by Amy Braun
This of course, only amused Lucifer further. His pitch black eyes sparkled with malice and cruelty.
“You are brave for speaking against me. But surely you cannot think you can obtain retribution. You are not strong enough. You are not fast enough. That is why you could not save her.”
Sephiel started shaking. I took a step to the side, not sure if he was going to actually explode.
Lucifer’s lightless eyes fixed on the angel, the malice gleaming even brighter now. He looked like a hungry spider who knew he had a fly trapped in his web. “How long did you search for her, Seraphim? What did you expect to find?”
He looked at Dro. I felt her shrink back behind me and touch her missing rib. Lucifer turned his eyes back to Sephiel. Everiel had been nothing to him, and he wanted Sephiel to know it.
“Why do you protect her? Does it not cause you pain to look upon her everyday and see Everiel’s eyes?” He tilted his head a little. “Or have you forgotten what they looked like?”
Sephiel’s control snapped like a twig. He charged Lucifer with a thundering war cry, raising his sword to stab it into Lucifer’s heart. He moved with a speed that made him a blur to my eyes.
But he wasn’t fast enough.
The angel’s sword slashed across the Knight’s chest as it appeared in front of its King. His blade screeched across the metal chest plate. Sephiel raised his hand and threw out a blast of heavenfire that knocked the Knight back a couple feet. Lucifer took a single step back to avoid being hit. He watched the desperate fight with a bored expression.
Sephiel was holding his ground, but he was fighting out of anger. He was out of focus, and it was going to get him killed.
The Knight was winded by the heavenfire, but still standing. It twirled the scythe and laid it across the back of its shoulders, spinning low and flinging out the weapon. Sephiel dipped his sword and knocked the scythe away from him, only to give the demon an opening. He darted in close to Sephiel, punching him hard in the ribs with a metal-gloved fist. I saw Sephiel wince in pain, but he didn’t stop fighting. Fear gripped my heart and squeezed as I tried to find a way to get into the fight, but Sephiel got in the way of each opportunity I saw. Warrick and Dro must have had the same problem, because they stood there and watched with the same terrified expressions, unable to help their revenge-crazed friend. Every step I took turned into a missed chance, and filled my chest with dread. I felt like I was watching beyond glass, helpless to intervene.
Sephiel blocked the scythe before it could sink into his neck, pushing it up so he could duck underneath it. Sephiel spiraled to get away from the demon, but it was quicker. It twisted and sliced the scythe along Sephiel’s back. I saw blood spray up behind him as his face contorted in agony. The demon swung its weapon up across the angel’s chest, sinking it into his front shoulder. He shouted painfully as blood poured from the top of his arm. The Knight tugged on the weapon, creating an even larger cut on Sephiel’s chest. He used one hand to grab the edge of the scythe to push it out of him. His other hand reversed his sword and shoved it back into the demon’s stomach.
The monster buckled and gave Sephiel the chance to tear the scythe free. Blood fountained out from the wound and stained his already ruined white coat. He turned and was kicked in the chest with so much force that he landed on his back on the road. He kept a grip on his sword, raising it in a block when the demon hammered down with its scythe. The curved weapon hooked the angel’s blade, and ripped it from his hands. The demon planted its foot on Sephiel’s chest and raised its scythe, ready to cut open the angel’s throat. I was already running as fast as I could.
But she was faster than me.
I didn’t know Dro was running until she pulled to a stop in front of me, feet away from Sephiel and the Knight. It lifted its head to look at her at the same time she raised her palms. Two streams of white-hot hellfire shot from her hands like napalm. They soared over Sephiel and enveloped the Knight. It stepped off Sephiel, who rolled out of range. Dro walked forward, continuing to blast the Knight away from the angel.
White fire illuminated the street, forcing me to squint. It was so bright that I couldn’t even see the Knight anymore. She tilted her hands down as the Knight began to die, disintegrating.
