into the air as Sasha rocks forward and swipes at my fleeing form. Her large paw connects with my ribs, slicing my side open wide and throwing me into the cage. My wings crunch against the steel before I tumble face first into the dirt. I roll onto my back, and Sasha lands on top of my insignificant frame, pinning me in place. I hear my chest crack before the intense pain shoots through my shoulders into my fingertips. She cackles, and her skin ripples with its tremor as I struggle to breathe with labored pants. I turn my face away and glimpse Lilith’s delighted countenance.
“Ah, Ah, Ah,” Lucian chants playfully to his demon pet. “Don’t kill her
, Sasha. We need her alive.” Sasha snorts. A gust of searing, rotten breath caresses my cheek, and I squeeze my eyes shut. Her cackle echoes in my ear. I cringe and shrink further into the ground as I peer at her teeth from the corner of my eye.
“You fucked up, Lucian,” a familiar voice calls out of my line of sight. My chest continues to heave under the pressure of Sasha’s weight.
“Well, if it isn't Jackie Boy,” Lucian taunts. “Your father must be highly disappointed in you for coming here.”
“Not nearly as disappointed as your father for disobeying a direct order. I wonder what torture he'll find suitable for you.”
Lucian’s growl is followed by the pounding of footfalls and the clashing of weapons.
Azrael materializes beside Sasha and me. She whips her attention to him, and he places a gentle hand on her large head. Sasha staggers off of me, shaking her head with a sad bark. She stumbles into the side of the cage and collapses with a ground shaking quake. Azrael holds a hand out to help me up. Wide eyed, I take his hand and let him assist me in standing. “What did you do to her? Is she dead?” I wince.
“No, child. She is merely asleep,” he says.
I watch as Jack and Lucian fight fiercely against each other. Lucian kicks Jack in the chest. To my surprise, Jack only slides back a few yards as his feet dig into the dirt. Before he comes to a stop, he charges with sword drawn. Lucian parries away from Jack’s blade, but Jack spins on him and releases a shorter sword. It slices Lucian across the shoulder blades. Lucian turns into Jack, not expecting him to have time to react. His underestimation of Jack’s abilities are critical. Jack seizes Lucian’s neck between his crossed swords. Without hesitation, Jack leans forward and parts his swords, executing him. He stands with arms open wide as the Prince of Sheol’s corpse falls to the ground with a thud, and his head bounces across the dirt floor of the cage.
Lilith’s screams fill the atmosphere. I hadn’t realized she'd entered the cage with her back to me and Jack’s back to her. Advancing on Jack, she grabs the sides of his head. Jack cries out in pain, and I don't think. I have no time to second guess myself. Before I understand what I'm doing, Lilith’s form is beneath me with her face in the ground. I turn her over and pin her arms down with my knees. Her eyes widen as I grasp her face. A freezing fire penetrates my palms and flows into her. The ringing in my ears is so deafening I can’t hear her screams. Her back arcs as I leer into her bright green irises. Dark red tendrils tinged with black flecks emanate from her chest and grow above us like thick vines. The extraction I'm coercing from her changes, and she begins to draw it back. Her dark essence withers back inside of her, and she vanishes from beneath me.
I cry out in frustration and punch the ground beneath me. My father approaches me as Jack picks me up and clutches me to his chest. Love, sorrow, guilt, relief. I collapse into his large frame, the exertion of the last few weeks taking a toll on my body. In my exhausted state, I have no tears nor words. I'm withdrawn, unresponsive, stupefied, and inert. Jack whispers in my ear, and I detect pain in his voice. “I’ve got you, Sunshine. I’ve got you.” He kisses the top of my head and smooths out my tangled hair. “I’m here. I’ve got you.” The comfort of Jack’s arms and his calming presence are a shock to my system in comparison to the torture I've been put through. Still, I can't force any movement from my extremities.
My father’s voice comes closer, “Let’s get her home.” Jack lifts me up and cradles me into his bulky chest. Azrael places a hand on my shoulder, and we depart Sasha’s cage within the confines of Sheol. We emerge in my dim lit room on the third floor of Jack’s manor. “I will inform the others of our return and urge them to let her rest,” Azrael says before turning to leave.
As he reaches the door, I lift my head from Jack's chest and croak, “Dad?” He turns with a small smile. “Thank you.” He inclines his head in acknowledgement and exits the room.
Jack pulls my attention from the doorway, his green eyes watching me closely, “I thought I lost you.”
I try to force a smile on my lips, but it fails to flourish, “You’ve got my back.”
“I’m sorry it took so long. We couldn’t find you. I couldn’t feel you. Then, something changed today, and there was a faint pull. I knew it was you,” he states with the soft tone of sorrow.
“I’m sorry, Jack.”
“Shh, I’m going to carry you to the bathroom so we can get you cleaned up.” I nodded my head and wrap my arms around his neck, reveling in his closeness.
