by Eva Brandt
I couldn’t quite recall what spell had been cast on us, but it must have been something similar to the Revelatio potion. I’d transformed into my middle form. When I’d seen the half-angel next to me, I’d followed my instincts and attacked.
He’d fought back. Everything was a blur after that, at least until I’d woken up in the ruins of The Scholomance, strapped down to a wall, as if I was nothing more than an animal.
I strained against the cuffs and suppressed a flinch when the magic embedded in them flared, making shocks of electricity run through my immobilized body.
By my side, Mikael was having just as much trouble, if not more. Sweat beaded his brow and a dim light was coming from his back. Our captor had targeted his wing stumps. Given how sensitive the area remained, even months after the amputation of his wings, it was, plainly put, torture.
I pulled on the chains again, trying to break free. The only thing I accomplished was to hurt myself further.
That was when my captor padded into my line of sight. Ammit stepped out of the darkness, her crocodile-like snout twisted into a weird grin. “How rude. Trying to leave me so soon? And here I went to all the trouble of making these arrangements, just for you.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “Ammit? What the hell? Why are you doing this?”
She’d never despised Mikael for being a nephilim or me for my hell hound nature. She’d also never tolerated the people who’d bullied Lyssa in her first year.
She was a creature of balance. She had no real affinity to The Infernal Realm, but she had come here specifically to make sure that balance was respected.
If she disliked someone, that person usually didn’t survive for too long. She just ate his or her soul. It didn’t make sense that she’d take such an approach today.
“I have my reasons,” Ammit replied, “but if you must know, you’ve become a thorn in my side and you need to be removed.”
“Is that a fact?” Mikael asked. “And what did we do that was so horrible?”
“You dared to challenge me, to challenge Satan.”
Satan? Ammit couldn’t be Satan. She was an entirely separate deity. She couldn’t take over Satan’s role. It went against her nature.
“I’m betting you’re pretty confused right now. But don’t worry. You’ll understand soon.”
And with that, she turned away, as if she’d lost interest in us. It was just as well, because maybe without her attention on us, we could actually do something to free ourselves.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I asked Mikael.
“I wish I knew,” he replied. “Fuck, Stefan. It… It really hurts.”
Mikael’s admission was like a punch in the gut. We never displayed weakness, not if we could help it, and despite being half-angel, Mikael was no different. He’d learned a long time ago that angels could be just as cruel and ruthless as demons. It was never a good idea to show your enemy how much pain you were in.
Today, Ammit was right there, and yet, Mikael had made this uncharacteristic confession. Things were even worse than I’d thought. And with every passing moment, the situation grew more dire.
A few minutes after Ammit had left our side, the air started to crackle with energy. A spatial anomaly appeared next to us and several portals opened up.
Much to my shock and horror, Callum and Mephistopheles fell from them, unconscious. Callum was as white as a sheet, paler than he’d been when we’d been trying to cast the ritual that could’ve returned Mikael to a more angelic nature. Mephistopheles looked like he’d fought a battle with a host of angels and lost, badly. Ammit waved her paw and just like that, the two of them were tied to the wall, next to me and Mikael.
As Ammit immobilized him, Mephistopheles cracked his eyes open. His wings were almost shredded and he was barely conscious, but he hadn’t given up. His shadow magic trickled tentatively over the cuffs, testing the enchantment on them.
Even though he tried to be discreet, Ammit noticed. Her reptilian eyes narrowed and a surge of magic struck Mephistopheles. His arms snapped and his wings were almost ripped to pieces.
Mephistopheles didn’t let out a sound, but his complexion made it clear that he was doing about as well as Mikael. Ammit chuckled. “I’ve been waiting a long time to do that. The High Lord of Hell Mephistopheles… What a joke. You were only ever loyal to yourself and to The Brightest Star.”
“Did you perhaps expect me to be loyal to you?” Mephistopheles asked, flashing his fangs. “The title of Satan isn’t enough to win our respect. You should’ve been aware of that when you took it up.”