I helped Sephiel to his feet. He clutched his shoulder with one hand, reaching for his fallen sword with the other. He tried to push me off and go for Lucifer, who was watching Dro with an interested expression. Sephiel jerked wildly like he was trying to get rid of a stubborn fly, but I held him back. He turned his furious blue eyes on me. I honestly thought he was going to punch me, but I made him focus.
“Not now, Seph,” I commanded over the fire. I looked at my sister. “Bigger fucking problems.”
The half conscious, bleeding angel turned his head to Dro, and his anger started to break a little.
Dro was still burning the Knight, and she wasn’t having a problem with it.
Finally, she let go of the fire. She took a shaky step back, but she didn’t stumble. All that was left of the Knight was a charred Rorschach on the road. I couldn’t even see a hint of ash. Dro took a deep breath to steady herself, then looked at the creature that created her.
I’d never seen such a dark expression on her face before. Lucifer was pleased by it.
His lips curled up, turning into a smile that made me want to scream in horror, and cry with lust. Intensity, power, beauty, and chilling serenity seemed to wrap around him in a blanket that suffocated everyone around him. He was simply too perfect. It was easy to see why so many people gave into him, one way or the other.
“You have grown powerful,” he purred. “I am proud of you, my daughter.”
Dro clenched her fists, white-hot hellfire crawling up her curled fingers to her elbows.
“I am not your daughter,” she hissed. “I will never be your daughter. Don’t ever think otherwise.”
And here I thought Sephiel was the angry one. My little sister, the picture of a snowy angel, sounded even more dangerous than the vengeful Seraphim. She didn’t sound like she would cut the world in half. She sounded like she was ready to burn the universe.
Her tone made my body temperature drop until I was sure I would never be warm inside again.
Lucifer stared at Dro, but didn’t move. I would have thought he turned into a statue if I didn’t see the subtle night wind moving through the long, white strands of his hair. I couldn’t tell what he was feeling, but darkness was moving through his eyes like exploding stars.
“Seph,” I whispered in his ear, “use the movens caeli and get us out of here.”
He didn’t reply, but he started moving his injured hand toward the inside of his destroyed jacket.
“I shall forgive your rudeness because you are my child, Andromeda,” Lucifer said, oblivious to us. “But make no mistake– you belong with me. You will never be one of them. Take your place at my side, and I shall see that no harm comes to those you cherish. They will not know suffering or pain as I make the transition. You can save them.”
Dro swallowed. I could see the gears working in her head as she considered it. I watched her, ready to get between her and Lucifer if it came down to it. No matter what Dro wanted, I would never let her give herself up to the King of Hell. Not after what he had done to her.
Evidently, she had the same idea.
“So you can let the rest of the world suffer? I don’t think so.”
He didn’t move an inch. He didn’t even blink. But the stars were still exploding.
“You mistake my actions, child. I wish humanity no harm. I want to deliver them from hardship. I understand human beings. They seek peace and reprieve from pain and sorrow. I would bring them beyond the Heaven Gate, never let them endure the torments of my Kingdom. All are bound to sin, as the angels believe. But it is that flaw that makes humans so unique. I would not punish them for being what they are. I would see them unrestricted. Liberated.”
“By twisting their minds and lying to them,” Dro s
hot back. The hellfire was rising up to her shoulders now. “By sitting back and watching them torture themselves, letting them blacken their souls by killing everyone around them.”
Sephiel shifted beside me, getting ready. I looked at my sister, bending my knees so I would be able to sprint to her.
“No,” Dro said venomously. “I won’t let you do that. I’ll die first.”
I went even colder when she said that, because I knew she meant it. She was ready to fight Lucifer to the death. My sister was stronger now, but Sephiel told us over and over again that only Michael was strong enough to defeat Lucifer. I didn’t want her to test the limits of her power on the fiercest creature in the universe.
Which is why Sephiel drew out the movens caeli and started our escape.
Lucifer saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. He flicked out his hand, and suddenly Sephiel was gone from my side. He slammed into the broken van behind me, his back breaking the glass of the window while his sword flew from his grasp. He dropped onto his front, but Lucifer twisted his hand and flipped him over.
