by R. K. Ryals
"Are there more tests?"
I didn't know why I asked. It just didn't seem right standing here staring at the moon with Lucifer after just being thrown off a cliff. I was tired, I hurt, and I wasn't sure I could endure much more. Lucifer glanced at me.
"Tests? Did you think you were being tested?"
This took me by surprise.
"You weren't testing me?"
Lucifer's face changed, his expression going from serene to cruel.
"My dear, I wasn't testing you. I was testing your Demon."
My Demon. Marcas.
"How?"
My voice was small.
"My tests are meant to destroy using the fears of anyone who dares cross me," Lucifer said as he turned to me. "Marcas has only one fear."
I knew what his answer would be. I really did. But I asked anyway.
"Fear?"
Lucifer grinned.
"He fears losing you."
With that, he grabbed me, and we went soaring into the air. There was no time to think, no time to be afraid, no time to consider what Marcas' fear of losing me meant for me. There was only a rapid rush of air so hard it stole my breath. And then there was stone, and I realized I couldn't breathe. I was being pushed into rock, my back to the ground as Lucifer loomed above me. Lilith was by his side, her eyes glowing.
I tried turning my head but Lucifer used his power to grasp me by the chin, shoving my face forward. I cried out from the pain as still more power flowed over me, magically chaining me to the stone table. I could only see stars now, but the one glimpse I'd gotten had been enough. We were back on the High Place of Sacrifice, and I was lying on the altar.
"I have a thing for Blood," Lucifer sneered as he suddenly brandished a knife.
There were a million different ways Lucifer could have killed me. It could have been instant. It could have been with nothing more than a flick of his wrist. But he chose a knife, and I felt sick to my stomach as he moved closer.
"Marcas should have chosen to face me with power first. I would have killed him then. But this will be much more entertaining."
Lucifer lowered the knife, and I felt it nick me just enough to cause a small flow of blood from my arm onto the altar.
"Your war is with me. Not the Angel."
It was Marcas' voice, but it sounded tired. And I knew by the way he breathed that Lucifer had done much more to him than just having him watch my torture. And then I felt his weariness, and I sunk into the stone, my eyes heavy. What had Lucifer done to him? He had no wounds. If he had, I would have suffered from them too. The only wounds I had were my own.
"You've refused me, Marcas. I am willing to allow you entrance into the Elite, but the girl must go. Until she has been wiped from this life, you and your brother will always be a threat. There is no time for civil war."
"Then kill me instead. I want no part in the Elite."
Lucifer nicked me again, this time on my leg. Marcas swore, and a light flew over my head only to be deflected by Lucifer.
Lilith watched her son, her expression warring between hatred and loss. I would have felt sympathy for her if I thought the loss she felt was over her son, not her fear of losing rank and power.
"The Naphil dies."
The statement was made in a voice so low, it sounded like a growl. Lucifer was turning, his face morphing into that of a monster, not unlike the Hellhounds themselves. His body remained the same, but his face became elongated, his teeth sharp and pointed. Horns sprouted from his head. To say the horns were cliché was an understatement, but they were terrifying, and that was the point.
I tried scooting backward, but was met only with resistance. I flailed as best I could, my eyes wide with horror. He was going to kill me, and he was going to make Marcas watch. Whatever he had done to Marcas, he'd done it well. We weren't going to win this duel. I was going to die, and there was no telling what they planned to do with Marcas afterwards.
"No."
I whispered it because I couldn't manage much more than that. Lucifer laughed. He actually threw back his grotesque head and laughed. And I felt anger.
It was sudden, the hatred I felt. But it washed over me with such force that I felt the bonds placed on me loosen. I was angry, and I reveled in it. I was tired of being a pawn in Hell's civil war, I was tired of having everyone be afraid that I'd cause a war between Heaven and Hell, and I was tired of being considered Damon's road to redemption. But most of all, I was angry at Lucifer, at Lilith, and at Sophia for what they had done to Marcas. All of them had hurt him deeply.