Clearly, I was missing something big. When had The Devourer of Souls become The Ruler of The Infernal Realm and Lord of Wrath? Okay, so the two had some things in common, but still, it didn’t make any sense.
The answer came from Ammit herself—sort of. “I don’t expect loyalty, not really,” she said. “What I do expect is obedience and I will make you all kneel. It’s high time…”
She trailed off and started twitching, as if she was having a fit. A loud roar echoed through the chamber and Ammit rolled on the floor, clawing at herself, her whole body seizing.
The sight reminded me an awful lot of Lyssa’s epileptic episodes and the comparison made me uncomfortable. But despite that, I felt no compassion for Ammit. I took advantage of her distraction to try to free myself again. Mikael had the same idea. It didn’t work, for either of us. Whatever spell she’d cast on the cuffs kept us from accessing our powers properly.
After what seemed like forever, the seizure stopped and Ammit slumped down on the ground, breathing hard.
“It would appear my vessel is starting to be uncooperative,” she said. “How unfortunate. I might as well move my schedule along.”
As I processed those words, I realized exactly what had happened. The true Satan had taken over Ammit’s body. It must’ve been sometime during Lyssa’s first year, since that was when Shiro had been killed.
Victims of possession could survive if given medical treatment, but Ammit wouldn’t be so lucky. Whoever was inhabiting her body lifted her bloody paws and tore Ammit’s throat out with her own claws.
A rush of magic swept through the room as the power of The Devourer of Souls was unleashed. The ruins of The Scholomance lit up with demonic fire.
The symbols of each individual Prince of Hell flashed on the columns. The one that stood for Lucifer was flickering, and I began to understand why he wasn’t here.
I didn’t have time to worry about the former Satan, though, since the current one was the real problem. As Ammit’s corpse hit the ground, she began to glow, emanating a crimson light that I recognized as hellfire. A male silhouette manifested by her side. The symbols pulsed with increasing strength and speed and Ammit’s spilled blood started to bubble. The silhouette solidified into the flesh and bone figure of blue-skinned young man.
He was familiar, although I couldn’t for the life of me remember why. I inhaled deeply, trying to catch his scent. It was a little difficult, but my acute senses didn’t fail me.
A memory flashed through my mind, that of the opening feast from two years back. It had been Lyssa’s freshman year, but she hadn’t come to dinner. Later, she’d told us that she’d been out cold in The House of Sloth Dorms.
I’d sat at The House of Wrath table with the rest of my housemates, glaring at the other new students, just because I couldn’t glare at her. Two particular ones had drawn my eye—a girl with black and white hair and a young man with blue skin.
I hadn’t been able to figure out why they’d rubbed me the wrong way. And then, the next day, the boy had been killed and I’d forgotten all about them.
The question spilled from my lips. “Jax Masters? Didn’t you die when you were in your first year? I thought Ammit ate your soul.”
Jax sneered at me, displeased at my inquiry. “I must admit, that was a bit of a miscalculation on my part. I didn’t see her coming, and before I knew it, she had already attacked me. In hindsight
, I should’ve tried to push her away, but I thought her powers wouldn’t be a problem for me. I underestimated her.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. Leviathan had said that Satan had been missing for two years.
“So let me get this straight. All this time, you’ve been in Ammit’s stomach. Being digested.”
Wow, that wouldn’t have been pleasant, especially not for someone who was already Satan.
“It wasn’t so bad.” Jax shrugged. “Ammit might be a goddess, but after a little while, I became capable of taking control of her, long enough to achieve my purposes. And of course, I’ve now made her pay for her mistake.”
“And let me guess,” Mikael said between gritted teeth. “You’re after Lyssa’s power.”
Jax arched a brow at us. “Most people are. I’m just taking steps to end this. It’s honestly so ridiculous. I don’t know what Lucifer was thinking. He had so many chances to claim that power for himself, but instead, he wanted to spread it out, to give it back to the world. How disgustingly angelic.”
“Hardly,” Mephistopheles replied. “He’s just self-aware enough to realize that power was never meant to be in his hands. There’s a reason it was in that apple, you know.”
