The rest of the Horsemen follow him through the room’s new opening, riding boots crunching on the rubble.
Then there’s only us left—Jonathon by the wall, Gabriel standing in the corner, Crow on his knees, and me sitting in the rubble.
And Lucifer.
“So,” he says, slowly turning to face us. His inhumanly blue eyes glint with menace. “What shall I do with you four?”
Chapter Forty-Seven
The elevator to Hell gapes behind him.
“Rise,” Lucifer says, imperious despite the black serpent gore still dripping from his chest.
We do. His tone doesn’t allow disobedience. Not that I want to be sitting on my ass when faced with the literal King of Hell anyway.
“Which one of you delivered the scroll?” says Lucifer. The question is simple, but there’s something poisonous in his tone.
Cold dread rolls in my stomach as his eyes slide over me. Crow and Jonathon start to offer up themselves, but I cut them off.
“Me,” I say, ignoring their angry looks.
Lucifer’s too-blue eyes lock on mine.
“So tell me, did I do my little errand to your satisfaction?” Lucifer asks as his fingers caress his trident. “I mean, that’s why you summoned me, isn’t it? To do a little job for you.”
“Aye. You did it well enough,” says Crow.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Gabriel stiffen. Lucifer turns his head to look at Crow, but when his tail lashes out, it’s my neck it wraps around.
I give a choked scream as he yanks me toward him, and although I grapple at the obsidian cord, it remains tight. It burns, I think, and then I realize that’s not true. No. It’s freezing. Frantically, I try to free myself, shortened breaths misting in front of my face.
Jonathon lurches forward, but Gabriel grabs him and throws him back toward the wall.
“Your power, Rachel,” he says.
My vision blurs as I search for something hot in my veins to fight the cold burn of Lucifer’s pointed tail.
I think about how I was tricked into signing away my soul. I think about how I’ve been damned to Hell when I didn’t do anything to deserve it. I think of stupid coffee runs and filing and defending bad people at Devils Inc., and how I’ll probably be stuck doing that for all eternity. I think of my brother forced into hiding, and how everything Adalind did was because Lucifer didn’t intervene when she was punished. I think of Crow being murdered so he could be part of Lucifer’s army, and how something inside of him has been broken ever since. I think about how that broken part of him hurt me.
It’s all Lucifer’s fault. He’s going to end the world if we don’t stop him.
I’m not going down without a fight.
The burn lessens, but my vision is blurred, the room swimming in and out of focus from the pain of it.
Crow twists a finger and sends a shadow surging toward us.
Lucifer reaches out and grabs it, wrapping it around his wrist as if it were a real thing. He pulls, and Crow stumbles toward us until he’s close enough for Lucifer to wrap a hand around his neck. Crow punches him in the side of the face. Lucifer doesn’t even flinch.
“Do you think I don’t know what you desire, boy?” says Lucifer as Crow struggles for breath on his tiptoes. “I’m the Devil. And what a soul desires—well, it’s the only thing about a soul worth knowing. It’s how I recruit. It’s how I keep souls in my employment. It’s how I torment. It’s how I punish.”
He forces Crow down on his knees, then releases him. Crow coughs and wheezes for breath, hand moving to his throat, where red fingerprints mark his skin.
“What I desire is for you to piss off back down to Hell, mate,” he rasps.
“No.” Lucifer stares at him coolly. “That’s not what you want. You want redemption. You’d like nothing more than for me to snap your neck so you can sacrifice yourself to save the others and absolve yourself of your sins. To make your pitiful existence mean something. But I’m not going to give you that, boy.”
When he reaches down and raises Crow’s chin with a finger, Crow grabs his wrist.
“Get the Hell off me, you piece of—”
“But I could give you something better. I could give you her.”
Crow stills, his stormy gray eyes suddenly unreadable. The two stare at each other. My heart clenches.
Her. His wife.
Oh, no.
As Crow uncurls his fingers from Lucifer’s arm, a thin smile curls across the Devil’s face.
“I wouldn’t be the Devil if I didn’t know what each of you desired,” he continues, dropping Crow’s chin. “And I wouldn’t be the Devil if I didn’t know how to give it to you.”