And now . . . now Lucifer wanted to use me to cause him more pain. I tugged at the bonds, letting the anger ride me in waves, feeding the power inside me. The Demon blood in me roared through my veins, the Angel blood mixing with it almost violently as both my and Marcas' power shot upward through my chest. It didn't just burst forth, it exploded. The bonds fell away, and I scrambled backward as Lucifer plunged forward, his jaw gaping.
Hell didn't have more fury than a woman scorned . . .
Lilith screeched, the sound deafening as both she and Lucifer crawled toward me. Marcas was instantly at my back, his face pale, his eyes tired.
"What did he do to you?" I whispered as we backed from the altar together.
Marcas didn't answer me, and I felt my anger rise.
A woman scorned definitely hath the backbone to meet fury with fury. . .
Marcas had saved me on countless occasions. It was time for me to do the saving. I shoved my arm against his face.
"Bite me!"
He didn't argue, plunging his teeth into my flesh. It only took one swallow, and he began to glow, his body healing as we stood to face Hell's ruler and Marcas' mother. Marcas was still unsteady on his feet, but he held his own, and I cried out as Lucifer suddenly slammed his power into me, separating us and causing me to fly backward along the stone courtyard.
I caught myself before going over the edge of the summit, but had only just begun to right myself when I went flying again, this time in the opposite direction. My body slid along the ground before slamming against the altar. Lucifer obviously had a thing for sacrifice.
Marcas chose that moment to attack, shoving Lilith over the summit where she hovered angrily. Another ball of light headed for Lucifer, but he vanished and reappeared behind me, his arm going around my neck. His skin was so hot, I felt like my neck was blistering.
"You are being foolish, Marcas," Lucifer sneered as I slammed myself backward against him.
Screw his sentiments. It wasn't Marcas battling with him now. It was me, the messed up Naphil in love with a Demon.
Lucifer only moved slightly as I pushed against him, his arm tightening around my throat. It was getting hard to breathe. Why didn't he just kill me? Or take my soul.
It hit me like a ton of bricks. Lucifer wouldn't take my soul. Even Marcas had said he feared taking my soul because he wasn't sure what it would do to him. Lucifer didn't mind sacrificing one of his Demons, but he wasn't going to sacrifice himself. I had Angel blood in me. I almost laughed with the absurdity of it, and I would have if I wasn't seeing black spots in front of my eyes. He wouldn't take my soul, but he could still kill me.
I had felt anger before, had tried my best never to give in to hatred, but for now I let rage consume. I let anger eat away at me, and I shoved every bit of it into Lucifer. He went flying backward, and I turned on him.
"No."
It was Marcas who said it, but I barely heard him. My ears roared, my body was hot, and all I could think of was murder. I wanted to kill Lucifer. I didn't care how completely insane the idea was. I didn't even care how impossible it would be to slaughter him. I just wanted to try.
Lucifer vanished and reappeared on top of the altar and Lilith floated down to his side. Marcas grabbed my shoulders from behind.
"Don't, Dayton. Never anger. Never channel anger. It only puts your soul on the line. You'd be ransoming your soul to the very ruler you are fighting to eliminate."
I didn't
want to listen to him. The anger felt good.
"There are things more powerful than anger."
I knew he was right. I knew he was. But damn it, couldn't he be wrong just once!
"You would be such an asset to us."
This came from Lucifer. He knew an opportunity when he saw one. He was once a fallen Angel. He just wouldn't be Satan if he didn't attempt to turn me. And that's what caused me to let go of the anger.
I didn't want to be anything like the Demons I'd met in Hell. It was a sad place, full of pain, fury, and loyalties won through fear. I wasn't going back there.
"Never."
It was only one word directed at Lucifer, but it was enough. I dropped the anger and wrapped myself in the one thing more powerful than hatred—love.
"We survived your tests," Marcas said. "Set us free."
Lucifer stepped down from the altar, moving toward us with flames dancing in his eyes.
"And what kind of an example would that set?"
He wasn't going to let us go. He couldn't. His leadership would be questioned.