“Since when do you and The Brightest Star respect The Supreme Being’s judgment so much?” Jax asked. “You’re a demon. What has he ever done for you?”
“This isn’t about me and my resentment toward The Celestial Realm,” Mephistopheles shot back. “You’re making a big mistake.”
“And who do you think will save you. Lucifer? You’ll find he was… detained. I made sure he’ll be distracted long enough to fulfill my task.”
With that, Jax produced a glowing feather. There was only one person it could belong to and the fact that Jax had it didn’t bode well for us.
“All right. It’s time for us to begin the real party.”
He crushed the feather between his fingers and thin particles of starlight scattered through the cave. Their magic buzzed over my skin, familiar, reminding me of Lucifer. I might have actually found it comforting, since Lucifer was on our side. Unfortunately, I had a feeling this wasn’t anything good for us. I hated to ask and to give him the satisfaction of showing my uncertainty, but I needed to know. “What are you doing?”
“It’s quite simple. In his kindness and concern, Lucifer hid your little slut behind a rather irritating set of wards. He didn’t take into account nephilim blood when he put them up. I couldn’t get close, but someone else could. I’m giving my envoy a helping hand with her task.”
Wait, what? An envoy with nephilim blood? What was he talking about? As far as I knew, Mikael was the only nephilim at the school.
I was wrong.
“No,” Mikael whispered in obvious horror. “She couldn’t have.”
“Oh, but she did.” Jax’s lips twisted in a wicked grin. “You know, I always found it so funny that you kept her secret, even after yours was revealed. You should’ve known, Mikael, that things like that always come back to bite you in the ass.”
There was only one person they could be referring to, one person who’d been close enough to Jax. Darling Masters, the same girl who’d insinuated herself into Lyssa’s confidence.
They’d had a falling out after the truth about Lyssa’s epilepsy and Mikael’s nephilim nature had been revealed. Lyssa hadn’t wanted to talk about it, but I knew she’d been upset that her first friend had betrayed her.
Lyssa might no longer trust Darling, but she wouldn’t naturally doubt her either. And if Darling got close enough, she’d be able to knock Lyssa out. Physically, she had a significant advantage over Lyssa.
It didn’t take long for my worst fears to be confirmed. Only a few minutes after Jax had used the feather, a portal popped up in the middle of the ruins and Lyssa and Darling stumbled from inside.
Darling had no trouble steadying herself, but Lyssa landed on the ground, dazed by the journey. Even so, she noticed something wasn’t right, because she got up, trying to figure out what had happened.
Darling stepped away from her, an apologetic look on her face. “Believe it or not, I’m sorry about this, Alyssa. I wish there were another way, but there isn’t.”
Lyssa froze. Something in those words sent her in a spiral of panic and she couldn’t move a muscle. Even from the distance, I could tell she was terrified. I’d seen her like that before, after her nightmares. Usually, it hadn’t been so bad, but Lucifer had warned us that her recent trauma would make her state worse.
Shiro wasn’t with her, which wasn’t good. As a rule, he was great at snapping her out of her trance. Since he couldn’t do it, it was up to us. “Lyssa!” I shouted. “Run!”
She turned toward us and her eyes widened when she caught sight of us. At that moment, I could see in her eyes flickers of the same determination and courage that had made me fall in love with her.
This time, it was not enough. No matter how brave she was, Jax was faster.
A flaming sword appeared in his hand. It was very similar to the swords all angels used in battle.
“Welcome, Alyssa Michaelis, to hell,” he said as he swept the weapon toward her.
She didn’t even get the chance to cry out. In the blink of an eye, her head was neatly separated from her shoulders.
Time seemed to slow. For a brief instant, I couldn’t process what was going on in front of me. And then, my Lyssa’s decapitated body collapsed to the ground with a dull thud and something inside me snapped.
My consciousness turned into savagery and my beast took over. My body shifted and I became a mutated monster, much like I had all those months ago, after the failed ritual.