Then Sephiel started screaming. I stared at him, not seeing what was wrong. There were no new wounds, no strange bruises or burns or anything to indicate how he was suffering. But his screams just went on, and they were so horrible that my heart split at the sound. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t see what was happening. Lucifer was going to torture Sephiel to death.
The angel arched his back like he was trying to break it. He clenched his fists at his side and screamed until I thought the veins bulging in his neck and temple were going to burst.
“Stop!” Dro yelled.
She shoved out her hands and threw all of her hellfire at Lucifer. The King of Hell snapped his head over to her and held up his hand. All the hellfire absorbed into his palm, twisting until it was a bright, white ball of flame against his skin. The heat and light didn’t bother him at all. Then he threw it back at her. Dro cried out and swept the blast away from us with her hands. It twisted over her like a crescent moon that evaporated overhead.
I ran for Lucifer. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I focused on attacking him, and nothing else.
Which is why Mateo nearly killed me.
A quick shadow and a glimmer of silver flashed on my right. Instinct made me duck. I felt and heard the air rush over my head as the machete cut through it. I twisted around, trying to straighten myself. Mateo kicked back, catching me in the chest and sending a bruising pain through my collarbone. I winced, but stayed on my feet and caught my breath, just as he swung his machete at me again.
I turned away at the last possible second. The blade kissed along the side of my arm, nearly going into my sleeve. I aimed a knee at his exposed side, but he drove his elbow into my temple. Pain erupted in my skull as I stumbled. I shook it off and saw Warrick running for Mateo and aiming his shotgun. Until Drake got in his way.
He kicked the shotgun out of Warrick’s hands and punched him square in the jaw. It wasn’t long before they started swinging at each other, both of them equally matched. Warrick got punched in the back, but he drove his knee into Drake’s ribs. He jabbed Drake in the face, only to be kicked and kneed in the stomach.
On my other side, Dro was still throwing hellfire at Lucifer. Every time she did, he flicked it away and took a step closer. She made pillars, walls, mountains of hellfire, and Lucifer knocked them aside like specks of dust. His face was a stone. I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed, impressed, angry, or proud, and it didn’t matter. I had to stop him from hurting her. If I could keep my ex-boyfriend from slicing me to pieces first.
He was so much stronger than I remembered. Every time he swung the heavy blade at me, it was meant as a killing strike. Mateo wanted me to die a bloody death, like his father had.
I leaned away from the machete before it could slash open my throat, then got off the defensive. I let him finish swinging his machete before kicking down on his wrist. Mateo was jerked off balance, giving me the opening I needed to kick him in the chin. I rushed forward, slashing down with my hatchet. He moved back before I could kill him, but the blade still left a slice across his collarbone and chest.
Mateo turned his wrist to drive the machete into my side. I used my free hand to grab his arm and pull the weapon away from me. Unfortunately, Mateo still had one free hand. He punched me in the face then fisted my hair. He wrenched my head back painfully, raising the machete again.
I used the crook of my hatchet to catch the weapon before it could decapitate me. I pushed with all my strength, my arms trembling as he tried to press the machete blade into my throat. I felt it start to press against my neck. Mateo jerked on my hair again like he was going to tear it all from my head. I gritted my teeth and growled as he tried to snap my neck backward.
I kicked Mateo’s knee, making him stumble. His grip loosened and I was able to push the machete back. I spun away and roundhouse-kicked Mateo in the side of the head. I reached into my jacket for a silver throwing knife, ready to launch it into his throat.
Dro’s sudden cry of pain stopped me. I whirled around.
Lucifer was standing three feet away from my little sister, who was almost completely engulfed in hellfire. But while she was holding up her hands, it wasn’t her fire. It was his. She buckled to one knee, turning her face away from the blaze as it licked around her. Every time she winced, my despair rose. I forgot all about my murderous ex-boyfriend and ran for Lucifer.
I skidded to a stop when I was in perfect range and hurled my silver knife at Lucifer. He turned up his hand, whipping his head at me. My knife stopped in midair, six inches from his face.