Lucifer lifted a hand, the intent in his eyes obvious, and I fought not to close my eyes. If we were going to die, I didn't want to die a coward.
I reached for Marcas' hand and grasped it. Our power moved between us, and I could feel Marcas pulling at it. We weren't dying without a fight.
Lucifer's power built around us, and I gasped as I felt something clutch my esophagus. I coughed and gagged as Marcas yelled. Power leaped and then . . .
Everything stopped.
The pressure on my throat disappeared, the feel of power vanished. Only a bright light remained, so bright I had to squint to see, and even then, the light was so bright that it hurt. It simply hurt.
"Enough!"
It was a booming voice, the sound utterly indescribable. I had never heard a voice like it before. It was like listening to hundreds of voices talking at once. And yet I understood the intent. Lucifer was still, his face a mixture of horror and rage.
"The Earth is mine," Lucifer said defiantly.
The light hovered. It was larger than life, filling the entire area with a luminescence that made me want to weep. I felt the need to bow, and I knew immediately this was God.
"And yet you are violating our agreement. The Angels, even the fallen who have not chosen Hell, are mine."
The voice was everywhere. I wanted to hang onto every word, and yet I found myself placing my hands over my ears. The voice was inside my head. It was inside my skin.
"Then take your Angel," Lucifer said. "The Demon is mine."
I pulled on Marcas.
"No!" I cried.
I went down on my knees because it seemed the right thing to do.
"No," I said again but quieter this time.
The light shifted. It reminded me of the rainbows that appear on walls when light reflects through certain types of glass. God stared at Lucifer.
"You will release them both. Until they are unbound, they belong to neither Heaven nor Hell."
Lucifer shook his head, his image reverting back from the monster he'd become to the beautiful man he'd been before.
"You'd allow a Demon near the ring?"
"He won't be allowed near it. Only the Naphil. It will be well protected."
I knew God meant Sophia would protect the ring. But He was issuing a warning too. Satan was to remain uninvolved. Lilith mewled from behind Lucifer. She was not happy.
"So be it," Lucifer said, and he vanished.
It was almost a letdown the way he disappeared with no argument. But I was beginning to know the citizens of Hell well, and their leader was no exception. Lucifer wasn't leaving. He was biding his time.
Lilith went down on her knees as she crawled away from God's presence. The light was hurting her, and she took flight at the edge of the summit.
I looked up at Marcas and noticed he kept his eyes averted, his head down. But he didn't bow. Only I remained on my knees as God watched us silently a moment, then ascended slowly up to Heaven. It was both a magical moment and an eye opening one. I was bowing. Marcas was standing. It said a lot.
Chapter 25
In the end, there is always a choice.
~Bezaliel~
There are moments in life when coming to a decision means giving up everything that was once of value to a person. For me, that moment was now.
The mountain wasn't quiet for long after everyone departed, leaving Marcas and I in the awkward position we were in now, one kneeling, one standing. He didn't look at me, but I saw his hand lower, offering me his assistance in standing, and I took it. I wanted to cling to him then, to lay my head against his chest and just revel in the fact that we were alive, but it somehow felt inappropriate to. I understood why he hadn't kneeled while I had, but it still made everything feel wrong.
The sound of softly flapping wings took away the awkwardness, gave us both a reason to stay silent as Sophia suddenly landed on the High Place of Sacrifice just beside Marcas and directly across from me. Lucas wasn't far behind, his wings pulling in as he landed next to me, just behind my shoulder.
"That was quite the show," Conor said from behind me, and I turned to find him and Monroe walking toward us. Something was vanishing into his back, and I knew I had just missed seeing Conor's wings.
"Show is an understatement, gargoyle," Luther added, and I faced forward again to find the Demon standing just behind Marcas' shoulder. Conor and Monroe were behind me now, their presence comforting.
"Alessandro's men?"
I asked it because it felt like the right thing to do. I was tired and weary.
"They are scouting the area for any rogue Demons."