“What about what you want, Lucifer?” asks Gabriel, taking a step out of the shadows.
Lucifer’s cool gaze shifts to Gabriel. “Like you, for example. Michael’s boy. Do you think I don’t know what you desire? It radiates off you. You reek of it.” He breathes in sharply. “I can smell it in the air. Hot and raw and laced with Sin. Do you think I don’t know you’d do anything to be in my position right now? To have this reprobate on his knees before you, ready to submit to your every whim?”
Gabriel flushes, but his expression remains impassive.
“Let them go,” he says, “and let’s talk about what you want.”
“I could give him to you, if you wanted,” says Lucifer. Then he sniffs the air again. “But no, that’s not your biggest desire, is it? What you really want is Daddy’s approval.” He inhales deeply. “Or, wait—it goes deeper even than that.” He laughs—a harsh, cold sound devoid of joy. “How precious. The Angel desires to be loved.”
“Let my sister go,” says Jonathon. He moves to stand by Gabriel.
Lucifer flicks a hand in dismissal. “Quiet, boy. You are irrelevant. Pointless. Nothing.”
Gabriel pushes my brother behind him again as Lucifer turns to me, bringing me closer with his tail.
“Not you, though, Rachel. No. You’re special.” He touches my cheek, and I try to jerk away. “That’s what you want, isn’t it? To be special. The girl who lived in her brother’s shadow for so very long wants to have the light shine on her face.” His tail uncoils from my neck, but his hand remains. “Well, you are special, my girl, because your soul belongs to me. But if you wanted, I could make you more special. So very special.”
“I don’t want anything from you,” I say, holding my ground even though there is no humanity behind his eyes.
“That’s not true. You wanted me to defeat the Serpent for you. You triggered the Apocalypse to bring me here.” I can smell him, brimstone and fire and dry ice. “Would you like me to end the world for you, Rachel? Wouldn’t that make you so very special?”
“You’ll lose,” I say as his cold breath mists my face. “You can’t win the Revelation War.”
“Yes. The game is rigged against me.” He smiles. “But in summoning me, you have presented me with moves that were hitherto unavailable. New pieces on the board that I can use.”
“Lucifer. Stop this,” says Gabriel, his tone sharp. “There’s nothing for you here.”
“Isn’t there?”
Lucifer drops his hand from my cheek and makes as if to turn. But when I try to dart away, his tail whips out and curls around my neck once more. I gasp at the renewed burn.
“Crow. Rise, my boy,” Lucifer says.
Crow gets to his feet, his expression blank.
“I can give you your heart’s desire,” Lucifer continues, “but first, I need you to show me you’re mine.”
“Crow,” I wheeze.
He doesn’t look at me. “What do you want?”
Lucifer smirks and drags his gaze over to Gabriel. “Michael’s boy.”
Jonathon tries to step in front of the Angel, but Gabriel pushes him aside yet again, eyes unmoving from Crow’s.
“Crow. Don’t,” I say. I try to sink my nails into the tail wrapped around my neck, but it’s hard; impenetrable.
Crow
runs a hand across his stubble, then exhales.
“Don’t make me hurt you, Ewan,” says Gabriel.
Crow sighs again. “You won’t hurt me.” He sounds almost sad.
I struggle against Lucifer, but he holds me tight. I can’t breathe. I can’t move. I can only watch as Crow strides across the rubble and gore to stop a few feet away from Gabriel.
“I trust you, Ewan,” says Gabriel.
They both stare at each other. Silence hangs heavily, mingling with the sulfur in the air. Then, in a sudden movement, Crow lunges forward.
“No!” I gasp.
Gabriel doesn’t even fight as Crow slips behind him. He jerks him into his body, one big arm locked around his stomach. The other is around Gabriel’s throat.
Panic floods me. Panic and anger. What is Gabriel doing? Fight.
Flames lick at my fingers, and I try to burn the tail. Lucifer doesn’t even look at me.
“Good,” Lucifer says with that same cold smile.
Crow tightens his fingers around Gabriel’s neck.
“Easy, boy,” says Lucifer, putting a hand up. “I didn’t command you to kill him. Bring him to the elevator.”