Goddamn it, not again.
But this time, Lucifer threw my knife back at me. I twisted sharply, but the blade still nicked the top of my shoulder. I winced at the stinging pain, then gripped my hatchet and turned back around.
To find myself face to face with the Devil.
His face was even more beautiful up close. There were no words for its exquisiteness. Roman statues had nothing on Lucifer. Every time I breathed, I smelled smoke and roses. Flashes of light sparked through his obsidian eyes. They were the kind of eyes that could show you all the wonderful and dreadful secrets of the universe.
His incredible power wrapped around me, and suddenly I couldn’t move. He was close enough to strangle me, close enough to kiss me. Either way, he was going to make me his. He would make me bleed and scream, then have me crawl back for more.
But out of the corner of my eyes, I saw another person with snow-white hair. She was lying in a heap on the road, exhausted from overusing her power. She was hurt, and the thing in front of me had been the one to hurt her. Seeing her took away the fog in my head and sharpened my sense of purpose.
I swung my hatchet up. Lucifer was still looking at my face when he caught my wrist. He twisted it sharply, snapping the small bones inside it. I cried out sharply, then did the first thing that came to mind.
I punched at him.
Obviously it didn’t work.
Lucifer didn’t even have to grab my fist or block me. My hand stopped in mid air, two inches from his cheek. It was like I had punched quicksand. I was unable to pull my hand back. My fist was shaking in mid air.
Before I could try kicking him, Lucifer shoved the heel of his palm into my chest.
I flew back and landed hard on the road. I coughed, clutching my chest, certain that he’d punched a hole through me. My heart stumbled, trying to get back into the right beat. Before I could get to my feet, he returned, and picked me up by the throat.
His fingers seared my neck as he squeezed, like burning tongs. I kicked and threw punches at him, but all I was hitting was air. Lucifer slammed me hard onto the road. Bruising pain filled my spine and my head even as he released my throat. I was dizzy and seeing two of everything. It made Lucifer standing over me all the more terrifying.
“Did you truly think you would harm me, mortal?” He held out one of his hands. Invisible ropes coiled aro
und my body, pinning me onto the ground. His other hand filled with hellfire. “Or that there would not be consequences for your actions?”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond. He just pushed the hellfire down onto me.
I thought I knew what pain meant until that moment. Turned out I was way off.
Every inch of me felt like it was melting off, scalding skin peeled away so the nerves and muscle beneath could be torched. My bones splintered and cracked under the heat. Blood boiled in my veins. I smelled burning clothes and scorched hair. My eyeballs felt like bees were stinging them. I breathed in smoke and tasted fire when I screamed. My entire body was rigid, unable to move as it was turned to a black cinder.
The roar of hellfire in my ears was so loud I couldn’t hear my cries. I couldn’t tell if my eyelids were burned off or seared shut because everything was blindingly white. There were no visible flames, no trace of the place where I was. Just an unending whiteness and an agony I never knew existed.
Now I knew what Hell truly felt like.
It went on and on and on. The unbelievable heat, the incomprehensible pain. I’d thought that being possessed and exorcised was the worst pain I’d ever endure. Not the case. Even heavenfire was a vacation compared to this.
I screamed until my voice was raspy and broken. Then I screamed some more. I only stopped when my vocal cords welded together and my tongue felt like coal. Lucifer didn’t show me any mercy. He wanted to kill me in the most painful way possible.
It was working.
There were shouts. Angry screams. A sweeping wind over my body.
Then it was over. The fire was torn away from my body, leaving me trembling on the ground. I could smell my burning skin, and was suddenly glad I couldn’t open my eyes. I felt like a piece of charcoal. A gentle breeze caressed my body, and I almost screamed again. Every piece of me was opened and raw to the dirty world. Each slight motion caused me incredible pain. I wasn’t going to survive. If I did, I was going to be useless. Lucifer had given me a few seconds of his hellfire, even though it felt like an eternity. My heart broke when I knew I wasn’t going to see Dro again.