Jack lets me down easy to stand on my shaky legs, and I lean against the sink. I catch my reflection in the mirror while he fills the tub with clean, warm water. Dry blood stains my skin, my wings are missing handfuls feathers, and my ribcage is adorned with three deep claw marks oozing with blood. The edges of the open lacerations are crusted with dry blood and dirt, indicating its active healing.
I tuck my wings behind me and hold myself, embarrassed of my appearance. Jack retrieves a few towels and lays them on the counter. He asks, “Do you want me to stay?”
I bite my lip and nod without meeting his eyes. “I don’t want to be alone right now,” I mumble.
I sit on the edge of the tub, carefully inching my underwear down my legs before slipping them over my toes. I shift my legs over the precipice of the tub and glide them into the water. The gore from my skin stains the water in a brown tinge. I watch the color swirl for a moment, lost in its hypnotizing dance. After pulling my tattered wings inside myself, I reach behind me to unclasp my bra and let it fall off my arms. The water clouds over and stings the various lesions on my body as I ease into the water.
Jack comes to kneel beside the tub with a washcloth in his hand. “Here,” he says, plunging the cloth into the water, void of reservation. He squeezes the water out before brushing my hair away from my face and removing the blood and dirt from my cheeks with his gentle caress. As he continues to wash away the damage of the past three weeks, his calming touch relaxes my body. The silence between us is a welcoming modulation in comparison to the constant screams and roaring flames of Sheol.
Jack holds a towel out for me, “I’ll go see what’s in the closet.”
I stand up and let him wrap the towel around me before stepping out of the murky water. “Thank you,” I rasp, my voice not fully recovered from the constant strain of screaming. He leaves me a moment, and I pull the edge of the towel back to check my wounds in the mirror. Their superficial appearance seems to be fading at a steady pace.
“You’re healing a lot faster,” Jack notes.
Letting the towel fall back into place, I take the clothes he offers. “Yeah. A lot faster.”
“Well, someone's dying to see you. I’ll let you get dressed,” he says before closing the door behind him.
My heart thuds in my chest. Solas? With shaky hands, I put on the dark gray sweats and white shirt. I twist my hair up into a bun and take a deep breath before returning to the bedroom.
Alice paces back and forth at the foot of my bed, biting her thumb nail. When her eyes fall on me, she sprints over and our bodies collide in a tight embrace. Relief, love, joy. “I’m so glad you’re alright,” she cries.
Even though ‘alright’ is an understatement, I tell her, “Me too.”
“We were so worried. It happened so fast. No one knew Lucian was evanescent.”
We release each other from our embrace, and silent tears run down our faces. I ask, "What's evanescent?"
She sniffles and rolls her eyes, "His little vanishing trick."
“He had more tricks up his sleeve than any of us could've suspected.”
An unspoken sorrow passes between us before she speaks again, “Everyone's waiting for you downstairs. They want to hear what happened. Are you up for it?”
“Not really, but I need to anyways.”
Hand in hand, Alice and I descend the steps to meet everyone in the entertainment room. I can’t help but feel I may be dreaming as I absorb my surroundings. I wonder if I'm really here or if I
'm still trapped in Sheol and hallucinating. We turn the corner into the entertainment room. I'm greeted with looks of shock and warm embraces all around before I'm ushered to sit on the sofa. Everyone's here. Alice, Eric, Jack, Evelyn, Michael, my father, Cass, Beck, Thea—everyone but Solas. I look to Cass and Beck standing in front of the cold hearth with their arms crossed over their chests, “Where’s Solas?”
Beckett glances at his brother and lets his gaze fall to his feet. Cassius’ expression falls, never looking away from me, “We don’t know.”
“What do you mean? How do you not know? Where is he?” Fear surges through me.
Eric clears his throat, “We haven’t seen him since you disappeared.” I stare at him in disbelief. “Since he sent Jack to the Ball in his place, he waited outside in his raven form so he could follow Lucian if he came out with you. When Lucian vanished with you, Jack and Solas worked together to find you. They followed their bond to you and found the warehouse. Solas went inside while the rest of us tried to find a way in. We could hear Solas speaking inside and thought he had it all under control. After Lucian disappeared with you again, Solas took command of the legion left in the warehouse as Lucifer. We charged in, expecting to slay all of them, but they were gone… We haven’t heard from him since.”
“Maybe he’s still looking for me.”
“Sweetie,” Alice lays her hand on top of mine. “We thought that too at first, but it’s unlike him to not keep us updated.”
I look to my father for answers. He states, “We can only assume he has been accosted to Sheol and reassigned into a new legion.”
I'm stunned silent as everyone waits for my reaction. “Michael?” I croak, my vocal cords on the mend.
“Yes?”
“What are the chances of him being released from his new assignment?” I ask, feeling small and hopeless.
Michael’s eyes soften, “I am sorry, Ivy. The only way to be released from a fallen legion is the elimination of their essence or of their commander's essence.”
MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) Page 38