Crow doesn’t move, only continues to squeeze. Gabriel finally puts a hand on his wrist, but he doesn’t try to pull it away.
“What are you doing?” says Lucifer, tone hard. “Put him in the elevator, and I’ll give you what you desire.”
Crow is breathing hard now. “I’m going to kill him,” he says.
Lucifer releases a harsh chuckle. “No, you’re not.”
“Aye.” The word scrapes from his throat. “I am.”
Lucifer frowns. “Stop. I command you to stop.”
“No use to you dead, is he?” says Crow.
Gabriel’s eyes water, unfocused. His fingernails dig into Crow’s skin as he wheezes for breath.
“Crow, don’t,” I splutter, but my voice is so hoarse it barely travels.
Jonathon lunges at the two to try to intervene, but he’s stopped by one of Crow’s shadows. As he flies toward the wall, I scream, lurching forward.
Lucifer pulls me back as my brother slides down the wall, unconscious.
“You think I don’t know what you desire, mate?” spits Crow. “Gabe would be a good bargaining chip for Michael, but his soul doesn’t belong to you. If I kill him, he’ll end up in a place neither you nor I can enter.”
Lucifer and Crow stare at each other—Lucifer’s eyes cold; Crow’s filled with some raw, primal intent that scares me just as much. I can’t tell if he’s bluffing. As it is, Gabriel looks ready to pass out.
Then Lucifer laughs.
“Kill him,” he says. “Let me show you how little I care.” With that, he hurls his trident across the room.
Crow’s eyes widen, his hand instantly releasing Gabriel’s throat as he spins, his back acting as a shield against the three bronze spikes headed straight for them.
I scream, but just as it’s about to make impact, Gabriel’s wings rip through his shoulder blades, cocooning Crow and emitting a blinding white light.
Lucifer’s trident bounces off them, landing with a loud clatter on the gore-coated linoleum.
For a moment, all I see is light. I feel it too. Warm. It eases the burn around my neck as Lucifer’s hold on me wavers.
Then I see Gabriel. He looks as hard and impenetrable as any statue in a churchyard. Magnificent. Not of this world.
“Enough,” says Gabriel, his voice low. “You’ve had your fun. Now, go back to where you belong before I call my father here.”
Lucifer’s too-blue eyes glitter with intrigue and malice. “Perhaps I don’t need to take you to Hell to distract your father, Gabriel,” he says with a laugh. “Perhaps your fondness for this good-for-nothing Omen will prove disturbing enough.”
He clucks his tongue, moving his gaze to Crow.
“And you . . . well, it’s too bad, my boy. I could have given you what you wanted. I could have granted you your heart’s desire. Still. Corrupt his soul, and perhaps we can renegotiate. And as for you, Rachel Mortimer . . .” He pulls me forward and grabs my face. The rough thumb he runs along my cheek leaves a cold trail in its wake.
“Get off me,” I snarl, grappling at his wrist, but I may as well be fighting a piece of metal.
“I did you a favor when I rid your world of The Serpent,” says Lucifer. “So it seems to me that you are in my debt.”
“Enough,” says Gabriel.
Lucifer releases me roughly, his tail uncurling from around my neck to snap up his trident from the ground. As I gasp for breath, he takes his weapon and strides back to the elevator, where he stands in the open doorway, his back muscles rippling in the blue light.
“I always collect my debts,” he says, his voice hard with icy promise.
Dante emerges from the shadows to push a button. The doors slide shut, and a whirring sound competes with the pounding blood in my ears.
And with that, Lucifer goes back to Hell.
There’s a moment of heavy silence.
Then Crow releases an inhuman roar that rips at my soul and falls to the ground.
Gabriel’s wings snap back into his shoulder blades, and he drops down on his knees in front of him. He pulls back Crow’s arms to reveal the tears rolling uncontrollably down the Omen’s cheeks.
“It was a trick, Ewan. It was a trick,” says Gabriel, holding Crow’s face with both hands. “He’s the Devil. He would never have given her back to you. There would have been a loophole. It was a trick.”
Crow shakes his head, jerking away, but Gabriel holds him there.