It was Sophia who answered, and I looked at her for a moment thoughtfully. There was a smug look on her face as if she were a bird preening itself before its designated mate. And I knew then she had been aware that God would interfere with Lucifer's plans. I was, after all, one of God's children. She saw me looking, and she grinned before holding up her hand, her fist closed. I felt my heart stutter.
It was easy to guess what she held fisted in her palm, and I wasn't prepared to see it. I wasn't prepared to wear it, to find out whether or not it would kill me. And I definitely wasn't prepared to trap Marcas for an eternity. Once unbound, Marcas was free game for Hell. If I didn't trap him, he would be chased down by every Demon Lucifer had. Either that or Lucifer would come for Marcas himself. No matter what, he wouldn't survive. My heart broke.
"We're all going to die. Don't let that keep you from making the right choice for you."
It was Luther who said it, and I looked up at him in surprise.
"We're?"
He nodded.
"Lucifer has made a declaration. Upon leaving this summit, his yell could be heard in every Demon mind. Any child of Lilith's and Cain's must be exterminated. We are wild cards and, therefore, a danger to Hell."
I looked at Marcas, but his face remained even, no sign of emotion as he stared at Sophia's fist. I knew he knew the implications of Luther's words. There were a lot of children between Lilith and Cain. Instead of going to war with Heaven, Hell was going to war with itself.
"Where is your father?" I asked Luther as I watched Marcas. He still hadn't moved.
"Cain was destroyed by Lilith. He left her, leaving her for a mortal, Godly woman. For a while, Lilith let this go, but she eventually had her revenge, influencing one of Cain's mortal children into murdering his own father. Cursed to roam Earth for eternity, Cain could only be destroyed by children of his own blood. It was his Achilles Heel."
This didn't surprise me. Maybe that was the reason I'd never asked before. I had always assumed that Cain was dead. I finally let myself look at Sophia's fist. She took that as her cue, unfolding her hand to reveal a ring made for a man, the brass and iron band wide and surprisingly plain. Only the four jewels on top gave it a surreal quality, each gleaming around an inscribed word in a language I'd probably never learn to read. But I knew what it
said.
"It won't fit me," I said, and I knew immediately that it was a lame excuse.
"It will automatically fit the wearer," Sophia said.
I nodded, but I still didn't move...
"Dayton?"
Monroe asked it softly, but I didn't answer.
"We won't leave," Conor promised.
I knew he said it because he thought I was afraid, but I wasn't scared. Not of dying anyway. Maybe once I had been, but now . . . now I was scared of losing Marcas more. I looked up at him, and his gaze met mine. Marcas would never say it, but my heart did. With every beat, the rhythm in my chest said, save him. My gaze went back to the ring. Save him.
"Dayton?" Monroe asked again.
"This . . . t-this whole adventure or whatever you want to call it . . . it's changed me. There's no way I could have gone through this and not come out unchanged. Not just because I discovered I was different." I looked at Marcas. "I'm marked now, and I don't mean the bond."
"Then what do you mean?"
It wasn't Marcas who asked. It was Lucas, and he didn't sound pleased. I knew he feared my answer. He was, after all, a friend of my father's. I didn't even acknowledge his presence. My gaze stayed locked on Marcas. He was watching me with the same casual, unreadable expression I'd come to know so well, his arms crossed loosely. And I knew then I was making the right decision.
"I don't want unbound."
I said it flatly with a confidence I was sure wasn't lost on the others. There was a collective gasp and Marcas dropped his arms. He didn't move any closer, just stood there.
"You're emotional. You aren't thinking straight."
It was Lucas talking now in my ear. He was animated, his tone firm with warning.
"If you were, you'd realize your decision is impossible. A Demon and an Angel bound is a death sentence. Marcas is already marked. You'd be giving up Heaven's protection."
The words were enough to make me look away, and I glanced around the group solemnly, my gaze finally ending on Sophia and then Marcas. He'd loved her once but she'd never loved him back. Not truly. I knew that now. It's why her decision had been so easy to make.