My new bulk put a lot of strain on the cuffs, which had been made for thinner wrists. It wasn’t enough to break them, so I snarled and tugged wildly at my bindings, not caring about the damage I did to myself.
In front of me, Jax laughed madly. “It’s too late for you to do anything, Stefan Schwarz. It’s too late for anyone to do anything. This power will be forever mine.”
As he spoke, a bright glow emerged from Lyssa’s body. I knew what it was of course. My magic was primarily elemental, but even so, I had a natural affinity to souls. I sensed her essence in the white sphere, and I knew I had to act.
Jax might not be planning to eat Lyssa like Eve had, but he was planning to consume her soul, which was, for a regular human, even worse. I couldn’t allow that.
The wolf came roaring out of me, desperate and infuriated. I tugged on the wall like the animal I was, the desire to protect what little I had left clawing wildly at my consciousness.
I might not have managed to break free, but at the last moment, I felt a burst of alien energy flow into me. It was divine magic, Mikael’s power, and he screamed as he cast the spell. I couldn’t imagine how much it must be hurting him to give me this gift. Still, it worked and it gave me enough strength to break free of the cuffs.
I lunged forward and pounced on Jax, reaching him seconds before he could grab Lyssa’s soul. My sudden attack took him by surprise, so much so that he couldn’t immediately retaliate.
Taking advantage of the opening, I buried my fangs in his throat, tearing his flesh and trying to rip out his jugular. It was a bit of a long shot, but it was my only chance. I couldn’t kill him, but incapacitating him would serve me well too.
Jax didn’t allow me to go through with my tentative plan. A blast of power struck me in the chest, shoving me away from his body. I landed easily on my feet, my hell hound nature keeping me safe from his fire. Because of the hold I still had on him, Jax ended up doing more damage to himself than I already had. He didn’t seem to care.
He pressed his hand to his still-bleeding neck, cauterizing his wound. If it hurt, he didn’t show it. Instead, he glared at me, his previous smugness chased away by sheer insanity. “Animal. Do you really think you can stand against me? I am Satan and you are nothing.”
“You’re the digested soul of an ifrit,” I growled back. �
�The true Satan would’ve never allowed himself to be caught in such a trap.”
With my vocal cords no longer humanoid, the words came out barely intelligible, but he got the message anyway. Fire started to swirl around his body, making the air impossible to breathe, even for me. “I wouldn’t point fingers at anyone, hell hound. I’m not the one who is trapped right now. You and your companions are.”
Meanwhile, Darling, who’d stepped back during our brief battle, tried to make her way back toward us. “She’s already dead, Stefan,” she said, her voice shaking ever so slightly. “You can’t fix this.”
I hated her so much that if I’d had the time, I would have ripped her apart, piece by piece. But I couldn’t afford to get distracted. Lyssa’s soul was still hovering over her body, behind me. I could still protect her, if only a little.
“Never say never,” I said.
Death didn’t have to be permanent, not in our world. Shiro had died and Mikael had brought him back. As long as Lyssa’s soul was safe, she could still return to us.
I knew better than to believe I could beat Jax. Being Satan wasn’t just a title. When someone took over the throne of Hell, he or she was granted the powers of the very first Satan.
Jax had managed to tear Ammit apart from the inside and she’d been a goddess. I had no doubt that he could do the same to me. But if I could at least stall for long enough to make sure Lyssa’s soul was safe or someone else intervened, it would be worth it.
“This is ridiculous,” Jax said with a huff. He extended his hand toward Lyssa and growled, “Come to me, Alyssa Michaelis.”
The allure of the ruler of Hell hit me like a physical blow. As a hell hound I was naturally inclined to submit to it. But I didn’t and neither did Lyssa. Behind me, the sphere holding Lyssa’s essence shivered, but didn’t move toward him.
Jax snarled. “Defiant wench. Even in death, you’re trying to thwart me. I’ll make you regret your foolishness. I was going to grant you the mercy of oblivion eventually, but I think now, I won’t be so kind. And I’ll make sure your lovers join you in eternal torment.”