“You did the right thing, Ewan. You did the right thing.”
Something changes then. One of Crow’s arms curls around Gabriel as he sobs, clinging to him for support. That’s when I realize Crow never would have harmed Gabriel. He never would have harmed any of us. And it cost him the only thing he ever wanted.
I glance at Jonathon to make sure he’s okay. His brown hair is ruffled and dusted with rubble, and there’s a cut on his forehead, but his eyes blink open. When they find me, I see his slender shoulders relax.
Then I go to Crow, kneeling down to tentatively touch his shoulder. His T-shirt is damp with sweat, and his muscles tremble beneath my fingertips as he cries into Gabriel’s neck.
Gabriel meets my eye. I see the silent question in them: Are you okay?
I nod even though I’m not sure that I am.
With a sob, Crow curls his other strong arm around my back. He holds me like he’s afraid he’s going to fall away. His skin burns; his big body shakes.
“Shh,” I say. “It’s okay. We’re here. It’s going to be okay.”
“I let her down. Again,” he says through shuddering breaths.
“You didn’t, Ewan,” says Gabriel softly. “It was a trick. It was just a trick.”
A hand squeezes my shoulder.
“I’m going to go tell the Horsemen and Josie that it’s over,” Jonathon says softly. “Stop the fighting upstairs.”
I give him a half-smile, squeezing his hand with my free one, before he steps over the rubble and through the hole in the wall.
And we’re left alone. The room is dark, the blue lights in the floor distorted by the mess of fallen rock. The elevator doors are shut. And Lucifer has returned to Hell, where he belongs.
We’re Team Apocalypse. And we won.
Yet the victory feels hollow as Crow’s sobs echo through the room.
Chapter Forty-Eight
The more things change, the more things stay the same. That’s the thought in my head when I walk through the doors of Evie’s Garden Bar a week later and see the blackboard behind the bar is back to advertising half-price appletinis.
Eve’s behind the bar again, looking like she always does, in a black waistcoat over a white blouse, with her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. But the way she looks at the slender guy on the stool in front of her is different. Adam. She arches an eyebrow, then deliberately bites in
to an apple.
Then she looks at me and inclines her head toward one of the high tables by the window.
I slide onto the chair opposite Gabriel, taking off my black leather jacket and dumping it beside me. I leave the silk polka dot neck scarf I borrowed from Josie in place, however. I still need it to hide the burn marks from Lucifer.
Looking pristine in his white company blazer, Gabriel fidgets with a white folder. Two teacups and an ornate teapot decorated with apple blossoms grace the table.
“Tea?” he says.
“Sure,” I say, then I decide to jump right in. “So. Any news? Did you manage to get me out of my contract with Devils Inc.?”
He picks up the teapot and pours a cup, forehead creased as though it’s taking all of his concentration. It’s only after he slides my cup toward me that he exhales.
“I’m sorry, Rachel. I’ve looked at the contract every way that I can, but there are no loopholes we can exploit as of now. Adalind recruiting you was out of the ordinary, but given she worked for Devils Inc., it was all aboveboard.”
“Okay,” I say, then I take a sip of tea, swallowing down the disappointment with the rich flavors of Earl Grey. Since meeting Lucifer and hearing his promise to collect on the debt he’s decided I owe him, I have even less desire for my soul to belong to him. I absently touch the scarf. Even Gabriel couldn’t fully heal the burns left by his tail.
Gabriel watches the movement, concern in his eyes.
“There is one potential avenue we can explore, however. Given that I was right about the Apocalypse, I’ve been promoted to a more senior position.”
“That’s great, Gabriel. Well deserved,” I say.
He pretends to not be pleased with the praise. “That’s not why I mention it. You see, I hoped I could get you transferred to our organization, but our legal department didn’t want to get involved. But, as a one-time offer, as a token of their thanks, they’re willing to offer you a small Miracle.”
My eyebrows raise. “Really?”
“A fairly low-level one, let me clarify,” he says hurriedly. “I mean, you can’t use it to raise the dead, or destroy the world, or turn back time. But, well, you can use it to destroy your contract with Devils Inc.”
Devils Inc. Page 26